Drabble #6 - Thousand - Bolinora

Thousand

~P~

When Jinora first met Bolin, when they were moving to Air Temple Island, she immediately thought Korra was crazy for rejecting the boy. He was sweet and adorable, unlike his brooding, handsome brother. The eldest Airbending child could not deny that Mako was a sight, but after meeting his younger brother, she couldn't help but find him cuter.

For the first few weeks they all lived there peacefully – before Amon took over the Island – Jinora pondered him from afar. He would sometimes send her quick smiles and she would always find herself staring at his bright, green eyes, before turning away and blushing.

The Airbender, for as long as she could remember, always wanted a storybook romance. She wanted to meet the love of her life young, and he would be a super heroic, super romantic man who would sweep her off her feet, falling madly in love with her within just minutes, just like in her romance novels. They would go through some trials to stay together, but eventually they would overcome it and end up happily married. That was how it was supposed to go, before the Earthbender entered her world and changed her entire perspective on the world of fairytale love.

Bolin wasn't exactly a leading character. He was sweet and thoughtful like one should be, but he was also clumsy and hyperactive and naive. Those were not the qualities of a supposedly good main character's love interest. He was more of a secondary, comic-relief character – the love interest's best friend or someone like that. But Jinora didn't think of him as just best friend material, however much her experience with reading told her differently.

But then again – Jinora's life was a far cry from her storybooks.

Her entire city was falling to shambles before her very feet – and while this could have been a potential turning point, a climax, in her story, it wasn't, because Korra was currently losing when she shouldn't have been. This was not the way a story – her story – should have been going. And yet it was, and there wasn't much she could do about it.

~P~

When the war ended, things were finally beginning to look up for all of them. Something had occurred in the time that Korra and Mako had separated from the group to infiltrate the Equalist base – something significant, because they couldn't take their eyes or hands off of each other. Their kind of romance was what Jinora wanted, so passionate and loving they practically glowed with it.

Jinora remembered when they all arrived back on the Island, how Bolin had scooped all three of the Airbending children, Rohan safely with his parents. He voiced how happy he was for their safety, and while she knew it wasn't directed solely at her, Jinora couldn't help but blush at his words.

He had set them down, and she had said whisperingly, "I'm glad you're okay, too, Bolin."

"I'm glad all my little Airbending friends are," he had smiled that same charming smile that made the young girl's heart flitter. He returned to his friends then, but instead of being filled with joy at his response, Jinora felt queasy.

Friend.

The word rolled around in her analytical mind over and over again – of course he didn't view her as anything else. The sensible part of Jinora knew that this was completely okay, because she wasn't even eleven and he was sixteen and he shouldn't think of a little girl the way she wanted him to, but the side of her that had a crush on him was more than a little put down by his official establishment of their relationship.

That was another thing that didn't translate from her life to the storybooks – there was an age difference. She was so young, and while he wasn't too much older than her, there was still too much of an age gap for anything real to happen.

Yet another gap in her road to a happily ever after – the Airbender took hope, though, that when they were older, that maybe something could happen. That something would happen.

~P~

It was a few months after the return of peace to Republic City, since Amon's defeat. The City was healing from the damage done by the Equalists, slowly but surely. Jinora turned eleven that year, and continued pursuing a friendship with the now seventeen year old Bolin.

She still observed him from afar – she saw how the war had changed him: how much more mature he had grown, his appreciation for the sanctity of life after seeing so many people lose theirs. But she also caught another unfortunate thing – the fact that he was still a hormonal teenage boy, and on more than one occasion, went out with girls or flirted with them.

The most notable girl he gave his affections to was Korra – even though she was dating his brother and he wasn't supposed to have feelings for her anymore, it was clear that he had a few. He would flash her friendly smiles too often, stare at her a second too long, or purposely brush their hands together. But he never got the reaction he wanted, and even though he brushed it off, Jinora could tell he was hurt.

She didn't like to think she was the jealous type, for she had never had the chance to be, but she quickly learned how territorial and possessive she could be over the boy she didn't even have.

He didn't just dwell on the Avatar, either – he was a ladies' man, that was for sure. He would bring home a girl for dinner, and he would fawn over her the entire time, much to Jinora's annoyance. Much to both her dismay and happiness, though, he didn't keep the same girl for long – it seemed as though, to the fairytale-loving Airbender, he was always looking for the one who would stay with him, who could make him happy for the rest of his years. But he never found her.

Jinora wanted to be that one girl for him, but her heart would always fall when she was reminded of the many girls that wanted Bolin's affections, too. There were so many – thousands, even.

Jinora didn't even stand a chance if he had the ability to pick out of a thousand girls.

~P~

Years passed, and their friendship grew. There were moments shared between them when Jinora thought she saw a flicker of a possibility at a relationship, but they never really lasted long enough for anything to develop, and she cursed that.

She eventually began to date a different boy, if only to help try to make her feelings for Bolin disappear. As far as she was concerned, she needed to grow up and let go of him, that she wasn't going to get her fairytale ending if she continued like she was – but the more she dated, the more strongly she felt for the Earthbender.

There was seemingly no way she could win.

~P~

She didn't really know why it happened, but she didn't want it to stop once it started. They had gone to see a movie together, for her twentieth birthday – some cheesy romantic flick that she had really wanted to go to, the theatre chock full of overly lovey-dovey couples – and Bolin made the offhand comment that he wished romance was as easy as they portrayed it in the movies, because if so, then he would be happily married already with a kid.

Jinora frowned – if it was as easy as the books and movies, then she would be with him. "I know how you feel," she peered at the ground, refusing eye contact. "There's this guy that I've liked for a... a long time now. And if my life were a book or a film – we'd be together by now. But... it's not."

The Earthbender already knew who she was implying – too much had occurred between them for him not to know. He walked up to her, and placing a finger on her chin, raised her face to look up at him. "But our lives are so much better than the movies – they're real. This, us – we're real, Jinora." She could feel his breath on her lips, and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, her mind clouding over in confusion, anticipation. And then her fairytale moment came, for he bent down his lips to meet hers, and they connected sweetly.

The contact of his mouth against hers jolted her out of her foggy mindset, and she gently responded. The kiss was over a few moments later, simple and innocent. Bolin's bright eyes were half-lidded as he peered down at her and tucked a tress of brown hair behind her ear. He didn't say anything; he didn't need to – instead, he reached down and took her hand in his, squeezing it warmly.

Jinora's head was spinning as they walked, and she tried to contain the quickly-growing smile spreading on her features. Bolin hadn't chosen her out of thousands of girls – no, they found each other out of thousands of people, destiny pulling them together, just like in her fairytales.