Heart Broken

Chapter 7

Katara arrived at Omashu. She had decided that she couldn't wait longer for any update on Aang's whereabouts, so she sailed off to confront king Bumi. The trip took less than a week. Zuko was busy with his duties so she had left him a message telling him that she was going off to visit some friends in the earth kingdom. Katara knew better than to just tell him that she was trying to get information from Bumi. There was no way Zuko would have let her leave because of Aang.

Katara didn't like having to lie to her boyfriend but she had no choice. She needed to find her best friend and Bumi was her best chance. After spending almost a year with him every day, she grown used to having Aang by her side. Now with him gone, she wasn't as happy as she used to be. Before she met him, she was just a novice water bender who had no one to teach her how to bend and had to step up as a maternal figure for her family after her mother's death. She wasn't sure that she'd ever leave the south pole until she and Sokka freed Aang from his frozen prison. He reminded her what it was like to have fun. Every day that she spent with him was a new adventure. With him gone from her life again, it was like he took a part of her with him.

Katara met with the guards at the gate and told them that she had business to speak of with their king. Since the war ended, the world had heard the story of how team avatar defeated Ozai and stop the war. With that in mind, the guards had no problem with letting her meet with Bumi. They escorted her to the palace and after a few minutes, King Bumi was ready to meet with her.

As soon as Bumi heard that Katara had come to meet him, he already knew it was because of Aang. Once he sat down on his throne, he motioned to his guards to let her in.

"Ah, master Katara. It is good to see you again.", he greeted her.

"As always it is a pleasure to see you again King Bumi", Katara bowed.

"Just Bumi is fine. So what can I do for you? I'm sure that this isn't really a social visit you're making.", Bumi replied.

'Straight to the point. Bumi might be crazy but he isn't a fool.', Katara thought to herself.

"Well, a couple weeks after the war ended Aang left us to fulfill his avatar duties across the world. He never said anything about it to any of us and when I found out...he was already gone. He left a letter saying why he left and how he didn't want to be found but it's been months since I've seen him. I heard that he recently came here so I was hoping that you could help me find him.", she explained.

"You said it yourself that he doesn't want to be found so why bother looking for him?", Bumi asked.

"I believe there is something he isn't telling us, and it could be the real reason as to why he left."

'Yes, and the reason is quite literally YOU.', he thought to himself before speaking. "Well if it makes you feel better, he was quite fine when he was visiting. He stuck around for a week and we spent the whole time together having fun like we used before the war started."

"Has he said anything to you about why he chose to just travel by himself?", Katara questioned.

'I suppose I could tell her the truth...but it wouldn't be right. This is something she has to learn from Aang.'. "He just needs to have time to himself. Besides, he isn't really traveling by himself if he has Momo and Appa with him."

"Everyone keeps saying that he needs time to himself but what for?", Katara was getting tired of everyone saying that. She knew well that Aang was no introvert.

"Considering he woke up after a hundred years, found out he was the last air bender, mastered the other three elements, and stopped the war within less than a year...I'm sure he just needs time to adjust to himself.", Bumi hoped that this explanation would suffice.