Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 52: Confronting the Avatar

The next morning, Zuko opened his eyes just as the sun was beginning to light up the sky. He looked to his right and saw Chiara curled up with her back towards him. He wanted to roll on his side and put his arm around her and cuddle up next to her, but he knew she needed the sleep, so he carefully sat up trying not to wake her. Before his morning meditation, he decided to make her a cup of tea. Quietly going through their supply bag he pulled out the ginseng tea wishing he had requested chamomile and mint on the supply list he gave to the Order, but he knew she enjoyed ginseng and he wanted to have it ready for her when she woke up.

"Are you going to meditate?" she asked him.

"Oh...I was going to make you tea first."

Her heart stirred. "Aww, you're so precious," she said, making his own heart stir at her compliment. She slowly sat up. "I'll get the water."

"Why don't you sleep in for a while," he said. "I know you haven't been sleeping well."

"I don't want to sleep. I'm afraid I'll wake up in the wrong place." She shuddered at the memories of her prison cell.

He sat next to her and put his arms around her. "When you wake up I'll be right here," he assured her.

"If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up from it," she said, holding onto him, relishing his embrace. "If I close my eyes, I might not come back."

"I promise this isn't a dream," he said softly.

"But that's what dream-you might say."

He softly chuckled. "Then what would real-me say?"

"I'm not sure," she said thoughtfully as her head rested against his shoulder. "Maybe tell me something you've never told me before."

He thought about it. "There's not much we haven't talked about."

"How did you get out of the prison?"

"They locked me in my room after they brought us back." He was reminded of Azula telling him how his father kept him in his room because he was weak and was not a threat. "Oh, I threatened to kill Azula," he added almost nonchalantly.

"What?!" she said sitting up to look at him.

"I thought she killed you, and she kept insisting you were dead, so I tried to kill her."

"Wait, you said you 'threatened', and now you said 'tried'..."

"Yeah, it was both," he said like it was no big deal.

"Did she hurt you?"

"She tried," he shrugged, "but I hurt her more."

"What happened that you didn't...you know?"

"Some guards came in and pulled me off her."

"Okay...I guess this isn't a dream...maybe. I don't think my mind would've made that up," she said feeling troubled by their fight. She stood up. "I'm going to get the water."

"Wait...," he said standing up. "I'll get it. I don't want you carrying the bucket."

"A bucket of water isn't that heavy."

"Do you know what's even less heavy?" he asked. "No bucket of water. You wait here."

He picked up the bucket and started walking down to the river. Chiara, determined to do something, pulled out the teapot, the tea, and some of their food supplies. She took them outside their shelter where she started building a fire.

"So now I'm the waterbender and you're the firebender," he said when he returned with a full bucket.

She gently laughed as she was placing the teapot in front of him. "My great Water Spirit returns."