Today was a day where everything went wrong.
Every. Single. Thing.
Things broke in his hands. He tripped during training and Tenzin mastered yet another form of Air Bending, so getting any sort of comfort from either Mom or Dad was out of the question.
So, he went to his room and sulked, completely forgetting about Lord Zuko's visit.
Really, he shouldn't have been surprised when someone knocked on his door less than an hour later.
"Bumi?" He flinched at Izumi's voice, "What's wrong?"
"I-I'm just tired!" He called through the shut door, "Don't worry about it."
"O-okay."
When she moved away, Bumi curled up into a ball and covered himself with the blanket.
…
He woke up a few hours later, feeling someone tucking the blanket in around him.
"Go 'way Izumi." He muttered; face still buried in the pillow.
"I should be concerned that Izumi comes in here often enough for you to think that it's her…" His Father chuckled, "… But I'm a bit more concerned over why you've been up here since this afternoon?"
There was something in his Father's voice that usually made Bumi feel better, and this time was no exception, as he rolled over and buried his face into his Dad's mid-section, feeling Aang gently stroke his hair.
"Bad day?"
"Hmmm, how did you know."
"Izumi said that you sounded upset."
"It's just…" Much to his horror, Bumi could feel tears building in his eyes, "… been one of those days."
"Ah."
"It's silly, I'm being silly!" Bumi heard his voice crack on a sob, "And now I'm having a breakdown!"
"Breakdowns are really just breakthroughs. It takes hitting the bottom to make it to the top…." Aang whispered, "… and sometimes, you just need to breakdown to have all the pieces you need to build yourself up again."
Bumi looked up at him, face still shrouded in misery, but with a glimmer of hope somewhere there too. "Is this another one of those lessons you learnt from all the other Avatars?"
Chuckling, Aang shook his head, "No, this one is all my own." He got to his feet, "Your Mother made all your favourites, you know… I'm sure she'd be happy to see you eat some of them."
As on cue, Bumi's stomach rumbled.
"Exactly." Aang directed the word to Bumi's mid-section, as though having a conversation with it, "Then we'll sleep, and tomorrow will be a better day."
"Promise."
"I promise."