Suki tells Katara that she's writing the letter because Sokka, with his broken leg, can't sit up straight to do so. She's glad everything worked out okay, and sends her well wishes to Zuko, along with bragging about how she took over an airship by herself with "pure stealth and badassery."
The Gaang had to land their damaged airship in a nearby town, which welcomed them with open arms, and have been lavishing them with free food and other free stuff. The attention goes to Aang's head a little, but Suki decides that because he did so well in defeating Ozai, she won't rain on his parade, before making the inevitable pun that there was an actual parade, along with an Avatar Aang day holiday. It's good to see that Suki actually acknowledges what Aang accooplished.
Suki notes that Aang misses and worries about Appa, but is otherwise in good spirits. Suki believes Aang deserves to relax, and wishes that he could have helped out a bit more with her airship, and Hakoda asks if Aang would help "in that tone," but Aang gets distracted, especially by his fan club, which rivals the one Aang had back at Kyoshi Island. The Gaang should really count themselves fortunate compared to Korra, Asami and the rest of their captors, who didn't even have an intact airship to escape the desert, and had to settle for an improvised solution to escape the sand monster (to say nothing about the Red Lotus still being at large).
The lion turtle comes up again, as Suki mentions that she and the others still don't understand what happened, resulting in a few tense moments that she hesitates to describe as arguments, and Hakoda getting a bit unhappy with Aang (clearly, Suki's downplaying things).
I forgot to mention this earlier, but here's the Gaang's Canon reactions to the lion turtle.
- Suki: [Pointing to the exhausted Ozai while approaching him.] So did you, you know ... finish the job?Ozai: [Defiantly and slowly.] I'm still alive. [Suki backs away from him.]Aang: I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance. I took his bending away.Toph: (surprised) Who taught you that?Aang: A giant lion turtle.Toph: (smiling) You have the craziest adventures when you disappear.
At this point, Sokka begins taunting Ozai over the loss of his bending, clearly enjoying this outcome. With this in mind, it's easy to see that if the characters complain about Aang's disappearance or method of dealing with Ozai in this fic, it's because the author makes them.
Suki says everyone else is okay, and that Hakoda's working on the airship along with Chit Sang, Haru, Teo and The Duke. She also describes Hakoda as a Nice Guy, and even though they had an awkward conversation regarding Suki's "intentions" for Sokka, they get along well. Suki notes that he rushed over as soon as he heard what happened, and had a moment with his son involving crying and hugging that Suki's not supposed to talk about (It's a bit surprising how often people say "I'm not supposed to talk about this..." and then do), but says it was a sweet moment.
Suki gets to Sokka's broken leg, which she probably should have mentioned first for the sake of clarity. it's a clean break, which resulted in it being put in a small cast and Sokka being given painkillers for it, until Hakoda, who thinks of the doctor as "a quack," had it put in a cast. Sokka now has a bell, much like Katara did when she was bitten.
Much like Katara, Sokka enjoys using the bell, driving Suki crazy. He also tries to train Hawky (whom she says returned, and is squabbling with Momo), to fetch things. Suki briefly complains about how she had to use the "grumpy bird" to send her letter, but notes that she couldn't get Hawky away from Sokka.
Of course, when we last saw Hawky, he was delivering a message to Toph's parents, which means he's returned with a reply. Toph's parents learned from their "contacts" about Ozai's plan, and tried to warn her, only to reach her a day too late. Toph replied, saying she was OK.
Suki moves on to Toph, vaguely mentioning her "scare" but promising to say more in person. Unfortunately, while Aang is trying to cheer her up, he's apparently going about it the wrong way, and the more he tries to get her attention, the angrier she gets, exacerbated by Aang's fan club. Toph ends up avoiding Aang, and going with Haru and Hakoda. She apparently found Haru less annoying (than Aang? The wording is unclear) when he was trying to "stalk" her, so he resumes, and she helps teach him metalbending while fixing the airship together. As for Hakoda, he thinks Toph is "awesome."
