((AN: I had quite some fun writing this chapter, for a few different reasons; little Tenzin and his childishness, and his parents' interactions with him and with each other. I can just imagine that even after they had a kid, they still wouldn't always be serious and on-task. They still have some fun at times. x3

I really do imagine that members of the Gaang would have kept diaries or something similar during their trips. Katara kept one in one of the canon Avatar comics shown in Nick Magazine, and The Lost Scrolls has some very cute versions of some episodes from the series told in journal-fashion in different points of view. It was that book that gave me the idea for them musing on turning their journals into published books. Also, yes, I can very well imagine Aang trying to read one of Katara's journals. Hey, he let curiosity get the better of him in "The Fortuneteller", didn't he? ;3 The side-story about Wan Shi Tong returning lost knowledge to the Air Temples was something I also thought about before. The library had a -lot- of potential, but alas, it -had- to be brought back to the Spirit World. It seemed like a great idea to expand on. x3

Enjoy, everyone! And thanks again for all the wonderful comments and faves and whatnot...every one of you is just too freakin' awesome; and I never thought that my stories would be liked so much. ^^ It just gives me more incentive to write what I truly like to. If nobody noticed it, I wrote a short one-shot featuring Toph and The Duke that doesn't really belong in this collection and thus went separately, so, tell me whatcha think of that one too if you want.

Mike and Bryan own these guys. I do not. So don't sue, it does no good. x3 ))


Even though she'd lived there for long enough to get used to it, Katara still had to admit that the Southern Air Temple's library was an impressive sight.

As she strolled in, her eyes wandered slowly upward…past the monumental shelves of books, to the intricately-carved ceiling that still hid cracks in the foundation from its past destruction at the hands of the Fire Nation. Ever since the renovations, however, this room like the rest of the Temple was returned to better than its former glory. Books, scrolls, and tomes lined every shelf and the white stone walls wore colorful banners from every Nation.

Added to the awe-inspiring appearance was the feeling of spirituality pervading the silence and grandeur. When the monks were alive, this was an educational and holy place to store their priceless scrolls and marks on history. It had become so again when the books were returned to their shelves—copies of which were even thought lost to the world.

It was for a particular reason at this time every day that the Waterbender made her way into the library, with her five-year-old son following close on her heels. She had taken it upon herself to teach young Tenzin how to read, and he was always excited enough to learn what new things he could from either of his parents: simple and light Airbending drills in the morning, reading and other such schooling after lunch, and family time in the evening with supper was their schedule if they didn't have places to go or things to do.

Tenzin rushed in past her, his laughter echoing in the labyrinthine intricacies of the vast chamber. Katara watched him with a small smile: he indeed had his father's energy. It was no surprise when they found out that he was an Airbender not a year ago, for which they were both rather proud.

Stopping and looking around, he finally turned his silvery gray eyes back up to Katara with a smile. "What're we doing today, Mama?"

"Well," she hummed in thought, "You've got the alphabet down. I thought we'd work on some basic characters today, and have you practice writing. You're never too young to learn how to write."

"Mmkay!" the youngster chirped. "Then can I look for a picture book with Kochi?"

"I don't see why not," Katara smiled, and then turned in surprise to see something dart into her line of sight. When it appeared in front of them, as if summoned by name, the Waterbender laughed. "Heh, seems he found you first."

Standing before the mother and son was a diminutive canine-like creature with orange-brown fur and an inquisitive, almost sentient face. It was a fox, but not just any…a Knowledge Seeker.

The unusual creature's presence was thanks to a short but harrowing trip to the Spirit World made by Avatar Aang long ago, to convince a spiteful Wan Shi Tong to fill the temples with the history and knowledge of his people; for he was determined not to let it be lost to the world. As a result, every filled library in each of the four Air Temples was watched over by the spirits, and at least one or two Knowledge Seekers wandered them at any given time. Katara knew that the creatures were harmless, and she and her husband never feared for their son's life when among them. As partial to animals as Tenzin was—another trait he shared with his father—he'd befriended and affectionately named the Southern Temple's little guardian of knowledge.

