Dragonfire | Mako

TWO

The woman standing in front of the mirror looked nothing like she usually did. She was wearing a dark red dress that fell to her ankles, hugging her body in a way her Fire Nation robes never did, opening just slightly at the base of her neck, revealing her collar bone and the small beauty mark normally no one got to see, leaving her arms bare, muscles seen if one looked carefully enough as she moved around. She was wearing a pair of short silver heels, a pair of earrings made of platinum decorated her ears, and around her neck was a necklace that was too made of platinum, twisting and twisting until it formed a roaring dragon. Her lips were painted a dark red, the same as her dress, her eyelids had been painted a discreet colour just a shade darker than her skin. Her hair was let loose, falling to her shoulders. Not a blemish was seen.

The Princess of the Fire Nation was going to a celebration. She was actually excited about it.

A knock came from her room and she called out for whoever was knocking to enter. They did, and she noticed it was one of the workers of the hotel. He bowed in her presence.

"Princess Kaida, your satomobile is here."

She nodded in response as she turned around and followed the man out of her room. They headed to the elevator and from there they moved to the main entrance of the hotel, and at once, her eyes fell on the man dressed in a dark red uniform, golden badges shining on his shirt, pinned proudly above his chest. She walked towards him and his eyes took her in briefly before he met her gaze, his lips pulling into a smile. She came to a stop in front of him.

"General Iroh, it's a surprise to see you here."

He played along as he took a step back, his eyes twinkling in a mischevious manner as he grabbed her hand and raised it to his lips, pressing a short kiss on her knuckles. "Princess Kaida, your beauty exceeds all imagination."

She almost cracked right then and there but managed to keep herself from laughing as he straightened up once more. "Are you going to escort me to the celebration, General?"

"Certainly, Princess."

They walked arm in arm to the exit of the hotel where a satomobile was waiting for them. They got in the backseat - Iroh opening the door for her to get in to which Kaida smiled and thanked him graciously - and the moment they were settled, the door was closed and the driver had started, she burst out laughing.

"My beauty exceeds all imagination?" she teased with a wide smile as she turned to Iroh but he only sent her a sly smile.

"Well, we do look alike."

Kaida turned away with a scoff, both of them not catching the smile on their driver's lips as they got to the celebration. A short while later, they had reached the building the celebration would take place. Iroh got out and opened the door for Kaida next, holding a hand out for her to take. She took it as he helped her out and the moment she had left the car, a thousand flashes went off, and if she weren't used to the cameras, she was certain she would have been blinded by it. But she was used to cameras, and she turned to Iroh with a bright smile, looped her arm through his, and together they got in the building.

"There are some people here you know and some you don't," Iroh said the moment they got inside as Kaida's eyes took in the crowd of people in the room and the music heard slightly over their chatter. She turned to Iroh.

"Are you going to introduce me to them?"

He nodded, "Certainly. Follow my lead."

She did without an objection. The first person she met for the night was president Raiko and his wife, a man she had seen briefly but hadn't introduced herself to a few years ago. As she and Iroh approached, the president of Republic City was talking to someone else Iroh didn't know, but at the sight of them coming, Raiko stopped his conversation and turned to the two siblings.