Chapter6: Air Nomads for the Temples.

[unedited]

"Daddy wait for me!" Hakoda squealed as he ran toward Sokka. As he ran he tripped over his older sisters yarn she was using to make a sweater. "Hey!" She instinctively yelled. "Hakoda!" She became angry. Hakoda stood up and picked up the yarn that had fallen and handed it back to his sister. "I'm sorry Besha," He said apologetically. She took it with a frustrated sigh. "Be more careful next time," She instructed. The five year old nodded and ran off to find his father. "Daddy!" He called when he finally located Sokka. Sokka turned around with a smile. "What're you up to young man?" He questioned. "Uncle Shang and aunt Ty-Lee are here!" He said excitedly. Sokka picked up the young boy and asked where they were. "In the house with mama," He replied. Sokka nodded and walked to the house. As he passed his oldest daughter he asked if she'd like to come in and see Shang and Ty-Lee. Besha brightened and excitedly ran inside. As Sokka entered the house he greeted his guests with a slight bow. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He asked happily. "We were just passing through Kyoshi on our way home and thought we'd stop by," Shang explained. They'd just come back from their honeymoon and decided to live in Republic City. They stayed at Sokka's for awhile and talked but soon left for the big city.

On their way they sat in their room on the ship and talked. "So, how many?" Shang asked after a moment of silence. "How many what?" Ty-Lee countered with a giggle. She had no idea what he meant. "How many kids do you want?" He repeated. She gasped. "Well-Shang I-" She was speechless. He'd asked it so bluntly. Not carefully, but, I guess that's fine-"I'll give you as many as you like," He broke into her thoughts. She blushed a deep red and snuggled up closer to him. "I don't know, I haven't thought about that part yet," She said with an innocent smile. "Fair enough," Shang said as he smiled bright. He lay his chin on her head and stroked her hair gently. They were almost to the harbor.

One night Ty-Lee sat in bed alone. Shang had not come home yet and she was worried. She sat and waited. And waited. Hours dragged by and still he hadn't come home. Then she heard the door silently creak open. She sighed in relief. He was home. She jumped up and grabbed her robe. She gasped as the sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the house. The noise was quickly followed by a loud thump. She ran out of the room to where the sounds had come from. There, on the floor glass lay scattered everywhere. A big vase had been knocked over and broke. She looked over to see Shang kneeling on the floor holding a few of the broken pieces in his hands. He looked awful. His hands were cut and bleeding because of the glass he clutched. He coughed and put a hand to his ribs. Ty-Lee gasped, as he pulled his hand back out it was covered in blood. "Shang what-what happened?" She questioned in horror. He moaned in pain. "I-work-fell-" He stammered. He trembled with confusion. Ty-Lee knelt down beside her husband and despite the fact that the glass dug into her knees, she didn't complain. "I need to get you to a healer," She said frantically. Shang stopped breathing for a moment, this made Ty-Lee begin to freak out. But he began breathing again. "I-my-ribs they-" He cried out in pain clutching his side with fear. "Shang!" Ty-Lee was in tears by now. "Can you stand?" She demanded. Shang was confused. His vision began to blur. He lifted his head and looked full on his wife's face. She looked frightened. His vision got worse. He couldn't pass out. She needed him. He had to fight the darkness that began to cover the room. Suddenly Shang fell over onto his side his head smacked the floor hard and glass embedded itself into his face. He quickly jerked up only passed out for a moment. He groaned as he stood. Ty-Lee stood as well and put her husbands arm around her shoulders. He leaned heavily on her. "Come on, " She urged. "Lets go," She helped him out the door. Outside it was pouring down rain. It was very dark but partially illuminated by street lanterns. It wasn't too long a walk to the healers office but tonight it seemed like the farthest place from her home. No one was out for it was nearly eleven o'clock at night. But the occasional person walking on the opposite side of the street would give her strange looks but wouldn't stop to help. Tears streaked Ty-Lee's face as she pushed herself forward. They left blood trails along the sidewalk as they approached the healers. Ty-Lee was barely able to carry herself let alone half drag her husband. Shang went limp for a moment and she fell to her knees. The glass cuts hurt like crazy when she did this. She cried out in agony as glass dug into her knees as she hit the ground. She sat a moment, her husband leaning heavily on her, blood dripping from his wounds. She cried. "Help me," She whispered to no one. Suddenly Shang's weight lifted. He was trying to stand, she thought. But as she looked up she saw a stranger lifting him up. The stranger let Shang lean on his shoulder and extended his hand to help her up. She stared at it for a moment then snapped back to reality and took it. He helped her up and they walked to the healers without a word. He banged on the door with his foot. There was a faint rustling inside before the door swung open revealing a tired middle aged man. He quickly took charge of the situation when the stranger walked right in. "Lay him on this bed," He instructed pointing towards an empty hospital bed. The man obeyed and lay him down. Shang moaned with pain as he relaxed. The doctor quickly set to work. "Take her out," He told the stranger. The man nodded and grabbed Ty-Lee by the arm and began walking out. "No! He's my husband can't I stay?" She panicked. The man stopped mid step. The healer sighed. "No miss, just wait." He said with sympathy. Ty-Lee gasped and struggled against his grip. "No! Please!" She yelled. "Come miss, it'll be alright," The stranger said in a deep voice full of kindness. He took her out into the hall and she sat in a chair. She buried her head in her hands and began to sob. "What-what happened?" The man asked hesitantly. "I don't know!" Ty-Lee lashed out. "I don't know!" She repeated. "He came home like that! I don't know what happened, he said something about work and falling, I'm so scared for him!" She cried with agonizing fear. The stranger sighed with sympathy, she was so scared. The healer walked out of the operation room a moment later. "This will take a few hours, you may go home and I'll send for you," He said with sorrow. Ty-Lee quickly objected. "No! I'll stay!" She said. The stranger stood. "I should probably go, I hope he's ok ma'am," He said. "Wait!" Ty-Lee called after him. He stopped without facing her. "I don't know your name," She reminded him. He smiled although she couldn't see it. "Kyo," He said simply and walked away leaving her alone in the waiting room. She wiped away her tears and her stomach growled. She then realized how hungry she was. But she couldn't just leave Shang.

