A/N: I think I surprised some people with the last chapter, hope y'all enjoyed it! Here's the continuation! Time to find out everyone's fate!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
…" Daichi was quick to cast his second vote as he gleefully spoke the words "In the place of the sacred earth on which we stand I vote for the humans' death."
Hayashi then addressed Tenkuu. "How do you vote, spirit of the air, Tenkuu?"
"My vote is for life, I vote for the human" the air spirit stated quickly.
"It is now your vote, spirit of fire, Hisaki, how will you cast your ballot?"…
"I vote for the fire bender." Came the surprising reply "the human is young, yet has mastered a style of fire bending that is completely new to the humans, clearly he must have done it on his own, and as a spirit of fire I would be remiss if I were to vote his death when there was still so much to learn."
Umi's head snapped up to stare at Hisaki as he began to speak; completely amazed at his surprising vote. She was sure he would be against, he seemed so combative.
"I'm sure we all know how you will vote, but, as protocol dictates, please cast your vote, spirit of the water, Umi."
"You are correct Hayashi, I vote for life, Zuko's life." She spoke clearly.
"It is now left to me to complete this tribunal process. There are two votes against, and three votes for, negating the necessity of an arbiter." She paused and her voice softened as she spoke to Umi directly.
"I am happy to inform you that the vote is in favor of your love Umi, however, I am sorry that there are still a few things that must be sorted out." The water spirit who a moment ago had nearly collapsed on the ground with relief instead stiffened and quietly nodded.
"First, let us deal with the fate of the remaining humans." Before she was able to continue Umi spoke up. "I'm sorry to interrupt Hayashi, but are we not able to heal Zuko now?" She glanced over at his still form. "He..he must be suffering." She stuttered with tears in her eyes.
A wave of sympathy settled over her as Hayashi replied "I'm sorry Umi, but first these things must be dealt with, as they concern the future of all. Also, we must conduct these proceedings without human knowledge; it would not do to have him awaken."
Umi nodded silently and looked down at the ground, frustrated and chastised. Then she heard Tenkuu's small voice nearly inside her ear, just a breath of sound, so quiet it couldn't have been heard even if someone had been standing directly next to her. "Never fear Umi, Zuko is only sleeping and the air in the bubble is special, it is akin to being frozen; your love will be fine." Her relief was palpable as she once again squeezed the air spirits' hand.
"…discern the fate of those who are not here, but still living." Hayashi stated, Umi having missed the first part of her words. "We will go first to the one known as Iroh. He, alone, killed 5 men on this soil. You saw the circumstances in which the deaths were caused, so to expedite this process we will vote one word answers only, 'life' or 'death'; as before, Daichi is allowed two votes."
"Daichi." His answer was the same as before. "Death."
"Tenkuu." As with the earth spirit, her answer carried. "Life."
"Hisaki." The fire spirit's answer did not come quickly. After a few moments' pause he finally cast his vote. "Death." Umi's head snapped up and she stared at him in dismay and dread. His vote…it could be the difference between life and death for Iroh..no… her mind whirled.
"Umi." She nearly forgot to answer as her mind was still stumbling over the shock she'd received with the fire spirit's vote. "L..life." she stammered hurriedly, nearly blushing at her mistake. She was just so rattled…
"Daichi, for the sacred ground." Once again the answer came. "Death."
"Once again it is left to me to complete this tribunal, there are two votes for, and three votes against, negating the necessity of an arbiter." She projected her regret towards Umi as she spoke the next words. "The fate of the man Iroh has been decided. He will perish for his participation in defiling this sacred soil."
"NO!" Sobbed Umi "no you can't, I won't let you do it!" She was nearly shouting. "I told Daichi I would do anything for Zuko and it's true, I'll do anything, just please take it back! Iroh is a kind old man, he was just protecting Zuko, it's not wrong!" She ripped her hand from Tenku's small one and covered her face as she wept, collapsing onto the ground in her sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Umi…but…the vote…" for once the great forest spirit of life was at a loss for words. "I don't care about the vote! I. Will. Do. Anything. Anything!" She spat out. Suddenly she froze, and her sobbing ceased. She wiped her eyes and stood to her feet, her chin jutting out in defiance. "ME." She emphasized. "Take me instead of Iroh."
The other three spirits stared at her in consternation and surprise. "This is…unconventional at best Umi…" Hayashi almost stammered, completely caught off guard herself. "Unprecedented even…" she continued, as if deep in thought. "It might be possible however, if you are truly serious."
"No, Hayashi, you musn't!" blurted out Tenkuu before Umi could speak a word. "I accept!" Umi nearly shouted her agreement. "No matter what the terms, no matter what the cost, I accept."
