Hello, everyone! For those of you checking this out because you follow me and my other stories, don't worry, I am not abandoning them. I've just been lacking good inspiration lately, and my job leaves me exhausted most days. Not to mention that PSO2 game is super addictive! Try it out if you haven't yet; it's free!
Anyway, here's a little idea that popped into my head last week. I'm not as big a fan of Korra as I was of Aang, but I did like the overall plot. Here's the prologue introducing my OC and the main protagonist of this story. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Legend of Korra, or the Avatar series in general; just my OC.
Water, Earth, Fire, Air. Following the defeat of Firelord Ozai, Avatar Aang and his most trusted friends sought to bring peace to the world. Rather than eliminate their enemies to do so, they sought to establish unity between all four nations. With the help of Firelord Zuko, Avatar Aang transformed the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations; a society where benders and non-benders from all over the world, could live and thrive together in peace and harmony. The capital of this great land was dubbed "Republic City." Avatar Aang's symbol of unity and harmony stands to this day, years after his death, and eagerly awaits the coming of his reincarnation. But for now, Republic City must wait, and play host to many other extraordinary benders and non-benders. One such bender would be a member of Aang's own family; his first grandson.
Out of Aang's three children, only his youngest, Tenzin, was an Airbender. When his father passed away, Tenzin took Aang's place as the leader of the gradually reforming Air Nomads, and woefully took Aang's former position as the last Airbender. Had it not been for the Air Acolytes, non-benders who willingly chose to follow the teachings and culture of the nomads, and his loving wife, Pema, Tenzin might have fallen to despair. But the love given by his wife, and the friendship given by the acolytes, kept him from doing so. Even though the age difference between Tenzin and Pema was wider than most couples', they were truly meant for each other; and when they learned Pema was expecting their first child, their love only grew stronger. Unfortunately, destiny does not always lay out a smooth road for us to travel on.
To begin this story, we must first look to the last month of Pema's first pregnancy. When the young woman first arrived to Republic City to become an Air Acolyte, she never expected to fall in love with Avatar Aang's son, let alone marry him and carry his children. It had been just a little over a year since Aang's passing. No one on Air Temple Island was without tears that night; especially his family. She often missed the kind-hearted monk, and occasionally regretted not being able to have given him a grandchild before he passed. When she first began her relationship with Tenzin, she feared his parents were going to disapprove due to their age difference. When Aang noticed this, he took the time to assure the young acolyte he and his own wife thought nothing of it.
"Who am I to judge or deny your relationship?" he rhetorically asked her that day, smirking like a child as he did. "I married a girl who's, technically, ninety-eight years younger than me!"
It was so sad to lose her loving father-in-law. She could tell his death still weighed heavily on the rest of her family; though Tenzin had cheered up since she announced her pregnancy. Despite how Tenzin liked to pass himself off as a stoic, composed, Airbending master, Pema knew just how soft he truly was. Not a day had gone by where he neglected to kiss both her and her bulging belly good morning and good night. Everyone on the island was excited for the delivery, believing the baby was going to be the first in a new generation of Airbenders. Tenzin was the most exited for that outcome, for just about every reason. But Pema was just excited to finally be a mother; whether the child was an Airbender, or not.
"Now, are you sure you don't want me to stay home today?" Tenzin asked his darling wife. Ever since his mother, Katara, told them the baby would come in the next month, Tenzin was reluctant to leave the island, fearing he would miss the delivery. But since he was a member of the city council, and was driving Pema nuts with his incessant over-protectiveness, she was more than eager to get him out of the house.
"Honey, for the umpteenth time, yes!" Pema irritably replied. "I may be pregnant, but I'm not some porcelain doll that's going to shatter the moment your back is turned. Just go to work, and by the time you come back, I'll still be waddling around on swollen feet. Besides, if anything does happen, not saying it will, Katara's gonna be there in an instant. I've got the best healer in the world as my midwife, remember?"
