Exiting his room, Bumi entered the kitchen, grabbing a piece of stale bread while heading to where Aang's room previously was, now just an iron cube. Muttering under his breath, Bumi knocked the cube, hoping for a response, though he received nothing, which had been the same for thirty days.
Sighing, Bumi shook his head and left while stuffing the rest of the bread down his throat, only to end up choking, prompting him to run to the kitchen and force down a glass of water. "Ugh, f-fuck, that was scary. Tch, fire nation, forcing me to eat stale bread; I should ambush them. Yeah, that sounds good."
With a crazed expression, Bumi leaned against the kitchen counter, smiling as he internally planned an ambush on the fire nations' nearby encampment. Rubbing his chin, a thoughtful expression gracing his face, Bumi left the house, stepping outside, where he saw Appa sleeping beside the iron cube.
Pushing the thoughts of an ambush to the back of his mind, Bumi performed his training regimen, starting with his warm-up, then improving his control, followed by increasing his range, and finally enhancing his overall raw power. When he finished, it was around noon; after fixing the destruction he had created, Bumi approached Appa.
"Appa, c'mon, lunch time, I've worked up quite a hunger; I bet you did too with all your sleeping." Gently patting Appa, stirring him awake, Appa opened an eye and glanced at Bumi before standing up and stretching. "Oh, let me get a cleaning!" Smiling, Bumi stood before Appa's face and spread out his limbs, clearly wanting to be licked 'clean' though Appa recoiled in disgust.
"Tch, I get you a whole bunch of food and you can't even clean me? Ungrateful beast." Shooting Appa a glare, Bumi folded his arms, clicked his tongue, and averted his gaze.
While Appa was disgusted with Bumi's request, the iron cube beside them began to tremble suddenly, instantly catching both of their attention as they focused intensely. Slowly, the exterior iron shell was being ripped apart, revealing the interior stone shell, where a door-sized opening was suddenly created, causing Bumi and Appa to widen their eyes in surprise.
After a few moments, stepping out from the darkness of the cube was a malnourished, shabby beggar; it seemed even walking was a monumental task for him. However, despite the beggar's appearance, the scruffy beard and short hair weren't enough to hide Aang's features.
"A-Aang!?" "ROAR!" Excited to see their best friend after a month of solitude and silence, they nearly lunged at him, only stopping after taking in his new, frail appearance.
"It's good to see you, Bumi and Appa." Aang's voice was clear, if not a little hoarse, despite his appearance as he glanced between Bumi and Appa, while a faint smile graced his face.
"You. You look like shit! Ugh, you also smell like shit, too." Approaching Aang, Bumi took in his new appearance before leaning forward and sniffing, only to immediately recoil in disgust. "Thank you, Bumi, your words are much appreciated." Responding sarcastically, Aang shifted his gaze to Appa, who was struggling between rushing towards him and not wanting to accidentally crush him.
"I see you've gained some weight, Appa. Has Bumi been treating you to a desert?" Raising an eyebrow, Aang looked at Appa, who roared and shook his head. "Desert? No, he's just eating an unnecessary amount of food. What beast needs to eat 300 pounds of food a day? I'm pretty sure he's scamming me." Clicking his tongue, Bumi suspiciously eyed Appa, while Aang faintly smirked and shook his head.
"He wasn't. If he were scamming you, he would've eaten at least 500 pounds. He was being considerate." Bumi looked at Aang as if he were stupid, though he just wryly smiled before approaching Appa, falling in the process.
"Oi, careful, Aang, just a light touch looks like you'll break." Catching Aang, Bumi looked at him, causing him to faintly nod as he was helped onto the ground. "Anyway, why are you so malnourished? I was giving you food every day, and you'd always eat it." "Who said I ever ate that?" Shooting Bumi a wry smile, almost immediately, Bumi turned and eyed Appa, who, sensing something amiss, looked away.
"This fat, flying beast!" "He's mostly muscle, but yes." Aang could do nothing but faintly smile. "Tch, alright, just sit here and don't disintegrate; I'll go get something to eat." Erecting a wall for support, Bumi leaned Aang against it before jogging down the street, though not without shooting Appa a final glare.
