Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA or any of its characters.
Five years later…
"Ah, young Chiyo. You grow lovelier every time I see you." said Iroh as a smile had graced his face. He and Zuko were playing a game of Pai sho, smoke from the tea that was steaming right next to them. Zuko had looked up at her, a small smile on his face before he moved one of the pieces three paces forward.
There seemed to be a smile in her eyes as she stood next to the table. "And you get more charming every time I see you, Uncle." Chiyo said in a rather chipper tone.
"You seem to be in a lively mood." Zuko took note as the female grinned from ear to ear. "What is it?" There had to be something more than it being a lovely day.
"Well…" Chiyo said as she reached into her front pockets and pulled out a flyer, "I wanted to know if you would go with me to the fall festival! They scheduled it today, where you have no training or other princely duties, and there's going to be a full moon!" The fourteen-year-old said in a rather enthusiastic manner.
Of course, she was expecting Zuko to turn it down since it was such a public event. The Prince merely looked at her and then at Iroh who gave him a smile and nod. "Fine, I'll go but I don't want to go as Prince Zuko." He explained as he watched his Uncle move a tile while Chiyo clapped her hands and jumped up and down.
During the past five years, Chiyo's personality had taken a rather different swing. Since she and Zuko were friends, she was able to express herself better and able to have more fun. Actually, since his father became Fire Lord, she hadn't had a mission since the one Azulon had given her years ago. She felt quite happy that she was able to live a life that she could now deem as normal, a normal life. "I'm really happy! We can play games and see the fireworks!" She gave Iroh a huge hug out of her excitement.
"Its really nice to see you so happy, Chiyo. A smile is worth a thousand of ounces of gold." There he went with one of his proverbs, but she found this quite happier since he usually spoke them in times where they knew they were wrong or when they were in sticky situations. However, this situation was more of an inner celebration for her.
And with that said, she found herself letting go of the older man. "I have to go back home since I have to figure out what I'm going to wear! So many decisions!" She found herself wondering if she would ever find the right clothes. This would be her first time going to a Fire Nation festival without her family. "See you later!" And with that said, the bouncy teenage girl had sped off leaving Iroh and Zuko alone once more.
"So, Prince Zuko, may I ask that you had said yes because you wanted to?" His Uncle asked him as he took another sip of his warm, delicious tea. His nephew merely looked up at him, slightly disgruntled.
"What are you trying to hint at?" asked Zuko, already knowing full well what that man was trying to say. Of course, Zuko decided to play coy.
The older man merely shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just asking. You know I am a nosy old man."
The teenage boy had sighed before moving a tile in a diagonal direction, causing his Uncle to smirk slightly before taking out his nephew's tile upon his moves. Zuko grew rather frustrated, but blamed himself for making such a stupid move. "Chiyo and I are friends. We've been friends since we were kids, why ruin it by becoming something more than that?"
"It's not good to lie to yourself than it is to anyone else, Zuko. If you have feelings for young Chiy-"
Before Iroh could explain, Zuko slammed his hand on the table. "I don't have feelings for Chiyo."
"And who are you trying to fool? Me or yourself?" Iroh asked with a raised eyebrow as he heard grumbling noises escape the boy in front of him before sighing, of what Iroh thought as out of defeat. "I won't pressure you about it. I'm just making you think about it." He smiled before moving a tile three times and grabbed Zuko's last three tiles, "I win."
Chiyo had arrived home just to see her sister sitting there with a book in her hand. "Welcome home." She was greeted by her sister in whom she gave the twelve-year-old a bright smile. "What has you so cheery?" She asked as the older sibling merely shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I convinced Zuko to go with me to the Fall festival. I've been trying to get him to go for years and I finally went through to him!" Her sister flinched, unbeknownst to Chiyo, as she shut the book closed in a hard manner.
"You and Zuko are pretty close. You sure it isn't because you actually like him?" asked Mai and that's when the room became quiet. A confused expression was clear on the older girl's face, her amber eyes staring at her sister for quite some time. "Most girls that invite a guy are usually inviting them as a date." She played it off so that she came off unjealous, but just curious.
Now that, that sentence was said Chiyo clung to the thought of her little sister actually jealous that she was going to the festival with Zuko because she had liked him. "Oh, well… I never really looked at Zuko in that type of way." With a shrug of her shoulders, she ran her fingers through her silky locks. "I mean, I don't even know what it means to have a, what's it called?" She tapped her forefinger against her chin before pointing it in the air, "Oh!" She said once she remembered, "A crush. I mean, me and him are just friends."
Mai had quite a relieved expression as she placed the book on her lap. "Then why won't you let me take him to the festival?"
Her sister stiffened, "Wait, why would you want to go to the festival with Zuko?" Mai rolled her eyes as her sister completely forgot in a matter of minutes of what Mai said it meant when girls invite a guy to festivals.
