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

Family is the lifeblood of humanity. Whatever or whoever it means to you.

The Family

The sounds of someone outside in the kitchen woke Jinora up the next morning. She raised her head slightly to get a better listen at whoever it was moving around outside Kai's room, but as if feeling her shift, Kai rolled over onto his side toward her.

"It's just Mako and Bolin getting ready for work," mumbled Kai, eyes still closed. "Don't worry about it."

"Mm," she also rolled onto her side. "...don't you think we should get up?"

He grinned lopsidedly against the pillow.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" he asked groggily, eyes still closed. "Baby, you gotta learn that when the sun gets up it doesn't necessarily mean we have to be up."

"But I like to be up with the sun," she said, pouting a little bit. "It makes me feel good."

"Well, my bed's extra comfy today," he finally opened his eyes. "Mind if I stay here instead for another hour?"

She smiled a little and scooted over to kiss him on the mouth.

"No, that's fine, but I'm going to get up and go take a shower."

"Sounds good."

Crawling out of bed, she gathered a towel and something clean to wear before heading to the bathroom, greeting a suited up Mako and Bolin good morning as they were gathering their own belongings.

It was such an early oddly peaceful time. After everything that happened yesterday, Jinora felt... calm. Like being on that terrible high had brought her head back down to a level where she was finally feeling more herself again.

She got up and showered, letting the hot water relax her muscles. Admittedly, she wished Kai would come in with her, but she knew he was right. While she certainly missed him she also had to think about her own health. What good would it do to either of them if their physical relationship became how she coped with her anxiety? That was wrong. That was so wrong in so many ways and just knowing that made her happy they hadn't made love last night as good as it would have felt at the time. There was no way she was going to let any aspect of their relationship become a crutch for her to handle this whatever it was.

Mako had been right though. She had to face her father and talk about this. Considering how she ran out of the house yesterday, it was certainly going to happen anyway.

There was so much to think about and so much of it was going by so fast in her head, but Jinora let it run over her like the water in the shower. Let it pool together and become one. She was determined to make things right and a little bit of self help was probably one good place to start.

By the time she got out of the shower, Mako and Bolin were already gone. Of course, Mako hadn't left without leaving behind some kind of breakfast. Dressed in one of Kai's clean shirts while her own clothes were in the washer, she pulled off a sticky note from the microwave reading "Chocolate chip pancakes." Opening the microwave, lo and behold, Mako had left behind a stack of chocolate chip pancakes for her and Kai to share. Smiling, she took a couple and found the syrup placed on the kitchen counter.

Finding what they were probably reading that morning, Jinora ate her pancakes as she casually flipped through her newspaper.

After a while, something kind of dawned on her.

This... was nice.

She sighed contently. This was so nice.

When was the last time she had a real morning like this? Alone and just left a couple hours to be with herself? As much as she loved the people in her life perhaps this was why she'd been having such a hard time keeping it together lately. Wanting to please everyone, but meanwhile crumbling inside because she was letting too many people borrow too many pieces of her. Many of whom, at the end of the day, didn't matter to her. Why did she care what people like Meng Meng had said in the first place? They weren't in her life and perhaps she had lost sight of that or never had sight of that at all.

Then again, all that being said didn't make things go away. She still cared about what her parents, friends and boyfriend all said no matter how much they told her she shouldn't. It was just her nature to care.

The issue was, however, that she cared too much. She shouldn't care so much that it crippled her day to day life at any one given time. It was a telling sign that people who hardly had any role in her life carried heavier weighted opinions than they should have. Of course, it was better now, but it still sat in the back of her mind. Awareness was a double-edged sword she supposed.

Sighing, she pushed the thoughts away. Perhaps the chocolate would make her feel better. Something had to be done, but right now she should just enjoy her pancakes.

Another hour or so passed and Jinora found herself lounged in the couch watching a program about Fire Nation war tactics on the Archive Channel. Just as she was beginning to wonder when exactly Kai was going to get up, she heard the door open and assumed he went to the bathroom. A few minutes later, she felt familiar lips planting a kiss on her cheek. She smiled, turning her head so she could look at Kai from out of the corner of her eye as he leaned on the couch behind her.

