1. Chapter 1: Young Khanna and Paku

**A/N –** DEDICATED TO MY BFF VICTORIA - Who got me a $100 Katara Necklace and has been an altogether awesome friend since I've known. Let this story always remind us of each other.

It was only 40 years into the war. Khanna was a 15-year-old girl living in the Northern Water Tribe. Today was her third day in waterbending training, with her best friend, Yagota. On this day, however, she was running late. Literally.

She dashed along the icy sidewalks; leaping over rivers, sliding around corners. Finally, the 53 steps to the Academy came into view. She'd counted them on her first day, when she'd arrived especially early in excitement. _'I hope Master Paku's in a good mood today. I might only get __**one**__ hour of punishment.' _Khanna thought.

At age 14, Paku had been training with the former master, Han Lee. However, Paku had defeated his master in battle too many times to count. So, a year ago, Han Lee retired, requesting young Paku take his place.

Master Paku, despite his youth, was a fierce teacher. If someone was late, or disrupted class or something like that, it was usually punished by an hour or two of cleaning the army's barracks or cooking dinner for the royal family. Khanna knew she was in for it.

She reached the top of the steps to find Paku sitting on an ice stool talking to the class about who knows what. He looked a little irritated. _'Great. Two hours; hour and a half if I'm lucky...Better get this over-with.'_

"Sorry, Master Paku." she said nervously, "I slept really late. I got here as fast as I could, but...not fast enough...I suppose." She trailed off, eyes on the ice, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"Alright." Paku said, with a little edge to his voice, "Just don't let it happen again! Or there will be serious consequences! Now, please demonstrate to the class the water whip. The move I showed you yesterday?" Khanna was shocked. Even his best students were given horrible punishment for being a few minuted late! Now she was twenty minutes late, and she gets off with a warning?! Well, she wasn't going to complain about it anyway. So she tried to do the water whip.

She had asked Paku about it yesterday after class. He showed her the move, very quickly, then asked her to do it with absolutely no help. Then, she couldn't even do it! Now, it at least looked like a whip, but it was crooked and it didn't go at all where she wanted. She nearly whipped a boy's head! Paku nodded thoughtfully.

"It seems I didn't explain it to you very well yesterday. I'll try again. Everyone stand in a line in front of me. You too, Khanna." he said. _'Explain?! You're calling what you did an __**explanation**__?' _But she lined up with the others. This time, Paku executed the move slowly and carefully, saying what he was doing as he went along. Then, as everyone was trying it, he gave little tips to help them all. After this, Khanna got it almost perfectly. And that was only because when Paku was walking around everyone helping, he didn't go near her at all! Anyway, as everyone was still trying to get it, Paku walked around to the front and eyed them all carefully, stopping on Khanna for a moment. Then he clapped his hand for them all to stop.

"Khanna, I can see that you are not getting this move very well." he said.

Not wanting to insult him and get in trouble, all she said was, "I'm not sure I get how to do it, Master."

"I'd like to have private sessions for me to help you out. I think you'd do better with some one-on-one instruction. You may still come to class with everyone else, but you'll come at a different time for me to tutor you." _'Okay, so you're going to purposefully make me get it wrong, then help me?'_ she thought. _'Hold on, maybe I'm just being paranoid. He is the master, after all. Maybe he's right.'_

Khanna nodded and said, "Okay. When should I come?"

"Could you just stay after class for another hour or so? Not today, of course. You'll ask your mother about it today, alright?" he said. Khanna nodded again. Then, just like that, class resumed as usual.

"Hi, Mom." Khanna said, walking into her home.

"Hello, Khanna. How was waterbending?" her mother said.

"Well, I'm not doing to well." Khanna replied. She didn't want to tell her mother about Paku's strange behavior. She's investigate that for herself. So she said, "Master Paku suggested that I stay after class for like an hour for him to private-tutor me. Is that okay?"

"Any day except Friday." Khanna's mom said, "Your father likes us to go boating on Fridays when you come home, and you and I both know he'd never miss it for his life. It's such a silly obsession he has with that boat!"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Well, that sounds fine. I'll tell Master Paku tomorrow in class." Khanna replied. Her father did have a mysterious obsession with going boating. And only on Friday, always on Friday. Never any other day. That was something else she'd have to find out about. "Can I go over to Yagota's house?" she asked.

"Yes. Oh, wait! Isn't Paku's house right on the way to Yagota's? You can stop to tell Master Paku now. It's better that way, so he knows if he has to stay after tomorrow. It's just polite." her mother told her. Khanna nodded her consent, and left her house. Paku lived just a few blocks away from the Academy. She came to his door and knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened, and a woman stood looking at her. _'Probably his mom.'_

"Yes?" she asked.

"Hello, my name is Khanna. I'm here to see Master Paku. I have to tell him something." Khanna said politely.

