DISCLAIMER: I don't own American Dragon: Jake Long nor Mariah Carey's "Fantasy." Takes place after "Half Baked" but before "The Academy." A previous version of this story had the actual lyrics, but I had to remove them because they apparently broke the rules of this site. Lyrics can be found at Genius Lyrics.
For most people, choosing between the love of your life and a Krylock demon would be easy.
Unfortunately, for Jake, it wasn't easy. As the American Dragon, he, of course, had to put the greater good over his desires, which were to see Rose again.
He had this in mind as he stormed into his room, a mixture of anger and sadness. The stupid portal spell was right. When it showed both the Krylock demon and Rose, it was crystal clear; what he wanted wasn't the same as what he needed.
In other words, his mind was saying to put the greater good over his love for Rose, but his heart still yearned to see Rose again, just once. Besides, the last time he had seen her, he had revealed his secret and she had revealed hers. Why couldn't they be together now? It would be the end of all of the lying they did to each other; they could love each other without borders.
He saw no issue with it, but of course, most of the people he confided in, Spud, Trixie, and G, told him no, Rose was a part of the Huntsclan, and seeking her was like playing with fire. Fu Dog was the only one who sympathized with him and tried to help, but that was what caused the whole incident in the first place.
He never understood why. Hell, it would be easy. Get her out of the Huntsclan somehow, and they could be together. But no, then Trixie had to bring up the point that he had no idea how he was even going to get her OUT of the Huntsclan.
That made him think. Yeah, there was no practical way of getting Rose out of the Huntsclan since she was practically born into it. That left him with only one option which he didn't want to acknowledge even existed: let Rose go. Fate had decided he wasn't going to have the love of his life, and that he would stay miserable.
He sighed in defeat as he flopped onto his unmade bed, wallowing in his sorrow. Was he really destined to never be with Rose? If so, life sucked. Hard.
He groaned as he looked the radio, hoping that some music would drown out his sadness. He looked at what station the radio was turned to. He had already listened to blues earlier today, so he switched it from the blues station to the 90s station. He could use a change of pace, and he really just wanted to distract from his feelings rather than emulating them.
He turned the radio on, and after the annoying announcer finished his spiel about how 90s music has influenced music today ("Dude, I don't need a history lesson," Jake thought), Mariah Carey immediately began crooning into his ears.
Maybe it was his emotional state, but the song immediately felt like it was written for him, even though it probably wasn't. Rose made him feel that way. Rose was the one that he loved. Rose was the one that he thought of every night. He sighed as the song that was supposed to take his mind off of Rose made his gravitate even more towards her. Great.
If it wasn't clear enough, the song reaffirmed his love for Rose. He loved her deeply, and although she probably knew what he thought of her, the fact that they were separated simulated her giving him the cold shoulder.
A pang of sadness filled him as he knew what Mariah Carey was talking about as she belted the lyrics. This is what resonated within him the most; the fact that seeing Rose again was just a sweet, sweet fantasy, and that in reality, he would never see the love of his life ever again. He shoved his head into a pillow as he sighed. Why was a song making him so depressed!?
This didn't make him feel as depressed as the chorus did, but it just reminded him of how he was slowly going insane from making such a big deal out of a song. Was he really that miserable from being separated from Rose for so long?
Jake had a sudden burst of happiness as he reminisced over when Rose was still at Millard Fillmore Middle School, where they had neighboring lockers and talked frequently. He always felt nervous when talking to her, and the song perfectly described that. "Sad to happy in seconds...maybe I am going insane," he thought.
The chorus repeated two times while Jake laid there, his sadness returning as he rolled over to stare at the ceiling. It was as if the song was hitting the nail on the coffin which was his love life.
It was almost as if the song was painting a picture of what could have been, a utopic image where he and Rose could be together, unhindered by anything, not even Fate. He sighed in sorrow. Of course, that would never happen. It was just a sweet, sweet fantasy, as the song put it.