"I know. I know." Tenzin sighed, sadly slumping a little. "I can't help it, okay? It's a guy thing. I can't make things any easier for you, so I try and overcompensate with being over-protective."
Seeing her husband was truly worried for her, Pema took pity on him and gave him a comforting kiss on the cheek, after pulling him down to her lips. "And I appreciate it. But don't go ignoring your job to Republic City and smother me as you do." she teased before kissing him again and playfully pushing him. "Now get going, or I'll yip-yip you, myself."
"Alright." he laughed before hugging and kissing her goodbye, but not before he crouched down to her belly and spoke playfully to it. "Okay, my little Airbender. Daddy has to go to work now. I'll be back later, but you just stay right here in your mommy, okay? Bye-bye, now." he cooed before kissing her stomach over her robes.
"Get out of here!" Pema laughed, shooing her husband away. As she watched Tenzin fly to the city on the back of his bison, she, ironically, felt a strong kick in her stomach from the baby. "Oof! Hey, weren't you listening? Your daddy just said to stay in there until he gets back." Another kick was the baby's response. "Yep, you're gonna be a wild one, for sure."
For the remainder of the day, Pema and her fellow acolytes performed their duties for the temple. Since she was married to Tenzin, Pema was the default head of the acolytes. So, the majority of them looked to her for direction on keeping the temple in top condition. Even though she was about ready to pop out her baby, she did her best to do as much of her usual work as she could. That being said, the incessant kicking she had been feeling that day did not make things easy. Having noticed this, Katara went to check on her daughter-in-law and found her in the kitchens.
One of the perks of being of being pregnant, Pema found, was the cravings for strange food combinations. A perfect example: lemon juice-soaked tea cakes topped with a miso drizzle; the very thing she was eating when Katara found her. "I see you haven't moved past your cravings yet."
"I don't what it is with this kid. I can't stop eating these crazy foods!" Pema exclaimed before stuffing her face with more miso cake.
While the sight made Katara chuckle, her concerns resurfaced when she reminded herself why she came. "Pema dear, are you alright? You've been wincing in pain all day."
"I'm fine, really!" she tried to assure. "It's probably nothing but false contractions. The doctor told me about them at my last check-up."
"Yes, but you shouldn't be experiencing them just yet. You're still around a month out." Katara pointed out as she took a seat next to her. "Pema, I know you've been frustrated with everyone treating you differently these past few months. You're a strong woman with an equally strong work ethic. It's frustrating to see the people you've labored with act like you're made of glass. Believe me, I know how that feels. I lost track of the number of times Toph Earthbended things out of my way, or rounded out stone and metal edges during all of my pregnancies."
"I just hate that I'm being treated this way. Even when I'm doing the simplest tasks, the other acolytes look like they're ready to catch me like I'm gonna drop. You know what I was doing before I was practically forced inside? Taking a walk!" Pema shouted in frustration before slumping. "Everyone's treating me like I'm the most delicate thing in the world, and I'm sick of it."
"Sweetheart," Katara gently said, cupping the young woman's face to make her see her own soft smile, "it's not just you we're all looking out for." she gently reminded as she moved her hand to Pema's belly. "It's this little miracle, too. And trust me, their overprotectiveness will be like a rain drop compared to an ocean when the baby comes. Everything you've received so far, you're going to dish out ten-fold when you notice just how dangerous everything is for a baby. And even when that baby grows up, and maybe becomes a powerful bender, you'll still do everything in your power to protect them from everything. No one worries more than a mother; especially a mother in this family."
Since that last sentence was an obvious reference to the ordeals Tenzin and his siblings put her mother-in-law through, Pema could not help but burst with laughter. Unfortunately, her laughter was cut short by another kick; only this time, it created an unnatural, sharp pain. The pain was so intense, Pema hunched over while her faced screwed in pain. Katara immediately rose out of her seat to her side. "Pema, what's wrong?"
