"Responsibility"
Bumi POV, several years after Aang was frozen.
You know, it's not like he asked to be king.
Bumi, sixteen, sighed as he lay on the bed in his room. He would have preferred exploring the city, riding the shoots, building hidden forts, and catching animals. But the Fire Nation was at his city's doorstep and he was expected to defend it, now that his father had passed away a year ago. Why couldn't he just have fun? If Aang were here, this wouldn't have happened!
Where are you, Aang? Bumi wondered, Where did you go?
A knock on his door. "Sir," a voice called," Your presence is needed in the war council."
Bumi inwardly groaned. "I'll be there," he called woodenly.
By the gods, what he would give to be anywhere else, doing anything else! His thoughts returned to Aang. He remembered asking Aang about how it was being the Avatar.
"The Avatar?" Aang had said, "It's okay, I guess."
"'Okay'?" his younger self had scoffed, "It must be great! You get to master all four elements and travel and get to do all sorts of neat things!"
"Yeah," Aang had said, reluctantly, "but there's other things I have to do. Protect the people. Keep the peace. Maintain the balance."
"That sounds like a drag," younger Bumi replied, "I'd try to find some fun way to do that, or just skip it altogether."
"Well, I can't just do that. Sometimes those things aren't fun no matter what, and you still have to do them."
"Why?"
Bumi remembered the far off smile Aang gave. "Because, it's my responsibility. It has to be done, and it's my job to do it. People are depending on me."
But Aang was gone, unable to do his job, and now Bumi had to go to war because the Fire Nation had risen unchecked. Now the people were depending on him, instead of Aang, to protect them. They needed him to be the king of Omashu. Bumi closed his eyes. Gods, to be anywhere else doing something fun!
Well, I can't just do that. Sometimes those things aren't fun no matter what, and you still have to do them.
Bumi opened his eyes. He had to do this, didn't he? He was king–protecting Omashu was part of his responsibility. It wasn't fun, but it had to be done. Had to. Suddenly, Bumi wanted to go to the war council.
He straightened his crown and headed for the door. The king of Omashu paused as he saw a bright green quill on his desk. It was very pretty. Bumi stuck it in his crown. He was king...but he could still have a little fun.