An unknown time later…
"That was a great way to relieve stress," Kyoshi remarked as she leaned against Jin's chest, letting out a sigh of peace and relief.
Jin ran his hand across her back, silently expressing his agreement.
They both needed this, more as spiritual comfort than anything else.
Being confined for such a long period forces you to think of ways to distract yourself from going insane. Any thought can be stretched to surprising lengths.
Perspectives shift, past experiences are reexamined from different angles, and decisions are made. What once slipped by now makes sense, and what you avoided must be faced.
"Aren't you going to ask what happened to me?" Kyoshi inquired curiously, gazing at Jin's face. "And how did you know about my imprisonment?"
"Wan Shi Tong gave me a sort of summary of what happened. I only just managed to free myself a few days ago," Jin admitted. He didn't want to spoil the moment by bringing up that topic, but it seemed unavoidable. "Do you want to give me the details?"
Though the past couldn't be changed, he had to understand how things had led to this point.
"So in the end, his ambush worked…" Kyoshi's jaw tensed, but under Jin's caresses she took a deep breath and spoke. "There isn't much to tell, really. Aang was consumed by jealousy and, in seeking advice from past Avatars to try and overcome it, Yangchen suggested—and convinced him—to carry out the plan to imprison you."
"Wait, are you saying it was Yangchen, not Katara, who came up with the plan?!" Jin asked, utterly caught off guard by the revelation.
He could have sworn Katara was the mastermind behind it!
I mean, come on—there was no way Aang could come up with the whole plan by himself…
"Katara?" Kyoshi blinked in confusion. "Oh, I see why you thought it might have been her, but she knew nothing of Aang and Yangchen's plans," Kyoshi clarified. "In fact, I doubt even after successfully ambushing you that Aang would have told her anything. It would have been too humiliating, and with all the ideals he had always defended, she would have seen him as a hypocrite—the woman he loved."
"So it was Yangchen…" Jin hadn't expected to have to deal not with one, but two past Avatars. Still, it didn't change his plans much.
What he had in mind for Aang could be applied to Yangchen as well.
No—perhaps, as the instigator, she deserved something even more fitting.
"Yes, it was also because of her that I ended up locked away here," Kyoshi snorted. "Because, and I quote: 'You are incapable of prioritizing your duties as Avatar, so reflect and return later.'" Her mocking imitation of Yangchen was dripping with distaste.
Jin blinked.
"Why does that sound like punishment for a schoolgirl misbehaving in class?" he said, a bit confused. "So they kicked you out of the Past Avatars' club without revoking your membership, just expecting you to crawl back later on your own?"
"More or less. The Avatars older than Yangchen protested at such treatment, but they couldn't interfere since their incarnations were too far back. And the Avatars after her didn't stop Aang when he carried out the plan, even if they didn't support it."
"He used the Avatar State to ambush me. That sounds like support to me."
After all, that state drew directly on the power of past incarnations.
"For us past Avatars, that state is binding—we cannot resist it," Kyoshi shook her head. "At least not unless we're in a situation like mine." She gestured to the bars that had been her prison for decades. "Unless those bars are broken, I won't reconnect with the other Avatars."
"So destroying them would send you back to them—and alert the traitor, all at once?"
"They would have dissolved on their own in thirty more years," she explained. "What you did, bending the bars? He probably thinks it was another one of my attempts to escape."
"I see…" Jin lost interest in the bars and refocused on Kyoshi. "So… are you okay with this?"
The question carried a clear implication—he wasn't going to leave things vaguely defined.
"That's something I should be asking. Are you sure you're okay with me?" Kyoshi asked, vulnerability and insecurity flickering in her gaze. "I'm a spirit. You know I can't give you children, and I remember you wanted a large family. Besides… I was already married once."
"Don't worry. Aren't we together now?" Jin comforted her gently, holding her in his arms. "As for the children, I'll introduce you to someone later, and I think you'll be reassured. Believe me, you'll be in for a huge surprise."
"Mmm." Kyoshi felt an immense relief at those words. "I wish I had met you in my own era!" she lamented bitterly as a tear slid down her cheek and dripped onto Jin's chest. "Things would have been so different…"
Jin said nothing, but he knew she was right.
"Then—"
"Wait!" Kyoshi suddenly sat up, straddling Jin. "If we're going to… be together (spirits, I feel like a blushing teenager just saying it out loud), I want you to promise me something," she said seriously, locking eyes with him.
"I'm listening."
In moments like this, one should never reply with something like "whatever" or "anything you want." You always had to hear the condition first.
"Promise me you'll find at least one more woman, someone of flesh and blood. Maybe several!" Kyoshi stated her demand clearly. "Don't look at me like that—you had three wonderful girls before. You know how this goes."
"Why?" Jin frowned, puzzled and pained by the reminder of them.
Kyoshi clenched her fists.
"It would tear me apart with guilt to know that I'm the reason you gave up on having descendants," she confessed. "That's why—I want you to promise me."
Jin had expected many different conditions, but certainly not that one.
"Are you sure?" He could already think of a few women… "But if we're talking conditions, I'll give you one too."
"Me too?!" Kyoshi hadn't expected that.
"Seems fair. Each of us has a condition."
"Alright, let's hear it." Kyoshi rolled her eyes but listened intently.
"Keep this form," Jin requested simply. "I like seeing you without the armor and makeup—the real you underneath. You look more attractive."
"…Idiot." Kyoshi's cheeks flushed darker. "Fine. I guess we have a deal," she concluded with a smile.
A comfortable silence settled between them as they slowly resumed their movements.
"Dad!" Inkasha approached the newly formed couple with her hands covering her eyes. "Are you done with my new mom? Did you put your clothes back on yet?"
Jin and Kyoshi froze, completely caught off guard by her arrival.
Jin, for his part, hadn't expected his daughter to show up right now, though at least this time he was dressed.
Meanwhile, Kyoshi was shaken to her core, mentally repeating the words she had just heard.
"D-Dad?!"