"I-I don't know. I haven't felt this before. Gah! Something's wrong!" she cried out, her pain only increasing. As she tried to look to her mother-in-law for comfort, she began to realize half of her vision began to blur. "K-Katara?" she asked in fear before falling out of her chair.
Had Pema been with anyone else, she might have landed harshly on the wooden floor. But thankfully, she was with the greatest Waterbender in the world who, despite being in her 70s, had amazing reflexes with her bending. Knowing that a nearby barrel was filled with water, Katara quickly pulled out every last drop and used the mass to catch Pema, bursting the container in the process. Having heard the noise, three acolytes came barging into the kitchen for their mistress.
"Master Katara, what has happened?!" a middle-aged female acolyte asked in panic.
Knowing fully well there was no time for explanations, Katara concentrated the water to cradle Pema off the ground as it began to glow with healing energy. "You two, get the healing pool and my healers ready. You, send a transmission to Town Hall, immediately. Get Tenzin back here, now!" she ordered sternly as they scrambled.
"Katara…" Pema weakly pleaded, her condition growing worse by the second. Dropping her master-persona for her motherly one, the Waterbender did her best to give Pema a reassuring smile.
"Everything will be fine, dear. Don't worry." she gently said. But as the day went on, her words grew as hollow as an endless cave. Despite her reputation and skill as a healer, there was only so much Katara could do. Even with the help of her fellow healers, healing an unknown wound or ailment on a heavily pregnant woman was not easy. It baffled them all. None of them had come across anything like what Pema was going through, and it just kept getting worse.
When Tenzin received the Air Temple's message, he made his bison, Oogi, fly faster and harder than ever before. It was driving him mad how he was unable to help his wife and child. It also did not help all the other acolytes were too busy to calm his nerves. He was so panicked, he could not even bring himself to meditate; all he could do was pace about and let loose random, frustrated wind-blasts outside. Despite their occasional spats, Tenzin felt like he needed his brother and sister now more than ever.
Night eventually fell over Republic City, and the full moon brightly shined over everything from the clear sky. Pema was still half-way submerged in a special, shallow pool Katara designed for healing and birthing. Unfortunately, it seemed to be completely useless. Even after hours of healing, Pema was still in agony. Katara did her best to keep her composure and remain calm, but when she saw the stream of blood flow into the water, her eyes widened and her heartbeat quickened.
"Is that?" one of the healers gasped.
"Oh, no." another whispered in fear.
"What? What's happening?" Pema asked through her short breaths.
Katara realized just how severe Pema's condition was at that moment. There was only one remaining treatment she had yet to use. It was something she only used in dire situations, especially in healing. But given that her grandchild's, and quite possibly daughter-in-law's, lives were at risk, she did not hesitate. Steeling her resolve, she looked to her healers with a gaze as cold as her homeland.
"What you are about to see stays in this room. You will never speak of it for as long as you live. Understand?" she asked, not leaving any room for argument. Taking a deep breath and fully absorbing the power of the moon, Katara gently glided her hands about and used her bending to return Pema's blood to where it was escaping from. When it all returned, she turned to the most senior healer for instruction. "Patch up directly over where the blood is escaping. Drain the pool and move her to the bed."
"Where are you going?"
"…I need to speak with my son." she somberly replied. Following the sound of frantic steps and blasts of air, Katara found her youngest child just outside of the building she was in.
"Mother! How's Pema? Are she and baby alright?" he asked as he hurried over to her.
"Tenzin, there's no easy way for me to say this."
"What is it, Mother?" he asked in concern. "Is everything alright?"
"…I've done everything I can. But whatever is afflicting Pema, is beyond me. She will live, but the baby will…" Katara trailed, lacking the strength to finish such a horrible sentence.
"Mom?" Tenzin croaked, fear tightly gripping his heart as tears began to form.
"I'm so sorry, honey." Katara whispered as she silently wept for the family she had, and the member they were about to lose.
"…N-no. No!" Tenzin refused in desperation. "There must be something left for you to try!"
"Tenzin-"
"A-a technique you could use; a remedy we could make!"