"I was wondering when you'd be up," she teased. "You said another hour."

"Yeah, well, I like sleep and you seemed to be enjoying yourself out here with your antique channel," he groaned slightly and went to kiss her shoulder.

"Archive Channel, thank you. And I was," she said, yawning as she felt him stand up. "It was nice and quiet for once. Pancakes in the kitchen by the way."

"Sweet," she could hear him opening the microwave. "He hasn't made pancakes in forever!"

She giggled.

"You really do see him as Momko."

"Always and forever," he said, grinning as he came around to sit next to her, a plate of pancakes in his hand. "Did you get some?"

"I finished eating like an hour ago," she said, nodding. Her smile faltered slightly and she scooted over to him. "Hey... can we go somewhere today?"

"Uh... Shuwe?" he began, mouth full of pancake. He swallowed his food. "I mean, you know I never mind, but weren't you supposed to be going home...? I don't mean to bring you down, but your parents are going to wonder."

"I'll just text my Mom I'll be home later today. I... I just wanted to go to the mall. I wanted to check on something."

Kai looked at her for a second.

"Okay... if that's what you want then you know I'm more than fine going."

She smiled again, leaning over to kiss him.

"Thanks, love. Go take a shower when you're done so we can head out. I just have to wait for my clothes to finish drying."

They finished watching Jinora's history program as Kai finished eating and, after he got cleaned up and changed, they headed out the door. She made a mental note to be sure to get Meelo's bike back to him real soon. It probably wouldn't happen today, but she still felt bad for taking it without his permission. At first, she thought they'd be taking Kai's motorcycle, but he shook his head when she mentioned it.

"Nah, you're not really dressed for it and it's freezing outside. We'll just take Bolin's car. He wouldn't mind."

"Bolin doesn't take his car to work?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"He prefers to carpool with his buddies from work because they sing songs on the way when traffic gets heavy."

"Oh," she said, blinking as they walked up on a grey satomobile. "I guess that sounds like Bolin."

"I don't expect anything less from him," he chuckled.

Though the day was sunny for the time being, she knew better than to trust it on looks alone. It was cold. From the weather that morning, clouds were supposed to be rolling in over town in a few hours.

Appropriate, she thought, looking out the window absentmindedly.

"You okay?" asked Kai, snapping her out of her thoughts. He glanced at her from the driver's seat. "I know this isn't exactly the most relaxing day of your life, but I still want to make sure your mostly okay."

"I'm good, babe," she said, smiling sincerely at him. "I was just thinking about the weather is all."

"The weather. You're sure you're good?"

She nodded.

"Don't get me wrong, baby... I am really nervous for when I go home, but I'm also alright. To be honest, I really needed to get out of the house."

"As long as you're sure."

"I am. Besides, if I wasn't then I'm also not afraid to tell you too."

That made him smile.

"Good. Part of the reason why I'm here," he said, reaching over to take her hand and give it a kiss.

They got to the huge Republic City Mall half an hour later, the parking lot full of cars going in and coming out on a busy Saturday. Much to his dismay, Kai had to park a little ways from the entrance.

"You're going to live, sweetheart," she grinned, trying to hold back her giggles as she watched him hunch his shoulders.

"Don't laugh," he said, scowling a little. "It's cold out here, damn it."

"The wind's not even blowing!" she laughed.

"Doesn't mean it's still not cold," he grumbled slightly. They finally got to the entrance and Kai shook himself out as if shaking out the cold. "Now, what is you wanted to do here?"

"Oh, uh... I wanted to go to the bookstore?"

"I should have just guessed that one to be honest," he said, taking her by the hand as they headed to the escalator. Going up to the next floor, they sauntered along hand in hand, taking their time and window shopping as they walked toward the bookstore. By now, both of them knew where that was by heart.

The bookstore was calm and quiet, the walls painted high in relaxing, almost sleepy earthy colors and the carpet a nice rugged fading red to go with it. Jinora had been in there a million times since they'd opened it years ago. Sitting on the floor, reading almost whole books by the time an employee would come along and ask her if she'd like to buy the book to which she always did. Sometimes against her better judgment if she didn't really have the money. Once she had her head wrapped around a good book she always wondered how she was just supposed to put it down?

