Katara sees Jet with June and Mai. The two of them are recording everything he has to say, but are unwilling to bring him along on hunting bounties, especially since doing so would require Zuko's permission, and they all know how well Jet gets along with Zuko. Zuko tries to get a rise out of Jet by playing on her jealousy issues, but unwittingly invokes that reaction in Katara, who, despite knowing Zuko would never cheat on her, wants to see who Jin is, particularly taking umbrage at the idea that Jin is "more fun."
She tracks Zuko, Iroh and a girl to a tea shop, and notices that Jin's breasts aren't as large as Jet implied. Even better, not only does Zuko turn Jin down because he's seeing someone, but she admits that hings wouldn't have worked out between them. Jin also reveals that she knew Zuko was a firebender, even if she didn't know he was Fire Nation royalty. As Jin leaves, Katara realizes that she can't hate her.
We get back to the peace talks, and Aang and Sokka are trying to find ways to make Kuei happy so that he becomes more assertive. Aang's friend Bumi isn't much help, since he hates politics, so Aang and Sokka come up with ideas, eventually coming up with reuniting Kuei and Song, since they know about the relationship in spite of the Dowager's efforts to keep it under wraps. The Dowager did, however, manage to keep Song's appearance and whereabouts secret, so Aang and Sokka have their work cut out for them.
The Gaang recruits June and Mai for the task, with Aang naively thinking that June does it out of the good of her heart, unaware that she's charging extra because it furthers the cause of world peace. It isn't quite as simple as paying as much as they need and waiting as long as they must, though, as Jet's their best chance at finding Song, but June doesn't want to bring him on board without Zuko knowing, so they have to convince him.
Before Katara can convince Zuko to trust Jet, though, she has to start by convincing Jet to trust Zuko. After reminiscing about the time they'd bonded when they hated the Fire Nation (which made Katara vulnerable to Jet's manipulations), Katara helps him realize how much of an impact Lu Ten's life had on Zuko, and Lu Ten's death had on Iroh- apparently, Jet didn't even know why the siege of Ba Sing Se ended. Jet ends up doing a Heel Realization.
As for Zuko, he's understandably skeptical about the plan, and also skeptical about having to be civil to Jet for five minutes, but he eventually goes along with it. Katara has to resist the urge to perform any public displays of affection on Zuko, since they are in public and their relationship is secret, but is pleased to hear that Zuko feels the same way for her that Oma did for Shu and Kuei does for Song.
That's heartwarming enough, but it still feels as though Zuko and Katara aren't much farther along than where they were back on Ember Island, merely a bit more physically affectionate about their relationship. Some of the obstacles to their relationship have been removed (the war's over and Kataang and Maiko have been sunk), but others have risen up (Hakoda disapproves, and the Northern Water Tribe has a ban on interracial couples).
As you can see, I'm not especially inspired doing all these peace talk chapters, which get a bit repetitive after a while. Perhaps it's because most of the action has ended, or because it's largely new material and the author isn't that good at writing things on her own (at least compared to Bryke).
The author complains about the "strong woman behind every great man" trope, but says it's necessary in an absolute monarchy (which I suspect is due in part to most monarchs being male).
What I liked
- Katara's lack of hostility toward Jin
- Jet's Heel Realization.
What I didn't like
- The peace conference parts are dragging along.
- Zuko and Katara's relationship is progressing slowly, and plagued by setbacks and roadblocks.
