Welcome back to the fourth chapter of this Jinoochy fanfic! Before we delve into anything else, let me just tell you:

THANK YOU SO MUCH my readers :D all of your reviews I hold close to my heart, especially you, Ophelia. Don't wither away, the chapter is here! And thank you, leafysummers, I'm glad you liked the development(:

If I can figure it out, I'll post a picture of Rai, Mikah, and Sage soon. Credits go to my friend, since I can't draw -_-

Anyways, enjoy! 3 the author

Disclaimer: I don't own Republic City. Unfortunately.

Book 1 ¼: Between the Earth and Sky

Chapter 4: A Walk in the Park

Earth. Fire. Air. Water. 70 years ago, my grandfather, Avatar Aang, master of all four elements, ended the 100-year war against the Fire Nation. With help from Firelord Zuko he created Republic City, my home. According to my father, Republic City is at war. Amon, the Equalists, and the non-benders of our city have begun a rebellion against all benders. They think we have repressed them because of their inability to bend an element.

Avatar Aang has long since passed, but the new Avatar is here—Korra. She will find a way to bring light to the darkness. She has to.

...

"I don't think you understand the severity of your actions!" Tenzin raised his voice once more at his oldest daughter. Jinora looked up at him pleadingly, a look of pure anguish and rage shining in her eyes.

"I do, I just thought…"

"You just thought what?" her father interrupted. Pema was standing off to the side; she was quietly refereeing the conversation, but now stepped forward and took her husband's arm in hers.

"Dear," she said slowly. "We need to listen to what Jinora has to say." Then her mother turned to the young airbender. "Now what did you think?"

Slowly, Jinora breathed in and out to try and steady herself. She had the guts to go out into Republic City alone, but none while telling her parents that she did so. The young girl picked her words carefully. "I thought that I was ready to go and face a danger like the City alone. And I was able to survive the harsh crowds and reckless drivers. I guess I just want to…prove myself."

"Prove what?" Tenzin snapped, Pema's hold not enough to keep his high-strung temper at bay. "That you were irresponsible enough to go gallivanting off alone in the most dangerous place in the world right now? The Equalists are still at large, and if you were to be captured…" his voice finally faltered, and he tore away from his wife's embrace. The airbending master, although strong and unmovable, was also a father.

Pema stepped forward, her green eyes reassuring and kind. "What your father is trying to say is that if you were captured by the Equalists, he can't guarantee your safety. The safest place for you to stay is here, at home."

This made Pema's oldest daughter crack. She threw her hands back and shot a blast of air behind her. The sudden move of fury made even Tenzin turn around. "I am sorry for going off like that, but what was I supposed to do? Staying on this island, without knowing what's going on or what I can do to…" Jinora attempted to glare at her father, who was staring at her with disbelief; he had never seen his 10-year-old act out like this before, so…tempered and irrational. "I just wanted to prove to you that I'm more than just air or books. That's all I wanted."

"Jinora—" Tenzin started.

"No! I had to go out there. And you know what? I'm glad I did." The airbender turned from her awestruck parents, dashed out of the room and into the courtyard outside.

"What has gotten into that child?" the airbending master muttered.

Smiling sadly, Pema reached over and took her husband's hands in hers. "I think she's spending too much time with Korra."

...

The tears in her eyes kept her from seeing the water fly past below her. Jinora wiped the white hot tears from her face as she continued to glide back over to Republic City. She needed time to think, somewhere where her father couldn't find her. Somewhere the young girl could be alone to figure things out, without anyone disturbing her, like they did back on Air Temple Island. Jinora had been such an idiot, actually revealing how she felt about sneaking away to Republic City while the war was going on. She could've been killed or worse! Her father was right, and she knew it. Jinora couldn't face the facts—she had never been wrong before, and the airbender wasn't about to be wrong now. She was going prove to her father that she was strong enough. That would win his trust back. It had to.

As Jinora glided over the city, she decided to hide out at the park. There were trees to sit underneath, a bridge to visit, different paths to walk. Jinora could cool down here, sort out her problems.

Sailing beneath the tree line, the young bender made her landing in the middle of a path, and started walking. She peered up at the trees. They seemed to be like the ones back on Air Temple Island. One even looked like the tree that Jinora liked to hide in. The girl smiled as the memories of Skoochy washed over her. Despite his scruffy appearance, the boy seemed to be…well, at least decent.

Reddening just slightly, Jinora continued to make her way down the cut-out trails, towards the pond in the middle of the park, the silhouette of Firelord Zuko's statue in the background. "After Firelord Zuko gave the crown to his daughter, he began to travel the world, promoting peace wherever he went." The bookworm murmured under her breath. Letting loose her intelligence like that also helped Jinora release the tension that built up inside her.

"That's nice to know." A familiar voice said sarcastically behind her.

Jumping slightly, the airbender shook her head and smiled to herself. "I thought you hung out around the statue, Skoochy." She had yet to turn, but as she uttered his name she blushed slightly and turned to face him.

The street urchin was leaning against the tree Jinora had identified as the one she hid out in back at Air Temple Island. He was smirking at her, with the cap he always wore just over his dark eyes. He pushed himself off the tree and came sauntering over to Jinora. She straightened her back every so slightly, so the airbender seemed taller next to the boy.

"I did," the earthbender conceded. "But let's just say I ran into some…trouble there, and so I'm staying here until it all blows over."

"Good to know."

There was a silence full of distant water-splashing and wind rattling through the leaves. The airbender continued to walk down the path using her glider as a walking stick, taking in the beauty of simplicity, of nature. Skoochy strolled alongside her the entire time, taking in her reaction to everything within Republic City Park. They stopped when Jinora stooped down and sat in front of the pond, the sunlight gleaming off the surface. She just sat and stared for the longest time, the slight wind tickling her cheeks. All the time, the airbender didn't talk, but all she could think of was how this was exactly like a book she had finished a long time ago. She could remember the name, but Jinora did remember how the heroine felt when she looked over the sea from her cliff-side home. At peace.

