Prompt 11 – Teach

Gyatso opened the door a crack and peeked in on Aang, taking in the bandages running down the boy's back. Gently closing the door so to not disturb him, Gyatso backed away from Aang's room.

The Temple Elders were moving too fast, too eager to proclaim Aang as the Avatar. They all knew the signs, they had all seen the omens. A storm was brewing, yes. But that was no excuse to rob a young monk of his life.

Never before had an Avatar been told the truth before the age of sixteen, this was true across all four nations. And yet already there were whispers of telling Aang his destiny now, when he was hardly half that age.

Bad enough they had given the Master tattoos to a boy hardly eight years old, but that they had done so without fully training him was unbelievable. And whose responsibility would it be to finish the boy's training?

Gyatso shook his head to try and relieve the developing headache.

True, Aang had indeed mastered a great deal of the airbending forms. And yes, the boy was innovative and creative enough to not only modify the existing techniques, but to even create completely new ones.

But they boy was not ready for more advanced techniques. Aang was not ready to learn that for all their pacifism, all their teachings of being separate from and above worldly concerns. He was not ready to learn how truly deadly airbending could be.

Gyatso's resolve was set.

He would not do it.

He would not teach his son how to kill.

Who else watched the series and wondered what else airbending could be capable of? Aside from that, I think Gyatso lived his life in conflict. On the one hand, he had Aang, who he seemed to view as both a son and his best friend returned to him. But on the other hand, he needed to make sure that he was ready to learn all the elements.