Author's Note: Please forgive the very random headcannon, and how the characters do not always stay in character.
Bumi had always had to wait three days to see any baby born to a member of the Gaang. At first it had been out of coincidence, as it took them three full days to get to the Fire Nation to see his uncle Zuko's baby Izumi. Then, when Kya was born, Aang and Katara had decided to make him wait as a precaution in case her older brother got too excited and did something stupid (he had been very enthusiastic at becoming a brother after hearing his uncle Sokka's stories). After that, it had simply turned into tradition. So when little Lin Beifong was born, Bumi had three whole days to wait before he got to meet her.
Day One
Katara grinned as she watched her eldest son meditating with her husband. She held three-month-old Tenzin close to her chest as Kya skipped toward the father and son, tapping the eldest on the shoulder, pulling Aang out of his trance.
"Daddy, mommy says it's time for lunch."
Aang smiled and stood up, hoisting his two-year-old daughter onto his hip, looking over at Katara, who had brought out a colourful salad for them to eat in the courtyard, he looked down at his four-year-old son and chuckled, he was still meditating. Poking Bumi's leg with his toe, he said,
"Come on, son, Mom's made a delicious salad for us, time to eat."
At this Bumi opened his eyes and looked up at his father. The boy looked as though he had just been roused from a deep slumber as he blinked a few times. Aang's smile widened as he felt the air moving a bit as his eldest son refocused himself to the present.
"Sorry, Dad, I was talking to Princess Yue, what did you say?"
"Lunch is ready."
In a gust of wind, Bumi propelled himself to standing, Aang was so proud, his son was the first airbender born in over one hundred years, he was an airbending prodigy, picking up every move with ease, he had mastered the air-scooter when he was three, and had been using a glider since his fourth birthday. Aang also knew that Bumi was very spiritual, (although he had trouble believing that his son actually conversed with the moon spirit on a regular basis) at the Southern Air Temple, he befriended one of the rare dragonfly-rabbit spirits, who followed them back with them to Air Temple Island, Sokka nicknamed him Bumi Junior, which Toph had shortened to Bum-Ju. The spirit in question was currently being woken after falling asleep next to his meditating friend. Looking at the peaceful boy picking up his spirit pet, Aang could tell his son would be an excellent airbending master.
Everyone remarked how much like Aang Bumi was, he was skilled, no question, but he also shared his father's humour and personality, and fascination with the marble trick his Aang had taught him when he was two. The child lived and breathed airbending, it was his whole life, he could not imagine the pain his uncle went through each day not being able to bend anything, the boy had often meditated on this thought, and came to the conclusion that his life would be horrible if he could not airbend.
They were just about to eat when Sokka came running up from the docks and grabbed Katara's hand. Despite being on the council, Sokka still managed to keep himself fit enough to run around the island without getting out of breath. Katara's brother was about to pull her away when he stopped for a moment, taking Tenzin from her and handing the non-bender baby to his father before resuming dragging her away.
"SOKKA! What are you doing?" Katara asked angrily, her brother turned to her with a grin on his face,
"Toph. Baby. Now."
It took the group a moment to figure out Sokka's gibberish before Katara started towards the docks at a jog.
"Don't wait up, I think it may take a while."
Bumi had waited up for news of Toph's baby, but by ten o'clock when none came, he was sent to bed, only to be woken an hour later by his uncle's sobs.
"She's going to die, Aang." Sokka wailed. "She's going to die and I didn't even get to see her. My stupid sister kicked me out when the complications started, I haven't seen her, and Toph's really sick, too, she might not make it either."
"Sokka, this isn't your fault. It may just be destiny. It could be for the best, I mean, would it really be fair to raise a child who doesn't know her father?"
"I was going to fill that role, Aang! I don't care if we're not blood, all these months, I promised Toph I would stand by her and help her raise Baby, I was going to be what Satoru refused to be. I was going to be 'Daddy' or 'Papa'. For once in my life something was going right, and BAM! The universe screws me over. Again."
It was at this moment that Bumi decided to make is presence known, he stepped out and hugged his uncle.
"She might be ok, Uncle Sokka. I can talk to Princess Yue if you want."
