It was all her fault.
She was bored and wanted to explore. Her Aunt Azula had once told her about all the secret passageways and chambers located throughout and under the palace. She told Izumi she used to spend hours locating them as they required some critical thinking to find and open. Izumi was fascinated. She loved solving puzzles and riddles! And she loved playing treasure hunt! This was like the ultimate hunt and who knows what she would find.
After Izumi's firebending lessons, she didn't have anything planned for the rest of day so instead of reading or playing in the gardens, she decided it was time to explore. She didn't even think to wait for or tell her nanny since she was going to be in the palace anyways.
Izumi began scouring the most secluded parts of the palace where the servants and guards didn't make their rounds as often. She searched around sculptures, behind paintings, under tables and even on top of a chandelier and finally, finally found something. It was so small she could have easily missed it, but she found it.
The scorch marks around the tiny notch in the statue gave it away. Izumi tried firebending into the hole and the statue began to slowly turn, revealing a dark passageway. It looked really scary and the girl wanted to leave but she didn't come all this way to give up now. Feeling a little brave, Izumi lit a flame in her palm and carefully walked in.
The room looked like a small study. She lit a couple of candles and found so many old scrolls diagrams, and figurines stacked on top of desks and shelves.
This was a goldmine! Her favorite thing to do was read and now she had a secluded room full of scrolls. Some of them were old boring military documents but others were chock-full of Fire Nation history and art. It was hard for her to understand some of the words without her dad or her Nana to help her out, but she managed to entertain herself with all the illustrations and pictures when she got stuck.
She must have spent hours and hours inside that dusty old room because Izumi didn't look up from her reading until the candles had burned themselves out, leaving her in complete darkness. She immediately lit a flame in her palm and felt her stomach clench with anxiety.
How long was she in there for? What time was it? Was Nana looking for her?
Izumi ran out of the room and down the large corridor. She noticed it was dark outside from the windows and felt another wave of anxiety. Her nanny was probably looking for her and would be very upset that she ran off on her own. The Princess just hoped that she didn't tell her dad.
By the time Izumi made it back to the royal wing where her family's living quarters are, she stopped dead in her tracks. There must have been at least twenty guards blockading the entrance. There was a lot of commotion going on as the head guard was giving out instructions.
"Search every single room in the wing before we clear it. We must be absolutely sure that the Princess is not here before we move on."
Izumi felt all the blood leave her face. No, her nanny wasn't looking for her, but every guard in the palace was. She was completely mortified. How could she be so stupid? Of course, they were looking for her! She only disappeared for the entire day without telling a single soul where she was.
Instead of alerting the guards that she was there, Izumi ran to her father's throne room. She needed to tell him she was ok. When she arrived, there was a group of people gathered inside. Her father was not sitting on the throne but standing amongst them, and his usually composed demeanor was gone.
"You were the last person she was seen with; how do you not know where she could be?" He was grilling her firebending master.
"Lord Zuko, I left her in the courtyard as usual. She didn't indicate that she had any plans afterwards. I apologize for not ensuring that she made it to her next destination safely." Sifu Kumo kept his head bowed.
"Get out." Zuko glowered and turned to her nanny. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened and don't leave a single detail out."
Izumi gulped and hid behind the curtain. Her father was usually so nice to her Nana and Sifu. He wasn't yelling but she had never seen him speak so fiercely before. He was furious and it was all her fault. Was he going to yell at her like that? Or worse?
She couldn't pluck up the courage to step forward and announce her presence. Her daddy was never going to forgive her for disappearing all day and making everyone look for her.
"I don't have time for this!" Zuko yelled out, his face was scary. "I hired you to watch my daughter, to keep her safe, and now we don't know where she is." He turned to General Mak, "No one leaves the palace or the city until she's found, I'm going out to look with Druk."
An advisor stepped forward "But my lord, you must stay in the palace what if someone-"
"I don't care!" The Fire Lord roared, almost breathing fire. "My daughter is missing, and I need to find her now!"
Izumi couldn't do it; her dad was so angry, and she was terrified. She scurried out of the throne room and as she ran out, she bumped into someone, falling on her butt.
"Princess! You're here!" The guard lifted her up on her feet. She recognized him as one of her father's personal royal guard. "What happened to you?"
Izumi gaped up at the man before she burst into tears. "I'm sorry!" She wailed. "Please don't tell on me!"
"Tell on you?" He seemed confused. "We are all looking for you. Come now, let's go see the Fire Lord." He held out his hand.
"No, please! He's mad at me!" She cried into her hands.
The guard didn't say anything as he picked her up and carried her inside the throne room. She kept her face buried in his shoulder. She heard a commotion and felt hands pulling her from behind, but she held on tight to the guard's neck, refusing to let go.
"Izumi, baby, it's me." She heard her father's voice; soft and gentle now. "Come here, let me see you."
She shook her head, refusing to look up. The guard told Zuko that he found her running out of the throne room. "She was frightened, Sir. I'm not sure what happened, but she didn't want to come back inside with me." He still held onto the little princess.
Zuko let out a shaky sigh. "Thank you for finding her. Please come with me." He led them back to his room where the guard set Izumi down on the Fire Lord's bed. She reluctantly let go and sat with her head buried in her knees. She heard the door shut and waited for her father to begin yelling at her.
His large, warm hands rubbed her back and he quietly asked. "Izumi, are you alright? Are you hurt?"
She peeked out from her folded arms. Instead of anger, her dad's face looked scared and yet relieved.
"I'm sorry." She muffled.
"Sorry for what, baby?"
"Please don't be mad at me, I didn't mean to go missing."
"I'm not mad at you, I promise. Please, tell me what happened."
It took a little bit of coaxing, but Izumi told her dad everything that happened. How she snuck away to look for a secret chamber, how she found said secret chamber and then spent multiple hours unsupervised inside the secret chamber.
Zuko wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry. She was right under their noses the whole time. Thank Agni and every other spirit out there that she wasn't taken or lost or any other horrible thing he imagined when she was missing.
"Are you gonna yell at me?" She asked in the tiniest, little voice.
"No, I'm not going to yell. Why would you think that?" He gently stroked her cheek.
"Because, I did something bad and everyone was looking for me and you we're yelling at Sifu and Nana. You were really, really angry and I don't want you to yell at me."
Oh no. She must have heard him interrogating the staff and lose his temper. He felt awful about his outburst and would apologize to them but right now he had to resolve this.
"Oh, Izumi. I'm so sorry, is that why you were afraid?" She nodded hesitantly.
Zuko gently pulled his daughter into a hug. "What Daddy did was wrong. I shouldn't have lost my temper or yelled no matter how scared I was."
"Scared?" Izumi pulled back to look at her dad. "You didn't look scared."
He smiled softly and brushed back some of her hair. "Yes, I was angry and frustrated but only because I was so terrified. I was scared that I had lost you Izumi, and that's... what I'm most scared of in the whole world." He tilted her chin up to look in her eyes. "Please, don't ever run off without telling me or Nanny Yuki where you are again, ok? I promise I'm not mad and I will never yell at or hurt you, but I was very, very worried."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." She said in her tiny voice again.
"It's alright, Turtleduck, I know you didn't. I'm just glad you're ok. I love you." He hugged her to him. "Now come with me, I think we both owe Nana and Sifu an apology."