i.

When she's on the brink of twenty, Jinora's world turns over.

It starts with a mission. It's simple, nothing she hasn't heard before. She's with her father, Chief Beifong and Suyin when a group of bandits called the Kage comes up in discussion, a rising problem for merchants and tourists that frequent the Misty Palms Oasis on the very edge of the Si Wong desert.

As the years passed after Kuvira's fallen empire, bandits were becoming less and less of an issue in the Earth Kingdom, but the problem had never truly gone away, and likely never would. Su explains that, while the Kage was not a group other nations had to concern themselves with yet, least of all Republic City, locals complaints had dubbed them as terrorists - rising to a chaotic power - and concern was steadily rising. With Avatar Korra in the South Pole with Asami, Tenzin offers to dispatch a band of airbenders to handle the situation, as it was the Air Nomad's duty to help restore peace and balance when the Avatar was unable.

Jinora jumps at her chance. "I'll go," she says, and suddenly everyone's eyes are on her; she feels small, not at all nineteen, but twelve again. Lin looks impressed, Suyin unreadable.

Her father splutters, hand freezing on his beard. "What? Jinora, I understand that you want to help, but as one of only two airbending masters we need you here at the Temple." He remarks, stern. "I admire your dedication, but this is simply too dangerous of a task. I cannot ask you to put your life at risk."

"But you'll ask anybody else," Jinora says, crossing tattooed arms over her chest. "I'm an airbending Master, dad, and I won't be going alone."

"We need you here to help guide the new airbenders into a new spiritual age." Tenzin says, "no one has the connection to the spirits like you do. Realize your priorities lie here."

She feels a flush of heat color her cheeks, a storm brewing inside of her. Her fingers clench, tight, fingernails leaving imprints in the flesh of her palms. "Ikki is only months away from getting her tattoos. She's perfectly capable, and she loves to teach. I'll be twenty years old in four months, and I can make my own decisions now. You can't keep me here and treat me like a child anymore, dad. I want to help. I will help."

"I say you let her go," Lin supplies; Jinora is thankful to have some support. Tenzin looks at her as if she's grown a second head. She shrugs.

"Fighting it will only make her want to go more," Su adds, "and going recklessly to spite you will help no one. Jinora is capable to get the job done. You need to have more faith in your daughter."

The more she speaks the more and more defeated her father looks, realizes that the three of them are right and he cannot stop her from going on this mission no matter how hard he tried. He's not happy to let her go, but when he turns to her, stroking his greying beard, there's resignation in his eyes, and maybe a little pride. Jinora tries not to think too much into it, doesn't know if it's really there or if she's just seeing what she wants to. He agrees with a sigh, and his cheeks turn a bright red when Jinora mentions she's going to be asking Kai to come along (his daughter and her boyfriend, together? Never! Absolutely not!), but her arms are still crossed, features still stern, and he doesn't fight it anymore.

"How come Jinora gets to go out and I don't?" Ikki stomps her foot and places her hands on her hips, glaring up at her father who had heard that statement many times when she was young. Except now, Meelo wasn't there to back her up, too busy torturing the new airbenders with their training.

Jinora pokes Ikki's forehead with her finger and smirks at her. Her hair doesn't curl at her chin anymore; instead it's at her shoulders and cut shorter in the back. She keeps the bun, but it's smaller. She's more beautiful, and her eyes are wise but there's youth in them too - a youth that Kai had brought out of her years ago, thank Agni. She doesn't have her wingsuit on, she hardly wears it anymore, and is instead wearing her traditional Air Nomad garbs; it's sleeveless and yellow, red fabric draped over one shoulder and tied around her waist. The bottom half of it hangs around her legs, split down the middle from the knot around her waist where the yellow garbs peak out. Knee high boots, brown pants tucked in. Its more feminine and pretty than the tunic Ikki wears. "Because I'm older than you are," she remarks casually, and Ikki swats her hand away. "I can do what I want. And I'm a master."

"That's not fair!" Ikki pouts, glaring at her. "Daddy, tell Jinora to stop being annoying!"

"Annoying?" Jinora scoffs at her, her arms crossing over her chest in disbelief. "Speak for yourself! You're the sixteen year old throwing a temper tantrum!"

