I decided for this day to write a prequel one-shot of an AU that I've already been working on! This takes place before As the Sun Rises and is based on one of my favorite chapters of the Yona of the Dawn manga that I wouldn't have included in the AU otherwise. (Author words not mine)

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Chat enjoyed being in the palace much more than back in the capital city of the fire tribe. Hanging around his adopted brother and Aunt back home was less preferable to this. No one was really paying attention to him here. He wasn't important. Chat was just a former thief who had been handed off to some nobles by the Royal Family. He was ignored.

Aunt Nathalie was currently in a council meeting set before the festival tonight, Felix had shut himself up in the palace library, and Chat was left to wander the grounds by himself. It was a sunny day at least. He had gone to watch the soldiers training for a little while, but there was no way they would let him join, so he quickly became bored and wandered off towards the gardens.

For a ten-year-old, Chat was a skilled fighter, but people older than him laughed in the face if he tried to challenge them. He wanted a chance to prove himself and have people see him as more than just a former thief. He didn't steal anymore, but he could still fight. Chat wasn't all like Felix, who studied politics in his free time. He wanted to pick a sword and learn how to use it.

Chat wasn't sure how he had found himself in some far corner of the gardens, but he knew he had never been here before. He'd wandered around this place a few times before, but he'd never seen the small stream that meandered through the gardens. It was quiet here, save for the babbling of the water, but as he wandered through the tall bushes, Chat began to hear something else. A soft whispering.

Coming around a corner, Chat found the source of the quiet voice. "What are You doing?" he asked.

The Princess lifted Her head, arms wrapped tightly around Her knees. She seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly grabbed onto his arm and pulled him down to the ground next to Her. Chat was slightly surprised by how strong She was, but not too much. The first time they had met She had practically knocked him to the ground for trying to steal Her crown. In fact, it was all Her fault that Chat was now stuck living as a son of the fire tribe leader.

The Princess shushed him. "I'm hiding," She said in a harsh whisper. "Luka and I are playing hide and seek."

"Well, he's going to find you easily like this," Chat said with a frown. He grabbed onto Her hand, surprising Her a little. "Come on, follow me."

Chat began to lead Her out of the bushes, the two of them crouching to keep their heads from poking out over the tops of the branches.

"Marinette!" Luka's voice called from somewhere not too far off. Chat and the Princess sped up a little, trying to make their way out of the garden.

They came across the outer wall of the palace, a gate not too far away. "That leads to the city right?" Chat asked.

"Yes," the Princess said as he began to lead Her toward the gate. "But, Chat, I'm not allowed to go out there."

"No one's going to catch us. There's a party going on out there," Chat said. The Princess bit Her lip nervously and Chat couldn't help but laugh at her. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe, Princess."

She remained reluctant for a moment more but nodded Her head eventually. The two of them smiled as they carefully headed toward the gate.

"Hey!" Luka shouted behind them and they both took off running. "Leaving the grounds is cheating!"

The Princess picked up the bottom of Her skirts as they jumped through the gates and entered one of the back alleyways of the kingdom's capital city. Luka was hot on their heels and closing in. Chat's hand was still connected to Her own as he led Her through the city streets. A few vendors seemed annoyed at the kids playing where they were trying to conduct business, but the three of them were having too much fun to stop and really take notice.

Unfortunately, the Princess had to trip, allowing Luka to finally catch up to them and sling his arms over both their shoulders. The older boy was breathing heavily, pretty much matching how out of breath both he and the Princess felt. They hung onto each other as they regained their breath, all the while laughing.

"I finally caught you," Luka said. "It's not fair that you got Chat to help You, Marinette. He's a much better player than I am."

"I think this balances it out," Chat said, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's horrible at hide-and-seek."

"Hey!" the Princess shouted, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. She let out a deep sigh. "We should head back."
"Why would you want to do that?" Chat asked, looking around them at all the people selling food and entertainers getting ready for the festival. "They're about to have a party out here."

"Marinette is right," Luka said. "We'll be the ones getting in trouble if the guards find us missing."

"Nobody's going to know," Chat said, walking backward as he headed farther away from the palace. He watched as the smile spread across the Princess's face and She ran to catch up with him.

"Come on!" She shouted back at Luka, who had to give in to them.

Chat and Luka walked on either side of the Princess, often exchanging glances as they walked through the city streets. They stepped a little closer to Her if anyone passed them, both with the mutual understanding that because there were no palace guards around, they were taking up that roll for the evening. Anytime Luka was about to suggest that they head back, Chat immediately cut him off. He saw the look on the Princess's face, knew that She was enjoying Herself being outside of the palace walls. Chat wondered if She had ever been beyond them before in any capacity that wasn't riding in a palanquin.

The Princess grabbed onto his arm and led him over to one of the booths selling fabrics. Chat didn't think they were really that interesting, but the Princess kept commenting on how beautiful She thought they were.

"I want to try some of the food!" She shouted excitedly. Chat patted some of his pockets, frowning at the lack of coin.

"I've got some money," Luka said, unhooking a pouch from his belt. He grabbed the Princess's hand, leading Her over to one of the food stalls. Chat followed closely behind.

