What the Dai Li knew about the mission to take the airbenders back? They knew they couldn't fight back, of course, but how far would the little airbending girl and the Avatar go to rescue the Queen's Army? Would Jinora really go that far, even willing to get someone dear to her... hurt? Or... killed?
"I'll give you one last chance," The Dai Li agent sneered, "Give us the airbenders back, let us go and he won't be hurt or dead." Jinora clenched her hands into fists, her heart pounding, her brain thinking, but her soul, breaking into a million pieces, because it hurt her so much to leave Kai behind with the monsters. The Dai Li must've sensed her hesitation, and he smirked, bringing the sharp knife down to collarbone. Kai screamed in agony, and she couldn't take it anymore, he was hurt, he was hurt, he was hur- "We'll give you the airbenders! Just please... please don't hurt him..." The agent grinned viciously, and ordered his agents to take the airbenders away. She couldn't look at them in the face, she was selfish, giving them up just for him.... When all of them were gone, she looked up from the ground, only to see Kai, her best friend and crush, bloody and bruised, to be taken away underground, where the air never rose, and the earth trapped the wild, free winds.
Ever since Kai's parents left her and her little sister, Nya, she's done everything in her power to make sure she had a good childhood. Unlike her little sister, she wasn't blessed with intelligence, so she dropped out of school and only sent Nya, who could have a bright future for herself. Kai knew the basics of everything from her time at school that taught kindergarten to sixth grade. She stopped going around third grade so she could focus on the shop and learn to be a blacksmith like her father so she could start earning money. But since she didn't have a mother to tell her about bodily functions or a father to tell her what not to do, she figured it out on her own through fuck ups and injuries.
She never told anyone all of the things she put herself through. She didn't want their pity. She didn't want their help.
Until one day when it all came too much, she finally spilled to everyone what she went through for Nya. Told them what she did to herself to help with the pain.
~
Happens sometime before the merge/dragon rising. No specific timeframe. (Sorry if that's a spoiler)
No cover
I did post this on Ao3 under Koglea.
Warnings:
Self-harm
Blood
Smut
Depression
Self-esteem issues