Chapter Eight
Surprise
"I told you she wouldn't say no, Aang." Olin snorted, lazily grinning at us. The Southern Air Temple had been completed in only six months; however, Aang wasn't sure if the other temples would take longer or shorter. He gave the expedition team two months off, and had plans to try to include the Dai Li in the next rebuilding plan. It turned out that once the project got moving, we didn't have enough earthbenders, and two or three waterbenders would be good help, as well.
Snapping back into reality, I glanced at Aang, "You thought I would say no?" We had been engaged for six months now.
He blushed, "Well—who knows, you might've had a secret crush on Zuko or something..." he raised an eyebrow at this idea, but continued to rub the back of his neck, something he did when nervous or anxious.
I laughed, "No. Plus, Zuko and Katara are all over each other these days. I'm surprised they hadn't married yet." That was true. Zuko and Katara were both obviously head-over-heels in love with each other, and they would have been my first guess to get married out of the group. But Katara had said something about waiting, because the marriage would mean something about the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation...politics. Blah.
Olin opened his mouth to say something when suddenly his whole house was filled with the high-pitched sound of a screaming little boy. A flash of worry crossed my brother's face as he jumped to his feet, rushing to his son's room. His attempt was fruitless, as the little boy came running clusmily down the hall, his screams chanting: "Auntie Vwinca! Auntie Vwinca!"
Before I could even move, the small child crashed into my legs, causing me to stumble backwards into Aang, who almost fell himself. Once steadying me and the chanting toddler, the boy turned his chants from my name into: "Aangie! Aangie!" Which made us all laugh.
"Hey, Tzac!" I greeted, kneeling down to my nephew's level. Tzac had chubby cheeks, ruffled dark brown hair and dark golden eyes, almost a brown color. He was a sweet little boy, with Siera's sweet personality. "What's up?"
Tzac was a bundle of energy, "The shkyy," he giggled. Obviously he had learned that remark from Olin, who chuckled into his hand. I rolled my eyes at my brother. "But—But Auntie Vwinca, gwess what! Gwess what!" his eyes were sparkling and he wore a crooked grin similar to Olin's.
"Hm—I don't know, Tzac, what?"
Olin reached forward, scooping his child into his arms and bouncing him in his arms, "Kiddo, maybe we better wait until mommy gets home." he told Tzac, who only made a face.
"But I wanna show 'dem now." Tzac protested with the stubbornness of a toddler.
My brother set him back on the ground, ruffling his hair, making him giggle, "Why don't you go show Aang your toys? Aang loves toys, right, Aang?"
Aang blinked, "Um—yeah, I love them a lot." and with that, Aang was dragged back into Tzac's room by the child himself, who was chattering excitedly.
"Sorry, Aang." Olin laughed to himself, pointing back to the direction they went, "He doesn't know what he just agreed to."
After making tea, Olin and I sat around the table, trying not to laugh at the crashing noises and squeals coming from Tzac's room.
"At this rate, Aang will never want kids," I commented, taking a sip of the tea. The sun was shining in through the window, its warmth settling on us.
"Tzac isn't that bad, he just loves his toys—wait, what? You're having kids? You're pregnant?! V-Vinca, I thought I told you that—!"
I cut him off abruptly, my cheeks heating, "Olin—no! I'm not pregnant...do I look pregnant?" I looked down at my belly, and made a face at him, "Where did you ever get that idea?"
Now, Olin was blushing, "You said that Aang will never want kids...—"
I rolled my eyes, "I meant in the future. Like, after we're married, and settled down." At Olin's frowning face, I nudged him, "Don't worry, you'll be the first to know if we're expecting."
"Good," he huffed, running his fingers through his hair, "How was the Southern Air Temple?" He asked, changing the subject.
I shrugged nonchalantly, "Gorgeous, as always." A smile tugged on my lips, "Though, I'd have to say, the best part was when Aang's asked me to marry him,"
Olin rolled his eyes, "I could have said no to him when he asked for my permission...you should be forever grateful." he waggled his eyebrows teasingly.
I chuckled, "Hah, okay," I scoffed quietly, "How could you say n—,"
My words were cut off by the familiar shrill squeals of Tzac—or Aang, if his voice suddenly increased in pitch, which was unlikely. The toddler's giggles echoed out from his bedroom, followed by Aang's familiar laughter as well. There was an abrupt crash, which was of course, trailed by laughter. My brother and I stared curiously at each other before rising to our feet in unison, going to find out whatever the case of laughter was coming from.
Once we reached Tzac's room, I was surprisingly unsurprised to see Aang, sitting cross-legged, his hands almost touching while two marbles whirled in between. His marble trick. And my nephew was absorbing every aspect of it, staring wide-eyes and clapping his hands, giggling loudly. Aang was grinning broadly, speeding up the marbles for Tzac's entertainment.
"Daddy, look!" The little boy cried happily, clapping his hands clumsily before pointing at Aang.
Olin nodded, "I know, isn't it cool?"
"I wanna try!"
Aang spoke before my brother had a chance, "Sure!" he exclaimed enthusiastically for the kid's delight. Of course, there was no way Tzac could actually do it, considering he wasn't an airbender. Tzac's smile was spread from ear-to-ear as Aang handed over the marbles, "Now, you have to be very careful; you could knock someone's eye out!"
"I will!" Tzac promised, closing the two marbles between his palms, imitating Aang's movement. His dark brows were furrowed together and his tongue was peeking out of his mouth as he stared at his hands in concentration. It was a cute sight, actually.
