36 Tattoos

When his parents came to his bedroom, Tenzin was laying on his bed with his chin propped on his hands. The sunlight reflected off his clean-shaven head as he stared at the pile of hair next to the bowl of water on his dresser.

"Tenzin, can we talk to you?" Aang asked.

"It's your island." he said, frowning at the sound of his father's voice.

"Look, Tenzin, I don't want you to think that I told you to shave your head as a punishment."

"It seems like that's why you told me to shave." the boy said as he continued to look at the hair he'd become so fond of.

"No son. That wheel thing you did," Aang's thoughts jumbled, "When did you come up with it?"

"When I was in the South Pole." Tenzin answered bluntly, not interested in going into details.

"Well, it was amazing. Although you didn't use it at the right time, it was an awesome sight." Tenzin looked at his father out of the corner of his eye as Aang move in front of him. He stooped down so that he could be eye to eye with his son. "Tenzin, I told you to shave your head because your wheel, it was the last step."

"Last step?" the boy questioned.

"Yes Tenzin," Aang smiled proudly at his son, "You've mastered air bending. Mushi and I will start your tattoos in two days."

Tenzin jumped to his knees, "Father, are you serious?"

Aang stood, "I'm serious Tenzin."

"Mother! Did you hear him?!" Tenzin asked jumping over to where Katara was and wrapping her up in his arms "I'm a master Mother!"

She laughed as he swung her around, "I know baby."

"Hey, I delivered the news, what about me?" Aang said, opening his arms to his son.

Tenzin turned and hugged him, "Yes Father. Thank you, thank you so much."

"Don't thank me, you did all the work."

Bumi and Kya came to the door, "What's all the commotion about?" Bumi asked.

"I'm getting my tattoos!" the boy said as he embraced both of his siblings.

"Congrats, now get off me," the elder brother protested, "this is NOT manly."

.~.~.

That night Kya approached Aang, "Dad, can I talk to you?"

He looked up at her from behind his newspaper, "Sure Kya, shoot."

She looked over at Tenzin who was sitting nearby, petting Momo and the lemur drifted off to sleep, "Um really, I need to show you something. Could you come here?"

"Okay" he said. Then he got up and followed her to Bumi's room. "What are you two up to?" he asked when he got there.

"Dad," Bumi started, "We've been talking and we want to get tattoos along with Tenzin."

Aang opened his mouth to speak, but Kya did so first, "Before you say 'no', we understand that we can't have the arrows, that's why we came up with these."

Bumi handed Aang a rolled up piece of paper that he'd been drawing on. The young adults look at their father as he studied the paper. At first he had a deadly serious expression, then he raised an eyebrow, "So, this is really what the two of you want to do?"

"It is." they answered.

A grand smile crossed his lips, "Then I'll be proud to tattoo all of my children."

.~.~.

Tenzin lay on a specially made table. His head rested on a semi-circle with a hole in it for his face and the gap at the top of his head. His arms were stretched out with the table stopping right at his elbows, his knees dangled over the other end. His father and the two Air Acolytes he had trained for this moment were there. Tenzin knew that Mushi was going to assist, but he wondered why Yonten was there.

The young air bender did his best to meditate the pain away, but he still felt every jab of the needle. They started at his feet and it felt like torture. He was relieved when they made it to his legs because, although he still felt it, the pain was very manageable. He had gotten use to the constant tapping and had relaxed completely into his meditative state.

He popped out of his trance when the first strike hit his spine. Aang knew the jolt was coming so he placed his hands firmly against his shoulders so that he wouldn't jump up. The man wondered if Gyatso had felt this mixture of sadness, guilt and pride when he'd been tattooed. As he was thinking, Momo came and landed on his shoulder. Something about the lemur's presence always calmed Aang. He prayed for that feeling to transfer to his son.

After an hour of Aang and Mushi working on the tattoo running up the center of his son's back, the boy finally passed out. Aang called out, "You can come in now."

