Every day, Chiyo immersed herself into training with Suiren. She knew she had months before the Fire Lily Festival, but her rendition of Suiren's signature performance, the Dance of the Fans, is still lacking. The hours were long, and the work was hard, but she persevered. Occasionally, Azula would pop up, and command Chiyo to play with her, to which she happily obliged. Anything to get out of training, even if it meant being target practice for the princess.

Every day, Zuko would come by and look for her, sometimes watch her train.

Fans in both hands, she spun on her heels. She brought her right hand up and made the fan spin on her finger.

"Don't avert your eyes from it, Chiyo." Suiren reprimanded as she sipped her tea. "It is a part of you as much as your head and hands." Just as she had said that, the fan spun out of her hand and across the room. "Aaaand you just lost your head right there."

"I'm sorry, Lady Suiren." Chiyo retrieved the fan and started again.

All the while she was dancing, Zuko watched. He had burnt a hole through the paper thin wall so he could peek through it. He would cringe every time she would fall or hurt herself, and he tried his best to stifle his laughter every time she cussed out loud.

Unknown to him, the teacher had come out of the training room to look for a handmaiden. "Good afternoon, Prince Zuko!" Suiren smiled sweetly at the boy. "What brings you to our humble abode?"

"I-I was just... uhh... inspecting this hole on the wall!" He tried his best to look busy and innocent. "I wonder what could have made this..."

The lady knew exactly what he had been up to and she walked back into the training room. "Oh Chiyo! Someone's here to see you!"

Panicked, Zuko scrambled away, turned a sharp corner and hid. He didn't hear anything for a few seconds, so he took a deep breath to peek, only to come face to face with Chiyo. "Boo!" The Prince yelped and stumbled back, earning a laugh from her.

"What are you doing here, Prince Zuko?"

"Well... I... I just finished my training with Master Piandao for today so I have nothing else to do..."

"Do you want to watch me practice?" She smiled, hoping the prince would say yes.

And he did.

He sat in the training room with Suiren as they watched Chiyo. He was amazed at how hard she worked to perfect her craft. Every turn, every step, every flick of the wrist, was essential. Even her mentor was very serious, inspecting to the littlest of details, the angle her feet were pointed, the expression on her face, even breathing.

After almost an hour, Chiyo was given rest and Zuko immediately took her to the gardens. It was one of the rare moments where they were alone together and he savored it.

Days faded into weeks, Zuko became busy as well with Master Piandao as he sought to master the art of wielding dual broadswords. "They are two halves of a single weapon, Prince Zuko." Master Piandao said as he used his own sword to attack the student. "Don't think of them as separate because they are not. They are just two different parts of the same whole."

Whenever they can, they would meet in the gardens by the turtle-duck pond and talk about their day. They would feed the young turtle-ducks until it was time for them to head back into the palace.

One late afternoon, they sat on the soft grass, watching the turtle-ducks chase their mother. Training had taken quite a toll on young Zuko's body and he tried his hardest to stifle a yawn so as to not offend Chiyo. Upon seeing him, she laughed and shook her head. "You look funny..."

"I'm sorry... It's just that being a master at dual broadswords is tiring."

"But you aren't even a master at it yet, Prince Zuko."

"Still tiring, though..." He stifled yet another yawn.

"You should head back inside and rest in your quarters, your Highness. You'll be much more comfortable there." Chiyo suggested.

But Zuko didn't want to go back to the palace just yet. He wanted to stay there with her and watch the turtle-ducks. So he did something surprising, even to himself. He shuffled a bit away from her and laid down on the grass, his head on her lap.

Chiyo's heart nearly shot out of her chest, but she did not dare move. The Prince had closed his eyes, and he seemed to be asleep so she stayed as still as she could and let him sleep. She couldn't help but admire the prince's features now that he was very close. She stared as if memorizing his every feature, the shape of his eyebrows, the angle of his nose, the slight curve of his soft-looking lips... She shook her head at the direction of her thoughts and Zuko opened his eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"No no no, nothing! It's nothing! Go back to sleep!"

"As you wish." He replied, grinning and closed his eyes again.

'Chiyo, you idiot!' She thought and mentally hit herself in the head. It took a long while before the prince's breath evened out. Try as she might to resist the urge, she couldn't. She raised her hand and gently ran it through Zuko's long dark hair. 'It's so soft...'

"Mother..." He muttered in his sleep. His brows had furrowed, his expression twisted as if in pain. "Where are you?"

She gently nudged shoulder. "Prince Zuko?" She tried harder. "Prince Zuko?" She tapped the side of his face gently. "Zuko!"

His eyes flared open, a bit unfocused at first, as if he was looking for something, and finally settled on her worried face. He was breathing heavily from his nightmare as he stared up at Chiyo. "I... I am so sorry, Chiyo." He sat up and hid his face in his hands. He had been having the same nightmares for quite some time now.

Chiyo knew little of Zuko's mother, former Fire Lady Ursa. Only that she had fled after the death of the late Fire Lord Azulon. Judging by the way Zuko still had dreams of her, he still has not gotten over it. His shoulders were hunched as if he carried the weight of the world on them.

Without a thought, she laid her head on his shoulder gently, not heavy enough to add to his burden, but enough to let him know that she was there.

After a few minutes, he had calmed down. He lifted his face from his hands and stared at the tranquil pond. "I'm sorry about that, Chiyo..."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Prince Zuko."

He said nothing after that. On top of everything, he was embarrassed that Chiyo had seen him that vulnerable. She wasn't meant to see him like that. 'What would she think of me?'

"I never met my own mother," She breathed out a heavy sigh. "Lady Suiren said my mother died giving birth to me, and that she had taken me under her wing to save me from my distraught father." He silently listened to her soothing voice. "You are quite lucky, Prince Zuko. You have memories of her to hold on to. I got nothing."

He rested the side of his head on hers. "It's not lucky having to remember the way she left me. I tried- am trying to forget her, but those stupid nightmares get me every time I think I have a shot at being happy..."

"You don't have to forget her or those memories, you know." The afternoon had passed and the stars had slowly appeared in the darkening sky. "You just have to accept that they are a part of you, of who you are." She pointed up at a cluster of stars. "Like that constellation. If you remove a star or two from it, it will not be the same magnificent constellation that it is."

Zuko smiled. "Thank you, Chiyo."

The colors of the sunset had now fully faded into black and the moon had taken the helm of the evening sky. The stars twinkled away, watching the two young kids from way below.

Look at the stars

Look how they shine for you

It was the first time Chiyo had sung. Her art mainly focused on the art of dance, unlike Suiren who had already mastered numerous arts. To Zuko's ears, it wasn't like Suiren's seductive and mesmerizing voice, it was just... Chiyo... pure.

And everything you do

Yeah they were all yellow

She gestured to the stars and laughed. "One day, when Agni decides to reincarnate me, I want to be a star."

'You already are. To me.'

Author's Notes

Oh Great Agni who guides me while writing this fanfiction! Please, remind me always that Zuko and Chiyo are still at the tender age of 12 at this point of the story! Save me from my dirty thoughts, well, at least for the first few chapters maybe... Hit me if you have to! *gets hit*

-TheGreatestConWoman-

is still having dirty thoughts

*gets hit*