Chapter 25: Presentations, Part 1
"Presenting the Lady Toph Beifong, Earthbending Sifu of the Avatar, Advisor to the Earth King, Hero of the coming of Sozin's Comet, and thrice champion of the Earth Rumble, with Lady Ty Lee, Warrior of Kyoshi, to petition Fire Lord Zuko, honoured be his name, Protector of the Fire Nation, Scourge of her Foes, Defender of the Fire Sages, Lord by the Sun's Grace." The Herald bellowed, slamming the butt of a halberd into the stone floor, the bronze ferrule ringing like a bell on the flagons.
Toph could feel the entire chamber, and hear it too - other than the herald, it was just the three of them, and she felt the herald bow as he moved to leave. The words echoed a little around the great hall. There was an odd sort of tension she wasn't used to with Zuko; it didn't feel like Toph was going to talk to her friend Zuko. She was a supplicant before the Fire Lord, here to ask him to intercede for her friend. It was an odd position, and one she was uncomfortable with.
She padded through the chamber in silence. She could feel Ty Lee trailing behind her on her left hand side as she went, the stone underfoot shiny, unyielding and cold, then rapidly warming as they came closer to Zuko's throne. Once it became so hot that it edged on uncomfortable, she stopped.
"Really, Zuzu?" She asked, "The full title? I'm honoured!"
Zuko let out a little burst of surprised laughter, sounding distant behind the gentle crackling of the fire around his throne. "Why Lady Beifong, of course the full title! I'm receiving an official visit from an ambassador of the Avatar and the Earth King, aren't I?"
"And most importantly - three time champion of the Earth Rumble," Toph replied, "My proudest achievement!"
The tension dissipated as they laughed, and Toph felt Ty Lee settling in at her back, supporting her silently.
"You're probably wondering why I wanted an official appointment." Toph said at last.
Zuko felt muted, up on the throne like he was. The wall of fire, the brickwork that lifted the throne so he could see over it, it all made her sense of Zuko indistinct, even fuzzy. It made it hard to get a read, as he straightened in his seat. "Not only for the novelty, then?"
"Well, it didn't hurt," Toph said, "But you know how boring I find all the endless rituals you have here."
"The Earth Kingdom isn't much better," Ty Lee interrupted, "When the Earth King came to visit Kyoshi Island with his bear last year, I had to learn an hour of different bows and phrases!"
"So," Toph said, "Not only the novelty. It needs to be official? An official meeting, written down so everyone knows it happens, you know?"
They had to do it right, so it wouldn't look like Zuko was being controlled by the Avatar, or like Azula's friends were trying to get her off, or any other sort of corruption, but instead would be "proper".
"Very well," Zuko replied after a moment, "What do you want an official meeting about? I assume this is about Azula, but what exactly is it that needs all that pageantry?"
"I don't think-" Toph began, then cut herself off. "We don't think it's right to put her on trial for all these things?"
Zuko sighed, long, heavy and hard. "Why not?"
It was barely a question. Toph could feel an exhaustion through him, like he was just going through a conversation he had already predicted.
"They aren't fair," Ty Lee said, "Most of these are just fighting the war! Dressing as a Kyoshi Warrior? Commanding a military unit that killed people? Tricking people by pretending to surrender?"
"She did everything she has been accused of," Zuko said, "You can't deny it."
"Well no, but-" Ty Lee began, a little uncertainly.
"There's no but, Ty Lee," Zuko said wearily. "She broke the laws of the Fire Nation in times of war. Some of the charges may be frivolous, but they are still within our laws. I can't just pretend she didn't break them."
"But she wasn't the only one," Toph said, "There's no way Sparks was the only Fire Nation commander to do things like this! It was a hundred year war, Zuzu! Everyone was doing all of these things!"
"And I'm trying to hold everyone to account, Toph." Zuko said, "And that starts with not letting people off for crimes because everyone was doing them."
"But why Azula first?" Ty Lee asked, "Surely there's people who've done worse, people who were adults when they did it?"
