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Zuko worked for years with the Sun Warriors on the restoration of the dragons within the Fire Nation. There had been a bevy of dragon eggs that laid dormant within some lower catacombs of the warrior's civilization, in the hope that one day it would be safe enough for the dragons to come out of hiding and flourish like they once had.
He can proudly say that now at the age of 25, dragons have returned to live in a wilder sense and evolved to have many different variants. There were still the very large masters, Ran and Shaw, and there were even more of their size and prowess but there were also smaller dragons the size of Polar bear dogs and even some small enough to be mistaken as common lizards like iguanas if it weren’t for the fact that most had wings and could fly.
Zuko awoke one morning, lightly shoving Sokka off of him and gingerly rising to start the day and his Firelord responsibilities. At least it was going to be a bit more relaxed considering they had just finished a whole week of intense discussions about funding and the building of Republic City.
With his head still filled with sleep, he shuffled around the room a little and carefully began his morning routine.
First, he had his morning tea sitting on his balcony while doing a few of his meditations and prayers to Agni. Second, he put a real effort into waking up the lovable goof in his bed. Third, he had his morning bath and brushed his teeth. Lastly, he dressed in his traditional outfit (read uniform) including his hairpiece, robes, and lastly his shoes. Nearly every day it was the same thing, and truly he wouldn’t change any part of it.
He watched Sokka do his morning shuffle to the bathroom and absentmindedly shoved his foot into the slipper in his hand and was rewarded with a sharp bite to his big toe. Yelping like the totally grown man he is, he yanked his foot out of the slipper and found a forest green mini dragon still chomped down on his toe.
As carefully as he could, he forcefully opened the jaws of the fierce little creature, and Zuko watched as the impossibly sharp teeth extracted from him. The sting from the small wounds started to throb, and Zuko grumbled under his breath about making sure to get a rabies tonic.
“Owwwww, you little beast. Why did you have to hurt me so damn much?” Zuko at this point isn’t even hiding his discomfort but he is also using the tone he tends to have for all small and cute things. Sokka came out of the adjourning room, bedhead still prevalent and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth, curious as to why his love sounds like a dying turtleduck.
“Tiny Dragon?!” Sokka yelled around the toothbrush.
“Yes, a tiny dragon, but I’m not sure how he got in my shoe.” Zuko watched as the dragon curled itself around his finger and shot a small puff of fire at the tip. It couldn’t have been bigger than a leopard gecko, its little eyes glaring at Zuko like he was the one in the wrong.
Sokka ducked back into the bathroom while Zuko analyzed the dragon within his palm. The earlier observation of it being the size of a leopard gecko was more astute than Zuko originally thought. It had a thick tail, one that was very distinctly different from its torso. There were very faint stripes along it that were noticeably darker than the main color of its body.
As he turned his hand to get a better look, Zuko noticed there were about six legs curled around his finger with two long whiskers flitting around as well. The legs were a deep red, very akin to clay soil, and for a second, Zuko was a bit curious why he was so dirty. But the red wasn’t transferring to Zuko so it most likely was just the coloring of the dragon.
Two deep red eyes bored holes into Zuko’s head, and Zuko was just glad that they hadn’t discovered a dragon that could hurt people with just a look, or he would be toast by now. Still holding a scrutinizing look over the dragon, Zuko noticed that it also had three horns while most only had two if they had any at all.
Sokka came out from the bathroom and walked over to the two of them, clear excitement on his face. “I haven’t seen one this small yet, did you know they could even be this so darn tiny?” Sokka brought his hand up, his index finger pointed out so he could run it along the spine of the dragon, but before he could even make contact, the dragon blew another puff of fire out and directly at him.
With a small yelp, Sokka recoiled his hand and gave the dragon a weak glare. “Feisty little thing, ain’t he?”
“Well, I think he might have been sleeping in my shoe, so he had quite the rude awakening this morning. But, I know something that would make up for it with the both of you. Why don’t we get him a nice piece of meat, and you can document him in your journal while he eats?” Zuko suggested, bringing his hand up to get another good look at the dragon.
For the last few years with the resurgence of dragons, Sokka had been keeping a journal with the many different kinds that have been making themselves known again. Sooner or later, Sokka planned to release his journal to get published so that anyone with an interest in the dragons could learn more about them if they wanted to.
Within that journal were at least a hundred and fifty new species, including a few that had been recorded before the great extinction and hunting of dragons. It was a dark time in Fire Nation history, right alongside the hundred-year war, but on both fronts, Zuko was trying his best to make things as right as he could.