"Hi, Kochi!" Tenzin said with a bow to the creature. "I'm being taught writing today!"

The fox tilted his head and wagged his tail, regarding the Avatar's son with a playful curiosity in his deep black eyes.

Katara chuckled. "You can go with him now if you want. I need to look for a good scroll to use. Remember to give him an offering before leaving; it's important to respect the spirits."

"Yes, Mama, I remember," the child grinned and placed a hand on the fox's flank. "C'mon, Kochi, I wanna find the one about the sky bison."

The fox gave a little yip in compliance and proceeded to lead the child towards a particular section of the library.

As he explored, Katara kept up her walk along the corridor to the room's central rotunda. Once there, she chose a section and began to browse along the shelves.

But not a moment after she stepped in, her leg brushed a rust-colored box that was lying on the floor beside a bench. It was a small chest for holding things like trinkets and mementos; she blinked curiously, wondering what it was doing there instead of on a table or someplace where one wouldn't trip.

She bent down to pick it up and placed it on the bench, opening the lid to scrutinize its contents. Inside, to her surprise, laid a few familiar leather-bound books. Each of them had the crest of the Water Tribe etched on its surface.

Her eyes widened. "No way," Katara muttered, picking up one of the journals. Inside she recognized her own handwriting upon the slightly-aged paper as it retold stories of her youth and the events on the journeys she took with Aang and her brother, Sokka. It was all there: starting from the beginning, every record she had thought to make. It comprised of four small books in total. "I can't believe I forgot these…"

"What'd you find, Mama?" Tenzin inquired as he trotted back toward her, a large picture book carried under his arm, with Kochi following.

Glancing back to her son, Katara's face broke into a soft smile. "I found all my old journals...books I wrote myself."

"You wrote books?" Tenzin blinked in surprise. "What about?"

She chuckled softly, her eyes glancing upward as she recalled various memories. "Lots of stuff. I kept these when your dad and I were kids, and we traveled the world together with your Uncle Sokka and later with Toph. I liked to write about things that we did and places that we saw."

"Oooh, that must've been so neat!" the little Airbender stated excitedly as he peered up to her face. "I like those stories, like the ones Daddy tells. I wish I could travel the world like you did!"

Katara laughed softly and ran her fingers through his dark hair. "Maybe someday you will, sweetie. But this is a good reason to learn how to write…so that when you do, you can keep a journal and write books about the things you see too."

"Yeah!" Tenzin grinned. "I wanna write about everything! You and Daddy, and Aunt Suki and Uncle Sokka and his funny stories. And Cousin Kimiye! Hey, can I write about the next trip we take to Ba Sing Se, or the Fire Nation palace?"

"You can write about whatever you like. That's the fun of it," his mother nodded, her smile matching his enthusiasm. "But you'll have to learn first." Matter-of-factly placing the journal back in the chest, she picked Tenzin up to sit him at the table in the center of the rotunda. "And it takes a lot of practice, so you'll have to work hard."

"Hard work?" he whined and slumped. "Aw…and I thought Daddy's lessons were hard."

Katara laughed. "Believe me, Tenzin, your dad and I know a lot about hard work. You're not exhausted until you have to do things like teach yourself how to bend, like I had to at first. And don't get me started on his hard work as the Avatar."

The child giggled. "But that stuff sounds more fun!"

"Well it is…anything becomes fun, if you like it enough to work hard at it," the Waterbender grinned. "Now, tell you what…if you do work hard at your lessons, I'll read you some of my journal as a bedtime story."

Tenzin perked up, eyes brightening at the anticipation of hearing more about his parents' exciting adventures. "Okay, I will!"

"That's my good little Airbender," Katara laughed and ruffled his hair. "Now, no more playing; let's begin."

