Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the musical The Music Man by Meredith Willson.

Author's Note: I thought this song could apply to the town of Chin from the Avatar Day episode. You know, I had to see that episode several times before I realized that the unfried dough things they were eating at the end were actually meant to be representations of Aang. And I'm normally so good at picking out details!

Iowa Stubborn

Oh, there's nothing halfway about the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you, which we may not do at all.
There's an Iowa kind of special chip-on-the-shoulder attitude
We've never been without, that we recall.

"This is, by far, the worst town we've ever been to," Sokka declared as the new celebration of Avatar Day drew to a close.

Now, Aang was not normally one to think ill of anybody, but in this case, he was inclined to agree with his friend. What was one supposed to think about a place where the nicest people seemed to be those in jail?

Things had begun innocuously enough, with a local vendor asking if they were going to the Avatar Day festival. Aang was hiding his identity at the time, but, naturally, he and the others were curious and decided to check it out.

We can be cold as our falling thermometer in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by-God stubborn,
We could stand touching noses
For a week at a time and never see eye to eye.
But what the heck? You're welcome!
Join us at the picnic.
You can eat your fill of all the food you bring yourself.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.
Provided you are contrary.

Everything still appeared to be fine as they went to the festival, Sokka enjoying the food and Aang and Katara watching interestedly at the appearance of three giant figures representing Kyoshi, Roku, and even Aang himself. Aang had had no idea that accurate descriptions or images of him had circulated so quickly. The wanted posters weren't usually in color and definitely didn't show him smiling. Was his grin really that wide?

Events took a decidedly unexpected turn when the festival-goers began setting fire to the wood Avatar statues. At first, the three companions could only gape in horror. As soon as a torch landed in the left eye of the wooden Aang, though, Katara acted quickly to put out the flames. Aang leapt up on his own imitation and revealed who he was.

Much to his dismay, the response to this was one of fear. Okay, he knew his powers could be scary sometimes, even for him, but surely he'd done nothing to merit this kind of panic, not to mention accusations that he was going to destroy them all.

We can be cold as our falling thermometer in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by-God stubborn,
We could stand touching noses
For a week at a time and never see eye to eye.

The long and short of it was that Aang went to jail pending trial for something Avatar Kyoshi was supposed to have done 370 years before. In some ways, he thought he shouldn't have been that surprised. After all, Aang had already learned that one of his past lives had tried to kill the spirit Koh. Maybe it wasn't so outrageous to think that another had murdered someone, even if he didn't want to believe it.

Sokka and Katara diligently collected evidence, only to find that it was ultimately going to be the mayor's word against Aang's, and the mayor would be the one to decide whether Aang was innocent or guilty.

The situation seemed hopeless. The system was clearly unfair, but Aang felt honor-bound to go through with it. Aang's botched version of what Sokka and Katara had told him didn't help, but he was definitely doomed after Avatar Kyoshi herself took his place and told what really happened. Even though (as Katara explained to Aang later) Chin's death had been an accident, Kyoshi had caused it in the process of creating Kyoshi Island.

The inadvertent nature of the crime didn't matter to these people, nor the fact that Chin ("the Great" or "the Conqueror" depending on who you asked) was actually trying to conquer the people of Kyoshi, which was the reason for her creating the island in the first place. In the end, it was only the timely interruption of a group of Fire Nation warriors that saved Aang from a horrible fate.

The irony of this was not lost on him.

But we'll give you our shirt,
And a back to go with it,
If your crop should happen to die.
So what the heck? You're welcome!
Glad to have you with us.
Even though we may not ever mention it again.

After Aang did his part, with the help of Sokka and Katara, in rescuing Chin from the invaders, they were honored, and the Avatar Day festival was substantially changed. Aang couldn't help but marvel at the town's fickleness, which brought him back to Sokka's comment.

On the other hand, there had been one or two positive things about the day. Katara applying make-up to his face was a slightly intimate moment Aang wouldn't soon forget. Despite his concerns about his fate, Aang had managed to enjoy the touch of her hands, the nearness of her body, and the smell of her skin. In addition, the other prisoners had given him what seemed like some pretty good advice. Remembering this, he turned to her.

"Um, Katara?"

"Yes?" Katara turned towards him, and the intense look of those blue eyes made his tongue feel like it was turning on itself and trying to go down his throat. He began to reconsider. Yes, he needed to tell her how he felt, but somehow, standing in this weird town while eating slimy, raw dough made to look like him just didn't seem like the right setting. Not to mention that her brother was far too close for comfort. Aang forced a weak smile onto his face.

"Happy Avatar Day," he told her lamely.

You really ought to give Iowa,
Hawkeye Iowa – Dubuque, Des Moines, Davenport, Marshalltown,
Mason City, Keokuk, Ames, Clear Lake –
Ought to give Iowa a try!

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Avatarwolf, Strix Moonwing, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, and honorary member SnakeEyes16.

Author's Note: Okay, I concede this was basically just a retelling of the episode, showing how it sort of fit in with the lyrics, so I added the little Kataang twist at the end to make it somewhat original.

In this interval between seasons, I've been watching old episodes a lot, and I recently watched "Jet." I don't know if I had registered this before, but I noticed that Katara shows Sokka and Aang the hat she made for Jet. However, in the next scene, Aang is wearing it, and we don't see Katara ever give it to Jet. Could this be symbolic for Katara intending to give her heart to Jet but ending up giving it to Aang instead? Just a point to ponder.

Review responses:

frozenheat: Thanks. It's good we'll learn more about Ty Lee soon. We'll see how close I came to a few things.

TTAvatarfan: It's a bit of a suspicion I have that Ty Lee will be tempted to leave Azula because of Sokka, and Mai might leave because of Zuko. Since I don't really see either of those ships triumphing in the end, it seems to be a logical reason for the crushes to be introduced.

SnakeEyes16: Nope, I haven't been seeing any commercials yet for the new season, which leads me to believe it won't be this month, since Nickelodeon tends to pound their premiers into the ground by promoting them for weeks in advance.

Kumori Doragon: I'm glad I could make you think with the last one, especially since this one doesn't really do that. Sorry.

Kimbalynn616: Yes, that's exactly how I feel about Ty Lee. My crushes usually lasted a school year. As I said above, I don't see the show ultimately going Ty Lokka, but you can't ignore the one-way attraction, at least.

Snows Of Yester-Year: I actually kind of like Ty Lee. She's so clearly an unwilling participant in Azula's schemes. I'm looking forward to what she does in the third season.