*Finally, I know this Chapter is late but it's also a long one. Just so you guys know updates might slow down a bit for the next month and a half or so, we're past midterm and school assignments like projects and papers are coming due for me and that stuff has to come first but I'll do the best I can*

Episode 14: Let Her Be Little

"The Greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of love and the wings of independence." – Denis Waitley

9 Months Later:

Six months passed and spring came again to Republic City. Everywhere, both on Air Temple Island and in the city itself, cherry trees bloomed with their beautiful, fragrant pink blossoms that signaled the annual rebirth of the region's plant and animal life. Appa's new coat had come in, and Aang and Katara had bathed him in the island's only freshwater lake the previous day to get rid of the rest of the previous year's so that he'd stop shedding.

There was plenty more in the city that was new, Toph had been appointed to be the chief of police, since the police force was now comprised almost entirely of metalbenders and Toph had trained most of them, it only made sense that she should be the one to lead them.

There are was an air of excitement in Aang and Katara's house that morning. Aurora, who had woken up well before sunrise, tiptoed from her room into her parents', still wearing her purple pajamas, but found that they were both already awake as well. Only her little brother and sister, who still slept with their parents, remained asleep in the giant bed. The twins had their own rooms but still slept with Mommy and Daddy, a fact Aurora hated immensely because she was no-longer allowed, except when Daddy had to travel alone or if she came in and begged after having a nightmare. 'We moved you into your own room when you were two… they still have a few months to go.' Daddy had reminded her when she'd complained.

She both loved and hated growing up. There were some things about being little, like sleeping with her parents, that she wished didn't have to end. Then there were the parts that were thrilling, like today. With her fourth birthday come and gone… she was finally old enough to start school at the academy in the city, the best part of all being the fact that she would finally have kids her own age to play with. She only had one cousin so far, and she was even younger than the twins. School on the other hand, would put her in a class full of children between four and five years old like her. She couldn't wait to put on her new uniform and head into town.

Aurora found her mother in the kitchen slicing watermelon and squeezing guava juice for breakfast. She tiptoed as quietly as she could until she stood right beside her. Mommy and Daddy had told her a few weeks ago that in a few more months they would have two new babies, yet another set of twins… Aurora didn't quite understand the whole thing. How did Mommy and Daddy know that? Mommy was starting to look a little bigger around than she normally did… was that it? And how had the babies gotten in there? How were they gonna get out? No matter how hard she tried to figure it out, it just didn't make sense.

"Good morning Aurora…" Katara told her without looking away from her work. "Are you excited?"

"I can't wait!" Aurora replied. "Hey Mommy, where's Daddy?" she asked.

"He's outside, meditating… do you want to be my little helper this morning?" she asked.

"Sure…" Aurora replied with a smile.

Katara then handed her a plate with a slice of watermelon on it.

"We need to set the table for breakfast, would you take that over and put it in Daddy's spot please?"

"Ok…" she replied, then she carefully carried the plate into the next room and set it down in Aang's usual place at their large, low dining table.

It wasn't long before Katara followed her with hers and Aurora's slices. Aurora's was cut in half and had the wrine removed to make it easier for the little girl to eat.

"Ok, now you can help by going and telling your father it's almost time to eat, tell him to get the twins up and then you come in and wash while I finish setting the table… ok?"

"Ok Mommy…" Aurora replied, then she scurried off to do what she'd been told.

Meanwhile, Aang was mediating on what would happen later that same day. It was so hard to believe that already, his little girl, his firstborn, was starting school. It seemed like only yesterday that she'd been born. She'd grown so much in that time, yet she still seemed so very little… her training as a waterbender was only just getting underway… and already it had been made clear that she'd inherited her mother's natural talent… progressing quickly through the most basic set of forms despite her young age. He was so proud of her, but sometimes he wished he could stop time and keep her tiny and innocent a lot longer. Still, he knew she needed this. It was a major opportunity that neither he, nor Katara had, had, and when they were younger it hadn't been necessary except maybe in the Fire Nation, but in their changing world it was probably Aurora's best chance. Plus would give her the one thing that so far they had failed to find, the chance to make friends that were her own age instead of just adults and children who were either significantly older or younger.

That's when he felt her jump up and hug him from behind, dragging him back to the present.

"Morning Daddy…" she told him.

