Jin was having an enormous amount of fun at that moment.
Not just because Pema's food was delicious, but because he could feel everyone else at the table holding back their questions, undoubtedly waiting for the meal to finish first.
Seeing the number of dishes on the table, Jin used his chi to break down the food faster so he could eat more. By the time they got to dessert, all the dishes were clean, and Korra, along with the children, looked at him and his still-flat stomach in amazement.
"A fantastic meal, Pema," Jin said, taking the last bite of the fruit salad with cream. "Your husband is really lucky."
Pema's smile had stayed bright throughout the meal, only briefly dimming when she thought Tenzin was missing out on a wonderful evening because of work.
Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo behaved surprisingly well, apparently more than willing to make this moment, which made their mother happy, last as long as possible.
"Can we see the gifts?" Ikki noticed that everyone had finished their desserts and couldn't hold back any longer.
"All right," Jin laughed at the girl's enthusiasm and pulled out the package, opening it in front of everyone.
And what they saw was…
"Paper, ink, and shards of glass and metal?" Meelo scratched his head, unable to understand how that could be a gift.
"Give me a second," Jin uncorked the ink.
The dark liquid rose and transformed into tiny grape-sized creatures trembling, with two bent antennae sticking out of their little heads. The creatures jumped onto the paper and started writhing to form words.
Korra watched with great interest; she had never seen anyone do anything like that.
"Done," Jin said, taking the papers and checking that the ink had dried properly. "This is the gift for Pema," he said, handing it to her.
Pema took it and flipped through the pages with clear curiosity.
"Is this… a cookbook?" Her interest grew as she looked at more and more pages, even noticing that all of them were numbered and had incredibly detailed illustrations.
"The front half contains lost recipes of the Air Nomads from centuries ago, and the back half is some recipes that, after tasting your food, I thought might interest you," Jin explained.
The recipes were indeed dishes even Aang hadn't known, taken directly from the records of Wan Shi Tong. The rest were modern recipes Jin had no trouble giving away, too complicated to commercialize, but a pleasant challenge for someone as skilled as Pema.
As for using the ink to shape tiny Heartless… he just wanted to show off his ink control.
"I really like it, thank you," Pema said secretly excited.
She would later find a moment to sew the pages together herself and turn them into a real book, even making some backup copies.
"Jinora, I'll be honest, when your mother told me you were a big reader, my first thought was to give you a book," Jin turned to the eldest daughter. "But since I don't know what books you've read or what you like, I decided to do something different."
A small amount of white sand entered through the window (undoubtedly from the island's beach) and joined the glass and metal shards left in the opened package. With a flash of heat and some quick movements from Jin, a beautiful handheld mirror, resembling an incredibly realistic clam, hovered in the air.
The exterior even gleamed with a beautiful pearly finish that didn't look artificial at all.
"So… he's an earthbender?" Korra thought, watching his actions.
But how could an earthbender fly like he did?
The handheld mirror slowly approached Jinora, who, after confirming it wasn't hot, took it and examined it with great interest. The mirror was perfectly smooth without any flaw, and the reflection was crystal clear.
Anyone could tell that Jinora was in love with the gift.
"I love it, thank you, Jin!" she said, giving a small quick bow before continuing to examine the mirror. The size was a bit large for her hand now, but in a couple of years, it would be perfect to hold.
She made sure to keep the mirror with her, or knowing her siblings, they might end up breaking it…
"All right, what would you like?" Jin turned to Meelo and Ikki. "I'm a pretty good earthbender, don't be shy."
"I want a huge statue of me in the garden!" Meelo stepped forward, flexing his burgeoning muscles.
Jin turned to Pema, who could only shrug.
"All right, tell me where you want it."
The statue would test Tenzin's nerves, so Jin was happy to fulfill the request!
They all went to one of the back gardens.
To Meelo's credit, he didn't choose the main garden but one more secluded and discreet.
"Right here!"
Crack!
An incredibly realistic statue emerged in barely half a second, on a pedestal that made him look heroic, but…
"It's perfect, a true reflection of my great self!" Meelo nodded several times, fists on his hips. "It's like looking in a mirror."
Korra and the others had to hold back their laughter. Jin had exaggerated the muscles on Meelo's statue, making it look like a bodybuilder striking a JoJo pose.