The three of them left Zuko’s chambers, and Sokka kept stealing looks at the little lizard that was still curled tightly around Zuko’s finger. When they passed Sokka’s study, Sokka veered off and went inside, waving goodbye to Zuko as the Firelord continued on his way to the kitchens. He was going to keep his promise of meat, and at the very least- hopefully- it would get the dragon off of his finger before he lost more circulation and his fingers got damaged beyond usual help.
One stop within the kitchens and a request for breakfast to get sent to Sokka’s study later, Zuko found himself free of the wannabe python around his finger as it flew around him, darting in and out to try to get the chunk of fish Zuko had snagged for him. It was all that Zuko could do to keep the piece of meat from getting gobbled up before they even recorded him.
Zuko didn’t even bother knocking on the study door before walking in, and he was surprised to see Mai in the plush chair closest to the window, sunbathing like a catfish lion in the direct beam of the winter sun.
“Mister boyfriend told me about your new pet.” Her tone was bored as always, but the small upturn of her lips told him everything he needed to know of her amusement with the whole thing.
“Druk would flambé me if I had another dragon. He’s not even a couple of years old but he’s already eating more than Appa in every sense of the word and is heavier than an ostrich horse. Quite territorial too.” Zuko came to sit in his favorite chair in the study, the armchair directly on the left of Sokka’s desk.
As carefully and cautiously as he could, Zuko set the piece of fish on a clear secession of the desk. All three of them watched as the dragon circled the meat like a buzzard and then nose-dived at it, opening his mouth as wide as it could, chomping onto it with as much vigor as anything Zuko had ever seen before.
In a fashion that Zuko hadn’t seen before, the dragon speared the chunk of fish with the horn in the direct middle of its forehead and used it along with his claws to keep it in place as he started to gnaw at the meat. The three of them watched it for a silent minute, and Zuko wondered how in all of Agni did it manage to get such a deep bite into his toe if it was struggling so much to tear into the meat.
“Do you remember that one day that you didn’t have anyone watching over us as we ate together when we were about eight, and you tore into your steak just as he is tearing into that fish?” Mai’s words were bordering on having amusement in them, and Zuko just looked up at her incredulously.
“You’re really going to spill that secret out in front of Sokka like that? So rude.” Zuko started to chuckle.
Sokka wasn’t even paying them any kind of mind as he was already furiously scribbling within his journal, the rough sketch of the dragon's body coming to life with ease. Zuko was thankful that after all of the time Sokka had spent depicting the dragons they had documented, Sokka’s drawing ability had refined greatly than what it was. Of course, it wasn’t too much of an issue considering that this journal was all for them at that moment, but when it did get published, then it would be hard for others to decipher the drawings from the actual dragons.
Of course, any art ability was better than what Zuko could do, he still had the talent of a five-year-old when it came to any kind of art. Well, that is if it wasn’t written word. He could dominate a poem if he really wanted to.
“Okay, Zuko, I need you to list things you’ve noticed about our new buddy. You’ve had the most time with him so far.” Sokka leaned back in his chair and brought the journal with him, propping it up on his knees as he brought his legs up in the chair with him. Something that he’s heard Suki called bisexual sitting? Or was it the ADHD?
“Well, he is green with darker stripes along his body, with red coloring along his legs and the underside of his tail. Long tail, the same length as his body, but it is thicker than his body as if there is a use for it that we have not seen as of yet. Sharp teeth, three horns, six legs. Two red eyes with what looks like pupils much like a screeching mountain goat.” Zuko cocked his head, thinking.
“Oh! He has a body tightening ability much like a python snake, and fire breath as well. His hunting abilities we just saw with the use of both horns and claws to keep its food in place and or possibly to kill its food. The teeth look to be tearing the meat instead of cleanly biting through like many others.” Zuko continued.
Mai spoke up when there was a lull in Zuko’s speech. “You know, I think Ty Lee once told me about this dragon that she had met during her circus days. I guess I had assumed it was another animal dressed as a dragon, but she described it much like this little guy. Maybe she might know more?”
“Oh my Tui and La, that would be great if Ty Lee knows more.” Sokka looked excited at the thought of talking to Ty Lee. They would need to go to Kyoshi island since Ty Lee was still there, learning more about being a Kyoshi warrior, and was known to their whole group to be the person that animals just seemed to gravitate to. Maybe they could sense her kind aura just as she could read other people’s.
