AN: I know. Not part of the 'only three series' I'm writing. But Zutara Week is also something of a challenge for me. Also, warning, it gets ramble-ly. Also (warning the second), I like using alternative interpretations of the prompt words.

Dragons

'Large, imposing reptiles which may or may not breathe fire and are capable of flight.'

'A slang term used in reference to triad groups.'

If you had told the Zuko of six years ago that he would, essentially, run away from everything he knew and was working for. He would have raged.

If you had told the Zuko of three years ago the same thing. He would have sighed wearily and pointed at the massive amounts of work he still had left to do. He had shareholders to please, quotas to fill and jobs to create.

If you had told the Zuko of two years ago the same thing, he would have looked extremely contemplative.

...

Sparks flew as Zuko shaped hot metal.

A year and eleven months ago, he called up his uncle. Briefed him on his intentions on becoming a silent partner and promptly, (once he had obtained his uncle's blessings of course), upped and left the technological empire that his family had been building for what seemed like forever.

And you know what?

Zuko was happy – well, as happy as any recluse could be.

Zuko glanced back at the schematics of the commissioned sculpture and plunged the worked bronze into water. Steam hissed as metal cooled and Zuko checked the clock and nodded.

It was time for a break.

…

Once upon a time Zuko lived in the penthouse just above the headquarters of his, well, empire.

A year and eleven months ago, he impulse bought a refurbished, restored farmhouse. Far enough from the city that it would be considered 'country' and close enough to the city that it wouldn't take too long to reach his uncle in case of an emergency. (Oh how Zuko worried for his uncle).

It had an attached barn, which he promptly turned into a scrap metal (and metal storage-in-general) warehouse and stables. Part of these stable had been turned into a garage but the restorer had left the old smithy as-is.

It gave Zuko something to do when he first moved in – reviving the Tudor-dated smithy.

...

Backtrack one hundred years.

Three generations. Ozai. Azulon. Sozin.

It started with barely-legal acquisitions of smaller companies affiliated with San Industries. Like Foh Tech, it had been around forever. And then, in a surprise upset – Rlung Ltd (another been-around-for-generations company) was bought out.

Completely.

Many suspected foul play. But what could they do? Sozin was a clever man, and Foh Tech just kept growing.

...

Backtrack even further. Three hundred years before Zuko decided to up and leave, there were a pair of twins.

As they grew differences in opinion and methods caused their father to split what was then known as Tajik Co. into two separate inheritances. This caused the rise of the highly insular banking and insurance company known as Vatn Trusts and an extremely open, progressive trading company called Wai Inc.

...

Because of the nature of Vatn Trusts, Azulon brokered a secret deal. It was the do-as-I-say-or-there-will-be-consequences type of deal.

Because of the nature of Wai Inc. Azulon set about buying up as much of them as possible. But in some ways, they were expecting it. Wai Inc. had to now limp where it once strode – but unlike Rlung Ltd, it survived.

Sozin made several ruthless, barely-legal decisions.

Azulon had a habit of flirting just over the knife's edge of legality. Several of his decisions erred on the side of criminal. And that was how the triads got involved.

Ozai was a Dragon Master. The lord of the Triads.

...

Eight years before Zuko up and left, the world had grown desperate.

The Rlung family wasn't gone – not quite. But when Aang Rlung, at the tender age of twelve, accidentally hacked his way into finding the not quite right stuff Foh Tech was dealing with, he ended up in witness protection. And then suddenly he was a recruit in a massive take-down-the-leader-of-the-Triads operation.

The next two recruits were Sokka and Katara Wai (it had been a year later. Aang was thirteen and the Wai siblings were three and two years older respectively). Sokka was discovered to be something of a teenage engineering genius, and thus, a threat to Foh Tech's position as the greatest advancer of technology. Several kidnapping (and silencing) attempts had been made, directly towards him and his sister. And so, into protection and the weird take-down team they went.

Katara didn't seem too special at first. She wasn't interested in hacking or inventing. But she had the steadiest hand anyone had ever seen. And six months later, when Aang and Sokka fainted from blood and almost-dismembered body parts, she stitched the toes back on a girl who had, when her parents were kidnapped in order to bring Bei Fong Stocks to heel, somehow busted her way through Foh Tech security and Triad members to rescue them. Katara saved her toes – they work as normal. But Katara's second, greater ability would become apparent later – and it was her ability to just, talk.

Toph needed no mentioning. She was the girl who ended up in protection (separated from her parents) because she had (with only training from Surviving Disaster of all things) successfully evaded her family's attackers (she climbed from the back seat into the trunk through a little hole), manipulated the members of the Triad with a poor, little, lost blind girl act (well, she was very nearly blind, without her contacts or glasses… or goggles). And then upon freeing her parents, gotten them out and into a vehicle. Somehow remaining intact – except for the grenade that nearly took her toes off and blasted the vehicle's boot cover off.

