Chapter Text
Bumi was bleeding. Or rather, he thought he was. His hand was certainly covered in a red, sticky liquid, but somehow he couldn't connect that to the sharp throbbing in his head. He began to giggle uncontrollably. "Well," he said, turning back towards his friends, "that one was quite the show."
Skipper began to laugh. "Just for us. It didn't even go twenty feet." He was on his back, his hands clasped behind his head.
"Bumi," Chugs said, "that's blood." His voice was thick.
"Thought so!"
Skipper sat up at that. "Woah. I'm not setting off the next one then."
Gor clutched his stomach. "That looks serious, man."
Bumi waved a hand. "It's a scratch," he said.
"It's dripping down your face," Gor insisted. He began to breathe loudly.
Skipper grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "You're fine, you're fine."
Leave it to Gor to ruin a good night, thought Bumi. "Just forget about it." He tore at the bottom of his tunic, until a sizable piece of fabric came off. The rip exposed his tank top beneath, but it was hardly cold. Bumi wrapped the torn cloth around his head, and tied it in a knot. "Good as new! Come on, let's set off a blue one next."
"It's not going to stop bleeding," Gor said, looking pale. "I need water, I'm going to faint."
Chugs frowned. "No you won't. It's just the juice." He turned towards Bumi. "He's probably right though."
"You don't want to see a blue one?" Bumi folded his arms. Why can’t they just leave me alone?
"Forget about the damned fireworks," Chugs answered. He was sobering up, Bumi could tell. "We have to get you to a healer."
"No healer!" Bumi said, stubbornly.
Skipper was rising to his feet now. He nearly fell over but steadied himself against the wall of the museum. High above them, Aang’s statue stood, illuminated. "Yeah, let's just head back to campus."
Chugs rolled his eyes. "Come on, man, that's not going to fix itself. The hospital is right on the bay; we could be there in no time."
Skipper grabbed his shoulder. "And when we show up in a stolen boat and they find out he's got cactus juice in him? We're going to get kicked out of school!"
"Your mother!" Gor shouted at Bumi, suddenly. "Isn't she a healer?"
"Leave my mother out of it."
"If the mother finds out, so does the father," Skipper said. "And leave it to Avatar Aang to go to the administrators anyway. We’d all get busted.”
Bumi suddenly started giggling, pointing up towards the statue. "But Dad already knows!" Only Skipper laughed with him.
“Is that a boat?” Gor asked in a panicked voice. The three other boys turned to where he was pointing on the bay. A small boat with a white sail was only a few hundred feet away. It was too dark to make out its name. “Is it the police?” Gor said. “The island closes at sunset.”
Skipper clapped a hand over his mouth. “Then best if they don’t know we’re here,” he said harshly, in a whisper. "Sound travels over water."
For a few tense moments, nobody spoke or moved. Yet the boat sailed past, without altering its course.
Bumi let out a sigh. “Maybe it’s a good thing that last firework didn’t go so high.”
Skipper laughed. “It went into your face.”
“Can we please find someone to look at that?” Gor asked.
"Yeah,” Chugs agreed. “Are there any White Lotus that could fix you up? We can't have you bleeding all over our apartment.”
"Kya!" Bumi suddenly shouted.
"Your sister?" Gor asked, sounding notably relieved at the notion of a plan.
"Nice," Skipper said. "Wouldn't mind seeing her again."
Bumi was on him in the blink of an eye. "That's my sister," he snapped, wrapping a hand around his throat. "And she's fifteen. Just try saying something like that again!"
“Get off me, man. It was a joke.” Skipper grabbed at Bumi’s wrist. Suddenly, the ground seemed to move. Bumi let go, turned, and wretched.
"Get him into the boat," Chugs said, sounding exasperated. "Let's take him to his sister."
"I can't sail yet!" Gor said, but Skipper silenced him with a look.
