Title: Aang's Mother (T – mother/son bonding, domestic violence, Kataang)
Author: ayziks
Summary: Have you ever wondered why Aang's desire for close friendships and family relationships was so strong, when the sense of what we know from Bryke about the culture of the Air Nomads was a loose society of casual relationships, communal living, and no central theme of family? Genetics and environment play a lot in a child's beliefs in addition to what they look like. With this story, I give you a glimpse into my thoughts on the matter of a heritage of strong family ties that runs deeper than Aang's own desires. OC name origins: Bayarmaa is Tibetan for "joyful mother" and Dorjee means "thunderbolt". You'll see why in a bit.
...One Hundred and Twenty Five Years ago (about 12 BSC)...
A young Air Nomad woman tossed in her sleep. It wasn't enough that the child within her had been very actively kicking her from the inside all night, wearing her out. She was having a troubling dream.
A young boy's face, tattooed as a Master - the spitting image of her spiritual partner but much, much younger - smiled at her.
As the dream continued, she saw him learning from a kindly, much older man, and being very somber as a pre-teen being told something in a serious meeting with a group of Elders. She saw the boy running from a Temple, and flying away on a sky bison, but then he was driven out of the skies by a storm into an angry, dark ocean. He was drowning. A brilliant white glow appeared in his eyes and tattoos, and then he was surrounded by a ball of ice.
The vision of the ball of ice gave way to gigantic wall of fire silhouetted against the four temples. A beautiful, dark-skinned girl's face appeared with a smile. A long journey started, with more and more people joining the boy. A huge, angry man dressed in red and black was backlit by fires that waned and died as he fell. And finally, the dream ended with the same girl and boy smiling at one another in wedding finery.
She awoke with a start, and spoke softly, "I carry the Avatar. How can this be? The Avatar Spirit of the World chooses the next at the death of the previous Avatar."
Then she had a revelation, reflecting, "Or so we are told. Who are we to know the real truth?"
She fell to her knees beside, and prayed, "Spirits please guide me, be with me, hold me together, as you have chosen me to carry him."
In a moment of true doubt, she asked the spirits, "Shouldn't you have chosen someone older and wiser?"
Hearing no answer, and seeing no sign, she sighed, smiled weakly, and realized it was far too late for that choice to be made.
Her doubts continued, as she prayed, "I can't walk this path alone. Give me strength to carry him through. I'm frightened by this terrible vision. I'm frightened by this load I bear, all alone."
She thought, "I have to tell him…"
But she reconsidered quickly, "No. I cannot. No one can know."
With that, a great peace came over her and followed her every day of her pregnancy. The spirits had answered her prayers.
...Present day...
Aang and Katara were snuggled tightly in their bed, with a few days old Kya nursing at her breast, making cute little noises. Aang watched mother and child together and pondered a thought as he asked, "Katara, can I ask you a sensitive question?"
"Certainly, Aang. We never hold anything back," she mused.
"Umm, OK. Do you ever wonder what your mother would think of us now?"
The question jarred her somewhat, and he got a bittersweet smile from Katara and her eyes glistened a bit as she answered, "I think she would be very proud of us, and especially of you, Aang."
"How so, Katara?" puzzled Aang.
Katara smiled sweetly, "You became a husband and father so easily, Aang. That was not really common in your culture, and was usually criticized."
Aang corrected her, "Or punished. I know Katara. In the end, the Elders forcing me to be separated from Gyatso - my family - to finish my Avatar training was more upsetting than I could stand. You know what I did."
With a mischievous grin Katara assured Aang, "Would it make you feel better to know I am forever grateful that you ran away and spent a hundred years in an iceberg just so you could meet me?"
They laughed and he kissed her.
Aang became more serious as he observed, "Katara, I barely remember my mother. We weren't allowed to be raised by our birth parents. Most never even knew them. I was so young when I learned she was lost to us. Gyatso and I never really discussed her after that. I think she knew me, and I wonder if she is proud of me now, too."
Katara "I don't know why she wouldn't be, Aang. You are so good to me, and to Kya, and to the whole world. You are so kind all the time."
"All the same Katara, I would have liked to have known her better. Even for just a little bit. And despite our rules and restrictions, there were ways to find out quietly. There were those who disagreed with the old ways. I guess I'd be one of those now, wouldn't I?"
"Haha, you rebel you!" they laughed together.
