Aang takes a deep breadth before heading across the palace to the chambers next to the Coronation Plaza. On the way he could hear the sound of the gather crowd outside the palace walls, accumulating for an unknown reason.

By the time Aang arrived at the Coronation Plaza he saw an apprehensive Katara alongside an eager Sokka behind both of them is Suki in full Kyoshi Warrior garb looking ever the military professional.

Once Sokka sees Aang approach he does a couple of quick jabs before exclaiming, "Ready to exert justice. Ha, I can't wait to fight Azula now, make up for all those times she beat us up!" Of course, Sokka would blatantly ignore the fact that she proved to be a handful on the Day of Black Sun even without her bending.

Aang grimaces slightly at Sokka's comments, not being entirely sure this is indeed justice. Katara noticing his expression adds, "they really do deserve this Aang. Think of how many people they hurt with their power, it's for the better."

Aang manages a slight grin before responding, "I know, thanks Katara." Then Suki is at his side leading him to the chambers while giving him a briefing in a more formal manner than is typical of her.

"The prisoners were given a dosage of chi-blocking tea an hour ago. They should be unable to access their bending, therefore we theorize that they should be powerless to stop your efforts at energybending. Both Hama and Long Feng have been transported here from their holding in the Prison Tower half an hour ago, both have a half dozen Kyoshi Warriors guarding them along with two dozen Imperial Firebenders."

Suki takes a long breadth while trying to suppress a grimace before continuing. "Azula was given an extra-strong dosage of tranquilizer at the hospital today to avoid any escape attempts, she is completely dossel. But still, I assigned a dozen Kyoshi Warriors to guard her, along with three dozen of King Kuei's palace guards." In an undertone Suki added, "I don't quite trust that the Imperial Firebenders loyalty does not still extend to the Azula."

Once they reached the door to the chamber set apart for the removal of the prisoners bending Aang turned to address Suki before entering. "Suki thanks for the update and taking care of prisoner transport." Suki gave a short bow which he returned before entering the chamber.

Inside is a long dark hall that had been modified just for this occasion, the floor, walls, and ceiling were covered in dark gray metal plates, keeping Long Feng from any stone to bend and Azula away from any wood to set alight. All water in the room has been removed and no plants remain to give the place life, the only thing Hama could bend would be the witnesses blood, but it is morning and the full moon is not for another couple of weeks.

On the far wall sat a stage with a metal barrier separating the world leaders from the prisoners. In the center sat Zuko above the others looking extremely agitated and tired. To his left sat the two representatives from the water tribes, Chief Arnook and Hakoda, both with stern faces. To Zuko's right sat King Kuei, looking rather chipper and cheerful and trying to get the others to join him in pleasant conversation. From the looks of it the only thing that could have made the day any better for the earth king is if his bear, Bosco, had attended the event with him (he couldn't, Ursa made sure of it).

Passing by empty spectator seating and going to the center of the room and stepping on top of a small pedestal Aang greeted the room in his most authoritative avatar voice, "I am ready to execute the punishment of the prisoner." His heart was ponding in his chest at the prospect of having to take three peoples bending in a row. He barley defeated Ozai, and what if he fails.

Before Aang can contemplate the possible consequences for yet another time a short man stands up from a desk at the back of the world leader's stage. He lifts up a paper before reading it aloud. "Today on the one-year anniversary of the defeat of Phoenix King Ozai and Crown Princess Azula, and the one-anniversary of the first known case of energy bending we meet to carry out the punishment fit for the worst war criminals."

"Long Feng former Grand Secretariat of the Ba Sing Se and leader of the Di-Li, has been found guilty of conspiracy, treason, and human rights abuses. For his crimes he shall have his bending removed.

"Hama formerly of the Southern Water Tribe, has been found guilty of false imprisonment and human rights abuses. For her crimes she shall have her bending removed."

"Azula, former Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, interim ruler of Ba Sing Se, and leader of the Di-Li, has been found guilty of attempted genocide, treason, murder, attempted regicide, and human rights abuses. For her crimes she shall have her bending removed."