They had in their team, the Brawn (Toph), the Tech (Sokka), the Hacker (Aang) and the Brain (Katara). What they didn't have was firepower, or in-situation stealth, or insider knowledge.

One year later they did.

…

Five years and a bit ago, Zuko had a little crisis of loyalty. To his father. And sister.

Turns out they hid the more unsavoury portions of what the family company did away from him. He knew nothing of his father being the reigning Dragon Master that brought the various 'dragons' of the Triads to organised heel. He knew nothing of his sister climbing surely and violently up the ranks of the 'Dragon Court' – enforcing their father's orders, putting fear into the hearts of those who would later sell their company to add to the Foh Tech empire.

Unfortunately for Ozai Foh, his heir (only in name, everyone knew Azula was heir in all but) was born with a conscience.

The day Zuko disappeared, he managed to swipe the further plans of Foh Tech (and because this was Zuko, Ozai and Azula suspected nothing). That same day he turned up at his uncle's, and Iroh couldn't have been prouder.

…

Zuko didn't join them straight away. No. Zuko was seventeen, and the government was desperate for anyone without any loyalty to the Triads to join their cause. So they trained him.

Nine months after Zuko's disappearance and subsequent training under the WHL0 department of the government, he joined the little task force team – not that they knew they were going to be task force operatives at the time.

He was very much surprised to discover that of the members of the team, he was the eldest.

But that's a story for another day.

…

Two years later, Zuko was nineteen (Sokka was eighteen, Katara was seventeen and so on and so forth), and he was stuck trying to clean up and hold together a shaky economical empire.

Somehow, he did it. He cleaned up Foh Tech, restored company growth (with everything now firmly operating in the legal side of things) and got a University degree (online of course, he was too busy to actually have the University experience).

All while heavily corresponding with Katara in order to ask her advice on how to handle such-and-such situation. (She understood people and situations in a way he didn't).

…

But that was that.

Wai Inc. was run primarily by Hakoda Wai. It had survived and now it thrived. Sokka had started to gear his innovations to gaming and there was a joint venture between Foh and Wai to facilitate this developing market.

Sokka was mainly a silent partner. Because sixty percent of all boardroom negotiations were now conducted by Katara.

And she was tired.

…

When the dragons fell, the warriors thought they could rest.

Lofty dreams.

…

Katara Wai, feared in boardrooms throughout the world as 'the Negotiator' took a sabbatical.

It had nothing to do with the fact Toph and Aang were finally entering University (something the eldest of them hadn't been able to do physically). Or the fact Sokka was complaining that his best friend hadn't been calling back in a while. Or the fact Zuko had been off-radar for nearly two years.

Okay.

Maybe the last one.

…

Zuko had never thought that he could be content. (Happy was a little too much to ask for). But content? He could possibly achieve (even if it seemed impossible at times).

And you know what? He did.

With his little smithy, working with metals, crafting them into sculptures and jewellery. Living commission to commission (despite or rather, maybe because of his all-together needed and necessary double bachelors in economics and law). Living in the countryside. Every now and then feeding the various waterfowl that came to visit his backyard pond.

Admittedly, it was a bit lonely.

Which was why (since the upper portion of the house was already like a separate flat and all), he decided to let.

…

When one decides to run away from society, one must know where they are running to.

All Katara really knew was that she wanted to paint, write – anything that wasn't somewhat medically or company-related.

That's when she noticed the AirBnB listing. It was extremely awkward. Like someone didn't tell him or her that this wasn't exactly the appropriate site for long-term tenants – more for holidaymakers.

Katara paused awhile and remembered another extremely awkward, positively dorky at times, young man.

It was impulse, but she certainly had the money. She booked the flat for a year.

…

Zuko placed the final touches on the pair of western-styled dragons when his doorbell rang.

Wiping his hands free of the polishing oil on a rag, he answered the door. His tenant was due to arrive today anyways.

"Hello I'm…"

"Zuko?"

AN: BTW I'm still looking for someone to collab with me (illustrate this and such). Pretty please?

Also, small little (and overt) easter eggs in there for anyone who's looking.

Also, I drew from different languages in order to get the names of the 'companies' our characters are affiliated with.

'Foh' - Cantonese for fire

'San' - Mandarin for mountain (basically, earth)

'Rlung' - Tibetan for wind (ergo, air)

'Taijik' means water. I forgot which language I drew it from (It just might be Persian). But… 'Vatn' is Nordic for water (Northern Water Tribe) while 'Wai' is the Maori form of water (Southern Water Tribe).

I've crossposted this on tumblr (my main tumblr is rather disappointing, mind you)...

Happy Zutara Week everybody! (Anyone else inwardly chuckling about how this ship is still so vibrant over five years on?)