Hello, reader! :D

Wow, I didn't realise how much time has actually gone by since I last updated this story... It seriously did not feel like two weeks. I don't really have an excuse for the slow update. Nevertheless, here it is! The next chapter in this a-little-less-than-epic Jinoochy tale!

Weeks had passed. Jinora had made numerous trips to Republic City in secret during that time. Every time she went, she would find herself at Central City Station. Every time she found herself at Central City Station, she would be greeted by Skoochy. Every time she was greeted by Skoochy, they would go about the city having a fun time.

Jinora still couldn't get over the hustle and bustle nightlife of the capital city. So fast paced, loud and vibrant. Not like the contrasting calm, quiet and collected atmosphere of Air Temple Island. It just made things so much more enjoyable.

But above all, being accompanied by a friend, Skoochy, made the times in Republic City some of the best times of her life thus far. Every time she returned home and settled into bed, she would always have the same giddy smile of satisfaction on her face.

Today, however, did not permit her to leave the island. Many people at Air Temple Island were staying up late, meaning anyone could walk into her room while she was gone. By the time people would start to retire tonight, she would have already long since been consumed by sleep.

Jinora stayed cooped up in her room for much of the latter half of the day, reading through book after book as she simply let time go by. Again, she reminded herself how drab and boring her life was on Air Temple Island. Korra did make things a little livelier, but it was nothing compared to the sense of freedom she gained from going to Republic City.

She laid down flat on her back on her bed while she held the book she was reading above her head. It was a Northern Water Tribe story of a man's strange misadventures in trying to carve the perfect betrothal necklace for the woman he loved. It was filled with a lot of humour which her great-uncle Sokka would have enjoyed, but it was the sort of humour that Jinora detested. She found herself rolling her eyes at many of the remarks in the book. She figured it must have been a Water Tribe thing.

Jinora yawned and lost her grip on the book, dropping it on her face. Silently cursing, she sat herself up and let the book drop from her face into her hands. With a huff she closed the book shut and placed it aside for she had long since gotten bored of it.

She found herself climbing out of bed and making her way to her room window where she began to gaze at Republic City's skyline. She wanted to be there, but knew she shouldn't go.

She puffed her cheeks in frustration.

She began to stare blankly into space in the rough general direction of where Central City Station was. That brought Skoochy to mind because they always met there. She began to wonder what he was doing. If he was bored out of his mind like she was. If he missed her like she did.

Wait, what?

Jinora felt her face heat up as she buried her face in her palms. Why did she always have to think like that? Her hands still covering her face, she let out an annoyed groan.

She lifted her head from her hands and looked back up at the city before her.

But really, she thought, what is he up to?

Just a little closer.

Skoochy shifted his nimble fingers a little deeper into the man's loose pocket. It would have been a lot easier if the man was standing still, but he was walking at a brisk pace, and Skoochy had to follow suit.

He saw the man pocket the money. He saw how much money there was. He knew that it would be enough to feed him and his small group of friends for at least a week. He had to do this. He had to try.

He delved a little deeper into the pocket. He could feel the Yuan notes bundled together, he tried to extract the money from the man's pocket. But suddenly the man came to a road crossing and stopped walking, causing Skoochy to slam into him.

The man looked down at Skoochy and immediately saw the child's hand in his pocket.

"Hey!" the man shouted.

He closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. Then suddenly he felt something hard come into contact with his cheek with enough force to knock him to the ground. Skoochy looked up and realised the man elbowed him in the face.

"Lousy street urchin," the man spat before making his way, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Skoochy rubbed the sore spot that formed on his cheek bone under his right eye as he stood up.

That's going to bruise.

Looking around himself, he saw many bystanders giving him scornful looks. Ignoring them, he turned around and walked back into the direction from which he came.

Still rubbing his cheek, a few other children who had been following his progress jumped out various from hiding places and gathered around him.

"Skooch'," Xing, the boy who took Jinora's bag, said, "you okay, man?"

"Eh," Skoochy shrugged, "been hit harder before."

"What do we do now?" a little girl asked.

"Try to pickpocket someone else, Mei Li," Skoochy answered, "but I'm not feeling up to trying again after that."

That was followed by an unconfident murmur among the children. They weren't feeling up to trying to pickpocket either, after seeing Skoochy get hit in the face trying to pickpocket someone.

"Whatever," Skoochy said as he stuffed his hands in his pocket, walking away, "I'm sure you guys will figure something out."

"Where are you going, Skooch'?" Xing asked.

"Central City Station," Skoochy answered.

