Hi everyone! This is the last chapter I'm posting before going on holiday. I'll be in China for three weeks (I'm so excited!), so I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted. If I won't have any time to write then probably in four weeks. Anyway, enjoy the next chapter!

Please review!

I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender, nor its characters.


Chapter Eight

Zuko frowned at Katara, clearly not liking how she had insulted his father, but he actually took his chance, and didn't argue further. "Alright. So, yeah, my father thinks the probability of being elected is higher if he gets support from the lower class. But he won't get it, if not someone of their class will show them that they should vote for him. And a lot of people still hold prejudices against my family, so he also wants to show that we have nothing against southerners or mountainers. A romance between rich and uhm, well, not rich, is always what people like. So he told me I should quickly find a girl which met his descriptions. He actually gave me a list. So, and the only one I found was you, but I don't want to pretend to be interested in someone, and I think feelings would just make it even worse, since this would only be for his election, so Jet had the idea that I could just pay a girl to play my girlfriend. We would have to go out, showing ourselves and maybe come along a few times with my father to some events, but otherwise nothing would change. And I'll pay you. Just name your price and I'll pay it. But Katara, please, consider to say yes. You're my only chance at this," he pleaded, his eyes wider than usual, but this time she did not find him cute at all. Not because of what he had said or because she began to consider him an idiot again, but because nothing about Zuko's face was actually cute.

Her mouth was twisted and one eyebrow raised. If it weren't for this stupid election she would probably say yes. Zuko was rich, at least his father, and she was sure she could get him to pay her a higher monthly salary than she had ever had.

"Look, I don't think you're bad or anything, but I really don't want your father to win the election."

Zuko raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

She scoffed. Wasn't this obvious? "Well, he's not the right person for it. What does he know of the feelings and desires of normal people? Twenty thousand dollars are to him like twenty and he wants you to use someone to make him win! I know nothing of him that would make him a good president!"

Zuko's nostrils flared and he began to look angry. "That's not true! You're just prejudiced against him! You think just because of our ancestors and because we're part of the upper class of the society we are all evil and cold hearted, don't you?"

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Well, yeah, this was exactly what she had been thinking. The rich just didn't know her world, and how life was for people like her.

Looking extremely pissed Zuko averted his gaze.

She took that as a definite sign and hurried to drink her hot chocolate. When it was empty she began to stand.

"Wait! What if you meet him? You can see that he's not at all how you have been thinking!" Zuko suddenly spoke up.

She froze for a moment, actually thinking this through, but no, she would not ever do that! She wasn't that desperate! There were tons of, millions of jobs she could still get! Letting herself get paid by Kasaishi Zuko was something her pride did not allow.

"No, thank you. I am not interested."

oOo

Katara had left Zuko in a desperate and angry state.

She had been his only hope, but he didn't want to give up. He knew he must satisfy his father. He must do what his father had told him to. He didn't want to think about the possible consequences.

There was no one else but Katara. What could he do to make her agree?

He had been thinking about this for days, avoiding his father's phone calls and pretending to be sick on Sunday for family lunch. Ursa had come by in the afternoon to check on him, so he had had to play ill, while Jet had laughed silently at him.

Jet didn't have an idea either, and he doubted he could convince Katara into this. But then again Jet mostly shrugged about this, as if it would still be okay, if Zuko failed. At times like this Zuko wished his friend knew a bit more about his father than he did, but Zuko had never told anyone what had happened all those years ago. Only his father, Shi Yu, and himself knew about this. He suspected his uncle to know it, too, since he had been so insistent about keeping him from the capital, but no one else had ever seen his back.

If his father wouldn't win the election, then it would be his fault. And he cringed at the thought of what could happen then. Ice began to form in his organs, and sweat broke on his forehead, whenever he thought of this. Which was quite often.

Zuko still went through a few documents for the company, when one name seemed to light up on the paper. Supaki Nensho.

Zuko blinked, and an idea popped into his head. Yeah, Supaki Nensho was the person who could help him.

He rummaged through his wardrobe, searching for his secret saving box. He took everything out, spreading the bills on his bed, and searching for envelopes. He thought for a moment, and then separated his savings into two thousands, five thousands, and ten thousands, putting them in the envelopes. He wrote the sum on them, quickly gathered his wallet, mobile phone, and keys, took the envelopes and left the apartment in a rush, still putting the envelopes in his bag.

"Hey Zuko, where you going?" Jet called from the sofa.

Zuko stopped and stared at the door. "I... quickly want to get... a burger."

"Oh, I'll come with you!"

"No!"

