A/N: HEEEY *awkward silence* I'm sorry. I've been busy. This one's for everyone who's been missing some fluff.
Chapter 7. Love
Thunder roared from the sky. The storm constantly shifted from rain to hail, and then back to rain.
Kai couldn't remember getting Jinora inside. He just knew that he did. He had carried her limp form in his arms, and raced up every staircase and down every hallway until he reached her bedroom, where he gently put her down. Then he got pushed aside and hauled out of the bedroom by Opal, who said something about Pema needing to have a look at her.
Kai caught a glimpse of Pema's robes and Ikki's brown hair as they both ran into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind them.
Mindlessly, he fought against Opal's arms. He was about to break out of her grip, when the others came running down the hallway.
Kai gave up his struggle. It was like his heart finally started pumping blood into his head again. Opal relaxed her grip on him and stepped back.
"Where is she?" Tenzin asked.
Opal just pointed at Jinora's door. She was completely out of breath.
Tenzin slipped into Jinora's bedroom.
"Honey, can you hear me!" Pema cried out, just as the door opened. Their voices was muffled once Tenzin shut it behind him.
Kai was sure the temperature of his blood dropped several degrees. His entire body felt cold as ice.
"Hey," Korra said and squeezed Kai's shoulder. He barely felt it. "You did great, Kai."
It was meant to make him feel better, to make him feel like he had done everything he could. Kai didn't feel anything at all.
He couldn't hear much of what the others said next. Asami wanted to plan out a strategy in case the Spirit came back, and Mako wanted to involve the police, so they better could protect the city from the storm. Everyone had something to say, but Kai was just standing there, feeling like he was floating between the floor and the ceiling.
What would he do if she was gone? What would Pema and Tenzin do? And Ikki and Meelo; and little Rohan?
If Jinora was gone, who would help him train? Who would be waiting for him, no matter where he went? Who would he be close to when he felt alone? Who would still need him?
He was sickened by his selfishness. If Jinora died tonight, she would never get the chance to travel all over the world, like she dreamed of. She would never live to see her siblings get their tattoos. She would never get the chance to have her own family. She had so much left to do, and she wouldn't get the chance to even try.
"Kai, are you okay?" Opal said.
"Little bro, you look really pale," Bolin said.
"Oh no. He's falling!" Asami called out.
His body felt heavy, as he fell through the air. Opal, who still stood closest to him, caught him just in time. He felt the cool floor under him, before everything went black.
Someone far away gasped.
"Jinora! Mom, she's waking up! MOM! DAD!"
It was the unmistakable sound of Ikki's voice. Jinora felt like she was hearing her little sister from miles away, yet her high ptiched voice stung like needles in her ears.
"Ikki, shush," Jinora said. Her voice was nothing but a whisper.
"Jinora!" Ikki threw herself over Jinora's body.
Jinora flinched. Every inch of her was numb. A thousand needles started picking all over her skin as Ikki pressed herself against her.
"You're alive!" Meelo cried out from seemingly no where, and flung himself onto the bed. He crawled up against the wall and snuggled against Jinora's shoulder.
Jinora tried to breathe through the pain.
"What happened?" she asked under her breath. "Where am I?"
"You're home," Meelo said.
"Don't you remember? You went out in the storm and nearly got fused with the dark spirit," Ikki said and grabbed Jinora's cheeks. "Are you okay?" she asked, staring deep into her sisters eyes.
Jinora wanted to say yes, but she wasn't. Everything felt wrong. Her skin felt too tight around her. Her eye sight was blurry. She could hear her own heartbeat - and it still beat in the wrong rhythm. Everything was wrong.
But then she noticed the redness in Ikki's eyes and the obvious lines of tears on Meelo's cheeks.
"I'm fine," Jinora said. "Wait, how do you even know about the spirit?"
"Dad and the others kidnapped a crazy old munk that was part of the movement that set it free and they purposely sent it to you because you're the only one who can get it home before it destroys the whole world," Ikki said in one breath. "Oh, yeah, and I was right all along, by the way. How 'bout that?" she grinned weakly, trying to to make the moment feel more normal.
Jinora took a moment to grasp it all. "Someone sent it after me?" she repeated.
"I think it's best we get mom and dad," Ikki said, eyeing Meelo.
"I'll get them! Just stay here," Meelo said and jumped out of the bed.
"No problem," Jinora said, and tried to put on a relaxed face for Ikki's sake.
Kai woke up to a silent, dark room he recognized as his own. For a moment he relaxed, thinking it was just another normal night.
But that was until a lightning lit up his entire floor. He jolted up in bed as the thunder rumbled through the clouds. He pulled the curtains aside and felt his heart beat twice as fast as he realized that what he thought had been a nightmare, was reality; and it was far from over.
He reached out to flip on the lamp on his night stand. The light cast strange shadows across the floor and made him feel even more uneasy.
He wanted to move, to do something but found himself unable. He sat like frozen in his bed, blankets tangled around his legs. What if she was gone by now? Was it better to just stay put and hope for someone to come with good news?
Kai caught sight of himself in the mirror across the room, as lightnings struck over and over again outside. His hair was wilder than ever. His eyes were filled with the the fear he was trying to contain. He looked terrible to say the least.
He jumped at the sound of voices in the hallway.
"He's in his room," he heard Korra's muffled voice say.
