Dela watched the dragons emerging from their eggs one by one, eyes wide. Even from her place on her knees at the bottom of the dais she could see their rebirth. There was no missing them, they were even larger than before, easily dwarfing any building. Each male dragon broke through his egg and flew into the sky one by one, returning to the celestial plane. The Rat Dragon went first, then the Ox Dragon, each male in turn until the only one left was their queen. The Mirror Dragon was the last to be reborn. Her egg cracked and fell apart, bursting with gold flames, and then her horns were visible. She rose slowly, red scales glinting in the light of the fire, shaking out her gold mane. Dela fell back on her heels, head back to watch the Mirror Dragon sniff the air. She glanced quickly at Tozay, to confirm he was okay. He was laying on his back beside her, propped on his elbows to watch the majesty of the massive beast. The dragon flapped her wings once, before folding them back against her body. Distantly, Dela could hear Eona crying, pleading with Emperor Kygo "Do not go." But Dela could not tear her gaze away as the Mirror Dragon moved forward, screaming men scrambling to get out of her way lest they be crushed. She lowered her great head to be level with Eona and Emperor Kygo, who's head was lying in his Naiso's lap. It seemed as if everyone held their breath as the dragon touched her nose to Kygo's chest, inhaling deeply. On her exhale, golden hua flowed from the beast into the emporer, and Dela knew he was being healed. Eona wisely pulled the knife from his back as the hua flooded his body, stitching the muscle and skin back together and restoring him. With wide eyes, Eona reached up to stroke the blood red scales of her cheek. The dragon crooned, then lifted her head away. She looked to the sky, unfurling her great wings and preparing to take off.
"Wait!" The word forced itself from her mouth before she even realized what she meant to do. Dela abandoned Tozay and scrambled up to where Eona and the emperor still lay at the feet of the dragon. The Mirror Dragon didn't look down, still preparing to take off, shaking out her wings and crouching. "Wait, please! He needs you, too." Dela fell to her knees before the great beast, forehead hitting the ground in a hurried bow. The beast still did not look down, though it seemed to have stopped moving. Frozen, waiting. "Please. None of this would have happened without him. You would never have found your freedom if it had not been for him." She scrambled across to where Ryko's body still lay and lifted his head onto her lap. She tried not to think about how cold his skin was, how he was beyond repair, even for a dragon. She didn't care, she had to try. "Please." The words came out in a sob.
The Mirror Dragon swung her head down to look at her, one great eye peering into her soul. The colossal size of her head nearly blocked Dela's view of Eona and the Emperor, but the dragon could see them both. Dela could just see Eona nod her head, face wet with tears. Turning to fully face Dela and Ryko, the Mirror Dragon blew out a breath of hot air that hit Dela full force, smelling slightly of cinnamon and blowing her still braided hair back. Then she started to pull away. "No!" Dela cried, reaching out a hand for the dragon. But then the Mirror Dragon lowered her head to Ryko's chest. Not just touching her nose to him as she did with the emperor, but pressing it into his chest, breathing in and out with her nose still connected to his chest. Golden hua could be seen at the point of their connection, but still, nothing happened. The hope that had flared through Dela when the dragon touched him flooded out of her as she realized that maybe death was impenetrable, even for the Queen of Dragons. Then, the body in her arms convulsed as it inhaled a great rattling breath, in time with the dragon's exhale. Dela couldn't help the scream that pulled itself from her chest. Whether it was from shock and fear or pure relief, even Dela couldn't say. She resisted the urge to pull Ryko closer, as the dragon still had her massive muzzle resting against him. She was sobbing with pure jubilation, tears falling into Ryko's short hair and onto his face. Dela was no longer watching the dragon, eyes fixed upon Ryko's face as his eyes fluttered open.
As Ryko took his first breaths in many minutes, he opened his eyes to see a red scaled head the size of a house just inches from his face. He watched cautiously, scarcely daring to move, as the Mirror Dragon finally lifted her head from his chest. She stared at him – no, above him. Ryko was suddenly aware of where he was, propped on Lady Dela's lap. The beast was staring at her, not him. Then she let out a puff of cinnamon flavored air to blow over the both of them before spreading her wings and taking flight without another second to spare for the humans on the ground below her.
Eona watched as her dragon blew a hot breath of air over Dela and Ryko for the second time. This time, over a living, breathing Ryko. She could feel the thanks in the gesture, a gift from the Mirror Dragon who shared her name to the people who helped free her. Then she took off, the wind from her forceful ascent causing a whirlwind of dirt and debris from the battle. When it calmed, Kygo was pushing himself up beside her. He rubbed his chest where the knife had protruded from the back, and looked around.
"I can breathe" He said in awe. "I thought you could not heal?" he questioned her.
"I can't. The Mirror Dragon healed you." Eona responded, overwhelmed by the events of the last day. "And she also did that." She pointed dazedly to where Ryko still lay with his head in Dela's lap. Her head was on his shoulder, her entire body shaking with sobs. His arms were wrapped around her, his nose buried in the crook of her neck. "She brought him back to life."
Dela paced nervously in the tent provided to her. She still wore a man's clothing, the tunic and trousers making her feel gangly and strange. She had not yet washed, there were more important things for the clean water to be used for. She also had not been seen to, the gash across her right arm deep, but not something for the healers to concern themselves over currently. She would clean it and bandage it herself. Her face also could use seeing to, dried blood from her reopened wound caked her neck and shoulder, sticky and covered in dust and dirt. All of her was covered in dust and dirt and blood. But still she paced, her racing heart and pulsing blood not allowing her to calm down.
