"…and that's the situation," Toph finished explaining. "That's why, even though I preferred to stay somewhere more remote, I moved here."
"I see. So in the end someone did leak the news about the island's vast platinum reserves, and people with bad intentions showed up—but you kicked all their asses," Jin summarized.
"It's fun, and it helps me stretch my muscles from time to time so I don't lose my edge." Old Toph laughed as they walked up a path. "Back in Republic City, I enforced the law, and I had to respect it myself. But politics got annoying over the years, and that bald guy never stopped causing me problems at all hours," she said, remembering the situation decades earlier.
"Aang, I'm the head of the police department!" Toph shouted, slamming the metal desk in her office. "Saying I'm the Avatar doesn't excuse you to do whatever you want!"
"You'll regret this, Toph!" the Avatar huffed as Toph's subordinates cuffed him with special restraints once again.
Toph shook her head.
"Speaking of that idiot, what really happened seventy years ago?"
"I'll tell you later." Jin wanted to wait until they reached the palace and could sit down. "By the way, what's the situation on the island?"
"You've been aware of the whole island since you landed—do you really need me to tell you anything?" Toph replied with a snort, but still spoke. "Aside from some modernization, the island hasn't changed much since back then. Tea is still prioritized as our main product, and platinum extraction has always been done with clear limits to avoid harming the land, preventing any pollution." She stomped the ground twice in place. "That said, after so many years the soil has lost a lot of its fertility, and although preparing black soil with controlled lava as you taught me helped, and we used natural fertilizers, I can't make as much as you, and there's no one who can help me."
"I'll make and distribute black soil for everyone later." Jin figured he could use it as a bit of exercise. "…What happened to Whiskers?" he asked more softly. "Who took care of him?"
"Ah, right, your shirshu." Toph scratched her neck. "Come on, we're close."
…
Jin fell into complete silence when they arrived.
The flowers, the hedges, the rocks… he knew where they were.
"This is the part of the island that serves as the royal family's cemetery," Toph spoke with an unusual tact as she pointed to the graves in front of her. "They… are here."
She didn't need to say more—Jin knew exactly who she meant.
Honu.
Xi.
June.
Jin could feel which grave belonged to each of them, and he didn't overlook the hollow central tomb in the middle with his own name.
Together until the end…
Yes, when the time came, he wanted to be here with them.
But even as he felt the pain in his heart, he didn't ignore the strangeness. The design seemed to have been altered from the initial plan. For example…
"The fourth one… is it Little Bee?" Though his tone sounded like a question, it felt more like confirmation.
"Yes, she passed away six months ago." Toph ran her hand across the tombstone, which was kept as clean as the others. "Her last wish was to watch over them while waiting for you to return. You know she—"
"I know," Jin interrupted. Saying it aloud would only make it more painful. "Then why are there more places?" That was the only part he didn't understand.
If he formed the central point, and Honu, Xi, and June made up the inner circle, there were still many spaces left in the outer circle. Several rings, in fact.
"Oh…" Toph gave him a strange look—not because she could see, of course. "They figured since you were taking so long, by the time you came back, there would be several more sisters. So they expanded the place according to their estimates."
Looking at the amount of space, Jin felt like they were overestimating him.
"Whiskers is back there," Toph pointed as she moved to the rear of the cemetery.
A large open area lay before them, with a massive gray-furred shirshu curled up on a big artificial rock in the center (probably Toph's work). Around him, several other shirshus had gathered.
"Even your pet has a harem," Toph teased, trying to cheer up her older brother. "He and his little girlfriends multiplied the number of shirshus on the island. We had to bring in more from outside to avoid certain problems."
That chi…
Yes, there was no doubt, that was Whiskers.
"Why isn't he moving?" Jin asked Toph with concern.
Considering how sensitive shirshus were to scent, it was strange he hadn't gone looking for him at the docks the moment he arrived.
The chi was flowing a bit slowly, but with age that was normal—it shouldn't have put him in this state.
"He's the oldest shirshu in the world. Do you know how long shirshus normally live?" Toph asked. "Forty years! Even June was speechless at Whiskers' insane resilience. Honu examined him and theorized it had something to do with the way you used your chi to strengthen him."
That was entirely plausible. Jin slowly approached his pet. The other shirshus turned toward him alert, but when they saw the patriarch wasn't bothered, and recognized Toph's familiar scent on him, they stayed where they were.
At last, Whiskers lifted his head when Jin stood beside him, sniffing the air. After confirming the newcomer's identity, he rested his snout on Jin's shoulder, vibrating his neck.
"Grrr…"
"Yes, it's been a long time." Jin stroked his head and carefully lay against his side as they had done years ago, resting Whiskers' head on his lap.
Toph silently walked away toward the palace to have food prepared.
Though she wanted to confirm her suspicions about her older brother's disappearance, she could wait a little longer. Whiskers had been holding on by sheer willpower for Jin to return. He hadn't been able to run for years and barely ate. Beneath that thick fur, he was little more than skin and bones.
Now that Jin had finally come back…
A soft wind rippled through the grass and Whiskers' gray fur, carrying with it the nearby salty scent of the sea.
"It's a pleasant breeze, don't you think?" Jin asked quietly, stroking Whiskers' head as the shirshu remained silent. "Thank you for waiting for me. Rest easy, I'll stay here with you."
Whiskers inhaled and exhaled slowly as his eyelids fell, even though he wanted to stay like that a little longer.
He wanted to run one last time with Jin on his back across the island, introduce him to his descendants, tell him how much he missed him, the tears he had seen in those women…
He inhaled and exhaled again, his mind growing hazier.
That long-missed scent had finally returned, just… a little… more…
…
The other shirshus lowered their heads one by one as they felt it.
Their patriarch had left, but he did so with an expression of peace.
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Damn, I was crying when I finished this chapter. Anyone who has or has had a pet can understand—such pure souls in such a dirty world.