I can't believe she called me a bear, Seulgi sulkily thought to herself as she blindly followed Irene to wherever she was going. Sure, she admits that she does somehow resemble a bear and even lets her family members and some close friends call her that, but hearing it from the annoying general somehow felt different. In what way, she didn't know.

With her train of thought, the admiral remembered the first time she rode on a ship and decided that she wanted to be part of the navy, which was also the day someone besides her family called her a bear, making her smile at the good memory.

It was more than a decade ago when it happened, back to the time when the Fire Nation's great Admiral Kang Seulgi was just the simple, obedient, reserved, yet playful Princess Seulgi, daughter of Fire Lord Iroh. Not that she has changed much, really. Well, except maybe for the obedient part.

***

There was another court meeting that day and the young princess spent that kind of day like she usually did—playing in the royal gardens, though that day was different because she had a new playmate, whom she was currently waiting for. Seulgi first met her friend the week before when Seungwan's father decided to bring her along for the meeting. Although at first, the princess was hesitant because she hadn't met anyone like the admiral's daughter before.

Seungwan was bursting with energy and somehow managed to never stop talking on their first meeting. Seulgi, being someone who preferred to keep to herself and was more of the quiet type, found it hard to keep up with her, though she'd occasionally reply after she was done thinking of a proper response. However, the younger girl found a compromise when she learned of one thing that the older girl did enjoy—firebending.

At such an early age, the princess' skill and prowess was already better than that of an average firebender and even someone from the Royal Guard. Seulgi knew this because she somehow convinced one of her guards to fight her seriously and emerged as the victor. The young princess already mastered most of the firebending forms and was way ahead of Seungwan, prompting the younger girl to ask the older one to teach her. Seulgi complied and became very enthusiastic in teaching Seungwan, while Seungwan was very eager to learn and genuinely enjoyed their time together. They became fast friends and when the time came for them to say goodbye, the two promised to meet again the week after.

So there Seulgi was, crouching by the pond and looking at the dozens of koi swimming around, patiently waiting for her newfound friend. However, the young princess didn't have to wait no more when a voice shouted out:

"Bear!"

Seulgi looked up and saw her father and Admiral Son turn to Seungwan with surprise and slight horror, respectively. Meanwhile, the young princess looked confused because no one besides her family called her a bear. Seungwan just had a wide grin on her face as she approached Seulgi.

"What, you really do resemble a bear, you know?" Seungwan teased. "Oh! Did you know that there was once this Earth King who had a bear as a companion?"

The princess only stared at her blankly and looked back to where their fathers were before shrugging. Then the younger girl's grin impossibly grew bigger before she exclaimed, "You should come with us!"

"Huh?" Seulgi once again looked confused. "Where?"

"To Ember Island!" Seungwan shouted out. "You did say that you like stars right?"

The princess just nodded, not sure on how the two connected.

"Wait till you ride my father's ship!" the admiral's daughter continued excitedly. "We're travelling during nighttime and you know what that means, right?"

Seulgi, still not getting it, scrunched her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. "No?"

"Oh, how silly," Seungwan laughed in amusement. "We're going to get to see the stars away from all the city lights! They'll be much brighter and prettier!"

Seulgi took the time to digest this thought and when she got it drawled out, "Ohh..."

"Finally," the younger girl exaggeratedly sighed. "Wait, have you never been on a ship at night before?"

"No," the princess answered. "We always took the airship when going out of the country. Father says it's faster and more convenient."

Seungwan's eyes widened at Seulgi's reply and she clasped the older girl's shoulders. "You are so going with us to Ember Island."

Seungwan was right about everything she said earlier except one thing—Seulgi didn't just like stars, she loved them. There was just something about those beautiful flaming orbs of gas in the night sky that entranced her. She loved them so much that the princess always made it a point to look at the stars before going to sleep. At times when it was cloudy or raining, not allowing her to see the brilliant night sky, Seulgi would just draw or paint them until she went away to dreamland. She probably already had a collection of her work stashed away somewhere in her quarters.

Seulgi thinks it's because she's a firebender that she found stars so fascinating, as the sun and the other stars were connected to firebending. She wasn't really sure if that's the reason though.

The princess, who lay on the roof, looked away from the stars momentarily and to Seungwan, who sat by the edge of the roof and looked at the people below on the deck.

"Seungwan," Seulgi called out. "If I were to be part of the navy, would I be able to look at the stars like this everyday?"

