If you're confused on some of the names, it might be worth going back to chapter 18 for reference.

It was a strange feeling, she had to admit. Jinora was now done with high school. Today had been her very last final exam, meaning that when she would walk out of here, she'd do so for the last time as a student. Probably the only time she'd be coming back here was for the graduation itself.

And even though Jinora did feel like she was kind of done with this place and that it was time for her to move on, there were also a lot of things she liked here. The most obvious one was currently banging his head against the locker next to her. "This is so unfair," Kai sighed. "Why are you already done with exams but I still have one left?"

"Because I didn't choose French to hit on girls." There was a slight chastising undertone to the way she said, which Kai rolled his eyes at.

-"Come on, I haven't done that since we got together."

Jinora smiled. "That's a pretty weak defense. You've got three years of karma still catching up with you."

-"Worst part is that I'm going to blow that exam so hard, so why even bother?"

"Because you still need to keep up your average. You know it's not brilliant to start with, so you don't need to fail your final exam completely."

Kai banged his head on the locker again. "I know, I know. Shit, why are you always right?"

"You knew that when you started dating me," Jinora smirked, which earned her a well-deserved 'are you kidding me'-look from her boyfriend. "Alright, I'll make it up to you: you go home now and study for your final exam, and then when you're done as well, I'll take you out to dinner. Don't think we've ever really done that."

Kai smiled. "No, that was out first date, remember? Where I bought you dinner in exchange for your painkillers."

Jinora was less than impressed. "Does that count as a date? We didn't really agree to start until after that."

-"Close enough for me. Say, want to go across the street and get a cup of coffee? Could do with some."

She threw him an annoyed look. "Study, and then we'll talk about coffee."

-"Ugghh, fine," Kai groaned.

Jinora wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a long but soft kiss on his lips. "And that's the last one you'll get until tomorrow," she smirked and promptly backed away from him.

Kai was not pleased. "Oh come on, this is blackmail!"

"Definitely is. Good luck!"

Jinora was actually a little nervous for tonight. It wasn't so much that she called in a favor with Asami to have her pull some strings at the rather fancy restaurant for their reservation, that was manageable. Jinora had put on a nice green summer dress with polka dots, fancy without being stiff, and now she was about to go pick up Kai.

But the real reason she was nervous was because this really was going to be their first time going out to a proper dinner together, even if Kai was right, that burger thing did kind of count. But for real this time.

She pulled up outside of apartment building in her mother's car, she thought her father's was far too big for the two of them anyway, and texted Kai she was there.

Jinora: Waiting outside

Kai: Want to come inside? Nearly done

This struck Jinora as somewhat strange, because Kai was still reluctant at having her in his house, mostly because of his foster parents. Still, if this was a sign he was getting more comfortable with that, she'd take it. Either that, or there was something else going on.

Someone buzzed her through, and the hallway was as loud as ever, which was to be expected in a building like this. She knocked on the door and a girl who Jinora would estimate to be about nine opened up. "Yes?"

"Umm, hi... I'm here to pick up Kai?"

-"Oh, you're Jinora!" the girl excitedly exclaimed. She threw the door all the way open and pulled Jinora in by her hand. "You know, Kai was right, you are pretty."

She was a little bit flattered by this, but the girl's excitement did worry her a little bit. If she'd be received with the same enthusiasm Shila had shown her last time, it wouldn't go well.

-"Jian!" someone called out. A girl about her own age came walking out of the kitchen. "Oh, wait, are you Kai's girlfriend?"

"I am," Jinora said, finally looking around. The strong smell of smoke was still everywhere, as was the worn furniture and yellowed wallpaper. Neron was in front of the TV with another boy, this one about 14, she'd estimate, and all four of them looked quite surprisingly good.

-"Hey, babe," she suddenly heard Kai say, drawing her full attention. He was wearing his white button-up again, and had his suit jacket loosely slung over his shoulder, giving him the perfectly confident smart casual look. "You look beautiful," he said when he was a little closer, and pressed a quick kiss on her lips.

-"Blegh, get a room," Jian said, and walked off to join her brothers in front of the TV.

Kai chuckled. "We won't be long. Want me to run you down with everyone?"

"Would be nice to have names with all the faces," Jinora admitted.

-"Right, well, you already know Neron, that's Jian, and Shen," he said, pointing to third boy in the room, who gave Jinora a disinterested wave. "That's Kayla, and... Jayla?"

