Zuko takes Rei and Aang into the temple after lunch, while Katara and the rest of the group chill out and enjoy the view. Toph and Rozin, however, don't join in, since the former, without her sense of sight, can't enjoy views, and instead practice Toph's "sonic wave."
As Zuko leaves, the trinket merchants, formerly kept at bay by his "stink eye," close in on Sokka. Sokka, a sucker for kids with a "sad face," buys useless trinkets, such as postcards, a guide to the temple, a dragon pipe, pumice stone, special fireflakes and some bracelets. Knowing the author, most, if not all, of these will come up later.
Rena buys a bracelet, but gets into a dispute with the merchant over the coins being colonial currency, even though both types of coins have Ozai's face on them, and the only difference is that colonial coins have grapes, while Fire Nation coins have the sun symbol. Apparently, the coins have a 1:1 exchange rate (although I do have to wonder whether the exchanger would charge a fee).
Rena brings up the fact that there's a curfew now in most Fire Nation cities, something that she believes the Gaang didn't experience themselves if they came directly to Ember Island. Apparently, there was a lot of trouble with Sozin's Comet approaching, and this was an effort to curb that, one that was not applied in places that were more peaceful.
Rena mentioned many posters in which Ozai is supposed to be portrayed as a protective uncle, but looks unpleasant. It reminds me a little of Ozai's Faux Affably Evil entry.
- "When (Ozai)'s not being abusive, he sounds civil, but in a cold and not-really-empathic way. He tells people what he thinks they want to hear, so long as what they want is to stay on his good side."
Rena, having gotten the willies from talking about Ozai, changes the subject to a party that her grandfather is throwing tomorrow "arvo" (afternoon). He wants her to make friends, so they're free to invite any friends, although Rozin and any similarly young kids will have to stay behind, the reason for that being that there's free "plonk" or wine, at the party.
Sokka asks if there's any Fire Nation military there, and Rena says her father knows some retired military men. Rena says that shouldn't put them off, and says that it will be at her house at three. Rena says they should dress "classy but a little slutty" (when is the latter ever used as something to be encouraged? The negative connotations associated with the word seems to result in most people using an alternate term for something with the same effect) to pick up some good looking boys.
Katara, however, knows that there's only one boy she's interested in, and at that point, the boy in question comes back, as Zuko, Aang(taken out of context, one could assume Katara's talking about him, which is the case for canon) and Rei return, "ridiculously sweaty" from firebending training. Of course, Katara then gives Zuko a look that is not "cousinly" (although I do wonder if Kissing Cousins exist in the Avatar-verse). Aang and Rei want to go to a fountain to dunk themselves in it, and Zuko directs them to it, with them running off before getting his advice that they'll have to get used to the heat if they want to get better at firebending.
Sokka asks Zuko if he wants to do the same, but Zuko insists that he's fine. After Sokka calls Zuko "a sweaty bastard," Zuko, "in a fit of maturity," gives Sokka a noogie, prompting Sokka to try to do a headlock, resulting in struggling.
Katara clears Sokka's "crap" off of Zuko's seat, where it was deposited in Zuko's absence. Zuko wonders what all the stuff is, and Katara calls it "crap", prompting Sokka to object. Sokka offers Zuko his fireflakes, but a moment later, Zuko goes back to citicizing Sokka's purchases. Sokka can't argue that he got roped into buying a lot of stuff, but insists that 10 silver crowns is a good price for all that. Zuko doesn't buy the latter argument, but says that it's a good price with less sarcasm than one might expect of Zuko.
Later, when they're on the ferry (is this after they get off the volcano? It's hard to tell), Zuko tells Katara that Sokka was grossly overcharged (I'm not sure whether it's meant to say more about how high the price was or how worthless those trinkets were), and Zuko didn't want to tell him, lest he "kill the dream." Katara says that they made the acquaintance of nice ticket selling children, and Zuko is touched, but says that Katara doesn't need to be optimistic about everything.