The ride from Aang Memorial Island to Air Temple Island was fairly short, but by the time they approached its shores, Bumi's wound had soaked through the strip of fabric. He pulled off what remained of his tunic and wrapped the entire shirt around his head. "Lower the sail," he said, feeling light-headed. "And we can’t dock. An acolyte or White Lotus guard will see and get my parents."
"Well how are we supposed to get you in then?" Skipper asked, arms folded.
"Steer around to the backside. I can climb up the rocks."
"With half your brains hanging out?" Chugs asked, skeptically.
"I've done it before!" Bumi insisted.
Gor and Chugs worked to drop the sail, while Skipper reached down for the oars. He handed one to Bumi. “Seriously, you sure about this, man?” he asked, dropping his voice so the other two couldn’t hear. “We could just go back to the apartment, sleep it off, and if it’s bad in the morning, I’ll go down to the hospital and try and to sweet-talk one of the healers into helping.”
“We’re already here,” Bumi said, his dizziness increasing. “Though I might need some after-care if you want to sweet-talk a healer anyway.” That brought a smile back to his friend’s face. He and Skipper were of a kind; if it had been up to the two of them, they would still be on the Memorial Island, giving their friends back downtown the firework show they had promised.
When Chug and Gor turned their attention back, Bumi handed over his oar and climbed onto the bow, where he stayed crouching. He directed them around the island, to a small patch of sand. "You’re going to climb that?" Chugs asked, horrified.
"I can do this," Bumi said confidently. He tried to make his way out of the boat with as much dignity as possible, but as he stood, the world began to swim again. It's just the cactus juice, he told himself, moving towards the edge. He jumped off, knowing his friends would have found it suspicious if he did otherwise. Somehow, he landed on his feet. "I've got it! Get on back, I'll take a bison in the morning."
Chugs looked like he wanted to protest, but Skipper clapped him on the back. "You heard the man! We still might be able to make Yora's party!" He and Gor began to row, this time, turning the boat away from the shore.
"See ya!" Chugs called, once they were thirty feet out. Gor and Skipper were too busy bringing the sail back up to say anything, or even glance back. Before long, they had vanished from Bumi’s sight.
He took a breath and turned towards the rocks. "Okay Bumi, you've got this," he told himself. It was hardly the first time he had snuck onto Air Temple Island—it was hardly the first time he snuck onto the island with cactus juice in him—but somehow climbing up proved harder than he remembered. He must have forgotten his usual path, because he slipped three times. The third had been the worst; he had made it nearly to the top by then, and had it not been for a nearby tree root jutting out, he might have fallen to the shore below. He never screamed out though...he knew better than that.
When Bumi reached the top, he could feel himself sweating, but when he went to wipe it away, his hand only found blood. His soaked tunic was keeping some of it at bay, he figured, but perhaps the cut was deeper than he initially thought.
He made his way through the trees along a familiar path, until he found himself behind the boys’ dormitories. Sneaking to the girls’ side was something he also excelled out, but the sound of footsteps made him freeze. "Guards!" he whispered. He felt as though he might wretch again, but shook his head. He would not let himself be found bleeding and vomiting behind a building. Instead, he made his way to the third window, wrenched it open, and threw himself inside.
He landed with a thud, waking the boy in the bed. "...wha?" Tenzin sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Hey Bro!"
"Bumi?" Tenzin swung his legs out of his bed. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "What happened?!"
"Keep your voice down," Bumi cautioned, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Just a little accident."
"It looks serious..." Tenzin walked to where Bumi was on the floor, but made no move to touch him. Even in the moonlight, it was clear his face had paled.
Bumi didn't dare rise, in case his gag reflex returned. Instead he tried to give his brother a comforting smile. "Really, it's nothing," he said waving his hand. "But if you could do me a favor and go get Kya?"
"We should get Mom."
It was exactly what Bumi knew Tenzin would say. "That would just worry her. Come on, Kya's a great healer."
"Mom's better. Bumi there's so much blood. What happened?"
"A firework," he said simply, trying not to be annoyed. "Tenzin, come on. You know what will happen if you get Mom. She and Dad will both come, and before long they're going to be talking about sticking me in acolyte training again."