"Good morning Sweetheart…" he replied.

"Mommy says it's time for breakfast, and she wants you to get the twins up."

"Ok… I'm coming…" He replied.

Aurora smiled, kissed him on the cheek, slid down and skipped into the house. Aang followed, but passed her, running at top Airbender speed.

Ten minutes later, Aang brought the twins, roused from sleep, into the dining room, where there was a bowl of tiny round pieces of watermelon waiting for each of them. He handed Bumi to Katara and sat down next to her with Zéia still in his arms.

He and Katara fed the twins, taking a bite of their own slice, then giving the child they were holding a piece of theirs.

"Alright, we need to get going if we're going to get there on time. Aurora Sweetie, go get dressed…" Katara told her daughter when they'd finished eating.

"I'll clear the table and do the dishes…" Aang offered.

"And I'll get the twins dressed." She replied, picked Zeia up out of her father's lap.

Another twenty minutes later, Katara was combing through Aurora's long brown hair, pulling it back into pigtail braids that when finished came to rest on her shoulders. The little girl sat nicely in the white shirt which was fastened at the front by a small pin bearing the school's insignia, and low, black jumper with wide straps that covered her shoulders, which together made up the primary school uniform.

When she was satisfied, Katara brought her daughter to her feet and turned her around.

"Beautiful…" She commented, taking both her daughter's hands. "So…are you ready?"

"Uh huh…" She replied with a small nod in the affirmative.

"You're sure…? Because we could just as easily wait until next year…" She offered. It seemed like this day had come so quickly. To her, Aurora was still her baby, she belonged here, with her and Aang… but holding her back from what she was ready for wouldn't be good for her in the long run; and Katara knew it. She'd grown up so fast… "Enjoy it you two, they don't stay this little for very long…" GranGran had told them when they'd gone down to the South Pole to visit when Aurora was a year and a half old. As usual, she'd been right…

"What? No… I wanna go…!" Aroura exclaimed, stomping her foot.

"Ok Dear, this year it is…" Katara assured her, buckling her tiny shoes and tying the black silk ribbon so that it didn't look loose around her collar and came to form a bow at the front, secure but not tight enough to choke her.

"Hey…ladies…are we ready…?" Aang asked, poking his head into Aurora's room.

"Almost…" Katara replied.

"The twins are getting restless and we'll be late for the ceremony if we don't get going soon." He reminded them, that's when he saw Aurora, and almost cried. "Aurora…"

"Do I look pretty Daddy?"

"Beautiful…and so grown up…"

Aurora smiled broadly, beaming with pride and excitement.

"Let's go…" He beckoned.

Before long they were on their way, flying on Appa's back deep into the heart of the city where a long, three story, gray, brick building, topped with a black tiled pagoda roof that had a large courtyard with a playground stood at the end of one of the main streets.

They touched down off to the right of the front steps outside the building just as they saw Sokka and Suki walking toward them.

"Uncle Sokka! Aunt Suki! You guys are here!" Aurora exclaimed, sliding down from Appa, running toward them and jumping into Sokka's outstretched arms.

"There's our girl… Of course we came, we wouldn't miss this for the world…" Sokka replied, hugging her.

"How'd you get the day off from the council Sokka?" Katara asked.

"Simple, all the other council members have school age kids, luckily they were all moving up from one level to the next, so they had reason to be here today too, so we voted unanimously to cancel today's council meeting…" He explained.

"That was lucky…" Katara replied.

That's when they heard one of the teachers from the top of the steps. "First years over here, all first year students follow me…" he called. The teacher himself couldn't be more than twenty years old and wore the adult version of the boys' uniform, a plain, black suit with a stand-up collar, which fastened down the front.

Aurora jumped down out of Sokka's arms but she hesitated. She looked up at her family, her parents, her brother and sister who rode, one on her father's shoulders, and one in a sling on his back, at her aunt and uncle… only after they smiled and nodded in the affirmative, did she run up and get in line with the other students.

At the same time, someone else directed family members to the auditorium.

