Jin managed to say goodbye before they remembered to ask his name.
There was no point in evading Tenzin; if his wife and daughter told him that he was the one coming to dinner, where would the surprise be then?
While waiting for the tailor to finish preparing the clothes, he began to look for the meeting place Amon would use tonight.
It wasn't difficult; he took some leaflets from the Equalists, checked the back map, and aligned it with his seismic sense and chi vision. In half an hour, he was a few streets away from the place, able to feel how they were setting up the stage and connecting the lights and microphones.
He imagined Amon giving a speech in front of the people he deceived, only for a spotlight to fall and land on his head, giving him a direct shock.
It would be a truly anticlimactic ending, but Jin would also be sure that the crowd would conclude it was done by a metalbender. After all, mobs always look for convenient excuses to keep committing violence and then wash their hands of their own actions.
That is to say, once Amon's deception was revealed, all that talk of non-bender rights and that all the world's evils came from benders vanished instantly, as if people pretended it never happened and they were never complicit.
Oh, the envy was still there.
But there was a reason the Equalists wore masks and scarves.
It wasn't to show unity or membership in the same group, but, as in so many situations, these were people who only gained courage from the anonymity of their real identity.
Their thought process was: They don't know who I am, so I don't have to face the consequences if I fail or make a mistake.
Classic attitude of the weak and cowardly.
Amon was, and so were his followers. Jin knew that even without Korra's intervention, they wouldn't have accomplished much. The Earth Queen could have sent some Dai Lee to take them down, and things would have gone very badly for Amon.
Because the royal families and powerful politicians—almost all of them—were benders.
"What was the point of all this fuss anyway?" Jin didn't remember the exact reason Amon wanted to make such a spectacle.
Wasn't it the classic attitude of: I want to watch the world burn for what I've had to suffer, and everyone should suffer with me?
Pretty immature…
"I should bring a little gift for tomorrow's dinner," he considered. "I should also think of something for the date with Asami…"
He spent some time stretched out on a clean patch of grass, thinking, only moving when it was close to the time to pick up the clothes.
On the way, he stopped at a store to buy a blank notebook and a bottle of ink. He would need both for tomorrow's gift for Pema. As for Jinora, giving her a romance book would be the easy route, but not the best option.
"Although it would be funny to see Tenzin's reaction, it's too young for earrings," he thought as he dropped off the things at his niece's house and headed to the tailor. "Oh, that could please her. Yes, that's a good idea."
He wouldn't even need to buy anything; everything necessary was already on the island.
The clothes he ordered were modest. An elegant suit composed of a dark shirt, formal pants, leather shoes (with the soles imperceptibly absent), and a long modern coat.
Before the elderly tailor's eyes, he ran his hands over the clothes and nodded in satisfaction.
The materials were high quality, and the stitching was well done, fitting his build like a glove. The elder's experience in the craft was evident.
From now on, if he bought clothes in the city, he would order them there.
The plaza where he was meeting Asami was quite crowded, so he waited sitting on a bench. It seemed the plaza was a popular gathering point, and, as with such places, there were a few long-handed children making a living.
Through his perception, he observed how the children took some coins to survive without their victims noticing. He put his hand in his pocket and tossed some yuan into the air to his left.
The boy with a worn cap, silently approaching this "easy victim," froze.
"Not everyone would have the courage to try to steal from me, much less succeed," Jin commented without turning his head. "You haven't eaten since the day before yesterday, right? This should be enough for you and your two companions waiting behind the third tree behind the bronze statue for three days. I only ask that you answer one question honestly."
The boy looked at Jin cautiously; his alertness increased several levels after everything Jin said, but the lure of the coins and hunger…
"Ask your question."
"Why haven't you tried going to an orphanage?" The question was genuine. "If I'm not mistaken, there are at least two nearby."
Jin was aware there were several orphanages in the city that took in street children, many of which still had space for more.
"Orphanages have dealings with the Triple Threat," the boy glanced around cautiously before answering in a low voice. "It's no secret that a couple of times a year, they take a batch of boys and girls for their gangs. I can't let my little sisters end up with those people."
Jin nodded at the honest answer and left the money on the bench as he stood up. The boy quickly tucked it out of sight before running and disappearing into the crowd.
Asami had arrived in a Satomobile with a driver (undoubtedly the man Hiroshi had sent to monitor his daughter's date) and was waiting for him in the parking lot.
"You look stunning," Jin got into the vehicle calmly, complimenting Asami while nodding at the driver in the rearview mirror, which visibly surprised the man. "The sleeveless red-toned dress looks wonderful on you. And the golden lotus-shaped hairpin? It only enhances the contrast with your eyes."
"Ah… you look good too," Asami was stunned by the fluency (and precision) of Jin's compliments.
The driver did a double take.
Yes, he was sure the young Miss Sato's date was a blind man; the dull, lifeless eyes were obvious.
"Thank you," Jin nodded with a satisfied expression. "I must admit, the tailor did a great job for last-minute work. Shall we go? I'm starting to get a little hungry."
Asami signaled the driver to snap out of his astonishment and head toward the destination.