Tenzin set his jaw. "That would be an honor."
"Because studying zoology is so shameful?" Bumi snapped. He was in no mood for this, not from his eleven-year-old brother. "Look, just go get Kya. I'd do it for you."
"How am I supposed to do that? The guards will see me! I can just go get—”
Bumi reached up and grabbed Tenzin's shirt where it hung loosely around his chest. He pulled his brother closer. "Use your little airbender skills and float over there. Or does Aunt Toph call Dad 'Twinkle Toes' for nothing?" He saw tears forming in his brother's eyes. He's just a kid. Bumi let go. "I'm sorry. Come on, I didn't mean it. Just please get her? I know you can do it."
Tenzin still looked like he might cry, but he nodded all the same. He started towards the door. "No no," Bumi called from the ground, "go out the window. Sneak behind the buildings, okay?"
Tenzin hesitated. "Bumi, what if Kya can't heal you? You don't think it would be better if I—”
"Tenzin, please?" He felt absurd begging his brother who was nearly a decade younger and still half a child. But the throbbing in his head was getting harder and harder to ignore.
"Okay, okay. Just—don’t move. I'll be back soon." With that, Tenzin crossed the room and peered out the window. After a moment, he pulled his head back in and climbed up onto the sill. He was gone in the blink of an eye; Bumi never heard him land. Maybe he'll be able to do this after all.
Yet Bumi knew his brother was not one to sneak around the grounds. More likely than not, Tenzin would run smack into a White Lotus guard and tell them the entire story without even being asked a question. "If that happens, they'll go wake Dad," Bumi said to himself, feeling panicked. He might be able to fake sobriety, but what would he tell him about his injury? And even if he could fool the Avatar, Katara would surely see through any lie.
I have to hide! Just in case he gets caught, Bumi realized. He looked around the room wildly. The closet looked like it would be too shallow, so instead he dragged himself towards the bed. He had hidden himself under plenty of beds in the girl's dormitory before, but Tenzin's seemed to be lower to the ground. He only managed to get halfway underneath. "They'll see my legs," he whispered. "Can't have that." He tried to curl them under himself, but it was no use; they were sticking out. Bumi reached up and undid the knot in his tunic, which was still on his head. It was wet and sticky with blood. He managed to wriggle his hands out from under the bed, and positioned the tunic over his legs the best he could. He couldn't tell if his boots were sticking out, but if Tenzin had any sense, he could just pretend they were his shoes.
Without the fabric, blood began to run freely down his face, stinging his eyes. A chill swept over him, but he knew he had to lie still if he was going to fool anyone. His vision was blurry, with imprints of fireworks swimming before him.
He could not have said how long he stayed like that, but finally he heard the door slide open. Footsteps approached. “These are Tenzin’s boots!” he shouted. It was better to head them off before they grew suspicious.
Someone gasped. "Bumi?!" The voice belonged to Kya. He began to laugh in relief.
He felt the tunic being lifted off him, and a hand was suddenly on his calf. "Get out from there," she said urgently. "Tenzin, you didn't tell me it was this bad!"
Bumi wormed his way out again, rolling over to look at his sister. Through the red haze, he could make her out. "Hey there, sis!" He grinned. He tried to push himself up, but the strength had left his arms.
Kya's face was a mask of pure horror. "Help me get him onto the bed," she said to Tenzin. When she turned, Bumi could see a waterskin draped over her back.
"That will get blood all over my sheets!"
"I can take care of that, just help me," she insisted. She bent down and grabbed behind one of Bumi's shoulders. Tenzin did the same on the other side; when he pushed off the ground, Bumi could feel a rush of air. Before he knew it, he was sitting back against Tenzin's pillow. Kya lifted the bedsheet to his face to wipe away the blood as best she could. "Tenzin, get me a bucket."
"But we almost got caught!" he protested.
"Does this look like a small scratch to you? There's one next door in Dad's study."