"Miss," Ty-Lee heard a faint voice calling to her. It seemed distant and far away. She opened her eyes and the healers face came into focus. She moaned quickly sitting upright. She must've fallen asleep in her chair. "What is it?" She asked urgently. "You may go in and see your husband now," He said with a smile. Ty-Lee was up in a flash and in the room by his bedside. She took his hand in her own and squeezed. He was unconscious. She felt his hand flinch and wrap around hers. She gasped. "Shang?" She whispered. He slowly opened his eyes. "Ty-" He began but groaned as he tried to move. "Ty-Lee?" He mumbled. "I'm here," She assured him. He smiled painfully. "What happened?" She asked as a tear slipped down her cheek. "I was at work and had to stay late," He began. "But then I fell, it was kinda high up, I was alright I thought, but as I walked home my ribs hurt really badly, I touched them and found blood pouring from my side. I was halfway home so I ran there. I didn't mean to knock over the vase, I tried not to wake you," He apologized. "Oh no, I was already awake, and don't worry about the vase," She assured him. Shang smiled with relief. He looked down at her hands and gasped. "Why are your hands bloody?" He asked worriedly. Ty-Lee looked at her own hands. They were bloody. She'd forgotten to wash them. "Oh, you were bleeding and some got on me," She answered. Shang relaxed. "Oh, sorry," He said. Ty-Lee only smiled. "It's alright, I'll go wash it off," It hurt to straiten her legs because there was still glass in her knees but she'd forgotten about that too. She flinched as she stood. "You alright?" Shang asked as he watched her stand. "Yea fine," She said between her teeth. Shang frowned. "No you're not," He accused her. She gasped slightly. "Yes I am," She repeated. Shang sighed. "What's wrong? Why did you flinch like that? Are you hurt?" He begged. "Please, it hurts me not to know what's wrong" He continued. "I knelt in some of the broken glass, I guess I got a little cut," She tried to make it sound like it wasn't as bad as it actually was. "A small cut?" He said skeptically. "Ty-Lee, your hurt bad aren't you?" He questioned. "No, no, I'm fine really," She assured him he didn't need to worry. But Shang wasn't convinced. Suddenly Shang called loudly for the doctor. "Shang-just, just rest," She said quickly. "Why are you fighting this Ty-Lee?" He demanded. "Don't you want the pain to stop?" He countered. Ty-Lee thought a moment. She didn't know why she was fighting this. "I-I don't know, I guess I do," She said with a frown. The doctor then entered the room. "Yes? Are you alright?" He asked worriedly. "I'm fine, but my wife cut herself real bad on her knees," He explained. The doctor nodded in understanding. "Sit here please miss," He instructed pointing to a stool. Ty-Lee obediently sat on the stool and lifted her night gown above her knees. As she did so the doctor gasped. "What did you do?" He asked in shock. Ty-Lee looked down at her knees and saw a bunch of tiny pieces of glass sticking in her skin, her knees were stained in blood, every time she moved fresh blood would squeeze out. "I-" She gasped at the disgusting sight before her. "A vase broke and I knelt in the glass," She said simply. The doc shook his head slowly in disapproval. "Why would you do that?" He questioned. "Because my husband was bleeding and I didn't know what was going on so I knelt in front of him to help him up but there was glass all over." She said innocently. The doctor shrugged. "Well, it might take a painful while to get these out," He said delicately. Ty-Lee nodded. "Go ahead," She said with confidence. The doctor proceeded to take from a table some small tweezers. She braced herself as he picked out the first piece of glass. She flinched as it came out but didn't dare scream. No matter how badly it hurt. He pulled out the next, and the next, until there was one left. Ty-Lee gritted her teeth and clutched her stool each time he yanked one out. "This last one is, well, it's huge, brace yourself miss," He said in warning. She nodded and grit her teeth harder as she twisted her hands around the stool. He got the tweezers ready. He grabbed hold of the glass. This time she let out a half scream as it was pulled from her flesh. "There, now I'll just heal the wounds," He bended some water from a nearby bowl and with his healing abilities he healed the scratches. The cool water felt good on her wounded skin. Later on the doctor told her to go home and get some sleep but she still refused to leave her husband. They both spent the night at that hospital. Ty-Lee slept across three chairs while Shang slept on the bed. He felt bad for making her sleep uncomfortably on the chairs but he couldn't move because of his ribs. So he reluctantly agreed to sleep on the bed. A week later they let him go home, Ty-Lee never left his side once during that week.

