"You can bend Fire, Water, AND Earth?"
Within the forest next to Appa and the rest, Genji and Toph were talking, away from the earshot of Aang and Katara.
"That's what I said," answered Genji with a smirk.
Toph shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. She rubbed her forehead and slightly shook her head in disbelief.
"I thought only the Avatar can bend the four elements," Toph voiced out.
Nodding, Genji answered Toph's disbelief.
"The Avatar IS the only one who can bend the four elements, currently that is," Genji answered.
"Currently… does that mean that you will eventually learn Airbending as well?"
"That's right!"
"But how?! How are you able to do it?"
"…"
Genji went quiet as he thought about it.
He had already been thinking about it for quite a while.
Ever since he got into the library of the Fire Nation's Palace, Genji had been reading many books. Especially those regarding bending and medical books.
He read through countless books, mostly about the Chi Pathways.
When he first became a Firebender, Genji didn't pay attention to the feeling quite clearly before. However, when he unlocked both Waterbending and Earthbending, Genji felt like something was being created within his body, splitting the energy within his body.
It was something he had clearly felt with the help of his Physician skill.
The feeling of new chi pathways forming within his body with their elements.
Although he didn't really focus on it, Genji had been studying this and he felt like he was getting closer to discovering something.
"Through bending the energy within me," said Genji as he told a partial truth.
The element someone could bend is something that could change with the help of energybending. In Genji's case, the system created new Chi pathways within his body to allow him to control various elements at once.
Unlike the Avatar who has the help of a powerful spirit like Raava to use the four elements, the system gave Genji more Chi pathways within his body with their set elements.
Thanks to the system's way of doing things, Genji has three Chi pathways within his body, all similar besides the flow of the energy within them.
The energy flow travels through specific Chi paths that can cause the manipulation of the elements. Something only possible because of the existence of Chi that connects to everything within the world.
He could only see this Chi flow with his Spirit Sense, and even then, he's not 100% sure to be able to completely change the element of a bender.
All of the benders he had seen all had colored Chi flows, something that is either an occurrence from the energy flowing through those points, or it's the influence of the Sea Lion Turtles from the past.
Confirming the change of a chi flow will need some experimentation, an experimentation that can't quite be made public.
If Genji eventually learns Energybending, he will eventually be able to change someone's bending easily to a different element.
Something that isn't completely impossible without his physician skill.
"That is… pretty cool," said Toph as she eventually believed Genji and smiled in amazement. "Why haven't you told Twinkletoes or the uptight girl yet?"
Genji shook his head and answered Toph's question, "If I exposed this ability of mine, the trust in the Avatar will become lower as everyone will begin to believe that it isn't special and no longer needed.
They will have no more authority when they wish to talk about peace and equality. They will instead be treated as tools for war."
'Although I just don't want to spread this skill. This is something only I should get to do,' thought Genji as he narrowed his eyes.
Toph stopped and went quiet, listening to Genji attently.
"The less people know that I can bend more than one element, the better," continued Genji. "I trust you to keep this secret Toph. We might have just met, but I believe in you. You're a stron, confident, and independent woman not afraid of anything. I can trust you to keep such a meager skill a secret, right?"
Pak!
Smirking at Genji's praises, Toph nodded and gave Genji a strong slap on the back.
"Haha! You're right, I can keep quiet about such a secret," said Toph, a small blush forming on her face as she walked away, not quite used to being praised for her individuality.
Rubbing his aching back, Genji followed behind Toph and was just about to lay down when he suddenly heard a yell filled with grief coming from on top of Appa Express.
"AHHH! Mom! Dad!"
Instantly making a move, Genji dashed to the source of the screaming and found a young boy crying as he looked around warily. Katara was already trying to approach the young Firebender.
Fwoosh!
A small blast of orange fire exploded out from the young boy's fist when Katara tried getting closer. Luckily, after training under Genji, Katara was able to react quickly and bend water in her pouch with a flick of her finger to block the small fire blast.
"Get away! Who are you people?!"
"Calm down… we saved you from the bad guys," said Katara in a calm voice as she tried to get the young boy to relax.
Just when the boy was beginning to relax, his eyes caught a glimpse of Genji and he began to panic once more, worried about what might happen to him.
"Back away!"
Seeing the kid act the way he was, Genji sighed and scratched the back of his head.
'Fuck, this is annoying…'
Approaching the boy, Genji didn't care if the boy will attack him as he bent the water particles in the air and condensed them to form a small blob of water that defended him from all of the boy's fire attacks.
Every time some water evaporated, Genji would recondense it.
"You're going to be okay kid," said Genji as he pat the top of the kid's head. "Relax and take a deep breath, no one here will hurt you."