Hayashi was slow to respond as she seemed to collect her thoughts. "Very well water spirit Umi. "As you are a spirit and cannot be so easily killed as a mortal could be, your sacrifice will be different in nature. As you have already agreed to the terms, you will lose your water bending. This will be the price for the life of the man Iroh."
A collective gasp went through the elemental spirits that stood near Hayashi's tree. Never in their history had anyone given up something so precious. It was…almost too much to comprehend. The forest spirit continued. "As a side note, your water spirit abilities will remain, as they are tied directly to your immortality as a spirit being."
Umi didn't even blink. "I accept the terms as I did even before I heard them. It is not too high a price for the life of a good man and friend." Even as she said the words the part of her that loved her bending shuddered at the thought of its loss, but that alone would not sway her.
"It is agreed and will be done. Iroh will continue to live and shall not be harmed; he will live a long, healthy life until his life cycle is complete after the normal human fashion." Hayashi stated, and Umi knew that it was so. Dread and elation both filled her as she nodded her head.
"Step forward water spirit Umi, please reach out your hands." She silently complied, shaking ever so slightly as she extended her hands towards Hayashi's tree. At that moment, two small limbs grew out from the pine tree at the level of her outstretched hands, growing until they were long enough to gently touch her palms. The limbs then grew small branches that wound around Umi's wrists, effectively holding her in place.
From there, more limbs grew from Hayashi's tree to encircle her waist and neck. Those limbs sent branches out which crawled up and down Umi's back, a tiny branch stopping at each chakra point along her spine to meet in the middle. The last branch sent one lone shoot up to the back of her head before halting its movement. Umi was terrified and felt completely trapped as she had back in the tree. Only thoughts of Zuko and Iroh kept her mind from leaving her in her terror.
"I will not lie to you; this is going to be painful." Umi nodded silently, trying not to allow her shaking to betray her fear. Hayashi sent a blanket of calm out over the area, especially targeting water spirit who was clearly frightened despite her attempts to hide it.
The branches holding her wrists and the ones up and down her back and neck slowly grew small pine needles that were sharper than any needle, and after her words of warning Hayashi sunk those needles into every place where her branches had stopped; every chakra point in Umi's body.
In the next moment her world was agony. It felt as if she were being torn apart from the inside out; as if her very being were being split asunder and sucked out of her. She cried out as the intense pain began to grow, and soon she was outright screaming, her voice sounding somewhat garbled, as if coming from underwater.
The other elemental spirits watched in silent horror as Umi was tortured, her screams pealing over and over in her agony. Unable to stand it any longer Tenkuu shot forward. "Please Hayashi, let me have some of her pain, just the pain, let me relieve some of it, please!" She shouted.
"Me too Hayashi" Daichi yelled, and right after him Hisaki as well. Able to fully feel the agony Umi was going through, Hayashi was barely dealing with feeling the poor girl's pain herself, as well as cleanly and safely removing her water bending.
Somehow, she had no idea how; she sent out three more limbs and wrapped them roughly around the necks of the three volunteers. "Hold still" she barely had the ability to speak. They didn't move as each limb grew a small branch which moved to the backs of their necks and created a pine needle which immediately was thrust in.
Tenkuu began to cry at the acute torment she was now sharing with the other four spirits. Hisaki groaned at the most intense pain he'd ever felt in his immortal life and gritted his teeth, almost wishing he'd never volunteered. Daichi simply grunted and glared at the fire spirit, eyes openly daring him to make another noise so he could taunt him for it. The earth spirit almost smiled. If things went his way Umi would be in his debt for his assistance and reward him appropriately.
The moment her agony was shared between four other spirits Umi's own pain level dropped considerably. She ceased screaming and simply allowed herself to cry as the now manageable pain continued to course through her. Her mind was lucid once again as well, so she was able to understand again why she was experiencing the pain.
It seemed to last forever, but in reality lasted only about two minutes. Once the process was complete, Hayashi removed the needles, branches and limbs from the other spirits first, then from Umi. When at last all were removed Umi collapsed to the ground and didn't move for several minutes.
No one spoke. Tenkuu joined Umi seated on the ground while the other two stood with their backs to the seated spirits, lost in their own thoughts. No one moved until Umi finally composed herself and stood up. She was quickly followed by the air spirit and the sounds of them standing roused the other two causing them to turn around.
Once more Hayashi was the only one to speak, although, this time, her voice sounded weary. "We have reached the last order of business today; the girl, Azula and her soldiers, the ones that remain living. Is there any contest brought against this girl Azula? She killed two humans; however, it was purely accidental."