He was met with silence and cringed. Dammit. Not daring to move he listened to Jet's movements. He stood directly behind him, when he spoke again.

"Where are you really going?" His voice sounded stern, which made it much deeper than it usually was.

"I'm visiting someone. He might be able to help with... this girlfriend matter," he reluctantly told his friend.

"What?"

Hearing the confusion in Jet's tone Zuko turned around to face him. The light from the living room lighted Jet's hair, his face remained in the darkness of the hallway, but Zuko could see his frown just clearly.

"I thought you were done with this. It didn't work, so why are you still trying?"

Zuko felt trapped, moving his jaw and thinking hardly, what he should and could say. "I won't fail, Jet. Father told me what to do, and I'm going to do it." He suddenly saw a solution, and narrowed his eyes. "Do you have a problem with this?"

Jet's face contorted even deeper. "Yeah, I actually do. Who are you trying to prove something to? You already tried, and it didn't work, so you could put an end to this. The world won't end just because you don't find a southern or mountain girl."

Swallowing his fear down, he put a deep scowl on his face. "You know what? I think you're just jealous because it would be Katara."

Jet looked like he'd been slapped. "I wouldn't be! I was the one who told you to try it with her, and it's not my fault it didn't work!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Zuko said dryly and opened the apartment door.

"Oh, just piss off, Zuko!" Jet growled.

Ignoring the pain his best friend's anger inflicted on him, he smirked. "Seems like I've hit a nerve, haven't I?" Then he stepped outside and quickly shut the door behind him. He hated not having the last word.

After driving for fourty minutes Zuko parked at the roadside, and marched to the large brick stone house, which was painted in black.

The door and window frames looked as if wood worms had been attacking them, all splintered. The paint on the walls was breaking off, and the glass of the windows was as dirty as if no one had been living in there for decades.

Everything in Zuko rebelled heavily against going into such a house, but he had to. Taking a deep breath he pushed the bell for 'Nensho'.

He waited a few seconds, until a gruff voice barked "What? Who's this?"

Zuko swallowed again, but he would not show his fear, not let them hear it. "I am Kasaishi Zuko. I wish to speak to Supaki."

The voice laughed roughly. "Kasaishi Zuko? Yeah, and I am Emperor Sozin!"

Zuko felt his anger rise quickly and leaned forward to the interphone. "Come down, and I'll prove it, you trash!"

"Who the fuck you calling trash, asshole?!"

"Supaki knows me, so why won't you let me in?"

"Supaki is busy at the moment."

The anger twisted in him, forming knots in his belly. "Let me in, and I'll wait!"

"What do you want from him?"

Zuko was close to screaming in rage and kicking at the house wall. He felt the urge to destroy this place, and he wanted to see it burn. Blinking, he quickly wiped these images away. He took a few breaths to calm himself, knowing it was better to act on his anger in the gym.

"I want him to do something for me," he hissed.

"Ah, why didn't you say that earlier?" The voice chuckled, kind of hysterical and high pitched, which reminded Zuko of a hyena's laugh. Not that he had heard one before, he was thinking about the hyenas from The Lion King.

The door buzzed, and he opened it, stepping into the dark and smelly staircase. He rather searched his way up in the dark than to touch around for a light switch.

"Third floor, Kasaishi Zuko!", the same voice called down to him, sounding sarcastic while saying his name and laughing like a hyena again.

It became lighter when Zuko reached the first floor, and he took the next steps more quickly.

The person meeting him at the door in the third floor was a tall and thin man with a goatee, combed back brown hair and a small face on a comparatively large head. He only wore jeans and an undershirt, not even shoes. His arms were full of hair, as well as his chest which tangled itself with the three gold chains he wore.

His eyebrows raised, when he saw Zuko. "Oohh, you actually could be Kasaishi Zuko. You got that rich look, and you do resemble Kasaishi Ozai."

Zuko forced all his willpower and strength into his face, knowing that from now on he would have to seem controlled, in power, cool, and not intimidated. He had to seem intimidating. He kept his face mostly impassionate, while a bit irritated, too.

"And who are you?" Zuko demanded, stopping at the last step.

"My name is Wei."

Zuko's left eyebrow raised slightly. Right. That was obviously not his name.

"Please come in." Wei made an inviting hand gesture, and Zuko nodded, stepping forward.

The inside of the apartment didn't look as bad as the house itself. The brick stone walls were all left natural, and everything had kind of an industrial loft style.

He looked around, finding that he would like to live in here, too. It was way manlier than the furniture Jet had chosen.

"So how long will Supaki be busy?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

Wei led him to the sofa and took a seat in a large leather armchair. He crossed his legs. "He'll be finished soon."