Tenzin frowned. "That's Mom's...it's full of water!"
"We'll be needing it. Just go," she said urgently. Their brother frowned, but headed towards the door without another word. No sooner had he left the room than Kya turned back. "What happened to you? How did you even get here?" She stopped mopping his head with the sheet to peer closely at the gash. Looking at the blood stains made Bumi feel sick.
He tried to distract himself. "Hey Kya. Did you see Tenzin's five o'clock shadow? We can just tell Mom and Dad I cut myself shaving, trying to be like him," he chortled. "They'd weep with joy, you know."
She pulled away from him, staring. "What are you on?" she asked, no trace of humor in her voice.
"Oh come on. Don't be like Mom."
"Bumi, I don't care what you—” She was interrupted by the door sliding open. Tenzin came back in, doing his best not to spill the bucket as he walked. "Whatever, just drink this," she said, handing her skin towards Bumi. The water tasted almost sweet to him.
Tenzin set the bucket down by the bed, and Kya immediately bent its contents around her hands, causing the water to glow bright blue. When she placed them on Bumi's head, he felt a cool, soothing sensation.
It was only then that Bumi realized just how dizzy he was. Everything seemed to be darkening. He closed his eyes. "Why's he laughing?" Tenzin's worried voice sounded. It was the last thing Bumi remembered hearing.
The next thing he knew, sunlight was streaming into the room. Bumi sat up slowly, his head pounding. He smelled blood, though the sheets on top of him were clean. There was no sign of Tenzin or Kya. Judging by the light outside, he had slept through most of the morning. Bumi pulled off the covers and swung his feet over the side of the bed. He felt weaker than he could ever remember.
“Well, I’ve definitely missed 'Intro to Vertebrate Chakras,'” Bumi said to himself. “But I can probably catch physiology.” His voice was hoarse, and sounded almost foreign to him. He contemplated the floor in front of him, wondering what would happen if he tried to stand. It was something he would never find out; his legs and arms felt like tapioca pudding, and he couldn’t seem to remember what muscles to use. Instead, Bumi leaned forward and let himself unceremoniously tumble onto the ground. He half-crawled, half-dragged himself in the direction of the door.
A warm breeze was blowing in from the window, Bumi could tell, yet he felt oddly chilly. It was then that he remembered his missing tunic. “I’ll have to borrow one of Tenzin’s shirts,” he mumbled. He changed the direction of his laborious movements and inched towards the dresser. When he finally reached it, Bumi forced himself to sit up on his knees. The world was spinning and funny green dots were clouding his vision. He slid the bottom drawer open, though no sooner did he peer inside than a wave of nausea took hold. Before he could stop himself, Bumi wretched on top of Tenzin’s folded pants. That was when Bumi heard the footsteps.
Instinctively, he slammed the drawer shut. The effort caused him to collapse back onto the floor, where he curled into a fetal position. He was soaked in sweat, though whether from vomiting or the fear of being discovered by his parents, he could not have said.
It was Kya who slid the door open, two waterskins draped over her back this time. She glanced down at Bumi on the ground and arched an eyebrow. “Oh good, you’re up. And alive.” As she moved into the room, she was followed by an Air Acolyte Bumi recognized as Seppa, whose arms were full of folded clothing.
Seppa was fairly new, only having come to Air Temple Island a year prior. Yet she had already made the habit of avoiding Bumi when possible, likely in response to his failed attempts at dating her. It had only taken him three months to give up trying, after Skipper convinced him that anyone who had decided at age sixteen that she wanted to live as a monk was probably not someone worth courting. Even still, it was hardly comfortable to have her see him like this. “Why did you bring someone else?” Bumi mumbled, unable to pick his head up.
“Because I can’t clean your mess alone,” Kya said, in an exasperated tone, though when she bent down to help Bumi, her touch was surprisingly gentle. She eased him into a sitting position, keeping a hand on his back, and gave him one of her skins of water. “Drink. I smuggled you some bread too, but you’re going to need the water more.” Bumi obeyed, careful to take only small sips.
