It would be highly unfair to many dedicated shippers to try and classify me as one. I am quite terrible at it—this is probably because I do not have the emotional capacity to dedicate myself solely to one side or another, recognizing as I do the evidence and benefits for any logical pairing. I can’t even decide who I want to be with, for heaven’s sake; I don’t have much of a right to go pairing up other people. I’ll admit to you:  as I was writing this, many times I would catch myself thinking, “Zuko and Katara? What? That’s just so freakish.”

However.

I’m a sucker for the unexpected.

If you are reading this, I’m sure you have witnessed, as many of us have, the agony of the Book Two finale of Avatar. And yes. It was incredible. I am a fan of the show for its unabashedly amazing complexity and realistic character development. This finale was the best I have seen on television. Ever. Many published, well-known authors who shall remain nameless should bow at the feet of the writers and beg for resolution lessons. It had me on the edge of my seat. But my favorite scene (of course!) was the infamous Zutara Cave—and the ensuing, epic fight that shall echo in my memory—that we had all been anxiously awaiting.

As MizSweet points out in her essay, the finale led many to believe that the two most popular ships in Avatar fandom, Zutara and Kataang, were now both dead. I must admit, I do not so much see how Kataang is now absent from the story line. Perhaps I’m missing something. But that’s for another essay. In the same way, I see proof for more than the simple survival of Zutara—I see it stepping out of the confines of fandom, and emerging as canon.

Since this essay is in response (in…support of?) MizSweet’s essay, I’ll start off where she did!

During the finale, Katara first comes across Zuko in the new tea shop in the upper ring. She understandably spazzs out. In a mild form of irony, the “ruthless” Fire Nation Prince is waiting tables, but Katara immediately reacts, and goes straight to Suki, who turns out to be Azula, who promptly throws her into a cave. When Katara first sees Zuko, she is instantly suspicious of his actions. Azula is surprised to hear “Zuzu” and Iroh are in the city as well, which is clearly confusing to Katara. Though she knows that the relationship between Zuko and Azula is not exactly as close as her and Sokka’s (a conjecture formed through the events of “The Chase”), she is still surprised that the siblings were not conspiring together. This does not, however, lessen her distrust of either one.

Here I must ask you to forgive me for ignoring the other parts of the plot.

Katara ends up in the cave alone at first. Her surprise when Zuko is unceremoniously dumped in after her is evident.

This was the moment on December 1st, 2006, that The Great Fangirl Squeal of Ship Anticipation was heard around the world. I may or may not have been a part of it.

Katara’s confusion deepens. Zuko is being treated as an enemy of the Fire Nation, just like her. As MizSweet notes, the manner in which he lands is very interesting. Down on his hands and knees in front of Katara, he seems to almost be bowing before her, submissive, as though begging for forgiveness—it is very reminiscent of the extreme display of servitude he assumes before his father on the day of his banishment. I agree with MizSweet that the Avatar creation team makes the most of every scene, and loads every action with meaning. They have a history of taking seemingly insignificant things and making them key later on—such as with Katara’s necklace. They also love, and enviously make very good use of, foreshadowing.

Therefore, I think it is safe to assume that Zuko’s position holds some significance—it can be construed as an apology for his past actions (and perhaps, even his future ones), meant to show that he has turned over a new leaf. We can also presuppose that Zuko, ever-proud, would not ask forgiveness from a person for whom he holds no respect or esteem. Therefore, Zuko must at this point have, at the very least, a respect for Katara, not only as a formidable opponent in battle, but as a person.

All in the same scene, Katara’s confusion rapidly evaporates into rage as she sees Zuko. Once the story shifts back to The Cave, we see that body language is still the primary form of communication, and suggests certain things to the audience. Zuko is still in the submissive kneeling position, and Katara is still standing, psychologically showing that she perceives herself as dominant and in control. As much space as the small cave will allow is separating them, and emotionally, they are still miles apart.

Katara beings to question Zuko in a hostile tone. He doesn’t respond. In fact, I believe his back is toward her. Possibly this adds to Katara’s anger, because it implies to her that he is not paying attention to her, and that he is not afraid of any attack she might make. Katara would take this as an insult.