Kai, of course, knew all this. When they went into the bookstore she did the steering, gently pulling him along to a section of the store she never thought she'd have to really spend serious time in. When they finally came upon the right bookshelf, she bit the inside of her lip. Looking up, Kai surely looked over the sign that clearly read Psychological Self Help.

She felt him glance over at her and squeeze her hand in his moments later.

Reaching out a trembling hand, she trace the outline of one book that read Anxiety and You. Almost immediately as she touched it, her eyes closed and her hand retracted.

"Here, I think this one's better for you."

She looked beside her and Kai was holding out a blue bound book toward her with his free hand. Taking the book carefully, she looked it over. The Tales of Spirits and Your Anxiety: A Guide was sprawled on the front cover and below it was the name of the Air Nomad Monk and Certified Psychologist who wrote it.

"There's also this other one written by a different monk. I'm sure you know who it is," said Kai, tapping the spine of a different book on the shelf.

She tried to smile at him then looked back down at the book in her hand.

"You know which ones to pick..."

"Perhaps... I mean, I just think you should approach this from a level you understand best. I've seen the books in your house and I know your parents have always taught you guys about the spirits and Raava and all that... I never had any of that. At least not until Mako and Bolin. Even then I barely know where to start... but you already have it in you. Maybe this way can be refreshing. The last thing you want is to try doing this in a way that doesn't really work for you and then get stressed out with that, right?"

Jinora looked up at him and nodded.

"Yeah... I agree. I really do, but you know that I'm going to have to tell them about it too. My parents... what if..." she faced him with pursed lips, book tightly clutched in her hand as her eyes stunk and a tear fell.

"They won't think you're crazy," he said, putting his hands on her arms. "That I can promise you. They'd never think less of you just because of this. Never. No matter what happens I don't ever doubt that your parents love you. You shouldn't either."

She tried to smile at him again and this time succeeded.

"Will you read it with me sometimes...? I think it'd be nice to have someone to read it to. "

"You know I always love it when you read to me," he said, taking her by the waist and kissing her soundly on the lips. "Besides, I've always wanted to get to know the spirits better. Maybe this is where I'm supposed to start and what better way then through your beautiful voice?"

Her smiled split into a small grin.

"Flatterer."

"All the truth."

"Well... I probably should go purchase it now... shouldn't I?"

He gently took the book from her.

"I'll do it. Just go hang outside for a sec, okay?"

"W-what? N-no, that's not what I meant," she said, sputtering. "Love, you don't have to buy it for me. I just meant I was a little nervous about bringing it up to the cashier is all!"

Kai shrugged.

"You're feeling a bit embarrassed about it. No shame in that. I'll buy it for you."

"Kai-"

"Jinora-"

"Kai."

He cracked a smile at her.

"Jinora, really, it's fine. You know I like to buy things for you."

"That book is forty yuans," she crossed her arms.

"And I just got paid. You should save your money."

She looked at him now, her face fixed in a stern expression.

He sighed.

"Love. I want to do this for you. It makes me feel like I'm helping you in some real kind of way."

Her sternness softened and she frowned slightly.

"But you are helping me. You've been helping me. Maybe you don't think the help is real, but I feel like it is. You being there does mean a lot to me you know. Don't forget that, okay?"

"I won't," he said, waving the book between them a bit."And this will help me remember that... okay?"

She looked at him, down at the book then back at him. He wanted to help even though he was already helping and, looking at him, how could she tell him she didn't want him to? Of course, it wasn't true at all. Perhaps it was just her instinct since he always liked to spend money on her on things that she didn't need. The gifts were always well thought out and she actually really appreciated them, but his bank account worried her. What if he needed the money and didn't have it because he'd spent it on her?

Though, like he was trying to make the case, this was different. This book he essentially wanted to gift to her was something she needed. Furthermore, he wanted to buy it for her so maybe she wouldn't choke up at the cash register and feel worse.

