Memory of a Summer's Day

"Bumi!" Sokka grinned as he leaned against the railing of the medication deck, watching the wild-haired boy stepping towards him. "How's my oldest nephew doing?"

The glare that Bumi shot him made Sokka's smile vanish into a concerned frown. "Oh… that bad, huh?"

"It's not fair, Uncle Sokka," Bumi sighed as he leaned his elbows on the railing, head cradled in his hands as he stared out at the distant horizon. "Dad keeps hanging out with Tenzin, all because he can airbend! And when Kya complains, Mom spends time with her, since they can both waterbend-" He bowed his head, trying to hide his expression from his uncle, a mixture of shame and sadness. "I can't do anything like that."

"Now hold on one second!"

Bumi found himself being turned around, facing a kneeling Sokka who met him eye-to-eye. "Are you suggesting that all because you can't use magic-bending 'skills, that it makes you weak?"

The oldest son of Avatar Aang blinked, shaking his head. "No, I didn't mean it like that-"

Sokka's expression changed from serious to sympathetic. "Bumi, let me tell you a story-"

"Not another boomerang story, Uncle Sokka!" Bumi made a growl of frustration, hands going to his ears.

Sokka clapped the flat of his hand to the back of Bumi's head. "Young man, I'll have you know that my trusty boomerang saved us from that combustion bender… Y'know, I still like 'Sparky-Sparky-Boom-Man' as his name,' he mused, quickly shaking his head. "Anyway, this isn't about the boomerang."

Sokka grinned broadly, showing that despite his years he still had a bit of his 'young warrior' self in his soul, a light shining from his eyes. "It's about a space sword!"

"A sword?" Bumi looked up, immediately interested. "I didn't know you had a space sword, Uncle Sokka! Where is it? Can I see it?"

Sokka's smile faltered slightly, but a hand went to the hilt of his sword he kept by his side. "It's right here."

Bumi stared at the gray-blue metal, polished to the point of shining as the tip of a star would in the dark sky. "Wow!" He breathed.

"And it's the second of it's kind," Sokka said, sheathing the sword. "When I was trained in the art of swordsmanship, I made my first sword, like this one, from a star that had fallen from the sky during the night. I fought my first duel with it, against my own master. He judged that I was worthy of carrying it, and so I did… until the day your father faced Fire Lord Ozai."

"Really?"

The Southern Water Tribe warrior nodded. "My first sword was lost over the Wudong Forest, during the attack on the airships. I know I may never see that sword again, but I would want a true warrior to find it and use it properly, to protect others."

Bumi nodded gravely, eyes shining with purpose. "I'm gonna find it, Uncle Sokka! You wait and see!"

Sokka grinned, clapping his nephew on the back. "C'mon, trouble-maker, let's go see if we can give your dad any more gray hairs."

Fifteen minutes later, Aang was blinking in confusion as Bumi explained and bragged in turns on how he was 'going to get a space sword like Uncle Sokka' and had Tenzin chasing his brother around demanding to know what a space sword was. He raised an eyebrow at Sokka, who only chuckled in reply.