The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning to the chaotic sound of the soldiers and crew running back and forth as they followed Zuko's commands. As I prepared myself, I noticed Katara's necklace again. I could only imagine how distressed she must've been. I knew how much it meant to her.

I touched my own necklace as I stared at hers. They were different, both in looks and origin. Mine was one from a small market in the Fire Nation. Much like Katara, I never took mine off.

Back when I was still fairly new to my life with Zuko and the others (and, by 'new', I mean about four years in), Queen Ursa had taken me to walk through the kingdom — of course, not without a group of guards. My small 10-year-old hand was in hers as we walked through the marketplace, my eyes wandering and looking at everyone and everything in sight. Ursa was telling me another story about her friendship with my mother; her stories were the only way I'd ever know my mother. However, I wasn't fully listening. My eyes landed on a booth where an elderly woman was selling dozens of beautiful necklaces.

There was one in particular that caught my attention: Red and golden fabric sewn together. The red half of it coming to a point, where a sparkling ruby dangled. It was awe-striking.

Ursa had noticed me staring at it and stopped her story, chuckling. "How much for the necklace?" She'd asked the woman, pointing to the one I'd apparently been staring at.

I had quickly gone into a frenzy. "No, Your Majesty, y-you don't need to — "

"Free of charge," the old woman smiled, " for our wondrous Fire Lady." She handed Queen Ursa the necklace, who then proceeded to put it around my neck.

"There," Ursa said with a smile as she looked down at me. "Almost as beautiful as the girl that wears it."

Zuko's agitated screaming snapped me out of my daydream, returning me to reality. I finished dressing myself and ran out onto the deck, soon finding that a few things were rather off. For one, it wasn't even morning. It was late afternoon. Why had Zuko let me sleep for so long? Why did I sleep for so long? Secondly, Zuko's shouting had (surprisingly) not come from his frustration with his crew.

"Where is my uncle?!" He shouted. "He's taking forever!"

I quickly took action, running to his side and getting his attention. When he looked at me, he looked genuinely shocked. "Saki! You're awake!" He looked closely at me. "Are you feeling alright? You've never slept for so long."

"I'm fine," I waved him off. "What's going on? Why are we docked?"

"The crew wanted to restock on supplies, and my uncle has disappeared." He grunted in frustration, looking around for any sign of Iroh.

"Do you think he might've gone to do the same?" I asked. "Maybe he went out to find food as well. I'll help you go look for him."

With that, Zuko and I were in the forest searching for Iroh. Ten minutes had gone by before Zuko lost all patience. "Let's split up," he suggested — though it sounded more like a demand. "We'll cover more ground and have a better chance of finding him. Naturally, I nod and go along with his plan. We went our separate ways, and I still wasn't finding any sign of General Iroh.

It didn't exactly help that my mind was still on Katara's necklace. Why was it in Zuko's room? Nothing on earth could convince her to take it off — it meant too much to her! So what could've happened? My mind continued to think of every worst possible case scenario. Had she and the others been captured by the Fire Nation? Were they still safe? My mind wandered just as rapidly and aimlessly as I had, which I hadn't realized until I'd run face first into a tree. I stayed right where I had fallen: lying in the dirt, looking up at the distance treetops and the clouds in the sky.