33 Changes

The young teenager stood on the banks of the Southern Water Tribe, his thick brown hair complete with warrior's wolf tail and three beaded locs blowing in the wind. His blue eyes lit up when the thing he was watching out for came over the horizon.

Appa, the Avatar's personal flying bison bellowed as he came into view. The young man turned and ran back to the village, back to Chief Hakoda who had been waiting for his son, son-in-law and grandson to arrive. He smiled at the young man's approach. Before the boy could say anything he said, "Ah, so they are here." he clapped his hands, "Boys! Take your places."

The chief's granddaughter approached him, wearing men's clothing and a huge smile, "This is going to be fun." she laughed.

"Yes, it is." the older warrior said, "Okay, go huddle up. And put on your hoods."

Kimi and the group of seven boys and young men did so just in time for Appa to touch down. Aang, Sokka and Bumi disembarked. "Hello Hakoda," Aang said as he reached his father-in-law, "How are you?"

"As fine as I can be." he answered.

"Grandpa!" Bumi said as he grabbed the man's arm for a warrior's handshake, then he pulled him into a strong hug.

"Hey!" the man said to his strong young grandson "Not so rough. I'm an old man you know."

"Oh stop it Dad." Sokka countered with a chuckle, "You're not that old."

Aang looked around, "Where's Ten?"

"Follow me." Hakoda said and he led them to the other side of the line of tents, "Gentleman, we have company." He announced, causing the circle of boys to stand tighter together. He turned to his sons, "Okay, this has been a rather interesting few months for Tenzin. We've decided to play a little game. You have to pick him out of a crowd, but you cannot speak to him, and you cannot look into his face."

Aang laughed, "Really Hakoda. Do you think I wouldn't know my own son?" he walked around the edge of the circle and he reached out and put his hand on the shoulder of the young man who was a little taller than Tenzin was when he'd left, "So, you've had a little growth spurt, have you Tenzin?"

The boy turned around and bowed, "Sorry Avatar Aang, I and not Tenzin."

Sokka and Bumi guffawed, "That's funny, Aang doesn't know his own kid." Sokka said.

"Close ranks!" Hakoda called and the boys moved into a line, shoulder to shoulder with their heads down.

"Let me handle this." Sokka said in a cocky manner as he strolled over to the lineup. He stepped down the line and noticed the different shades of brown hair peeking out from under the hoods, all except for one. "Hey Tenzin, how was your summer?"

The hood lifted and Sokka was shocked to see Kimi standing before him, her hair pulled into a tight bun. "I see Aang isn't the only one who doesn't know his own kid."

Sokka gathered her into his arms and hugged her tight, "Kimi! I thought you weren't going to be able to see us until later."

"Grandpa isn't the only one who can come up with pranks." she laughed.

"Okay you armatures, it's my turn." Bumi said as he folded his hands behind his back. He went behind the line and stepped back far enough that he could see all of it. "Hmm, this is a hard one. This is hilarious, you came all the way to the South Pole to get a sense of humor. Yeah, that's really funny Tenzy Wenzy."

At that a boy clenched his mitted fist. 'Gotcha' Bumi thought as he lunged himself playfully on his younger brother's back. They laughed as they hit the snow. "I knew that would get you. Man Tenzy, you got big. You've been eating meat or something." he asked as he got up and offered Tenzin his hand.

As Tenzin got to his feet, Aang and Sokka's mouths dropped. The small boy that they had dropped off five months earlier had grown a good seven inches and was about twenty pounds heavier. He was tall and thin with broad shoulders and as a little bit taller than Bumi. Then, with a mischievous smile, he pulled the hood off of his head.

"You have hair!" Aang and Sokka exclaimed at the same time.

Aang stepped forward and touched one of the locs hanging from the front of his son's head. He hadn't seen the thick brown hair since the boy was four years old.

"We had you fooled, didn't we father?" Tenzin said with a smile.

Aang hugged his son, "It's so good to see you Ten. Why didn't you write about…" he stepped back and gestured at his son, "about all of this."

"I wanted to surprise you." he said, tugging slightly at his hair.

"Well you did that." Sokka said, "Aang, if he's this tall now, he's going to outgrow you by the time he's fifteen."

.~.~.~.

They stayed at the Southern Water Tribe for three days and then headed home so they could be there when Katara got back from the Northern Water Tribe.

Kya, Lin and Toph were there to greet them when they returned. When they heard Appa, they headed towards his stable. About half way there, Toph recognized that the guys were dismounting. She stopped for a second and thought, 'That can't be gramps' .

As they got close enough to see the guys, Lin and Kya stopped in their tracks, "Is that...Tenzin?" Kya said and then ran to take a good look at her baby brother. "Oh my goodness, you're huge! And you have hair!" she said as she looked up at the boy that she was eye to eye with when he'd left.

Lin stood back and looked at Tenzin. They had written each other on a weekly basis. He'd apologized again for kissing her in the cave, he'd confided in her that he'd tried meat and felt sick and guilty for an entire week, and he'd told her all about ice dodging and the new friends Kimi was introducing him to.

'That jerk didn't tell me he grew,' she thought 'and he grew hair. And it's really nice hair too. How dare he not tell me that he went to the South Pole and got hot?' she paused in her thoughts for a second, 'Whoa, where did that come from?' she asked herself as her mother passed her.

"Did you say Gramps has hair?" Toph asked as she walked up to the boy.

"Yes Toph, I do." Tenzin said as Toph reached up to touch his head.

"So," she said, "Apparently you went away and turned into a hunk." she got a crooked smile when she felt her daughter's heart skip a beat, "Is he a hunk Lin?"

"No Mom, he's just...Tenzin." the girl said as she stepped forward and held one of his beads between her thumb and forefinger, "What's with all the secrets?" she asked then let the bead bounce on his face.

"I do not have to tell you everything." he said to his best friend, a slight blush coming across his face.

Tenzin was not the only one who had changed. As Lin was looking at him, he was getting a good look at her. She was a little bit taller, but only a couple of inches, and she had blossomed. Lin had all those lovely curves that Bumi always seemed so fond of. All of a sudden what Bumi had said in their hideout a couple of years earlier made all the sense of the world.

.~.~.

It was late when Katara returned. Aang was at the bison caves when Hariti arrived. He didn't wait for her to land, he jumped up on Haiti's head and grabbed his wife, hugging her and locking his lips to hers, "I've missed you so much." he said between kisses, "Three months is too long."

He scooped her into his arms and floated them down to the ground. She looked around, "Where are the kids?"

"They're at the house." he answered, "I wanted you all to myself for a few minutes."

.~.~.

As they neared the porch, Katara saw her son leaning against one of the post with his back to her. "Why didn't you tell me Bumi cut his hair?" she asked her husband.

"Well-"

"And he grew a little bit, my boy is growing up too fast."

"You don't know the half of it." Aang said with a smirk, "Hey son, look who I found."

The boy turned around, "Mother, how was your trip?" Tenzin said as he came down toward Katara.

She looked at Aang and then back at Tenzin, "Look at my baby." she said placing her hands on his cheeks, "You went and grew up on me. And look at your hair."

"Do you like it Mother?" he asked, tugging at the back of his hair.

Katara pulled Tenzin's hand away from his head, recognizing the nervous habit. It was the same thing she would do when she was that age. "You're beautiful no matter what you do." She gushed. For the first time since he'd started dressing himself, he looked outwardly Water Tribe.

"Hey, what about us?" Bumi said, as he and Kya came outside to hug their mother.

"All of my babies ore beautiful." she said, opening her arms to them.