“If we saddle up Druk, we would be at the island by nightfall. He’s been getting competitive lately and has almost doubled his flying speed.” Zuko commented, looking out the window and towards the stalls and stables. Although there were buildings in the way, it almost felt like he could see Druk with some of his trainers, practicing and exploring what he could do.
The three of them left Sokka’s office and meandered to the stables. Although the little dragon had finished eating, he didn’t curl up to rest like how many of the other dragons too often. Instead, he found himself comfortable in a new perch on the top of Zuko’s head, looking at everything and anything. For such a small thing, he seemed to enjoy being tall very much.
They came upon Druk’s usual training field, and Zuko looked around the sky above them. His hand came to shield his eyes, and he laughed as a shadow flew over them. Druk came down from the air, coming to a skidding halt in front of them before immediately turning onto his back and showing the three of them his stomach. Without hesitation, Zuko and Sokka took a few steps forward and started to scratch along the smooth scales of Druk’s underside.
A high trilling noise started to rumble out of Druk, and to Zuko, it sounded a bit like the noises that the cash register from the Jasmine Dragon made when it made the celebratory sound of a sale being made. It was a cute little thing to think about.
Mai was looking over them with a sly smile, putting a heavy pat on Druk’s stomach. “Okay, come on, I wanna see my girlfriend.”
Zuko chuckled and gave a final scratch to Druk’s side before making the short walk to the stables. “You’re so impatient. What would Ty Lee say?”
“That I should follow what my heart wants and right now, I want to see her. Let’s go.” Mai was clippy with her words, but it didn’t bother Zuko in the slightest.
Sokka came up on the side of Zuko and threaded his fingers through with his own. “Do you think some of the other dragons might want to tag along? It might be good for them to get out and stretch their wings.”
The suggestion bounced around in Zuko’s mind and he smiled. “Yeah, sure, that sounds good.”
Once they made it to the stables, Zuko went looking for the dragon master, a woman who came from the Sun Warrior's home, citing that she would like to see what the modern world has to hold for her as opposed to what she grew up with. It was great considering that she had previous knowledge of dragons that has proven very useful to the group of them that reside at the fire palace.
She was a very tall woman, nearly a whole head larger than Zuko, with dense muscle tacked on after years of work. Her skin had a permanent tan from the sun, various scars littering her body along with burns from dragon mishaps. It wasn’t very hard finding her because all that Zuko had to do was follow the boisterous laughter that he immediately clocked as hers.
The stables weren’t very large for the most part, an old wooden structure that was previously used for ostrich horses. It was mainly used to keep equipment and tack for the dragons since most were too large to even fit within the open bay doors. Zuko rounded the corner to find her leaning against the wall of the stall, one hand keeping her up while the other was wrapped around her middle.
Ryuu, the dragon master, was fighting for breath as she was laughing at what Zuko could only assume was the new stable hand that was just brought in for help. He was covered in a thick and viscous goo, it looked gross.
Zuko stood there shocked at the door of the stall as another stable hand dumped a bucket of water over the newcomer, some of the goo thinning out and dripping off of him. “Do I even want to ask?”
Ryuu looked up from her laughing fit and gave the Firelord a bright smile. “Zuko! Perfect timing!” She stood up and turned, the larger woman leaning forward and enveloping Zuko into a fierce hug. That was another thing he was not going to get used to any time soon. Ryuu was very much tactile.
“So you know that one dragon that has the reflecting scales? Moonie? Well, I guess that she’s allergic to some of the hay that we brought in for bedding and she absolutely sprayed snot all over the new kid!” Ryuu dissolved into laughter again, before turning around and releasing a harsh ‘HA’ at the sight of the kid again.
“That sounds… lovely. But I came on official business. I need to head to Kyoshi island with Druk and perhaps a dragon escort?” Zuko looked around, trying to see how many of the trainers were in at the moment.
“Oh!” Ryuu stood straighter and smiled brightly once again. “That sounds good! Many of them aren’t yet confident flyers so this will be perfect. Mostly water flying is good because the constant rise and falling of hills, valleys, and mountains can become too much for them while they’re still learning.” She put a hand on her hip and started to walk past Zuko, looking around as well at the few people meandering around.
“Great! So when will everyone be ready to go?” Zuko wasn’t going to rush her for the life of himself, he knew better than to try to mess with people who were doing what they did for a living. Especially one as passionate as Ryuu.
She knocked one of her feet against a wooden post, making a loud rhythmic thudding come from her boot. Instantly, three heads popped into view, various hands that were around the stable. They all looked at their group with curious expressions. It seemed they were triplets, their faces scarily similar.
