To Pass A Law ||Zukka Fanfic||

Chapter 5: Almost

Zuko's POV

I was getting ready for my meetings, the ones I dreaded all day and my stupid hair isn't cooperating! I took my hair brush and chunked to the side punching fire from my fists. "Woah, you need to take it easy there hotman." Sokka said entering my room, "Sorry," I replied. "So what's wrong?" "Everything." I mumbled, "I just hate going to these meetings. It's just filled with negativity and decisions for me to mess up! The generals don't respect me like they did my father but at the same time I know that I have all the power. The anger I feel in these stupid meetings reminds me so much about my past, in fact the whole meeting reminds me of how I got my scar. Everyone expects me to have the perfect solution, yet regardless of what I do someone is going to get upset. How on earth can I lead my nation when no one in the higher positions respects me and I can't even do my own hair?!" Sokka moved closer to me and placed his hand on my back. "Yeah that rough buddy," I started smiling and Sokka began to chuckle. He then walked over to the hair brush, picked it up and walked back to me. "Don't move," He ordered. Sokka began to do my hair and I felt more at ease, I like feeling his fingers in my hair. He had a really focused face while combing my hair which made his eyes and jaw sharper. "Elastic," I handed him the elastic. He tied all my hair up into a top knot, one slightly bigger than the one I had during my coronation. "Crown," I handed him the crown and he gently added it into my top knot. "All done!" Sokka exclaimed. "Thank you Sokka." I said turning to face him. "No problem." I really, really don't want to go. "You are going to do great Zuko, and thankfully you guys aren't discussing anything major today." I smiled weakly at him. "Would it be at all possible for me to join you at the meeting, I wouldn't say anything of course but could that be a possibility?" "I guess if you got permission from the Fire Lord then you could I suppose, why do you ask?" "Well you seem really stressed out about this meeting and I don't know, I guess it's a bad idea but I thought that it might help if you had a friend there with you." "You would do that for me?" "Of course Zuko! It's not like I have anything planned for the rest of the day." I nodded at him. Sokka then grabbed my hand and together we walked out of my room to the meeting.

When we got there Sokka got a bunch of dirty looks from the generals. "Why is he here?" General Huang of Tyoto asked. "Because I want him here." "Why?" "Because I'm the Fire Lord and I don't need to explain myself to you!" I defensively shot back a little too loud. The room suddenly went quiet and everyone was now staring at Sokka and I. I started to sweat, which is stupid considering that I'm the Fire Lord therefore I should be able to do whatever I want without getting nervous. However with the stares across the room I felt like I was going to have to give an explanation, and lying is definitely not my strong suit. "I am most likely going to be the next Chief of the Southern Watertribe, so we thought that it would be beneficial that I see first hand how other nations respond to conflict." Sokka replied smoothly in a much calmer tone. The general huffed and went back to his seat. "Thank you," I mumbled, "No problem." We then took our seats and the meeting began. Majority of the meeting was pretty boring, it was just filled with update dates from each sector of the Fire Nation as well as updates from the former colonies about how Fire Nation descendants are responding to the Harmony Restoration Movement. Then we got to the Hirma-Tyoto conflict and that's where things got heated. "The village of Tyoto is ready to go to war with the town Hirma. Tyoto has already laid a minor siege on Hirma demanding the debt owed. They also banished every male with Hirmanese ties resulting in many families being separated." General Shi explained, "I advise that you Fire Lord Zuko override the Governor of Tyoto in this matter." "Absolutely not! Hirma has caused nothing but trouble for the people of Tyoto and the trading relations are always one sided. I say you get rid of the governor of Hirma and make them repay their debt!" General Huang said, "Are you crazy?!" General Shi responded. The generals all began to argue and I could feel my whole body becoming more tense. Sokka reached out and placed his hand on my thigh underneath the table. I relaxed a little and shot Sokka a small smile before turning to the argumentative generals. "Enough! Stop making decisions for me and provide me with some evidence of this civil conflict." I ordered the generals. They explained the conflict more which all started from a trading agreement. "Hirma Governor signed a huge trading contract with Tyoto to help them with a major construction project, however half way through the government of Hirma ran out of gold pieces and canceled the project. They needed the money to go to healthcare instead, because almost all of their healthcare workers were on strike and innocent civilians were dying as a result." General Shi explained. "However because Tyoto took this deal with Hirma, they canceled all other trading opportunities with other places. But since Hirma can no longer pay Tyoto now, Tyoto is going bankrupt." General Huang added. "I say that we force Tyoto lay down on the siege and we will pay for the rest of the project. This way Tyoto gets paid and Hirma can fix their helthcare situation at the same time," I said. "We can't do that. The Fire Nation government doesn't have enough money to provide for the costs that Tyoto wants due to the Harmony Restoration Movement construction project you signed off two weeks ago." General Shi remarked. "We just need Hirma to pay the fees they owe and then help them afterwards." General Huang said, "That won't work." The generals all began to start arguing again. I slammed my fist on the table hoping to get their attention. "Can you guys please stop arguing! I am the Fire Lord and I'm the one making the decisions, not you!" "You are too young and inexperienced to make these kinds of economic decisions," General Huang spat. "What did you just say to me?! I am your Fire Lord, you will respect me!" I tried yelling over them but it wasn't working. Sokka then moved his hand off of my thigh to hold my hand. "See what I mean," I mumbled to him. I honestly wanted to cry, nothing was working. "Zuko you are doing your best and that general needs to learn his place. Can I suggest something?" Sokka asked. I nodded tilting my head down. He then squeezed my hand before letting go and jumped up onto the table. "Everyone shut up! How dare you speak to your Fire Lord this way!" Sokka screamed and everyone went silent with shocked expressions worn across all of their faces. "Good you are all quiet." Sokka then stepped down off of the table and sat beside me grabbing my hand once again. "The problem with this conflict is that both towns are running out of money. I suggest that we pay the town of Tyoto with a new, more urgent construction project instead. The Harmony Restoration Movement is going smoothly throughout the colonies however the Fire Nation is still responsible for rebuilding parts of the Earth Kingdom that were destroyed during the war. How about we make Tyoto responsible for this field? This way Tyoto is getting their money back and Hirma doesn't go completely bankrupt and can use the money that they owe Tyoto into fixing their healthcare situation. However the government of Tyoto is going to have to abandon the siege with Hirma and will need to stop banishing people with Hirmanese ties, they cannot continue to separate families." The generals stayed quiet after Sokka suggested this. "That could actually work, Fire Lord Zuko what do you think of this plan?" General Shi asked. "I think it's brilliant! That is exactly what we are going to do." I responded, squeezing Sokka's hand a little harder. "Fire Lord you can't possibly be taking suggestions from a person younger than you who isn't even Fire Nation!" General Huang exclaimed, "I am. His plan is the most efficient one yet and I value this input more than anyone else's in this room." I responded coldly to the general. I then dismissed the meeting and everyone left the room except for Sokka and I.