Chapter Six – Enveloped
The gentle fall of Jinora's footsteps echoed softly through the night as she swiftly walked towards the serene lights of the candle lit meditation pavilion which flickered calmly in the tranquil wind. Jinora used the short time she had in her walk to thoroughly reflect on everything that had happened today. She affectionately recalled the way Bolin had held her before she left. She loved that their unspoken passion for each other could be expressed by a simple look or soft touch. She was still able to feel some of the warmth that Bolin's hand had given lingering on her cheek. She ran her fingers softly over the place where Bolin had kissed her, feeling butterflies rise to her stomach again, making her slightly giddy. Aside from her encounter with Bolin, she also recollected the way that she had demonstrated her skill and what she was thinking during her Airbending exam. Her anxiety, passion and pride all mixed together to give her a sense of silent pride.
Even while all of these thoughts swam restlessly through her head, there was one part of the day that had really stuck with Jinora; Unrelenting Energy. She marvelled at the feeling of the incredible energy and life she had experienced whilst moving with the air around her. The sensation of manipulating the tiny humming particles with her Airbending and breathing in the air was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Never had she felt something so surreal and intoxicating. In all her life, Jinora had never felt so connected to her element. She couldn't help but wonder what it was that made the air feel so alive. Jinora's logical side was telling her that it was just her nerves acting out on her and creating a delusion. Her romantic thoughts were clinging to the unvoiced hope that somehow, Aang was there, guiding and encouraging her from the spirit world. Both her logical and romantic sides of thought were equally matched in passionate argument. Jinora took the opportunity to give a long glance at the glowing statue of her grandfather and smiled warmly, remembering the dream that she had been awoken from this morning. It was almost hard to believe that only a day had passed. The argument in her head subsided after coming to the conclusion that even if it wasn't possible, Jinora would like to think that her grandfather was watching over her and helping her along. After a few moments of silent thought Jinora looked back towards the pavilion she was walking towards and was able to start making out the silhouettes of the air acolytes and her father talking in a group, their voices being captured gently by the wind. As the acolytes and Tenzin noticed Jinora's approach, they lined up to greet her.
"Miss Jinora," Chiron greeted formally towards the young air bender. "Welcome back. I trust that you are fully prepared for your meditation?" He questioned politely with a small smile.
"Yes, thank you Acolyte Chiron," She replied politely, returning a courteous smile to him and the other members of the panel.
"Excellent! In that case, allow me to inform you about your meditation," Chiron continued in a windswept voice. "As you already know, the next twenty four hours will be solely dedicated to meditation. To make sure you do not break your meditation, one member from the panel will accompany you each hour. If you are to break your meditation for any reason, you will not be granted your status as an Airbending master. Do you understand?" He asked seriously, his creased blue eyes looking intensely at Jinora. She nodded silently in response.
"Alright young air bender, please take your place in the middle of the meditation pavilion," Chiron instructed Jinora as he gave a placid gesture towards her spot.
"At the sound of the twelfth chime of the clock, you will begin your meditation. You will be stopped at the twelfth chime of the clock in twenty four hours time," Chiron finished as Jinora made her way over to the spot he had allocated her. Jinora sat down elegantly and gracefully assumed her meditative position. As she sat in place, she could hear the shuffling of many pairs of feet exiting the meditation pavilion, leaving her alone with Chiron, who would start the supervision phase of the evening by joining her in meditation.
"Good luck Jinora," He whispered to her encouragingly, and took his spot a reasonable distance beside her. Jinora took a steadying breath to try and prevent her impending nerves from kicking in. The usual effect of this action however did nothing to settle her down. The fact that her breathing had no effect started to unravel her composure. She started being bombarded by hundreds of thoughts, none of which made any sense. Her mind was racing now, preventing her from quieting herself in preparation. She could feel panic starting to settle in. If she didn't stop her thoughts fast, there was no way she would be able to sink in to a meditation for any duration of time. Her breathing started to get ragged; the jumbled sounds of a thousand thoughts were becoming an unbearable cacophony of sound that deafened any rational thought. She started to visibly tremble with nervousness and she almost lost her nerve completely until she noticed it...
For the second time today, the air around her changed. It gave the same feeling of energy that she had experienced earlier today. Jinora almost cried out loud with the relief that flooded through her body. The air became thick with the comforting presence of energy and welcome sensation of tranquillity which almost immediately stilled her mind. She took a quiet breath in and let the air clear her mind. In that moment she felt at almost complete peace. She looked out to the moon drenched ocean from where she sat and drank in the last image that she would see for twenty four hours. Calmly, she waited in expectation for the clock to chime.
DONG
The first reverberating chime danced through the air brightly to her sensitive ears. Jinora looked outward and started mentally preparing herself for deep meditation.
DONG
Shuffling slightly in position, she made sure that she was as comfortable as possible before the time was up.
DONG
As she found a comfortable spot, she relaxed her body into position; permitting the ringing of the clock to become synonymous to the pace of her heartbeat.
DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG
As her heart beat slowed to the pace of the chiming, she could feel her thoughts starting to delicately melt away. To be able to fully enter a strong meditation, she had to let everything go. This was the hardest part of the test. Letting go of all earthly attachment was not an easy thing to do. All her attachments to happiness, mistakes, fear, pain, guilt, love and sadness were slowly discarded by Jinora as the clock chimed. The very last thing to let go of was the image of Bolin's handsome face. The memory stunted her focus for a second. Of everything she had experienced in her sixteen years of life, he was the hardest thing to let go of. Reluctantly, she let the image of his face fade away in to nothingness, allowing all her earthly attachments to vanish before her.
DONG
Opening her eyes for the last time today, she said goodbye to the glimmering moon that cascaded over the sea. Closing her eyes, she settled in. Jinora had never felt so ready in her life.
DONG
At the last chime of the clock, Jinora took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. As she exhaled, Jinora could feel her mind detaching itself from the confines of her body, becoming as light as air and allowing her to sink slowly in to a deep and unfaltering meditative trance.
AN: Hi everyone, Thank you for being so patient and leaving such wonderful reviews. I really appreciate that you take the time to read this story. After a week of desperately wanting to write this, I got home, sat down and just typed. This is the result. Get excited for the next chapter. It should be up in a few days! Once again, thank you.
Hazel
