The chapter begins with another flashback, apparently the day before Katara's birthday three years ago. As she stands there, looking out over the balcony and hoping for a beautiful day, Toph walks up and tells her that a gift has arrived. Lau, one of Toph's servants (I can't tell if she's traced from anyone else) brings in the food, before she and Toph leave to run some "arraigns" (I can only guess that the author meant "errand" through context).
Katara reads a brief note saying that he got Katara her favorite fruits, before picking up an orange out of the fruits, which were clearly photoshopped in from a photograph. Katara spends an entire page eating the orange, but suddenly drops it, as she remembers Zuko saying cheesy romantic lines about his love for her making him feel like a hero, rather than a prince. Blood then comes out of her womb, and it's clear that she's miscarrying. Katara wakes up, says Zuko and Kuzon's names, and wonders what she was trying to accomplish by having sex with Zuko.
That night, Sokka walks through Ba Sing Se, humming a song full of Rouge Angles of Satin, when he notices someone. The sound effects tell us that there's a woman nearby and Sokka, disturbed that he's hearing things before he's even bought the sake, much less started drinking it, goes to investigate. Sokka finds a woman with long dark hair in an outfit that looks like a cross between a Ninja and a bellydancer outfit. The woman collapses, and Sokka notices that she's been beaten up, lost a lot of blood, and has possibly been poisoned. He wants to find out who did this to her, but decides to get her some help first.
The scene then shifts to Aang, who, like the rest of the cast, is thinking about his significant other (Toph, of all people), recalling that it's been a while since he's seen her and wondering if she feels the same way. An Air Nomad named Ping, who looks like Aang without his tattoos, and somehow survived Sozin's genocide, walks up to Aang, observes that he's still up and didn't eat much at dinner, and asks him if he's nervous about tomorrow. Aang worries about how the encounter with Toph will go, and believes that it's unlikely to work out, since they're from different lands.
Ping says that women are somewhat difficult to deal with, but that Aang's the Avatar, and it shouldn't be a problem for him. Ping says the Air Nomads are back, and while they stay to the temples to achieve enlightenment, Aang goes where he pleases, he can go out in the world to take care of it, and Ping thinks Toph is a good choice. Ping tells Aang that he's faced his fears before, and he's certain Toph loves Aang under her "though" exterior, and the fact that Aang's the Avatar and Toph is Earth Kingdom royalty shouldn't be a problem. Ping says Aang deserves as much after all he's done, and the odds aren't too great for him. Ping then tells Aang to get some rest for tomorrow.
Zuko is making preparations of his own, and his uncle questions the wisdom of letting his hair down, of all things. Zuko wants them to see him as he was when he left them, and so has Iroh cut his hair, and Iroh complies.
The scene shifts back to Sokka, Katara and the mystery woman, who has been put to bed inside the Bei Fong estate. Katara has treated the woman, apparently using bloodbending of all things, and says her life is no longer in danger, but wants to know "were" Sokka found her. Sokka says he found her on the outskirts of the city, when he was going shopping, then recaps his encounter with her, incorrectly describing her as "lucid" when the opposite was true.
Sokka says he recognizes the poison, called "ginseng
poison" that affects firebenders, causing hallucinations, bad dreams and memory loss. Sokka says this will make it difficult to identify her, but Katara decides not to remove her mask, since she clearly wants her identity kept hidden, not unlike the Gaang did on their adventures. Sokka and Katara decide to get some sleep for the party, and hope to learn more when the woman regains her memory.
Sokka then narrates for an entire page, saying that he didn't sleep well, worried about who the girl is and how to make sure Katara's birthday goes as well as it can. He points out he can hardly believe he and Katara are going to become prince and princess of the Water Tribes, given they were peasants only a few years ago, and I can hardly believe it, either.
Sokka points out that in the aftermath of the final battle, Azula was banished and Ozai was executed, which renders Aang sparing his life a moot point. Sokka can't imagine condemning blood relatives to death, and concludes that's why Zuko doesn't have it in him to kill Azula, even when she tried to kill him, which is a fair point. Aang, however, took Azula's ability to redirect lightning (which, I recall, is purely a defensive ability), to neutralize her as a threat.
Night falls, and Sokka finds the sunset beautiful. He says the guests at the party include many dignitaries from all over the world, and Katara is always afraid that "Suite" wouldn't show up. Aang is the only Air Nomad there, since the others are too busy rebuilding, but Aang hopes that the century-long isolation will end soon, an excuse the author made up to suggest why they never showed up in the show.
It's clear that the author cares less about these world-changing events than about the love lives of the Gaang. By contrast, in The Stalking Zuko Series, from what I've heard, such events are the focus of "Not Stalking Firelord Zuko."
Sokka says Hakoda didn't want to become king of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, so he instead had Pakku and Kanna do it, while he became high General. Sokka notices that his time has come to assume his responsibilities, and that everyone has changed a great deal (which is certainly true), and he notices that Katara looks a great deal older as well. Of course, Sokka also concludes that there are loose ends. The next part will deal with the party.
What I liked
- "Ginseng poison" is an amusing failure of research.
- The poorly photoshopped bowl of fruit.
What I didn't like
- Contrived introduction of Water Tribe royalty.
- A lot of important events being glossed over.
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