An alternate interpretation is that Zuko is so dismayed at his situation that it never occurred to him to expect an attack, or that he simply wouldn’t care if Katara did attack him at that point. One additional note on the “not paying attention to her” thing…in my experience, whenever Boyfriend of The Moment is in trouble with me (as Zuko is with Katara) he ends up ignoring me…which of course is not fair (he’s the one in trouble, darn it!) so I end up trying to get him to talk (paying attention to him even though he doesn’t deserve it.) Is it possible that Zuko is doing the same thing? Far-fetched, I know, but it was worth a try.

It is more likely that Zuko does not respond to Katara’s questioning because he’s ashamed of having been captured, as well as being in mental turmoil due to his current situation. This sort of behavior is confusing to Katara and makes her angry. If she is confused, she is not in control of the situation, and has lost the upper hand. But Zuko’s behavior is completely contrary to the way he used to act. Zuko does not attack, and as I mentioned before, fails to even assume a defensive stance. He does not ask about the Avatar. He makes not threats. Ever a man of few words, he keeps any thoughts he may have to himself.

This again is contradictory of Katara’s image of Zuko—though they have been in the same city for many episodes, the last time Katara and Zuko had a run in was long before his…metamorphosis. As far as Katara is concerned at this point, Zuko is just the “angry jerk” who is hell bent on destroying her little family. He is constantly attacking Aang, and since she has proven that she will stop at nothing to protect the airbender, a Katara-Zuko showdown typically ensues. Katara is a waterbending master, and Zuko, while pretty good, is no prodigy, and many times ends up getting his butt kicked by her. Props to the creators for all the strong female imagery they pump into the show, but this also places Zuko and Katara on equal footing—while Zuko may be higher in rank and birth, Katara levels the playing field with her admittedly superior bending abilities.

Zuko is abrasive, headstrong, and downright scary sometimes. Case in point:  he tied her to a tree for information (Ah, the sweet and creepy start of Zutara). The decidedly more passive Zuko in the cave is just weird. Despite his noticeably altered attitude, Katara retains her former (albeit justified) prejudices. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she takes advantage of the opportunity to do something she seems to have been wanting to do for quite a long time—bitch Zuko out, to be quite frank. Zuko has been a rather large thorn in the gaang’s side, and has certainly been the main cause of most of the tension in the last two seasons. Katara takes full advantage of her vocal prowess and yells at him, calling him a “terrible person” to the effect of ruining her life as she knew it. She is, of course, ignorant of Zuko’s motives, and as she rails against him, accusing him of all sorts of things that, Zuko sits very quietly and takes it like a man.

However, by a certain point, Zuko has had enough. Rather than the emotional outburst he is prone to (flaming daggers of fire after Zhao enters the picture, anyone?) he calmly looks towards her and says, without much emotion, that she “doesn’t know what [she is] talking about.”

Again, Katara’s ire is incited. “How dare you…” she tells him, and drops the loss of her mother in his lap like a blunt blow to the head. To Katara, his comment is callous and heartless, and she is so much hurt by it that she begins to cry as she delivers her reply about her mother. It is worth noting that she has not had this reaction previously when telling Aang, Jet, or Haru (other Katara ships) the same story, as MizSweet also points out. It may be because the atmosphere in the cave is so emotionally charged, but the fact that it is Zuko who elicits this visceral reaction from her remains unchanged. By this time Katara is no longer standing, therefore she has relinquished control of the situation. She sits in a semi-fetal position—a pose of protection and alienation of oneself—and now it is she who is turning her back on Zuko. Because of this, she doesn’t see Zuko’s first outward expression of emotion. Her words have struck a familiar cord with him, and his face betrays how touched and surprised he really is. He turns toward her, first with his face and then with his body, opening himself up just as she is shutting him out.

Katara is not choosy about who she tells about her mother—it seems like she’s telling someone new every episode. But this case is different. For all intents and purposes, Zuko is her mortal enemy. Her emotional display is giving him a weakness that he can prey on. To Zuko, this is astounding. It means that Katara, a girl he has fought and threatened and hunted along with the Avatar, has trust in him. Trust is foreign to Zuko—a small glimpse into his family life tells us exactly why—and he hardly knows what to do with it. He is shocked that Katara has just shown him a vulnerability that he would have never guessed she had while battling her. Zuko’s first reaction is to genuinely apologize—he can empathize. He, of course, had nothing to do with her mother’s death, but he feels a connection to Katara, and has to say something to ‘make it better’. Neither MizSweet (according to her essay) nor I can ever recall Zuko make an apology before, so the fact that he is saying sorry for something he had nothing to do with is rather significant.