"Okay... okay, go ahead... but just one more thing?"

"Anything."

She walked into him and pulled him down to her level by the collar of his jacket and kissed him. When they pulled back he grinned albeit quizzically at her.

"I just love you," she said.

"I love you more," he said, kissing her on her forehead.

"You're so corny," she laughed a little. "But it works for you."

"I try," he gently pulled away from her. "But I'm going to go buy this, okay? Just wait for me outside."

As he turned away to go to the register, Jinora crossed her arms with a smile and walked towards the entrance of the store. She waited outside from him, thinking about where else maybe they should go now while they were here.

"Okay," she heard his voice and felt a hand on her back. He handed her a small brown opaque bag that had the book all wrapped up in it. "Here you go."

"Thank you, love. It means a lot."

"Of course," he said, taking her hand.

She pulled him along and they walked idly beside each other now.

"Did you want to go get some coffee?" she asked, smiling. "I'll even try another one of those pumpkin drinks you rave about so much f you want."

"Nah, it's okay," he said, chuckling. "Let's just get some ice cream or something. Coffee can get your nerves worked up too much. At least, that's what I've been reading."

-:-:-:-

The sunset would have been so much more beautiful to Jinora if she didn't feel like she almost couldn't breathe again when they were finally on their way back to her house. They'd spent most of the day out just going to different stores they'd made plans to go to weeks ago, but hadn't been able to do so as of late. Deep down, she knew it was partly because she didn't want to go back home yet. Now, she was feeling it. This wasn't in the same way she felt when her panic attacks were kicking in full gear, but she had to take slow, deep breaths to stave off anything of the sort the closer they got. Kai was talking to her all throughout the ride, but she couldn't bring herself to answer him like she usually would. Eventually, she felt him reach out and hold her hand once they got into her neighborhood.

She'd texted her mother on the way and by the time they'd driven up in front of her house, her parents were already coming outside. Behind them, she could see Rohan trying to stick his head from behind their mother, but she only seemed to instruct him to come back inside.

"Okay..." she said, looking at Kai and unbuckling her seat belt. "Here I go. Thanks, babe."

"No, I'm coming with you."

She turned her head towards him and her eyes widened a little.

"Kai-"

"Jinora... I'm not saying that you can't do this on your own, but... I want to do it with you. I have things to say too. Remember, I have just as much fault here as you do."

Jinora looked at him, biting her lip. She wanted to tell him to go home and not have him deal with this. She wanted to tell him that this was her fight and hers alone.

But... they both knew that wasn't true.

All of this had transpired, partly, because of what they both chose to do. Together, and how long they chose to do it. He was involved in this. No matter how much she wanted to spare him insult from her father verbally or otherwise. It wasn't fair because her father wasn't being fair. Then again, she'd also realized why that was the case. Mako was right and there really wasn't any right side in this.

Spirits, she was getting a headache.

Hesitantly, she nodded and he sighed in relief.

Almost shaking, she got out of the car and heard Kai following suit. He came around and pulled her along with him by the hand. The closer they got, the more she could see her parents faces. Her mother just looked worried, but her father looked somewhat unreadable. A cross between cold and tired and she wasn't really sure what he was thinking at all.

They got to the foot of the stairs and Jinora was about to open her mouth to say something. To apologize for running off last night, but she almost couldn't bring herself to do it and Kai actually beat her to it when he took a step on the stairs.

"I know that you're upset. Both of you. Especially you Mr. Gyatso... for a lot of reasons," he said, looking between her parents and then settling back on her father. "I know that. And you have a right to be, but... this isn't fair."

"Excuse me?" her father frowned, almost stepping down from his place on the stairs, but her mother put a hand on his arm and he settled.

"I... this is your house," she could detect a hint of a quiver in Kai's voice. "And I don't mean any disrespect. I really don't. Or at least, I don't want to, but... Mr. Gyatso, you're not being fair to Jinora. Look, I'll be the first to apologize for all the sneaking around we did, but it's not like we did it just for the fun of it. Jinora... Jinora was the one who was more adamant about it, yes, but she had her reasons. And I went along with it too! Completely! We should have come out with it ages ago and we're sorry, but we did it because we were scared. No matter what, I was the one who let her keep us a secret."

