This is definitely coming out of the gate for me and I thought to myself what if Max made a friend with a dragon? Of course, it takes place after the events of 'Joys of Being 10'...like several months after all my one-shot birthday fics and what's on Max's mind as he gets older. So...this is what came out. Dedicated to The Master of Stories and SpiritualLoneWolfXIII! Enjoy!

Friendship Between a Tiger and a Dragon

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Getting Used to Being 10

One sunny afternoon passed by at the Valley of Peace and Max was sitting on the front porch of the house, watching people pass by and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get some quiet time in a big loud house that he's always been used to and he's trying to get used to the fact that he's growing a little older now and trying to come to terms with it. Yet at the same time, he also fears that he'll fall victim into being ignored or something like that because he's growing out of that innocent kid phase and into the early stages of adolesence.

But since his 10th birthday, things sorta changed for a bit and though he's still a kid at times, he felt like most days, he was a little left out because his older siblings was growing a little bigger and most of the younger ones were the only ones he can be around with at the most. However, he's still around Musaki and Arizona the whole time around and it wasn't really a loss for him and he can still go to them for whatever the case may be.

Soon enough, he heard the door open and out comes Arizona and he said, "Hey, Zona."

"Hey, Maxie. Whatcha doing out here?" asked Arizona, sitting next to him.

"Oh, nothing...I'm just sitting here." Max replied.

Arizona blinked his eyes a few times and he could tell something's up with him and he said, "Come on...you can tell me what's going on. We always tell each other everything."

"Everything?" asked Max.

He was gonna respond yes, but kinda froze for a second and said, "Well...almost everything. This is one thing that I've never told anyone before. I'm a master at shooting bows and arrows when I was a pup."

Max widened his eyes at that particular explanation and asked, "You did?"

"Hey, I was bored out of my mind at that tower. I gotta have something to do and learn something out of it." Arizona stated.

"Cool." Max said, amazed.

Arizona lets out a sigh of relief and said, "Yeah...so good to let that out of the open. All right, now you."

Max knew where this was going and by Arizona giving an example of how he almost tells Max everything, he was gonna do the same as well and he said, "Well...ever since I turned 10, things kinda changed. Logan, Tae Kwan Do, Crash and Bang got too busy to hang out with me and whatever I wanted to do with them, I kinda got a little left out."

"Ohh...I'm sorry to hear that, guy." Arizona stated.

Max nodded his head and he said, "Then, the babies started giving extra attention to almost everyone. I don't know what happened. I used to have all the attention and now I get like...45 percent of it."

"I think that happens sometimes. When you were younger, you used to get all the attention from everyone around you...especially at the Jade Palace. Now that you got older, sometimes...that kind of thing shifts. We all have to fight for attention for what we do and in some ways, we end up doing stupid stuff just to gain attention or something." Arizona added.

"I wouldn't wanna do anything stupid to get attention. That's not what I would want to do." Max added.

"I know. I know you know better than that. You can't put the blame on being 10 years old though. When you're that age, you have the early stages of responsibility. You're still the youngest, but now that you're older, you just need to help out around the house a little more and whatever you do...always stay true to who you are like you always do. Don't let anyone change you and always be nice to people." Arizona stated.

Max nodded his head at that and he said, "I will, Zona. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" asked Arizona.

Max chuckled at this and lifted his pinky over to Arizona's and did a little pinky finger trick to keep their promise and Arizona smiled and said, "Look at us...we're both getting older and we end up doing pinky promises."

"It's a good cause, Z." Max added.

Sooner or later, Arizona stands up and said, "Hey, I'm gonna check on Sierra. You wanna come with me?"

Max nodded his head in response and he followed Arizona to see how Sierra's doing because mere months prior to Max's birthday, Sierra and Arizona had been together all the time and one night in particular...they took their relationship to a whole nother level.

"How does her stomach get bigger?" asked Max.

Arizona sighed at that question and figured it might come sooner or later and said, "Let's just say when you get older and you found the mate of your dreams, you'll get your answer there."

"So...I'm guess I'll never find out?" asked Max.

"You will...in about 2 or 5 years." Arizona responded.

Could it be possible? You'll find out on the next chapter!

Voice of Max: Ben Diskin

Voice of Arizona: Nicolas Roye