Katara notes that things are far from over; Zuko still needs medical attention, and Azula's on the ground nearby, two reasons why Katara wants to get Zuko out of there. Azula's been strangely quiet, but as Katara moves to get Zuko out of there, Azula stirs, and begins her screaming tantrum from the end of the duel, which inspires Katara to pity her in spite of hating her before.
As Zuko stares at Azula, though, Katara suspects that he's in shock, and not just at Azula's state. He has all the symptoms of shock that Yugoda described, even seeming cold in spite of all the fire, and is addled enough to walk over to the girl who tried to kill him and nearly succeeded. Even though Katara stops him, he calls out her name, causing her to stop crying for a moment. As realistic as this is, I don't quite like the indication that Zuko's pity for his sister is possibly due in part to him not being at full mental capacity.
Zuko's still in pain, and Katara wants to get him out of there, not caring about Azula. It's somewhat understandable that she'd care more for a friend (if not the guy she loved) more than an enemy, at least to the extent in which she'd prioritize his well-being. Zuko's about to suggest something, but stops short, leaving it as mysterious as many uncompleted statements. Katara, however, says that Zuko should come with her, suggesting that Azula will be fine- which is somewhat relative, as Azula howls and wails. Zuko looks back, and Katara chalks it up to his delirium and being "difficult" yet again.
At this point, I have to wonder- has Zuko officially been declared the victor? Azula attacking Katara is presumably a blatant violation of the rules, so she'd probably have gotten disqualified and stripped of the title of Fire Lord, since that was what was at stake
Katara notes how she's never had to carry Zuko before, as he could usually move under his own power, or someone else could carry him. She notes that it's hard t do it with someone larger than she is, and I've noticed men tend to, as a whole, be larger than women of the same age and build. She's getting tired from carrying him and he's getting tired of walking, so they're going quite slowly, making the few minutes long walk to his house seem like "eons." But even so, it's ideal, as it's empty, has a bedroom, and Appa and Katara's supplies are there. Katara doesn't want to make Zuko walk, but also doesn't want to keep Zuko in "that plaza of fire" any longer, especially when his symptoms seem to be worsening.
They're about halfway there, and Katara considers stealing some supplies from the boarded up stores. Zuko wants to get home and says, as best as he can in his delirium, that the comet is giving him energy, so he wants to get home before it passes.
They get to the house, and Appa greets them, evidently concerned over Zuko's condition, and Katara tells Appa to get back to dinner. She picks the lock to the front door, and while she notices that it looks nice, she's mainly focused on Zuko and how the comet's gone, resulting in Zuko struggling to stay conscious. She opens the door to a room with a bed, deposits Zuko on the bed and cuts open his shirt with Lu Ten's dagger, noting that "he'd never where it again." Katara gets a look at Zuko's chest, but doesn't enjoy it as much as she did before, because the damage is horrific and he will have yet another scar (one done by a family member, no less).
Zuko's trying to stay conscious, and he tries to reassure her by saying "it's worse than it looks," but realizes That Came Out Wrong and he insists the opposite- that it's not as bad as it looks. Katara insists that he get some sleep, but Zuko says that bad things happen when he sleeps (I wonder if he has nightmares about Ozai), prompting Katara to consider making sun poppy tea.
Katara realizes that Zuko has a more personal issue, since he's lost or been abandoned by many people. More than anything, he wants Katara to stay with him, and she obliges, fully meaning it.
Another author's note follows. The author says that the Agni Kai is a big moment, and she wanted to do it justice. I'd say she did, although I have my caveats about the pacing.
The Agni Kai is one part of the climax, but not the entire part or the main event, so it clocks in at about six minutes in all. But since the focus is on Zuko and Katara here, it's the main event, so it receives a proportionate increase in importance. Unfortunately, extraneous events before the battle get a fair amount of coverage (less so after, since Katara treating Zuko is an important bonding experience).
The author suggests that the comet lasted a few hours, since it fits with her timeline and there's no consistent real life "length" of comets. This is generally a good plan, since if you can't consistently pin something down realistically, you should use what works for the story.
The city is empty because most of the people were banished by Azula, who didn't bother with paperwork any more than she did with Lo. The exiles haven't gone far, but they secured their valuables by boarding up their house.
Zuko's house is the exception, but why does he have a house? The author cites the Avatar Wiki, which says that only the Fire Lord, the next in line and his family live at the palace, and since Iroh was next in line, Ozai's family didn't stay at the palace, but in a villa that had the turtle duck pond. It's fallen into neglect, but while it isn't rented out, it isn't falling into ruin. Zuko considers this place home, and is desperate to return to it.
The author explains that she sent Appa there to explain his absence, and decided to officially instate the "waiting period" rule, as well as some others "for shiggles." The one about gender differences will come up more later, and the Fire Nation's relative equality will be contrasted with the Water Tribe's gender roles. This seems like a bad omen, since sexism is rarely treated as anything other than a black and white issue in fan fiction, and the author has tended to be somewhat preachy about this subject in the past.
The author suggests that the Fire Sages pulled a Screw This, I'm Outta Here! upon Zuko challenging Azula.
The author diagnoses Azula with schizophrenia and anxiety disorder, but doesn't think she's a "classic" sociopath, since Ozai was the one who made her that way; she had some traits of this as a child, and they only got worse as she got older (the author points out that schizophrenia has its onset in puberty, around the time Zuko was banished). The author points out some evidence to suggest that the canon hallucination isn't the first one (although it didn't seem to get that bad until "The Search.")