"Oh. Come in, sweetie. His room is just over here." the woman said. She led Khanna through the door and up a small flight of stairs. The woman knocked on another door at the top of the stairs. "Paku? There's a girl here to see you. Someone named Khanna."

As soon as the woman said 'Khanna,' the door shot open, with Paku standing there, wearing his most formal expression.

"Hello, Khanna. Please, come in." Paku said. The woman nodded and left them. "That was my mom, in case you were wondering." he said casually.

"Yes, I thought so." Khanna replied. "I came to let you know that my mom said I can stay after every day but Friday. My dad likes to take us boating that day and...well he just can't miss it at all for some reason. And he insists we all be there. I don't really know why."

"Okay. That's fine. So, you'll stay after for about an hour on Mondays through Thursdays. Then I think you'll do much better with some extra help." Paku said.

"I wanted to ask you about that, Master Paku." she said slowly.

"Ask away." Paku replied.

"Um, I was wondering...well, you said you want to tutor me because I'm not doing well, right? But, no offense to you, Master, but you're kind of the reason I'm not doing well." Khanna stumbled. She didn't want to get yelled at, but she had to know why he was acting so strange in class.

Paku sighed, then said, "I figured you would catch on. I really just had to do all that to make sure the class wasn't suspicious." _'Suspicious? What are you talking about?' _"The truth is...I really only did that because I wanted an excuse to be your tutor. I'm sorry I made you look bad." Paku was fidgeting; Khanna knew this wasn't the entire reason behind it all.

"But why would you want to private-tutor me?" Khanna asked.

"I can't get anything past you, can I?" Paku said with a grin. "I guess I'm just going to have to tell you. Well, here goes: I...Well I wanted to private-tutor you so much because...because I just wanted to spend time with you." he stuttered nervously. "I kind of...like you." _'What the f-...WHAT?!' _Khanna was struck dumb. _'He...he likes me? Wow! Where in the Spirit World did that come from?! How long has this been going on?' _She looked at him; he looked at her. Khann thought, _'Well, actually...Maybe __this isn't so bad...I think I might...Wow.'_

"You actually like me?" Khanna said, "Me? For how long?"

Paku chuckled. "I know it sounds sappy but, since the moment I looked at you." Khanna smiled.

"Well, I've never really thought about it, but I guess...I might kind of like you too." she murmured. Paku smiled back at her. Khanna was actually happy with this strange turn of events, and yet...it was a little overwhelming. She was still a little confused from it all, and being here made her nervous. "Uh, I think I should go." she said. Paku looked a little nervous as well.

"Yes, I suppose that's right." Paku said. "I'll see you in class tomorrow. Good-bye." But as Khanna got up to leave, he grabbed her arm and said, "You won't...tell anyone, will you?" Khanna's eyed widened.

"Don't even worry about it. To be honest, I don't want it getting out anymore than you do." she said. She paused, then added, "At least...not yet." She smiled again, and Paku smiled back. _'Yeah. This is definitely awesome.'_ she decided.


	2. Chapter 2: Love Story

Two weeks later, Khanna was in waterbending class, struggling with the move they were practicing. To not attract suspicion, Paku never helped her at all. As he walked around giving the rest of the class little tips, he steered clear of Khanna, to make it look like she was having trouble. The problem was, she really was doing badly. If this kept up, her mother would pull her out of class and make her go to private lessons all day! Khanna decided she'd talk to Paku about it after class.

When everyone was leaving, Khanna walked up to Paku as usual. After everyone was out of sight, they hugged. Despite her struggles in waterbending, she still loved Paku. He still wanted it to be a secret so far. However, Khanna could not continue learning in this way, even if it meant people would know of their love.

"Paku, I have to talk to you about the tutoring," she said. "I know the point is to make it look like I'm doing bad, but my mom is noticing too. Sooner or later, I'm going to get pulled out or something. Plus, it's getting a little annoying to be struggling through class every day."

Paku nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. "I know, I'm sorry." he said, "And you're right. It's time that stopped. I'll start helping you in class again, and you don't have to hide your talents anymore."

"But...What about us seeing each other? Won't people ask why we're still meeting if I'm not being tutored anymore?" Khanna asked. Paku put his hand in his pocket.

"Well, something tells me we'd have some trouble hiding _this_." he said, and from out of his pocket he pulled a necklace. There was a dark blue ribbon with a clasp on the ends. Frozen to the middle of the ribbon was a light blue stone. The stone was carved into a circle, with three waves on it. A betrothal necklace. Khanna was nearly speechless.

"Oh, Paku!" she hugged him tight, her eyes watering in joy. After a moment, Paku pulled away and looked at her expectantly. "I absolutely accept! I would love to marry you." Khanna said. Paku smiled his kind smile.

"I'm so happy!" he said, "I've spoken to my uncle (the tribe leader) about it, and he says he'll throw a banquet tonight and I will announce it. Is that alright with you?" Khanna nodded, now fully speechless. _"I'm going to marry Paku!! And it will be announced in front of the entire tribe! This is so exciting!" _she thought joyfully.

