Bumi mindlessly pushed his toy carriage back and forth on the floor. He didn't find any joy in the action, but he felt he needed to do something to pass the time. Finally he gave up, sighed, and rolled onto his back.

Normally he'd be playing with others about now. But unfortunately, both Kya and Tenzin were sick, leaving their mother occupied, while his father was off on Avatar duties. Even his Uncle Sokka was busy, having been called to sort out some disputes going on in the Southern Water Tribe. This left Bumi all alone, with no one to talk to. Sometimes being eight could be lonely.

He got up and, without any set destination, started walking around the house. He had to keep quiet, so that the patients (and an exhausted Katara) could rest. He peeked into random, empty rooms until finally he came across a not-so-empty one.

Inside was a small crib containing his (sort of) Aunt Toph's six-month-old baby. She came to the Island often, as her mother was often detained by her work, and today was no exception. With the nursery being used for quarantine, she'd been moved to a separate room to take her nap.

Bumi heard squeaking noises coming from the crib's general direction and wandered over. The baby had woken up and was now waving her arms and legs around for her own amusement. At the sound of footsteps she turned her head to see the boy peeking through the bars at her.

"'Sup Baby?"

Bumi knew she had a name, but since the adults usually referred to her as 'the baby' or, when she was with Tenzin, 'the babies', he didn't feel the need to call her anything else. Plus it made his Uncle laugh when he greeted her with a "Hey, Baby, how's it going?"

Now, the tiny girl stuck opened her mouth and let out an unintelligible string of noise. Bumi shook his head. He'd never understood the fascination with babies. They always seemed useless to him: they couldn't walk, they couldn't talk, and they couldn't even eat without assistance. What was the point?, he wondered.

But, as it was, he didn't have anything better to do. So he watched her for a minute and attempted to have a conversation.

"Some weather we're having."

She stared at him.

"See any good plays lately?"

She sucked on her knuckle.

"So. You're a baby. What's that like?"

She rolled onto her side and sneezed at him.

"I thought so."

Having grown bored he said, "I don't get why the adults are so crazy about you and Tenzin. I mean, if anything, they should be crazy about me! I mean, look what I can do!"

With a bit of effort, he managed to do a perfect handstand, proudly waving his legs around in the air… Before promptly collapsing to the floor with a shout.

As he brushed himself off he heard a funny sound. Then he realized, she was laughing at him.

Not tiny giggles like most babies did; this was uncontrollable. She laughed and laughed, kicking her little legs in the air as she did so. Bumi glared at the pale skinned creature and said, "Bet you couldn't do better!"

After a moment she calmed down, but still looked at him with a smile in her little green eyes. Bumi, irritated, reached through the bars and tugged at one of her short black hairs, eliciting a short squall of protest. "Show you to laugh at me," he sneered. Then he blew a raspberry. "Thbbbbt."

This set her off into another, shorter laughing fit. Bumi raised an eyebrow.

"Thbt."

She laughed again.

"Thbbbbbbbt."

This time she paused a second between her laughter and then, to his surprise, blew one back.

"Thbt."

"Say, not bad," he complimented her. "Thbbbbt."

"Thbt."

"Thbbbt."

"Thbbbbbbbt."

"THBBBBBT!"

"Bumi!"

At the sound of his voice Bumi winced and turned to see his mother standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, looking very frustrated.

"Stop spitting on Lin," Katara said, using the baby's name for once.

"I wasn't," Bumi said indignantly. "We were just having fun!"

"Well, can you fun in a way that doesn't involve spit, please?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Fine…"

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "You know, I'm glad to see you spending time with her. It's about time you got used to the babies being around."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, acting as if his mother couldn't be more bossy.

Katara stepped out of the room and waited for a second just outside the door. From her vantage point, she watched as Bumi waited a moment before turning back to crib.

"Well Lin," Bumi said, using the baby's name for the first in perhaps ever, "looks like it's just you and me again. But I guess you're not such bad company. At least you've got a sense of humor, even if it's a mean one."

Lin cooed and Bumi gave her a little grin. The little boy crawled up to stand on the side of the crib and reached down to take one of Lin's tiny hands in his own. He gave it a firm shake and quoted a play he'd seen once.

"I feel this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

And out in the hall, Katara could do nothing but smile.

Been a while since I did a kid chapter. So here ya go!