School was new territory for this group, the four of them weren't entirely sure what to expect, but as they entered the auditorium they came into a giant room with a stage surrounded by wooden bleachers. The older students, save a few who could be seen setting up various last minute details on the stage, were standing in neat rows on the floor in front of the stage, apparently waiting for something. There were probably about four or five hundred of them ranging in age from five or six up to sixteen or seventeen and were grouped by class years. Katara and Aang took their seats in the fourth row up, setting the twins in between them. Sokka and Suki joined them, sitting next to Katara just as the other parents and relatives were filing in. Only once everyone was seated and a hushed but excited silence had fallen on the crowd did the headmaster come onto the stage to speak.

"Welcome students, parents, and family members, as many of you know…eleven years ago the hundred year war finally ended, nine years ago our beloved city was freed from the control of both the Fire Nation and the Earth kingdom and instead of being returned as lost property, we were allowed to build something new out of the ashes of over a century of conflict and colonialism. Finally, two years ago, the council voted to take our scattered and inconsistent education system, a left over from our colonial past, and unify it into something more befitting our new republic as a way to prepare the next generation to lead us into the future. While many of our students came in at varying levels when this school was founded this is only the third time I have great pleasure of welcoming a class of brand new first year students. Without further ado, let's let them join us…" He concluded.

He nodded to a group of older students sitting in chairs with various instruments who began to play a triumphant, almost regal sounding tune as a parade of roughly fifty or so four and five year olds were led into the room by the same teacher who had been waiting for them outside. They made their way up the center isle in two lines and filed into rows on either side, in front of the older students. There were a total of four rows of them.

As soon as the last student had taken his place in the crowd, the Head Master signaled for the first row on the left to come up onto the stage. Then, after a short address from the student body representative he called each student's name and they stepped forward.

It took about two hours to get through all the first years, then, after the two first year teachers were introduced, they descended from the stage, were led out of the auditorium and to their classrooms.

As Aurora followed her fellow students down the hall she heard her new classmates whispering around her.

"Did you see that Arrow-Headed guy?" the boy behind her asked.

"My mom told me that Airbenders used to have tattoos like that…" the girl next to him offered.

"Why would Avatar Aang come to a school entrance ceremony…?" Someone else asked.

"Gee…I wonder…why were our parents here?" The first girl pointed out.

"The Avatar as a dad….? Another girl asked, sounding so though she found that to be a strange and novel concept.

"Well only the first years like us had their families at the entrance ceremony… so I guess that means that somebody in our year is the avatar's kid…" the first boy realized.

Aurora wasn't sure what to say or do, she'd gone from being a little nervous but mostly excited to just plain nervous. Now they're talking about me...but...they don't know it's me... She hadn't expected this. She knew she was the daughter of the avatar but she'd never thought about it as being a big deal before now. To her, Daddy was Daddy...just a regular grownup, but one whose job it was to try and help people get along...why should that matter to anyone? He'd ended a war before she was born, she knew that, but she didn't know much about it.

What do I do? What do I say? Do I tell them it's me or do I keep my mouth shut? What would Daddy do? Why didn't Daddy warn me?

"Who do you think it could be?" Someone new asked.

"It could be anybody…"

"Whoever they are I bet they're a bender… how could a guy who can bend all four elements have a kid who can't bend?"

"This is exciting…"

Before anyone could say anything more, they reached their destination. Their teacher opened the door to reveal a room that was nothing like Aurora had imagined. Rather than rows, the desks were arranged in groups facing each other, and they only took up about a third of the massive room. The rest of it was filled, surprisingly, with toys… there were stuffed animals, puzzles, blocks, miniature instruments, rip-chord toys of various shapes, even a sandbox and a fish tank… Then at the opposite end from the pods of desks, there was a large brown rug with blue, yellow, red, and green dots on it arranged in a pattern, in neat, horizontal rows.

The whole class stood staring at the room in front of them with wide-eyed amazement until their teacher, a nice-looking woman with black hair and green eyes wearing a pink silk dress, clapped her hands to regain their attention.

"Children, this is important so pay attention. I am your teacher Ms. Junta and this, will be your classroom for the next year… The toys here are special, they are not just meant to be fun or keep you busy, they will aid us in learning about the world. But more about that later… I know we met at the ceremony this morning but I know there was a lot going on, so we will begin with introductions, everyone go to the rug and sit on a dot…" she told them.

They nodded and obeyed.

After everyone was sitting on the rug, Ms. Junta joined them, sitting facing them at the head of the crowd.

"We'll go down the rows and when we get to you I want you to stand up, tell us your name, how many people you have in your family, and what part of the city you're from…" She explained.

