Chapter Eight: One Short Day
"The Wizard…asked for me, personally?"
Madame Hou-Ting had asked Jinora into her private office after their seminar, saying that she had good news. Never in her wildest dreams had Jinora thought it would be something as big as an official invitation from the Wizard, embossed with his seal. She could barely contain her excitement, and couldn't help but bounce on the balls of her feet.
"I know how devastated you were when I had to release Dr. Laghima a few months ago, but as I always say, where one door closes, another opens!"
Jinora stared at the invitation with a mix of disbelief and delight.
"I…I don't know what to say!" She looked up at the headmistress, ecstasy easing her grudge against her for firing her favourite professor. "Madame, how could I ever thank you?" Unable to contain herself, she wrapped the woman in an overjoyed hug.
To her surprise, Madame Hou-Ting eagerly hugged her back. "You can make me proud, Miss Thropp."
Jinora pulled away from the hug and looked at Madame Hou-Ting with a determined smile. "I will."
i think we've found the place where we belong
The week passed in the blink of an eye, and before she could stop to notice it, Jinora found herself waiting at the train station to depart for Emerald City, holding onto the hem of her hat with one hand. She hoped Kai would make it in time to say goodbye. Things had been a little weird between them the past month, but Jinora had figured the best way to deal with her newfound feelings for him would be to ignore them. And so far, it had worked. They had laughed and joked and carried on as they always had, for the most part. Sometimes, she caught herself staring, and it was even more embarrassing when he caught her staring, but they were still best friends. Nothing, and somehow everything, had changed all at once.
As amazing as the Emerald City would be, Jinora knew she'd miss Kai dearly. They had been apart a week or so over winter break, which had been brutal, but the letters they'd exchanged had made her bearable. Jinora was sure Kai would have tried to visit, as his parents were pretty busy, even around the holidays, if he wasn't so scared of her father, Tenzin. The old man had a nasty glare for any boys that came near his daughters, and Jinora wondered what Tenzin had thought was happening between her and Kai, because there was absolutely nothing, she thought sadly. They were best friends, nothing more.
The train would be arriving in another ten or so minutes, Jinora noted, checking her watch, when a voice rang out, "Sorry for being late, Jin!"
A grin spread across her face as Kai nearly ran into her. He stopped a few inches short and she couldn't help the way her eyes flicked up to his lips and then away again as he took a step back, the young man slightly out of breath.
"You wouldn't believe the traffic," Kai gave her an apologetic smile. "But I wanted to make sure I came to say goodbye. You'll have an amazing time, future magic grand vizier."
"Kai," she chuckled, "We don't know that for sure."
"Well I do," Kai insisted. "Make sure to write me a letter every day, okay?" A more serious look came across his face. "I'm gonna miss you," he rubbed the back of his neck, flushing.
Jinora's heart fluttered and she beamed back at him. "I'm going to miss you too…" she trailed off when an idea struck her. "Hey Kai, come with me to the Emerald City." She took his hands in her own, giving them an excited squeeze.
Kai's face lit up. "I've always wanted to see the Emerald City," he admitted. "You know what, why not? I'll make a call to Shiz once we're there. Besides, what better way to explore the city than with my best friend?" He wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug, and it took a few moments for Jinora to reciprocate. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure he could hear it.
"We'll have to go shopping once we're there," Kai said, pulling away. Jinora felt a pang of disappointment when he let go of her. "I'll get new clothes and a toothbrush and stuff. And you'll need a dress for your meeting with the Wizard."
"Kai, you don't have to-"
"You're forgetting three important things, Jin. One: I'm filthy rich. And two: you're my friend and I want to. And three: consider this another birthday present."
Jinora, feeling particularly emboldened by the joy that seemed to lifting her up, raised her head and pecked Kai on the cheek. It was only a for a few seconds, but her lips still tingled once she pulled away. Kai was blushing furiously, but Jinora didn't see, turning at the sound of a shrill, high-pitched whistle to watch the train roll in. Part of her didn't want to see his reaction, but part of her longed to turn around and see. However, Kai managed to keep his goofy smile to a minimum, even if he was sure he wasn't going to be able to stop smiling for at least the next ten hours.
He grabbed Jinora's hand to help her onto the train with her luggage, mingling along with other passengers. Some of them stared at Jinora's green skin, and met Kai's glower in response. His glare faded once Jinora tugged him into a seat.
"I'm so excited," she said, almost glowing with happiness. "I've dreaming of this ever since I came to Shiz, ever since I was born, really… I'm going to meet the Wizard!"
Kai grinned, thinking how much he wanted to capture this moment in a bottle. Her joy was contagious, and the way she seemed to glow reminded him of springtime. After this one short day of enjoyment, she would see the Wizard, and Kai knew that if he was as smart and wonderful as everyone said he was, the Wizard would take her on immediately. Soon, Jinora would take off and soar.
