I am soooooooo sorry it took so long to update, but I haven't had internet access for about three months. But anyway, here's the next chapter!
Little Friend
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Young Asamiya skipped along the path through the woods, humming. She loved the deep forests that surrounded the capital, and now that she'd gotten a good grip on her firebending, she was allowed more freedom to wander, as long as she remembered to take a whistle with her, and her hawk that Zuko had bought for her last birthday. Usually preferring to fly around, Ember sat calmly on the little princess's shoulder, content to just gaze around at their surroundings.
The noon sun shown down on the river as Asamiya approached. She raised her right arm, the signal for Ember to do as she wanted now, and sat down on a stone at the edge of the stream. With a slight grunt of effort, Asamiya pulled off the metal boots, and socks beneath, and dangled her feat in the water, splashing them playfully at Ember who would in turn swoop down over the creak to splash water back at the princess with her wings.
A loud thud from the other side of the river drew the girl's attention, and she rose, nervous and curious. Ember flew back down and landed on her arm, cooing softly.
"What do you think that was, Ember?" Asamiya whispered to her hawk, her golden eyes wide in the dark face. "Maybe we should check it out." Taking a deep breath in, Asamiya swung her arms, and jumped, just making the landing on the other side of the brook, then headed off in the direction of the noise.
Stepping out into a clearing, Asamiya saw before her a huge dragon. Trembling, and scared, she slowly stepped up to it. The great creature's eyes were closed, and it wasn't breathing. It's huge body was covered with cuts and stabs and bruises. And in front of it, was a tiny baby hatchling. Asamiya's eyes widened, and she wandered toward it.
She knelt before the little creature, and held out one careful hand. The baby dragon slowly came forward, and, in a bold show of trust, crawled into Asamiya's hand, curled intoa ball,and lay there, cooing contently.
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"Dad," Asamiya called as she wandered into the gardens outside the palace. Sometimes he would sit at the turtle duck pond, and feed them. Asamiya smiled when she saw him sitting there.
"Hello, sweetheart," the Fire Lord greeted, smiling up at his daughter. His expression changed to one of wary suspicion when he noticed her hands behind her back. "What are you hiding?" he asked, looking at his daughter with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Well," Asamiya muttered. "I was out in the woods today with Ember, and, we were by the river, and, there was this big bang, so Ember and I went to investigate."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Zuko wondered fondly, before giving his daughter a look that told the princess to continue.
"Well, when we got to the clearing, we found this huge dragon. I'm pretty sure it was dead – it was all cut up and bruised. But, there was a live baby with it, and, I couldn't just leave him, so –" she pulled her hands out from behind her back to reveal the small baby golden dragon – "can I keep him? Please, Dad? His mom's dead, he'd never survive. Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssseeeee?"
Zuko cursed mentally when Asamiya pressed her lower lip out into a pout, her eyes widening cutely. He really didn't think they could handle a dragon, but then, he was the Fire Lord. Surely he could find some way?
"Oh….Alright," he conceded.
"Oh, thanks Dad!" Asamiya cried, her face lighting up in a huge smile. She gave her father a one-armed hug, before running off with the little creature. "Oh, you cutie!" Her voice still managed to somehow reach Zuko's ears even though she had passed out of his line of thought, and he groaned as he listened. "We're gonna be best friends, Roku!"
Zuko groaned. Why did Asamiya have to name the thing after his ancestor? Aparantly, fate just loved throwing it in his face that he was related to the person he'd once hunted all over the world.
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Cute, eh? I liked writing this one. Especially because of the baby dragon. Review, please!