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

Letting your little bird fly from the nest has to be the proudest, yet most heartbreaking thing a parent can face.

The Nest

"You cannot be serious."

"Tenzin," said Jinora's mother slowly. She put a hand on his shoulder from her chair at the dining table. "He needs help."

"Pema." Jinora's father frowned at both her mother and Jinora herself. "We cannot let our daughter's boyfriend into the house to live in it."

Jinora sighed restlessly.

"Dad, he doesn't even want to move in-"

"Then we should respect his wishes," he said brusquely.

She ignored that.

"- but this is the only way. Neither Mako or Bolin can really support him. But here, things will work out for all three of them. He can stay in the guest room. He'll help out around the house! Anything!"

"Jinora..." he sighed. "We can't let your boyfriend come live in the house with us. It's not seemly. It's improper. You're both of age and I don't want anybody getting the idea that they can start... canoodling all of a sudden."

If this wasn't a serious discussion then Jinora might have burst out laughing. As it was, her mother shot him a look as if she were about to do the same.

"Canoodling?" she asked him incredulously.

Her father grumbled.

"Horizontal dancing. Knocking boots. Intimacy. You know what I mean. Don't make me say it," he said, scowling.

Neither Jinora or her mother had the heart – or the stupidity – to tell her father that she and Kai had been intimate for a long time now. Quite frankly, that subject was off the table in general. Jinora's mother trusted her to make decisions about that at this point especially considering the circumstances. She knew that her mother didn't see it as "not caring" as she saw it as caring more about the development of her independence. Admittedly, that was the difference and the balance between her mother and her father. Her father liked to keep close tabs. Her mother liked to make it so that tabs were not necessarily needed.

Now, here she was, ludicrously trying to convince her father to let her boyfriend move in with them. It was a bit of a crazy idea to think that a father would in any way approve of that, but Kai needed help. As did Mako and Bolin and Korra. She had to convince him. Thankfully, her mother was on her side.

"Dad..." she sighed. "Please. Don't do this for him then. Don't even do it for me! Do it for Korra at the very least... She needs this and you know that."

Her father's scowl lessened a little bit and he almost nearly rolled his eyes in exasperation. Of course, he would do it for Korra. He loved Korra just as much as he loved his own children and she might as well have been like a daughter to him. Korra was family and her needing this just as much as everyone else was the big elephant-bear in the room.

Her father stroked his beard and eyed her mother.

Her mother raised her eyebrows at him.

"Korra is pregnant," she said with finality, rubbing his back. "She needs to not be stressed out right now. She needs Mako to not be stressed out either. I realize you're worried, but it's not like we're giving Kai and Jinora the house. Kai moving in for the time being is just the best option to help Korra and Mako out while they plan for this new baby on the way."

Her father closed his eyes a he stroked his beard, frowning. Jinora knew that he was thinking real hard and weighing the options. On one hand, she knew he didn't want her boyfriend to move into the house at all. It wasn't like he suddenly really liked Kai or anything. Even months later he put up with Kai. He did not stand in the way of their relationship, but that did not mean he actually particularly greatly approved of her boyfriend either. On the other hand, Korra needed help. She needed to not be worrying about Mako's worrying and Mako needed to not worry about, well, everything. If he felt that Kai was in good hands then that would be one less thing on his mind one hundred percent of the time.

Her father finally opened his eyes.

"I don't like it-"

"Dad-"

He cut her off.

"I don't like it, but it appears we don't really have much of a choice," he said, still frowning. "I won't have Korra's entire life upended over this one thing. You are... both right. But let me be clear that I am only doing this because Korra is pregnant. You're right that she and Mako don't need the stress of this with all the worries of a new baby coming along now..."

He sighed and kept opening and closing his mouth as if it was the hardest thing in the world to say. Jinora raised her head the closer he seemed to get to saying it.

"He..." he finally said heavily, groaning and this time actually did roll his eyes in resignation. "He can move in."

Grinning, Jinora came around the table and threw her arms around her father's neck. She couldn't believe that it actually worked. She'd actually convinced her parents to let her boyfriend move in with them.

"Thank you! Thank you so much. You'll see. It's going to be great having him around."

"I'm sure," he grumbled. He patted her arm as she hugged him. "But there will be rules. Staunch ground rules. Are we clear?"

She nodded fervently and turned to leave the room.

