the thief and the airbender

when love is real it finds a way

{for Ale Wr and Kelev}

[AU - Jinora's the daughter of a a high-ranking British officer stationed in India. Kai's a street rat. British Empire AU.]

- note: none of this is meant to be historically accurate in any way. No research whatsoever has been done -

i.

Jinora was curious. She had been, ever since she was a little girl. She devoured every book in her library. She achieved academic excellence unheard of for a woman. When her father had told her family the good news - he had promoted to overseeing a station in India - Jinora had thought not of leaving everything behind, but of everything she could learn in India.

Her father hadn't wanted his children to go unattended anywhere, so he positioned guards on them whenever they went out into town. The peasants are dangerous, Jinora, he had warned, especially the street mongrels.

As sharp eyes stared at her, uneasiness building in her stomach as she made her way down the streets, she could see the truth in his words. The diamond necklace around her throat felt more like a noose, now. Carefully, putting a hand up to tell her guard, Mako, to stop, she took the necklace off and put it in her purse.

A few people's eyes slid to her purse and she clutched it tighter. "Want me to take it for you, ma'am?" Mako asked. Nodding, Jinora handed it to him.

"Thank you Mako," she said gratefully. He nodded curtly in reply; he had been a servant to her family ever since he was a young boy, along with his brother Bolin, and one of their most loyal servants.

Feeling safer, Jinora took time to admire her surroundings. Stalls were covered with colourful streamers, intent on selling whatever food they had. There didn't seem to be many people buying, however. Children and adults there were too skinny were everywhere, with chapped lips and dirty fingernails, their ribs poking through.

Pity welled up inside of her. These poor people were hardly getting by while she was sitting in the lap of luxury. Next time I come here, she thought to herself, I'll bring something to give to them.

But for now, she would enjoy the sights and sounds around her. "Do you want to keep going, ma'am?" Mako's voice broke her out of her stupor.

"Yes," she answered. "Yes, I do." She went to take a step forward, and bumped shoulders with someone else. An apology fell out of her mouth within seconds, even before she looked up to see who she had run in to: a young man with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. And, by the looks of his clothes, one of the homeless people.

"It's alright," he assured her, "it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention." He looked her up and down, and then smiled. "It could never be such a beautiful lady's fault." He took her hand and pressed it gently to his lips, then let go.

She tried not to flush, fully aware of how Mako must be glowering behind her. It was indecent for a street rat (his face surprisingly clean) and even more indecent for him to make her feel like... this! She drew in her hand, keeping it close to her, fully thoroughly relieved (and disappointed, but she shoved that feeling down) that he had let go.

The man seemed to catch sight of Mako, and flashed her a quick smile. "I'll be on my way ma'am, have an excellent day." She watched him disappear into the crowd, still feeling flustered, and fiddled with her fingers.

"We can go home now Mako," she announced. She wringing her hands and trying to fight down the blush on her cheeks, as Mako led her back the way they had come, when she realized: her ring was missing.

As angry as she was, she couldn't help but feel a little impressed. Very clever.

She tried to convince herself that was the reason she didn't report the robbery, which surely would've gotten the man hanged.

ii.

This time, wrapped in a brown cloak and free of her more expensive possessions, Jinora clutched her money purse closer to her, but overall felt much safer. As she wandered down the streets, Mako in tow, she stopped often to drop gold coins into people's outstretched hands. She always gave the families and small children the most - they needed it the most, surely.

That was when she spotted the man who had stolen her ring. It was hard to tell, at first, among the throng of people, but as he turned, she caught sight of his eyes - his beautiful eyes. It was him. And he was nicking a loaf of bread from a fancy, clearly well off baker.

Jinora bit back the warning she was about to shout, mere feet away, and chewed the inside of her cheek instead. What was she doing? He was a thief, a street rat, stealing. The money he had gotten for her ring must have lasted more than a week?

