Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Defying Gravity ❯ Eternally Yours ( Chapter 4 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Kita and Subu-chan 
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Horror / Drama | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 02.20.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 1.7K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Horror / Drama | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 02.20.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 1.7K | Status: Completed
Chapter Four: Eternally Yours
A/N-- This concludes the story. There may be more fics forthcoming, you never can tell! Thanks to Mishi-kun, Luki_Dimension, Littlevamp and all those who have reveiwed so far. You guys are awsome and your support is gratifying. (That means really, really nice.) Akita-- please don't act like they're stupider than you are. They have an attention span. You have none. Thank you all again.
Disclaimers still stand. No characters of Matsuri Akino-sama's were harmed during the making of this fic. Annoyed and irritated, but not harmed.
Count D raised his head as something pattered softly against the glass pane set in the front door of his pet shop, relocated halfway around the world from LA and all its memories, both good and bad. He rose and opened the door. A flock of excited songbirds swirled in, circling his head like a multicolored whirlwind.
“Count, Count, Count, Count!” They sang breathlessly, filled with excitement.
D raised his hands, the subtle shadow of sorrow he had worn since the day they left LA lifting a little at the joy his visitors displayed. “Calmly now, little friends. What has gotten you so atwitter?”
One by one, they settled and assumed human guise, still singing wordlessly of excitement and important news. Only when the last of them had perched on the arm of his low couch could he get them to stop chattering and tell him what had stirred them up so.
One of them, feathered in vibrant yellow and scarlet, danced in place with her news.
“The winds sing a new song, count! Full of hope and forgotten words, memories long gone to dust, but awakened again. An eternal dragon! A young one, born to the lords of Dragonkind, so tells the winds! The eternal dragon rises again!”
The others joined in with happy cries. “Eternal Dragon! The dragon rises!”
Totetsu rose from where he had been lounging, scowling. His glare sent most of D’s visitors leaping into the air, shrieking fearfully that the Totetsu would eat them. Only the one who had been spokesperson remained in place, though she trembled with terror.
“You lie!” Tetsu growled at the quivering songbird. “The eternal dragons have been gone for thousands of years! They were the parents of all the dragon races that exist now. They died out long before King Gidora was ever hatched.”
“Y-yes, yes, yes.” Twittered the shivering songbird, edging toward D nervously. “But the winds do not lie. An eternal dragon, young yet, spreads his wings on the winds, far, far to the west of here. There were two, but now only the young one remains.”
D raised a hand to forestall Tetsu’s angry retort, intrigued. “An eternal dragon and its young. This is most unexpected. What has happened to make an eternal dragon resurface now?”
Tetsu snarled softly. “You don’t believe this, do you, Count? There are no more eternal dragons!”
The songbird flock, their courage restored by D’s support, angrily darted at Tetsu, catcalling loudly. “The winds do not lie! The winds know only truth! The winds sing of the young dragon, and they do not lie!”
“Enough.” D’s reprimand was soft, but it silenced both the swirling, diving flock and the Totetsu they had been tormenting. “The winds do not lie, it is true, but they can be misinterpreted. Are you certain, my little ones, that it was an eternal dragon that they sang of?”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! They sing of the golden son who wings far, far, far to the west! They remember! The storm winds of old remember the eternal dragons from long, long, long, long and longer ago!”
The bravest fluttered up to perch on D’s hand, yellow and scarlet feathers fluffed with indignation. She resumed her miniscule human form and glared angrily at the Totetsu, tiny hands on her hips. “The oldest of the winds, from the ancient deeps, remembers the weight of an eternal dragon on the wing. They sing, they know!”
“Enough, my little friend, I believe you.”
“Count D!” Honlon pelted into the room, eyes wild. “D! One of the ancients has reappeared! An eternal one!”
D was more than a little surprised to see Honlon. The dragon-child had not left her chamber since they had fled LA. Her three personalities had been subdued since Chris had left. They hadn’t argued in weeks.