"Breath in deeply," Aang was explaining, "And whoosh! they are moving!" he encouraged.
Tzac pursed his lips outwards, and squinted his eyes shut, following Aang's instructions. Sneaking a glance at Olin, I saw that he was watching with amusement. The toddler breathed in dramatically, his fingers twitching slightly as his closed eyes tightened.
And then, the unexpected happened. The marbles flickered in his palms before shooting out of his grasp, hurling in two different directions. One of the marbles nearly hit Aang, who yelped and narrowly missed getting hit. The other shot into the wall behind him, making a small dent.
All eyes rested on Tzac, who was sitting there like nothing extraordinary had just happened. Like he hadn't just...airbended?
Olin was the only one who didn't seem surprised. He blinked, glancing at us, "Yeah...that's what Tzac wanted to show you earlier." he scratched the back of his head.
"He's an airbender?" Aang looked faint.
My brother shrugged nonchalantly. "Yup."
"And how long have you knew this?" I stared at him in bewilderment.
"At least three weeks."
"Why haven't you told us?" I exclaimed.
He shrugged again, "It never came up," he scooped his little boy up, pride radiating from his smile, "Tzac's a little airbender, ain't he?" the toddler giggled, tightly hugging his father's neck.
"Spirits." Aang breathed. He was abnormally pale.
I turned my attention towards my fiance, glancing at him in worry, "Aang, are you alright?" I admit—I was feeling a little dizzy myself. Afterall, my nephew was an airbender. An airbender. I guess somehow, the airbending genes were passed down to him. And if you got past the thought that he was now quite possibly the third airbender in the world...the realization was amazing.
He nodded slowly, "Y-Yeah, just a little light-headed," he explained wryly, his gray eyes disappearing momentarily as he closed his eyes. He looked like he was going to be sick. "I think I just need some...some fresh air..." and with that, Aang fainted, slumping against the wall behind him.
Olin huffed, "Well, Aang was a bit surprised, wasn't he?"
I only laughed, before moving to attend to my unconscious, shocked, soon-to-be husband.
AN: Tzac's an airbender...whoop! I bet nobody was expecting that, lol. I've had the idea of Olin and Siera's son/daughter being an airbender, because there is a possibility that it could happen, considering that Olin and Siera are both nonbenders, and someone in Olin's family (father or mother, possibly even grandparents) were an airbender (obviously, with Vinca) and that the airbender gene would've been ignored in Olin...blah, genetics that are boring you, hm?
Anywho! Tzac's an airbender, yay! And Aang was a bit surprised, obviously, haha. I made a major time skip. Six months into the future—and I can assure you, they will be getting married soon! ^^ Basically, the story line for the story right now is rebuilding the air temples...which, helps develop the next big plot. Then air temple island will come into vison soon, including Republic City. Aagh. Spoilers, maybe? ;)
Ahem...I will now answer questions you reviewers have asked! ^^
1.) Pronouncing Vinca's name?Vinca's name is pronounced 'Vin-sa'. Tzac's; 'Zac'. Olin's; 'Ah-Lin'. Siera's; 'Si-air-a'.
2.) To firebrand:aye...I feel bad (you probably didn't like this chapter...^^' six months is a lot of time...ugh, I'm a failure); you mention taking this story slower (which I have plans on. Mostly, right now, the main story line is rebuilding of the air temples, as I explained above, yet right now, that is my main road bump. My plot right now is still a bit sketchy. I have one in mind, but still thinking about how to play it out. Probably in five or so chapters the plot will progress, and this will be after the air temples are finished ^^ possibly.) I feel horrible, because I do feel like I'm rushing this story...when in reality, I just want to get some things out of the way. I'm sorry for the feeling of rush, and I regret typing it this way, but the story will settle into a more relaxed pace once I settle things out. ^^ (I'm a loser. Obviously I'm feeling my way around in the dark in this story, lol.)
3.) Zutara. Zutara, maybe not as much as one would like to see, is coming up. Of course, the two aren't around Zuko and Katara as of this point in the story, but I promise, I'll try my best at brewing up some Zutara moments. :)
3.) Aang/Vinca height differences. I mention in the second chapter that Vinca was short compared to Aang. Take this into consideration that Aang might be 6'4, with Vinca being 5'9. I'm not sure on the heights of the two, but I would thing Aang, being sixteen, would be pretty far up there. :) around 6'2, possibly, and I'm probably putting Vinca around 5'5, 5'6. (I'm 5'9 in real life, so I'm up there as well. ^^)
4.) Vinca's tattoos. Hm...this pondering question of our main character has crossed my mind many times. Vinca has always wanted her airbender tattoos, yet I'm a little bit unbalanced at the thought. Of course, it would mean at least three or four chapters describing that, but I have...no...idea...where the airbending tattoos venture. At all. And I've even drawn them on a sketch of the human body, yet none really seem right. All we see on Aang in the cartoon are his arms, legs, back, and head. Does the tattoo cover his butt? Anywhere else? Ah...questions. D:
As I'm writing this, I realize that my idea for this story is completely...not there. I don't have a great plot planned, at all, really...all I have planned are basically Aang...and Vinca...fluff. Which, every story needs a plot. I have an idea. Not a very good one. I'll try and make it work—I just want to apologize to all my fans for my confusion and my lack of creativity and all my mess-ups. Agh. :(
Okay, I see that this author's note is completely too-long and I probably sound depressed or what not, so I'm going to sign off now and work on some ideas. I'll probably regret posting this chapter later...but oh well. Sorry for making you read all this. (author fail)
Much love, xoxsillygoose. :)
