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"Princess Korra! Princess Korra!" he called. "Oh dear, where did she go again?"
"It's okay. She should be around here," his wife said calmly.
"I'm the regent, not her babysitter," he grumbled, pitching the bridge of his nose.
"Well, she is five. You can't exactly expect her to behave. She's never been one to behave anyway."
"Master Tenzin! Master Tenzin!" a guard rushed to them, effectively interrupting their conversation. "An envoy just came back from the battlefield."
"Bring him to the conference room. I'll be right there. Sorry, Dear, could you..."
"Sure. I'll take care of her while you attend serious business."
"Thank you."
And so, Tenzin left. His wife, Pema, kept calling for the young princess but she didn't really hope for an answer.
Last year, the King and the Queen, Korra's parents, fought alongside their knights to push back the invaders from the north. Unfortunately, they perished. Even if the young princess was not quite able to understand what was happening, she became very restless. Ever since, it had been a real hassle to find her. She seemed to always find very peculiar places to hide. She even got stuck in a tree once.
Pema was her nurse. She had been since Korra's birth, which coincided with the time she had arrived in that kingdom. Tenzin and her had always been close friends with Sena and Tonraq, the late king and queen. So, when their peaceful country had been attacked by those same invaders, they had taken refuge in their kingdom and had served them, in order to stop the upcoming war.
While she had become a nurse, Tenzin had become the King's closest advisor. Upon his death, he became the regent and swore to protect Korra and her throne to the day she would become Queen. However, that would not happen before many years and the war kept going. They had to find a way to stop the bloodshed, or their people may not survive the strain it would put on their lives.
But first, finding Korra ! That was not any easier…
——
Korra was bored. When she was bored, she started thinking about Mom and Dad and she didn't like it because she couldn't see them anymore. She didn't want to stay and listen boring old men talk about things she could not even understand. So, while Tenzin was talking, she slept away (he never paid attention to her when he talked with his important voice).
Once she was out of the room, she rushed outside. She ran so fast that the guards couldn't catch up to her (their armors were too heavy and she knew it). She saw one of them trip and couldn't help but laugh. Good for you! she thought. Actually, she laughed so hard and she was running so fast that she wasn't looking in front of her.
"Be careful!" she heard.
The next thing she knew, she bumped into something and fell from the stone walk right into the garden.
"Ow…" she complained, while rubbing her head.
Weird… Something was moving. She opened her eyes to see two piercing green eyes glaring at her. She shivered. But she had no time to be scared. She heard the guards catching up to her with their heavy armors, so she grabbed the girl she had ran into and hid under the stone walk.
"What-" the girl started complaining, but Korra put a hand on her mouth.
"Where is she?" one of the guards said.
"She was right in front of us…"
"Guess we lost her again… Master Tenzin is not going to be happy."
"Well, it can't be helped anyway… She'll be fine. Let's go back."
The little princess sighed when she heard the footsteps getting farther and farther away. And then, she screamed.
The girl she had taken hostage was quite mad at her for dragging her into that situation and she really didn't like being silenced that way, so she had bitten her. Hard.
"What are you doing?!" Korra exclaimed.
"You, what are you doing!" the girl answered back crossing her arms.
"I just didn't want them to find me!"
"Why? Are you some kind of… criminal?"
"No, I'm not! I'm the princess!"
Usually, people looked slightly taken aback. Sometimes, they even felt respectful or afraid. But not this girl. She just burst out laughing.
"Sure! You're the princess, that's why you were running away from your own guards."
Now, Korra was pissed. How come that girl showed her so little respect?!
"That's because they could have put me back in that boring room with those boring old men!"
She crossed her arms and held her head high.
"You wouldn't understand anyway. That's princess duties for you. One day, I'll be King."
The girl stopped laughing. She actually looked at her intently with her head a bit titled to the side.
"Queen," she corrected her after a few seconds.
"What?" Korra asked, dumbfounded.
"You'll be Queen."
"Why? The King is the one that rules over the country."
"But you're not a boy…"
"So what?"
"Boys become kings and girls become queens. That's how it works."
The young princess actually looked mortified for a moment. She asked with a little voice:
"Does that mean I can't rule the country? But then, how will I stop the war?"
The other girl seemed to really ponder.
"I guess, if there is no king the queen can act like one. But that sounds lonely…"
Korra began thinking about it too. Suddenly, her face lit up.
"I know! It works if there are two queens! I won't be lonely and I can stop the war!"