Now was no exception. At least two of them were in perfect accord. The eternal dragon was more than enough to excite even the calm Shuko. Junrei, always one of the more excitable of the dragon-child’s personalities, was worked into a frenzy and making very little sense. Shuko hurried up to the count. “One of the eternals has been born. A young one, but an eternal dragon! We can feel it! We were dreaming of King Gidora when we felt it.”
“The great king felt it too! He woke us from slumber.” Junrei piped up. “He told us ‘One of the Dragonlords has been born!’ ”
Kanan said nothing and that was unusual, in and of itself. D knelt in front of Honlon. “Kanan?”
“She has said nothing since we felt the presence of the Eternal ones.” Shuko explained in her calm voice, though there was worry in her tone. “She will not even yell at Junrei.”
“Kanan?” D asked again, a little worried.
She focused on him and did something that was so out of character; D thought for an instant he was crazy. She smiled at him, a broad smile free of her usual sarcasm and anger. Her smile reminded him of one he desperately wished he coud forget. “He’s coming!”
But that was all she would say. No matter how much he questioned her, she refused to say more.
Tetsu looked up at the count. “So what are you going to do?”
D rose and brushed at the silk of his robe. “If it is indeed an eternal dragon, and a young one, I would like to know why it has come. Would you like to accompany me?”
Tetsu growled softly. “Like you could stop me.”
He could have and they both knew it, but D merely smiled at Tetsu and opened a drawer for a piece of pasteboard and a calligraphy brush. In neat strokes he lettered it in both Chinese and English. “The pet shop is temporarily closed for renovations. We apologize for the inconvenience.” He posted the sign on the door and locked it carefully.
“Come then. Let us find the young one.”
*********************
The songbirds, more in tune with the wind than D could ever hope to be, led the way. One would always be close at hand to help guide them on their way. The vessel that was the pet shop sailed smoothly through the skies, unseen and unknowable to human eyes. Most of the inhabitants were curious and excited. Unless they were moving on, D very seldom brought the whole shop with him when he went off to seek some new pet.
D found himself torn. An eternal dragon had not been sighted in the skies since the time of his ancestors, long before they had become what they were now, before the pact of vengeance was sworn. D had heard rumors that one of his ancestors had once claimed an eternal dragon but there was no record of it. What had occurred thousands of years ago? And what was it that caused one to appear now?
“Close, close, close!” The joyous cries of his songbird flock startled him out of his contemplation. “He is close, close, closer!”
The bright-plumaged leader settled down near where he stood, while the rest of her chorus darted on multi-colored wings and sang exuberantly. “The wind sings with his nearness. He comes this way on swift wings. It will not be long.”
The others took up the refrain. “Not long! Not long, not long! Close, close, closer! Not long!”
“Count!”
D looked up at where Ten-chan was poised in the rigging. The sharp-eyed fox pointed ahead of them. “There! Something gold! It’s coming this way!”
At a gesture from D, Entai, the hawk, lofted into the air. She settled on the rigging beside Ten-chan and peering in the direction the fox pointed. “I see it!” She called down to D. “A golden dragon, like none I have seen before! It’s coming this way!”
“How far?” D called back, caught up in their excitement in spite of himself.
“Not far,” Entai called back. “We will meet in moments.”
Soon D could see for himself. Even if he had never seen one, he recognized the eternal dragon immediately for what it was. It combined characteristics of all the dragon races into one whole. But it was indeed a young one, barely twenty feet from nose to tail. D knew from the tales that they were much larger when full grown. Had something happened to its parents? The birds had sung of two eternal ones, and yet only one remained. Another mystery.
The dragon glided up to the ship and looped lazily around them. D caught a glimpse of an ice-blue eye and knew it was examining them. He strove to appear harmless. When the dragon had surveyed the entire ship, it lofted upwards and dropped neatly to the deck in front of where D stood.
“Welcome, Eternal one. We are honored to have you among us.”
The maned head tilted to one side as the dragon regarded him for a long moment. Tetsu snarled softly behind D. Shocked, D turned to reprimand such reprehensible behavior, but was startled by the amused look that crossed the dragon’s narrow face. It lowered its head until it was eye-level with the Totetsu and hissed softly, baring rows of dagger-sharp teeth at him. D didn’t hear what the dragon said, but a baffled look slid across Tetsu’s face and his growl tapered away into silence.
