The fic is now up to "The Firebending Masters
", in which Zuko and Aang go off to help Zuko reactivate his lost firebending, in spite of Katara's worrying that Zuko could abscond with Aang back to the Fire Nation (although even if he hadn't burned that bridge, he's in less than top form without his firebending, making betraying Aang less than feasible).
The operative phrase here is "Zuko and Aang," which means that Katara's left alone at the Western Air Temple. This is one downside of the first-person POV, which means that the viewpoint character most likely won't be present for all important events. This can be done well, and often is (for example, a mystery might follow the person trying to solve it), but if ATLAR did it, it would result in a lot of the best scenes happening offscreen.
Katara speaks with Toph about Zuko, trying to argue about Zuko's flaws. This seems unusually proactive for Katara, who seemed content to give Zuko the cold shoulder and occasionally make passive-aggressive remarks toward him while reluctantly tolerating his presence in this time period in canon. Toph makes arguments in favor of Zuko, and Katara notes in her diary that she hasn't had as bad experiences with Zuko, which I concede is a fair point.
Toph mentions that she has the ability to know for certain that Zuko means no harm, albeit mere days after this ability failed her against Azula. But Katara notices that Toph's friendliness is unlike her, and wonders if she has a point.
Zuko returns from his trip with Aang, having succeeded in restoring his firebending. He goes about training Aang, with Katara watching and noticing he has his shirt off.
Katara eavesdrops on a conversation between Zuko and Toph, discussing Katara's hostility toward him. Toph mentions that she had a little trouble getting along with Katara at first, and Katara claims she was never hostile toward Toph.
Zuko, to his credit, is fairly understanding toward Katara, which is nicely in character. Katara is confused as to why Zuko would call Toph the nicest person he has met, though. Toph believes that she is Not So Different from Zuko, with privileged backgrounds and distant parents. Zuko believes his father is more evil than Toph's- which is a good point, considering that Lao Beifong hasn't scarred or tried to kill Toph- but they didn't have many friends growing up. The latter point is true, although Zuko probably had a few friends (Mai and Ty Lee), while Toph had none that we know of. In any case, the two become friends.
Katara goes over what she's learned, both about Zuko- his difficulty with friendship, his belief that the Fire nation is not his home, and his guilt (which Katara pointedly reminds us is what he should be feeling) and resignation at being Reformed, but Rejected- and about Toph this time. Katara is also a bit surprised to find out about Toph's loneliness, but she seems to have had some idea of this since "The Runaway", when she accidentally eavesdropped on Toph's conversation with Sokka while bathing at the base of the cliff. Katara's also surprised to find that Toph finds someone as sarcastic as Sokka, who once "dropped a giant Earth Rumble 6 belt on her head" to be the friendliest member of the group.
Speaking of eavesdropping, it was an interesting touch to have Katara listen in on Zuko's conversation, allowing to hear what he thinks of her when (he thinks) she's not around. Naturally, she will take such knowledge into account, but it's still a good way to look at other perspectives.
The author comes in again and points out that she likes "-!-" line breaks for Katara since it seems to fit her. I like the Insert Horizontal Line tool, even if the lines disappear at times, since they look better than any text-based dividers. The author suggests Katara is jealous of Toph (although, what did Katara think would happen when she gives him the cold shoulder and makes death threats against him while Toph confides in him?), but reassures us that it's platonic. I also liked Toph and Zuko's relationship, and would have liked to have seen a similar "field trip" for them.
What I liked
- Interesting look at Toph's perspective on Zuko.
- Toph and Zuko's friendship.
What I didn't like
- Katara seemed a bit too resentful toward Zuko.
