Disclaimer: Do not own

Written in response to a prompt on the Korra Prompt fic meme.

Back when Aang was still alive, he and Katara had a brief falling out. Aang left Republic City and schmucked around the countryside, doing avatar shit for a few weeks before deciding to return and sort things out with his wife. They get back together, work through the problems, and everything is tied up in a neat little package.

Well, not quite.

Fast-forward forty years, and Air Temple Island finds itself with a rather interesting guest who wants to learn airbending. The others scoff, and Tenzin patiently tries to explain that you can't just learn airbending, only for them to have wind blasted in their faces a few seconds later. Turns out Aang maybe possibly probably definitely had a teensy little extramarital affair during the few weeks he and Katara fought, and this kid is his grandchild.

Basically, I want to see how Tenzin and the others deal with this less than savory aspect of their father's legacy. Do they try and hush it up? Do they accept him/her with open arms? What sort of effect does this have the people's perception of Aang, and by extension Korra?

Bonus points if Aang's kid ended up being a non-bender, but the grandchild was an airbender anyways. Double bonus points if, despite everything, Katara loves them, and treats him/her as if they were her own grandchild.

Or Alternatively, Tenzin is the father. Back when he and Lin were still dating they got into a fight, which results in one or both of them storming off (Maybe this is the fight that finally causes them to break up?). Tenzin, in a fit of frustration over his failing relationship, ends up having a one night stand. Cue sixteen years later, with a similar situation as above occurring (though obviously with less of a focus on Aang's legacy, and more of a focus on the issues this child would bring into his marriage and family).

I went with the Tenzin option. Please forgive my OC, I'm trying to make him realistic, but it will likely take me more than this one little bit of a story to get him right. There will be more of this, so I will at least be able to say that I've tried to fill the prompt.

"And you have your under things?"

Naoki blushed deeply and glanced round to see if anyone else had heard; thankfully everyone else seemed intent on their own conversations. "Yes Mom."

"And your good suit?"

"Mom…" Naoki said as she reached out to straighten his collar again. "You packed my bag, you know I have it."

"Yes, yes, of course." His mother said, smoothing out sleeves of his jacket. "And you have your money in a safe place?"

Another quick glance around, Naoki lowered his voice a fraction. "In my shoe, just like you told me." He told her, only just resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Now don't pull that face Naoki! I'm only worried about you." She scolded with a small smile; one Naoki could tell was forced.

"You're always worried about me." He said.

"Well, this is different. You're going so far away." She reached up to give his fringe a tug.

"I'm going to Republic City Mom. And you're coming over in a few months anyway." He reminded her gently. He was newly fifteen; he was practically a grown man now, it was just wrong to have her mothering him like this.

She laughed. "Oh stop it and just let me fuss."

He sighed, but obediently tilted his head towards her so she could rearrange his hair for him. "Yes Mom."

"You have the letter?" she asked him as she finished.

"In my pocket." He said at once, his hand dipping in just to make sure it was there.

"Ok. You give that to Tenzin as soon as you get there. And you remember what I told you."

"I'm going there to learn Airbending." He dutifully replied.

"That's right, you're going to become a master Airbender." She told him, looking him dead in the eyes, like she expected him to forget what she had been drilling into his head for weeks now. "You are not to worry if he doesn't accept you as his son. That doesn't matter-"

"Because you love me enough for 100 parents." He finished for her, growing more embarrassed. "Mom, are we done? People are staring." They weren't, but he needed something to distract her with.

She shook her head, calling his bluff. "Oh hush and give me a hug."

Naoki wrapped himself around her, ducking his head down to rest on her head for a moment, wishing just a little that he was still small enough to be able to really hug her, like he used to, wrapped up safe in her arms. "I can stay. We can go over together." He whispered.

She pulled away and looked at him, tears in her eyes, but she smiled. "No, no. You've waited so long already. I've been selfish for far too long." He tried to protest, but she waved his words off. "Now, you go and get on that boat, and I'll join you soon. Ok?"

He nodded. "Ok Mom." He cleared his throat of the sudden lump there and whispered. "I love you Mom."

She reached out and ran the backs of her fingers down his cheek, and he knew he hadn't been successful in keeping the tears at bay and reached up to dash them off with his sleeve. "I love you too my little Airbender."

xxxx

Republic City was in disarray. Filtered reports about the Equalist attacks had come over the Radio to the Fire Nation, so Naoki was not completely unprepared; but the scale of the destruction took his breath away.

