The Teacher and the Pupil
By Verdigris
Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender does not belong to me.
Author's Note: A collection of one-shots focused on Aang and Gyatso before the war.
Unique
Aang waited quietly as Gyatso poured them both a cup of tea after a long training session. The boy watched as the old monk smiled serenely, carefully airbending the steam away from the cup before handing it to his student. Aang could never remember a time in his young life if he had ever seen his master without a smile on his face.
The man was unique, even in a temple full of holy and spiritual monks. To Aang, Gyatso was different in every way. As peaceful as Air Nomads were known to be, he had seen the other monks yell and bicker secretly within the walls of the temple.
But not Gyatso.
His tone of voice was always pleasant, kind and warm, no matter how heated an argument became.
The thin lines stretched across the corners of his face from years of laughter. They often hid his eyes in the deep wrinkled crevices beneath his temples. It was said that their people's eyes were dull and colorless, but Gyatso's shimmered mischievously like crystals—especially when he laughed.
No monk or man for that matter laughed like the way Gyatso did. Every time he laughed it rang out like a bell from the bottom of his soul.
"Life is a gift and its meant to be enjoyed," Gyatso had explained once to Aang before a meditation session. "The more you laugh, the more the universe laughs with you."
Gyatso was the wisest man he knew—possibly the wisest man in the world as far as Aang was concerned. In all his traveling he had never met a man who spoke the truth with every breath he took.
He had once told Aang that if one could not be happy with the simple things in life, then true happiness could not be attained. If that was true, Gyatso was the happiest man in the world. He knew who he was and what his place was in the vast unknown of the universe.
The monk. The prankster. The master. The teacher.
"Aang?" The old monk gently interrupted Aang out of his thoughts.
He motioned at the cradled, untouched teacup in his student's hands. "Your tea is going to get cold," he chuckled.
"Wha?" Aang stuttered. He shook his head and grinned, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something…" he trailed off, sipping his cooling tea politely.
Gyatso's eyes twinkled behind his aged temples. "And what is that?"
"That I want to be just like you," Aang smiled adoringly up at his master.
Author's Note: I've been on a Gyatso/Aang fluff kick all week. I really wish we could have seen more of them in the show. I can't wait to see how Gyatso is portrayed in the upcoming movie.