still on my string
iii. jinora
"So," Korra said, staring at her. "Let me get this straight: you befriended the Equalist who was in charge of your imprisonment, he helped you escape, is secretly an airbender, and is beat up in your room, and you're asking me for medical assistance?" Korra narrowed her eyes.
"Yes," Jinora said, the firmness in her voice surprising herself. This was no time to be unsure. Kai needed help, and fast. "Please Korra, I'll give you a better explanation tomorrow, but he needs help. I think he might have a broken rib too. You're the only one I can go to. Please."
Korra pursed her lips, and then sighed. "Fine." She poked Jinora in the chest with a finger, pointing at her. "But you owe me."
Jinora would have laughed, if there wasn't a tightness pressing into her lungs. "Thank you Korra, really." She led the Avatar back to her room, opening the door quietly. Kai was leaning against her bed, his shoulders slumped. "I got some help," she said gently, rushing over to him. Korra eyed him warily.
"You're the Avatar," Kai said softly through his swollen lip.
"And you're an Equalist," Korra said, nodding stiffly. "But you're also Jinora's friend, apparently, so lemme take a look at your injuries. Jinora, go get some water. I'm gonna see how bad it is first." When Jinora came back into the room with a glass filled with water from the bathroom, Kai had his shirt off. Jinora paused, feeling heat rise to her cheeks at the sight of him, lean and muscular brown skin. Her stomach dropped when she noticed the wound on one side, however, and she refocused on the task at hand, passing Korra the cup of water.
"How bad is it?" Jinora asked worriedly, as the water glowed under Korra's hands, and she waved it over the injury on Kai's side. It was slightly brown from dried blood, and it did not look good.
"He lost some blood here," Korra explained, even as the injury started to heal and disappear thanks to her waterbending. "It seems like he does have a broken rib, but I should be able to mend it in an hour or two. And give me like 10 minutes with his face, too. He'll need time in between to rest, as well. He's exhausted too, so sleep will be good for him."
Jinora nodded, letting the information sink in. "Alright."
"Thank you Jin," Kai managed, his face tight with pain as Korra continued working on his injuries. "Both of you."
"Shh," Jinora said gently, dropping to her knees to be beside him, brushing back his hair. "Save your strength, it'll be alright. You'll be fine." Kai leaned into her touch, cracking a weak smile for her, and Jinora felt a surge of affection for him. "I promise."
"I trust you," Kai mumbled, wincing as Korra's hands glowed when she resumed working on his ribs. "The mission, it went wrong. Scouted the Island, they wanted to attack. I - I couldn't let it happen, couldn't let them get to you." Jinora inhaled sharply, seeing Korra's eyes widen in surprise. "So, I 'accidentally' smashed one of the radios...Things started to go wrong, but they don't know it's my fault. We got attacked by earthbenders and a waterbender, that's what did this." He gestured to his beaten body. "I used my airbending, to get to the Island, closest safe place. I'm sorry Jin."
"Don't be," Jinora cupped one side of his face with her hand, her thumb gently stroking over his cheek. "I'm just glad you're alright."
"Me too."
"Now stop talking you two," Korra said. "I need to get some healing down on his face." Kai stayed silent while Korra went to work, and after a few minutes, the bruises and cuts on Kai's face had faded almost completely, leaving only faint traces behind.
"Thank you, Korra…?" Kai said, catching the Avatar by surprise, but then she nodded.
"Just don't make it a habit, kiddo," Korra said, shrugging. "You're just lucky Jinora's like a younger sister to me, and family can call in favours."
Jinora smiled. "Very lucky," she agreed.
Then there was sharp knock at the door, and they all froze. "Jinora?"
Jinora swore under her breath. "Akash. Nobody move." She rushed over to her bedroom door, opening it up ever so slightly so her boyfriend couldn't see anything else. "What are you doing here?"
"I got up for a glass of water, thought maybe we could talk, because you haven't been sleeping well lately, right? Is that why you're up?" Akash said, running a hand through his black hair.
"Oh, yeah, I was just doing a bit of reading, but I actually feel really tired now, so…" Jinora faked a yawn and went to close the door, but Akash stopped her.
"Jinora, I think we need to talk, about us."
"Can't this wait until morning?" Jinora said, trying not to sound too irritable.
"That's just it, you've been avoiding me," Akash said, rolling his eyes. "You've been distant, and you…" Jinora hoped he couldn't see the fear in her eyes. "You seem nervous. Jinora, what's going on? Ever since you came back from the Equalists, you've been different, distracted."
"It was a scary experience," Jinora replied coolly, trying to regain her composure. "And I've had other things on my mind to think about other than our failing relationship."
"Failing!" Akash spluttered. "That's it, we're having this discussion." He shoved the door open, catching her by surprise. "Failing, I cannot believe you just said that, I –" He trailed off once he caught sight of Kai and Korra inside, the latter still working on Kai's injuries. Akash gaped. "W-what the hell is going on Jinora?!"
"Shut up!" Jinora hissed, closing her door behind him as quietly as possible. "Or you'll wake everyone up. Akash, this is Kai. He was the Equalist who was in charge of my imprisonment, and the only reason I'm alive. He helped me escape – I'm returning the favour. Korra's patching him up. He got injured because he sabotaged an attempt to scout out and attack the Island. So you're not going to mention this to anyone, got it?"