"Because…" struggled the paler girl, her eyes looking down at her book. Chiyo found herself slowly frowning, knowing very well the next words that were going to come out of her sister's mouth, "because I like him."
A pregnant pause filled the room again as Chiyo stared at Mai with a frustrated yet sad look on her face. "…Why now? Why didn't you ask him to go before? Why when I want to go with him, you tell me this?" The questions couldn't stop flowing, there were more that she wanted to ask but she managed to let out those three.
"I've always liked him." answered Mai as she looked down at the book on her lap, "The reason why Zuko never went was because the timing is so close to when Lady Ursa left, right?" Chiyo frowned, figuring that was the case of years of why he was rejecting it. So, she did have a point. "And since he is willing to go, I figure it would be a good chance that I can tell him how I feel during the festival."
A lot of hurt was swirling in Chiyo's chest because she had always planned on going into this festival with him. Maybe she should just let Mai go with him, what would she look like standing in there way? Zuko was her best friend and so there was no need to go with him for no other than reason. Her pupils had looked down at the floor as she tried to suppress her hurt feelings. "Well, I guess you have a point." She found herself saying. "I mean I'm sure once you tell him he'll say yes and, well, I'll just go by myself as usual." After telling her the idea, Chiyo ran up the steps and towards her room. The feeling to cry never felt so strong like it did now.
Drums filled the air as the orange lit capital city of the Fire Nation had rejoiced in time of the festival. It was the day of the Autumn Equinox, a day where Azulon had won the battle of Gar Sai and for years it was dubbed as a day for celebration of the Fire Nation. Chiyo had told Zuko that day after Mai's confession that she wouldn't be able to go with him due to her being sick. In a way, she didn't lie because once her father found out that she wouldn't be going, he had set her up on a date with General Kuon's son, Shen which made her quite sick. It made the young assassin quite uncomfortable knowing that she was his father's killer but he did not know that she went on the job. He, however, accepted the date due to other reasons. Shen was quite a handsome fellow, known by all the girls in the Fire Nation. He had long, silky raven colored hair that was always in a ponytail and reached down to his hips. He had dim, golden round eyes that seemed to show off his confidence. He was tall, muscular, and had broad shoulders to only be the age of fifteen. Shen was a year older than Chiyo and Zuko.
"Isn't this a lovely night?" asked Shen as Chiyo was dressed in a scarlet Cheongsam that had ended at her ankles with golden embroidered dragons adorning it with red flat shoes. Her hair was out as her lips were painted red, charcoal black eyeshadow on her eyes, and barely noticable light traces of pink blush on her cheeks. Her mother thought it would be best for her daughters to wear make up, hoping that she had secured their futures with future husbands. However, Qiu's older daughter wasn't enthused about being Shen's date.
Chiyo looked at Shen with a forced smile, "It is lovely. Do you want to play games?" She offered, not wanting to ruin this night because she wasn't with the person she had wanted to be with. All the soldier did was nod his head, a rather cocky smile on his face. "What is it?" She asked him once she noticed the change of his expression; she turned to see that it was Prince Zuko and her sister Mai walking towards their direction.
Chiyo tried to plot a way to run away but it was already too late. Zuko had seen her and she could tell that he was angry from the way his eyebrows seemed to almost meet and a frown deep on his face. "Hey Shen." Zuko greeted him as Mai looked at her sister with curious eyes. She could tell when her sister was uncomfortable, it was like she radiating the feeling, and when she kept staring at the ground. "Chiyo." The ice in his voice from the way he said her name nearly made a shiver go down her spine. Well, she was totally done for as far as he was concerned.
"Prince Zuko." Shen slightly bowed and Chiyo did the same, her eyes never meeting Zuko's as the soldier had wrapped his arm around his date's small waist. "I see you're on a date with Nobleman's Gen youngest daughter. How lucky are we to be on a date with the two gorgeous girls in the Fire Nation?" His voice sounded quite smug as Zuko found himself growing irritated as time went on.
"Yeah, we are lucky." said Zuko as he continued to stare at his best friend, who kept her eyes on the ground, and her hands folded in front of her. He could tell that she felt guilty, she had every right to feel so, but why did she have to lie? Chiyo wasn't a good liar; he had known that throughout the years of knowing her. She had been begging him for years for the chance to go to this festival and when he says yes, she goes with somebody else? Something just wasn't adding up.
Mai turned to Zuko with her hand on his shoulder, but turned to look at Chiyo as she finally spoke to Shen. "Let's go play that hammer game. There's a… stuffed animal I really want to win." Her voice was soft as she looked up at Shen with innocent eyes. All she wanted to do was get away from here because she couldn't stop feeling guilty about lying to Zuko even though she had done it for her sister's sake.
