Zuko sits down with Katara, worried about her but not knowing about the kiss- only that Aang thought Katara was going crazy or something of the sort. After a bit of hesitation, Katara gets to the point and says she kissed Aang, resulting in Zuko suffering a jealousy-fueled fit of Power Incontinence that causes all the candles and lights to flare up (such is life in the days before electric lighting), and forcing Zuko and Katara to flee.
Zuko's understandably displeased about this, both in that he had an accidental bending despite having mastered fire, and also criticizes Katara for leading Aang on, resulting in her calling him out for his doing the same with Mai. I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, Katara deserves to be called out for her actions here. On the other, if Zuko and Katara have to overcome this over the long term, it will only make getting together even harder.
In the end, though, Katara tells Zuko how she feels without him around, and he takes her to the 27th distict. They both honestly talk about all their frustrations- Katara about having to choose beetween Hahn, Aang and spinsterhood and Zuko about the various problems with diplomacy. Katara points out that her options are not limited by her appearance, but by her personality and status as the chief's daughter. According to Zuko, the former is significantly more appealing in the Fire Nation.
The conversation turns to Zuko's dysfunctional relationship with Mai, and it's understandably one that he's none too thrilled to discuss, especially since he got back together with Mai because they were just as miserable after "Crossroads of Destiny." Zuko believes Mai is nicer than Katara gives her credit for, and she might get along with fellow Deadpan Snarker Toph if they stop fighting. Zuko also admits that his relationship is far from ideal, and Mai can do better, but feels bad about breaking up with her. Katara's still a bit annoyed with Zuko's Honor Before Reason attitude, but is glad that he's staying with her for a stupid reason that's characteristic of him.
Zuko and Katara go outside and find the fountain, at which point, Zuko gets hit in the back of the head by a rock thrown by... Jet! (Again, this would be a fairly decent plot twist if the author hadn't mentioned it multiple times in her author's notes).
Katara's happy to see that he's alive, at least until he calls her a hussy, a feeling that Zuko does not share. Zuko and Jet start fighting, and while it's the sort of thing Katara usually dreams about, she doesn't like it when it's an actual fight, it's over her and they aren't naked. In order to break them up, she tries dumping cold water on them, but ultimately, they get broken up by two guards. Everyone involved is dismayed that this is happening again, and Katara, unaware of the first time, is obviously quite confused.
Apparently, this has happened before, supposedly apart from the time Jet fought Zuko. One time, they got out of trouble by claiming they were rehearsing a play, but they won't be so lucky this time. The other obvious solution- paying bail- is out, too, since they don't have enough money, and Zuko worries that there'll be a scandal if the Fire Lord is arrested. Neither do the other Freedom Fighters, so Zuko has Longshot and Smellerbee take Katara back in exchange for Iroh spotting them the money.
All in all, it's a bit hard to tell whether this is supposed to be funny or serious, which is never a good thing.
On the way back, Katara has a great deal to ask Longshot and Smellerbee. First on the list is how they survived Lake Laogai, and they reveal that they got captured by the Dai Li, who gave Jet lifesaving medical treatment. They also reveal that, as I said before, the fight between Zuko and Jet that resulted in Jet falling into the Dai Li's hands and getting brainwashed wasn't the only one- there was another one involving giant sausages, a few misunderstandings between Zuko and Jet regarding Jet's feelings, and a claim that they were rehearsing a play to avoid getting hauled in. All this culminates in the revelation that Jet had also been Stalking Zuko, and the real kicker is that Jet had even kept a stalker diary on him, like Katara did!
Katara feels conflicting feelings- she's glad Jet is alive, irritated with him as always (although considering that he was willing to flood a village full of Earth Kingdom civilians, that's not quite strong enough), confused over him stalking Zuko, and judging him in spite of fully being aware that she's a hypocrite for doing so.
Katara meets up with the others, and tells them the situation, which results in them all coming along in spite of the fact that Zuko only asked for Iroh, forcing him to tell them to call Zuko "Lee" and answer various uncomfortable questions, although Mai helps out by saying that Toph does not need to know about the sausage incident.
Speakng of uncomfortable questions, Aang asks Katara if she likes him as a boyfriend, and she says no. Aang takes it better than most would expect, and admits that he's no longer so sure of his feelings for Katara, ever since he got the kiss. Apparently, Mai gave him some advice, telling him to be honest with his feelings toward Katara, even though- or rather, especially because- it's not romantic love. Mai says that it's hard to be the one who loves more, and that it can often be best to have friendship without a relationship bogging you down. Aang and Katara agree to go back to being friends, and Katara takes the first step towards possibly starting to be friends with Mai by suggesting that she's been wrong about her and using her name for the first time.
The author suggests that Katara's being overly hard on Mai for a number of reasons, and while this is a reasonable assertion, it doesn't quite account for some things that could be considered facts, since it's unlikely that Katara misheard all the things Mai said herself.
What I liked
- Katara getting called out for leading on Aang.
- Katara and Aang cleanly putting an end to their relationship.
- Katara warming up to Mai to some degree.
What I didn't like
- Jet's inexplicable survival and general portrayal.
- It was hard to tell whether the fight was meant to be funny or serious.