She watched him closely, as he dove around a street corner, the bread clutched like treasure in his hands. He broke it in half, and tore a piece off. His ribs poked through his shirt, she noted, watching him out of the corner of her eye, pretending to be interested in a nearby stall selling jewelry. From this vantage point, he wouldn't be able to see her at all, but she could see him perfectly.

He was about to take another bite, when something caught his eye. A small child, all by herself, curled up on the other side of the street. An orphan, Jinora thought sadly. The man stood up suddenly, and crossed the street. He held the loaf of bread out to her - the whole loaf. Hesitantly, the little girl took it, and then wrapped her frail arms around his thin stature.

A burst of affection surged through Jinora, her eyes lighting up at the sight. Finally, the little girl let go and scampered off, leaving the man alone. He looked up - they locked eyes, and she blushed furiously but kept staring. He looked away after a while, a smile on his face.

She smiled the whole way home while Mako scowled. ("Be careful, ma'am.")

iii.

She wasn't careful enough, Jinora realized, dread and horror building up in her stomach like the bile rising in her throat. The men's eyes gleamed with hunger - for her jewelry, money, or just for her, she wasn't sure. "Be a lady," one of them said, "and we won't have to hurt your pretty face."

"What do you want?" she demanded, hoping her voice wasn't shaking as badly as the rest of her.

"Just your shiny stuff," another man said, grinning devilishly.

Jinora's fingers fumbled with the clasp of her bag, but she managed to undo it. She started to tip her bag over - "Just what do you boys think you're doing to this lady?"

The men whirled around, and Jinora's heart skipped a beat seeing who was standing there: the man with the beautiful green eyes, his arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow raised. "Really gentlemen, this is no way to treat such a lovely lady. Not to mention - don't you know who she is? Officer Tenzin's daughter. Her father will have you hanged without a second thought if he learned about this little scuffle. I wonder who would tell him this." The man pretended to wonder and if Jinora hadn't been so scared, she would've smiled. "Oh, right: me. Scram."

Looking extremely reluctant, the men started to leave the dead-end alley. They purposefully bumped shoulders with the man, very roughly. Then, Mako bolted into the alley, looking mortified.

"Jinora!" he practically screeched. "I'm so sorry ma'am I can't believe we got separated are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, Mako," she assured him, still shaking. "Thanks to him, anyway."

"Just consider it repayment for not ratting me out, lady Jinora," the young man said, and before Jinora could force her voice to say Wait he was gone. Mako slung an arm tentatively around her shoulders and steered her home.

But Jinora was determined to see him again, and learn his name, next time.

iv.

His name was Kai, and he was bleeding badly. Briefly, Jinora wondered how her life had come to this. How sneaking out with Mako as her watchful guard had come to bandaging up a bruised young man.

Kai's beautiful eyes were slits, due to how swollen they'd become, the black bruises still visible against his dark skin. "Thank you Jinora," he mumbled through a cut lip.

"I'm guessing those men from the other day weren't too happy with you letting me go?" she guessed. Kai cracked a weak smile.

"I figured you were a smart girl," he replied. "Even prettier up close." Jinora focused on bandaging his arm and tried to control her blushing; Mako coughed loudly, eyebrows raised. "Is he your bodyguard?" Kai asked.

"Ever since I was young," Jinora tied the bandage into a sturdy knot, "but he knows how to cover for me, anyhow."

"I didn't realize you were so rebellious," he said teasingly, and winked. Now she knew she was blushing furiously.

She closed her eyes for a second, and when she reopened them she found his beautiful eyes trained on her. Heat crept down her neck. "Just hold still and let me finish cleaning you up," she reprimanded, trying not to smile.

It took a little while, but soon Kai looked decent. The swelling of his eyes had gone down, his cuts were bandaged, but the bruises were still pretty bad. Jinora rummaged around in her coin purse and forced his palm towards her, ignoring the way her fingers against his were tingling. She dropped at least ten gold coins into his hand.

"You can buy some paste for the bruises with that. And some food and new clothes. It's the least I can do." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, refusing to meet his beautiful eyes.

