Chapter Text
"Meeting adjourned!"
Seulgi let out a sigh of relief as she stood up and left the hall, not minding the others who continued speaking. Her head started to hurt with all the blabber of the cabinet members who talked over each other and didn't have the decency to at least listen to what others say. All she really came there for was the discussion of smugglers who illegally imported wares into Republic City, which involved the waters of the Fire Nation. Unfortunately, the area where those smugglers passed was under her watch, which made her have a role in their arrest. That part was done an hour and a half ago, and since one can't leave unless the meeting was adjourned, she was forced to stay and listen to children-like adults she didn't even know. No wonder she barely visited the city and always stayed in her ships.
She was but a few steps away from the building when something soft bumped onto her, making her arms flail as she almost fell butt first on the ground. Seulgi really would've, but someone's hands caught her butt quickly and stood her upright. Wait, her butt?
"Watch where you're going, you punk! Don't you know who I—" she seethed as she looked up, but sputtered when she took in the face of the person who bumped her.
"—am?" Seulgi finished weakly, her eyes now on the face of the most beautiful person she had ever seen. The said person was grinning a cheeky smile, though Seulgi had no idea why. Then she realized the hands of the brown-tressed girl were still on her butt.
"Ha-hands... b-butt..." she mumbled, feeling embarrassed and shy about the whole situation. What would people say when they see a random girl's hands holding the butt of the Fire Nation's Kang Seulgi, the youngest admiral to date and one of the best ever? And at public!
"What's that?" the person, still holding her butt, asked with a smirk. "I didn't quite catch what you said just now."
Annoyed by the situation and the arrogance of the person, Seulgi did something she had never done before. Kang Seulgi, the great, respectable, and fearless Admiral Kang Seulgi of the Fire Nation, set her butt on fire.
The shorter girl's eyes widened before doing a backward somersault, letting her hands fly off Seulgi's flaming butt. She landed a good few meters away, something a non-bender wouldn't be able to do.
"Phew!" the stranger exclaimed as she landed. "I almost burned my hands back there. Good thing I felt it heat up before the flames shot out," she finished with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Seulgi could only huff and continued walking, choosing to ignore the annoying girl. She was just a few steps away from her when the girl shouted out, "Nice butt, by the way!"
Seulgi stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at the girl. The said girl just smiled that cheeky grin of hers and lifted an eyebrow amusingly.
"Be careful not to fall again, hot stuff!" The girl's grin widened when Seulgi's eyes narrowed more. "And take good care of your assets!" she said with a hint of playfulness in her voice, emphasizing the first syllable of her last word.
Then she turned around, letting out soft laughter as she walked away. Seulgi, being the esteemed admiral who had more than a dozen fleets under her command, stopped herself from going after the girl. She composed herself and continued walking back to her ship with smoke coming out of her nose—the only visible sign of her annoyance.
Seulgi was nearing the harbor when she passed by a vendor who sold a variety of street food. It included snacks that originated in Republic City and even native ones that came from the different countries. Thinking it was a good distraction to take her mind off the earlier incident with the beautiful, yet annoying girl, the young admiral decided to eat some and learn about what the city had to offer.
After paying for her food and also getting some to bring back for Seungwan, she took a detour and headed for the park. It was a bright and sunny day with a gentle breeze blowing through the air, letting her relax as she sat on a bench scattered around the pond. It reminded the Fire Nation native of the royal gardens back in her country where she used to play as a child. It was in those gardens wherein she met Seungwan, their parents leaving them there as they attended to court matters. Being of the same age, the two eventually grew close and remained the best of friends to this day.
Seulgi's peaceful state was broken when she heard an incessant noise coming from somewhere near her. She looked around and saw an officer blowing relentlessly into his whistle as he chased two adolescent girls running through the water headed towards her direction. The two managed not to get wet as the smaller one waterbended the water out of their way and towards the officer, leaving the poor guy soaked from head to toe.
When they finally reached dry land, the taller one earthbended mud from the pond and spread it after their path. Right at that moment, the wet officer caught up with them and slid on the mud, making the two troublemakers let out cheers and high five each other.
The two then saw Seulgi who could only stare at them in bewilderment with her mouth hanging open. They grinned at the admiral, with the shorter girl smiling a cheeky smile that reminded her of the one the annoying girl from earlier had. Seulgi just shook her head and stood up, the whole purpose of her detour defeated.
She was by the docks when Seulgi saw a commotion aboard her ship. She hurried her foosteps, thinking anything but good happened while she was away. Instead of climbing up the ramp, the firebending prodigy chose to propel herself with fire and landed on the deck. Her crew's eyes widened in surprise and immediately straightened their backs.
"Welcome back, Admiral Kang!" they finished with a salute. Seulgi nodded in return and turned to the crew nearest her.
"What's the ruckus all about?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
The young private could only fumble as he uttered, "Well, admiral, you see..." he trailed off while looking at the others for help. Seulgi cleared her throat, urging the boy to continue.
"A g-girl swept in much like you did earlier, c-claiming that she's from the United Forces a-and that we're under her command n-now..." Seulgi's eyebrows rose as she listened to him.
"Where is this girl now?" she asked them with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Commander Son brought the girl inside and to your office, Admiral Kang," answered another private.
The admiral dismissed them with a wave of her hand and barreled through the doors. She went straight to her office, fuming angrily as she thought of someone claiming what was hers.
Seulgi opened the door and stopped at what she saw. There, sitting on her office chair, was the annoying girl from earlier that day. She was garbed in the uniform of a United Forces general, as opposed to the airbender clothes she wore when Seulgi first saw her. The girl and Seungwan—who was in front of the table—looked up when they heard the door open.
"Seulgi!" greeted Seungwan. However, Seulgi did not answer her as her eyes were locked on the beautiful girl who was currently smirking at her.
"Hey there, hot stuff," greeted the girl using the annoying nickname, that cheeky grin of hers in place.
Then the flames of the candles the admiral kept around in her room flared as she gritted her teeth.
Looks like Seulgi can't rid herself of this girl after all.