Chapter Six

[So this chapter is different, it's not really filler so much as tying up some areas that, if left untied, would have wreaked havoc on the story later.]

By the time Bumi arrived home, lunch had already been prepared. He had taken a small detour just to think while he was still in the city and lost track of time. It was nice for him just to be able to get out and be on his own for awhile, he actually felt relaxed. He wasn't all that hungry when lunch was served but he made himself eat a little bit so he wouldn't have to come back for something else later. His parents were still meeting with his uncle, and he couldn't find his siblings around.

He hadn't thought of it before, but Tenzin must have seen him and Lin together while they were still asleep. It would explain why he was absent from breakfast and still now at lunch. But Bumi decided to let the matter go – Tenzin blew it, and if he was upset by Bumi and Lin then it was tough luck. He hadn't any idea what was supposed to be going on today, so Bumi grabbed the daily paper that had been left on the coffee table like normal and flipped through it.

After being dropped off by Bumi, Lin hadn't done much besides smile. Eventually she went to get a glass of water and saw the flowers he had given her were still in a normal cup, so she decided to fix that. In one of the cabinets was a wine decanter that was never used, and it seemed nice enough. Lin filled it up with water and placed the flowers inside, rearranging them slightly after they slid around.

She didn't want to just leave them anywhere in the house and figured her room was an appropriate location for them. When she walked in and flipped on the light she saw it hadn't changed from the other day – she had been worried that her mother would have been snooping when she found that Lin wasn't at home. Since that wasn't the case, she set the floral arrangement on her nightstand and sat on her bed. She still was wearing Kya's clothes she had been given, and right after she had been dropped off she had left her own clothes in the other room.

Having nothing better to do, she retrieved them and put them away. They looked almost brand-new after the acolytes washed them, the colors had been fading slightly in a couple spots but now it was completely reversed. Whatever they had done, Lin was impressed. Her stomach grumbled which caused her to look at the clock – seeing that it was already nearly lunch. With a shrug she went and opened the pantry, finding nothing more than an empty box of crackers and some canned vegetables that had to have been from before Su was born.

She threw out the empty box and closed the pantry door before seeing if there was at least something in the ice box. When she popped it open she saw some meat that was frozen solid and then some milk. Slim pickings. Lin grabbed the milk and popped open the breadbox, thankful that she could at least have some toast.

Lin had her modest meal alone, while her mother and sister were out. When she was finished, Lin grabbed her book for studying and went back to it as she had been the past few weeks – even though it seemed like months. When she was about halfway through her studies, the door opened and a very upset Suyin entered the home. She threw her bag with her school books down and stormed around through the house with a series of 'urgh's and 'ugh's as she went. Lin ignored her sister when she went past but nearly dropped her book when a shriek came from the kitchen.

"DID YOU THROW OUT MY CRACKERS?!" she rushed back into the room and confronted Lin, who rolled her eyes and placed her bookmark where she was and closed it.

"You mean the empty box? And they aren't your crackers to begin with!" Lin barked, looking back at her sister.

"Yes they were! And it wasn't empty this morning!" Su's gaze could have burned holes in anyone that wasn't her Lin or Toph.

"Well I wouldn't know since I haven't been home since yesterday!" Lin brought her hand to her mouth at letting that fact slip since she hadn't informed her mother or sister before going on the date, let alone that she wasn't coming home.

Su was still infuriated about the crackers, but the knowledge that Lin hadn't been home was a tease too tempting to resist. "Well if you weren't here… where were you?" Su placed her hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.

"None of your business." Lin replied, picking her book back up.

Su made a *hmpf* sound and snatched the book out of her sister's hands. "Tell me or the book gets it!" Su backed up to the fireplace and tossed the book onto the partially charred logs. Lin jumped off the couch as soon as Su made a move, but knew if she rushed her or damaged the house in any way it would be bad for both of them. Su had a match in her hands ready to toss into the small pile of kindling that was always in the fireplace to make it easier to get prepared sooner, and also happened to be perfectly situated under the book to damage it enough by the time Lin grabbed it she'd be unable to use it.

Lin snapped, "I was at Air Temple Island." she folder her arms. "If you must know."

"Why?" Su struck the match and lit it, holding it so it would burn slowly.

"Give me my book back and I'll tell you." Lin wouldn't tell her without the book as collateral and they both knew it.

"No. Tell me and you get the book back." her hand moved closer to the fireplace.

Lin's hand reached out, "Stop! Fine. You win. Happy?" Lin sighed, "I was out with Bumi…" she muttered.

"Pfft! Just for that I don't even care now! Bye-bye book!" her hand moved into the fireplace.

"It's the truth! We went on a…"

Su retracted her hand, hearing the difference in Lin's tone. "Went on a…?"

"He asked me on a date. I said yes. We went on a date and it was too late to ask him to take me back home so I stayed there. Ok?!"

"Ok." Su let the match fall and extinguish on the bricks as she set the flipbook of them back and walked to the kitchen. "But I'm still mad about my crackers."

