Prompt Six (August 24, 2009): Spirit

Stressed Out

Sometimes, Aang hated being a parent. Well, actually, not really – he loved every second of it. However, there were times when he wished his children had hobbies that didn't include bothering their father. Especially when he had work to do.

Being a dad was never meant to be easy, apparently.

It was a cool spring day at the Southern Air Temple, so Aang decided to meditate outside to relax his mind. He had long mastered crossing into the spirit world, but concentration was key, and he needed to cross over to speak with a few spirits. So Aang closed his eyes and sat on the low roof of a secluded building at the temple. Inhaling the breeze that lifted his robes a bit and pressing his knuckles together, he focused on separating his mind from the physical world. Aang was almost there until he noticed a little girl noisily giggling behind him.

Without opening his eyes, he knew exactly who was behind him.

Didn't he tell the kids not to distract him?

"What are you doing up here? It's very dangerous to be up this high when you haven't exactly mastered catching yourself yet." He tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible, yet his nerves were slightly frayed at being disobeyed so openly. "And what did I tell you about interrupting my mediation?" The sternness in his voice indicated that he was not in the mood to play games.

"S-sorry Dad," Abi gulped. "I just wanted to see what would happen but then I got bored and so I started to think of funny stuff and I— " Aang cut off her rambling. He tried not to marvel at how much she sounded like him when he jammed himself into similarly sticky situations.

"It's okay, just please go play with the other kids or go help your mother with the your little brother and sister," he told her, finally turning to face the blue-eyed girl.

She didn't move. "I want to stay with you. I'll be quiet."

"Abi…"

"Please?" She was stubborn. A trait he decided to attribute to her mother.

He sighed. Aang did not really want to argue with his daughter and it could make great meditation practice for her, so he conceded. "Okay, but you're going to meditate with me."

The girl sat next to him, copying his position. Ten minutes later, she began to fidget.

Aang should have known having Abi meditate while he was trying to cross over wouldn't be as easy as it sounded. She wasn't very disciplined, always filled with energy, always prepared to get into some sort of trouble. His meditating lessons never went well. No matter what technique he tried. Even though she had been improving, she was still a mischievous seven-year-old ready to grab the world by its horns.

Plus, her very presence was agitating him without her even moving a muscle.

Maybe the unwarranted paranoia developed from years of parenting. He had learned that his children tended to always be up to something, even if they didn't know it themselves. Not to mention Abi's very nature was certainly not putting his mind at ease.

Aang tried not to fidget himself. He retried to empty his mind by staring at a nearby tree, so he can achieve the blank state that allowed him to cross over. A few spirits were causing problems in their realm, and he needed to go sort it out. There weren't any life-threatening issues, spirits mainly stayed away from disrupting balance, but it was important all the same. Aang had set out earlier that morning with a job to do and he wasn't going to quit now.

His backside was starting to hurt from the uncomfortable shingles. Concentrate, Aang, he thought. Concentrate. And he refilled his lungs with the refreshing oxygen and tried to ignore his daughter's humming.

"You're not doing a great job not distracting me," Aang notified Abi after a while. The humming was beginning to rise in pitch and volume. It was a little more than irritating. "It's important that you remain completely silent so I can go to the Spirit World," he added, warning clear in his tone. She apologized and tried to keep silent.

Two more hours later, he was very close to visiting the other world. His limbs felt lighter and he felt his very essence fade from his body. Aang knew without looking that his arrows were beginning to glow white. Finally, he was almost there.

However, curiosity decided it wasn't going to be defeated so easily. After pondering his statement for a long time, she couldn't resist asking, "What's in the Spirit World?"

With his concentration wholly shattered, Aang would have to start completely over. "Toucan-Puffin," he addressed her, attempting to endear her by using his cute nickname for her, "do you mind checking in on your mother for me? I imagine she's having trouble cooking and looking after the babies at the same time."

"But I want to be here with you!" Aang was touched by her protests, but he knew better than to make the same mistake twice in one day. He would have to send her away.