Aang nearly fell out of his chair, he couldn't believe his son was bringing a difficult topic into an already difficult situation, it was so unlike him. He expected Sokka to blow up at his nephew, but instead, he gave the young airbender a watery smile.
"Yeah. That'd be nice. Thanks, kiddo. You go talk to Yue about it and see what she can do." Sokka paused, his eyes widening, as if some puzzle piece was clicking into place.
"AANG! TALK TO THE SPIRITS! THEY CAN SAVE HER!" The war veteran cried, taking the avatar by the shoulders. "They can save her." He said again, softly, trying to make his friend understand.
"No."
Sokka blinked.
"No? What do you mean no? This is a life Aang. I'm not asking to make the island a tourist destination!"
"No means no, Sokka. If I talk to the spirits, everyone will come to me for help if they help Baby. I wont be able to help her without being made to do the same for every other dying child in the world, not to mention it will totally throw off the balance of the universe. Talk to the spirits yourself, they may be able to help you, but I'm afraid I can't."
Sokka looked at the ground and trudged up to his room. Bumi and his uncle sat in front of the little shrine Sokka had made for Yue, both silently praying for Baby's life, until Bumi got too tired and his uncle sent him to bed.
Day Two
"Bumi."
"Princess Yue! I wanted to talk to you! Aunt Toph's baby is going to die, I don't want her to die, could you please help us?"
The moon spirit smiled at the four-year-old. "I wish I could, Bumi, but it is out of my depth, I was saved because it was my fate to save the moon spirit when the Fire Nation attacked the Spirit Oasis. But Baby has no fate about her; it is her destiny to die. Just as it is your destiny to lead the next avatar in their airbending training."
Bumi began to cry, "But destinies change! You said so yourself! Cant it be her destiny to help the next avatar too? Can't we share a destiny? Can't she have a future?"
Yue looked at the boy sadly, "Bumi, I might be able to help her, but it would cost you your life, which is a sacrifice I am not willing to make."
"Why not? Mom and Dad have two other kids, Aunt Toph has just one, and she's dying. Just save her, I don't mind the cost."
Yue thought for a moment. "I will speak with the other spirits and see if they are willing to help, we may be able to come up with a lighter cost if we split the effort between us."
Bumi bounced up and hugged Yue, "Thank you! You won't regret it!" With that, Yue kissed the child on the forehead and left him to wake up.
It was about one o'clock in the morning as the boy ran to his uncle's room, finding him still pleading with the shrine he had made for Yue, out loud this time.
"I love her, Yue. I know it's stupid to tell you that. I mean, I still love you, but Toph is my best friend, and I love her, I don't know what I'd do without her, I wouldn't be the same. And now, Baby is dying, I can't bear the thought of Toph losing someone she loves, I don't know if she can take it. She has worked so hard for everyone else, cant she have something good for herself for once?"
"Yue said she might be able to help, if the other spirits agree. She told me."
Sokka looked up at his nephew.
"Well, I'm willing to believe anything at this point, so lets make it worth their while."
Being two o'clock in the morning, Bumi and Sokka had plenty of time to run round the island, making offerings to all the spirits Sokka could remember. The family spent the rest of the day waiting for news of Baby and Toph.
The master metalbender had refused to name the child until she was guaranteed that she would live to use the name, it seemed deep down, Toph didn't want to make a connection with something she would lose.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Katara returned with a weak Toph, and an even weaker Baby.
"They're both stable, Toph will pull through, but I don't know about Baby, she was very ill until about two in the morning, when she seemed to stabilise a bit, but not much, they will stay here with us until Toph recovers."
Everyone knew the unsaid ending to that sentence was "or Baby doesn't."
Day Three
Bumi opened his eyes and saw Yue looking back at him, they were in the spirit world, and he was surrounded by a lot of spirits: The Painted Lady, Habai, Wan Shi Tong, Koh the Face Stealer and many others whom Bumi could not name.
"Bumi, these spirits are willing to help Baby, we should be able to save her without much effort on our part, she will share some of our life force to keep her alive, the both of you will share in a destiny of protecting and befriending the next avatar."
Bumi's eyes widened. "You mean it? She'll live?"
"Baby will live a long, healthy life."
