Chapter Two: Many Meetings

Settling into the house didn't take long, but Zheng had little time to think about it. The very next morning, an entourage brought him to the Supreme Court of the Fire Nation to what would be his office. It was a small room with a desk in the corner, a meeting table in the middle, and a single window. Upon his arrival, he had his first of many pre-trial meetings. First he met with the eight judges who simply told him that he was to form a team of three including himself. One would be in charge of documentation and written evidence and the other would be in charge of finding witnesses.

That very same day, there was knock on his office door. "Enter," he said shortly. A tall bespectacled man in red robes with his hair in a top knot strode in. "Good afternoon, Mr. Yi, my name is Hideo Tanaka, I'm the dean of the law department at Firelord Shinji University," he announced and bowed to the Magistrate. "The Firelord has assigned me as lead defense counsel for the tribunal."

Zheng blinked. "Oh, well have a seat, Professor." The professor obliged. "Tea?"

"No thank you."

"Okay, I'm guessing you've come to talk about the accused."

"Yes, Mr. Yi," he replied placing his hands on his knees. "I wanted to talk to you about how the trial is going to be conducted. My clients don't understand your Earth Kingdo... er, Republic common law idea."

Zheng looked at him incredulously. "What's there not to understand, Professor Tanaka? It's fairly straightforward. The accused are presumed innocent by the court. The burden of proof falls on the prosecution." He then added with narrowing eyes, "Unless they want to plead guilty and save all of us a lot of trouble."

Tanaka went on as though Zheng didn't make that last comment. "I must also add that the charges against these men are ex-post-facto. Consider that their actions, if they did them, were not at the time illegal."

Zheng was immediately overcome with rage. How could anyone be insensitive enough to say that? Hundreds of millions of innocent people had died in the past hundred years in a war that Tanaka's country started and he goes and says that the defendants' actions were not at the time illegal? It took all his strength not to lose his temper. His father had taught him that the first rule of being a lawyer was to never lose your cool or the opposing counsel will use it against you. The judges only wanted to hear the facts of the case, not an emotional plea.

"Do you really believe that?" Zheng asked evenly.

"It's not my place to believe my clients or not," he responded, lifting up a hand. "I'm a lawyer, Mr. Yi. It's my job to defend whoever is placed in my charge. I took this case because I believe in the common law system and it's my duty to make sure these men receive the best defense a lawyer could give them. I will make my case on evidence only."

"Good to know. Then I'll have you know that I'm here as a representative of the tribunal, not a hired assassin. I'll also present my case based solely on evidence."

The professor's face softened. "Now, if my clients do plead guilty, are you offering any sort of deal?" Zheng sighed. He was not a man who generally asked for the death penalty except in extremely grave circumstances. Even in most premeditated murder cases, he would have the defendants sentenced to life imprisonment. There was also the fact that some of these men did not necessarily deserve death or even life imprisonment.

"This trial is about justice for the victims of the war, Mr. Tanaka," he said firmly. "If they plead guilty, I will put the worst of them in prison for life, but do not expect Ozai or the majority of his top advisors to ever see the outside of a prison for as long as they live." There was no need for Zheng to say that he would definitely seek the death penalty for many of them should they plead not guilty. Tanaka could see it in his eyes.

"Very well, I'll speak to my clients. I should have their answers in three days time." The two lawyers shook hands. As Professor Tanaka left, Zheng realized that he was dealing with a private and very professional man. He could not tell whether or not the professor supported the war, but it was irrelevant either way. He would defend the accused nonetheless.

"So now for the charges." Zheng sat at the head of the long table in his office. Two others sat on either side of him. One was a very pretty middle-aged woman from the Fire Nation, and the other, a man from the Northern Water Tribe. "Indictment one is general conspiracy; conspiracy to commit any or all of the crimes under the other indictments." He slammed his fist on the table. "Documentation is of utmost importance here. We need to find official papers with these men's signatures… details of how everything was planned. If we want a confession out of any of them, we'll need these documents." He turned to the woman. "That's where you come in, Setsuko."