Katara came in with a basin of water under her arm. She was followed by Kya in a free flowing orange halter dress and Bumi in a pair of loose orange pants.

"He held out much longer than I thought he would." Aang said as Katara set the basin down and started moving glowing water across the boy's feet and legs. "Just cool them a little. If you heal them completely, he'll know you were here."

Aang backed away and let Yonten take over where he left off. He took a blanket from under the table and spread it out on the floor, "Okay, which one of you is next?"

"Sweetie," Katara said as she reached the boy's upper legs, "Don't you think you should rest first? You've been at this since daybreak."

"I'm fine", he said "I couldn't sleep if I wanted to." he answered as Kya laid on her stomach on the blanked on the floor, "Are you ready Kya?" he asked, sitting beside her.

"Yes Dad." she answered and she cleared her mind and started to meditate. She flinched a bit when Aang tapped the first bit of ink into her flesh, but then relaxed.

.~.~.

After dealing with the completed portion of Tenzin's tattoo, Katara went and sat on the other side of Kya and watched Aang work. His hands moved as if he had been doing tattoos all his life. Though his face was stoic, she knew that underneath he was upset. He hated inflicting pain on anyone, but these were his children. Even if the pain was for a good reason, he still would rather not have been the one to do it.

She also noticed her older son. It wasn't very often that Bumi was quiet, but he sat against a wall and watched every move that his father made. He had the same look on his face that he did at the first council meeting he'd went to, total interest and the intent to soak up as much information as possible.

.~.~.

When Tenzin awoke, the first thing he noticed was the searing pain that radiated all over his body, especially at his right hand. The second thing he noticed was the glow in the room. He became irritated because he had expressly said that he did not want his mother or sister to heal his tattoos. He was hurting too much to say anything but a whispered "Mother?"

Then a voice said, "The young one is awake." He recognized the voice, but he couldn't quite place it.

He saw the hem of Katara's dress, them he saw her face as she lay down under him. The glow persisted, "Mother," he strained out, "tell Kya to stop."

Katara smiled and reached up to brush his cheek, "Kya is sleeping." she said with a soft smile.

"The young one wants to know about the glow." the voice said again. Tenzin realized that it was the voice of the Avatar State, but this one was different. When he heard it before his father's voice was at the forefront, but this voice was that of a woman.

His mother told him, "Aang refused to go rest, so Avatar Yangchen stepped in to finish your tattoos."

All Tenzin could find to say was, "Oh."

"Tenzin," Yangchen said, "I am done." He painfully turned his head to the woman standing on his right. He'd seen statues of her many times before, but he couldn't help but think that they did not do her justice. She gently placed her hand on his cheek, "You have done well Tenzin. Avatar Aang is right to be so very proud of you, and your siblings."

Tenzin nodded his head and Yangchen stepped away. As the glow in the room faded, her façade disappeared and was replaced by the smiling face of his father.

.~.~.

Once Aang and Katara got the new tattoos covered with ointment and bandaged they helped Tenzin up and draped him in a large loose robe. He looked and saw his brother and sister lying asleep on blankets on the floor with large square bandaged on their backs. "Father, what happened?" he asked.

"Don't worry about that now Ten, you need to eat and get some rest. I have some tea that will help you sleep." Aang said. The look of concern stayed on Tenzin's face. "They're fine, they'll come see you when you wake up. Come, let's have breakfast."

Tenzin looked out of the window and saw the sun rising, "Father, have you been awake all this time?"

"I have."

Tenzin gave Aang a small smile, them looked concerned, "Father."

"Yes Tenzin?"

Tenzin held his head down and blushed, "I don't think I can sit down."

Aang laughed, "Believe me son, you won't want to for a couple of days."

.~.~.

Tenzin wandered the halls. It was very late and everyone was sleeping. The tea Aang had given him had made him sleep all day and now Tenzin was restless so he walked around the house. Finally, he decided to go wake his brother.

"Bumi," he said, shaking his brother, "Bumi, wake up."