"I'll tell you more about the Spirit World later, but I have work to do now. Please do as I say." As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard the cry that startled them both.

"DAD!!" Abi's two eldest siblings ran into view before they could properly respond to the cry for help. "He's being mean to me!" his eldest daughter shouted upon seeing him atop the roof. She pointed wildly at her older brother. The two looked very clearly disheveled, and one was covered in… mud…

"Well, you pushed me first!" the accused yelled back, glaring a fierce storm at her.

"Did not!!"

"I have the scab to prove it!"

"Liar!"

"You're the liar, stupid!" Aang's hands went automatically to his temples. It had been a long day.

"Both of you stop it. Now." Years of discipline and attending peace meetings taught him that screaming in stressful situations never helped anybody. So, keeping his tone even, he projected his deep voice over the argument.

"Yeah, we're trying to go to the Spirit World!" Abi boasted obnoxiously.

The young airbender opened an entire can of worms and dumped them on Aang's head. The long day just became longer.

Trying to tune out the pleas to come along, the accusations of favoring Abi, and other random arguments, he rubbed his temples a little more vigorously than he should have. Aang was pretty sure he'd have a bruise the next morning. Just in time, Momo swooped in and fastened himself to Aang's shoulder, chattering into his ear the whole while.

Oh come on. Was it too hard to ask for a little alone time? Did Sokka's universe out of the blue decide to target him now?

Very nearly reaching his breaking point, he commanded all of them to go back to their home and sit in their rooms for the rest of the night. He also told them that they would face a very severe punishment if he found that they had disobeyed his orders. His authority left absolutely no room for disagreement, and the three kids and lemur scampered off to avoid any more of his wrath.

Aang sighed again and fell heavily against to old work shed. It was safe to say that his nerves were not only frayed, but were also chopped up into very small pieces and fed to the birds.

Once again, he sat up and tried to complete the mission he had set out to do.

Thirty minutes later, Katara found him. Noticing the lack of glow in his tattoos, she called out his name.

"What is it now?! Why does it feel like you guys are trying to figure out different ways to keep me from the Spirit World?!" he suddenly exploded. He couldn't help himself, the words were pouring out of his mouth faster than he could think. Aang's body tensed and twitched a little. "First it was the giggling, then the humming, then the questions! And of course, arguing! And of course Momo couldn't be left out of the fun! What could it possibly be this time? I thought this building was secluded! Spirits, how can I keep balance in the world if I can't even balance my own children?!"

"Uh, sorry," she mumbled, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice and face. She knew the kids had driven him crazy all day, but his tone was harsh.

Aang, realizing his error, backpedaled. "Oh, I'm sorry Katara," he softened his tone. His head flopped into his hands futilely. "I'm not going to the Spirit World today. I'm too agitated to clear my mind. What a waste of a day." He sighed for what felt like the millionth time.

"I figured as much. A little birdie told me you were a little upset. I've never seen our kids so quiet," she laughed softly. "It's quite the change." She pathetically tried to climb on the roof to keep him company. He suppressed a chuckle at her attempts and offered Katara a hand. "Here, let me help relax you." After she had maneuvered herself carefully behind him, she sat down and began to massage his back. They were rarely able to spend quality time together, and her help was much appreciated. "You know," she continued, "watching after a one-month-old and a three-year-old while trying to make sure the house doesn't get burned down is a tough job too." At that, they both shared a small snicker.

Katara was working wonders on his back. The knots from his earlier stress started to slip away in a warm haze. He fervently thanked every time she hit a particularly great spot as they shared their hilariously bad exploits from that day. They both respected the air that was completely void of arguing and crying. Katara had hit the mark: it very much was quite the change.

Long after sunset, the couple realized they had wasted a few more hours than they should have. They decided to walk back home, hand in hand, to face their family again.

The spirits could just wait one more day, anyway.

Lesson learned: Stressful days don't have to be so bad when you have someone to share them with.

A/N: According to babynology, Abi means 'bird' in Chinese. See if you can spot references to that.

Thanks for reading!