History of Katara (Spring 100 AG)

After mastering Waterbending at the hands of Master Pakku, Katara leaves the North Pole with Aang and Sokka. They travel to the Earth Kingdom so Aang can learn Earthbending.

The Avatar State


After Admiral Zhao's failed Siege of the North, Katara and the group leave the North Pole on a Water Tribe ship. Master Pakku gives Katara an amulet containing water from the Spirit Oasis, telling her the water has unique healing properties. After leaving Master Pakku and the others, the group travels to an Earth Kingdom base where they were to be escorted to Omashu, so Aang could learn Earthbending from King Bumi. Katara and the gang meet General Fong, who believes Aang is wasting time mastering the elements. He proposes a plan to aid Aang in triggering the Avatar State that will allow him to defeat the Fire Nation to which he accepts. After several attempts to induce the Avatar State, Fong foolishly attempts to trigger the Avatar State by ordering his troops to attack Aang. When the attack fails, Fong uses his Earthbending to bury Katara, pretending to kill her. This enrages Aang, who falls under the Avatar State. Realizing the power Aang now possesses being in the Avatar State, Fong tries to explain that he had faked Katara's death to trigger the Avatar State; however, his attempt fails and Aang uses a powerful wave of Earthbending to defeat Fong and his troops. The group abandons the base on Appa.

The Cave of Two Lovers
While the gang is relaxing, a group of Earth Kingdom nomads appear (Chong, Lily, Moku), displaying the characteristics of carefree, nature-loving people. When the group reveals their intention to travel to Omashu, Chong speaks of a shortcut through tunnels passing under a mountain. Although Sokka remains mistrustful of the new characters, the team later follows the nomads to the tunnels after an unsuccessful attempt to fly over the mountains.

Chong explainss that the tunnels form a labyrinth protected by a curse and only those who put their trust in love can find the way through; those who don't will be lost forever. Sokka creates a map while traveling though the labyrinth, but his attempts are useless due to the fact that the tunnels consistently change around them. Things grow even worse when Appa, after being accidentally burned by a torch, runs wildly around the cave in pain. His rampage causes the ceiling to cave in, separating the group. After being pushed out of the way of the falling rocks, Katara, Aang and Appa are forced to continue on their travels alone.



After traveling for what is estimated at three hours, Aang and Katara discover a large tomb designed for the two lovers spoken of in lore. By reading script around the walls, they discover the true story of the two lovers. The final line in the script states "love is brightest in the dark." Katara, inspired by this statement, suggests a possible way to solve the labyrinth: by following the example of the lovers and kissing in the hopes that she and Aang could find the way out. Although Aang, due to his unexpressed but growing affection for Katara, finds this idea highly intriguing, he attempts to reassure an embarrassed Katara that he could not imagine kissing her. When she seems insulted by this response, he assures her that he would rather kiss her than die which he insists is a compliment in order to calm down the now enraged Katara. This cools the ardor between them for a while, but later, as the torch is burning out, desperation (and possibly affection) led them to dare the unknown. As the torchlight fades, they are seen leaning toward each other, closing their eyes. In the resulting darkness, Aang and Katara find out that the two lovers navigated the tunnels by putting out their lights and following the ceiling the glowing crystals that only lit up in the dark. They finally find their way of the tunnel. Soon after, the group is reunited, Aang and a blushing Katara both being quiet as to how they escaped. Concluding this, Aang, Sokka and Katara finally arrive at Omashu only to find that the great city has been taken over by the Fire Nation.

Return to Omashu
Despite the dangers of being caught, Aang decides to go off to find Bumi, despite Katara's beliefs that it might be time for Aang to find a different Earthbending teacher. Aang explains to Katara that Bumi is not just an Earthbending teacher, but a friend. Aang, Sokka and Katara find their way into the city by going through a sewer; they emerge from the pipes unharmed, except for Sokka, who has several Purple Pentapi stuck to his face. These turn out to be harmless and Aang removes them from Sokka's face. They suddenly encounter two Fire Nation soldiers who question why they are out past curfew. Aang quickly covers his arrow tattoo with a piece of cloth. Katara says that they were just on their way home and the soldiers decide to let them go. Just as they are leaving, the soldiers notice the marks left by the Pentapi and grow suspicious, interrogating the group as to how Sokka received the markings. Katara quickly claims that Sokka has "Pentapox", a very contagious disease. The soldier runs away in fear, therefore, the group avoids capture.

