14.King Bumi

Flying the kids to Omashu came with its own risks, but Aaron thought it was the right move. It was the safest place in the Earth Kingdom, and it had fairly decent Spiritual and Natural energy levels, which meant meditating in the spirit world wouldn't prove impossible during the solstice.

Given how wildly things were spinning out of control, Aaron needed advice from his Grandfather more than ever, and a small part of him wanted Mark to have a competent Earth teacher. He had a feeling they might need his help—however unreliable it might turn out to be— in the fight to come.

Before the kids packed up and hopped on Appa the very next morning, Aaron made his way to the Kyoshi hall to set things right.

Suki and the girls were drilling forms– the ones healthy enough to— and he waited for them to finish their routine before he spoke up.

"I'm here to tell you that we're leaving this morning," he said, "as promised."

Suki jumped and pulled her fans, and some of the more vigilant girls fell into fighting form while the others stumbled back.

"Spirits! Nobody ever told you never to sneak up on a fighter, Lee?"

"I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought it'd be more respectful to wait until you were finished."

With a look and a wave, Suki dismissed the rest of the girls, and they shuffled out, some giving him weird looks.

"What do you want, Lee?" She said as she folded her fan and slipped them in place.

"To apologize."

She spun around to look at him, a bit surprised.

Aaron folded his arms and looked into the middle distance.

"I'll be the first to admit when I was wrong. I decided to bring the Avatar and the kids to Kyoshi," his voice hitched a bit. "Everything that happened is my fault. I know an apology won't undo the damage, but it's all I can offer right now. Someday, I promise, we will make this right." He managed to look her in the eye at the end.

A silence stretched between them for a long moment before Suki spoke.

"Some of the damage is your fault, but not all of it. You didn't give a country of murderers the power to literarily set things on fire, nor did you raise the Fire Prince to be such arse," she sighed.

"You said you were nothing like your Uncle, prove it to the people of Kyoshi and me, and keep your promise," she said.

The request took Aaron a bit by surprise, but he'd meant what he'd said. "I will."

"Good," Suki said with a brighter smile. "Now get off my Island."

—

The trip to Omashu went exactly as Aaron planned– quiet, quick, and tense. The events of Kyoshi stayed with the kids, Mark especially.

It'd been a week since, and he always trained into the night and woke up before anybody else. He was visibly getting stronger, faster, and quicker, and after Aaron managed to find a wandering herbalist at one of their stops, he'd learned to brew the stamina drought the system had provided them with.

He knew Omashu's healers would do a better job, but for close to two days now, it meant less rest time and more energy during training sessions, and everybody benefited.

However, Aaron noticed Mark was on edge. He couldn't keep still enough to meditate, nor did he trade barbs with the other kids. Aaron was glad for the quiet that let him focus on his Chi sense, but he was worried Mark knew something he didn't, and it brothered up until they boarded Appa that morning and flew to Omashu.

"I still can't believe Bumi is King," Aang said as they came to Omashu's gate. The city-state stood on a small artificial hill and was connected to the mainland by a single road that'd be easily collapsible in the event of an invasion.

"I can't believe you're a hundred and eleven years old," Sokka said beside Aang, "You might have just accidentally stumbled upon the secret of eternal youth, and you're more worried about someone who took the long way there? Talk about priorities," Sokka scoffed.

"I just jumped forward in time. It's not the same as living forever," Aang said with a frown. "I'd like to have taken a long way too. Maybe I could've stopped the war, maybe things wouldn't have gotten this bad."

"I get that, Aang. All I am saying is that there's something here. Your Avatar powers can let you freeze yourself and extend your life by a hundred years. What else do you think it can do?"

"What's done is done," Aaron said, patting Aang on the shoulder. "And Sokka is right, no matter how insensitive he might sound."

"Hey!" Sokka protested.

"The secrets of the Avatar spirits are known to only the oldest scholars of our civilization. Grandfather might know something, but you'll have to wait until the solstice to meet him. For now, I want you to focus on the guards. We need to convince them that we're not in over our heads."

"But we kind of are," Mark muttered beside him. "What if he doesn't agree to take me?" he whispered as they approached.

"Who, Bumi? This is hardly the time to doubt yourself," Aaron said. "You've been training for weeks non-stop, and the King is an old friend of Aang. You have nothing to worry about."

"What's your business in Omashu?" A barrel-chested soldier dressed in Earth Nation green and armour demanded in a baritone voice as they came to the end of the bridge. They were in different Earth Kingdom clothes they picked up from small villages they came across on their way to the city. The guards eyed them with no small amount of distrust.

Aaron cleared his throat and spoke. "We are here to see the city and see the King. The Avatar, here, is an old friend of his." Aaron guided Aang forward.

The guardsman eyed Aang up and down, and the latter grinned at them. He didn't look impressed. "Is this some kind of Joke?" he asked. "The Avatar is dead and has been for over a hundred years."

"Well, that all changed about a month ago," Aaron said, slapping Aang's shoulder. "You saw the bright beam shooting up from the South Sea. It was him returning to us. Tell them, Aang."

"I might've been gone for a while, but I am back now," Aang coughed. "Um, what he said is true. I really am the Avatar."

The guardsman's brow tightened.

"You kids need to walk away while you still can. If I have to get the Captain, this won't end well for you."

Aaron resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the threat. "Aang, make an Airball."

"Okay," Aang said as he visibly lit up. He proceeded to coalesce a ball made from pure air that hovered a few inches off his palm.

