Inspired by: Bainku's story, By Lamplight
The thunder wakes her.
She can feel it's vibrations through the floorboards as she slips out of bed and goes to stand at her window. The sky is black, the rain lashing at the ground so hard that she can feel it striking the earth as well, she can feel the sharp particles of water, each individual one as it strikes the soil. It is the benefit of being both a waterbender, and an earthbender, but mostly, it gives her a headache.
Naga is anxious about the storm; she is whining and pawing at the ground, her dark eyes worried. Korra soothes her with a few pets. "It's alright, Naga. It's just a thunderstorm."
Her best friend flicks her ears, as though she's not convinced, and rests her head back on her paws with a sigh.
The energy she feels from the pounding rain makes her to restless to stand still. She finds herself wandering, walking as quietly as she can so she doesn't disturb the rest of the house.
She ends up standing at the door, staring out into the storm. The lightening splits the sky, it's electricity and fire making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Or maybe she's just scared.
"Korra?"
She can't help the small shriek that leaves her lips as she spins around, defensive, halting the rain around her into sharp particles of deadly ice.
But it is only Jinora. She looks so young and small standing there in her nightclothes, younger than she usually looks next to her sister and brother.
Letting out a breath, Korra released the ice and let it fall to the ground, shattering across the floor between them. "Jinora, what's wrong? did I wake you?" She does her best to sound gentle, but the young airbender and her have never been able to really connect. Jinora is nice, but she also has the tendencies to follow Korra around, and the fact that she is so much more skilled at airbending than Korra does make Korra a little annoyed, no matter how justifiable it is.
Jinora shook her head. "No. The storm did."
"Are you scared?" Korra takes a step closer to the young girl, but hesitates. Maybe Jinora doesn't want to be comforted.
"No...but mother and father are asleep, and they don't like to be woken up." There is a slight tremor in her voice that deny's her statement of not being afraid, but Korra allows that, and let's the statement pass unchallenged.
"Did you want to ask me something?"
Lightening strikes again, illuminating the corridor, and Jinora's small face, highlighting the shadows across her cheekbones, making her appear older.
"I just didn't want to be alone." The young Airbender moves closer to Korra, bridging the akward gap between them. "Nights like this make me think of grandfather."
A chill runs down Korra's spine at the mention of Aang, although she doesn't know why. "W-why?"
Jinora shrugs. "Father always tells us the stories about how Aang was caught in a thunderstorm, thinking he failed the world because everyone thought he was dead. He could have drowned. And sometimes...when there's a storm, I wonder how scared he must have been. Father always said he was very brave, but he was only a little older than me. I would have been scared."
So would I. Korra sighs, and looks out over the churning waters of the lake, the dark thunderheads, the lashing rain. "He sounds like he was a wonderful person." Aang, I wish I could talk to you...I could really use some help right now. I don't know what to do, and I know you would. You would know what to do about Amon. About everything.
"I wish I knew him..." Jinora's voice is a soft whisper, but there is such sadness in her tone that Korra turns and takes her hand.
"You do," She says.
