A/N: Awkward adolescent Kainora will never not be my favorite thing. :P


On his thirteenth birthday, Kai gets a skateboard.

Of course, the first thing he does is practice with it, because there's nothing smoother than coasting to a stop in front of someone and saying, "'Sup?" nonchalantly while simultaneously flipping said skateboard up into one's hands.

But the stopping part turns out to be a lot harder than he'd anticipated, and so, an hour later, Jinora bikes into view just as Kai stumbles off his skateboard for the fiftieth time.

"Nice wheels," grins Jinora, leaning on her bike, one foot planted on the ground. She unbuckles her helmet, shaking out her hair, which has started growing past its usual chin length.

"I can't believe you still wear a helmet," says Kai, planting a foot on his skateboard as he gets ready to try again.

"Safety first," counters Jinora, sticking out her tongue. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Did you get me a present?" Kai wiggles his eyebrows.

Jinora rolls her eyes. "It's in the garage. You can get it at dinner. Is this what Mako and Bolin got you?"

"Yup," answers Kai, picking up the board and presenting it proudly. Jinora flips the kickstand of her bike down and walks toward him, admiring his present. She reaches out with a finger to spin the wheels, which have already become gritty with use.

"Can I try?"

"Sure. It's kinda challenging though, a lot harder than I thought it would be—" Kai trails off, eyes bugging out as Jinora pushes off as soon as he sets his skateboard on the ground. Laughing, she throws her arms out and her head back, coasting breezily as if it's the easiest thing in the world. She even bends her knees and manages to change direction, curving back toward him, eyes sparkling.

Part of Kai knows he's being immature about the whole thing. But the other part of him can't help screaming that it's totally unfair that his best friend can just hop on his birthday present and freaking…glide.

"You know what?" he mumbles as Jinora stops in front of him. "Forget I said anything."

Jinora laughs, returning his board. "All right, your turn. Show me what you got."

And because Kai's pride is still smarting, he gets on the board.

It goes well, for the ten seconds it lasts. Spurred by some reckless need to prove himself, he pushes off as hard as he can, wobbling as he brings his right foot behind his left. Miraculously, he doesn't fall, leading him to whoop loudly as he rejoices.

That whoop quickly becomes a strangled yelp as he realizes the end of their cul-de-sac is approaching, and he has no idea how to turn. The smart thing to do would be to just abandon ship, but Kai has a habit of not choosing the smart option.

Trying to recall how Jinora did it, he angles his body, hoping he can redirect his momentum into a sharp turn. Instead, the jerky movement throws off his balance—the board skids out from him, still going straight, while he tumbles backwards—

—and is caught. By Jinora. Of course.

Shakily, Kai straightens. "Holy crap."

"You could've cracked your head open!" scolds Jinora, eyes worried. Kai shrugs her off, bending to dust off his jeans.

"Ha, me? I'm too tough for that," he teases as he goes to retrieve his skateboard.

"You should wear a helmet."

"Oh my god, Jin," groans Kai, "don't start on that. Please."

"I'm serious!"

"Yeah, well. You're not going to bully me into it that easily," he says, setting up his skateboard again. "All right, here we go. Next try."

Jinora stares at him levelly, arms folded across her chest. "I don't care if you're the birthday boy. You're being stupid."

"Hey, that's hurtful," frowns Kai. Then, when she doesn't let up, he exhales heavily. "Okay, you know what? Fine. Let's make a deal. You help me learn how to master this or whatever, so you don't have to worry about me cracking my head open, and I don't have to wear a helmet."

His proposal seems somewhat more palatable to Jinora, because she unfolds her arms and walks toward him. "Get on the board," she instructs. "And hold my hands."

"Okay—wait, what?"

"Kai."

"All right, all right, Master Jinora."

Jinora snorts, her palms outstretched, waiting. Hesitantly, Kai places his hands over hers. Her grip is soft, reassuring; Kai swallows, suddenly self-conscious about his callused palms, the rough pads of his fingers.

"Now shift your weight more to the right," coaches Jinora, tugging him along. Her fingers tighten around his, and Kai reminds himself to breathe. Jinora's attention is focused on his feet, and his attention really should be, too, except he can't remember the last time their faces were this close and the skateboard gives him enough of a height advantage that if he wanted to, he could just lean down and—

—Holy crap, Kai thinks again, panicking, because a strange prickle has started to crawl up his body and this is weird. Really, really weird.

As if attuned to his thoughts, Jinora lets go, and Kai finds himself coasting on his own. The sudden loss of Jinora's touch unbalances him, but Kai manages to come to a stop more gracefully this time, hopping smoothly off his board.

"That was good!" says Jinora, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah?" grins Kai.

"Yeah."

"Do you think—er," coughs Kai, "we could…try that again? I don't think I've completely got it yet."

Jinora's brown eyes blink at him, and maybe he's imagining it, but he swears that her cheeks get the tiniest bit pink when she bites her lip. "Um, okay."

Once again, Jinora reaches out to grip Kai's fingers as he boards his skateboard. Kai turns his head to keep his gaze on where he's heading, rather than the girl in front of him, but he can't resist peeking out of the corner of his eye from time to time. He struggles to hide the stupid grin growing on his face.

Maybe it's a little embarrassing that he's getting skateboarding lessons from the self-proclaimed bookworm that is his best friend.

Or maybe it's the best thing that's happened to him all day.