And Kai couldn't help but feel grateful that he'd be there to see it.
for today, we'll wander and enjoy
The Ozmopolitan Dress Emporium was the biggest dress salon either of them had seen, walls lined with brightly coloured gowns for every occasion. There were even shelves of ornate accessories scattered across the room, and an entire second floor bursting with even more choices.
Jinora immediately turned to Kai, breathless and overwhelmed. "I clash with at least 95% of thisstore. I seriously don't need a new dress."
"No offense, Jin, but your wardrobe doesn't exactly have anything that's appropriate for a meeting with the Wizard," Kai gave her an encouraging smile. "We can start off with black, okay, and work our way from there."
Jinora rolled her eyes, but had long stopped suppressing smiles around Kai. "Fine," she said, following him through the rows of gowns.
there are wonders like i've never seen
After nearly an hour scouring the emporium for the right dresses, there were only two they found that Jinora liked ("That looks more like a burnt cake than a dress," Jinora had said to the rest of Kai's suggestions). When Jinora tried on the first, she decided that the material was a little too thin and the hem a little too long, so Kai was left waiting outside the changing room, holding onto the rejected dress till an assistant came over to put it away for him.
Then, Jinora stepped out in the second dress, and Kai's heart leapt into his throat.
She'd been hesitant about trying it on at first, as the beaded embroidery was more extravagant than she was used to, but after passing it about five times, she finally decided to try it on "just for fun," and anyway, she liked the high lace neckline.
And Kai was glad she did. Glimmering in black from neck to toe, she somehow looked more regal. It was like someone had taken the sparkle in her eyes and sewn it into a dress.
It hit him all at once how beautiful she was - glittering black on soft apple green, with her brown eyes warm, kind, and brave - and felt like he'd jammed his foot even harder into the proverbial door.
"I knew it, it's too much," Jinora sighed, beginning to turn back into the changing room.
"No! Wait!" Kai yelled a little too loudly, surprising himself, Jinora, and everyone within the vicinity. "I mean - " Kai sputtered, embarrassed, " - it's fine. Really. It's great."
Jinora raised an eyebrow at him. "But you were staring," she said, a darker green dusting her cheeks.
"I was?" He mentally slapped himself on the forehead. "I mean, yeah, I guess I was, I mean…" He laughed at himself. Who knew he'd be tongue-tied over the green girl he'd made fun of just months before?
"Are you laughing at me?" Jinora asked, crossing her arms.
"No! I'm laughing at me. I mean - " he shook his head at himself, and took both of Jinora's hands into his own. "You look beautiful. It's perfect."
Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of emerald, and she slipped one of her hands out of his to tuck a loose strand of hair back. Still, she smiled at him gratefully, and he was glad when she didn't turn her gaze away from his. "Thank you," she said softly, "for everything."
It would have been so easy to lean down and kiss her, he realized. And he seriously considered it, watching the light in her eyes tremble ever so slightly. For a moment, it almost looked like she might feel what he felt for her, even just a little. Enough to maybe want him, too.
But then he remembered that they were in a dress shop in Emerald City, and there were people around them, and she was his best friend who was destined for much greater than he ever would be, and the Wizard's future grand vizier deserved so much better than him.
So when she freed her other hand from his and broke their gaze, he didn't stop her. And when they left the building, joking as they normally did, it was almost as if that single moment in the dress shop had never happened. Part of him wanted to test the waters, to see if that look in her eyes wasn't just a flicker of his own wishful thinking. But seeing the hopeful look in her face as she surveyed the city, and the way she smiled up at him with such peace and bliss, reminded him over and over that this day was bigger than him.
She would be extraordinary. She was already extraordinary. And he would always just be…Kai. What would a girl like her see in someone like him?
He wasn't sure if anything hurt more than this silent, hopeless yearning.
we're just two friends, two good friends, two best friends
The Emerald City Library was more than Jinora had ever dared to hope for. Books were stacked from floor to ceiling, each different sizes. Some were new, and some were old, and all were stacked upon beautiful oak shelves. A spiral staircase of marble connected each floor, and each floor was carpeted with a deep grassy green. Lime green cushions and chairs were scattered across each level.
"I could spend forever in here," Jinora breathed, enchanted by her surroundings. She walked over to the closest book case and trailed her fingers along the spines, pulling out a thick volume. She turned around to show the cover to Kai. "Look, they even have The Sky Dancershere!"
"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Kai asked, eyes gleaming with amusement. He had never seen Jinora so happy. And despite his romantic failings, Kai could never remember being happier either. Jinora's joy was infectious, and Kai figured as long as she was happy, he would be too.
