Katara finds the endless minutiae of Fire Nation etiquette confusing, particularly what applies to whom. Fortunately for her, while there are some unacceptable conversation topics while sober, anything goes once the people get drunk.
Some of them end up falling back on what they know, with Suki accidentally doing a Kyoshi style bow that's proof of servitude, while Sokka lapses into his "Wang Fire" disguise, which Zuko says, in no uncertain terms, in unacceptable. Zuko says that if all else fails, they can claim to be colonials, a somewhat more lax stance on this than he took earlier.
They go dress shopping next, and they're on a strict budget, since the money that Zuko took from the palace and Toph scammed from others]] is running low. They're not in dire straits just yet, but if Sozin's comet doesn't come soon (It's in 5-6 chapters, which can be potentially a LONG time), Katara might let Toph start scamming again; that she'd resort to that says quite a bit about their desperation.
Sokka's excited to pick his outfit, so Katara and the others do it for him, leaving him to loiter while the others pick theirs out. This takes a while, since Katara's quite indecisive about hers. Suki helps out by picking out three dresses from the pile and telling Katara to choose between them. Before long, Katara picks out a dress and they head back.
Katara and Suki get dressed, and Katara goes to show off to Zuko, finding him watching over Toph and Aang training. He's rendered speechless for a moment, and when Katara asks him if she looks good for a fancy party, he says she looks beautiful. Katara's quite happy, because even if she knows being beautiful doesn't matter much in the middle of a war, she's glad he thinks this way of her, the way she was "half-hoping" for. She gets close to him, and gets the impulse to kiss him, like Rozin did to Toph(but on the lips, not the cheek, which she has already kissed) while saying how much she likes him.
She then stops herself, realizing she has never been so infatuated with anyone before, and ponders how awkward the Water Tribe can be in matters relating to love. Her brother asked Yue to "do an activity together," and her father was awkward around her mother as well, procrastinating for six months before asking her out. Katara's no different, as an excellent fighter in battle, but a nervous wreck in romance.
Katara's train of thought is interrupted as Zuko pulls her out of the way of a boulder that Toph accidentally threw at them. Katara's a bit disappointed that he's not kissing her, but realizes it's a nice thing to do. Toph apologizes, but seems pleased with herself.
Toph then says Katara looks great, but somewhat sarcastically, to Katara's annoyance. In spite of that, when Aang echoes the sentiment, she thanks the two of them. Aang wanted to sneak into the party, apparently for no other reason than because he likes parties, but Katara and Toph rejected that because of Aang's arrow. Katara sympathizes, though (I'm a bit surprised that she wasn't more annoyed with Aang), and tells him that he'll have a fun night with Zuko.
Toph, for her part, is glad to not have to go to a dull party, having had all her fill of high society in her childhood in Gaoling, and enjoys training Aang alongside Zuko. Naturally, Aang is less happy about undergoing Toph's training, but Zuko concurs with Toph and offers to teach Aang "the sparkle dragon."
So let's give a brief recap. Aang wants to go to an event with Katara for the sake of his own enjoyment even though it could compromise the mission and put him in danger. He's disappointed to have to stay behind to do training, but Zuko placates him by offering to teach him a possibly pointless firebending move. I'm a bit surprised that the author wasn't harder on him through Katara.
The three going to the party leave the three staying at the home behind and set out. Before the guests leave, Katara is left alone with Zuko once again (which happens a lot in this fic, even for it being Zutara). Katara says it feels weird going off without the three of them, particularly since she's not there to put everyone to bed or wash the dishes with Zuko. Zuko, however, will do what he can in her stead, particularly giving Aang sun poppy tea if he must. Katara's about to say something else that's naggy, but Zuko assures her that he has everything well in hand. Katara hugs him until Sokka calls out to her, ruining the moment. Katara sheepishly tells Zuko she was ready first, and walks off, Zuko waving to her until she's out of sight.
Katara and the others reach the party with their invitations, and are shown to the garden. Katara's amazed by the elegance of the place, the people (which she says will decrease as they drink), and the food (she notes how 'canapes' is pronounced).
Rena and Rei are there, and Katara notices their outfits, which are mirrors of each other and go well with their skin tones. Rei, without much subtlety, asks where Zuko is. Katara says that he is looking after the kids (which is actually largely true, if not the entire truth), and as Rei notes how responsible he is, Katara resists the urge to bop her.
Rena gets them some drinks, and Katara enjoys hers, while being careful not to get too drunk. She seems to forget that the Fire Nation generals aren't the only ones keeping critical secrets; she knows where the Avatar and a fugitive prince of the Fire Nation are, and if she's not careful, she could end up divulging them through the very means she intended to use against them.
Still, Katara enjoys herself talking with Rena about various things, such as how beautiful everything is, and watching the shenanigans of the geese that were supposed to be eaten getting loose. The only point of reference she has for this event is the party in Ba Sing Se.
Some poffs arrive with their parents, but they keep to their separate groups. Katara wonders what they're discussing, and Rena, not on an espionage mission, shrugs it off as probably over the food or something trivial.