“T-chan?”
Tetsu turned to look at the count, radiating confusion. “He said ‘I have teeth now, too, Tetsu’.”
Perplexed, D looked back at his visitor, calmly folding its golden wings. “But why did you growl at him? Even if he is young he is still an eternal and deserves respect.”
“I just don’t like him.” Tetsu snarled softly. “What did he mean? And how did he know my name?”
D turned back to the dragon, which was watching him alertly. “May I ask how you know him, great one?”
Blue eyes, alive with humor, met his and D reeled at the feeling of familiarity. He stepped back and put a hand on Tetsu’s shoulder to steady himself.
Pon-chan had crept up to D’s feet in the confusion, and was staring at the dragon with a dawning smile of recognition. Before either D or Tetsu could react, she flung herself at the dragon with a delighted squeal. “I knew it!”
The dragon sat back on its haunches and caught the young one in gentle foreclaws, sweeping golden wings around her in a welcoming embrace. Pon-chan laughed gleefully and turned to the count. “Don’t you-?”
A gentle claw touched her nose and she stared into the dragon’s eyes for a long moment. She laughed with delight and returned her gaze to D. “He wants to speak to you in private, Count.” She giggled again and kissed the dragon’s nose, rewarded by another embrace from those golden wings. The dragon gently set her back down on the deck and dropped his forefeet back to the wooden deck. He shifted a wing and offered a shoulder to the stunned D.
Pon-chan giggled and tugged on his silk robe. “He wants you to fly with him.”
D gathered his shredded dignity and stepped forward, mounting the offered shoulder and settling gingerly between the massive wings. “By your leave, eternal one.”
Pon-chan giggled again. “He says, ‘hang on,’ Count D!”
Leaping easily over the edge, the dragon plummeted down into the clouds before snapping his wings out into a glide.
Pon-chan turned to Tetsu with a delighted chuckle. “Actually, he said ‘I know you Chinese can fly, but unless you want to play free-fall again, hang on to your crazy Chinese ass’.”
She watched as dawning recognition crept over Tetsu’s face and laughed as he flung himself at the rail to stare down at the rapidly dwindling golden form. “You have got to be frigging kidding me!”
Pon-chan snickered at his back and resolved not to tell him just how much he had just sounded like the human he claimed to hate most of all.
**************
D clung to the scaled neck as the eternal dragon dropped rapidly through the clouds. He was not afraid of falling, but still…
The dragon glided toward the great sea-cliffs below, choosing a high, wind-swept bluff as his landing point. He dropped to the ground with a jolt that nearly unseated his passenger. D gingerly dismounted and turned to face those unnerving blue eyes again. “You wished to speak to me in private, great one?”
An amused rumble filled his head. “It’s rather odd to hear you call me a great one, D. You were always acting like you were so damned superior.”
The voice was as familiar as the eyes, but D could not place it. “Have we met, then, eternal one?”
“A lifetime ago, and yet not very long ago. What’s the date?”
The change of subject threw D. “Ah… July fourth, I believe. Why do you ask?”
The narrow head shook. “Unbelievable. She said it, but I never quite dared to believe it. Only five months. And Independence Day, too. How damned appropriate! I can’t fucking believe it.”
“F-five months?” D asked weakly, a little stunned by the vulgarity from something he had always been taught was the greatest of the dragons.
“Not important. You haven’t figured it out yet, have you, D? Who I am? Or was?”
“I…” D stared hard at the young dragon, trying to put together the clues in his mind.
“Let me give you a hint. The last time we met, I had not yet earned the right to board your ship.”
D sat down abruptly. It couldn’t be…
Stunned silent, D could only watch as the shimmering dragon before him transformed into a human he knew only too well. “Mr. Detective?”
Leon grinned broadly; an expression D had very seldom seen him wear. He looked weary and a bit older, but he was still very much the same person who had entered his pet shop back in LA. “Hello, D.”