"Do you think I haven't been trying?" Zuko said bitterly, "The resistance to bringing any of these people to trial has been impossible. Half the judges in the Fire Nation think my father should still be ruling the country, and the other half think the Fire Nation was tragically led astray by bad leaders! If Azula is in the first few we are able to try, it means it doesn't look bad, we look like we're embracing responsibility. I don't want this, but…"
He trailed off, sounding defeated.
"But you helped her," Toph said bluntly, "You helped her kill the Avatar and take over Ba Sing Se, and your attack on the Kyoshi Warriors was way worse than hers! And Ty Lee and Mai helped her with a lot of the rest! How can you try Azula and not yourself and them? Doesn't that look irresponsible?"
Ty Lee didn't react at all, her heart beating steady in her chest, but Zuko's heart sped up a little, and the muscles in his forearms tensed as he clenched a fist. He wasn't angry, she didn't think, he was just unhappy.
"Yes," He said simply, "We were there, and we helped her, or we did worse, even! But we've all made amends, whilst Azula is still in her cell, spitting venom."
"What other options have you given her?" Toph asked hotly, "She's locked up! You can't expect her to be gracious, she's a prisoner!"
"Do you think it would make a difference?" Zuko snapped. "Do you think if Azula were free she would be trying to make amends with those she's hurt?"
"No," Toph grumbled reluctantly, "But she's still young, we're all still young. Why can't you just try adults who committed their crimes as adults? Generals and advisors, even your father! Why Azula?"
"Politics," Ty Lee said it like a dirty word, "Generals and advisors have allies."
Zuko sighed. "Yes. I've gotten the worst of my father's Generals - General Bujing, War Minister Qin and their ilk - in the preliminaries of their trials, but it has already cost me a great deal of political capital, and-"
"And Azula is easier?" Ty Lee's tone was sharp. "Azula's only got Toph and I to speak for her! There's no one in this new Fire Nation you're building who will stand up for a teenage girl being tried as an adult. On Kyoshi Island-"
Ty Lee's anger was like a physical thing; she stood like a dancer, light on her feet - it always made her a trial to spar with, and had been a nightmare when they were true enemies, but now Toph could feel the ways her pose was shifting, the clumsiness that anger and indignation brought. It was almost enough to make her miss the fire around Zuko's throne flaring up like someone had thrown a vial of blasting jelly on it.
"Alright, Ty Lee!" He almost shouted, then palpably reined himself in. "Yes. Is that what you want to hear? It is politically useful to try Azula now. She made herself the face of the fire nation! When people from the Earth Kingdom think of evil firebenders, they think of Azula. When people from here think of the people who commanded us to war, they think of Azula. They either want to make her the Fire Lord or string her up, and they either think I'm scared of her, or think I'm protecting her, and either opinion leads them to think the Fire Nation should stop trying people for what they did in the war."
Silence reigned for a moment, broken only by Zuko's breathing, hard and furious.
"So yes," He continued, exhausted, "It is political. We can't all run away to Kyoshi Island and pretend none of this is real, Ty Lee."
Ty Lee only reacted for a moment, and Toph felt the other girl palpably releasing her own tension, then shift more clearly behind her, head down.
It was as clear a signal as she was going to get.
"You can't try her," Toph said, "She's not fit for trial."
The words felt strange in her mouth - it was a solution to the problems Zuko raised, it took Azula out of view without killing her, it silenced anyone who thought he was scared of her, anyone who thought he was protecting her, and it would be good for Azula to be seen by professionals, but for all that, it tasted like betrayal.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, "Not fit for trial?"
"She…" Toph took a breath, thought about it, "She's not well. In the mind. She sees things that aren't there, hears people say things they didn't say. She can't tell what's real, not for certain, so you can't put her on trial. It's not fair!"
"What?" Zuko asked with a real sting of surprise, "How do you know? Since when?"