"GIRLS, THAT IS ENOUGH." Tenzin booms, and the two of them fall silent immediately. Their father is red in the face, and there's a vein popping out on his forehead, tattooed fists clenched at his side. "I cannot have the two of you arguing like children. Ikki, understand that we need you here with Meelo to continue teaching the new airbenders. You are an excellent teacher, and I trust your ability with them. Jinora," he sighs, rubs a hand down his face. He looks tired and defeated, like he expected her to change her mind. "Although I do not approve of you going, you are nineteen now, and are capable of making your own decisions. This mission is dangerous -"

"But I won't be going alone," Jinora reminds him, eyes narrowed in determination. She's like an earthbender, like her mother's heritage. Their father says, later, that he had never seen an airbender as grounded as Jinora. "Kai and Opal will be with me, and Ryu and some of the others. We can handle it if things get out of hand."

"I believe you." Tenzin places a hand on her shoulder, looks her in the eye. Ikki feels that an enormous amount of trust is being exchanged between them in that moment. "Come home safe. Your mother will be a nervous wreck until you do, and I don't know what I would do if something were to happen."

Jinora's lips twist into a smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "I will dad, I promise."

Two weeks later, she breaks her promise.

Jinora, Opal, Kai and Ryu arrive at the Misty Palms Oasis two days later. She lands Pepper outside the walls, and they're welcomed by a sandbander named Masaki, a retired soldier from Kuvira's army - made innkeep - who had offered his services of protection with another group of benders to the merchants and tourists who were passing through should they need it. He is one of many to agree that these raiders were on the brink of terrorism, that there were rumors of the group expanding among the nations and Republic City (Jinora passes this information onto her father and the Chief later on).

"The Kage are notorious for their ability to escape the grasps of authority unscatched, and their ability to go undetected for long periods of time," Masaki explains, leading them into the Inns lobby, "we've sent out scouting groups to look for their hideout, we've come up empty handed every damn time. They raid primarily during the night and early mornings, can't be more than ten to fifteen members. Benders and nonbenders too, they come with weapons, and their faces are always masked."

"Almost sounds like the equalists," says Kai. He leans against the wall near the doorway, Jinora tries not to stare at the growing muscles of his crossed arms.

"But this isn't a hate group, and they don't have those sparking gloves," Masaki insists, takes a seat behind his desk and runs a bandaged hand through his dark hair. His fingers are callous, fingernails dirty. "Last time they came through was three nights before you airbenders got here. One of the firebenders set fire to one of the taverns just a few blocks off. Our waterbenders managed to put out the fire before it burnt to ash, but they'd already gotten every last Yuan, left three bodies behind. The traders whole family, one of them was only a little girl."

Jinora tries to fight the nausea that churns in her stomach; it's waging a war, threatening to rise up her throat. She pushes it down, catches Opal's eyes. The older girl looks troubled, lips poised in a gentle frown. Ryu stands beside them, glasses askew; his expression hasn't changed.

Kai is angry, cheeks bright red. "We'll get them," he says, confidant, standing tall, his arms at his sides. "No one else needs to die because of these monsters. We'll bring them to justice."

Masaki smiles, and it's grim and doesn't reach his eyes. Jinora can tell he appreciates them being here - passionate as he is about stopping the bandits as well, she can see he's exhausted, can see he's been losing sleep and not taking care of himself. She wonders if this is his redemption mission, wonders if it's bringing him peace from the destruction he helped cause in Republic City nearly six years ago. Maybe that's why he's pushing himself so hard. Or maybe he's just a good person. Jinora can't tell.

"We're here to help in any way that we can," Jinora adds, "and we won't leave until this is over."

"There are no words to thank you all for coming all this way," Masaki says. "The biggest rooms we have available is 205 - 207 just across the way. Your stay is on me."

They get settled in their respective rooms, and it's the first time that Kai and Jinora get to sleep in the same bed without worry that one of her annoying younger siblings, or Spirits forbid, her father, would walk in on them. Opal takes the room directly next to them, and Ryu disappears into the one next to hers. It's not a luxury, not that any of them were expecting it to be, but it's something - it's comfortable, and half of the time wouldn't be occupied.

Word must have gotten around that the small band of airbenders have been patrolling Misty Palms, because nothing out of the ordinary happens for an entire week that they're there. Ryu is restless between bar hopping, Kai and Opal a little bored. Jinora herself, even, after frequenting the same book stand and returning to their room empty handed. The spiritual energy was fairly normal, nothing disturbing to note, and she spent her afternoons meditating when she wasn't on watch. They were beginning to believe that the bandits might have moved on upon hearing of their arrival, and would have left to return to Air Temple Island had it not been for the lack of news on the radio. The Earth Kingdom, at the time, was at relative peace. In fact, it was so quiet, that it didn't feel right at all.

