Wedding Jitters
Rated: Teen for romance. (Kainora, Korrasami, Pemzin, Bopal.)
Summary: Kai and Jinora are engaged to be married. While the world celebrates the first marriage between two Airbenders in two hundred years, their closest friends and family weigh in. Some are pleased, one can't believe his little girl has grown up so much, and another is worried that she might have to betray her happiness to follow in their footsteps.
Disclaimer: The Legend of Korra is owned by Bryke and Nickelodeon.
LES: While I was recovering from getting a bad tooth extracted, I fell back into the Avatar fandom. I hadn't watched Legend of Korra since it came out and I hardly remembered it except for the major things that happened in the first two seasons. I hardly remembered Seasons 3 and 4. Which is a shame, because when I watched the show again, Season 3 is by far my favorite. And while I only remembered the love quadrangle that developed between Team Avatar, I seriously fell head-over-heels for the smaller pairing of Kai and Jinora. I love them about as much as I hated the quadrangle between Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Asami. But, the main problem with loving a smaller ship is less fan material. So here's a little something for my fellow Kainora fans.
Chapter 1: The Announcement
Against all odds, everything seemed to have settled down in Republic City and the wider world in the four years since Kuvira had tried unsuccessfully to bring the entire Earth Kingdom and the United Republic under her boot. Of course, there were still many small problems in the world, but certainly nothing that threatened the end that the world had to deal with in the years after Avatar Korra publicly took her place as the Avatar.
Even still, it was a rare thing for the city to have some good news to celebrate.
Almost everyone was in high spirits as they looked at their morning papers to find the announcement that many had been expecting for months now: Master Tenzin's eldest daughter was soon to be married to a young boy who had been one of the many to gain Airbending abilities in the aftermath of Harmonic Convergence.
The young man was not as well known as the Air Nation's first family, but he had gained some amount of notoriety in the aftermath of the rebirth of the Air Nation by becoming fast friends, and then a couple, with the young heir to the Air Nation. They had been a couple for close to six years now, and almost everyone had been holding their breath waiting for the announcement from the moment that this young man was confirmed as an Airbending Master a couple of months ago.
Almost everywhere you looked, the people of Republic City (and the whole world as the news spread) could only talk about one thing: the assured future of the Air Nomads and the Air Nation's first family. From every street you could hear someone tell their friend "You do know that two Airbenders always have Airbending children. With this marriage, the Air Nomads will only grow in size."
Of course everyone was excited. The Air Nomads had been the only culture with a 100% Bending rate among its people. When Avatar Aang had gotten married to Master Katara, everyone had hoped and prayed to the spirits that this would hold true for their children. However, only one out of their three children had been born with Airbending. (And another having gained his Airbending much later during Harmonic Convergence.) Master Tenzin and Pema had renewed that hope with all four of their children being Airbenders. But, now, with the marriage of Masters Kai and Jinora, it was like the entire world was breathing a sigh of relief. Surely the marriage between two Master Airbenders could not help but produce that 100% Bending rate again?
Republic City Chronicle
Master Tenzin's daughter, Master Jinora, to Wed Fellow Master Airbender Kai.
In an event that has not been seen for nearly two hundred years, we have received confirmation that Republic City will soon see the marriage of two Master Airbenders. Master Tenzin confirmed late last evening that recently anointed Master Kai had proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Master Jinora, and that she has accepted his proposal.
Master Jinora, Master Tenzin's eldest daughter and aged eighteen, is part of what the Air Nomads are now calling the Air Nation's First Family, those who are directly descended from the only Air Nomad to have survived their genocide: former Avatar Aang. Master Jinora is Avatar Aang's eldest granddaughter and earned her rank as a Master Airbender at the same age the former Avatar did: age eleven. In the years since, she along with all of the other Airbenders have worked tirelessly to promote peace and balance through the world whenever Avatar Korra could not personally attend to a situation. She was one of the many Airbenders who fought against the Kuvira Colossus four years ago.
