Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 6: Beginning of a Journey

She nodded, but she knew she would have to get used to that.

"We'll be from Ba Sing Se," he continued. "The city is big enough that no one can prove otherwise."

Chiara felt like she was starting life over for a third time. First, she was a young child of a Water Village, then a royal of the Fire Nation, and now she was a child of the Earth Kingdom. She considered Iroh's point of view wondering if he was trying to start over again. At Ba Sing Se, he lost the life he had, and now he was being reborn as Xin.

"Do you no longer want to be Fire Lord?" she asked softly.

He carefully contemplated her question. "Honestly, I do not."

"You would be able to stop this war."

"My brother has always desired power and now he has it. To try and take it from him would result in a civil war in the Fire Nation."

Chiara started thinking about Zuko. He would now be the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and next heir to the throne. She wondered if he knew his father had usurped the throne.

"I wonder how Prince Zuko's doing," she said thoughtfully as she missed him.

"As Crown Prince he will be starting his new life in the palace now."

"He would stop the war if he were Fire Lord," she said. She looked down. "At least, I hope he would."

Iroh thought about Zuko and worried about him being under the influence of Ozai.

"I told him we were coming home in my last letter," she said.

"Write another telling him we'll be away for a while, and as soon as we're able, we'll send it out. Do not give our location or any clues to our location just in case it's intercepted by the wrong party."

She nodded.

One of the crewmembers stepped inside the room and bowed. "General Iroh, we're approaching the island."

Iroh nodded, and he and Chiara gathered their belongings and went up on deck.

"Look at that koi!" She was pointing at the large colorful fish ahead of them. "It's a school," she said as more broke the surface of the sea.

"Elephant koi," said Iroh. "They are quite popular around here."

When the steamer reached the shore, Iroh and Chiara stepped onto the beach, the seamen bid them farewell and returned to the ship as Chiara followed Iroh inland.

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They traveled on foot through a valley between the mountains.

"Such a beautiful waterfall," said Iroh. "It's a perfect place to take a break."

He started a fire while Chiara began preparing the tea and a small meal from their supplies.

"May I go swimming?" she asked after they ate and rested.

"That sounds nice. I think I'll swim too."

After a short swim, Iroh sat on the shore while Chiara remained in the water not far away.

"Chiara," he called.

She swam over to him and walked out of the water.

"Show me what you can do," he said.

She moved her hand over him and pulled the water out of his clothes and then dried her own clothes and hair.

He was amused by her ability. "Very good," he smiled, though it was not his usual smile that reached his eyes, like one he might have given her had they been on Ember Island with Lu Ten. "That's very useful." She sat down next to him. "I think we should find you a waterbending teacher."