After the Fire Nations' utter defeat at invading Omashu, they retreated to their encampment to lick their wounds, while Omashu did the same; as for Bumi and I, he continued to teach how to earthbend while also putting me through a brutal training regime meant to further strengthen my body.
As for the Fire Nation, I don't know how they found out, but they learned the Avatar was here in Omashu, which I was, but the consequences of my presence were rather significant, as the Fire Nation didn't dare attack and instead shifted their focus away from the Earth Kingdom.
The Fire Nation wanted to use Omashu as a foothold to invade the Earth Kingdom; it had a phenomenal geological location and made it very easy to defend, so they still stood firm despite their relentless attacks even after six years. However, with me here, it prevented them from doing so, which prompted them to shift more of their focus to the Southern and Northern Water tribes.
Because of that, I would constantly send messages to Hina, ensuring they were okay, though to my surprise, just after three months, I found out she got engaged to an older gentleman in her village, which made me feel a bit weird given that night we shared, but in the end, I was happy for her.
I took a little pause from my training with Bumi to visit Hina for the wedding, and surprisingly, he tagged along, curious about the outside world.
"You happy marrying him?" Asked Aang lightly as he calmly drank while standing beside Hina, who wore a Southern Watertribe dress, before nodding.
"Yes… I would've been happier with you, though." Replied Hina with a faint nod as she looked at her husband in the distance, dancing with the crowd before glancing at Aang, who choked on his water with a wry expression.
"T-That's not exactly something you should say during the night of your wedding… Though if that's the case, why did you marry him?" Stated Aang as he gently rubbed his throat while looking at Hina, who faintly smiled before sighing.
"My father was an Air-nomad, and I never once saw him… I grew up without a father and having experienced that, I didn't want the same for my children." Said Hina softly with a downcast expression before shaking her head and glancing at Aang, who silently nodded.
"Besides, didn't you say you were waiting for your fated one? I am not that person, so I quickly married to get you out of my heart." Added Hina lightly as she looked at Aang with a soft expression, only to sigh.
"Of course, you're still my little brother." Said Hina with a smirk as she stood on her toes while rubbing Aang's bald head, causing him to faintly smile before gently brushing her hand away.
"Go and enjoy your wedding, Hina. I will be busy to ensure Bumi doesn't mess everything up." Said Aang with a faint smile as he gently pushed Hina toward the dancing crowd, causing her gaze to linger on him for a few seconds before nodding.
"I wish you weren't an Air Nomad, Aang." Said Hina softly with a forced smile as she looked at Aang before turning around and approaching her husband, dancing with him.
Downing the cup, I approached Bumi, keeping him in check as while I wasn't worried about him making a scene, he could easily freak out the villagers. After an hour or so, Hina and her husband retired to their igloo, where they would finish the wedding by sleeping together; as for Bumi and I, we waited for everyone to fall asleep before departing from the Village.
"Bye, Hana. Yip, yip." Said Aang with a faint smile as he waved at Hana before snapping the reins, causing Appa to growl before flapping his tail and taking to the skies while carrying Bumi.
"So, we are returning to Omashu?" Asked Bumi with a twitching expression as he looked at Aang, who nodded.
"Yes, but before, I would like to give a parting gift." Replied Aang lightly as Appa flew towards the ocean before hovering above a school of fish
After dropping hundreds of fish for the villagers, Appa, Bumi, and I returned home, though we did visit the Air temple along the way. When we returned to Omashu for the next four years, Bumi continued to teach me; well, actually, after the first two years, I had already surpassed him in earthbending, so we both started to learn from Badgermoles by removing our sense of sight using blindfolds.
The first day was extremely difficult, but I caught onto the Badermole's use of Seismic sense rather quickly, and it only took me three days to copy it; Bumi wasn't so lucky. However, he wasn't a 'Mad Genius' for nothing, and although it took him longer, roughly a week, he eventually learned seismic sense, though it did take him about a month to master it.
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Standing opposite of Bumi, I narrowed my eyes as he suddenly stomped his foot and thrust his fist forward, ripping a massive chunk of the earth out of the ground before launching it toward me, prompting me to smirk as I stomped my foot on the ground, erecting a thick earth wall, blocking Bumi's attack.
Stepping forward, I punched forward, sending the earth wall toward him, but before it touched him, he split it into while stomping forward, sending numerous chunks of earth at me; punching each one, breaking them into hundreds of tiny stones, I leaped into the air before slamming my foot onto the ground, creating a massive wave of earth that surged toward Bumi.
However, anticipating his next move, I raised both fists, causing two crystal towers to erect themselves beside me while I twirled in the air, launching numerous crystal slabs at Bumi, who was thrown into the air by the earth wave. While this situation would've been dangerous for many earth benders, for Bumi, he simply grinned like a madman and kicked each crystal slab back at me.
Stomping on the ground, tossing a massive boulder, the size of a house, into the air, I kicked it toward Bumi, who broke right through it. I followed up by raising my fists and launching two earth pillars at him, though while he attempted to slide down one of them, I created a bump, knocking him off balance. Launching myself into the air with a stomp, I kicked Bumi in the stomach with my foot, which was encased in a layer of rocks, knocking the air out of his lungs while he dropped to the ground.
"I win, Bumi. 78-16." Said Aang with a faint smile as he clasped his hands and slightly bowed to Bumi, who sat upright while coughing.
"It baffles me how you surpassed me in earthbending in merely four years, Aang." Said Bumi earnestly as he stood up and glanced at Aang, who flashed a faint smile.
"Some of us are just more naturally gifted than others. I imagine water bending will be slightly more difficult for me." Replied Aang lightly as he glanced at Bumi, who shrugged his shoulders before yawning.
"I'm going to sleep; I'm tired." Said Bumi lightly as he left the scene of destruction, leaving Aang to clean up everything before following after him ten minutes later.
Since neither of us had gone all out, the damages were kept to a minimum, so it didn't take too long; once I finished, I entered Bumi's house, where I'd been living for the past four years. However, unlike Bumi, I didn't sleep; I sat cross-legged on my bed and focused intensely on my body as I attempted to use earthbending to find a balance within me.
I've been practicing this for years and made progress, but I still have no clue how close or far away I am from achieving Immortality. I know I could always ask Kyoshi, but a part of me wished to figure it out on my own; if I couldn't figure it out before I turned thirty, then I'd ask her, but I wasn't in a rush, as I'm still yet to hit my physical prime.
'Hmm, wait, that was something.' Thought Aang softly as he furrowed his brows while attempting to recreate what he had just done, only to suddenly open his eyes.
"That wasn't me." Muttered Aang with a frown as he opened his eyes and stood up, only for a weird feeling to spread throughout his body.
Before I could question it, I heard what sounded like glass breaking, and the next thing I knew, I saw a portal to the Otherworld open before me, causing me to raise my guard as I prepared to defend myself, only for me to see a spirit that was a mix between a goat and human appear before me.
"A-Avatar Aang, please, hurry; Father Glowworm's cult has found us!" Said the Spirit as he pleaded for Aang's assistance while constantly gazing behind him.