"The way she kicked them when she got up wasn't." Tenkuu retorted balefully. "Not only that; but the only reason she didn't kill Zuko or Iroh is because Zuko didn't let her! We all saw how he only went on the attack after she started beating and threatening his father figure Iroh!" She finished passionately.
"You speak rightly Tenkuu, are there any disagreements to the remarks made?" He wanted to be disagreeable for the sake of doing so, but after seeing what they'd seen, Daichi had no issues agreeing to the girl's demise; she was trouble, and he did not like that kind of trouble, so, he held his tongue.
Hisaki's thoughts were very similar to Daichi's, a girl that troublesome should be dealt with quickly.
"I…d..disagree..Hayashi." Umi spoke up haltingly, hating the words she said even as she spoke them.
Hayashi silenced everyone who'd started to come unglued at the water spirit's words with a quick peal of a bell sound that echoed in their heads.
For once she dropped her arbiter persona and gently asked why. "She's Zuko's sister..she..she may be cruel and evil but she is still family. I can only imagine how he would feel to know that he killed his own family." Umi explained.
"A thought, forest spirit" interjected Hisaki. "This angle I do not have much interest in, however, it suddenly occurred to me that as this Azula IS very cruel and completely evil, she cannot be allowed to harm anyone else. However, at the same time, that doesn't necessarily have to constitute death."
The other spirits looked at him quizzically and he continued. "She is already very clearly mentally disturbed; why not allow her mind to be almost completely destroyed and her bending removed." The shocked looks he was receiving didn't faze him in the last. "It is far less than she deserves, and yet somehow fitting." He looked around at their faces as they digested his suggestion.
"I hate to agree with hothead here, but that is a pretty good idea" Daichi finally commented as the silence had begun to stretch a bit. Hisaki sent a glare his way but he ignored it. "She'd be placed in a cell where she couldn't hurt herself or others, and because of her mental state that would be nearly impossible."
He fell silent for a moment then continued speaking with a sly look on his face. "I would suggest one more thing. Let her keep her physical form. Do not alter it in any way. She is blind and half-deaf, a pitiful, disgusting creature. Her face will finally match her spirit and soul, a twisted and hideous monster no one would wish to look upon."
Silence once again reigned as his words were digested by all who heard them. It was a terrible thing he suggested, yet at the same time, fair.
Hayashi once again asked if there were any other words to be spoken before the judgment was made, and before she could continue Tenkuu raised her small hand. The tree spirit nodded and Tenkuu spoke.
"I shrink from such a vile fate, however, I believe, as do you, that she deserves it. As such, I propose one more thing. Allow her a moments' clarity during her madness, perhaps ten minutes of absolute cognizance, once per day. A small window of mental lucidity that will allow her to come to the realization of all she has lost; those ten minutes will be far worse than any torture we could ever inflict upon her."
Once again there was complete silence, each person carefully considering the implications of what was proposed. After many minutes had passed Hayashi once again took upon the role of arbiter. "As everyone seems to be very close in agreement I will dispense with the usual style of voting and instead ask this. If there is anyone here who objects to the terms spoken by those present for the fate of Azula, please say 'aye' and we will address them."
No one spoke. Even Umi, who hadn't wanted to see the girl dead couldn't disagree with her punishment. The terrible girl had tried to kill the man Umi loved after all, and she needed to be held accountable for it, and the other terrible things she'd done.
"As no one has spoken it is the decision of this gathering of elemental spirits that Azula is to have done to her all that has been said by these four." A sense of urgency spread around them. "She must be retrieved for us to administer her punishment."
"What about the soldiers? There are still three living" Daichi interrupted. "I could have some real fun with them!"
"Master yourself!" Hayashi sharply reprimanded him and he at least had the decency to look ashamed. "The soldiers did nothing but follow orders, their lieutenant even showing mercy when he found Zuko and did not kill him or take him back with them. They should not be punished, and there should be no disagreement there." No one else said anything and it was considered final.
Hayashi extended a limb as she began to speak. "Daichi, Hisaki, make haste and bring the girl Azula and the man Iroh back with you. In order to ensure these proceedings are kept private, take this time sphere." Branches grew in a swirling motion and inside them; a small sphere of shimmering light appeared. The branches fell, leaving the orb to float at the tip of the limb.
"You will stay out of sight and toss the sphere onto the travelers; it will create a bubble of time stopped for every mortal being inside as long as I exist. Retrieve the humans only after the time sphere is in place. Go now."
Both spirits nodded and quickly disappeared.
A/N: Whew, that was a little tough to write! So, what does everyone think about the punishments? Fair? Unfair? Cruel and unusual?!
Muahahaha! See you next week with the aftermath!