Eclipse (Avatar the Last Airbender)

Chapter 5: Miyuki's Lonely Days

The sleeveless pink dress, if it could even be called just a "dress," that was delivered to Miyuki's room was oddly luxurious. It had a maroon lining that sported painstakingly intricate gold accents. The material was soft and smooth against her skin, and it felt almost wrong to be wearing something of such high quality. It almost felt as though it was worth more than she was.

Miyuki undid the braids to her usual half-up-half-down hairstyle in favor of the generic Fire Nation topknot, which she secured with a golden clip shaped like a small flame. The bell-shaped sleeves just barely reached past her elbows and didn't have much extra cloth so as to not catch fire or obstruct bending. She hummed. Practical in design, but fashionable. 

The silhouette of the dress was clean and graceful. Unexpectedly flattering actually. She approved. Still, it felt strange to be clad in foreign clothing. She almost looked like a new person, now that she took a closer look at herself. Almost. Hopefully she could pass for someone from the Fire Nation like this.

Miyuki took one last glance at herself before heading outside, where she found Iroh and the exiled prince waiting for her. "Ah, just the people I was looking for," she greeted. "Thank you for the change of clothes. Do I look the part?"

"It suits you well, Miyuki," Iroh replied as he handed her a thick maroon cloak.

She thanked him as she wrapped herself in the warm cloth gratefully. Clearly, Fire Nation clothing wasn't suited for the cold and she was thankful for the additional warmth that it provided. She glanced at the prince who had been oddly silent. "By the way, when did you pick this up? We've only stopped in the Earth Kingdom to re-stock twice since the Zhao incident and this fabric feels expensive."

"Y-You look..." the prince began shakily. She cast him a curious glance in response to the waver in his voice. "You look suitable." He practically blurted the words out.

"'Suitable'?" she echoed.

He nodded curtly. "Yes. Suitable."

She blinked back owlishly at him. "Um, thanks..." she began. "I certainly wouldn't want to look unsuitable."

"I-I should go." He hurried down the hall and she heard him smack his forehead. "'Suitable'?" he muttered to himself, "Really?"

She turned back to the general when the prince was out of sight. "Your nephew is..." She hesitated as she searched for the phrase that she wanted. "How should I put this? He's quite the charmer."

Iroh sighed deeply. "He'll learn one day. I hope."

·:*¨༺ ★ ༻¨*:·.

Miyuki looked up from her book blankly as the exiled prince informed her that he and his uncle would be leaving to meet with the bounty hunter named June, who had made an appearance on their ship not too long ago and caused quite the commotion.

"You trust me that much?" The question came out without much thought and she had to stop herself from wincing visibly at the mistake.

"Should I not?" The expression of alarm on his face brought a faint smile to her lips.

She shook her head. "No, I'm just flattered. It's only been a few weeks, but you already trust me enough to leave me on the ship unsupervised?"

"You won't do anything though, will you?" he asked her, his general anxiety slowly seeming to rise.

She hummed playfully. "Even if I was going to, do you really think I would tell you?"

He gave her a look that she could only describe as a mix of warning and exasperation. "Miyuki."