Zuko not only apologizes for her mother’s death, but seemingly for the war itself, for the destruction his royal family has caused in families around the world—we must remember that this applies to his own family as well. “That’s something we have in common,” he tells her, alluding to the loss of his own mother at unfeeling Fire Nation hands. Unlike Katara, Zuko is not so open with his past. His own uncle may not know exactly what Zuko knows about his Ursa’s death. So here he is, revealing one of his darkest secrets and biggest weakness to his enemy. If Zuko is unused to being trusted, the concept of trusting others is even more unthinkable. At moments, Zuko even loses trust in Iroh. It is interesting that Zuko returns Katara’s trust almost immediately without hesitation.

Though perhaps the full impact of what Zuko does is lost on Katara, she does recognize some of its significance—namely, the show of weakness and willing display of a common bond. His words shock her out of her self-pity, and she immediately wipes away the last of her tears. She half-turns toward him, just as he is half-turned toward her, showing that they are both open to one another on the same level. Finally, they have reached equal footing, emotionally.

To prove it, when the story returns to The Cave, both Katara and Zuko are standing, as equals. Being crouched low to the ground shows vulnerability and the need for self-preservation, but standing upright is indicative of its absence. For example, in a fire fight (as in Iraq, not firebending J), a soldier would never stand straight up, or he would be shot. Staying low is safer. The same idea applies to body language and the psychological meanings behind it. Also, the space that separated them in the beginning has now begun to diminish as they become emotionally closer.

And suddenly…there is conversation! There is connection. Katara apologizes to Zuko with the now famous lines “whenever I thought of the face of the enemy, it was always your face I saw.” Not exactly the romantic pining for her lover’s face that some Zutarians would like, but we’ll take what we can get. Her reference to his face hits Zuko in a way Katara doesn’t expect. He turns away from her—closing himself off again, and perhaps hiding—and his hand moves directly to his scar. “My face,” he says, almost sadly, “I see.”

I’m pretty sure at this point Katara is floored. Zuko, who typically is “proud as ever” as he declares in “Bitter Work,” has self-image issues? No way! It goes a little bit deeper than that, as Zuko later explains, but Katara immediately reacts. “No, that’s not what I meant,” she hastily assures him, reaching out to him physically in apology, one hand outstretched to receive his forgiveness. More of the space between them is erased.

Zuko must be feeling generous, because he readily gives it, and more besides. “It’s okay,” he tells her. He explains how lately he had begun to think differently. He used to feel that his scar “marked” him, set him apart for his so-called destiny to capture the Avatar. His scar made him different. He was an outsider to his own people, and his scar was just a physical manifestation of that isolation. Now, he tells Katara, who is listening alertly, he realized that he could make his own destiny…even if the scar will always set him apart. This is the important theme of remoteness and the inability to belong that follows Zuko throughout the story.

In “The Siege of the North,” the finale of Book One, Zuko delivers a similar speech, in a cave (huh, just realized that. The creators must like caves. “The Cave of Two Lovers,” anyone?), to Aang while he is in the Avatar state—in other words, when no one is listening. It is a mark of his character development that he can now open up to another person—even if he cannot physically face her. Zuko says all of this while facing the opposite direction.

The thing that we like is that Zuko has had many opportunities with his own ships to have this conversation—with Song and Jin (little side note:  I’m trying to figure out why all these girls like Zuko…he’s a genuine asshole to them). He shuts them out, however, putting the same emotional space between them as first existed with Katara.

Again trust shows up. Zuko has enough trust now for Katara that he opens up to her. For her part, Katara is deeply affected, and offers to heal the scar right then and there. It is almost like, symbolically, if Katara can erase the physical scar, she can erase the emotional damage that Zuko has suffered. Katara, I think, sees that Zuko’s hunt for her friend was driven by the “destiny” his father dumped on him. If she can help him, he can finally be happy with what he has…and won’t chase Aang anymore as well, though it’s obvious this is not her first thought.

Zuko first rejects Katara’s offer as impossible. When Katara explains about the “magic water” from the Spirit Oasis, he is shocked. Perhaps he remembers what happened between them at the North Pole—his kidnapping the Avatar…and oh yeah, getting a thorough butt-kicking from Katara, not once, but twice. The contrast between that finale and this one is evident. Here are the same two people, in a cave again (I notice a pattern), only now Katara is offering to heal Zuko with the same water she had once used against him in battle.

