The Healer Ko

Leaving after getting back his handcrafted walking stick, Genji began to walk away when he was suddenly approached by someone. He still hadn't turned back on his Hyper Sense skill, but by the light steps of the figure, he can conclude that it might be a woman or a young child.

"Greetings Genji."

Hearing the sweet voice he heard yesterday, Genji knew that this voice belonged to Yue.

"Greetings? Such an unusual way to greet someone," Genji mentioned before smiling. "Greetings to you too Princess Yue."

Yue blushed a little from embarrassment.

"Please, call me Yue."

Genji nodded and asked, "What brings you here Yue?"

"Well, I wanted to know if we could talk."

Nodding his head, Genji extended his arm, "Mind if you guide me towards somewhere we can talk?"

Confused for a split second, Yue quickly realizes that Genji needed help to walk over to somewhere they could talk since he might trip or something similar.

Although we all knew that Genji was just looking for the chance to level up his skills.

Agreeing to leading him, Yue locked arms with Genji and walked side by side with him.

Slowly, they walked together like this and Yue felt like it was the most optimal time to have a conversation with Genji.

"How do you do it?" she began.

"What?"

"How do you continue to move forward despite being blind?"

"With my legs," joked Genji.

Yue blinked her eyes several times upon hearing those words. She didn't expect such an answer. Just when she was about to repeat her question in a more irritable manner, she heard Genji chuckle.

Genji chuckled a little before turning a little serious, "It's about the determination and having the resolve to do something you wish to do no matter what stands in your way."

"Is that... something really amazing that can help you achieve things?"

Smiling, Genji nodded and said, "Yeah! In fact, there was once a great musician who suddenly went deaf one day. Everyone believed he would never play music again and began to believe that his future was dead."

Intrigued by the story, Yue leaned her body closer to Genji to listen better to what he was saying to make sure she didn't miss anything of what he said.

"Then, as if to prove them wrong, this musician had gone ahead and continued to still play music. What was even more amazing was that he had gotten even better at playing music than ever before!"

"Really?!"

"Yes. He played such amazing pieces of music that he had become even more famous than before and managed to etch himself into the annals of history."

"Amazing...." muttered Yue after hearing Genji's short story.

"So, whatever it is that's on your mind, don't let it hold you down and resolve yourself to achieve your goal," said Genji as he flashed a smile at Yue whose eyes lit up at Genji's words.

Whether it be because he had managed to encourage the young woman or because his Actor skill's effect of <Silver Tongue> turned on, Yue seemed resolved to do something. To do something about her tribe or herself and achieve something.

Whilst Yue looked at Genji unconsciously as she mulled over his words, Genji felt someone approach them from nearby.

"Yue? Is that you?"

The familiar voice belonged to an older woman with gray hair, whom Yue was quite familiar with.

Snapping out of it, Yue turned to look at the old woman and greeted her, "Healer Ko, what are you doing here?"

Ko, a waterbender healer, smiled at Yue and giggled a little before saying, "Haha, what am I doing here? Well I'm just outside of my Healing Hut where I'm teaching some young girls how to heal."

Once Genji heard that they were outside of the Healer Hut, his eyes lit up and he figured that this was the best moment to learn the skill for healing.

It's a useful skill and it might pair well with his physician skill.

"A healer hut?"

"Yes," answered the old lady as she finally took notice of the man next to Yue. She also noticed the arm lock between both Yue and Genji before flashing a knowing smile at Yue who didn't understand.

"That's amazing. Is it fine if I come in and listen to you teach?" asked Genji as he faced the lady.

The old lady frowned a little before looking around to make sure no one was listening in on them.

"Come on in, quick," said the old lady as she opened the door to the Healer Hut and allowed both Genji and Yue in.

"Make sure to keep quiet and stay in the back until I'm done talking with everyone," said Ko as she glanced at the young girls who were talking to each other and not paying any attention to Genji, Yue, and Ko.

Genji nodded and headed to the back of the hut with Yue and hid themselves in the back of the room.

"Why did you want to come here?" quietly asked Yue after she had sit down with Genji.

Genji smiled and said, "I felt like this is a necessary skill I need to know."

"Why?"

"Because as a wanderer, I go to various places and I tend to get injured. When that happens, I don't have anyone to heal me and I need to wait for the injury to heal before moving around."

Yue eventually understood why Genji would need to learn how to heal.

"But... Why now?"

"...Well..." replied Genji while averting his gaze slightly. "...it feels right somehow."

With those words alone, there wasn't much else left unsaid so Yue decided to ask again but without making it sound too suspicious, "You've been traveling all across the land before you arrived here, haven't you?"

There was silence between them before Genji responded softly, "Yeah."

Silence fell once again when neither of them continued to speak. Yue's eyes lit up as she finally found out that Genji could help her achieve something.

Since Genji is someone who has traveled across the nations and other lands, Yue figured that Genji must have seen various other people and heard stories of the accomplishments of others.

'Like the story of the deaf musician,' thought Yue as she remembered the short story she was told.

Just then, the old lady went into the front of the hut and called out, "Alright ladies! Listen carefully!"