"Where would I even begin?" she said in a hushed, excited voice. "I could probably find the last book of that one series I was obsessed with when I was ten, or hunt down some poetry collections that my father's so fond of - wait," she said, immediately turning to Kai. "Was there any book you liked growing up?"
"I already told you, I was never a big reader," Kai said.
Jinora placed a hand on her hip. "Come on. There has to be some book you can remember. Even if it was just read to you as a child?"
Kai looked around for a moment, then back to Jinora. "There was a book my mom loved reading to me as a kid. It was called The Red String. From what I remember, it was about this pair of lovers that were somehow always torn apart, but their shared fate and strong connection always kept them coming back together." He laughed half-heartedly and rubbed the back of his his neck, flushing ever so slightly. "It probably sounds really cheesy, but my mom loved it a lot."
"No," Jinora said quickly, "it sounds beautiful." Beckoning him to follow her, they both scoured each floor thoroughly, sometimes with Jinora getting distracted by another book before moving on, until they finally found an old, well-worn copy on the fourth floor. She ran her fingers over the brittle old spine. The cover was red, with a black silhouette of two people with their backs to each other, yet their hands were still linked, a thin red string binding their fingers together.
She turned to Kai and handed the book to him, only for Kai to hand it back. "Read to me?" he requested.
Jinora gave him a tiny smile and opened the book. "It is said," she read aloud, "that a string of red fate connects us to our soulmate, and while the string can become tangled or knotted, it can never break. It may connect us to our best friend, or the person we find the least likely to ever be remotely important to us. But you cannot deny fate, no more than you can deny love."
As she spoke more of the story came rushing back to him - reincarnation and unfortunate circumstances, second, third, fourth chances. It wasn't exactly a happy book, but Kai found it more enjoyable than when he was a child. The way the man in the story felt about his beloved, well… Kai found himself comparing it to the way he felt about Jinora, and more than a few things matched.
And as she read, Jinora couldn't stop her thoughts from wandering, from imagining Kai and herself in place of the protagonists, and that pesky ache in her chest throbbed once more. Yet a part of her had to wonder about the moment in the dress shop - surely it had been more than just her imagination? And it hadn't even stopped there. Every time she glanced back to him between paragraphs, she caught him looking at her so wistfully, reddening a bit every time she caught him, but never looking away. And The Red String made her wonder if they could be like the characters in the book. After all, they'd both gone from insignificant parts of one another's lives to easily one of the most important, and just like the characters, societal conventions did make the idea of them rather complicated. Granted, the woman in the story was beautiful and powerful, and she was…well, green, but did that really have to get in her way? It wasn't wrong to say that they had a connection. After all, even the most heated of prejudices hadn't stopped them from forming a close friendship, and each step they took together felt like that bond was just growing stronger. Maybe there was an invisible red string connecting them, too.
Then she thought back to every time someone avoided her, or whispered cruel words about her, and she was brought back to reality.
Wishful thinking doesn't suit me, she thought to herself as she read aloud, and I suppose there's a reason that red clashes with green.
Still, she couldn't stop herself from hoping that maybe, once she had been accepted by the Wizard, and her dreams of being his partner had been realized, things could be different for her and Kai.
They stayed seated by the book's shelf until Jinora glanced at the clock on the wall. "We're going to be late!" she exclaimed, eyes widening with panic. Of course on the one day when punctuality mattered more than anything, she would be late.
"We can finish the book some other time, then," Kai said as they rushed towards the exit, Jinora giving him a quick nod.
They sprinted down the street, Jinora holding onto the hem of her black hat to make sure it didn't fly away. They made it onto the train just in time, the doors shutting as soon as the last of Jinora's dress made it through.
"Thank goodness," Jinora panted, staggering as the train started to move. Kai steadied her, placing a hand on her arms, and then quickly removed them. "I can't believe it…" Jinora said faintly, once they had gotten their seats. It had taken them at least fifteen minutes to find some, as the train was very crowded, and Jinora wondered if any on the people were going to see the Wizard. She was going to see the Wizard. She anxiously drummed her fingers on the rim of her hat, which was lying on her lap. "We're going to meet the Wizard. I'm going to meet the Wizard."
Kai grinned at her, and grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. "You are. And you're going to be fine." He took her hat and put it on her head.
"Thank you, Kai," she said gratefully, giving his hand a squeeze. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "For everything." She smiled nervously at him, as a heavy blush spread over his cheeks, and Kai beamed back at her.
Maybe she truly wasn't imagining it at all. Her heart seemed to soar, and for a moment Jinora felt like she was flying away from all the sadness she had ever experienced - her life was going to change for the better, and she had Kai from her side.
Absolutely nothing could ever spoil this day for her.