Ty-Lee slowly opened her eyes one early spring morning. She sat up but doing so made her dizzy so she quickly lied back down. She reached to put her arm around Shang but his side of the bed was empty. She looked around but he wasn't in the room. Then she saw him come in from the bathroom. He was all dressed for work. "Where are you going?" She asked only to confirm what she feared. "Work," He said with a loving smile. "I tried not to wake you," He continued. "But, you can't go to work," She argued. He only laughed. "Of course I can, the doctor says I'm fine," He said pointedly. "But-" He put a finger to her lips silencing her next words. "Hey, I'll be fine, you can go back to sleep, you don't have to be at work till noon," He said soothingly. Ty-Lee almost lied back down on her comfy pillow but she hesitated. "I said I'll be fine," Shang assured her. She nodded and lay down again falling asleep a few moments after.

Ty-Lee sat strait up in bed. She'd just had a terrible nightmare. She calmed herself and swung her legs over the side. She stood up and looked out the window. It was noon! She had to be at work! "I slept in?!" She yelled to herself. She couldn't believe this. She was late for work. She was never late for work. She hurriedly got dressed and skipped breakfast as she rushed out the door and down the sidewalk. She ran down the road to the fabrics shop and grabbed the door handle. But it was locked. Why? She wondered. Then she saw the sign. It said closed until further notice. Ty-Lee was confused. No one told her they were gonna be closed today. She pondered a moment then walked away. She knew where the owner lived so she headed there on foot. She knocked and a young girl opened the door. Ty-Lee recognized her as the fabric store owners daughter. "Hello, is your mother home?" She asked perplexed. The girl seemed nervous. "Yea but she's sick and you can't come in," She said with a sigh. Ty-Lee nodded. "Can you answer a question for me then?" The girl nodded. "Why is the store closed?" Ty-Lee asked curiously. "Didn't mother tell you? She wasn't feeling well so they're closed today," She explained. Ty-Lee nodded understandingly. "Alright, thanks, goodbye, hope she gets better!" She said and left. As she walked along the sidewalk she took a look around. Everyone seemed to be going somewhere. Everyone knew where they were going and what they were doing. It was so busy. Then her stomach growled and she remembered she hadn't eaten yet. She sighed. There was a restaurant up ahead so she decided to eat there.

Afterwards she stepped outside where it began to sprinkle a little. She turned to head home but bumped into someone. Doing so she knocked a book out of his hands. "I am so sorry!" She wailed. "I'm such an idiot I should watch where I'm going," She raged on as she bent over and grabbed his book. When she stood she felt dizzy. "Oh no miss, the fault is mine I wasn't watching where I was going- oh! Ty-Lee?" She recognized the voice but pressed her eyes closed in an attempt to stop the dizziness that overcame her. She felt a strong arm steady her as she leaned over. "Are you alright?" The voice was, it was-it was Aang! "Aang?" She asked for confirmation. "Yea," He replied immediately. She opened her eyes as she no longer felt dizzy. "Oh, I'm fine," She assured him. Aang nodded although he was skeptical. "Where are you headed? Can I walk you there?" He asked politely. Ty-Lee suddenly forgot where it was she was headed. She fumbled around trying to remember. "Uh, I was um-" Then she remembered. "Oh yea, I was going home," She said cheerily. Aang smiled. "Ok, I need to speak to you and your husband about something as well," He informed her. "Ok," The rain started coming down a little harder by now. They walked to Ty-Lee's house in silence most of the way. Aang was just about to ask a question but Ty-Lee fell over. Aang instinctively reached out to break her fall. "Ty-Lee?" He said worriedly. She quickly stood and blinked several times to clear away the darkness that blurred her vision. "I-I'm fine," She said with a shaky breath. Aang didn't like to see anyone hurting. "You sure?" He pushed. "Yes!" She snapped back then regained her cheerful attitude. "I'm perfectly alright Aang, the weathers just cold and I'm tired." She said with final decision. They arrived at her door step and Aang almost left but remembered he needed to discuss something with her. So they went in and talked.

