Walk The Path

Chapter Twenty

3 Months Later

Graduation day

"I'll be right down!" Aang yelled before smirking at himself in the mirror. He had defeated Ozai three months ago, yet he was still getting used to being back in his own bedroom. Every day felt like he was readjusting to being home, to feeling safe. Two and half years ago, he had lost faith in ever knowing what safety would feel like. While his hope had returned, he still woke up in the middle of the night often, still held onto Katara tight daily. Aang wasn't sure if that feeling of hypervigilance would ever go away completely.

Aang eyed his yellow and orange robes that hugged his silhouette and the matching yellow cap with a tassel perched snuggly on top of his head. A smile formed across his lips as he remembered how Gyatso sewed graduation robes for him, due to the school only having red, blue, and green robes available. The school could have made a robe for him in Air Nomad colors, but Aang had totally forgotten about graduation until a few weeks ago, which was not enough time for his school to order robes. Giving himself a lopsided grin at his reflection in the mirror, he grabbed his phone and headed downstairs.

"There he is! I hope you're not too grown up for some egg custard tarts," Gyatso said with a smile as he stood at the kitchen counter.

Aang laughed, "I will never be too grown up for those. Are these for later or for now?" The mischievous look on the airbender's face elicited a guffaw from Gyatso. His guardian gave an approving nod and before he could grab silverware, Aang had picked up a custard tart, inhaling it in what had seemed like one bite. "I'm still growing, you know." Gyatso grinned, "Of course, you are. Soon you'll be moving to downtown Republic City and attending council meetings. I still can't believe it." Gyatso's face was filled with a bittersweet expression.

Aang's eyes became shiny with tears, "I can't believe it, either. Speaking of that, the Council asked me if I'll be appearing as a traditional Master Airbender. I've been thinking about it a lot more lately." His mind flashed back to seeing his parents, both with head to toe blue tattoos and shaved heads, just like Gyatso. This tradition had become less customary in the past 20 years, with both Aang's parents and Gyatso encouraging him to make the choice on his own. Aang was staunchly opposed to getting his tattoos and shaving his head, he had a hard enough time fitting in when he was announced as the Avatar. But after the death of his parents, and the belief by Ozai that airbenders were weak, Aang felt that he wanted to get his tattoos more and more each day.

Gyatso tried to hide an excited smile as he asked, "Well, that's up to you. It's not something to be taken lightly. And the tattoos are done the old way, which means painful. What do you want, Aang?"

Aang thought for a few moments before responding, "I think I want it all. Tattoos and shaving my head. I want everyone to know who I am and that I'm proud to be an Airbender." He looked over to Gyatso, who had a smile on his face and tears filling his eyes. Aang's guardian only quietly nodded as a steady hand rested on his shoulder. Gyatso whispered through choked tears, "Your parents would be so proud of who you have become. You may have had help, but you accomplished this on your own. Don't let anyone take that away from you." Gyatso cleared his throat as he resumed, "We'll have plenty of time for that before you move downtown this fall, but for now, let's go get your diploma."

Arriving at his school made Aang's stomach flip. The culmination of the numerous challenges he had faced since enrolling at Kyoshi High School was on the horizon. Aang walked proudly with Gyatso, breathing deep as he wistfully hoped his parents could have seen him reach this moment. He wondered if what Gyatso had said was true. He wasn't sure if they would be proud of him, if they would agree with the choices he had made. The musical laugh of his girlfriend a few feet away pulled him from his dark thoughts.