A/N: As I said before, I do not own Genie or Carpet. I'm just borrowing them for the purposes of this story.

Chapter 3: The Healer and Apprentice

Three days since he started, and already Marid was feeling worked to the bone. He was up from sunrise to sunset, gathering herbs, running errands, organizing a library that looked as though a sandstorm had run through it, the list was endless. The lamp lay forgotten at the bottom of his pack, under his bedroll; he had made sure not to let so much as a glimmer within the sights of the Healer. It could have been the natural suspicions of the villagers rubbing off on him; all, while they needed and relied on the man, none trusted him. He had his own agendas, his own reasons, which were often shrouded in the darkest of shadows. He helped them only for the power he held over them. It was a commonly held view that once he had what he wanted, he would leave them all.

It also made it horribly ironic once the children asked why he was around, and the parents were forced to explain in their own embarrassed-yet-not way that he was a necessary evil. Still, it made Marid unbelievably tense while in the Healer's abode on the other side of the hill. He did not even so much as trust the man with the lamp, let alone the jinni it contained. Still, if this was all for his mother, he would do the work without complaint. And, it kept him from thinking about her. The River Maiden, as she was sometimes called. She had never given anyone her name, never said so much as a whit on where she had come from. Notwithstanding, he had loved her from the first moment he laid eyes on her. She, on the other hand, spurned him like the plague. His little crush had spread through the small village like wildfire, and it was not long before his parents heard of it.

They of course, disapproved of it straight away. The girl was to isolated, with no family to speak of, and too odd for their eyes. He of course, found her oddness to be an appealing trait, something that attracted and drew him to her like, well, something along those cliché romantic lines. He just didn't see what the others did.

At the moment, he was using this to ease his mind while he washed over a bunch of the Healer's empty vials. Marid's fingers ached from the constant washing, his eyes practically glazed over with the routine. He didn't even notice the tall shadow that entered the room until something rapped against his shoulder blade like a whip. Whirling around, he came face-to-face with the sallow visage of the Healer.

"It is time for you to make your deliveries. Any other work you have can wait until the evening."

So, now he was expected to trek around the village in the hottest hours of the day, delivering the Healer's remedies just so the man himself wouldn't have to, and then come back to finish the scrubbing that still would take up hours of the night? Marid could not help but let the anger show in his eyes and stance. The Healer's own cold ones bored right into the boy, and for a moment, a completely silent row took place between both master and unwilling apprentice.

"I believed you would enjoy this, considering that your mother is due to get her dosage of medicine today."

Marid kept his haughty stance for a moment longer, before turning and walking stormily out of the room, grabbing his pack on the way.

Luckily for Marid, he was shielded from the harsh sun by the clouds that were thick on the sky. He walked laboriously over the hill, and down into the main collection of farms and families. His house was the third one in, his first on the list of deliveries he had to make. Eagerly running up to the door, he pushed aside the blanket that kept out the majority of the flies, and immediately his mood drastically changed.

Genie had been relatively cool and collected when he felt the urgent rubbing on the lamp. He came out ready to whip out a joke, and then get down to business. It had been the usually way he handled his bondage.

All sense of routine and swagger abruptly deflated from the blue jinni, however, when he got an eyeful of Marid, clutching his lamp and huddled over the form of a convulsing woman, who was so alike to him it had to be his mother, at the most.

"Genie, save her, please!"

The plea roused him to action, letting him know that this was indeed his second wish. Drawing himself up over the feverish, shivering frame of the woman on the dirt floor of the hut, his magic came in to do his master's will. A brief, very unsettling moment passed during which he could find nothing in the way of a concrete illness. It was something that boggled his mind. If she was this under the weather, there had to be something that needed healing, in one way or another. He was snapped out of his logical loop when the woman convulsed, gasping for air that would not reach her lungs. Marid seemed to lose all semblance of calm and control then, grabbing onto the jinni with a grip that dug into the blue arm.

"Please! Please do not let her die!"

In that moment, during which his panic skyrocketed, Genie's magic simply broadened its search, finding something that appeared to be settling through the fallen woman's body with the characteristics of poison. In his hurry, he did not study or consider, he plainly snapped at the ties, easily breaking and tearing them away. With a gasp as the much-needed air finally began to settle in her lungs, Marid's mother relaxed, sliding away from death's door.

"Did you do it?"

Genie, still partially dazed from the sheer quickness at which the events changed, could only nod.

The bounce had not left the boy's step at all. His mother was cured! Certainly, it had came at the cost of one of his wishes, but it was worth it in his eyes. After Genie had saved her, Marid's father was heard, forcing the entity back into the lamp. The look on his father's face when his mother arose from her mat and embraced him was one that he would keep in his mind forever. Now, if only he could-.

His thoughts hit a wall when he noticed the tall, willowy figure ahead, just strolling leisurely along the river bank, letting the cool mud soak between her feet. A rare grin flitted over her features as she enjoyed the moment, and the silence. The same quiet was soon shattered when Marid's mouth caught up with his brain.

"Hey!" Marid called, waving his arms and running to her retreating figure. "HEY!"

This time, she heard, looking back and noticing him. He tried not to be influenced too much by the look of annoyance that crossed her features. Still sprinting, he caught up to her and gave a goofy grin.

"You will not believe this, my mother is better!"

The irritation melted somewhat, but her firm, disapproving air remained in place.

"And you hope that this will allow us to become better aquainted, right?"

His 'yes' was out of his mouth barely before he had thought of it. Her look dropped into something of even further disgust, as though she were dealing with something unclean.

"Then you are sorely mistaken. I meant what I said, and I have no intention of taking it back now." And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving him alone on the river bank.

Harsh, maybe, but she has her reasons as to why she's doing this. Yeah, snipped, short, perhaps, but I felt it would be better to just get it up now instead of waiting until later. And Genie, well, I could kind of imagine him a little freaked by that. Kids aren't the sort you want to disappoint [more for guilt than anything XP]. Reviews are greatly appreciated, as always.

See you guys soon!