This fic is also on my tumblr blog where my username is Kuno-chan and my blog name is Dragoness Ramblings.

Disclaimer: Legend of Korra belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

Patience is not sitting and waiting, it is foreseeing. It is looking at the thorn and seeing the rose, looking at the night and seeing the day. Lovers are patient and know that the moon needs time to become full.

The Wait

"So... tell me again? If you're dad gave us the okay to be together then why are we still sneaking around?"

Jinora sighed and laid her book against the trunk of the tree. It's not like her parents giving their okay on the relationship, for now as her father emphasized often, really fixed much. While her mother was actually quite supportive of it, her father basically treated the whole thing as a nuisance. Any mention of Kai in front of him made him look as if somebody had just viciously stamped on his toe. In the house, she had become quite protective of anything that had any evidence of her and Kai. Her diary was now safely locked up in her desk drawer and never left out in the open, her phone was with her at all times and her laptop now had a password protection on it. Most likely, her mother had a lot to do with her father being okay with all this added security. She'd been the least happy about Ikki invading someone's privacy so blatantly and was the one who really brought the hammer down on her sister's punishment.

Although he probably suspected it already, Jinora didn't want her father having any extended knowledge of just how far her relationship with Kai had progressed in the last year.

"Because you know he still doesn't like you. In fact, I think the only reason why he even allowed this is because he knows I'm just going to do it anyway. At least this way he can keep tabs on me."

His head comfortably in her lap, Kai made a face. "Which still confuses me. How is he supposed to keep tabs on you when right now he thinks you're at Meng-Meng's house?"

"He's not," she said. "My mom knows where I'm at and that's the only person who does need to know."

"Mm."

"Please don't be like that," she pleaded gently, running a hand through his hair. "You know why it has to be like this for now."

"I'm pretty sure you said the same thing on our six month anniversary, remember?" he sat up beside her against the tree.

She felt a pang of guilt. Of course he was still restless about all the secrecy. For him, it was probably starting to feel like he was her dirty little secret. While that wasn't true, what could she really say to make him understand that's not at all how it was? As much as she loved Kai, he could be rather stubborn at times. "I know. I'm sorry. I just... sweetheart..." she reached up to caress his cheek.

Smiling faintly, he leaned into her touch.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it, love. Anyway," he said, obviously trying to change the subject. "I'm thinking about another tattoo maybe. What do you think?"

"I think you should cool it for now. Just a little bit until everything settles?"

"Oh, c'mon. I'm just thinking about one more. Maybe on that spot on my back? Besides," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "I thought you always, y'know... liked my tattoos."

"You know I do," she said and turned her face up to kiss him. She did love his tattoos. He always took such care in selecting them and his preference for not making himself a human billboard also made her all the more attracted to them. His tattoos were always design oriented, chosen more artistically rather than haphazardly for the sake of it. She loved just being able to lay there and trace them with her fingers. He seemed to love it too.

Also, spirits, he just looked good in them.

In response, he leaned into her and their one kiss turned into a series of kisses that nearly had her laying down on the large roots of the tree. When he turned his attention to her neck, she sighed heavily.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" he asked, pulling back and looking down at her.

"No, no. It's just... I miss you."

He smiled at her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Well, I'm right here."

"No, I mean... I miss you," she said, tugging on the hem of his shirt.

"Oh... oh," he put his hands on her waist and rolled them over so that she was the one looking down at him. "Well, you know I'm nearly always willing to fix that whenever you say the word, but you do remember that we just spent the past weekend at your house? Completely alone. Right?"

She grinned. "I remember very well. It's just..." her grin faltered. "Things are going to get so much harder now that my parents know about us. It's not going to be that easy anymore. My mom can't keep covering for us every time I want to get out of the house to come see you. It just makes me wonder how often I'll have you to myself like this. We already don't get that much time..."

"I know..." he sighed, not seeming to have a real answer to that one as well. "But we're just going to have to muddle through. It'll get better. That's what Bolin always tells me when I'm down."

She frowned. "You've been down lately?"