Katara and Suki go over to greet them because it doesn't make sense not to, and notices that they seem like "surfie boys," which hardly sees like the stereotypical poff. Somewhat optimistic, Suki and Katara introduce themselves, and the boys, who are Chan (who sounds like one of the guys from "The Beach") and Ron Jian do so as well. Ron Jian, or at least the one Katara thinks is Ron Jian, says that his dad is "like an admiral," and Katara considers snarking at him for this, but wisely decides against it.
At this point, Sokka, along with Rei and Rena, walks over and introduces himself as Suki's boyfriend to the one Katara believs to be Chan. Chan's attention apparently shifts to Rena.
Chan then asks if the others are from the colonies, and takes the fact that they are better than some might expect. He's not asking out of snobbishness, but out of a desire to see tricks like picking up a grain of rice with one's feet, which his father apparently told him about. Rei, somewhat intoxicated, says she can't do that, but she can "skip" her arms, being double-jointed as a result of a childhood accident. Rei asks if the others can do any better, prompting Chan to put his fist in his mouth and for Suki to do a backflip perfectly despite having two glasses of champagne.
Conversation begins to flow, and Katara begins to talk to kids whose names she won't remember. One girl, after hearing Katara is a healer in training, shows Katara her supposedly poisonous rash, which is merely caused by the heat, making it harmless and inconspicuous. The kids, drunk enough that they don't mind sharing confidential issues with a healer in training, share their stories with Katara, who promises to keep them secret even if she identifies them by their condition (but, thankfully for her and the person in question, doesn't say "Possible crabs'" name out loud).
Katara is, unfortunately, getting nowhere, except for a guy who has uncomfortable itching and swelling offering to show it to her in a fairly suspicious way, as a means of flirting with her. Katara, not comfortable and realizing that he's no use to her, declines.
Meanwhile, Rei is talking with a girl with an extra long tongue, who appears to have the ulterior motive of showing off. Elsewhere, Sokka and Ron Jian are talking, Suki does the fan dance to people who drunkenly imitate it, and Rena rudely gets rid of Katara's previous guy much more quickly.
Katara speaks with Rena, and shares that apparently, the swelling and itching guy isn't the only one who uses supposed medical problems as a pretext to flirt with her. Rena's disappointed that Zuko didn't show up, and asks if Katara misses him, to which Katara reluctantly admits that she does. Rena, unaware of why Katara is here and Zuko is not, offers to make excuses so that she can go home and shag Zuko. Katara gets annoyed at Rena for proposing shagging her "cousin." Rena, however, doesn't seem to buy it, and seems to be proposing that Katara and Zuko take things to the next level.
At this point, Chan interupts by flirting with Rena, enabling Katara to leave. Chan shoots himself in the foot by saying that Rena's cute for a colonial, offending her, and Rena turns out to be "a sassy drunk."
Katara wanders past the tree, as the sun sets, dealing with some more "patients," including a girl who gets an ear infection every time she goes swimming. She wanders by Rena and Chan again, with the former going off on a rant about bourgeois poffs, and the latter only exacerbating it by saying that the girls he flirts with are crazy, leading her to accuse him of being sexist as well.
Meanwhile, Suki has more drunken "students," which Katara ascribes as being part of her leadership talents. The drunk girls are enthusiastic, if not precise.
Fortunately, Sokka has made a breakthrough, having gotten Ron Jian to introduce him to his father the admiral.
The author says that the author's note this chapter will be shorter, and that this is a somewhat light and fluffy chapter this time; I suspect the two are related.
As one might suspect, Katara gets to impress Zuko, but he can't come out and say that he likes her because he has to stay home with Aang and Toph (it doesn't help that he doesn't like parties). In spite of that, the author's confident the three of them will have a fun night.
The author continues the colonials vs. poffs discussion, saying that before they get "squiffy," they'll stick to their groups, with Chan and Ron Jian guest starring at a reviewer's suggestion. The three Gaang infiltrators, not part of the "two-tiered" society, are more confident mingling with those who aren't part of the group they claim to be part of.
The author says that the Gaang is not going to get too "wankered" until after Sozin's Comet has passed and the Fire Nation is defeated, since this is a fact finding mission and they're staying on task, while only drinking to fit in and not seem like prudes.
Naturally, this doesn't apply to the R Siblings (or rather, R Sisters, since Rozin isn't there). Rei gets more communicative, and is confident enough to skip her arms, like one girl the author knows. More shenanigans follow, like the Suki dance, which is aided by Suki's charisma (although I think it would also apply more to her own people, where she's built a sense of camaraderie and proven herself many times).
Katara is a good healer who says she's in training because she's young, and the author recalls the experiences of one of her nurse friend, who gets asked questions by people at bars. Not only is their drunkenness a factor, but so too is the fact that they won't see those people again. The author asks others if they've experienced anything like this.
The author talks about how Rena likes to mess with others.
What I liked
- Some of the drunken antics
- The amusing conditions of Katara's "patients."
- The return of the boys from "The Beach."
What I didn't like
- Aang implicitly being described as a hindrance who doesn't even have the common sense to choose to stay home.
- Clothes shopping went on for slightly too long.
- The implication that Katara's overly self-deprecating in spite of being a healer in training.
- That the Gaang fail to consider what happens if they get drunk