"When your father named her Fire Lord," Toph replied, "Or at least, that was the first time she knew. She saw your mother, just before the Agni Kai with you. She doesn't know what's real, Zuko. She isn't mentally competent to understand the charges laid against her."
She had thought about this a lot since Azula told her - it had been the first time Azula had known it wasn't real, because it had been her mother, who was missing. But Azula didn't always know that a hallucination wasn't real - she had thought Toph had visited at times when she hadn't, and hadn't seemed to be surprised when she found out she hadn't, not really. She could've been hallucinating for some time before, and no one would've noticed, necessarily.
"Is that so?" Zuko's voice had a coil of suspicion through it. "Did she tell you that?"
"I found out," Toph said coolly, "She didn't want me to know. She would rather go to trial with everyone thinking she did it all on purpose than have people know that she isn't mentally competent, that some of what she did, she might not have even known she was doing it!"
"Toph," Zuko sounded disappointed, "Azula always lies. She made you think she was crazy, like she's made Ty Lee think she's sorry, or used to make me think she cares. She's letting you think she didn't want you to tell me because it makes it more convincing. I'm sorry, I should've paid more attention to what she was telling you."
"I can tell when she's lying!" Toph said indignantly. "I'm not a child, and she hasn't manipulated me! She wouldn't even want me to tell you this!"
"I'm sure you believe that," Zuko said, "But you don't know her like I do. I would be only too pleased to believe this is true, Toph - I don't want my baby sister to be dragged in front of a court, but it's too convenient, and I just don't believe it. Azula is as sane as we are."
He wasn't even lying, that's what brought Toph up short. Every word he said was true. He meant it all but-
"What would convince you?" She asked, bluntly, "What evidence would you need to have to believe Azula is seeing things?"
"Any reasonable evidence," Zuko said tightly, "That isn't just Azula's words dripped into the first sympathetic ear she could find."
This was a lie. Toph wondered, briefly, if he even knew it was a lie. He wanted to believe Azula wasn't in her right mind, wanted to believe there was good reason to avoid trying her, but he didn't. He didn't and he wouldn't.
"Does it matter?" Toph said quietly, after a long moment. "Does it matter if Azula is actually mentally incompetent? Does it matter if she's lying? If we believe her, she doesn't need to go to trial, doesn't need to be dragged out in front of a crowd to be sentenced by some judge who doesn't care about her. Isn't that worthy in itself?"
So what if it's corrupt, she wanted to shout. Who cares if Azula is lying? Why can't she just be saved from this because she's Zuko's sister?
"Toph," Zuko said softly, "I know you're friends with Azula, but we can't just let her get away with this. You know that. She's my sister and I love her, but that doesn't mean she didn't commit the crimes she committed, and there's no avoiding that."
It was true - he was telling the truth, she could feel that. She could also, however, feel that it was tired. 'She's my sister and I love her' was worn thin, and felt like obligation. He loved Azula because she was his sister, and you have to love family. No more or less than that.
Toph felt it like a stab wound. It was pointless, then. Setting up a meeting, telling Zuko things about Azula that she had learnt in confidence, all the time in the library with Ty Lee, and why? Zuko was never going to change his mind about this, because Azula was an obligation to him, no more or less.
"Oh." She said, "Right. I see. Well--"
She could feel her eyes prickling, getting wet with unshed tears, and she couldn't get the words out.
"We're sorry to have wasted your time," Ty Lee said smoothly, "But thank you for listening to us!"
"Right, thanks." Toph said, "I'm gonna go, uh, look up that Captain Tai Tsai, I think? Thanks anyway, Zuko."
Toph turned on her heel, pushing past Ty Lee and heading to the exit. She wiped at her eyes angrily as she stomped back towards her rooms.
veteranMortal: So! That went badly. Trying to establish the sorts of arguments Toph would make and how they would go. Hope it worked?
The Laurent: It very much was a case, and not the first and not the last, where Zuko-Toph communication kinda shuts down way too early because one or the other of them realize the other's not going to be convinced and so don't say… well, things they should probably say.