...One Hundred and Twenty Five Years Ago...
The young woman, not yet out of her teens, screamed in pain. She was in the last stages of labor.
"Easy, there my dear, you are almost done," said one of the midwife Air Nomad nuns.
"It hurts so much, Sister," screamed the young woman.
"Our lot in life, Sister Bayarmaa. Especially with the first," said the older nun calmly.
Her spiritual partner stood by holding her hand. Another contraction seized her. It blacked her out for a moment. But in that moment, she saw much.
Dark red skies were exploding in fire all around her, and sickly green gases flowed from fissures in the surrounding searing ground. A river of lava surged toward her, a dragon dove from the sky and tried in vain to protect her, as another dragon and rider disappeared in the smoke and flames…
"Push!" demanded the midwife.
"Aaaah!" the young woman screamed.
She bore down with all her might, as a baby's head, and shoulders, and body emerged. A beautiful boy child emerged, wet, and a little bloody. And so her baby was born, with a strong voice that resounded in the maternity chamber.
She immediately put the baby to her breast, as the midwives tended to her afterbirth and helped her recover from her ordeal. Her baby was so sweet and pink, with such a handsome rounded face, and as he nursed they made eye contact. Dark gray eyes met light gray. She could see his father in that face, but with her nose and ears.
"Hello, Aang," said the new mother softly.
The elder nun looked at the young woman sadly, "I'm sorry, Sister Bayarmaa, it is time now. Before you can't bear to give him up."
The young woman held her baby defensively, "It's already too late for that."
The older nun was more insistent, "I'm sorry Sister; it is time."
The young woman was defiant, "I want to keep Aang! This one will be special. He needs a real mother!"
She tried to struggle to keep her child, but was too weak from labor, and was held back by more muscular nuns. While the strong attachments didn't happen very often, the nuns were always prepared.
The young woman was desperate, crying, "Dorjee, tell them! Tell them what we want!"
The middle aged man shook his head, "I'm sorry Bayarmaa, it cannot be. It is not our way. It is not my way. I'm so sorry."
Bayarmaa sobbed, "Dorjee! No! We talked, we planned."
Dorjee dismissed her pleadings, "It was just talk. You know the traditions."
Bayarmaa yelled at the nuns and her partner, "I don't care about the rules. I want my baby."
The older nun had let the heresies go longer than they should have, "That is enough talk of that sort of thing. This will pass, Sister. You'll understand. We all do…in time."
They took Aang away from Bayarmaa, leaving her to alone recover with a teen acolyte tending to her, who remained completely silent at the midwife's orders, with only the sounds of Bayarmaa crying.
Dorjee was incredibly uncomfortable, but put a hand on her shoulder, and tried to speak softly, "I have to go now Bayarmaa. We'll see you at the solstice, where again we'll be together."
The girl snarled, "No! Don't touch me! I never want to see you again. You lied to me about having a family to lay with me. You had your way with me. I deny you the right of being my spiritual partner. I will find another. Now go. I will not be lied to again, especially by you!"
Dorjee bowed rigidly, replied tersely, and departed, "As you wish, Bayarmaa."
With Dorjee gone, she was totally alone. She sobbed uncontrollably. Her baby was gone. Taken by the nuns. He was now part of the nursery full of children to be raised by the nuns and the teachers, all in the same way, according to the traditions that had always been taught.
Because she had been so adamant about mothering her son, watchful eyes were upon her during any direct one-on-one encounter between mother and son, to assure she met the rules. She, unlike so many others, continued to want to know about her child. Her former spiritual partner was nowhere to be found.
But while Bayarmaa minded the traditions, she watched Aang grow. He crawled, he toddled, and he spoke for the first time. Soon it would be time when he would be assigned a life mentor.
Some days she was able to serve him food, or get him clothes as she served the infant and toddler care nuns. At times she would even talk to him, but to him she was just another nice nun. She walked a dangerous line in remaining close to him. While the Air Nomad ways of discipline were peaceful, they were thorough. Banishment to other Temples for those few adults daring to remain too close to their children was not uncommon.
One day, she went to the apartment of a slender elderly man. The two bowed formally to one another, but then she smiled.
"Uncle Gyatso," Byarmaa cheerfully greeted the elderly Monk.
Gyatso frowned, "Do not address me in such a manner, Sister Bayarmaa. People will hear. We should not even know we are relatives."
