A/N Part 9 of Time. I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra.
Rohan wondered how it was possible to feel so suffocated yet so alone. He was constantly surrounded by people, especially his family but there was nobody his age he could talk to. He didn't go to school and everyone he interacted with was either literally related to or might as well be. Also most of the other airbenders were adults and the ones that weren't were too young to start training properly. As Harmonic Convergence has happened when he was just a baby he'd grown up in a world full of airbenders. He'd never experienced what his siblings had gone though and couldn't imagine a time when air temple island wasn't filled with people. It was hard not being able to relate to them. Out of all his siblings he probably closest to Jinora as they were the only two who used common sense, but ever since she'd had her own kids she hardly had any time for him anymore. Rohan understood why and was happy for his sister for spending time with her family but he still missed even though she was just a room away.
It was Pema II's birthday and everyone had come over to celebrate including their kids and the place had gotten pretty messy. It had been great to have everyone together even if it meant that Rohan had to sit at the kids table as there wasn't enough room.
It was getting late now and although the others had left or gone to bed Rohan and Jinora were staying up to try to get everything tidy.
As Rohan picked up pieces of wrapping paper he heard the bell ring from outside.
"Could you get the door please?" Jinora called out from the kitchen.
Curious at who it was Rohan opened the door to reveal a frazzled looking man and woman from the fire nation standing behind who was presumably their son. The boy was around his age with pale skin and spiky black hair that kept hiding his golden eyes that Rohan couldn't help but get lost in.
"Can we come in?" The man asked in a rush awakening Rohan from his trance.
"Of course." He smiled and let them inside.
"Dad!" He called up the stairs before leading the family into the living room. As they sat down Jinora came in obviously having heard what was going on with a tray of chi tea. He helped her hand it out. He smiled reassuringly as he gave a cup to the boy who reluctantly took it with a stoney response.
"Thank you young man." The woman said bringing the cup to her lips in shaking hands.
"What's wrong?" Tenzin shouted bursting into the living room in a hurry.
"Oh master Tenzin, it's an honour." The woman exclaimed.
Realising that none of his family was in danger Tenzin calmed himself and made to sit at the head of the table with his children on either side.
"Thank you." He said humbly. "Now I'm assuming there is a reason you have come to see me."
The fire nation couple shared a look before glancing at their son who stared angrily at the floor refusing to meet their eyes.
"Well..." The man started nervously. "During Harmonic Convergence our son Ziro was only a few days old and with both of us being non-benders and all of the new airbenders being found in the Earth Kingdom we never thought he'd develop any bending but..." he trailed off.
"He's an airbender." The woman finished in a whisper. Rohan glanced in shock at Ziro who flinched at his mothers tone. There hadn't been any new airbenders in years. Most had been found shortly after Harmonic Convergence and some that had initially rejected them joined over time but recently all the new airbenders were children of the current ones.
"Wonderful!" Tenzin exclaimed his happiness at finding another airbender overriding his acknowledgment of the tense atmosphere.
"Why don't you show us what you can do?" Jinora said gently. For the first time Ziro looked up and Rohan was once again lost in his golden eyes. He found himself smiling encouragingly at the boy who reluctantly stood up. Ziro held out his hand and creased his face in intense concentration. For a long time nothing happened until a sudden sharp burst of air burst from his hand, breaking a plate hung on the wall.
"Sorry." He mumbled as he sat down.
"That was amazing!" Rohan said unable to contain his excitement.
"Yes, you've got a lot of strength and power. If you chose to stay we could teach you to control it." Tenzin said warmly.
"We'd have to think about it." The father said but you could tell that they were keen on the idea.
"Of course. Are you from Republic City?"
The parents shook their heads.
"No we are from the Fire Nation Capital. We came here as soon as we found out about our son." The mother replied.
"Why don't you stay here tonight? We have plenty of room and we can talk more about your decision in the morning. You are welcome to stay in our guest room and Ziro can stay with my son in his room." Tenzin offered.