His hand fisted into his pocket and made the envelope crinkle inside. It was already worn around the edges with how often he checked it was still there. I would explain everything his mom had promised, it would make Tenzin understand.

As he made his way around the bay he gaped at the huge cranes lifting the hull of a Unite Forces ship from the water. The sight made him both giddy and horrified, and he wasn't sure which one he preferred. He meandered on, peering curiously around the docks at the ships, the warehouses and the myriad of people that milled around.

It was so similar, and yet so different from the docks back home, and it made him feel a little homesick. He could see the small Ferry across the dock, facing Air Temple Island, so he made a beeline for it, becoming only a little distracted by what was going on around him.

No one stopped him getting on the Ferry, though he did wish his good suit (he'd changed into it before docking in the city) didn't make him stand out so much. The Fire Nation red was like a sore thumb among the yellow and orange of the Air Acolytes, and they looked at him curiously. He avoided what he was sure would be well meaning conversation by standing right at the front of the Ferry, watching Air Temple Island grown larger.

He kept his hands firmly on the railing to avoid crumpling the letter to nothing.

xxxx

"An Airbender?" the old Monk asked, raising a hairy eyebrow and giving Naoki such a disbelieving look that Naoki couldn't stop himself fidgeting, despite having promised himself that he would be a man about this.

"Yes sir." He replied.

"Impossible." The Monk dismissed him.

Naoki blinked, stunned at the disbelief. Briefly he wished he had enough control over the air to be able to produce something that would convince the old man, but he'd always found it difficult to produce more than the smallest puff of air unless he was either in danger of his life, or, as his mother put it, "too excited to keep his feet on the ground". When he was as nervous as he was right now even the basic stuff he had spent hours perfecting deserted him.

"I really am." He said at last.

"Only the descendants of Avatar Aang are Airbenders. He was the last." The Monk said, eyeing him, waiting for his story.

Naoki pulled the letter from his pocket, grimacing at how battered it looked now, but he did his very best to look confident when he said. "I have a letter from my mother, for Master Tenzin. Is it possible to see him? I'm sure he'll be able to tell if I'm a real Airbender or not."

The Monk plucked the letter out of his hands, and Naoki stifled the urge to cry "That's mine! Give it back!" but only just, his eyes tracking the letter as the old man tucked it into his own pocket.

"I'll give this to Master Tenzin. I'm sure if it's valid he'll call you to see him. When he has the time of course."

"But Mom said-" Naoki began, worrying his lower lip.

"Master Tenzin is a very busy man. What with the mess he needs to clear up at the council and other things. You can't expect him to just drop everything for one little boy?" The monk must have seen Naoki's distress, because he put a kind hand on his shoulder. "He's not cruel son. He'll call for you when he can."

Naoki could do nothing but nod in agreement. But losing the letter like that, even if it would make its way into Tenzins hands, made him feel even more nervous somehow. But… All he could do now was wait.

xxxx

Naoki grunted as he climbed a tree, hoping he had managed to sneak away well enough that Monk Luan wouldn't notice him missing for a little while. The problem though, was that Luan knew exactly what area of the Island he would be at. It was just a case of where in the area he had hidden himself away.

When he'd gotten high enough that he was sure he wouldn't be easily spotted, he made himself comfortable as he watched Tenzin training his children. He knew he shouldn't be sneaking around and watching like this. But how was he ever going to learn anything if he didn't.

He had tried more than once to see Tenzin in private, but it was like the older Monks all knew his plans, because there was always something for him to do, or Luan would sit him down for some tea and tell him that Tenzin would call for him, he was just very busy at the moment. Watching him train his kids, it didn't look like he was too busy; but as hurt as he was feeling about it, he wasn't going to just walk in on their training and announce himself as Tenzin's long lost son who could also, coincidently, Airbend.

He thought about it sometimes though.

He sighed and concentrated on the moves Tenzin was showing his children, slow and steady. It was one thing, he decided, unable to stop himself from going back to his disappointment, to reject him as a son. But to reject him as an Airbender… that was just cruel.

"Naoki!"