With Bumi leaving, Appa approached Aang, plopping on the ground beside him while gently nudging him with his nose, causing Aang to raise his arm and gently stroke him. "Roaaarr?" "I had a lot of stuff on my mind, Appa. I needed some time to sort it all out and deal with it." "Roooaar?" "Sorry, I don't really want to talk about it. I've only just started to accept it." Forcing a smile, Aang scratched Appa's chin, causing him to softly roar while nodding, not pressing the topic.
Several minutes later, after a peaceful wait, Bumi returns while carrying a bag of fresh bread, dried meats, cheese, milk, vegetables, and fruits. "Alright, I've got us some food. You sure you don't want some dried meat?" Sitting beside Aang, Bumi opened the bag, handing the vegetables and fruits to Aang while grabbing the dried meats and bread. "No, I'm good. Thank you."
The next half an hour was filled with silence as Aang voraciously consumed everything, eating two meals' worth of food within one sitting and seemingly still having space for more.
"So, what the hell happened for you to do all that for a month?" Ripping a piece of the fresh bread, Bumi curiously looked at Aang, who lowered his head before softly sighing and shaking his head. "I'd prefer not to talk about it." Finishing the last of the milk, Aang stole some bread from Bumi, whose face twitched in response before nodding. "Alright, that's fine; sometimes problems can be overcome by oneself."
"How philosophical, Bumi. If only you weren't crazy." "Not crazy, eccentric." "Crazy and intelligent, a terrifying combination." As Aang muttered under his breath, Bumi just grinned. "Speaking of intelligence, I figured out how to get clean quickly." Wickedly grinning, Bumi leaned and whispered into Aang's ear, causing him to faintly nod. "Ah, there is the craziness that I remember."
"Anyway, where did you get that pelt from?" Grinning from Aang's earlier comment, Bumi gestured to the pelt tied to his waist, causing Aang to freeze before tightly clenching the pelt. "A gift." "Hmm, I see." Although curious, Bumi was quite perceptive and could discern that it was related to his Aangs problem, and he decided to leave it alone.
"So, when are you going to tell me how you learned to bend metal?" Energetically, Bumi leaped to his feet and pointed at the torn metal exterior, snapping Aang out of his thoughts and causing him to faintly smile. "It's a very long story. How about I just teach you how to metal-bend instead?" Bumi's eyes practically lit up at Aang's words, causing him to grin as he tried to metal-bend immediately.
"Am I doing it right?" With a deep sigh, Aang softly shook his head, offering Bumi some tips while he gently stroked Appa.
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Aang POV
Having left my solitude after coming to terms that I'd never meet Korra, I spent the next few months teaching Bumi earthbending while I regained my strength. It wasn't a difficult process, but it was tedious; it made me regret not eating for a month straight.
Since I wasn't able to do much for the first month, I spent it meditating upon the secret to Immortality, continuing from where I'd left off before Fan had summoned me. I was making far more progress than previously; thanks to the spar with Kyoshi and her advice, my earthbending skills and knowledge were incomparable to before.
By the time I got strong enough to join Bumi in his training regimen, I had gotten close to achieving the immortality technique. I was just a step away; even now, I could faintly feel myself aging more slowly. Even if I failed to master the technique, I could probably live close to the age Aang originally lived, while remaining healthy.
Of course, I didn't want just that; I didn't want to just be a healthy old man. I wanted to be in my physical prime when I finally met my wife and daughter; it would be too weird to be an old man, and my wife ends up reincarnating as Katara.
'That'd be too uncomfortable.' Shaking my head softly, I stood up from my meditation and glanced out the window, gazing up at the night sky and staring at the full moon, while Korra's face overlapped it, causing me to avert my gaze.
Approaching my bed, I gently stroked the flower Jathr had given me, having planted it in a pot, before crawling onto my bed while laying the pelt atop me alongside the covers. 'Good Night Korra.'