Chit Sang tries to help out, but being the kind of person he is, he often ends up breaking things, even if his and Aang's firebending helps power the airship. The Duke thinks Chit Sang reminds him of Pipsqueak from the Freedom Fighters, and Chit Sang, is gruff when others are watching, but sweet with the kids.
Suki apologetically says that Toph thought Zuko was Katara's boyfriend, and that they were having "a steamy affair" (because, as Suki points out, Katara is a waterbender and Zukok's a firebender). Suki then apologizes for not stopping Toph, but says she did "damage control" and convinced Hakoda that Zuko and Katara are not an item, and insists that Katara not get mad at Toph.
I have to wonder what sorts of elements would result from the other inter-bending pairings.
- Air and Earth: Dust.
- Air and Fire: Smoke?
- Air and Water: Mist.
- Earth and Fire: Lava.
- Earth and Water: Mud
Suki tells Katara to send Iroh some information. First is how Aang's willing to do whatever Iroh asks as long as it isn't killing someone.
Second is Ozai, and Suki briefly explains how he lost his bending, before saying that Brought Down to Normal is a misnomer for someone as "sick in the head" as Ozai. Suki's hesitant to talk about him but says that because bending's important for the royal family, Ozai's inability to do so will be a point against him. Whether the author knows it or not, she just provided evidence supporting Aang's decision to depower Ozai.
Suki then adds that Hakoda really hates Ozai, and punched him. Suki approved, and the village wanted retribution, but Aang opposed it out of his desire for nonviolence and respect for everyone, getting the villagers to stand down out of gratitude for him.
Ozai's chained up in the hold, and Hakoda, Chit Sang, Haru and Suki are taking turns watching him; considering that at least two of them approved of acts of violence on a defenseless captive, this doesn't seem like a good idea. It gets even worse when Suki admits to flicking rocks at Ozai and Chit Sang knees Ozai in the gonads for insulting his intelligence, and Suki asks Katara to keep this secret from Aang. Even for a despicable person like Ozai, this seems unnecessary.
Third, Hakoda and Suki want Iroh to free some POWs from the Kyoshi Warriors and Southern Water Tribe who are captured on the Day of the Black Sun and who are being kept in a prison called the Iron Cove. Fourth, Teo and Haru want to know about their fathers, who are also being held there.
Suki concludes the letter by saying that the airship will be up by "tonight" (it's unclear what day it is), and that they'll be heading over, but since the airships are slow, she wanted to let Katara know in advance of their arrival tomorrow afternoon, Fire Nation time.
In hindsight, Katara appreciates the letter, and learning more about what everyone else is up to. But that's lost on her at the moment with the news about her father thinking Zuko's her boyfriend, and she ends up swearing "with gusto" and plotting her vengeance on Toph, short of telling her father that she's hooked up with someone as equally unsuitable as Zuko (of course, we don't know much about Kanto or the man who became Suyin's father, so it's hard to tell what kind of people she ended up with).
Katara turns concerned. She loves her father, but notes her father's awkward around anything boy-related. He may be a strong and charismatic leader, but he's quite embarrassing for her whenever a boy comes up, as well as far more awkward than Katara thinks possible for one man.
Katara thinks back to the Day of the Black Sun, when one conversation between Hakoda and Haru's father gave Hakoda "ideas" about Katara and Haru, leading him to attempt to give Katara The Talk in the most awkward way possible, far worse than Sokka's talk about penguin sledding and water hoses (in fact, Sokka got the penguin sledding from his father). To make matters worse, he gave that talk to Haru as well .
Katara doesn't believe Haru deserves any of this, when all he did was flirt with her and give her a kiss on the prison barge. As such, she denies her relationship with him, but does it vigorously enough that her father belives that she's not interested in boys, all so she'd never have to deal with this again. Unfortunately, Katara believes she will have to deal with it again- with it being all the worse since Zuko is far more awkward than even Hakoda- and blames Toph.