It had come suddenly, but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, almost as if they were being watched by someone. He scanned the crowd with his eyes but could see no one in the general vicinity overly interested in a couple of unsupervised kids.

Chat cursed to himself and wished they weren't dressed in such fine clothing. If they looked less like rich noble kids they probably would be able to blend in easier. And the Princess stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Are You really sure You should eat that without having someone taste it first?" Luka asked as the Princess raised a dumpling to Her mouth.

"No one would be selling poisoned food here." Chat scoffed at him.

Not too far away, an old man carrying a large pack on his back tripped and fell to the ground. Luka and Chat both looked at each other with wide eyes. They rushed to help the man back his feet picking up the pack for him and handing it back.

"Are you alright, sir?" Luka asked.

"Yes, thank you, boys." The man smiled at them. They both waved as he walked away disappearing off into the crowd.

Chat let out a sigh as he turned back to the food stall they had been standing at. "Oh, no."

"What?" Luka said, turning around with him. They both froze, noticing immediately the empty space where the Princess had previously been standing. Luka's face turned pale. "She wouldn't wander off by herself, would She?"

"Of course not," Chat said, going dark. "She's not stupid."

Luka nodded his head firmly. "We split up then."

"Right," Chat said, nodding. "We have to find Her."

Without another word, Luka and Chat headed in opposite directions down the street. Chat weaved easily through the crowd. He cursed his short stature, wishing that a growth spurt had come already and he'd be able to see over the tops of everyone's heads. He should have trusted his instincts earlier when he thought they were being watched. Now the Princess was missing, and he would certainly be blamed for it.

As time went on, Chat became even more worried. Was She okay? Who had taken Her and why? Could they have possibly known She was the Princess?

If so, that would probably make this even worse.

Chat shook his head, trying not to get too caught up in his worrying. He needed to change tactics.

Plagg, the only person who had been close to a parental figure when he was living as a thief, came to mind. "You're short," he had said, not the best beginning to his advice. "You need to get a better vantage point if you want to one-up your enemy."

Chat nodded in determination as he remembered Plagg's words, breaking off from the crowd and heading into an alleyway. He scaled one of the buildings easily, pulling himself up onto the roof and walking one foot after the other. Chat held his arms out at either side for better balance and kept his eyes down on the street below.

The Princess had been wearing a shade of blue that wasn't easily available to the masses. The color of Her dress would stick out then, so Chat kept his eyes out for that. Feeling confident, he picked up his pace, running and jumping in between the buildings.

It was noisy, but he picked up on the shout of a familiar voice close by. The beating of his heart picked off as he headed in that direction. Creeping up to the edge of the roof, Chat could see the people below him in the alley. Two men held the Princess by each arm, as She kicked and screamed as they tried to drag Her along. Anger boiled up inside him, but at least She was putting up a fight.

"Let's just knock Her out," one of the men said. "She's fighting too much."

"Carrying Her out of here might look more suspicious," the other said. "Besides, the boss doesn't like to get the damaged cargo. They need to sell good."

"Then we'll stick Her in a crate!" The man shouted as the Princess stamped down on his foot. Hard. She tried to run but the other man still had a good hold on Her.

There was no time for him to make a decision about what the best plan was, so Chat just went with the first one that came to mind. He lept off the roof, kicking the man that the Princess had already slightly injured in the face before landing on the ground in a crouched position. Both men froze in surprise as the young boy stood up to his full height with a fiery gaze. Chat barely came up to their waists, but he knew he would destroy them.

"Let her go!" Chat shouted, moving into a defensive position.

"Get out of here, boy." One of the men spat at him.

"Not likely," Chat said. The Princess was staring at him breathlessly and he smiled at her, hoping it would communicate his message. I'm going to get You out of here.

He waited until they seemed to be starting to speak again and then attacked. It caught them off guard well enough to give him an advantage. At the same time he kicked the man still holding onto the Princess's arm in the stomach he grabbed onto Her and pulled her away from them. With the Princess now standing safely behind him, Chat brought them to the ground, giving them a chance to escape.

"Let's go!" Chat shouted as he grabbed onto Her hand and started running.

The Princess did Her best to keep up with him, especially as they heard the kidnappers shouting as they chased after them. Thieves, they were yelling, accusing them, in the hopes of putting themselves on the right side of the story. Fortunately, no one in the marketplace seemed too keen to stop two kids who were being chased by men who looked about ready to murder them.

"What happened?" Luka asked as he seemed to come out of nowhere, running alongside him.

"Traffickers," Chat said through gritted teeth. "They're still after us, too."

Luka looked over his shoulders briefly. "I told you it was a bad idea to come out here."

"Yeah, I'm not enjoying it that much anymore either," the Princess said through heavy breaths.

The trio turned a corner, all of them running into something that stopped them in their path and knocked them off their feet. Chat looked up to see a few of the palace guards standing before them, disappointed and annoyed frowns on their faces. The Princess, Luka, and Chat offered nervous smiles.

