A few weeks later, they spotted another Fire Nation ship in the distance.
"It looks like a supply ship," said Iroh who had been on the upper deck. "Prince Zuko, we should contact them. I'll have them take Chiara back to the Fire Nation."
"What? I don't want her to...you don't need to send her back."
"I believe you were right. She has grown into a beautiful young woman, and the younger soldiers do seem to be quite interested in her. At home I have servants that will watch over her."
"I don't want her to go," said Zuko.
"But you said that it brings her dishonor by her being here with you."
"I know what I said. I...I just don't want her to leave. She makes this seem...less like banishment," he said softly.
Iroh quietly laughed to himself. "I think I will let Chiara decide for herself," he said as he walked away.
Iroh went down to the galley where he found Chiara working with Ozen.
"Chiara, I must talk to you," he said.
She followed him to a private area.
"What is it? Am I in trouble with Prince Zuko again?"
Iroh chuckled. "Possibly. There's a supply ship in the distance heading back towards the Fire Nation. We can contact them and you can return home."
"What?" she asked suddenly feeling worried. "I don't want to leave you."
"You've been working very hard on this ship. You've earned time off. You can return home and continue your school lessons..."
"Do I have to go?"
"I'm leaving the decision to you. If you wish to remain on board, you may stay."
"I do wish it. I'll work in the galley or in the hold if Prince Zuko doesn't want me around the crew."
"I don't want you confined below deck."
"I'll do it if it means I can stay here with you."
He was amazed by her devotion to him, and he rubbed her arm. "You can stay," he said. "But you will not work just below deck."
Later, while Iroh was busy playing Pai Sho with one of the crew members, Zuko went to the galley to talk to Chiara.
"Chiara," he said. "I need to talk to you."
As she followed him outside the galley, she worried that he was sending her home.
"I'm being sent home?" she said softly and sadly.
"What?! No," he said. "I don't want you to go. Tell Uncle you want to stay here."
"I told him earlier I don't want to go back."
"You did?" he asked.
"Yes."
"He said he was sending you home."
"But I said I'd work in the galley or in the hold if I could stay."
He was amazed by her desire to remain with them. "You would do that rather than go home?" he asked.
"Home is wherever you and the General are."
He loved that she felt that way.
"When I talked to him he said I could remain here if I wanted," she said. "What made him change his mind?"
Zuko felt relieved. "He didn't. I didn't realize you talked to him," he said softly. "I don't want you to leave. You...you're like a bit of home here."
She felt touched by his words, but wondered how he would feel if he knew she was from the Water Tribe. She gently touched his face. "I have to go back to work."
"You should take a break out on deck."
"I'll be done in a little bit."
She went back to the galley to finish her work.
One evening, as Zuko and Chiara sat down for dinner, he pulled out a little pouch and held it out to her.
"I got this for you today at the port," he said softly.
She took the pouch and emptied it into her hand, and a ring fell out. It was made up of two silver dragons that interlaced, one with yellow topaz eyes and the other with green emeralds, and it was designed to spiral around the finger.
"Oh, Prince Zuko,...it-it's beautiful," she said as she looked closely at it. "Wh...why did you get this?"
"I saw it and I thought of you."
She was deeply touched. She looked at him. "You shouldn't have done this."
"Why not? You deserve it."
"Thank you," she said softly.
He was surprised, but touched as tears filled her eyes.
"Here," he said as he took it from her.
He took her left hand, but she pulled back and shook her head making him laugh.
"I tried," he said.
He took her right hand and placed the ring on her forefinger. "You're the dragon empress."
She smiled as she remembered their time on Ember Island.
"I can't believe you did this," she said as she was looking at it.
"I wanted to give you something so you'd always remember me."
She looked at him. "I have the knife you gave me."
"But this is different." He pulled out the green crystal she had given him years earlier. "I still have this."
"Aww. I didn't know you brought that."
"I didn't know you were coming with us, and I wanted something to remind me of you," he said as he rolled it over in his hand. He looked in her eyes. "But you being here is even better."
As they approached the Southern Air Temple, Zuko was hopeful that this was where the Avatar would be as it was the last of the air temples for him to visit.