Akash shot a glare at Kai, looking him up and down, before looking at Jinora. "I want the full story later."
"You'll get it," Jinora promised, but Akash still didn't look convinced.
"How do we know that we can trust him?" Akash said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking over at Kai with disdain.
"Because I trust him," Jinora said coldly, narrowing her eyes at Akash. He simply stared back at her, arching an eyebrow.
"And if he stabs us in the back?"
Jinora raised her head higher, her mouth a thin, firm line. She knew she had made her choice – more than just standing by Kai, but choosing him, no matter how dangerous or stupid it was. When she would break up with Akash, she wasn't sure; it would have to wait, since she knew his loyalty wasn't strong to begin with, and if he thought Kai had somehow stolen her away from him… Akash wouldn't hesitate to give Kai up.
"Then I get cut the deepest," she said simply.
Akash held her gaze for a second longer, and then dropped it. "Fine," he grumbled. He gave Kai a dirty look, but Jinora was pleased when she saw Kai merely roll his eyes. "I'm guessing there's nothing I can really do?"
"Not really," Korra said. "But you could be a lookout or something." Clearly the tension between her and Akash hadn't been lost on Korra, Jinora thought gratefully. Akash left her bedroom, probably to stand guard outside, leaving the two young woman alone with Kai.
"Your ribs will be healed soon," Korra added, letting the water's glow fade as she removed her hands. "You just need some time, but there's really not that much else I can do."
Kai pressed a hand gingerly to his ribs, and the old wound in his side (now faded to a faint, peeling scab). "Feels way better though, thanks Korra."
"I'll go send Akash to bed then," Korra said, sitting up. "Jinora, you should probably try to get some sleep too." She glanced at Kai. "See ya around, kiddo." Once she was gone, Jinora turned back to Kai.
"I won't stab you in the back, you know," Kai said quickly.
"I know," Jinora smiled, lightly trailing her fingers over the fading injuries on his face. Kai placed a hand over hers, smiling, and she felt a flood of warmth.
"Hand me my shirt?" Kai asked, and Jinora blushed as she did so, wanting to kick herself for feeling slightly disappointed as he slipped it back on. "So, that's your boyfriend?" She noticed his smile grew slightly strained.
"Yeah," Jinora tried to smile. "Akash."
"He seems like a nice guy," Kai said quietly, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Really? He wasn't very nice to you."
"That just means he wants to protect you."
"I don't think it was that," Jinora said slowly, removing her hand from Kai's face and fiddling her with fingers, not wanting to look at him. "I think it was more out of…jealousy, or something."
She glanced up at Kai, his brow furrowing. He almost seemed… hopeful? "Why would he be jealous of me?"
"I guess he thinks you're a – a threat to him, to our relationship, somehow." Jinora wished her throat hadn't gone so try, that Kai wasn't staring so intently at her, and that it set off a flurry of butterflies in her stomach.
"Am I?" It was barely audible, but Jinora still blushed furiously when she heard it. She tried to not look at Kai's face, instead looking over his shoulder at her window, and the gradually lightening sky. It was almost morning. Kai followed her gaze, and jumped as if startled. "Raava, I should probably go, it's almost morning."
They stood up, Jinora remaining silent, mostly because she didn't trust herself to speak, and walked to her window together. Kai was about to climb through to the other side, out onto the roof, when Jinora put a hand on his shoulder.
"Kai, wait." He turned around to look at her. "Don't go." Tear sparked in her eyes. "You can stay, I'll vouch for you. If you're worried about staying safe, my dad's friends with the Chief of police, Lin BeiFong, she can have the best officers in the city guard you 24/7. You can leave the Equalists, stay here as an airbender." She could see his resolve weaken as she took his hand and squeezed it. "Stay here with me."
Kai almost smiled, removing his hand from hers. "It's not my protection I'm worried about. If I tried to leave, the Equalists would have all the more reason to go after you and your family. I'll be your spy, though, and I'll pass on whatever information I can to you, using your spirity powers."
Jinora slowly nodded. "Alright. I suppose you better go, then. Kai, I-"
Kai had pressed his mouth against hers, and her eyes widened in surprise. It took a moment for the fact he was kissing her to settle in, but then he pulled away.
"Raava Jin, I'm so sorry, you have a boyfriend that was so stupid, I'm so stupid, I-"
Jinora hooked her fingers around the collar of his Equalist uniform and yanked him down for another kiss. It was even better than the one they had shared in her dream, as one arm wrapped around her waist, the other cupping her face, as he kissed her back eagerly.
Jinora reluctantly pulled away, and poked him in the chest. "Come back to me, okay?"
Kai grinned at her. "Okay." He gave her one last, lingering kiss that Jinora tried so hard to ingrain into her memory forever before he hopped out of her window and skid down her roof. It'd be easy for him to stowaway on the ferry, getting back to the city undetected.
Her lips still felt warm, and despite the uncertainty of what happened next, Jinora couldn't help it as her lips curved upwards into a smile.