As soon as the ship was repaired, they set sail again in search of the Avatar. One evening after dinner, while Zuko was meditating, Chiara was quietly sitting at the table in his room reading some scrolls. During his meditation, the candles before him would grow and shrink in sync with his breathing, and sometimes the candle providing Chiara's reading light would grow and shrink as well. She looked over at the candles in front of him and became mesmerized by the flames growing brighter and dimmer, something she had always found relaxing when in the presence of her favorite firebenders. It made her think of Lu Ten when she would sit with him during his meditation and follow the rhythm of his breathing and pretend she was making the flames brighten and fade. She had always been impressed by firebending, though she preferred her waterbending ability despite her having to hide it.

As she was staring at the flames syncing her own breathing with Zuko's, her concentration was broken when she saw the door open up slightly.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar," said Zuko not moving even to look at the door.

"Well, there is news, Prince Zuko, but you might not like it," said Iroh as he pushed the door open and entered the room. "Don't get too upset."

Chiara held her breath.

"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader," said Zuko calmly. "Now, whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it."

Chiara was still holding her breath.

"Okay, then," said Iroh. "We have no idea where he is."

The flames in front of Zuko grew up the wall to the ceiling. "What?!" he yelled as he stood up.

Iroh pulled out a fan as the flames died down. "You really should open a window in here."

"Give me the map!" yelled Zuko as he grabbed it from Iroh.

He set it on the table over top of the scrolls Chiara had been reading.

"Well, there have been multiple sightings of the Avatar," said Iroh. "But he is impossible to track down."

They were all looking at the map.

"How am I going to find him?" asked Zuko. "He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering."

"Maybe he doesn't know where he's going," said Chiara. "He hasn't been around for a hundred years; maybe he forgot his way around."

"All we can do is wait for more news," said Iroh.

The flame at the table grew with Zuko's anger causing Chiara to move back a little.


A few days later Chiara had made dinner for Iroh, Zuko, and herself, and she had set the table in Zuko's quarters, and just as they all sat down to eat, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," said Zuko.

One of the crewmen walked in. "Sir, the Avatar's been spotted on Kyoshi Island."

"The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" said Zuko. "Uncle," he said as he stood up to leave, "ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time."

"Are you going to finish that?" Iroh asked Zuko as he pointed to his food.

Zuko turned around and grabbed the plate from the table. "I was going to save it for later!"

He turned to leave.

"May I stay on the island to practice with the Kyoshi Warriors?" Chiara asked Iroh.

Zuko stopped and turned back to them as he heard her request.

"What?" he said.

Chiara looked up at him. "I would love to practice with the Kyoshi Warriors again."

"You're not staying there."

"But once you capture the Avatar, you'll return to the Fire Nation. I can stay..."

"No!" he said adamantly. "You're going back home with us."

"I wouldn't stay there forever..."

"You're not staying at all!" He looked at Iroh. "Uncle, you can't let her stay on the island."

"He's right, Chiara," said Iroh. "It would probably be too dangerous for you at this time."

"They don't have to know who I a..."

"No!" said Zuko.

She looked at Iroh who shook his head.

"Yes, General," she said softly and obediently.

Zuko, feeling like he won that battle, left the room leaving Iroh and Chiara to eat dinner by themselves.

"I will deal with the rhinos after dinner," said Iroh as he began eating.

"I loved practicing with the Kyoshi Warriors," said Chiara as she began eating as well. "I would love to train with them some day."

"That would not go well with Prince Zuko."

"No, I guess it wouldn't."


When they arrived at Kyoshi Island, Zuko prepared for battle.

"The fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors has its roots in the Fire Nation," said Chiara as she helped him.

"Really?" he asked surprised by her knowledge.

"Yes. They're also very suspicious of strangers, and they really don't like the Fire Nation, so be careful."

He was touched by her concern.

"They were going to feed the General and me to the unagi when we visited."