Byarmaa replied, "That is true, but we do. It has always been our family's way, and sometimes suffered for it. The time draws near when Aang will be assigned a mentor. I don't want just any mentor for him, Gyatso."
Gyatso sighed, "Blood kin can never be assigned to pupils as mentors. You know that."
"People in this Temple do not know of our kinship, Gyatso, so how can you say no? Please Gyatso. He is my son. He is your grand nephew," pleaded Byarmaa.
Gyatso knew it was useless to argue with his headstrong niece, "I know that you want family to take care of him, even if it can't be you. But it cannot be."
Bayarmaa complained, "The ways of our Society are too old, Gyatso. They are wrong. They will be our undoing. The world disdains our ways. Others have dared to resist. And change. Even Avatar Yangchen. And her husband Sonam."
Gyatso scoffed, "And look what it got them. Sonam was banished to the high mountains making gliders his whole life."
Bayarmaa chided Gyatso, "But look what happened then. They were together most of their lives. Banishment got them exactly what they wanted and planned, with a real son whom they cared for. They all knew and loved each other, Gyatso."
Gyatso stiffened, "That was different. Our kinswoman Yangchen was the Avatar. She served the world. She alone could go beyond the Air Nomads' ways. That she got to see her family was no one's business but her own."
Bayarmaa pressed, "Should it be any different now? What harm to our society if there are families who get to live as families?"
Gyatso dismissed Byarmaa's thoughts, "Yangchen was a woman ahead of her time. Her ways did not last the years after she and Sonam passed."
"Only because the shortsighted Elders would not let it last. There will be no change in Air Nomad ways unless there are those who will cause it to change," asserted Bayarmaa.
Gyatso cast his eyes down, conceding his nieces arguments, and promised, "I will try to be Aang's mentor, dear Bayarmaa, but you must accept who the Elders assign to him. If nothing else, I will always be his instructor in air bending."
Bayarmaa was joyous, "I accept that, Uncle Gyatso. And thank you."
She looked around to make sure they were alone, hugged Gyatso, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Goodbye for now," she said, and hurried down the hall.
...
Having been acknowledged before the Southern Air Temple's Council leader's guest chambers at the Eastern Air Temple, Gyatso bowed, and waited to be heard after the simple greeting, "Good day, Elder Pasang."
Pasang looked up from reading a scroll, smiled, and said, "Monk Gyatso. It has been a while since we've chatted. How can I help you, Brother?"
"It's about mentoring and tutoring selection day tomorrow, Elder," offered Gyatso.
The Elder stroked his beard, "I see. Your record of tutoring and mentoring is exemplary."
"I would like to volunteer again," said Gyatso seriously.
Pasang chuckled, "Aren't you getting a little old for that sort of thing?"
"Mentoring young people keeps me young, Elder Pasang."
"Very well Gyatso. The pairings will begin tomorrow. As eldest, you will get first choice."
"I am grateful," he bowed.
"Oh, and Gyatso. I know who you will choose. I will allow it, although this is highly irregular. I am not without compassion. But, know this. You will be going back to the Southern Air Temple with Aang as soon as the choice is made. Just the two of you. Understood?"
"Pasang? Isn't that extreme?" Gyatso could not help but express his shock at the separation order.
The wise old Elder saw the look he expected, "He will get to see her at festivals. That will be enough. That is all I dare allow. I do know about both of you. And Gyatso. Please use good judgment in saying goodbye. Do you understand me? She may take the child and disappear. That cannot be. He is too important."
"Yes Pasang, I completely understand."
Gyatso turned and bowed as he exited, and could not conceal a smile. Pasang prayed that he had not made the biggest mistake of his life.
...
The following morning was an impressive sight in the main plaza of the Eastern Air Temple. The two to three year old boys and girls were lined up in the hall, with the infant care nuns tending their squirmy children. Mentors-to-be were assembled across from the small children, and the Temple's citizens watched anxiously. Bayarmaa's eyes were riveted on Aang.
Elder Pasang and Sister Elder Ilio, leaders of the Southern and Eastern Air Temples, stood together. Pasang spoke to them, "This is a special time. You are no longer toddlers and infants.
"You now embark on a new phase of life to learn, and train to be air benders," added Ilio.
Pasang continued, "These monks and nuns before you will be your mentors."