The boy looked at Genji warily but he no longer attacked as he tried to find out what was happening.
Seeing how the boy calmed down a little, Genji smiled and pointed at Aang in the distance, "You see that bald boy over there, believe it or not, he's the Avatar. We are traveling alongside the Avatar and we will not harm a single innocent soul."
The boy listened to Genji and turned to look at Aang, a bit surprised that someone as young as Aang is the Avatar.
"Is he… really the Avatar?" asked the young boy in a soft and quiet tone.
Genji nodded and said with a smile, "Yes! I found it difficult to believe as well when I first found out that such a young boy was the Avatar, not only that, but also an amazing Airbender."
The boy looked at Aang in awe before lowering his head and clenching his hands.
"If I was a strong bender like the Avatar, would I have been able to save my parents?"
The boys eyes began to look dull whilst he thought about the deaths of his parents.
Genji shook his head and clasped his hand on the young boy's shoulders.
Pa!
"Kid, life is filled with its ups and downs.
It is not your fault that your parents died. Wherever they may be now, they will want you to live your life to the fullest.
Grieve, cry, wail, let it all out kid. Show them that you will miss them, but you will be strong for their sake so they don't worry," said Genji as out his hand on the boy's head.
Katara smiled gently at Genji's words, feeling like they touched her.
Similarly like the young Firebender, Katara had lost her mother at a young age and her father left to fight. She understood what the child was going through, more or less.
She felt the pain and the loss of a parent, a feeling that resurfaced when she saw the boy slowly begin to cry.
"Aaahh…!" cried the boy as tears streamed down his face.
Katara got close to Genji and stood next to him before crouching down and hugging the boy, letting him cry out his pain.
…
Half an hour later, Genji and the rest were all on top of Appa Express as they headed over to their next destination, Misty Palms Oasis.
A place Aang has fond memories of and wishes to visit it once more after 100 years.
With the boy traveling with them, Aang felt a bit happy knowing that someone near his age is traveling with them.
Aang already wished to talk with the boy, but after being told not to by Katara and even Toph, Aang sat on Appa's head as he constantly shot the boy glances.
"What's your name, kid?" Genji asked as he rested his head.
"… Jin."
The boy was quiet for a second and mumbled his own name after a while. His head was over the saddle as he looked down at the ground far into the distance with a nervous look on his face.
This was his first time riding a flying animal, Appa Express.
"Nice to meet you Jin," said Genji as he laid down on the ground, relaxing his body. "My name is Genji."
Jin went quiet and stopped looking over the saddle before closing his eyes and laying down on the ground to sleep.
"So, Genji… how good are you at Waterbending?" asked Toph, looking at Genji in interest. 'How good is he at bending the other elements? The way he earthbended was very refined and precise.'
Toph kept her gaze on Genji, seemingly knowing what he might say.
Before Genji could answer, Katara answered Toph.
"He's very amazing! He created a 20 meter tall bear made out of water! I mean… I wasn't there to see it…"
"Wow! I wish I could see!"
"…"
"…"
"Haha!"
Toph had a smile on her face as Katara looked at her with a weird look on her face. On the other hand, Genji was laughing at Toph's little joke.
"Honesty, as long as you have perfect control and refine your moves, you could even defeat a master," said Genji as he turned to look at Toph. Genji narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Even you could do something incredible, Toph. You just have to set your mind to it."
"Hm… just maybe…"
Toph smiled and laid her head back as she began to rest with a smile.
"Bending is an amazing ability, don't you all think so?" asked Genji as he waterbended a couple of droplets of water around his hand. "Creating Lightning from firebending, flight from Airbending, ice and healing from Waterbending, lava from Earthbending… It's all rather awesome."
Katara and Jin's eyes lit up at Genji's words as they found what Genji said rather true. On the other hand, Toph was fast asleep already and Aang was too busy thinking about how to talk to Jin.
"Do you think I'll ever get to learn to bend Lightning?" Jin asked with a hopeful voice.
Genji glanced at Jin and nodded, "As long as you train hard in your firebending, you can learn it."
"Yes!"
Smiling happily, Jin was wondering when his training would begin and who would be training him. As far as he could tell, no one in this group could Firebend.
"Go to sleep kid, you have training starting in the morning," said Genji as he looked at the sky that was rapidly darkening.
The boy giggled and closed his eyes as he tried to fall asleep, yet it took very long before he could finally doze off.
Since Aang already decided not to waste the night, he decided to let Appa Express to continue flying and allow him to rest for a full day and night the next morning.
During that day, Aang planned to goof, although that wasn't going to fly by Genji nor Toph who will begin to teach him right away.