In Omashu, a Fire Nation Governor, his wife, baby son and daughter, Mai, discover Aang's presence in the city. The trio ends up in an underground tunnel where an Earth Kingdom officer, Captain Yung, reveals that King Bumi surrendered to the Fire Nation, an account that surprises all of them. When Yung insists on fighting the Fire Nation, Aang opposes his idea by suggesting they leave Omashu to which Yung reluctantly agrees. Sokka devises a plan where all the citizens were to have "Pentapox". The Fire Nation Governor, upon seeing the "sick" citizens, orders all of them to be evacuated.

Katara takes an instance liking to Tom-Tom, the governor's son who, out of curiosity, followed the citizens out of Omashu. She cuddles and praises him and even insists that Sokka give in to Tom-Tom's wants. When the leader of the resistance warns her that "he'll be a killer" once he grows up, Katara responds, "Does this look like the face of a killer to you?" while holding Tom-Tom up.

The gang receives a note demanding they return Tom-Tom to his family in exchange for Bumi. When the trio go to the meeting place, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee are waiting for them. A fight breaks out when Azula recognizes Aang as the Avatar. While Azula and Aang fight on the mail chute, Katara takes on Mai, freezing her arm in ice. Ty Lee heads to attack Sokka, who had narrowly avoided Tom-Tom from falling to his death, but Katara uses a water whip to pull her away. The duel continues between her and Mai; Katara momentarily gains the upperhand until Ty Lee blocks her chi which disables her Waterbending abilities. Mai tauntingly asks, "How are you going to fight without your bending?" and prepares to strike her with a sai, but Sokka stops her and saves Katara. The team leaves Omashu after Bumi advises Aang to seek a different Earthbending teacher.

Visions in the Swamp
Sokka and Katara are flying on Appa above a giant swamp. Aang stares at the swamp in a sort of hypnotic trance and unknowingly guides Appa lower and lower above the swamp. Sokka notices their strange descent and inquires as to why they were flying downward which snaps Aang out of his trance. Katara asks him if something was wrong to which Aang replied that he felt the swamp was calling to him and telling him to land. Aang states Bumi's advice which was to listen to the earth and feels strongly obligated to land. However, strong objections by the rest of the group change his mind and he agrees to keep flying. Suddenly, a tornado appears and knocks the group down into the depths of the swamp.



Aang, Katara, and Sokka become separated from Appa and Momo. Aang begins to search for Appa and Momo, but to no avail. While he was searching, he discovered that the tornado had mysteriously disappeared. The trio, led by Sokka, try to find their animal friends, with Sokka chopping away at everything in sight with his machete. Aang urges Sokka to treat the swamp more respectively. Katara agrees with Aang, as she feels some supernatural qualities are present within the swamp. She claims that it feels "alive." Sokka ignores their warnings. Though Katara and Aang still believe something supernatural is going on in the swamp, Sokka dismisses their concerns. Things become only stranger when the group decides to camp out for the night; they see glowing eyes within the darkness and have a strange sense they were being secretly watched. In the midst of the night, while they were all sleeping, a strange scenario takes place. Strong vines emerge from within the undergrowth and pull each individual away. Although, all desperately try to ward them off, their attempts only succeed in separating them completely.

Katara, now looking for Sokka and Aang, sees a strange figure in the distance. She identifies it as her mother and she begins to run up to it. However, when she turns to face her mother, she realizes it was only a hallucination. The figure she thought was her mother turned out to be an ordinary stump. She breaks down into tears at this reality. The group reunites eventually and all confess they had visions while traveling through the swamp. They find themselves at the center of the swamp which Aang believes was "calling" to them. Sokka objects saying that there were no supernatural events happening, but is proved wrong when a terrifying swamp monster emerges from the water and attacks them. A fight soon erupts; Katara's prominent Waterbending skills prove to be a challenge for the monster.



Aang and Katara finally defeat the swamp monster who is really a Waterbender, named Hue, bending the water in the vines. He goes on to explain that, in reality, the swamp was one enormous tree spread over miles and miles of land. He taught how everything on Earth was connected and had the same origins. When Katara asked him about the meaning of their visions, he explained that often times people envisioned loved ones in the swamp which was a way to communicate to them that all people, dead or alive, were connected. Aang's vision continues to perplex him because he is certain he has never met the girl, but realizes he will meet her in the future. Aang realizes that if everything were connected, he could find Appa and Momo. Aang goes into a semi Avatar State, and a glowing line draws him straight to Appa and Momo. Aang and Katara persuade the natives to free Appa and Momo and the natives (Tho and Due) reveal themselves to be Waterbenders.