"Once the avatar and last surviving Air Nomad is finished with each prisoner, he may declare their crimes to be fully served in the view of the world. Then the leader of the prisoner's respective nation will take responsibility for deciding and carrying out further just punishment."

With that the man sat back down as the room waited for the first prisoner to be led into the room. After a couple of minutes, a balding man with messy black hair wearing only dark brown pants is led into the room by the blind earth bender who holds onto the metal restraints around his wrist. When he is finally in front of the Avatar Toph forces him to his knees and bends the steel plates around him to hold him down.

The Long Feng wasn't allowed a shirt today because skin to skin contact may be important for energy bending. At the very least the only other two times he had experienced energy bending the contact was always direct and not through clothes.

Slowly Aang reached to place his hands against Long Feng's forehead and chest. Then he breathed in and out and began focusing on finding the ethereal strands that connected Long Feng's body and soul to the rock he bends, once found Aang batted away any defenses and ripped apart that connection.

The defenses Ozai put up where like the mighty walls of Ba Sing Se, nearly impenetrable. But Long Feng's stood like Sokka's ill-fated snow watch tower, ready to crumble at the merest provocation.

So, it was only a couple of seconds until Aang's powerful pale blue light enveloped and overtook Long Feng's dark gray-brown light. When finished Long Feng slumped down on the ground, and if it wasn't for Toph quickly releasing his hands he would have likely ripped his shoulder out of its socket.

Aang had to fight back a small smile unbefitting his role as punisher, as he thought about how he laid low a man who brainwashed hundreds of people over the course of a couple of decades. But then the repulsion for enjoying it started to creep up and tried to invade his thoughts. So Aang cleared his throat and said his lines to chase the repulsion away.

"Long Feng, as the Avatar and only representative of the Air Nation I have been authorized to now pronounce your crimes to the world served. Any remaining punishment placed upon you shall be decided by King Kuei in the ways of Earth Kingdom law."

Then the Earth King who failed at hiding his own smile began to speak. "Long Feng, for your crimesof treason and conspiracy against the monarch of the Earth Kingdom you shall have your hands smashed and be placed in an isolated prison cell for the rest of your life." He shot a pleased grin to his fellow rulers who all hid their disgust from him.

Once the King Kuei was finished, a squad of the king's earth bending palace guards came and escorted a fearful Long Feng out so that he could live a long life alone and crippled. The thought did not sit well with Aang, his stomach felt knotted up and he fought back the mental image of the ritualistic hand crushing that served as one of the Earth Kingdoms worst punishments for criminal benders. It was unnecessary and cruel, Long Feng isn't even a bender, but when Kuei lost his comfortable life of a figure head a cruel side broke out from his innocent demeanor.

A couple minutes later Toph returned with two women, both very old and vaguely familiar. One he recognized as Hama, the bloodbender that took control over both him and Sokka, forcing Katara to bend Hama's own blood to save them. Hama wore the dirty brown pants traditional in fire nation prisons, but also a brown tunic with a large V cut into it, exposing as much skin as possible before becoming obscene, as if the area of skin exposed is also important. The other one surprisingly enough was Sokka's and Katara's Gran-Gran, clad in the blue garb custom of the southern water tribe when traveling the world.

Once Hama was before Aang, Toph bent the metal plates again to restrain. Gran-Gran gave Hama a couple of comforting pats on the shoulder before taking a seat in the spectator area.

With everyone in place, Aang took a couple calming breaths and centered on his energy before placing his hands on Hama's forehead and upper chest. Then he focused on finding the roots of the aethereal strands that connected Hama to the blood of the people in the room.

The battle for Hama's bending had been harder than Long Feng's, her blood red light that stood like a testament to her wicked bending fought against Aang's intrusion for half a minute before it was over taken.

But the effort left Aang feeling breathless but satisfied with the result he started talking after he regained his breath. "Hama, as the Avatar and only representative of the Air Nation I have been authorized to now pronounce your crimes to the world served. Any remaining punishment placed upon you shall be decided by Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe according to the counsel of the Tribal Elders."