Through the next half-hour, the young mother kept patiently to the task of keeping her son focused on the lessons at hand. They started with a brief review on the alphabet, and ended with her watching him try to emulate each character on a piece of parchment with a quill pen. Then, they went over some basic words and pronunciations, some of which he had trouble with; her gentle encouragement however had kept the boy's frustration to a minimum. Katara discovered long ago that one of her favorite things to do was to teach; Tenzin was as diligent a student as the love of her life once was, albeit perhaps a bit less patient, but always eager to get it right.

Once the lesson was finished, the energetic child was let loose to play a little more with Kochi while she was left to her own reading. Her attention returned once more to the journals from her adventures, and she found herself marveling at the memories that she'd thankfully managed to record for all time.

She laughed at the memory of Makapu Village and how eager she was back then to hear her predictions of the future from Aunt Wu. She shook her head at how angry she would have been when writing about the Fire Nation or how Zuko once used to be. She snorted when she read every entry about how Sokka annoyed her or how Toph started arguments.

Her heart's pace picked up a little when she read the entries about herself and Aang…their first brush of the lips in the Cave of Two Lovers, their performance at the secret dance party in the Fire Nation…all the way to their most memorable kiss on the balcony of the Jasmine Dragon before a beautiful autumn sunset.

And then she turned back to the entries about how she feverishly kept him healed and alive for almost a month, after he had been shot with lightning in Ba Sing Se's catacombs…and felt tears returning to her eyelids. The calligraphy on those pages was much sketchier than any of the others, and she could feel the boiling emotions in the ink as if they had been trapped there with each stroke of the quill.

It was there she looked up from the tear-stained pages and sighed thoughtfully. I wonder if Aang kept any records of the journey. We could get these stories published…the world would love to know about everything we've done for them, if our son gets such a joy from it too.


Nearby, Tenzin giggled as he leaped off of Kochi's back. The fox yipped playfully and turned towards the child with a tilted head.

"Thanks for the help," he grinned and picked a small piece of dried meat from his pocket, tossing it to him to catch. "Here's your offering. See you tomorrow!"

As the fox caught the food with a wagging tail and trotted off, Tenzin turned around and started back toward his mother. Then suddenly, he stopped, having thought he heard a rush of air echoing in the chamber.

After a second of silence, he thought nothing of it and kept going, only to see the book he'd picked out earlier floating by.

His eyes squinted in confusion at the sight. "My book's flying away. But books don't fly. Do they?" he blinked. And then, he smirked. "Daddy?"

Nothing but encompassing quiet answered him. Tenzin turned around every which way, looking up and about for the one person he knew that could skillfully manipulate the air in that way. "Daddy! I know you're there!" he called again.

Then, suddenly, he let out a surprised yelp and a loud giggle as something landed behind him and scooped him up.

Turning around, Tenzin beheld his father's sparkling gray eyes as he laughed. "Snuck up on you again!" Aang grinned.

The child wriggled with frustration in the older Airbender's grip. "That's not funny! I'll see you coming next time!"

"That'll be the day. It's impossible to see me coming," his father laughed again and ruffled his hair. "How'd your lessons go today?"

"They went great!" Tenzin beamed. "Mama's teaching me how to write, so I can go on adventures and write books like she did."

"Really?" Aang's eyebrows quirked with interest. "That oughta be fun. Where is she now?"

"At the table," he pointed back down the line of shelves. "She's reading one of those journal thingies that she wrote when you guys traveled the world. She said she'd read a story from it to me if I worked hard!"

"And did you?" Aang smiled.

"Yep!"

"Good," the father nodded with another laugh as he set his child down again. "Now go and retrieve your book; I'll be over here with your mom."

Smiling as he watched Tenzin trot off, Aang strolled back down to the central rotunda. As he beheld his wife immersed in one of the books, he chuckled inwardly. She looks exactly as she did whenever she wrote something down.

Busy as the Waterbender was with reliving her memories, she jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder and relaxed when a kiss was planted on her cheek. "Hey, Aang," she smiled as she turned on the chair to face her husband. "I thought you were out flying."

