As she was accustomed to, Chiyo woke up before the sun had even risen. She dressed herself in loose red pants and a white undershirt, walking barefoot to the mirror of her vanity. She brushed her unruly, wavy locks into a messy bun atop her head.
She stared at the mirror and recited the words Lady Suiren had always told her. "Practice makes perfect." And with a final smile, she set off to the gardens.
There was something magical about the gardens before sunrise. The morning dew hung heavy and fresh on the leaves, the scent of the foliage thick in the air, everything quiet except for the occasional chirping of songbirds. She breathed in deeply, feeling the soft grass on her bare feet before she started her stretch.
'Arms up, stretch, flick wrist, then reach...' She had done this routine every day since she was five. It was as normal as breathing. 'Bring them down slowly, and touch the ground..."
"Why do I have to stretch every day, Lady Suiren?" Chiyo pouted as she woke up one morning. "I already stretched yesterday and the day before that... Can't I sleep in today?"
The lady had pulled the covers roughly from her ward, earning a grunt in return. "Chiyo, if you do not stretch, your body will become weak and rickety like Lo and Li's. Would you like that?" That immediately got Chiyo to get up and fix her bed.
Afterwards, they went to their personal training room. There, the Lady Suiren stretched with her pupil for a good hour before the actual training started.
"Whenever you stretch, Chiyo, you control your breathing. In...and out...Stretch, and breathe in... then exhale to relax... This helps build stamina, Chiyo."
"What's stamina?"
Suiren thought of a way to make the child understand today's lesson. Grabbing a book from the shelf, she placed it gently on top of Chiyo's head. "Lift one of your feet up, and bend your other leg. Make sure this book doesn't fall off."
Chiyo gawked at her teacher but did so nonetheless, trusting her fully. In a matter of seconds, she came tumbling down, flat on her side, the book smacking her in the face. "Ow..."
The teacher helped her student up while trying to reign in her laughter, and dusted her off. "Once you have stretched a million times over, Chiyo, you can stay in that position for over an hour and never falter. That is stamina."
The pupil looked up at her teacher and understood. Everything Suiren says is right. And so with a new found determination, she began stretching right away.
Once her routine was finished, she took two fans from her satchel, as well as three books of the same thickness. Gingerly placing those on top of her head, she started her practice of Suiren's 'Dance of the Fans'.
After two hours, Suiren had joined her but only for a short while since the Fire Lord called for her. By then, the sun had fully risen from the mountaintops and Chiyo took it as a signal to rest. She made her way back to her room and sunk herself in the bath.
Meanwhile, Zuko paced the hallway connecting the main hall to Lady Suiren's wing. The guards posted there looked on in interest but did not dare ask what the young prince was up to. "Where is she? I told her I'd see her..." He muttered as he paced some more.
"What are you doing here, Zuzu?" Azula approached her brother with her arms crossed.
"None of your business. How about you, what are you doing here?"
"I'm going to ask Chiyo to play with me because I don't want you to." She stuck out her tongue, knowing it will piss off her brother.
And piss him off, it did. "Oh yeah? Well I asked her first!"
Azula ignited her hands with lightning, electricity sparkling in the air. Zuko countered by creating fire in his hands. The siblings were ready to go at it until Lady Suiren got back from the main hall. "Now, now, Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, no fighting in the hallway. Play outside, please."
They retracted their flames and lightning, then turned to the concubine. "Lady Suiren, did Chiyo finish her morning training already?" Zuko was the first to ask.
"Why yes, she already did, my Prince." She smiled and walked past the two. "I'll come get her, alright? No fighting!"
Suiren turned the corner to find her pupil hiding there. "Oh! What are you doing there, little one?" She asked a bit louder than her usual tone to catch the attention of the fighting siblings.
Chiyo's eyes widened as she signaled her mentor to hush. "Those two are gonna kill each other! I don't want to be caught in the middle of that!" She whispered to her teacher.
The royal siblings raced to where the teacher and her student were conversing. "Come on, Chiyo! Ty Lee and Mai are waiting in my room!" Azula grabbed her hand.
"Wait! Chiyo promised she'll spend the day with me!" Zuko grabbed her other hand.
Chiyo looked helplessly at the retreating back of her teacher who was laughing away and into her quarters. Finally she had had enough. "Wait a minute!" She pulled both of her hands away, which was a feat considering both siblings had a strong, tight grasp on her. "Let's all just do something together, alright?" They stared at her as if she had grown two heads. "Y-your Highnesses..." She added pathetically once she realized she forgot her formalities.
Taking down grown men was an easy task for her, why is dealing with two royal brats so hard? It was a tense whole minute of the prince and the princess having a stare-off until Chiyo decided to break the silence. "I-I've never been to the turtle-duck pond before... Lady Suiren says it's a pretty place..."
