A Day at the Park

"C'mon, Cyn. It'll be fun!"

Cynder eyed the purple dragon in front of her warily. "I don't know…" she said hesitantly. "I've never heard of a 'park' before." Spyro shot her a hurt look, immediately melting away some of her uncertainty. She hated it when he did that. "Fine," she said, relenting.

Spyro's attitude brightened. "Great! I know you'll enjoy it!"

"We'll see…" she replied skeptically. "What is there to do at this park anyways?"

The purple drake looked down at his paws thoughtfully, trying to remember what he had found out. "Well the moles included a large grass field kind of like the ones in Avalar. And there are some wide platforms that sit right under the sun. They also added a few big trees that will provide shade if we want to get away from the heat. A lot of other people are going to be there too."

"That does sound nice," Cynder admitted. She could already imagine resting underneath one of those trees with her purple dragon.

"Oh! And they added a bunch of huge slides for hatchlings too!"

Color drained from the black dragoness's face and a frown adorned her muzzle. Hatchlings? There was no way she was going to deal with hatchlings. "On second thought, Spyro, I don't think it's a good idea."

"But you just said it sounded nice!" Spyro argued.

Cynder sighed. "I did, and it does sound nice, but…" She paused. Could she tell him how she wanted absolutely nothing to do with hatchlings? How would he react? Cynder bit her lip. "Spyro, I don't really—"

"Please?" he begged. "For me?"

She wanted to say 'no', but those handsome lilac eyes of his made her reconsider. She could see the longing in his eyes and how badly he wanted to go. For the second time in that day, she gave in. "Alright. I'll go," she said reluctantly.

Cynder had hardly a moment to see his expression before she felt his muzzle pressed against his. Despite feeling a bit coerced into going to this 'park', Cynder smiled and leaned into the kiss. "You're lucky I like you," she muttered against his lips.

Spyro pulled away and grinned at her. "Very, very lucky." He spread a wing towards her, gesturing for Cynder to be by his side. She didn't oppose this request and happily pressed against his warm scales. They shared a brief nuzzle and their tails intertwined. Together, they made their way to the park.

"I don't understand…" Spyro said in a defeated tone.

Cynder glanced from the park to her purple companion. His shoulders were slumped and the disappointment on his face was obvious. "Spyro, I'm sure there's a very clear explanation for this."

"But Garrish said the moles have been working on the park for months!"

Cynder resisted the urge to bring a paw up to her face. "Garrish? Spyro, you know that he loves to tell stories!"

The purple dragon sighed dejectedly. "I know…" Spyro stared down at his paws, not wanting to look at the park.

It was nowhere close to what Spyro had described. Instead of a large grass field, it was much smaller. In place of wide platforms, there were patches of stone among the grass. A single, lone tree stood tall in the center of the park. It still provided a fair amount of shade, but it was not what Cynder had imagined. There wasn't even a single slide in sight either.

Some dragons, adults and hatchlings alike, were spread throughout the park. A few moles and even a couple cheetahs were there as well. There weren't nearly as many people as Spyro had said there would be.

A sense of pity filled Cynder. The drake was likely beating himself up for falling for one of the fibbing mole's stories and even more so for dragging the black dragoness along with him. She leaned towards Spyro and attempted to comfort him with a nuzzle. "I'm sorry it wasn't how you expected, Spyro," she said. "But that doesn't mean that we can't still have fun here."

Spyro returned her nuzzle affectionately. "Thanks, Cyn."

Now seeing a smile on Spyro's face, Cynder felt more at ease. "So what did you want to do?" she asked.

Spyro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well I was hoping to try out one of those slides Garrish mentioned, but…"

A look of disbelief made its way onto Cynder's face. "I thought you said those were supposed to be for hatchlings!"

"That doesn't mean we couldn't have tried them…" he replied quietly.

The black dragoness shook her head at Spyro's childishness. "You're just an overgrown hatchling, aren't you?"

"You got me!" Spyro admitted playfully. He smirked at Cynder. "But you know you love me."

"Oh, hush."

"C'mon," he said, gesturing with his wing. "Let's sit down while we think of something else we can do."

The two quickly found a patch of grass underneath the sun and laid down. Cynder pressed up against Spyro. This close up, she could easily take in his scent—it was an earthy musk mixed with a touch of something else she couldn't quite put her paw on. Cynder brought her nose closer to the purple dragon to discern the mysterious scent. She was too focused on the task, however, and failed to notice Spyro's muzzle moving towards hers.

Cynder flinched as she felt the warmth of Spyro's muzzle against hers. She looked up to see concern painting his features. "Is something wrong, Cyn?"

She shook her head. "No, you just caught me by surprise."

He raised an eye ridge then smirked. "Well, I'm not surprising you now…" he said as he leaned in towards her.

Cynder began to reciprocate the action when a shout interrupted them. "Look! Look! It's the purple savior!"