He looked at her, his eyes wide. "What happened that they didn't?"

She smiled. "The General has a way with words." She straightened his armor for him. "And please don't hurt them. I'd hate to see anything happen to them or the villagers."

"Nothing will happen to them if they hand over the Avatar."

He started worrying about what would happen when he brought the Avatar aboard, and he looked at her.

"Speaking of the Avatar, do I need to lock you in the prison hold now?"

"You might," she said unfazed by his threat.

"Uncle, keep her with you," he ordered.

Zuko and his men mounted the rhinos and left the ship while Chiara stood with Iroh on the deck looking out over the island. They continued watching from the ship as the men disappeared, and later, Chiara began worrying when she saw black smoke rising in the distance.

"Was it necessary to destroy the village?" she said sadly.

Iroh, too, wondered about the villagers they had met so long ago.

"This will not help with their distrustful nature," he said.

"I guess I'll never get to practice with them now."

They continued watching, and as Chiara wondered about the Avatar, she saw Appa fly up from the island.

"There's the sky bison," she said.

She and Iroh watched as it soared into the sky, but then they saw Aang dive into the water.

"What's he doing?" said Iroh.

They watched the unagi rise from the sea as Aang held onto its whiskers. Chiara was excited and relieved to see that Aang used the giant eel to put out the fires in the village.

"The world needs the Avatar," she said softly.

Not long after the Aang flew off, Zuko and his men returned empty-handed, but very wet, and they hurried back out to sea to continue tracking the Avatar.


One evening after Zuko had returned from a short mission in his search for the Avatar, Chiara was setting out their dinner in his room when she noticed something.

"Where did you get this?" she asked as she picked up a Water Tribe betrothal necklace.

"I found it."

"On the prison rig?"

"Yes."

"It's from the Water Tribe."

He looked at her. "How do you know that?"

"I learned about it when I was traveling with the General. It's a betrothal necklace."

She set it down.

"I'm sure the waterbender traveling with the Avatar will appreciate it when you return it to her," she said.

"Of course she will," he said. "When she hands over the Avatar."

"You think she'll sell out the Avatar for that?"

"She will if she wants it back."

"Or her betrothed can just make her a new one," she said.

He glared at her.

"This just doesn't come close in value to his life," she said. "Or to anyone's life."

"We'll see."

She shook her head and they started eating.


Zuko continued following the Avatar's trail which brought them to shore some distance from Senlin Village. Iroh and Chiara went with the group, and during a break near a forest, Iroh disappeared. When Zuko was ready to return to the ship he noticed that Iroh was not around.

"Where's Uncle?" he asked Chiara.

"I saw him walk in the forest a while ago," she said. "He mentioned something about hot springs."

Zuko turned and went where Chiara had pointed, and she followed him into the woods.

"Uncle!" yelled Zuko as he walked into the woods. "It's time to leave! Where are you?! Uncle Iroh!"

"Over here," said Iroh calmly.

They followed his voice.

"Uncle?" said Zuko as he saw him soaking in a pool of water. They walked up to him. "We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail, and I don't want to lose him."

"You look tired, Prince Zuko," said Iroh. "Why don't you join me in these hot springs that soak away your troubles."

"My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!"

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little."

"He's right, Prince Zuko," said Chiara. "You really should relax."

"Don't you start," he said to her.

"The temperature's just right," said Iroh. "I heated it myself." He formed steam to heat the water again.

"Enough!" yelled Zuko as he waved away the steam. "We need to leave now. Get out of the water."

"Very well," said Iroh as he started standing up.

Chiara started turning away just as Zuko immediately covered her eyes and turned around moving her away from the scene so neither could see him.

"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes. But be back at the ship in a half an hour or I'm leaving without you."

Zuko walked Chiara away.

"Ahh," said Iroh as he sat back down in the pool.

"I can't believe he did that," said Zuko as they walked back to the camp.

