Kainora

Kainora
GENERAL
The Legend of Korra
Character	Kai
Character	Jinora
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	In a relationship
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het
Also Known As	Jinkai
Tropes	• Shipper on Deck — Korra is the first to note their 'special connection,' Bolin enjoys seeing Jinora kiss Kai, and the airbender Yung assumes that Kai is Jinora's boyfriend.

1

Kainora is the het ship between Kai and Jinora from The Legend of Korra fandom.

Canon

Jinora and Kai first met in a small village in the Earth Kingdom when Jinora and a group were looking for new airbenders. Kai happened to be one of those airbenders and said he wanted to join. It turned out that Kai was a thief, but Tenzin decided to take him anyway because he would have been imprisoned. Jinora did not care about his past and soon developed a crush on him. She was seen blushing at him after helping him and her Uncle Bumi practice their airbending.

Kai was eventually captured by the Dai Li, so Jinora went with the others to look for him and the other airbenders. Korra suggested that Jinora try to find his energy since they have a special connection. It worked, and Jinora was able to locate Kai. When she saw him, she immediately ran to him and kissed his face. This made Kai blush. Bolin was excited and said that her father Tenzin would not be happy about this. Later, the two of them went to the Northern Air Temple with the rest of the airbenders.

After arriving at the Northern Air Temple, Jinora and Kai began to spend more time together. They flew out together to see the bison calves. Kai eventually told Jinora that she was an amazing airbender and asked why she did not have her mastery tattoos. Jinora was unsure if she deserved them, but Kai encouraged her and she talked to her father about it. Later, the two went to see the sky bison again, but were captured by poachers. Kai managed to get out of the cage and help her escape. They were later rescued by the other airbenders.

The Red Lotus later attacked the Air Temple, attempting to take the airbenders hostage. As the group attempted to escape, P'Li fired with her combustionbending at the airbenders. Kai decided to distract her so the others could escape, and was seemingly blown out of the air. Jinora cried out Kai's name, thinking he was dead. Kai survived, but the airbenders were captured. Kai later helped Team Avatar locate the airbenders. He and Jinora hugged when they were reunited, and she was relieved to see Kai alive.

Kai and Jinora tried to figure out a way to help Korra, who was fighting Zaheer in the air. Kai tried to fly up to them on Lefty, but they were too slow. Instead, Jinora led the airbenders to create a giant tornado to capture Zaheer, which Kai joined. Three weeks later, Jinora received her airbending tattoos. Kai attended her ceremony. At some point over the next three years, the two began dating. Though their relationship was long-distance at times, the two still got along well as a couple.

Fanon

The Kainora pairing became popular when Book Three: Change aired. At first, there were leaks and Kai was revealed to be an airbender. Many fans assumed he was Bumi's son until Jinora was seen blushing at him. The two would have been cousins if that had been the case. This ship set sail as soon as it became canon. Some thought the two were too young to be in a relationship, but that was changed after the time skip for Book Four: Balance.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Jinora/Kai tag on AO3

Jinora/Kai tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR

Kainora posts on Tumblr

Jinkai posts on Tumblr

Trivia

• This pairing was referred to as "Jinkai" in a nick.com poll.