By this time, there is no space between them. They stand toe-to-toe and can now look one another in the eye. This is a complete show of trust—if one of them is lying, the other will know it immediately. It is also very, very cute. Zuko is all ready to consent to let Katara help him, sharply contrasting with “The Chase.” Katara’s offer to help at that time is received with an angry snarl and a rather large blast of fire. Now, he closes his eyes and lowers his head (he is charmingly just slightly taller than her). This is perhaps his most vulnerable state yet. She can literally stab him in the heart and he’d be dead before he could even do anything about it.

And here is where The Second Great Fangirl Squeal of Anticipation occurred. When Zuko gives his silent permission and lowers his head, Katara softly reaches up and touches his scar. Yes. Actually touches it. And as fangirls round the world had Phantom of the Opera flashbacks, they may have also remembered when poor Song attempted to do the same thing, and he violently forced her hand away. MizSweet gives several instances similar to this here, such as Zuko’s unnecessarily loud denial that Jin was his girlfriend to the waiter (if I were her, I would have been highly insulted. Seriously, Zuko, shut up), but his rather pointed silence when Jun referred to Katara as his girlfriend, as well her as being “way too pretty for [her],” is certainly something to point out. This could be for comedic effect, but again…we take what we can get.

In a shameless attempt to make girls pass out in front of the screen and buy the DVD to watch over and over again when it comes outs, we aren’t shown Katara touching his scar—the most vulnerable area he possesses—only once, but from several different angles, including from Zuko’s point of view. They are as close as can be without literally being on top of one another. All space that separated, all barriers that had been built, all defensives, all were gone. There was one huge moment where Katara and Zuko truly saw each other without any preconceived notions.

And an immense intake of breath could be heard in households round the world.

And then hundreds of teenage girls suffered massive simultaneous heart attacks as our dearest hopes of Katara healing Zuko were dashed to tiny, irreparable bits as Iroh and Aang ruined everything. I don’t think that adorable old man has ever been hated quite so much.

Alas.

But hope is not lost...again I must give huge props to everyone on the Avatar creation team for there subtle use of every aspect of the scene. MizSweet points out that the music that plays during The Scene is the same melody in “The Cave of Two Lovers.” Besides the cave theme (which I shall investigate further), the “Two Lovers” episode was considered pivotal for the Kataang ship…the reoccurring theme raises an interesting parallel.

Perhaps my favorite part of MizSweet’s essay when she points out that after Iroh and Aang ruin everything, Katara and Zuko turn towards the commotion. She claims that if you watch each screenshot carefully, Zuko and Katara step closer together. After watching the same thing, I agree…kind of. When the wall collapses, Katara turns with her whole body. She is not any closer to Zuko—her back and shoulders are closer to the camera, so to speak, where at first we had a side view. Because of this, it appears that she steps forward. However. Zuko only turns his head. After seeing the explosion, he moves toward Katara, not moving his body at all. His movement toward Katara is almost as though he is trying to protect her from flying rubble or whatnot. Even though this is a little sexist—obviously, Katara is not afraid and can certainly take care of herself—it is also very, very cute.

I can’t believe I’m taking all this space to analyze a cartoon.

When the dust settles, Katara and Aang embrace as Iroh positively glomps Zuko. The young men glare at one another. There is still a lot of contention there, and Aang no doubt witnessed Zuko’s proximity to Katara, whether you believe Zuko stepped closer to her or not. Zuko is pissed that Aang not only ruined what could have been a life-altering moment, but also is feeling defensive. He’s been open to Katara…and now he’s remembering that Katara and Aang are close. He’s afraid that Aang will somehow sense that he let his guard drop around Katara…and perhaps use it against him. It is an irrational fear, but a common one after an emotionally charged event. The result is an extra-touchy attitude for the already irritable firebender. Aang’s cavalier “we came to save you” is enough to cause Zuko to flare up, a classic conflict of egos. Aang has already saved Zuko nearly three times…he doesn’t want to feel that he owes the Avatar anything.

Now comes The Parting Looks. Aang leads Katara away, but not before she casts one last, longing, regretful, apologetic look at Zuko…who returns it with a (rather slick) sidelong, yearning, sorrowful gaze of his own. There is a pain on both of their faces as their connection is broken. He wistfully follows her with his eyes. She half-closes hers in disappointment. MizSweet once again points out the music. The melody is very light and poignant, and suddenly their departure seems more like a real goodbye.