Zuko nodded again, trying not to let his discomfort show.

"You want something to drink?" Wei asked with all that amused uncaringness only the hardened, but humorous assistant of a criminal could.

"Yeah, thanks." Maybe it would calm him down somehow.

Wei stood up, walking over the carpet and to the kitchen isle which looked more like a bar. "Whiskey? Vodka? Or just a beer?"

Zuko frowned. He didn't want alcohol. He needed to drive later, and he couldn't let his senses become washy with what he was going to do.

"A tea, please."

Wei almost lost his jaw then. "Tea? Are you kidding me?"

Zuko scrunched his nose and glared at him. "No, why would I?" he growled.

Wei lifted his hands and put water in the boiler. "I'm a genius at mixing a drink, but I'm not good at all with tea, I have to say." He looked through some cardboards. "And I'm afraid everything we have is black, chai, and Christmas dream."

"I'll take the black," Zuko replied, and let his gaze wander about the room. It looked so different than what he had imagined Supaki's apartment to be like. He had to remember a few things, so that he could replace some of the furniture Jet had liked.

A loud thump caused Zuko's attention. He straightened itself and heard the rhythmic thump, as if someone would bang metal against wood. It became louder the closer it got, until the muscular giant with the shaped head and three-day beard came into view. On his forehead was a tattoo of an eye. The thumping he had heard came from the artificial leg made of metal, which Zuko tried not to look at.

He hummed deeply, while he looked Zuko up and down.

Zuko quickly stood, trying to be not confused by the fact Supaki was only wearing a gown. In a light pink colour with flowers on it.

"Supaki Nensho. I am Kasaishi Zuko and there is something you need to do for me. I want you to keep someone from finding a job."

Supaki raised his chin.

"I'll pay you two thousand Yuan for this," Zuko continued.

Wei started to snicker again. "What, you think Nensho's an aid agency?"

"Three," Zuko relented.

"Fifteen," Wei argued, and Zuko's head snapped in his direction. Why was he doing the dealing and not Supaki?

"Five."

"Thirteen."

"Six."

"Twelve."

"Seven."

"For the gods' sake, nine thousand!"

Zuko took his time to answer, but after a moment he nodded. He turned around to Supaki again and searched through Jet's chat on his mobile phone, finding a good picture of Katara. He held it up for Supaki. "This is Katara Qinu. She's from the south. I came here, because I heard you were the best. Can you prevent her from finding any sort of job in the next two months?" That was the only time he would give Katara. More than that and then, well, he would have to live through his father's wrath.

Supaki nodded, his facial expression not changing at all.

"Good. Don't tell anyone about this. Especially not my father. Make sure she won't find a job. Wherever she'll ask, whoever she's going to talk to, she will not get appointed."


Wei is an OC, but I hope you all noticed that Supaki Nensho is Sparky Sparky Boom Man/Combustion Man. 'Nensho' means 'combustion' according to Google translator, and according to some website 'Supaki' means 'sparky'. I kind of wanted to mix those nicknames, because I thought translating 'man' wouldn't be so cool.

I know it's not the same, totally different environment and other dialogue, but this is this AU's version of Zuko asking Sparky Sparky Boom Man/Combustion Man to kill Aang, which, of course, doesn't happen here.

I also know that it is really shitty of Zuko to do something like that, but let's not forget that he is still his daddy's boy, and in his evolution kind of in book one or the beginning of book three. The only difference is that he's a bit nicer, which is probably because he had more contact to other people his age. But he's still totally under Ozai's influence, so he would do anything to make his father happy.

I hope you liked the chapter anyway, I know it's a bit short...

Answers to reviews:

To BumiCat: Thanks a lot! This would have been pretty embarrassing. It was actually pretty embarrassing, but I was really tired, and the document was called 'Chapter Seven', and I just didn't get it was from a different story. So, thanks again!

To Smckoy929: Here it was! It wasn't really easy writing what Zuko said, since I had to explain everything, but make it embarrassed-Zuko-ish. But I think if he is really sincere about something he can explain stuff without stuttering...

To IDidn'tSignUpForThis: Great! I hope they worked for this chapter, too. He, sorry. Things kind of did fall apart. I just noticed that Katara would never ever agree to this just like this. She needs more pressure, and a really good reason. If Zuko was now a really good friend, she'd probably do it, but in this situation I fugured she'd need more convincing.

To uchihaNaruto247: Yeah, to me, too. I actually wanted this to happen a lot earlier, but then all those other characters wanted an appearance, too, and Zuko wasn't sure enough about it... Well, I hope it was okay and more realistic with him waiting.