The Legend of Zuzu
by: Iroh's Tea Shoppe Girls
Disclaimer: We don't known Avatar: The Last Airbender, it owns us.
Before Sozen, there was Sozen's father, a thin man named Zuzu. Zuzu had all the trappings of a rather privileged young man, he had a university education, traveled extensively, and he had never known want of money.
It was a surprise to no one when the young man was appointed to an administrative position to prepare him for his position one day as Fire Lord. He was in charge of agriculture for the whole Fire Nation. Unfortunately, he didn't know the first thing about farming. He had bribed the teachers on that subject, and so he had good marks in it.
As luck would have it, the first year at the post there were record rainfalls, the harvests for that year were huge. Zuzu received much praise, and in a public speech he announced that next years harvest would be double, that no one in the Fire Nation would ever want for food again.
The Fire Lord was impressed with his son. Not only did it seem as if the young man was finally taking his life seriously, but he also produced an heir, a son named Sozen. Previously he had had his doubts about the boy. Zuzu was unable to master firebending, and was a poor student in his earlier years. The Fire Lord was finally able to think that his son would be alright.
The next year the rainfall was less. Zuzu decided to promote unconventional farming methods, in order to bulk up the harvest. Farmers at first resisted, but when push came to shove, they complied. Zuzu's instructions cost them half the crop they would've had. Instead of no one ever wanting for food, everyone went hungry that winter. To stave off the disaster the Fire Lord bought food from the Earth Kingdom.
The Fire Nation treasury went bankrupt. The Fire Lord was not pleased with his son. Zuzu turned around and blamed the farmers, accusing them of sabotaging their own livelihood out of jealousy. He tried to bribe the experts that the Fire Lord consulted with, but none of them would have it. When the Fire Lord found out that the disastrous crop was due to his son's incompetence, he made Sozen his heir.