Avatar Day
When visiting the village of Chin, Katara and the gang witness an Avatar Day celebration, denouncing the Avatar. Horrified at this scene, they question the leader, Mayor Tong, who tells Aang that he is not welcome to the village after the murder of their great leader, Chin, by one of his past lives. Aang is jailed and beckons Sokka and Katara to find evidence to clear his name. The two consent and begin searching for evidence; their investigation even leads them to Kyoshi Island. After arriving back at the village, a trial is held and Aang is found guilty of murder. However, when a group, known as the Rough Rhinos, invades the town, Aang's brave victory over the Rhinos results in the celebration of a new Avatar Day; instead of denouncing the Avatar, the Avatar would be honored from that point on.

The Blind Bandit
The trio goes to the town of Gaoling on their continuous search for an Earthbending teacher. Aang receives a free Earthbending lesson from Master Yu, but he finds that Master Yu cares more about his lesson payment than about teaching him Earthbending. Afterwards, they hear a pair of students talking about Earth Rumble VI, a Lei Tai tournament featuring several powerful Earthbenders. The boys are not very inclined to direct Aang to the location, until Katara uses her "feminine charm," which involves freezing them to the walls, to procure the needed information.

At the tournament, they see a powerful Earthbender named The Boulder, who defeats every challenger he comes across. Sokka becomes engrossed in the tournament, but Aang is not very impressed, saying that The Boulder is "just listening to his muscles". The Boulder defeats several other contenders, until he works his way up to the current champion, The Blind Bandit, a blind Earthbender who happens to be Toph, a twelve year-old girl. Aang notices the Bandit's techniques, especially how she waits and listens carefully to the movements of her opponent, and realizes that she is the type of person that Bumi said would make a good Earthbending teacher. He also realizes that she is the girl in white he saw in his vision in the Foggy Swamp.

After the Blind Bandit defeats The Boulder, the announcer of the tournament, Xin Fu, offers a large sum of gold to whoever can defeat the Blind Bandit in a fight. Seeing an opportunity to talk to the Bandit, Aang challenges her. The Bandit is ready for a fight, however, and she refuses to engage in conversation. Unfortunately, she is not ready to face an Airbender, and is defeated when Aang blows her out of the ring. The Bandit takes badly to her loss and storms off, refusing to even listen to Aang.



Later, Aang and the others return to Master Yu's school to try to find out where the Blind Bandit lives. Questioning the same boys Katara "asked" about the tournament (who are now quite intimidated by her), they do not get much information, until Aang remembers the flying boar he also saw with the girl in his vision. The boys tell them that the flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family, the wealthiest family in the town.

Aang and company travel to the family's house, where they are accosted by the Bandit, now wearing the same dress Aang saw her wearing in the Swamp. The girl does not want to help them, and calls the house guards to chase them off.

That evening, Aang uses his name to gain a formal audience with the entire Bei Fong family. He tries to get Toph's father, Lao Bei Fong, to talk her into helping him, but Toph uses her Earthbending to keep Aang from revealing any information about her life as the Blind Bandit. She wishes for her parents and teacher to be completely unaware about her true skill. After numerous Earthbending interruptions, Aang retaliates, bringing the dinner to both a premature end and into everybody's face.

After dinner, Toph and Aang are captured by Xin Fu and his gang, thinking they stole his money. After Katara and Sokka get help and free the group, Toph shows her talent. She single-handedly defeats all the enemies and the group escapes. Now that her skill as been revealed to her parents, Toph openly confesses that the obedient, helpless blind girl just wasn't her. However, her parents do not see it this way and instead feel that she needed more guarding. As Katara and the others get ready to leave, Toph runs up to them, saying that her father changed his mind, letting her travel with them. Sokka wisely offers to leave quickly before her father "changes his mind again." Toph is ready to go, but she first gets her revenge on Aang by promptly launching him into a tree. Toph, declaring them even, demands to have her championship belt returned.

The Chase
Not long after Toph joins the group, she begins feuding with Katara. As the group sets up camp, Katara notices that Toph slumping lazily against a rock. Katara informs her that they usually divide the work among the group, implying she would like Toph to help them set up camp. Toph tells her not to worry, as she feels she can carry her own weight, proceeding to Earthbend a makeshift tent around her. Katara rephrases her last statement, telling her that they all have a job to do, including Momo, who then appears on her shoulder with berries. Toph refutes that she does not feel she has to help anyone else, because no one needs to help her. Katara attempts once more to suggest to Toph that she help out, but all this does is further irritate her. Katara finally gives up and walks back to their campsite. Later on, Katara tries to rectify with Toph for the previous argument, apologizing and noting that she thinks that they're all just a little tired and getting on each others' nerves. Toph, rather than sharing the blame and accepting her overture, simply agrees that she does seem a bit too tired and lays down to sleep. Katara, though clearly incensed by the insulting retort, brings herself to half-heartedly tell Toph goodnight and walks back to her own tent.



