a/n: YOUR REVIEWS. THEY MADE ME A VERRRRRY HAPPY PERSON. I don't care if I didn't get that many, the few I got made my day. :)

...This chapter...? I don't know how I feel about it. I kinda' like it, but it also feels OOC to me. I'll try harder to keep it in character next time, eh?

...also, titles are my weakness *sigh* NAME YOURSELF, BITCH.

Oxygen

Considering the circumstances, Jinora shouldn't have been surprised she fell for him. It was actually completely stereotypical—the street-rat-meets-posh-but-not-stuck-up-princess cliché that storybooks loved to exploit. But in her mind, it wasn't a cliché, it was unexpected and strange and perfect all at the same time. Her father might disagree, her sister might think it was hilarious, but she loved it. She loved his roughness, his perseverance. His smile was contagious and his tan face was charming. He could smooth-talk anyone and everyone, even Jinora when she was in a good mood. There were so many qualities she liked, so many facets of his personality she fell for, she felt like she could never explain them thoroughly.

But there were things she didn't like, too. Like his thieving. Though he tried to stop, he would sometimes get in a tough financial spot, and though he knew Jinora would be happy to help, he wouldn't ask for charity. To him, being independent meant no help from anyone. He could be rash and make stupid decisions by rushing. Like the time he snuck over to the island on a whim and was caught by Tenzin, forever branding himself as a criminal in the airbenders' household.

Despite everything, Jinora had a hard time staying mad at him. He didn't treat her like a little kid the way her dad did, and she loved that. He wasn't jealous or overprotective, but not indifferent either. He somehow found a balance of caring but not suffocating, and god, did Jinora need the breathing room. For someone that can bend air, she often felt a lack of oxygen.

There were times when airbending wasn't enough, family wasn't enough, the island wasn't enough, and everything was just too small. The room would start to close in, the sky would start to fall, and white-hot stars would prickle her skin, turning her curiously cold. Her breathe would quicken and suddenly her hands were numb. Then Skoochy would come. He wasn't quite comfort, not in the traditional "I'll protect you, it'll be alright" sense, but he was space. He was independence and room to breathe. Airbenders were traditionally all about easy-goingness, light spaces, and, well, air, but Jinora had lost all that freedom somewhere.

She was barely in contact with herself anymore. Call it anxiety, nerves, depression, whatever, but she wasn't her anymore.

But then he let her breathe, and everything was all right. He was air when she was desperately choking.

a/n: Jinora seems really sarcastic and awesome to me, but she reminds me a lot of one of my best friends who gets these really bad anxiety attacks that just come out of nowhere, and she's really good at hiding them. I guess since they remind me of each other I kinda superimposed my friend's problems on Jinora, you know?