The couple shared another secret look.
"I don't know..." The woman started.
"It's no problem, I don't mind sharing." Rohan told them honestly having gotten used to sharing his room whenever family stayed over.
"Well..."
"Don't worry mother, nothings going to happen." Ziro said coldly speaking properly for the first time since they'd arrived.
"I suppose we could stay for one night." She said reluctantly.
"Perfect! Please allow my daughter and I to show you to your room."
The couple followed Jinora and Tenzin out of the room and down the hall with one last glance at their son who ignored them.
"My rooms this way." Rohan said reaching out to take the boys hand to guide him but Ziro snatched it back.
"Sorry." He apologised. He hadn't meant to scare him. Silently they made their way to the opposite end of the hallway and up a flight of stairs to Rohan's room. There was a pair of twin beds in the room as people would often sleep over. He moved to the one on the left hand side.
"This is my bed but you can sleep wherever you feel comfortable."
"Thanks." Ziro muttered and lay down on the other bed facing the wall.
The pair lay there in silence. Rohan was just about to drift off to sleep when the boy spoke.
"I'm sorry." For the first time he heard a sense of genuine emotion.
"For what?"
"Me, coming to you in the night, my parents."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." He said kindly.
"They pretended my powers didn't exist at first. They thought it might go away. I tried to suppress it but once I'd realised what I was I couldn't help myself. I kept airbending. Then after I nearly blew the roof off my school they realised that this wasn't going to go away. They took me here before anyone could ask any questions." Ziro spoke in a cold emotionless tone that betrayed the pain he was trying to hide.
"They probably just want want what's best for you." Rohan said optimistically as he sat up.
Ziro snorted.
"Best for their reputation you mean. They'll want me to stay here so they can make up some excuses like I'm at some prestigious school or something."
"And what do you want?"
Ziro turned around and looked up at him with questioning eyes as though asking for his opinion was the strangest thing he'd ever heard. Slowly he sat up too but he kept his eyes downcast as he leant over and shrugged.
"I don't care. I'll either be the only airbender in the fire nation or the only fire nation in a group of airbenders. Either way I'm a freak."
"You are not a freak." Rohan said firmly as he came to sit beside him of the bed, conscious of how close he was to him so he didn't touch him and scare him like before.
"You have no idea how much of a freak I am." Ziro chuckled harshly before turning to face Rohan and softening his voice.
"That's not even what bothers me the most. It's that my ancestors were traitors. You've heard the airbender theory right?"
He nodded. His father had discussed the theory many times before, that some of the original airbenders escaped the genocide and fled to the Earth Kingdom where they settled down and had families. However over time the airbending gene had been repressed until Harmonic Convergence when the gene had been awakened in the descendants of these survivors. It had never been proven but it seemed the most likely.
"Then you know that means that my ancestors where traitors. Either they were someone in the fire nation who hid the enemy or an airbender who would stay in the nation that destroyed their people. My parents are probably more bothered about the first but I care more about the second. How could somebody stay in a place that had committed such horrible crimes against them?" He shouted pleadingly.
"You don't know that." Rohan said calmly. "They could have been together before the invasion or maybe you have airbender ancestry even farther back. Beside it's just a theory. We don't know why certain people developed airbending."
Gingerly Rohan reached out his hand. The boy flinched slightly as he touched his shoulder but hen relaxed as Rohan gave him a gently squeeze, silently communicating that he didn't care if he was a freak or not.
"You don't have to listen to me but I would like it if you stayed here." He said.
"Why?" Ziro asked turning to look at him in confusion.
"So that we could be friends." Rohan said hopefully.
"I've never had a proper friend before." The fire nation boy confessed.
"Neither have I."
The two shared a private smile before Rohan gave his shoulder one last squeeze before heading back to his own bed. He faced the wall to hide his blush.