After Aang left Ty-Lee felt exhausted. She'd never been so tired even though she hadn't done hardly anything at all. It was only two in the afternoon but still, she was tired as if she'd worked eight hours strait. She went to her room and sat on the bed. She stretched and yawned but she couldn't allow herself to sleep. She lay down to rest only a moment. So much to do, so much to-she closed her eyes.

"Ty-Lee?" A voice broke into her dreams. "Ty-Lee, how long have you been asleep?" Shang asked as her eyes opened. "Five minutes maybe," She mumbled. "You sure? Cuz Shiloh said he knocked several times but there was no answer. That was about an hour ago," He said a hint of worry to his voice. "What? That can't be," Ty-Lee said as she sat up in bed. She looked at the clock. It was seven pm. How could she have slept so long without realizing it? "I-I promise I only slept a few minutes," She said in disbelief. "What time did you fall asleep?" He asked a bit confused. "Two," She answered simply. "Ty-Lee that was five hours ago, you mean you've been asleep for five hours?" He asked in shock. "I-I was tired," She said innocently. "Oh, well, what'd you do all day to make you that tired?" He questioned further. "Nothing, the shop was closed so I didn't go to work, on my way home I ran into Aang and we talked an hour, other than that I did nothing tiring," Shang pondered at this. Then he checked her forehead for a fever. Normal. He shrugged it off. "Ok well, you must not have gotten enough sleep last night," He said at last. Ty-Lee nodded. "What did your cousin want anyways?" She asked. "Just to drop something by the house, he left it by the door when you didn't answer." He replied. She stood up but immediately regretted it. She wanted lie down and sleep. "I'll make you some dinner," She said as she headed out the bedroom door. "There's no need!" Shang called after her. "Why? Aren't you hungry?" She asked confused. "I ate when I got home, I assumed you were still at work so I went ahead and ate, if I'd known I would've-" Ty-Lee pressed a kiss to his lips. When they parted she said, "It's alright, I would've done the same," Shang smiled at his wonderful wife. She was so beautiful. He never wanted anything to happen to her. Ever.

A couple weeks went by. The reason Aang had come by and talked with Ty-Lee for an hour, she explained, was because he needed help to repopulate the air temples around the world. He wanted other people, not just air benders, to live in his temples. He wanted others to experience the life of the air nomads. So he arranged for several schools to be made where they would teach outsiders the air nomad culture and create a new way of life. Aang himself would provide the world with more air benders, well, he and Katara would. So Aang wanted Ty-Lee to be one of the teachers of these schools. Aang would of course first teach her the air nomad ways so she could teach her students. It would be difficult at first but they'd adjust. Aang already knew of some people who wanted to be like the air nomads. Ty-Lee talked with Shang long into the night before making a permanent decision. In the end they both accepted his offer and moved to the western air temple. It was a nice place to live, Ty-Lee decided. It was very interesting, the temples hung on the underside of a cliff, Shang loved it here. The place was full of secret rooms and different places. You could get lost in some of the rooms. Aang trained them both on how to teach the schools. He informed them of all the air nomad customs and taught them everything he knew which he learned from monk Gyotso. In less than two weeks the school was ready for its students. Aang had gone back to Republic City and left the couple to run the place. The first day after the announcement of the new school was slow. No one came the first hour but after that a few teens from the Earth Kingdom came to be taught how to be an air nomad.

After the first week of school more and more students piled in to become part of the Air Nation. Ty-Lee had lots of fun teaching. She loved every minute of it. Shang loved doing anything with his wife. Especially teaching. One day, a couple of boys were making trouble in the courtyard. They'd gotten into a fight so Ty-Lee went out to break it up. "Fight fight!" The other boys chanted. The girls just stood back and whispered to each other. Upon seeing the teacher all the students became silent and stepped back from the two boys rolling in the dirt. "Hey! Get off him!" Ty-Lee shouted above the noise. The boy being pinned down looked over to see who was talking giving the other boy the chance to punch him in the face. "Hey!" Ty-Lee yelled instinctively. "I said get off him!" She repeated grabbing the older boy by the shoulder. He stopped and looked at her with anger. Then he softened and got up. "Sorry teach," He said although he didn't sound like it. "He started it!" The older quickly accused. The younger boy stood wiping blood off his chin and panting a little. "Why were you fighting in the first place?" Ty-Lee asked as she crossed her arms. "He just attacked me for no reason!" The older boy, who's name was Shin-wan, quickly defended himself. The other boys name was Zohru. "I did not attack you for 'no' reason!" Zohru snapped. Ty-Lee stood between the boys to prevent them from fighting again. "Ok, well, then what was your reason?" She asked. Zohru hesitated. Shin-wan smirked. Zohru's eyes darted over to a girl standing a little ways off and then looked back to the ground. "What was your reason Zohru?" She persisted. "He-he was-"

