Jin and Asami were at the café in front of Future Industries, just a few meters from the accident site, with a cup of hot tea for Asami and a glass of moon peach juice for Jin. The shaken woman insisted he should at least eat something to help him get over the scare, though she was probably referring more to herself than to Jin.
The idea of almost killing someone just minutes ago was already heartbreaking—worse if it was someone that handsome!
"Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?" Asami asked, giving Jin a suspicious look.
She knew people who were too proud to ask for help when they needed it.
"I'm fine, I just didn't see you coming," Jin dismissed with a casual wave of his hand as he took a sip of juice. Something sweet is always good after a scare.
A heavy weight lifted from Asami's heart when she confirmed Jin wasn't pretending and was truly fine. She was even secretly a bit impressed he didn't have a single bruise after what had happened. But his answer left her puzzled.
"I'm glad you're okay." She recalled how her legs had failed her for a moment, overwhelmed by the situation. "Wait… aren't you… blind?" she asked hesitantly, noticing his opaque eyes.
"I am," Jin confirmed after another sip. "That was the joke."
Asami raised an eyebrow.
"Someone almost runs you over and your response is to make a joke about your blindness?"
"I have my own ways of seeing things. Besides, you're not pulling your hair out over the accident anymore, are you?"
Asami blinked. So… he did it so she would stop worrying?
That was… thoughtful.
And he seemed only three or four years older than her?
"Then I suppose I should thank you," Asami laughed, more relaxed now, though she made a mental note to pay more attention when driving in the future. "By the way, I'm Asami Sato. Once again, I apologize for what happened."
"You are absolved of all your sins," Jin waved his hand in a random gesture, mimicking certain fraud preachers. "I'm Jin Beifong, but you can call me Jin."
"Wait, your name's the same as the uncle of the head of Republic City's police department?" Asami asked, surprised, since she had grown up hearing about that person in school. "You know, Toph Beifong's older brother. Though it's strange that you have the same last name…" she murmured to herself. "Maybe you're from a branch of the family?"
But she didn't recall the Beifong family having expanded that much, though Suyin Beifong did have quite a few children…
"Nope," Jin dragged out the "p" in his denial. "I am Jin Beifong. The Jin Beifong. Toph is my younger sister, and Lin is my niece. Which reminds me, I should go see her, she must be done with what I asked her for by now."
"Come on, you don't expect me to believe you're that person," Asami laughed behind her raised hand, her etiquette showing through. "You'd be… what, a hundred years old?" she joked, thinking it was another of Jin's jokes.
"I'm actually ninety-three," Jin pretended not to notice the joke. "Though, as you can see, I've aged wonderfully."
"That's for sure…" Asami couldn't help but mutter under her breath, then blinked and realized she had said her thoughts aloud. "Alright, let's say you are Jin Beifong. How do you prove it?" she asked, trying to hide the redness in her cheeks.
Oh, wait, he couldn't…
"How about this?" Jin set the empty glass on the table. "You drive me to see my niece in your vehicle, and along the way, I'll tell you how I ended up here, seventy years in the future, only to be surprised and run over by you."
Asami considered it for a moment, but in the end, her curiosity won out.
"Deal." She didn't have much to do lately anyway, and boredom had started creeping in.
They both left the café and got into the Satomobile.
"I'll admit, at least you're playing the role well," Asami commented as she started the engine with practiced ease. "If I hadn't seen your eyes, I wouldn't think you were blind."
"I told you, I have my own ways of seeing things."
"Mmhmm," Asami hummed noncommittally. "So, how does your story begin?"
"Well, you know, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much, they—"
"You know what I mean!"
What the hell was wrong with this guy?!
"Don't get riled up, you're driving. Eyes on the road. No rush," Jin advised, hiding his amusement. "It all started when…"
Jin calmly explained everything: his imprisonment, his recent release, and he added a few details here and there. He didn't forget to point out what he had lost because of the traitor, though he didn't reveal everything.
…
"That's… horrible." The redness in Asami's cheeks turned pale as she learned the truth behind Jin Beifong's disappearance—at least, if he truly was who he claimed. Still, the amount of detail he shared made her start believing him, even if unconsciously. "That the Avatar could do something like that out of jealousy—it seems impossible."
She had grown up exposed to the "great deeds and sacrifices" of Avatar Aang, but somehow, such an ideal image now felt… artificial and false.
"The Avatar is still human, with all their virtues and flaws," Jin thought it best to add a little more to the mix. "By the way, if you ever meet the current Avatar, don't hold it against them for what that traitor did. After all, they're two separate incarnations, and I suspect no one will ever tell the current Avatar the truth on purpose."
Asami nodded, eyes still on the road, thoughtful.
Seeing she didn't speak, Jin said nothing further and instead focused on Asami's chi with great interest. He had always wondered, like so many others, what bending she might have developed if she had been a bender.
Most fans of the series leaned toward earthbending, since Asami inherited the green eyes characteristic of someone from the Earth Kingdom from her mother (Yasuko), and because she was strong-willed and determined.
After all, in Avatar, it was almost a rule that eye color determined bending.
Others believed that since her father (Hiroshi) had amber eyes and his lineage traced back to the first Fire Nation colonists—and because she too was passionate and ambitious—she could have been a firebender.
Following the genealogy and crossbreeding in the Avatar world, both theories were fairly solid.
Even so, when Jin was able to identify which element was connected to Asami's chi and thought about her actions throughout the series, he nodded as if confirming his suspicions.
As for helping Asami transition from a nonbender into a bender, Jin was in no hurry… his ability couldn't be used carelessly. Too much trouble.
But a mischievous vein inside him, craving chaos, wondered…
How would Hiroshi Sato react if, suddenly, his daughter became the very thing he had sworn to destroy?
Because let's be honest—if he hadn't been so blinded by hatred toward benders because of his wife's death, the man had enough talent to almost rival the Mechanist.
Would he keep supporting the Equalists when his daughter also became a target?
Or would he ask Amon to "cure" his daughter of bending?
"The latter seems more likely," Jin muttered. From what he knew of the man, that would probably be his course of action.
Besides, Asami had grown up as a nonbender, so what Amon would do was the equivalent of a factory reset.
"One step at a time," he concluded.
Unaware of Jin's thoughts, Asami parked with a turn of the wheel near the police station.
"We're here," she told him, resting an arm on the seat back. "I hope you don't mind if I tag along. I'd like to see how you handle your 'niece.'"
Jin rolled his eyes, fully aware that the young woman had him on her mind.
"Sure, just follow me."