After the pronouncement Chief Hakoda stood up and faced Hama, "Hama you have committed the crime of abduction of non-combatants in the Fire Nation. Due to the pain and suffering you have faced while imprisoned in the Fire Nation the village elders decided on leniency. For your crimes, you will be taken into custody of the tribe, where you will work to repair our village according to your ability."

With this pronouncement the chief sat down and the door opened allowing Katara and Sokka to enter the chamber. Gran-Gran helped Hama to her feet, and with Sokka's help they guided Hama out all while Katara stayed back with her hands near her water flasks.

Stifling a smile Aang realized he just neutralized one of the cruelest benders his possie had ever ran up against. He felt pride and satisfaction knowing that by taking away her bending (and mangling her soul?) he is allowing her to return home at long last.

But the next up was by far the most manipulative and terrifying person the he had ever faced. He will dominate her soul and take her bending. Because now he realized it was for her own good. Not because it will feel good to force her to submit to him (but it will), or to take something away from her she can't get back, like how she had taken his life. No taking her bending will give her the chance to recover (even though both Ursa and the institution doctors say she is already making great progress).

So, when Zuko asked if he was ready to face Azula he gave a resounding yes. After half a minute the door opened again. Four women now entered the room, first Toph led the way in, followed by Ty Lee wearing her pink garb, and finally a nearly comatose Azula in a wheel chair pushed by Ursa.

Azula was wearing white pants and slippers, and her torso was covered in another brown tunic with a deep V cut into its front, but the opening was pinned together by what appeared to be Ursa's hair pins to give her some semblance of modesty.

Aang was ready to give Azula what she deserved, and Aang finally let himself smile.

Azula was sitting in the waiting room before being brought before the Avatar to lose her bending. With her was mother and Ty Lee who kept on sending her words of encouragement and love while being watched by a half dozen Kyoshi warriors. She didn't miss how the Kyoshi Warriors looked at her like she was pure evil, or how they glared at Ty Lee like she was the worst kind of traitor. But try as she might she couldn't hold on to her mother's and Ty Lee's words of reassurances.

Mostly Azula was tired and cold. Ever sense that new doctor injected her arm with an almost lethal amount of that Agni forsaken tranquilizer she had been exhausted. She could barley keep her eyes open let alone walk, so she was confined to the wheel chair where that blind girl wrapped steel cuffs around her wrists and ankles to keep her from running. Then she was force fed a cup of horrid chi-suppressant tea that dimmed her inner fire from a great inferno to a flickering candle, leaving her cold. If that was just the result of the chi blocking tea, then she could only imagine that she will die from hypothermia when the avatar takes her bending away.

At least her mother pinned shut the front of her tunic with her hair pins back at the institution, keeping in a little bit more warmth, and keeping the eyes of peasants from seeing more than they should if a breeze were to find her.

After what felt like ages the blind girl came in a walked up to her, Ty Lee, and mother before saying, "It is time, follow me if one of you want to push the chair." Then the blind girl leaned closer to Azula like she was going to adjust her restraints before adding in a small undertone, "I don't believe this is right, and I am sorry."

Straitening up Toph moved forward and lead the way, while Ty lee brushes Azula's hand in a comforting motion before following Toph. Mother give a slight shoulder massage before pushing Azula in her wheel chair to face the avatar.

When they entered the room Azula caught sight of the chambers, the room was made of dark gray steel causing her to feel like she's back on her warship. On wall is a podium with the world leaders and the scribe. The water tribe leaders looked on at her sternly and somewhat mournful, Zuko like the pathetic boy can't even be bothered to look up from the ground, and the King Kuei looks at her with glee and uncontained excitement.

The avatar stands on a small podium in the center of the room looking at her with a small sadistic grin that would look more appropriate on Azula rather than the self-righteous boy. Behind him was metal seating for an audience mother convinced Zuko not to allow.

Approaching the stand Toph bent a ramp out of the metal plates allowing Azula to be pushed up to meet the eager avatar. Before Ty Lee went to take her seat, she gave Azula a quick but hug and said "if anyone can make it through this it's you" before giving Azula a kiss on the forehead. Then mother gave her a long hug that lasted until the king shouted "is that necessary!" At that mother whispered in Azula's ear "I love you no matter what," than she broke off the hug and sat next to Ty Lee.

