The day of the trial dawned grey and humid. City Hall was crowded and people were cramped in the benches of the court. The council had not been expecting so many spectators, and extra chairs had to be brought in for the latecomers. Sokka was uncomfortable with how public this trial was; it indicated that a lot of people were invested in whatever decision the council made today, and he was hoping that people would remain civil. As he and the rest of the council filed towards their adjudication table, he saw Toph and four other metalbenders standing at the main exit, along with both bending and nonbending police stationed at the other two smaller exits. Apparently she was taking no chances today.
It really was very reminiscent of the Yakone trial, except that Aang wasn't there. He and Katara had taken Appa to Whale Tail Island for a little holiday with the kids, and were only due back at the end of the week, just before the annual Republic Gala. Sokka missed him. Aang was the only reason Yakone had been unable to continue his reign of terror, and while it was unlikely that Quon Li was a bloodbending monster like Yakone had been, it would have been nice to have Aang and his Avatar magic watching over the court today.
The trial was over ridiculously quickly. In spite of his resistance to Toph's idea of trying to influence his fellow council members' decisions, Sokka made sure that the deliberation over the verdict took everything into consideration, and voiced his own opinion about Quon Li's position strongly. However, the outcome was pretty much as he predicted – not enough evidence. The air acolyte that was representing the air nomads on the council hadn't even known that cactus juice could be refined to a powder form until the prosecutor had detailed the process that was being used in the seized warehouse.
Sokka delivered the verdict and struck the gavel with disdain, and watched as Toph walked over to Quon Li and unlocked his handcuffs. He muttered something to her, and she scowled, shaking with anger, as he and his attorney turned to leave the court. She turned around and shook her head, still scowling, a gesture Sokka recognised to be aimed at him.
As Sokka turned to return to the council chambers, he heard Quon Li's unmistakeable laugh ring through the courtroom, and he worried about the future.