Bumi

A flare of resentment crosses Tenzin's mind when he sees Bumi stand a little taller, carry himself a little differently. Why is he allowed his role and Tenzin not allowed to perform in his own way?

None of the answers that come to mind are terribly comforting, so when they get to just outside the doors to their father's room, Tenzin stands aside.

"I'll let you have some privacy."

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It hurts Bumi to see his brother this way. This formal. This...removed. He doesn't doubt for one second the pain that Tenzin is feeling, because that same pain is crushing his own heart as well. He understands the need to cope, and what it means to have a public face in the wake of tragedy.

But Bumi isn't the public, and it hurts to have his brother treat him as if he was.

"Thank you," he says more to the closed door than Tenzin.

His eyes fall shut, and he takes a deep breath before he slides the door open and enters the room, leaving his brother in the hallway.

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Katara looks over her shoulder when the door opens.

Then she looks back down to her husband for a moment, before she gets to her feet. How she manages it without trembling, she'll never know. When she turns to her son, she doesn't say anything.

But Katara does smile (as much as she really can), and opens her arms to him.

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The bag hits the ground, quickly forgotten as Bumi crosses the distance to his mother.

It's been several months since he's seen her, and he doesn't remember her ever looking so small. He gathers her up in an embrace that lifts her clear off the ground.

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But he doesn't leave.

Not that Tenzin can hear anything. And it isn't as though Tenzin doesn't have other things he could (probably should) be attending to.

But his brother and his parents are in that room, so he's going to stand right here. And not leave.

(Though it would be far less awkward if he wasn't standing in the open doorway.)

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At the moment, Katara's attention is entirely taken up by being lifted from the ground.

"Oh, Bumi." Her voice is a little muffled.

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"You look different, Mom," he says quietly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You changed something with your hair, haven't you?"

Because what this room needs more than anything else right now, is just a touch of levity.

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She hasn't done anything to her hair, but she doesn't say that.

"Oh, I can see you haven't." If anything, it only seems more unruly, and he's too old for her to be able to do anything about it.

But being overly mothering is about the only levity Katara can really lend, and it doesn't last too long, as she says more seriously, "We're glad you're here."

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Bumi returns her to her feet, and then runs a hand through his famously unruly hair.

Decades ago he drafted and signed a cease-fire with his many cowlicks and the two warring factions have maintained peace ever since.

He takes her hand and presses a kiss to it much the same way he did with Kya. "You have Appa to thank for that. And him, I'd wager."

For the first time since his arrival Bumi looks to his father. The Avatar appears far older than his sixty-six years. Though...it's really one hundred and sixty-six, isn't it?

Aang doesn't stir, but that hardly stops Bumi from addressing him as he usually did.
"One of these years Dad that bison is just going to up and tell you to come get me yourself, you know that right?"

The pure bravado of his voice would be more believable were Bumi not clinging to his mother.

Edited Date: 2012-08-28 03:47 am (UTC)

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"not likely. appa can always be trusted to do as he is instructed, unlike some."
His voice is no more than a whisper, but even though it is weak and there is a rattle at its edges that was not there before, it is still unmistakably Aang. The Avatar opens one eye and peers at his oldest son. A smile follows soon after.

He takes a full deep breath, and with it he calls to his son still standing in the doorway. "Tenzin? Please choose a side of the door to be on. I recommend this one."

Edited Date: 2012-08-28 11:20 pm (UTC)

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Startled, Tenzin opens his mouth to say something, but stops.

He does indeed choose the inside rather than the outside.

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Breathing is difficult enough, talking a great deal more, but they are more than worth the effort.

"good choice." His other eye opens and he turns his attention to Katara. "the view in here is far superior."

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Katara squeezes Bumi's hand, but then gently lets go of her son, and moves to return to Aang's bedside.

Her voice sounds calm, all things considered. "How are you feeling?"

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He briefly considers lying, but decides upon a truth that conceals instead.

"...tired. so very tired."

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Bumi moves from his mother's side, to Tenzin's.

"We should let you rest. Save your strength..."

Edited Date: 2012-08-29 01:34 am (UTC)

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Aang raises a hand, calling for silence.

"there will be plenty of time to rest..."
The later is left hanging in the air.

He reaches for Katara's hand.

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Katara very much hopes it wasn't obvious that the same words were going through her mind.

She takes Aang's hand in both of hers, and as though it were merely a healer's advice, "No, I'd rather you stay awake a little longer now."

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"That makes two of us," he says before a coughing fit interrupts his thought. "The company is better."

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"Besides."

It's very quiet, coming from Tenzin - whose deeper voice is normally easy to hear even when he's airbending overhead.

"You snore a little, Dad."

(He'll try.)

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Even Bumi is taken aback by that, and pleasantly so given the amount of tension that releases from his posture.

"Like you're one to judge, Sifu Foghorn."

Thank you, Tenzin. Thank you.

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Now, Katara is glad her back is turned to her sons.

Because that puts her at as close as she's come to breaking down.

But it's all right if only Aang sees, and she presses her lips together for a moment before, quietly (and nothing of it in her voice), "All right, you two."

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He does see, and were he not already dying, to see her in such a state would surely kill him outright. Katara may be able to school her voice, but Aang no longer has the strength to keep his expression in check.

So much sadness.

"it's all right," he murmurs to her, gripping her hand in an effort to give her something solid to cling to.

Though from where the boys are standing Aang could mean their playful bickering.

Edited Date: 2012-08-29 07:32 pm (UTC)

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No it's not. But they're all so very good at pretense at the moment.

Sort of.

"I...Perhaps I can find a radio to bring in here?"

Errands and such are useful things.

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"...perhaps a phonograph would be better," Bumi offers for no particular reason what so ever.

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