During the night, Toph suddenly awakens. Feeling vibrations in the ground, she senses something approaching and alerts the rest of the group. When asked exactly that something is, all she can say is that it feels like an avalanche, but also not like an avalanche. They abandon the scene and fly far off to another location in the woods. When asked by Katara to help set up their campsite, Toph once again refuses. Angrily, Katara states that Toph has shown nothing but selfishness since she had joined the group. The two girls begin feuding with Toph Earthbending another makeshift tent around her and ignoring Katara.

Unfortunately, during the night, Toph senses the strange object heading toward them again and they desert the site. In the morning, sleep-deprived and cranky, Katara blames Toph for their tedious situation stating that, had Toph aided them when setting up camp, they would have gotten some sleep. Toph becomes enraged and leaves the group with her belongings.

Wandering through the forest, Toph stumbles across Uncle Iroh, not knowing who he is. Iroh gives her tea and advice and eventually convinces her to go back to Aang's group.

Not long after, Toph comes back and rejoins the group just in time for their fight against Azula. Unfortunately, Azula attacks Iroh (who was helping Team Avatar at the time, along with Zuko). Katara offers to heal Iroh, but is violently refused by a grief-stricken Zuko.

Bitter Work
The group arrives at a quarry campsite where Aang begins his Earthbending training with Toph. Despite his futile efforts to follow Toph's demonstrations, he finds himself unable to perform Earthbending. When Toph becomes angry at his struggles to learn the basic forms of the bending art, Katara confronts her, advising that she be patient and kind towards Aang. She later confronts Aang on his difficulties learning Earthbending, assuring him that he would master the art soon. Like the others, she is thrilled upon seeing Aang successfully Earthbend after a rigorous day of training.

The Library
Each of the members of the group decides to take a little "mini-vacation", as a way to unwind after all the work they've done; Sokka, on the other hand, thinks the group should be working on getting intelligence on the Fire Nation, most specifically a map, for when Aang must hunt down the Fire Lord. The group meets Professor Zei, who tells them he is searching for a legendary library said to be in the middle of a nearby desert; the library, said to have been created by the spirit of knowledge and his fox servants, has more valuable tomes than any other place in the world. Sokka, believing he may be able to get information on the Fire Nation there, dedicates his "vacation" to finding the place.

Flying on Appa, the group soon finds the library which is buried in the sand, except for its single, highest tower. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Momo, and Professor Zei enter the library through a window; Appa stays outside, as does Toph, who cannot read since she is blind.

When the group enters the library, they meet the spirit Wan Shi Tong, who constructed the library; taking the form of a large owl, the spirit initially does not trust them. The spirit, apparently, dislikes the fact that humans only use knowledge to get an advantage over other humans; he brings up the last human to have discovered his library, who happened to be Admiral Zhao (Zhao mentions a library in "Siege of the North"), and believes the group only wants to get information to help them defeat their enemies (which is, of course, true). They manage to convince the owl otherwise.

Sokka finds a burned paper that mentions "the Fire Nation's darkest day". Eager for more information, they decide to go to the section of the library containing information on the Fire Nation, but it turns out that Zhao, before leaving, apparently destroyed every other bit of information about the Fire Nation, probably to prevent exactly what Sokka and the others are trying to do. However, a fox (one of Wan Shi Tong's animal helpers) finds the group, and leads them to a room dedicated to astronomy. There, a date can be entered on a stone wheel, which then shows the heavens on that particular date. When Sokka enters the date of "the darkest day," it shows a solar eclipse occurring. The group realizes that solar eclipses must weaken or take away their Firebending, in the same way lunar eclipses affect Waterbending; they realize they can use this information to plan an attack on the Fire Nation forces.



Soon, however, Wan Shi Tong finds out their plans, and decrees that he will no longer allow humans to misuse his beloved information. He attacks the group and begins to sink the library so no human can abuse its knowledge again. Outside, Toph begins to hold up the tower using her Earthbending so that the others can escape; however, at the same time Sandbenders attack. Desert tribesmen, they travel in boat-like materials, using their bending to travel; they come and begin to abduct Appa, while Toph finds it impossible to hold up the tower and simultaneously fight them. They make off with Appa and escape.

