The sound of birds chirping and waves splashing against the shore could be heard in the early morning, the sun not yet risen, as Seulgi practiced firebending forms on the deck. She woke up quite early and felt more refreshed than she had ever been in the past days since their anchoring. The admiral missed the peace and quiet of the sea, the seemingly never-ending expanse of water, and the still silence of the night as she lay on the roof and looked at the stars freely without any disturbance, accompanied by the sound of water lapping against the sides of her ship. The serene night she spent with Irene made her feel and relive that, letting her sleep tranquilly.

Thoughts of the infuriatingly annoying yet charming general flooded her mind, demanding her attention. Being who she was, Seulgi was used to almost always getting her way in everything, although her few close friends and family were an exception. Everything that happened during the past day jarred her quite a bit, and all of that occurred because of just one person—Irene.

Having been educated in the palace throughout her childhood to her middle teenage years, Seulgi didn't have the chance to mingle with other people her age besides Seungwan until she decided to join the ranks of the military. Technically, she could have immediately assumed the position of an admiral given her prowess and title as crown princess, but she felt that it wasn't right to straight away command more than a dozen fleets when she lacked actual military experience. She had been to meetings of the defense and security council and the international relations council—and even to ones which concerned both—, but Seulgi had only been asked for her opinion, not the one who actually made the plans and strategies herself.

Seulgi started as a mere private, working her way up swiftly, learning her way through, and passing all the required tests with flying colors until she got to her current position. It was during her time in the lower ranks that she interacted with people of the same age aside from her best friend, and although it was awkward at first because of her title and initial detachment from the rest of the world, it was then that she met people she would eventually become close to and some she'd even fool around with.

The princess was no stranger to matters of the heart among other things, but this, what she could feel was budding after only just less than a day, it was nothing she had ever experienced before. It terrified, confused, and excited her, a combination of emotions she never thought she would feel all at the same time.

Seulgi grunted in frustration. It's too early to think about any of this.

She was just about to repeat her routine when she heard a faint whistling from below, becoming stronger as she now heard footsteps then finally saw the top of a head. Her best friend was dressed down to just simple and casual clothes, not giving any indication as to who she was and what position she held. Seungwan took the few steps to be on board and upon seeing her, looked pleasantly surprised at finding her best friend already up and about. It was known that no one should dare disturb the slumber of the princess, lest they wish to face her wrath, especially when they were docked on foreign land.

Seulgi gestured for her to come over and sit beside her, deciding to continue her routine later. The commander offered her some dumplings she purchased from one of the few shops that were already open and they stayed like that for a moment, eating in silence as they watched the sun rise above the waters to kiss the sky, bathing the heavens in its magnificent glory and setting the clouds on fire. The horizon exploded into different shades of pink, yellow, orange, and red—letting light win over darkness and reign for the day.

"I've always loved sunrises." Seungwan broke the silence as she stood up, eyes closed and head raised, basking in the early morning glow. She looked majestic as sunlight filtered through her hair, crowning her face with a radiance almost as brilliant as the sun itself. "It's like it gives me this sense of empowerment and strength. Like how you feel with stars."

The princess smiled at that and asked, "Have you ever missed one?"

"You already know the answer." Seungwan opened her eyes to look at her and chuckled.

"But to humour you," she winked, "no, I haven't. I love the sun as much as you love the stars."

"Speaking of stars," Seungwan asked with hands on her hips, her eyes dancing with mischievousness, "how was last night?"

"It was..." Seulgi trailed off, not knowing what word to use instead of magical, surreal, otherworldly, enchanting, bedazzling—anything to avoid the teasing she knew she'd get from her best friend if any of those words got out. She eventually settled on a word that she thought would suffice.

"It was nice."

Seungwan's eyebrows rose and her eyes widened as she looked at Seulgi incredulously.

"Really?" she asked, eyes still wide with disbelief. "That's it? Nice?"

The commander shook her head and was about to speak some more when she noticed that her best friend had a distant look, mouth unknowingly curving upwards into a slight smile. She triumphantly huffed inwardly and decided to have some fun.

"Your words can't fool me, Seulbear," she began, causing Seulgi to look up at her, still slightly smiling. "I know that look. It's the look that says a thousand different variations of a word like hmmm... bedazzling?"

