Stealing a Princess

A/N: I have started to notice that the story is taking a weird turn lately for the Northern Water Tribe. Might have to throw a wrench in the story.

Don't know what type of wrench, so give some ideas if any. Not any otherworld characters, lets keep this Avatar world.

***

Continuing the routine, Genji went to Ko, the healer, after he had exhausted Pakku and made him collapse. Luckily, Pakku's collapse happened after the fight so Genji didn't gain any experience from defeating Pakku, meaning he's still a level 2.

'Grind!'

Genji walked into Ko's tent and saw her face filled with worry as she looked at Genji.

"Yo-you have to leave, quickly!"

Noticing Ko's worry, Genji didn't bother asking why and was quickly heading outside of the tent when he suddenly sensed a pure waterbender's energy approach.

"Not good," muttered Genji as he quickly turned around and looked around the room and quickly moved.

Ko was confused and was about to follow behind Genji when she suddenly heard something from the entrance of the healing hut.

"Ko, my dear student," said a kind old voice from the entrance.

"Master Yagoda!" cried out Ko in surprise at seeing her master appear.

Yagoda raised her eyebrows and asked, "Is something the matter, Ko?"

"No-nothing!" answered Ko hastily.

Yagoda looked at her with a curious expression. It seemed as though she knew something but wasn't saying anything.

"How have you been Ko?"

Ko looked at the smiling, kind face of Yagoda and began to calm down a bit, "I-I'm alright."

"That's good to hear. It's been a while since I've last seen you," said Yagoda with a sweet smile.

"Yes... it has," agreed Ko with a nod.

"You look tired. Are you doing well?"

"Well enough," replied Ko.

"Oh? You're going to be fine then. Just remember to rest more often," said Yagoda with a smile.

"Thank you very much for your concern."

"It's nothing. Now, go back to work. And please take care of yourself."

"Of course! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. I'll try my best to live up to your expectations."

"Haha. Now, get going," said Yagoda with a gentle smile.

Standing up, Yagoda bid Ko farewell before heading out.

Ko looked at Yagoda, her eyebrows scrunched up as she worriedly looked at Yagoda leave. With a sad expression on her face, Ko decided to risk it all.

"Master Yagoda, please wait!"

Pausing, Yagoda turned around and curiously asked, "What is it, Ko?"

"I-I need to tell you something."

Yagoda raised her eyebrow as she questioned, "Something important?"

"Yes. Something very important."

"Go ahead."

"I-It's about a man... he... I..."

Seeing as how Ko was stuttering and was talking about a man, Yagoda got the wrong idea.

"Ko. I don't need to know what goes on in your love life with another man," said Yagoda with a sweet smile on her old face.

Ko quickly shook her head and said, "It's not that Master! I taught a man how to heal!"

With her eyes widening, Yagoda quickly moved and headed to the door to make sure no one heard them before turning to look at Ko with a serious look on her face. It was such an odd sight.

Yagoda always smiles no matter what happens, and yet now, she was wearing such a serious look on her face.

'I messed up!' thought Ko as she noticed the look on Yagoda's face.

Yagoda took a deep breath before saying, "Teaching a man how to heal? Why would you do that? That's dangerous! Don't you know how you can be imprisoned, tortured, or worse!?"

"Yes, I... I know of the danger. But... he looked very eager to learn how to heal and I just couldn't reject him," explained Ko. "If I'm completely honest. I'm glad I taught him. He's shown such an unbelievable talent for healing that I was very surprised. It was like he was blessed by both the Moon and Ocean Spirits."

"So, he learned how to heal people and has such an amazing talent for it?"

Suddenly, Yagoda wasn't that serious anymore and instead revealed a look of interest. With a smile on her wrinkly face, Yagoda approached Ko and asked, "Where is that man?"

"I can't let you meet him," said Ko quietly.

Yagoda smiled and chuckled a little, "I guess I need to reveal to you my most guarded secret first."

"Most guarded... secret?"

Ko began to feel a little weird at how Yagoda said and before Yagoda could say something about what she had just mentioned. She heard someone speak from behind her, scaring her.

"You train guys as well..." said Genji as he suddenly appeared from the darkness.

"Ah!"

Yagoda jumped a little and turned to look at Genji who had suddenly appeared behind her.

"Aah! You startled me! Who are you?"

"Sorry for startling you," said Genji with a calm tone. "I'm the man you wished to meet."

Yagoda quickly forgot about how she was startled by Genji.

With a smile on her face, Yagoda asked with excitement, "You're the talented healer I was just hearing about?"

Genji nodded and flashed her a smile.

"Amazing..."

Yagoda stood up and approached Genji, inspecting him closely with fascination.

"How did you learn to heal so fast?"

"Well..."

Yagoda continued to question him as if she knew everything about him.

"Are you really that good?"

"Yes."

"Show me then."

Without wasting a single moment, Yagoda pulled Genji over to the mannequin that is used to teach the young girls of the water tribe how to heal. After sitting around the mannequin, Yagoda and Ko turned to look at Genji who had just stretched out his hands to begin to heal.

Bending the nearby water in a smooth and flowing movement, Genji brought it over and began to 'heal' areas where Yagoda would say that it was broken, damaged, chi pathway is injured, chi is out of balance, or the spirit needs some healing.

