shots in the dark

XII: Kai
it's too cold outside for angels to fly

Omashu, to put it simply, is huge. Its skyscrapers and buildings sprawl out everywhere; the snowy streets are littered with empty, rusty cars. Once, it's clear it was a lively place as they wander around downtown - there are plenty of old restaurants, cafes and stores. The city's night life must have been magnificent, once.

"We should get somewhere high," Jinora says thoughtfully, "figure out where everything is." Kai silently follows her, the frost and light dusting of snow crunching under his feet. His hands are freezing. They'll have to get gloves, he mentally notes. And a proper coat for Jinora. He can see her shivering, but knows she wouldn't accept his coat if he tried to offer it.

They climb up the stairs of the tallest skyscraper that's relatively close to them, as the elevator has been out of order for many, many years. Amazingly, the stairs are pretty intact; zombies weren't the best at destroying them, Kai figures, they were too interested in killing humans. They pause a few times to catch their breath, and they plow on ahead.

The view, Kai admits, when Jinora decides they have finally climbed high enough, is amazing. The city's true size is staggering as it's abandoned streets and buildings sprawl out in all directions. He wonders if Ba Sing Se is like this, only a hundred times larger. There are plenty of rusty old tracks on the streets that once carried street cars, roads stretching out in all directions. There's a huge group of zombies around one location, off to the North, but there's plenty of places to scrounge up some food far, far away from the horde. If they're careful, there should be no reason to ever have to deal with the zombies.

"It was a major trade post, once," Jinora explains, taking a step closer to the window. Her hand falls upon the glass, her fingernails causing a small clink. With the soft snow falling, the faint light of the sun through the clouds and the dirty windows dimly illuminating her silhouette, Kai's struck by how much she looks like an angel: the only thing missing are the wings and the halo.

All Kai can suddenly see is the glass breaking and her falling - or perhaps flying away from him, those terrifying minutes he thought he had lost her all too fresh in his mind - and he reaches out to grab her hand. He can see her face shift, her mouth dropping open slightly - in surprise, maybe - but she slides her fingers through his and grips his hand tightly.

Not for the first time, he is surprised at how well she seems to understand. It's more than anyone else has ever given him, even Skoochy. He supposes it's because she's damaged too: she's lost her home and her family, while thrust into a battle for survival. He, at least, had the time to cope and mourn and move on. Mostly, anyway.

He has heard stories of fallen angels, from romance novels the older girls at the orphanage or from those who still clung to their religion as a refuge. The fallen angels were beautiful and damaged too, a dim light in a world of darkness.

He hopes someday, Jinora will fly again, and he'll still be there to see it.

"Hey Jin?" he says softly, and she finally turns around to face him. Her eyes are rimmed in red and brimmed with tears. He wonders when she started crying. He doesn't need to ask why, as they stand in a skyscraper surrounded by a destroyed city once full of life and happiness, now gone and filled with bodies, one of the first places of the outbreak that had ruined their lives.

She still hasn't let go of his hand. Kai gives it a squeeze he hopes is reassuring.

"Let's get out of here," he continues, swallowing the lump in his throat. "This place is depressing."

They walk down the stairs in silence. There's no need to talk.

Kai cries himself to sleep. Jinora doesn't say anything, even though he knows she wants to. He wishes he could pull himself out of whatever sad hole he's fallen into, but something about the city makes it seem impossible. Jinora tries to make him smile. He tries to smile, for her, but it's not easy. He can't wait to leave.

He's a fallen angel, but maybe he's too damaged to fly.

During their third night in the city, there's a huge snowfall: the first proper one of winter. As they emerge from their makeshift home, a small condo on the ground floor of an abandoned building (and they ignore the bloodstains in the third bedroom, the only one they're not using), everything is covered in a thick layer of snow, and the snow is still going. The little flakes fall from the blue sky stained with gray and full of clouds.

Then, as Jinora races out ahead of them, throwing caution to the wind, she starts to laugh. Kai watches her bewildered as she spins with her arms up like a ballerina's, opening her mouth to catch snowflakes on her tongue. She looks like a carefree child, the horrors of what she's seen and the fear she's lived with sliding off her shoulders with ease.

It brings Kai back to the days of their youth, when they had been young and friends and without a care in the world. He bends low, and ignoring the cold tingle of the snow in his hand, throws a crudely made snowball at her. It hits square in the back, some of it getting caught in the curled edges of her hair, which has started to reach some semblance of its original length. She whirls around at him, cheeks flushed from pleasure and the cold.

"Two can play at that game!" she smirks, and he starts to run. She chases after him and when she throws her snowball, it hits him right in the face.

Their snowball fight is feeble and more of a game of tag. Jinora's fast and she has better aim than him, but he's faster at making the snowballs. Eventually, laughing, they call a truce as they flop onto the snow after a long chase, tired.

Kai knows it might not be smart, to be getting their only real pair of good clothes wet, but he can't find it in him to care, his cheeks aching with laughter and Jinora lying beside him.

"Wanna build a snowman?" he asks her. Her wide grin is the only answer as she helps him to his feet. His fingers are freezing still, but he's having too much fun to mind. Their snowman is lopsided and small, not even reaching Jinora's waist, but strange as it seems, he's sorta proud of it. They lean against it carefully, to make sure it won't fall over, but it has enough strength for them to sit comfortably anyway.

"After this we should pull on some new pants," Jinora says, patting her soaked jeans with one hand.

Kai runs a hand through his hair, beaming at her. "Probably smart." She chuckles lightly and he looks at her curiously. There's a ringlet of snow in her hair and he has to stop himself from reaching over and it brushing the snowflakes off. "So... what brought your fun side out, Jin?"

Jinora merely chuckles again, shaking her head and smiling as if disbelieving her own reasoning. "You, surprisingly. You seemed so sad, since we came here. And I get it, it's a sad place, it's a dead place. But we're alive, aren't we? I just wanted to see you smile." He can't tell if her cheeks are pink from the cold or from what she said, or both.

Kai finds something in his chest swell with warmth and he beams at her. "Thanks, Jin."

She smiles at him. "What are friends for?"

The week is almost over, and nothing bad has happened. As ridiculous as it is, it makes Kai feel unnerved; it feels like he's coiled like a spring, ready to jump for when it happens - what exactly happens, he isn't sure, but the trap they had found in the woods sits nags at him in the back of his mind.

It's a struggle to fall asleep, but with the warmth of the small fire, and complete trust in Jinora's lookout abilities, he eventually dozes off.

Then, hours later, he hears Jinora scream.

He bolts upright, disorientated by the darkness but not waiting for his vision to clear. "Jin!"

He grabs his gun and pulls out his knife, whirling around. His eyes adjust and he can see a man with a knife - the metal gleams in the firelight - making jabs towards Jinora who seems to be alright. Kai staggers forwards to help, a finger on his trigger and ready to send the bastard who dared attack to rot in hell and then - he's slammed into the ground. His face is pressed against the cold, hard ground. He fights furiously against his attacker's grip, trying to figure out how many more of them there are.

"Hey – what are you doing? Let me go!" he thrashes wildly. His head is yanked up by his hair painfully, but he focuses on Jinora, who's still struggling until he hears the click of a gun in his ear.

"Freeze missy, or he gets it," a deep voice rumbles in his left ear.

Jinora, looking murderous, stops fighting; Kai's eyes widen, silently trying to tell her to keep fighting, and their eyes meet - he knows she gets the message - but she remains as still as a statue.

As the men circle - there are five more besides the man holding him, and the one who's pinning Jinora's arms behind her back - Kai thinks, vaguely, that they had found the survivors with the traps after all.