The next chapter has Zuko falling ill. Aang is worried about Zuko but is hesitant to bother him, but Katara has no such reservations, so she checks on him when he doesn't seem to be bouncing back from his hangover. Katara notices that he has a fever and feels as though he's on fire.
Katara then tries waterbending healing, but then finds that it's not as useful for diseases as it is for injuries. This is an interesting touch, and it's consistent with how I've noticed how cure magic, outside video games, mainly only works on people's injuries, with diseases requiring more time, effort and thought to cure. It does seem to be something of a plot device, to ensure that while minor injuries can be healed injuries, diseases can incapacitate people for a while, if not worse, but this is fairly plausible.
Chit Sang understands well what's going on with Zuko, and reveals that he forgot to tell Zuko about it before he got thrown into the cooler (even saying something about it before it took hold could have helped). He mentions that there's a disease called "cooler fever", in which, if you firebend in the coolers to keep warm, thereby expending too much energy and absorbing the cold, days later, you will be incapacitated by a disease, and bad things will happen to you. I'm no medical expert, but I'm not sure how different that would be from hypothermia or why it would take days to take root. Katara points out that Chit Sang is so knowledgeable, he knows that Zuko just needs rest.
Katara muses that Chit Sang is a bigger idiot than Zuko, if such a thing were possible, and suggests that even if Chit Sang claims his excitement made him forget, he's not very bright. Sokka blames himself for Zuko's illness, because using the cooler to escape was his idea, one that fell through.
Katara sees that Zuko is delusional, thinking she's Iroh, and apologizing to him for almost literally everything, from betraying him at Ba Sing Se to taking the last dim sum. Katara stops him in his tracks and accepts his apologies, calming him somewhat.
The next time Katara goes to see Zuko, he's coherent enough to know who she is, if barely so, since he doesn't seem to understand why she's mad at him. He also calls her pretty, which she believes is a victory over Mai.
Katara goes back to Zuko and notices that he doesn't do as she says when she uses the special tone of voice on him, most likely because he didn't hear it.
Zuko's fever spikes, and Katara, at a loss for what to do, drops him into the fountain, filled with waterbended ice. Zuko is quite upset, but reluctantly accepts that he has to stay in it until his fever lowers. After it does, Katara takes him back to his room, waterbends the icy water out of him, feeds him some soup, and sings to him a little on his request. This unsettles her, since she usually just wants to annoy him. Katara also hears him saying her name in his sleep, and she wonders if he's having a pleasant dream.
On the third day of Zuko's illness, he starts getting on Katara's nerves by demanding fireflakes. Of course, he's not the only one who does so.
Zuko's visitors also annoy Katara. Aang often bugs Zuko about firebending, mentioning that he learned Leaping Tiger (I can't help but think about the style with claws from Jade Empire, my favorite hand to hand style) from Chit Sang, and Katara doesn't want Zuko up and about. Toph thinks that hitting Zuko affectionately will help and that Katara wants him all to herself.
The next day, Katara and her father have a father-daughter outing to do some shopping. Katara buys eucalyptus cream, as well as Zuko's favorite kind of fireflakes, having recorded this information in her journal, which is a nice case of Katara acting on her observations. Meanwhile, Suki is watching over Sokka...
...which turns out to be a bad idea, as after an argument over whose weapon is superior, Suki and Zuko start going at it with each other, in spite of Zuko's need for rest. Katara makes it clear that she's quite unhappy with the two of them, and considers withholding the fireflakes and medicine, but relents, blaming it on Zuko after he thanks her. Katara enjoys putting the eucalyptus cream on Zuko's naked body a little too much, but hopes he never gets sick again.
Another author's note follows, and the author begins by saying she enjoyed writing the chapter.
The author suggests that the Fire Nation would have to use some way to make the coolers unpleasant for the firebenders, finding it clear evidence of Fire Nation stupidity that they can't warm themselves with firebending (although I suspect that there's no way to bend indefinitely, and Zuko nearly froze to death at a few points in "The Siege of the North").
The author mentions that it's difficult to take someone's bending away (this was clearly written before Legend Of Korra introduced Amon, and had Aang energybending for the second time), making a derisive reference to the "magical lion turtle", giving me some idea of where this fic is going. The author concludes that an illness was the most logical response. I do have to question how the illness would take a few days to take root, though.
The author points out that Chit Sang really is that stupid and forgetful, but, in a moment of candor, says that because of him, she could write about Katara caring for Zuko. It's pointed out that Katara IS the most knowledgeable about medicine, but also the one who wants to do it the most, in spite of feeling embarrassed about all the nice things she does for Zuko.
One could be forgiven for thinking of this as a plot device to have Katara getting to care for Zuko, although if that were only the case, it seems more likely to have Zuko getting to do something for Katara. Still, the author makes use of this to advance Zuko and Katara's relationship, helping them get close together.
According to the author's moter, ice baths are used in the case of severe fevers (40 degrees Celsius/105 degrees Fahrenheit), but otherwise are not recommended; she doesn't specify whether this was solely for the modern world, or also for the period of time shown in Avatar's first series. The author says that eucalyptus cream works like "vicks vapor rub" (the author put it in lowercase for some reason), as well as that there is no reason eucalyptus does not exist in the Avatar-verse.
What I liked
- Seeing some of the rest of the Gaang react to Sokka's sickness.
- Interesting points about the limitations of healing waterbending.
What I didn't like
- The "cooler fever" explanation sounded contrived and a setup to a Sick Episode.
- Said Sick Episode seemed like a plot device.