All the young girls gathered near the front of the hut and listened attentively as their teacher began by explaining the basics of the basic anatomy of humans. After that, the class moved onto more advanced topics such as the location of every blood vessel, acupoints, and the chi pathways. The students learned many things even though most of it went straight past them since none of these kids were still pretty young.

Genji on the other hand had absorbed all this knowledge like a sponge and even advanced both of his Acupuncture and Physician skills by two levels.

After the lesson ended, the children returned home whilst the adults, Yue and Genji, stayed behind to talk privately with Ko.

Looking at each other quietly, Genji finally spoke up and asked Ko for a favor, "Can you teach me how to heal?"

Ko was dumbfounded.

Ever since she was a young child, she had never once seen a man, or boy, express their desire to learn healing. She was surprised by Genji and was about to reject him when she noticed Yue's eager gaze and Genji's balled up fists.

Accepting him as a student will get her in a lot of trouble, especially with the elders of the Northern Water Tribe. They might even go as far as to ostracize Genji in hopes of having him leave the Northern Water Tribe.

Not sure what to do, Ko closed her eyes and mulled it over before finally sighing and giving in to Yue's eager gaze.

"Ha~, fine! I'll teach you how to heal, but you mustn't tell anyone," said Ko as she spoke seriously.

Genji nodded his head and responded with a firm yes.

Just like that, Genji had managed to find himself a teacher for the Healing skill.

...

After quietly exiting the Healing Hut without being seen, both Yue and Genji walked around together.

"So how is the daughter of the Tribe's Chief living in this grand city?" asked Genji as he nudged Yue on her side.

Giggling at Genji's question, Yue nudged back at Genji before sighing, "It's... not so great. I... the woman, don't have much freedom here. We're like birds with no wings."

Genji smiled innocently and asked, "Why don't you learn how to waterbend and show your father that you can be someone of importance as well."

Yue's body trembled for a bit before she turned to look at Genji with a depreciating look.

"I'm... not a waterbender..."

With a look of surprise on his face, Genji looked at Yue and asked, "Really?"

"Yes..."

Suddenly, without warning, Genji stopped moving and stopped Yue as well as he grabbed her arm and began to use his Physician skill to check her condition.

Yue was surprised by Genji's actions and didn't retract her hand yet, "Wh-what are you doing, Genji?"

Checking her arm and hand with calm movements in both hands and fingers, Genji's eyebrows were eventually raised in true surprise.

'Hoho... so she does have an affinity to waterbend,' thought Genji as he continued to check Yue's body and her internal Chi Pathway. 'Her chi pathway... looks like I can fix this with my current skills. Might take a month if I start today.'

Continuing his examination, Genji realized something else.

He discovered that the spirit energy within her body constantly moved around her body, healing her and providing it energy that the Chi was supposed to be doing, if it was working properly. All of this was visible to Genji just because he made use of both his Hyper Sense and Heightened Senses. Other doctors, or even the most experience healers, wouldn't be able to figure this out about Yue.

"I'm examining your body," said Genji after letting go of her hand.

Yue looked at her hand before looking up at Genji.

"What did you... see?"

With a serious look on his face, Genji said, "Your Chi Pathway is all in disarray. Honestly, you should be very sickly, have a very weak physique, or even be.... dead."

Yue's body shook and she bit her bottom lip before saying, "I... was supposed to die when I was a baby. When my mother gave birth to me, I was born ill. I was very quiet and still, as if I was asleep. Fearing for the worse, my parents searched for various ways to keep me alive."

"So they took you to meet various healers and doctors," mentioned Genji after noticing Yue went quiet.

Nodding, Yue continued, "But none of that had worked. So they took me to the only being that could heal me... the Moon Spirit."

"The Moon Spirit? Is that why you are called Yue?"

Yue nodded and they both stayed quiet as the moon began to slowly appear in the sky and the sun began to set.

"Yue..."

Suddenly hearing Genji's voice, Yue lifted her head and turned to look at Genji who had a serious look on his face.

"I..."

"Princess Yue!"

Suddenly interrupting Genji, was Pakku who had appeared with the aid of his waterbending as he suddenly landed near Yue and Genji.

"Master Pakku!"

Surprised by Pakku's sudden arrival, Yue had exclaimed in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" asked Yue as she looked at Pakku in a confused manner.

Pakku didn't say anything and just glanced at Genji with a frown on his face. His eyes narrowed before he turned to look at Yue with a friendly look on his face.

"It's getting pretty late, Princess Yue," said Pakku in a calm manner. "You should head back to the Palace before your father begins to worry."

Yue frowned and looked at Genji, "I... I'll see you tomorrow Genji. Master Pakku..."

After bidding goodbye to Genji and then to Pakku, Yue left with some hesitation as she turned back once more to look at Genji who was just standing there quietly.

'What was he going to say...'

Concerned, Yue left with a lot weighing on her mind.

After separating from Genji because of Pakku, Yue was just about to reach the Palace when she was suddenly stopped by a young man who appeared before her.

"Princess Yue! What a coincidence..." said the man as he looked at Yue with a smirk.

"Soldier Hahn..." muttered Yue as she smiled at the young man's sudden appearance. 'What is he doing here...?'