“Aya, Maya, Kai. Suit up and get three of the fledglings ready. You three are accompanying the Firelord to Kyoshi Island.” Ryuu gave them a broad smile and looked over to a chart on the wall, one Zuko remembered Sokka making. She strode over to it and used her finger to go down the list. She seemed to find what she was looking for because she nodded to herself.
“It looks like Bunny, Spitfire, and Tangerine are available right now. I know you’ve been working a lot with Tangerine Kai, so this should be an easy trip for you.” Again, there was that bright smile from her, and Zuko wondered how many people had a crush on her because honestly, he could see it. The smiles, the muscles, and she was the dragon master? Heavy hitter title right there.
Zuko glanced over to look at his heavy hitter, only to find Sokka climbing up the side of the stable, his goal seemingly the small window that looked over the training field on the other side. A window that was more than twenty feet off the ground and had no obvious ladder or way of getting up there.
Sokka got up there though, standing on his tiptoes to get most of his torso out of the window. He cocked his head to the side and smiled as a breeze blew by. Although what Sokka was doing was very dangerous, Zuko couldn’t help but marvel at his side profile.
After a few seconds, Sokka looked down at Zuko and gestured out to the training field. “This is an amazing view, I really recommend it.” He shouted down from his perch, making Zuko chuckle.
Zuko cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back. “I’m going to tell Ahma on you, you know how much she hates seeing you in the infirmary all the time. There’s only so much her healing can do before it stops working.”
That seemed to make Sokka realize where exactly he was, standing very precariously on the top of a stall wall, the wood barely a few inches wide at best. Sokka immediately clung onto the windowsill with all of his might, a panicked look encompassing his face. “I didn’t realize how far up I was.” His voice was light and it got swept up in the wind, but Zuko was able to read his lips, something he had been working on due to the hearing loss he was having in his left ear.
A shaky grin graced Sokka’s face, a pleading look in his eyes. Zuko laughed, and the little dragon that had been curled around his finger drifted into the air and flew to Sokka, flying in the air around his head. Little Dragon settled into Sokka’s hair, looking very much like a miniature version of one of its brethren hiding in tall grass. A predator hiding in plain sight.
Sokka looked around at the floor, his eyes searching and scrutinizing his surroundings, until he must have found what he was looking for. Zuko watched as Sokka brought his hand up to his head, making sure that Little Dragon didn’t get tossed around, and then jumped, landing butt first into a pile of hay. Tuffs of hay and dust got shot into the air, drifting around in the afternoon sun. A few seconds passed and Sokka was just sitting there, dazed, but then he smiled wide and started laughing. So much so that Zuko couldn’t help but join him.
Little Dragon emerged from under Sokka’s hand and must have felt the joy in the air because he blew a small flame into the wind as well, a sign of happiness much like a dog wagging their tail.
Suddenly, Zuko felt a heavy nudge on his back and he turned to find Druk there, his very large wide eyes boring into Zuko’s soul, a small frown on his scaly lips. No, it was more like a pout. “Oh my goodness.” Zuko immediately said in a baby voice, something that Zuko will never admit that he uses with Druk. “Is someone feeling left out? I am so sorry!” He brought his hands up and cupped Druk’s jaw, smooshing his face and jiggling it side to side. Druk, the absolute sweetie he was, let Zuko, enjoying the attention he was getting. A loud purr started to sound out, filling the air with vibrations and deep rumblings.
Ryuu came up to them and gave Druk a hearty pat on his side. “Yeah, this one has been itching to go flying today so this is great timing. He’s already geared up and the fledglings are done too if you want to head out already.”
Zuko nodded along to what Ryuu was saying, noting the double saddle strapped onto Druk’s back. “Okay, that sounds great.”
Their small group made it to the training field, a dozen different dragons in all shapes and sizes learning how to do everything they possibly could. Walking, running, flying and gliding, even a bit of their special abilities like making plants grow and ice breath.
Before he even knew it, Zuko was on top of Druk, Sokka behind him and tightening some straps that were meant to keep him from quite literally flying off of Druk. Sokka took the utmost care of his safety when it came to doing anything where he didn’t have immediate control of the situation. Little Dragon came to settle himself in front of Zuko, looking all around them at the people and the dragons.
For a split second, Zuko wondered if Little Dragon had any special abilities. They haven’t found another kind of dragon so small as he was before. Even the hatchlings were larger than him. Perhaps that was his ability all along, being so compact. Zuko could think of quite a few advantages when it came to being that little.
