7. Missing

Jinora didn't want to believe what had happened, when she had emerged from the library, Bolin was lowering a block of earth meant as a defence, an ancient pillar had two fresh slices, there was a trail of blood and Lin had a bruise on her temple. Now Jinora sat, her hands in her lap, trying to hold in tears as Asami and Korra patted her shoulder. What did I do so wrong? She thought, cheeks reddening with the thought of her failing at, well, anything. Did I trigger something? A bad memory? Why can't I sense his spirit? Where did he go?

Tenzin, Lin, Bumi, Kya, Suyin and Pema were talking, Bolin and Mako would speak every so often. Opal was the most concerned next to Jinora, they had spent two years as partners travelling the earth kingdom, she had never seen him as he was, "The blood stopped at the northern balcony, and Lefty is still in his stable. I hope he is okay…" she said softly, Bolin had his arm around her shoulder.

"I told you all that I didn't believe him from the start, something about the story was cock-en-bull." Lin grumbled, she had a block of material-wrapped ice on her temple to prevent swelling.

"Why would he attack?" Pema said, she was worried for Kai.

"The strange behaviour has been happening for a week now, since his spirit world trip." Tenzin said, looking out the window.

"If that was even what it was…" Kya said, crossing her arms and glaring with impatience at her younger brother.

"What do you mean?" Tenzin said, turning towards his elder sister, "He even said that what he thought it was."

"Like he'd know, Tenzin!" Kya snapped, "All he knows was he was in pain, in darkness and alone. Does that sound like any spirit world journey you have had?"

"Well, when we went to the Fog of Lost Souls…" Bumi mumbled, the three siblings shuddered involuntarily.

"If he had gone there, his spirit would still be there! We barely made it out!" Tenzin said.

"Tenzin, now is not the time to be yelling at everyon-" Suyin started, but Tenzin cut her off.

"Jinora, tell us again. What exactly happened before he ran off?"

"I already told you!" she her bottom lip was puckering slightly, Asami knew she was lying before she had even started. Korra had the same habit when she was upset and didn't want to talk about it, Asami knew it well.

"You must have missed something!" He said, he didn't mean to yell, but this was a member of their Nation. He was just as worried, and equally furious for the lack of explanation and property damage, he was taking in out on Jinora unintentionally.

"Tenzin!" Asami growled, Tenzin was surprised, she swished her hand, gesturing for everyone to back-off, "Jinora…" she said softly, Korra held the young master's hand, "Tell Korra and I what happened." Jinora peeked up at her father, "Ignore everyone else, just me and Korra want to hear, tell us everything that happened."

Jinora felt her lip pucker more, her eyes stung as she blinked, tears rolling down her cheek, she was so worried. They will laugh at me. They will all blame me- "Jinora, you can tell us." Korra whispered, interrupting her thoughts. Jinora drew in a long, shaky breath, Mako and Bolin moved forward slightly, unintentionally blocking out Tenzin, Lin and Suyin. Jinora felt strangely better, she loved her father and admired the Beifong sisters, but something about all their gazes made her feel tiny.

"I was reading to him, a-and, then I got embarrassed because of the part in the book." She hiccupped once, wiping her nose with her free hand, Korra drew little circles on the back of Jinora's hand to calm her. "K-Kai took over reading… And then…" she lowered her head and sniffed loudly, "Then I jumped on him, and we were ki-kissing." She wiped her eyes and nose again, she hadn't said this part earlier, scared of what her father and everyone else would say, "And it was all going good, it was nice, until he sud-suddenly froze up and ran off, like he didn't want me near him…" she felt the tears keep coming as Asami held her tightly, comforting her, Korra released her hand and rubbed her back as she cried into Asami's shoulder, "He didn't want me near him..." she repeated shakily, the feeling of rejection was strong and raw, she felt terrible about herself and Kai.

"That can't be it, Jinora!" Bolin smiled, walking forward and squatting to her height, "He is crazy about you!"

Mako also walked forward to comfort her, "Yeah, I say, we go find him, then sit down and talk this through."

"You can't keep making guesses about why he got upset." Korra smiled.

"Or blaming yourself." Asami murmured.

"It wasn't like we were doing anything wrong." She sniffed, feeling better about having people closer to her age speaking to her, "Maybe he thought it was being forced on him…"

"That is what young people do, Jinora!" Asami smiled, "They kiss and touch, they test the waters, there is nothing to be upset about. You and Kai have a very respecting, spiritually based relationship, if that was it, Kai would have said so, like I am sure you would to him."

"He even asked me about love, my daring, darlin' niecey." Bumi smiled widely, "He cares for you greatly, and surely everything will make sense when he returns."

Opal smiled warmly, the sixteen year old master had never looked so tiny or terrified in her five years of knowing her. She took in a shaky breath after Bumi's words, Opal brushed Jinora's hair back with her fingers, "The only one who knows what is going on is Kai."