"There shouldn't have been any secrets in the first place. Not like this. Not the way you two went about it," her father said coldly, glaring at Kai. "I'm her father and I deserve to know who's in my daughter's life!"

"Exactly! You're her father and the fact that she felt like she had to hide us from you doesn't bother you at all? I mean, we got scared... of everybody. Spirits, I'm probably not making a lick of sense right now. I just... That was really it though. Everybody getting into our business when all we wanted was to be left in peace. How can we be left in peace when Jinora feels the need to please everyone? If everybody had known then... we were just afraid of the pressure. Afraid of the things that actually did end up happening after our secret was out, but now we were strong enough to get through it together. But then there's you, Mr. Gyatso. Her father, the person she feels like she needs to please the most, yet the person she initially felt would have been the most understanding. At first it wasn't you, but then you became the person who scared her the most and... and what if you weren't as understanding as we initially thought? What if you completely hated me from the get go? What if we weren't even given a chance? What if you told her I was just in in the way of her succeeding? And it only got worse as time went on... I know you want her to succeed, but... at what cost?"

Her father didn't say anything and Jinora was practically trembling. Here they were, individually spilling their guts out. She had originally thought that her father would give them a chance, but like Kai had said, all the what if's had gotten to her and the idea of telling her parents about her relationship with Kai became more and more like climbing a wall than anything. Perhaps she shouldn't have let fear take over, but with her last year looming, her father wanted her to be on top of her academics and how would he have reacted to her having a boyfriend? She couldn't have been sure and that uncertainty had delayed things... a lot. Still, Kai was worth it. He was so much of what she saw as good and people like that only came once in a lifetime.

She'd read about enough romances, fiction and non-fiction, to know. They would make it work no matter what. If it was meant to be then they would find a way through it with the faith they had in each other. Even now, that's what Jinora was reminding herself of as she stared at both her parents.

Kai looked back at her and his expression puzzled her. He almost looked like he was asking permission. For a brief moment she smiled at him.

I trust you, she thought to herself, hoping the same message came through her smile.

He turned back to her father.

"You don't even know what happened to her just a couple weeks ago do you?" he asked, not giving her father time to really respond. "You had no idea that she had a panic attack a couple weeks ago. You didn't even know that she had panic attacks or anxiety issues or any of these things she's been dealing with since our secret was out. That's what happened last night. That's what happened that day when I skipped school with her because that was the first time she'd ever experienced it and she was exhausted. That's been building up inside of her for so long and all it takes to set her off is the idea that you'll think of her as a failure! She's embarrassed for you to know, but it needs to be said. It killed me to watch like that! Like she was drowning and I couldn't save her because it was all happening inside her own head! I... I don't have the right to stand here in front of your house and say all these things to you and I don't speak for Jinora at all. She's her own person, but... but she's so scared of you now."

Kai took another step up the stairs.

"...I know... I know you're mad at Jinora for lying to you. I know it's upsetting to say the least and we should have thought harder about that. But she is sorry. Raava, she is so sorry and it's tearing her apart... I can't watch that. I know you're upset with her and that's where a lot of the friction is coming from, but she can't handle it. At least not like this. I don't mean to seem like I'm trying to tell you off in front of your own house, Mr. Gyatso, but I love your daughter and I'd do anything for her. I... All I'm asking for, the only thing I'm asking for is just..." Kai sighed, bringing his fingers to his chest and gesturing towards himself. "Don't be mad at her. Be mad at me."

Everyone was silent for a moment after that. Kai took a step down and her father only looked at him. Finally, her father sighed and closed his eyes.

"Go home, Kai."

Kai almost seemed taken aback and unsure. Before he could say anything, her mother walked down to them and put her a hand on Kai's shoulder.

"It's okay, Kai," she said, smiling at him. "We'll take it from here. It's going to be okay... promise."

Jinora reached out for him and when their eyes met, he seemed to relent.

"Call me, okay?" he said just between them. When she nodded, he kissed her on the cheek and walked back toward the car. She looked after him as he drove off before her mother gently pulled her into the house.