Naoki startled at the unexpected call and slipped off the branch. He didn't panic too much as the familiar rush of air came up to meet him and set him back on his perch. He was getting better at calling and directing the air in the more traditional way, but it was still a little unpredictable. This however, the instinctual rush that more often than not saved his life when he inevitably fell from whatever perch he had chosen, this was how he knew he was a real Airbender.

Knowing Luan wouldn't go away until he was back on the ground, he began the long climb back down, dropped the last few feet to find Luan looking at him thoughtfully, and a little sadly. He put a hand on his shoulder and steered him back towards the chores he was supposed to be doing.

"I'll speak with Master Tenzin tomorrow." He promised.

Naoki just sighed and nodded. He'd waited three weeks already, another night wouldn't hurt.

A week later he was still waiting.

xxxx

Tenzin had been busy. No busy was not the word, there had to be a word that meant a hundred, thousand times busy, but he was far too tired to think on it. The only time he had to himself were those few precious hours he spent with his family, mostly at night when he gave in and let them all stay up later than they were supposed to just so he could spend time with them.

But that was all going to start changing soon. Grand Fire Lord Zuko was arriving in two days, with Katara following a week behind, once she had finished up her business in the South Pole, and finally he would have some capable people on the council to help him figure out what they were going to do. He and Lin could only do so much to hold the city together.

He'd taken the ferry tonight. Just plodded on board like all the others and taken a seat. He was just too damn tired to do anything more. The walk up to his home was peaceful, and he was enjoying the slight breeze when he heard the sound of someone moving, practicing.

Thinking it was Jinora he made his way towards the sounds. His daughter pushed herself too hard, and while he was the first to say that she had an amazing gift for bending, she never took the time to relax.

But it was not Jinora.

It was a boy, doing the very moves he had been teaching his children, clumsily and haltingly as he corrected himself. Tenzin watched him for a long moment, wondering what on earth the boy was trying to do. Time got away from him as he watched, tempted to step in and correct the boy's stance and movements, but there was something that held him back, and he watched.

He saw it, it was small and unstable, but the boy was bending the air.

"You're an Airbender!"

Tenzin could not stop the words from bursting out, or himself from striding forward, needing answers. The boy startled, and Tenzin felt the air move to steady him before he fell. The boys eyes went wide and he began to feel guilty for scaring him. He took a moment and calmed himself.

"What's your name?"

The boy frowned, looking confused by the question.

Tenzin thought back, had he been introduced to the boy. He was sure he could remember Luan mentioning something about some new arrivals, but he had been so busy he hadn't had the chance to seek any of them out to introduce himself.

"Naoki, sir." The boy answered him at last.

"You can Airbend?"

Again the boy looked confused, but there was a look of resignation creeping into his eyes that Tenzin found worrying. "Yes sir."

"Your parents?" he asked, beginning to wonder. Aang had been the last Airbender. That had been established early on, though he knew his father had launched a huge search in his youth for anyone who had survived, descendants, anything. But there had been nothing. The idea that maybe his father had had an affair flitted across his mind before he dismissed it.

Bumi however had Airbender Genes, and somehow Tenzin would not put it past his brother to have left some poor woman pregnant in some port or other.

"My mother is Fire Nation." The boy answered, starting to fidget uncomfortably.

Tenzin bit back a sigh. It was so like Bumi to do something like this. He wondered if the boy even knew who his father was. "And your father." He pressed, already mentally penning the letter to his brother, and then he realised in horror he would have to somehow explain this to his mother.

So caught up in his own thoughts he failed to realise that the boy had not answered him, and when he did realise he saw the boy looked absolutely torn, his eyes darting around like he wished he was anywhere else. Maybe he did know who his father was. Maybe that was the problem.

"Don't worry, you can tell me. It'll be alright." He said, putting on his most soothing voice. He didn't want to make the boy feel that it was his fault that Tenzin's brother couldn't keep it… well…

"You… sir…"

It took Tenzin a few moments to compute what the boy had just said and then his jaw dropped. "What did you say?" he managed to gasp out.

The boy-Naoki-stilled, and that made everything somehow more real. Grey eyes looked up and locked with his own for an instant before shifting aside, gleaming gold in the flickering light on the nearby lanterns and Tenzin was suddenly reminded of golden eyes glinting in candlelight, and a welcoming smile that promised that, just for a night, his troubles would leave him alone.

He knew it was true before the boy even gave voice to the words.

"I am your son."

xxxx