Master Kai, aged nineteen, is one of the many former Earth Kingdom natives who gained the ability to Airbend after the event known as Harmonic Convergence. Once an orphan on the run from Earth Kingdom authorities, he was one of the first new Airbenders to join the Air Nation. Only weeks into his training, he nearly gave his life in battle at the Northern Air Temple when the new Air Nation was attacked by terrorists. And in the aftermath he joined his fellow Air Nomads in their quest to bring balance and peace to the world, and he like his future wife, was among the Airbenders who defended Republic City from the attack of Kuvira's Colossus. Only three months ago it was confirmed by Masters Tenzin and Jinora that Kai, along with a couple of his fellows, had earned the rank of Master and were anointed with their tattoos and rank.
Since the Air Nomads traditionally considered their children to have reached adulthood at the time they receive their Master tattoos, many people had begun to wonder if the new Air Nomad's most famous young couple was thinking of marriage after Master Kai was anointed. Many experts on the science of Bending agree Harmonic Convergence has given the Air Nation a short cut to rebuilding itself, and that short cut is one best exploited by encouraging marriage between Airbenders.
"Trying to rebuild the Air Nomad and Airbending population back up from only Avatar Aang was something that many considered to be near impossible." A professor of Bending Genetics at Republic City University told us. "Avatar Aang and his son were required to marry non-Air Nomads out of necessity in the absence of other Air Nomads, but each marriage diluted Avatar Aang's Airbender bloodline. To introduce new Airbending lines is just the thing we need to rebuild the Air Nomad population while avoiding the dangers of having to consider inbreeding in a few generations."
Master Tenzin has informed us that while a date has not yet been set for his daughter's marriage, they are considering an Autumn wedding, as Autumn is a sacred time for the Air Nomads. He also declined to comment on his first son-in-law and instead focused on wishing his daughter love and happiness in her upcoming marriage.
One person, however, could only groan in embarrassment as he set the paper down on the table in front of him. Kai leaned forward, pressing his hands to his face in a vain attempt to hide the fact that his face was practically on fire with a blush.
He had gotten somewhat used to people being interested in him, both as a harmonic Airbender and as Jinora's boyfriend. But did they really have to go and dig up his criminal record in the Earth Kingdom?! It was nerve-wracking enough to get up the courage to ask Tenzin for Jinora's hand in marriage and he had been clean of crime for years. Just the reminder that he was once little more than a lowly thief would probably be enough for Tenzin to call the wedding off altogether.
It took Kai several deep calming breaths to realize that Tenzin wouldn't do that again. While Tenzin was not overly thrilled about Kai and Jinora's relationship, it seemed that these days it was more about him being critical of anybody who would date his daughter rather than anything about Kai personally. Even still, the nerves of growing up under the old Airbending Master for the past several years did not go away so easily. After all, Tenzin had been the very first authority figure who had scared Kai into turning over a new leaf. While Jinora…
At the thought of his beautiful finance, Kai was finally able to relax a little. Tenzin might have put fear into him, but Jinora had made him want to be a better person. It went the other way too. While Jinora was making Kai a better person by just existing, Kai had somehow made Jinora more adventurous, more daring, and a little less about blindly following the rules. Just one of the many things that had caused Kai friction with his future father-in-law over the years.
Without turning around, Kai began to feel her approach him. When he'd gotten his tattoos a couple of months ago, of course he had to shave his head. He had mourned his hair for days, but also came to appreciate a little his heightened sense of how the air moved around him while lacking his hair. Even still, he had made the choice to allow his hair to grow back. But sometimes Kai liked to think that he'd kept that heightened sensitivity, no matter what Tenzin said about that being impossible.
She leaned down and wrapped her arms around him, and Kai knew instantly that it was Jinora. Hardly any of the other Airbenders would approach him this casually anymore. The newer Airbenders were intimidated by his tattoos and status as an Airbending Master and one of their teachers. While the elder students all remembered him during the fight at the Northern Air Temple. If things continued this way, his bravery and near-sacrifice against the Combustion Woman, P'li, would outlive him as an Air Nomad legend.
"You're going to be late for your class, Kai." Jinora said into his ear, pressing a brief kiss to his cheek.
Now that there was more than a couple of Master Airbenders, Tenzin was no longer solely responsible for teaching all the new Airbenders that had joined the Temple. In terms of the old Air Nation, Tenzin now held a position similar to Head Monk, but of the entire Air Nation. Now his former students largely took care of the day-to-day training of the new Airbenders. Kai was suited for teaching the actual practice of Airbending. Not that he couldn't lead a class in mediation or give an Air Nomad history lesson, but those tasks were better suited for Jinora, who also taught spirituality to those students who showed an aptitude for the subject.