Lin moved and grabbed her book, brushing off the deposits from the wood. She glared at Su as she walked on to her room as if nothing happened. "What did I ever do to deserve her as a sister…?" she said quietly to herself.

Bumi, on the other hand, was dealing with his own sibling trouble. He had seen Tenzin at least three times so far that day, but Tenzin had avoided him each and every time. Bumi couldn't pin his brother down to confront him. It was driving him mad. Finally he just went and sat down on the edge of a walkway to think. Tenzin was his brother, and even with all the pranks and teasing he still loved him like one. He didn't know what to do.

Little did either Tenzin or Bumi know, but Bumi was in the perfect position to trap the wandering Tenzin as he came down the stairs. As soon as Tenzin turned the corner at the bottom, Bumi looked up and narrowed his eyes. His hand shot out and grabbed Tenzin's clothing before he could sprint away like the last times. "Got ya!" Bumi gave a yank and pulled his brother closer.

"Bumi! Let me go! I have… things to do!" Tenzin squirmed in his grasp but he wasn't getting out of the grip without hurting his brother or stripping out of his clothes, and he didn't wish to do either of those.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Bumi insisted, his normally happy expression a mix of confusion and anger. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I-I haven't! Just been busy is all." Tenzin looked away like he always did when he lied.

Bumi sighed and released his brother, "Tenzin… Don't lie to me. I want to know what's going on. You weren't at breakfast, you've been hiding from me, and now you're lying to my face."

Tenzin took a step away and was going to leave when he realized it wasn't fair to his brother to do this to him. "I… saw you and Lin this morning. That's it. Can I go now?"

"I thought so. If you want to go, go. If you want me to explain, don't." Bumi sat back down and Tenzin turned and did the same. "I like Lin. A lot. I have for awhile now and I asked her out. We went on a date yesterday and have another for tomorrow." Bumi had always been one to hold nothing back, give all the information at once instead of spoon feeding someone.

"So. You see I like a girl and you steal her away from me?!" Tenzin puffed up and stood once again, beginning to walk away.

"Are you honestly that petty? You think I'd date someone just to get to you? Really? You know what? I don't care what you think, enjoy your sulking." Bumi spun around and hopped into the courtyard, walking towards the rear entrance of the area where his room was located. Tenzin watched him go and knew he had been rash and hurtful with what he said, but he wasn't willing to go talk to Bumi more yet. He didn't know if he'd be able to at all.

By the time dinner rolled around, Bumi still hadn't come out of his room. And after dinner passed and everyone started to head to bed, his parents were worried. Tenzin had been at dinner and seemed moody, but nothing more than that. Katara said she was going to check on him but Aang insisted that he do it. He walked to the room and knocked on the door, "Boom? You there?"

"What is it." Bumi said flatly not as a question, but as a demand.

"Can I come in?" Aang popped the door open slightly but didn't enter.

"Yeah, I guess." Aang entered the room and saw Bumi had his sword out for cleaning. It was shining like he had been for hours, and Aang assumed that's exactly what had happened.

"Missed you at dinner."

"Wasn't hungry."

"Bumi, what's wrong?" Aang moved to sit on the bed.

Bumi sighed, "Tenzin thinks I'm dating Lin as if I'm doing it to spite him and I tried to talk to him but he's being ridiculous." Bumi applied more oil to the cleaning rag and slowly dragged it across the length of metal.

"Oh… I understand then."

"Do you? Last I checked you didn't have a brother who thought your only objective in life was to make him miserable." Bumi shook his head and made more aggressive swipes along the blade.

"You're right, I don't understand in that way. But I see where you're both coming from. Obviously Tenzin's just taking it a little hard, but he'll come around in time. Don't worry about him, he's just… Tenzin." Aang shrugged, putting his hand on Bumi's as it moved along the sheen of the blade. "I think if you do that anymore and you'll end up erasing the metal!" Despite still being upset, the joke drew a small smile from Bumi. He put the cloth aside and twisted the cap back on the bottle of oil.

"I guess you're right… but it doesn't make it hurt any less." Bumi frowned and placed the sword in its sheathe before moving it to the bottom of the bed. "I'm going out again tomorrow."

"With Lin?"

"With Lin." he nodded. "I… We… We're having a lot of fun, Dad." Aang put his arm around Bumi and hugged him.

"I know. And I'm glad. Just made sure you be safe and don't hurt that girl, she could destroy you in an instant!" They both laughed and Bumi pulled back a little.

"Thanks Dad. Could you… could you maybe talk to Tenzin about it all? I know he doesn't want to see me – and frankly between you and me? I don't really want to see him all that much either for a little while."

"Sure thing, Boom."

Author's Note: [For Dickard23 in regards to chapter 5: Haha I know I just was meaning for Toph to "see" it as in she'd know how a picture feels like and if she asked what it showed, when someone told her she would possibly react very poorly. Plus if Su saw it you know she'd rat considering the stage of life she's in and how she acts.]