The Carefree Airbender

Introduction

Tenzin stared down at the baby boy in his arms as he thought about the past. This was his newborn son, Minato.

Tenzin was dating a non-bending girl named Yukiko almost a year ago and fell in love with her. Tenzin soon discovered Yukiko was pregnant, which filled him with joy at the thought of becoming a father. But the stress of childbirth was too hard on Yukiko, and she died shortly after giving birth to their son.

Now Tenzin stood at the pier on Airbender Island as he stared down at the child with a tuft of blonde hair as the boy opened his eyes to reveal the bluest, most beautiful eyes Tenzin had ever seen. A tear came to his eye as he smiled at his son, who giggled and reached for him.

"I'll look after our son, Yukiko. I promise," Tenzin said as the baby Minato laughed and reached for Tenzin as a soft gust of wind blew in Tenzin's face.

~(Age 5)~

Minato, now five years old, ran about the island laughing with joy as he flipped off a roof, landing perfectly as he ran through the house doing flips and tricks while using airbending to augment his abilities.

Tenzin watched with a smile as he saw Minato create an air scooter and ride around on it, balancing perfectly.

~(Age 8)~

Minato was seen sparing with Tenzin, who thrust his fist toward him, creating an air punch. Minato flipped off the ground and spun as his body was parallel to the ground while the air punch flew right under him.

While in the air, Minato fired off a quick air blast at Tenzin, which connected, making Tenzin throw his arms up to protect his face. As Tenzin was covering his face, Minato landed on the ground. He continued to spin, flowing into a powerful air swipe with his foot which hit Tenzin's feet with enough force to send them back and off the ground as Tenzin was now parallel to the floor.

Tenzin looked at his son in shock; not only had Minato outmaneuvered him, but he'd also outpowered him. 

The world seemed to move in slow motion as he watched his eight-year-old in the middle of a movement stare back at him with deep and focused blue eyes that reminded him of Minato's mother, Yukiko. 

This shock did not last long as a powerful compressed air blast slammed into Tenzin's back, making him faceplant into the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath him.

"Oh, man! Dad, you okay?" Minato yelled worriedly.

"Ugh," Tenzin groaned, pushing himself up enough to look at his son. "Never better," he said painfully.

Hearing a giggle, Minato turned to see his one-year-old baby sister Jinora crawling on the ground towards them.

Minato quickly went over to her and scooped the baby Jinora up in his arms as he made a tiny airball on the tip of his finger and played with her as she laughed and giggled.

Finally recovering, Tenzin walked over to Minato, and Jinora as he smiled at them.

"Minato, I've taught you all I know, and you've mastered every technique we have. It's time to get your tattoos," Tenzin said happily as the smile on Minato's face slowly vanished.

Seeing the look on Minato's face, Tenzin became worried.

"Minato? What's wrong?" he asked as Minato looked away sadly. Tenzin kneeled to his son's height. "It's okay, son. You can tell me anything," he said.

"Dad, I don't want my tattoo's," Minato confessed as Tenzin looked at him in shock.

"Why-Why not?" Tenzin asked.

"I want to be more than just an Airbender, and if I get my tattoos, I'm locking myself down to being just another Airbender," Minato said timidly as Tenzin looked at his son in shock before it morphed into understanding.