Shen nodded his head as he gave the Prince a waning smile, "Excuse me, my date wants me to win her something. We'll be going."
Before they could turn and walk the other way, Zuko had spoken. "My date and I were going to play that too. Weren't we?" He looked at Mai who gave him quite a confused expression. They weren't going that way at all but she could tell that he had wanted to rival against Shen, but for what reason? She just assumed it was because boys loved to rival against one another.
"Oh, really?" Shen's voice revealed some arrogance, "This should be fun."
As the four walked alongside each other, the tension in the air had increased. Chiyo looked at Zuko who had just stared straight ahead before she let out a sigh. Things were definitely going to go sour. Once they reached it, everyone turned to see the prince and the soldier readying themselves as they stretched. "Come one and all! Watch as our Prince of the Fire Nation and son of formal General Kuon son Shen take each other on in a strength contest!"
Everyone gathered around, curious as to who was going to win. Shen looked at Chiyo, "Which one do you want me to get for you?" He was already sure that he was going to win. She looked at him and then at the shelves of prizes and saw what looked like a giant, stuffed turtle duck.
"The turtle duck." She answered as Zuko frowned.
The Prince had asked Mai the same, using the same arrogance as well, in which she replied. "Stuffed animals are childish." Shen could only smirk at the less enthusiastic response from his rival's date which only seemed to infuriate Zuko more.
Shen had walked up first, girls sighing and ahhing as he took off his coat and threw it as it landed on the man who owned the stand's head. He picked up the mallet with ease and raised it over his head before dropping it exerting as much force as he could muster. The ball had sky rocketed to the ninety-nine percentage line. He didn't win, but that was a tough act to follow. "I liked to see you beat that, Prince Zuko." As he turned, Zuko walked forward as girls had swooned over him as well. He picked up the mallet and done the same notion, except with much more execution. As Shen was putting his jacket it on, the ball had hit the bell, reaching the 100 percent spot.
The soldier turned around with wide eyes, completely shocked as the man who owned the machine announced. "Prince Zuko wins!" He said as people clapped and cheered for the royal teenage boy. He then pointed to the turtle duck in which Chiyo's eyes lowered, but to her surprise Zuko had walked up to her and handed it to her.
"You didn't have to." She found herself saying, her eyes staring at his with curiosity.
Zuko, although wanting to smile from her puerile expression, continued to have a rather unhappy expression. "You wanted it and you deserve it." He told her as Mai frowned at the action. She could see her sister's face light up as she held the turtle duck close to her, her eyes closed as she tried to contain her joy.
"Thank you." She said to him as Shen stormed off, leaving the two as Azula and Ty Lee had came over.
"Wow Zuko, that was amazing!" Ty Lee nearly said from the top of her lung as she threw her arms in the air out of excitement. "You really showed that guy!"
While his sister had a rather proud smile of her own, "Good job. I'm sure that hit a very good chunk of his egoistical pride. That's what he gets for challenging someone who is above him."
Ty Lee then wrapped her arms around Mai, "Mai could you come with us to see the fireworks? We always see them together!" She said as she pressed her cheek against her friend's face, her voice slightly on the whiny side.
Before Mai could protest Zuko had spoken first, "Chiyo's date left her and so I should probably be taking her home." Chiyo looked at him with surprise.
"But I-" Chiyo was cut off by Zuko.
"You shouldn't be walking by yourself." He knew she was going to try to convince him to continue this 'date' with Mai, but he wasn't going to let her spend the rest of her time at the festival alone even if he was mad at her.
Chiyo looked at her young sister to see what he response would be. Even though Mai had put on a brave face, her sister could still see the hurt that quickly went across her eyes. "Fine." Was her reply as Zuko had lead Chiyo back into the crowd, Mai eyes no longer seeing their forms.
"I really don't want to go home though." The brunette frowned, wanting to see the fireworks.
"That's why you're coming to the palace." He informed her as she looked rather confused, but she had knew that he wasn't going to answer her for some reason and so the two walked alongside each other through the city until they had reached the palace gates.
"Prince Zuko, did you walk yourself back?! You and Lady Chiyo shouldn't be travelling by yourselves!" One guard lectured as the boy flagged his hand.
"We were fine. Open the gate." As instructed, the guards had opened had separated the golden gates and let the two in, immediately closing it behind them as Zuko looked at Chiyo at the corner of his eyes as she had looked straight ahead. There was not a drop of an expression on her face, not even a little ounce of inquisitiveness or excitement. He could tell that something was bother her and he was pretty sure it had something to do about her being caught with Shen.
