not sure what to put here yet. zutara nation?

hello!

thinking about how, when Zuko jumped in front of Azula's lighting, he had every reason to believe he was about to die. he didn't hesitate in that split-second despite the certainty that he wouldn't be able to redirect the lighting this time. this wasn't an abstract sort of risk—he was staring down the barrel of that gun and chose to put himself in its way. how many people have acting to make a sacrifice of that magnitude and immediacy for Katara? i can only think of one other…

as much as the Gaang might be exasperated by Katara's reluctance to accept Zuko in the group, I think it reflects a particularly pragmatic view of forgiveness on her part. his was an extraordinary sort of wrongdoing and harm, not just against them as a whole, but against her specifically; it's only natural that it would take extraordinary reparation for her to move past it. what's interesting about this is that we know she doesn't feel obliged to forgive, because she doesn't grant that to the soldier who killed her mother. unlike Aang, she doesn't believe in indefinitely many chances or in forgiveness for its own sake—there is a line which, once crossed, cannot be walked back.