Zuko’s declaration of love reminds me how masterfully you drew Katara’s initial participation in this relationship as a kind of battle with Zuko, highlighting her practicality but also her incredible spirit as shown by the Painted Lady. And it also shows how sensitive—truly, to a fault—Zuko is.
And, the much more realistic look at “Zuko joins the Gaang from love for Katara”, it isn’t just an instant reconciliation.

Stlll loving it.

e

Loved this. The way you touched on the truly concerning self-delusion Zuko suffered from in the early seasons was thoughtfully done. Little details like the treehouse and the spicy sauce created this world within a world. I’ve seen prisoner-Katara fics that I deeply disliked, and this wasn’t just good, it was excellent.

Thank you, it was a pleasure. I’m excited that it’s only the first chapter.

e

This remains one of my favorite Zutara fics and every time I read I remember why. I love that it ended with Zuko and Katara overlooking the new kingdom and coming to some kind of agreement.

Just the odds and ends and every bookend of this story is so good. I even praise comma placement because I’m in just such awe.

I love the heavy handed Toph/Sokka here because honestly, I love them together.

And Mai. She’s such an interesting character, I love reading how you write her perspective and what she thinks of the situation. Also yes, the coup has consequences! But Mai gets to be a Kyoshi Warrior! She’ll be so badass!

Azula has always been such an interesting character for me. After rewatching the series I appreciate her so much as a character—and her downfall was horrible and so sad. But, I feel like it really opened the door on how skewed she had become mentally.

I love the idea of Uncle Iroh figuring it out and that’s why he essentially peppers Katara with questions ranging from her favorite foods to what water she prefers swimming in. I jut adore this idea so much

Oh my god that was more intense than the actual series ohmugod

THE TENSION

I always wondered what Hadoka’s thoughts would be on his children basically leading the war that they’re too young for and you showcased it beautifully and with so much stark realization that his children grew up when he was gone

Zutara trip but with a twist, every time someone almost cries it gets more heartbreaking.

And Zuko not knowing what bloodbending is, that Katara can do it, and just knowing how horrible it can be must have been such a MOMENT for him. My friends and I have the theory that since Katara is the only Waterbender Zuko ever hangs out with that he thinks her skills are he standard with everyone (not in your au of course) but we laugh at the thought of him fighting other waterbenders and him winning but just being confused like “what? You can’t do the arm whip thing? What about the ice shards? No? Who trained you?”

This is the chapter I’ve been waiting for you do do! Mainly because this is how I got my friends to understand my Zutara ship. And I love that Zuko has to take more steps just to get info out of Sokka because he and Sokka did not have that bonding episode in this au.

And YES! There needs to be more Firelords and Ursa had to have died. That’s all I accepted in my child brain

I really loved how Katara had to go undercover to try to get back to her friends—with equal parts hilarity and seriousness. She gets a broader perspective of the war and the people it effects and also learned from hama!

Appa flying at the speed of plot. Beautiful.

I really love how you write for Sokka, how he sees the world and spends his time while he’s awaiting for the chance to avenge his sister and win the day. Iroh is also wonderful in this as he just kind of slips into their lives and makes things work. I always love Iroh.

This chapter is fantastic!

This is one of my top two Zutara fanfics and I just keep reading it over and over. A couple times each year. I just love it so much. Thank you for this.

noice