When they arrived, the way up the mountain was strenuous for everyone, especially as the air became thinner, but eventually they made it. Chiara explored the temple as she had the others, and she was impressed by everything she saw, yet saddened by the destruction. As they searched for the Avatar, they came upon a building with a great double door. The men tried hard to push it open, but they were unsuccessful. Chiara studied the design on them.
"We need an airbender," she said.
"That's what we're looking for," said Zuko feeling a bit frustrated.
"Look at this design. The wind needs to flow through it in order to unlock it."
He looked closer at it. "You're right. Find some way to create an airflow," he ordered his men.
They looked around and came up with some things in order to produce wind to unlock the doors. When they finally managed to open them, they entered. After searching throughout the sanctuary and seeing that it was devoid of life, the soldiers left. Chiara, however, continued walking around. She was amazed by the number of statues that stood inside, and as she walked around them she discovered the styles of the four nations.
"General," she called as she stood before one of the statues.
He walked back into the room, as did Zuko.
"They're the Avatars," she said. "Here's Avatar Roku. It looks like the one at the Fire Temple."
"It is Roku," said Iroh.
"He's so impressive."
"I don't see what's so impressive about him," said Zuko.
"How can you not be impressed by the Fire Nation Avatar?" she asked. She studied the statue. "You could be related."
"I'm not related to the Avatar!" he said angrily.
"I don't know," she said thoughtfully as she looked more closely at it. "I think you have his eyes."
Iroh was chuckling but for more than just her teasing.
"It's not funny, Uncle!"
"I think she's right, Prince Zuko. You do favor the Avatar."
"That's enough from you two," said Zuko.
Iroh and Chiara laughed as they moved to the next statue.
"It's Avatar Kyoshi," she said recognizing the statue. "I would love to train with her Kyoshi Warriors."
They moved to the next statue. "This must be Avatar Kuruk," said Zuko.
"Northern Water Tribe," said Chiara softly.
They moved to the next one.
"Avatar Yangchen, an airbender," she said.
Soon they left the sanctuary and continued exploring other parts of the temple. They decided to camp there overnight since it was an enormous complex, and they continued their search the next morning. Like the Western Air Temple, they discovered many remains of the dead. Camping there gave Chiara time to bury them with the others' help. As she did at the other three temples, she sang a Fire Nation song for the dead and left a stick with her hair ribbon to mark the largest burial site.
Towards the end of the second day after a long search, they all settled down in the camp for dinner, except for Chiara. When Zuko noticed she was missing, he began to worry.
"Uncle, where's Chiara?" he asked.
"I have not seen her in a while. Maybe she is in the sanctuary with the statues."
"We shut the doors on that building. She wouldn't be able to open them alone."
Zuko stood up.
"I'll help you look for her," said Shoza as he went to stand up.
"I've got it," said Zuko as he walked off.
He looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. When it seemed as thought he was never going to find her, he became even more worried; however, that's when he finally discovered her building a stone monument near an old hut. He assumed she was burying more bones.
"Chiara," he said as he walked up to her. "I've been looking all over for you." He held out an apple he had brought for her. "They made dinner."
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry," she said as she continued building the shrine.
"You've been working like this all day. You should eat."
"I'll be fine."
"Please take it. Eat it later."
She put the apple in her pocket, and then he began helping her with her monument. When they finished, she sat down near the door of the hut and began unraveling her braid. Then she created a thin braid from a small portion of her hair underneath. Zuko sat next to her. He was surprised when he watched her pull out her knife and cut the braid when she finished. She tied each of the ends with string, and then attached it to a stick she placed in the top of the monument, and then she sat down again.
"If you do that at each grave, you'll have no hair left," he said softly.
"I don't have any more ribbons."
"You didn't leave a ribbon at all the graves."
"This one's special, so I want to leave something."
"What's so special about it?"
"If I'm ever assailed by my enemy, I hope I'll be as fearless and determined as this airbender."
She pulled the door open. Zuko, curious, got up and looked inside the hut. His jaw dropped as he saw the skeleton of the monk surrounded by no small number of dead Fire Nation soldiers.
"Why...why didn't you bury them?"
"That scene alone is a monument more worthy than all the ones we've built put together," she said sadly.
