READ THIS: Wow. Super long chapter. I shall now post a very long Author's Note to go along with it. First things first, you might want to read my story 'Of Circus Tricks and Courageous Acts' before this chapter, or else you might be sort of confused since I mention their meeting and the events in that story. Also, there's a whole other chapter that could stand to be written between this one and the last one where the bloodbending brothers try to get information out of Rohan, but I couldn't make myself write it. I'm not that cruel, even if I did kill all the other airbenders. Also, for those who are wondering, Rohan escaped also and was taken in by a family of nonbenders, who kept him hidden away so he wouldn't be killed. The family wasn't a part of the rebellion, which was why Jinora didn't know he was still alive. Also, Jinora mentions that she was there when Skoochy showed up, even though it said in the last chapter that he was supposed to be there already, but he, Iroh II, and Tahno were delayed, so they didn't get there until Jinora was just about to cave in and tell Amon and Tarrlok everything to make them stop hurting Rohan. All right, go ahead and read the chapter now. I own nothing.

"Hey, Skoochy!" Jinora called, and he kept walking. She jogged after him, weaving through the crowds of people in the square. "Skoochy!"

He didn't hear her, and she rolled her eyes. "SKOOCHY!"

He finally turned, his eyes searching the crowd for her. She noticed the obvious relief on his face when he finally spotted her and began shoving through the people to reach her. For her part, she ducked and weaved through the people until they were facing each other.

"Hey," he said with a small smile, the one he reserved just for her. She beamed back at him.

"Hi."

He took her hands in his, having to stoop down slightly to do so; he was more than a head taller than her.

"So," he said, grinning.

"So," she replied.

Before she had time to think, Skoochy swept her up into his arms so that her feet left the ground and held her close. She buried her face against his neck and breathed in the smell of him, smiling like the fool she was.

He set her down a moment later, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "Let's find a place to sit."

"Okay," she said, slightly breathless, and, still holding hands, they wove through the crowd until they made their way to a bench.

"Recognize the spot?" Skoochy asked, grinning, and she nodded, smiling reminiscently.

"Oh, yes. This is where we met. Korra ditched me."

"Eight and a half years ago," Skoochy said fondly. "You remember that?"

"Which part? Getting lost? Sneaking into the circus? You saving my life?"

"I was thinking more about how I thought you were cute," he said with a grin, and she couldn't help but blush.

"I remember thinking that you were handsome," she said, smiling up at him as she rested her head on his shoulder. "If I remember correctly, I wrote something in my journal about liking bad boys."

Skoochy scoffed, feigning indignation. "Bad boy? Bad boy? Who's a bad boy? Not me, surely."

"'Course note. You're an angel," Jinora said solemnly, allowing her eyes to drift halfway shut and letting the noise of the laughing, shouting crowd wash over her, a small smile playing about her lips.

"No, just the Avatar. I do happen to be closely acquainted with an angel, though."

She grinned. "Short, sweet, and sappy. I like it."

"Kinda like you."

"I'm not sappy!" Jinora said, pulling away slightly and mock-frowning at him. He grinned infuriatingly back at her.

"Yeah, but you're short and sweet and I like you. Three out of four ain't bad."

She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder once more, closing her eyes. He smiled down at her.

"How's Rohan?" he asked after several moments, and she frowned.

"He's sleeping. Kippy looked after the bruises and cuts, but his wrist is going to take a while to heal up..." She made a hissing noise, unable to express her anger any other way. "It figures, doesn't it, that the day I found out he's still alive is the same day that Amon and Tarrlok decide to torture him for information he doesn't even have..."

Skoochy placed a finger under her chin and gently lifted her face up so that she met his eyes.

"You didn't escape entirely unscathed either, you know," he said gently, examining her black eye and the numerous small cuts covering her face. Jinora waved his concerns away impatiently.

"Of course I didn't; who did? But I knew what I was getting into when I came with you. Rohan, on the other hand..." She shivered as the memory of her brother's screams filled her mind. "He's only eight. He didn't know anything. They knewhe didn't know anything. So what was the point?"

"They knew that nothing they did to you would make you tell them anything," Skoochy said, his voice full of pride in her silence and pain at what she had gone through at the bloodbenders' hands. "So they knew that if they hurt your brother you'd have to tell them something."

"Thanks for showing up when you did," Jinora said quietly. "I don't think I could have listened to him scream for another second before I told them everything."

"Hey," Skoochy said softly, wrapping his arm around shoulders. "It's okay now. They're gone, you can go back to the island with Rohan, and we'll all be fine."

"I won't see you very often, will I?" Jinora asked glumly, and Skoochy wondered if she was determined to be depressed.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll have to stay here to take care of things in the city, since I'm the only airbender old enough and I'll have to be on the Council, and you'll have to travel all over the world to do your Avatar duties... So we won't see each other very often."

"Oh, yeah," Skoochy said, frowning. "That could be a problem... You could always marry me."

"Do what?" Jinora shrieked, jerking away and staring at him with wide eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her outburst.

"Marry me," he said simply. "You know, be joined in holy matrimony? That thing? Husband, wife, the pitter patter of little feet... Or the sound of rushing wind or whatever, if they're airbenders. Come on, you know you want to," he said with a devilish grin. Jinora was flabbergasted.

"Get married? But we've only... known each other..."

"For eight and a half years. I think that's long enough."

"But we've only been dating for six months!"

"But then you add those eight years where we were just friends. I think we got to know each other pretty well."

"I'm eighteen!"

"And I'm twenty."

"Don't you think we're kind of... young?" Jinora asked desperately, not entirely sure why she was protesting so much.

"Not at all," he said with an unconcerned shrug. "We're both legal age. You've been old enough to get married for two years."

"Well, yes, but... What about Rohan?"

"What about him? He can live with us. I don't have a problem with that. You would have been living with him anyways."

"But what if he's not happy with it?"

"Kid, not to brag or anything, but your brother adores me."

"But I just got him back," Jinora said in a small voice. "I want some time with him."

Skoochy didn't have a ready retort for that, and he cocked his head to the side as he examined her for a few seconds.

"All right then," he said finally. "So we'll wait a little while. Whenever you're ready."

"Thanks," she said, a relieved smile spreading across her face as, once again, she leaned her head against his shoulder, watching all the people celebrating.

"After all," Skoochy murmured, resting his head on top of hers, "we've got time."