A/N: Hello again! This is my entry for the third day of Avatar Week, "Mirror." It focuses on Jinora after she gets her airbending tattoos. Thanks for reading and please review!
"Mail!" Meelo shouted.
Jinora looked up from her book as her little brother zoomed past her on an air scooter, flinging a letter in her direction. She ducked as the pages of her book fluttered wildly. When the air calmed, she shook her head and plucked the letter from where it eddied on the breeze. Smooth, elegant characters spelled out her name. She recognized the handwriting as her grandmother's.
Jinora glanced in her siblings' direction. Ikki cheered on the new airbenders as they ran drills through the spinning gates. Meelo zoomed in and out of sight, then landed next to Ikki, cackling happily. Now that Meelo had joined them, it would be too difficult to concentrate, Jinora decided. She tucked the letter inside her book and retreated to her room to read.
A mirror sat on her dresser, and she jolted when she caught sight of her reflection – she still didn't recognize herself without hair. She moved away quickly.
Perching on the edge of her bed, Jinora opened the envelope, and pulled out the letter from her Gran Gran. She congratulated her granddaughter on receiving her tattoos and gaining the distinction of master. She thanked her for sending her a photo and the newspaper clipping announcing the ceremony. I will treasure them always, Gran Gran wrote. You look just like your grandfather when he was your age.
Jinora sighed. Her father hadn't allowed a photographer at the anointing ceremony, but a few days later her mother arranged for a photographer to come to Air Temple Island.
"Jinora," Pema had called. "Put on your ceremonial robes! They'll be here soon!"
Jinora had sat in her room with the yellow hood pulled up over her head. She looked at herself in the mirror. From that angle, she could barely see the point of the blue tattoo over her eyebrows; for all anyone knew, her hair was just bunched up underneath the cloth. But she knew better.
She breathed deeply through her nose and rose to meet the photographer.
In the courtyard, her mother was talking with a tall man holding a camera. Rohan was strapped to her back, and he waved his arms and gargled happily. His joy brought a smile to Jinora's face.
The photographer spied her and flashed her a huge smile. "Ah, there's the little master!"
Jinora bristled.
Pema turned and gave her daughter a hug. "Hey, honey. Ready for the picture? Why do you have the hood pulled up?"
"My ears are cold," Jinora answered. Her ears were always cold anymore. She hadn't realized how much her hair had warmed her.
Pema stood back and laughed. She pushed the hood off Jinora's bald head, revealing the pale blue arrow across her forehead.
After that, the photographer had guided her through a series of poses. He babbled at her as the camera flashbulb popped again and again. "How much did it hurt to get the tattoos? Do you get your own flying bison now? How are the new airbenders doing? How does it feel to be the youngest airbending master ever?"
Lowering Gran Gran's letter, Jinora contemplated her reflection in the mirror. "How does it feel to be the youngest airbending master . . . ever?" she murmured to herself. When Kai first brought up getting her tattoos, Jinora had glowed with eagerness. And that feeling had continued all the way up to and even through the ceremony. Through the long hours of pain as her father injected the blue dye into her skin. Through the anointing ceremony with every important political figure and friend watching her on the stage.
The glow and the pride lasted until a couple days after Korra left. When she heard about the situation of the Earth Kingdom on the radio and when her father returned home from meetings with President Raiko, Jinora started to feel the weight of her tattoos.
She was now the youngest airbending master ever, even younger than Avatar Aang.
You look just like your grandfather when he was your age.
Jinora met her gaze in the polished glass.
Do I? she wondered. There weren't photographs until Aang was an adult with his strong cheekbones and scruffy beard. She supposed Gran Gran and Lord Zuko were the only ones who remembered what her grandfather looked like as a boy.
Her brown eyes looked quietly back at her. If she had her grandfather's face, then maybe she had his strength as well. Jinora remembered reading about Aang's adventures, his grief upon discovering the death of his people, his stress before and after the Day of Black Sun, his determination during Sozin's Comet. But he persevered and succeeded. He found his strength.
Her vision blurred, and for a moment, she swore her reflection had gray eyes and a cheerful smile. And then she was looking at herself again, and a bird spirit with a long gray tail perched on the top of the mirror.
Outside, she heard Ikki shout, and then her father's voice rumbled across the courtyard. He was packing Oogi for his trip to the Zaofu to discuss the political situation of the Earth Kingdom with Suyin Beifong and President Raiko. While he was gone, Jinora would be the head of the Air Nation.
Jinora rose to help her father pack. The little spirit zipped in the air and perched on her shoulder. She smiled at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. Running her hand over her bald head, she felt a prickle of returning hair.