"I'm going to go tell Kai," she said and left in a flurry of giddiness.

Her boyfriend was going to be moving into the house with her. Okay, she was very happy that everything was going to work out for Korra and Mako, but she'd also be a liar if she said that having Kai live under the same roof as her didn't excite her.

When she called up Kai and told him what her parents had said, he actually didn't really answer her.

"Really?" he asked a bit weakly. "They really said that?"

"Well... yeah... are you okay?" she asked now, concerned. "Sweetheart, I know that you don't want to move in exactly, but at least you'll be with me... you know?"

Perhaps he was afraid to move in with her? Perhaps he was afraid it was like being pushed together too fast? Of course, she knew that he loved her, but they were only eighteen and nineteen after all... did that scare him?

"No, no don't sound like that. That wasn't what I meant," he said gently now. "You know I'd love to move in with you. That's a dream. It's just under the circumstances... I guess- I mean- Mako and Bo... you know... they're my family."

Jinora went quiet for a moment and understood immediately just from the way his voice started to fail him.

Mako was Momko for a reason.

"Love, I'm sorry. I know this kind of sucks, but at least you'll be able to see them anytime you want, right? You know that we're not going to chain you down or anything... we're not another foster family. At least, not like the ones you had."

"I know," he said. "Babe, it's not you or anybody, okay? So, don't blame yourself or anything. It's just... natural feelings."

"I know," she said, smiling a little sadly. "But I'm still sorry."

"And that's why I love you," he cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'll talk to Mako because he's going to want to talk to your folks."

After that, the days went by in somewhat of a blur in all the excitement and the business. Even though the guest room was always generally tidy, Jinora's mother finally got to giving it a good dusting and cleaning, Jinora helping her. Mako came by a couple days later with Korra the day after it'd been decided that Kai could move in with them.

"I want to thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Gyatso. I mean..." began Mako, sighing. "I'll be honest. I... I hate that it's come to this... but at the same time I'm glad that he can count on you guys. I trust no one more for this and it really means a lot."

"Of course," said Jinora's mother, smiling. "You guys need the help. We're happy to give it."

"Yeah... I'm sorry about that," said Korra, frowning a little.

Jinora's father immediately shook his head.

"Don't say that," he said gently. "I know for a fact that not one person in here blames you. All that matters is that it's working out. You two just need to concentrate on the baby boy or girl that's going to join your lives."

At that, Mako reached over and took Korra's hand. When she looked over at him, he smiled at her.

Though she returned it, Korra also sighed.

"I just feel horrible that we're kind of forcing Kai out of his home," she said.

Gingerly, Jinora sat down next to Korra and put her head on her shoulder.

"Korra, Kai's going to be fine here. It's not necessarily a bad thing either. You two deserve this. You've wanted to start a family for a while now... maybe this is life's way of telling you it's time. Mysterious ways and all that."

Korra smiled at her and laid her head on top of Jinora's.

"I know... I already love this baby. It's just happening pretty fast, you know? Now, we have to start getting ready to buy all the baby stuff and just... I'll be happy when they're here I know. We both will. I'm happy now, but things also just need to settle down to get our heads completely wrapped around it."

"It's going to be alright. As for Kai, neither of you will have to worry," said her father. "Kai will be living with us, but you can come see him anytime and vice versa. In fact, we'd love to have you by more often. I suppose this is a good excuse to."

Mako turned to Tenzin, nodding gratefully.

"Thanks, Mr. Gyatso. I know... that the circumstances bother you and I don't blame you, but I just want to let you know that Kai really is a good kid... well... I guess he's not a kid anymore. All grown up now..." Mako's smile twitched with a hint of sadness. He chuckled a little bit. "...I'm kind of glad he's at work right now I guess. So he doesn't hear the way I said that... because saying that kind of... it really sucked but I'm still okay with it..."

Now, it was her mother who glanced at Jinora then smiled at Mako. She nodded in complete understanding.

"Say no more," said her father, sitting back in his chair and tugging on his beard. "We know how that feels."

-:-:-:-

The world felt strange after it was decided that Kai was moving in with them. Though color was returning to the world with spring very much here, things felt like they were just in between chapters of their lives. Korra and Mako were happy to be expecting a baby, Kai was moving in with her family, graduation would be here in less than six months...

Everybody was growing up.

