Zuko
The three of us slept later than usual. I was, of course, awake before my girls were. Izumi was laying on my right side, her head resting on my stomach and Sam was, as usual, sleeping with her head on my chest. Her free arm was resting across my body and on Izumi's arm. Izumi started to stir and rubbed her eye with her fist. She looked up at me, groggily.
"Daddy?" she asked.
"Yes, sweetie. Shh. Mommy is still sleeping." I said. Izumi looked over at her and held her finger up to her mouth in a shush gesture then smiled at me. I had my hand resting on her side. She picked it up and started playing with my hand and fingers. I really wasn't sure what was so fascinating to her about my hands but she always liked playing with them. I smiled at the thought of her innocence. Soon, Sam began to stir.
"Good morning, my love." I said. Izumi looked over at her.
"Good morning, Mommy!" she said, enthusiastically. Izumi was a morning person like her father. Sam was not a morning person. She grumbled and sat up, stretching. Her head shot over to me and she jumped out of bed.
"Sam? What is it?"
"I need to check on Chang!" she said. I got up and Izumi walked with us. I looked at Izumi and then cleared my throat getting Sam's attention. She looked back and I looked at Izumi and then back at Sam, shrugging.
"Izumi, I don't think it's a good idea, hunny." Sam said. Izumi started to pout.
"But, Mommy, I want to see Chang! I miss her!" she said. Sam looked at me and I shrugged again, conveying, what other choice do we have? Izumi wants to see her friend. We can't keep her away forever. Sam knelt down in front of Izumi.
"Alright, sweetie. But Chang really isn't feeling good. So I don't want you going near her, ok?"
"Yes, Mommy." she said. Sam nodded, satisfied. She reached down and took Izumi's hand. I took the other one. We walked over to Chang's room and opened the door. We walked in and, to our surprise, Chang was awake. And to our even more surprise, Azula was sitting with her. She had her arm around the girl and Chang was resting on Azula's chest. She was stroking the child's hair absentmindedly.
"Azula, were you here all night?" I asked.
"Yes. I was. I was worried for…the children." I caught her hesitation but didn't mention it. Sam walked over to Chang.
"Good morning, sweetie. How are you feeling?" she asked, sitting down next to her. She felt her forehead and gave a small smile. "Your fever has broken."
"I feel better, Sam, but I still don't…feel…it's hard to move." she said.
"You've been through a lot. I'm sure it's normal to feel weak." she said.
I walked up to Sam and placed my hand on her shoulder. She looked back at me and I looked down at Izumi and then at Chang. I thought it would be ok for Izumi to get closer since she is awake. Sam understood.
"Come here, Izumi." she said. Izumi slowly walked over to Sam who patted the bed, encouraging her to come up. Izumi climbed on the bed and sat with Chang.
"Do you still feel sick in da belly?" Izumi asked.
"Yeah." she said, holding her stomach. She still looked pale and her cheeks and eyes were sunken in a bit, making her look gaunt. Then her eyes started darting from side to side. "Where is Gizo?"
"She got a little dirty last night. She is being washed. As soon as she is clean, they will bring her back." Azula assured her. Chang looked worried for her little friend but reluctantly accepted it. "Zuko, can I talk to you?" she asked. She got up and lead me out into the hallway.
"What's up?" Zuko asked.
"I want brought up to speed on everything regarding the trafficking." she said.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything." she said.
I filled Azula in on everything we knew about the trafficking. From the girls who were rescued, to Xinche. Azula was disgusted and angry at everything.
"What about Chang?"
"What do you want to know?"
"How did she end up here? Where are her parents? Why are you treating her like your own? Why are she and Izumi friends?" Oh boy. This was going to be a long story.
"Well, it started when Chang burnt Izumi." I said. Azula looked shocked.
"Yeah, I know. She was bullying her yet again. She told her that I would burn her like Ozai did me. Then she burned her over her eye. It wasn't a bad burn though. None of it scarred. You can hardly see it anymore. Sam and I were furious, as you can imagine. We went to the school to speak to the teacher and also speak to Chang's parents. After we spoke to them her father, Buzi, alluded to punishing her 'severely.' Of course, Sam and I were suspicious of what he meant by this. The next day, Chang was in school and showed visible marks of severe physical punishment."
"Do you know what he would do?"
"Well, Izumi actually approached her. We asked her why and she told us because Chang looked sad. You know Izumi. Chang told Izumi that her father punished her the night before. She had a hand mark on her face and Geshna said she couldn't sit easy."
"That's terrible. Father was horrible but he never punished us physically." Azula said.
"Speak for yourself." I said, dryly.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Zuko." Azula said, embarrassed. "Anything else?"
"Well, Geshna did tell us that she would notice bruising on Chang in various places but never thought anything of it at the time. Clumsy child is all." I said. "Chang did tell Sam that if she was bad her father would destroy her toys. He would burn them in front of her and forced her to watch."
"That's why she's so clingy with her toy."
"I think so. Then we found out that her parents were not only involved in the trafficking but both played a major role in it. They were both arrested and, since Chang had no one to look after her, she came here to the palace. She's been here for about a week now." I explained.
"I see."
"Why did you want to know?"
"Chang doesn't seem too trusting of people."
"No, she isn't. She was terrified of me when she first came here. She thought I would beat her when she misbehaved. She would start to shake and cry hysterically. It really upset me since I'm not like that. But Sam reassured me that it is just a preconceived notion that Chang had. She has gotten much better since she has been showed actual love."
"Yeah. Well, thanks for the information, Zuzu." Azula made her little jab. I didn't tell her but I really didn't mind the nickname anymore. In fact, I kind of liked it.. "I have to get to work. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Azula. Thanks for your help." I said. "Oh! Will you let the guards know that I want Buzi and Shira brought here immediately?"
"Sure, Brother." she said and I thanked her.
After Azula left I went back into Chang's room. It was only Chang, Izumi, Fen and Sam. The other children were better and back on their feet. Sam looked inquisitively at me, wondering what Azula wanted. I mouthed "later" to her to which she nodded in acceptance.
The mirror was ready and we could talk to the girls. Since Toph and Sokka were out procuring a painting of Xinche, we would wait to work with the girls until after they returned. No need to traumatize them more than once. However, there were other things we needed to do. I told Sam I was going to work on the interrogations. She wanted to come with me.
"Zuko, let me come with you. I want to see this for myself."
"What about Chang? She isn't 100% yet." I said. Sam sighed.
"I can stay with her until you are finished with what you must do." Fen offered. I smiled at him.
"Thank you, Fen. You are an excellent doctor." I said. I looked over at Izumi, "Turtleduck, you can stay here with Chang but don't bother her. She still needs to rest." I said.
"Ok, Daddy," she said. I also went over to get Geshna and she would stand guard over them. I still didn't feel comfortable leaving them alone yet.
"Alright, Sam. Let's do this." he said.
