I don't have time for this, the Fire Lord thought irritably as he marched down the hall. Why does the Fire Lord have to tend to every flaming little decision? We need a better system.
Guards bowed to him, parting the curtains as he entered the Judgment Chamber. It was the Fire Nation's high court, where cases of special importance or complexity were decided directly by the Fire Lord himself. Zuko thought it a waste of time.
Impatiently, he sat on his throne, propping his chin on his hand as he let his index finger massage the side of his temple. He tapped his foot impatiently as various officials took their places. He thought of all he had to do - deal with the Harmony Restoration Movement, avoid the mounting attempts on his life, figure things out with Mai….
Finally a small, bearded man with a pointed hat entered, bowing before him. Zuko sat up straight.
"Fire Lord Zuko, we open today with the Case of Amira Shingi, an assassin in the Resistance Movement and traitor to the Fire Nation. She has ruthlessly murdered over thirty Fire Nation military officials in the past three years. It is the advice of the court that she be burned at the stake." With that, the man bowed again and sat in a chair on the side of the room. Just then the large doors at the end of the dark chamber opened. The heavy footsteps of two guards echoed through the hall as their metal boots collided with the floor. Between them walked a small girl, who could be no older than Zuko himself, barefoot and clad in filthy prison clothes. She reminded him of Suki when he saw her in the Boiling Rock, dirty and uncared for. She walked tall despite her circumstances, carrying with her an air of honor and utter confidence. Her chains clanked as they dragged across the floor, but her bare feet made no sound as they slid over the glassy surface.
When finally she entered the light of the torches, close enough for Zuko to see her, the guards made her kneel. She obeyed, though with some difficulty - Zuko saw her right leg pained her, and he observed the prisoner with interest. Her high cheekbones and forehead lent an angular quality to her oval face. Her skin was a very pale brown, not dark like Sokka and Katara's but still darker than Zuko's own pale complexion. Obviously not aristocratic. She had tangled raven hair that weaved and twisted in on itself like a thorn bush. A small, sloping nose led down to the cracked, dry petals of her fire lily lips, pursed together with tension. Thick, dark brows arched over her eyes like bridges and heavy eyelids encased the huge glass orbs of her eyes. They looked coal black in this light, like someone had poured ink into the deep wells, and when she met his gaze he was struck with panic yet unable to look away.
They stared at one another an excruciatingly long time before someone in the room coughed and Zuko snapped back to his Fire Lord duties. He cleared his throat, shifting uneasily in his chair, and he said in a rough voice, "How does the defendant plead?"
"Guilty," she answered without hesitation. Her voice was high, like a child's, and so soft it barely registered in anyone's ears.
"What did she say?" someone asked.
"Guilty," she repeated more loudly, turning her head slightly to address the man. Her gaze flicked back to the Fire Lord.
Everyone was silent as they awaited the Fire Lord's verdict. Zuko pondered the prisoner. She had a jaded look to her, like she had seen and done and known too much for such a young person. But at the same time, there was no escaping the child in her face, the youth in her skin. Burn her at the stake? Let her die? Kill her? It seemed too harsh, too cruel for someone who had already suffered so much.
"Exactly what is it you've done?" he asked.
The man who had introduced her spoke up. "My lord, she has killed over-"
"I didn't ask you," Zuko interrupted. "I asked her."
Her eyes were wide with surprise, her thick eyebrows arched high into her forehead. "I killed thirty-two Fire Nation military persons."
"Why?" Zuko didn't realize he was leaning forward in his seat, uncharacteristically engaged for a Fire Lord.
Her eyes never left his, and she answered with automated honesty. "I was ordered to do so. For the Resistance."
"When did you join the Resistance?"
"When I was thirteen."
"Why?"
"I couldn't stand to see my country destroy itself and the rest of the world. I hated your father, and your father's father, and his father before him. I hated what they did to the nation I loved. I couldn't sit idly by and do nothing."
Tears had welled up in her inky dark eyes. One of the court officials stood up from his seat.
"Fire Lord sir, this woman has committed unforgiveable treason against this nation and its military! Her defense is pointless, she should be burned!" There were murmurs of agreement.
Another man stood up. "Gentlemen, she killed these men for the greater good of the Fire Nation. True, she is a murderer, but only in as much as any soldier is."
"How dare you liken our troops to murderers!" another cried, and an argument broke out among the court.
Zuko let them go on, lost in thought. Both sides had good points. What would Uncle say? He closed his eyes, trying to picture Iroh and conjure his wisdom.
Evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It reminded him of yin and yang, positive and negative energy. Was evil justifiable if done in the name of good?
He sighed. He had already endured several assassination attempts. Did he really want to anger his people further by excusing a murderer, regardless of her intentions? What would it mean for him politically?
What would Aang say? He thought of the Avatar's refusal to take his father's life. Aang wouldn't kill a person for killing others, but he wouldn't excuse murder either.
He looked at the girl in front of him. She was staring at some point far beyond him, as lost in thought as he was. She didn't look evil. She looked like a good person who did bad things, but for good reasons. Argh! Why did he have to deal with all of this?
Slowly and with great pain she stood up, her hands still bound behind her. She turned her back to Zuko, to face the warring crowd. Gradually, they noticed her and fell silent.
"I know that killing is wrong," she announced, her high voice echoing with the strength and conviction of a thousand generals. "I know that I have committed atrocious crimes. But I do not regret them. I would do it all again, a thousand times over, because I know that the men I killed would have gone on to kill hundreds more. In killing thirty, I saved thousands. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices - even sacrifice our own souls - for the sake of something greater. Whether you agree with me or not, that is what I did. I made sacrifices." She turned back to look at Zuko, her black eyes glittering in the torchlight. "Now whether you take my life as recompense is up to you. I have done my duty, and I will die with honor, whether by nature or by your hand."
The room was silent around her. Everyone stared, but she seemed not to mind. She continued to stand there, defiant, self-assured. The men behind her looked to one another, and slowly they started to nod.
Zuko stood up, looking deep into the killer's coal black eyes. "By my power as Fire Lord, I grant you your freedom."
She smiled at him for the first time.