Setsuko Miyamoto, a assitant to a well known defense attorney in the Fire Nation Island of Amahara nodded. "Isn't it ironic?" she responded, adjusting her glasses. "I always prided our organizational skills, but now it'll be the undoing of our own former government."

"Yes," Zheng responded. "So it'll be your job to look wherever you can for these documents, records of orders, cabinet meetings, war meetings, orders of executions, shit like that."

"Got it."

"Indictment two is crimes against peace. Namely the planning, preparing, initiating, and waging of wars of aggression against the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom with no regard to the peace, tranquility, and sovereignty of said nations."

Tuktu, the Justice Advisor to the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe raised his hand. "Tanaka will undoubtedly object to this. He'll argue that the ones that started the actually war are long dead."

"Yes, I thought we'd hit that snag," Zheng said, his brow furrowing. "What we're going to do is argue that the fact these men, especially Ozai who had absolute rule over the Fire Nation could have stopped the war and chose not to, it's as if they declared war on these nations all over again." The other two in the room were in agreement. "If my intuition's correct, the other defendants will likely try to put all the blame on Ozai. We need to show that they were willing to wage aggressive war as well.

"The third is war crimes. For this, we need actual witnesses. The charges under here are the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages; devastation not justified by military necessity; and the maltreatment and murder of prisoners of war. We need citizens and diplomats of the Earth Republic and Water Tribes to testify that the Fire Nation destroyed everything in its path to conquest. We need former war prisoners to testify about the slave labor and mass executions. We need you for this, Tuktu.

"The last indictment is crimes against humanity. This indictment carries charges of genocide, mass murder, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts against the populations of the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom such as mass rape and the kidnapping of young girls to be used as comfort women. Let's not forget that the Fire Nation itself wasn't spared from the Old Regime's atrocities. Citizens were persecuted, oppressed, enslaved, and murdered solely on ethnic or political grounds for the past hundred years. We need both of you to work for evidence on this one."

"Are we seriously going to insist that women and girls testify about their experiences as comfort women," Setsuko demanded, appalled, "or that former prisoners of war testify about their treatment? I personally think, Zheng, that these people suffered enough at the hands of the Old Regime. Why make them relive it?"

The magistrate looked at her sympathetically. Yes, it was a rather callous thing to do, insisting that the victims stand as witnesses, but documentation alone would not be enough. "Look," he said. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but the world needs to hear from those who suffered directly under Ozai's rule. Documentation alone will not have as much of an impact on history, we need to hear from actual people who suffered and even from the people who caused their suffering under the Old Regime's orders." He turned his gaze to Tuktu. "I also want the Avatar and his friends to testify. If possible, also foreign politicians and military personnel."

"When does the trial begin?" Tuktu inquired.

"They didn't say, but we need to get as much as we can as quickly as possible. They're giving us time, but we should not push our luck. We can only keep these men confined for so long without legal proceedings moving forward."

"If I may," piped up Setsuko. "The judges said we're not to approach the family members of the accused, but the Firelord's agreed to help us in any way he can. The Firelord can bring us a lot of documented evidence." Well, that made their job a little easier, Zheng thought. Firelord Zuko was doing everything in his power to make drastic reforms in the Fire Nation. He did not gloss over the fact that the Fire Nation was responsible for the devastated state of the world and the first thing he did was publicly apologize on the country's behalf. He then gave his word that he would do whatever he could to help with reparations, pay compensation to the victims, and help bring the Old Regime to justice.

"I think it's more vital that he stand as a witness," Zheng responded thoughtfully. "He's the one who's seen the Fire Nation's menace firsthand during his banishment."

"Why aren't any charges brought against him?" demanded Tuktu in a forceful tone. "His hands aren't exactly clean! He burned down Kyoshi Village and aided Azula in conquering Ba Sing Se!" Setsuko was about to angrily defend her leader but Zheng cut across her.

