The Teacher and the Pupil

By Verdigris

Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender does not belong to me. Bugger.

Author's Note: Thanks again for reviews, they're always appreciated! Catstop – Not at all. Keep 'em coming ;)

Sunrise

In the silent darkness of the early morning, a small figure was sneaking across the stone floor where an old monk was sleeping soundly. Crawling onto the small modest bed, the figure slid itself up onto the mattress and scrambled onto the covers. The monk shifted onto his back, snoring softly as he slept unaware to the shadow hovering above him.

The figure abruptly plopped itself down onto the monk's chest startling him into wakefulness. He sat up in alarm, searching the humble furnishings of the room with blurry eyes before finding the source of the commotion sitting on his lap.

"G'tso, wake up!" Aang tugged at his master's mustache.

Gyatso rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and gently removed the small hand away from his face. He rose into a seated position and placed the giggling toddler on his knee. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he glanced at the window and noticed that the sun had not yet risen. It was still dark outside and the stars were still present in the sky.

"My goodness," the monk chuckled with sleep still thick in his voice. "Aren't you an earlier riser?"

Gyatso marveled at the small child's energy at such an early hour. Aang rose with the dawn every morning and yet the three year-old's bright grey eyes showed no signs of tiredness, unlike his own. Youth was most undoubtedly wasted on the young. Aang smiled toothedly at him. He was clad in an oversized yellow sleep shirt and had managed to put his boots backwards on his feet. It was a comical sight, though Aang did not seem to care. All he wanted was for his master to join him in bringing in the new day. Ever the dutiful guardian, Gyatso adjusted the shoes on the right feet. He bounced him on his knee, causing another wave of giggling to erupt from the boy. It was then that he noticed something in Aang's hand. His necklace.

"How did you get this?" Gyatso asked with humorous surprise, carefully easing the wood beads from the child's grasp.

He gazed toward the small table where he kept the necklace on the ledge and it was much too tall for Aang to reach.

In response, the toddler made an airbending motion with his hands. "'nding!"

He gave the boy a bemused grin. Aang's airbending was still in its earliest form, but it was surprisingly powerful enough to blow the necklace off the table.

"Did you now? Well aren't you clever," the monk complimented.

As he carried the boy back to his bed, Aang fussed and clung to Gyatso's thin shoulders. "No sleep! Hungy!" Aang proclaimed.

"It's not breakfast yet. You'll have to wait until the sun comes up," Gyatso explained to him gently.

Tears began welling up into his eyes. Aang insisted on not sleeping and protested, "Hungy, G'atso!"

Sighing through his nose, the old monk finally let Aang have his way. He was already quite awake himself and the sun would be up shortly. Gyatso reached out to grab a bowl of cherries from a small table. Aang's eyes widened. Cherries were his favorite and he reached for the bowl, grabbing the fruit by the handful.

Gyatso chuckled and sat on small chair with Aang in his lap. "Not too many. You don't want a tummy ache, do you?"

"For you," Aang gurgled between mouthfuls as he handed Gyatso a few cherries, smacking on the ripe fruit until it dribbled down his chin.

"Thank you," Gyatso said politely, adding to Aang's pleasure as they ate together.

Squirming out of his lap, Aang began to totter to the door and pointed, "Outside!"

"Now Aang…" Gyatso began, although his eyes sparkled at the boy's insistence. "You already had a treat and it's too early to go outside."

Hands reaching for the doorknob, Aang's eyes became wide and glassy. "Peeease?" he begged.

Gyatso shook his head and chuckled under his breath. "Alright, but only for a little while."

Before opening the door Gyatso whispered to the little boy, "But we must be quiet. We don't want to wake the other monks."

Aang brought a small finger to his lips, "Shhhhh…"

"That's right," Gyatso smiled and mimicked his actions.

Hand in hand, they tiptoed together through the dormitory hall trying to be quiet as possible. They walked to the open balcony near into the cool, autumn night air. Aang was not tall enough to see over the stone wall and held up his arms to signal that he wanted to be picked up. His loving master hoisted him up into his arms and turned his small body so he could look up at the sky. From the balcony they could see the winding walls of the temple as it stretched out like a great dragon tail over the mountain ridges.

It was then that the first light of the sun began to appear, dissolving the stars away as it made scarlet patterns along sky. The sun shone like a ruby, making the small silvery clouds and the mountaintops look like they had been dipped in gold.

Gyatso nodded towards the rising light and breathed out, "Isn't it beautiful, Aang? See how the light catches the stones. Our temple takes on a different face with each sunrise."

The dusty brown stones of the ancient structures gradually turned to a rosy gold and soon the whole temple was illuminated with the soft glow of the new day. While lost wonder of the sunrise, Gyatso's words had fallen on deaf ears. Aang was already fast asleep, sucking his thumb and nestled against the warmth of the monk's shoulder.

As the bells tolled overhead, Gyatso smiled tenderly at his young student and began to walk slowly back to their dormitory with Aang cradled in his arms.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. The next one should be up in a few days.