Chapter 24: Teacher Aang

After agreeing with Sigun's deal, which only existed because a certain someone enjoyed pranking a little too much, I was granted access to the university's library, and that is where I am currently. It's been about an hour since speaking with Sigun, and we agreed that I would teach an hour-long class on the Air Nomad lifestyle just before noon, so about four hours from now, which means I have plenty of time to myself, and I used that chance to indulge in the many books the library had to offer.

Of course, I had asked Monk Gyatso if that was fine before agreeing since I knew Air Nomads are somewhat reclusive, and we tend to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. Speaking of Monk Gyatso, he had stayed behind with Sigun to catch up on the years, which was fine by me as I had headed straight for the library.

As for the library itself, it was rather massive, significantly larger than the library of scrolls in the Southern Air Temple, which was a testament to the library's incredible wealth of knowledge since the only library I could think of that would hold more books is the hidden library in the Si Wong Deseret: Wan Shi Tong's Library.

'Well, if we were to combine the four libraries of scrolls between the four Air Temples, it would probably be even larger than the Wan Shi Tong's Library… Maybe. It's been quite some time since I've seen the show, so my memory about certain things is a little hazy.' Thought Aang lightly as he hovered a few meters in the air while searching a tall bookshelf.

Finding a rather random yet interesting book, I lowered myself to the ground, causing the vortex keeping me in the air to dissipate as I approached a nearby table, where I silently read. I wasn't the only one present; there were several others, and of course, I had gotten a few looks of interest; after all, it's not every day when you come across an Air-Nomad, but most kept to themselves, while a few of the kindly greeted me, which I responded in kind.

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"Ahh, that is intriguing." Muttered Aang softly as he closed the book before standing up and stretching, causing pops and cracks to resound throughout his body.

Checking the clock to see how much longer I had, I sighed slightly when I realized I only had about fifteen minutes until noon, which meant I would have to delay my reading adventures for later. Grabbing the numerous books I'd collected over the past few hours, I kept them floating using a vortex as I walked through the library, returning them to where I originally found them; however, when I got to the last book, I came across a young woman climbing the bookshelf.

"C'mon, I'm almost there; I don't want to be late." Muttered the young lady urgently as she continued to climb the bookshelf, only for her to misplace her foot, causing her to fall.

Waving my hand, I created an air vortex, catching the woman before gently setting her on the ground, prompting her to touch all over her body only to sigh in relief.

"Haa, thank goodness." Said the young lady as she quickly stood up, only to stop when she noticed Aang to her left.

"Hello." Said Aang softly as he clasped his hands together, greeting the woman, who was completely taken aback.

"Eh, a-an Air Nomad!?" Exclaimed the young lady in surprise as she stared at Aang, who nodded before lifting himself into the air through a vortex.

Returning the final book onto the top shelf, I lowered myself to the ground before nodding at the womans words, which prompted her to passionately look at me.

"S-So the rumors were true!? T-The Air-Nomad class weren't just lies!?" Remarked the young lady enthusiastically as she stared at Aang, who raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"Yes, they're not lies. Also, do you require some assistance?" Replied Aang softly with a nod before pointing toward the book in the lady's hand, causing her to nod while outstretching her hand.

"Thank you. It's pretty difficult for me since I'm, you know, pretty short." Said the woman with a faint smile as she softly chuckled while rubbing her head.

"I do understand." Remarked Aang with a nod as he placed the book in it's initial spot be once again returning to the ground, only for the woman to suddenly clasp her hands together before bowing.

"I'm Hina. A water-bender from the Southern Water Tribe." Said Hina with a smile as she bowed while looking at Aang, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Hmm, we're rather close to each other. I'm Aang from the Southern Air Temple. Also, you don't need to greet me like an Air-Nomad, Hina." Replied Aang lightly as he looked at Hina, who awkwardly laughed while sheepishly rubbing her head.