As he drank, Kya bent the contents of her other waterskin around her hand and placed it at the base of his neck. The sudden relief from the headache almost caused him to collapse back to the floor.
“Kya, this is a mess,” Seppa said, a horrified look on her face. She set the clothing down at the foot of the bed. “That pillow is ruined.” Bumi followed her gaze. The pillow in question was covered in the unmistakable dark brown of dried blood. So that’s where the smell was coming from.
"Well, you don't have to be here, you know," Bumi said defensively.
"Oh you want me to go? Good luck with all of this, then."
"I can take care of myself. And I don't need some goody two-shoes running and telling Dad."
Kya withdrew her hand from his neck. The pain returned almost instantaneously. "Bumi, stop it. Seppa can be trusted. And I'm not going to be able to get you dressed and cleaned up on my own. She's doing you a favor." His sister's voice was as sharp as ever. She turned towards the acolyte. "Please stay."
An odd expression flicked across Seppa's face as she looked at Kya, but she nodded all the same. She crossed the room to the closet, where she pulled out an extra pillowcase. Kya turned back to Bumi, and drew a folded napkin out of her pocket. "Try and eat this. It was all I could steal for you."
Bumi unfolded it to find a sticky bun that he could tell was filled with fruit. The smell was simultaneously intoxicating and nauseating. He took a small bite and let the sweetness fill his mouth. After a fashion, he managed to swallow.
By the time he got through the roll, his head was feeling much clearer. Whatever healing Kya had done had taken away the worst of his headache, though a dull pain remained. The water and bread had helped his shaking a bit as well.
"Kya, there's no way we're going to be able to smuggle this pillowcase out without questions," Seppa called from the bed. She had laid out fresh linens as well. "And I think too much of the blood has set for you to be able to clean it at this point."
"Just throw it in the back of Tenzin's closet for now," Kya answered. "I'll deal with it later." Bumi tried not to think about the vomit Tenzin would also find in his drawer. I'll figure out a way to make it up to him. Kya took the waterskin back from Bumi and slung it over her shoulder, along with her other. "Okay, we need to try to get you up and dressed."
Bumi shifted so he was kneeling, resting an arm against Kya's shoulder. Slowly, he moved a leg out in front of him, and tried to put weight on it. The green dots returned to his vision. He managed to stand up halfway before falling against his sister. She reeled under his weight. Though Kya was no weakling, Bumi had a few inches and eighty good pounds of muscle on her. Seppa quickly rushed to her side and helped prop Bumi up. Somehow, they made it towards the bed, where his fresh clothes waited for him.
If he had felt a bit silly for being curled in fetal position and unable to move when they had found him, he was outright humiliated for needing two teenage girls to help him get dressed. Yet he was as useless as ever; even Bumi's hands felt more clumsy than usual. Seppa had to be the one to take off his belt. "See and this wouldn't have even been ‘til the third date," he joked, hoping to cut the tension. The look she returned him made it clear he had only achieved the opposite. Kya, who was helping him with his shirt, shoved his arm through the sleeve with more force than was entirely needed.
When all was said and done, Bumi looked presentable. His body had grown accustomed to standing up by that point. Though he had to move slowly, he could still walk without help.
Seppa folded his soiled clothes. "I'm going to take these down to the wash room," she said. "Then I've got to get back to the pavilion for meditation."
Kya touched her arm. "Thank you," she said, emphatically. She gave Bumi a pointed look.
"Oh right. Thanks," he said. "Really."
Seppa gave a smile that looked more like a grimace before looking back towards Kya. "I'll see you later then,” she said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
Kya glanced furtively at Bumi before managing a "sounds good."
Once Seppa had left, Kya wasted no time. "You're going to need to go to lunch. Dad and Mom will both be there, but we can't get you a bison home without being seen by someone. Besides, you need to eat something substantial. You lost so much blood, Bumi."