The admiral's daughter turned to the princess and beamed. "Yes, of course you will! Plus, you'd get to take out the bad guys too, like you said you wanted to do! Just like the Fire Lord did before he ascended to the throne!"

Seulgi just hummed before she turned to the night sky again, smiling as she stretched out her hand to the stars.

***

"Bear!"

The admiral was brought back to the present by the general's voice.

Seulgi looked to Irene, who had an annoyed expression in place, and noticed that they were by a cliff's edge.

"Didn't you hear my question?" the airbender irritatedly asked.

"Huh?" the firebender let out, unaware that Irene asked her something while she spaced out.

The general just sighed frustratedly then mumbled quietly, letting Seulgi only make out a few words, "... should've listened... Wendy... her... stupidly... spacing out..."

"What? Can you repeat that?" the bear innocently asked.

"Nothing!" Irene exclaimed. "I asked you earlier if you can keep up with me and make it there!" The general pointed to a huge structure quite some distance away from where they were.

"Of course I can. I'm not an admiral for nothing," Seulgi scoffed as she looked towards the direction Irene pointed.

The general smirked at her and poked her side. "Really now?" she teased, referring to their earlier fight.

I would've won earlier, if only I had more experience fighting skilled airbenders, the admiral wanted to say. Stupid great-great-great-great grandpa for almost eradicating all the airbenders. Seulgi just huffed before jumping off the cliff, letting herself fall for a bit before propelling her body with powerful streams of fire coming from her limbs. The admiral was sure she had a good head start when Irene suddenly appeared beside her, as if she had been there all that time. The general even winked, her annoying grin in place.

The nerve, Seulgi thought as she gritted her teeth. The firebender strengthened her flames in retaliation and was once again ahead of the airbender. I'm putting too much effort in this, the admiral thought, but immediately dismissed it. She'd do anything just to wipe that stupid grin away from that beautiful face.

Their small game of trying to best each other continued until they were only a few meters away from the building, when Irene did something and reached the ground first before Seulgi by only a few seconds.

The admiral landed and straightaway sat next to the airbender, tired and sweaty from the physical exertion. Irene, who previously still had that annoying smirk in place, decided to take pity on the poor firebender. She sat next to Seulgi and made a breeze blow to cool down the exhausted girl.

"You know, you would've won that race if I didn't decide to neglect air resistance at the last minute," Irene tried to console the admiral.

Seulgi just glared at her and continued panting for awhile before replying, "But you still did."

"But I still did," Irene said, smirk back in place.

They stayed that way for a few moments, letting the breeze Irene called forth bring them to a relaxed state.

The silence was broken when Irene asked Seulgi, "Do you know what this place is?"

Seulgi shook her head and replied, "Isn't this just some random building you chose to sit on?"

"You really do know nothing much besides your military stuff, don't you?" Irene booped the bear's nose and laughed.

The admiral only looked at her expectantly. The general sighed once again.

"This is the infamous pro-bending arena," the airbender said.

"Pro-bending? Isn't that where the different benders team up to fight other teams for sport?" Seulgi interjected.

"Huh," Irene studied her. "Looks like you do know some stuff, after all."

"It's quite a big thing back in my country," the firebender shrugged. "There was this time pro-bending was all Seungwan talked about. I think she even said one airbender who was really good at it became drafted by the United Forces..." the admiral trailed off as she looked at the United Forces officer thoughtfully.

Irene simply looked back at her, grin slowly forming, waiting for the girl to realize it.

"You?!" Seulgi incredulously burst out with widened eyes.

"I take back what I said earlier," the general laughed at her, eyes bright with delight. "You're still pretty clueless."

The admiral just crossed her arms across herself and looked towards the waters, lost in thought.

"Why did you do it then?" the taller girl questioned after some time.

"Do what?" Irene questioned back, not understanding what Seulgi meant.

"Why did you join pro-bending?" the firebender replied, now looking at Irene.

Instead of replying, the airbender just faced the city. Then, she turned to Seulgi with a gentle smile on her face, something Seulgi noted was a lot better than the usual haughty grin Irene had.

"How about I just show you?" the general said before dropping down from the ledge and gliding towards the suburbs.

It didn't take long before Seulgi followed, leaving behind a trail of smoke in the sky.

author's note:

waaah thank you so much to all the new subscribers! you make this little author happy hehe :D and also to all of you who've read and even commented, thank you really ㅠ ㅅ ㅠ if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, okay? till the next chapter!!