the thief and the airbender
once upon a time
{for Lilybud}
[2nd year of the timeskip; they're 12 & 13]
Jinora was usually a pretty cheerful person, so Kai was worried when she plopped down beside him, sighing loudly. He gave her a look of concern. "You okay?"
"I don't have any books to read," Jinora sighed.
Kai's brow furrowed in confusion. "But you always have books to read."
"I know. And I've reread all my books at least five times. I want... something new, but Dad doesn't want me going into the city alone."
"What if I came with you?" Walking around Republic City, alone with Jinora, having the whole day to themselves. It would be nice, really nice, for it to be just the two of them. His heart skipped a beat.
"Like Dad would let you miss out on training?" Jinora replied, and Kai knew she had a point. "Mom's gonna try to go get me some books soon but only next weekend. How am I supposed to last fourteen days?"
"Well..." Kai racked his brain. "Well maybe I could tell you a story. I heard a lot of stories when I was on the street. Earth Kingdom ones especially. You know the one about the origins of Omashu and Kyoshi Island, but what about Ba Sing Se? There's a pretty interesting myth behind it."
Jinora beamed at him. "I'd love to hear it, thank you Kai."
Jinora was a very good audience. As Kai told her about the badgermoles and the humans and spirits, their issues and solutions that led to choosing Ba Sing Se's secret passageways beneath the city, she gasped in all the right places and didn't interrupt. When he was done, Kai's voice felt a little dry, and he looked at her expectantly.
"That was great Kai," Jinora said happily. "Thank you for sharing it with me." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek; a heavy blush lined Kai's cheeks.
Still blushing, Kai rubbed the back of his neck. "I have more stories, I could tell you if you wanted," he offered, giving her a nervous smile. Jinora returned it brightly.
So it became their routine. A few stories a day. Some of them were adventure, some of them were a mystery, some of them were romance - he had never been able to tolerate those ones before, but Jinora made it more than bearable. It didn't help that it was all too easy to picture her as the heroine and him as the hero, anyway. Most of the time it was Jinora who sought him out, but he found himself coming to get her more often than not pretty quickly.
Kai, found quickly though, that he was running out of stories. Or the ones he still had weren't quite as interesting. Since the stories were all new to Jinora, he knew she wouldn't notice a little embellishing, and well, it was fun to see her gasp or laugh or wait with baited breath to see how the story would end. And having all of her attention completely focused on him? It was nice, really nice. Better, even, than walking around Republic City with her would've been, in a way (although he wouldn't say no to that too).
Finally two weeks had gone by; Jinora would be getting her books: their story time was over, right? So Kai was a little surprised when she approached him that afternoon. "Still have a story for me?" she asked meekly, a shy smile on her face, flushing.
Kai grinned widely at her. "Er..." he racked his brains for a story, but couldn't find one. "I think I've told them all, Jinora. To be honest, I started making them up myself two days ago. It was fun seeing your reaction and I didn't want you to be bored. And I wanted to spend time with you too, so..."
Jinora was quiet for a few seconds - had he said too much? - but then she smiled at him and gave him a hug. The hug lasted approximately 8 seconds longer than usual, and she kissed him on the cheek a little longer than she ever had too. Kai wondered if he would ever stop blushing.
"Thank you Kai," she said gratefully, her brown eyes boring into his. Kai swallowed nervously. "Mom got me a new book. I think you'd like it," she held up the cover, and he could see an action hero on it, and a girl wearing a dress wielding a sword. "I know you're still working on your reading, so... would you like me to read it to you?"
Kai's smile grew. "I'd love that."
Jinora's cheeks went pink, and she took the seat beside him, her knuckles just brushing his; the place where her skin had touched his burned. Jinora opened the book and cleared her throat. "Once upon a time..."
Sorry for the wait guys. And so this hasn't happened in a while, but I've finished writing all the requests I've been sent by you guys. As always, feel free to leave more. I hope you guys are getting excited for the holidays, I know I am.
I've recently put up a fic called "A Very Kainora Christmas" - a collection of drabbles based off a letter of the alphabet centred around Christmas stuff. Two chapters are already up. So if you guys are in a fluffy, wintery OTP mood, check it out. :)
I'd just like to say once again how incredibly thankful I am for all of your support - whether by favouriting, following, or reviewing. I never dreamed that this fic that started out as a small dumping ground for drabbles would get so popular so fast. It's overwhelming and this fic means a lot to me, thanks to you guys.
So once again, thank you. I love all of you from the bottom of my heart. :D