A few months later…
Korra invited everyone to attend the Glacier Spirits Festival during the Winter Solstice in the Southern Water Tribe. On one hand, she wanted to be the one to invite them to something fun for once; on the other, she missed her family.
Even if Bolin had shown her a place in Republic City that cooked Water Tribe dishes, family food could never be found anywhere except at home.
"So, what made you change your mind?" Kyoshi asked Jin as they enjoyed the ocean scenery beside them, dotted with a few chunks of floating ice on the surface. At least, she was enjoying it. "You were against going there no matter what. Anything you want to say?"
Although Asami wished to come with them, the attack Hiroshi had suffered left him weakened even after leaving the hospital, and she didn't feel at ease leaving her father alone in his condition, even if they had access to the best doctors in the city.
Upon hearing the reason, Korra suggested Hiroshi be seen by Katara, the best healer among the waterbending masters in the world, but the man himself stubbornly refused despite his circumstances.
Strange as it might sound, Jin agreed with Hiroshi that it wouldn't help.
He was well aware of healers' capabilities thanks to his experience and memories with Honu, and unless new techniques had been discovered, he knew that things like heart problems couldn't be "cured" that way.
Improving circulation, helping wounds close, disinfecting…
With the spiritual oasis water as a medium, they could even repair nerves and regenerate flesh to a certain extent!
They couldn't grow an entirely new limb—at best, they could seal a stump—but it was useful nonetheless.
Waterbender healers could do many things beyond regular medicine, but when it came to the heart or the brain, both disciplines still had a lot to learn.
If Katara actually tried to heal Hiroshi's heart, she would probably kill him, if not leave him in even worse condition.
"An idiot is going to try to open the spirit portals, looking for a way to free Vaatu and become the dark Avatar," Jin pinched the bridge of his nose, starting to feel tired of having to hide things. "I'm going to stop him."
Kyoshi had only asked out of curiosity—she didn't expect her partner to drop a bomb like that out of nowhere and in such a casual tone. As one of the Avatars who had the most interaction with spirits in recent incarnations, she was very familiar with Vaatu's identity.
"Are you saying someone will do something during the Glacier Spirits Festival?" Kyoshi frowned as she considered the information, not asking for further details. They had that tacit trust between them. "Let me guess, dark spirits?"
For someone getting involved with Vaatu, there were very few possibilities to consider given the current state of Raava's counterpart. In fact, she had never spoken with Raava…
"Dark spirits," Jin confirmed.
Kyoshi rubbed her forehead, a bit distressed. She had dealt with some, and they were a complete headache—especially the big ones.
"Korra only just unlocked her spiritual side with our help. She's still missing a lot of training in that area, and I seriously doubt Tenzin can or has taught her how to purify dark spirits," she said aloud, unconcerned about anyone hearing her due to her spirit condition (except Korra, but she was with her friends). "Should I teach her like before we arrive?"
After taking a few beatings at the beginning, she had later learned how to purify dark spirits.
"You won't have enough time," Jin denied. "I'll handle it, don't worry. Though if several show up, I'll count on you."
It wasn't that Korra couldn't learn it—she's shown in the series purifying large things like the dark Avatar or an entire building, so talent wasn't something she lacked.
They simply didn't have time!
Not to mention that trying to teach her something like that right before a dark spirit attack would be way too suspicious.
"Fighting spirits reminds me of old times," Kyoshi sighed bitterly as she remembered a certain someone. "And who is the one who thinks they're so smart and capable that they want to merge with Vaatu thinking they'll stay in control?"
She could search for him and keep an eye on him—
"Korra's uncle, the current chief of the Northern Water Tribe."
"Oh…" Kyoshi was stunned for the second time in a row, but she understood the course of action Jin would take. "Just like Ozai?"
"Just like Ozai," Jin nodded. "Actually, can you bend in your current state?" he asked with curiosity.
Fighting and purifying spirits was feasible for another spirit, especially Kyoshi, a former Avatar, but interacting with the physical world wasn't that simple. There was a reason Inkasha was proud of her ability, even if it only granted her limited interaction for a brief period of time.
Even dark spirits basically resorted to brute force.
"No, I'm afraid not." Kyoshi wished she could—it would make her lessons with Asami much easier, and she was an excellent student, by the way. "I could if I took possession of Korra in Avatar mode, but under these circumstances, she would remember everything I did, and the other past Avatars would see it too. Something I assume we don't want?"
"In fact, we don't," Jin clicked his tongue.
It was a shame. Ideally, he would've finished off Unalaq and before the body could even hit the ice, he'd melt it and let it fall into the water below, freezing the surface again as if nothing had happened.
A mysterious disappearance was better than leaving the body lying around.
Although he could melt ice with saltbending, he couldn't refreeze the hole. Even if he plugged it with solid salt, it would react with the surrounding ice, making things worse.
He shared the idea with Kyoshi.
"Can't you just pretend he slipped on the frozen stairs and had bad luck?"
Actually, the problem was that he couldn't.
"Katara will be there," he objected. "If she has even a fraction of the healing ability Korra boasts about, she'll realize the circumstances and the 'injury' don't match."
The chief of the Northern Water Tribe dying from an unfortunate accident was completely different from him mysteriously dying in the sister tribe, especially considering the history between the two brothers…
"Actually, there is another possible way," Kyoshi whispered something in his ear, and Jin smiled.