Jinko

Jinko

Jinko is a Het ship between Zuko and Jin in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series.

Canon
Zuko met Jin while he was living in Ba Sing Se as a refugee. He was disguised as a man named Lee. Jin had been drinking as the tea shop frequently and looking at Zuko a lot. Zuko eventually caught onto this and told his Uncle Iroh because he was worried that Jin knew that they were from the Fire Nation. However, Iroh simply smiled that explained that she actually had a crush on Zuko. Before he could react, Jin came to them to pay and asked Zuko out on a date. He remained silent so Iroh answered for him.

Zuko did not seem enthusiastic about his date but Iroh was sure that it would be great for him. As soon as they met, Jin ruffled Zuko hair which irritated him since Iroh spent ten minutes on fixing his hair. They went to have dinner together at a restaurant in the middle ring and Zuko accidentally yelled at the waiter when he mistook Jin as his girlfriend. Zuko was forced to make up a back story when Jin asked questions and explained that he traveled with a circus. Zuko tried to juggle for her but failed and made up the excuse that he had not practiced in forever. The two later went to a firelight fountain together and Jin was disappointed to see that the torches were not lit. Zuko firebended to light them while Jin had her eyes closed and gave her a coupon to the tea shop. They then kissed until Zuko ran off. However, he still told his uncle that they had a good night.

After the Fire Nation recaptured Ba Sing Se and Zuko got together with Mai, they ran into Jin. She did not seem to mind that he was with Mai but asked him who she was. Zuko still did not want to tell her the truth and said that Mai was a knife thrower from the circus. Zuko and Mai decided to entertain her by having Mai used Zuko as a target for her knife throwing. Jin then decided to give the knife throwing a try and barely missed hitting Zuko which caused him to fall into the fountain.

Fanon
Jinko is a very popular pairing though it is not as popular as Zutara or Maiko. Some fans ship it as an alternative to both. With Zutara being proven to be impossible as Aang and Katara had children in the future, many fans began to hope that Zuko ended up with Jin instead. With Mai breaking up with Zuko yet again, many fans are beginning to hope that Zuko reunites with Jin and ends up with her. Some fans have written fanon about Zuko reuniting with Jin and explaining his real identity to her. Many also write fanon about Zuko learning to juggle for Jin. Jinko most commonly rivals the Maiko, Zutara, Soko and Toko ships.

Trivia

 * Jin did not seem to mind seeing Zuko with another woman after their date.