"Well, I must get going, Hina." Added Aang softly as he clasped his hands towards Hina before walking past her, heading towards the exit.

Leaving the Library, I walked down the bustling university and made my way towards the classroom Sigun had assigned me, though along the way, I noticed Hina was following me, though she seemed rather eager to learn about Air-Nomad, so I figured she was going to intend the class. After several minutes of walking across nearly the whole university, I finally arrived at the classroom with two minutes to spare. When I entered, I was slightly taken aback by the sheer volume of students who were present; there were so many that there weren't even enough chairs for them to sit. Not to mention the diversity; most students looked to be of Earth Kingdom origin, which made sense, but there was also a respectable number of students from both Water Tribes and the Fire Nation.

"Dang it! I knew I should've arrived sooner." Muttered Hina in frustration as she clicked her tongue while entering the classroom before finding a space on the ground to sit.

Fully entering the class room, everyones attention was focused solely on my as I sat down at the front desk, waiting for the class to start, and while doing so, I counted the number of people present.

'…123… 176… 205… 254. 254 people have come to learn about Air Nomads, given that it's only been a few hours since word had been spread, I wonder how many would've attended if there had been a few more days for information to travel.' Mused Aang lightly as he observed the many students, only to suddenly stand up once class had officially begun.

It was my first time speaking before such a large audience, but thankfully, I wasn't the type who got stage fright, so I was rather calm, yet before I could even introduce myself or begin teaching, someone loudly shouted from the back of the class.

"Where is our teacher? We were informed we'd be taught by an air-bending master! Not a little kid!" Yelled someone angrily from the back of the class, his words causing many students to murmur amongst each other while giving skeptical looks.

"One's mastery of an element doesn't necessarily correlate to one's age; this tattoo signifies that." Said Aang softly as he glanced at the young man while pointing towards his forehead, only for him to scoff.

"Hmph, what a joke! I wanted to be taught by a wise, old man, not some little brat; if some kid like you can be given such a tattoo, the Air Temples must be a joke! I'm out of here." Declared the young man arrogantly as he sat up from his seat, grabbed his books, and walked down the stairs while grumbling under his breath.

"If you don't wish to be taught by me, then do as you wish; I will not stop you, but please refrain from making rude remarks about the Air Temples." Remarked Aang calmly with furrowed brows as he looked at the young man, who merely scoffed in annoyance before exiting the classroom.

With the young man exiting the classroom, I shifted my focus towards the remaining two-hundred-fity-three students and noticed some were also sporting skeptical expressions; of course, I didn't wish to force anyone to stay.

"Please, if anyone doesn't feel comfortable with me teaching, then exit; I don't wish your first experience with Air Nomads to be remembered in a bad light." Stated Aang softly as he looked at numerous students, his words causing many to stand, yet in the end, surprisingly, no one else left.

Seeing as no one else left, I cleared my throat and created a vortex to lift me high into the air, nearly touching the ceiling; while this action wasn't all that impressive to air nomads, it served to grab everyone's attention as they fixedly stared at me in newfound interest.

"I'm Aang, an Air Nomad from the Southern Air Temple. Per my agreement with director Till, I shall teach you all of the Air Nomads' ways of life." Declared Aang lightly as he gazed at the two-hundred plus students, who were looking at him in intrigue.

Gracefully landing back onto the ground, dissipating the vortex, I looked at the five-hundred-six eyes full of interest before faintly smiling.

"Since you all took time out of your busy schedule to attend this class, what would you all wish to specifically learn first?" Asked Aang lightly as he gazed at the numerous students, only for a family face to raise their hand.

"Air-bending!" Stated Hina excitedly, her words causing Aang to faintly nod as he suddenly pushed his palm forward, creating a soft gust of wind that hit the many students, causing papers to fly around everywhere.

"Let me begin with the 36 stances of Baguazhang." Said Aang with a small smile as he looked at the many students, who all fixedly stared at him.