as constant as the stars above, qin is a figure that shines brightly upon others and is always there for you whenever you need her to be. from first impressions, you find how amazing she is, with an elegance seeming to radiate around her and how she flaunts off values of filial piety she was raised with. from her mannerisms to speech, you can tell just how well-mannered she is and how much self-control and discipline she has collected over the years of growing up and maturing. it's almost charismatic, in a way, that she is able to exchange her emotions with an air of tenderness and composure seamlessly, that it makes everyone around her wonder what is running through her mind all day. she lives on a rather fixed schedule, but despite that, in between all her after school lessons and formal dinner parties that her parents take her to, she still manages to find the time and energy for her friends if you approach her for help, lending you an ear or shoulder or tissue. and qin just so happens to be the first person to come into mind almost every time because you know that she will be supportive and trustworthy and flatter you with all the sweet words that you want to hear, even if it might not be for the best. she realizes that, but she learned through experience that people only hear what they want to hear. it's almost like she doesn't have an opinion, the type when asked a question to ask back what do you think, and she just doesn't think her opinion is relevant because she's not in a place to tell you no. it's never her intention to harm you, but she just thinks that if you truly are determined, it'll only bring unnecessary conflict when you tries to convince you otherwise. she tells a little white lie here and there, like a tiny devil in disguise of an angel resting on your shoulder, and it's only in human nature to want to listen to her. the same applies to her actions, as it never does take much to ask her for a favor and her responding in agreeance. she was raised to be an obedient person, and while others might think she can be a bit of a pushover (or in uglier words, a lap dog) qin really does not mind. one being that she knows her own capabilities and thinks of herself as competent. besides, she doesn't like the feeling of letting someone down, especially since they're so used to qin always saying yes, and she is not the type to easily be overwhelmed with work. so people approach her to be friends because they know she is steadfast and faithful, with the tricky thing being to gain her trust fully because of how she keeps herself at a distance from others. however, if you do manage to win her over, qin will follow you through the ends of the world, and that's when you see, she is more constant than anything else.

though of course, some of the people closer to her might argue that qin is quite an unpredictable case if you get to know her enough. perhaps you once thought she was the most practical and responsible person around, but you start to see how she brings out a naive and ingenuous side to her, like when the tiniest of things can bring a smile to her face. she's honestly a simple person who doesn't need extravagant gifts or words to be pleased thoroughly, and as long as you show her your truest sincerity, she will return you the same. qin rarely does make mistakes in her judgment of friends, which is why those who she does become friends with treasure her dearly. on the other side, people that don't know her well might think that she is an airhead, not necessarily in terms of academics but rather soft skills, such as seeing the bigger picture when it comes to situations or people. they often judge her for appearing like a well-mannered lady while still being friends with someone who behaves quite the opposite of her. it's true that qin does tend to look past the red flags in someone, but she accepts people for who they are, though things do fly over her head at times. this has never stopped her from asking questions that comes from her curiosity. once she is comfortable enough around you, she starts to question things as they pop into her mind, and you realize that when she's confused or thinking, she'll show it on her face and forget momentarily of actions outside her brain. the same applies to when she's happy or sad or embarrassed, and it plays quite the contrast to the self-composed girl you thought you once knew as she lowers her guard around you. it makes you want to either pat her on the head and tuck her into your pockets or roll your eyes at some of the dumbest things she can think of. still, she is as dedicated as ever. if you tell her to wait for you after class, she will be there even if you don't show up for a good half hour. she has an incredible amount of patience and is even more willing to spend it on those who she values, but it sometimes does create a problem if she misses one time for another. qin takes a very steady approach to life, and when out of reach of everyone's expectations, she doesn't care if she uses the world's time on one assignment while everyone else is rushing to finish theirs. she is not the biggest fan of sudden changes and likes going at her own pace. sadly, she rarely does get the chance to, and she can't remember the last time she's lived her age. at qin's worst moments, her fight or flight system kicks in and tells her to make the latter choice. she will drop all of her responsibilities at once and feel like hopping on a boat to a place where no one knows her. this rarely does happen, however, as she's a non-confrontational person and does not like mentioning a problem to someone especially if they are a close friend even if it does bother her, and the same applies the other way around, with her unable to settle down if someone asks her to talk. smaller inconveniences can be overlooked, but in qin's dictionary, bigger conflicts should be avoided because she was taught to never make a scene, which is why she will try hard even if it does bother her.

the story began with a man named sokun, a well-known fire nation governmental official who comes from a family with close ties to the royal family. he met mira, a performer at the local theater, and as if love at first sight exists and he's been shot by cupid's bow, he knew just from watching her on the stage that he wanted pursue her, captivated by her appearance and elegance that's incomparable to those around him. it did not take much for mira to reciprocate the feelings either, seeing how sokun was a responsible man and how this was a chance for her to escape her average middle class background and into the marvelous world of the nobles. when he proposed to her after almost two years of dating, she accepted whole-heartedly, and the married couple walked into the next chapter of their lives by welcoming a new addition to the family. at the turn of spring, in 83ag, a baby girl was born to this small but well-off family. they named her qin because it's a pretty name and that they wish for her to be sincere.

ever since young, qin had been fawned over by adults for her beauty and manners. she looks just like her mother, as some complimented, while others would say how her parents must have taught her well after seeing how she knew how to greet an elderly properly at the age of three. either way, qin quickly became a child that her parents can show off and somewhat famous amongst the upperclass circle, as they referred to her as sokun's daughter and commented that she's a prim and proper child who's destined for greatness just like her parents.