Inside the library, Aang and Sokka hurriedly try to use the astronomy room to find the next date of a solar eclipse; it turns out the next one is in a few months. They plan to give this information to the Earth Kingdom armies of Ba Sing Se to help in the war. The group then quickly escapes, except for Professor Zei, who says he would rather spend eternity in the Library than see it vanish forever; the others have no choice but to leave him. They escape before the Library vanishes into the sand; however, the episode ends with Toph telling Aang that Appa has been stolen by Sandbenders.

The Desert
Angry at Toph for having allowed the Sandbenders to sneak up on her and steal Appa, Aang begins to take his anger out on her verbally to which Katara replies by trying to calm him down. When Aang decides to go off looking for Appa on his own, she objects, but realizing she can don nothing to stop him, she decides it be best if the rest of the group continue making their way towards Ba Sing Se. While lost in the desert, Katara evidently becomes the prominent figure in the group; with Aang depressed and uncooperative, Toph unable to "see" well amongst the sand and Sokka having become hallucinated on cactus juice, it became her duty to keep the gang united. On their travels, they meet up with a tribe of Sandbenders, one of the members being identified by Toph as the one who stole Appa. Aang is so impacted by this that he goes into the Avatar State; Katara embraces him and soothes his anger.

The Serpent's Pass


After leaving the desert, they met a refugee family traveling to Ba Sing Se. The group helps the family to an underground ferry way that leads to the city. While there, Sokka and the others are reunited with the Kyoshi Warrior Suki, who was there helping war refugees. Later, the refugee family loses their documents so Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka and Suki agree to help them cross the Serpent's Pass.

As the group travels along a sheer cliff side of the pass, Suki points out Fire Nation forces patrolling the water, telling them that they are rumored to be working on a secret project. As they continue, Tahn falls when the ground under him crumbles. Toph saves him, but the falling rocks draw the attention of the patrol ship, which launches a fireball at them. Aang leaps into action, knocking the ball back and striking their engines. The ship returns fire, hitting the rockface above them, and sending debris falling towards Suki. Sokka pushes Suki out of the way, and Toph saves him by deflecting the rocks. Sokka is too worried about Suki's safety to be thankful to Toph for saving his life, which annoys Toph. The group runs to the shelter of an outcropping wall of rock, leaving the ship behind to tend to its damage.

While camping out for the night, Katara finds Aang silently overlooking the water and confronts him about his recent behavior. She questions him why he has seemingly stopped caring for Appa to which he replies that it was his way of controlling his emotions; the events in the Si Wong Desert had a profound impact on his state of mind and, to suppress the anger he felt, he decided to act rather distant and uncaring. Katara identifies with his feelings, saying she knows that sometimes it hurts more to care. She offers Aang a hug to which he replies by politely thanking her for her concern and walking away, leaving her disappointed.



That morning, Aang's group comes to a large setback: a portion of the pass is submerged underwater. Katara steps forward, parting the waters to allow them to pass. As the path gets deeper, Aang helps her, forming a bubble of air for them to walk underwater safely. Momo, seeing the fish swimming by, jumps out into the water to catch one, but quickly jumps back in when something huge swims by. As it turns out, the Serpent's Pass is named (and feared) not for its shape, but for the gigantic sea serpent that swims in the surrounding waters. The serpent attacks the bubble, forcing Toph to raise the seafloor under their feet to bring them up to the surface. This strands them in the middle of the water, with the serpent circling around. Aang attacks the serpent, telling Katara to get the others across while he distracts it. Katara creates an ice bridge for the others to cross, then leaps across the water to help Aang without a second thought. Together, they manage to drive off the serpent, using currents to slam it into the cliff. The group finally crosses the Serpent's Pass, just in time for the mother to go into labor. Katara, who's had experience in birthing children, quickly takes charge.

The baby, a girl, is born with no complications, thanks to Katara. Aang, seeing the family coming together, renews his hope, which is what the family decides to name the baby (Hope). Outside, Aang confesses to Katara that he was truthfully running away from his emotions by acting distant and uncaring. He says that seeing the family of refugees so close and loving reminds him of his feelings towards Appa and her. Touched by this, she and Aang hug. Before flying off to the city to find Appa, Katara reassures him that he will reunite with his bison. Aang flies over to the wall of Ba Sing Se, where he makes a terrible discovery: a massive drill, escorted by Fire Nation tanks, is approaching the wall.

