Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.
Chapter 2
Culture
Aang followed Toph out of the limousine as the camera flashes began to go off. Of course the media had somehow gotten wind of the fact that the two of them had spent their summer vacation together, but still managed to leave out the details of all the other people that went with them. Toph had already informed the school of the likely commotion and told them to just let it happen. She laced her arm around Aang's and allowed him to lead her to her first class with the reporters and camera's nipping at their heels and barking questions at them.
"You know that you're eventually going to say yes, don't you?" Aang asked with a confident smile on his face.
"I'm not so sure about that," Toph teased him.
They stopped in front of her first period classroom and he turned her towards him.
"Will you please drop the stubbornness for two seconds and tell me what I want to hear?"
Toph smiled mischievously at him before getting up on her tiptoes and kissing him for the cameras.
"Maybe if you ever ask me right," she smiled in reply.
Aang's smile followed her through the doorway of her class all the way to her desk. Once she was seated with her back to him Aang turned around and led the crews back to the limousine without even giving them a second thought. He was getting much better at handling the paparazzi lately.
"So," Ty Lee prompted when Aang sat back down in his seat.
"So nothing," Aang replied.
"Aw. Don't worry your bald little head about it, Aang-y," she smiled. "You'll get her eventually!"
"I'm not sure if I feel teased or comforted," Aang chuckled as Kuzon pulled the limousine out of the Hui-Ying Fai Institute parking lot.
Aang had enough to think about for the day without trying to convince Toph to just accept his proposal like he knew she eventually would. For one thing he was still a little sore and that trek to her class was more taxing than he would have thought. More importantly though was picturing the looks on all the faces at school once he got there. The car ride was too long for his excitement level.
"Need any help?" Ty Lee asked when Kuzon opened the door for them.
"A little," Aang grinned. "If you don't mind."
"Not at all!" Ty Lee replied as she pulled him out of the car.
Ty Lee did as she saw Toph do and wrapped an arm around Aang's to help give him a little support as he slowly moved into the cafeteria of the public high school. A few familiar faces greeted him and Ty Lee with surprise when they saw how she was hanging on him.
"Is there something you guys wanna tell us?" Ria teased them as Ty Lee helped Aang sit down in a chair.
"Did you break another leg?" Smellerbee joked.
"Looks more like a couple a ribs," The Duke said, poking Aang with his plastic spoon.
"I could go for some ribs right now," Pipsqueak said as he licked his lips.
"Why do these people always sit with me?" Mai complained to herself.
"And what's with the ski cap?" Ria asked. "And the gloves? It's like twenty-one Celsius outside!"
"I'm just a little cold!" Aang fibbed with a smile. He rolled the stocking cap up just above his ears and everyone stared at him.
"Dude!" Smellerbee pointed. "Baldy got pierced!"
"Twice!" Ty Lee grinned as she played with the two small golden loops hanging from Aang's left ear.
"Just what he needed," Mai said. "More holes in his head."
"I think it's hot," Ria said. "Not many guys can pull off the earring thing, but it kinda looks right on you!"
"What'd your dad have to say about it?" The Duke asked.
Before Aang could answer the question, the first bell began to ring. Ty Lee helped him get to his first class, but then told him he would be on his own for the rest of the day. He was looking forward to meeting new people this year, especially since it was his third and final year of high school. Maybe he would be able to help some of the new first years out with getting used to high school life. While he was thinking about these things though, he failed to notice that he was attracting the attention of the person he was sitting next to.
"I can't believe I'm stuck sitting next to you."
Aang only smiled at Kaze and his new gold and silver streaked dye job.
"It's good to see you again, Kaze."
"The feeling isn't mutual."
"Sorry to hear that."
The instructor walked into the classroom and shut the door just as the second bell sounded the beginning of classes. As she walked up to the board she quickly scribbled her name up on it in barely legible handwriting before introducing herself.
"Good morning class," she said with a creeping looking grin plastered on her face. "I am Joo Dee, you may address me as . . . Excuse me, young man but there are no head coverings allowed in my classroom."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Aang smiled. He pulled off his stocking cap and just smiled.
It was a better moment than he could have ever hoped for. Everyone's eyes were wide open and on him. Granted he did not do it for the sake of attention, but it was still pretty cool to have everyone looking at him like that.
"Go to the bathroom and wipe that ridiculous drawing off this instant," Joo Dee instructed.
"I can't do that ma'am," Aang replied. "It won't exactly come off. It's a tattoo."
The reaction that got out of his teacher would have made Toph proud. She stammered and stuttered as Aang wore his arrow on proud display. The three spiraling winds insignia that Toph had engraved on his dog tags was directly in the center of his forehead while black curving characters surrounded them, forming the shape of a large arrow that trailed down his head towards his back.
"Wait just one moment, young man," Joo Dee ordered.
The teacher grabbed the telephone sitting next to her desk on the wall and dialed what Aang could only assume was the school office. Meanwhile, he went ahead and spoke with his fellow classmates.
"Are you insane?" one of them asked.
"That is totally sick," another said.
"Where'd you get it done?"
"Did it hurt?"
"It still hurts," Aang laughed. "I just got it finished about a week ago."
"Finished?" someone asked. "How long did it take?"
"The entire second half of summer break," Aang answered.