Inside, her siblings weren't around, probably shooed upstairs. Her father had wandered into the living room, stroking his beard and looking generally absorbed into his own thought.

Her mother still holding her hand, Jinora stepped forward gingerly.

"...Dad?"

He looked up at her, then gestured for her to follow him.

"Let's go to my study. We need to talk," he said. Normally, she might have been apprehensive. Too scared to move even, but his tone was softer. Gentler. Like he was tired of all the fighting just like she was.

Jinora followed her father to his study. She closed the door behind her and when he brought his desk chair around, she sat across from him.

"I..." began her father, leaning his elbows on his knees. "You know... that I didn't know just how deep all of your feelings were going. At least not that way. Sweetheart, you know that I love you and I only want what's best for you. You and your brothers and sister. I... yes, I was hurt. I couldn't understand what had I done. Had I let you down in some way? Had I done something against you? Because if so then, Raava, you know I'd never hurt you on purpose. After I found out about Kai perhaps I did feel upset. No, I know I did. Just... why? Why couldn't you have given us the benefit of the doubt? Me? Had I not shown you that I will always have your best interest at heart?"

Jinora's heart dropped with every word. She felt her eyes sting and couldn't stop them from tearing up.

"Dad, I... all I've..." she sniffed hard. How could she even say this? The words weren't coming, but she swallowed hard and forced something to come out. "I've done so much..."

Her voice cracked and that was hardly a satisfactory answer, but her father still looked at her, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Jinora, all those things were to help you get ahead in life. Not just you, but your siblings as well. If you did the best you possibly could then perhaps... I figured they'd follow your example. Follow suit and you were always such a upright girl-"

"But nobody ever asked me if I wanted that!" she blurted out, her hands in small fists on her lap now.

Her father sat back, slightly surprised.

"I mean," her voice cracked. "I love Ikki and Meelo and Rohan, but I never asked to be their guide! It should have just been a given! Still, I did everything. If that was what I was supposed to do then I would do it even if I wasn't really all that thrilled with it! When I was in grade school I always participated in the science fair even thought half the time I didn't really care about science. The only good part about it was that we got to do it together! When I was in middle school, I got into the Pai Sho club because you wanted me to pick up an after school activity! I became a library assistant! Teacher's assistant! Then I wanted to get into book club, but if I did then I also had to share it with calligraphy club because you wanted me to learn calligraphy! Later on, it was swim club! Then, I got into high school and I started tutoring, but when I wasn't tutoring then I had to do all the extra credit assignments you encouraged me to do and take all the hardest classes and everybody always wanted me to help them even when we weren't in class or I was at home. Then there was the fact I had to get A's in everything! And you know that's not even the half of it! That's just the things I did at school! I just... I..."

Jinora felt a tear roll down her cheek for the second time today and she was surprised the waterworks weren't coming now that the dam had just broken.

Her mouth kept opening and closing as she tried to find the best words to say it, but she finally, for the love of Raava, just said it. Slowly and as her voice strained not to fall apart altogether she just said it.

"What more do I have to do?"

Her father stared at her, she swore tears in his own eyes. Suddenly, he reached forward, out of his seat and just hugged her.

"Nothing," he said, his voice shaking. "Nothing at all. I'm proud of you. I've always been proud of you. All of those things made me proud, but I was already proud of you just for who you were. Your kindness made me proud of you. I wanted you to succeed in life, but by focusing on that I was actually dragging you down... and for that, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. For that... and for the way I've treated you and Kai since this entire thing started. Between this relationship of yours and you refusing your tattoos in the last year I just... I don't know, but It wasn't right. I shouldn't have been so cold to you and I should have opened my heart up to the both of you the way you always do with everyone. If anything, I should have taken example from you."

Jinora shook her head, feeling tears leak out of her eyes now.