The two traffickers came running around the corner, still shouting for them to stop, but were met with the pointed ends of blades instead. They were quickly arrested and dragged away, while the trio was lead back toward the palace. All three of them knew what was coming, and their suspicions were proven right as they were led toward the throne room.

From what he could gather, Chat knew the council meeting had effectively ended when the Princess, the son of the fire tribe leader, and the son of the water tribe leader were all discovered to be missing. The palace had gone into an uproar searching for them, and eventually, guards had been sent into the city looking for them.

And now they were standing before King Thomas getting ready to be scolded.

"How could you encourage this behavior?" Aunt Nathalie asked him as Chat kept his eyes on the ground. "I thought I taught you not to have enough common sense to not be a bad influence."

"And you," Anarka Couffaine pointed a finger at her son. "You didn't think it was a good idea to come back?"
Both Luka and Chat opened their mouths to argue their cases with their parents but were interrupted as the Princess stepped forward, bowing Her head before the King. "It's true that it wasn't my idea to sneak out," she said. Ah, so we're all getting thrown under the cart. "But, I did ask them to let me stay out longer. The trouble is all my fault. I take full responsibility."

Chat stood in shock, completely surprised by the Princess's words. She hadn't tried to deny it at all, just completely owned up to their mistakes.

The King was silent for a moment before he stood and made his way down the steps to stand in fron of his daughter. "Thank you for being honest with me," King Thomas said, gently placing a hand underneath the Princess's chin as he lifted Her head. "I'm very glad you're safe, but-" the Princess, Luka, and Chat all frowned "-I believe you still deserve a chance to learn from your mistakes."

King Thomas turned to look back at Nathalie and Anarka. "A day confined to their rooms and under watch sounds appropriate, yes?"

Chat wanted to groan, being cooped up inside sounded like the worst punishment in the world. Unfortunately, Nathalie and Anarka both nodded their heads in agreement. Chat could see Felix smirking as he stood off to the side, but Luka's sister Juleka seemed upset at her brother getting in trouble. He wondered what it would be like to have a sibling who cared.

Satisfied with the decision, the King smiled at his daughter, pinching the girl's cheeks. "No, go wash up and I'll have dinner brought to You." He turned to Luka. "You too."

As Luka and Marinette started walking toward the door, Chat stood in place. He had noticed distinctly that he had not been dismissed like the other two. Craning his neck, he looked back and saw that Marinette and Luka were looking at him expectantly. Chat shook his head, telling them to go one without him. His friends left the room with a frown.

Turning back to the front of the room, he saw King Thomas was standing in front of him. He bent down slightly, looking at him from closer to his level. "I wanted to thank you, Chat," he said. "You very bravely saved my daughter, correct?"

"Yes," Chat said, and quickly added a bow. "Your Majesty."

"A little rebellious, but you do seem like a well-mannered young man," King Thomas said. He turned back to Aunt Nathalie, motioning for her to come over. "There's something important that I'd like to discuss with both of you."

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It was a little while before Chat was brought to the same room that the Princess and Luka were in. Dinner had already been served and so he sat down with him, eagerly taking one of the bread rolls into his hands.

"Why did they want you to stay?" Luka asked him.

Chat just shrugged. "No reason."

There was a reason, he just didn't feel ready to talk about it yet. They ate in relative silence before pulling out the mats and getting ready to sleep. Luka set up the Princess's for Her, their mats fairly close together, but Chat placed his own all the way on the other side of the room. He curled up facing away from them and falling asleep almost immediately.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Chat was awoken by someone poking him in the back. "Psst, Chat," the Princess whispered. "Hey."

Chat groaned and rolled over. "What is it?"

The Princess sat back, Her hands resting on Her knees. "Are you really going to stay at the palace?"
"How did you find that out?" Chat said, eyes wide.

"I couldn't sleep and there were guards whispering about it outside," She said, shrugging Her shoulders. She leaned closer to him. "Are you really going to be my bodyguard?"

"When I'm a little older, yeah," Chat said, sitting up. "I have to train to be ready to protect you, but in a few years I will be."

Chat guessed that She could hardly contain Herself anymore and the Princess practically jumped on him, attacking him with a hug. "I'm so excited," She tried not to say too loudly. "We'll get to spend every day together."

"Yeah, great," Chat said sarcastically, pushing Her off of him. The Princess was still smiling at him and Chat couldn't help the ghost of a smile that appeared on his face. It really wasn't such a bad thing to spend all his time with Her.

"Thank you for protecting Me today," She said. "I was so scared, but as soon as you were there..."

"Well," Chat reached forward, patting Her on the shoulder. "It's just my job, I guess."

"It wasn't then," the Princess said, shaking Her head. "Maybe now. Officially. But you could have run and found the guards. You didn't have to put yourself in danger."

"You might have been gone by then," Chat said, frowning deeply at the thought. "I- I could have lost You."

They sat in silence for a while together, and that was enough to calm both of them. Eventually, the Princess finally yawned and stood to Her feet to walk back to Her mat. "I'm finally tired," She said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Chat. And the day after that. And the day after that-"

"Don't remind me," Chat groaned.

The Princess just laughed at him. "Good night, Chat."

"Good night," Chat responded. "Princess."