With a screech of Ryuu’s whistle, Druk and the dragons around them settled lower to the ground. Little Dragon whipped his head around and gave curious looks to his friends. Quickly, Little Dragon got up from his curled position and stood on the back of Druk’s head, spreading his legs out and lowering his body for take off.
Another whistle and the dragons started to run forward, Little Dragon only lowering himself closer to Druk’s head.
One more whistle and they were in the air, strong wings flapping loudly around them and Zuko watched as Little Dragon leaped into the air. Zuko couldn’t help the small smile blooming on his face as he was watching Little Dragon struggle to keep up with Druk before settling back onto Druk’s head with a huff of flame. At least he tried. It was hard for larger dragons to keep up with Druk, the large brute very fast in the sky.
Zuko looked behind him at Sokka and found him already looking back at him. A blush started to heat Zuko’s face, before he tried to play it off by looking at the other dragons and riders.
Bunny, a large white dragon with tufts of fur around their head, was with Aya. Their saddle and gear were a bright blue and Zuko wondered where they had managed to find such a vibrant blue dye. It was stunning against the pure white of Bunny’s scales.
Spitfire was a deep brown, much like the bark of a walnut tree in a dense forest. Their rider, Maya, was settled upon a saddle of the same shade of brown that was almost bizarre in how much it matched. A few splotches of moss green dotted around their scales and Zuko wondered how well it was for camouflage. He’ll have to ask where they had found Spitfire because their scales were remarkably like environmental markers.
Tangerine though. She was a bright orange, rivaling that of the Lava. Lines of yellow, red, and black raced down her like an artist had placed them there themselves. Kai was on a similarly blue saddle, petting his hand over the back of Tangerine’s neck. He looked up and caught Zuko’s eye, choosing to glide Tangerine closer to Druk, but not so much as to make their wings collide.
Kai gave Tangerine a hearty pat and smiled at Zuko. “Tangerine is fairly young, she was found as a hatchling at the base of a nearby volcano. It’s led to believe that her kind of dragon sometimes resides within the lava itself, considering her coloring and how thick her scales are. This past shedding season, we found her thickest shredded scale to be just over two inches thick. We had borrowed some firebenders to test the scales and none of them had fire hot enough to do one lick of damage to any of the scales.”
The thought of that alone made Zuko raise his eyebrow in surprise, giving Tangerine an appraising look. “Has she shown any want for taking lava baths or something akin to it?”
“She tends to like being the one to allow herself as target practice for some of the hatchings to practice fireballs and such.” Kai pet a hand over her neck again. “She enjoys sunbathing just as the other dragons but we haven’t seen her show any interest in going to any of the nearby volcanoes. Though we do believe she doesn’t have great memories of before we found her, considering how she doesn’t like to be close to some of the older dragons.”
A pang of pain shot through Zuko’s heart at the thought of Tangerine’s parents possibly having abandoned her. He felt an air of kinship to a dragon he had just met that day. Perhaps he could make time within his usually hectic schedule to come to spend time with Tangerine as well as Druk.
Zuko looked back to the sky before them, the blue of the sky melding with the deep sea in the distance. They were still over land at the moment and Druk skirted low over the trees, the tips of them catching on his feet and he idly grabbed at them, clutching onto torn away leaves.
It was moments like this that Zuko was truly at peace within himself. The crisp air of the high altitude plus with winter just around the corner made Zuko feel at peace. He could feel his inner fire grow bigger and smaller with his even breathing. The steady heart beat that Zuko could feel from Druk was a reminder of how amazing it was that he was able to have such a connection with a beauty of nature. There is nothing in the world that could ever make Zuko understand why people would hunt dragons for sport. It was barbaric. It was inhumane. But most of all, it was downright cruel.
Zuko leaned back into Sokka’s chest, loving the way that Sokka wrapped his arms around his waist, to grip onto the front of the saddle with him. Feeling the way that Sokka took in steady breaths, trying to match Druk’s breathing rhythm, made the whole world seem like a distant thought.
There was nothing more comforting than to smell the salty cologne that Sokka preferred, saying it was akin to the sea air back home down south. The feeling of the sun on Zuko’s skin was relaxing, the warmth of Sokka against his back. It was all Zuko could do to not lean his head back for a quick nap, his body and soul feeling more relaxed than it had in a while.
Everything about the moment was what Zuko loved. The feeling of the wind and the sun. Sokka and Druk with him. A new kind of dragon to research.
Zuko could confidently say he was happy. And by all that Agni held close, he was going to protect his happiness.
