Budget Gone Astray

What in Agni's name where they going to do?

Kazu Chang, the Fire Lord's personal assistant could only stare at the documents in front of her. How was she going to present this to the Fire Lord? The results were dismal. Hell, one of their finest admirals had died. Died! Ozai was not going to be happy about this…oh Agni, he was not going to be happy.

Agni…and to think that his son, Taru…or something…Zuko, was still out there, searching for the damned Avatar. Kazu wanted to reach across the Sea and shake some sense into the child. "You're father's using you. Escape while you can!" She knew all of his inward secrets—the Fire Lord's—or at least a good few of them. The perks gained from being his assistant. Ha! Kazu rubbed her temples. She didn't even want this job. She was handpicked among many because she had "talent." Which roughly translated meant that Ozai wanted to sleep with her. Luckily, she hadn't stooped that low to accept to such an offer. What was he…forty-five? She didn't give two fucks that he was the Fire Lord. Dammit, there was still a thing called dignity.

A knock on the door shot Kazu into the real world. She dropped her quill and turned in her chair. "Come in!" she called. The door opened, revealing a teenage boy no older than fifteen. He had been captured by the Fire Nation in an Earth Nation attack, and now he was a slave. There was another person like that here…what was his name…he was Water Tribe though, that much she knew.

"Haru, what do you want?" Kazu asked. The earthbender handed her another scroll. It held the symbol of the Fire Nation's Treasury. "Is this the statement?" Haru nodded. Poor kid…fifteen, snatched from home and forced to push papers and send messages. She could only hope that the sex-driven "maidens" of the Council of Education hadn't found him. That was something no one should endure. "That all?"

"Yes, m'lady," he said, bowing. The young earthbender retreated in the dark shadows of the Palace halls. Kazu opened the statement with trembling hands. What she saw amazed her…in a bad way.

The Fire Nation was on a one-way ticket to bankruptcy.

"Oh, shit," Kazu said. Adding this to the problems at the North and the increasing rebels in the East made her migraine throb more.

"The Fire Lord is ready to hear from you," a soldier stated. Kazu sighed, picking up the documents, and walking out the door. She walked down a long corridor into a small room. Of course, this wasn't the Throne Room. It wasn't even a very important room—just a room. Flames licked the air. The temperature of the room was deathly warm, but Kazu knew better to complain.

She walked to the fireplace and bowed. "You have called me, Fire Lord Ozai?"

The fire shuddered and a figure of a man's face appeared. It was Ozai.

"Kazu. Good news from the North, I presume?" She sighed.

"I'm afraid not sir. The Water Tribe won the battle. Zhou is dead." She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, preparing herself the burning inferno that would be Ozai's anger. Nothing came.

"Zhou is dead? Well, that's too bad. And the boy?"

"He's still alive sir."

"WHAT?" The fireplace erupted with Ozai's anger. Kazu shrunk in fear. She raised her arm over her eyes, protecting them from the flames. This was the last thing she expected Ozai to become upset about. "That little cockroach! Doesn't he know when to stop?"

"With all due respect, sir, he's your son!"

"He's no son of mine!" Ozai roared. His eyes narrowed and the flames began to lower. Kazu lowered her arm. "Do you have the quarter statement?" Kazu nodded and took the scroll from her pocket. "Well, go on! Read it." Kazu cleared her throat, trying to stop it from closing on her.

"According to this document, recorded by the Fire Nation Treasury on the fourth day of the sixth month—"

"Get to the facts, woman!" Ozai demanded.

"Yes, m'lord." She cleared her throat once more. "We're…over budget."

"How much so?"

"Thousands of suris are being used to provide for the troops in the Earth Division. 16.3 thousand suris to be exact. 34 hundred suris are being used to fund for the Avatar search. 56 hundred suris was used for the failed Northern siege—"

"Stop," Ozai said.

"Sir, there's more. We're about to face an economic downfall. With all the money pumped into the war, there's hardly any left for the people—" Desperation caught in her voice.

"I said stop," Ozai said. Kazu stopped and rolled the scroll. "What do you think we should do, Kazu? To rid ourselves of economic burden?" Kazu paused. She wanted to cut the funds for the war and give back to the people. She wanted to run campaigns to get people to join the army—the numbers were below dismal this year. She wanted so much for the people of the Fire Nation…but she knew what Ozai wanted.

"We should eliminate the search for the Avatar…permanently," she said. She could feel hot tears well up in her throat. There was one thing to say about Zuko—at least as much as she knew. Although he was hot tempered, he was a good kid. He didn't deserve to die this young. How old was he anyway…Agni, he was only 16 years…due for 17 in a couple of months. She hated this, but there was nothing she could do.

"Very good, Kazu. Very good. Now, take this…" A spark radiated through the room, and a parchment with a detailed assassination plan of Zuko. She trembled beneath the parchment, not wanting to show this to the Generals. "You will show this to the Generals and tell them to take this out immediately."

"Yes m'lord," Kazu said, bowing. "Is that all?"

"Yes. For now. You may leave, Kazu Chang." Kazu bowed once more and practically sprinted outside the chamber. She ducked inside her quarters and looked at the parchment…the plan. It was tactical and brutal. They were going to have a trial and everything. Zuko was going to be killed by his father's hand.

And there was nothing that Kazu could do about it. If the Fire Lord wished it, the Fire Lord received it.

"Almost like having a three year old run your country right smack into the ground," Kazu said to herself. She was needed at the Council of War soon to give the briefing. Kazu dressed in her ceremonial robes and gathered her things. She put out the fire manually, not being graced with firebending skills, and traveled out the door.

bandgeek's music corner

Wow! 8 more reviews! You guys kick complete and total ass, you know?

God…it's actually a short chapter. I kind of have mixed feelings about it. I kind of lost my style a bit there due to late-night runs at devientART. Do you know how cool the avatar fanart is there? omg! I'm so jealous! So, if it sounds a bit off, that's why.

Let's see…any questions to answer? Yes there are!

gothic-ember: Yes, this is a Zutara fic. It's just going to take until about chapter seven for the romance part to get there. Right now, I'm setting up the story so the romance can actually take place.

Zachana16: You hope it works out soon? Oo Honey, I'm just warming up! These characters are gonna go through hell and back just cause…I said so!

All right, you know what to do and when to do it!

7 reviews and if you're lucky, I'll finish chapter 3 and post it.

BTW! Just a heads up. Xmas break is almost over, and that means back to school. -- And my smallbore seaon starts soon + work, so I'm gonna be kind of busy. So if updates are a bit more...spread out, it's cause I've got a lot going on. TTFN!

Kai :)