“Leon? How? This cannot be!” Unmindful of the sand on his robe or the sea-wind tangling his black hair, D stared up at the last person he had ever expected to see again. He had known, when he had pushed Leon out of the ship; that it would be the last time he would see the human he had come to care for. This was not possible! “I must be dreaming.” D muttered to himself.
Leon knelt in front of D. As much as he had enjoyed the look of shock on the count’s usually inscrutable face, this was getting them nowhere. He had hoped for a better reaction than this. He would never admit it though. Sighing, he reached out and pinched D’s cheek just hard enough to hurt.
D clapped a hand to his cheek and stared blankly at him.
“Did that feel like a dream, dammit? I’m as real as you are, D.”
D shivered once, convulsively, and tentatively reached up to touch Leon’s face. “Is it really you, my dear detective?” Leon could feel the fingers that brushed his cheekbone trembling.
“You need proof?” Leon reached into his pocket for the battered piece of paper. Even as he did, D kept his fingers on his face, as if Leon were a soap bubble that would pop and vanish from existence if he dared to let go. Something painfully tight in Leon’s chest loosened. He had never dared to admit it to anyone, not even to Nogard, but he had been petrified D would reject him. Nogard had soothed him out of nightmares many times, dreams in which D had turned those empty, angry eyes on him and declared that the world would be a far better place without humans.
Deep in his heart Leon had known there was no way D could turn into a creature like his father, but he had still woken shivering every time the dream had plagued his sleep. More and more often when he had awakened, trembling in every limb, he had thought that maybe it was his hand in the death of D’s father that would turn D into a killer like the old man. That thought was almost more frightening than the nightmare itself.
He pulled out the folded piece of paper and offered it to D. “Here.”
D looked perplexed, but gingerly accepted the paper and unfolded it. It dropped from shaking fingers and D looked up at Leon out of tear-filled eyes. “You…”
Leon picked up the precious piece of paper and pressed it into D’s hand. “You forgot this. I’ve been looking for you to return it.”
D clutched the picture to his chest. “I-I… Thank you.”
Leon smiled again, though there was an edge of sadness to it. “I wanted to return that to you. Chris would never have forgiven me if I hadn’t. He may never know, but I’ll feel better about it.”
D met his eyes and was caught by the wrenching sadness in their blue depths. “You… you gave him up just to return this to me?” Like no one else, he knew what Leon had sacrificed to do this.
“My aunt and uncle are more his parents than not. And I wasn’t much good as an older brother either. All I ever did was cause him worry. It’s better this way.” Leon shook himself abruptly and stood. “Besides, who said I did it just to return that?”
D looked up sharply. “And why else, then, Mr. Detective?”
Leon was prepared for anything but the faintly pleading gaze D leveled at him. His heart twisted in his chest. He hadn’t lied to Nogard. He had wanted nothing more than to see D again; to give him Chris’s drawing back, but he had hoped… Somewhere deep down, in a part of him he could not admit to, he knew he wanted more.
Do you think I did not know that, my love? I knew your heart better than you did. While you were in my womb, I dreamt your dreams with you and kept the human part of you safe during the transition. There was nothing you knew or loved that I did not. I did not let you become my son so you could break your own heart. You are a dragon born and afraid of nothing, are you not?
Leon looked up sharply, but the sky was empty of anything but a few clouds and the occasional seabird. Nogard’s presence swirled around him like the playful wind and he felt more than heard her laughter. He felt her loving touch brush his skin, and then she was gone. He laughed aloud. Just like any mother! She interrupted her own, well-earned rest and dreams to reassure him. He thanked her silently, knowing that she would understand even in her slumber of stone.
D was still looking up at him, but his gaze was more confused than pleading now. Leon offered him a hand. D accepted and rose to his feet.
“I wanted to see you again.” Leon admitted simply. Carried in that sentence were a thousand things he could or would not give a name to. Fortunately, D understood.
D met his eyes. “I confess to wanting the same thing, my dear detective.” He shivered a bit, both at what his grandfather would have to say about this when he found out and at the cold wind that cut through his silk clothing. Leon moved so the bulk of his larger body sheltered D from the cutting sea wind. “So, do you have room for a dragon in your shop?”
