A/N: This is a story I had written in my head years ago when the series was still on Nickelodeon. Having just recently discovered FanFiction, I thought I'd flesh it out a bit and put it out there for others who might find it entertaining. I apologize for any lack of detail or imagery-I don't have much time to devote to it as I'd like, so the time is spent getting dialogue out of my head.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the world of Avatar.

General Iroh of the Fire Nation stood on the deck of the ship that was headed back to his Nation. He had only been away from home for a month, but it seemed much longer as he sat through meeting after meeting as plans were being made for the Fire Nation's movements through the Earth Kingdom. His last stop had been a week at the Pohuai Stronghold from where he had sent a message to a Fire Nation camp in the far northwestern Earth Kingdom requesting a company of soldiers to be stationed there. Now, sailing along the coast, black smoke rising up from the land caught his eye, and as the ship drew more level with it, he could just make out fire blasts between the trees.

"That's Fire Nation," he said to Lieutenant Jee who was standing next to him. "I requested Captain Idem to take a company to the Pohuai Stronghold. It could be his company in the area. He may be in trouble." He turned to Jee. "Have Captain Maza get closer. I want to take some soldiers ashore. I'm sure Admiral Jeong Jeong will understand the delay."

"Yes, General," Jee nodded before doing as requested.

Landing on the shore, Iroh on his komodo rhino, flanked by two Imperial Firebenders, led a group of soldiers towards the battle. Cautiously approaching the fire that could be seen through the trees, they rode up to what had once been a village but was now destroyed. Most of the buildings were on fire; the villagers were dead, and the surviving Fire Nation soldiers were gathering bodies to burn the remains. Spotting Captain Idem, Iroh dismounted from his rhino and walked up to him.

"What happened here, Captain Idem?"

"General Iroh," he said not expecting to see him. "It was just a Water Tribe. Nothing to worry about anymore."

"Nothing to worry about?" asked Iroh in a low voice. "Tell that to the families of our soldiers that will not be returning home."

"They seemed like an easy target, but the savages fought harder than I expected."

"It was not your mission to attack," said Iroh, struggling to control his anger. "You were to merely move your company to Pohuai."

"They were given a chance to surrender, General. I gave the order to kill every villager who fought back. None of them stood down, not even the women."

"This was just a civilian village, not a camp of warriors," argued Iroh. "It was completely unnecessary to attack it."

"If they had just surrendered this would not have happened."

"If you had just followed your orders this would not have happened!" yelled Iroh in a tone that reminded everyone who heard him that he was the Dragon of the West.

General Iroh severely reprimanded the captain for his actions, but there was not much more he could do. He knew it would be seen as an act of self-defense as the soldiers defended themselves from a barbaric Water Tribe that did not do as they were told.

Iroh climbed on his komodo rhino and slowly rode off by himself to look around. Not one villager surrendered, and it appeared to Iroh that not one villager survived, but not without taking out their share of Fire Nation soldiers. He was disgusted by the devastation and the loss of life, not just of his own people, but the people of this innocent village, especially the women and children, and he deeply regretted he had not been able to prevent it. He stopped his rhino, and after climbing down, he walked around to get a closer look at the remains. Lost in his thoughts as he walked among the ruins, he thought he heard a soft whimpering. He approached the burning remains of a building, and on the ground nearby lay a young woman; her throat had been cut, and her arms had been badly burned. Next to her lay a bloody sword. Despite her horrific death, her beauty did not go unnoticed by him. He could not help thinking that it was a waste that such a beautiful woman had been destroyed. His eyes were then drawn to the small figure of a little girl next to her pouring water over her cut throat. She was the source of the whimpering he heard. He walked up and stood over her. It would be easy to kill the girl; one quick slice with his knife would end her life and suffering. Any of the soldiers, had they found her, would have immediately put her to death. He looked at her; she could not have been much younger than his own nephew.

"This is something you should not see," he said as he knelt down next to her.

She looked up at him with beautiful green eyes the color of the sea. Tears had left streaks down her face as her skin had been blackened by the ash of the burning buildings. He wondered if her long curls were naturally black, or if they, too, were darkened by the soot. Her wrists and arms were covered in the blood of her mother whose wound she was trying to clean. There was a chain diadem embedded with precious gemstones around her mother's head. Iroh removed it and placed it around the girl's neck, and then he stood up and looked around. He stepped over a bow and empty quiver to move a broken beam from the smoldering remains, and then he picked up a partially burnt blanket nearby using it to cover her mother's body. He continued looking around until he found a large canvas bag, and after emptying out the contents he walked back over to the little girl still kneeling next to her mother, her little hand resting on top of the lifeless, burnt hand that was all that could be seen now.

"You must be very quiet," whispered Iroh. "Do you understand?"

The little girl nodded her head almost imperceptibly. Iroh picked her up and carried her to his rhino where he held open the bag.

"Climb inside," he said, "and do not make any sound and do not move."

She did as he ordered crouching down in the bag, and then he tied it to the side of his rhino making sure there was an opening through which she could receive air. Suddenly, some of his soldiers appeared.

"General Iroh, we were looking for you."

"I was looking around for survivors," he said in a low, unemotional voice.

"This village is a dump," said the soldier. "They had nothing of value."

"Considering the fight they put up, you'd think they'd have something valuable," said another soldier.