Once they reached the large, palace doors it was opened for them and Zuko had continued to lead the way to his sleeping chambers. The young girl felt quite nervous, she hadn't been in his room since they were kids and now that they were older, it felt strange. Even though they wouldn't be inside where his bed was, they would be outside toward the balcony, she still felt her chest growing rather heavy which was making it difficult for her to breathe eveningly. As he opened the doors, she stepped inside the large room and smiled since it was the same as it always been.
Opening the glass doors at the right corner, they had both walked out and saw the bright stars that twinkled in the dark blue sky. "Its really beautiful out here." Chiyo found herself saying as she noticed the lights of the festival still brightening the city.
"So, are we going to talk about Shen?" He asked as he leaned on the marble railing of the balcony.
She had knew this was coming, but not as fast as it did. "My dad told me to go with him after I told him I wasn't going to go. I lied to you that I was sick because Mai wanted to take you as her date."
"Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?" Zuko asked as Chiyo, obviously knew now that her sister didn't confess her feelings to Zuko as she thought she had. 'She must have been waiting for the fireworks, huh? I feel bad, but I feel really happy that he's actually with me right now. Like he was supposed to be in the first place...' Chiyo was surprised at her thoughts. How could she be happy when she knew her sister was upset right now?
The Prince hadn't said anything for a while, probably gathering his thoughts. "I don't know why. She didn't seem interested in anything I wanted to do." He finally spoke as his friend felt herself wanting to laugh. Mai did take a dramatic personality change. She wasn't very much into many things, finding herself bored with most things that other people found exciting. She wasn't quite sure what brought upon that change, but she had still very much loved her little sister more than anything and anyone in the world.
"That's Mai for you. It takes her a while to open up, I'm sure she was just shy." Chiyo tried to make it up for her sister. The boy merely shrugged as he then looked at her from over his shoulder, "What?" She found herself saying because he just looked at her without saying anything. Why was he just staring at her like that? It made her feel uneasy.
"You seem to really like that turtle duck." He pointed out as she looked down at it as her arms were around it tightly. "It kind of reminds me of the small pond in the courtyard. My mom use to feed them."
Chiyo smiled sadly as she could tell that Zuko's love for his mother never lessened over the years. "Why don't you keep it then?"
"What do I look like with a stuffed turtle duck?" His expression was deadpanned as she found herself laughing.
"I just thought it would be nice to keep it as a memory of your mother, but I guess it is a little too girly." Her hand stroked atop of the duck's head, the soft bristles of its fur touching against her hand. "I really miss her too."
The Prince smiled as she looked at him with one. Despite all the tension that was between them earlier, it seemed to cease now that they were together under the star-filled sky. Soon colors of red, blue, and green filled the air as explosions had erupted and created the beauty of fireworks. Chiyo had lean her head on Zuko's shoulder as the fireworks went on for several hours with her doing the same notion with his head leaning atop of hers.
"Lady Chiyo. Lady Chiyo, you must wake up." said the young girl's servant. It was past sunrise, nearly closing itself in at noon and the young Fire Nation girl still hadn't awakened. All the servant would receive is a groan and sometimes her hand slapped away. "Chiyo, if you don't wake up I'm going to get a buck of water!" And that's when Chiyo had snapped away, her eyes meeting the person who had awakened her.
"Don't scare me like that Fuuka." A sigh of relief escaped Chiyo as her servant, Fuuka, smiled at her. Fuuka had been Chiyo's personal, loyal, and friendly servant for the past three years. She had dark brown hair that was always tied in a long braid and mahogany brown eyes. Her family had been loyal servants of their family for years and so it was bound that once she was old enough, she would take the same job as well.
She and Chiyo had always been what people would consider close since Fuuka wasn't scared of her like the other servants were. Mai would make them go around in circles and make their lives a little harder than they already were and so Fuuka found herself happier and more livelier when in Chiyo's presence. "I had to scare you or else you wouldn't have woken up. Do you feel sick or something? You never sleep this late." As Fuuka questioned her, she placed the back of her hand against her friend's forehead to feel if it was warm.
"No," Chiyo continued, "I was up all night with Zuko looking at the fireworks at last night's festival." Slowly, but surely, a smirk started to appear on the servant's face. "What?"
"So you spent all night with Prince Zuko, huh? I guess he's the one who brought the turtle duck, right?" Her finger pointed to the stuffed animal that was on top of the oak dresser which made the young assassin face lit up at the sight of it. Fuuka had already gotten her answer from the look on the nobleman's daughter's face before letting out a sigh. "Oh, that reminds me! I came to wake you up because Prince Zuko had messaged you." She reached in the front pocket of her dressed and pulled out a white envelope with the red royal seal on the back.