The elder brother opened one eye, "What is it Tenzin?" he groaned, "Can't you see I'm sleeping?"

"What happened to you and Kya?" the boy asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bumi answered, still half asleep and snuggling deeper into his pillow.

Tenzin got annoyed, "What is this?" he asked as he stuck his finger into the middle of the bandage on Bumi's back.

The teenager shot up, "Ow! Tenzin, what the hell is wrong with you? What if I stuck my finger in the middle of your tattoo?"

"Tattoo?"

Bumi exhaled heavily, "Yeah. It was supposed to be a surprise. Me and Ky got tattoos along with you. We didn't want you to go through it alone."

The younger brother didn't have the words to express how he felt at that moment. All he could say was "Can I see it?"

Bumi reached over and lit the lamp beside his bed, "Knock yourself out." he said as he turned his back to his brother.

Tenzin carefully pulled the bandage away from Bumi's skin. There a blue wolf's tail swirled around with a dark blue line tracing its center.

'Air and water.' Tenzin thought, immediately noticing that the wolf's tail swirled in the same way that the Air Nomad symbol did. He asked "What does Kya's look like?"

"Come on, you woke me up, we might as well get her up too."

.~.~.

"Kya," Bumi said as he opened the door, "Are you awake?"

The lightly sleeping young woman turned her head, "What do you want Bumi?"

"Tenzy wants to see your tattoo."

Kya pushed up to her knees and shot a hard leer at her brother, "You couldn't wait 'till morning to tell him?"

"The kid got pokey and it kind of slipped out."

She sighed "Okay, hold on."

She dragged herself behind her changing screen, took off the nightgown she was wearing and pulled on a halter dress. Bumi turned her lamps on when she stepped out and motioned for Tenzin to see her back. In the middle there was a swirl, much like the one on the Air Nomad Insignia, with three dark blue waves inside.

"That's nice." her youngest brother said in a less than enthused voice.

Kya turned and looked at her baby brother, then at Bumi, "He hasn't seen his yet has he?"

Bumi looked at Tenzin, "I guess not, he's been sleeping all day." He stepped up to the boy, "Come on Tenzy, let's get you unwrapped."

Tenzin gave his brother a weary look, "Just the top," he answered, "you have no idea how hard it was for me to get these pants on."

Bumi chuckled a little as they carefully took the bandaged loose at the palm of each of his hands and started unwrapping his arms. When the older siblings were through, Kya undid the wrap around his head and pointed him toward her full length mirror.

Tenzin barely recognized himself. Over the months he had gotten used to seeing himself with thick brown hair, and now the image he'd worked toward for years was in front of him.

He was immensely flattered that his brother and sister had chosen to go through the process with him, but their tattoos reflected all they were, air and water, while his only reflected air. Those months he'd spent in the South Pole had a great influence on him. It was the first time he had been there without his parents or siblings. Most days it was just him and Hakoda going around the village and town, his grandfather telling him Southern Water Tribe history and legends. Although his mother had taught him all about his heritage, there was just something about being there for that amount of time that shook something in him.

"They are beautiful, aren't they Tenzin?" Kya said, placing her hand lightly on his shoulder."

"Yes." he said in a somber tone.

His elder sister looked at him, "What's wrong? I thought you'd be excited."

"I am. It's just that, Bumi and your tattoos…they say so much more than mine do."

Kya and Bumi smiled at each other. Bumi said, "Tenzy, turn around."

Kya stepped over to her dresser and took a hand mirror from the drawer. She handed it to Tenzin, "Here, look at your back."

The boy gave his sister and brother a strange look and lifted the mirror so he would have the right angle to see his tattoo. He started at the top of his head and moved the mirror so he could follow the line down his back. Then, between his shoulder blades her saw it, three dark blue waves in the middle of the light blue line. He smiled, "You got father to do that for me?"

"Nope," Bumi said proudly, "I put them there myself. It was Kya's idea, and Dad let me do it."