"Firelord Zuko saw the error of his ways and betrayed Ozai at great risk to his own life. I'll remind you, Tuktu, that we are not executioners, we're lawyers."

"I have one other concern," said Setsuko. "When this is all said and done, I'm afraid of this trial being seen by loyalists and worse, by history as triumph of superior might. Just the winners of the war punishing the losers."

Zheng turned to her, looking her in the eye. "Well, our job is to make sure this isn't triumph of superior might, but of superior morality. We have a very important task at hand here, people. We are going to make a future where wars of aggression and oppression of the common citizenry will be dealt with as crimes." He waited for one of the others to speak and when no one did he clapped his hands together and said, "All right, people, let's get to work."

While Zheng Yi's team was scrounging for evidence, Hideo Tanaka was conducting his own series of interviews for the defense. The easiest client to find witnesses for was Minister Han. The professor would first interview the Minister's wife to get her story on the charges her husband faced.

The Han family lived right across the street from the palace in a large manor. Being a family that flaunted their wealth and valued proper behavior, Hideo was escorted from the front gate to the door across the garden by a guard. The professor never understood nobles and their desire to flash their money in everyone's faces. However, that may have been due to the fact that he had worked hard for his position for most of his adult life. Either way, he found it arrogant and tasteless that nobles who contributed absolutely nothing to the country shoved their wealth in the poor's faces. What purpose did the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Preservation even actually serve? Hideo could only find one redeeming quality about Han and his wife; they gave a lot to charity, even if it was just to put themselves in a good light amongst their peers.

The guard knocked on the door, which was immediately opened by the butler. "Good morning," Hideo greeted. "My name is Hideo Tanaka, I am Minister Han's attorney. Is Mrs. Han available? I wish to speak with her."

The butler nodded and showed him into the house. "Wait right here, sir," the butler said, "I'll go check for her right now." With that, the butler left him standing in the foyer. Well, so much for protocol, Hideo thought. About five minutes later, the butler returned. "Please, follow me to the drawing room."

The drawing room came as no surprise to the professor. Like the rest of the house, no expense was spared into decorating it. The room featured plush red sofas and chairs, a crimson and gold rug, and red satin wallpapers. An equally elegant woman sat cross-legged on one of the chairs. If it were not for her white face and dark hair done up in a ridiculously posh style, Hideo would have thought she had blended into the rest of the room, due to her scarlet kimono. Off in a corner of the drawing room, a little boy of three years was playing absentmindedly.

"Ah, welcome, Professor Tanaka," Mrs. Han greeted with a PR gesture. Turning her head, she called, "What do we say to our guest, Tom-Tom?" The toddler immediately snapped out of his little world, stood up, and bowed to him.

"It's a honor to have you in our house, Pro…" he turned to his mother, gray eyes widening questioningly. Being a toddler, one could not expect him to really pronounce certain words properly or to use proper grammar in his speech.

"Professor Tanaka," Mrs. Han informed with a smile, and set the child on her lap. "Now Tom-Tom, I have to talk with this good man about grownup stuff, so why don't you go play with Kenji for a while?"

"Okay," Tom-Tom answered. He sprang off his mother's lap, bowed to Hideo, and scurried out of the drawing room. Mrs. Han gestured to the sofa in front of her and Hideo sat down.

"Something to drink, Professor Tanaka?"

"Just tea, ma'am."

Once the two of them were settled with drinks and formalities were out of the way, the woman's noble mask was shattered. What the lawyer saw before him was a desperate woman at the end of her rope. "You are going to save my husband, are you?" she pleaded.

"I'll do whatever I can, ma'am." This was the standard answer he would usually give to the family members of his clients. "Minister Han is charged with conspiracy and crimes against humanity."

"What does that mean?" the woman pressed, clenching her teacup tightly.

"That he is accused of illegally occupying Omashu and planning and ordering the evacuation its liquidation. That he forcibly evicted the citizens from the premises. His Ministry also contributed to the race laws of the Fire Nation."