D leaned against him, smiling. “I think something can be arranged.”
fin
A/N-- This concludes the story. There may be more fics forthcoming, you never can tell! Thanks to Mishi-kun, Luki_Dimension, Littlevamp and all those who have reveiwed so far. You guys are awsome and your support is gratifying. (That means really, really nice.) Akita-- please don't act like they're stupider than you are. They have an attention span. You have none. Thank you all again.
Disclaimers still stand. No characters of Matsuri Akino-sama's were harmed during the making of this fic. Annoyed and irritated, but not harmed.
Count D raised his head as something pattered softly against the glass pane set in the front door of his pet shop, relocated halfway around the world from LA and all its memories, both good and bad. He rose and opened the door. A flock of excited songbirds swirled in, circling his head like a multicolored whirlwind.
“Count, Count, Count, Count!” They sang breathlessly, filled with excitement.
D raised his hands, the subtle shadow of sorrow he had worn since the day they left LA lifting a little at the joy his visitors displayed. “Calmly now, little friends. What has gotten you so atwitter?”
One by one, they settled and assumed human guise, still singing wordlessly of excitement and important news. Only when the last of them had perched on the arm of his low couch could he get them to stop chattering and tell him what had stirred them up so.
One of them, feathered in vibrant yellow and scarlet, danced in place with her news.
“The winds sing a new song, count! Full of hope and forgotten words, memories long gone to dust, but awakened again. An eternal dragon! A young one, born to the lords of Dragonkind, so tells the winds! The eternal dragon rises again!”
The others joined in with happy cries. “Eternal Dragon! The dragon rises!”
Totetsu rose from where he had been lounging, scowling. His glare sent most of D’s visitors leaping into the air, shrieking fearfully that the Totetsu would eat them. Only the one who had been spokesperson remained in place, though she trembled with terror.
“You lie!” Tetsu growled at the quivering songbird. “The eternal dragons have been gone for thousands of years! They were the parents of all the dragon races that exist now. They died out long before King Gidora was ever hatched.”
“Y-yes, yes, yes.” Twittered the shivering songbird, edging toward D nervously. “But the winds do not lie. An eternal dragon, young yet, spreads his wings on the winds, far, far to the west of here. There were two, but now only the young one remains.”
D raised a hand to forestall Tetsu’s angry retort, intrigued. “An eternal dragon and its young. This is most unexpected. What has happened to make an eternal dragon resurface now?”
Tetsu snarled softly. “You don’t believe this, do you, Count? There are no more eternal dragons!”
The songbird flock, their courage restored by D’s support, angrily darted at Tetsu, catcalling loudly. “The winds do not lie! The winds know only truth! The winds sing of the young dragon, and they do not lie!”
“Enough.” D’s reprimand was soft, but it silenced both the swirling, diving flock and the Totetsu they had been tormenting. “The winds do not lie, it is true, but they can be misinterpreted. Are you certain, my little ones, that it was an eternal dragon that they sang of?”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! They sing of the golden son who wings far, far, far to the west! They remember! The storm winds of old remember the eternal dragons from long, long, long, long and longer ago!”
The bravest fluttered up to perch on D’s hand, yellow and scarlet feathers fluffed with indignation. She resumed her miniscule human form and glared angrily at the Totetsu, tiny hands on her hips. “The oldest of the winds, from the ancient deeps, remembers the weight of an eternal dragon on the wing. They sing, they know!”
“Enough, my little friend, I believe you.”
“Count D!” Honlon pelted into the room, eyes wild. “D! One of the ancients has reappeared! An eternal one!”
D was more than a little surprised to see Honlon. The dragon-child had not left her chamber since they had fled LA. Her three personalities had been subdued since Chris had left. They hadn’t argued in weeks.
Now was no exception. At least two of them were in perfect accord. The eternal dragon was more than enough to excite even the calm Shuko. Junrei, always one of the more excitable of the dragon-child’s personalities, was worked into a frenzy and making very little sense. Shuko hurried up to the count. “One of the eternals has been born. A young one, but an eternal dragon! We can feel it! We were dreaming of King Gidora when we felt it.”