They were mostly twenty and thirty year old Air Nomad men and women. Most were first time mentors, and most had borne or sired children. Gyatso stood out among the young adults with his white hair. The boys and girls all looked nervous. Some looked back at the infant care nuns who had tended them since birth, and fretted.
Pasang announced, "Monk Gyatso, you are the oldest and most experienced. You will now choose."
He looked around at the children, the Temples' leaders, and his fellows. He glanced without making eye contact at Bayarmaa. Her emotions betrayed her.
Gyatso said firmly, "Pupil Aang, come forth."
The tiny boy stepped from the line with no prompting, and strode with more purpose than a child his age should.
The old man and young boy exchanged greetings, and Gyatso asked, "I would like to become your mentor, Pupil Aang."
With no hesitation, Aang observed, "You are old, Monk Gyatso."
"I am that, Pupil Aang," noted Gyatso.
Bayarmaa flinched and fretted silently as she thought, "What if Aang wants a younger teacher?"
The old and young man eyed each other up and down. Gyatso smiled kindly.
Finally Aang asked, "Do you know a lot, Monk Gyatso?"
"I would like to think so, pupil Aang," answered Gyatso.
"Then I want to learn everything from you, Monk Gyatso. Please teach me."
Aang signed and bowed deeply.
"A very wise child, this one," thought Gyatso.
In the gallery above, Bayarmaa bit her lip to suppress a smile. It was done.
...
Later that day was the test to find whether the Avatar existed among the youth of the Eastern Temple. All the other Temples' children had been tested and failed. But not Aang.
Gyatso tapped on Bayarmaa's door, "I have some good news, and some bad news."
"The good news first, please?" Bayarmaa sighed.
"OK."
"He is the one, isn't he?" she asked anxiously.
Gyatso cocked an eyebrow, "How did you know?"
"I knew he was the one, when I was six months pregnant, Gyatso. In a dream," Bayarmaa stated.
Gyatso was astonished at her statement, and corrected her, "A vision, Bayarmaa. Never in history that we know has this been revealed to a birth mother."
She kept talking, "Not only that, more was revealed. I believe, Gyatso, we are headed for a time in history that will be unspeakable in horror for us all. I think the vision was revealed so that I could tell his mentor to teach him well and be prepared to protect him at all costs."
"There are rumors, Bayarmaa. That is all I can say."
"Heed those rumors. Gyatso. Teach him well. And now the bad news?" inquired Bayarmaa.
Gyatso cast his eyes down and sighed, "I have to leave with him. Now. To the Southern Air Temple. Just the two of us. I risk much by telling you. You are to remain here. Should you follow, it will be worse for you. They know, Bayarmaa. Yet we are together, despite that."
She clutched her face in her hands to suppress a cry.
"I will give you one moment with him before we go. That is all I dare," conceded Gyatso.
She whispered, "Thank you…"
...
Gyatso's sky bison was loaded and ready to travel southwest to the Southern Air Temple. No one else was headed that way – the others were heading north or to the far west.
Gyatso summoned his new tiny student, "Pupil Aang, are you ready?"
"Yes Monk Gyatso. I always wanted to learn how to fly a bison. Is this one mine?"
The old monk laughed, "No, Aang. But in a few years you will be back here to choose one of your own."
Gyatso saw Bayarmaa lurking in the shadows. He motioned to her, and said, "Aang, here is someone I would like you to meet."
"Hey, it's the nice Sister who helps me more than the others!"
"More than a Sister, Aang."
"My…my mommy?
She hugged her child tightly, and while surprised, he hugged her back, and smiled.
"Will I get to see you again, Mommy? I want to," asked Aang cheerfully.
"I hope so, Aang," said a tearful Bayarmaa.
She grasped the young man by the shoulders, one of the few times she could ever touch him, "Aang, listen to me. We don't have much time. Do what Monk Gyatso says to do at all times. He is a very special person. I trust him with my life, and yours."
It was killing her to not be able to tell Aang that Gyatso was his great uncle. It would destroy everything if she did. They bade farewell, and the sky bison carried Aang and Gyatso to the south.
Out of sight, from behind a column, Pasang sighed relief as he muttered, "Well done, Gyatso. You hold our future in your charge. Bayarmaa, bless you. You could say goodbye."
...
As the Eastern Air Temple disappeared into the clouds behind them, Aang turned to Gyatso, with a broad smile, and chirped, "I'm lucky Gyatso. I know who my mommy is. The other kids don't."
