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The bright light of the sun shone through the Probending Stadium’s skylights and directly into Kai’s eyes. He groaned and rolled over, digging his face into his pillow, but his relief didn’t last long.
“RISE AND SHINE LITTLE BUDDY! TIME TO START OUR GLORIOUS DAY WITH SOME TRAINING! ” Bolin enthusiastically yelled across the room.
Kai groaned louder. “This is child labor.” He mumbled, still half asleep. It wasn’t easy having two older brothers, especially when said brothers were also his teammates and one of them was a… morning person .
Kai pulled up his blanket up to his chin just for it to be yanked from his grip. When he opened his eyes again, he was met with Bolin’s annoyingly cheerful smile.
“Can’t you bother Mako instead of me?” Kai complained. At least he had one brother who wasn’t a morning person.
“No can do! Mako started chugging coffee thirty minutes ago. He’s awake now.”
Kai, at that point, had no choice but to accept his fate and get up. “I don’t know why we even need to practice. The first team we’re matched against in the tournament are the Sky Bisons– and they have the literal Avatar on their team along with every other overpowered person in Republic City. Why do we even bother?! We should just go ahead and give them the trophy!”
“That’s so cute! You’re out here sounding more and more like Mako every day, little bro.” Bolin pinched his cheeks just to be extra annoying, while Kai scowled in response.
“Don’t compare me to that old geezer.” Kai protested.
“Who’s an old geezer?” Mako called out as he peered in from the hallway.
“No one, my sweetest big bro.” Kai smiled at him, batting his eyelashes obnoxiously, causing Mako to roll his eyes.
“Whatever. Hurry up. Our training block starts in five minutes.”
Kai decided it was time to put his ass into gear and start getting ready.
Practice went about as well as it could when all he was running on was an apple and four hours of sleep. It didn’t make him regret staying up all night. It was the best time to swindle a few extra bucks without his brothers knowing anyway.
“So, Kai, where were you between the hours of 12 AM and 3 AM this morning?” Mako grilled him. “I know you weren’t in bed and your performance this morning was more lackluster than usual.”
Scratch that. He should have known his brother would be on to him sooner or later. That was what he got for being too confident.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kai smirked, easily keeping his face calm. He tried to play it cool as he blasted air on his brother in an attempt to get a head start. However, he must have become too predictable because Mako snatched his collar before he made it far.
“Listen, Kai. I know you think you’re doing us a favor by getting involved with Skoochy to make a little extra cash, but we are being sponsored by Prince Wu now. You can’t be caught doing that anymore.” Mako scolded him.
Kai easily shrugged out of the shirt Mako was holding and boosted himself using airbending to a nearby ceiling rafter. “Just because your boyfriend is sponsoring the team now doesn’t mean we’ll be well off forever. What happens when he ditches you, huh? We freaking live at the Probending Arena right now. It’s not like we’re well off.”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Mako blushed. Before he could make it any further in his lecture, Kai made his aerial escape back to their room to grab a new shirt and scrounge for food.
Game day crept up on him faster than he anticipated. After Mako’s lecture, Kai had spent most of his time making himself scarce, only showing up to practices and bench surfing like he had in the days before Mako and Bolin took him in.
Today, he had another rude and way too early awakening, but instead of his loving older brother’s voice, it was the sound of a cracking voice through a megaphone. “WE WANT EQUALITY. WE WANT EQUALITY NOW!”
Those damn equalists were at it again. They were pitting benders up against nonbenders when the real problem was that the rich kept getting richer and the poor kept getting poorer. Even with bending, he suffered all the same problems as a nonbender with no money would.
He groaned, stretching his arms above him. It was then he realized he had an unfamiliar warmth across his lap and it struck him as odd because he didn’t fall asleep with any blankets. Cracking his eyes open, he was met with an adorable ring-tailed winged lemur in his lap. Now he was quite popular with Bolin’s fire ferret, Pabu, but he never thought it might extend to other animals.
Out of desire to not disturb the cute creature, Kai stayed where he was, listening to the annoying propaganda of the equalists. At least he got to pet this cute lemur while there was a pleasant breeze across the park he was camping out in.
A weird chill hit him at the same time the faint light of a spirit beamed in front of him. However, this spirit wasn’t like anything he had ever seen before. It looked more like the ghost of a person than a spirit.
“There you are, Poki! Come home right now!” the spirit exclaimed, before noticing him and winking out of existence.
The lemur in his lap fled, leaping into the air and taking off as Kai was left there rubbing his eyes, wondering if this was some weird dream. Maybe he should go home and catch some sleep in his own bed before his match today. It was the least he could do for the team.
Kai didn’t receive too much judgment when he snuck through the Probending Stadium’s window into his bed. He mainly got looks of relief from both of his brothers. Now that Kai was slightly more well-rested, it was time to start warming up for the match later that night. The tension between him and Mako was still very much present, but Kai put on a façade in front of their sponsor, Prince Wu, who was very much interested in all their probending rituals.