Anything that was taught in the healing school, Genji was asked about what he would do and see how he would put it into practice.

It was as if Genji was taking an exam.

As Yagoda watched, she saw how the 'broken' parts of the mannequin healed smoothly and the pieces reassembled themselves.

"Amazing," muttered Yagoda as she noticed the strong ability Genji had for healing.

Yagoda realized how much more gifted this man was compared to others. She felt that Genji was definitely worthy of being called a great healer.

"This is incredible!"

After seeing how strong his healing abilities are, Yagoda turned to look at him.

"You are a top class healer..." muttered Yagoda with amazement. "It's a shame we can't showcase your talent in the tribe."

Genji and Ko both went quiet until Genji suddenly lifted his head with a smile.

"What if we can..."

"What.... do you mean?" Ko turned to look at Genji with confusion and even Yagoda looked a bit interested in what he was saying.

"We make a group... a group that will slowly spread its ideals of allowing women to waterbend and men to learn how to heal. If we can make our ideas affect the elders and have them join us, we can change the tribe... However, this is just an idea. I'm an outsider and I can't help you too much, but I will try my best," said Genji with an earnest and serious voice.

Ko and Yagoda looked at the cloth covering Genji's eyes before turning to look at each other with worried expressions.

"I don't know if this is going to work out... But, we'll give it some thought."

Yagoda and Ko both nodded in agreement.

Genji nodded and expected as much and said, "It's fine. It's up to you women whether you wish your tribe to finally change its ways or to remain chained down. To not see how the tribe will change up until your last breath, leaving the problems to the young children who still have their whole lives ahead of them.

The children who could only ask themselves why the girls are being stopped from learning how to waterbend or how the boys can't learn how to heal."

Yagoda and Ko looked at each other with worried looks and eventually sighed before turning to look at Genji with a smile.

"Let us do it. We will change the tribe for the children," said Yagoda with a smile on her face.

Genji smiled and said, "I will help you both achieve your goal no matter what."

Ko and Yagoda smiled and nodded, "Thank you. We will change the tribe and make it better for the future generations."

"But... we must be careful. There is a lot of opposition to us doing anything that may upset the current order of things. The tribal leaders will surely use any excuse they can to stop us from making changes," said Genji.

Yagoda and Ko both nodded in agreement.

"Yes. You're right. They might even go so far as to attack us and kill us. We should keep a low profile and stay hidden until we can gather enough strength to fight back," nodded Ko in agreement, a bit nervous.

"We need to plan carefully. I'll come here again tomorrow and we can talk more then," proposed Genji.

Ko and Yagoda both nodded and said, "Of course."

After agreeing on the plans, Ko and Yagoda said goodbye to each other. Yagoda left and Ko stayed within the Healing Hut since she has a class to teach much later.

He waited for a few minutes before opening the door and stepping outside.

Once outside, Genji looked up at the dark sky before quietly moving around and entering his house.

After entering his house, Genji used the same tactic as the night before to evade Pakku spying on him.

Genji bent the ice beneath his feet and turned it into water before letting it pass through it easily as he entered a small passageway he had made the day prior.

Whilst in the passageway, Genji suddenly stopped and smiled to himself.

"Let's prepare some stuff first before heading to Yue..." muttered Genji with a smirk on his face and turning to the side, making a new passageway.

...

Complete with this sudden side project, Genji ran back through the passageway leading to the Palace and soon appeared at the end of the passageway. Genji used his Hyper Sense and checked if there were any people nearby before exiting.

With some quick movements, Genji waterbended the ice of the wall and made a ladder with that before climbing it and entering the Princess' room where Yue was waiting for him..

Unlike the day before, today, Yue was a lot more quiet and pessimistic.

"What's wrong Yue?" asked Genji after entering the room.

Hearing Genji's voice, Yue's eyes widened and she hastily stood up before looking at Genji with a smile.

"You're finally here!" she exclaimed with a smile.

Genji didn't smile however and instead asked once more, "What's wrong Yue? Nervous?"

Yue lowered her head a little and shook her head, "No. It's... about my father and the tribe. I don't think that it will matter if I can waterbend. I won't be able to use it either way."

Understanding now what was happening, Genji sighed and shook his head, "Then it's alright then, Yue. You don't have to go through the procedure if you don't wish to."

Sighing, Yue tried her best to muster a smile and said, "Thank you for understanding."

"It's truly a shame though. I could have just taught you how to waterbend in secret," said Genji with a look of regret on his face.

Yue turned her head to the side before replying, "You wouldn't have been able to teach me. There's no way you could escape father's detection."

It was then that Genji smiled and faced Yue, "What do you mean? I'm here, aren't I? I evaded your father and risked my safety here to tell you about how you can waterbend and that I can heal you.

I'd say I'm pretty good at finding hidden spots where we can train."

"Really?" Yue's eyes lit up and she looked at Genji curiously.

"Yes really," said Genji confidently with a smile. "You know what, come with me. I'll show you we can evade your father and the tribe and they won't know you were gone from your room for the night."

Yue raised her eyebrows and looked like she was thinking of something before nodding.

"Alright!" she said, a bit thrilled about what she was about to do.

"Great, let's go then!"