Suki tells Sokka about her day, including her giving Ty Lee the day off, and Sokka tells her about his day, while mentioning that he asked Katara to talk to Hakoda, Katara explains that she needs a good time when she knows what she wants to say and knows the men will listen, so she and Suki discuss it some.
Ty Lee gets back with Aang, and expresses her gratitude to Suki for giving her time off. She mentions that she heard a bit of the conversations, and says that if Katara wants the men to listen, she should chi-block them so they can't leave.
Aang hasn't been following the conversation as well, but does remember how unfair he thought Pakku's initial refusal to teach Katara was, and only now learns that the South has some of the North's attitude toward girls. Aang offers to say something, but Katara refuses his offer for the same reasons she refused Sokka's.
Ty Lee's optimistic that things will change for the better, claiming to feel the positive energy everywhere, including the Water Tribe, the same way she sees auras, even on a country-wide level. She says, with sincere belief, that the Fire Nation's aura is changing, along with that of the entire world, so the Water Tribes won't be left behind. Katara's impressed, thinking of Ty Lee as "an old and wise soul," and Ty Lee then suggests that if change doesn't happen, she'll chi-block all the Water Tribes' sexist jerks' willies. It's fairly profound, but I wonder why Aang doesn't get to say anything like this, since, apart from the chi-blocking and auras, this philosophy is suited to him.
Toph, Iroh and Zuko return to have dinner with the others, and Suki and Ty Lee have dinner with the Kyoshi warriors. Toph went on quite a tour, seeing Reunification Square, a Firesage temple, the palace, a metalworks factory, seven tea shops, three stores and a fireworks factory, with one near-disaster that Iroh skillfully averted (I assume it's the fireworks factory).
The coronation is set for a few days and Zuko has his way for the coronation, while Iroh has his way for the post-coronation ceremony (which he finds most important). There are some arguments, but Zuko knows Iroh will get his way.
Toph is somewhat grumpy at Aang, even though he doesn't understand why. The group discusses the airship, hands off some o the work to a metalworker, and Sokka's excited to have a project. Before long, it's time for bed.
Katara, unable to sleep, thinks about what everyone said about relationships, and realizes she hasn't asked Zuko yet, since things kept coming up, preventing her from getting time to talk with him alone. She wants to do so alone because she wants to say that her father is wrong, and thata rlationship can work between someone from the Water Tribe and someone from the Fire Nation.
Katara, up to make some tea (as the solution to all life's problems, as she puts it), notices someone else up, and is pleased to see that it's Zuko, who's drinking tea, reading from a small pile of books (incidentally, it's somewhat amusing that people represent homework as a stack of books, when most students couldn't get through one of those books in a night) and writing a to do list.
Katara gets his attention with a gentle tap and small coughing sound, causing Zuko to realize that it's late enough at night to be considered early morning. Zuko asks if he woke her up, and when she says that she couldn't sleep, he says the same goes for him.
After drinking tea for a few moments, Katara asks Zuko why he can't sleep, and Zuko says it's how soon he'll be Fire Lord(as well as the peace conference depending on how Sokka does with the airships) and how much he has to learn. To outline his task and to cope, he thus made a to-do list, starting with the most obvious- "Don't screw up." Katara's amused, and only grows more so when Zuko is quite sincere about it, much to his irritation. Zuko tells her that if he doesn't begrudge her coping methods, she shouldn't make fun of the list, but she points out that she finds it cute, something he doesn't appreciate. Katara notices Zuko has several drafts, but since he won't show them to her, she'll never know whether they all start the same way.
Zuko then changes subjects and asks Katara why she can't sleep. Katara mentions the argument with her father about Ming and Bato, and Zuko says that was what he discussed with Hakoda, although he doesn't quite connect the dots and realize Katara eavesdropped.
Zuko thinks Hakoda was nicer and less awkward than he expected. He says Hakoda didn't bring up penguin-related euphemisms, but had some good advice, and calls the whole part about Bato and Ming "a tangent" that was a bit of a random subject, but believes he has a point, and things will be difficult for Bato and Ming. When Katara says that's what she disagreed with, Zuko says he can't understand why, as he points out that Bato and Ming won't easily fit into the other's cultures
Katara loses her temper and says that it's not a valid point, and she has trouble finding out to what extent Zuko agrees. It's understandable that she'd be worried that Zuko accepted Hakoda's implicit suggestion to not even give a romance a chance, but she seems to be taking things overly personally. Zuko clarifies that things will be difficult, especially for Bato, the one who has to make a choice- (he notes that it's not fair for him to make Ming make the choice with her new job and responsibilities) whether he values Ming more than everything else.