"Tenzin-"
"I-I could find Kya and bring her here. She's just as good as you were at her age. I can take Oogi and-"
"Tenzin!" Katara cried out, snapping her son out of his desperate rambling. With wrinkled hand gently caressing his bearded face, wiping away his tears, Katara said all she needed to say with a heartbroken look. "It won't last the night. Go be with your wife and baby while you still can."
No one else in the world could heal like Katara, Tenzin knew this. He grew up listening to stories of his mother's power and witnessed it in many ways throughout his life. If she could not save his child, no other human could. And so, the last Airbender relented and allowed his mother to guide him to his wife and unborn child; a child he was never going to see, hear, or hold.
When they returned to the room, Pema was no longer in the pool. Having been dried off, she was now laying on the bed by the window, still looking utterly horrible. "Tenzin?" she weakly called out, her vision still blurry.
"I'm here." he choked out, rushing to her side and grasping her frail hand. Both of them had tears rolling down their faces as they held hands. Given the news they received, they each placed their free hand on Pema's stomach, trying their best to permanently remember the sensation their baby gave through it. Katara watched helplessly from the doorframe, her heart breaking over what her children were going through. All she could bring herself to do was pray.
"Please, Aang. Watch over our son and his wife in their time of need." she begged before leaving the room.
Prayers seemed to be the only thing left for anyone to do that night. Every acolyte prayed to the spirits to look their mistress after she lost her baby. Tenzin prayed to the spirits to look after his child when it passed on. But Pema had a different prayer in mind. Instead of giving up, she prayed to anyone she believed was listening, hoping to save her child.
"Spirits, Aang, anyone." she desperately pleaded as she slowly began to slip into slumber. "Please. Please save my baby. Don't take them from me! Don't take away their life before they're even born. I know my husband and I aren't any different from anyone else who have been in this situation, but please don't take them from us. Save our baby, please!"
Soon, all of Air Temple Island fell asleep, the burden of the day having taken its toll. Before every inhabitant fell asleep that night, they all dreaded what they were going to find the next morning. Even though Republic City was just minutes away, the deafening noise of the big city could not reach anyone's ears that night; nothing could. Not even the sound of the heavy footsteps made by the island's unexpected visitor.
Having heard the pleas and prayers from everyone on the island, a certain spirit decided to cross the plains and answer their cries. It was rare for spirits to answer such pleas from humans; especially for one such as he. But this was a special occasion. The humans who sent their prayers had a strong connection to a dear friend of his; a close, personal friend. When he learned they were his friend's family, the spirit did not hesitate to travel to the human world and help them. When he arrived on the island, he went directly to the open window by Pema's bed. Peering his head through, he could see just how dire the situation was. These humans were about to lose someone whom they very loved, even without knowing that person. Looking down at Pema's belly, the spirit gave it a few strong sniffs in order to figure out what to do. With his mouth slightly opened, the spirt sent a beam of pale light directly through Pema and into the dying fetus.
When the sun rose, Tenzin found himself alone in the healing room. Somehow, Pema managed to leave without waking him. When he recalled what happened the night before, he immediately jumped to his feet and frantically searched for his beloved. When he made it outside, he finally spotted her sitting on a bench watching the sunrise. At that moment, Tenzin believed the worst came during the night and his wife had come outside to grieve alone. But what he saw next completely baffled the Airbender; his wife looked completely healthy, practically glowing with happiness, and was still very much pregnant.
"Pema?" he asked in confusion.
"Oh, good morning, honey!" she cheerfully greeted, rubbing her belly as she walked over to him. "Looks like Daddy finally decided to wake up, huh?"
"I, uh, wha-how-how are you feeling?" he fumbled to say.
"Great! I haven't felt this energized since before the baby. Hmm, don't you just love that nice warm feeling you can only get from a sunrise?" she blissfully asked.
"But-but you and-and it were-how?!" Tenzin exclaimed, trying to figure it all out. He would have continued ranting had it not been for the gently placed finger on his lips.
