- Step 1: Become Dr. Yang's ApprenticeStep 2: ?Step 3:Stay in the Fire Nation with Zuko!—Katara's plan in this chapter, in a nutshell.
Toph hands out the replica keys, prompting a remark from Katara about it being like spoonbending, and then has Aang go out to train in earthbending. Meanwhile, Sokka and Suki go out for some "quality time," once again leaving Zuko alone with Katara.
Zuko agrees with Sokka that the speech is "dreadful," but Katara, not fully convinced, gets him to do a practice run. Zuko awkwardly introduces himself the same way he did at the Western Air Temple, briefly forgetting his new title. He then goes on a rambling speech about how the Fire Nation isn't necessarily bad, since they recycle, among other things, but now that the Avatar is back, they will try not to be the "jerks of the world."
After her astonishment that Sokka was correct about the speech mentioning recycling fades, Katara concludes that the speech really is the most awkward thing she's seen out of Zuko, but suggests that it merely needs work. Zuko says that anything he says after 100 years of war would naturally sound "trite and ridiculous," if he tried to encapsulate everything that happened. Apparently, the recycling bit was Aang's idea, after a long lecture on the importance of the environment and spirit pandas- it's hardly surprising in retrospect, once you consider that the author has all the idealistic and impractical ideas, and little else, coming out of Aang's mouth.
Zuko says that he's usually best making up his speeches as he goes along, but he doesn't want to leave things to chance at his coronation speech, especially since it's his first act as Fire Lord. I can understand where he's coming from, but one could argue that deviating from his standard modus operandi would be the riskier move.
Katara notes that knowing what he wants to accomplish is the best place to start, and asks him what he wants the audience to take away from his speech. Essentially, Zuko wants to take responsibility and admit that the Fire Nation was in the wrong, but not do so in a way that feels as though he's blaming his fellow countrymen. By saying that, Zuko gets in the right frame of mind to write that speech, and I agree with Katara that knowing what you want to accomplish is an important first step in any process.
Going off that momentum, Zuko wants to make amends, but also do so together with Aang (thereby helping his image in the Fire Nation). Helping fix the world is his responsibility, but he doesn't want to take on too much, lest he be seen as "high-handed." This gets Katara's approval, and the acknowledgment that he's better explaining things to her than reading off a draft- the only challenge is writing his thoughts concisely.
Katara suggests beginning with the declaration that the war is over, so that he can start on a good note, and gives him various suggestions on how to say what he wants to say, enabling him to produce a short and concise speech that's easy to memorize, and only needs an ending.
That's the hardest part, and results in Zuko and Katara bickering Like an Old Married Couple (something which generally happens over very minor and petty issues). Katara and Zuko agree on concluding with the theme of peace, but Katara wants hope and love, while Zuko wants honor. Katara concedes Zuko's point that since the Fire Nation isn't good with abstract concepts, they should only have one besides peace, but says they already included honor, and Zuko should "give peace a chance." Zuko reminds her that they agree about peace, but agrees to choose between love and hope.
For Katara, it's a hard choice, as she's long been pursuing hope (as her Ember Island Players counterpart can surely attest), but she finds love "more elusive and enduring." She also believes that her love for others and desire to protect them is what kept her going when Aang disappeared and she lost hope, and thinks of its power as Piandao described it. Now, she thinks of her love for her family, and the Gaang, Zuko in particular. She tells Zuko that love is most important, and is about to show him when Dr. Yang shows up at exactly the wrong moment, and Katara complains about this.
Dr. Yang then complains about Zuko making her look for him, particularly for making her use time that could be spent on other patients. Zuko's understandably confused, not expecting to see her until Wednesday, and Dr. Yang explains that Iroh wanted her to give him a final check-up before his coronation. Luckily for him, she gives him a clean bill of health except for stiff shoulders.
In other news from Dr. Yang, Azula is slightly better, but she has to leave, since she's still understaffed. To add to her problems, the wounded are pouring in, and Dr. Yang's apprentice is retiring after a death in the family so that she can stay close to her children with less stress, which makes Dr. Yang a bit "miffed," even if she can't argue with it (which makes her seem a bit insensitive). Dr. Yang then excuses herself.
Katara goes after Dr. Yang to ask her a question regarding healing, and Zuko tells her to hurry, since Dr. Yang walks quickly. Essentially, Katara wants to become Dr. Yang's apprentice to fill her needs, improve herself as a healer, and stay in the Fire Nation, with Zuko (Katara doesn't even bother to hide the latter).
Katara catches up to Dr. Yang, gets her attention and lists her qualifications in an apparently concise manner.