Battling the Drill
After making the unfortunate discovery, Aang flies on his glider back to where the rest of the gang and the refugees are making their way towards Ba Sing Se and informs them of the perilous situation. The duty of destroying the drill before it breaks through the walls of Ba Sing Se falls into their hands. Sokka develops a plan to take the drill down by hitting its main pressure points which turned out to be large metal braces connecting the two main parts of the drill. Aang and Katara use Waterbending to slice through the braces and weaken them; it was decided that Aang would then go to the top of the drill and deliver a final blow that would destroy the drill completely. However, midway through their sabotage, Azula and her friends discover them and attack. The group splits up with Aang going to the top of the drill and Katara and Sokka escaping by traveling down a slurry pipeline. Ty Lee chases after them persistently, but Katara uses Waterbending to plug up the exit to the drill, trapping her. Toph soon comes along and aids her in building up the pressure that would lead to the machine's downfall. Aang is able to successfully deliver the final blow which causes the drill to break down, thus, marking their victory.

The group later joins up together at the top of the Outer Wall marveling at their victory. Sokka enthusiastically begins brainstorming nicknames for their group. Katara, like the others, are seemingly annoyed by this.

Life in the City
Riding the Earth rail, the group finally enters Ba Sing Se. Sokka is confident that they will easily find Appa, but the city is bigger than they imagined. Soon after they arrive, Aang and his friends are met by Joo Dee: a cheerful, incessantly smiling woman assigned to guide them around the city. Attempts by Sokka to try and get their guide to talk about the war and a possible audience with the Earth King are invariably ignored.

In the upper ring, Aang and his group are finally taken to their new house. When a possible audience with the Earth King is finally mentioned, it is revealed that they will have to wait at least a month. It soon becomes apparent that within the walls of the city, no one wants to talk or even think about the war raging in the rest of the world. Even Aang's attempts to find Appa bears no fruit as no one seems willing to divulge any information to them, thanks to some meaningful glances from Joo Dee. Along the way they also see members of the Dai Li — elite guards who safeguard Ba Sing Se's culture and society.



When a notice arrives about a party being held at the Earth King's palace, Katara decides it's a good way to reach the Earth King. Toph says that since the gang is mostly commoners, they'd be spotted right away if they went to the event as they had not learned proper society manners. In the end, Toph decides that Katara can pass off as a high born girl, and both of them dress up in formal attire. They then head for the palace while Aang and Sokka enter as servants. The girls are initially refused entry by a guard, who rejects even Toph's family seal. They eventually get inside by tagging along with an official named Long Feng, but their attempts to sneak Aang and Sokka inside are stymied by Long Feng himself, who seems determined to personally help them out. Soon the Dai Li bind and gag Katara and Toph with Earthbending. They are taken to a library where they confront Long Feng and question him as to why they were not permitted to see the Earth King. When told that Long Feng was the head of all the resources including the military while the king's job was to merely oversee the preservation of the city's cultural heritage, Katara and the rest come to the conclusion that the king is simply a figurehead.

She is next seen at the location of the gang's house in Ba Sing Se; the whole group is busily cleaning themselves up for the day aside from Toph who has yet to wake up. When Katara wakes her, Toph presents herself with her hair a mess and her body covered in dust (or "a healthy coating of Earth!") considering herself ready. Katara suggests they have a "Girl's Day Out," and takes her to the Fancy Lady Day Spa. Toph agrees, as long as they don't touch her feet. This request is denied and Toph sends one of the attendants through the wall during a pedicure. The girls then take a mud bath where Toph uses her Earthbending to make creepy faces with the mud and scare away the attendant. The two then relax in a sauna, using their Bending to both feed the fire and create the steam.



The girls leave the sauna now with make-up on their faces. As they cross a bridge, a girl named Star and her friends make fun of Toph's make-up. Toph is upset by these remarks and Katara tries to urge her to ignore them. Toph, however, laughs back at the girls and then Earthbends the rock of the bridge from under them, dropping them into the water. Katara finishes with her own parting shot by waterbending the girls downstream.

Katara tries to console Toph as they continue walking on. Toph claims that because she is blind, she does not have to worry so much about personal appearance or the approval of others, the words of the girls still hurt her all the same, and she sheds a few tears. Katara compliments that Toph is not only confident and self-assured, but also pretty. Toph proclaims she would like to return the compliment but has no idea what Katara looks like. Katara laughs at this and the story ends with Toph giving her a friendly, although rather hard, punch on the arm.