"No, Dad," she shook her head, and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm the one who should say I'm sorry. I didn't get that you were hurt. I lied to you and everyone, but you and Mom should have at least been the ones I told. Dad, it's just... I always intended to tell you and Mom about Kai. Always... but when the idea of who we would have to face sank in... we got scared. I got scared. I got so scared that I stopped trusting you because of what everyone else would think. It wasn't fair to you. It wasn't right. "

"Yes, but you wouldn't have forgotten that if I hadn't given you reason to be scared. You lost faith in me sweetheart and I can't be mad at you for that. You felt like you had to be perfect for me and, as a father, that is on me."

He pulled back and smiled her, wiping his own eyes.

"Dad, I... I want to put all my cards on the table... feelings, I mean. Daddy, I love Kai. I'm not sorry for the time I spent with him because it caused me to fall in love with him and he is so wonderful. He's so worth it. Going through all this even now and he always makes me feel like I'm more than worth it. He's not perfect, but he's still amazing. I am sorry that you got hurt because of the way we went about it. I'm sorry that we snuck around at all-"

"No, no, no," her father stopped her, waving his hand at her.

"W-what?" she blinked.

"No. Don't be sorry for a little sneaking around. Especially when you two being together wasn't wrong in any fashion. It would be flat out hypocritical of me to be mad at you for that and not in the good, fatherly way. Yes, I was upset that you lied to me, but I was upset because it was for so long and the fact that you never eventually came around hurt. However, I do know what it's like to sneak around a bit. I dated Lin Beifong way back in the day, remember? Did you think I wanted the whole world, including my own family, to know I was dating my childhood friend? Daughter of the famous metalbender, Toph Beifong? Not really. Your Aunt and Uncle would have teased me to death and your grandparents would have been all over me. That's what I thought at least. Then, there was your mother and I'm fifteen years older than her. Her parents did not like me after we finally went out to meet them. Your grandparents there felt like I was robbing the cradle with your mother. We knew that was coming though and we kept that a secret for a couple months. Young people do that. You want to find your way – in whatever you're doing – and the interference of other people can really make things harder than they have to be. I understand, sweetheart. I want you to know that. I just wish you had come around eventually."

"It won't happen again, Dad," she said smiling at him. "I won't lose faith in you ever again. But... you do know... I love him. I can't change that and I want him in my life, but him in my life means you having to deal with him and..."

Her father sighed when he saw what she was getting at.

"Kai," he began and she realized only today had he really acknowledged him by his name like that. "is not a bad man nor is he a waste of your time. I'll admit, part of my resentment probably had a lot to do with my own hurt. Do I like him? Even at all? I can't say. I certainly can't say I hate him. Not after that out there. He loves you and I see that... I can give him that much… I will try and be more tolerable from now own. As a father, I guess it's just hard when I feel like you were only a baby just yesterday."

He sighed again and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"May I ask you something though, sweetheart?"

"Of course. Anything, Daddy."

"Why... why didn't you get your tattoos when I finally said you were ready for them? Now that were talking about things...why didn't you want them?"

Her smile faltered.

"Oh... that," she looked down then back at him with a small shrug "It's so silly, but... I've been saying 'yes' all my life I guess I just... I wanted something to say 'no' to. I wanted to say yes when I wanted to. Not when anybody else wanted me to... and I still feel that way to be honest... I don't feel accomplished enough for them. A part of me still feels like I'm not ready. With everything that's happened and you know about all the anxiety stuff now..."

"You don't have to until you want you. Just know that when you do? You'll more than deserve them. As for," he cleared his throat, seemingly slightly apprehensive. "As for the panic attacks? Did you want to tell me more about those?"

Jinora sat there for a while with her father, telling him how her anxiety had been making her feel in the last two months, about her panic attacks and how Kai had been so supportive. There were tears and more apologies on both sides, but for the life of her it felt so good to get all her feelings out to one of the people that needed to hear it the most.

"Tenzin?" Jinora heard her mother's voice call softly and she looked over, the door cracking open to reveal Ikki standing there as well looking rather sheepish.

Jinora watched her sister and her father motioned for Ikki to come in as he pulled up a chair for her, their mother flashing them all one last smile before leaving them be.

"And there is one last thing we should discuss that I've been made aware of in the last few weeks," said her father, looking between Jinora and Ikki. He finally settled on Ikki. "Sweetheart. I want you to know that Jinora's tattoos have nothing to do with the way that I or your mother feel about you. You do know that, right?"