Suddenly, Azula pushed her brother's shoulders with enough force to send him on his back on the floor. "Last one there's a rotten otter-penguin egg!" With that she ran as fast as she could out of the hallway.
Chiyo helped Zuko off the ground and dusted him off. "Are you okay, Prince Zuko?"
"I'm fine..." he had a blush tainting his cheeks, whether it was from the embarrassment of having his younger sister push him or something else, Chiyo never thought to ask. "Shall we?"
They walked the long maze of hallways in silence until Zuko finally thought of a subject of conversation. "So... Can you firebend?"
Chiyo shook her head. "I never showed any signs that I could. I wish I did though..." She looked at her palms, imagining herself firebending like the prince and the princess did.
"You have pretty hands..." Zuko trailed off, then shook his head violently, "I mean... y-your hands are pretty... good in combat! Like yesterday, you fought off those guards, and you chi-blocked the firebenders...That's pretty good in my book!" That was a lot of 'pretty' in one breath.
He cast a sideways glance at Chiyo who was grinning like a well-fed cat-owl. "Thank you for the compliment, Prince Zuko."
"Just call me Zuko. 'Prince Zuko' is too long."
"I can't! The Fire Lord will have my head! Worse, Lady Suiren will have me gutted first and skinned alive!"
Zuko threw his head back and laughed at the flustered Chiyo. They reached the gardens where the turtle-duck pond was at and the three girls were already there. Azula and Ty Lee were having a contest on who can do cartwheels better, while Mai sat under the tree watching them with bored eyes.
Now Chiyo had never seen a turtle-duck before, so she made a beeline for the pond and took it all in. The little ones were a bright yellow and their shells the color of moss. They swam around the pond endlessly under the watchful eyes of the mother turtle-duck.
"Be careful," Zuko pointed to the mother, "That one has a nasty bite." Chiyo nodded and sat by the pond.
"Hey, Chiyo!" Azula called her after she had done three cartwheels in a row. "Can you do this?" She back-flipped easily and shot a blue flame, setting a flower on fire.
Chiyo shook her head and clapped. "I can't, Princess Azula. That was so awesome!"
"I can do better than that!" Zuko stood up from beside Chiyo and did two front flips easily, and shot a bright orange flame up to an apple hanging from the tree.
Amazed, Chiyo clapped again. She had to admit, the art firebending was very mesmerizing to her. The way they controlled the flames with their bodies, the way they command it to go where they please. It was a dance she could only dream of ever doing.
"That's Azula and Zuko for you..." Ty Lee laughed and sat next to Chiyo. "Always trying to one up the other."
"I think they're both great." She smiled lightly. "Are they always like this?"
By now, the siblings have gone into a showdown of who the better firebender was. Not exactly an Agni Kai, but close enough. "Yup." Ty Lee said simply.
They enjoyed the sun and the light breeze of the afternoon until it was sunset. Mai left first, her parents coming to pick her up. Ty Lee tagged along with them. "See you at school tomorrow, Azula!"
Both Azula and Zuko lay on the grass panting. "Admit it brother, I got you beat."
"No you don't." Zuko tried to take more air into his tired lungs. "We're just resting and we are going to continue."
"Let's just see what Chiyo thinks."
They sat up and looked around, finding her by the pond, fast asleep. A baby turtle-duck had found its way on the top of her head, making a comfortable nest from her curls.
"Azula. Zuko." A deep voice called from the small bridge on top of the pond. There stood their father, the Fire Lord, followed by his council and a group of political advisers. The two immediately stood up and bowed to their father. "It's time we head in."
At the sound of the voice belonging to the man who had tried to kill her last night, Chiyo got up immediately, the poor turtle-duck thrown into the pond with a startled quack. She got down on her knees and bowed deeply with her hands up front.
Ozai looked down at the young girl. "Rise. Lady Suiren has been looking for you."
"I will take my leave first, my Lord." She stood up, bowed once again at the waist and ran back inside.
That night, Suiren ate dinner with the Fire Lord and Chiyo was left on her own. Sol and Ai, two of the Lady's handmaidens brought her food. The young girl insisted that the two join her and they complied. They talked about how Chiyo had spent her day, and all the gossip the handmaidens had heard while cleaning.
"Lady Chiyo," Ai started, as she took a bite of an egg roll. "Forgive me for asking but, are you going to be a concubine like Lady Suiren?"
Chiyo's brow furrowed. "You know, I never really thought about that... I guess I'll cross the bridge when I get there! I'm not even sure what a concubine is or does!" She laughed and drank her litchi tea.
The handmaidens exchanged a worried look for the young ward, making a silent promise between themselves to take care of the girl as much as they can.