"No," he said quickly. "I mean, in general. You know how he is being cheerful and stuff."

"Kai, if you're upset about something you can tell me yo-"

"I'm fine. Look at you getting all worried about me," he grinned.

"Well, of course I worry about you."

"I'm alright. Really," he said reassuringly at seeing her probably unconvinced expression. "Speaking of time, it's getting late. We should probably get out of here."

They picked themselves off the ground and moved to leave the park. If they weren't in a hurry, it was always a habit of theirs to be slow about it when they had to go home. When they got to their designated split spot, Kai turned to her and planted a sweet kiss on her lips. "If we're going to be sneaky about it, next time we hang out let's just do it over at my place. It's starting to get cold out here."

"But what about Mako and Bolin?"

He smiled. "I know their work schedules so it'll be fine. By the way..."

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"So, when am I going to meet your parents? You did say that your dad "wanted to meet me, doesn't like me and doesn't accept me." I can deal with the last two, but if he has a specific time or date he wants to meet me then I have to get it cleared with old man Toza beforehand. He'll be pissed if I ask for a day off last minute."

"Oh... right. Um... how about our anniversary date, hm? That way we can keep the meeting short. Mom will probably do us a favor and move things along so we can go out."

"Mmm," he began, looking thoughtful. "I think that works. Spending as little time around your dad as possible is probably what's best for my health right now anyway."

"Oh, he won't hurt you. I don't think at least. But so, um..." she said, grinning and taking his hand. "Speaking of our anniversary-"

"I'm not telling you a thing," he grinned wickedly and brushed his nose against hers.

"Oh, why do you insist on surprising me? You know it's killing me!" she asked, placing both of her hands on either side of his face.

"Because you're going to love it," he smirked. "And you know that I live to get you all worked up like this. I have to go now though. The old man's expecting me in about twenty minutes."

"Alright. Be careful on your bike though. Do you, uh... need gas money?"

"No and you know I wouldn't accept it even if I did. So, it's kind of useless asking."

"Just once I wish you'd accept my help though..." she said with a sigh.

"Don't worry about me so much, babe. I'm alright. I got to go though, okay? Love you?" he smiled gently at her.

"I love you too. Careful on the road."

He squeezed her hand one last time and left. She watched him walk away and turn the corner before going in the opposite direction herself. After a few minutes, the roaring of a distant engine could be heard; it was probably his motorcycle riding off towards the downtown gym. The dying noise made her heart sink a little. It felt as if he was slipping away from her although they'd just reaffirmed their love again in the park.

But maybe that was why it bothered her so much.

How many times would they need to do that now that her parents knew about them? Now that her dad actively hated her boyfriend? Was she afraid of losing him now? She'd never been before. It wasn't because she felt like his feelings would change, but rather that something would come between them and force them apart. Would her father try to force her to go to school in some distant city? Or overseas in the Fire Nation? What was Kai going to do after high school? As much as she knew he wanted to go to school for his art, he certainly didn't have the money for it. Or, she bitterly noted, the grades for a scholarship.

Get a grip, Jinora, she thought soothingly. You're going to worry yourself to death.

This entire thing was giving her anxiety. Not as bad as when they'd first been exposed, but it'd still only been a week. She wasn't quite ready to just think everything was going to be perfectly okay now. Things were still changing and she could feel it in her bones.

-:-:-:-

That night, Jinora hadn't expected her mother to come visit her up in her room so suddenly. She could tell by the look on her face that this was a "we should discuss our current situation" talk rather than just an inquiry about school.

"Hi, mom... what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said her mother, taking a seat on the side of the bed. "I just think we should talk about everything that's happened.

Here we go, thought Jinora.

"Yeah?"

"Jinora, you and I haven't had a real chance to sit down and talk about what happened with us finding out about your relationship."

"Mom-"

"Please, honey. Just give me a second, okay? I think I do have a right to say something to you about this."

Jinora went silent and nodded.