Chiyo had taken it, her face curious of its contents. Fuuka had given her an envelope knife, which the older girl had immediately taken, and then pulled out the letter and read it out loud. "Chiyo. Can you come over today? I would really like to tell you some news and it's something that I would like to explain personally." After reading the letter, she furrowed her brows and slightly pouted. "What do you think he wants to tell me?"
"I don't know but that arrived like two hours ago, but Mai told me to let you rest a little longer since you were up all night." Chiyo frowned as Fuuka explained why she had woken her up late. Did Mai do that on purpose or because she was really concerned? Chiyo started to feel that her strong bond with her sister was starting to weaken more and more as time had went on.
Chiyo had immediately went to her feet and started to get dress. "I have to go over there, it might be something important." She said as she hurried up and put on her baggy pants and then slipped onto her boots. Her hair, which was a mess, was just pulled into a ponytail because she didn't want to waste her time brushing her hair.
"But Chiyo, you-" Before she could let out the rest of the sentence, Chiyo had ran out the room and down the hallway, "you didn't eat your tarts."
Already at the gates, the brunette pushed them open and startled the guards. "Lady Chiyo, where are you going?!" They asked her as she kept running.
"To the palace!" She informed them as she kept running, excusing herself as she bumped into a few people. Once she had reached the Palace gates, she was panting and perspiration dripping down her forehead. The guards looked at her curiously, "Prince Zuko wanted me here." She managed to say as they opened the golden gates and let her run through as well through the palace doors. Once she was in, she went down the hall and she had seen him, he looked a little frustrated though, but he seemed to somewhat smile when he caught her.
She walked over toward him and wiped her forehead, "I sent you a message hours ago, where have you been?" He had asked.
"Well, I overslept." Chiyo said, laughing nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. "My servant had to wake me up earlier, I'm sorry. But what did you want to tell me?" She asked as he sighed.
"I wish you came earlier like I asked because now isn't the time." Zuko then looked over his shoulder at one of the guards at the door.
Chiyo looked at him and then at the guard he was staring at, "Isn't that the war chamber?"
"Yeah, I want to go in and be an important asset to my father. Don't you think that I should be in there? I am the Crown Prince." He explained, in which she understood, but she knew war chambers were quite… boring. Not only that, all the men in there just reeked over selfishness and evil. She knew some of those generals, they were war mongrels but that could be said about the Fire Lord, right?
But of course, she could see why Zuko wanted to be in there. He always wanted to show his dad that he was strong and that he would be a good Fire Lord one day. In a way, she could understand his eagerness and very much supported it. "I think you should go too! I mean, one day you'll be Fire Lord Zuko! Ha!" She grinned, "It has a good ring to it, doesn't it?"
Her enthusiasm had much lifted his spirits and he found himself smiling as well, "It does, but first I have to know the ins and out of war and that's why I should be in there. That guard won't let me through."
The brunette frowned, wishing that she could help but what good could she do? She was only in the war chamber twice because they had missions for her. Soon Iroh had showed his kind face, placing his hand on his nephew's shoulder. Zuko turned to look at him as the older man spoke, "Prince Zuko, what's wrong?"
"I want to go into the war chamber," He was still clearly upset even though Chiyo made him smile, "but the guard won't let me pass!" His voice, still going through puberty, had cracked at the end of it which made Chiyo want to laugh but she suppressed it. Her best friend was disappointed and he would definitely take her laughter the wrong way.
Iroh then gave the young girl a look, which Chiyo understood, and let Iroh lead him a short distance away from her and the guards. "You're not missing anything, trust me. These meetings are dreadfully boring."
"If I'm gonna rule this nation one day, don't you think I need to start learning as much as I can?" Zuko asked his Uncle, very serious about this ordeal.
Iroh sighed, giving in. It wasn't like Zuko didn't have a valid point, "Very well. But you must promise not to speak. These old folks are a bit sensitive, you know."
Zuko bowed to Iroh, "Thank you Uncle!" He quickly ran over to Chiyo and grabbed her hands, cupping them out of excitement. Chiyo, however, was more shocked and nervous than she was excited. Her amber eyes looked into his golden ones, seeing them light up. He always had this twinkle in them whenever he was excited and it always brought a warm feeling in her heart to know that he was happy. "Uncle is going to let me in! Can you wait for me in the Palace? It shouldn't be very long, all right?"
She was going to be dreadfully bored, but she would wait here since he wanted her to. "All right." She nodded her head and then looked at Iroh who was smiling. "Take care of him, Uncle." Chiyo said to him as Iroh let out a soft chuckle.
"My nephew may be a handful, but he's nothing that I can't handle." Iroh managed to say as he puts the boy around his shoulders, Zuko's warm hands letting go of her slender ones, and they walke past the guards, who made no move to stop them. Chiyo smiled as Zuko looked forward, eager about this meeting.
