So this is the epilogue which is officially, finally conclude this story! I hope it ties up the knots about Kai and Jinora season 4 didn't quite do. With that, onto the epilogue!
Jinora sat at one of the hundreds of silk-linen dining tables at Varrick and Zhu Lee's wedding. On the dance floor, she could see Ikki trying to persuade an always-reluctant Huang to dance and Prince Wu busting his moves in an attempt to impress by-standing ladies. She chuckled at the inauspicious attempt; however, her thoughts weren't preoccupied by that.
Jinora rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. It all seemed to fly by so fast. Only a couple months ago, everyone (minus the Beifongs) were so sure that Kuvira would be the Earth Kingdom's savior; then, only a couple weeks ago, the world labeled her as a dangerous dictator; then, only a couple hours ago, Korra had led the fallen metal-bender out of the newly-formed spirit portal and into the handcuffs of Chief Lin Beifong; now, everyone seemed to have all but forgotten about that and rather was caught up in the party. As Jinora relived the turbulent events in her mind, her thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She opened one eye to find what any girlfriend would've deemed a pleasant surprise.
"Kai!" Jinora exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the young man.
He hugged her back and took a seat next to her. They hadn't seen each other since Kuvira's invasion of Republic City, and before that, they'd hardly spent anytime together due to divided duties. Despite this, their one-year-long relationship still held strong, and the two savored their moment of togetherness (in which the world wasn't on the brink of collapse) for the first time in what seemed like forever. The two grinned at each other before Kai's expression seemed to dim a bit into one of concern.
"Are you okay? I heard you got knocked unconscious earlier." Kai asked.
"I'm fine. What about you? I heard you got blasted by the spirit vine cannon and crashed onto a building." Jinora replied.
"I'm okay. But to be clear, it was Ryu that flew too close to the cannon and got blasted. He knocked me out of the sky. You know, I'm not sure whether to be happy you care or offended that you'd think I would make such a Ryu type of mistake." Kai joked.
Jinora chuckled before punching him playfully in the shoulder. Good thing he's still got his sense of humor, Jinora thought to herself. Kai flashed a slight grin that disappeared as quickly as it came. Jinora, who could read Kai like a book, could tell there was something in this chapter he had a hard time comprehending.
"What's wrong?" Jinora asked supportively.
"Opal told me Kuvira was an orphan. Did you know about that?" Kai asked.
"No," Jinora responded as she realized Kai was reflecting on his own past, "not until just now."
"Figures. I guess that's not something the Beifongs or her like to talk about, huh?" Kai speculated.
"Probably…You thinking about your past? About…Chou?" Jinora asked, shivering at the sound of the name no one had mentioned in over a year.
"Yeah, it's a little hard not to since Kuvira, who's been like the biggest thing in the news, was one too…Korra told me that's why she did what she did: she never got over her past—her one weakness—and then tried to take her built-up anger out on everyone else. Kinda reminds me of somebody I used to know." Kai explained.
"Yeah, I get what ya mean," Jinora responded quietly.
"I wonder if I could've turned into her. We were both kicked to the streets and were both taken in by awesome families. But she tried to wreck the world, maybe unintentionally." Kai pondered out loud.
"But the important thing is that you won't. Because you've faced your past and moved forward. You've turned over a new leaf." Jinora reassured him.
"Don't worry, I know that…Maybe Kuvira can do the same thing. After all, she did apologize. Maybe it's not too late for her; maybe she hasn't turned into a real monster, into a Chou." Kai replied in a hopeful tone.
Jinora smiled. She was proud in the progress Kai had made, proud in his newfound maturity, and proud in his optimism which was so vital in a world constantly being pushed to the brink of collapse. They'd been through much together over the years, and they'd grown much together and because of each other's influence. There was no doubt there would be more turmoil to come and more growing to do. However, after months of constant stress and nonstop master duties, Jinora was ready to take a brief break, even if it was going to be for a couple hours. After all, everyone needs balance.
With that thought in mind, Jinora pushed herself from the dining table and stood up. She held out her hand, much to Kai's confusion.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Kai asked.
"Asking you to dance. Come one, before the next world catastrophe strikes, I wanna spend some quality time with my amazing boyfriend. Now, let's go!" Jinora urged.
Kai raised his eyebrows and smiled, gladly accepting the offer. He placed his hand into hers, stood up, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
With that, the two made off to the dance floor, happy that unlike most long-term, long-distance relationships, their's was "doing just fine."
The End. Woo! The "doing just fine" is a reference to episode 1 of season 4, in case that wasn't clear. Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this story and all its complex themes, complex characters, character development, and KAINORRA FLUFF. The follows, favorites, and reviews have really been encouraging, especially since it's my first fanfic. So I wanna thank everyone who's done so along with anyone who's just read this story. Idk if I'll do anything else with LOK specifically, but I'll probably write more stories (for various shows/movies) in the future. So, please lemme know your thoughts about this story. And until next time, peace!