Forest Green and Chocolate Brown

Secrets

(About 4 hours later-Front Door-Tenzin)

"Pema! I'm home!" Tenzin locked the door behind himself, his orange robes swishing around as he spotted Pema rounding the corner."

"Tenzin, hi, Ikki and Meelo are in their rooms doing... whatever. And Jinora's watching a mover with Kai," wait a second, "he's that boy that Mako and Bolin are fostering." Pema said with her usual warm smile.

"Isn't that kid no good. He's that thief, right?"

Pema quirked an eyebrow, "Thief? Who said that?"

Tenzin sighed, "He's an orphan as you know, he spent his entire life as one until about 2 years ago when he was adopted by a good family, and he stole all their stuff, bit by bit." Pema had her hands on her mouth, "Then he was on the run for about 5 months before he was caught by the police, the money was returned to the family and the boy went to prison for a bit less than a year and a half, and was just turned over to child services about two months ago. Mako and Bolin are fostering them because they also had a shady past." Tenzin looked down.

"That's terrible, but the boy seemed so nice, maybe he changed."

Tenzin sighed, "Maybe, but I don't want Jinora to get mixed up with that boy."

"How did you find all that out though?"

"Lin warned me against him, because she knew Mako and Bolin were fostering him."

"Ok, I'll go tell them it's time for Kai to leave then." Pema started walking downstairs.

(In the theater room-Kai) 

Kai couldn't stop smiling, the knowledge that Jinora liked him back made his heart want to explode. He looked down at the girl leaning against his chest, she noticed him staring and smiled up at him, he smiled back, God, Kai liked Jinora so much. He put his arms around her shoulders protectively, Jinora reached up and grabbed his hand as she leaned her head back farther into his chest just as someone knocked on the theater door, they broke apart (still holding hands though) just in time before Pema walked in, she narrowed her eyes on her daughter and Kai's interlocked hands, then shrugged.

"Hi guys, Tenzin's back so you have to go Kai, sorry." Pema looked at him sadly. Kai nodded then he and Jinora walked toward the door still holding hands.

(In the hallway-Tenzin)

Jinora and the boy Tenzin supposed was Kai walked up the stairs side-by-side. When Kai saw Tenzin, he grew rigid, and as Jinora smiled over at the boy her arm tensed up, Tenzin had hoped to persuade Jinora to stay away from Kai, but realized it would be fruitless when he noticed his daughter holding hands with the boy.

Kai let go of Jinora's hand, walked to Tenzin and bowed his head for a second, maybe he had learned something since his crime spree, "You must be Tenzin," The boy smiled, "I'm Kai."

"I know who you are, and I hope to see how you have revised all your mistakes from the past." Tenzin said stiffly.

He saw the boy suck in a breath as his eyes darkened for a moment before he nodded, "Yes sir, I've-I've tried." Kai's voice wavered as he looked down, knowing just what Tenzin was talking about.

Jinora appeared at his shoulder, "Dad, I'm going walk Kai home."

"I'm sure he can make it just fine on his own Jinora." Tenzin said swiftly.

"I'm going to walk Kai home." Said Jinora more forcefully, looking over at Kai who was looking very unnerved about what Tenzin had said, she grabbed Kai's hand and started walking towards the door, pulling Kai behind her, "See you in a bit!" She called over her shoulder as she closed the door behind herself and Kai.

(Kai)

Kai took a deep shuttering breath as soon as the door closed, Jinora looked at him with worried eyes, "Kai? What's wrong?" She engulfed him in a hug, "What is it? You can tell me, I won't care." Jinora was strong, stronger than he was, Kai felt weak, he tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder, crying tears that wouldn't come. After a few minutes, Jinora slowly pushed him back but kept her hands on her shoulders, "Kai you have to tell me what's wrong. Please. I won't care, I'll still like you, I swear." She said unaware that Tenzin was still just behind the door.

(Tenzin)

Jinora liked Kai, she liked the thief, and from what he could tell, the boy liked her back. Tenzin heard someone draw in a deep breath (Kai presumably), "Jinora," There was a long pause, "How can you like someone you don't even know?"

(Jinora)

"Wha-What do you mean." Said Jinora confused, "I'm pretty sure I know you."

Kai shook his head, "No you don't, Jinora, I'm a bad person." A tear ran down his cheek. Why is he crying?

"No, you're not, you're a very good person." Kai sucked in another breath, then shook his head again, "Was is something my dad said, what did he mean mistakes? He's wrong to judge you Kai." She said passionately.

Kai kept shaking his head as tears cascaded down his cheeks, then spoke slowly, "No, he's not."

(Tenzin)

Tenzin couldn't believe it, maybe the boy had changed, he was willing to put his and Jinora's friendship on the line just to tell her the truth. 

"Why Kai? What did you do? It's in the past, you can get over it." Jinora's voice came passionately.

"No, I can't, Jinora I'm a thief, I was stuck in the orphanage until about 2 years ago, when I as adopted, they were nice, and they were very wealthy. You see, in the orphanage everyone stole from each other," It sounded as if he were crying, he continued, "It was how you got on top of each other, my parents died in a car crash when I was three, I had no relatives in that part of the country so I was sent to the orphanage. When I was five a 12-year-old caught me nicking his wallet, he called me weak, and a failure, and that my parents would be disappointed in me, he was one of the ones that didn't steal anything. From there on out, I vowed to be the best, I never wanted to be caught again, so when I was adopted, I couldn't help it, I stole everything. I was on the run for five months before I was caught." Tenzin felt a small spark of pity for the boy, knowing what was next.

(Jinora)

"Wha-What happened?" Jinora felt her eyes start to water, it didn't matter what he'd done, not to her, but he needed to put all of it behind him.  She looked into his eyes, tears were falling down his face like rain, she reaches for his hand and squeezed.

Kai looked down but squeezed back, "I was sent to court, and-and, the money was returned, and I went t-to Juvie."

"Kai, when was this, when did you get out?" Jinora had so many questions, she couldn't hold them back.

"I was there for a year and 5 months, I just got out about 2 months ago." Kai looked down, "I'm a bad person Jinora. I don't deserve you."

More tears ran Kai and Jinora's cheeks, "Kai, I still like you, you just told me everything, you expected me to walk away, but I won't Kai," She stepped up and hugged him, "I'll still like you, no matter what, I swear. Kai where you were, it changed you, you're a good kid now, and I don't care what you did."

(Kai)

Kai hung onto Jinora like a sailor to the boat, "I don't care, I don't care." Jinora repeated. When he told her, he expected her to jump away from him, but she did the opposite, she got closer to him and hugged him. 

Kai slowly pushed her back, "I'm glad you still like me, but we've been standing outside this door for like half an hour," Kai smiled.

Jinora nodded than grabbed Kai's hand, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." She grinned back as they started walking towards the street.

Do you think I fit that in there decently? I didn't want to, but I had to, it's part of the plot. Don't hate me.

-Boompowgunman