Chiyo stood there and placed her hand on her head, "I feel silly for running here now. I need a bath." She talked to herself, in which made the guards look at her curious. Her cheeks flushed a shade of red, "Oh, uhm, sorry! That was meant for myself." She waved her arms nervously before turning around and running down the hall and away from the war chamber.
The young girl was allowed to bathe and have her clothes washed and dried. Since she was so close and had been here as a child, they treated her much like they did both the Prince and the Princess. But unlike the Princess, she wasn't as cruel and demanding. Chiyo had learned, from Fuuka, that some of these servants did not need such the cruel criticism and torture of running around that they were given. Their jobs were nearly endless and they deserved a "thank you" and some help once in a while. Her father told her that it weak and disrespectful for someone of her stature to do it, but she felt it was right in heart and she never ceased to stop.
As soon as her bath was over, she found herself walking towards the War chamber because she thought the meeting would be over by now and it was, but something wasn't right. Zuko came out, looking quite confident while Iroh had looked disappointed. A frown slowly adorned her face. 'Zuko, what the hell did you do?' She thought to herself, knowing that something bad probably happened.
As she approached him, Zuko looked at her and it looked like he struggled for a few minutes. She merely squinted her eyes, trying to read him but to no avail. "What happened? Is everything all right?" She decided to question, hoping that she would receive an answer.
"I'm going to be in an Agni Kai." Her heart literally stopped. What the hell did he mean he was going to be in an Agni Kai?
"Wait, what?" Her voice had worn its confusion, "But why?"
Iroh had walked over as Zuko explained, "General Rei wanted to slaughter the new recruits by using them as sacrifice. I told him that they love and defend our nation, how could he betray them? Of course, I shouldn't of spoke because I disrespected him."
"Which resulted in an Agni Kai." Iroh added which made Chiyo's worry not lessen.
"Is there a way that you can stop it? I mean, you didn't mean to disrespect him in that way. You were just trying to tell him that it was morally wrong to do that to those soldiers, right? I'm really worried about this." Zuko frowned at what she said, taking it somewhat the wrong way.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look at him. "You don't think I can take him on? Are you telling me I'm not strong enough?"
"No! That's not what I'm saying at all, Zuko." The female quickly defended herself, only saying she was worried about his safety but saying something like that did give the impression, at least to him, that she thought he might not win which wasn't the case. Agni Kai's usually ended… horribly.
"Then trust me." She hated that he said that. That meant there was no way in going around it. His mind was too set on this and so there was no need to argue.
Chiyo lowered her head, almost wanting to argue with him but stopping herself because she knew it was a lost cause. "I trust you." Muttered Chiyo, wanting to almost take the words back.
He then slid his hands off her shoulders and then turned to his Uncle, "I'm going to get ready. You guys should go to the stadium so you can cheer me on, alright?"
Iroh continued to frown, "How can you put out a fire set on a cart-load of firewood with only a cup of water?"
"Uncle, I have no time for your proverbs! Just go!" And on that note, Zuko had left them as Chiyo watched him until he was far from her line of sight.
"This worse than what I think it is, isn't it?" She asked as she looked in the direction where the Prince had gone.
Iroh closed his eyes, "Its worse than what I think it is as well. Let's go to the arena, we have to support him."
With a nod of her head, they had turned left and walked down the hall in which led to the arena. They would be able to stand at a good distance from the arena, even though they weren't all that enthused. Lucky thing Agni Kai wasn't too the death, but some people usually left out of it with a mark of the battle. Iroh had placed his arm around her shoulder, trying to show her some comfort which made Chiyo feel guiltier. She could already tell that he was worried about Zuko and he didn't need to be worried about her too.
She looked up at him and he looked down at her, they were both afraid. "I know I should have more faith, but what if…"
"We cannot dwell on what ifs. It will only hurt us in the end." He informed her, in which she had did understand. She was already questioning if what she had agreed that he shouldn't go in the war chamber, maybe it might not have resulted in this. The stands grew crowded, music being played as everyone was getting prepared.
After a while, Zuko had walked into the arena, shirtless and confident. Many girls screamed at Zuko's muscular form, he was quite handsome and so it was bound to happen, but Chiyo couldn't pay attention to that. She was much too afraid of the outcome of this. However, he did find her and they had given each other a warm smile. She whispered 'good luck' knowing that he wouldn't hear, but deep down she had known that he knew what she said but her eyes soon then widened in horror as she watched who came out the entrance to the arena soon after. Zuko had seen it, but he didn't pay any mind to it. He stood, knowing that his opponent was in the arena. But when he turned, he had seen that it was his father.
Immediately, Zuko had fallen to his knees, his hands on the stone arena. "Please, father, I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn."
No matter what he said, the Fire Lord still advanced forward. "You will fight for your honor."