Katara's about to get angry, but sees a soft and "longing" expression on Zuko's face as he suggests that with that in mind, Ming would understand if Bato chose not to stay with her. Once again, Katara feels as though the conversation isn't really about Bato and Ming, and doesn't like where it's going, giving a Flat "What.". Zuko continues that he thinks of Hakoda as an intelligent man, and suggests that there's evidence that would support them splitting up now or not getting together to begin with. Katara's hopeful that they can make it work if they love each other, but Zuko says that she's an optimist and he's a pessimist.
Zuko says that those relationships only work in stories (If he only knew...), and that such relationships make one feel alive, but in reality, people only end up disappointing and hurting each other. He says that perhaps Bato and Ming should have stayed friends, since that's simpler.
Katara wants to say that friendship can be complicated too, especially with Zuko, or any number of other rebuttals, but she's caught up in a swirl of confusion and dislikes where the conversation has gone. As such, she scolds Zuko about staying up so late when he's still recovering, fakes a yawn, and goes off, ostensibly to go to bed.
Katara's lack of a real response is frustrating on several levels. The entire chapter has been largely a series of people expressing doubts in interracial relationships, so one would hope that Katara would give a counterpoint, and it's disappointing when she doesn't. Going off this, it's similar to several other lopsided debates in which the other person doesn't give much of a counterargument (most of those involving Aang in this fic, Akio vs. Maho in Boys Und Sensha-do, and a few others). Lastly, it also suggests that Zuko and Katara will end up skirting the issue about how they feel about each other for a long time, perhaps most if not all of Not Stalking Firelord Zuko. While it's good that the development of Zutara isn't rushed in this fic, you have to eventually get to the good part in which they're actually dating.
But enough about that for now. Katara, in spite of her parting remarks to Zuko, is unable to sleep, sharing at least some of my frustrations. She concludes that as frustrating as Zuko is, she loves him, and she does not want to be Just Friends.
Katara reconsiders Zuko's borrowed analogy, and realizes that he never said that he didn't fancy her, or rather, that Ming didn't fancy Bato. Katara suggests that she's confused as to how she ended up as the boy in the analogy, but the answer's simple; because she has the boy's nationality, and Zuko has the girl's nationality, along with a far greater responsibility. Katara gets back on subject, and says that Zuko's merely scared of a relationship, and of the risk of hurting each other, but emphatically points out that she isn't. At the very least, she wants a kiss, and knows that he gave that much to Jin and Mai, which also proves that Zuko is capable of relationships. Katara then retracts that, saying she wants lots of kisses, and then retracts even that, saying she wants dates, marriages, children and teasing him until he's old and wrinkly.
She loves him and she knows he feels the same, but notes that while he's usually so brave, he's scared of this, and wonders if she got a glimpse of how he feels in his comment about making her feel alive, and whether he lacked that feeling before she came along. If anything, the fact that he's scared about where their relationship might go is proof that he cares on some level, and Katara realizes this, too, knowing that Zuko doesn't open up to or trust others, so he values their friendship and wouldn't get over it if it "went pear-shaped."
Katara understands all this, but thinks he's worth the risk. She hopes to keep the relationship secret for as long as she can, unlike Bato and Ming's relationship (which wasn't originally intended to be public, but then Hakoda found out, so it may be more difficult than Katara thinks). She's fine with being Just Friends, though, until the time comes when she has enough privacy and a good enough opportunity to tell Zuko what she feels, or perhaps just kiss him. The moment will come after the coronation, since things are hectic enough as is, and until then, Katara will be the best friend to Zuko that she can be. They are best friends, and she doesn't want to lose that; she just wants something more, because she loves Zuko in spite of how much he frustrates her. All in all, it's a nicely touching look at Katara's feelings, and it might have been nice if she shared at least some part of this.
So ends the last main chapter of Not Stalking Zuko. The next installment will include the author's note and a brief reflection on it.
What I liked
- Ty Lee's profound but no less characteristic of her musing about change.
- Katara's resolving to move forward with Zuko at some point while also valuing what she has.
What I didn't like
- Katara's inability to make a rebuttal to Zuko's agreement with Hakoda's assessment regarding interracial relationships.
