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"Ungh, Daddy?" Aang heard his 4-year old son, Bumi, mumble sleepily, standing in the doorway of his and his very pregnant wife's room.
"Why aren't you in bed, Bumi?"
"I was scared of the storm and couldn't sleep," he replied, outstretching his arms to be picked up.
"Shh, sweetie," Aang whispered, picking the little boy up, "We don't want to wake up Mommy, now do we?"
Bumi shook his head as the two sat on the wide, mattressed windowsill, watching the heavy rain outside pitter-patter against the ceiling and ground as storm clouds crashed into each other, creating thunder.
As the lightning crackled in the sky, Bumi gasped and held his father tight in fear, letting out a little whimper.
"Hey," the 23-year old airbender said soothingly, "Don't worry. There's nothing to be afraid of, sweetie. We're safe in here."
The 4-year old said nothing, but now looking at his father rather than at the storm.
"I was once scared of storms too, you know that?"
"What?" Bumi whispered incredulously. "But you're the Avatar! How can the Avatar be scared of anything?"
"Believe me, I'm scared of a lot of things. I'm scared of losing you, or your mom, or your baby brother or sister inside your mom's tummy right now. Everyone is scared of something."
"But why were you scared of storms, Daddy?"
Aang gazed out the window with a distant look, remembering that night, the night that changed everything.
"Are you up for hearing a story?"
Bumi grinned and nodded, settling himself in his father's arms.
"Well, once upon a time, over 100 years ago, there were dozens and dozens of airbenders all over these temples," the airbender said in a dramatic whisper, still noting his sleeping wife.
"That was before the war, right Daddy?"
"Right, Bumi. Now, this was about 12 years after Avatar Roku's death, so that meant that the new Avatar was born into the airbenders and was about 12 years old at the time. I was taken to the monks by my guardian, Gyatso, and was told that I was the new Avatar."
Bumi frowned in confusion. "What's a guardian?"
"Oh- um... a guardian is someone who takes care of you. They act like your mom or dad but aren't actually."
"So what happened to your mom and dad, Daddy?" the 5-year old asked.
"Airbenders never knew their parents and were instead sent to the temples and put under a monk or nun's guardianship."
"Ooohhhhh."
"Anyway, the monks told me that there was a war on the horizon with Fire Lord Sozin, the one who started the 100 year war, and I needed to finish my airbending training to move on to the other elements. I overheard them say that they thought my guardian, Monk Gyatso, was too lenient with me and that they were going to send me away to the Eastern Air Temple to-"
"What does lenient mean?" Bumi interrupted.
"Uh," Aang faltered, "Lenient means to be very easy on someone. For example, your mom usually won't let me take you airgliding but I do, so I'm the lenient one there."
"Oooohhhh."
"So, where was I? Right! The monks were going to send me away to the Eastern Air Temple to finish my airbending training. I, of course, didn't want to be taken away from the person who was like a father to me and the only home I had ever known, so I decided to run away instead on Appa, leaving a note behind for Gyatso."
"Woah... Then what happened, Daddy?"
"That night was very dark and stormy and windy. Appa was struggling to fly through the storm over the ocean and we ended up crashing into the water."
Bumi gasped.
"It looked like it was all over, that we were going to drown there, but then a miracle happened."
"What happened? What happened?!"
"The Avatar State kicked in and I froze Appa and I into an ice ball and everything went black."
"What happened then?"
"I woke up, and I was looking into the bluest eyes I had ever seen."
"Really?"
"Mhm. They were the eyes of a goddess."
"A goddess?" a voice from behind them inquired.
Both Bumi and Aang's heads turned at the voice, seeing Katara sitting up in bed and looking at the two of them.
Aang grinned and nodded.
"Indeed, a goddess. A beautiful, absolutely breathtaking goddess," he added as he made his way to his sleepy wife, kissing her forehead and swollen belly.
Bumi jumped down from the ledge and joined his parents on the bed, snuggling into his mother's warm body.
"Were you the one to wake up Daddy, Mommy?"
Katara smiled and nodded.
"So that's why you're scared of storms, Daddy?"
The airbender nodded.
"That's why I was scared of storms," he corrected.
"Then why aren't you anymore? I would be scared of storms forever and ever and ever if that happened to me."
The married couple caught each other's glance with a knowing look.
"I'm not scared anymore because of a night just like this one."
Bumi frowned at his father, waiting for him to continue.
"One night, years ago, before you were born, it was storming just as hard as it was tonight. I hadn't been able to sleep and was sitting on that very ledge, watching the storm."
The waterbender leaned into her husband and continued the story.
"The sounds of thunder and lightning had woken me up, and that was when I saw Daddy on the ledge. I asked him what he was doing up, and he told me that he was scared, remembering what he had done all those years earlier. That night, I stayed up with him, watching the storm and helped him sleep that night."
"Your mother reminded me that I was safe, that I was loved, and that I had some amazing friends and family by my side to help me. After that night, I wasn't scared anymore."
"Woah."
"Now, come on, sweetie," the waterbender said, lying back on her side and patting the area next to her. "Let's go to sleep, now. You'll need your energy in the morning."
"But I'm not slee-" Bumi interrupted himself with a yawn, smiling sheepishly when both his parents gave him a look.
"Alright, maybe I'm a little sleepy," he said, embarrassed.
The nonbender lied down between his parents, snuggling into his father's chest as his mother's arms attempted to wrap around him from behind, and the little family of three, soon to be four, drifted into a deep slumber, the now lighter rain lulling them to sleep.