Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 47: Paradise

Following the doctors directions, they found cabin, and Iroh cautiously went inside to make sure it was empty.

"It's safe," he said when he returned outside.

He helped Chiara down, and then Zuko picked her up and followed Iroh inside.

"There are two small rooms in the back with beds." He led them to the smaller room with one bed upon which he laid a mat over the wooden frame.

Zuko carefully laid her down and then knelt down by her side. "Is there anything you need? Are you hungry?"

"No," she said softly.

"Then you rest now," said Iroh as he laid a blanket over her.

He and Zuko returned outside where they unpacked the animals. When they finished, they sat on the little porch where Iroh made tea and they ate a light meal by the light of their lanterns.

Iroh looked around. "This is much more roomier than the tent."

Zuko was silent.

"She will be okay, Nephew."

"It should be me suffering in that room," he said softly.

"Chiara puts others before herself. It's who she is. It's who she's always been."

"And what makes my life more important than hers?" he asked.

"You are the future of the Fire Nation," said Iroh.

"So that makes her worth nothing to you because she isn't?" he snapped.

His sharp words hurt Iroh. "She is worth everything to me, Zuko. But if she had not acted as she did, you could have been killed, and then who would lead our Nation to peace?"

"I don't care," said Zuko listlessly.

"You have to care. Our people are responsible for what happened to her. And how many other women like Chiara have been needlessly killed? Her own mother even. You will have the power to prevent this kind of injustice in the future."

Zuko sat in silence. He dwelt on the peace and contentment he finally found outside of the Fire Nation palace that he was now being forced to consider giving up.

"Prince Zuko, Chiara was willing to give her life for you. She has lost all her family, and she understands that you can prevent others from losing theirs. Do not let her suffering be in vain."

"So you just want me to abandon her and run back to the Fire Nation again?"

"No. We can take her somewhere she can recover and will be safe, and we will find the Avatar and help him defeat Ozai."

"And then what?"

"We bring her home."

"But you said no one would accept her as my wife."

"There may be...some who will object," said Iroh. "We will deal with it."

Zuko remained silent as he thought over Iroh's words. Leaving his wife with strangers and embarking on another search for the Avatar were the last things he wanted to do.

When Iroh finished his tea, he stood up. "I'm going to bed. You should get some rest too, Nephew."

Iroh picked up one of their lanterns and entered the cabin, but before going to his room, he walked into Chiara's room where he found her sitting up.

"What are you doing up?" he whispered to her worriedly as he glanced back to make sure Zuko did not see or hear.

"The sling's uncomfortable," she answered in a soft, dazed voice looking like she was about to pass out. "I-I was just trying to adjust it."