Of course, neither of Azula's conditions are referred to by name, thanks to the "Victorian" style of medicine practiced in the Fire Nation, meaning that there's little understanding of mental illness, or compassion for those with it. That's part of the reason why Azula works so hard to keep her condition secret, with surprising success, even though her family members are unsure of what's wrong with Azula.
The author says YMMV again, but to be honest, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's an interesting bit of Shown Their Work. On the other hand, the author seems to be playing psychologist for fictional characters using the relatively limited evidence in the show (as opposed to a more detailed psychological evaluation) and filling in the rest.
The author plans on writing another story about Zuko and Azula, and believes she can repair their sibling relationship someday, given that Zuko pities her after her defeat (which the author undermined by having Katara notice that he wasn't in his right mind). I'm not quite so optimistic; perhaps there's a certain degree of fraternal love there, but the relationship was troubled even in the best of times. "The Search" ended on an appropriately ambiguous note, showing that there's still some degree of care for Zuko amid Azula's evil and insanity, but it isn't likely to happen.
The author points out that Azula has always wanted to be loved, especially since she's The Unfavorite to everyone except her father. When Mai and Ty Lee betray her (to save Zuko and Mai), Azula tries to kill Zuko to ensure that everyone comes back to her, even though, it's in some cases impossible.
Of course, Azula then gets her idea of controlling people from her father, and begins her downward spiral once even he's rejected her. She ends up projecting her frustrations onto Zuko, and both loves and hates him, resulting in their Agni Kai being so vicious.
I wouldn't go so far as to say this is Draco in Leather Pants treatment, but it does tend to play up Azula's Freudian Excuse and downplay her responsibility for her own actions and her own reputation.
The author says that the Agni Kai was amazing, and because she's "dreadful" at writing action scenes, she couldn't do it justice. That's a bit too self-deprecating, and in many cases, I find excessive Self-Deprecation to be disingenuous. As a writer myself, I don't think of myself as the best, but am confident in my skill, take pride in my work, and challenge myself while working to better my own writing.
The author questions whether and to what degree Zuko redirected the lightning, and rejecting the fandom and Bryke's "partial redirection" theory as saying that you can't get a little bit of lightning to the heart more than you can be a little bit pregnant. To me, it seems as though Zuko reached out his hands in a failed attempt at redirecting it; the author points out that it was hasty in an attempt to protect Katara without thinking too much (like most of Zuko's other decisions).
The author notes that Kataangers believe that Zuko would have shielded any of the Gaang from lightning at this point, and vehemently disagrees. She argues that Zuko Took a Level in Kindness, but is not "Saint Zuko," and that while he might sacrifice himself for the other Gaang members, he'd hesitate for them, but doesn't hesitate for Katara.
I see it differently- would Zuko let someone die when he's the only one who can save them? The answer is no, and it's something that a Jerk with a Heart of Gold like Zuko would do as readily as a "saint." For an example, in Fairy Tail, Gajeel does essentially the same thing for Natsu toward the end of their fight with Laxus, and he's considerably more belligerent and less likely to get along with Natsu than Zuko is with Katara (of course, Gajeel also does this for Levy, with whom he has a fair amount of Ship Tease, in an earlier encounter with Laxus).
The author reiterates that two things kept Zuko alive- the comet and Katara bloodbending.
For the comet, the author suspects that because fire is life and energy, the comet increases their life forces (I may have said this before, but I have to wonder whether there's anything like mana, chakra, or other resources for benders in the Avatar series) and allows them to survive fatal wounds.
The author points out that bloodbending isn't evil, just "creepy," and if used correctly, it could heal in ways that typical water healing could not, ways that Zuko needs after being electrocuted, and work more quickly.
The author mentions that Katara has been in four high stress medical situations.
- Birthing Hope, which succeeds due to Katara seeing some births.
- Trying to save Jet, which doesn't work out so well and damages her confidence.
- Saving Aang, with the author saying that only a Hand Wave could explain away the brain damage.
- Zuko. The one thing she has to her advantage that she didn't before is bloodbending, which the author believes is the explanation that makes the most sense.
The author points out that some Kataangers see Katara's use of the spirit water on Aang rather than Zuko as proof of Kataang, and says that Katara wouldn't let Aang die in order to get "some firenation booty," which is reasonable. To use an example, in Mass Effect, the human crewmate you romance isn't happy if your relationship is why you chose them over the other on Virmire.
The author goes back to bloodbending, and hopes that Katara will come to see it as not inherently evil, which is a good plan and a good development for her and the story as a whole. She also uses it to explain why Zuko's up and standing so easily after being hit by lightning- and points that even now, he'll need bedrest. That's also reasonable, but the author seems to have a policy of following canon until it doesn't make sense for her fanfic/support Zutara, at which point she makes up her own explanations.
So that's why the author gives Katara an Anguished Declaration of Love (mistakenly called a Dying Declaration of Love, which is said by the dying person), but decides to hold off on resolving their UST for some time. It's realistic to put it on hold, but at the same time, the author should think less of trying to prove that "canon compliant Zutara" can work or on fixing canon, and focus more on a good Zutara fic.
What I liked
- Arguably more realistic look at Zuko being injured by Azula's lightning.
- Azula's pitiable last moments of screentime.
- The comet's length is a benign case of "because the plot requires it."
- Interesting discussion of in-universe attitudes toward mental illness.
- Again, portraying bloodbending as not necessarily evil, and having Katara gradually accept it.
What I didn't like
- The implications that Zuko's behavior toward Azula was influenced by him being in shock.
- The author's suggestion that Zuko didn't hesitate to save Katara because of romantic love.
- The author playing psychologist for Azula.
- The author picking and choosing what to keep and what to change as it suits her needs while still insisting on "canon compliance."