"Someone's got a mumbling problem!" Shin-wan taunted. Zohru surged forward but Ty-Lee pushed him back. "We don't need anymore fighting!" She ordered. Now was a time she wished Shang was here to help, but he was teaching the two o'clock class. "Please just tell me your reason for starting the fight Zohru," She said impatiently. He sighed before revealing his story. "Well, he was hurting a girl," He said under his breath. "What? Shin-wan, why would you do that?" She asked in disgust. He shrugged the smirk still on his face. "I didn't 'hurt' her, I was just talking to her," He defended himself. "That's a lie!" Zohru yelled in anger. "Tell me exactly what he did," Ty-Lee said softly. "Marcy was walking to class and I usually walk with her, but when I saw her, Shin-wan was talking to her and-" At this Shin-wan immediately spoke up for himself. "Ha! See I was just talking to her!" He said with a victorious smile. Zohru frowned. "I'm not done yet," He said calmly. "I saw Shin-wan talking to her so I waited for them to finish, but I noticed she didn't want to talk to him. She tried to walk away but he blocked her," Zohru became angry again and clenched his fists. "He grabbed her by the arm and I heard her say clearly that he was hurting her," He continued as his fists became tighter. "So I told him to back off and he shoved me," He sighed. Ty-Lee turned to Shin-wan. "What do you have to say for yourself?" She questioned accusingly. "I-well it's obvious he's just jealous that she talked to me and not him!" He switched the blame. Ty-Lee sighed. "That's not true!" Zohru yelled. "Ask Marcy she'll tell you!" He raged. Ty-Lee suddenly came over with a familiar dizziness all of a sudden. She pressed her eyes closed. "Oh please, you're lying as usual," Shin-wan crossed his arms and looked away as if he was better than everyone. "I don't lie!" Zohru retorted. Ty-Lee felt dizzy and nauseous. She wanted to lie down. "Teacher?" She faintly heard Zohru's voice calling. "Don't try and change the subject!" Shin-wan said annoyed at what he thought Zohru was doing. "Look at her! I don't think she's feeling well," Zohru hated how impolite Shin-wan was. "I-I'm fine," Ty-Lee mumbled although the dizziness got worse. "I just need-rest," Zohru steadied her as she leaned forward. "I'll get you to the main house," He whispered softly. Ty-Lee didn't protest. She just walked with him through the temple. Along the way they passed a group of girls headed to the meditation room. Among them was Marcy, Zohru's best friend. She slowed as they passed. Noticing something was wrong she stopped following her group and walked with him instead. "Is she ok?" The young girl asked concerned. "I don't know," Zohru replied. "I think I need you to go get teacher Shang," He said a bit unsure. Marcy nodded and ran off to find him. She walked the halls and ran into one of her friends. She asked where Shang was and the girl told her he was teaching the students about the sky bison. "Thanks!" Marcy called as she ran off to the bison yard. As she approached it she heard Shang talking about what the bison looked like. "Marcy," He called noticing her in the back. "You aren't a part of this class," He continued. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Marcy wasn't sure what she should say. She didn't want to say anything in front of the other students. She walked up to him so she could speak quietly enough not to be heard by the others. Shang was immediately alarmed by the news she had to bring. "Class is canceled," He said and ran off to the main house. "What was that about?" One of the kids asked. "Nothing, never mind," Marcy said and left.

Shang came running into the main house pale with worry. "Ty-Lee-" He panted heavily. Ty-Lee sat on the couch with her eyes closed. "Are you alright?" He whispered softly as he took a seat on the table in front of her. "I'm fine," She mumbled with a half smile. "Just-tired," Shang frowned and felt her forehead. She didn't have a fever. "Ty-Lee you haven't been feeling well these past few mornings, I wonder if something might be wrong," He pondered. "I told you, It's nothing, I was hungry yesterday morning that's all," She explained. "And the morning before?" Shang questioned. "I-didn't get enough sleep,"

"And the morning before that?" He pushed. Ty-Lee ran out of excuses. "I-I don't know Shang," She said at last. He sighed. "Exactly, maybe it's time we knew, I'm taking you to a healer,"

