The chapter begins with the argument mentioned in the teaser, which happens to be between Toph and Zuko. Katara finds it entertaining to watch two of the most stubborn people she knows having a polite argument, and bets a mango on Toph- who wins.
The argument is concerning which element Aang is worse at- Toph thinks it's earthbending, Zuko thinks it's firebending, and Aang is in the room at the time. Toph's argument is that Aang is out of practice at earthbending, and can't metalbend- oddly enough, in The Promise, only the "lilly livers," earthbenders with potential whom Toph scouted out, could do it, and even theirs was a far cry from Toph's. Zuko says that Aang still isn't aggressive enough. Toph defeats Zuko at "fire earth water air", and a second time when he tries for best two of three, so Toph gets to train Aang.
Zuko and Sokka train with swords, and it is revealed that apparently, Piandao also trained Zuko. Meanwhile, Katara and Suki talk about the boys.
Katara concludes Zuko would win in an actual fight, but Sokka has come a long way, becoming a better leader and planner, not just a better swordsman. Katara notes his quirks are there, and she's proud of him, even if she doesn't often say it.
Zuko and Sokka try switching weapons, despite Katara's objections. Sokka doesn't have much of a handle on Dual Wielding, but Zuko forgets that he isn't wielding two swords anymore, and Sokka accidentally injures him.
Suki makes tea while Katara heals Zuko's shoulder, getting a look at his nice but tense shoulders as she does so. Sokka asks where they should go next, and Zuko suggests Ember Island, having composed a list of reasons why they should do it. Zuko then lists his reasons.
- The house is big, large enough to accommodate the Gaang and even Appa.
- It's locked up and people haven't been there in years.
- It's close to a town, but since there are tourists, they won't find new arrivals suspicious.
- There's virtually no military presence, or people looking for the Avatar's group.
- There's also the part about Sokka and Suki not having to sexile him, which he doesn't bring up because he doesn't want to embarrass either.
Zuko convinces the others, which turns out to be a good thing, because Toph arrives, insisting that they have to leave immediately. Toph reports that Aang saved some villagers, but in the process, revealed himself as the Avatar. An argument ensues, with Aang stressing that it's right to help people and Toph not disagreeing about that, but that he could have done it more subtly, resulting in a circular argument.
The Gaang departs, with Katara creating a cloud to camouflage Appa, and they keep an eye out for the Fire Nation fleet, which is presumably on alert after Katara's breaking into a messenger hawk tower. The argument then resumes.
Aang says that there's nothing wrong with wanting to save people, and that people probably know who he is after he fought the Fire Nation army on the Day of the Black Sun.
Toph doesn't disagree, but says that they have to keep a low profile, lest they go back to living in caves, something Zuko also doesn't want to happen. Aang then apparently has a meandering speech about how he brings hope to people, and hope is good. Suki tries to mediate, while Toph sarcastically hopes they don't run into the enemy.
Zuko gets the final word, saying that the Fire Nation military is under orders to kill Aang (what happened to capturing him and incapacitating him so that he doesn't reincarnate?) and have messenger hawks to announce Aang's location. The group's mood sinks, and Aang agrees to wear a hat in public, although it should be pointed out that he was wearing a headband in his time in the Fire Nation.
The Gaang arrives at Ember Island, and Katara, despite being tired, is impressed. The Gaang then selects their rooms, with Katara shrewdly asking Zuko which is the best one. The Gaang race to select their rooms, and Katara reaches her destination first, making the floor more slippery with her water bending to force her rivals to go more carefully and slowly. Katara finds the room amazing, both for the view and because she has her own room. Katara wonders who the previous inhabitant was.
Zuko steps in, and Katara thanks him for the advice, saying she likes the room. They watch the sunset until Sokka asks them to unpack.
The Author's note deals with many different topics this time.
- Fire earth water air is the Avatar-verse's version of rock paper scissors. I'm curious how it would work, though, since with four choices, not only is it possible to get an identical choice, but it's also possible to get one that doesn't have an advantage over another.
- The author suggests that Katara still thinks about Jet, if only in passing, as she had something of a crush on him. Perhaps the feelings are there, but to me, it's more likely that he more reminds her of what she could have become.
- The author points out that she wanted to deal with Sokka's status as the leader of the group, and how he's better at collaborating with others than he was early on, now that he's more secure in his role.
- The author cites Avatar Wiki for Piandao being Zuko and Sokka's teacher.
- The author points out that Katara's massage for Zuko's injured shoulder was probably unnecessary, but she did it anyway.
The author then goes into the argument, which she wrote to show the Gaang's reaction to a disagreement, since they didn't agree all the time, and about Aang's beliefs conflicting with his duties as the avatar, and his personality (apparently, it's a three-way conflict).
The author begins by saying that Aang always wants to help people and fix things. He begrudgingly suppressed this desire for the first half of Season 3, but now that people have realized he's alive. But with his survival widely known after the Day of the Black Sun, he begins acting on his desire to help others, exacerbated by his feelings of guilt over disappearing for a century. This leads him to help people even when it's not practical, driving the others crazy; Toph realizes the implications immediately, and Zuko gets dramatic when he realizes that Aang is not on the same page as him.
Let's take a moment to talk about Aang. The fic has taken place during one of Aang's least active periods, where he's mostly training for the final confrontation. Nevertheless, it's unfortunate that when they give him a chance to shine, it's treated as backfiring, and he comes off as naive in the argument.
It also reminds me a little of how characters on various ends of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism are when in a work that's closer to the other end. In the middle of the scale, a character of either stripe may be right, but the ones who are best off are those who are principled yet practical. In a more idealistic setting, a more cynical and ruthless character's beliefs tend to come off as unnecessary at best, and morally questionable at worst. In a more cynical setting, a more idealistic character's ideals may come off as impractical at best, and causing tragedy at worst.
To illustrate how these differences play out, let's put such characters through the scene, where they have to choose between saving innocents and keeping their cover. In an idealistic series, the people the hero saved would likely repay them later for their trouble, and if they attracted any undue attention, they would be able to deal with it. Anyone who suggested not saving the civilians would be getting dangerously close to the Moral Event Horizon.
In a more cynical series, however, it's possible that the hero would save those people, leading to trouble, and a few of the expendable good guys possibly dying because of the hero's decision (possibly because the people reported the hero). The risk of causing a split is very low, but the hero is sometimes at risk of becoming The Load to the good guys, or at least a living argument against idealistic positions- that is, if they don' tend up dying a tragic and pointless death, as such characters have very short shelf lives.
The fic's tone is more cynical than in canon, and more in favor of the Anti-Hero Zuko than the Messianic Archetype Aang. Of course, in canon, Zuko, despite his villainous beginnings and his cynicism not always being right, managed to break quite a few prisoners of war out of the Burning Rock, track down Katara's mother's killer, hold his own against Fire Lord Azula (who previously outclassed him in firebending) until she targeted Katara (who then proceeded to defeat her), and took the throne of Fire Lord, helping guide his nation as it made peace with those it had wronged. Zuko's cynical solutions aren't always the answer, but he's not ineffectual, and I hope the same thing doesn't happen to Aang.
Next time, Zuko and Katara let off some steam, apparently literally. The expression reminds me a little of the combination between firebending and waterbending, which I vaguely remember being brought up for the Zutara pairing.
What I liked
- The description of the new house.
- Zuko's list of reasons for going to Ember Island.
What I didn't like
- Aang being treated as naive yet again, and ignorant of the consequences of his actions.