Meeting Jet Again


Out in the city, the gang is putting up posters for the lost Appa when Katara runs into Jet. He offers to help her, but Katara distrusts him and attacks. Jet tries to prove his honesty by dropping his hook swords, allowing Katara to pin him to the wall with ice spikes. The others arrive, drawn by the noise where Jet tries again to explain himself. He admits that he was a troubled person, but now a changed man who has put both his past and gang behind him. Jet shows them one of the missing Appa posters and claims his true intentions which were to help the gang find the lost bison. Toph, reading Jet's heartbeat and breathing patterns, pronounces that he's telling the truth. Katara remains distrustful, but agrees to follow his lead. Jet leads them to a large empty warehouse, where he says they may have been holding Appa. Toph confirms it by finding a tuft of Appa's fur, and an old cleaning man says that Appa was sent off to Whale Tail Island, down near the South Pole. Despite the stretch the journey would be, the group agrees to travel there with Jet offering to come with them. Katara once again becomes accusing of Jet; when asked by Toph is Jet was her boyfriend, she lies only to have her mockingly state that she can detect her lie.

On their way out, the group is sidetracked when Smellerbee and Longshot happen to come across them. Katara once again turns on Jet, saying she thought he had left behind his gang. Jet insists that he's been living alone in the city, but Smellerbee claims that he was dragged away by the Dai Li. Toph realizes they are both telling the truth, even though their stories don't match. Sokka quickly figures that Jet has been brainwashed by the Dai Li. Katara uses her healing to try to soothe it. Jet remembers that he was taken to a secret facility under a lake. Sokka remembers what Joo Dee had said about her "vacation", fully jogging Jet's memory. The group makes their way to Lake Laogai, the location of the underground base, the next day, and Toph quickly finds and uncovers the underwater entrance. They go inside, quietly making their way through the dark corridors.



The gang find themselves confronted by Long Feng and several Dai Li agents. A battle quickly breaks out. Long Feng escapes, with Aang and Jet in hot pursuit. After dealing a grievous blow to Jet, Long Feng escapes as the others enter the chamber. Katara tries to heal Jet, and realizes just how badly he was injured. Longshot, speaking for the first time in the series, tells Aang and his group that they should go and find Appa, and leave Jet to Smellerbee and himself. Jet tries to assure Katara that he'll be fine, but as they leave, Toph sorrowfully says that Jet was lying. Jet eventually died from his injuries.

After they exit the underground base, they finally reunite with Appa. Having now reunited with one another, Katara and Toph both insist they leave Ba Sing Se. On the other hand, Sokka wants to stay to inform the Earth King of all that is taking place within Ba Sing Se, as well as the approaching solar eclipse, as this was their entire reason for heading towards Ba Sing Se in the first place. Aang agrees with him. Ultimately, the others agree to do so, and all four ride Appa back to Ba Sing Se's upper ring, and manage to break into the palace, tearing their way through the Royal Guards, despite a strong defense.

At the palace, Katara and her friends finally reach the Earth King's throne room, where they are encountered by Long Feng and the Dai Li, who stand before the Earth King as a last defense. Aang goes on to explain the various events going on that the Earth King is unaware of: a war outside Ba Sing Se's walls, Long Feng and the Dai Li's conspiracy, the imprisonment of Appa, and the brainwashing of Jet and countless other individuals. The king, under the influence of Long Feng's deceitful lies, remains convinced that there was no war and doubts their claims. They decide to show the Earth King the outer wall, which was earlier penetrated by the Fire Nation's drill. The king refuses at first, but Sokka quickly convinces him to continue the investigation by letting him ride on Appa.

The Earth King arrives at the outer wall, and is shocked to see the remains of the Fire Nation's drill leading right up to and through Ba Sing Se's outer wall. Completely convinced that the war was in fact real, he has Long Feng arrested. Afterwards, the group splits up and Katara forfeits an opportunity to see her father Hakoda again, deciding instead to stay and assist the Earth King.

The Crossroads of Destiny


The Council of Five is going over the invasion plan with Katara, who is accompanied by Momo. General How says that General Fong’s base will be the staging point of the attack, and they will send in troops, demonstrating the motion by Earthbending several stone pieces representing Earth Kingdom forces across a world map. Momo suddenly darts across the board, and knocks the pillars over. Katara laughs at the lemur's actions, and attempts to joke with the five generals, who are not amused. General How asks Katara to take a scroll detailing the invasion plans so that it may receive Seal of the Earth King, which will finalize the plan.



In Ba Sing Se, Katara and Momo, just before going to see the Earth King, decide to stop at a new tea house. As she enters, Katara sees Zuko reciting an order for tea to Iroh in the back of the shop, and she gasps in surprise before running off to warn the Earth King. Katara rushes into the palace, and tells Azula, whom she believes is Suki, that Prince Zuko and Iroh have infiltrated the city. She urges them to inform the Earth King. As Azula calmly replies that that will not be necessary, Katara realizes her mistake- she recognizes the distinct golden hue of Azula's eyes. However, Katara's realization is too late; Ty Lee hurtles into the air and disables Katara. Azula and her friends stand over Katara's prone form, and she remarks that it is time she and Zuko encountered each other again.