"You have no idea how much this means to me." Said the boy, bowing respectively.
"Of course there is a price." Koh spoke up, "The offerings were a good start, but there will be a misbalance if we replace what was destined to be suffering with joy."
"Are you going to take my face?" The tiny airbender inquired, keeping a blank expression, but his voice wavered in fear.
"No." Koh replied, "Apparently, that isn't acceptable."
The boy let out a sigh of relief.
"But we must take something from you. Something you love very dearly, and would suffer to live without it."
"My airbending."
"Yes." The face stealer grinned, "Are you still willing to pay the price?"
"Yes."
Yue interjected, "Bumi, this will be painful, when you wake up you will be very ill, but after that, Baby will be ok, and no one will remember, it will be as if you were born a nonbender and your brother was born with airbending."
"NO ONE?" Yue, no one will suffer if they don't remember the price! Make the boy remember, but don't let anyone believe his sacrifice. That will be suffering."
"Koh, that is cruel you can't -"
"I'll do it."
"Bumi, are you sure?"
"Yes"
"Then everything is settled, you will be a nonbender."
Bumi nodded and Yue kissed him on the forehead, then he woke up.
The pain was almost unbearable. The little child writhed in his bed, churning the sheets in his fists, his entire body soaked in sweat. Bumi let out another moan of pain, the door opened and Katara rushed in.
"Oh sweetheart! What's wrong?"
The child could only moan in pain, listening as his mother called her husband, and eventually the entire household were gathered around his bed. No amount of Katara's healing could rid the child of the pain; rather, every time his mother swept the water over his body, the pain intensified until he was screaming, all they could do was wait.
Everyone eventually left the room except Toph, who shushed and soothed Bumi as a means of forgetting her own pain, she fell asleep at his side, and when the clock struck eight in the night, Sokka came in and carried her to bed, whilst Aang sat by his side.
"Baby is getting better." The boy seemed to be calmed by that phrase.
"Toph thinks she wants to name her Lin, she should make a full recovery by tomorrow if all goes well."
They were silent for a while, then Aang spoke up.
"I know what you did. I made Yue tell me. Why did you do that? You love airbending, you won't be able to do it ever again."
"I… don't mind." He gasped for air. "She- she's alive now… and I love… her more… than airbending."
"What if you grow up to hate her?"
"I… won't"
"What if she's ugly?"
"She'll be… so… beautiful."
Aang began to cry, he hated his son suffering like this, and that he had to suffer, if he had helped Sokka like he had been asked to, Bumi would still have his airbending. He had seen his son bond with Toph's growing stomach over the months, he had made promises to take care of her and be her best friend. He had fallen in love with Baby before she even had a heart to steal, and now Bumi was giving up the one thing he couldn't live without.
Yes, his son would have been an amazing airbending master.
"I'll make sure everyone knows about what you did for her." His father promised. Bumi closed his eyes, knowing that would be the first promise his father would ever break.
The last thing the little airbender remembered before sleep took him was a silver mist, stretching over the island and the whole of Republic City. Then, he knew. He felt it. His bending was gone.
Day Four
"Bumi! Get up! Come meet the newest Beifong!" Sokka ripped the child's sheets off his bed and scooped him up. All the pain was gone, and it seemed no one remembered his excruciating illness.
He was carried into Toph's room, where everyone was crowded around the bed.
"I finally get to see her." Said Sokka, placing Bumi on the foot of the bed and moving to sit next to Toph, scrunching up his nose,
"She's so… squishy looking." Everyone laughed, and Toph smiled, Katara explained to her son that Baby Lin had made a miracle recovery that night and was going to be ok.
Bumi moved closer to see her.
"Aunt Toph… She's beautiful."
Everyone's jaw dropped at his statement, which usually mirrored Sokka's with something about the baby looking gross.
But he was right, the child in the Police Chief's arms had soft, curly jet black hair, and beautiful green eyes that looked exactly like emeralds, her cheeks were rosy and without a blemish, she already had full, pink lips and everyone could tell that she would grow up to be a beautiful woman
"Aunt Toph, when I grow up, can I marry her?"
"Sure, kid. I think she likes you." Toph said with a laugh as Lin closed her fist around Bumi's finger.