So Jinora insists that they stay a little longer. "Let's just wait it out," she says, and they're all gathered in her and Kai's room, an abandoned Pai Sho board on the floor. "We don't want to leave too soon."

Turns out, they don't have to wait long at all.

Turns out, the bandits attack not five hours later.

When the Kage do take action, it's in a way that no one really expects: they blow up Ryu's room.

He gets lucky; he isn't there when it happens, he's with the other's just two rooms down, elbows on his knees and bored face in his hands. The explosion rattles the building, and the four of them are knocked over where they stand. They stumble out into a cloud of smoke and sand, debris falling like snow. The building is collapsing in on itself, unsteady and made of stone, and residents around them are screaming, scattering. Masaki and the others are running toward them. Jinora's ears are ringing from the loudness of it, and she can hardly see through the smoke, so she sends a gust of wind from her palm, clears the air just a little for some visibility.

And then the bandits are there, all around them, wielding sharp pointed weapons, and there's so many of them she can't count them all. The Kage members give them no time to react, no time to truly think. The airbenders are separated, and Jinora is on her own.

So she moves, because she's been standing still for too long, and when she turns a figure punches her across the face so hard she nearly falls, but doesn't, staggers to her feet. She can taste blood in her mouth. As an Air Nomad Jinora's primary instinct is to defend, not attack, but it's him or her, and she knows that if she doesn't fight back she's as good as dead. Palm flat, she throws the figure backwards with a powerful gust of wind; he crashes into one of his companions, and they topple to the ground with a smack, howling in anger. One of the bandits is a firebender - she wonders if this is the one who killed that family, took a young girl's life away before it started; sends bursts of air in their direction, blocking the balls of fire that come hurtling after her.

Kai is in the air, swooping down, a volt of wind kicks out from his feet, knocking down the bandit that had hit her before he had time to recover himself, knocking him further away. The ground is shaking, Jinora can't steady herself, and there's a distinct sound of clashing metal somewhere behind her.

It's chaos, and then somehow, it gets worse.

They're fighting hard, and the bandits are relentless. Jinora and Masaki, working together, had managed to arrest two of the bandits, and Opal and other metalbenders manage three more. She's helping a merchant to his feet when she hears Kai shout, turns to the air to look for him - a water whip wraps around his ankle, slams him to the ground so hard it caves. There's a sick crack that she can tell is breaking bone; Kai isn't moving and Jinora acts without thinking, anger seething in her veins like nothing she's ever felt. A gust of wind from her foot hits the waterbender square in the chest, and another by her fist, and another. They're not quick enough to recover, not quick enough to fight back, and it's enough for Ryu to grab them, knock them out from behind.

Jinora takes on anyone who steps even near Kai's body, but she can't look to see if he's just unconscious or not breathing at all. She unleashes her anger, a primal instinct to protect rising within her, using their bending in retaliation to her advantage. It's like a cord snapping in her chest, releasing power she knew was bottled deep down inside of her, but suddenly a nonbender is next to Jinora in a flash, grabbing her by her outstretched wrist.

He's strong. He closes his fist around hers and twists her away, so sharp and hard that Jinora flies head over heels and lands several feet away, crashing into a merchant's wooden stand. She cries out when she lands on something sharp, a rebar maybe, but she can't tell, and it's sticking out from her left thigh - rusted and bloody. The pain is so intense she nearly passes out, her vision blurry, ears still ringing. She doesn't know if they even stopped. Jinora tries to get to her feet, but her knee gives out from underneath her and she stumbles, hardly catches herself when she falls.

Someone takes advantage of that. The ground erupts beneath her, throwing her into the side of the unstable building, and she had no time to react before a piece of rock is pulled from the ground and is sent flying towards her. Jinora's bones are aching, and her arm screams in protest, but she wills the wind from her fingertips. It's not enough, but it lessens the blow when the rock hits her in the stomach so it doesn't kill her - and Jinora is falling, falling, rubble crashing around her, and then there's nothing.

