Prompt: Shades of Grey

the fact of it not being clear in a situation what is right and wrong

Fandom: Legend of Korra

Characters: Rohan, Tenzin, Pema

Others: Jinora, Ikki, Meelo


"D.. Daddy.." Tenzin turned to see Rohan standing behind him, his hands behind his back and looking at his feet.

"Yes, Rohan?" Tenzin knelt down to look at him on an almost even level.

"D.. Do you have to be an Airbender if your my daddy and mommy isn't a bender?"

Tenzin blinked. "I'm not sure what you mean, Rohan." He put his curled pointer finger under Rohan's chin and pulled his face up. "What do you mean?"

Rohan pulled his face away. "I.. I did something with water. I didn't mean to! It just moved!"

Tenzin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean it moved? Did you bend it? Or did you bend the air?"

He would love Rohan even if he wasn't an Air Bender. If he was normal like Pema and Bumi, or a waterbender like Kai and Katara. But Tenzin needed to know, and judging by the look on Rohan's face, he wasn't too keen on letting Tenzin know what he was capable of.

"Don't worry about it right now, Rohan. You can tell me later when your ready." Tenzin decided, trying to relief Rohan of the stress he was putting himself under.

Rohan nodded. "Thank you daddy. I'm gonna go play now."

Tenzin smiled softly. "Alright Rohan. Go on." As Rohan ran out of the room, Tenzin turned back to the that looked out over the island.


Rohan looked at the bowl of water, slowly moving it back and forth as he pushed and pulled it. He was in his room, sitting on the middle of the floor with the bowl of water. He found that if he was calm then the water moved easier.

There was a knock on the door, his mother's voice accompanying it. "Rohan, sweetheart, are you alright?"

Rohan dropped the water, it splashed into the bowl and onto the floor around the bowl. "Uh.. Yeah! I just need some quiet time! I'm feeling sleepy!"

"Oh." His mother said from beyond the door. "Here, let me tuck you in."

"It's okay mommy! I can take a nap just fine without being tucked in!" He called back, trying to move the water off of the floor and failing as it fell back onto the floor.

"Are you sure sweetie?" Pema asked, her son sounded proccupied with something.

"Yeah!" The water splashed out of the bowl and everywhere in the immediate area.

"Okay." Pema said once more before she left, wondering what all of that splashing was. Maybe her youngest son had some water and spilled it, and told her to go so he could clean it himself. Or he was doing something envolving water that he didn't want anyone to know about. Either way, he'd tell someone eventually.


Jinora was meditating under a tree at the same time that Jinora was drawing a picture of a lemur that Meelo was training on the branch above Jinora. All while Rohan's bare feet were in the pond, soaking them. Rohan scowled as fish attached themselves to his toes. Kicking his feet lightly wasn't working, and he wanted it to stop. Suddenly there were no fish on his toes, and the water was being pushed back. Rohan blinked as the waves settled.

He looked back to see if any of his siblings noticed, and thankfully they were all still proccupied with their tasks. Rohan stood up and grabbed his shoes.

"I'm gonna go back to the temple." He informed them before he left them to their tasks, unaware that in his haste to leave, the water was back to making gentle waves.


Jinora felt something cool on the wind. She didn't know what was causing it, but it was a familiar spiritual feeling. The feeling of the water being pushed and pulled spiritually. Like her grandmother Katara and aunt Kya. But neither of them were here with her and her siblings. And all of them were Air benders. All except for..

"Rohan." She said softly, opening her eyes and seeing Rohan leaving as the water made soft waves again.


Was it right to hide his ability to bend water? Was he wrong for being able to do this? Everyone around him either had Air bending or no bending. What was the right choice? To tell, or not?

Rohan wracked his ten year old brain. Should he tell? He'd better tell his father first. He was probably looking out at the temple through the window of his office.


Rohan stood in front of his family, several days after he moved the water in the pond, practiced in the bowl and decided he was going to speak to his father. He set up bowls of water on either side of him, going to attempt to bend water in front of them.

He tried to pull the water up, and it didn't work. He tried to push it, and that didn't work. And it made him feel bad.

"I.. I did it before." Rohan said, "honest I did." He looked down at his feet, feeling angry. Why couldn't he do it? Was he meant to only move water when he was by himself?

"Am I wrong? If I can't do this, am I wrong?" He found himself asking. His anger was gone and replaced with sadness. He wasn't an air bender, he could move water, but not in front of others.

No one could think of an answer for him. They all felt bad, Rohan had wanted to show them that he could do something different. But he couldn't do it. He was right, the told him later, but it was the situation that was wrong.