I do not own these characters, or profit from this story.

Skoochy woke with a start unsure as to where he was. He quickly sat up before a soft voice chimed next to him.

"I didn't realize my story was so boring," his companion grinned at him, "I'll try to choose a more entertaining book next time."

Skoochy allowed a lazy smile to envelop his face at Jinoras' words.

"Not your fault your voice is my very own lullaby." She merely raised an eyebrow at him causing her arrow to become warped, before the two burst into hysterical laughter. Gasping for breath after a few moments of shared humor.

"My, Skoochy, aren't we feeling flirtatious today?"

He wiggled his eyebrows at her in a suggestive manner before laying his head against her lap, covering his eyes with his cap to block out the sunlight, and completely missing the blush his actions caused to burn across Jinora's face.

It had been an awkward few months trying to rekindle his friendship with Jinora. They had done so much developing while apart that it almost seemed to Skoochy that they would no longer click the way they used to, but he was nothing if not determined and completely blasted through any walls either of them had erected during their separation, by using his humor and devil-may-care attitude.

Eventually his hard work paid off and they were both able to meet on friendly terms again without becoming distracted by overwhelming differences.

Skoochy was disrupted from his thoughts as he felt Jinora fidget with her hair again. It had grown to reach the tops of her ears. Too short to pull back and too long to be comfortable. It was clearly driving her crazy, and Skoochy loved to watch the irritation build in her face before she finally gave up and flung herself back on the grass, allowing her hair to fan out.

He grinned before lifting his head to meet her gaze. She gave a questioning look at his amused face, to which he responded with a half-hearted shrug.

"You look adorable when you pout."

She let out a snort before staring into the treetops. And Skoochy continued to gaze at her face.

He sometimes became caught up in his feelings for her when she was unguarded like this. He supposed it was only natural to develop feelings for a member of the opposite sex that you spend so much time with, but he was always reminded of her responsibilities to the world by the ever present arrows gracing her forehead and limbs. She was an air-bending master, and sometimes he had trouble believing he wasn't still just a boy.

But in moments like this he could pretend. Make up a story in his head that they were both just ordinary people who were developing romantic feelings for each other that they were allowed to act on.

It was with this fairytale in his mind that he slowly exhaled and laid his forehead against her stomach. When he was this close he could feel her breath tremble and her heartbeat race at his nearness. He felt her raise a hand and run it through the strands of his hair before she seemed to gather her senses and gently pushed his head to the ground. Raising herself up she stood over his prone form before he turned his head to look at her

She looked scared, and unsure.

She looked like she wanted to return his affections but was afraid that it would ruin everything they had built together.

'Damn,' was all Skoochy thought before he lifted himself off the ground and threw a friendly grin at Jinora. She seemed to ease when she noticed he was no longer wearing his heart on his sleeve.

As they exited the park he slung an arm around her shoulder and ruffled her short hair. She fixed him with an irritated look before elbowing him which began a friendly shoving match.

Skoochy used this time to bury his disappointment right along with the longing he felt for the air-bender beside him.

He tried to slip quietly into the house but he really should have known better.

A sudden light came on, and he automatically jumped into a defensive position before realizing it was just his highly irritated mother.

Great…

"Well I'm glad to see you're reflexes are in shape, now if we could only get you home by curfew." She finished with a pointed look.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, " I took Jinora to dinner and lost track of time, I didn't want her to walk to the ferry in the dark, so I escorted her like a good gentleman. Isn't that what you taught me?" He fixed her with an innocent look in the hopes that it would ease her ire.

It didn't work.

"Listen, I'm glad you and Jinora are friends again but you can't just push the limits like this when want to spend more time with her. I was worried something happened to you." She rubbed a hand across her forehead as if to ease a growing headache.

Skoochy exhaled in submission before nodding his agreement.

Pleased that her son was accepting she decided to change topics.

"So, you took her to dinner huh? Was it a date?" Lin found she rather liked that thought, and smirked at her son expecting him to return her amusement.

Instead his shoulders seemed to slump further.

Well that was an interesting reaction.

"Have a seat." she gestured to the couch across from her.

"Mom, I'm really not in the mood-"

"Now!" Came the sharp reply.

Sighing in defeat he fell back into the cushions and prepared himself for one of their awkward heart to hearts.

"Do you want to just tell me whats wrong or are we going to play the dance-around-the-subject game?"

Deciding he was in no mood to stay up late into the night as his mother pried him for information, Skoochy chose to be forth coming.

"I think I'm falling for Jinora, and I think she has feelings for me too but she doesn't seem to want to act on them."

Lin flinched a bit internally. Romantic advice was not one of her strongest suits.

"Well," she started cautiously, "can you think of any reasons why she wouldn't want to start a relationship with you?"

"I have no idea! Who could resist this?" He quipped gesturing his hands to his slouched body. He and Lin shared a brief chuckle before returning to more serious matters.

"It seems she likes where were at and doesn't want to ruin our friendship."

Lin snorted before replying, "Really? She enjoys spending her time with you immersed in romantic tension so thick I can feel it down at the station? Yeah I can see why she wouldn't want to mess that up."

Skoochy hated it when his mother one upped him with logic. But she was right. Maybe he had merely been deluding himself into thinking their friendship was back to normal. Maybe it was still weighing down on both of them and neither of them wanted to admit it.

"I'm afraid I might lose her if I don't fix this."

"I'm afraid you may be right" He sighed in frustration.

"Well than what do you suggest?" He spat at her.

Lin sat quietly for a moment and Skoochy was afraid he might have offended her.