"Meeting that airbender girlfriend of yours, Skoochy?" Mei Li said in a mocking tone.

Skoochy stopped in his tracks at the mention of Jinora being his girlfriend. Jinora his girlfriend? That was a stupid idea, as if that would happen.

Skoochy spun around and stared blankly at the little girl who had made such a ludicrous suggestion. But the only reaction he got out of giving her his blank stare was a giggle fit. As the other children began to laugh, Skoochy sighed and chose to ignore them. He spun himself back around and continued to make his way to Central City Station.

His main concern was rustling up enough Yuans to eat tonight. Jinora hadn't actually crossed his mind the whole night. And she still hadn't when he decided to try his luck at Central City Station, their usual meeting spot, until little Mei Li mentioned her. Now that she was in his mind, Skoochy couldn't seem to be able to get her out of his mind now.

Damn it, Mei Li.

Skoochy huffed in annoyance at his mind's inability to divert itself somewhere else as he continued to make his way toward Central City Station. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he picked up the pace because of the looks other pedestrians were giving him. Apparently people still weren't used to seeing homeless children roaming the streets on their own, and that still annoyed him.

He later found himself in the familiar surroundings of Central City Station. The warm orange glow of the flame producing from Zuko's statue was always welcoming. The area around the statue was like a second home to him. Likewise for the many other homeless children who would gather around Central City Station late at night. It wasn't an unusual sight to see many children sleeping around the statue's pedestal on a hot summer night.

Skoochy looked around him, wondering how he could rustle up some grub tonight. He wasn't feeling confident enough to try to pickpocket someone and he wasn't in any position to accept bribes from someone. He let out a sigh, guessing he would just have to go hungry tonight.

He decided to take a seat by Zuko's statue. Maybe Jinora would show up and liven things up a bit. But after a while of sitting there, staring off into space, he came to a conclusion that she wasn't going to be showing up tonight. Reluctantly, he picked himself off the ground and decided to just stroll aimlessly.

Skoochy wandered for a good while before he took a moment to just see where he ended up. He found himself out the front of a small fire temple. He took a peek through the entrance and immediately saw the donation box. He already knew where this was going.

He looked about him, there was no one around.

Good.

He stepped through the entrance of the temple and made his way over to the donation box. He looked around again. No one. He focused his attention back to the donation box. The slit of the metal box was too thin for anyone to stick their fingers into, and the lid was locked shut.

He thought to himself for a moment before giving it a shake. The box shifted on its bolted down stand slightly as Skoochy shook it. He was greeted by the sound of the metallic rattle of coins.

How do those metalbenders do it?

He once again checked to see if he was being watched. Satisfied by the silence that surrounded him, he took a deep breath. He tried to picture the coins in the box. He tried to picture the impurities in the metal, the impurities that he could manipulate with his bending. He concentrated intently. He imagined the coins levitating out of the small slit and into his hand.

Skoochy took up a crude stance and raise his arms. He tried to feel for the earthy impurities in the coins. He raised his arm in a motion to try to lift the coins, but nothing happened. There was no sound of the rattle of coins. He did nothing.

He sighed. He guessed that he would need formal training, something he would never be able to afford, to be able to metalbend. He let out another sigh, more frustrated than the last, in defeat.

He glanced to his side and saw a few pairs of shoes arranged neatly before the wooden floor boards of the temple. People were meant to take their shoes off before entering.

He looked down at his own shoes. They were completely tattered. He could see his toes poking out of his right shoe. He looked back at the neatly arranged shoes and spotted a pair that seemed to be his size.

Skoochy smirked to himself. At least he wouldn't leave empty handed.

He quickly yanked off his shoes and slipped his feet into the other pair. Snickering, he neatly placed his tattered shoes in the place where his newly acquired shoes previously were.

He looked around to check that no one saw what he just did. Happy that the coast was clear, he high tailed it out of there.

The shoes were a little loose fitting, but they were a lot more comfortable than his old ones nonetheless.

The sky was dark as he made his way through the Dragon Flats borough to his spot by the heated wall. Skoochy was completely unaware of the two teenagers who eyed him menacingly. More specifically, they were eyeing the brand new shoes that he was wearing. They followed him through the borough, and when Skoochy turned into a secluded alley, they struck.

Skoochy was caught completely unaware. One of them started with a heavy shove to the back which threw Skoochy to the ground. They both proceeded to kicking the living daylights out of him.

Skoochy managed to roll onto his back to see his adversaries. They were not much older than him, probably no more a year his seniors. They weren't much bigger than him either. He could have taken them on if it weren't for the surprise attack.

