Disclaimer: Anything or anyone you don’t recognize from the show is mine. Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nickelodeon.

A/N: I’m aware that in the show, the last we see of Ozai is in prison, but I seriously don’t think he and the other war criminals would be let off so easily by the international community.

The Final Testament of Phoenix King Ozai


Prologue: Condemned

The grand courtroom in the Fire Nation Palace of Justice was one of the most impressive in Agnishima, the Fire Nation capital. The courtroom was a vast circular chamber with the spectator area surrounding the center on three sides with the bench at the far end. The walls were painted red and paneled with gold, very much like the old throne room. Bright torches and lamps illuminated the room, and the ceiling was one large painting depicting dragons in flight under a reddish sunset. The defendant would usually have to stand on a platform in the center for the trials, but as there were many accused persons in this particular case, a sitting area was allotted to them.

For over a hundred years, alleged dissenters, traitors to the Firelord, and prisoners of war stood brief trials and were sentenced to death or life in one of the country’s many notorious prisons, having it much worse than any common criminal could dream of. After the war, it became the site of the Agnishima War Crimes Tribunals, where the major perpetrators of the war had faced justice. The most notorious of the defendants was none other than ex-Firelord Ozai himself. The Avatar had spared his life in the Battle of Wulong Forest, only removing his firebending power, but the self-proclaimed Phoenix King eventually had to answer for his crimes along with War Minister Qin, Justice Minister Takahashi, Senior General Nguyen Thanh An, and twenty other lesser known names who had a major hand in the Fire Nation’s menace. There were people who were angry that the Avatar didn't kill Ozai, but the prosecutor was certainly not. In his opening statement, the prosecutor made a point to mention that he was happy that the deposed Firelord was kept alive, because now he would face justice and the whole world would come to know of his atrocities, purging doubt from anyone's mind.

For two years, witnesses from the Three Nations gave their testimonies against the accused. Six of the witnesses included the Avatar himself, Firelord Zuko, Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Toph Bei-Fong, and Suki – who had been detained as a POW and subjected to torture, mostly at the hands of Princess Azula – and they all gave strong evidence against the accused. Azula had been declared insane by the court, thus was unfit to stand trial. It was likely that she would never recover from her mental state. Now it was finally over. The council of judges had reached a verdict that was to be read today.

Ozai could only have been described as a shadow of the once intimidating, powerful Firelord that had almost ensured the victory of the Fire Nation. The loss of his firebending had turned him into a bitter, distant man who did not seem to care what had happened to him anymore. His prison robes were filthy; his hair was a matted cloud, and his beard unkempt. Although he had pleaded not guilty, the former Firelord did nothing to provide a good case for the defense. The only time he spoke in court was in angry outbursts, claiming that he was still the Phoenix King and that they would all pay for subjecting him to this disgrace.

The guards flanked the prisoners into the courtroom with Ozai in the lead. Jeers and boos greeted the procession as they were led to their seats. Ozai shot a disgusted glare at the spectators cursing and insulting him. He then shifted his gaze around the courtroom. The defense attorney, a respectable law professor at Firelord Shinji University named Mr. Tanaka, had an unreadable expression on his face. The prosecutor, whose name Ozai would not bother to acknowledge, stood on the other side of chamber with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

The bailiff rapped his staff on the marble floor shouting, “Order! We shall have order!” The courtroom instantly fell silent. War Minister Qin shifted in his seat nervously, much to Ozai’s distaste. “All rise!” There were four judges overseeing the trials, three of them representing the Three Nations. For the Water Tribes, they had a waterbending master named Pakku; the Earth Kingdom’s judge was General Hao, and the Fire Nation’s judge was Jeong Jeong the Deserter. The presiding judge was another man from the Fire Nation; a swordsmanship master named Piandao. Once the judges took their seats at the bench, the court followed suit.

“After careful deliberations,” Piandao began, “this council has reached a verdict for every defendant standing before this tribunal. Ex-Firelord Ozai!” Ozai stood up, looking the swordsman in the eyes in defiance. He was the Phoenix King, he thought to himself angrily. “On count one, war crimes,” Piandao lifted a sheet of paper off the table, and his brow furrowed as he read off the verdict. “Namely planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression; the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, and devastation not justified by military or civilian necessity; and the maltreatment and murder of prisoners of war, the tribunal finds the defendant guilty.”

Cheers and jeers resounded throughout the courtroom at Piandao’s declaration.

CRASH

The bailiff struck the floor with his staff again. “Order, I say!”

