Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything related to it.

Chapter Three: Dreams of Sunny Days

"Wee... Hey everybody, look at me! I'm flying. Yippee!"

"Bumi, watch out! You almost killed that poor Pentapuss. It could have died!"

"But I didn't and it didn't. So ha!".

It was a bright and beautiful day in Omashu. Business was brisk and life was good. The sun was shining, the cabbages were selling, and the war with the Fire Nation had ended long ago. Its citizens knew that as long as King Bumi lived, nothing could disturb their safety again.

Except for the mad king himself. Zooming around the city's slides, Bumi and his oldest friend were leaving a path of utter chaos and mayhem in their wake.

Cries like,"Ah! My pottery jar", and, "Argh! My leg", were went up around the city. Even a cry of "No! My cabbages", could be heard if one listened closely.

But the two men who were the cause of the cries were paying attention to other things. Currently, Bumi and Aang were racing each other down the city's slides at a breakneck pace. First one to the bottom won gloating rights for the year; and even though Aang's abilities were restricted to using earthbending only, the two mad benders were nearly neck and neck with one another as the slides took parallel courses.

Aang's face wore a fierce look of determination; he was trailing Bumi by a few meters, but he was rapidly making up the distance. But of course, the only detail that seemed to matter to his old friends was the fact that he had not yet caught up to the old geezer. "Aang, why are you moving so slowly? You and I may be the same age, but I'm the one who's face looks craggy. Ha! Get it? Craggy. Like a rock face! Heh, that was a good one". Aang let loose a groan at the horrible pun.

Meanwhile, citizens standing nearby ducked their heads to avoid both the stray rocks and horrible puns let loose by their mad king.

"I don't know Bumi - you'd better watch out. I think I've got you this time old buddy".

"Don't count your pebbles yet Aang. You've still got this old mountain in front of you - it'll take quite the rock-slide to take the win. Ha!".

Shaking his head in utter bemusement, Aang readied himself to kick things up a notch. Understanding Bumi's humour was a lost battle for anyone but Iroh or Sokka - but kicking the old geezers butt was not. Smiling, Aang got into his horse stance. He closed his eyes and 'looked' at the rock in front of him... and bended the slide ahead of his sled into the shape of a ramp and jumped his sled into the air... onto Bumi's ramp and just ahead of his old friend.

"Well done Aang, very nice indeed. But I think that you might be forgetting about something".

"What? I couldn't hear what you said all the way up here."

Aang's cheeky grin was in danger of splitting his face. It wasn't often that he was able to get one over his friend like this.

"Aang, I said that you might want to rethink your strategy".

"I don't think so Bumi. Your memory must be starting to go if you think that I'm going to fall for that trick again".

Chuckling to himself, the mad earth king shook his head at the antics of his old friend and bended a ramp of his own. Uh oh – that never boded well. But instead of trying to get ahead of Aang, Bumi sent his cart onto the ramp that Aang had just left. "As you wish Aang. Far be it from me to correct the almighty Avatar. I just wanted to remind you that you need to be on the other side if you want to avoid the drop".

Drop? What drop? There wasn't any... not unless he meant the one from back in the old days, when there used to be a drop somewhere ahead of where they were racing..."See you later Aang. Make sure to pick up some lime for me when you manage to catch up to me". Ah, crap. And with that illustrious thought, Aang's sled proceeded to drop out from under him, leaving the young Avatar without a sled and possessing very few options.

"Aah!"

Luckily, screaming hysterically happened to be one of the few options that he had left.

As he fell through the air, Aang was suddenly struck with four thoughts. First, Bumi was a tricky and scheming bastard. Two, Aang had really messed up this time and now he was going to pay for it. Three, if he didn't want to fall to his death, he was going to have to use another element. And four... he needed to pick up a couple of limes for his royal madness.

Aang swirled his arms in a circular pattern, bending the wind around his body to make it lighter. Chuckling to himself, the young bender slowly drifted through the air, looking around the mountain city as he fell. He was struck by yet another thought - which spawned yet one more thought."Wow Aang, this has got to be a roll. Five thoughts in one day? Sweet!

But maybe that was going too far. Okay Aang, that's enough of an ego trip. Time to concentrate. What was that thought again?

Oh yeah. "The city really is quite beautiful", Aang muttered to himsel as he drifted towards the ground. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that the city had been conquered by Fire Nation troops during the war. They really did a great job in restoring the place.

Aang should have remembered that drop. But next time, things would be different. Next time I'll remember; and next time I'll beat him. But still, Aang thought to himself, I really am getting old if I can't remember a 600 foot drop off a giant cliff. "You just wait Bumi. You just wait" and said out loud.