The Avatar shrugged, grinning back. "I was, but then I thought it'd be a good idea to drop in on my family."

"I thought I heard someone dropping in," Katara chuckled, closing the book she was reading.

Aang glanced curiously over her shoulder. "Are those your journals? I haven't seen those in forever."

"Yeah; it's pretty weird, isn't it?" she sighed. "I stored so many memories in these. I almost thought I lost them. Glad I didn't, though; it's nice to see these again and read my old handwriting…it's all here. The iceberg, the Serpent's Pass, the invasion…"

"Almost a year of history," the Airbender marveled. "And so much done in that time."

Katara nodded. "Yeah…and you know, if we keep these stories, they could become legends in the future."

Aang nodded in thoughtful agreement. "Yeah…I like the idea of our adventures printed for everyone to know about. Then at least they'd get the real story instead of the Ember Island Players' version."

"Oh good spirits, yes," The Water Tribe woman snorted and glanced up toward her beloved. "I was also wondering…did you ever keep any journals during the war?"

"A few," Aang chuckled. "I didn't write as much as you did. Just about the most fun memories and the most interesting stuff."

"What was the most interesting?" Katara inquired with curiosity.

She noticed a tinge of pink crossing his cheeks. "You."

At that, Katara felt herself blushing as well. "You wrote about me?"

"Well hey, I had a crush on you at the time, so…yeah," he answered with a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head.

Amused—and charmed—by the revelation, Katara laughed softly. "That's actually kinda sweet…think you could let me read what you wrote sometime?"

"No way!" Aang snorted playfully. "They were a little embarrassing. Besides, you never let me read your journals."

"Well, I'll let you read them now if you want," Katara snickered back. "It's not like I have anything in here that I wouldn't show you. Besides, that was a long time ago, and we're married, so…we should share our personal history."

"That's a good idea," he admonished with a smile and moved in to place a kiss on her lips. She returned it with a loving hum, and he hesitantly pulled away. "But I still won't let you read mine," he grinned upon parting.

"Oh, come on!"

"Not a chance."

Katara pouted. "Alright, fine…I'll find them myself."

"No you won't," Aang persisted. "Besides, you shouldn't give into temptation like that. I mean heck, I held myself back from reading yours even when I had the chance. Even the one with the red cover on it."

"Red cover?" Katara felt the heat rise in her face. Among her travel journals, there was one she kept for rather personal thoughts. "But, I never showed that one to anyone. How'd you know what it looked like?"

There was a pause. Then, he slapped his palm to his mouth, suddenly aware of what he revealed. "Oh, monkey-feathers."

Katara's jaw dropped. "You went through my stuff?"

"Yeah, but I didn't touch the journals, I swear!" he held his hands up. "You asked me to look for your comb in one of your bags once, and I happened to stumble on them."

"I kept the journals in a box, Aang."

"Yeah, but…they…ugh…" The Airbender stuttered and hung his head shamefully. "Okay, you caught me. I let curiosity get the better of me."

"And you read them?"

"No! Well…I…might've skimmed one…"

Silence again. Aang kept his eyes away from her face. He was always able to scrutinize her reaction without seeing it.

Then, he heard Katara's voice evenly break the tension. "Aang, dearest?"

"Yes, my love?" he nervously squeaked.

He looked up to behold his wife's face, a vengeful grin playing across it. In her hand, she had bent a sphere of water from the basin of one of the potted plants.

"Run."


From where he sat browsing through the pictures in his book, Tenzin heard a sudden clamor from the table, like one of the chairs falling. Across from him, he could see his father rushing past on an Air Scooter and several small icicles being flung in his direction.

Through Aang's chants of "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" and Katara's boasts of "Just wait'll I catch up to you, you sneak!", the child had to let out a laugh; as if rather used to this sort of banter between them by now.

I wonder if anyone else's parents are this weird.