Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Life Lessons"Okay, everyone," Aang announced to his children one morning, trying to pull their attention away from their warm-ups. "Today we're going to learn my favorite airbending move – the air scooter." He demonstrated it for them, whirling the air in front of him into a ball. Then, he perched on it.
"It's harder than it looks, so don't be discouraged if you don't get it right away," he added, dispelling the scooter so that he could be available to help. He knew this would be especially difficult for the younger ones. There were seven in his "class" now: 9-year-old Keylana and Tien-Anh, 7-year-old Ming and Kim, and the triplets, Ti, Xi, and Yi. He hadn't been too crazy about the rhyming scheme of those last three, but Katara had insisted it would be easier for her, and it's awfully difficult to argue with a woman who's just given birth to three babies at once.
The triplets were now five and had just recently begun taking lessons with their sisters, much to Katara's relief, who had her hands full with the two little boys and another pregnancy. Aang was finding it increasingly difficult to teach them the same lessons, since the newer students still had to cover the basics while the oldest were ready for new things. It was a balancing act – much like riding the air scooter. Or parenthood, for that matter.
Keylana and Tien-Anh picked up the air scooter technique quickly, as Aang had guessed they would. He let them concentrate on it on their own for a while as he helped the younger girls to keep their seat, teaching them to feel the air's movement but not let themselves get carried along with it.
"You can use it to move around, too," Aang added, seeing that the eldest were already mastering staying in one place. He created his scooter again and zoomed around them, distracting some so that they fell into heaps.
"This is amazing!" sighed Keylana after a little trip around on her own. "It's so fast!"
"Better than riding Appa," Tien-Anh agreed as she whipped by.
"Wait until I teach you gliding," Aang said tantalizingly. He was running behind in building their gliders, but they'd get to it eventually. He was already 24 and swore he couldn't remember where half of the time since his wedding had gone. Katara joked that he'd spent it on night feedings and diaper changing, and there was probably something to that.
"How old were you when you learned how to do this?" demanded Yi, getting frustrated when her coordination was not quite adequate to keep her balanced. Aang grinned proudly.
"Actually, I made it up," he answered. The girls all gasped and abandoned their attempts, clustering around him and babbling follow-up questions. With an effort, Aang managed to quiet them down.
"You see, the airbenders all had to invent a new move in order to become masters," he explained. In spite of everything that happened later, he still had fond memories of being declared the youngest master airbender ever. "That was mine. I was twelve at the time, but I taught it to a lot of other kids."
"Will we ever meet any other airbenders, Daddy?" asked Xi innocently. Aang paused as he pondered how to answer her. The oldest twins knew the story, but he didn't talk about it much. It was still hard to think about his past without feeling a profound sense of loss. Fully engaging himself with his family helped a lot, but he wasn't sure he'd see the void left by the absence of the airbenders completely filled in his lifetime.
"I was the last airbender," he said finally, deciding to leave out the details. They all had a right to know, he supposed, but it could wait until they were older. "All of the others died more than 100 years ago. So the only other airbenders you'll ever meet will be from our family."
"That's sad," Ti frowned, almost looking like she was going to cry.
"It's okay," Kim assured her little sister, coming over and putting an arm around her. "The airbenders will always be with us. They live through us." Aang was astonished at the wisdom she showed in those words, well beyond her years. He shook it off and smiled, determined to get back on track.
"Let's save story time for after dinner," he decided. "Get back to practicing your air scooters."
Aang was helping the triplets with their balance some time later when he noticed two interlopers on the fringes. He went over and knelt in front of them so that he could speak at eye level.
"You're too young to be here yet," he reminded his three-year-old boys. "Where's Mommy?"
"Mommy feel sick," Kuzon declared.
"Sick," echoed Lam. Aang stood up, immediately concerned. Katara was eight months pregnant now, and any illness had to be taken seriously. He tasked Keylana with keeping an eye on the boys and put Tien-Anh temporarily in charge of the practice.
He opened his mind to the spiritual link he shared with his wife and walked into the apartment in the temple that they'd made into their home. There wasn't really anything alarming in her emotions, a sense of resignation more than anything else. He found her leaning forward against the counter in the kitchen, one hand pressed to the small of her back.
"The boys said you were sick," he explained. "Are you okay?"
"Are you ready for two more?" she sighed instead of answering.
"Are we ever? Wait, you mean now?"
Katara nodded, and just a moment later, her breathing changed, and he felt the tightening inside her that was not quite pain yet.
"Get to bed," Aang instructed her. "I'll be right back."
"You know I'm supposed to move around at this stage," she objected.
"Yeah, and I also know that makes the process go faster," he tossed back as he turned around. "Not until the midwife gets here." She gave a weak laugh as he returned to the kids.
"All right, girls, the babies are coming," Aang announced. "Remember what to do?" They'd been practicing this for weeks. Katara's labors had seemed to get progressively shorter, and Aang lived in fear of the day she'd barely have time to tell him it was time before one would be making an appearance. He didn't know if that was even possible, and he hoped he wouldn't have to find out. He had no intention of delivering a baby by himself. He had already learned he was far better than Sokka in these situations, but even he had to draw the line somewhere.
The girls immediately took to their tasks: Keylana went to fetch the midwife while Tien-Anh took charge of the boys and Ming and Kim divided up responsibilities on the triplets. The older girls were supposed to keep the younger children occupied and out of the way, and Keylana would help when she got back.
Satisfied that his plan was going smoothly so far, Aang returned to his wife's side. Remarkably, she was actually in the vicinity of the bed. However, instead of lying on it, she was kneeling beside it, bending forward to rest her upper body on the low mattress. In familiar territory here, Aang sank down behind her, rubbing her lower back.
