Bend It Like Korra

avatarsnowy:

what must it have been like for Tenzin growing up knowing that it was just him and his Dad

Not that the burden of being the last Airbender wasn’t rough on Aang, too. of course it was. But that’s not the reality Aang grew up with. He lived out the first twelve years of his life surrounded by his people, learning the culture and customs and bending like any other boy his age, no real pressure to speak of except to learn Airbending and, well, he was a natural, wasn’t he? That’s hardly any pressure at all. He had a normal childhood.

But then he lost everyone and I can’t imagine how Aang must have felt, being the last, but he had the memories of his culture, he remembered training with his peers, he remembered Gyatso and the other monks, he had all of that to carry with him.

Tenzin didn’t though. I’m sure Aang and Katara raised him really well and taught him what he needed to know and everything, don’t get me wrong. I have no doubt he was well loved and that he was taught about his heritage and Aang obviously did a good job teaching him Airbending, but it was just him and Tenzin. And Tenzin had to realize that at some point.

Are Mommy and Kya the only Waterbenders?

Why not? You and I are the only Airbenders.

Why are there other Waterbenders and Firebenders and Earthbenders but no Airbenders?

Where did they go?

Are they coming back?

And how old was old enough, in Aang’s book, to tell Tenzin the truth? And was he afraid that Tenzin would be resentful to the Fire Nation? And Tenzin, how did he hold all of that? You’re a kid and you know you’re different from your mom and your siblings and the rest of your family, everyone but your dad, and that’s just a fact of life for a while, but you start to see that this isn’t the norm and you ask and what if you ask before you’re ready to learn the truth? When WAS he ready to learn? When DID Aang tell him that everyone like them was killed over a century before Tenzin was born?

Tenzin was the only other person in the world who could share Aang’s burden, but how did Aang feel about burdening his son with being one of the last Airbenders?

Did Tenzin listen to dusty stories from dusty scrolls, old prayers and myths, games and recipes and songs, and memorize like a school lesson what was simply life to his father? Did the distinction ever cross his mind? What was it like, being an Air Nomad by the voice of his father and words on paper instead of in the halls of a temple with dozens of other Airbenders? Was it a struggle, learning about his people? Was it an obsession? Did he thirst for information? Did he badger his dad to always tell him more, more tales, more memories, more tips?

And when Aang became quiet, when his spirit was stolen away to live in the body of some Water Tribe child, how did Tenzin feel when he realized that now, he was the only Airbender left?