Chapter 1: Winning the Day
"Love is a scary, peculiar, overwhelming, overbearing, yet wonderful thing. It joins two souls together and forms something greater than the sum of their beings. And love isn't beautiful because it lasts forever, but rather because love means everything to those who share it and their brief lives together." – Blaze
Elora looked on as Spyro stood opposed to Ripto – confident, cocky, stoic – A calm and forthcoming demeanor of serious arrogance. And for as bewildering as these opposite characteristics were being simultaneously projected from this small yet powerful dragon, Elora felt absolutely sure, certain that she and the Professor had saved all of Avalar from Ripto's rage by bringing Spyro to this realm. And Spyro was doing all this simply because he chose to, for no reward and no sufficient cause. Just to defend the lives of total strangers from a menace he met only a week ago. Even in his adolescence, he was a true hero, as brave and courageous as any elder to him. And in that moment, as Spyro was about to claim victory and defeat Ripto, Elora decided that she also loved him.
"This isn't possible. It isn't possible!" Ripto screamed as he fell towards his imminent death. He plummeted into a pool of lava, before he disappeared from view. Spyro made his way towards the edge of the simmering lava and landed next to Elora.
"You did it Spyro! All of Avalar, I… I owe you."
"I was only doing what was right, Elora. Ripto will never terrorize you or anyone else ever again."
Elora bent over and kissed her hero, to the surprise of Spyro.
"Thank you." Elora whispered next to his ear, before returning upright and turned around to see hunter approaching.
"Wow," Hunter said excitedly, "that was amazing Spyro! Those orbs really did come in handy, didn't they? Oh, I'm sure you would have defeated that gnasty Ripto without them, but they certainly didn't hurt."
"Yeah, remained me to thank the Professor for the assist."
"How about you thank him in person" the Professor said as he appeared from behind Hunter. "All of us owe you a great debt, Spyro. What you've done shall never be forgotten."
"Well I am pretty great" Spyro smiling confidently "Sparx and I were just doing the right thing. There's no need to thank me, but you can if you want to." Sparx flew around his best friend hastily.
"Well, you may not want the praise Spyro," Elora said happily, "but you certainly deserve it. I know we brought you here to Avalar unexpectedly, so how I take you on that vacation you wanted. It's the least I can do."
"Really? Where?"
"Anywhere. But first, I think there are some people who also want to thank you for what you've done."
As Elora said it, a large crowd had gathered at the front of the arena, consisting of several peoples whom Spyro had aided during Ripto's siege of Avalar. Spyro stood in front of them, humbly accepting their praise with a victories and boastful grin on his face. It's was this duality which cause Elora loved him.
It was only the day after; at around this time yesterday Crash had confronted Cortex and Uka-Uka at the Time Twister Machine. And now he was lying face up on the beach, appearing asleep at first glance lost within his thoughts. "Is he gone, did I, did I kill him?" The thought unsettled Crash, simply because he wasn't sure how to feel about Cortex right now. He was the bad guy, so I stopped him. End of the story…
But he didn't deserve to die. And the last I saw him, he fell down a hole and was caught in the explosion of the Time Twisting Machine. I don't want to be responsible for this. He, he's the reason why I exist. And whether he was a bad person or not is irrelevant. That has to mean something.
"Hey Crash, my big naughty underdog. How does it feel, to save the world?"
Crash opened his eyes, leaned forward from his resting position and faced his sister Coco. I had only found out she existed a whole year after I first escaped from Cortex four years ago. After Tawna… passed, she's the only family I have. Apparently, her pass through the Cortex Vortex was more successful than mine, because she was a genius. But she was also kind and made my life bearable. Maybe she can understand what I'm going through.
"H-ey. g- ood."
"Well it certainly doesn't sound like it. What's on your mind, Crash?"
Not being able to speak well is just another barrier between me and happiness. Even with the closest person I have in my life, I can't speak openly with her.
"I- eyem… tr- ubld."
Crash coughed after he lengthily struggled to get the words out. He hatted this, it was so frustrating, so embarrassing, and further compounded his… depression. "No, I'm not unhappy, am I?"
"What's wrong? And don't worry about your voice, it will never bother me. Take all the time you need, okay big brother."
"C- k-k oar… tex. I- k-k illd him."
Coco wrapped her arm around her brother and smiled as they watched the waves crash on the shore. "It must have been tough for you. Somehow, you found the compassion in yourself to forgive even Cortex for what he's done. That's the best thing about you Crash. You're kind, compassionate, and forgiving. You fight to protect and defend those that are helpless, and you have an infallible sense of loyalty to your family; even if that means risking your life to save the woman you love, or the world from your own father. It's what makes you a hero and my amazing older brother. And I don't think you killed Cortex, Crash. It was his hubris that led to his downfall."
"I gu- es."
"It's not just Cortex that's bothering you, is it Crash? There's something else bugging you. Maybe something not even yourself knows of."
Crash looked at Coco unsure, not really able to respond to her question because he physically couldn't and wasn't sure he had a response in the first place.
"I'll tell you something that's been on my mind for a while, Crash. Should we… leave these islands?"
The thought had never crosses Crash's mind before, so he looked at his sister with a curious glare.
"This place will always be special to us, it is hour home. But I fear spending the rest of our lives here. You and I, we're all that is left of our species… two of a kind. What happens five years from now, ten? It's tough stuff to think about, and as smart as I think I am I don't have an answer. But I do know that today, I just want to hang out with my awesome brother. And thank him for all that he's done for me and on behalf of the world."
"L- uv… ue.
"Love you too."
Spyro and Coco. Sigh… They loved each other. But the circumstances, how they met and why they fell in love. It's something I have to undo. Don't get me wrong; what they had between each other was special, and this pains me dearly especially because I was such a part of their love together. But I have the opportunity to save Elora and Crash's life, and in doing so stopping their deaths from bringing Coco and Spyro together. So against the wishes of my father, I will stop Ripto and Cortex from forming my family.