"Well," her mother went on. "You know I'm supportive of you here. You've always been a good girl, responsible and hardly ever gave us any trouble before this. I know you're father's always been strict on you about your studies and quite frankly, I think you need to have some fun in your life. However, you know that I am disappointed in you for lying. And for so long. I wish you had opened up about this months earlier."

"I'm sorry, mom. It's just... you know why, don't you?" said Jinora.

"I know. I know very well. You're grandparents we're not at all happy when they found out that I was dating a man fifteen years older than me, but they eventually came to like your father. They saw him for who he really was."

"Who did they think we was?"

"A cradle robber. A creep. Those sort of things, but the point is that they came around... and your father will too."

"Psh. Yeah, right. That'll be the day," she scoffed.

"Jinora, your father is a stubborn man, I'll give you that, but he's only being like this-"

"Because he loves me, I know, I know. But mom, did you see me that night? I was ready to breakdown. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come in there. That's how scared I was."

Her mother put her hand over hers and squeezed it. "Your father will come around or he won't. There isn't much you can do to control that, but if Kai is the boy you say he is then it will all work out for the best. Until then, I leave things in your capable hands.

Jinora looked up. "Wait, what?"

"You're a big girl now, Jinora. I won't hover over your shoulder or keep you on lockdown. Like I said, I don't like the fact that you lied to us and that disappoints me, but what's done is done."

"So, that's it? You're just going to let me be?"

"I mean, I'm your mother. So, of course I'm always going to keep an eye on you, but I just need you to know that you're safe now. It really will be okay. I see you walking around here with this look on your face like you're going to break into a million pieces any second. Yes, your father is barely allowing this. No, he is not happy about your choice in a mate. But you have to let that go."

Jinora looked down. Was she that transparent these days?

"Honey... you've always done what we asked you to do. Got good grades, been someone for your siblings to look up to, helped around the house, extracurricular activities, absolutely mounting yourself with extra credit assignments and, in the last year, all while having a secret boyfriend! You had to handle all of that with only Kai to really lean on because you're so worried about us disliking your choices. You're in your last year of high school. Next year, you'll be off to college. I'm just afraid for you being so nervous all the time. It's not good for your health. It may take a while, but your father will come around when he is good and ready. Please don't worry about that. Just do us both a favor and live your life. Everything else will fall into place. Be patient, but stop worrying so much while you're at it."

That left Jinora slightly speechless. Here she thought her mother had come up to scold her for lying about everything, but instead came to tell her something completely different. Has she really been that nervous these past few days? Well, perhaps that's why Kai kept on telling her to quit worrying about him. Not that he always didn't do that, but lately it felt as if she were juggling several things at once. The bad thing about it was that the school year had just started. Perhaps her mother was right. If her father didn't like Kai then that was his problem. She had enough things to worry about without his absolute approval in everything to top it all off.

Jinora leaned in and hugged her mother. She took a deep breath and exhaled for good measure. "I will, Mom. I promise. If I ever start feeling like it's too much, I'll just do those deep breathing exercises you taught me."

Her mother returned the hug and moved to leave. "That's good sweetheart. Thank you. It's all I ask."

When her mother left, Jinora looked up at the ceiling, feeling at least a little lighter than she had been earlier in the day. At least someone was definitely on her side. That was a load off. She would be lying if she said that all her worries were now one hundred percent gone although it had certainly made her a lot more self aware. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen, but at least now it gave her some sort of perspective on the situation.

Relax, Jinora, she thought as she drifted off to sleep. Just try to relax.

And here we go! Another update! This chapter felt a little slower, but I guess that's why it's called "The Wait". It's more of a transition chapter about all the change that's going on in Jinora's life. When Pema comes in, it's not to ask Jinora all sorts of private questions about her relationship with Kai because Pema trusts Jinora's judgement and she understands perfectly what it's like to be in her shoes. What concerns her most is the stress Jinora's piling on her plate.

Also, I promise I haven't forgotten Ikki. She and Jinora still aren't totally on speaking terms yet, but she'll be back. No worries about that loose end!

As always, tune in for next chapter! Leaving a review is always something that makes me very happy, but regardless, thank you for reading!