“The great king felt it too! He woke us from slumber.” Junrei piped up. “He told us ‘One of the Dragonlords has been born!’ ”
Kanan said nothing and that was unusual, in and of itself. D knelt in front of Honlon. “Kanan?”
“She has said nothing since we felt the presence of the Eternal ones.” Shuko explained in her calm voice, though there was worry in her tone. “She will not even yell at Junrei.”
“Kanan?” D asked again, a little worried.
She focused on him and did something that was so out of character; D thought for an instant he was crazy. She smiled at him, a broad smile free of her usual sarcasm and anger. Her smile reminded him of one he desperately wished he coud forget. “He’s coming!”
But that was all she would say. No matter how much he questioned her, she refused to say more.
Tetsu looked up at the count. “So what are you going to do?”
D rose and brushed at the silk of his robe. “If it is indeed an eternal dragon, and a young one, I would like to know why it has come. Would you like to accompany me?”
Tetsu growled softly. “Like you could stop me.”
He could have and they both knew it, but D merely smiled at Tetsu and opened a drawer for a piece of pasteboard and a calligraphy brush. In neat strokes he lettered it in both Chinese and English. “The pet shop is temporarily closed for renovations. We apologize for the inconvenience.” He posted the sign on the door and locked it carefully.
“Come then. Let us find the young one.”
*********************
The songbirds, more in tune with the wind than D could ever hope to be, led the way. One would always be close at hand to help guide them on their way. The vessel that was the pet shop sailed smoothly through the skies, unseen and unknowable to human eyes. Most of the inhabitants were curious and excited. Unless they were moving on, D very seldom brought the whole shop with him when he went off to seek some new pet.
D found himself torn. An eternal dragon had not been sighted in the skies since the time of his ancestors, long before they had become what they were now, before the pact of vengeance was sworn. D had heard rumors that one of his ancestors had once claimed an eternal dragon but there was no record of it. What had occurred thousands of years ago? And what was it that caused one to appear now?
“Close, close, close!” The joyous cries of his songbird flock startled him out of his contemplation. “He is close, close, closer!”
The bright-plumaged leader settled down near where he stood, while the rest of her chorus darted on multi-colored wings and sang exuberantly. “The wind sings with his nearness. He comes this way on swift wings. It will not be long.”
The others took up the refrain. “Not long! Not long, not long! Close, close, closer! Not long!”
“Count!”
D looked up at where Ten-chan was poised in the rigging. The sharp-eyed fox pointed ahead of them. “There! Something gold! It’s coming this way!”
At a gesture from D, Entai, the hawk, lofted into the air. She settled on the rigging beside Ten-chan and peering in the direction the fox pointed. “I see it!” She called down to D. “A golden dragon, like none I have seen before! It’s coming this way!”
“How far?” D called back, caught up in their excitement in spite of himself.
“Not far,” Entai called back. “We will meet in moments.”
Soon D could see for himself. Even if he had never seen one, he recognized the eternal dragon immediately for what it was. It combined characteristics of all the dragon races into one whole. But it was indeed a young one, barely twenty feet from nose to tail. D knew from the tales that they were much larger when full grown. Had something happened to its parents? The birds had sung of two eternal ones, and yet only one remained. Another mystery.
The dragon glided up to the ship and looped lazily around them. D caught a glimpse of an ice-blue eye and knew it was examining them. He strove to appear harmless. When the dragon had surveyed the entire ship, it lofted upwards and dropped neatly to the deck in front of where D stood.
“Welcome, Eternal one. We are honored to have you among us.”
The maned head tilted to one side as the dragon regarded him for a long moment. Tetsu snarled softly behind D. Shocked, D turned to reprimand such reprehensible behavior, but was startled by the amused look that crossed the dragon’s narrow face. It lowered its head until it was eye-level with the Totetsu and hissed softly, baring rows of dagger-sharp teeth at him. D didn’t hear what the dragon said, but a baffled look slid across Tetsu’s face and his growl tapered away into silence.