“On count two, crimes against humanity,” Piandao announced curtly. “Namely murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts against the populations of the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom, and the persecution of Fire Nation citizens based on political and ethnic grounds, the tribunal finds the defendant guilty.” No sound came from the spectators this time. The silence that fell upon the courtroom before Piandao’s announcement only seemed heavier. “These are capital offenses; the defendant is hereby sentenced to death by hanging.”

Ozai felt as though someone had punched him in the gut. They were going to hang him? The former Firelord had known from the beginning that he would be sentenced to death, but this was the ultimate insult. “A hanging?” he growled over the cheers and the bailiff’s call for order, barely stopping himself from lunging at the judges. “You’re going to hang me like I’m some common thief?” In the Fire Nation, hanging was considered the lowest and most dishonorable method of execution. It was applied only to common criminals within the Fire Nation itself. Most prisoners of war and traitors were executed by a firebending squad or were beheaded, but never hanged. It was sickening that they would do this to him, especially considering that he was once royalty.

“If you think you deserve a soldier’s death, Ozai,” Jeong Jeong replied, shaking his head and glaring at the defendant. “You are much mistaken. Take your seat.” Ozai sat down heavily, seething with rage.

“War Minister Sun Qin,” Piandao began, but Ozai was barely listening. So this was how his story was supposed to end, he thought. Standing in front of a crowd of peasants being hanged like a worthless dog. It was an outrage, a scandal, and there was nothing he could do about it. The deposed Firelord just sat there listening to Piandao reading off the verdicts. War Minister Qin, Justice Minister Takahashi, Senior General Nguyen, and a dozen others were to be hanged as well. Out of the five others to be convicted, two were sentenced to life imprisonment, one was sentenced to twenty-five years, another to fifteen years, and the last to ten years. The remaining three were acquitted.

“Death sentences will be carried out in thirty days and prison sentences begin immediately in the Boiling Rock. This tribunal is adjourned.”
__________________________________________________ ___________

The Fire Nation had specially designed facilities for people awaiting execution. These were not even referred to as prisons, but as “execution centers”, and their inmates were simply called the condemned rather than prisoners. Ozai and the others condemned in the Agnishima Tribunals were brought to the execution center on the outskirts of the city.

The inmates were handed over to the guards unceremoniously and were lined up against the wall of the building. The doors swung open, and a high-ranking officer, probably the warden, marched out and paced the gravel ground in front of the inmates. “I won’t waste time with words,” he said shortly. “You have all been brought here because you have been sentenced to death. You’d all just be on your best behavior during your remaining days, and your time here will be easy. However, if you cause any trouble, disciplinary action will be taken.” He stopped his pacing and faced the inmates, but Ozai knew that the warden was looking at him in particular. “Either way, it doesn’t really matter in the end, but I suggest you behave. Guards, take the condemned to their cells.”

Placing the convicts into the cells had taken less than an hour, and Ozai surveyed what would be his final accommodations. The cells here were larger than what they were in regular prisons, and they were private. The cell was virtually empty, save for a mattress in the corner and a chamber pot. The steel door had only a small window. Sighing heavily at his situation, Ozai paced his cell for a while. If he was to be here for a month before his execution, then he might as well do something to make the time pass a little more quickly.

The former Firelord made his way over to the cell door, looking out the window into the corridor. “Guard!” he called. Almost immediately, footsteps could be heard. A young guard’s face appeared at the other side of the window.

“What is it?”

“I have a request,” said Ozai disdainfully. “I would like a brush, some ink, and a pack of papers.” The guard arched his eyebrows then nodded wordlessly. It took a while for the guard to return, and the former Firelord expected this, so he sat against the wall doing the one thing a bored prisoner can do; think. Even now, historians would be rushing to write about his downfall at the Avatar’s hands. Ozai was not the first Firelord to have been deposed, there were two before him hundreds of years ago who probably sat in a cell very much like this one, recounting their lives to the emptiness of their accommodations. However, Ozai wanted to put his story on paper and have it published to Fire Nation historians. The world needed to know the story of the man behind the monster.

Soon the guard slid the papers, ink, and brush through the food slot and Ozai rushed to collect the items. Dipping the brush in the ink, he set one sheet of paper on the floor close to him and began to write:

I don’t know who will read this, or if it will even be released to the public, but I don’t care. I feel that my story must be told, and before I die, it must be put on paper. This will be the last and only autobiography I’ll ever write. My name is Ozai, the Phoenix King, and this is my final testament.