"But he didn't!" Mrs. Han exclaimed louder than she had intended. "They left of their own accord! Nobody got killed or hurt!" She drew in a deep breath. "And he didn't write those hateful laws, he was just running the Ministry of Heritage an Cultural Preservation as it had been since Sozin, dishonor on his name, started the war!"

"That's what I'm going to try to prove, Mrs. Han," Hideo replied.

The noblewoman regained her composure and stated, "But can you prove that he was not the one to actually conquer Omashu? General Shinu conquered the city! My husband was simply ordered to be its Governor! He was only following orders, Mr. Tanaka! If my husband refused, we would all have been hanged as traitors, including my son!"

Hideo ran a hand through his hair thinking of how to answer this in a reasonable way. However, it was best to just answer bluntly. "I understand, Mrs. Han, but the judges do not recognize obedience to a superior as a valid defense, though they might show mercy considering Minister Han's circumstances. As for following orders... Grand General Nguyen was also following orders from both Firelords Azulon and Ozai, and Mr. Yi will undoubtedly collect enough evidence against him to warrant ten thousand death sentences if convicted."

"Nguyen is a demon with no conscience, we all know that!" Mrs. Han snapped. "Do you think I don't know about Xu Qiang? Azulon may have destroyed records of it, but the entire country knew what Ozai and Nguyen did there. But Jian isn't a violent man; he's a politician who was just doing his job and made a bad judgment call. Believe me, if he could have repealed those race laws, he would have."

"I know," the professor reassured, feeling more awkward by the minute. "I will do my best to keep him out of prison, but I'm a lawyer, not a miracle worker. I can only give the judges what I can prove."

The two of them sat silently for several moments before Mrs. Han spoke again. "What is he facing if convicted? They're not going to exe-"

"If convicted, he's facing twenty years imprisonment with hard labor." Hideo's interjection drained the color from the woman's face. It wasn't a death sentence, but still nothing to be taken lightly.

"Agni, no…"

"That is why it's important that you stand as a witness for the defense. A character witness and as one who had been at the scene of the crime… sorry, the event. Because Yi will come down on us with everything he has. With Omashu, we can convince the judges easily, I hope, but knowingly running a government body that helped contribute to the oppression of our citizens... that will be extremely difficult."

"Very well," said Mrs. Han, composing herself. "I'll stand as a witness. My daughter can too; she knows more than I do of what happened in Omashu. Always has been a perceptive young woman… really proud of her. Our Mai has good judgment in men as well. She's to marry the Firelord within a year, a fine young man if I say so myself. He will bring this country out of the shadows of the past and into a respectable place in the international community."

Well, some people never changed, Hideo thought struggling not to roll his eyes at the arrogance of Mrs. Han's tone. She must have caught it too, because when she spoke next, she was more humble. "My deepest apologies, I got carried away. Where are my manners?"

"It's fine, Mrs. Han. I must go now. I thank you for your cooperation."

"Just please save him."

"I'll do my best," he assured her again. After exchanging bows, Hideo went on his way. A small figure that had been hiding himself until now emerged from the door. Usually, Mrs. Han would not have approved her children eavesdropping, but this was going to be a very difficult time for her son.

"You heard everything?" she asked him softly.

"Are you angry, mother?"

"No," she said, setting Tom-Tom on her lap, wrapping an arm around him as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Who is that man?"

"He's a lawyer," Mrs. Han answer, resting her hand on his head.

"He lies?"

"Not a liar," she chuckled, "a lawyer. He's going to help your father."

"Oh." The toddler still sounded confused. "Where's father? You two were talking about him." His mother tensed. She knew this question would come eventually and that she would need to answer.

"Well… this is hard, Tom-Tom. Your father has to go to court, so they're keeping him there until they finish."

"What's court?"