“T-chan?”
Tetsu turned to look at the count, radiating confusion. “He said ‘I have teeth now, too, Tetsu’.”
Perplexed, D looked back at his visitor, calmly folding its golden wings. “But why did you growl at him? Even if he is young he is still an eternal and deserves respect.”
“I just don’t like him.” Tetsu snarled softly. “What did he mean? And how did he know my name?”
D turned back to the dragon, which was watching him alertly. “May I ask how you know him, great one?”
Blue eyes, alive with humor, met his and D reeled at the feeling of familiarity. He stepped back and put a hand on Tetsu’s shoulder to steady himself.
Pon-chan had crept up to D’s feet in the confusion, and was staring at the dragon with a dawning smile of recognition. Before either D or Tetsu could react, she flung herself at the dragon with a delighted squeal. “I knew it!”
The dragon sat back on its haunches and caught the young one in gentle foreclaws, sweeping golden wings around her in a welcoming embrace. Pon-chan laughed gleefully and turned to the count. “Don’t you-?”
A gentle claw touched her nose and she stared into the dragon’s eyes for a long moment. She laughed with delight and returned her gaze to D. “He wants to speak to you in private, Count.” She giggled again and kissed the dragon’s nose, rewarded by another embrace from those golden wings. The dragon gently set her back down on the deck and dropped his forefeet back to the wooden deck. He shifted a wing and offered a shoulder to the stunned D.
Pon-chan giggled and tugged on his silk robe. “He wants you to fly with him.”
D gathered his shredded dignity and stepped forward, mounting the offered shoulder and settling gingerly between the massive wings. “By your leave, eternal one.”
Pon-chan giggled again. “He says, ‘hang on,’ Count D!”
Leaping easily over the edge, the dragon plummeted down into the clouds before snapping his wings out into a glide.
Pon-chan turned to Tetsu with a delighted chuckle. “Actually, he said ‘I know you Chinese can fly, but unless you want to play free-fall again, hang on to your crazy Chinese ass’.”
She watched as dawning recognition crept over Tetsu’s face and laughed as he flung himself at the rail to stare down at the rapidly dwindling golden form. “You have got to be frigging kidding me!”
Pon-chan snickered at his back and resolved not to tell him just how much he had just sounded like the human he claimed to hate most of all.
**************
D clung to the scaled neck as the eternal dragon dropped rapidly through the clouds. He was not afraid of falling, but still…
The dragon glided toward the great sea-cliffs below, choosing a high, wind-swept bluff as his landing point. He dropped to the ground with a jolt that nearly unseated his passenger. D gingerly dismounted and turned to face those unnerving blue eyes again. “You wished to speak to me in private, great one?”
An amused rumble filled his head. “It’s rather odd to hear you call me a great one, D. You were always acting like you were so damned superior.”
The voice was as familiar as the eyes, but D could not place it. “Have we met, then, eternal one?”
“A lifetime ago, and yet not very long ago. What’s the date?”
The change of subject threw D. “Ah… July fourth, I believe. Why do you ask?”
The narrow head shook. “Unbelievable. She said it, but I never quite dared to believe it. Only five months. And Independence Day, too. How damned appropriate! I can’t fucking believe it.”
“F-five months?” D asked weakly, a little stunned by the vulgarity from something he had always been taught was the greatest of the dragons.
“Not important. You haven’t figured it out yet, have you, D? Who I am? Or was?”
“I…” D stared hard at the young dragon, trying to put together the clues in his mind.
“Let me give you a hint. The last time we met, I had not yet earned the right to board your ship.”
D sat down abruptly. It couldn’t be…
Stunned silent, D could only watch as the shimmering dragon before him transformed into a human he knew only too well. “Mr. Detective?”
Leon grinned broadly; an expression D had very seldom seen him wear. He looked weary and a bit older, but he was still very much the same person who had entered his pet shop back in LA. “Hello, D.”
“Leon? How? This cannot be!” Unmindful of the sand on his robe or the sea-wind tangling his black hair, D stared up at the last person he had ever expected to see again. He had known, when he had pushed Leon out of the ship; that it would be the last time he would see the human he had come to care for. This was not possible! “I must be dreaming.” D muttered to himself.
