Zuko
It was the day after the incident with Chang. Izumi's facial burn turned out to be pretty minor, thank Agni. Fen had cleared her to go to school but he sent some salve along with her to be applied during the day which Geshna would apply. Because of the incident with Chang, I was accompanying Sam to send Izumi to school. And like always when I saw her off to school, it was an event for her and she wanted me to carry her on my shoulders. She was getting big. Soon I wouldn't be able to do this anymore.
"Alright, Izumi. You have a good day." Sam said. "Remember, stay away from Chang." Izumi nodded. I didn't think we would get any arguments from her there. I knelt down in front of her so I was at here eye level and cupped her face with my hand.
"Ignore the bullies, Turtleduck. If Chang comes near you, walk away ok? If she doesn't leave you alone, tell Geshna." I said. She nodded and took Geshna's hand. Sam and I stood holding hands and waving good-bye to Izumi.
The day went by normally. We were finally almost caught up on the work that had been neglected while we were gone. Once we were done for the day we went to greet Izumi after school. She was walking with Geshna, but was lagging behind. Uh-oh. She only did that when she was in trouble.
"Hello, Turtleduck! How was school?" I asked.
"Ok." she said. My daughter was not a girl of few words. Something was up.
"You alright, Zoom?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she said. I looked up at Geshna who wore her own guilty face.
"Izumi, why don't you take your things to your room and play for a little while. Your mother and I will be along soon." She nodded and walked off.
"Geshna, what is going on?" Sam asked. Geshna had a worried and upset look on her face.
"Oh, your majesties. Please forgive me! I was watching over Izumi this afternoon. I had a lot of tea throughout the day today and I was trying to wait until school was over but I couldn't. So I quickly went to relieve myself. When I came back…Izumi was talking to Chang."
"She broke the agreement already?" Sam asked angrily.
"Well, not exactly. Izumi is the one who approached to Chang. I stayed close by to know what was being said. Nothing happened. I did notice that Izumi didn't stray too far from Chang for the rest of the day."
"What was said?" I asked Geshna.
Flashback (third person narrative)
Geshna came back to Izumi and Chang sitting together. She started to walk over to them when she heard Izumi speak.
"Are you ok?" she asked Chang. Geshna stopped in her tracks. It was Izumi who approached Chang.
"Yeah." Chang said simply. Geshna noticed Chang shift uncomfortably. It was more than just talking to Izumi. She looked like she was hurting. On her backside.
"Why are you sad?" Izumi asked. Chang just shrugged. "Did you hurt yourself?" she asked. Geshna assumed she was referring to the red handmark on Chang's face. She must have also noticed Chang's grimace.
"No, my daddy punished me last night." Chang said. Geshna intook a quick breath. Although this kind of punishment was not a crime in the Fire Nation - it was actually quite common - she knew that the Zuko and Sam didn't partake in that kind of correction. Geshna noticed Izumi touch her burn on her face.
"What do you mean?" Izumi asked. Chang looked at her surprised.
"Didn't your daddy punish you last night?"
"No, Mommy and Daddy said because I didn't fight I wouldn't be punished." Izumi said. Chang thought about this for a moment.
"But, if you're bad, don't they punish you?"
"Well, yeah. The last time I fought…with you…they sent me to my room after dinner with no dessert. It wasn't fun." Chang looked confused.
"They didn't…hit you at all?"
"My mommy and daddy never hit me."
"Not on your bottom."
"No, never." Izumi asked. Chang's brow furrowed.
"You're a liar, Izumi! Everyone's daddy does it!"
"No, my daddy never does! My mommy doesn't either!" Izumi said, getting a little loud. Geshna worked her way closer to the girls.
"Does yours?" Izumi asked.
"Yeah, last night was really hard and it hurt really bad. It hurts to sit today." Chang said. Izumi looked perplexed. Her whole world was her parents and since they never did that, she didn't understand. To her, nothing was different from what she experienced. "Your daddy…never?" Chang asked, still surprised.
"No. They send me to my room or my corner or sit me down and talk to me but they never did THAT before." Izumi said. "Does it happen a lot?"
"Yeah. Whenever I am bad. Sometimes I didn't even know I was bad."
"What do you mean?" Izumi asked.
"I mean…he tells me I was bad but I didn't really do anything." Geshna didn't like the way this conversation was going so she broke it up and sent Izumi on her way.
Present - Zuko's perspective
"Zuko, I think we need to look into this. I know it's not a crime to punish your child but it sounds like Chang is being abused, not punished. And it must have been bad since Izumi went up to Chang. Until now, she never talked to Chang. Ever."
"I agree, something needs to be done. I wonder if we could talk to Chang's mother at all." I suggested.
"Well, it's Chang's mother who drops her off everyday for school." Geshna said.
"Maybe tomorrow you and I should accompany Geshna and Izumi to school." I said.
"I do think it's worth asking her about. But if Chang is being abused, chances are her mother is too and she may be too scared to say anything. But I think we have to try." Sam said.
"I agree. Tomorrow, we will take Izumi to school. Geshna, you can just meet us there." I said. Sam agreed and we dismissed Geshna for the day.
When it was time for us all to go to bed, Zuko and I tucked Izumi in like we did every night. I went onto one side of her and Zuko the other. We sat down on the bed, Izumi between us.
"Hey, Zoom. We need to talk to you." Sam said. Izumi looked up at her. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to Chang and she was obviously anticipating a punishment.