"I like her too. I think Bum-Ju will like her as well!"
The adults looked at each other in confusion.
And life went on. Lin grew up to be a strong, badass metalbender and Police Chief, and was best friends with Bumi since the get-go. She fell in love and had her heart broken, while Bumi looked on, just as in love with her as he had been the day he first saw her, and no one ever knew the price he paid for her to live, but he didn't regret it, he would have happily died for her, but he was glad he didn't have to, because he got to see her every day.
He took on a rebellious, bold attitude in a bid to gain his father's attention, as everything revolved around the only other airbender in the world, and Bumi was pushed aside. Eventually he left for the United Forces when he couldn't take the fact that Lin was with his brother, who didn't treat her the way she deserved to be treated, and his parents were too focused on their other children to pay any attention to him. Whenever he was on shore leave, he would go to Lin first, hopeful she would realise she was in love with him too, but his brother ruined her, making her too scared to get into any relationship after what Tenzin did to her.
They met the avatar and helped her like Yue said they would, and when Jinora found the spirits, Bumi had to stop himself from crying when Bum-Ju fluttered over to him, knowing his little friend hadn't forgotten him, he had long ago given up the hope of being someone special, so he settled for Commander Bumi, and tried to keep the world safe, succeeding in most cases. And he was happy with his achievements by the time he retired.
Spirit World During Harmonic Convergence
"THE CANNIBALS! THEY'RE HERE!" Bumi yelled the first thing that came to his mind when he saw his opportunity to escape his brother, he ran off, having experience with the Fog of Lost Souls from his four-year-old adventures, he got out easily enough and wandered around, he figured his brother would figure out how to get out of there eventually and his brother always had to play the hero, so he called Bum-Ju and set off to get Jinora.
He had felt her presence from the moment he entered the Spirit World, he may have lost his bending, but he was always conversing with the spirits when he could, he hadn't found Bum-Ju because he hadn't thought to look in the place he had found him. Bumi honed in on Jinora's energy and found her asleep under a tree with Furryfoot. He woke her up and they made their way back to the Fog.
"Uh, let's not tell your dad I got you, he likes to think he saved the day."
Jinora's eyes welled up with tears and she threw herself into her uncle's arms. Sobbing, she said,
"I know you were an airbender. I met Princess Yue and she said you gave it up for Chief Beifong to live."
"Uhh, let's not tell your dad about that either, yeah?" Jinora simply nodded and took his hand as they moved back into the fog.
When they returned to Air Temple Island, Bumi found his eldest niece sitting on the cliff looking out over the water, he joined her and they sat in silence for a few minutes before Jinora stated what was on her mind.
"I don't think I would have been able to do it."
Bumi looked at his niece, "You didn't have to."
"Neither did you, I saw what you were like, airbending was your life, how could you give it up for someone you didn't even know?"
Without skipping a beat, Bumi replied,
"Because I love her. I loved her from the moment I knew she would be in this world, and the thought of losing Lin was worse than losing my bending. Still is. I joined the United Forces to take my mind off the fact that your dad got to her before I did. And if anyone asked me to give up my bending again, I would, just to see her face one more time."
"But now you have nothing to offer the spirits if something happens to her."
"I'd die for her. I was going to, that was the original price, but Yue didn't want that for me, so the other spirits settled for my bending."
"That's really brave of you, I wish dad knew what you did, then he wouldn't talk about you the way he does now."
"I don't care what my idiot brother thinks, besides - what the?"
A fog was descending over Republic City, and was headed towards the island too, as its wisps curled up around their legs and filled their lungs, lulling them to sleep, he knew. He felt it. He was a bender again.
Little did he know, Lin Beifong had been watching the sunset from a tree close to them, and could hear everything he said. She smiled as the fog sent her to sleep, she could feel this was the start of a big change to not only her but to the whole world.
Author's Note:
Fic number 3! Wow! This took me forever to write, I'll try to post one at least once a fortnight from now on, but don't hold me to that!
Yes, that was a shameless dorky reference to Book 3 in the final paragraph.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I think this one was a little on the AU side, but I tried to keep the characters the same. Did I succeed? Let me know! Your reviews mean so much to me!
Until next time,
SilverMidnightPrincess