Kaguya continued to hold her basic form, though she turned her fingers upward and splayed them slightly, warmth creeping into her cheeks. He was entirely unlike any boy she'd ever met, but then he was Prince Shaozu of the Fire Nation, and that was to be expected. He encouraged her just enough to keep her trailing along behind him at a respectful distance, never saying no, but not outright saying yes, either.

She imagined that most boys felt this way when chasing a pretty girl, and the juxtaposition of situations made her giggle. Not at this particular moment, but privately, when she was alone.

Princess Kaguya had done, in her visits to the Fire Nation, research as extensive as possible on the acceptable behavior of Fire Nation ladies while being courted, and Fire Nation noblemen when courting, and, with the flair of a born politician, decided to mix the two together with a dose of Southern Water Tribe romantic sensuality that, on any other man in the known world, would have reduced her target to her devoted slave for the rest of his natural life. With Prince Shaozu, she had made herself, as far as she could tell, tolerable at best.

Her father, grandfather and countless other Water Tribe warriors since time immemorial credited glacial patience as the key factor involved in any great hunt. Kaguya, listening to her water lap against Prince Shaozu's velvet-over-muscle skin, liked to think of herself as a very patient young lady, indeed.