"Well… when grownups do something bad or if someone thinks they did something bad, they have to go to court. Court is a big building where grownups sit in a big room. One man called the prosecutor says the person in court did the bad thing and another man, the defense lawyer, says he didn't do it. Each side tries to prove that they are right. Once they finished, a group of men called judges decide who is right after hearing what both lawyers said. If they think the grownup did the bad thing, he has to be punished."

"What is purrison? The man said father may go to purrison." Mrs. Han held him tighter.

"Prison," she corrected. How was she going to get out of this one? "Prison is like… grounding for grownups, but grounding for grownups is different from what is for children. For you, grounding is a little while in your room. For a grownup, they have to leave their house and go live at a building with other grownups that did bad things and for much longer than children. They also have to do work for the prison sometimes, that is called hard labor. Sometimes they build roads, go into mines and collect coal for our ships... they do hard work all day stopping only to eat, sleep, and maybe get a little bit of break time."

"For how long do they go to prison?" Tom-Tom pressed and his mother grimaced.

"If your father is conv… if the judges believe that your father did the bad thing, if the lawyer that says he did the bad thing makes it look like he was right, then your father will have to go to prison for twenty years. You will be a grownup when they let him leave prison. Twenty-three-years-old. Why, you might even be a father then."

Tom-Tom looked unsure of how to react to this, so he just snuggled closer to his mother.

"But Professor Tanaka will make sure your father won't even go to prison for one day. Your father did nothing bad. He only worked for a very bad man."

"Who?" The boy's eyes widened. From the bedtime stories he heard from his nanny, he could differentiate between bad boys and bad men. Bad boys did naughty things like break stuff in the house, pull the cat's tail, or not go to school when they had to. Bad men hurt people, stole things, kidnapped children, and sometimes even killed people who could not fight back. The nanny called them murderers, and they were the worst types of bad men.

"Firelord Zuko's father, Ozai." Tom-Tom was confused. Zuko was a nice man. He played with Tom-Tom all the time when he visited the palace. He would even teach him to use a sword next year. Most of all, his sister Mai loved him, and Mai would only marry a good man like Zuko. How could a good man like him have a bad father and why would his father work for him?

"What did Ozai do, mother? Is he a murderer? Why did father work for him?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." The boy pouted in disappointment. He hated that answer, but knew it was useless to argue. He simply rested his head against his mother's shoulder.

"Is this enough for Mr. Yi to start building his case, Mrs. Miyamoto?" Setsuko and Zuko walked along the palace garden, having just emerged from the archives. The woman was carrying a thick stack of papers and scrolls under her arm.

"Please, my Lord, just call me Setsuko," she said. "And yes, sir, I think he'll be pleased with it. But I think he'd be more pleased if Your Lordship will agree to testify."

Zuko gave a short laugh. "Well, it all depends on my time. I do have a very busy schedule and my duties take priority."

"I know, my Lord."

"But I'll talk to Mr. Yi personally if that's all right with him."

A few days later at the Ministry of Justice, the prosecution team had met again. "So, let's have our progress report," Zheng said.

"Firelord Zuko gave us all the records he could find in the palace archives," Setsuko reported. "However, if my intuition is correct, I believe Ozai was clever enough to his records in other locations. As were many of the others."

"I concur, Setsuko," said Zheng. "And I'm glad the Firelord has the right people searching the nation for other records." He turned to his other assistant. "Tuktu?"

"I haven't found the Avatar and his friends yet but I have several officers willing to testify against Ex-Firelord Ozai, Grand General Nguyen, and War Minister Qin. Admiral Jeong-Jeong is willing to testify as well. I also have a man named Chit Sang who's got a lot to say about the prisons here. As for the Firelord, he's agreed to testify on our behalf."

"Excellent," Zheng replied. "Judge Kurosawa spoke to Tanaka and me. The arraignment will take place three months from now and then the trial will commence on the anniversary of the war's end. Now, a year may seem like a long time, but we must use every waking hour of that year to gather as much witnesses and evidence as possible."

A/N: Alright, everything's in motion. Next I'd like to get to the Gaang and the stars of our show, Ozai and his henchmen.