Zutarians around the world fall into convulsions.

And then suffer cardiac arrest as Zuko’s resulting actions.

That massive, epic battle ensues. Zuko shoots the first blow, at the space between Aang and Azula. A moment passes, he makes his choice, and attacks Aang. His form is definitely more refined and streamlined—even the Zutarians who are hating his guts are swooning over how smolderingly hot he looks. Azula takes on Katara, and the waterbender nearly gets the best the little bi-I mean, the Fire Nation princess, but Zuko steps in to save his beloved baby sister, and the battles shifts. We have a Katara-Zuko rematch, and the first thing we see is Zuko emulating Katara’s water whip technique. Obviously someone took Iroh’s advice from “Bitter Work”. The technique is performed with the exact same movements. Insert me yelling “THIEF!” so loud that my dog twitches violently at any sudden noises for the rest of the day. After I had calmed down, the happy thought entered my brain that in order for Zuko to recreated Katara’s technique, he would have had to study Katara.

Even though Katara had the upper hand with Azula, a supposed prodigy, neither she nor Zuko gain much ground. But Katara is pissed. PISSED. The now-infamous “I thought you had changed!” is delivered. Zuko pauses in his attack, and gives her a serious, steady look. “I have changed,” he replies.

William Congreve once wrote that “Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turn’d, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” Indeed. Katara connected with Zuko in the cave, felt him open up to her. At this moment, it appears she had been led on, and that what he said in the cave wasn’t true…or at least had a different meaning than she had interpreted it. There is only a small problem here…Zuko sucks at lying to females in intimate situations (“We were…uh…in this…traveling circus…!”). Perhaps his responses in the cave were genuine, but his actions now are inexcusable, and Katara feels not only betrayed, but used—‘And to think I was going to waste my magic water on him!’

The sad contrast between this meeting and their earlier encounter almost hurts. When one remembers the intimate closeness and her fingers brushing against his scar, the vast space between them and their crouched, defensive positions during the battle is a depressing thing.

If I may diverge slightly, in “The Chase” and also in “Bitter Work” Zuko displays the same sort of family solidarity and animalistic protection than Katara shows for Aang, most especially in “The Siege of the North”. Here, after Aang is nearly killed by Azula, and Katara clutches him tearfully as she raises a funnel of water to escape, the way in which he embraces Aang’s body is suggestive of a mother embracing her child. In fact, in part one of “The Siege of the North,” Zuko attempts to steal Aang’s body and Katara attacks him ferociously. At the moment that Zuko reached out for Aang’s collar, Katara blasts him so hard he is knocked unconscious. In the DVD commentary, creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and head writer Aaron Ehasz remark how they “also like Katara’s story here, where she’s just like…how she’ll, like, protect Aang at all costs kind of thing, a great story point…yeah, we definitely…play up that motherly quality in her.”

Straight from the creators, people.

At the end of the battle, Zuko slumps toward Azula, as though weighed down. Perhaps he’s just exhausted from the fight…or perhaps certain emotional baggage is weighing on his mind. Zuko does not try to stop Katara’s escape with Aang. He does not fight his uncle for helping them. He simply watches. Iroh is sickened by the sight of his nephew.

The scene cuts away, and we see Azula on the Earth King’s throne. I absolutely hate Zuko’s body language here. He is standing back and to the left of his sister, like a good little lap dog. He is rigid, very still, quite without emotion—quite obviously, wearing a neutral mask. His sister is prating on about how he has restored his own honor, and how he will be welcomed back as a hero, blah, blah, blah. Her posture reminds me of a femme fatale—insufferably arrogant. I despise it. I am reminded at this point of something Zuko says in “Zuko Alone”—“Azula always lies.” I can only hope that Zuko has been doing a little lying of his own to his dear sister. After all, they are related.

The number one reason I think Zuko isn’t evil? He looks away, cutting Azula out, and says “I betrayed Uncle.” Azula responds about Iroh being a traitor, but Zuko wasn’t speaking to his sister; he was voicing an inner thought. This shows that a shred of a conscience still exists…and that all the development of his character hadn’t been all for naught. Zuzu’s got a plan, mark my words. And that plan is going to affect Katara, either directly or indirectly. Because Mike and Bryan never do things by halves.

Welcome, my friends, to Zutara. It’s alive, I assure you, and it’s going to be wild ride.