Spyro and Cynder's heads turned to face the source of the noise. A group of several hatchlings—each sporting different colored scales and one even having light gray scales—were pointing and shouting at the duo. Although, Cynder had a feeling that they were more focused on her purple counterpart than on herself. Part of her was thankful that they weren't paying her too much attention. Another very small part of her was a tad jealous. She had been the one by his side through thick and thin after all.

Nonetheless, Cynder suppressed a grimace as the hoard of younglings approached them. Both she and Spyro stood to greet them. The children clambered around the dragoness's companion, forcing her to step back. A cacophony of voices rung through the air.

"My dad said you're the most strongest dragon ever!"

"Did you really beat Malefor with three paws?"

"No!" another contested. "He defeated Malefor with just two paws!"

Spyro tried to form a sentence, still quite overwhelmed. "Uh, I actually used all of my paws and my wings and tail too," he said awkwardly. The crowd of hatchlings immediately shut their mouths and listened attentively to what their hero had to say. Feeling a little more pressure and embarrassment, he continued. "And I had to use each of my elements to beat him too. He was really tough."

"Whoaaaaa…" they all echoed.

"Oh! Oh!" another cried, trying to gain Spyro's attention. "What about when you pulled the world back together? My dad said you did that too!"

Spyro looked at each of their faces, all of them eagerly awaiting a response. He quickly glanced back towards Cynder, his eyes clearly begging for help. Much to his chagrin, Cynder shook her head and mouthed, You're on your own.

"I, uh, did pull the world back together," Spyro started again. "And it took a lot of energy too. At the time, I wasn't even sure if I had the energy to do it. But I knew what I had to do."

The black dragoness sat down on her haunches, listening to Spyro's recollection of their tale. Some memories—both pleasant and uncomfortable ones alike—flooded back to her. Small smiles transformed to small frowns and then back. As his story progressed, Cynder noticed that he hadn't really mentioned her at all. A bit of resentment began to well up within the dragoness.

As if sensing Cynder's displeasure, he directed his voice towards her. "And I couldn't have done any of it, including defeating Malefor, without Cynder."

Spyro beamed at dragoness and her previous feelings of negativity were washed away. All the hatchlings turned their heads in her direction. Cynder smiled back a bit hesitantly, feeling slightly embarrassed. A majority of the younglings only spared her a glance and quickly turned back to their savior.

Cynder sighed. It's not like I should have expected any different.

Spyro frowned, noticing the group's lack of appreciation of the dragoness. He started walking away from the small crowd and back over to Cynder. "Now I think that's enough for now. We'll just let you all go back to play—"

"Can you help us with our elements?" one of them interrupted. A chorus of agreements rang amongst them. They all rushed back around his legs, all of them begging for the purple dragon to help them.

He was about to decline, when Cynder's voice rose above the children's. "Don't worry about me, Spyro. Go help them. I'll be over here," she said, pointing to a spot not too far away.

"But—" He didn't get to continue as Cynder had already started to walk away. Spyro's gaze lingered on the dragoness until a young fire dragon started tugging on one of his paws. He let a small sigh and asked all of them, "Alright, who's first?"

Cynder laid down on a patch of grass and watched Spyro instruct each of the little ones in their elements. Despite feeling a bit robbed of her companion, the dragoness couldn't help but be amused by the sight of the purple dragon being overrun by dragons a fourth of his size. From a distance, Cynder could also make out a smile on his face. She was glad. It was better for at least one of them to be enjoying their day at the park.

Distracted by the impromptu teaching lesson, Cynder failed to notice a pink dragoness walking up behind her.

"Excuse me, Miss Cynder, is this spot taken?"

Cynder sprung up from the ground and took up a defensive stance. Upon seeing a startled dragoness, Cynder forced herself to relax. "Sorry," she said. "You caught me off-guard."

The new dragoness laughed lightly. "If anyone's sorry, it should be me! I shouldn't have snuck up on you." She dipped her head. "My name is Ember."

Cynder dipped her head in response. "It's nice to meet you Ember. Feel free to sit. And just call me Cynder."

The pink dragoness thanked her and sat down a couple feet away. Cynder eyed this new dragoness from the corner of her eye and studied her discretely. She seemed to be around her age and was likely a fire dragoness judging from the color of her scales. Her tail spade was in the shape of a heart and a small, also heart-shaped locket hung around Ember's neck.

"That's a nice locket," Cynder said.

Ember smiled. "Thank you," she replied. "My father made it for me when I was young."

"He must be a very skilled dragon," Cynder said, impressed by the craftsmanship.

"Was," Ember corrected. Her voice took on a somber tone. "He died during the war."

A sinking feeling began to form in Cynder's gut. She licked her lips apprehensively. "How…how did he die?"

Some part of Cynder regretted asking. Some part of her didn't want to know—that she was probably the cause for the death of this dragoness's father.

As if reading Cynder's thoughts, Ember shook her head. "No, no! You weren't the reason why he died at all!" The pink dragoness's stared at the ground sadly, remembering her father. "There was a sickness in our village. Many of us caught it, and almost all of us recovered just fine, but…"

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Ember said. "But thank you."