"Have you eaten anything since that bread this morning?" he murmured.
"No. I was already feeling kind of queasy," she admitted. Aang was grateful for that. Two of her labors had taken off shortly after she'd eaten full meals, and she'd thrown most of them up. The midwife had said that was common; something about the body not having enough energy to deliver a baby and digest food at the same time.
When he sensed another contraction coming, Aang reached his free hand around Katara to rest on her belly, concentrating on feeling the contraction of muscles at the same time as he got the emotional signal from her. He laid his head on her shoulder, murmuring reassurances into her ear.
"The contractions are six minutes apart, but her water hasn't broken yet," he was able to tell the midwife when she arrived. She'd also brought along her sister as an assistant.
"Thank you," the midwife acknowledged the information. She and Aang had worked out something of a pattern for these events. "Get her to the bed. I need to check her."
Aang helped Katara to her feet, held her through another contraction, and assisted her to the bed.
"I should check on the kids and get them some food," he said then.
"Aang," Katara pleaded, grasping his hand tightly. He stayed until the next contraction had passed, and then kissed her forehead.
"You'll be fine," he assured her. "You're in good hands. I won't miss the big stuff." He knew that he likely had at least an hour before the babies made their appearance, considerably more if her water didn't break soon. Still, he hoped to get back to her within 10 minutes.
Aang rushed outside and waved away all questions as he herded his children into the house for lunch. He prepared bowls of rice and vegetables hurriedly steamed using his bending abilities and sliced bread and cheese. By the next time this happened, he estimated that Keylana and Tien-Anh would be able to handle things like this, but they weren't quite there yet.
"Can you keep them occupied for another hour or two?" he asked his eldest twins anxiously. "I think that's as long as it will take." Tien-Anh grinned confidently.
"It won't take much less than an hour to make sure they're all fed," she said. That was certainly true. The boys still needed a lot of help, partly because they couldn't manage chopsticks yet, but also because they had a hard time staying focused on eating. They also required a fair amount of cleanup afterward.
"And after that, we'll have to clean up the dishes," added Keylana.
"And the floor," Ming added under her breath.
"Ooh, can we dry?" clamored the triplets in near-unison. They were at the age when they loved to help with chores, and drying dishes gave them airbending practice, too.
"That's the plan," Keylana assured them, giving her father a wink.
Thank you, he mouthed to her.
"Ming and I will chase the boys around," Kim contributed.
"They'll probably nap after half an hour of that," Ming added.
"No nap!" Lam protested angrily.
"Not tired!" Kuzon concurred. Aang just smiled, certain that his daughters had matters well in hand. He gave each child a quick kiss on their heads before grabbing a hunk of bread for himself and dashing back to the bedroom.
The midwife was walking Katara around the room. Suddenly, Katara gave a gasp, and fluid gushed out onto the floor. Fortunately, cloths had been laid down for just such a circumstance. Aang wiped down her legs, tossed the wet stuff into a laundry pile, and got fresh cloths and towels.
"I told you I wouldn't miss anything big," he whispered, supporting her on one side. "You're doing great. It won't be long now."
It wasn't, either. A little over an hour later, two baby girls had been washed and wrapped in blankets. They were beautiful, with gray eyes looking with intense curiosity out of their tiny, squished faces.
The midwife and her sister had taken all the soiled garments, sheets, and other cloth items to soak and giving the couple a few moments alone with their newborns. Katara was in a clean nightgown, holding the twins as she lay resting in the bed. Aang kissed her.
"You're really amazing," he told her. "Do you know that?"
"Yeah, I am," Katara agreed, smiling tiredly. Aang chuckled.
"Ready for company?" he asked, and she nodded. He gathered the other children and brought them in to meet their new sisters. He also brought some buttered bread and a cup of water for Katara, knowing that she would be hungry.
The boys were not sleeping yet, but they were starting to look tired. Aang intended to see them to their beds as soon as these introductions were done.
"Baby," Lam remarked as he was lifted up to see better.
"And another baby," added Kuzon, not to be outdone.
"That's right. Two babies," Aang said to them. "They and Mommy need to rest now, so go back out to the living room. I'll come play with you soon."
"You know, I was just thinking," sighed Katara as Aang lingered for a minute. "I don't think we're going to have to explain much to our children about where babies come from." Aang laughed. He'd never thought about that.
"Well, it wasn't the lesson I was intending to teach today," he said thoughtfully. "But I guess it works."
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Author's Note: This is for the people who wanted to see Aang giving an airbending lesson. I also realized I hadn't done a birth scene yet, so I sort of combined the two.
Review responses:
PrincessOfTheDigimon: Um, sorry about the delay. Life got in the way for a while, plus I decided I could take a little break from this after posting three chapters in a row.
AvatarKatara38: Thanks!
shiro-wolfman-k: I'm glad you liked it. I really think Aang and Katara will make great parents, and I'm surprised more writers don't explore that. I guess it helps to have experience.
Vanille Strawberry: If you'd like to give me any insights on how twins interact, it might help me out. I've heard that when twins are really new, they usually both cry and need things at about the same time, like you said. When they get a little older, though, if one wakes up in the night but doesn't immediately need something, they'll see that they have company and go back to sleep again. Older single babies will just cry because it's dark and they're lonely.
BlackRose108: Well, I'll try, but those first weeks are kind of hard to write about. It's just a blur of feedings, trying to catch food and sleep yourself, and the occasional doctor visit.
Loupami: Great, I'm glad I fulfilled your imaginings.
Aangs fangirl1214: Thanks for the positive thoughts. He starts a new job right after Memorial Day! I'm sorry, but since Aang was 14 when he got married, 15 for fatherhood seems reasonable. Girls were often married at 12 or 13 in the middle ages.