Chiyo bit her lip, her eyes watering as her best friend abased himself on the floor. He was completely stricken, there was no way Zuko wanted to fight his father. "I meant you no disrespect. I am your loyal son."
She flinched as Zuko's voice rose, "Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!" He demanded his son.
However, the Prince did not change his mind. "I won't fight you."
"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher." said Ozai as he now stood a few feet from his son, the Prince raised his face as the tears filled his gold eyes to his father. Iroh had looked fearful as he had heard the cries of Chiyo next to him, fearing what was going to happen while Azula, Zuko's own sister, had a gruel grin and obviously hoped the worst to befall her own brother. She even raised her left first in anticipation; Iroh had held Chiyo and looked away in despair as Zuko's scream of pure, utter anguish filled the air of the arena.
Some people cheered, some people gasped, and some people had done nothing. Zuko squirmed, holding his eye as a medical team soon came and carted the Prince inside the palace.
In Zuko's room, he was asleep in his room with his wounded eye bandaged. He was now bald, except for a ponytail, since most of his hair was burned that they decided to shave nearly almost all his hair. Chiyo had stayed by his side throughout the whole ordeal, holding his hand and falling asleep at the little space there was for her head. Iroh would come and bring food and tea, sometimes he would stay and wait with her, but since he was still General at the time, he had worked that had to be done and it would leave her. The Prince was asleep for six days, she would leave and bathe, and then come back to be by his side all over again.
But when he woke up, her face was the first thing he saw. "Chiyo?" He called her name, surprised to see her as she gave him a smile of relief.
"Hey you." She said as he tried to sit himself up, "Don't push yourself."
"My body is fine, its just my eye." Zuko said as he felt her hand tightened his, she had no intention of letting go and he had no intention of letting her let go. "So, how long have I been sleep?" He asked as she looked down at his hand.
"For six days." Chiyo answered him, her hand giving him an affectionate squeeze. "I was.. really scared."
He looked at her as he had noticed her voice had gone from soft to hoarse, "I'm sorry." He apologized as he had seen her bottom lip quiver and her shoulders tremble.
"I'm so happy that you're alive and your awake, but I kept thinking… I could've lost you and there was nothing I could about it. I didn't save you, I just stood there and cried! What kind of friend am I, Zuko? I should've saved you, I should-" Before she could name more things that she could have done, the Prince had pulled her into an embrace in which caused her to cry. She couldn't hold it in anymore, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and let all the pain go.
The door had soon opened and Iroh had walked in with a tray with three full cups of steaming hot tea. "I knew you would wake up today." He said as Chiyo lightly pulled herself out of Zuko's embrace and wiped her tears. He had taken a seat next to Chiyo, a chair he had placed there the other day. He had rubbed Chiyo's back as she found herself able to stop crying and actually smile. "She never left your side for too long. She's even slept here!" Iroh teased as the girl blushed, pouting at the man laughed and Zuko managed to smile as he looked at her.
Iroh had given the young prince a cup of tea, in which he accepted. Silence had filled the air and Chiyo had known what was coming, Zuko wanted to know his father felt in which Iroh and Chiyo knew the answer. "So, what's my punishment?" He asked them as he placed the teacup back on its plate, "I know that what happened three days ago wasn't all that was in store for me."
Before Iroh could even explain, the door had opened yet again and this time it was Fire Lord Ozai. He had walked over towards the end of Zuko's bed, "I see you're awake." Chiyo had lowered her head, "I hope you are ready to leave today, Prince Zuko." Everyone's eyes had widened as they looked at the Fire Lord, "You are hereby banished from the Fire Nation. You may only return with the Avatar."
The atmosphere was dead. Zuko looked like his heart had been ripped out of his chest, Chiyo felt the burn of it as well. How could he do that to his own son? He basically wanted him to travel the world in search for the Avatar? Wasn't the last avatar possibly killed? How could he do this? He was evil. Pure evil. With no more words, Ozai had left and the three were left in the room. "I need some time alone." Zuko managed to say Chiyo and Iroh looked at each other and then back at Zuko, nodding their heads and standing. Chiyo hadn't even touched her tea, she felt disgusted and so she had left with Iroh following behind her.
Before Chiyo could even discuss the turn of events with Iroh, Ozai had walked toward them in which caused them to bow. "Chiyo. You and I have something to converse." The young girl stiffened, afraid as he said that. Still, she stood straight and gave him a firm nod.
"Of course, Fire Lord Ozai." She said as she looked at Iroh who gave his brother a questionable look but then a smile.
"See you later Chiyo and goodbye, brother." He said before walking away as Ozai lead Chiyo towards the throne room.
Once they were there, the young girl had knelt down as the Fire Lord made his way onto the golden seat and sat down as the flames rose from the torches in front of him. "How may I assist you, My Lord?" Chiyo wanted to get straight to the point, she didn't know what he wanted from her but she knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good.
