Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 35: Showdown at Tu Zin

Zuko had been traveling on his own and living sparingly off the bag of coins Chiara had given him. After passing through an ancient battlefield, he reached an Earth Kingdom village not far from the Si Wong Desert. His stomach was aching with hunger forcing him to stop for food.

"Could I get some water, a bag of feed, and something hot to eat?" he asked the merchant as he held out his last two coins.

"Not enough here for a hot meal," the merchant replied. "I can get you two bags of feed."

As his stomach growled, Zuko gently touched his tunic where he kept Chiara's diadem. It was after his first few days of traveling on his own that he realized she had put it in with the coins.

He nodded to the merchant who disappeared to get the feed. While he waited, he spotted two kids nearby whipping an egg at the Earth Kingdom soldiers behind him. The loud splat was followed by an even louder "Ow!"

The kids quickly took off laughing before they were seen by the angry soldiers.

An earthbender named Gow stood up and turned around. Two large hammers hanging from his waist swayed menacingly. "Hey!" he called to Zuko. "You throwing eggs at us, stranger?"

"No," answered Zuko with his back to them.

"You see who did throw it?"

Zuko turned to them. "No," he said placing his hand on his sword handle.

"That your favorite word, no?" asked another soldier.

"Egg had to come from somewhere," said Gow.

Zuko turned his back to them again. "Maybe a chicken flew over."

The second soldier laughed making Gow glare at him.

The merchant returned with the bags of feed and set them down in front of Zuko

"Thanks for your contribution," said Gow as he grabbed them up. "The army appreciates your support." He tossed the bags to one of his men. "You better leave town," he said turning to Zuko. "Penalty for staying's a lot steeper than you can afford, stranger...trust me." He patted his hammer threateningly before turning to leave with the other soldiers.

"Those soldiers are supposed to protect us from the Fire Nation," said the merchant. "But they're just a bunch of thugs."

As Zuko walked towards his ostrich horse, one of the young boys popped up from the other side.

"Thanks for not ratting me out," he said.

Zuko ignored him as he mounted the ostrich horse and began to ride away, but the boy went after him and grabbed the reins.

"I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you. Come on. I owe you."

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That night Chiara sat alone by a river. Iroh was not far away sound asleep, but she could not sleep, and she stared at the moon as she worried about Zuko and wondered where he was. She and Iroh had been tracking him, but keeping at a far enough distance that they sometimes lost his trail for a while. As she looked at the moon, she thought about their separation when she was with the Avatar. She remembered how they had thought of each other when they looked at the moon, and she wondered if he still thought of her.

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Late that night Zuko walked into the barn on the farm where he worked that day. He set his dao down for the second time that night hoping Lee would not sneak in again. He did not mind helping the young boy, but it was late and he wanted to get some sleep before sunrise. He flopped down on the hay where the bright light of the descending moon was now streaming through a window. He stared at the glowing orb and thought about Chiara. Reaching into his tunic, he pulled out her diadem. The moonlight reflected off the gems, and the whole diadem seemed to glow as the light struck it. It reminded him of how Chiara seemed to glow whenever she stood in the full moon's rays. He imagined her standing on the deck of his ship, the sky sparkling with stars and the bright moon shining down upon her as her beautiful long dark locks floated about her in the wind as if she were under water. He felt alone without her presence, and he would give anything to be back on the deck of his ship watching her. If you ever feel alone on your journey, there is somebody somewhere that loves you and is thinking about you. He wondered if she really was thinking about him. But then he remembered how he treated her by the river and how he lost control and even burned her. He placed the diadem back in his tunic and closed his eyes.