Dragons & Lotuses

Description: Sokka is an undercover cop for the L.A.P.D., trying his best to break into the most notorious yakuza in the city—the White Lotus Society. While his plans have always been to take the yakuza down, will he eventually take his artificial oaths of loyalty to heart?

Rating: This story is rated T, but may move to M for future mature situations, sex, violence, and/or language.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or anything associated with it. This story is for amusement purposes only—so I hope you're amused!

Prologue

I've been called a mobster, a wise guy, a gangster, and, soon enough, kobun. But that's what I want them to believe; it's what they have to believe. If, for one moment, they question it, my life would be forfeit. They have to believe that I'm one of them, that I'll do anything to stay loyal to my new brothers and my soon-to-be oyabuns.

That's because, while I'll soon be a member of Los Angeles' most notorious and successful yakuza gang—the White Lotus Society—I'm also a member of the Los Angeles Police Department's organized crime division. I've been working undercover for the past ten months, risking my life so that we—the good guys—can take them—the bad guys—down. While the yakuza members might initially seem like real stand-up guys—hell, the White Lotus Society's boss is easily one of the nicest gangsters I've met since I started working in the division—don't believe it for a second. They smuggle guns and illegal immigrants, traffic in prostitution, and run gambling parlors all over the City of Angels. But these guys, they're no angels, that's for damn sure.

You see, twenty years ago, L.A. was home to your regular, everyday street gangs—you know, the Crips, the Bloods, the 18th Street gang, the Florencia 13, and the MS-13. Just Black guys and Latinos trying to make their way up in this crazy city, committing mostly low-level crime and the occasional drive-by. But then, the Asians started moving in—the Chinese triads and tongs, then came the Japanese yakuza. Of course, Koreans and Vietnamese joined in on all the criminal activity, too, once they made it stateside. Pretty soon, all the gangs in town started jockeying for power, realizing that there was too much competition in town, even for the country's second largest city.

Even worse, all the Asians work together. They own legitimate businesses and do their best to stay underground. Whereas the yakuza are in-your-face and public in Japan, they're just as secretive when it comes to their operations in the U.S. So, you can imagine the hell of a time I've had trying to infiltrate the White Lotus Society and get enough on their good side to become a member. But after ten months of working my way up from the bottom, not to mention having someone on the inside personally vouch for me, I'm finally being taken in as a brother, and as a kobun to my soon-to-be oyabun, Arnook.

Sure, I had to do some things that I wouldn't do normally—robbery, extortion, cash runner, etc. Things that would anger my parents if they were still around and make my Gran-Gran lay into me like nobody's business. And let's not even get started on what my little sister would have to say—calling her opinionated is an understatement…But it's been pretty low-grade everyday thug work. And it's not like I've had to shoot someone, but that's not likely to last long.

Soon enough, I'll be asked to forget my old family—not too much of a task when you're pretty much an orphan—and take my oath of loyalty to L.A.'s most notorious group of Japanese mobsters and its leader, the infamous Dragon of the West, Iroh Sozin.

My name is Sokka Bulanadi and this is my story…

Oyabun: literally "boss, chief, head, or supervisor." The oyabun serves as the head of the yakuza, and is a father figure to all members of his yakuza. Oyabun/kobun relationships can also exist between lower-ranking members and the men below them in rank.

Kobun: literally "follower." All members of the yakuza are seen as sons to the oyabun and are elder and younger brothers to one another.

Crips: a Black Los Angeles-based street gang; their color affiliation is blue.

Bloods: a Black Los Angeles-based street gang; their color affiliation is red.

18th Street: a Mexican-American/Chicano Los Angeles-based street gang.

Florencia 13: a Hispanic Los Angeles-based street gang and is affiliated with the Mexican Mafia. They also feud with Asian gangs.

MS-13: a Los Angeles-based street gang comprised mostly of men of Central American descent, the 'MS' stands for "Mara Salvatrucha." "Mara" stands for "army ant" and "Salvatrucha" is Spanish slang for Salvadorean.

Bulanadi: is a traditional Filipino last name which means "sister moon" in Ilocano, one of the many dialects of the Philippines.

Author's Note:

This story is inspired by Quentin Tarantino's many awesome movies—in some chapters, you'll probably notice moments inspired by scenes from one or more of his films. If you're not familiar with Tarantino, I suggest watching "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction"(my favorite movie of all-time), and/or "Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2."

This is my second "Avatar: The Last Airbender" fanfic; both are modern AUs, or stories based in "alternate universes." However, this story is a steep departure from my first fanfic, "College Daze."

Also, please note that only the prologue and epilogue will appear in the first person; otherwise, the story will be narrated from the third-person omniscient point of view. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of this story!