Katara finds Toph and Rozin doing their embarrassing antics, with Toph offering to "teach" Rozin- one of the few people who are as boisterous and noisy as she is- how to do the nonexistent sonic wave, which amounts to getting him to scream at the top of his lungs. One has to wonder whether this is meant to keep their cover, or simply a gesture of friendship.
They board the cable car, and Suki, Sokka and Zuko are reminded of their escape from The Boiling Rock, something Katara had no part in, causing her to feel left out. Toph suffers from motion sickness and vomits, into Sokka's bag of trinkets at one point, much to Katara's amusement. I wonder if Toph is starting to consider the rice paddies a more pleasant route.
They reach the ferry, which they have to take because the trains are canceled for the rest of the week in order to conserve coal (which does seem slightly sudden), much to the annoyance of those who already paid for tickets, and resulting in long lines for the ferry and women's restroom. The R siblings start complaining about how much better things are in the colonies, much to Zuko's impatience
The Gaang and the R Siblings are below decks when Katara finds Zuko watching the sunset. He says he's reached his limit when it comes to hearing how much the Fire Nation sucks, a slightly odd sentiment considering that he was earlier ashamed to not be patriotic enough. Katara sympathizes with Zuko but has also come to like the R Siblings, so she tells him that they're not bad people. He agrees, saying he's not used to meeting new people.
Katara realizes that Zuko has not met many children his own age apart from "his crazy sister," (who has her own set of issues). She believes days like today are good for him, and that he successfully refrained from getting "all shouty," like he would over much smaller things in the past. Katara thanks Zuko for his patience, which he appreciatively accepts.
Katara then broaches the issue of Rei's crush on Zuko, but he appears to be in denial about it. Katara's glad for that, believing that being jealous is unreasonable, and she can't declare him hers like Aang does with her. Katara notes that she's fine with other girls crushing on him, oblivious as he may be about it.
Even considering that no one would seriously expect an OC/Zuko romance to go anywhere in a Zutara fic, that did seem a little fast.
After sunset, and just before returning to Port Ember, Zuko and Katara rejoin the others, who are discussing the coming party. Rei, oblivious to the fact that she's just been rejected, eagerly asks if Zuko is coming, and Katara resists the urge to splash her with water, since she's a "harmless colonial girl."
Zuko is oblivious, apparently having been left out of the loop about the party, but once he hears about it, he has an immediate negative reaction. After hearing more- that Rena's grandpa and five others are celebrating their retirement, Zuko's shocked to hear that six high-ranking Fire Nation generals are retiring at once, but Rena doesn't think much of the implications apart from that it calls for a celebration. Zuko turns quite concerned as he asks whether the Fire Lord will be there, and Katara realizes that she didn't expect to have to face Ozai so soon.
Rena, oblivious to Zuko and Katara's real reason for being interested, says that Ozai turned her grandfather down quite rudely, and as such, no one from the royal family will be coming (If she only knew...). Zuko considers bowing out, but Sokka says they already agreed to come. Zuko wants to talk to Sokka later, but lets it go for now. Rena gives them directions before parting ways with them. Toph and Rozin are hesitant to separate, but Rozin comes back and, after a bit of hesitation, gives Toph a peck on the kiss. In response, Toph goes into a Luminescent Blush, while Suki and Katara Squee.
Sokka teases Toph about her new boyfriend, but she's not as rude or standoffish (I do sometimes notice that whenever she should act this way, it's toned down or removed). Meanwhile, Aang complains about Rozin, but his complaints go ignored by Toph.
Back at the house, Toph and Aang train in earthbending, with Aang doing better than before, while the older kids discuss the party.
Sokka is in favor of going, believing that with many high-ranking generals there, they can find out a lot of information (possibly with the help of the free wine), which is presumably more current than what Zuko has.