When his feet touched the ground, the Avatar took a moment to brush the dust off of his clothes. He usually didn't mind a 'healthy coating of earth' as Toph would put it, but he felt that it was just too beautiful of a day to just walk around the city looking like a street urchin."As the monks used to say, it's time go out and greet the new day". Chuckling to himself at that – he needed to tell Toph about that joke next time that he saw her - Aang started to walk down to the area of the city where the slides came to an end. Bumi would be waiting to rub his victory in, and postponing it for much longer would only make things worse.

Aang paused for a moment in front of a mirror, examining the changes that time had wrought on his body. No longer a young boy of 12, Aang was now a young man of 21. He was taller now, although he was still two inches shorter than Zuko and Sokka – a fact that the two older men took endless pleasure in reminding him of. So what if he was one inch short of six feet?

Monk Gyatso had stood at five foot four, and Bumi... well, Bumi was an exception in almost every way possible. The fact that he stood at six foot seven was just another item on the 'why Bumi is so weird list'. And while Aang had filled out since his childhood days, his vegetarian diet and long hours of bending practice had made the new muscle lean and toned.

Aang laughed out loud. "Even at a hundred and twenty one, Bumi look's like he could break me in half just by looking at me. The man is a beast!".

And thinking of his earthbending Sifu yet again, Aang chuckled and said, "Yeah... I'm a sweet, lean, vegetarian machine. Boo yah".

Shaking his head at the words and the memories that came with them – why was he being so reflective today?- Aang resumed his march towards death. A.k.a. Bumi. Had fighting the Fire Lord ever been half so hard as this? Aang wasn't sure, buteven the mere memory of that battle made him grind his teeth together.

The young Avatar had only met the evil man once, but Aang ran into Bumi several times a year. Teaching new airbenders at the Western Air Temple was hard work. Even the Avatar needed a break once in awhile. Between the young monks in training and his duties to the world as the Avatar, Aang needed some time for himself. Not even I am invincible, Aang thought.

Wrapped in his thoughts, Aang's walk passed faster than he would have thought. He paused for a moment when he reached the market to purchase some limes and a cool new hat for himself. "Man I look good in this thing." It's too bad that he couldn't linger, Aang thought to himself as he resumed his brisk walk.

It seemed like it had only been a minute since he started his walk when he heard a snorting, cackling laughter coming from up ahead of him. Well, it was time to get this thing over with. Where was a power mad firebender when you needed one?

Soon enough, Aang could see Bumi. His old friend was waiting for him at the end of the slide. And he had a giant grin on his face. Dangit -he really isn't going to let me off the hook this time.

Sure enough, Aang was right. As soon as Bumi saw him, the mad old king's face lit up in joy."Aang my boy", Bumi yelled," what ever happened to you? You were right behind me and then woosh! You vanished so suddenly. You disappeared without a trace. As if you were suddenly absent from this world. You departed from my royal presence. You even..."

Aang held up his hands and groaned. "I know Bumi, I know. You win this round old friend. Will you spare me? Please? I brought you some limes". Putting on his best puppy dog face, the young Avatar directed all of his charm and appeal at the wizened old earthbender while holding up the bag of limes.

Bumi stared at Aang for a moment, and then nodded his head. "You know Aang, you're right. It would be wrong of me to revel in your sorrow at this moment. I apologize for not considering the bigger picture".

Aang's heart skipped a beat as he let his head fall down to stare at the ground, his eyes closed in thanks. Phew! That was one bullet dodged. Toph and Sokka would never had let him live it down if they heard... Oh. Crap. And that was when he remembered that Sokka was due back in the city later that afternoon. And with Toph being Bumi's apprentice... all he could do was hope that her latest assignment kept her out of the city long enough for him to get a continent or two away.

When he opened his eyes and looked over at Bumi, Aang knew that Bumi was aware of everything that had just passed through his head. And judging from the look of barely concealed glee contained within his eyes, Bumi was already imagining the moment when Sokka arrived in the city. It would be a glorious time for both of the crazy geniuses... and a time of deep tragedy for the mighty Avatar, Defeater of Fire Lord Ozai, and Savior of the world. Aang looked up at the sky and let out a long suffering sight. Sometimes he wished that he was friends with normal people.

"Oh, and Aang, when I asked you for some lime, didn't you know that I meant limestone? What ever would I need a bag of limes for? A Pina Colada? Ha!"

And as Bumi collapsed from laughter while everyone around them groaned, Aang covered his face with one of his hands. This had to be a dream.

To Be Continued


A/N: Treasure the time that you have with your friends. You never know when it will be your last time together. Live life to the fullest, and never forget to tell them how much they mean to you.

The next chapter in "The Dreaming Wars" will come out a little slower than the previous ones. While the entire storyline is mapped out (in a very rough sense of the word) the path that the story is going to take to its endpoint is not. There is also a single major detail that I still have yet to make up my mind about. If I still haven't done so after a few more chapters then I plan on asking for your input. But in the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

And thank you to those of you who reviewed. Your support means a lot to me.