Thinking about it made him feel queasy. "They'll know I'm cutting class."
"Just tell them they were cancelled today." She reached up and touched his hair, sweeping some onto his forehead. "And you have a little bit of a scar. Sorry, I did my best."
"I don't know Kya...can't we try and sneak me out tonight? Tenzin's bison, what's his name—Oogi?—trusts him enough to take off from the northern shore."
"Bumi!" Kya said, exasperated. "You can't hide in Tenzin's room all day, and you can't expect us to sneak you out on a half-grown bison! We've already lied and risked getting caught for you. You can get through one meal with Mom and Dad."
"But I'm feeling sick," he protested. Mom will see my scar. She always notices these things.
"Because you spent half the night bleeding under Tenzin's bed with...who-knows-what coursing through you. Mom says that it's important to eat green vegetables if you've lost blood." Kya paused and frowned. "Though other healers say fish and meat. Not that it matters for us."
Bumi's stomach did yet another turn at that. Once he moved off of Air Temple Island, the first thing he did was shed their vegetarian diet. "What if they asked how I got here?"
"Your friends dropped you off by boat. That’s what happened, isn’t it? It’s not like they’re going to check with anyone on the docks." She frowned. "Bumi, come on. They're going to start wondering where I am."
He slumped his shoulders, defeated. "Let's just get this over with."
He was still shaky, but every step Bumi took seemed to help; it was almost tangible proof that he would be alright. Once he and his sister walked outside, however, the sunlight brought his headache back full force. Bumi was practically half-blind as they strode into the dining hall. At the table in the center sat his parents, Tenzin, and to his horror, his uncle. Though Aang and Katara might overlook it, Sokka would surely notice the signs of a cactus juice hangover.
"Look who turned up!" Kya called as she walked towards the table, casually gesturing in Bumi's direction. They all glanced over expectantly.
Bumi drew a breath and forced a smile. "Hey there! My early afternoon class was cancelled. Figured I'd drop by for lunch."
Aang smiled, Sokka tilted his cup in Bumi's direction, and Katara jumped up out of her seat. Tenzin, meanwhile, stared intently at his miso soup. His mother met Bumi halfway to the table and gave him a hug. "Are you alright?" she asked, when she had pulled back. "You look exhausted."
Bumi instinctively flattened his hair where his sister had tried to set it. "Life of a student," he said, unable to meet her eyes. "Also, I skipped breakfast."
"Ohhh, so that's why you're really here," Aang said jokingly, as they took their seats.
"Are you kidding?" Sokka asked. "All the wonderful food of Republic City and he chooses airbender fare? I don't think so."
Katara hit her brother lightly on the shoulder. "Feel free to stop eating then."
He waved his hand. "Happy to be here, sis. I'm just saying, no one is crossing Yue Bay for some steamed carrots." Bumi made himself laugh at that, as Sokka was likely expecting. Kya slid a plate of edamame towards him and gave him a significant look.
"Well we're happy to have you, Bumi, whatever the reason," Katara said. "Though why was your class cancelled?"
He was grateful that the beans in his mouth gave him time to think. "The professor is on vacation this week."
His mother frowned. "In the middle of the semester?"
"I don't know, maybe it was time-sensitive research or something. I think a swarm of dolphin piranhas is nearing Whale Tail Island right now...you know how this stuff is."
Katara looked skeptical, but fortunately Aang took the bait. "I've always wanted to see them. They'd be something to ride, wouldn't they, Tenzin?" He winked at his younger son.
Tenzin was the as pale as the tofu in his soup. "What? I don't know!"
Bumi heard Kya sigh next to him. Aang looked bemused. "I was joking...that would be quite dangerous."
"Oh," Tenzin said, awkwardly fingering his spoon.
"Is something wrong?" Katara asked her younger son.
He looked back at her with tearful eyes. "I'm not feeling all that well. May I be excused to go meditate?"
"You don't want to see your—”
Aang cut his wife off. "Of course you can meditate. I'll come join you in a little."
