Lin stared at the plate in front of her.
"What is this?" she asked, tempted by the smell of breakfast.
She had woken up from what had to be the longest sleep she'd had in years, only to be immediately drawn to the breakfast her uncle had prepared—with help from… her cousin.
Yes, it hadn't been a dream. She really had a cousin, and apparently, she was a spirit.
"French toast with fried eggs, bacon, and orange juice," Jin said calmly, chewing his own toast. "It's nothing fancy, but it'll do for an improvised breakfast. Go on, eat."
Lin hesitated only for a moment before she began to eat tentatively.
"It's good." Lin quickened her pace. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to know how to cook. Mom wasn't very fond of it—she only ever made simple dishes."
The few times Toph had tried to make elaborate meals, they'd ended up fighting kitchen fires. Eventually, "special meals" meant going out to restaurants to avoid further incidents.
"Well, we had our own cooks back then," Jin took a sip of orange juice. "If it weren't for my insistence that she learn at least the basics, she probably would've settled for wild fruit or roasting meat during our travels."
"You traveled a lot?" Lin asked curiously.
"I've been everywhere in the world," Jin bit into a whole fried egg. "Except the Southern Water Tribe, a place I'll never visit—for obvious reasons."
Lin nodded in understanding.
"All right, now, before you bury yourself in work and start arresting people left and right…" Jin motioned for her to stay seated as he addressed the last topic over breakfast. "I need to ask something. First, does our family still hold the property rights to this land?"
It was a pretty important question for his plans.
"Uh, actually, yes, but…"
Of course there had to be a "but." It would've been strange if there hadn't been one.
Jin gestured for her to continue.
"The story's a bit messy, and I don't remember everything because I was little when it happened. Mom only mentioned it later sometimes when she was upset. But the gist is that Avatar Aang and the Council back then thought it was too much for our family to own all the land as private property." Lin carried her plate to the sink. "They tried to pressure Mom into giving up at least half the land to others—give away, not sell. Mom refused, and since you had bought the land legally, they had no grounds for their complaints. But after weeks of nagging and pressure, like lizard-mosquitoes, she finally signed a contract that was some kind of compromise just to get them off her back."
Jin rolled his eyes. Obviously, Aang had been the one who thought it was "fair" to give the land away for free.
"And what exactly did the contract say? In short."
If Toph signed it, Jin trusted it wasn't too much of a problem.
This wasn't the same Toph from the original timeline—she'd been exposed to his way of doing business for years. She had perspective and experience to avoid being scammed.
"Basically? The Beifongs could keep the land as long as rent never exceeded a certain reasonable amount. And whether it was Mom or her descendants, they couldn't expel anyone from Republic City under the excuse that it was private property."
Jin frowned.
"They could" keep the land? It was already theirs. What authority did they think they had to say that? How arrogant!
The rent clause wasn't so outrageous—fair rent was acceptable. But banning expulsions was infringing on their rights.
"Did the contract say the Beifong family, or did it specifically name Toph and her descendants?"
Details were critical in situations like this.
"No. At first, they wanted to include the entire family, but Mom changed it so it only applied to her and us—her daughters and grandchildren." Lin shook her head. "Since you were 'missing,' people just dismissed it as a pointless technicality and agreed."
Good. That meant Toph had deliberately left him out as a legal loophole.
She had really believed all along that he would return…
"And what did she get in return?"
Toph must've had something decent in hand to accept that nonsense.
"Uh, that's all I can clearly remember." Lin sat back down, tapping her finger rhythmically against the table without realizing it, betraying her nerves. "The rest was exemptions about trade, taxes, and economic stuff. Not really my strong suit," she admitted, turning her head aside.
When it came to numbers and things like that, her sister had more talent. Lin already got headaches just from reading the police department's logistics reports.
"I see…" Jin rubbed his chin. "And I suppose the rent details and a copy of the contract are being handled from Zaofu?"
"…Yeah."
Jin didn't like it. In his view, the balance of restrictions and benefits didn't add up. He needed the exact details.
"Can I start on this now?" Lin pointed at the incriminating documents. "Please!"
"One last thing," Jin noticed his niece's impatience to get to work.
He explained his intention to visit Toph, to travel to Kyoshi Island and Jasmine Island, and how it was best to delay the news of his return to the family in Zaofu.
Lin stayed quiet when he finished explaining—too quiet.
"Lin?" Jin asked in the tone of an adult who knows a child has done something wrong.
Sigh. "I already sent the information to my sister," Lin admitted, scratching her neck. "I didn't consider what you might think, so…"
"I see." Jin wasn't angry. He just realized he probably should've mentioned it sooner. "In that case, just add that I'll visit on my own later. I don't want them sending anyone to fetch me or anything like that."
It was better not to give specific dates. He'd enter Zaofu, observe the place, and then present himself to the family. Maybe now it was called the safest city in the world, the closest thing to a utopia on the planet—but Jin wanted to confirm it himself.
"If you want to travel without problems, you'll need a passport," Lin reminded him. "Give me a day and I'll have it ready. The guy from the tourism department owes me a few favors."
Jin wasn't sure if that was a good idea. If someone asked for his passport and saw that he was over ninety years old while looking like this, there would definitely be trouble.
Well, he could always alter the number with his inkbending.
"All right. While you handle that, I'll make some money and pack a bag for the trip." Jin stood up, ready to head out.
"Wait, do you need someone to go with you?"
Jin laughed, but appreciated his niece's concern.
"Relax. I've got a little talent for making money, and I know how to take care of myself," he said with a mischievous smile—adding, at the last second before closing the door, "By the way, this is just a handful of 'basic tips.' Let me know when you're done with them and I'll give you more."
Lin watched her uncle close the door, then turned to the stack of papers.
"I think I'm going to need some reinforcements," she sighed, starting to pack everything into boxes and prepare it to be sent to the police department for safekeeping and review. "Ugh, I should've asked him to teach me inkbending instead of putting it off."
Halfway through packing, she froze.
"Wait—did he say he was going to visit Mom?" Lin blinked.
How did he know where she was?
And where had her new cousin gone?
She had no idea that Inkasha had returned to Wan Shi Tong's library to search for information her father had asked her to find.
Lin didn't know about the chi connection shared by the siblings—but she wasn't the one most surprised.
"Strange… why do I feel like Toph is in a completely different direction from the swamp?" Jin scratched his head, confused.
He was pretty sure Toph had retired there in the series.
"That direction is…"