"Some consider their freedom most valuable," said General Iroh sadly as he regretted the massacre.

"At least it's one less Water Tribe," said the soldier.

"Is that how the Fire Nation is going to share its greatness with the world?" asked Iroh. "By killing everyone who is not of our Nation?"

The soldier did not respond.

"It looks like you may have found some things worth taking," said the first soldier looking curiously at the bag.

"It's worth nothing to you," said the general.

"Let's see what you got," said the soldier as he pulled out his knife and went to stick it in the bag.

Iroh grabbed the man's wrist but not before the knife pierced the bag.

"It's not your business what is in the bag," said Iroh deeply. He turned to another soldier. "Omu, take the company to Pohuai as per your orders. Do not engage any civilians."

The Fire Nation company left the Water Village.

Iroh rode up to his Imperial Firebenders. "I want you and the others to return to the ship. Have Captain Maza set course for the northwestern campsite."

"Sir, what about you?" he asked.

"I'll meet you at the camp in about a week; I have some business I need to take care of first."

"It would not be wise to leave you on your own, General Iroh, especially for so long. If anyone escaped here, they may go after you."

"I can take care of myself. I'll meet you at the camp. That's an order."

His soldiers reluctantly obeyed, and Iroh set out on his own in a different direction. After riding for a couple hours, he stopped, pulled the bag down, and opened it. The little girl was still crouched down inside. She did not move, and she was still quiet despite the blood that had run down her left arm from where the soldier's knife had cut her. Iroh was amazed that she had not made a sound after being sliced by the knife.

"You must be thirsty," he said.

He offered her water which she drank. While she was drinking he began cleaning her wound feeling angry at the soldier who had inadvertently injured her.

"What is your name?" he asked her.

She did not say anything.

He pointed to himself. "I am Iroh." He pointed to her.

"Chiara," she said softly.

"Chiara," he repeated. "Such a beautiful name."

When he finished dressing her wound, he cleaned the dried blood from her arms that was from her mother. Then he pulled out some food and allowed her to eat, but she did not eat much. After resting for a short time he put her on top of his rhino, climbed on behind her, and they moved on. They traveled for hours, and late that night, he decided to stop near a river and make camp until sunrise. After dismounting, Iroh pulled the little girl down, and he offered her some water. After they quenched their thirst, he walked her to the river. The moon was bright, but he still carried a lantern with him which he set on some rocks, and he stood her in the river where he began cleaning her face.

"Let's see what color your hair is," he said as he began wetting her hair. "It looks like it's as black as the ash," he said as he held it near the light.

Chiara saw blood on his lower arm from a wound he had sustained earlier when he moved the beam. She pointed to it. He looked down, scooped up some water, and washed the blood away. She scooped up some water and held it over his wound and it started to glow and then it began to close. He was stunned as he looked closely at it in the firelight, and he was impressed by her healing ability.

"You are a waterbender."

He thought about her pouring water on her mother's wound, and he realized she had been trying to heal it. He unwrapped the bandage from her knife wound.

"Now yours," he said.

She looked puzzled. He sprinkled water over her wound and motioned for her to heal it. She moved her hand over it and it glowed, but her wound did not change. Now Iroh was puzzled, and he wondered why her wound did not heal. He wrapped it up again.

After cleaning her up he began gathering some sticks in order to build a fire. He laughed to himself as Chiara followed him around imitating him by gathering sticks too. He piled the sticks and then lit the fire. He gently laughed as she imitated him trying to make fire.

"I don't think you will be able to do that, little one. You have a much different gift."

He heated some rations, and they ate. After their small dinner, he folded a blanket and placed it on the ground and had her lie down on it, and he covered her with another blanket to keep her warm. As Chiara lay there listening to the sound of the crackling fire amid the chirping insects and occasional call of the distant cat owl, tears fell from her eyes as scenes of her mother's lifeless body came to her mind. Iroh heard her soft sniffles and suspected she was mourning her family, and he waited until she was silent and still before he lay down himself and eventually fell asleep.

As the sun was rising the next morning, Iroh woke up. He looked over at the other blankets, but Chiara was gone. He got up and looked around, but he did not see her until he went down towards the river where next to the water Chiara was carefully placing rocks on the ground in the shape of a circle. As he approached her, he saw different sized rocks and pebbles laid out in an intricate design, so he sat down nearby and watched her. When she finished she knelt down next to it, and he walked over and knelt down on one knee next to her.

"What is that?" he asked.

She touched the chain around her neck. "Momma," she said with tears in her eyes.

He realized the design she made on the ground was a perfect replica of her mother's diadem. Iroh felt great sympathy for her, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her. The image of his wife Mina flashed before his eyes as well as a daughter they never had a chance to have. He was tempted to take her as his own child, but if anyone discovered she was a waterbender, he worried that her life would be in danger.

He packed up the camp, and they rode for another day, stopping in the evening to sleep. Finally, they neared an Earth Kingdom village. He cleaned her up again at the river, brushed her hair, and wrote a note. Early in the morning about an hour before sunrise the next day he walked her towards the village and stood her in front of the door of one of the houses.

"Be very quiet," he whispered in her ear. "These people will take good care of you." Or at least he hoped.

He placed the note in her hand and then he turned to leave.