"When Tenzin and I broke up, I assumed it was because he had all these expectations in his life that he wanted me to share with him. At first it never occurred to me that I had placed my own demands on his shoulders and had all but refused to help him carry his burdens." She picked at her thumbnail nervously before continuing, "I guess a relationship is sort of dependent on how willing you are to ease your partners worries and how much you are going to demand of them in return."

She turned her gaze back to her son who was listening contemplatively.

"Jinora is a very young lady who bears the expectations of continuing a nearly extinct nation and religion. That is a heavy burden to bear. Is that something you could carry with her?"

Skoochy pondered the question for a moment before meeting his mothers eye.

"I would do anything if it meant keeping Jinora."

"Shes not a pet Skoochy," Lin scolded, "you can't just assume that she would be YOURS. All that would do is scare her off."

Skoochy fisted his hand through his hair and tugged in frustration.

"Than what should I do!?" He shot back.

"Think about how much pressure this relationship would place on Jinora, What kind of demands are you going to ask of her?"

Skoochy began to answer before Lin held up a hand to cut him off.

"I don't need to hear your answer and its something you should think about for yourself." Lin turned her attention to the clock and eased herself out of the chair. "I'm going to bed before I lose all chance of working with a clear mind tomorrow."

She paused in the door way before turning back to her son and pressing a brief kiss against his hairline.

"You'll work this out Skoochy, I know it." He nodded his reply before she moved towards her room.

Skoochy was left with more questions than he had answers.

Republic city had an unfortunate habit of torrential rains that seemed to flood the city with a relentless downpour. Judging by those clouds, today was going to introduce some of that rain.

Skoochy had been preparing himself all week. He decided that his half friendship with Jinora had to be resolved. Whether for better or worse, he decided he was no longer content to sit on the sidelines hiding his feelings and watching Jinora hide her own in the hopes that their affections would eventually fade away.

Grabbing his hat and slipping his arms though one of the nicer vests he owned. Skoochy exited the house and began the short walk to their usual meeting spot.

He spotted a familiar figure clad in orange and yellow who was waving her greeting. Skoochy couldn't help the grin that spread across his face at the sight of her.

As he reached her he noticed her casting worried glances at the heavy clouds. In his mind he agreed that those might become a problem. Jinora looked back to Skoochy and held out a book.

"It's your turn to read to me. I hope you don't mind I picked out a new one for this week because the last one was obviously a snooze." She grinned at the memory of his accidental nap.

He took the offered book from her. Intentionally brushing his fingers against hers, feeling the familiar spark zip up his arm.

"I don't want to read today. Do you think we could talk instead?" She threw him a concerned look for a moment.

"Talk about what?" She asked.

"Us." Was his answer. She took a step back and began to chew on her lip which was clearly a sign of her nerves.

"Listen Jinora-" He began before the clouds opened up and poured their contents on the two, completely ruining the moment. 'Of course' Skoochy thought to himself before he grabbed Jinora's hand and ran for shelter under the nearest tree.

They couldn't help but break into laughter at the sight of themselves soaked and hiding from the rain under a canopy of leaves. Jinora tilted her head back and grinned at the feeling of the few drops that managed to break through the overgrowth and land on her face.

Skoochy thought she was beautiful.

He hadn't released her hand, so he used it to gently pull her closer. Jinora faced him and let her guard down for a moment, long enough for Skoochy to be sure that she shared his feelings. The moment was broken however, as Jinora came to her senses and tried to tug her hand back.

"Let go Skoochy."

"Never."

"I'm serious!" She exclaimed as he wrapped his other arm around her waist, resting his fingers on her hip bone and bringing them closer.

"So am I," he made sure he was looking into her eyes. "I'm never letting you go Jinora."

He placed his forehead against hers breaking their eye contact.

"I want you to share everything with me." He began bringing his lips to the arrow on her forehead.

"All your burdens," he continued placing a kiss between her eyebrows.

"Every hope you have," his lips trailed down the bridge of her nose.

"Everything." He whispered against her cheek, his nose brushing her earlobe.

Her breath had started to come out in small gasps as he began to place small kisses along her jaw line.

"What if its too much?" She finally rasped as his lips traced over each closed eyelid.

"You're worth it," he replied as he began to slowly trail his hand up her arm, and across her shoulder, brushing up her neck to cup her cheek in his palm.

"You're worth everything to me." He finished with a determined look in his eye. He waited patiently for Jinora to decide if she wanted to make the final leap

Skoochy watched the conflict rage in her eyes before she seemed make her decision.

Her arms shot around his neck as she pulled him down the last few inches and met his lips with her own. Her kiss was uncertain and he held her too tight but neither could imagine anywhere else they would rather be.

Lin was finishing some work when Skoochy came in resembling a drowned animal. His grin threatened to crack his face. Lin raised her eyebrows at his expression.

"What did you do today?"

He peeled off his wet vest and shirt leaving them by the door to avoid getting the floors too wet.

"Hung out with Jinora." He replied in a sing song voice.

"Was it a date?" Lin asked hopefully.

Skoochy grinned wider, if that were even possible, and placed a sloppy kiss into his mothers hair. Laughing, she shoved him off and pointed him in the direction of his room.

"Go get dressed before you get sick! And when you get back you can fill me in on all the details." Skoochy let out a chuckle.

"Mother if I didn't know any better I'd think you might actually approve!" He quipped sarcastically with a dramatic hand over his heart.

Shaking her head slightly at the young man, she simply waved her hand towards his room again before returning to her work She could pretend for a moment that seeing her son happy with a girl she approved of didn't make feel like a romantic.