Katara, in a moment of calmness, admits she's overreacting. While it's clear that these diaries were written at some point after the fact, they carry many of Katara's immediate reactions, so it can occasionally be difficult to tell whether she's writing in stream of consciousness or reflecting on things. In any case, Zuko has noticed her reactions, and asks what's distressing her. Katara, rather than recap it, has Zuko read for himself (a nice time-saving decision). Zuko's baffled by the "steamy affair" bit, but when Katara confirms this is not the case, he gets confused and disappointed, before resignedly saying that "I understand."
Katara's confused by Zuko's remark, and doesn't know what he "understands," since she believes he doesn't know what it's like to have a relative as embarrassing as her father is. But Zuko has Iroh, who does things such as drunkenly singing about hedgehogs, having threesomes with nuns and "Naked Iroh Time", a daily practice that he stopped around the time they became fugitives. He also recalls how Iroh "stalked" Jin to try to get them to go out again.
Katara isn't fully convinced yet, and asks if Zuko knows about Sokka's use of "penguin sledding" as an euphemism, and when Zuko says he doesn't think much about Sokka's "penguin obsession," Katara says that Hakoda will explain it to him, and ask about how much Zuko has been doing it. She then clarifies that he wants to know how "horny" Zuko is, and how much he wants to have sex with Katara.
Katara admits that she's getting "hysterical" by this point, but really does find the concept of Zuko being confronted by Hakoda over his sex drive embarrassing enough to contemplate living underground, especially when Suki was freaked out a little. She can only imagine how bad it will be when Hakoda uses an analogy with penguins and igloos to give Zuko a warning, especially considering how awkward Zuko is. Zuko looks embarrassed and, in a bad mood, pretends to sleep so that Katara will leave him alone. Katara, after a moment of reluctance, responds in kind by reading the compendium.
The author once again thanks her reviewers for their encouragement, as well as a beta reader from tumblr.
The author says that now, Zuko and Katara are interacting without the war to worry about. That's an interesting concept, but the fact that Zuko's recovering from a lightning wound doesn't make it all that much different from the days on Ember Island, when only one member of the Gaang knew of the true urgency of their mission. The author then states that she has "a plan" for the Maiko and Kataang scenes in the finale.
The author once again brings up Iroh's experience, skill at leadership and contacts from the White Lotus in opposing factions making him suited to be regent, especially in the days after the war, and expresses disbelief at Bryke for letting him stay in Ba Sing Se, calling it her primary quibble apart from the pairings (which is saying a lot), explaining that's why she had him come back to be regent. Going back to that issue, it's likely that in canon, Zuko was initially content to let Iroh stay in Ba Sing Se, out of a mixture of pride and a desire for his uncle to be happy, but became more open to accepting Iroh's help after the entire Yu Dao fiasco.
That said, the author does point out that Zuko will become Fire Lord, as noted in the third installment's title.
The author mentions that Zuko lost his firebending when he lost his goal in "The Firebending Masters" (all the way back at the beginning of this series), and suggests that Azula, having losts her goals, will lose her firebending as well (of course, in canon, she does have a goal; killing her mother). The author suggests that it would have faded once the comet passed "and the reality of her situation set in," which is why she couldn't firebend when Katara untied her, and that this plot element will come up later.
The author goes back to Zuko and Katara after the war, and how they're more comfortable with each other, with Zuko being more willing to admit to being in pain, not unlike how Katara was when she got bitten by the scorpidillo. Of course, while they may be good friends, they don't want to risk that, resulting in them "chickening out." The war may be over, but in starting to worry about their friendship, Katara has exchanged one excuse for another. I may be a Kataang fan, but the fic is well-written enough to get me sold on Zutara to the point where I actually want to see it happen, not watch them constantly put it off.
Of course, Zuko's more scared about this than Katara is, as a result of his poor self-esteem and social awkwardness, having him seemingly resigned to thinking of his love as unrequited, but, in spite of his inability to read the signs, he's been able to put together the pieces and start to figure out that she cares for him. Of course, Katara inadvertently dashes those hopes with her reaction to the letters, resulting in him believing that he's been "friendzoned" and the affection Katara shows to him is what she'd show to her other friends. It's not helped by the fact that while Katara is understandably concerned about how Hakoda will take her relationship with Zuko, that, not the relationship itself, is what Katara fears. Her reactions are somewhat amusing, as is the idea of Hakoda coining "penguin sledding," even if Hakoda acts like many fathers do around their daughters (but only their daughters).