Tenzin whipped his head over to his brother a little too fast and a twinge of pain ran down the blue streak on hid neck. "Father let you do what?"

"What you don't like it?"

The boy smiled, "I do, I like it very much."

.~.~.

Lin hadn't seen Tenzin since he and Bumi were led out of school by a very angry Aang. She tried to go to the island, but she was told by her mother that Aang had asked them not to come to the island for a couple of days. She thought that the boys must have been in tons of trouble.

When they got to the house, she thought it odd that Aang asked them to sit on the couch in his den and wait. She listened to her mother and Sokka talk about the possible punishments the boys had endured. Toph pointed out that Aang seemed strangely happy, more so than usual.

Aang and Katara came into the room with smiles on their faces. They looked like the cat that had swallowed the sparrowkeet.

"What's the deal guys?" Sokka asked, "Why all the secrecy the past few days?"

They stood on either side of the door and Aang called out, "Hey Ten, come here."

Lin's eyes stretched wide when Tenzin walked into the room. He stood there shirtless and covered in newly inked arrows. She tried to focus on the arrows, after all, they were the thing he'd been working toward for most of his life, but she caught herself looking at how broad his shoulders were and how muscular he was even though he was thin.

"What is it?' Toph asked, "The blind woman doesn't know what's going on here."

Sokka leaned over and said, "Tenzin has his tattoos."

"Oh. Congrats Gramps."

"Thank you Toph." he said as he turned to show off the waves on his back.

"Hey, look at that." Sokka said and Toph punched him in his arm, "Oh, sorry. He has waves on is back."

"Sounds like a nice touch." Toph said.

The words "It is." slipped dreamily from Lin's lips before she could catch it. She blushed as she looked up at Sokka who was giving her a fatherly squint of disapproval.

"That's not all," Katara said, "Bumi, Kya, come in."

The other two siblings stepped in and turned around. Tenzin was standing relaxed, leaning to his left. Kya pulled her hair over her shoulder so it wouldn't cover the top of her tattoo. Bumi, never being one to pass up a chance to show off, flexed his muscles to try and make himself, and his new wolf tail, look bigger.

After describing the other two tattoos to Toph Sokka said, "Well sis, I guess you're the only one in the house who doesn't have a tattoo."

"Yes she does." Toph said "She told me she has one of the symbol of her betrothal necklace on her-"

"Toph!" Katara yelled at her old friend, "That was not for you to broadcast."

Everyone looked at Katara except for Sokka who leveled a suspicious eye at a blushing Aang. He wondered when he had tattooed his sister and exactly where this tattoo was.

*Revise 12/28*
I forgot to add a few things. I do not have a tattoo because I'm a big chicken and I am deathly afraid of needles, but I've been asking other people about theirs for years (people I know and people who came into placed I worked at). The consensus seems to be that the ones over bone and that cross the spine hurt like hell. One girl told me the ones on her legs and arms didn't hurt much, but the one on her foot and her ankle caused her to cry. The first guy I met in person who had a full sleeve was in the process of getting his back done. he showed me the lines (which in hindsight was weird because I was working in a gas station at the time, but hey, he showed me and I wanted to see) and said he was going back for the color that day. He said he wasn't looking forward to when they crossed his spine because that hurt like hell. Almost everybody I asked who had back tattoos said the same thing. I've also watched a few documentaries about it. That being said, I don't know what getting a tattoo is like, but I imagine that this is what getting air bender tattoos is like.

Also I think the Air Nomads would do tattoos the old Bornean way. If you want to see it got to "The Vanishing Tattoo Documentary - Part 4 of 6" on Youtube .

They make the tool at 3:44, the actual tattooing starts at 5:12.

You'll find out where Katara got her tattoo and when and how she got it in the next chapter. I'm trying to decide when I'm going to post it. If I post now it'll be a while before I post another one because I don't have anything else written yet. What do you think? Should I post the next chapter now and you'll just wait for the next one, or should I hold it for a few days?

If you want to see the kids' tattoos go to my DA page.