It took the guards several seconds to stop sputtering and stammering. Word traveled quickly, and soon, the gates opened to reveal a city on the rise. Vistas cascaded from the summit of the city, and at the ground level, shops, Earthen Bungalows, and all manner of people shuffled between heavily patrolled streets

Between it all was a network of chutes and carts carrying all manner of goods. They rose and fell with commands from Earthbenders. The city was a modern marvel, and Aaron could've stood there and watched it for days, but the guards did not share his enthusiasm.

They shuffled them along, and it was not long before they found themselves in the King's palace.

Fresh-cut stone walls, crystal lights adorning the walls, and luxurious rugs imported from the north—it was more wealth than Aaron had ever laid eyes on. In the largest hall of the palace, an old hunched-over man with a feathered hat and a lazy eye waited for them. His face nearly split in half from a grin when his eyes landed on the Avatar.

"Aang!"

"Bumi!" The wrinkled King swept the young Avatar up in a tight hug. "You little rascal, I knew you were too wily to go out just like that. When the guards told me it was you, I had no doubt."

"It's good to see you too, Bumi. It feels like it was only yesterday when we were sliding down the chutes, and now…"

"I am a hundred and twelve years old, and you're still Eleven," Bumi laughed and snorted. "I knew I was always the more mature one."

Aang's face lit up with a laugh, and eventually, he turned to the group.

"Let me introduce you to my friends. Sokka and Katara are from the water tribe and helped me when I first woke up. They're like my family."

Bumi peered closer at the water tribe children, and they shifted uncomfortably at the scrutiny.

"Mark and Aaron found me a few days ago and are here because they wanted to see you?"

"Is that so?" Bumi raised a bushy eyebrow. "And what would you want with little old me?"

Aaron squashed any doubt he felt as he stepped up the living bending Legend "I was hoping to find a great earth bending teacher for my student. He shows talent and skill far beyond his years, and any Earthbender worth their salt has heard of you."

"So, you stuck with the Avatar to take advantage of our relationship?" Bumi narrowed his eyes, all mirth instantly fading from his features, and Aaron nearly took an instinctive step back.

"It's not like that," Aang quickly said. "Aaron is here because his grandfather asked him to look for me. He is from the Air Nation. He's not an Earthbender, and he just wants the best for Mark."

"Airbender, you say," Bumi stroked his long goatee meaningfully, and Aaron fought to keep his breathing even.

There was no lying to the Old man. A man of his age and skill had probably heard of the phantoms, and he expected him to make things somewhat difficult. Nonetheless, he'd expected resistance even before he met Mark, a new companion shouldn't make things impossibly difficult…he hoped.

"The way your causing tells it," Bumi began, "shes's the only Airbender in her generation."

"Misha has a habit of telling half-truths," Aaron said with some bitterness in his voice. "She was the only trained Airbender at the time. I finished the last of my training nearly two years ago now."

Bumi hummed. Between his lazy eyes and wrinkly face that always seemed to be smiling, Aaron couldn't get a read on the old man. "It's been nearly three years since we've talked, and she did leave an impression. She talked about your Grandfather too."

"She did?" Aaron couldn't hide his surprise. She should've known better than to talk about the Falcon. Or was King Bumi messing with him? He was infamous for his pranks.

Bumi nodded. "He was our favourite topic to discuss. I am a big fan of his, you know? I saw him fight 80 years ago, I think, and I've been obsessed ever since. You know the old scholars of Ba Sing Se think he's dead," he huffed. "No one has seen him in forty years except you, Airbenders, of course."

"I haven't visited Grandfather's sanctum in quite some time," Aaron said, resolving to give nothing away.

"Of course, of course," Bumi waved. "I was hoping you had more of an affinity with him like your cousin. I suppose you can't love the Grandkids equally," he snorted and laughed.

"Well, seat down, seat down. You're all welcomed as special friends of Aang."

Aaron and the rest of the team shuffled to seats at the largest feast table he'd ever seen. Roast duck, meat, baked goods, wines, teas, and a host of exotic meals Aaron had never seen laid out before them.

Lunch with the King was tense, but the food made the entire affair worth it. Several times, Aang burst into stories about the feats that Mark had told him about Aaron and the feats he'd seen Mark personally accomplish in an attempt to smooth things over for them. And Sokka backed him up whenever he got the chance. The King only laughed and nodded but never looked their way once, all the while they ate.

Though the tableside companion was cold, Aaron found the food as compensation enough. Mark shared the same sentiment between swallows.

"This is the best food I've had since I got here," he groaned. "This will ruin eating rations for me."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Bumi said. "And I have given your master's request some thought."

Mark immediately sat up and gave Aaron a look before turning back to Bumi.

"I will train you, but only if you and your Master pass three tests of my choosing and help me with a personal project," he declared with a manic grin.

Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but Bumi was not done.

"I get hundreds of requests each year to tutor young upstarts from all around the Earth Kingdom…and I take virtually no one. After all, I am a king with plenty of responsibilities. If you and your master are as special as Aang thinks you are, you should have no problem passing all my tests and fulfilling an itty bitty request."

Aaron didn't mind the tests; it was the request that bothered him. "Any chance you can tell us what this special request is about…It'll allow me to prepare better."

Bumi pursed his lips. "But that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? After coming all this way, are you saying you'll give up because you're afraid?"

"Excellent," King Bumi grinned, "and remember, no take backsies." He snickered. "My guards will find you and your student when it's time."

----

Guess whose birthday it is?

It's my brother's. And to celebrate him, I'll be releasing one other chapter, sparing you the agony of waiting till Wednesday for another release. Expect it within the hour.