"No! There's no need for that!" Ty-Lee quickly spoke up. She clutched her stomach as a wave of nausea came over her. "Ty-Lee, I care about you," Shang argued. "I just want you to be ok," He said a hurt look in his eyes. "I just-" She couldn't protest anymore. She had no excuses and she couldn't argue with that look on his face. "Ok," She said at last. Shang stood and helped her stand. "The closest town is still quite far, I don't know how we'll get to a healer," Shang said discouraged. "Maybe the healer will come to you," Said a woman's voice from the doorway. Shang looked sharp. It was Katara, the Avatars wife. "Hi Katara," Ty-Lee greeted her friend. "Hi, so, what do you need a healer for?" Katara asked curiously. "Ty-Lee isn't feeling well," Shang explained. Ty-Lee looked away. She hated to have so much fuss over her. She was feeling fine now. Then another wave of nausea swept over her. She put a hand to her mouth. She didn't want to throw up. Not here. "Ty-Lee?" Shang was alarmed. "I'm ok," She replied once the feeling went away. "See," Shang proved to Katara. "Yea, Ty-Lee can I have you sit down and I'll try and figure what's going on," She instructed. Ty-Lee nodded and sat on the couch. Katara bended the water from the pouch she always carried and used her healing abilities to find out why her friend felt this way. "Mmhmm," She said after awhile. "Ah, I see," She said as a smile creeped to her face. "What is it?" Shang asked impatiently. Katara put the water back in the pouch. "Ty-Lee," She said seriously. "Yes?" The girl answered shakily. "You're fine, you're not sick you're just pregnant," Ty-Lee's jaw dropped. "But-how-" She stared fixedly at the wall across from her. "Did you say preg-" Shang couldn't even say it. Was she really? "Pregnant," Katara finished for him. Shang sat by his wife. "Are you alright?" He asked after she was silent for awhile. "Yea-I just, surprised that's all," She said. She blinked several times trying to process what this would mean for the couple. "Thank you Katara," Shang said at last. Katara smiled. "You're welcome, my pleasure," She said still smiling. "Well, I only came by to see how school was going, everything alright?" She asked. Shang nodded. "As well as can be expected, I love this job, it's really a fun thing to do," He said a bright smile lighting up his features. "And the temple is full of great places to look at, and I'm sure Ty-Lee likes her job as well," He looked to his wife who seemed to be thinking hard. "Huh? Oh yea, I love it," She replied simply. Katara laughed. "Well, from what I can tell the kids love you too, I talked to some of them and they had nothing but good things to say about you." Katara said triumphantly. "Well, I really should be going, I have one more stop to make before heading home," She said with a slight frown. "Alright, well, bye then," Ty-Lee stood and hugged her. "Bye Ty-Lee," Katara said with a smile. "You take care of yourself," She said as she walked out the door. "Don't push yourself too hard!" She walked out closing the door behind her. "Are you happy, about the baby Ty-Lee?" Shang asked worriedly. "I don't know what to think Shang, I think I'm happy," She replied a bit confused. Shang wrapped her in his arms and kissed her softly. "I'm happy," He said. Ty-Lee smiled although truthfully she was scared.

Ty-Lee sat up with a jolt. It was only two a.m. thankfully she could still get some more rest. She couldn't fall back asleep though. She tossed and turned but sleep wouldn't come. She carefully, so as not to wake her husband, slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen. She got a glass of milk and gulped it down. Since a week ago when she found out she was pregnant she had been having weird cravings lately for milk. She poured another glass and was halfway through it when Shang walked in. Sleepy eyed and messy haired he asked, "What are you doing up so early?" She fumbled a moment and set down her glass. "I couldn't sleep," She said wiping the milk mustache off her face . Shang gave her a warm smile and walked over to put his arms around her. He kissed her forehead. "Ok, are you feeling ok?" He asked a bit worried. "Yea, fine," She said truthfully. He gave her one last kiss and then went back to bed.

The next morning Ty-Lee had the first class. "Alright, today we're going to talk about the gliders air benders used," She said once all the students were in the room. They went on the full hour to talk about the gliders and how they flew with them and where the gliders first originated. "Alright any questions?" Ty-Lee asked as they neared the end of this class. Marcy raised her hand. "Yes, Marcy," Ty-Lee nodded for her to go ahead and ask her question. "Do you have any pictures of the first glider?" She asked hopefully. "Actually I don't, but I can ask Avatar Aang if he can get a hold of one," She assured the girl. Marcy smiled and nodded. Another student raised her hand. "Yes," Ty-Lee was ready to answer her question. "Is it true that you're pregnant?" She asked bluntly. Ty-Lee wasn't ready to answer that question. "Uh-well-who told you that?" She countered. The girl shrugged. "I just heard rumors." She said simply. "Um-" Ty-Lee was still a bit surprised by what the girl asked. "You are aren't you!" She accused. "Well, yes," She finally admitted. "Aw! That's so cute!" The girl squealed. The whole class gasped and began talking to one another. "Now, class is over please clean up your desks," She tried to control them. The class was excited and hurriedly put away their things as they rushed out the door talking and giggling the whole way. Ty-Lee sighed as they were all gone. All but one little girl who looked to be ten. "Hello," She said with a beautiful smile. "Aren't you a little young to be joining this class? You should be in the lower grade," Ty-Lee said with a half smile. The girl giggled. "I was getting something from my brother and decided to sit in for your class, I like you," She confessed. "My names Tohru, I believe you met my brother already, Zohru," She continued. Ty-Lee nodded. "Alright well, off to class now Tohru," She said with a smile. "Ok," The little girl said and skipped on out. Ty-Lee was feeling really tired by now. She remembered what Katara had said about not pushing herself too hard. But she had school to teach and Aang wouldn't be happy if she failed as a teacher. She sighed and began grading papers.