"My class is still not for an hour." Kai replied. "Hey, Jinora, it's not too late to join you in your mediation, right?" He asked.
At his words, Kai felt her movement as she loosened her grip on him and sat down next to him at the table. "What's the matter?" She asked. "You hate meditating and only offer to join me if something is bothering you."
How is she able to read me so easily? Kai wondered to himself as he silently passed over the paper he had been reading so that she could see the article that had been written about them.
"Wow. I didn't expect them to make an announcement in the paper so soon." Jinora said, more than mildly impressed at the fast turn around rate for the news. "My father only made that announcement just before dinner last night."
Kai sighed. Of course she wasn't impressed. She'd had articles even more personal written about her probably since the moment she was born. After all, at the time of her birth, her grandfather had all ready passed away, leaving Tenzin as the last Airbender and making Jinora incredibly important to the whole world.
"I'm sorry, Jin." Kai said. "You know I'm just not used to people caring about my life all that much. They even brought up my former life in the Earth Kingdom. Why would they do that? I'm not a thief or a runaway anymore."
Jinora cut off his freak-out with a soft kiss. "Hey, calm down. It's all right. It has very little to do with you, and everything to do with me. If you have gotten engaged to anyone besides me, they probably wouldn't even care in the slightest. They are just excited because… well..."
She didn't finish her thought, but Kai knew what it was. Pretty much the only thing they'd heard from the non-Bending Air Acolytes was the almost certainty that they would produce strong Airbending children.
Not that Kai didn't want to have children eventually, but he wanted that to be at least a couple of years off. He wanted time with Jinora first, just as being her husband. But the pressure that the world was sure to put him under… I wonder if the press ever hassled Avatar Aang or Master Tenzin? Kai wondered to himself. Surely at least the former Avatar had to have felt the pressure to have children.
"Kai, is something wrong?" Jinora asked. "Is something else bothering you besides the media bringing up your past?"
"I mean… yes, that is bothering me." Kai admitted. "I know that your father has a hard time trusting me. But one word from him, and our wedding could be off."
Jinora met his eyes with a serious look. "I am an adult and a Master Airbender. My father couldn't stop us from getting married. If it really came down to it, I would gladly fly off with you. But it's not going to come down to that. I know that my father can be… rather stiff, but he does care about you in his own way. He probably won't say it again, but what he said during your anointment ceremony is true… he's proud of the man you've become. But that's not all, is it?" She asked.
Kai sighed. "Then what about children?" He asked.
Jinora sighed. "From the time I was old enough to understand, I had grown up knowing that children were expected of me. My father and grandfather were hounded nearly every single day of their lives to start families, and to have more and more children. That changed with Harmonic Convergence. There's more than just five Airbenders now. But, you know what, Kai… I would be happy to have a child with you. Maybe not immediately… but that is something that I would like for our future together. And if the child is an Airbender like everyone hopes… great. And if not… that would be great too."
And at last Kai really smiled. "I'm so glad that we agree." He said as he pulled her into a kiss, which she gratefully returned. For a few blissful moments, it was only the two of them and their feelings for each other.
Until the moment was ruined by Jinora's youngest brother. "Augh!" Rohan groaned at the sight of his eldest sister and her fiance kissing at the table. The seven year old boy covered his eyes. "Ugh, Jinora! That's so gross!"
"Aww… is my little baby brother jealous?" Jinora asked, smirking at him.
"What?! No way!" Rohan grumbled. Jinora watched in amusement as her little brother threw up his arms in annoyance and stomped out of the room. And to think there was once a time when Jinora had been considered the spitting image of her grandfather. Besides the eye color and the fact that Rohan was still many years off from becoming a Master, there was hardly a physical difference between him and their grandfather.
Jinora and Kai laughed as he stomped out of the room. "It's almost scary how much he looks like your grandfather." Kai commented.
"Do you think he's going to be a heart-breaker like my grandfather was?" Jinora asked with a laugh.
"I'm not sure if the world is ready." Kai told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and drawing her into another kiss.