"Yeah, I'm shocked by that too. Thanks for the blindfold. He definitely accomplished his mission."

"His mission?"

"Getting rid of us," she said.

"I guess he did," he laughed.


Hours went by, and Zuko, upset that Iroh had not returned to the ship, went to look for him again while grumbling about him not knowing the difference between a half hour and several hours. The sun was now setting, so Chiara and some soldiers went with him as well.

As he approached the spring, he saw that Iroh was not there. "Uncle," he called. "Uncle, where are you?!"

"Sir," said Uzo, "maybe he thought you left without him."

"Something's not right here," said Zuko as he looked around. "That pile of rocks..."

Chiara walked up and immediately knew what it meant. "Oh, no," she said placing her hand on Zuko's arm.

"It looks like there's been a landslide, sir," said Jozan.

"Land doesn't slide uphill," said Zuko. "Those rocks didn't move naturally."

"Earthbenders," said Chiara softly.

"My uncle's been captured by earthbenders."

"Not my General," said Chiara worriedly.

"We'll find him, Chiara," said Zuko. "Let's go."

Zuko went back to the ship to get a komodo rhino while Chiara grabbed a bo staff.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"Have you ever fought earthbenders?"

He thought about it. "In theory. Have you?" he asked half-expecting her to say 'yes'.

"No, but I've studied them."

He climbed on his rhino and helped her as she climbed on behind him, and then they left the ship and started down a road where they had discovered fresh ostrich horse tracks. They traveled all night, and by early morning they came across one of Iroh's sandals. As they continued riding following the tracks on the road, Zuko paused. He looked back in the sky, as did Chiara, and they saw the Avatar's sky bison.

"The Avatar," he said.

"That sky bison is so beautiful," said Chiara.

He turned his rhino towards it.

"Wait," she said. "The General. We can't leave him."

Zuko hesitated, so Chiara jumped down.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"You're going after the Avatar; I'm going after the General. We'll meet you back at the ship."

"You can't fight the earthbenders alone," he said.

"I'm not leaving him in their hands."

She started running down the road, but Zuko went after her.

"Here," he said holding out his hand.

She turned around and grabbed his hand jumping on the saddle behind him.

"I'll deal with the Avatar later," he said.

They discovered an area where there had been a struggle, and following the trail to a crater where they heard voices, they carefully walked up peering over the edge they saw Iroh with his hands chained to a rock and surrounded by five soldiers.

"Stay here," Zuko said to Chiara.

"These dangerous hands must be crushed," said one of the soldiers.

The soldier earthbended a boulder and sent it towards Iroh in order to crush his hands, but before the rock could touch him, Zuko ran and jumped up, kicking it out of the way, and then he brought his foot down on Iroh's chains, breaking them.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko," said Iroh.

"You taught me well," he said.

"Surrender yourselves," demanded the soldier. "It's five against two."

"Five against three," said Chiara as she joined Zuko and Iroh.

"You're still outnumbered," said the soldier.

"Uh, that's true," said Iroh. "But you are clearly outmatched."

The soldiers stomped on the ground pulling up boulders sending them towards the three. Swinging his chains, Iroh expertly used them to break up the boulders that had been hurled at him, while Zuko sent fire towards his two opponents forcing one back and causing another to fall beneath his own boulder. Chiara was using her bo staff to redirect the missiles aimed at her, and then, moving close to her opponent, she knocked him off his feet. Catching a large boulder with his chains that nearly hit Zuko, Iroh sent it towards two of the soldiers, and Zuko, after dodging several missile attacks, sent fire towards his enemy who blocked it. As the earthbender began building a tall structure of rocks with which to attack Zuko, Chiara ran up behind the soldier taking him down with her staff before quickly running out of the way as the rocks fell upon him.

Iroh walked over to them and they looked around to see their enemies defeated. Zuko put his hand on Iroh's shoulder.