"Ty-Lee?" Shang's soft voice whispered in her ear. She smiled and, keeping her eyes closed, replied, "Yes Shang?" She vaguely heard some giggling girls in the background. "Um, wake up," Shang said with a chuckle. Ty-Lee's eyes opened revealing his smiling, laughing face. "What's so funny?" She asked. Then she realized she was sleeping at her desk. She sat up strait and gasped. "I-I fell asleep," She stammered. The whole class sat in their chairs some openly laughing and others stifling giggles and hiding smiles. "Yea, you kinda did," Shang said chuckling. "You're tired, I'll take this class you go get some sleep," He promised. "In a real bed," He added as he tried not to laugh. Ty-Lee smiled and laughed as well. "Ok, I'm sorry," She apologized. "Don't be sorry, you're worn out, you two go rest," He whispered and parted her stomach which was just showing slightly. She blushed and walked away. "Alright class," Shang said once she was gone. "I need all of your help," Before revealing why he'd need all their help he shut the door in case unwanted ears were listening. "We gotta make a big surprise for teacher Ty-Lee, it's our anniversary in three days and I want to have the biggest surprise for her ever!" He said excitedly. "But I can't do it alone," He explained. "So, I trust all of you will be discreet?" He questioned hopefully. Everyone nodded and assured him they wouldn't breath a word of it around teacher Ty-Lee. "Good," He said with a smile. And they began planning.

"Ok, everyone understand what they're gonna do?" Shang asked just to make sure. "Yes!" The class replied simultaneously. "Alright then we-oh shhhh!" Shang quickly shushed the class as Ty-Lee came to the door. As she opened it he pretended to be teaching. "And that class is why the air nomads wore orange red and yellow. Also brown. End of class go to your dorms." He said hastily. Ty-Lee chuckled as the smiling students marched out. "What was that about?" She asked as the last few kids trickled out. "Nothing just class, how're you feeling?" He asked trying to get off the subject. He couldn't lie to his wife, so if she got into details of what they discussed he'd have to come clean about his plans. She eyed him suspiciously but answered his question without another word about class. "I feel great," Shang smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. He placed a light kiss to her forehead. "I have to go have a talk with a couple of the students, but I'll be back," He said with a big grin. "Mmkay," Ty-Lee answered before kissing him briefly. "I'll be in the kitchen making dinner," She told him and left.

Shang walked down the halls of the girls dorm to find Marcy's room. He knocked on the door and it slid open. "Is Marcy here?" He asked her roommate Shatori. "Uh, no she went out to the bison yards, I think, to see Zohru," She told him with a mischievous smile. He nodded knowingly and left.

Out in the bison yard Shang heard splashing water and giggling teens. He walked around the corner to see Marcy and Zohru in the stream splashing each other playfully. He sat a moment and watched. Zohru ducked under water after she splashed him. Marcy looked around but didn't see him. "Zohru?!" She called. No answer. "This isn't funny," She crossed her arms. Then Shang saw Zohru come up for air behind her. He chuckled as he realized what he was doing. Marcy just turned around when, he lunged forward splashing her with a wave of water. He laughed heartily as she was soaked completely. She removed the mop of hair out of her eyes and glared at him. He was still laughing somewhat when he realized she was angry. "Marcy? I didn't mean it, I was only playing," He said sympathetically. A smile spread across Marcy's face and she threw water in his face and began to laugh. "I know!" She said in between laughs. "That was very clever, very clever," She said with a bright smile. Zohru smiled too. "And this is why you're my best friend." He said, water pouring off both their faces. "Hey you two!" Shang called suddenly from the bank. "I need to talk to you!" He continued. Zohru and Marcy exchanged glances before getting out of the water. "Are we in trouble?" Marcy mumbled as they stepped foot on the sand. "I don't think so, we were just swimming," Zohru answered hopefully. "Hey kids, since you weren't in class earlier I thought I'd come find you, I need a favor," Shang said excitedly. "What kind of favor?" Marcy asked. "Well, it's my anniversary in three days and I want to have a big surprise for my wife, can you help?" He asked. Both kids nodded enthusiastically and he went on to explain the plans they'd made in class.

Shang was so excited. Only one more day till their anniversary. He had everything planned out. He'd tell her they were only going out to dinner , then he'd say he forgot something at the temple, he'd ask her to go look in the sacred temple a little ways off from the temple they used for the school. At the sacred temple he'd have a bunch of candles lit to make it look nice, he'd also have a picnic basket with her favorite food waiting for them. Luckily their anniversary was the day that all the kids left on spring break so they'd have the temple all to themselves. He could hardly contain his joy. He almost spilled the news one day in class. But he didn't. Right now he was helping one of the students find a notebook he'd left at his desk and forgotten to take back to the dorm. "It's gotta be here somewhere," The boy said in frustration. "Keep looking, did you try under the desk?" Shang suggested. The boy looked but it wasn't there. "Nope, not here," He said discouraged. "We'll find it," Shang assured him. "Here it is," Shang lifted the notebook from a window sill and handed it back to its young owner. "Oh thanks teacher Shang!" He said with a big grin as he ran to his dorm. Shang smiled. He was gonna miss all the kids. But they'd be back in a week. And he'd get to spend that week with his beloved wife. It would be perfect.

