The Legend of Ben 10: Book 1, Sentience.

Chapter 1: A Substitute Avatar (Part 2).

He possessed a large gray beard, and wore a wide brimmed bamboo hat over his balding head, his face filled with serene peace as he strummed on his instrument, the rain wetting the ragged coat he wore over his clothes. 

"Oho, hello there young one." said the man, smiling at Ben. "Apologies for the strange scene. When I started my stroll today, the sky was unusually clear. Had I known that it would rain only minutes later, I would've brought a bigger hat. Heheheheh."

"Why don't you come under the roof?" Ben said. "Warm up a bit."

"That's quite generous of you." said the man. "I might just take you up on that offer. The owner of this house is also quite a kind man. I don't think he would mind me dripping upon his floor just a tiny bit."

The man settled down next to Ben, letting out a huge sigh. "Ahhhh that's the ticket. Nothing like the calm patter of rain and a good conversation to ease the mind and soothe my old joints."

"Wish I could be as content as you." Ben muttered. 

"Hmmm something seems to be bothering you, perhaps I can help." said the old man.

"It's nothing I should bother you with." Ben said. "Sorry."

"Oho, do not underestimate the ears of an old man dear boy." said the man. "Age is like a fine book. When it just starts out, they are merely  blank pages, clean and crisp as an apple on an autumn's wind. But by the time the author is finished writing, it is filled with wisdom, and grammatical errors, but that's what my Nephew is for! Hahaha, he's the editor you might say."

"So if I might peruse said book?" Ben said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Come now, don't be shy." said the man. 

"It's just, back where I came from I was the greatest hero in the world. I mean it wasn't all fun, people came after me, and I was saddled with a lot of responsibility when I was still a kid." Ben said. "But I was the guy who could do anything, solve any problem. I loved helping people, I loved being that person. I loved that I could make as much of a difference as I could.  But.. but.."

"But?" said the old man with an encouraging smile. 

"The truth is, I was also always constantly afraid." Ben said. "My friend Tetrax once asked me, if I became a hero because I loved helping people, or just for the thrill of being a hero. Truth is, while I did have a few thrills, I was constantly afraid of messing up. People were going to die if I couldn't get there in time, if I didn't pick the right alien. If I couldn't beat the insanely strong warlord. Heck there was a point where I thought my grandfather died.  The entire Universe was at stake.  And now that I'm here in this world-."

"You feel relieved that the responsibility goes to the Avatar and not you." said the old man. "And yet you feel guilty  that you are relieved."

"Yeah." Ben said, dipping his head.  

"I see." said the Old man.

"I haven't told anybody this, not even Katara." Ben muttered. "I'm kind of wondering why I'm telling you, and how you even know the Avatar is related to this."

"Like I said, don't underestimate the mind of an old man like myself, heheheh." the man chuckled. 

"In any case, I feel like I shouldn't feel relieved, I should be seeking to do more, and because of that I should do more." Ben said. "But I can't. I can't solve the spirit problem. For the first time, I'm not the solution, and I'll never be the solution. I have so many different super powers in this watch, and yet all I can do now is punch people when I shouldn't be punching people."