"Now, would you please put on some clothes?" he said.

"I would if I had some."

"I brought your clothes," said Chiara.

"You are so thoughtful," said Iroh.

"She did it more for us than for you," said Zuko.

Iroh and Chiara were laughing as they went back to the rhino where she pulled out Iroh's clothes for him. Leaving for the ship, Chiara again rode behind Zuko while Iroh rode on one of the ostrich horses. They traveled all day, and as it grew dark, they stopped to eat, during which time Zuko disappeared alone into the nearby village of Senlin. He came back anxious to return to the ship and continue tracking the Avatar.


Following the Avatar's trail, Zuko set course towards Crescent Island. When Iroh found out where he was headed, he was furious.

"Sailing into Fire Nation waters," said Iroh. "Of all the foolish things you've done in your sixteen years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish."

"I have no choice, Uncle."

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?! What if you're caught?"

"I'm chasing the Avatar," he argued. "My father will understand why I'm returning home."

"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type."

Zuko looked through the telescope and spotted the Avatar's sky bison in the sky. "There they are. Helmsman, full steam ahead," he ordered.

Chiara watched as the deck opened to reveal a catapult.

"Ugh, really, Prince Zuko," said Iroh pulling out a fan, "couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?"

Zuko set the missile on fire.

"Please don't shoot them down," said Chiara. "They probably won't survive that fall."

"Do I need to lock you in your quarters?" threatened Zuko.

"What good is the Avatar if he's dead?"

Iroh pulled her away from Zuko.

"On my mark," he ordered. "Fire!"

Chiara held her breath as she watched the missile nearly hit the bison.

Zuko looked ahead. "A blockade."

"Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters," said Iroh. "Turn back now and they cannot arrest you."

"He's not turning around!" said Zuko as he watched the Avatar continue.

"Please, Prince Zuko," said Iroh, "if the Fire Nation captures you, there's nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar."

"I'm sorry, Uncle. Run the blockade!" he commanded the crew.

"Prince Zuko," said Chiara placing her hands on his arm, "please don't risk it."

Touched by the concerned look in her eyes he desired to obey her plea, but he was determined to go after the Avatar. He placed his hand on hers, but did not withdraw his order. As they moved towards the blockade, the Fire Nation ships fired missiles towards the Avatar which began falling towards their ship. Zuko wrapped his arms around Chiara and covered her as the ship was struck. He took her over to Iroh.

"Keep her safe," he said.

Chiara put her hand on Zuko's forearm, but Iroh pulled her away and covered her as more missiles fell around them.

"Prince Zuko," called a crewman, "the engines are damaged. We need to stop and make repairs."

"Do not stop this ship," said Zuko.

As they continued towards the blockade, the ships ahead drew closer together in an attempt to prevent them from entering the Fire Nation.

"We're on a collision course," said Iroh.

"We can make it," said Zuko.

When it seemed they would not make it, the Fire Nation ships slowed down and Zuko's ship went between them. Zuko glared at Commander Zhao as they went by, and Iroh caressed his beard as he looked suspiciously at Zhao considering what the commander was planning.

"What's he up to, Uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?"

"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after—the Avatar."

"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do."


When they neared the Fire Temple, Zuko prepared to leave on his own to go to the island.

"Uncle, keep heading north. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover."

"Hmmm," said Iroh.

"Zhao will know by now that the Avatar's heading towards the temple," said Chiara voicing Iroh's suspicions out loud. "Where else would he be going?"

"Then I'll have to make sure I get to the Avatar first," said Zuko determinedly.

Her biggest worry was that Zhao would capture Zuko and take him to the Fire Lord.

"Please be careful," she said as she placed her hand on his arm.

He saw the tears in her eyes, and it touched his heart, so he took her in his arms and held her reassuringly. "I will."

"Are you sure you don't need your Imperial non-Firebender to go?" she asked him.

He laughed as he released her. "I'm sure."

