꧁ prologue ꧂
the princess of the northern water tribe

✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚

"MEILUNA, PLEASE TRY"

Meiluna stood before her father and her sister, who had gathered around the bed her mother lay in. She felt her hands tremble, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Three months ago, on this day, Meiluna's mother had fallen ill.

Of course, it didn't seem so bad back then.

Meiluna's father had exhausted every healer in the entire Northern Water Tribe, and not a single one could help.

"I don't- I can't-" Meiluna shook her head.

"Please" Yue stepped forward, placing her hands on Meiluna's shoulders.

The Ocean Spirit had gifted her with her healing talents. After her older sister, Yue, had been touched by the Tui, the Moon Spirit, La had realised that she couldn't live without her counterpart in the human world by her side.

From the day Meiluna was born, she had a part of the Ocean Spirit living inside of her.

Her healing abilities, as a result, surpassed those of any healer she had ever encountered. Her ability to rejuvenate the life within people, flora and fauna alike had been unmatched as she could seamlessly restore health with the touch of her hand.

Meiluna was confident in her abilities. And for good reason.

Standing in the deafening silence of the room, with the occasional interruption of her sickly mother's coughs, certainly was enough for that confidence to waver.

"What if it doesn't work?"

No one answered her question.

She didn't particularly feel like hearing the answer anyway.

She walked up to the bed quietly, dipping her hands into the small bowl of water on the nearby table. She took a deep breath, gently moving her shaky hands on to the sides of her mother's head. Meiluna closed her eyes in concentration when she felt the water soak through her mother's hair.

Her eyes snapped open,

"Mother?"

She used one hand to lightly touch her mother's cheek.

"Mother, wake up" Meiluna heard her own voice crack, "Don't leave"

Her mother remained still, her eyes completely shut.

Meiluna fell silently to her knees, tightly gripping her mother's hand,

"Mommy, please"

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Meiluna sat in front of her large mirror as her maid brushed through her dark hair.

She sectioned the top half of her hair up, tying it into a loop, similar to how her sister always had her hair, but unlike Yue, she allowed the rest of her hair to flow freely.

Meiluna stood up, thanking her maid before dismissing her. She smoothed her clothes down one last time as she left the palace.

"Luna"

She turned around at the mention of her name,
"Yue"

"Where are you going?" Her sister asked softly.

"Out"

Yue shook her head slightly at the vague response,
"Let me come with you"

"Oh," Meiluna looked away, "It's okay, I'll be fine"

Yue held her sister's hand as she walked with her, Meiluna still continuing to avoid Yue's eyes.

They entered the Spirit Oasis, the two of them sitting side by side in front of the small pond in silence.

"I heard that you've been going to Yugoda's healing lessons" Yue spoke up.

Meiluna hummed in acknowledgement,

"Better late than never"

Yue frowned watching her younger sister stare intently at the koi fish.

"No one blames you, Luna" Yue placed a hand over Meiluna's.

She quickly snatched her hand away, standing up,

"I do!"

Yue looked taken aback at the outburst.

Meiluna had become more withdrawn and aloof following her mother's death a year ago. She tried so hard to make it look like it never bothered her or interfered with her duties.

"She needed me, you and Father needed me, the entire tribe did, and I let you all down"

She looked down at her hands,

"I started going to learn from Yugoda, to become a better healer"

"You're already the best there is"

Yue now stood up to face her sister.

"My best wasn't good enough, was it?"

Meiluna quickly placed a her head in her hands as she felt tears fall down her face, trying to muffle her sobs.

Yue instantly wrapped her arms around her, holding her in a tight hug.

"Yue, it hurts so much"

"It'll get better Luna, I promise"

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Although it was forbidden for women of the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending, this didn't stop Meiluna from watching and observing Master Pakku teach his students.

She felt like she was completely out of control after her mother's passing and would do anything to regain it.

She loved to observe and learn from Master Pakku's classes. The way how he taught and moved so elegantly with the water, it almost seemed like a dance, especially when the students sparred with each other.

She had read plenty of books on the art of traditional dance, it was something she immensely enjoyed to do in her pass time. It allowed her to be light on her feet and move with grace while she practiced waterbending on her own.

Master Pakku had often questioned her presence. Telling her that a woman like her shouldn't be anywhere near his waterbending lessons.

Although Meiluna was upset by his words, she gave him the benefit of the doubt, it was tradition, after all, for waterbending to be exclusively taught to the men of her tribe. Who was Master Pakku to question that? And who was Meiluna to oppose him?

Yue always taught her to be kind to others, even if they weren't the nicest to her.

She recalled the conversation they had not very long ago.

"But why?" Meiluna whined, "Why should I be nice to someone who was rude to me?"

Yue laughed at her childishness.

