Let me tell you why after over twelve years, my sappy heart still ships Kataang.
Don’t get me wrong, I never saw anything wrong with Zutara, even when I was a kid watching the episodes as they premiered every Friday night. I saw the potential there and if the show went in that direction, I would have been fine with it. But let me tell you why Katara needed Aang (because so many people who criticize Kataang always act like it’s a one-sided relationship wherein Aang needed Katara and nothing more.)
See the biggest complaint about Kataang is, for some reason, the age-difference (even though the difference between Zuko (16) and Katara (14) is the same as Katara (14) and Aang (12)). Now I will completely agree that Katara is more mature than Aang. Absolutely. And if you’re a Zutara shipper and you think that her being more mature is why she needs to be with the more mature Zuko then sure, I can see that, why not?
Katara shouldn’t be more mature than Aang.
The only reason Katara’s more mature than Aang is because she was forced to give up her childhood in order to take on the role of mothering her (older) brother and mothering/protecting/leading the rest of the Water Tribe.
She and Sokka are emotionally stunted when Aang meets them. Sokka’s forced maturity is more obvious but Katara, a fourteen-year-old girl, doesn’t even see herself as a child anymore.
Katara: I haven’t done this since I was a kid!
Aang: You still are a kid!
And do you know what they’re doing in that scene? They’re penguin sledding! Katara’s having fun for the first time in literal years!
And as the series goes on, you see that Aang is the one who is able to break through Katara’s war-built maturity and help her act like a fourteen-year-old again. He helps her see the joys of life, he helps her become a more balanced, loving, individual:
At the same time, Katara helps Aang mature and become a better person and a better Avatar:
In the end, they were both able to help each other healthily overcome their emotional barriers. Aang was able to become more mature and take on his responsibilities and Katara was able to become more freespirited and realize that she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
That’s why these two will always be my favorite ship in all of Avatar, even including Korrasami. They’re the only real dynamic wherein both sides equally contribute something that makes the other person better.
And really, what is Avatar, if not about balance?
