The Long family's vacation had been filled with much need relaxation after the defeat of the Dark Dragon. Life was once again looking good for our young hero: Jake Long, the American Dragon. With Sun keeping watch over the NYC while he and his family were away, it was nothing but r and r for the young dragon.
The day after the Dark Dragon was trapped in the dimension adjacent to Mt. Victoria, the Long family and Rose's family decided it was time to meet one another. Rose had explained to her family that when she had picked up the photo Jake had left at her house, she was flooded with memories too powerful to be her own imagination. After showing it to her family, they too were hit with memories of their lives in the timeline that had existed before Jake's wish.
"My guess is that when anyone who has had their memories altered by the alternate reality is put in contact with something that pertains to them that existed in the previous timeline, but doesn't exist in the current timeline, their memories from the original timeline are brought back," Spud theorized to the families.
After giving Spud the confused look most people gave him when he said something intelligent or profound, Rose's mom agreed to his theory and apologized to Jake and the Long family for the "misunderstanding" the previous night.
"It's all good," Jake said in his signature manner of speech. "If I was in your shoes I probably would have called the cops on me too."
After further discussion, Susan ensured that Rose and her family promised to keep her family's true nature a secret. It did not take a lot of convincing, as Rose's twin pointed out, "Who would believe us if we did?"
As the Long family was preparing to leave, Lao Shi, who had seemed uneasy and unnaturally silent throughout the meeting, at last spoke up. "Family of Rose, there is something I must ask of you. I have been given the honor by the World's Dragon Council to request Rose, as the only dragon slayer who is friendly to dragons, to begin teaching a small chosen group of dragons how to truly battle another dragon. As was evidenced by last nights titanic battle, we dragons lack the knowledge to combat any dragon that turns evil."
Both families looked at the elderly dragon with shock at this proposal. Rose's parents questioned how this would affect Rose's life and why it was even necessary, given that the Dark Dragon was sealed in an alternate dimension for the next thousand years, while Jake was angrily asking why he hadn't been informed of this and Susan berated her father for bringing this up at the last minute.
After yelling at them all to "shut up" in Chinese, Lao Shi calmly answered each of them. "While it is true that the Dark Dragon has been sealed away, no one truly knows the full extent of his powers. He may have found a way to survive those thousand years. The dragons of the world must be ready to face him should he return. As for you my grandson, you were busy with Spud, Trixie, and Rose during the meeting. If you are wondering which dragons were selected, only those who have proven themselves honorable, loyal, and level-headed enough to use this knowledge only when needed will be trained.
Spud whispered to Trixie, "Oh, so that's why Jake was kept in the dark," earning him an elbow to the ribs from his friend.
"Spudinski, we're trying to listen here," was her response.
"There is yet more, family of Rose," Jake's wise grandfather continued, "An envoy of the Dragon Council will arrive soon to work out a schedule with you. She should still be able to attend school, and enjoy the company of her friends and family. Of course the latter two will be cut down some, but not too much I assure you."
After her parents thanked Lao Shi for his explanation, Rose accompanied the Long family on their departure. "My parents agreed to let me show you the sites that are actually worth seeing around here," Rose answered their questioning looks. After she gave the Long family a tour of the city, the group returned to Rose's house just as the sky was taking on the pinkish tint of sunset. "Well, this is my stop, but I should be able to come over to your hotel room tomorrow," she said as she leaned over to kiss Jake goodbye. "See you tomorrow?"
"Definitely," was Jake's reply as he watched her return to the building which housed her home, watching her until long after the doors closed with eyes that easily gave away his feelings (not that his goofy smile didn't already). It wasn't until Fu Dog snapped his fingers in Jakes face that his thoughts returned to the here and now.
After returning to their hotel room, Jonathan addressed those gathered there. "Well familia, we got to all the good sites in just 2 days. Well, all the 'normal' sites anyway. What do you say we have Susan and grandpa show us some of the more magical places tomorrow, huh?"
Knowing that he wouldn't take no for an answer, said "familia" agreed, but only to places virtually devoid of any danger. As Jake, Spud, and Trixie chilled out in the hot tub, creating a rap about how the vacation was going so far, a realization struck Jake: would he be able to see Rose again after the week was over?
The rest of the week was unremarkable compared to the first two days. The Longs showed Jonathan the mystical side of Hong Kong, Jake Spud and Trixie enjoyed Jake not having to preform dragon duties while here, and Jake and Rose spent some quality time catching up on each other's lives. It was now time for the Long family to return to the NYC. They were in line to check in at the airport, where Rose and Jake were saying their goodbyes.
"Rose, this last weekend was amazing; it was so good to see you again."
"Likewise, but now comes the hard part. I'm going to be here, in Hong Kong, while you're in New York."
"Yeah, I'm also worried about that. Do you think we'll ever really get the chance to see each other again?"
"Of course, but the question is, how long will it take?"
"Come on Jake-arino we gotta go!" Jake's dad called.
"Coming!" Jake and Rose kissed, each on the verge of tears, as they were once again separated for who-knows-how-long.
As the plane took of, Jake took one last look down at Hong Kong, knowing it would be a long time before he could return.
"Jakey, relax," was Trixie's response to Jake's sad face. "I mean heck, look at what went right this week. Especially since we now know that in this, or any other timeline, Rose is still your girl."
"Yeah bro," Spud added, "and since we're your friends, it's our duty to make sure you guys see each other again."
Jake smiled a half-sad, half-happy smile. It was things like this that reminded him of who his true friends were. "Thanks guys," Jake said, "there ain't nothin' more better than words straight from the heart to help cheer a dragon up."