"No, Turtleduck. You're not in trouble. We need to talk to you about Chang." I said. She looked at me wide-eyed and then at Sam. "Can you tell us what happened today with Chang."
Izumi hesitated for a moment but then decided it best to just tell us, "I sat down with her at the table. I know I'm not allowed to. I'm sorry, Daddy!"
"We will worry about that later, Turtleduck. Why did you sit down with her?"
"I dunno. She was sitting at the table, not playing. I walked over to her and heard her crying. I wanted to make her feel better so I went up to her and hugged her." Geshna didn't include this detail but she had gone out of the room for a moment so this must have happened before she returned. "She was surprised and asked what I was doing. I telled her she was sad and I wanted her to feel better." she said. Izumi had a heart of gold. She always wanted people to be happy. Sam always said that Izumi was very empathetic. She was very good at reading people. Even at her young age. "I asked her why she was crying and she said that her bottom hurts. I asked her why and she telled me her daddy did it." Izumi looked confused, her eyes going from me to Sam. "Why'd her daddy do that?"
I really didn't know how to answer that and looked over at Sam.
"Some mommies and daddies teach their children in different ways." Sam explained. I could always count on her to come to the rescue.
"She telled me that her daddy hit her face too."
"Did she have a mark on her face?"
"Yeah.." she said. She reached up to her face and stroked it where the mark most likely was on Chang. Sam looked at me concerned.
"Alright, Zoom. Thank you for telling us what happened." Sam said.
"Am I in trouble?" she asked. I didn't really see the need to punish her. I looked up at Sam and she shook her head.
"No, Turtleduck. You aren't in trouble. Just…be careful around her, ok?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"Good girl, go on lay down." I said, holding up the covers for her. She slid down and grinned. She knew what was coming. "Now it's time to tuck you in tight!" I said. I bounced her up and down a bit and tucked the blankets in tight around her. She giggled and smiled, like she did every night. And it never got old. I leaned down to her face, "sleep tight, hunny, ok?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"I love you, Izumi." I said and kissed her forehead.
"I love you too, Daddy."
"Sweet Dreams, baby girl." Sam said also kissing her all over her face making her laugh again. "I love you."
"I love you too, Mommy." And with that, Sam and I went out.
It was the next morning and Izumi was EXTREMELY excited that Sam and I would be coming to school with her today. She, like always when I saw her off, wanted me to carry her on my shoulders. It was a long way to carry her like that, but I didn't mind. She loved it and I'd give anything to make her happy. She sat on my shoulders and played with my topknot and Fire Lord hairpiece. We arrived at the school, a little earlier than she and Geshna normally did. It was just the three of us walking to school. Geshna would be meeting us here. Sheeza saw us approaching and ran over to greet us.
"Fire Lord and Lady. To what do I owe this pleasure?" she asked, bowing.
"We are here to speak to Chang's mother. When they arrive, please send her over to us." I said.
"Of course, why do you want to see her?" she asked.
"That is our concern. Please send her over." I said.
"Yes, of course. My apologies, Fire Lord." she said bowing again. I smiled and nodded. I picked Izumi up off my shoulders and set her down on her feet. She turned around and hugged my leg.
"I'll miss you, Daddy!"
"I'll miss you too, Turtleduck. Be a good girl today." I said, stooping down and kissing her forehead. She hugged me around my neck and then went over to Sam.
"I'll miss you too, Mommy!" she said and hugged Sam.
"I'll miss you too, Zoom. We'll see you after school." she said. With that Izumi ran off. We waited for a few minutes until Chang and her mother arrive. As instructed, Sheeza sent her over to Sam and I.
"Fire Lord and Lady. May I help you with something?" I looked over at Sam. She'd be fielding this conversation. I thought she would be better at it considering her background.
"May Fire Lord Zuko and I have a moment with you?" she asked. Her mother looked concerned. "First off, what is your name?"
"I'm Shira. It's an honor to meet you both." she said bowing.
"It's an honor to meet you too, Shira. Would you mind if we asked you a few questions?" Sam said.
"Not at all, your majesty."
"Good. First of all, how did Chang get the mark on her face?" man, Sam didn't beat around the bush.
"Oh, that…was an accident."
"It's clearly a handprint. How is that an accident?" Sam insisted.
"Oh, well, sometimes my husband…overreacts. It's nothing."
"She also is having trouble sitting. And I noticed she is having trouble walking as well. Did you husband…punish her?"
"Well, yes, he did. Her burning Princess Izumi was unacceptable and it won't be tolerated." Shira said.
"So you agree with his punishment?"
"Well, like I said, he goes overboard sometimes but he means well."
"Does he ever overreact with you?" Sam asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, putting it bluntly, does he ever hit you?" I was carefully watching her reaction. She blanched at the question but then cowered a bit.
"Oh. No, ma'am." she said.
"Never? He never…hurts you? This is a safe place, Shira. He won't know what you tell us." Sam said.
"Well, sometimes he does. But, like I said, he overreacts. He doesn't mean it. Truth is, it's my fault. I make him angry." she said. Sam had said she may respond this way. She said that sometimes people who are abused think it's their own fault. It wasn't until that moment I thought about my father and realized, she was absolutely right.
"Do you feel safe with him?" Sam asked. Shira hesitated and then answered.
"Yes. I'm sorry, I must be going. I have some…errands I need to run. If it's alright with my Fire Lord and Lady." she stated.
"Yes, of course. Thank you for your time." Sam said. Shira bowed to us and walked away.
"What do you think?" I asked Sam.
"She is definitely being abused too. This is bad."