Tenzin nearly overturned his bowl in his haste to leave the room. "What was that all about?" Sokka asked once he had left. Bumi put his head down and concentrated on his edamame.
Aang shook his head. "He's getting near the age I was when I got my tattoos," he said, solemnly. "I think he's putting too much pressure on himself. I just hope he knows I'm going to be proud of him no matter how long it takes."
Katara gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure he knows that. You're doing the best you can."
Suddenly, Bumi lost his taste for the soybeans. Kya caught the look on his face. "So Skipper gave Bumi a ride here. Wasn't that nice of him?"
"Oh, yes. How is...Skipper?" Katara asked, barely keeping the disdain out of her voice.
"He owns a boat?" Aang asked skeptically. Sokka looked from his sister to the Avatar, shrugged, and continued to eat his own soup.
Bumi glared at Kya. "He borrowed it. Friend of a friend's." His sister looked at him with a questioning gaze. "What?" she mouthed.
"Must be some nice friends," Sokka offered.
Kya couldn't have known the boat Bumi came in was stolen, but he didn't need her throwing him into the line of fire all the same. "Skipper's like a brother, actually," he said, reaching across the table for another plate full of greens.
Katara tightened her grip on her chopsticks, but Aang managed a smile. "Well good," he said. "Living with him is going well, I take it?"
"It's going great." He could feel Kya's eyes on him, no doubt disapproving along with their mother’s. He shoved a generous amount of the bok choy in his mouth, hoping that would end the line of questioning.
It did not. "Tell us about your classes then," Katara said.
"Yes, how's...what was it again? ‘Special Topics in Earth Kingdom History?’” Aang asked. "I'm excited that you'll get to learn about the time I founded a group of brainwashing bodyguards." He gave Sokka a knowing smile.
"I will never forgive you for Joo Dee," his friend answered, laughing. "Though I wonder what happened to her..."
"Which one?" Aang asked. They both started laughing until Katara cut in. "That isn't funny! All those poor women."
"Hey, we're just giving Bumi some insider information here. I'm sure this will be useful on a test," Sokka said. Aang looked at his son expectantly.
"I'm not taking that course anymore," Bumi said flatly. "I switched it for ‘Musical Instruments of the Fire Nation.’" All the smiles at the table seemed to die at that. "It was just an elective," he said, defensively.
"I think you might have gotten something out of it though," Katara said.
Aang shrugged. "I think you should try and take whatever makes you happy. I certainly enjoyed my Fire Nation music class." He put an arm around his wife. "Remember?"
"Ugh, the two of you!" Sokka exclaimed. "As much fun as this trip down memory lane has been, Aang, we've got our council meeting soon."
"I'll be needing a ride back, too," Bumi said, hopefully. Katara and Kya might be scornful, but when he got to be alone with his dad and uncle, it was always a fun atmosphere.
Aang let go of Katara and brought his hands together. "The two of you can take Appa. I'll fly back on my glider and be a little late to the meeting. I want to check on Tenzin."
"Bumi, you really have to leave so soon? You just got here," Katara said. "I'd love to hear more about your semester. And Kya and I can give you a ride to town later."
Bumi looked at his sister, whose arms were folded. She wore a closed expression on her face, but he was in no mood to try and decipher it. He somehow couldn't bring himself to meet his mother's eyes. "No, it's okay, everyone's busy," he said. "And I have a paper due for my ‘Plant Anatomy: Structure, and Chi’ class tomorrow anyway. It's just easier if I head back now." He wondered if his friends told anyone about his injury. If so, I'll be the hit of the party tonight.
"You sure?" Sokka asked, looking from his nephew to his sister awkwardly.
"Yeah," Bumi said. "Yeah, I should have told you I was coming ahead of time."
"You know you're always welcome," Katara said. "Maybe you can come for dinner next week?"