But they had to admit, Jin was a very skilled earthbender to make something so elaborate so quickly with barely any movement.
Korra doubted she could create something so detailed, even with more time…
"Now it's Ikki's turn," Jin turned to the little girl.
"Could you make me a princess palace?" Ikki asked excitedly, eyes sparkling.
Pema blinked.
Jinora put her palm to her forehead.
Korra blinked.
Meelo gave a disdainful look.
Jin blinked.
He could wait on Meelo's request, but this was a bit…
"I can do it," he nodded to Ikki, "but there isn't enough island for it," he pointed out.
The island seemed large, but the truth was that for a castle like the one the girl wanted, it would be quite small.
Jinora, Korra, and Pema looked at him, surprised.
So the problem was that there wasn't enough space?!
Not even Korra would dare claim she could make something on that scale!
Well, maybe when she learned the Avatar State…
"Good point…" Ikki realized Jin was right and pursed her lips thoughtfully. The island was too small for a proper princess palace.
"I could make a small secret base," Jin offered.
"It won't be secret if you know where it is!"
Ah, well, he wasn't wrong…
"Make a big fountain!" Ikki suddenly changed her mind. "With fire ferrets! And turtle ducks! And—" she proceeded to name twenty different species of animals in less than a minute.
Having seen how skilled he was, she thought he could make many cute animals.
"All right?" A fountain was easy; he could even redirect water underground to form a natural channel. "Pema, where could we put something this big?"
A fountain with so many animals couldn't be small; he was thinking at least five meters tall with three levels of cascading water platforms so the animals would look like they were bathing in flowing water. It would take at least six or seven people to surround it.
Pema thought for a moment and guided them to a larger, spacious garden with a big empty square in the center.
"Wow, you really love gardens."
"Taking care of flowers is one of our main hobbies here," Pema admitted. With Tenzin's work, the occasions she left the island were rare, so she had to find ways to entertain herself.
While taking care of the children took most of her time, she also needed a hobby to relax or she would go crazy with how mischievous they were.
"Do you have any Panda Lilies?"
"Mmm, I don't think so. Why?"
"Nothing, I was just remembering some things…"
"Oh." Pema said nothing but memorized the name. It was always interesting to look for new flower varieties.
With the location prepared, Jin took a moment to think about where to place each animal, their posture, and dimensions.
Boom!
"I love it!" Ikki jumped around like only an airbender could around the fountain while examining the animals she had chosen. "This one's so adorable~ Oh, that one too. This one has two tails, amazing!"
"It's not as cool as my statue, but it's not bad," Meelo commented.
"Wow, you don't do things halfway," Korra said as she closely examined one of the animals, noticing she could count each hair individually on the dense fur.
"Do it right or don't do it," Jin replied, manipulating the ground to create an underground inflow for the fountain, causing it to spring and form small cascades.
"Is that fresh water?" Pema didn't notice the salty smell of seawater.
"Yes, salt isn't exactly friendly to gardens like this, so I diverted underground fresh water for the fountain. If you need to fill the watering can, you can use this water," Jin explained. "Also, I can provide some black soil; it's ideal for fertilizing."
There was also a medium copper vein under the island, along with a small amount of gold, but that wasn't relevant.
"Wait, you can even sense underground water?" Korra asked. "Wow, if it weren't impossible, I'd say you're the real Jin Beifong. Even your name is the same!"
She finally had a chance to show off what she had learned in the library!
"Korra, that man disappeared decades ago," Jinora said, turning away from the fountain. "Even if he were alive, he would—"
"Ninety-three years old," Jin finished for her. "And yes, I am that Jin Beifong you're talking about."
"Very funny," Korra laughed, not believing it for a moment.
"The head of the police department who interrogated you is Lin, my niece."
"Sure, sure…"
Jin pursed his lips, not expecting that reaction when revealing his identity.
"If you really are Jin, where did you go all these years?" Jinora had a feeling he wasn't lying, but that only raised more questions. "And how do you look so young?"
Jin remained silent for a moment. He certainly hadn't expected the topic to come up today.
Although, now that it had been mentioned, he could only reluctantly tell the truth!
"It's not a pleasant story," he sighed, sitting on a bench.
Taking advantage of Meelo and Ikki playing with the fountain, he began recounting everything while the flowing water masked his voice from the little ones.