It didn't make her feel sad exactly. Just observant. She wondered how this move would be for her relationship with Kai and how his feelings of having to move out would affect him.

The day after Mako and Korra had come to talk with them, she and Kai were out eating lunch at her favorite veggie burger place and her head just wasn't quite on right. Her thoughts were swirling in her head until she realized that Kai was waving his hand in her face.

"Sorry, did you say something?" she asked, mildly startled.

"Yeah..." he chuckled. He raised an eyebrow at her. "I was talking about that movie we watched?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I just spaced off."

Putting down his burger that he was about to bite into, Kai frowned at her.

"Uh... you okay?"

Jinora shook her head at him, smiling.

"I'm fine, love."

Perhaps she should have known better, but she didn't want to burden him with her worries. Her worries were for him, of course, but they made her feel selfish. How could she tell him that she was afraid that this more or less forced move made her scared that it would affect their relationship. Choosing to move in with someone was one thing. Having no choice was another.

"Okay, that wasn't even convincing," he said, giving her a look.

"Babe, really-"

"Jinora, come on. Just spit it out. I know you way better than that. Don't insult me here," he told her gently. He reached out to grab her hand across the table and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "I want to know."

Jinora looked at him, absently squeezing his hand in hers. She looked away, then back at him and finally sighed.

"I... I guess..." Her shoulders slumped. "I'm afraid that you being forced to move in with us is... going to hurt. You know? I... I don't want you to be uncomfortable and then it kind of makes you feel bad to live with us. I know that doesn't make any sense, but I'm afraid it... it'll drive us apart."

No point in beating around the bush, she thought.

Kai blinked at her and just stared at her for a moment as if digesting what she was saying. She slightly cringed as he stared because she knew it sounded stupid the way she explained it, but that was the truth. When he didn't say anything, she could feel her cheeks get hot.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I know you have enough to worry about than me being selfish-"

She hadn't been able to finish her sentence, however, when he let go of her hand, got up and sat down on her side of the booth. He sighed.

"First of all, you're not being selfish. Second of all, Jinora, I'm not upset. I'm a little bit sad, but I'm not upset and I'm certainly not upset with having to move. If anything, I feel pretty good actually," he smiled at her and scooted close to her so he could press his lips to her temple. "Now that he knows I'm going to be taken care of with people he trusts, Mako's been feeling a lot better. He and Korra are so excited for the baby to come along now. The happiness is kind of contagious with all the moving stuff going on. Yeah, it's happening fast, but that's kind of okay. Why delay it? I'm a little sad and I'm going to be sad when moving day happens because Mako and Bolin are my family and I'm leaving the nest, but... I can't wait to move I with you. I like to look at it as getting a bigger family... if you'll all let me that is."

The more he talked, the more Jinora felt herself melt into his side.

"Of course you'll be part of our family. That's not even a question... I was just afraid that you were going to be unhappy being forced to move," she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"I'm not though. I'm actually pretty excited. All the moving stuff just has me a bit tired. Are you happy I'm moving in?"

"Of course I am!"

"Then that's all that matters. We're all doing new things, but it's not like they're leaving me behind. Believe me, babe. We've had long talks about this already and big group hugs. You just keep figuring out how you're going to resist wanting to kiss me twenty-four seven," He grinned. "I know you have a weakness about that."

Cracking a smile, she rolled her eyes. Now, she couldn't even believe that she'd been worried about him.

"Oh, how will I ever contain myself?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"I don't know, but you better figure it out soon." He grabbed his plate from the other side of the table and brought it toward him. "I know it's hard though. I'm still trying to figure it out with you."

"Ooh, good one."

"I'm pretty proud of that one myself."

-:-:-:-

Moving day came a couple weeks later.

In retrospect, Kai didn't have a ton of things to move on over and that made it a lot less of a hassle. A few big boxes stuffed into the back of Bolin's satomobile was all it took to completely pack Kai out of the apartment and on his way to Jinora's house.

While it was exciting, there was also an air of anticipation for the one thing she knew was the hardest part about all of this.

The goodbye.

It wasn't exactly a literal goodbye, but she knew that dropping Kai off at someone's house, and not going to go pick him up later like when he was thirteen years old, was going to kill Mako a little inside.

"Just stand back and let them have it," her mother told her. "It's something every parent looks forward to and dreads all at the same time."

