Bumi watched as Tenzin sat with his wife, his arm around her, but his eyes never meeting hers. Everyone thought he was an idiot, that he didn't pick up on things. But, out of the three siblings, he had always been the one most in touch with his emotions. He was the one who had found himself before the others. He didn't think Tenzin had ever found himself. If anything, he had lost himself.
Pema wasn't right for him. Bumi had never believed that the young woman was what Tenzin needed. He missed Lin. He missed the way she used to affect his brother. They had been perfect together. He had watched the two grow up together, date and then break-up. The day that Tenzin left Lin was the day Bumi lost his confidence in his brother.
How could Tenzin let Lin walk away? Bumi had been asking himself that question for years. Four children later, he still couldn't understand why he had chosen Pema. Tenzin would claim it was because he had a duty to have children. But, he had loved Lin. And Bumi knew he had never stopped.
Even when they didn't think he was watching, he saw the way Lin looked at him still. Sure, she was her hard and grouchy self, but Bumi noticed the way her eyes fell slightly when they spoke to each other and the way that Tenzin was careful not to show her too much affection. There had always been that unspoken attraction between the two, an attraction Bumi wished they would act on.
He hated seeing Tenzin with Pema. It wasn't that he disliked Pema. She was a wonderful and sweet woman. She was a wonderful wife and mother, and he enjoyed her company. But, she was no Lin Beifong. She wasn't what Tenzin needed. She didn't bring out in Tenzin what Lin used to bring out in him.
Bumi remembered the way that Tenzin used to be. He used to be happy, full of energy and vigor and he had a sense of humor. When he had married, Bumi saw some of it slip. His eyes didn't light up the way they used to with Lin. He didn't laugh as much as he used to. It was hard to watch his brother slowly lose himself in the marriage that wasn't meant to be.
He looked away from the sight of Tenzin and Pema. It made him sad. It made him sad for his brother and Lin. He knew they were meant to be, even if Tenzin would never admit it himself.