"He [Kai] had multiple piercings and a tattoo." & "It made him realize that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the smart, wonderful, beautiful girl sitting in front of him." - 20 Answers
iv. permanent
Jinora trailed her fingers along Kai's tattoo, sending shivers up his spine. His tattoo was on his bare back, stretching over his shoulder blades of two birds flying, silhouettes in the sky, with another, smaller bird. All three birds were white, standing out against his dark skin.
"Why?" Jinora breathed in his ear, lying beside him in bed. Maybe this time he would answer her question. She had never really seen his tattoo before, but only been aware of it.
"For my family. Or rather, the family I wanted. The family I hope to have, someday." He looked up at her fondly. With you. "I have been thinking of getting another tattoo, though."
He rolled over onto his back, and she lay her head on his chest. "Really?" she said, her eyes sparkling brightly in the dark.
"Mm hmm," Kai said gently. He reached over and she moved her head; he placed a hand over his heart. "Here."
"What would you get?" she asked, once he had moved his hand away and resettled herself in the crook of his arm.
"Your name," Kai said simply, as if it wasn't something that would be on his body, for forever.
Jinora straightened up, alarmed. "But Kai, that - that's permanent."
Kai smiled gently. "That's the point, Jinora." Just earlier that evening, he had come to the conclusion that she was the one he wanted to spend his life with. A tattoo would just make it seem more tangible, somehow.
Jinora lay back down, wringing her hands together. "I don't think that's the best idea Kai." He took one of her hands and encompassed it in his own, pressing the back of her hand to his lips. She dislodged her hand and got out of bed, pulling on her red robe. Worried he had scared her off - they had just bought their flat - Kai watched her leave the bedroom.
She reappeared after a few moments, something clutched in one hand, the other pulling her robe together. She crawled back into bed. "Lay nice and still," she instructed and although confused Kai did as she asked. He watched her bring out what was in her hand: a permanent marker, and take off the cap. In nice, fancy cursive she wrote her name over his heart.
"That's permanent enough for now, I think," she said, a small smile creeping onto her face, putting the cap back on the marker. "But - but once this washes off, if you really want to get the tattoo, I won't stop you."
Kai kissed her tenderly, thinking that it didn't really matter if he got the tattoo across his heart or not: she had already etched her name onto his heart, anyway.