Katara stands in a dark, crystal-lighted cave when suddenly a light shows: Above, the entrance opens and Zuko is thrown down. When he first comes in to the cave Katara becomes defensive. She is initially furious to see him and tells him that all he cares about is capturing the Avatar, and how spreading war and hatred is in his blood. When she tearfully says that he does not know the pain of the Fire Nation killing her mother, Zuko apologizes, and says that this is something they both have in common, softening her slowly.

Down below in their prison, Katara apologizes to Zuko for how she yelled at him, and tells him that for a long time, whenever she saw the face of the enemy, she saw Zuko’s face. He turns away, touching his scar, assuming she was referencing his scar, a mark he feels that was once symbol to his banishment, and to his “destiny” of chasing the Avatar forever. However, he has gained Katara's trust to the point where she offers to heal his scar using the water from the Spirit Oasis. However, before she can do anything, Aang and Iroh show up, both of them embracing Katara and Zuko, respectively.



Zuko and Aang exchange glares, and Zuko grows angry that Iroh was with the Avatar, even attempting to attack Aang although quickly interrupted by Iroh who sends Katara and Aang off to help Sokka and Toph. Iroh explains to Zuko that he is a different and changed man, stronger and wiser than ever before. He tells Zuko that it is time for him to choose good. However, a mass of crystals entraps Iroh, and Azula emerges. She says that she expected this sort of treachery from Iroh, but not from her brother. She begins to feed him tales of how this is the most glorious day in Fire Nation history, and that if he joins her, Zuko will gain back his father’s love and honor. Iroh begs Zuko to not listen to Azula, telling him that the kind of redemption Azula is offering is not the redemption for him, but Azula continues to plot, telling Zuko how she has planned everything, and that they will only win if he joins her. Iroh begs even more, for Zuko to look deep inside his heart and see what he truly wants. Azula sends the Dai Li away, and tells Zuko that he can choose whatever he wants, and she walks away, leaving him to ponder which side to choose.

Aang and Katara rush to save Toph and Sokka, however, Azula fires at them. A battle ensues between Aang, Katara, and Azula. Just as Aang and Katara have her cornered, Zuko shows up. After a brief moment of dramatic tension, Zuko begins fighting on Azula's side, to everyone’s amazement. Katara fights against Azula for a few moments and almost manages to defeat her by holding her arms with Waterbending, but Azula is saved by Zuko. In the midst of the battle, the two pairs switch off, with Zuko now fighting Katara, both using elemental whips on opposite sides of a river. Katara expresses her angry disappointment in Zuko, how she thought he had changed. He replies inscrutably, "I have changed." Aang and Azula charge at one another; Azula sends a blast of fire, sending Aang soaring into the air.



Underground, the fight continues on, with Katara taking on both Zuko and Azula, before Aang manages to stand back up from being thrown earlier. He slams into the ground, creating a tidal wave of Earth barreling towards Azula and Zuko, but he is stopped by the Dai Li. Soon they are joined by dozens of Dai Li agents, and Katara assumes the Octopus stance. Horribly outmatched, Aang realizes there is no other choice and does the only thing he can think of. Creating a quick crystal shelter with Earthbending, he meditates, and decides to try to release his attachment to Katara in order to enter the Avatar State. Having successfully triggered the Avatar State, he then rises into the air, but Azula shoots him down with a lightning bolt to the back. At that moment, the Avatar Spirit falls from the plane of existence. As Aang falls back to the ground, Katara creates a huge wave by Waterbending, and manages to scatter the Dai Li, Zuko, and Azula; and catch him before he hits the ground. Holding him in tears, she is defenseless, but Iroh suddenly appears. He tells the two to escape while he holds off Azula and the others as long as he can. Once they escape, Iroh surrenders himself to the Dai Li and glances at Zuko, quickly turning his head in shame.



The entire group manages to escape and while flying away on Appa, Katara uses her Spirit Oasis water to heal Aang, who initially appeared dead. With a quick flash of light, nothing occurs, and Katara begins to cry and holds Aang close. Then Aang’s tattoos glow shortly and he opens his eyes and smiles at her. Overwhelmed and relieved that he is okay, Katara embraces him closer.

Aang survives the lightning, but ends up in a comatose state. Azula is firmly in control of the city, and as the Earth King, Bosco, Momo, Toph, Sokka, Katara, and Aang fly atop Appa's back over the Outer Wall and out of the city, the Earth King looks back and sadly proclaims, "The Earth Kingdom... has fallen."