The admiral then blushed and quickly tried to compose herself, but of course, Seungwan already saw. Her best friend laughed and offered her a hand to pull her up in a standing position, deciding that it was too early to embarrass the bear some more.

"C'mon," Seungwan said, back already turned and heading indoors to get her training clothes. "I'll just change into more appropriate clothing, then let's finish practicing those firebending forms you've already mastered hundreds of times."

Seulgi just shook her head at her best friend and watched until she got to the door. However, Seungwan turned back and smirked in the way that usually annoyed the princess.

"Did you kiss?"

"What?" The question prompted a widening of eyes, a bewildered expression crossing Seulgi's face. "What makes you think that would happen?"

She turned red with embarrassment at the mere thought of it and shouted back at the commander, "It hasn't even been a day since we've met yet!"

"Oh?" Seungwan let out amusingly, an eyebrow raised. "So you plan to afterwards?"

Seulgi threw a quick fireball towards her best friend's direction to wipe that annoying grin off her face.

"Shut up!"

The commander reacted quickly and went inside, using the door as a shield, but not before letting the sound of her delighted laughter reach Seulgi's ears.

"So," Seungwan began as they walked to their living quarters, "what's our agenda for today?"

"Nothing, really." Seulgi reached the door to her room and leaned on it to face the commander. "I'm just waiting for some matters to be finalized before we finally head out to the waters again."

A smile graced the admiral's face as she said those words, but instead got a frown from her best friend. Just as she opened to ask about it, the sound of a door opening immediately followed by footsteps resonated through the hallway, getting louder as whoever it was approached their direction. The two looked to the corner expectantly and was met with a slightly out of breath private. She paused for a moment and recollected herself before speaking.

"Commander," the private acknowledged Seungwan with a bow, then turned to Seulgi.

"Your Highness," she bowed first before continuing. "General Bae has arrived and is asking for you."

The princess' face unconsciously lit up in thinly veiled surprise and elatedness, something that didn't get unnoticed by her best friend. Seungwan didn't bother to hide her smirk and nudged Seulgi.

That seemed to bring her back from whatever place her mind went to, further adding to the glee of her best friend.

"Tell her I will take just a few moments," the admiral told the private.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Seulgi waited for her to be out of sight before immediately rushing to her room, leaving a sniggering Seungwan.

Oh, the commander thought, looking towards the door to her best friend's quarters. This is going to be so fun.

Seulgi emerged from the doors and into the glare of the late morning sun, squinting as she looked for the general.

"Took you long enough," said a voice coming from above her.

She looked up and saw Irene sitting on the roof, looking down at her with a playful smirk. It was only a moment before the airbender hopped off from her perch and dropped in front of her agilely.

Seulgi's brain was too scrambled to think of a retort and instead she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"This is unexpected."

"Good morning to you, too." Irene's eyes twinkled in amusement at the firebender's greeting. That seemed to fluster the admiral and she could see her flounder for something to say, but the general chose to save her from further abashment.

"I'm here to know my way around the ship," she explained. "After all, I'm going to spend quite some time here."

"Oh," Seulgi let out, seemingly recovered from her earlier state. She looked at Irene in thought, head tilted to the side.

"Usually, I just let one of the lieutenants or the captain do it," she paused, directing her eyes to meet the airbender's. "I know it's not much, but since you took me around the city, let me show you around."

The twinkle in Irene's eyes seemed much more evident after Seulgi's statement and she smiled at the admiral. A moment passed with them not uttering a single word, the princess seemingly spaced out again, until the usual smirk formed on Irene's face. "What are you waiting for then?"

"Right," the firebender said, earning her a small chuckle from Irene. Seulgi her heel and headed to their first destination, this time with Irene following after her.

Seulgi watched as Irene carefully plucked one of the few picture frames displayed on her desk and lightly traced a finger over the glass. As she studied the photograph, her delicate movement slowed and stopped over one of the faces. The airbender brought the frame closer for a better look, smiling as she did so.

The admiral knew exactly which photograph had Irene smiling—it was the one of her and Seungwan with their families, captured long before they had to deal with worldly matters and when their most pressing problem was what to do for fun the next day. It was taken by the royal photographer during one of their trips to the Earth Kingdom, a candid shot of the two children fooling around as their parents affectionately looked on from a distance.