Getting her voice back, she said, "When will the marriage be?"

"Well, my father wants to talk to your mother about it, but I'm thinking in a few months at most." Paku replied.

"That sounds great!" Khanna said. Paku made her an ice seat and she sat down. He went around behind her and put the necklace on her slowly and lovingly. Then he put his arms around her, and she looked up at him, smiling.

"So, do you want to practice what we learned today?" he asked.

"I have called this banquet to make a very special announcement!" the tribe leader was calling out that night. "My nephew, the Waterbending Master of our tribe, has found a bride." A few murmurs of disappointment could be heard. Paku was very popular among the ladies of their tribe. _"But he's wants to marry me!"_ Khanna thought happily.

Paku walked up to the front of the room and stood beside his uncle. "I know my choice my seem a surprise to some of you, as I've never openly shown any interest. But believe me, I've been in love with her for some time! And we've seeing each other for a couple weeks now." A ripple of irritation went out, as many of the girl realized they weren't the one. "Now, I will ask my future bride to please come forward: Khanna!"

Khanna looked around at the hundreds of shocked faces as she stood up and walked to stand by, smiling all the way. Seeing that everyone looked very surprised, she took off her betrothal necklace to prove it. Engagements weren't normally something to hold a banquet for, but since Paku was so popular, plus his uncle was tribe leader, they'd felt it was appropriate. But now, Khanna was a little nervous being in front of all these people. Paku must've noticed, because he said, "Now then, let the feast begin!" Everyone was quite hungry, so when they were allowed to eat, despite their confusion, began without a second thought. Paku then said to Khanna, as the tribe leader and his wife and daughter sat down, "Would you like to sit up here, or down by your family?"

Khanna chuckled and said, "I think I'd like to sit up here, so you can help me with facing my parents later!" Paku smiled and led her to his seat next to the leader's wife. And when dinner was over and Khanna went over to her parents, Paku came with her, with his arm around her shoulder.

"Hi, Mom." Khanna said meekly.

"Well, hello!" her mother said, smiling. Then she leaned over and hugged Khanna and said, "Why didn't you tell us that you were seeing Paku! Or at least you could have told us when you were _engaged_!"

"We wanted it to be a big surprise for **everyone**." Paku said. Khanna pulled away and nodded.

"We didn't want anyone knowing that we were together. That's why I went to the tutoring lessons. And, about the betrothal, I didn't know until this afternoon!" she said.

"So, I suppose you won't be going to tutoring lessons anymore?" Khanna's mother inquired.

"I guess not," Khanna said, frowning.

"Well, they won't be called _lessons_ anymore anyway. More along the lines of _dates_." Paku said, putting his hand on Khanna's shoulder. Her mother nodded approvingly.

"Okay, Khanna. It's getting late and we should go home." she said. Khanna nodded and left Paku to talk to his own father. He didn't actually know about this either.

"Hello, Father." he said, nervously.

"Yes..." his father said, eying him, "How long has this been going on, then?" Paku's father usually got straight to the point.

"Since I first saw her I suppose. She's only known about it for a couple weeks, as I said. I just gave her the betrothal necklace this afternoon." Paku replied.

"Oh, yes? And what's she like? Where did you meet her?" his father asked.

"I'd only seen her walking around the town for a while. I first met her when she enrolled in the academy about a month ago. I didn't get to spend any time with her until classes started a little over two weeks ago." Paku said, fidgeting with his coat.

"Mm-hm." he nodded.

"And...what she's like? Well, she's smart, funny, a good waterbender...She always tries her hardest when something is hard for her...Her family is very nice..." Paku trailed off.

"And how...important are they?" his father said, with a little edge to his voice.

"How...important?! You're going to tell me who I can and cannot marry based on if they're important?" Paku flared. His father looked at him sternly; Paku shrunk back down. "They have a little above average income between the father, mother, and older son. Khanna sometimes helps around the docks for money on the weekends. Uncle knows the father, and he occasionally sees him. So, I guess you could say their a little important." By now, most of the people had gone home, so it was very quiet. Paku's father closed his eyes, thinking. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Finally, he nodded.

Eyes still closed, he said, "Alright. But she'd better become a decent wife. Get her to work more. And...don't teach her too much waterbending. No woman should be as powerful as her husband."

Paku smiled and said cheerfully, "No, of course not, Father! But thank you so, so much!!" And he ran on home.

Paku was a good man, but he was still his father's son. He had been raised by a very biased man. So, despite his kind heart, he did now treat women equally. He though they weren't' as smart or powerful in any way possible. He knew no other way.


	3. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Yeah, yeah, we all hate it when you see an update after, like, forever but it turns out to be an author's note. I'M SORRY, but it's important.**_  
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**_ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL MY READERS ON MY PROFILE PAGE  
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