Aurora was in the middle of the third of five rows… as she watched and listened as each one of her classmates introduced themselves she kept hoping that Ms. Junta would inadvertently skip her. She still didn't know what to do about the fact that everyone knew that a child of the Avatar was in their class, and seemed very interested and intrigued by the fact. She'd decided to wait and ask Daddy what he thought she should do when she got home, but she knew that once her classmates realized she lived on Air Temple Island, it wouldn't take them long to figure out who her parents were.

"Aurora… would you like to introduce yourself to the class." Ms. Junta asked in a very this isn't really a request sort of tone.

Aurora's eyes went wide, for a few seconds she was frozen, unsure of whether to oblige or pretend to be a mute… But, Mommy and Daddy had been pretty insistent on how important it was to tell the truth, so she rose to her feet.

"I…uh…well…"

"Go on Dear, there's no need to be afraid…"

Aurora closed her eyes, took a deep breath, silently begged the universe that she wouldn't regret this later… and began to speak.

"Hi guys, my name is Aurora and I live with my Mommy and Daddy and my little brother and sister; and we live on Air Temple Island…" the little girl explained.

"Thank you Aurora, living on an island outside the city sounds like fun!" Ms. Junta replied kindly.

She peered around at her fellow classmates as she sat back down, watching for any sign that that they'd put two and two together. So far it didn't seem like anyone had. She still wasn't quite sure why it mattered, but it seemed like everyone else thought it was a big deal for some reason, and she really just wanted to be normal and make friends…

Once they'd gotten to everyone, they were freed to play with the toys and with each other.

"Hey Aurora…" one of the other students, a girl named Ying who had black hair and golden eyes, stood in front of her, wearing a smile that appeared friendly enough, but… there was something…off about it… "Do you really live on Air Temple Island?" she asked.

"Yep…" Aurora answered, walking past her to grab a puzzle of a world map.

But Ying followed her.

"So does that mean your parents are Air Acolytes…?"

"Sorta, not really…" Aurora answered. Daddy was their leader but they weren't technically acolytes themselves.

"Wait a sec… if you live on Air Temple Island but you're family's not acolytes then that means…"

"Please don't freak out… I don't know what the big deal is anyways…"

"You're kidding right? Your Dad, can bend all four elements… and that's no big deal?" Ying asked.

"Ok, that's pretty cool, especially since it means that both he, and my mommy can help with waterbending… but Daddy's…just Daddy… he's probly like a lot of people's daddy's…"

"Leave 'er alone Ying, if she says it's not a big deal, then it's not. Quit it." A boy who looked an awful lot like Ying told her.

"Shut up Kian…" Ying snapped at the boy.

"Back off…" Kian told her.

"Fine…have it your way brother…" She snorted, then she walked away toward the fish tank.

"Thanks…" Aurora told Kian.

"You're welcome, pay no attention to my sister, your dad's kind of her hero, which means she probably thinks you're the luckiest kid alive…"

"Not really, I mean Daddy seems to be flying somewhere like every other month because people don't know how to get along and it's his job to stop the fighting… We never know how long he'll be gone for and so far he's never taken me along before he always says there's too much to do or it's too dangerous or I'm not old enough… When he is home things are great but, I still hate it when he leaves…" Aurora explained, it made her a little sad to think about it.

Kian saw the sad look in her eyes and softened. "If it makes you feel any better, the stuff he does really is super important… I don't know what exactly he meant but, according my dad, our family wouldn't be able to exist if it weren't for yours." He told her.

"I know, it just stinks sometimes… I can't wait till I'm big enough to help instead of staying home…"

"Hey, did you know they have a world map puzzle?" Kian asked.

"Oh… I have one of those! I love doing it!" Aurora exclaimed happily.

"So do I, but… I always get the Air Temples mixed up…"

"hehe…Lemme help you…" Aurora offered.

Hours later, when the school day ended that afternoon and she came back through the main doors, she found her mother, carrying both her siblings, she ran up and hugged her, but quickly realized that they were alone.

"Mommy…where's Daddy? Why isn't he here?" she asked.

"Something happened today Sweetheart, we're not sure what, but your father went to check it out… it's nothing for you to concern yourself with my darling, everything will be alright. Now, let's go home…" Katara replied, taking her daughter's hand and leading her back down the street.