and it's true, how qin managed to always surprise her parents. right when she turned five, she discovered her ability to firebend when the candles on her birthday cake needed to be lit. the couple is well pleased, seeing how their daughter must have inherited the skill from her father, who's quite a decent firebender as it's necessary for proving himself worthy of such a position near the fire lord. qin didn't exactly understand what's going on, but she's happy that her parents are happy because in this world, there's no one she loved more than her parents. though she won't admit this, telling adults that she loves her parents equally, she did have a slight bias towards her mother because of how much time they spend together, as she quit her job to take care of qin when she's just a little kid. her father was home occasionally, and whenever he was, he would tell qin that as long as she listens and is well-behaved, she'd be showered with all the love and compliments and that dad would give her anything he wants to make up for the time that they're not together, from pretty accessories to yummy good. so qin, from young, had the strong values of obedience and resilience engraved in her mind.

besides her parents and other relatives who she occasionally visits, qin also spent a great majority of her childhood with prince ozai's kids, with the eldest zuko being just born some time before qin and the young azula two years younger. qin always had the impression that zuko was just a bit too intimidating, but being a kid, she attempted to make friends with him anyways. her father instructed her that zuko and azula comes from a very important family to her father, and anyone important to her father was important to qin. with the princess, becoming friends came more naturally as azula is just easier to talk to.

growing up, qin realized that all she needed to be is the best version of herself in order to earn the favor of her parents and all the adults that surrounds her, and the best version means that she's perfectly behaved and performed well in everything that she does, from her academics to pipa lessons to physical capabilities, even if it was something that she didn't find much practical use for. her firebending skills were considered average when you compare her to another child her age, but that didn't matter for her parents when they always compared qin to the second prince's children, and seeing how gifted azula was, it's only natural for qin to feel a bit envious of her friend's talents, and she became worried that if she were to fall behind even for a day, she'd no longer be able to catch up with her steps and her parent's expectations.

though they never were particularly super close in their childhood, both qin and azula were students at the royal fire academy for girls. at the academy, qin was well-known for her mellow personality and the fact that she's sokun's daughter, and while most of her classmates had favorable opinions of qin as she's someone they can depend on, there was one incident where a group of girls had been rather subtlety ostracizing qin and spread rumors of her mom, claiming how she's a lowly performer who seduced qin's dad (when in reality, it was quite the opposite), and though qin was aware, she didn't want to do anything about it, fearing she was overthinking and that she could just focus her energy on more relevant matters. however, it was actually azula who had witnessed what they were doing to qin and caused quite a scene, which made qin worried, but also since then, azula has gained qin's full trust and sincerity. azula, too, thought that qin had some virtues she could learn from, such as her studious nature and flexibility, so they began seeing each other more as time went out.

so qin spent the teen years of her life rather uneventful, even pleasant, if you will. she was mostly a combination of her own expectations and outside pressures, but throughout the years in her life, she's learned how to become strong and steady, and she knew that as she didn't go around causing a scene, she could get anything and everything she wanted, just like what he father used to tell her. qin didn't have much to ask though, being a simple person who was content easily. after spending more time with azula, she naturally grew closer to her as well as some other members of the royal family. mom didn't have nearly as much time to spend with qin now that she's back working as an actress. seeing how her daughter was grown up and could take care of herself, she decided to go back to the theaters instead of being a stay-at-home wife since it got a bit boring sometimes, while dad was still busy as ever, which was why qin found herself preoccupied with schoolwork and other people. she had a particular liking towards general iroh, who was also the crown prince at the time, who she had met through zuko one day when iroh was home from war. though she was a bit frightened (after all, he was the crown prince, and the title itself came with a tremendous amount of weight and influence), iroh had made the two of them a cup of warm jasmine tea, to which a delighted smile appeared on qin's face immediately, and seeing how qin was typically more robotic in her expressions, both iroh and zuko were fairly surprised and also brought a smile to iroh's face, seeing what his tea could do for other people. because qin also knew how to play the pipa, she would play it whenever at iroh's request while he would accompany her with his singing.

however, the peacefulness could only last so long in this age of the raging war. in 95ag, prince lu ten was announced dead due to the war, and this left iroh in great grief. though qin's family was quick to send in their condolences, nothing could make up for his loss, and qin was forbidden by her parents to go to the palace for some time, seeing a spiral of events go out of hand. as much as she wanted to see the people there, she understood it wasn't in her place and could only catch azula in school and let her fill qin in on some details. sooner or later, ozai was announced as the new fire lord, to qin's and almost everyone's surprise. during this time, she started to focus on her school work more, seeing how it was only a couple more years until she finished her primary education, though frankly, she has no idea what she wants to do after she finishes. of course, there's always joining the military, but qin couldn't see herself joining in the war except for maybe as someone who handles more of the behind-the-scenes.

two years later, what had surprised qin even more than ozai becoming the fire lord was hearing news of the banishment of her dear friend and that iroh decided to accompany him. she felt pity for him and couldn't understand why, and she was upset that she had to hear the news from azula and not the prince himself. by the time the news had reached qin, zuko was already well on his way to the docks with a small group of soldiers and guards who decided to accompany him, and since then, she has never seen them again and will probably never do. however, qin does always keep an ear out whenever she hears the news of where they are, and perhaps one day, when the war is over, they will be welcomed back to the fire nation once again. but who knows? qin might even take matters into her own hands and learn what the world is like beyond the sheltered walls of her hometown for the people she offered her sincere heart to.