"Because you're better than that," She answered thoughtfully, "It's the greatest gift you can give to someone"

Meiluna tilted her head in confusion,
"What is?"

"A second chance"

So Meiluna allowed Pakku to continue to make his snide remarks. She just hoped that her benevolence would one day outshine his deep rooted prejudice.

She had managed to convince him that she only stayed to take care of any injuries the boys might sustain. This was partially true. Meiluna had busied herself with taking care of every member of her tribe, making sure she was there before anyone became seriously ill or hurt.

She never wanted to admit that she had her own selfish reasons for doing so. She felt the need to prove herself as a capable healer. She meant well, she cared very deeply for her people, and would never let herself make a careless mistake ever again. Not after her mother.

"Princess, surprised to see you here"

Meiluna looked up as she stood on the side of one of Pakku's lessons, noticing one of the boys, Tulok, come to stand next to her.

"I'm always here" Meiluna resisted the urge to roll her eyes, speaking courteously when she noticed a small cut on his cheek.

Tulok watched her eyes wander to his small injury as he pointed to it,
"Think you could take care of this?"

Meiluna nodded with a small smile, grabbing his hand to pull him to the side, away from all of his friends. She carefully opened the small flask she kept in her pocket, bending the water to move it to hover over Tulok's cut. She stood on her tiptoes, carefully mending his skin.

"All done" She smiled as she gently patted his cheek twice.

"Your father told me the good news" Tulok told her before she could walk away.

Meiluna looked to him, awaiting an explanation.

"About the betrothal?" He looked to her with confusion.

Meiluna's eyes widened. She knew the arranged marriage was bound to happen, just as it did with her sister Yue. But she never thought it'd be so soon.

"I guess he forgot to mention it" Meiluna replied tensely.

"So, I was thinking," He draped his arm over the Princess's shoulders, "You and I could go out sometime"

"Uh," Meiluna tried to step out of his touch, but his arm came to rest on her waist, "Sure, I guess"

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts about the betrothal, she didn't realise the boy had started to lean in, with his eyes closed.

Meiluna watched in shock as she brought her hand up in front of her mouth, leading to Tulok placing a kiss on her palm.

He pulled back looking at the Princess strangely.

Meiluna laughed nervously,
"Kissing before marriage? A little too soon, don't you think?"

Her thoughts were completely scrambled upon hearing the news.

Tulok scratched his head awkwardly,
"Oh, okay, yeah"

Meiluna noticed everyone around her had stopped their practice and stared at the two.

"See you later!" Meiluna said quickly before giving him a small wave and turning around to avoid her embarrassment.

"Luna!"

Meiluna looked up and saw her sister, Yue, walking towards her.

"You're so red," She observed, trying to hold back a laugh, "What happened?"

"Tulok tried to kiss me" Meiluna whispered.

"What!" Yue exclaimed, drawing attention to the two sisters.

"Yeah! On the mouth!" Meiluna groaned.

"How terrible" Yue said sarcastically.

Meiluna took note of her tone and rolled her eyes.

"He said Father organised our betrothal" Meiluna added making Yue's smile drop from her face.

"Are you okay?"

Yue knew it was a stupid question to ask, but she asked it anyway.

Meiluna shrugged slightly.

Meiluna and Yue weren't exactly thrilled to be promised to men they hardly knew, but both of them had a responsibility to their people. As much as Meiluna was scared, and even a little angry, she would go through with it.

Because that was what was expected of her, and she didn't want to be anything less.

Yue wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders as they continued their walk to the palace.

Meiluna leaned her head on to Yue's shoulder, looking up to face her,

"He's pretty cute"

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

"You don't want to be here, do you?" Tulok asked softly looking to Meiluna's distracted eyes.

"I'm sorry," Meiluna apologised gently, "I just have a lot on my mind"

Tulok nodded silently as Meiluna replayed the conversation she'd had with her father.

"He's a good man"

Meiluna raised an eyebrow,
"I would hardly call him a man, he's 15"

"So are you," Her father reminded her, "Meiluna, it's tradition"

"I know" She sighed.

She had always tried to do everything right by her tribe. She wanted to be just like Yue. In Meiluna's eyes, Yue was the perfect daughter. The perfect princess, and soon to be, the perfect wife. Meiluna did everything she could to make her and her father proud.

So she accepted her fate.

"I guess I felt like I had more time" She admitted quietly.

"Princess Meiluna, I like you, I really do," Tulok admitted, "I think you're absolutely perfect, but I understand if you don't want to do this"

Meiluna smiled as she turned to look at the boy beside her,

"I don't actually mind being here with you"

The sides of his lips quirked up,

"Really?"

"Yeah," She answered honestly,
"I think I could fall for you"

And for her own sake, she hoped she would.

☆☆☆