Unfortunately, at this point, it seems as though the author's falling back on the author's notes to tell us things. When the authors' notes tell us something that's in the text, it can be redundant. When they tell us something that contradicts the text, it's contradictory. Author's notes exist to clarify or provide more information; I personally like to use them to provide information on character arcs, although I often do so from the perspective of a writer.
Zuko's perspective is interesting, and I wonder whether the author should have occasionally swapped PO Vs. Windows of the Soul, a Mai-Hime fic that I consider among the best I've read on the site, swaps PO Vs between Shizuru and Natsuki, the main couple; you can tell who's narrating by the voice that they use (elegant and formal for Shizuru, while somewhat more coarse and blunt for Natsuki), covering how their perspective of each other changes over time.
Going back to Zuko, the author suggests that he'd consider going back to Mai if he thought Katara didn't reciprocate his feelings. True to form, the author points out that the author wouldn't force a kiss on Katara or confess if it wouldn't be welcome, (I can practically see the author writing "*cough* Unlike Aang *cough*"- it's that obvious), and if it seems as though Katara isn't interested, he won't pursue her. Of course, when Katara talks about her father demanding to know about their sex life, he gets frustrated, since he does want to have sex with Katara eventually (at the very least, as soon as he's recovered), and thinks she's cockblocking him. Unfortunately, since he's not able to run away, his pretending to sleep is his way of moping.
The author then concludes that it's partly to explain why Zuko would contemplate getting back together with Mai because of their dysfunctional relationship (If I had to put it simply, it's because Mai, someone who seemingly doesn't care about anyone or anything, gets legitimately angry over Zuko, and is willing to risk her life to save him, not that the author gets this), and adds that the Maiko and Kataang scenes will be included with a Zutaran slant on them, so as to explain the plot holes away and provide Zutara with some drama. If this is an attempt to follow canon up to the very end of the series, then the author's putting the cart before the horse, essentially bending over backwards to include scenes for ships that she intends to sink. Hardcore Zutarans won't like scenes for the two opposing ships, they're little solace to supporters of Kataang and Maiko, and they seem to add little to the story on their own.
The author goes into a bit more detail about Maiko, complaining about Zuko forgetting about her and her uncle bailing her out, and complaining about her not calling Zuko out on that. The author doesn't even know where to begin, but I do.
- First, can you really see Zuko saying, "Hey, Sokka, I know we just barely broke out of prison with your girlfriend and father, but can we go back to rescue my girlfriend, who's mainly loyal to me, rather than the idea of fighting the Fire Nation?" And even if you could, can you imagine Sokka and the escaping prisoners saying yes?
- Second, if Zuko's comatose for several days and bedridden for a week (This is a detail from the fanfic, albeit a reasonable one, but the author treats it as canon of sorts), would he be able to get the pardon processed?
- Third, the entire argument that because Zuko did not treat Mai well in the author's eyes, Zuko, rather than Mai should get together with someone else doesn't seem to make much sense. In How I Became Yours, for all the Arranged Marriage between Zuko and Mai was spun out of whole cloth, it does explain why Zuko doesn't love Mai in spite of being married to her. It's a cheap device to demonize Mai and portray Maiko as loveless, but it serves its purpose better than the author's impractical adherence to canon in this regard.
The author says Avatar Abridged, along with Iroh bathing in a hot tub while naked is the source for Naked Iroh Time.
Next chapter, Aang's group will meet up with Katara's group.
What I liked
- Amusing, albeit stereotypical look at Hakoda as a parent.
What I didn't like
- The general portrayal of Aang as being lazy and lacking social skills.
- Katara and Zuko now being held back by fear of their friendship ending.
- The author telling us things through the author's notes, rather than the story.
- The author sticking to canon even when it's not necessarily practical or favorable to Zutara.
