Zuko came in the meeting room with a grimacing look on his face; almost as if he hadn't slept or seen his bed in ages, even though Iroh had told Aang and Katara that he had been getting a lot more sleep now since Iroh closed his tea shop to came back as his advisor to help him manage his duties. He looked directly at them an almost immediately his attitude improved, thinking since this meeting was extremely important to both the FN and the SWT, he had put aside his stress and tough it out to get this done.
"Well, Fire-Lord Zuko, it's a pleasure for you to finally join us, I hope you're feeling well" spoke the Great Sage of Crescent Island, causally trying to mock Zuko under the guise of concern.
"I'm fine, and I don't need you to worry yourself over my well being, all I want you to do is your job" Zuko snapped back at him with an aggressive tone that warned him not to even try it today.
"My apologies your highness, it's only natural for me to worry over a young ruler such as yourself."
"Very well, let us begin." said Zuko as the Sage slumped back in his chair, contemptuous at Zuko putting him in his place so quickly.
The meeting took place in the former War Room of the palace, something Zuko now had as a purely altruistic place to discuss politics, systematic changes, and trade with all of his council members and the elite of the FN. All of the Fire Sages were here, Shyu being one of his and Aang's main supporters and a huge contribution to the Harmony Restoration Movement. Nobles and politicians who kept the general society of the FN running were at opposite ends of the long-side, looking almost robotic in their interest in this event. Next to them at the bottom of the table sat the Avatar and the Ambassador, along with Chief-Hakoda, Bato and some tribesmen and women acting as escorts, all looking as stoned-faced and determined as ever to face this and get their dues from the FN, and of course, to the top behind the torches, sat Fire Lord Zuko with Iroh besides him as his royal advisor.
"Today," howled out Shyu citing from his notes word-from-word, "we are gathered here to discuss the terms and conditions of reparations between the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation. The ramifications of war has caused the acts of both parties committing grieve injury and trespasses toward one another to escalate into an incredibly volatile action taken by the Fire Nation to weaken the SWT by extreme force. However, we have realized that in spite of those actions done during battles in which members of the SWT took the lives of many of our soldiers, at the Avatar's command, we will work to rectify any further problems and issues we have with one another since wartime's past and move into a future of balance between the nations"
"Thank you, Sage Shyu, for that wonderful introduction" Aang said with pride in his voice as Shyu sat back down after his speech.
"Now, we should begin by discussing the first issue" said Katara promptly.
"Yes," said Hakoda, "the matter of our men and women still within Fire Nation's penal system."
Aang spoke up again "I've talked about this matter with Fire Lord Zuko, and he tells me that many are trapped in legal limbo, so when I confronted the wardens on why their still keeping prisoners, They all told me the exact same story; the few prisoners they keep have done some horrible crime against Fire Nation citizens that crosses the boundaries of war and deserves imprisonment, I did some investigating and found that many of these wardens, such as Cheng, former warden of the Boiling Rock, been abusing many of these prisoners, and its my belief this was done in an attempt to force them to act out against staff to absolve there credibility. I've placed him and many others under arrest until I can get this situation sorted out and bring innocent Water-Tribe members acting in self defense against soldiers back home and eliminate any further corruption."
"Yes, of course, the matter of your locked-up tribesmen" sneered Chao, a nobleman and politician funding one the mainland's war-time prison system "You all must realize, we can't simply give any of our prisoners away on a whim, they must pay their dues in earnest and stay for as long as their sentences entail."
"That's not gonna happen," spoke up Aang, "you can't just lock these people up indefinitely for actions taken during a two-sided war, especially not for one that's since been over"
"He's right, the FN has committed many atrocities toward our Tribe; do you see us trying to hunt down any of your veterans and detain them for their actions until we've personally decided that your "time" is up? No, all we want is our families back so we can help them heal and restore the Southern Tribe." said Katara firmly, right after Aang's refusal to accept Chao's terms.
"You both bring up good points" Zuko chimed in "but how are we supposed to solve this in a way that allows both parties to get what they desire without further conflict arising?"
"I have an idea of what we could do" said Iroh, Zuko looking pleased to hear what his uncle has to say.
"Why don't we allow members of the water tribe to perform community service in place of their sentences, it would allow both to get what they desire; the FN would have it's convicts their dues to our nation, helping us at the same time, and the SWT would have it's men and women reasonable amount of time back with no issues of worrying whether or not their family members are able to come back."
Most of the old way loyalists seemed to begrudgingly accept Iroh's suggestion, seeing as the only way to prevent further conflict; those who sided with Zuko/Iroh and wanted change/peace took the offer happily. The SWT leaders were all in acceptance of these terms, with full agreement from Aang.
"Looks like things are going along better then I was expected" Aang whispered to Katara.
"Yeah, let's just hope it keeps up like this" Katara whispered back in agreement.
Then, something happened that shocked the room.