…

What the fuck is going on?! Kai yelled internally, no one could hear him, and he doubted anyone was pursuing. Lin is going to slaughter me… If I don't die out here first. The deep cuts from Suyin's cable throbbed, the blood was still dripping from his fingertips as it ran slowly down his arm.

He was beginning to feel light headed, sick, tired.

That wasn't even taking into account the severe pain from being under the control of whomever currently possessed him, he prayed to the spirits that he would still be able to become a master. What if the injury ruins my bending in this arm? He thought, how will I be able to fight then?

Wait… No! That is good! If I make it back, and my arm is weak, even Huan could take me down… And let's be real, he is not the biggest fighter… He realised he didn't care for his bending in the grand scheme of things, rather lose it forever, than hurt a member of his nation. Rather lose himself than hurt Jinora.

She must hate me, she must think that I was using her… His vision felt blurred, still his body pushed on. After a few more minutes he seemed to be stumbling, his eyes drifting closed.

He felt like this cave would never end, like he was doomed to die inside its walls. Not even Wu and his… His body was getting increasingly weaker, everything was becoming increasingly more blurry, and his… His badgermoles could find… Darkness stained the outside of his vision as he felt his body drop to the solid, dusty ground, find me here…

It felt like, what Kai supposed, was a decent night of sleep, when, urgh, great, back here again. Kai thought, his mental self had come out of, what he assumed was, unconsciousness, but his physical self was floating in that terrible black space. In the worse possible way, he liked it here, the pain was a consistent pulsing, he knew when the breaks were coming. He had to wonder why he was back here, what did I do now? What do they expect me to do? Wh-what… What will they make me do? There was a strange pressure on his arm, the darkness stretched on while he came up with a million plans, getting increasingly more desperate.

…

Jinora didn't leave her room on her birthday, only venturing briefly to the library once the follow day, everyone who came inside the room only saw her curled up on her bed. Her arms hugged her knees and her eyes were swollen and red from crying, hair messy from restless sleeping patterns. She didn't want anyone else to walk in and try and comfort her, she didn't want people to make assumptions, or even to try to understand. She wanted to be alone, she didn't want anyone else in here, and even if she did, she didn't know where he was.

Korra had tried to feel for him too, pressing her hand to the spirit vines just south of the temple. She would meditate into the spirit world and search for him there, there was no sign of him. Hushed whispers of betrayal and evil forces swirled amongst those she did speak too, but they would never elaborate. Korra returned with her head slumped and in an increasingly bad mood, muttering about spirits and secrets. They had decided to give him a few days, they spoke about him as if he had deceived them somehow. Jinora would ignore them, scowl at them, they only made her feel worse.

She had read the scene in the book over and over, replaying her actions to the characters. Still convinced that she had done something wrong, maybe a physical relationship was not all it cracked up to be… Maybe he just wants to slow down! She felt her body lighten at the thought of her having not actually made a mistake, we can resume an emotional relationship and try again when we are both ready! We can just-

There was an energy, it was a familiar energy, it was his energy.

He was back, wherever he was he was back. She lifted her head from her hands, feeling with all she had. It was near. She didn't dare move, she was worried that it would flatter or react, disappear even. She knew that someone's spirit didn't behave that way, but she didn't want to chance it. She sat for what felt like years, waiting, feeling it come closer.

There was a scrapping noise at her door, she walked quickly towards, tearing it open.

Kai leant against the frame of the door, his arm badly bandaged and his face covered in dirt and scratches. They stared at each other, happiness, confusion, anger and shame danced around them in an invisible fog. She suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, he groaned as his arm hit the bed when he stumbled. He looked up at her, letting his head drop back, he was exhausted, but he would not rest until she spoke.

She stood over him, his green eyes peaking at her amidst the dirt covered skin, he looked identical to his stone training, before their kiss. She turned and reached for her little wash basin, it sat on her table, filled with water intended for the next morning. She placed it gently on the floor, not wanting to spill any, she rung the washcloth out thoroughly, before pushing it against his skin. He grated his teeth as the cuts on his jawline and neck burned against the lukewarm water. She would rinse the cloth and then continue cleaning the visible dirt working down his arm, she wasn't being as gentle as Kai hoped, but he was glad to have her near. She lifted his first, unbandaged arm, scrubbing the dirt and traces of blood. There were bruises all over his skin, she was desperate to know what happened. She realised when she was ringing out the cloth, that the water was already too dark to still be sanitary. She grabbed the top of his arm and pulled him to his feet, he groaned again. They walked towards the door, Jinora took a deep breath and let her spiritual projection float through the door, walking down the halls until she reached the closest of many bathing rooms. There was no one around, it was too late at night for anyone to still be awake, besides Jinora and maybe a few others. She returned to her body, still gripping Kai's arm, and pushed through the door. Kai made a noise, Jinora was sure that he had mumbled the word 'incredible', but didn't seek confirmation.