"Sure, Mom." Even though his appetite was only now returning, Bumi pushed his plate away from him and made to stand. The sudden rush of blood threw him off balance, and he nearly tripped climbing out of the seat. Kya made a movement as if to rise, but stopped herself. Bumi could feel his hands shaking, though he was much more stable on his feet than before.
Once he was free of the table, Sokka and Aang took that as their cue to leave too. Aang placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. "It was good seeing you. Let me know if there's any instrument you'd like me to get for you," he said, before turning towards Sokka. "Feel free to get everything started, but try and hold off talking about the export taxes until I get there."
"Right, how could you want to miss that?" Sokka asked, rolling his eyes.
Katara insisted on giving Bumi another hug. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
"Yes, Mom, I'm only ten minutes away." He withdrew from her embrace, feeling oddly irritable.
"Say 'hi' to Skipper for me," Kya called from the table. "We're practically family." There was no mistaking the coldness in her voice.
Bumi wanted to apologize...to thank her for everything. But he couldn't, not with everyone around. And even though she'd keep his secrets, there was no doubt she and Katara would worry about him together once he left. "I'll see you soon," he said to her.
Sokka clapped a hand on Bumi's back so hard it nearly brought him to his knees. "Ready then, kiddo?"
Katara looked like she was fighting tears, and Kya was brooding into her cup of tea. I would have been better off going back to my apartment , Bumi thought. Skipper definitely could have found a healer to convince. "As I'll ever be," he said to his uncle.
Sokka was jovial as they headed out towards the stables, not seeming to notice his nephew grimacing from the sunlight. He blathered on about the weather, about Toph bringing Suyin to a council meeting the week before, about an awkward date he had the other night, and about when Suki was due back from the Fire Nation. It wasn't until they had flown halfway to the heart of the city that Sokka stopped talking. He turned from where he was seated on Appa's head to look at Bumi. "Here, I think you could use this," he said, reaching into his coat pocket. When he withdrew his hand, he was holding a piece of jerky. "It can be our secret."
Bumi took it gratefully, and ate it in two bites. His uncle laughed. "The way you were scarfing down those soybeans, I knew you needed something more substantial."
"Thanks," Bumi answered, wondering why Sokka seemed to be staring at him. He shifted in the saddle awkwardly.
"Look, I'm not your parent. And I'm not going to pretend that I haven't done some stupid things in my life," Sokka said. Bumi felt his heart begin to race. His uncle continued, "But whatever you were doing last night...you have to be careful."
"I...I was just..."
Sokka turned back to face front and waved a hand. "Whatever happened, you wanted to come home because of it. I know how comforting that can be. And it's perfectly normal to get freaked out. I just want to make sure you're aware of the dangers."
"Oh, well...”
"Your mother has mentioned to me that she's a little bit worried about your friends. Well, you know how she is. But it's because she cares about you."
"My friends are fine," Bumi protested.
Sokka turned again. "Oh, I'm sure of that. And you're twenty now; a man. You don't need our approval. Just make sure you're balancing the fun."
"I do," Bumi said, quietly. "You're really not going to tell my parents?"
Sokka looked back towards the approaching city. "About the meat? Definitely not. No point in a nonbender keeping a diet of two-hundred year-old monks. Even your mom eats fish from time to time, but don't tell her I told you that."
"What about the other thing?"
Sokka's shoulders slumped. "I don't want to be the bad guy here. I don't have to bring it up, but I can't lie to my sister. Look. We're all just concerned about you, Bumi. We want to make sure you're on the path towards a happy life." He glanced back. "Are you?"
If I was an airbender, Bumi thought, I could jump out of this saddle right now. "I mostly like zoology."
"Well that's something!" Sokka answered. "And it's okay if you don't, too. It took me awhile to figure out what makes me happy."
"What does?"
"Simple. Pickled seal jerky, council meetings with unanimous votes, and something to hit with my boomerang. As long as you can think of three things, you're doing alright."
Bumi sat back in the saddle, scouring his brains. A glass of ale, a girl to kiss, and a place I can call my own, he thought. More nights than not, he had all three. So why was it never enough?