🍃 How To Raise an Airbender 🍃

Waterbend those tears away...

Dates back to "The WaterBending Scroll"

"Alternate scenario: After watching Katara yell at him for excitedly showing off his waterbending skills, what would happen if Aang didn't hold back his tears at the girl?"

One of the easiest elements to master is water. Water is essential to our planet and is the best resource with the most purpose. But water is not a solid, it's a liquid. It's not very easy to carry with the palm of your hand, not if your hand trembles from your mind is clouded with fear, or with frustration, or with anger. For water has a mind of its own because it knows its purpose.

Once you master inner peace, and once you master mental and physical balance free from stress and from impatience, the water is yours to control, and for your own benefit. 

Katara, being gifted with waterbending abilities, saw water as nothing but a weapon sometimes. Given her age, she would find that fascinating. She would often be prideful in her waterbending skills, and it was her chance to feel this again after letting Aang know that if all else fails on their journey, she could happily teach him. 

But all of this changed in one single day when the children found an antique waterbending scroll out of a pirate ship selling goods at the local marina. Katara thought that this would be her chance to show Aang how much her waterbending skills would be more than just grace and enthrallment. To be training, and teaching the Avatar himself would be such a lucky opportunity for her. 

But how could she? If Aang was a fast learner? As every moment Katara went over a step he passed that step with flying colors. The more and more steps she tried to practice herself the young Airbender was just better than her in all ways. This was what drove her to so much exasperation that without thinking, she yelled at the little boy.

Katara: Will you please shut your air hole? Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes! Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted!

Big mistake. Katara thought this would get through to Aang, putting a stop to his showboating, and she thought Sokka would be in agreement with this once she looked at him. But no, her brother was taking no sides this evening. So he could only look at his sister with disappointment...

Katara: *bluntly* What? 

Sokka, still keeping his aggrieved face, raises an eyebrow at her 'rhetorical question', making Katara think if Aang did something if she thought it wasn't her. She turns her head around, and then her anger immediately dissipates. Aang was now tearing up... Katara's feelings have now flipped a switch at seeing Aang very, very saddened. 

Katara: Oh my gosh...  A-Aang??

But Aang doesn't stop the waterworks to listen, he turns around with his arms folding, and then he starts to cry. Not too loud, not too silently, not too messy, just enough for Katara to hear that she deliberately just yelled at an innocent child. A child who still doesn't know any better, and was just having fun.

Sokka could only look on appalled. This was not an ordinary mistake he's seen Katara make back at home, at least not when he was with her. But Sokka also knew that Katara was the girl who would immediately try to fix her mistakes, and clean up nicely afterward, so he decided to watch and see how this would pan. 

Katara, with her hopes, held high, walked slowly to Aang, and then she walked in front of him and took a knee. She put her finger at his chin, and then he softened his crying a little bit. Aang, with his vision blurred, saw that Katara too had glossy eyes because of how much the guilt was taking over her the moment she knew what she's done.

Katara: Aang, I'm so sorry... I don't know what came over me. I was just jealous at how much you learned to water bend quicker than I have, even at your age, and I shouldn't have let that be crossed with you. 

Aang: *taking several breaths!* K-K-Katara...? I-I didn't mean to-

Katara: *pulls Aang into a hug at his height* Shhh.... Shhh.... It's alright Aang... 

Katara would hug the boy until he slowly stops crying, and then he catches his breath from hyperventilating a little. Aang actually thought all would be lost if Katara stayed angry at him, for it was his fondness for her that made him a happy child most of the time of the day. But Katara didn't know this, at least not from his side of the plate of emotions. 

Katara, now getting up, looks at Aang and smiles and raising her finger slowly and gently, she water bends Aang's tears, tossing them aside. With his face now dry, Aang shifts his eyes down for a second, and then giggles at this new technique in waterbending. Katara smiles, now knowing that Aang feels better, but still, she felt so guilty for making the boy cry...

Katara: *giving the scroll to Aang* Here, you can have this Aang. I promise this won't happen again, so it's all yours :)

Aang looks at it and then smiles at this gift, but he respects that Katara has now decided to wait and learn water bending in a soon-to-be different alternative. And then he looks down and sees his winged lemur, Momo, hoping that this negative environment faded away. Momo climbs up Aang, and then jumps onto Katara's shoulder, making the two children laugh at what he was doing. Pets really do make their owners feel better.

(And so does Sokka, winking at us readers)