Another girl came walking out of the kitchen as well, this one smoking a cigarette, and it was obvious that they were twins. They were like two drops of water, not really helped by the fact that they both had the same length of hair and the same make-up. "How can you ever tell them apart?" Jinora chuckled.

-"We get that a lot. Jayla smokes, I don't," Kayla quickly answered. "And yes, we're still fighting over which one of us was planned and which one of us got stuck with the stupid name because our parents were too lazy to think of two."

Kai chuckled again. "Trust me, they still do, though it stopped being violent a few years back. Anyway, Kayla, I'm trusting you to be the responsible one tonight. There's chicken and veggies in the fridge, you're going to cook that, right?"

-"I was planning to, if I want to eat."

Kai nodded. "Well, if it's not enough, I still think there's still some from yesterday in the freezer. Also, make sure Shen actually does his homework tonight," he said, emphasizing that last part towards his little brother.

Jinora was following this whole exchange in sheer awe. All of a sudden, she felt really, really guilty about making fun of and belittling him for never having his own homework done. He was too busy getting everyone here to do it.

-"I know, don't worry about it," Kayla smiled as she saw Kai slipping into his jacket. "You got him to wear that, right?" she asked Jinora.

"I did, yes."

-"Good. Kai, from now on, you have to listen to her when it comes to fashion, because that looks great on you."

Kai rolled his eyes, but Jinora nodded. "Thank you. Come on, we should go. Our table is waiting for us."

On the way over, she was doubtful of how to really address that, or hell, even what to address first. "Does this happen a lot?"

-"What, us having to cook for ourselves?"

"Yeah."

Kai sighed. "It does. Shila has drunken herself into a stupor again, so I knew it was up to me. She's going to be out for the rest of the night. It's lucky the twins are old enough now to take care of themselves, otherwise I would have had to cancel."

Jinora smiled as she took his hand and squeezed it slightly. "I can honestly say that I'm very impressed. But hey, this is our happy night. No more downbeat stories, okay?"

-"Deal."

They made it to the restaurant soon enough, which looked very nice. Kai visibly gulped, because he immediately thought this place was way too expensive, which he had already said in advance. Jinora assured him it wasn't going to be a problem, her mother had slipped her a little bit of money to help pay the bill, a sort of reward for working her butt off for the past two weeks of finals.

When they were seated, a waiter soon arrived with two glasses of champagne. "I don't think we ordered this," Kai hesitantly said.

-"Courtesy of the lady in the corner," he said as he placed the glasses in front of them.

Jinora and Kai both looked up to see who he meant, and smiled when they saw Asami sitting there with (presumably) her father, raising her glass of wine and shooting them a quick wink. "To us being done with high school, and for more good things to come," Jinora smiled while raising her own glass.

-"I'll drink to that," Kai smiled back.

The dinner sadly flew by, Jinora was responsible enough to only take a few sips of the champagne because she still had to drive home, but it was amazing. The food was delicious, and Kai was a perfect gentleman throughout.

They were now on the way back, and it was with a little bit of a disappointment that Jinora pulled into a parking spot outside of Kai's place. She had ended up at the far end of the lot, because everyone was home by now. She shut off the engine for some reason, and it kind of fell quiet between them.

-"Hey, thanks for tonight, Jin," Kai said after a bit.

"You're welcome. But you share in the credit too. I had a great time." She glanced down at their loosely linked hands, and smiled as Kai clasped it a little tighter. He leaned in, and pressed a soft kiss on her lips, and she was unwilling to let it go.

Their kiss soon intensified, with Kai cupping her face and quickly undoing her seatbelt to allow her some more freedom of movement. In fact, feeling his hand on her bare thigh didn't bother Jinora in the slightest, until she remembered where they were.

Kai did push his hand a little further up, slipping a little bit under the fabric of her dress, and that's when she decided it was too far. "Kai, wait..." she breathed after breaking away. He immediately retracted his hand, and leaned a little back. "Not here," Jinora sighed. "Not like this."

He nodded. "I get it."

"One day, when we have some proper time and a place to..." she hesitated, but Kai didn't make her say it.

-"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be ready when you are."

Jinora smiled and pressed a quick kiss on his lips. "Soon, I promise. Now you get inside and make sure everyone is in bed."

Kai chuckled. "I will. Good night, babe."

I wonder what's next...

Happy New Year, everyone.