She wakes up an hour later, eyes squint from a hot, angry pain erupting in her head. Opal is leaning above her, mouth moving frantically, but the ringing is back and Jinora can't hear her, can't focus long enough. There's darkness at the edge of her vision, the world keeps flickering. Ryu is there, too: his glasses are broken on one side, his lips chapped and split. He moves to hook his arms under hers, Opal supports her legs, to haul her up from the dirt. White hot agony shoots through her head like lightning at the movement, through her spine and ribs, her thigh feels like fire. Jinora can't stop herself from crying out at the magnitude of it all.

Then the next thing Jinora notices is that she can't feel anything beneath her left knee.

Say something, she thinks. She wants to, but she doesn't know if she can. Her tongue is heavy, doesn't want to move. The pain is too intense to form words. She feels nauseous.

Opal and Ryu don't carry her for long. They stop at Pepper outside Misty Palms, Jinora can hear her worried rumble, and propel themselves onto her saddle. She thinks she blacks out for a while when they do, because when her eyes open again she's staring at the stars and can't remember how she got there. "Kai," she grits out, her voice is raspy, throat like sandpaper, "h-he. Where...where's Kai?" Jinora can't really talk without stumbling over her words. A sharp pang of anxiety clutches at the pit of her stomach, because she's read about that before and she realizes there is something very wrong with her head.

No one answers her right away. Ryu isn't there anymore, she thinks he must be at Pepper's reigns, but Opal is sitting beside her with another man. He's old, a gentle soul, and his hands are poised over her leg, water glowing a bright blue above her open wound. "Try not to speak," Opal says instead, lays her hand on Jinora's shoulder. She can't focus on her face for very long; she looks dirty, she looks like she's been crying. Her voice is gentle. "You hit your head really hard, whiplash, we think. Arrluk is going to take care of you until we can get you to Kya and Master Katara at the Temple. We've already radioed your parents."

Jinora is dizzy. She doesn't care about herself. She cares about Kai. She needs to know that he's okay. He has to be okay.

Her arms move on her own accord to support her, pushing herself up by her forearms, trying to clear her disturbed vision to search for her boyfriend. Arrluk glances over at her, eyes stern. "Keep your head down," he says, final but gentle. Jinora doesn't listen, so Opal gently places her hands on her shoulders and lowers her back down for her, bottom lip worried between her teeth, dark brows furrowed. A shuddering sigh escapes Jinora's throat, it's mixed with a quiet groan of pain she bites back. It hurts to breath. Her ribs must be broken.

"Kai is fine," Opal says, finally, but her voice is so unconvincing Jinora doesn't believe her for a second, and suddenly she can't think anymore. There's a moment of agonizing silence, she wants to cry but she can't, because she can't think and her head and her neck hurt and she can't feel her left foot and everything is bad.

"You're going to be okay, Jinora," Opal's voice is fuzzy and distant, Jinora's eyes flutter shut. "We've got you."

The next time Jinora wakes up, she's already home.

Her injuries should have killed her.

Ikki hears her Aunt Kya saying that to her parents after hours of waiting for some semblance of news. For all intents and purposes, Jinora should have been very, very dead. Her sister is lucky though, because they got to a healer in time and then she was brought to her, and they managed to save her leg from being amputated and lessen the severity of her concussion, fix her broken bones. She won't be able to move anything beneath her knee anymore, though, because the nerves were dead there.

Her mother cries and it's an awful sound to hear, her father's arm wrapped tight around her shoulders. Meelo and Ikki are both surprisingly quiet. Korra sits beside her, because she's family too, hand on Ikki's shoulder, and she doesn't say anything. Rohan is only 8 years old, but he sits beside Ikki and she thinks he knows what's going on more than Meelo does.

Auntie Kya looks tired, like she had used all of her energy into healing her niece. Tenzin puts his hand on her shoulder, eyes speaking volumes. "I can't thank you enough, Kya" he says to her, and she places her hand over his briefly, smiles slightly, before walking down the hallway to her bedroom to rest.

Kai is gone, too. Opal and Ryu tried to recover his body, but couldn't find it, and they had no time between defeating the rest of the bandits and getting to Jinora. Opal says, also, that Jinora was mostly responsible for handling a majority of the Kage members; exploding when she saw Kai go down, releasing her emotions through her anger. She says that it was terrifying and exhilarating all at once to see, but then Jinora must have got exhausted from exertion, and then she was down too.

Kai is dead, like half of her sister's leg, and Ikki bows her head in silence when she realizes that this probably means Jinora won't be the same anymore.