Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 97: The Gift of Healing

As the sun started sinking beneath the horizon, Shoza stood alone on the deck staring at the ocean. He wondered if it knew he was one of the survivors of the Siege—if it might reach up and snatch him from the ship and drag him to the depths as it had so many others. But he realized that even though he survived, he did not escape its wrathful judgment. He was one of the Fire Nation soldiers that had not been condemned to drown by its anger. Instead of a death sentence, he had been condemned to life without his inner fire. To him the dead were the lucky ones.

Now, he would return to his Nation with nothing, not even his firebending, and there would be nothing but disgrace to look forward to.

In the midst of his dismal thoughts, he heard footsteps that stopped next to him. Glancing to his right, he saw Nai. He turned his eyes back to the water preferring to stare at the cold ocean.

"You had no right to speak to the Princess the way you did," she said bluntly.

He refused to be intimidated by a guard of the royal family. "I really don't care," he said in a tone of indifference.

Nai ignored his attitude, determined to say her piece. "Let me ask you, how did the Water Tribe treat you while you were in prison?" she asked. "Did they beat you or isolate you without food?"

"No," he answered shortly.

"Then you have no idea what Princess Chiara's been through this past year."

He scowled at her. "Really? Was it in a prison?" he asked rudely.

"Yes," she answered deeply. "Three times."

Shoza had not expected her answer and his expression changed to one of disbelief. It was not the remorse Nai was hoping for, but she considered it a start.

"The first time she was locked up in the Prison Tower in the Capital when they found out she was a waterbender," she explained as she watched the sunlight of the setting sun sparkle on the water. "They believed that the Water Tribe adopted child of General Iroh was a spy. Prince Zuko was finally welcomed home as a hero after his long exile, but he gave up everything to break her and General Iroh out of the prison, and they escaped to the Earth Kingdom."

Zuko had not mentioned that during their conversation earlier that day. After spending three years on the moody prince's ship working for him as he ardently and restlessly tried to restore his honor and return home, Shoza was stunned to learn that Zuko had given it all up for Chiara and Iroh.

"When they were captured again, Princess Azula found out they were married, and Princess Chiara was sent back to Capital City Prison," said Nai. "News had spread that Prince Zuko had married the Water Tribe girl and that she had been executed. She was secretly kept in a hidden section of the prison where Azula repeatedly abused her. I was told by a guard who witnessed the torture that the only time she cried was when Azula told her General Iroh and Prince Zuko had been executed. Her back still bears the scars of her torture..."

Shoza grimaced at the image of her being tortured.

"...scars which I saw when I was stationed as a guard at Boiling Rock Prison," continued Nai. "Princess Chiara was imprisoned there for a month. She was beaten and nearly starved, but she still shared her few rations with other prisoners, and she helped the old, the sick, and the injured whether they were Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation, prisoners or guards. When Prince Zuko found out where she was, he broke in disguised as a guard to rescue her, but the noble and honorable Princess Chiara was worried about leaving the suffering prisoners she often tended to. They coordinated a mass breakout to liberate everyone."

He remembered the prince being reckless during his desperate mission to find the Avatar: entering the Fire Nation during his banishment, sailing through a dangerous storm, partnering with pirates. The prince told him and Tedo that he sneaked on board Zhao's ship in disguise after the Admiral attempted to assassinate him. He now laughed to himself upon hearing that Zuko broke into the Fire Nation's most secure prison.