"I want you to destroy the ship." Ozai announced which made Chiyo look up at him, first with question and then confusion.
"What ship?" Chiyo asked, confused.
The Fire Lord narrowed his eyes, "The ship my son will be on."
"You want me to kill your son?!" Her voice rose, obviously out of anger and pure distraught. "How could you possibly ask me to do such a thing?!"
"He would never expect it to you and aren't you a royal worker of the Fire Nation royalty? You have a job to do." He said as the young girl stood.
"I would never do such a thing to him! You're a monster!" Chiyo yelled as she pointed at him, her fear of him becoming slim to nothing.
Ozai merely scoffed, "And you will die. You're a dishonorable brat just like my son." And as soon as he said there, soldiers came from the room from the back. Chiyo looked around, surprised, and then looked at the door behind her and then slowly inched toward it. She made a run for it as the bender simultaneously firebended a stream of fire, which she had dodged by just a little.
She ran down the hall and out of the building, soldiers following after her. Outside, it was pouring rain and thunder and lightning had made their appearance. She had to get out of here. She didn't have no means to defend herself against the benders and so she had to keep running as fast as she could. Fuuka, one of her servants, was out with an umbrella doing a chore. She had seen Chiyo and then followed after her, "Chiyo! Where are you going?"
"I have to leave. I'm on the run." She managed to say as Fuuka turned and saw the guards not too far off, she threw Chiyo toward an alleyway and blocked her form with her own as the guards continued to run, not even looking in their direction.
"You can't go unarmed. I'm going to get your weapons and I'm going with you." Fuuka explained, "Just stay here and don't make yourself visible." The young girl nodded her head as her friend ran toward the direction of what Chiyo knew wouldn't be a safe place to go back to. A few minutes had passed as Fuuka came back with the girl's bow and quiver full of arrows. Chiyo had placed them on, soaking wet but not caring since her life was on the line. "I told Mai and she's looking for you." Chiyo frowned, knowing that her sister would find out one way or another. "I'm going to go to the docks and purchase us some tickets. At least say goodbye to your sister, I'll wait for you." She said as Fuuka soon left her.
"Chiyo!" A voice called out in the middle of the rain, her body becoming drenched by the rain that had poured from the dark clouds. Lightning would lit up the whole Fire Nation capital with just a split second before disappearing as the crackles of thunder would erupt in the air, nearly stopping the girl in her tracks as she had seen her sister stand there "Chiyo!" The young girl called again, falling down to her knees because she lost footing on the concrete ground. "Chiyo!" Her cries did not cease as her tears blended with the rain and sobs soon leaving her throat. The older girl that she had called out too remained still despite the crying of her younger sister. It was as if she was frozen, unable to move, but once she felt a tug on her pants leg, she couldn't keep still. Slowly, the older female looked down at her sister with soft eyes.
Kneeling down beside her, Chiyo had slowly wrapped her arms around her younger sister. "You must promise me that you will always be strong, Mai." Her voice was hoarse, obviously from crying. "Don't ever show your weakness to anyone. Don't fear anyone, love more than you fear. I have made a mistake, I have let myself do things that I know that I can never change. Don't be like me, Mai. Don't follow my footsteps." Her hand slowly rubbed up and down her sisters back as the young girl shook from tears. "I'm going to be leaving for a long, long time. I want you to be strong for mom and dad, they're going to need you." Pulling her younger sister away, she looked deep in the gold eyes of her sister as her hair clung to the side of her face and shoulders. "Will you promise me, Mai?"
Mai was hesitant, her young mind unable to comprehend the events that were happening. All she knew was that her sister was leaving her in which she had hoped that she wouldn't. Why would Chiyo leave her? Why she should leave home anyway? Whenever she left, she had always promised to comeback but this time she did not say a word of coming back. Why was that? "Why aren't you coming back?" asked Mai, her voice growing hard out of sadness and frustration. "Why are you doing this?!" Chiyo had slowly looked down, her amber eyes showing a display of emotions that she did not want Mai to read. "Come back home. Let's go home."
"I can't." said Chiyo, her voice soft as she pressed her lips against her sister's forehead. "Hurry home, you're going to be sick. I'm sure mom and dad are worried about you anyway." And with that said, Mai felt the warm embrace of her elder sister slowly disappear as the cold rain enveloped all around her. She watched as her sister turned and walked away and for some reason, she didn't have the power to get up and look for her. All Mai could do was cry as the rain sang, the thunder screamed, and the lightning dance in the dark, cloudy sky.
Chiyo had met up with Fuuka at the docks and they had left to wherever they found to be safe.
Author's Note:
I hope Mai wasn't too OOc ish.