The New Ember Island

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The smell of fruit tarts and deep fried ice-cream filled the air of the new Ember Island boardwalk.   The Ferris wheel towered as the tallest structure for miles around and showed as a beacon to the world famous magical place of the Fire Nation.  It was the last vacation of the summer break, and everyone was there to enjoy it.   Almost everyone, that is.  There was one young airbender who almost didn’t make it.

Jinora passed up a vender selling sizzle-crisps and watermelon juice as she slipped through the crowds.  Earlier she’d had to turn down Kai’s invitation in order to accompany her father to a meeting with the Fire Lord.  She was, after all, the world’s second master airbender and had certain responsibilities that her father expected she make sacrifices to attend to.  Normally she didn’t mind and she took a lot of pride in her status.  Today, however, she was distracted and her heart just wasn’t in it.

It was Lord Zuko himself whom she had to thank.  Though he sat beside his daughter as counsel, he wasn’t blind to the young ladies dilemma.

“What a pleasant surprise to see you, Jinora,” Lord Zuko greeted her pleasantly before he greeted her father.  “Tenzin, it is remarkable that your daughter, at such a young age, has such a strong desire to follow politics.”  Though it was a high compliment to be paid, there was a hint of concern in the older man’s voice.

Unsure of how to respond, Tenzin’s back straightened and his smile twitched.  He wasn’t used to being questioned about the way he instructed his oldest daughter about world affairs.  Jinora never complained and he was under the impression that this was the path she had chosen.

“This meeting is hardly worth missing the festivities to attend.  Wouldn’t you rather be with your siblings and friends?”  Zuko’s question provided her with the excuse to slip away, and after the former Fire Lord’s persistence on her father, Jinora was grateful to change and text Kai that she was on her way.  They were to meet by the games.

The familiar sound of one in particular voice raising above all the other’s that were around her pulled Jinora back to the present.  “Take that, my super wind attack bests your meager little punch!”  Meelo’s maniacal laugh led her way and she pushed forward, passed the people in front of her.

“Hey!  How is that fair, I didn’t even know you could make a move like that!”  It was Kai, who had just been thoroughly beat at a game of Street Bender.  

“Didn’t anyone warn you that my brother’s a master at this game?” Jinora asked as she stepped up behind her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his waist to offer a comforting hug.

“That’s right!  I used to play this game at the Arcade in Republic City all the time!  This is the first Street Bender game in the Fire Nation that allows the use of all four elements!” Meelo proudly announced.

“Jinora!”  Kai moved to wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her into a hug.  “Thank the spirits, I’ve been saved!”  

With a laugh, Jinora squeezed him back.  “I told you to go easy on him,” she glanced at her brother to say.

“Where’s the fun in that?  He’ll never get any better that way?” Meelo snickered.

“Well, lessons are over, I’ll be stealing him away, now,”  Jinora stated, dropping her hand to Kai’s so that she could pull him away.

More than willing to follow, Kai gave Meelo a grin and a salute that clearly said, “c-ya.”

“Yeah, sure, leave.  Go hide behind a woman!” Meelo’s jeering voice followed after them.

“Glad you could make it, how did you manage to get away?” Kai asked, falling into step beside her.

Jinora laughed and glanced at him with a rare mischievous glint in her eyes.  “That’s for me to know,” she teased him with a sweet smile.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Kai’s smirk quickly turned into a grin as he watched her.

“Come win a prize for your lady!” a game vender called out to Kai in passing.  “We have cute stuffed tiger-monkey’s!”

Together they looked towards the man.  It was a fairly easy game, especially for an airbender.  Kai looked at Jinora with a confident grin and a look that asked what she thought.

“Well, it is pretty cute,” she replied about the prize.

To the game vender’s dismay, Kai made beating the game look like child’s play and he proudly presented Jinora with her new little friend, for which he received a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.  A crooked smile formed on his face.  “There really are way too many people here.  What do you say we hit the beach?” he asked smoothly against her ear.

The idea was very appealing.  They had hardly been able to spend time together, just the two of them, at all this summer.  “That sounds amazing.”

Holding hands, Kai lead the way and they walked in silence, each lost to their own thoughts. Soon the sound of the ocean’s tides could be heard over the noise from the boardwalk and the grains of sand squished up between their toes.  It was Kai who pulled them to a stop.  Jinora couldn’t help but to notice that the scene was perfect, set for romance.  When Kai’s arm came around her shoulder, Jinora expectantly let him turn her.  Her eyes were already half closed and she was ready to accept his kiss, when suddenly...

“Say Cheese!”

Jinora startled out of her daze to look up and find herself staring into Kai’s phone that was in position to take a selfie.  “Kai!" she exclaimed with mild annoyance, unprepared for the picture.

Kai smirked with amusement before stuffing his phone back into his pocket and bringing that hand to her waist in order to turn her and capture her lips in a kiss.