"Actually, that's not a bad idea…"
"I just have to wait until I'm grown up. Then, Tenzin will stop being the Regent and I'll be the real Queen. And King. Whatever."
The other girl chuckled.
"I'll be looking forward to it, Queen Korra."
"Hey, how do you know my name?"
"You said you were the princess, right? My father came here to meet with the regent and the princess."
"Really?"
He must be one of those old men then, Korra thought.
"Why did you come here?"
"My… My home was attacked by the invaders of the north… They burnt everything. M-Mom isn't here anymore…"
She looked so very sad… Korra didn't know what to say at first. Then, she remembered how her own parents weren't there anymore and she felt sad too. However, she knew she didn't like thinking about it too much and thought it would be the same for the girl. They might as well do something fun to forget about it.
"What's your name?" she asked to change the subject.
"I'm Asami. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Korra! But you already know about that…"
Korra scratched the back of her head and Asami chuckled lightly. Even if the girl was laughing at her, she felt much more at ease. She looked less sad. It suited her better. She was glad to be able to alleviate her mood and she decided to keep going.
"Nice to meet you too," she smiled. "So, what were you doing?"
"Actually, I was looking at that purple tree."
"What purple tree?"
Asami chuckled again.
"Aren't you supposed to live here?"
"Well, yeah, but I don't like trees. They are no fun."
"I like trees… I like flowers better, though. This one had really pretty flowers. They are all purple. I really, really like them! Wanna see?"
"Sure."
So, Asami took Korra's hand to get out of their hiding place. Once they were out, she pointed to the tree above their head and gazed at it as if it were some precious thing. Korra was mesmerized. Not by the tree–she had seen it a lot of times already and it wasn't much more interesting now. She was mesmerized by the look on the other girl's face. She looked so pretty…
"I wonder what kind of tree it is…" she absent-mindedly said.
"No idea. I can ask Pema! I'm sure she knows!"
"Really? I want to know!"
"Well, we can-"
"Asami, there you are. I was worried."
Korra looked up and saw a man with glassed looking at them. He was really well dressed.
"Dad!"
Asami released her hand and ran up the stairs to join her dad on the stone walk. She hugged him tightly. Korra felt really sad. She wished she could hug her dad too… Asami felt so very far away from her now, as if she was part of another world.
"Did you finish your meeting?"
"Yes. What were you doing? Making new friends?"
"Yeah! That's Korra! I mean… Princess Korra," she said it again more respectfully.
"Oh? Your Majesty."
Asami's dad actually bowed to her and she nodded. She should bow too but she didn't feel like it.
"I think Master Tenzin was looking for you, your Majesty. I have a few details to settle with him, then we'll go. You should certainly bid farewell to the Princess, Asami. I'll come get you when it's time to leave. But don't wander off again, okay? I know you like flowers but be careful."
"Yes, Dad."
He left and Korra was looking at the ground.
"So, you're leaving," she said.
"Yeah. I don’t live here…"
Was it weird that she would miss her? She didn't have many friends… Actually she had no friends at all, not with her being the Princess. Sometimes she could play with the servants' children but they weren't allowed much. Most people were like Asami, they came and went. And with her parents not being there anymore…
Asami seemed to notice how upset she was because she said:
"Maybe I can visit later? I don't know where we'll go… Maybe it won't be far away."
"Maybe."
They didn't know what to say. There was both so much to say and nothing at all. They still had not finished talking about the tree!
"You have to come back," Korra said.
"What?"
"I need to tell you the name of the tree!"
"Oh. Sure."
"Wait."
Asami frowned as Korra ran up to the stone walk and jumped on the tree.
"Be careful!" the green-eyed girl panicked.
The princess did not pay any attention to her. She climbed higher and higher until she reached one of the flowers. She did not care one bit that she was hanging on the tree or that her head was upside-down. Then, she jumped and landed beside Asami.
"Here."
She handed her the flower.
"You know, you shouldn't pick flowers from trees."
She took it anyway, but very carefully. Then, she put it in her hair.
"How do I look?" she asked, with a bright smile.
"You're beautiful," Korra answered, amazed.
"Really? I'm glad."
"Hey, will you be the second queen?"
"What?"
"You said you'll come back, right? Then, when I am Queen, I want you to be Queen with me!"
"Why?"
"Because you're really pretty!"
"That's all?" Asami chuckled.
"Why? Isn't that a good reason? My Dad always said that my Mom was the prettiest of all and that's why she was the best Queen ever."
"Okay, then."
