Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 34: Never Forget Who You Are

Traveling on foot they continued their journey south staying in the forest eating whatever they could find or whatever Chiara could kill. Arriving in another village, she decided to try and earn money. Zuko felt frustrated but he did not argue with her since the last bit of money she earned stopped Iroh's whining about not having any tea and prevented him from turning another poisonous plant into another emergency trip to the hospital. At the end of the day, she had a few more coins, and they enjoyed a hot meal that had a lot more flavor than the unseasoned meat and fish they had been eating for too long. Not having enough for an inn, they stayed in the woods as usual.

Early the next morning, when Iroh and Chiara were getting ready to return to the village for food, Zuko turned up with an ostrich horse.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Chiara when she saw him riding it into their camp.

He jumped down. "Nowhere it'll be missed," he said indifferently.

She glared at him.

"I'm done walking," he said. "Just get on."

"This isn't right," she argued.

"What's not right is us living like this!" he yelled, angrily pointing to their camp. "Come on, Uncle. It can carry all three of us. We're not walking anymore."

Iroh sighed feeling ashamed that his nephew had resorted to stealing, but since the deed was already done, he slowly climbed on the animal. Chiara put the strap of her bag over her shoulder and started walking towards the town.

"What are you doing?" said Zuko.

"I'm going to the village," she answered clearly upset by his behavior. "I'll meet you there."

Her refusal to ride only angered him further. Instead of petitioning his uncle's intercession as he usually did, he grabbed her arm with more force than necessary and pulled her over to the animal.

"Get on," he demanded.

She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'd rather walk," she said stubbornly.

He narrowed his eyes at her frustrated by her defiance. "You'll get on it or I'll put you on it," he threatened deeply.

Iroh knew Zuko meant it. "Chiara, we need to go," he said firmly not wanting his nephew manhandling her.

She reluctantly climbed on in front of Iroh. Zuko took her bag and packed it on the back before seating himself in front of her and taking the reins.

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They rode on, now at a much faster pace, and camped in the evenings. Chiara would continue hunting as the few coins she earned did not provide too many meals. After a few days journeying they discovered a cave where they decided to sleep that night. It was not far from a village that they visited the following day where Chiara was relieved to find work. When she went inside the business, Iroh and Zuko led the ostrich horse to the side of the building where they all sat down to rest. Iroh removed his hat and gently fanned himself with it before wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. Hearing a soft thump, he peered inside his overturned hat and spotted a coin a passerby had tossed in there.

His face brightened. "Ooh, thank you," he said, pleased to see it.

After that, he began begging for money to Zuko's complete embarrassment.

Towards the late afternoon, Chiara came out after a day's work.

Iroh held his hat up. "It's been quite a productive day," he said.