Soft rain fell through the skies when a scarred young man entered the restaurant. He got one of his favourite tables near the back, close but not next to a window that had a wide view over the street next to the entrance.
While he ordered food an office clerk ran down the streets of Caldera city, looking for the Fire Lord.
The meetings had concluded but someone must have intentionally misinformed the council of a few key numbers. Not anything that would make a lot of difference on the whole, but the clerks had been copying the transcripts and Jianguo had found it. If he was quick about it the motion wouldn't pass automatically before the next council meeting, which made it a time sensitive matter that only the Fire Lord could do anything about. The Fire Lord who was currently missing.
None of the guards seemed to know where he was last seen, which made the internal affairs of the palace both tense and panicked, since they had thought the Fire Lord was simply in the gardens. Not an unusual relaxing activity for the young ruler.
Luckily Jianguo had contacts. He wasn't trying to keep his lead to himself, but it was a rather stressful moment and guards were running around in a panicked frenzy and no one really noticed when he just ran out of the palace to the one place his good friend in the kitchens had mentioned the Fire Lord liked to eat sometimes. It was all very hush hush and he wouldn't want to lead the guards in the wrong direction anyways. They had their routine searches to attend to.
He stopped at the threshold of the restaurant and tried to catch his breath. The Hostess at the entrance asked if she could help him with anything, to which he simply said he was looking for someone.
"Do you mind if I try to find my… friend?" he asked carefully. If the public knew the Fire Lord was missing it would start up a lot of unwanted rumours. Maybe mass hysteria. But mostly paperwork, which was every clerk's one true enemy.
The Hostess gave him a look and he decided to even out his breath for a moment. He seemed to pass her quiet judgement and she gestured to the open door. "Of course." She said politely.
He entered the room and walked along the edges hurriedly, trying to spot the Fire Lord. Some people gave him the side-eye as if he was disturbing them, which was very possible. He was breathing rather loudly after running through the streets.
"Clerk Jianguo, are you looking for someone." A voice interrupted his erratic thoughts. The young man sitting a few tables away waved his hand slightly in greeting.
Jianguo would have hardly recognized the Fire Lord if it weren't for the large scar that adorned his face. With his hair down he looked a lot less imposing and regal, but his golden eyes gave him no such impression.
"My Lord!" he exclaimed with relief and gave an exaggerated low bow that lasted a couple seconds longer than was regular. "You know my name?"
"Of course I do." Said Fire Lord Zuko slightly affronted. "We may not have spoken often but we work together regularly."
Jianguo felt both flustered and stressed and bowed again. Then he remembered the hurry with which he had rushed there.
"I was looking for you, actually, my Lord! I'm deeply sorry for disturbing you. There was a clerical error on the tax reform." He said, earnest. "I had to find you quickly."
The discussion was interrupted by Daizan who was balancing a tray on his arm.
"Oh, I didn't know you had company. Did your friend want to order as well?" he asked while placing the dishes on the table. There was a variety of vegetables in various sauces and combinations, three types of dumplings, and a side dish of rice topped with a sesame spice mix.
"You might as well. Are you hungry?" the Fire Lord asked him and Jianguo thought he might faint.
"I wouldn't want to impose." He replied nervously as if he wasn't already doing that.
"It's no matter, we seem to have a lot to discuss."
"It's ok really."
"Are you hungry?" the Fire Lord repeated in a more matter of fact tone that couldn't be ignored. "I'm pretty sure you must be due to the fact we have been in meetings for nine hours and have not had time for breaks."
Jianguo nodded carefully in agreement after the fool proof argument. Also because one doesn't really say no to the Fire Lord. It wasn't done. Unless you were a noble of course.
"Another plate then, please." The Fire Lord ordered from the waiter who nodded and walked away as if this was a normal occurrence. Like serving the Fire Lord was no big deal. Maybe he didn't know what a great honour it was.
Jianguo was in a bit of a daze due to the surreal situation but he soon found his trail of thoughts then the Fire Lord expectantly said "Well? What about the taxes?"
"The numbers don't match between the initial submitted paperwork and the ones filed from today's meeting. We were copying them for the official register when I noticed an inconsistency. Somehow the tax that needs to be collected from the provinces is lower on the forms than the original paperwork, but the taxes collected succeed the numbers that were originally agreed upon. Tax fraud, my Lord, if this motion is passed."
"Which means there would be a surplus of collected taxes in the provinces, while they would not actually pay their dues." The Fire Lord calmly took a bite of his food.
"Exactly!"
"Have you told anyone about this?" he asked.
"Not yet, my lord, I-"
"Great! Then I still have time to hit them where it hurts."
Jianguo didn't know how to react to this.
"I already have a plan in motion, but it needs to be secret for a little while longer. I was originally planning on bringing it up during today's meeting but, well, time ran out. If I do this right they'll have to pay back their taxes from the past seven years. Apparently my father wasn't all too interested in reading the fine print, or he knowingly enabled this behaviour. It will be dealt with."
Just then Daizan was back with tray number two and happily placed down the dishes in front of the clerk. "Alright, there you go! Hope you enjoy."
The steaming food looked and smelled absolutely amazing, and Jianguo happily dug in.
"So it's all right?" he asked for clarification.
Fire Lord Zuko thought about it before he answered. "It will be. Maybe we can use the extra money to fund the reforms that they've been avoiding for the past two years. Insufficient funds will not be the issue at least."
They talked some more about the meetings and the possible reforms as the time went by. The transcribers and clerks had to have really high education to be allowed to work as government officials, so he followed the arguments with ease. Fire Lord Zuko wasn't as scary as he seemed in meetings, but then again, Jianguo wasn't objecting to every idea or screaming at him, so that might be why. He was actually really nice. Especially to the servers and staff in the restaurant, which struck him as a bit odd. Maybe he'd been around nobles for too long if he just expected every person to be an entitled ass. Or maybe the rumours about the Fire Lord's time in Ba Sing See had more truth to them than people liked to think. They were neither confirmed nor outright denied, but the mystery of it encouraged some gossip nonetheless.
After the better part of an hour hey were finished, so Jianguo and the Fire Lord stood to leave when he put down a sizeable amount of coins on the table, more than a 50% tip, if his eyes didn't deceive him, but he hadn't actually read the menu or seen the prices, so maybe it was normal for this restaurant.
"Oh I can pay for myself." Jianguo declined "there's no need."
"It's no problem. You have my gratitude for bringing your concerns to me, and paying for dinner is the least I can do for inconveniencing your afternoon."
Although Jianguo felt like he knew the Fire Lord better than about an hour ago he still didn't quite have the courage to argue with him about this. Instead he accepted and found a newfound respect instead.
At the door they said goodbye to the Hostess as well, and then they were off back to the palace. On the palace steps the commander of the imperial guards waited for them.
"Had fun, my lord?" she asked irritated.
"As always, Commander." The Fire Lord answered with a grin.