Both Ty Lee and Mothers words left Azula with an indescribably pleasant burning feeling in her chest. Azula decided to close her eyes and focus on the burning sensation rather than the eager way the avatar ripped out the pins holding her tunic together and exposing her indecently and earning himself angry glares and grunts from both mother and Ty Lee. The avatar nearly pushed her chair off the pedestal with the aggressive manner in which he placed his hands on her forehead and chest.

Then she felt an intrusion in her soul searching her spirit with a perverse eagerness, then it stopped, finding her sea of chi, the source of her fire bending. The assault began and Aang started working on ripping down her defences in a violation of her soul. Deciding not to focuses on the disgusting assault she instead went back to focusing on that burning sensation mother and Ty Lee gave her.

So, Azula sat for what felt like an eternity filled only with the burning sensation in her chest, the assault on her soul, and the bright light turning her closed eyelids pinks.

Then it stopped, and Azula just felt drained. It was like the days she would spend training under her father to the point that she could no longer move, but somehow even worse. Instead of paying attention to the proceeding she let herself slip into the very promising darkness.

Ursa had to close her eyes to block the blinding blue light. She kept her eyelids closed until the back of them were no longer shinning pink but returned to the comforting darkness.

Then she opened them to look at the most terrifying sight a mother could imagine; her baby girl was still and lifeless in the chair she was bound to. If her baby was no more, than the avatar could consider himself no more.

Ursa let out a shrill "Azula!" as she sprinted to her daughter's side where she pressed a couple of fingers into her daughter's throat. It took a couple second to find the slow and faint pulses of life and the gentle rising and falling of a too exposed chest. Relief and horror filtered through her, relief that her little girl was still alive, but horror and disgust knowing that she couldn't even watch as her daughter's soul was forever mangled.

Ursa could hear Ty Lee's quick steps come to a quick stop followed by a relived sigh when she could see that her friend was still breathing. Out of the corner of her eye, Ursa sees Ty Lee pick the hair pins off the floor where the Avatar discarded them with a disgusting zeal, then Ty Lee starts pinning closed the front of Azula's tunic.

Behind her she could hear the wobbly and tired voice of the Avatar speak up after several gulping breaths. "Azula, as the Avatar and only representative of the Air Nation I have been authorized to now pronounce your crimes to the world served. Any remaining punishment placed upon you shall be decided by Fire Lord Zuko following the council of the Fire Sages."

Ursa looks up to see her son stand shakily to his feet, his eyes are fixed on the ground except for a brief moment when he looks over at Ursa, not Azula who has just had undergone a demented punishment, but his mother who is perfectly fine. She has to wonder where as a mother she went wrong, how can her son have so little regard for his sister, that if it wasn't for his mom, he would have showed the world his sister's humiliation. Even with his mother's pleading and arguing he would let the assault take place.

"Azula… Azula, given your age and upbringing you will be granted a full pardon, and regain your title princess, but can wield no authority." He finished rushing out the words and finally spared a glance with tear filled eyes to his little sister, who still sat slumped in the chair. Ursa let out a sigh of relief knowing at least Zuko kept his word to her, and did not take Iroh's advice for a life sentence just to please the old man.

The earth king giant grin evaporated when Zuko spoke and he turned and spat at the Fire Lord, "you are going to let that monster walk free?!" Then the fool king took a couple breadths, "I guess your commitment to peace is a lie, and you look to use her to concur my lands again." With that the fool Kuei left the room leaving Zuko standing still. The water tribe chiefs shifted slightly in their seats looking uncomfortable having witnessed the strange scene.

Beside her Toph walked over and released the restraints holding Azula's still form to the chair before handing Ursa an official copy of Azula's pardon. With the document in hand Ursa pushed Azula out of the room and through the hidden passageway to the boat on the dock that would take them to the Ember Island, where hopefully Azula can start a life away from the pressures of her father, the court, and the war.