Water Lily in a Sea of Fire

Chapter 101: Hira'a's Hurrahs

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting..."

Ursa smiled up at him. "Not at all, dear."

He was surprised to see his daughter missing from the small group. "Kiyi's still asleep?"

"Yes. She had such a long day yesterday, I suppose not even the sun could wake her up this morning."

Azula raised an eyebrow. "Is she a firebender?"

"No," answered Ursa. "But she is usually up with the sun."

Zuko stood up. "I'm going to check on Chiara. She's usually up now too."

"You should let her sleep, Zuko," said Ursa. "She needs her rest."

"She also needs to eat. If she doesn't gain weight before we return to the palace, Amiku's going to kill me."

Azula let out a dry laugh. "He's not kidding. That woman had Uncle cowering yesterday for allowing Chiara to come on this trip."

Ursa softly laughed. "Oh, Amiku must be so excited...and Iroh...I mean the Fire Lord...," she corrected, "...he must be thrilled about it. He always loved spending time with all of you when you were younger."

Zuko entered the bedroom where he found Chiara meditating in the sunlight shining through the window.

"Chiara..."

She looked up at him.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked as he knelt down next to her.

"For a while." She reached up and brushed a few strands of hair from his eyes.

She admired his fiery gaze while he relished her soft touch.

"I didn't want to interrupt your time with your mother," she said.

"You're family too." He took her hand in his. "And it wasn't just me and her; Azula was with us."

"That's even better. The three of you need to heal together."

He kissed her hand. "And you need to eat." He got to his feet, bringing her with him.

They went to the table where Ursa stood up. "Good morning, Chiara. Did you sleep okay?"

"I did. Thank you for allowing us to use your room."

Ursa smiled and caressed her face. "It's the least I could do after you took such good care of my son." She started towards the kitchen. "I'm going to get everyone breakfast."

Chiara turned to Zuko. "I'm going to help her."

"You don't hav...," he started until she raised an eyebrow at him.

They heard Azula laughing. "You should know by now, Brother, not to argue with her over kitchen duties."

He smirked and leaned towards Chiara to gently kiss her lips making Azula roll her eyes. Noren was smiling at their show of affection which reminded him of him and his own wife.

"Ugh, public display...," started Azula.

"Doesn't matter when I'm Lee," said Zuko casually, kneeling down at the table.

She groaned, but Noren softly chuckled at them.

When Chiara entered the kitchen Ursa was busy preparing breakfast.

"Is there something you need?"

"I'm here to help, Aunt Ursa," she said.

"You know, you can call me 'Mom,'" Ursa smiled at her. "I always thought of you as a daughter."