Hi guys! Sorry about the lack of updates for Wild Child. I'm afraid the show's interpretation of Bumi was different than I imagined, and the new revelations about Lin's childhood (if you know what I mean) have thrown me a bit of course. So now Wild Child is officially AU. I am still working on the next chapter, it hasn't been abandoned, but for now, let's celebrate Linumi Week!

Day 1 - Childhood

She said, I was seven and you were nine
I looked at you like the stars that shined
In the sky, the pretty lights

Bumi was a non-bender, a jokester, and a boy. Even if he was Avatar Aang's son, Lin had no real reason to look up to the older boy. But she did. His eyes sparkled gray, like fluffy clouds with stars hidden in them. She followed him around like a goat dog pup, and she heard the adults whisper about it.

And our daddies used to joke about the two of us
Growing up and falling in love and our mamas smiled
And rolled their eyes and said oh my my my

Uncle Aang and Uncle Sokka made bets they thought the children couldn't hear about when Lin and Bumi would get married. Bumi made faces behind their backs and tried to get away from her even harder on those days. Aunt Katara scolded them for it, but Lin saw the smirk appear on her mother's face and Aunt Katara's lips curl up when they talked quietly together afterwards.

Take me back to the house in the backyard tree
Said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me
You never did, you never did

Bumi didn't appreciate her following him all of the time. He hated it, in fact. Her mother said that he was at the age where boys wanted to play with other boys. But her mother had always told her that she was as good as, if not better than, boys, so Lin kept following.

Lin remembered one day in particular, when Bumi was trying to hide from her behind one of the many trees on Air Temple Island. She'd found him easily. He'd threatened to beat her up, but she hadn't believed him. He'd taken one step forward, and she'd bolted. He tried playing that trick several times that summer, but she'd soon learned that no matter how much he threatened, and no matter how soon she came back after he chased her off, he never followed through.

Take me back when our world was one block wide
I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried
Just two kids, you and I...
Oh my my my my

There was one outburst, after she'd stopped running, that stuck in her memory. He'd demanded to know what he'd have to do to get her to leave him alone. She'd thought about it; there wasn't really anything, but she'd decided not to tell him that. Instead, she said if he kissed her once on the lips, she'd leave him alone for the rest of the summer. His jaw dropped and he looked at her like she was insane. She'd smirked, sure he wouldn't go through with it. But he'd seen her smirk, and saw through her trick, and he'd leaned forward. She'd ran.