Zuko, however, says that it's not such a good idea, as the etiquette required is significantly more formal, and will be enforced more stringently than in most of the situations they've been in. They're all somewhat offended that he's saying they don't have any manners, although he suggests Toph can teach them. Oddly enough, the possibility of blowing their cover through a faux pas does not come up, at least for the rest of the Gaang.
Zuko says he isn't coming. Too many of them would recognize him (it's a bit of a surprise that he wasn't recognized earlier), and he needs to look after Toph and Aang, so that they don't destroy the house. Sokka accepts this, but says Zuko will have to teach them manners, and Zuko reluctantly accepts it. Zuko says that first, there will be manners lessons, then shopping, then the party; Sokka's most excited about the second.
The author thanks us for sitting through Part 2 of the trek through "OCland". She thanks some of the users for helping her with some things, such as the "Uncle Ozai" posters, and points out that part of the reason for the posters' failure was that they were quite rushed.
The author reintroduces Sokka's love of shopping, which she says is like her, and which frustrates Zuko.
The author points out that Sokka's shopping is one of many things that frustrates Zuko, but as a result of his Character Development from a Spoiled Brat in Season 1 to Team Dad of the Gaang by Season 3, he's able to take this in stride without losing his temper, a change that is not lost on Katara.
I'd like to point out that Character Development is one of the fic's strong suits... which is why it's such a shame that it's for everyone except Aang.
The author mentions getting invited to random things while traveling, and the party invitation for the "first fun people" the R Siblings (whose relatives want them to make friends in the Fire Nation) met is a natural extension of this.
The author points out the ages of the R siblings are similar to those of their corresponding Gaang members. Rena is 16(like Zuko), Rei is 15-16(like Katara), and Rozin is 12(like Toph).
The author decides Toph needs a kiss from Rozin, since she didn't get any in the series, but decides to have Rozin, unlike Aang, go for the cheek, rather than the lips. That is enough to make Aang jealous, however, but said jealousy happens to fuel his earthbending (It's a bit unfortunate that negative emotions fuel his earthbending, and he can only succeed at bending by showing off what the author considers emotionally immature behavior).
The author points out that the party is "unusual," and reassures us that she is going somewhere with this. She says death and resentment are the only ways out of the Fire Nation military, claiming that JJ was the only successful deserter in 100 years (which seems hard to believe), while Piandao retiredwith some grace, and says "So just quitting isn't an option".
So what's causing those six generals to leave, causing a significant blow? It's the "crazy plan," which they refuse to be part of, since they're close enough to retirement. They're not White Lotus members, but they're not "arse-kissers" like General Bujing (who set forth the We Have Reserves plan that Zuko spoke out against) and Admiral Zhao. They're loyal to their country but have limits to how far they're willing to go, family in the areas that might be destroyed and some idea of what the repercussions of all this destruction will be. Out of a sense of duty, they'd stay and try to talk Ozai down (which works about as well as you would expect, given who Ozai is), and when that fails, they'll wait a little while to retire out of a sense of etiquette, and wouldn't do so all at once, so they could leave with the Fire Lord's blessing. The fact that six did so at once, and with the Fire Lord refusing to attend their going away party, is surprising.
The author says that the party's a way to enjoy the Earth Kingdom's resources, before it's gone forever, and get drunk courtesy of one of their daughters. The author makes a Call-Back to her own author's note about alcoholism in the fire nation, and indidcates that they're doing what they're doing out of despair.
The author says that both Sokka and Zuko are correct. There's a lot of information to be had at the party, but the generals will recognize Zuko in a heartbeat, thereby forcing him to stay home with Aang (who might be recognized if they see his tattoo) and Toph. Meanwhile, Katara can get dressed up (I've noticed that formal events can be as much for Fanservice as trips to the beach).
What I liked
- Zuko's maturity and patience with the R Siblings
- The "Uncle Ozai" posters.
- The idea of generals being between the die-hard loyalists and the defectors
What I didn't like
- Aang's crush being brought up in a negative light again.
- Zuko dismissing Rei's crush so easily.