He wouldn’t lie; it felt like they were putting on some ridiculous show for the benefit of a rich man, but said rich man seemed to have real feelings towards Mako and innocent enough intentions. Regardless of the intentions, Kai still hated it. It felt like he was giving away all his dignity, but it did come with his job title. At least he got to rough people up as a part of his job and not get arrested for it.
It seemed like barely a blip of time passed before he and his three other teammates were on the platform, being lifted across the water and into the bending arena. He put on his best smirk as he waved at the crowd. Not that it mattered, since everyone in the arena was focused on the Sky Bisons. They lined up to shake hands, and that’s when Kai spotted her, the airbending ghost.
“You!” he called out, and he saw a light blush spread across her cheeks. Maybe he wasn’t going crazy after all. There was no time to confront her before the game was beginning and Kai quickly switched into probending mode.
The airbender on the opposing team- he was pretty sure she was the granddaughter of Avatar Aang. It was her first year playing, so he had never seen her around, but it hadn’t stopped him from instantly casting judgment upon her. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, after all. And now she was participating in probending, for what? Fun? This was his whole livelihood. The whole thing just left a sour taste in his mouth.
He smirked as he saw a perfect opening. Using the smallest stream of wind, he slid some water on the floor right under their earth bender’s feet, causing them to slip. Then Bolin hit them with a disc, causing the bender to fall off the platform and into the water.
“Korra, you need to be more careful with where you leave your water!” the firebender yelled at the Avatar.
Pitting the team against each other, while fooling the ref– All in a day’s work ! Kai thought smugly as he continued to dodge and release attacks. It wasn’t long though before they lost their advantage when their waterbender fell into the pit. It was now earth, fire, air, vs water, fire, air.
Mako was going toe to toe with the Avatar while Bolin was trading blows with the opposing team’s firebender, which left him to deal with the airbender. It wasn’t a great match up considering airbending wasn’t the best for offensive moves and the girl seemed to use mainly evasive maneuvers. It was like she had the fight choreographed out and as she calmly weaved between his attacks. Was she really that good, or was he just that predictable?
Normally battling someone one on one caused Kai to lose interest quickly, but he was so enraptured in this battle he didn’t even realize they were the last ones on the stage until the announcer called out, “Right here folks- the Fire Ferret’s and Sky Bison’s airbenders are making probending history! This is the first time there have only been two airbenders left in the arena! Hold on to your hats, or they may just be ‘blown’ away!”
Kai resisted the temptation to look around the arena to confirm it for himself, as he had a feeling the opposing team’s airbender was very keenly waiting to spot any sort of opening. It didn’t stop the smirk from rising to his face. Going down in probending history, huh? He liked the sound of that.
His intense focus on the battle, however, stopped him from hearing the cracking of the glass ceiling or the panic of the crowd as the equalists invaded the arena.
“Kai, watch out!” a voice screamed, and he was tackled to the side and then everything went black.
When he woke up, he was soaking wet, and his vision was blanketed with darkness. After his eyes adjusted better, he was met with the face of the other airbender in very close quarters to him. Her forehead brushed against his before backing up. As he regained awareness, he noticed that she was supporting him and began to tread water himself. Now that her face shield was off, he could see her airbending tattoos. Wow, he had gone toe to toe with a master? He tried not to feel too smug about it. (Yet.)
“What happened? Where are we?” Kai questioned as he took stock of his body. Yep, everything was still intact. It just felt like a train had hit him, and to make the situation even better, they were floating in the icy cold water that filled the arena floor.
“Under the Probending Arena.” she replied curtly. Her arm stayed around him, even though he was no longer dead weight.
Now that he turned his attention away from her face and her tattoos, he realized they were, in fact, under what remained of the stage.
“Don’t suppose there’s any easy escape route, huh?”
“Not unless you can airbend the stage away I don’t think so.” she deadpanned. At least she wasn’t panicked in this situation. Kai wasn’t sure he would be able to handle a hysterical person right now.
“So Avatar Aang’s granddaughter, trapped by a piece of rock just like that. You think you would be able to do something with those tattoos of yours,” he snarked. If looks could kill, Kai would be dead, but what was she going to do? It wasn't like Air Nomads believed in violence.
“My name is Jinora,” she corrected. “And I didn’t know being the Avatar’s granddaughter gave me superhuman strength. Next time I am saving your sorry ass from the equalists, I will remember to kick the whole ass Probending Arena out of our way too.” She proceeded to enact the most sarcastic eye roll Kai had ever seen.
Kai’s smirk fell pretty quickly. He couldn’t contest that logic. Not to mention she had saved his life. He shouldn’t be airing his beef with her right now, when their lives and the lives of the ones they loved were all in danger.
“Sorry, Jinora, and thank you for saving my life.” He used the hand not around her shoulder to move his hair out of his eyes and gave her his best saber-tooth moose lion cub impression that always worked on Mako and Bolin. He still wasn’t sure of his opinion of this girl, but she had some spunk and they were trapped in a life or death situation, so it was in his best interest to be on her good side.