He never wanted to be healed. He thought his death should have come back at the fisher village, that the gods only gave him his life back so he could lay it down in their service later. With his free will gone, he resented what he had become after that. He wanted that noble death. Nothing could be more honorable than laying down his life to free all twelve dragons, to stop Ido's mad hunt for power, to save the land and it's people. She had taken it from him. Selfishly, greedily, abandoning all care for what he would want, she had begged the dragon to bring him back to her. He must hate her. Even as she grieved for the trust and love she had lost, she could not bring herself to regret it. He was alive. He was alive and that was all that mattered to her. Even if she never saw him again, she could be at peace with knowing that he was out there somewhere, alive and healthy.
Dela spun around as the tent flap was thrown open. Ryko's imposing form stood in the doorway, and she took a step back, a sudden fear overwhelming her. Suddenly, she wanted to be anywhere but here. Gods take her now, she didn't want to face the anger, didn't want to see the hate in his eyes. He stormed over to her, and she forced herself not to take another step back as he came closer and reached up to grab her by the shoulders. She could force herself to be still, but she couldn't keep down the gasp that escaped her as his fingers dug into the wound on her shoulder. His eyes widened and he dropped his hands immediately. Dela couldn't make sense of the guilt in his eyes as he stepped back. She deserved the pain and then some.
"You're hurt."
It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyways with a shake of her head. "No." She was fine.
"Bull-shit." He said, enunciating the two parts of the word. Her eyes widened at his language, he never used that kind of language around the ladies of the court, not even her. She hung her head in shame, looking at her body, clothed in men's garb. She had been dressing like this for weeks now. Dressing like a man, fighting like a man, and looking like a man. She was probably more a man in his eyes now than she was a woman. "Let me see." He demanded.
The command broke her out of her reverie, and she looked up at him as her mouth dropped slightly in shock.
"Let me see," he said again, softer this time.
Blankly, she nodded her head before shrugging her shoulder out of the loose tunic so she didn't have to take it off, but he could see what the sword did to her right shoulder. He briefly surveyed the damage, then sighed deeply out his nose. "I'll go get the water." He told her, then turned sharply on his heel and strode out the tent without another word.
Her blood was still roiling, but suddenly she was exhausted. She could barely hold herself up, let alone continue her restless pacing.
When he came back he found her sitting on the floor, left leg tucked underneath her, the other leg bent so her foot was flat on the floor, her chin resting on her knee. Her arms were wrapped around the raised leg, and she watched him with wary eyes as he entered. She didn't move except to track him with her eyes as he walked around the room, grabbing some clean clothes to use as bandages because there were worse injuries that needed the real bandages, and coming to sit beside her with a bowl of hot, clean water. Her only movement was to turn her head as he moved to her right side, so her cheek was resting against her leg. He scooted towards her cautiously, scared he would spook her if he moved too fast. He didn't like the way she was watching him; as if she expected him to strike her.
He gently lifted her right arm and pulled it away from where it was interlocked with her left around her leg. She didn't resist, her energy too sapped from the events of the day, hell, from the events of the past few weeks, that she could barely manage to hold the weight of her own arm. He dipped the clean tunic he found into the hot water, then gently started on the wound.
Ryko heard her sharp intake of breath as he started to clean the dirty blood out of the already infected cut and winced internally at the pain he was causing her. It is necessary, he told himself, and forced himself to probe deeper with the clean water. The cut was a few inches long and quite deep, though not deep enough to slice through the muscles, he thanked the gods. After he was done cleaning the wound itself, he took to washing her arm around it, clearing away the grime from the surrounding skin.
"Eona told me what you did." He started out. He didn't get any further than that, because it seemed as if his words had breathed life back into her as the dragon did to him and she drew herself up.
"I won't apologize for it." She told him firmly.
He smiled with one side, the fire in her igniting his own. "I wasn't asking you to." He was glad to see the fear leave her eyes, though it flooded back after her declaration was over. "She also told me she no longer has dragon power. I have my will back. I can feel the truth of her words, I can no longer feel her there anymore." Dela started to talk, but he interrupted. "Please, let me talk."
She hesitated for only a second before nodding for him to continue.
"She told me I was dead, completely dead. Walking with my ancestors in the realm of the gods. Though I don't remember it, I know this to be true. Then you asked the dragon to bring me back, and she did. The gods allowed her to breathe life back into me, and I escaped death a second time. I don't know why they allowed this, it makes no sense to me, but who am I to question the gods? And my lady," her eyes were on the floor now. "Dela," she looked up at him. "I don't want to let life get away from me this time."
"You're not mad?" She asked him hesitantly, not sure she wanted an answer even after his speech.
He dipped the rag back into the water that was rapidly turning brown, wrung it, and brought it to the wound that stretched across her cheek and ear. "No, I'm not mad." He turned his attention to the dried blood on her cheek and neck.
Dela reached up her hand to his wrist, stilling his movements. "I couldn't let you die. Not when there was hope that you could live. I don't know how to live in a world without you, Ryko." He looked into her eyes, wet with unshed tears, and he took a risk. He leaned in to press their lips together. For a heart stopping moment, Dela didn't move. Then, with a sharp inhale through her nose, she leaned into him, and, dropping his wrist, wrapped her arms around his neck. Never breaking the kiss, he dropped the rag on the floor and grabbed her around the waist to pull her ever closer to him. She pulled away just enough that she could speak, lips still brushing his. "I love you." She confessed, finally.
His heart felt lighter than he could ever remember as he finally told her what had been on the tip of his tongue since shortly after he became her guard. "I love you too." Then leaned down to capture her lips again.