He sat down next to her again and offered her some water which she drank. After they rested, he stood up.
"We should get back before Uncle sends out a search party."
He held his hand out to her, and she took it and stood up and they started walking back to the camp. As they were walking Chiara heard something.
"We're being watched," she said softly to him not slowing in her pace.
He became more alert, and he realized he heard something too.
"It sounds like it's in the trees," he said.
"An animal maybe?"
"Possibly."
They heard a scurrying noise behind them and they quickly turned around, Chiara pulling out a shuriken while Zuko was ready to shoot fire.
"Where'd it go?" he asked.
She shook her head, but then something caught her eye.
"Look," she pointed up in a tree.
He looked, and they both saw huge round eyes staring at them. Zuko produced a small fireball in his hand.
"No," she said as she pushed his arm down causing the fire to extinguish. "It must be a winged lemur."
Zuko had remembered reading about them in one of the scrolls they had collected. Chiara pulled out the apple and tossed it up in the air, and the lemur leaped up and caught it before returning to the tree where it sat on a branch and ate it.
"You're so adorable," she said.
Zuko laughed.
"That's incredible," she continued as she watched the lemur eat the apple. "I didn't think any actually existed."
"Should we capture it?" asked Zuko.
"He is adorable." Chiara thought about it. "We should leave him. He's probably got family here."
They continued walking back to the camp.
"I hope we discover a sky bison still alive," she said as they walked.
"It'd make it easier to look for the Avatar. We could fly around instead of sail," said Zuko.
Chiara smiled.
They finally arrived back at the camp.
"Chiara, we were worried about you," said Iroh.
"Sorry. We saw a winged lemur," she said.
"Did you? I didn't know any existed."
"You should've captured him," said Tazah. "I bet it's good eating."
"Speaking of eating," started Zuko, "you need to eat."
"I'm not really hungry," she said.
"Chiara, you haven't eaten since...did you even eat lunch?"
She shrugged.
He handed her a plate. "Eat now," he demanded.
She ate only a little bit despite Zuko's insistence that she eat more. As the men continued their conversation around the campfire, Chiara quietly stood up and walked over to Iroh.
"I'm going to bed," she whispered to him before kissing him on the cheek.
"Goodnight," he said.
"You should make her eat more, Uncle," said Zuko after she went into her tent. "She's hardly eaten all day."
"Give her time, Prince Zuko. It was the same at the Western Air Temple."
Since they had found no evidence of the Avatar, they left the next morning. After descending the mountain, the group stopped at a river for a break.
"You didn't eat much," Iroh said to Chiara.
"I'm not very hungry. May I go in the water?"
"Of course."
She walked into the water and sat down. Zuko walked up to Iroh.
"Is she okay?" Zuko asked him.
"These burials have been hard on such a tender heart as hers. She's too young for such violence. She should be worrying about clothes and boys...well, maybe not boys yet."
Zuko felt jealous at the idea of Chiara thinking about other boys, but he did feel bad for what she was going through, and he did admire her compassion. He removed part of his uniform, walked into the river, and sat down next to her as she was sitting chest deep in the water.
"You okay?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Sure."
"You want to swim?"
She nodded.
"I'll race you to the other side," he said.
They both started swimming, and as Chiara realized she was a bit ahead, she slowed down allowing Zuko to reach the shore first.
"You let me win, didn't you?" he said.
"What makes you think that?" she asked with a slight smile.
"You always win."
She laughed.
"Okay," he said, "this time no cheating. On the count of three. One, two..."
He quickly dove into the water ahead of her. She laughed and dove in after him. After she overtook him, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her back, and then he started swimming ahead of her again. Chiara was tempted to waterbend, but she held back; instead, she swam up to him and grabbed hold of his arm and pulled on him. They were laughing as they wrestled in the water.
As Iroh rested with the other soldiers, he enjoyed watching Zuko and Chiara enjoying themselves.
"It's good to see them act like children again," he said. "They're too young to deal with such responsibilities as they've been doing."
"But your daughter has grown into quite a young woman," said Lieutenant Jee. "And she's very beautiful. Have you chosen a husband for her yet?"
Iroh shook his head. "She will make a fine wife for any man, but I'm not ready to give her away."
