Well, it's a pairing I never thought I'd get behind, but you've managed to convince me.
I now ship Zuko/Sokka.

Wow, this was a big change from canon and one that is much more adult and grim. I like the changes in Zuko and I like your characterizations of Azula and friends even if I never liked the characters much. Not much Zutara in this one, but I'm okay with that. However, it does seem that you praise Katara a little too much. Yeah, she's a cool bender but so are all the Gaang sans Sokka. The way you kind of make her this larger than life character is a little annoying.

Now, I can understand if you're doing it simply to say that Zuko is attracted to her, then I'd be fine with that. Yet, I would ask then that you begin to take the same initiative with Katara and have her admire Zuko's bending abilty to the same degree and become more attracted to him. Otherwise it will just come off at the writer gushing out hero-worship over her favorite character.

This story does have some plot holes in it however. Whatever happen to that whole thing with the Earth King? Did they ever get to him to tell him anything or is he dying out there too? What about the Earth Kingdom armies? The only thing I could make out was that there is a White Lotus members helping to save a small amount of earth citizens who listened to them while all others died. It had a "Noah's Ark" vibe and I thought that was a good touch.

Another thing, is you left out that the part that it was largely Iroh's depression and grief over the loss of his son that Ozai used to steal the throne from his older brother. Also I have no idea why you made Jin as such a prominent figure as she is barely a kid and I never held that much importance to her character. Maybe you liked her more than I did, I don't know.

As for characterizations, I though Toph, Suki, and Iroh were right on the mark. Katara was good, but she's lost some of her motherly personality that kept the group together. Aang and Sokka I thought were much more serious in personality and I liked that alot. They're funny, but they also are very smart and determined. That whole breakdown at the end with Sokka was pure genius. He never really reacted that way to his invention becoming a weapon for the enemy in the show, and I really like how you hit home the fact that there was blood on his hands and it has both horrified and matured him. Zuko was good in the beginning, however, I though the change in his demeanor was a little to swift. While I like him until the point in which the two groups separate, at that point I think you made him a little too sociable a little too fast. He's still an angry, angsty, emo person who even while changing sides, took him a long time to become sociable with others. I mean, inner scars like those take years to heal, and even though he did make a decision to become his own person, that is only a STEP in the right direction, it would take him a while to learn to trust others, with so much betrayal that he's experienced in his life. He would not be able to just open up like that, even if he wanted too.

I also didn't really like the way you downgraded his abilities in bending and sword fighting. He's an extremely good swordsman and he would have been able to take down those two infantryman without batting an eyelash. Also, while he's bending is not as good as Azula's, he's still better than normal firebenders. I think you should show a little more of his badassary, but as you have Katara and Toph.

Other than the distracting use of our own slang in this fantasy world (they wouldn't say "speak of the Devil..." as their gods both good and evil are spirits with names specific to their particular country), I think you did a very good job with this story. It was written well and had quite the emotional pull to it. Some parts were a little cluttered and confusing (the whole bit with the White Lotus and the underground fire soldiers (and while the sun is not always needed, it IS necessary for firebenders or else the day of the eclipse would mean nothing), as well as the part with the Dai Li that went nowhere), but as a whole, I think that you did a very good job and I will be happy to read the next part of the trilogy.

Tense... and very interesting :) No Zutara yet, but I'll wait ;P but, seriously now, you're talented :)

This has some real potential, but the first chapter here is rather rocky, with Azula seemingly massively downgraded in both firebending power and skill for no apparent reason. In that episode, Ozai's Angels vs. The Kiyoshi Warriors was a curb-stomp battle, with the Angels trouncing the Warriors fairly readily. Here, the opposite occurs, with no explanation given, other than apparently the Angels just suddenly start to suck badly totally out of the blue. Very jarring. But, I will read on, hopefully it gets better in later chapters.

I only just read the first chapter of this and was amazed by how good this was. I truly believe that you deserve a lot more praise and reviews than what you have now, so hoping that this story will somehow get the recognition it deserves I will try to review every chapter that I read.

Other than that I'd like to also mention that I love your interpretation of the character, it's truly amazing!

you are a fucking brilliant chapter, every word in this writing left me captivated. you deserve so much more love and praise than you have gotten.

you know how to end every scene so that audience craves for more. long feng is an idiot and it is like katara to go back and apologize.

you get into the characters head so well and leave me anticipating their next move.

brilliant! just amazing! read it for the 2nd time and it's even better than the first time! the last scene was such a good ending! woow i feel so sad for sokka right now, they better cheer him up, in season 1 he was so excited about it, and now it get's trown in his face like 'pow'

ok chapter 9, damn cliffie! XD this story is written perfect! nice character development and you can't get enough of cactus jokes, their awsome keep them comming, Sokka is beeing totally himself, not trusting anything but himself, Aang's confused as hell right now :P Toph's going with the flow, as confident as ever, i think Zuko can be a bit more anrgy :P he's fun when he's like that

so when is the heavy Zutara smooshsmoosh gonna kick in? can't wait ;) Iroh's tea obsession is great, some ppl tend to forget what iroh's all about, tea :P i love your story it's awsome!

Why don't you have a bajillion reviews for this? This story is AMAZING. Honestly, quite possibly the best ATLA one I've read yet.

I really enjoyed this story! I like how you didn't turn Katara into some idiotic swooning girl. Her acceptance of Zuko was a realistic process, as was Sokka's. I also like how even though there is a focus on Zuko and Katara, and the hints of some romantic attraction, none of the other characters are forgotten.

Excellent "Book". I just have a few things that bother me...

1) Is it just me, or did you put Katara on bending steroids? I mean, I think that you may have made her slightly stronger than she is, even if you do incorporate your "overbending", a sixty foot wave? Nowhere in the series does it give her that much power, not even on a full moon (Which it wasn't - it was during the DAY)

2) The ice wall. HANGING IN MIDAIR. I mean, it's a good idea, but judging by the size of the wall (5 ft thick ALONE), it would likely take Avatar-state power just to hold it up, let alone repair it. The shards were, admittedly, a good idea, and plausible, given what we know of the Avatar-verse.

Those were, admittedly, the only two really BIG things that bothered me. Other than that, great story!

great story! thank you for writing it! )

meat on sticks. best thing since... ever, come to think of it.

brittney