Jin's first action was obvious: to check whether Korra was already in Republic City.
"It seems I freed myself a little before her arrival," he reflected, sitting comfortably on a park bench in a corner, away from prying eyes and poorly lit by the streetlamps.
He spent a small portion of the yuans his niece had given him to take his first bath in decades, fix his hair, and get proper clothes. As for his armor, of course, he wore it under his clothes so no one could notice.
Checking whether Korra was in the city was easy; none of the recent files his niece had in the police department reported the Avatar dispensing justice on her own.
Considering that Amon's clandestine chi-blocking centers were still operating in various places and that the Fire Ferrets still had a certain Hasook registered as their waterbending master, it was clear that Korra and Naga hadn't set foot in this place yet.
Developing ink control back in the day was a great idea!
"But given what's happened, I don't know if I should get involved with Korra, considering her connections. She values those who would see me poorly too much (especially that schemer Katara), and while she's not stupid, she's very impulsive and not exactly a great independent thinker," Jin scratched his head in annoyance. "Why are male Avatars so peace-loving, but female Avatars so warlike?"
Roku, Kuruk, and Aang were too soft, while Kyoshi, Yangchen, or Korra were not ones to go about things subtly.
Jin suspected that even Pavi, the next incarnation after Korra, could end up developing a tough character once grown, especially considering the treatment she was going to receive…
Honestly, Korra's direct personality was much better and more compatible with him than Aang's, but the girl had been too conditioned by her isolation under the White Lotus.
When she first arrived in the city, she didn't even consider money for a second!
The lack of social awareness, the misconceptions instilled by the White Lotus, and the lack of interaction with people who weren't trying to protect or train her did more harm than good.
Not to mention the complete failure on the spiritual side, or her lack of patience and self-control when provoked. Although, of course, she had been repressed for a long time, and to be fair, teenagers make a lot of mistakes.
Just think about how Korra decided to go out with Mako simply because he didn't treat her like the Avatar—monumental mistakes.
But Korra wasn't just going to get beaten again and again as the story progressed, being deceived multiple times; even at the last moment of her life, she would leave a painful mark that Pavi would have to endure as the next Avatar, and he doubted it would be the only one…
Mental note: Make my own "Sky."
"Let's see how everything unfolds," Jin decided. He wouldn't overthink it—if he met Korra and under what circumstances, he'd leave it to chance. "I can imagine Tenzin talking badly about me when he finally accepts that it was really me who destroyed the traitor's statue, just to keep her away from me."
Ah, Tenzin, you may be the father of three, but you have zero experience dealing with repressed teenage girls.
Sure, tell her not to come near me—she'll definitely listen!
From the bushes near Jin, a red fox emerged, a scroll clutched in its teeth.
"A Truth-Seeker of Wan Shi Tong?" Jin took the scroll from the spirit's mouth. "Haven't heard anything from that old owl in a while. Still busy expanding his library?"
The fox let out a series of sounds, as if complaining that its master had made them work overtime for the past decades.
"Give me a second to read this, and I'll give you something to deliver," Jin said. He intended to correct the "false information" the spirit had about the radio—he just had to reorganize the ink after reading whatever the scroll contained.
A few seconds passed as Jin read the information, sighed, and rearranged the ink to clarify how a radio actually worked—no tiny men locked in a tiny box. Then he returned the scroll to the fox, thanked it, and sent it off.
"They were more meticulous than I thought… no, that must be Katara's plan carried out by the traitor," he reflected.
During his confinement, one of his many questions had been logical:
Why hadn't Kyoshi warned him about the duo's plans?
Why hadn't she interfered during the ambush?
No matter how he thought about it, he and Kyoshi had had a very good relationship. The past Avatar was not only grateful for Jin's development and care of Kyoshi Island, but she was also one of his best friends among the spirits.
Damn, if they had been from the same era, they probably would have ended up as a couple!
But it turned out that Kyoshi hadn't stayed out of it deliberately or refused to warn him—she simply couldn't, no matter how hard she tried!
According to the scroll (and knowing its origin, he didn't doubt its truth), due to their close relationship, Katara had conspired with Aang to seal Kyoshi's spirit in the totem on Kyoshi Island one night, days before she carried out the ambush plan to trap him.
To prevent him from escaping or finding out, Aang even isolated himself from his past lives for a while.
In other words, Kyoshi had not only shared the time trapped—she was still trapped! She couldn't even access the Spirit World or manifest in the dreams of some of Kyoshi's warriors.
There was a huge difference between imprisoning someone like him and imprisoning a spirit, even if that spirit was an Avatar.
"Alright, the first goal is to free Kyoshi's spirit," Jin decided. "Even if I have to take a damn ship…"
Of course, he could use the gravity control he gained during his imprisonment, but the islands were at sea, and as he recalled, the journey would take days. Even with an astronomical amount of chi to sustain a round trip moving faster than ships, he'd still need breaks to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom.
He could make a temporary salt raft, but he also had to consider details like possible bad weather. And he wasn't an expert navigator; orienting himself at sea would be tricky.
So flying around like Zaheer after mastering Laghima's teachings would have to be limited to solid ground or ice.
But he couldn't just leave—at least, he couldn't abandon his niece. He needed to clear things up with her, get some money, and make a quick trip to Kyoshi Island. In fact, he should also go to Jasmine Island.
He was curious about the current state of his island.
"But Toph should be alone in the swamp now…" he hesitated, thinking of his beloved little sister. But after careful thought, he decided she was a higher priority.
Not just because he wanted to see her, but if anyone would explain everything to him without omissions or lies, it would be Toph.
"I also have to tell Lin tonight not to alarm Suyin and the rest of the family to avoid a big commotion," he reminded himself. "Though it seems she's estranged from the family as in the original timeline, my return is reason enough to write them a letter."
They might inevitably find out later through others, but delaying the news seemed best in his opinion. While he didn't doubt his other niece would welcome him with open arms, he had serious doubts about people like Baatar Jr., who might question whether he had returned to take control of the Beifong family and the Metal Clan, or others with conflicting interests like Aiwei.
And they wouldn't be wrong—if he could take control, he would.
But he also knew that was impossible, even if Toph went with him and told her daughters to be quiet and follow his orders.
Another reason to see his little sister.
Likewise, before the traitor had imprisoned him, he had already accumulated enough things; as long as he could recover even part of what was his to back his plans, it was more than enough.
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself?" he asked, casually tapping the armor beneath his clothes with his index finger. "You've been silent for hours; I know you're there, and I assure you, I don't bite."
Slowly, a shadow detached from the armor and began to take shape in front of Jin…
"Dad!"
Jin: ?!?!?!