One of the teenagers stopped kicking and began to untie Skoochy's shoe laces.

"It's just too bad for you," he taunted, "but I needed a new pair of shoes."

Skoochy pulled his feet away before slamming his feet into the teenager's face before trying to pick himself off the ground. He didn't get far because the second attacker kicked him in the stomach, winding him. Skoochy fell flat on his face, struggling to regain his breath as he was kicked in the side again and again. It didn't take long for them to tear the shoes from his feet after that.

"You stupid hog-monkey," said the teenager that Skoochy kicked in the face, "this is for kicking me."

And with that, he sent an extra hard kick straight into Skoochy's stomach. The air was thrown out of his lungs and sent him into a coughing fit. They simply laughed at him before making off with his shoes.

Still coughing, he quickly picked himself off the ground. He could see them making off with his shoes. He wasn't in any shape to be able to chase them down. He stamped his foot down in frustration.

When his bare foot struck the ground, he felt an overwhelming feeling that he was at one with the ground beneath him. He looked back up at the muggers before glancing back down at the ground. He had an idea. He had seen people earthbend properly before, so he tried to copy their movements.

Taking a deep breath, he took a long step forward with his right foot, stamping hard into the ground while at the same time swinging his right hand forward in a horizontal chopping motion. It sent a ripple in through the ground straight toward the two teenagers which knocked them off their feet. Skoochy stepped forward with his left, bring a small chunk of rock out of the ground which he sent flying with a punch. The rock chunk hit home, knocking the one carrying the shoes back down to the ground as he tried to stand. He then mirrored that motion and sent a chunk flying toward the second, which hit its mark.

Skoochy quicky half limped, half ran toward his two adversaries. He was pissed. When they tried to stand up, he bent a chunk out of the ground and threw it at them. He wasn't going to let them get away.

He quickly reached them. They looked pathetic. They simply whimpered as Skoochy towered over them. Skoochy figured they were non-benders and would not be able to compete with him, nor would they bother now that they knew he could earthbend.

Skoochy reached down and snatched his shoes from the hands of one of them before proudly slipping them back onto his feet.

"That's what you get," Skoochy said in a threatening tone, "for trying to steal from Skoochy."

Before he left, he laid a kick into one of them before turning and continuing his way to his spot by the warm brick wall. It wasn't long before he reached his little spot that he called home.

He tiredly threw himself against the warm spot before slowly sliding down to the ground. He felt sore all over after being continually kicked by two people. But he was thankful they didn't result to kicking him in the head. At least he'd be able to hide the bruises from the assault from everyone under his clothes. He hated when people fussed over him. But he wouldn't be able to hide his bruised cheek from earlier that night.

He just hoped Jinora wouldn't overreact if she saw his bruised face. But as much as he hoped, he knew for a fact that she would make a huge fuss over it. It was just in her nature as an airbender and Air Nomad.

With a yawn, he shut his eyes, rubbing his sore spots one last time before he fell into slumber.

Jinora had been gazing out at the night skyline of Republic City with a blank mind for quite some time. When her mind began to process thoughts again, she found herself once again wondering what Skoochy was up to.

Probably nothing overly exciting, she concluded.

With a yawn she stepped away from her window. It was getting late and she was tired. She slipped out of her current attire and replaced it with her red sleeping robes before crawling into bed.

Jinora stared up at the ceiling for some time. She couldn't help but imagine Skoochy sleeping upright against the wall. At the same time, she couldn't felt but feel a little guilty because of the fact that she was able to sleep in a warm bed while all he had was a heated brick wall. She guessed he must have been used to it, but it still had to be uncomfortable for him.

She tried to get the thoughts out of her mind so that the guilty feeling would go away, because that feeling was keeping her awake. As much as she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Skoochy's discomfort. She finally gave up and tossed her blanket aside and let out a sigh.

What can I do to make this feeling go away?

After a while of mulling it over, she came to a conclusion. She plucked her pillow off her bed and dropped it onto the timber floor. She then grabbed her blanket and slipped off her bed and onto the floor.

Despite the pillow and the warm blanket, the cold floor was still very uncomfortable. That put her mind at ease. The discomfort made falling asleep hard and she found herself shuffling around under her blanket a lot. But eventually, she was able to fall fast asleep.

And that's chapter 4.

I am well into my first week of my two week break from school. In fact, I'm at the end of the first week... One more week and school starts again. *sarcastic cheer* My original intent was to get at least two chapters during this break, but judging by how long past chapters have taken me, doesn't look like that will happen. But fear not, for I am not abandoning this! I am just merely going at a slow pace... As pain staking as it is...