Leon knelt in front of D. As much as he had enjoyed the look of shock on the count’s usually inscrutable face, this was getting them nowhere. He had hoped for a better reaction than this. He would never admit it though. Sighing, he reached out and pinched D’s cheek just hard enough to hurt.
D clapped a hand to his cheek and stared blankly at him.
“Did that feel like a dream, dammit? I’m as real as you are, D.”
D shivered once, convulsively, and tentatively reached up to touch Leon’s face. “Is it really you, my dear detective?” Leon could feel the fingers that brushed his cheekbone trembling.
“You need proof?” Leon reached into his pocket for the battered piece of paper. Even as he did, D kept his fingers on his face, as if Leon were a soap bubble that would pop and vanish from existence if he dared to let go. Something painfully tight in Leon’s chest loosened. He had never dared to admit it to anyone, not even to Nogard, but he had been petrified D would reject him. Nogard had soothed him out of nightmares many times, dreams in which D had turned those empty, angry eyes on him and declared that the world would be a far better place without humans.
Deep in his heart Leon had known there was no way D could turn into a creature like his father, but he had still woken shivering every time the dream had plagued his sleep. More and more often when he had awakened, trembling in every limb, he had thought that maybe it was his hand in the death of D’s father that would turn D into a killer like the old man. That thought was almost more frightening than the nightmare itself.
He pulled out the folded piece of paper and offered it to D. “Here.”
D looked perplexed, but gingerly accepted the paper and unfolded it. It dropped from shaking fingers and D looked up at Leon out of tear-filled eyes. “You…”
Leon picked up the precious piece of paper and pressed it into D’s hand. “You forgot this. I’ve been looking for you to return it.”
D clutched the picture to his chest. “I-I… Thank you.”
Leon smiled again, though there was an edge of sadness to it. “I wanted to return that to you. Chris would never have forgiven me if I hadn’t. He may never know, but I’ll feel better about it.”
D met his eyes and was caught by the wrenching sadness in their blue depths. “You… you gave him up just to return this to me?” Like no one else, he knew what Leon had sacrificed to do this.
“My aunt and uncle are more his parents than not. And I wasn’t much good as an older brother either. All I ever did was cause him worry. It’s better this way.” Leon shook himself abruptly and stood. “Besides, who said I did it just to return that?”
D looked up sharply. “And why else, then, Mr. Detective?”
Leon was prepared for anything but the faintly pleading gaze D leveled at him. His heart twisted in his chest. He hadn’t lied to Nogard. He had wanted nothing more than to see D again; to give him Chris’s drawing back, but he had hoped… Somewhere deep down, in a part of him he could not admit to, he knew he wanted more.
Do you think I did not know that, my love? I knew your heart better than you did. While you were in my womb, I dreamt your dreams with you and kept the human part of you safe during the transition. There was nothing you knew or loved that I did not. I did not let you become my son so you could break your own heart. You are a dragon born and afraid of nothing, are you not?
Leon looked up sharply, but the sky was empty of anything but a few clouds and the occasional seabird. Nogard’s presence swirled around him like the playful wind and he felt more than heard her laughter. He felt her loving touch brush his skin, and then she was gone. He laughed aloud. Just like any mother! She interrupted her own, well-earned rest and dreams to reassure him. He thanked her silently, knowing that she would understand even in her slumber of stone.
D was still looking up at him, but his gaze was more confused than pleading now. Leon offered him a hand. D accepted and rose to his feet.
“I wanted to see you again.” Leon admitted simply. Carried in that sentence were a thousand things he could or would not give a name to. Fortunately, D understood.
D met his eyes. “I confess to wanting the same thing, my dear detective.” He shivered a bit, both at what his grandfather would have to say about this when he found out and at the cold wind that cut through his silk clothing. Leon moved so the bulk of his larger body sheltered D from the cutting sea wind. “So, do you have room for a dragon in your shop?”
D leaned against him, smiling. “I think something can be arranged.”
fin