"Supposedly, there was this king from the Earth Kingdom who had a bear as a companion." Seulgi took a step closer to Irene and pointed to the object a laughing Seungwan attempted to place on her head despite her scowling. "That hat right there was one of the countless ones that were made for the bear."

Irene's smile turned into a grin at her words and teased, "So Wendy got it for you because you look like one?"

Seulgi nodded, albeit slightly pouting, earning her a boop on the nose from the general.

"You look just like a bear," Irene chuckled as Seulgi glared at her defiantly. "A cute, little bear."

Seulgi was about to retort that she was taller than her, when an explosion rocked the ship, causing Irene to drop the frame as they were knocked off-balance. The sound of breaking glass was muted as metal rang from the rushed footsteps of soldiers above them.

The two officers rushed out of Seulgi's office and bolted to the doors, running towards the back of the ship where the smoke was coming from. Seungwan was already there along with some of the crew, fighting different kinds of benders who all wore black from their head to toe.

Seulgi wasted no time and joined in the scuffle, immediately dispatching a waterbender who was foolish enough to try and combat her by throwing a fire bomb at their abdomen, effectively blasting them away.

She looked to her side and saw that Seungwan was fighting five all by herself. The admiral started making her way towards her best friend to help her when something whizzed by, missing her ear by just an inch. She turned to the direction it came from and saw another piece of metal aimed at her head. The firebender reflexively ducked down and lay a hand on the ground, sweeping her foot out in a flaming arc to knock the earthbender off his feet, resulting in him hitting his head and rendering him unconscious.

A group of attackers came rushing towards her then, giving her no rest as she tried to fend them off. Seulgi spared a quick glance to Seungwan and saw that the commander struggled to defend herself and barely missed the onslaught of continuous attacks. She huffed exasperatedly and evaded the streams of water and pieces of metal directed at her, jumping in and out of range while lashing out at them with whips of fire.

A scream came from Seungwan's direction, causing adrenaline to rush through Seulgi's body. Thinking of her best friend, the admiral propelled herself upwards with a small jet. She closed her eyes in concentration and inhaled deeply, feeling a powerful heat collect inside her. Fury flashed from her eyes as she blew out the breath she held into an enormous flame, fanning out to disable her group of attackers and blowing them away.

She dropped down and hastily made her way to Seungwan but stopped dead in her tracks.

"Seungwan!"

Terror had Seulgi in its clutches when she saw her best friend hoisted up one of the black clothed men and appeared to be unconscious. Knowing that panic won't do her or her best friend any good, she took a quick calming breath.

Suddenly having an idea, Seulgi concentrated once again, making sure that she won't hit her best friend accidentally, and shot her arm out, pointing two fingers at the man carrying Seungwan.

She felt the energy run through her body, the current moving to her arm and shooting out lightning from her fingertips, shocking the attacker into dropping Seungwan.

"Seungwan!" Seulgi shouted as she ran to her best friend. Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay, she repeated to herself as she held the commander in her arms.

A gust of wind blew past her and suddenly Irene was by her side, lashing her own whip of air at the still convulsing man, just in case.

Seulgi's hair flailed as the general unleashed her own hell at the remaining attackers, directing them away from Seulgi and Seungwan. The princess was just about to shake her best friend when she suddenly stirred and mumbled incoherently.

Her body sagged in relief at the knowledge that Seungwan was still alive and breathing, though it only fueled her rage. Seulgi gently propped Seungwan against a wall and hurried towards the end of the ship where Irene continuously blasted the fleeing enemy speedboats. The firebender joined her in her attack and shot out bolt after bolt of lightning, screaming in wrath as she spent the last of her energy hitting most of the attackers but unfortunately missing some who were too far out.

When the last of them were gone, Seulgi's body succumbed to exhaustion and the last thing she felt before darkness reigned were soft but strong arms which caught her as she fell.

author's note:

//channels my inner octavia// I'M BACK BISHES!!! okay but seriously, first things first—IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG AGHHH ㅠ ㅅ ㅠ i really don't have any other excuse besides school sigh :c i started writing this chapter around august but ah well stuff happened and here we are... but hey at least it all paid off!! i hope i can maintain my grades for the second sem asljfksjfdl. anyways, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! there's no telling when i can update next, but please know that i'm not abandoning this, and just in case, advanced merry christmas and happy new year!!! thank you to all who continue reading this—you keep me going <3 p.s. it's official—i hate aff's editor ugh