Katara finds her father back at the house, waiting for her, and listening to Sokka talk about airships, and Toph comment about how they're full of hot air. Iroh greets Katara and Zuko, asking them if they had fun on their date, in front of Hakoda. Katara and Zuko correct him, however, and cause him to lose a bet with Toph.
Hakoda then "invites" Sokka and Katara to dinner, while giving the indication that they don't have the option to refuse. Katara, on Sokka's urging, goes along with it.
Katara and Sokka head to the kitchen, and do taste testing. Apparently, the men were under the impression that she cooked last night's dinner because it tasted so good, but while that's not the case, Katara decides to repeat what she did well last time, by giving the task to the servants and advising them to add more salt.
Hakoda keeps coming in, and keeps asking about Katara and Zuko's "walks." Katara's annoyed with Hakoda's poor attempt at being subtle, but I'm annoyed with the fact that he's unwilling to confront this issue directly. Thankfully for Katara, Hakoda has work to do regarding the tribe's departure, and so is called away.
When he leaves, Katara turns to Sokka, and they discuss how to steer the conversation away from the "walks," and how to ask him for a day off from family time tomorrow. They promise to do the latter together, but Katara suspects Sokka will chicken out.
Aang arrives, and is desperate for Katara's company. Katara's a bit more receptive to him this time, since Aang's complaining keeps Hakoda from talking.
Aang's complaints are about Jeong Jeong, and how he's been demanding in making him practice the basics, even though he was able to defeat the Fire Lord. Aang pointing this out prompted JJ to make things more advanced, knock Aang down with one blast and declare that it's proof that he's still not ready.
On the one hand, JJ's implicit argument still has a point. It's possible for The Hero to defeat the Big Bad and still have many things left to learn about their fighting style. Even if they have mastered it, it's always good to keep learning. On the other, Aang has demonstrated mastery of firebending in combat, essentially showing that he's good at practical application even if his theory needs work. This is yet another case in which the narrative doesn't give Aang enough credit. Aang does canonically have a desire to learn what he needs to in order to restore balance to the world as Avatar, albeit with an attention span of what would be expected of a 12 year old. Aang's Character Development over time is gradual, but as the series goes on, you see less of him as a 12 year old, and more of him as the Avatar.
Back to this fic. Aang complaining that JJ suddenly made things too hard results in an argument. (On the one hand, Aang has a point about the learning curve, but on the other, the exercise seems like something Aang should be able to do). That results in JJ calling Aang irresponsible, prone to running away, and desperately in need of instruction in the basics, and in response, Aang plays the Avatar card declaring (again) that he defeated the Fire Lord and is ready to do real firebending. JJ makes it clear that Aang can't expect special treatment from him, so Aang goes off to Zuko.
So Let Me Getthis Straight. Aang, the kid who was unwilling to reveal his status as Avatar to Katara and Sokka "because (he) never wanted to be", now takes advantage of his status for special privileges?
Aang asks Zuko to be his teacher again, but Zuko says no, because he's too busy and JJ's one of the best firebending teachers in the country. So Aang explains where JJ's going wrong, and Toph suspects that since Aang needs to stand his ground, perhaps JJ has a point in forcing him to do so. That's an interesting point, but is it the one JJ is trying to express? Zuko, after arguing that he doesn't always "get (his) panties in a twist" when challenged, disagrees, saying that Aang has to know all these defensive skills, ones that Zuko did not completely teach him. Naturally, Aang assumes Zuko's on JJ's side.
JJ then shows up, looking for Aang, having given him some time to cool off, but wanting to resume the training. Zuko decides to have a word with JJ, which quickly escalates in an argument. JJ resumes his position that firebending is not a "nice" element and has words with Zuko over teaching him too much advanced material too soon. By contrast, Zuko, ostensibly arguing Aang's side, says Aang is still "just a kid" and can't handle jumping up so quickly.
So essentially it's two sides accusing the other of failing to take into account the fact that Aang's a kid, only differing in whether they're being accused of being "an impulsive idiot" or "a bitter old man." This is yet another case in which it's blatantly obvious that the author has no serious desire to give Aang a fair hearing in this debate, and continues to insult our intelligence by suggesting that this is Character Development for his own good.
Aang tries to get the two sides to calm down, but they unite long enough to tell him to shut up, and Iroh's more successful at defusing the argument over noodles. JJ finishes first and gets back to the matter at hand, saying that Aang isn't ready to learn firebending when he doesn't have mastery over earth, water or himself. JJ jumps back into insults by saying that Zuko had "mollycoddled" him, something that Toph finds hard to swallow. Zuko suggests that while Aang is flighty, prone to running and often cries, (right to Aang's face), he's still a smart kid and a good kid, and asks JJ to meet Aang halfway. Iroh seconds the question, but JJ insists that fire is too evil for such an approach to work, and the argument starts again, without the possibility of being defused by noodles.
I've never been all that fond of JJ in canon. He has an interesting backstory, but as I've said before, his personality is too at odds with Aang for him to be a very good teacher, and his belief that firebending is only destructive is overly simplistic at best. This portrayal does him no favors, and while making a disliked character likable in a fanfic is an uphill battle, the author could do better than this.
JJ gets up to leave, saying that he no longer wishes to argue, and apologizes "for his behavior but not his beliefs." He respects and is friends with Iroh, but if Aang won't learn, JJ can't teach him. Aang complains that his lessons are hard, and JJ says that life is hard in an unusually gentle voice. He says that Aang must persevere in the face of adversity, which he failed to do when he cried to Zuko, and says that he won't teach Aang until he takes it on. JJ leaves, and Iroh decides to let JJ cool off, promising to talk to him tomorrow.
So that brings us to why Aang went to Katara- once again, he wants reassurance that JJ's wrong. Katara does everything short of that- getting him on the couch and giving him tea and biscuits, because she hates seeing Aang like this, but can't disagree with JJ. She understands that it's frustrating for Aang, but agrees that he needs more discipline. She doesn't say that to Aang, though, since it would hurt his feelings, but instead phrases it more diplomatically- he can succeed if he tries- and Sokka follows suit while Hakoda studies Aang's expression.
It's nice that Katara's considering Aang's feelings, but at the same time, this vaguely seems as though we're back to square one, with Katara walking on eggshells around Aang, and hiding what she really thinks to keep him in a good mood. One of the hazards of writing a long story is having the characters develop at a realistic pace without going in circles, and you can see the latter at play with Aang here.
A word about Character Development. It shouldn't happen overnight, but at the same time, it's unwise to drag it out too long, with the character kicking and screaming all the way. Think of it as a bit like feeding a child vegetables, that they may not like. It's unrealistic to expect a child to wolf them down, but at the same time, it's difficult to watch them sit at the table, unable to leave until they eat them. Compared to the rest of the cast, Aang's changes in this fic take the longest, and he receives more shaming for being reluctant to change than anyone else does. Perhaps it would be unrealistic for Aang to do an almost complete 180 and suddenly become more disciplined and willing to listen to other people, but if it meant fewer sections like this, perhaps it would be a good thing.
In any case, Aang isn't fully cheered up, so Katara invites him to dinner- which is supposed to be Water Tribe/family only, but Katara considers Aang family, and believes that spending time with the men (who, I'll remind you, consider him a hero after taking all the women of the Gaang out of contention) will cheer him up.
What I liked
- Katara's dinner invitation to Aang isn't solely motivated by pity.
What I didn't like
- More bashing Aang and treating him as immature
- In the process, JJ comes off as not very good teacher, although it's unclear how much is intentional.
- Katara otherwise seems to be falling back into her old patterns as far as Aang is concerned.