"You are very lucky indeed. She is a wonderful mother, Aang."
"She was the nicest nun of all. When can I see her again?
"She'll visit us at the festivals, when all the Temples get together."
"Yay!" chirped Aang excitedly.
...
After a long and very talkative flight, they arrived at the Southern Air Temple.
Within seconds of them arriving, Aang asked, "Monk Gyatso, when do we start training?"
Gyatso laughed, "Patience, my dear Pupil Aang."
...
For several festivals, the reunions were happy and mother and son started to grow closer. One day before the next festival, she and a couple of other fellow Sisters were in an Earth Kingdom town gathering supplies for the trip from the Eastern Air Temple to the Southern Temple for the upcoming festival. They were confronted by a group of men. Most were the stocky squat men typical of Earth Kingdom males. One was much taller and lankier.
Bayarmaa, trying to avoid any conflict, joked at the apparent leader, who towered over the others, "Aren't you a little tall for an Earth Kingdom man?"
"Not when you are not an Earth Kingdom man," said the older male gravely.
Despite his hair and green clothing, Bayarmaa recognized the voice immediately, and shouted,"You!"
It was her estranged spiritual partner Dorjee. Her colleagues panicked, and fled. The gang of Earth Kingdom men started after them, but Dorjee held them back, and ordered, "No! Let them go. Only this one."
Bayarmaa asked in fear, "What do you want?"
"You."
She stiffened, "I told you we are no longer partners."
His anger was palpable at that.
"I figured you'd say that. If I can't have you, then no one can. Take her!"
"You won't take me alive," warned Bayarmaa.
"As you wish, my former mate," snarled Dorjee.
The Earth Kingdom thugs around him growled at her, "You Air Nomad women. So above it all. Not knowing your place with your men."
"You're a rebel in our own society – you'd take care of your our own son. So selfish. I am doing the Elders a favor. Have it your way."
Dorjee shot a stone at her with his air bending as the men with him bent large rocks toward her. She deflected the first few stones hurled at her with her air bending. But the relentless hail of rocks that followed, aided by her former spiritual partner's air bending, hit her many times. She fell.
...
Townspeople found her a few hours later, and wept. This unknown young Air Nomad woman was yet another victim of the growing hate in the land for their race.
"So young…" said the Earth Kingdom shaman who blessed her trip to the spirit world.
...
In the midst of the festival, fretting terribly about his missing niece, Gyatso got a letter. It was a letter from Sister Ilio. It explained how Bayarmaa was attacked by her former spiritual partner. He disappeared without a trace. Ilio commented that she fought back bravely but was quickly overpowered.
Standing next to Aang, he read it through, had to sit, and lamented, "Oh no."
"What's wrong Monk Gyatso?" asked Aang innocently.
His tears fell, and could not hold them back, "Aang I have some bad news."
"It's about my mommy, right?" worried Aang as his tears started to well up.
Gyatso's voice shook, "Yes Aang. Something bad happened."
"She's not coming is she? Why?" Aang asked.
"Some mean men hit her. Very hard. She went to sleep, Aang," croaked Gyatso.
"She's not going to wake up, is she? Not ever again."
"Such a smart child," thought Gyatso.
"Your Mother, Aang; she's gone to be with the spirits."
They hugged and cried together. It took long while before they could speak.
"You love my mommy too, don't you?" Aang observed.
"Yes I do, child. She was our family," whispered Gyatso.
"What is family, Monk Gyatso?"
Gyatso explained, "It's when people who love each other a lot get to stay together all the time in the same place and do everything together."
"Like you and me, right?"
"That's right Aang. Just like us," and they hugged again. Gyatso shed an unseen tear.
They broke apart, Aang wiped his tears and nose, and he asked, "Will I see her Monk Gyatso, when I am with the spirits too?"
"Some day, Aang. A long time from now, I pray."
Aang sniffed, "I don't ever want to hit anyone, Gyatso."
Gyatso drew strength from that comment, "I can teach you to protect yourself without ever hitting anyone, Aang."
"Thank you Gyatso," and Aang bowed.
...Present Day...
A new young family simply enjoyed their togetherness in silence. Katara leaned in, kissed her husband tenderly on the lips, and said with conviction, "I promise you Aang, that our children will always know their mother."