She blushed hard enough that he could see it even in the dim lighting. “You’re welcome, Kai.”
He tried to keep the smirk off his face. Seemed like he still had that charm even though his schmoozing days were (mostly) over.
“So what about that ghost thing you did early today? Can you just beam somewhere to get help?” Kai questioned.
“Wait, you saw that?!”
“Yeah, it was kind of hard to miss a spirit shouting ‘Poki’ in my face! I thought I was going insane and hallucinating or something until I saw you tonight.”
“Oh… Well, it’s a high-level airbending move that uses a little bit of spirit magic. Good thing you were the only one that saw that my dad would kill me if he knew I was using it for unimportant things like finding my little brother’s pet lemur.”
Kai would have been skeptical after hearing her say it was a move that used magic of all things if he hadn’t seen it with his own two eyes. “Why can’t you just use that right now to call for help or see what’s happening up there?”
The arena above them rumbled almost in response, and pebbles splashed down around him. He subconsciously pulled Jinora closer and she let out the most hilarious squeak he had ever heard. For someone who was so calm in the face of danger and saved his life so easily, she really had the most flustered reactions to him. He may or may not be enjoying that more than he should.
Jinora cleared her throat and her face reset back to neutral. Only the flush dyeing her cheeks gave her away. “I can’t use that right now. We are both soaking wet and treading freezing cold water in an unstable environment. I need peace and quiet and time to focus in order to do it.”
Kai deflated a bit. They were just two airbenders after all. An earthbender or a waterbender could get them out of this situation, but airbending was practically useless.
“What if I picked you up and made an air scooter to balance on so we wouldn’t be wet anymore, and then you spirit beam to get us help?”
“Oh yeah, because I am sure you can maintain an air scooter for enough time for me to dry off and meditate long enough to spirit beam.” Jinora deadpanned.
“Well, I don’t see you throwing out any ideas, Miss Airbending Master.” Kai sassed.
Jinora scowled at him. “Being a master doesn’t mean I have the magic solution to everything. You have no idea how hard I had to work for these arrows.”
“Because I am sure your life was so hard while you were living it up on Air Temple Island.” Kai scoffed. “While you guys were being fed with a silver spoon, some airbenders like me have been living on scraps for generations and no one cares about us. We’re excluded from airbending culture and rejected by the Earth Kingdom and now we’re put on display like some kind of endangered species to compete in probending games. It’s just so messed up.”
The look Jinora gave him was one of sadness and pity. The last thing he wanted was pity from someone like her. “Look, I’m sorry,” she finally started. “You’re right. I could never understand your struggles, and I have never had to face anything like that before in my life. When I was little I was kidnapped- ever since then I haven’t had much freedom. Until Avatar Korra convinced my dad to let me be on this team, and it’s one of the few times I have actually gotten to experience anything off of the Island. I am sure after today I can kiss my newfound freedom goodbye,” she slumped a bit, “but I shouldn’t have been taking it out on you.”
“If you don’t want to lose your freedom, why don’t you do something about it.” Kai waggled his eyebrows, his anger towards her already forgotten. “Besides, growing up on the streets, I have found some pretty creative ways to break out of places using airbending. So even if we don’t succeed, I promise I will break you out of Air Temple Island as long as I get to hangout with some sky bison in return. I have always wanted to pet one.”
“Fine. We can try your plan, but you are not air scootering. There’s no way you could stay in one place and do that above water.” Jinora conceited.
“I can see it already, ‘Two Airbenders Save the Day from Equalist Invasion.’” Kai gave her his signature shit-eating grin before scooping her up into his arms to carry her bridal style.
She let out another adorable squeak before she settled into his arms and closed her eyes. Her face looked so serene as she began to meditate. It made Kai wish he had taken up that part of airbending and not just the physical aspect. It could have been minutes or hours when her eyes blinked back open.
“So, what did you see!?” Kai demanded.
“First, the equalists messed up big time trying to attack a game where Korra was fighting because she absolutely wrecked them! I also went around to check and make sure all our teammates were ok, and told my dad where we were. A rescue team should be bending us out shortly. Looks like everything is going to work out just fine!” Jinora exclaimed.
They shared a smile. The first real smile Kai had used all night, and he couldn’t deny he loved the way a responding smile painted her face. Especially with the cute dimple on one side of her face and the way her eyes scrunched up. Even in this chilly water, he was feeling strangely regretful that their time would have to come to an end so soon.
“So maybe next time we hangout, can we skip the life or death experiences?” Kai teased.
“Sounds like a plan!” Jinora agreed.
Bonus by kiyomari:
Jinora tensed up when Kai suddenly pulled her into his arms, and she let out her second embarrassing squeak of the day. She pulled her hair close, wishing she could cover her face and disappear.
Ok, Jinora. Focus! You need to get help.
She folded her hands over her chest and tried to stabilize her breathing. Jinora let herself relax into the gentle motion of the water. Her body swayed alongside Kai's, and the warmth from his chest grounded her. As she began to slip into a meditative state, his steady heart beat intertwined with her slow breaths...