Out in the front of her house, Kai was coming down the stairs from inside and walked up to where she and Mako were standing side by side.

"Alright," said Kai with a grin, sighing a little. "I think it's just this last box of clothes and then that's it."

Arms crossed over his chest, Mako nodded his head at the front door.

"Why don't you take it inside? Make sure you've got everything before we head off, okay?" he said.

Kai nodded, picking up the box and heading inside as he rummaged through it. He came back down real soon, running into her mother, her father and Bolin talking. Jinora watched as they began talking about something, she and Mako standing next to each other in comfortable silence.

After a moment, she heard a sigh.

"You have to be careful with him," said Mako.

Jinora turned her head to look at him watching Kai talk to her parents. Bewildered, she stayed silent, but frowned slightly.

His eyes flicked down.

"He likes to stay up real late," he said, turning his head slightly to glance at her. "It's okay to tell him to get to bed. He'll be impossible to get up the next day if he doesn't get some real rest. And he likes most vegetables, but he can't stand squash. Don't let him tell you it's okay because it's bound to make him sick later. Cauliflower's okay though. He loves to watch t.v with people. Doesn't matter what it is. He'll do anything you ask him to do around the house. No complaints really. He's not a messy kid. Just his hair... he always calls before he comes home just to let you know... he's always careful with other people's stuff and you don't have to worry about him not asking before he borrows it... and he likes to say goodnight if he's not the last to head to bed and... and he... and he's a good kid..."

Mako's voice got softer as he kept talking and Jinora stared at him, mildly astonished, as he continued to watch the boy he was letting out of the nest. She could only smile at him, touched in the most bittersweet way.

"You're really going to miss him, aren't you?" she asked quietly. When he didn't answer, she went on. "We'll make sure he's happy here. More than that. We'll love him too... Mako, I promise."

He swallowed hard.

"It's all I ask."

Kai and Bolin came back over, Bolin already in tears with his arms around Kai.

"C'mon Bo, don't cry," said Kai, smiling a little. "I'm not dying. I'm still going to hang out with you a ton."

"I know," sniffed Bolin in a small voice. "But it's not the same.!

"Just text me and we'll hang out as soon we can, okay?" said Kai. When Bolin nodded through his sniffling and let go, Kai turned to Mako. He was trying to grin, but he was partially failing and Jinora took a step back to give them room when she saw the way Kai's eyes went a little over bright. "Okay... this is uh... this is it I guess... all my stuff's upstairs..."

Mako uncrossed his arms. He just looked at Kai for a moment, taking a deep breath and the expression on his face softening the same way his voice had seemed to. Finally, he just opened his arms.

Without any words, Kai moved to hug him. They hugged each other tight, neither seemingly wanting to let go. When they did finally pull back, Mako put his hands on Kai's shoulders.

"Don't go crying on me now too," said Kai, his voice thick.

"You know this doesn't change anything," said Mako, voice quivering a little. "I'm still going to be the same person I've been to you all these years. You can come to me for anything. No matter how small. And you don't even have to ask to come over... you're always welcome and you always will be. You remember that for me, okay?"

"I will..." Kai smiled. "And you know you'll always be Momko to me."

Mako only answered with a small smile and hugged Kai again, clapping him on the back.

"Alright," he said, pulling away. "I have to go get ready for work."

"Okay." Kai nodded. "Call you before bed?"

"Or I'll call you if you don't."

After their final goodbyes, Jinora came to stand beside Kai as Mako and Bolin began to head back to the car. She and Kai headed back up the stairs, Kai turning to give them one last wave before ducking into the house. Jinora turned back as well when he'd gone inside.

When she did, she swore she could see Mako in the driver's seat wiping his eye.

Okay, I'm not even going to lie I cried writing this. A lot. I cried reading it and I have been waiting to write this for a long time.

But long story short, sometimes it's hard to start a new chapter in your life. Even when it's a good thing. Mako's happy that he has Jinora's family to take care of Kai, but at the same time he also regrets the fact that this is how it worked out. You could say how they shouldn't have gotten pregnant then all you want, but at the very same time what's done is done and often times that's simply how life works out.

Don't have much to say on this chapter, but I am so sorry this took so long!

As always, you guys know I love reading those reviews! They really keep me going and really keep me writing to get the next chapter out! Thank you for reading! Tune in for next chapter!