"Tenzin, I don't think it really matters now. All that does matter is both the baby and I are feeling better than ever, and in just a few more weeks, we're finally going to be parents!" Pema happily reminded with a squeal of joy.
The poised, Airbending master side of Tenzin was still longing for answers. But the husband and father-to-be side of him was just as happy to the reaffirmed truth his wife just said. "You're right. This is a happy day that I'm not going to ruin by over thinking things. And in just a few more weeks, we'll be even happier than we are now."
Unable to contain herself, Pema threw arms around her husband and happily laughed as he did his best to spin her around in joy. True to their own words, just a few weeks later, and they happy couple found themselves feeling more joy and love than they ever thought possible. It took almost an entire day, but on a cool autumn evening, the first grandchild of Avatar Aang was born; a beautiful baby boy with black hair and mismatched eyes, one dark grey like his father's, the other almost as white as the moon.
"Okay, here we go." Pema softly cooed as she gently bounced her son. With Tenzin opening the door, the small family entered a cozy little room made just for the baby. "Welcome to your very first room, sweetie."
Given how long the delivery took, and how exhausted both parents were from their roles in it, they had yet to come up with a name for baby. Tenzin had some ideas in mind, all of them either exact names of deceased Airbenders or at least references to those names. Pema, on the other hand, wanted to give their baby his own, unique name; something that would just somehow match with him. But so far, neither of them could settle on something. Even then, the morning after the delivery, they were stumped on what to name their baby. As Pema took a seat in a rocking chair, taking in the beautiful face of her son, Tenzin took in his surroundings. Just barely a month ago, he feared such a sight would be lost to them. But by some chance or miracle, that catastrophe was avoided.
As the Air Nomad found himself gazing at his surroundings, he noticed something unexpected on the open windowsill. When he walked over to it, he saw it was a single acorn placed next to a small, wooden carving resembling some kind of forest animal. Curiously inspecting it, Tenzin looked to his wife for answers. "Pema, what is this?"
"I don't know. Maybe one of the acolytes made it?" she shrugged. "Why do you have an acorn?"
"It was next to the carving on the windowsill."
"Oh, maybe one of the lemurs brought it in."
"But there aren't any oak trees for miles." Tenzin reminded, "I've never seen an animal like this before. Maybe it's a message from the spirits."
"You think a spirit is watching over us?" Pema asked.
"Or maybe this little one." Tenzin softly replied as he looked down to his son with a smile. When he saw his father loom over him, the baby reached out towards him with a small smile. But when he saw the carving, he immediately tried to reach for it, instead. "Oh, do you like this? Huh? Is this what you want? Or do you want the acorn?" he teasingly cooed.
For some reason, Pema seemed just as drawn to the acorn as the baby was to the carving. It was as if there was a connection between her son and the simple, little tree nut. It may have been a calling from the spirits, or just sheer exhaustion from the delivery, but Pema finally came up with a name for her son.
"I think I know what I wanna name him." she informed.
"Really?" Tenzin asked, snapping out of his playful demeanor. "But I was gonna name him after Guru-"
"I don't think he's going to be an Airbender, honey." Pema gently interrupted.
"How can you tell?"
"Just a feeling. But he's going to be a really special boy, no doubts." she assured, gently rubbing her finger on their son's chest.
"On that, we both agree." Tenzin smiled before sighing in relent. "Okay, Pema. Whatever name you've picked, I'm sure is a great one. But I get to name the next one."
"Alright." she smiled as she stared into her baby's unique eyes. "Welcome to our little family, Xiang."
Well? What did you think? Hell of a way to introduce an OC, huh? Hopefully you guys are as big of Avatar nerds as I am and were able to pick up on the references I made. Also, any comments you want to give, feel free to leave them in a review; it's my favorite part about posting on here. If you're interested, go ahead and read the next chapter; not nearly as dramatic as this was, but it kicks things off in an interesting way. Like and follow if you want to stay updated!