Legacy

Chapter 11

Wow, sorry for the long break! Things have been crazy, with school ending and whatnot, but summer's here and my ideas are coming faster, so hopefully I can stay on top of things! Anywho, this is going to be a continuation of Chapter 10. Aang's going to get involved. Be prepared for some fighting and feels.

As soon as Aang entered the house that night, he knew something was wrong. It was quiet; way too quiet. Something bad had obviously happened. He walked into the kitchen, expecting to find his wife, but was shocked to find it empty. Now very worried, he walked quickly to their room and opened the door. He found Katara curled up in their bed, crying. He shut the door and approached the bed, taking a seat beside her. He laid a hand on her back and spoke.

"Katara, what happened?"

Katara looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and mumbled. "Kids."

He frowned in confusion. "Kids? Our kids?"

She buried her face in a pillow and nodded, her small frame starting to shake again. He sighed and stroked her hair. "Love, I can't do anything until you tell me what happened."

Katara sat up and leaned against him. She told him what happened, stopping a few times to regain control. When she finished, Aang sat there, shocked. He knew his children didn't get along well right now, but he didn't know it was this bad.

Katara looked up at him. "Aang, what are we going to do?"

He sighed. "I don't know." He pulled her close and kissed her head. "I'll figure something out, though. Where are they all at?"

"Bumi and Kya are upstairs, and I think Tenzin went out for a walk or something."

"Okay." He got up and left the room. He paused in the hallway, trying to figure out how to proceed. Should he approach Tenzin or the older two first? As he thought of Tenzin, a wave of sympathy came over him. He knew how hard it was to be different. Then, he thought of his other kids, and a surge of anger overcame him. What has gotten into them? Why are they being so mean? There was no reason for them to pick on Tenzin like that; the kid had it bad enough without the bullying of his older siblings.

Aang made up his mind to confront Kya and Bumi first, so he headed upstairs. Bumi's bedroom was closest, so he checked there first. He found them in there, lounging on Bumi's bed, so he walked in and shut the door behind him firmly. The careless looks they gave him only angered him further, so crossed his arms across his chest and stared at them silently, trying to get his anger under control before he spoke. No matter how mad he was,  he didn't want to yell.

When he trusted himself enough to speak, he said, "Well?"

Kya and Bumi exchanged a glance and stared back at him with empty faces.

"Well, what?" Bumi asked calmly.

Any control Aang had was gone. "'Well, what'?! I'll tell you what! Your brother is missing, probably hurt beyond measure by what you two did, and your mother is downstairs, crying! You hurt your own flesh and blood, and you have the nerve to ask me 'well, what'?!"

A look of guilt flashed across their faces, but they covered it quickly. "Dad, we didn't mean to hurt mom."

"Oh, I see. You feel bad for hurting your mother emotionally, but beating your brother senseless is okay?! I can't believe you two!"

The two siblings were on their feet now, facing him. "Well, you know what?! We've had it with stupid Tenzin, your little 'airbending prodigy'!" Bumi yelled, making air quotes around the last two words.

"Don't even start with that, Bumi! You know  how important it is for Tenzin to learn airbending!"

Kya stepped forward and glared at him. "Oh, what, so we're not important?"

Aang rolled his eyes. "Kya, knock it off! Don't even try to guilt trip me. I'm sick of that nonsense from you two!"

Kya's  faced morphed into an expression of hurt mixed with anger, tears filling her eyes. "I'm not  trying to guilt trip you, Dad! How do you think we feel getting left out of everything? Do you even think of us when you're gone?!"

Aang was stunned into silence by her outburst, and didn't reply. Kya misread it for confirmation. The anger melted away, leaving only hurt. The tears flowed freely now, and Kya looked at him with a heartbroken expression. She bit her lip and nodded, trying to hold back a sob.

"That's what I thought." she whispered, and ran from the room crying freely now.

Aang blinked and came back to reality and realized what happened. "Kya, wait!"

After seeing his little sister's heartbroken expression, Bumi became enraged. "Great job, Dad! Like she doesn't hurt enough over this already!"

Aang turns back to his oldest son, some of his anger replaced with sadness and confusion. "What?"

"She cries over you! Every night! I can hear her from my room! Not even Mom can make her feel better! Because of you, she always feels like she's not good enough! I  feel like I'm not good enough!" The pain finally broke through. "We'll never be good enough for you." He put his poker face back on. "Now, I'm going to find my sister."

With that he ran from the room, leaving a stunned Aang behind. For a while, Aang just stood there. Then, his shoulders slumped, and he finally looked closer to his real age, like a man with the entire world sitting on his shoulders. He turned and left the room, ready to go find his wife, but found himself going in the opposite direction, towards his daughter's room.

He opened the door and stepped inside, taking everything in. It had changed since Kya was younger, a lot of her toys being replaced with items a teenager owned, but on her bed was a stuffed penguin-otter Aang had gotten her years ago, as well as her blue and yellow baby blanket. He sat down and took the stuffed penguin-otter, affectionately named Bobo ("Because it sounds like Momo!" a young Kya once said). He took her baby blanket in his other hand and let the memories come back. He remembered the late nights rocking her in the baby blanket when Katara was too exhausted, smiling affectionately at his tiny daughter. He remembered her excited grin when he handed her Bobo, and the warm hug and kiss he got afterwards. He smiled sadly and let a few tears go. Things were so much easier back then. But now, he could see, maybe it wasn't just Kya that was making it harder. In fact, maybe it was mostly his fault.

He touched the soft blanket to his face and shook, more tears coming. Just what damage had he done?