She was still laughing though. Korra opened her mouth and was about to complain but she was interrupted.
"There you are."
It was Pema. It was trouble. The woman strode towards her and picked her up.
"What did you get yourself into this time? You're full of dust and… Did you really tear your clothes?"
Maybe climbing on the tree was not the best idea ever… But Asami's smile was worth it.
"Put me down! Put me down!" the young princess demanded.
She felt so ashamed being treated like a baby in front of her new friend.
"No way. I have to get you out of these clothes before you run away again."
"But Pema-"
"No buts. You wouldn't be in trouble if you behaved like a proper lady."
And there it was… Behaving like a "proper lady" was sooo tiring. Why would she do that? She wanted to be a knight! She didn't need all those ladylike features.
"Can I say goodbye?" she asked weakly.
Pema softened.
"Yes, you can."
She put Korra down and let her run to her new friend.
"I guess I'll go first then… But you don't forget! Right? Right?"
"Sure thing. See you, Korra."
Little Asami kissed her on the cheek as a goodbye and Korra was all giddy. She smiled more brightly than she had been able to for a while and almost hopped to Pema. The adult chuckled.
She was very glad her little princess had made a new friend. She really hoped they could see each other in the future.
It's only when they reached Korra's bedroom that she actually remembered that she should have asked for the name of the tree. Maybe she could still catch Asami if she was fast enough?
"Pema, what's the name of the tree with the purple flowers?"
"Hum… I guess you're talking about the hibiscus. Your friend had a flower of that tree in her hair, right?"
"Yes, that one!"
"Then, it's a hibiscus. Do you know the meaning of it?"
"Trees have meaning?"
"More like flowers do. The flowers from the hibiscus means: "we have a date"."
"Does that mean that I'll get to see Asami again?"
Pema chuckled seeing how excited Korra was.
"I hope so, sweetie. I hope so."
——
Finally, it was her time to shine! This coronation day took forever. But it was time to put an end to the regency.
Korra was almost eighteen now, she was able to handle the kingdom. It was easier now that the war had stopped. However, the enemy was not completely defeated as some groups still attacked villages in the hope of that they would be able to recover and win the war. She intended to stop them completely. She would help her kingdom to recover and protect those who were weakened by the attacks. They still needed some control and reconstruction in some areas.
She wore a dress for the occasion. Not that she had had much of a choice. It was not that she hated dresses anyway. She just couldn't fight in those and she liked to fight way more. Well, she wouldn't need to fight on her coronation day. And if she needed to, she would just cut that dress. (Of course, she had pants underneath.)
How long would it take, really? It felt like Tenzin had been talking for decades. Ah, finally, he was touching her with that damn sword on her shoulders. Yes, yes, Queen Korra, some more blathering, and… and… done! Now, the fun part! Or it could be the fun part if she weren't supposed to sit around and do nothing until everyone was done greeting her and someone invited her to a dance. Lucky for her, she was not a traditional queen. She had already refused all the marriage proposals.
So, she just got up from her throne, took a flower she had hidden behind it before the ceremony and went through the crowd, hearing murmurs as she did so. She ignored them. She knew she was there somewhere. She glanced around the room until she caught long raven hair flying around, deep-red lips and those same piercing green eyes. She really was the most beautiful of all.
Without hesitation, the new Queen walked toward the other woman. When she was in front of her, she handed her the purple flower she had hidden behind her back.
"Hibiscus. The name of the tree," she simply said. "Remember?"
"Queen Korra," she answered with a bow. "May I congratulate you for your coronation?"
"Do you want the flower or not?"
"You can put it on yourself."
Asami sure had grown tall. Korra had to stand on her tiptoe to put the purple flower in her hair (and she didn't like it). While she was doing so, the green-eyed woman whispered into her ear:
"Still not respecting the etiquette, huh?"
Korra turned her face ever so slightly to look her in the eyes but staying really close to her face.
"Who do you take me for?" she answered smugly.
Asami only chuckled. She chuckled as she did back then and she was still as beautiful. Maybe she was even more beautiful if that was even possible.
The blue-eyed woman took a step back and extended her hand.
"My Queen, would you allow me this dance?" she offered and everyone around them gasped.
"You know, I'm pretty sure people are supposed to ask you on a dance."
"Well, it's our long-awaited date, isn't it?"
"Sure is."
And so, Asami took her hand. After all, she did make a promise to a cute five-year-old princess to meet again and to rule with her so that she wouldn't ever be lonely.