The chorus, again, repeated two times as Jake continued staring at the ceiling, questioning whether he would ever see Rose again. One moment, he was fatalistic and thought that he would never see her again, another moment, he was optimistic, and thought that he would see her again. He started questioning whether he was becoming bipolar when he was interrupted by his door slamming open.
Mariah Carey was still belting away when Jake slowly got up to see who was interrupting his self-pity session. He saw that it was Fu Dog and grumbled, flopping back onto his bed as the song ended.
There was an awkward silence for what seemed like minutes when it was actually seconds until Fu Dog spoke.
"Jake, what are you doing?" Fu Dog asked, looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Drowning out my sorrows with music, why?" Jake nonchalantly responded.
"How can you drown out your sorrows when-"
"The song is in a major key rather than minor?" Jake interrupted.
Fu Dog stared at him, confused. "Uh, no. Since when did you know music theory? And since when did you listen to Mariah?"
"Haley gave me an unwanted lesson about it earlier, and I'm a big fan of her music. Now what do you want?" Jake explained, still lying on his bed.
"The old man wanted you to come over for dragon training, but I know you probably won't do well in a state like this." Fu Dog explained, walking over to join Jake on his bed. "This is about Rose, ain't it?"
"Yep." Jake said, burying his face into his pillow. "I can't get over her."
"I thought we talked about this earlier, Jake. You shouldn't give up on her, but don't let her rule your life either."
"That's just the thing, Fu." Jake stated. "I can't find a balance between giving up on her and being totally obsessed with her. One moment I think Fate is keeping us apart, and another I think Fate wants us to be together." Jake lamented. "I don't know what to do."
Fu Dog thought about it for a while before answering. "You know, Jake, I've been in a situation just like yours."
Jake lifted his head off of his pillow, looking at Fu Dog intently. "You have?"
Fu Dog nodded. "When you're over 600 years old, you're bound to have experienced everything at least once."
"So what did you do?" Jake asked, curious.
"I would try to think rationally. When you have all of these emotions flowing through you, it can really mess with your reasoning." Fu Dog replied.
"But Fu, I can't do that when it comes to Rose. When I think of her, my emotions go wild. It's almost like I'm experiencing every one of them at the same-" He was cut off as Fu Dog held up a paw.
"I know that, Jake. But really, it's possible. You can trust that you'll see her again, but don't be so focused on finding her that it messes with your schoolwork or dragon training."
"You're just restating what you said earlier." Jake pointed out.
"That's the solution to your problem though. Finding a balance between her and your life is key. Without it, you won't benefit either way." Fu Dog explained.
Jake sighed. He guessed Fu Dog was right. Without some sort of balance in his life, he would go insane. "But how do I find this balance, Fu?"
"As I said, you have to reject the emotions you initially feel, and think about how you really feel about her before you make any rash decisions."
Jake sat in silence as he contemplated what Fu Dog said to him. Fu Dog did make sense, but how was he supposed to reject feelings so strong? He guessed that he just had to think about what he really felt about her.
Did he love her? Yes.
Did he love her enough to pursue her? Yes.
Did she love him back? She never explicitly said it, but judging by how she reacted to him, he was pretty sure it was yes.
Was he going to get himself killed trying to see her? He sighed. That would probably be a no.
"I guess you're right, Fu." Jake finally replied.
Fu Dog was still unsure, though. "Are you sure? You still look glum."
"Well, of course I'm still going to be kinda mopey, but I honestly feel a bit better. Thanks, Fu."
Fu Dog nodded as he hopped off of Jake's bed. "No problem. Now let's get to your old man's place. He's probably already mad that we're taking so long."
Jake nodded in agreement as he got off of his bed as well, following Fu Dog onto the streets of New York.
Thought he still felt residual sadness, he felt a surprising calmness come over him as he followed Fu Dog. "Maybe his advice actually helped," he thought.
Thanks for reading my first songfic! I love Mariah Carey and this idea suddenly came to me while I was listening to her. Reviews are always appreciated, and I welcome constructive criticism.