Her company was also staring out at the water, an unreadable look on his face. Then Skoochy shifted his eyes over to Jinora and asked, "So what are you doing back in Republic City so soon, Genie?"

She looked over at him, then back out at the pond. "My father found out about my beings in Republic City a few weeks back. I don't even know how he acquired that information. I mean, the only people that were there that day was me and…" There, something clicked within Jinora. "…you." She whipped her head around so she could look at the keeper of her only secret.

Skoochy suddenly attained a sudden interest in the stone between his fingers. He began to grind it until the rock was just grains of dust.

"You told him?" Jinora voice, just above a whisper, trembled slightly.

The earthbender put up his hands in denial. "I didn't! Rai did. But it was just—we were going to get arrested and then—"

"You were going to get arrested?"

To which Skoochy mumbled back: "Just for banging up that guy's car, no big deal."

"No big deal? No big deal? Skoochy, if your parents found out, wouldn't they—oh." Jinora stopped when she saw the alarm and sudden grief flood into Skoochy's eyes, his shift of body position when he turned away from her when she uttered the word parent. "Oh, Skoochy, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

The earthbender glanced back over his shoulder, and his heart sank when he saw how regretful the young girl looked. Her eyes gleamed with remorse. He slicked on a sad sort of smile and stood up. "Come on, I wanna show you something." Skoochy held out his hand.

Jinora could've just airbended herself to her feet, but instead, she took it.

...

The harsh wind, familiar to the airbender's face, smelled smooth and foreign as she leaned against the edge of the rooftop. "This is amazing!" Jinora shouted giddily as she looked down at Republic City's afternoon. Skoochy had taken her to the top of an evicted building to look over the City. The view, Jinora felt, could've been better from an aerial point of view, but she wasn't complaining.

"I want you to meet some people." Skoochy pulled his guest by the arm away from the railing. Jinora set her wandering attention on her friend and his cap. "Mikah! You can come out now!" he called out to the empty rooftop.

The airbender watched in amazement as a figure evaporated from the noon shadows. She was an elegant girl with long, glittering brown hair and a kind of water tribe dagger hanging loosely at her hip. Jinora recognized the dagger—it was hooked at the end so that its owner could hold onto something above them and zip line around. She read about the blade in Water Tribe Moon, another historical fiction book.

"You must be that girl Skooch saved." Mikah said in a light kind of voice, and reached her hand out for Jinora to take. The small girl did, and soon found that Mikah's soft-looking hands were actually rock solid. When Mikah released, she tossed her perfect hair back, and Jinora couldn't help but find a little bit of Asami in the girl from the shadows.

"That I am. My name's Jinora," the airbender smiled at her new acquaintance.

"And this is Rai," Skoochy butted in, and gestured to a small boy in raggedy red clothes. Rai jumped up from the towering box he was sitting on, and the boy landed lightly on his feet in front of Jinora. Here, she could obviously see the height difference between her and the small boy—he was the size of Meelo! But what puzzled the young girl more was how Rai had landed…the small boy had made his way down like an airbender.

"Are you an…airbender?" Jinora asked, trying to mask her shock.

The small boy snorted. "Why would I be an airbender?" He looked up at the real bender and smiled at her.

"None of us are benders." Mikah explained, her voice melodic against the afternoon breeze.

"Except for Skoochy." Jinora interjected.

The older girl nodded. "Except for Skoochy." She repeated.

Without warning, Rai, still smiling stupidly at the airbender, said, "Skoochy was right. You are cute."

Jinora turned a bright pink. "Um…" She was both flattered and utterly confused at the same time.

Skoochy, the same color pink, pulled Jinora away from Rai and over to Sage. While his guest wasn't looking, Skoochy looked back at Rai and narrowed his eyes at him, to which the small boy stuck his tongue out and mouthed, but she is!

That earned Rai a chunk of earth in the face.

"Last but not least, meet Sage." Skoochy turned his attention back to the introductions he was making.

"Nice to meet you," Jinora greeted the girl with violet eyes warmly. Sage looked up from the scribbled-in book she seemed to be looking over, and acknowledged the girl without a single word. The young bender turned to the rest of the children she had just met. "It was nice to meet all of you."

"Yes. Skoochy's told us so much about you." Rai grinned, then continued to spit out dirt from his mouth. Despite the conditions Rai was in, the small boy still ogled at Jinora with puppy dog eyes.

Jinora glanced out at the position of the sun, and away from the small boy's uncomfortable gaze. "Um…well, would you look at the time! My father will probably be furious if I don't get home soon." She grabbed her staff that was leaning against the railing and fwiped it open. Jinora jumped up onto the thin railing with balance as smooth as a flying ring-tailed lemur, and glanced back at Skoochy with a slight smile on her face. "See you later, Skooch," and with that, the airbender jumped off the building. Both Rai and Mikah gasped. Sage looked up from her book and peered over the wall of the roof.

Just as soon as Jinora had fallen, she pulled up and began smoothly sailing the skies, her glider headed for home. The young airbender hadn't seen, but under the shadow Skoochy's hat casted, he was blushing. The earthbender leaned against the railing and continued to watch as Jinora's glider became smaller and smaller against a light blue background.

"I think she liked me," Rai whispered loudly to Mikah.

The older girl groaned and elbowed Rai in the ribs. "Shut up, Rai." Her gaze fell upon Skoochy as he gazed (oddly) dreamily out at the sky. Mikah smiled a little. "She's all Skoochy's."

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