Toph's getting dressed to meet with her parents, but still has time to make jabs about Katara "running into" Zuko all the time, and the hare-brained plan to make Kuei more confident by reuniting him with his girlfriend.
Eventually, Katara finds Zuko arguing with Poppy, and having a hard time trying to convince her of Toph's bending achievements. Poppy's superficial politeness to Katara doesn't help, especially when she subtly conveys her rage by breaking a biscuit. Considering that in canon, Toph's mother left her huband over him driving away, perhaps she's the more favorable of the two to Toph, and isn't this hostile or unreasonable.
Zuko has to break the unpleasant news to Toph- her mother wants her to come home to her "real" family. It's somewhat telling that he considers not coming to blows a "good" result for a meeting like this, considering how contentious the peace process has been. Toph needles Zuko about his "date" with Jin, and he needles her about her dress.
Katara and Aang set out to tell Kuei about the plan, but end up offending him by suggesting that he's a bad king and revealing that Katara violated his confidence, so he angrily storms off. They aren't quite deterred yet, and since they can't go back to talk with him, and their other friends are unsuitable for various reasons, they send in Sokka.
Sokka walks up to Kuei, like he does with Aang to have a "brotherly" chat, and it works well since they established a rapport after the fall of Ba Sing Se. Sokka starts off by smoothing things over after Aang and Katara's failure, and moves on to mention Kuei's depression. Sokka brings up his experiences with Yue to get Kuei to talk with Song, but Kuei remains doubtful about whether Song wants anything to do with him, or whether he'll be a good king. Sokka insists that he'll have to do something, and that lifts Kuei's spirits. It's a bit interesting that in The Promise, Kuei's newfound determination was a bad thing when it was combined with his paranoia and ignorance about his own kingdom.
During an encounter with Mai and Ty Lee, Ty Lee manages to jump to a height that Aang could only manage, showing off her airbending potential in the process, something that would have been a good twist if the author hadn't been talking about it in her author's notes. Unfortunately, while Aang lists all the reasons Ty Lee would be a good Air Nomad, Zuko warns him against doing so, saying that history is Written by the Winners, and the Fire Nation has all sorts of unflattering propaganda about the Air Nomads. Aang is offended and, for once, Katara actually sympathizes.
The Gaang talk over lunch, and wonder if playing with a sword as a teenager might have helped Kuei's self confidence, although it's obviously too late.
Meanwhile, Arnook and Hakoda talk, and Arnook quietly floats the possibility of not making Hahn his heir. He admits that the point of an Arranged Marriage is to choose your son-in-law, and he'd failed even at that, ignoring Yue's protests. By contrast, Hakoda has faith in Katara choosing well, and she's quite touched.
Jet meets with Zuko and gives a somewhat backhanded apology, but Katara recognizes it as a step in the right direction.
Toph's time with her family initially doesn't go well. While Toph wants to spend time with her mother, Poppy, as much as she denies it (incidentally, while there are Daddy's Girl and Momma's Boy tropes, there aren't any for those who want to spend time with the parent of the same gender), but her mother was (understandably) worried about all the danger Toph got into and (less understandably) wants her to be more like Star, a "ninny" that Jet hooked up with. Katara ends up consoling Toph, reminding her that she's "Toph Fucking Beifong," as she says.
Poppy encounters Mai, and ends up finding her blunt and terse, and the most polite Mai gets is calling her "ma'am," (I suspect that "my lady" would be more appropriate for Earth Kingdom nobility). in canon, Mai's somewhat better at acting as high society dictates, even if for her, it mostly involves staying quiet and avoiding notice. Mai then defends Toph, pointing out all the ways she falls short of her mother's expectations of how a noble act and how she's strong, and insists that Poppy accept Toph for who she is.
Toph and Katara are both surprised to overhear that, and Mai, still smarting from her earlier conflicts with Toph, says that's what happens when Toph assumes she doesn't have any feelings. Toph's chastened, and so is Katara, who realizes that Mai's criticism applies to her by extension. Katara then muses about how people have multiple facets to them, and recalls her grandmother explaining the concept using ice-related imagery.
What I liked
- Katara actually seeing things from Aang's POV.
- Mai calling out Toph's mother.
What I didn't like
- The "Ty Lee is an airbender" should have been foreshadowed, not told about in the author's notes.