Ikki glanced at Jinora a second before speaking.

"I-I know, but... sometimes it's like I'll never be your favorite..."

"But Jinora's not my favorite," her father said, wheeling his chair closer to her so he could put his arm around to hug her. "Neither are you or Meelo or Rohan. I love you all. Equally. One of you may need more attention than the others at different moments in time, but I'll still love you all the same. When Jinora goes to college, you and your brothers will need my attention more. You need my attention now, but unfortunately I'm only one man. And... as it is it's become obvious to me that I've been a bit blinded as a father on both fronts."

"No! Daddy, I don't want you make you feel bad!" said Ikki, distressed.

Jinora watched, feeling like she had no more words to give at this point. Right now, Ikki was the one that needed to be heard.

"I don't feel bad exactly," he said, nodding his head slightly. "I feel like there's work to be done, but I'll always be your Dad. If you'll let me, maybe I can keep trying? What do you say?"

Ikki tried to smile at her Dad, her lips curling up a little.

"Sweetheart, I've never pushed any of you to get the cultural tattoos like your grandfather and I did. I've always let that be your choice," he continued. "I got the full tattoos at my own behest because I wanted to be just like my father. If I couldn't be an airbender then I could at least take after my father as much as possible, but you don't have to do that. I don't want you to feel like that. If you want to get your tattoos then I will be more than happy to help you, but I'm already proud just to have you as a daughter. Both of you. You two are sisters. Don't ever feel like you have to compete with any of your siblings for the affection of your mother and I. On the outside I might look tired, but on the inside I'm as proud as a peacock eagle. Never forget that."

Ikki sniffed, but she smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. Jinora leaned over and put an arm around her as well. She felt Ikki's arms reach out to wrap around the two of them in return.

That's all she wanted to hear, Jinora thought to herself.

"I love you," their father said, sharing smiles with them. "Both of you."

"Hey, can we join in?" she heard Meelo's voice.

Rohan's smaller one followed suit.

"I want a hug..."

They looked up at the doorway, their mother and brothers standing there with happy faces all around. Their mother, for sure, had her own tears in her eyes.

There was a lot of that going around this evening.

Jinora and her father gestured for them to join and and the six of them converged into one big group hug.

If Jinora could cry anymore for tonight then she might have shed another emotional bout of tears. For now, she just leaned her head on Ikki's and closed her eyes, only one thought passing through her mind:

I love you all.

This had so much that I needed to put it in. When I saw how long this was getting I almost ended it right after Kai did his little speech with Tenzin, but I really wanted to get this all in one chapter so here we are at fifteen pages. The talks felt messy, but maybe it was supposed to feel like that. These were messy feelings after all. Jinora and Tenzin's make up made my eyes tear up a little on a couple occasions reading and writing this.

Their whole situation, I feel, can be described as a snowball. It was never meant to get this far as far as the sneaking around. To clarify, Tenzin isn't upset that Jinora snuck around a little bit, but it went on for way too long. Let's face it, people date secretly low key all the time because they just want to see if the relationship is going to work. Sometimes, it's hard to do that if you have people pandering you about this and that. It was just worse for Jinora considering her people pleasing issues. That being said, if she had come out months earlier, maybe dating Kai for a couple months instead of a year then this would be an entirely and less messy situation. Tenzin's a fair and reasonable man. He wouldn't have been so upset because he wouldn't have been so hurt that he was never told.

As for how he feels about Kai, they aren't buddy buddy all of a sudden now. Tenzin's not going to just love Kai and all, but he's going to give the guy a good, fair chance. Basically, what happened was Kai got a gold star from Tenzin for standing up for Jinora. He loves her, it doesn't make Tenzin do a 180, but it does give a real good start.

On a seperate note, if you like my work and would like to read more about my LoK next generation then please head on over to my profile and read my new fic titled The Book of War.

Alright guys, as always, you know I love those reviews! They really help keep me motivated and they help keep me writing the story! I read every single word and appreciate every single one of them! Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!