It took slightly longer for them to reach the bathing room, as Kai stopped and leant against walls to keep from falling over. As Jinora reached the bathing room door and began to unlock it, they heard footsteps, Now?! Of all times!

There was nowhere for them to hide, Jinora tried to unlock the door with more vigour, and when the lock finally gave, they burst into the room. Kai made a soft noise of pain, Jinora covered his mouth. She hadn't closed the door behind her to avoid making excess noise as Lin and Bumi walked past, Bumi was almost crying with laughter while Lin struggled to keep a straight face as she finished her story, "-On my honour as the Chief of Police, I have never had a more humorous experience on the job than that." She said, still trying not to laugh, she hated her laugh. She held her hands behind her back and stood tall, while Bumi slumped and laughed.

"I must say, Linny." She said, hooking his arm around her waist and pulling her close, "I never took you to be a joker."

"I still would never take you to be serious." Lin smiled, "And Bumi?"

"Yes, m'lady?" Bumi smiled, as charmingly as he could manage,

She pushed him against the wall next to the door, flicking her wrist to have the metal form a blade. She held it gently against the inside of him leg, "Don't call me 'Linny'."

Bumi stuttered, "Whatever you say, Chief." Lin released him, walking past the open door and closing it, one of her pet peeves was open doors when there was no one about to use it. Bumi took a breath and practically skipped after her, a massive smile on his face, "I love it when you are feisty." He smiled.

"And when you get under the layer of armour I coat myself in to keep the world out?" she smirked, repeating the speech from a bit over a two weeks ago, she still remembered every word, but would never tell him that.

"Oh, definitely! But the speech was for Kai's sake as well, the boy asked about love, I told him all I knew." Bumi added with a smaller smile, Jinora blinked twice, "What do you say we head to my room?"

After that, Jinora couldn't hear them anymore, they must have walked up the stairs. She thought, turning and lighting a lantern inside the dark room. She placed the matches back on the little shelf of ointments and soaps, leaving Kai sitting on the floor, she walked over and began to fill the main bath. The steam filled the room in no time, she locked the door above Kai's head, pulling him to his feet and setting him on the edge of the stone bath. He gasped as her hand brushed the bandage, she looked at him carefully as she began to unwrap it. The bandage itself was dirty and disgusting, there was no silence around them, the water filling the bath echoed loudly in the small room. As she removed the bandage, she almost gasped at the sight of the uneven stitches, the dried blood that matted in the hairs around the cut, it looked terrible.

Jinora was uncertain of if she should, but she knew how to stitch someone up, Bumi and Kya had both taught her. Kya had said that healing open wounds are dangerous, they should always be stitched up first. She walked over to the medical cabinet, digging through the cupboard, she found a waterproof bandage and all she needed to attempt to help. She also grabbed a small jar of bath ointment and a piece of decorative driftwood, it was soft and sturdy. Kai watched her carefully, he wanted to speak, but if they thought he would say something to even hint, they would not hesitate.

He had begged for this time.

She came back and sat beside him, tossing the opened bottle of ointment into the water. She held the driftwood to his mouth, he raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, not caring if he hurt a little, grabbing the clean cloth, she scrubbed at the dirt and blood around the wound, he growled in pain, trying to pull him arm away. She gripped it tightly, holding the piece of driftwood to his lips again, he begrudgingly sunk his teeth into the white-grey wooden flesh. Jinora continued to clean his wound, he bit down, and every now and then a groan or a whine would escape. When the wound was clean, Jinora cut away the old stitches, Kai would try and breathe deeply as the cut slowly opened again, fresh blood beginning to pool. He didn't know Jinora could do something like this, she patted the fresh blood, leaving the hand in her lap as she thread the stitching needle. Now she spoke, her eyes locked with Kai's, "This is going to hurt."

He nodded, biting down on the driftwood, she began. He would cry out as the needle pushed through his skin, groan as she pulled it tight. When she looked up at the halfway point, a tear was rolling from his eye as he tried to remove it quickly, she felt sorry for him, but continued. Finally, she wrapped the unsoiled bandage firmly around the stitching after cleaning it once more, he took the wood from his mouth and sighed heavily. The water in the bath was still going, it was a pump system that recycled the water once it was filled to a particular point, filtering it of any dirt or foreign objects. There were bubbles in the water that smelt similar to sandalwood, they were meant to be a variety of herbs that have antiseptic qualities. Jinora gathered all the soiled supplies and gestured for Kia to get into the bath, when she turned around from disposing the bandages, she watched as Kai lowered his body into the hot water. His shoulders were well defined, streaks of mud across them, along his spine also had tiny cuts. Jinora swallowed, what could've happened to him?

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For those Linumi shippers amongst you all, I have just done a quick fanfiction on their night after they leave the group in chapter one of 'Influence'. It is called 'Lin and Bumi: Joker and the Chief', in case you were curious.

Thank-you all for your reviews, they make me super excited to hear from you all and that you would take time to tell me what you think. Rock on.