"Just to do that?"
"No," he broadly smiled. "To do the whole thing."
Aang pulled off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves to show the matching arrows that were on the backs of his hands and traveled up his arms.
"Sweet!"
"They go down my legs too," Aang said proudly. "After getting 'em done, I had to make sure they didn't get too dry though so I had to keep putting this ointment stuff on. Made it really difficult to go anywhere since I pretty much had to coat my whole body in it."
"So where do they end?" one of the girls asked with a seductive smile on her lips.
"Well, the ones on my hands wrap around to the inside of my biceps, the one on my head goes all the way down my spine, and the two on my feet go around and up my legs to the upper parts of my thighs."
"I'd like to see that," she said, making Aang blush.
"Go to the office immediately!" Joo Dee suddenly shouted. "Everyone else, back to your seats!"
Aang took his time getting to the office. He knew that there would not be anything to discuss with the deans of the school until Gyatso got there anyway. They would probably just tell him he had made a poor decision and try to lecture him on being a responsible young adult. Or if he was lucky they might be understanding rather than condescending. Not likely though.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Aang?" the principle asked from behind his desk.
"Is my dad on the way yet?"
"He has been called."
"Then I'll just go ahead and wait until he gets here," Aang smiled. He began to look around the room and saw a few interesting pictures and trophies along the walls and shelves. "I like your office. Hey, is that your college degree? My friends Sokka and Suki go to that university. I've never been there, but I hear they have great classes. I'm thinking about looking into the child development courses."
"Child development?" the principle asked.
"Yeah! I love kids! Animals too!" Aang could not help but feel excited as he began to speak. "I've been thinking a lot over this past year about what I'm gonna do, right? Well I figure if the two things I like best are kids and animals, maybe it should be something that combines the two! See, I'm adopted and I know what it's like to not have anyone to share that connection you get from family. I figure maybe I could come up with a way for orphans and animals to be together, like the kids having to take care of orphaned animals or something."
"Sir," the school secretary interrupted over the intercom. "The boy's father is here."
"Send him in, please."
The door opened and Aang saw Gyatso bow politely to the secretary before entering the office. He pat Aang's head as he gave the same polite bow to the principle.
"Have a seat please, sir," the principle said.
"Thank you," Gyatso replied as he did so.
"You no doubt know why you've been called in."
"I am aware of your concerns, Principle Cong," Gyatso said. "But please be aware that this is due to my influence on my son."
"Your influence?" Principle Cong repeated. "How so?"
"You see in our culture when a young person has found the path that they wish to follow in life, it is customary to express that path. The most common expression of our identities is through imagery that we paint onto our own bodies. I myself have a tattoo that covers the entirety of my back."
"So you're saying that this tattoo is supposed to be an expression of Aang's identity," Principle Cong said. "Aang, do you care to explain how this tattoo is supposed to represent you?"
"Gladly," Aang smiled. "You see, my girlfriend is the one who gave me these." Aang held up the dog tags on his necklace. "They're both symbols that represent the wind. The wind itself is in constant motion, going from one place to the next and constantly changing direction. That's a lot like I was when I was a kid. I got moved from place to place because I had no home and no family. After Gyatso adopted me, I was still moving from place to place because of his anthropology work."
"That's a poor explanation," Principle Cong said. "You've just described to me how you've got a fairly good idea on where your life is going."
"That's true," Aang said. "But there are other characteristics about the wind that I identify with. I want to be like that soft blowing wind that helps comfort people after one of those really bad days. The kind that you can just sit out in and left flow over you and help you relax and unwind. I want to be that for the kids that are like I was. I want to be that breath of fresh air that they feel like they never seem to get. And there's another reason I'm like the wind, sir," Aang smiled. "Just like your name means clever, mine actually means gentle breeze."
Principle Cong took in all of this information. It was difficult to know how to proceed with this turn of events. It was clear that a tattoo, especially one as noticeable as Aang's could be troublesome within the school. However, to say that a person's cultural heritage was not acceptable would be just as troublesome. The decision would be so much easier if the markings were not so blatantly placed.
"If I may say, Principle Cong," Gyatso said. "Such a thing does not have to be such a dilemma. Allowing students who have their parent's consent to express themselves in such ways may be a welcome change to the school."
"It is something that I will have to put much consideration to," Principle Cong said. "I would appreciate it if you would cover yourself in the meantime. I can't have you distracting other students from their studies."
"Yes, sir," Aang said as he put his stocking cap back on. "You want me to put my gloves back on too?"
"That won't be necessary," Principle Cong chuckled. "Enough of our students draw on their hands that it won't be a problem."
"Are we done then?" Aang asked.
"We are," Principle Cong answered. "Thank you for taking the time to come so quickly, Gyatso."
"Not at all, Principle," Gyatso bowed. "I completely understand your concerns."
"And Aang, I really do wish you would have considered informing the school of this before we resumed classes."
"Sorry, Principle Cong," Aang smiled. "I couldn't help myself!"
As Aang and Gyatso left holding a conversation of their own, Principle Cong could not help but smile.
"He's a good kid. A handful, but a good kid."
A/N: So how many of you guessed the tattoo? At least two of you! Note that I used the movie style tattoo rather than the cartoon. I think its better than all blue personally. Reviews please!