Unfortunately, Dr. Yang asks whether Hakoda has signed off on it, and obviously, he hasn't, since Katara only thought of it just now. While Katara worries about how "Nurse Hakoda" left a bad first impression on Dr. Yang, that isn't the most relevant problem she has, since Dr. Yang immediately realizes that Katara has not put much thought into it, in spite of her insistence that she's had something like it in mind for a while.
Dr. Yang says no to Katara, in a manner that vaguely reminds me of Pakku's refusal of her, and Katara asks her to explain herself. Dr. Yang says she "wouldn't be comfortable" with accepting Katara as her apprentice, considering how things work in her tribe. Dr. Yang says that the women of the Water Tribes need the men to sign off on her decision, and doesn't seem to accept Katara's insistence that she doesn't need Hakoda's blessing. It's hard to tell whether she's trying to avoid a problem with the tribe, or suggesting that Katara wouldn't be willing to take personal initiative, but if it's the latter, she's sadly mistaken.
Dr. Yang then gets to the heart of the matter- Katara must commit to staying for three years in order to become fully qualified (which is fairly short compared to medical school), something she hadn't been prepared for. Apparently, Katara even being hesitant at this point is a deal-breaker for Dr. Yang, who says no and walks off, apparently without even a "I admire your spirit, but...", a "Maybe it would be best if you thought it over," or anything of the sort.
Dr. Yang's reaction to Katara's proposal (and to a lesser degree, Dr. Yang's character in general), seem to be representative of how this fic treats personal ideals. Dr. Yang has a token amount of understanding for Katara's ideals in wanting to become a healer (which would seemingly kill two birds with one stone), but at the same time, mercilessly points out every way in which they are less than practical, just like how she pointed out Katara's shortcomings. She does have a point, mind you, but at the same time, it's disheartening when her and her kind tend to be the only ones with points in any given debate (notice, for example, that no one has given a very strong rebuttal to Hakoda's argument against mixed-race couples).
I may have said this before at some point, but while some, like the author, deride idealistic works as being derivative, and preen about the superiority of the "realistic" works that they themselves produce, there is a certain charm to them. It can be quite heartwarming to see someone succeed through hard work, and to know that individuals can make a difference, which can inspire us to try hard and work toward goals we believe in. Perhaps it may not work out so neatly in real life, but fiction does not always reflect reality, nor should it.
Back to Katara. She wanders around, disappointed that her hopes have been dashed. She realizes that she is facing a decision of whether to stay or go back, and she'll have to make it soon. Of course, she realizes that Dr. Yang has a point that women don't have much of a say in their own lives in the Water Tribe, although she also remembers Sorrak saying no one questioned it. Katara believes that she has a duty to improve the lives of those women and girls, but also fears that she'll again be saddled with menial chores and dismissed as a Hysterical Woman if she complains, leading her to wonder if leaving would be a good protest.
Her mind returns to becoming Dr. Yang's apprentice, which is not only a way for her to stay in the Fire Nation without drawing suspicions about her staying with Zuko, but also for her to help people. As much as she loves Zuko, she doesn't want to be seen as solely his girlfriend, and she fears that's what will happen if she doesn't stay without having something to do, even if Zuko is quite headstrong.
Katara considers training Aang as a Plan B, but decides against it, since Aang is a nomad at heart and could train anywhere, which means he might leave her. She then makes it clear that she still loves him (as a friend) but hasn't fully trusted him after his disappearing act during the comet, and believes that it will take her a long time for her to do so again.
This is another good show of the fic's stance on morality. It's in many ways more nuanced than canon, but at times, it also seems as though it's being shoved down our throats, and this passage in particular is a blatant attempt to "compensate for" Katara seemingly being a Satellite Love Interest in canon (as far as I know, no one but the author thinks of her that way). It also seemingly requires Aang's decisions to be portrayed in the worst possible light, as if to damage the most idealistic member of the Gaang's credibility and standing in Katara's eyes. Furthermore, the author tends to drag things out (which may be part of the reason why this fic is as long as it is), and it seems as though she'll continue shaming Aang for what he did for chapters to come.
Zuko notices Katara's upset and asks about it. Katara is evasive, though, knowing that Zuko dreads her going back as much as she does, and she doesn't want to give him hope by talking about an alternative that won't pan out. That's understandable, but perhaps it would be helpful for Zuko to know that Katara is, at the very least, considering her options, and wants to stay with him. In spite of that, Katara suggests that Zuko can practice his notes without making mistakes, which is a nice way of getting Zuko to focus on the task at hand.
What I liked
- Katara and Zuko's discussion about the speech
What I didn't like
- Katara's hesitance to forgive Aang is an indicator that the sparing Ozai subplot isn't going away any time soon.
- The author seems overly determined to compensate for Katara's supposed canonical Satellite Love Interest status.