Kai braced himself. The tears were already welling up.
The door slid open. Korra held it open for someone.
For Jinora.
She stepped into the room. Korra slid the door shut behind her. No one said anything. Jinora stared at him, and Kai stared at her. It was so quiet between them that Kai could hear Korra's footsteps as she walked down the hallway.
Jinora was dressed in her airsuit. She must've taken a bath, cause last time Kai saw her she was covered in dirt. Now she was clean, smelled like cherries and had even fixed her hair.
Kai stood up clumsily and stumbled in the blankets in the process. He felt light headed.
"You're..." he started, but the words didn't come out. He wanted to rush to her and hug her as tight as he could, but she looked so sad. Her eyes were red, her skin was pale. Her shoulders were slouched forward.
After a moment of silence, she broke the eye contact.
"I'm sorry," she said and fixed her eyes on something on the floor.
Kai couldn't piece it together. Why was she sorry? Why was she sad? She was alright. They were together. Everything was going to be fine.
"Please, say something," she said again, sniffling her nose.
"What?" Kai muttered. It dawned on him that he had yet to say anything at all. "I ca-."
"I didn't know what would happen. I just felt like I had to..." she reached up to cover her lips. Once her shoulders started shaking, it was like something snapped in Kai and finally he could act like a rational human being again.
"It's not your fault," he said and grabbed her with both hands. He pulled her close and held her as tightly as he dared. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on for dear life.
"No one blames you. How could you even think that?" Kai said and kissed her cheek, her temple and the top of her head over and over again.
"I've been so stupid," Jinora said, pressing herself against him. "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't take it seriously."
"I'm just so happy you're okay," Kai said and held her face in his hands. He pulled away ever so slightly to get a proper look at her. "You look exhausted. Are you okay to be out of bed?" he asked.
Jinora blinked away a few tears, but smiled nevertheless.
"I'm fine," she said and swallowed. "Well, almost fine."
"Almost?" Kai repeated, and tilted his head to the side when she tried to break the eye contact again.
"Most of the spirit is already bound to me. None of us knows how to stop it, and... it's not going to stop, Kai. It's going to keep coming after me until I've taken it home," Jinora said.
Kai shook his head.
"We'll find another way," he said.
He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips. He kissed her fingers gingerly and wished that there wasn't an ever growing storm outside that needed to be stopped.
"What's this?" he asked when he spotted the dark, vein like lines on her knuckles. "And are you cold? You're trembling."
Jinora pulled her hand out of his and looked embarrassed.
"It's something to do with the spirit. I don't know why it happens but it was worse an hour ago, so I think it's getting better."
"Does it hurt?" Kai asked.
"No."
"Wierd," Kai said and put his hand back to her cheek.
He stroke her skin gently with his thumb. He felt like he had somehow forgotten how beautiful her eyes were, and how downright gorgeous she had become.
"I love you so much," he blurted out. He blinked afterwards, unsure whether he had actually said it or just thought it. Judging from the look on her face, he guessed it had been quite audible.
"I love you too," she said, almost immediately.
Kai got the feeling this was something she had been waiting for. The sadness washed away form her face, and that very same sweet smile that he had grown to love appeared on her face.
The room felt so much warmer once Kai closed the gap between them. He kissed her gently at first, but the worry and fear that had bottled up inside of him the last days quickly turned into passion. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he let go of her face and slid both hands around her waist. He was swept by the idea that if he just kept holding her like this, nothing, and especially, no spirit, could possibly take her away from him.
Not even when they were both completely out of breath, and their lips started to feel swollen, did they break apart. It was like they both felt the need to make up for all the lost time. Kai only knew that he was desperate to be with her. She was the one who was in life threatening danger, yet he was the one who needed her to feel safe.
"Come here," he breathed between kisses, and led her to the bed. They sat down, almost without taking their lips off of each other.
Kai leaned back on one hand and broke the kiss to trail kisses down her jaw and neck. Her warm breath on his cheek gave him more confidence, and he reached up to pull the collar of her airsuit down, so he could fit more kisses onto her skin. Meanwhile, he was planning how to get the entire garment off of her.
However, his fantasies would simply have to remain fantasies for now.
"I've missed you so much," Jinora forced the words out, still out of breath. "But we can't do this now."
Kai froze with his lips still on her skin. The lust sunk like a rock in his stomach. With the utmost self control he managed to pull away from her to meet her apologetic eyes.
"Right. The storm," Kai said and looked down. He felt ridiculous.
"It's just that I'm not... I'm not okay. I don't feel like myself," Jinora said, looking down at her lap. "I just want the first time to be -"
"I get it," Kai cut her off and kissed her cheek. "We'll celebrate when all this is over."
"That sounds nice," Jinora said. But the sad look from before was back in her eyes.
Kai wrapped his arm around her shoulders and nuzzled her hair, wishing there was a way to make her feel better.
"What time is it?" He asked suddenly.
Jinora laughed under her breath. "It's seven in the evening. And, yes, you've missed dinner."
"Oh, no!" Kai exclaimed and couldn't help but laugh at such a minor problem.
A/N: Already mapping out the next chapter. I think there's only gonna be two or three more, so shit's gonna hit the fan next time. I really hope this wasn't too bad, and I hope you guys are still with me! I love you so much! Peace xxx