The next day, Shang and Ty-Lee bid goodbye to all the students as they departed for their spring break. Most of them left early in the morning but some had to wait till the afternoon and evening. A couple of kids, a girl and her brother, had to stay at the temple for their spring break because their parents died and they had no one else to go see. Which was alright with Ty-Lee. Shang was practically walking on air with excitement as the day wore on. He couldn't wait for dinner time. When it finally arrived he couldn't wipe the mischievous smile off his face, which could only mean one thing. He was planning something, Ty-Lee figured. But she didn't dare ruin this for him by revealing that she knew. He took her to dinner and his plan worked perfectly. He brought her back to the temple on a pretense of picking up a forgotten item. Once inside he asked her to take a look in the sacred temple that was beside the main one. Shang followed her silently, waiting with bated breath for her reaction to the room. Ty-Lee gasped. It was beautiful, there were candles all around, all lit giving the place a warm glow, in the center of the room there was a picnic blanket laid out with her favorite food spread across. "What's-" Shang came in behind her. "Surprise," He said happily. "Happy anniversary," He said and kissed her forehead. "You set me up!" She accused. Shang laughed. "Ah, I love it," She went on. "It's beautiful Shang, thank you," Her eyes teared up. This was so wonderful. "I-happy anniversary," She said and leaned up to kiss him. "Soon, we'll have another addition to the family," He said after they parted. He rested a hand to her belly and smiled softly. "Yes, that would be-nice," Ty-Lee replied with a smile. "Now, lets eat!" Shang said breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Ty-Lee smiled and laughed as she sat down to enjoy a meal with the love of her life. After the meal Shang carried her out bridal style and lay her in their bed. As they drifted off to sleep she felt a pang of guilt for forgetting her own anniversary. But Shang didn't seem to notice that she'd forgotten.

"Ahh!" Ty-Lee sat up clutching her one month pregnant belly. Shang slowly opened his eyes. He sat up quickly when he saw her. "You ok?" He asked alarmed. "Yea, I think-ah!" She was scared, she had no idea what was happening. Something inside her, probably the baby, was moving around. She could feel it. But it wasn't moving like she normally felt, this time something hurt, she didn't know what was going on, there was no one to tell her. "I-I don't know what's happening, I'm scared," She said with a shaky voice. Shang took her hand. "I'm here," He whispered. "You-you were there when your mom was pregnant with Rayseal, what was it like?" She asked hopeful that he might be able to give her clues to what's coming next. "I-yes but I was six, and I was a boy, I didn't pay attention to those things," He said sadly. The hurting went away now and Ty-Lee lay back. "I'm ok, lets get some sleep," She said and closed her eyes. Shang lie down next to his wife and wrapped her in his arms comfortably. "Ok, goodnight," He whispered and kissed her cheek.

The next day Aang and Katara came with their family to visit. Ty-Lee was making tea and talking to Katara while Shang sat in the dining room talking with Aang. Bumi and Tenzin were off playing in the many secret rooms while Kya sat in the kitchen listening to the women's conversation. "So, how have you been these days Ty-Lee?" Katara asked. "Pretty good, I guess, I'm still new at this so it's a little scary at times," She confessed. Katara nodded. "It was for me too, " Katara assured her. "It was?" Ty-Lee asked astounded. Katara laughed. "Yes, my first time was, the second time wasn't as bad, and the third was easiest," She said with a smile. Ty-Lee gasped. "It isn't that much of a surprise come on," Katara said with a laugh. "Um, mom, it's not that," Kya said alarm in her tone. Katara looked to her friend who was clutching her stomach fear spread across her face. "What's wrong?" Katara asked worriedly. "I-don't know, something hurts," She said shakily. Katara put a hand to her belly. Then she laughed. "It's just a kick," She explained. "Somebody wants to get out and meet their mama," She said jokingly. Ty-Lee put her own hand to her belly. She felt another kick. "It-it's so small," She said as a big smile creeped its way onto her face. Kya giggled. "When mom was pregnant with Tenzin she let me feel him kicking, it felt like such a tiny little foot," The young girl said shyly. Ty-Lee took the twelve year olds hand and placed it on her stomach where the baby kicked several more times. "Aw!" She squealed. "It's so cute!" She said with a big grin. Ty-Lee laughed as she watched the girl beam with joy. As Shang walked in he stopped short at the strange sight before him. "Shang! It was just a kick!" Ty-Lee said excitedly. "Last night, it was only a kick," She went on. Shang grinned. He loved seeing his wife this happy. She was so beautiful, the smile was full of wonder and excitement. He absolutely fell completely in love all over again, the look of joy when she discovered something new was priceless. She was the most beautiful woman in the whole world. Shang walked over and put a hand to her stomach. He grinned. "I can't wait," He murmured. Ty-Lee blushed. "I-love you," She said shyly. Shang leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. He pulled her closer and kissed her deeper. He knew he'd never love anyone as much as he loved her.