He climbed into his boat and after being lowered into the water he left for Crescent Island while the ship continued its course north.

Chiara went up on deck and anxiously watched for his return.


Hours after sunset, Iroh approached her.

"You should get some sleep, Chiara. It will do you no good to stay out here all night."

"The winter solstice is over. I would've thought he'd be back by now."

Iroh secretly felt worried too, but he did not want to cause her more anxiety by expressing his own concern. "Sometimes you are as impatient as Prince Zuko," he said.

If she had not been so worried, she would have laughed at his remark. "I'm really worried about him, and there's been no sign of Commander Zhao either."

"Just as expected. But Zuko can be very resourceful, and his fighting skills have improved tremendously over the years. Get some rest."

"I won't be able to sleep," she said. "I'll just pace in the cabin."

He caressed her back and then went to his quarters to meditate.


Long after the sun had set Zuko was spotted from the crow's nest, and Chiara quickly ran down below to meet him. As soon as he stepped off his boat, she threw herself onto him wrapping her arms around his neck. Her sudden action caught him off guard, but he did not hesitate to put his arms around her and take advantage of having her so close.

"Maybe I should go away more often," he said softly.

She released him. "Don't you dare. I was so worried about you. It's so late."

"Zhao was there," he said.

Chiara felt angry. "I figured he'd follow you. We haven't seen him since you left. Did he get the Avatar?" she asked as she walked with him to his quarters.

"No. He got away."

In a way she was relieved that Aang got away; however, she worried that Zuko's mood would not be good.

"Do you want me to make you something to eat?" she asked.

"No. I'm not hungry."

"Let me take care of your bruises," she said when they entered his room. "Lie down, close your eyes."

He was exhausted and feeling discouraged by another failed attempt to capture the Avatar, but he did as she directed. She began healing the wounds he acquired during his escape from the collapsing fire temple, and as always, he was amazed by how quickly the pain disappeared as she treated him. She wanted to ask him what happened, and she wanted to know more about the Avatar, but she figured he did not want to talk about it. When she finished, she tenderly caressed his head, and she was about to stand up, but then she thought of something.

"Let me try something," she said. He wondered what she was going to do as she moved behind his head and knelt down. She caressed his head around his temples. "Close your eyes again."

As soon as he had them closed, she pulled out more water and began massaging his head adding in a healing technique. He could not believe how relaxed he felt.

"This feels really good, Chiara," he said. "What are you doing?"

"It's a...a relaxing technique I learned."

Every bit of tension seemed to melt from his body, and he did not ever want her to stop, but when she thought she did all she could for him, she put the water away and caressed his head as she did whenever she finished treating him. His body felt so comfortable, he had to force himself to sit up.

"Are you sure you don't want me to bring you some food?" she asked.

"No."

"You should get some rest then." She lightly ran her hand down his cheek before turning to leave.

"Wait," he said grabbing her hand before she could step away.

He pulled her toward the bed until she sat down. He was hesitant to speak, but he felt he needed to tell someone.

"I saw Avatar Roku," he finally said.

"Really? Like a statue or..."

"No. It was actually him. When Zhao attacked him..."

"Zhao attacked Avatar Roku!" she asked in shock.

"He and his men did, but Roku just sent it back at them. It was incredible."

"What happened to Zhao?"

"I don't know. The fire blast Roku sent out melted my chains so I took off, but the fire temple's been destroyed."

"The whole temple?"

"Yes."

"I'm so glad you're safe," she said as she tenderly placed her hand on his wrist. She stood up. "Try and relax."

Not long after Chiara left, Zuko was lying in his room, and he heard her erhu. She sounded close, too close to be on the main deck. Looking out his window he saw her in a spot not too far below his quarters. He realized she was playing their composition to let him know she was thinking about him, and his heart stirred as he missed their days back in the Fire Nation. He returned to his bed where he lay down and drifted to sleep entranced by her music.