"You don't have to do that," he said quickly, looking genuinely flustered for the first time. Jinora tentatively reached over and placed a hand on his side, and felt his ribs poking through.

"I want to," she said gently, giving him a slight smile. Kai swallowed hard.

"Thank you," he managed out, almost smiling but still in shock. "I - I don't know what to say."

A sudden spike of bravery ran through her, and before Jinora could even think, she blurted out, "How about you say yes to seeing me again?" Mako spluttered, but Jinora remained focused on Kai, his eyes widening, her cheeks stained pink. Why had she said that? How could she be so stupid, now he was going to never want to see her again and-

"I'd love to."

Jinora glanced up at him and returned his hesitant smile. Mako let out a loud sigh. ("My job's about to get a lot harder, isn't it ma'am?")

v.

Mako covered for her, really, only for a night a week, in the beginning. Jinora and Kai set up a meeting place and would talk into the wee hours of the morning - hours where neither had other preoccupations or responsibilities.

Then one night became two, then three, four, and so on, until it was every night. And the faint way her heart had fluttered whenever Jinora saw Kai only grew until the sight of him took her breath away. He told her about his life, his troubles. She did the same. Although their problems were foreign - they came from two different countries, two different classes, two different worlds - just having someone to talk to gave a sense of support neither had found anywhere else.

Sometimes, she worried about the inevitable. About how someone would find out, and they wouldn't be happy, namely, her father. But those worries always vanished when she saw Kai's beautiful eyes and smile, until on the walk home, they were a quiet nagging voice in the back of her mind.

vi.

"Kai?"

Her voice interrupted the stillness of the night, as the two lay on a roof gazing at the stars. Jinora was lying close enough to him that she could feel his warmth, and wanted nothing more than to move over just a little and lay her head on his chest, but bit the desire down.

"Yeah Jinora?"

(She loved the way he said her name.) "You could have a life beyond this, you know."

She can picture the way his brow must have furrowed when he replied, "What do you mean?"

"I - I can give you money. Get you a house. My parents give me a monthly allowance, they wouldn't notice the money missing. You can become successful, you can a better life."

Kai scoffed. "In case you hadn't noticed, your country's forcefully occupying mine. I'll never get anywhere. I'm on the losing side of this war, Jinora... What about you then? Don't you know you could have a better life?"

"I'm fine, I'm well off-"

"But are you happy?"

He had her there. "No." The word was barely a whisper. "I'm not. I should be. I want to be. But I'm not... I have no purpose. Besides marriage, to someone I won't love, one day. I need... something, in order to be happy."

"What do you need?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "You," she said finally, "I need you." Jinora looked away bashfully, but his finger gently lifted her chin up, and she met his soft, beautiful green eyes. Before she knew it, her eyes were closing and he was leaning in...

It was a beautiful kiss, a wonderful one. One that left her breathless and she never wanted to need air again, she just needed him. She had him. He was enough. He was more than enough.

How could it work, though, she wondered.

Words from a long forgotten childhood story floated back to her. When love is real, it finds a way. She kissed him again. They would find a way, she vowed.

vii.

The wedding is small with only Mako in attendance, the priest sworn to secrecy. Kai slid a ring onto her finger - one, this time, he won't steal. Mako helped her get out of the mansion and she disappeared into the night after a tearful goodbye to him.

Kai lead her through the streets, to the harbor. They take a boat for many weeks. They curved upwards and narrowly avoid sinking along with the rest of the passengers along the Cave of Hope. They surfaced in Britain and go to a small town where no one knew them.

It's their something more, and it's more than a little bit perfect.

Hope this was worth the wait, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed Kainora Week - I'm still working on getting those prompts done too, and your requests will be posted soon. :) Thank you for being patient.

The Kainora oneshot poll on my profile will be closing soon, so if you haven't already, vote for your favourite. (For those who wanted "A Year Without" or, where Kai and Jinora meet as children and grow up together, Modern AU style, check out chapter one of "Heart Thief" - you'll find the oneshot there.)

Thanks for all your feedback, I love you guys a lot. :D