The lieutenant chuckled. "Just like a father."
"I thought she was promised to Prince Zuko," said Tedo.
"How can she be promised to him? Aren't they related?" asked Shoza.
"She was an orphan adopted by General Iroh," explained Lieutenant Jee.
Shoza now understood why Chiara did not call Iroh 'Father.'
"Yes," said Iroh. "She is no blood relation to Prince Zuko."
"She and the Prince are always together," said Tedo.
"They grew up together," said Iroh. "They're very close. They do look after one another, and Prince Zuko can be quite protective of her, but they're not promised to each other."
Shoza did not like the idea that Chiara and Zuko were not related or that they were close.
"It's a shame he can't take her as his wife," said Jee as he watched them. "She's about the only one on board who can put up with him."
Iroh laughed.
"I don't think I've ever seen him smile or laugh except when he's around her," Jee added.
Iroh smiled as he considered the truthfulness of Jee's observation.
"Why can't he take her for his wife?" asked Tedo.
"As Prince of the Fire Nation, he must take a wife whose lineage can be traced," said Iroh.
"Does Lady Chiara have to be promised to someone then?" asked Shoza. "Isn't she free to choose her own husband?"
Iroh realized just how much Shoza was interested in her, and he also realized just how uncomfortable he was with him being interested in her or anybody being interested in her.
"I raised Chiara," said Iroh. "She is as my own daughter. When it's time for her to be married, I will find her a worthy husband."
"That time is getting close," said Jee.
"I will decide when it's time," said Iroh.
Jee smiled at Iroh's overprotectiveness, but Shoza felt disappointed.
"It looks like whomever you choose will have to have the prince's approval as well," said Jee.
"We will see," said Iroh.
Zuko and Chiara were still wrestling, and Chiara managed to break away and get to the shore first, and when he caught up to her, he playfully attacked her as she fought back. She managed to get his arm around his back and force him to his knee. She leaned close to him from behind.
"Come on, firebender," she said in his ear. "Is that all you've got?"
He laughed, but he had a hard time concentrating with her sweet voice in his ear and her long, wet hair flowing down over his chest. He twisted himself around and escaped her grip, and then he forced her down into the same position while he stood over her.
"Do you surrender?" he asked her.
"What if I don't?"
"You work in the galley indefinitely."
"I'm willing to take that punishment rather than give in."
"I'll...I'll send you back to the Fire Nation," he said.
"Okay, I surrender."
He laughed at her submission, but he was amazed by her desire to remain with them. He let her go, took her hand and helped her up, and then they walked over to the others where they sat down on some rocks in their wet clothes.
"I haven't seen you two have so much fun since Ember Island," said Iroh.
They laughed as they remembered their trips to the island, including their last visit when they shared their first kiss, and their wrestling match made them both long for their past.
That evening, while Zuko and Chiara were eating dinner, he was quietly thinking about their playful fight earlier.
"Are you okay?" she asked him as he was so quiet.
"I was just thinking," he said softly.
"About what?"
He hesitated as he thought how to put it into words. "You see being sent back to the Fire Nation as a threat, but I would give anything to return home."
"I don't see being sent back to the Fire Nation as a threat," she said softly. "I see being separated from you and the General as the threat."
He was again touched by her desire to remain with him and his uncle. He wished he could feel the same way, but he still longed for his honor and his life as prince.
"I had my whole life planned out," he said softly. "I was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, destined to be Fire Lord one day. Now, all I have is a small vessel and it seems like no future."
"It was the same for the General," she said softly.
He looked at her. "What?"
"He was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, destined to be Fire Lord one day. He gracefully conceded his position, and now he's confined to this vessel because he loves you and wants you to know that you're loved."
He was stunned as he had never thought about the situation from Iroh's perspective, and he knew she was right.
"But...but at least he wasn't banished from his home. He could go back if he chooses."
She was tempted to argue on Iroh's behalf, but she decided to just console him instead and placed her hand on his. "I'm sorry. I know it's been hard on you."
He was touched by her compassion. "I'm glad you came with us," he said softly. "It would've been so much harder without you."
Another month passed by with no sign of the Avatar as they continued their journey traveling farther south.