The two dragonesses spent the next several minutes sitting there in silence. Cynder looked back towards Spyro, now feeling slightly guilty for having brought up painful memories for Ember. She watched each of the young hatchlings breathe small bursts of fire, ice, earth, and electricity. A thought passed through Cynder's mind. What was Ember doing here anyways?

"If you don't mind me asking, Ember," Cynder started again, "what are you doing here?"

Ember turned her head back to the black dragoness. "I'm here to watch over my younger cousin and his friend." The pink dragoness chuckled to herself. "They practically begged me to take them to the park since his mom was busy."

"Oh? Which ones are they?"

Ember pointed to a pair of young fire dragons playing in the grass. She turned back to Cynder. "You're here with Spyro, right?"

Cynder blinked. "How did you—"

"The park is a great place for couples to hang out, you know. But I'm sure you and your purple dragon already knew that," Ember said, her eyes twinkling. She smirked. "You don't even have to say anything; your face is telling me everything."

Heat flooded Cynder's face. "We came here because Spyro wanted to check out the slides," she managed to say levelly.

Ember quirked her brow. "But there aren't any slides here," she said in a confused tone.

"No, there aren't," Cynder said. "But this mole named Garrish told Spyro all about them."

The pink dragoness tried to suppress her laughter, but ended up sputtering instead. "Everyone knows that mole is the biggest liar in all of Warfang!"

Cynder shook her head and sighed. "I thought Spyro knew, but I think he got a little too excited about the slides."

"He's just like an overgrown hatchling!" Ember tried masking her grin with her paws. "I'm sorry! I don't mean to make fun of him!"

Cynder giggled. "Don't worry about it. That's exactly what I told him."

The two dragonesses continued to chat idly about Spyro, leading Ember to share a few stories about her own relationship with another fire dragon named Flame. Cynder couldn't help the look of astonishment on her face. The antics between this Flame and Ember seemed almost unreal, but the way the pink dragoness was describing these events made them seem believable.

"And he looked like the most adorable thing I've ever seen with the way he was covered up in all those fabrics!" Ember said in between fits of laughter.

Cynder covered her smirking mouth with a paw as to stop herself from bursting into laughter. After taking a few moments to calm down, she said, "You and Flame seem to have a great relationship."

A pleasant smile made its way onto Ember's lips. "We do. And when he isn't messing around, he's really sweet. Our relationship is a lot like yours and Spyro's from what you've told me."

"It is," she replied happily. The black dragoness turned her head back to where Spyro had been instructing the hatchlings. Her positive mood soured a bit, now reminded that she hadn't been able to spend as much time with her purple dragon as much as she would have liked.

"Hey," Ember called out, getting Cynder's attention. "It's not all bad not being able to spend time with him right now, you know."

"And how is that?" Cynder asked curiously.

"Because now you know that he'd make a great father."

Cynder's cheeks flushed red. "I…I always thought he'd make a good father," she said quietly.

"And I think you'd make a great mother too."

The embarrassment Cynder had felt earlier faded away and she snorted at the fire dragoness's comment. "I don't think so."

"Well, why not?"

"I don't really like hatchlings," Cynder admitted. "What makes you think that I'd be a good mother when I don't like them in the first place?"

"You never know," Ember said, shrugging. "Motherhood changes a lot of people. Or so I've heard."

Cynder and Ember didn't say anything more after that. They both resigned to the silence and to their own thoughts. Cynder tossed Ember's words around her head. She was not fit to take care of a hatchling—not even close—and there was no guarantee she would change if she had an egg of her own.

"Hey," Ember called out, gathering Cynder's attention. Cynder looked at the fire dragoness, who pointed at a figure some ways away. "Why is that hatchling all by itself?"

The black dragoness followed the direction Ember was pointing in. Off in the distance was a single, lone hatchling. Cynder could just barely make out gray colored scales. It took her a moment to realize that the hatchling was part of the group that had surrounded her and Spyro from earlier. Why wasn't the little dragon practicing with the rest of his peers?

Ember nudged Cynder in the side with her tail. "Hey, how about you go find out what's wrong?"

Cynder shook her head. "That's probably not a good idea."

"No one else is going up to him!"

"Then why don't you go?"

"I still have to watch over my little cousin and his friend."

"That doesn't mean I have to do it."

"So you don't care what happens to that hatchling then?"

"I never said that!"

Ember, now visibly annoyed by the black dragoness's refusal to help a hatchling in need, gave Cynder a pointed stare. "Go."

The pink dragoness's playful and boisterous behavior was gone. Cynder felt a little more uneasy than she would have liked to admit. She got up, despite her reluctance. "Fine," she said. The black dragoness got up and looked back to her new companion—though Cynder wasn't quite sure if the pink dragoness could be considered her companion at this point. A smirk was drawn on Ember's lips. With a huff of annoyance, Cynder made her way over to the lone hatchling.

As she got closer, Cynder could make out sniffling sounds. She managed to hide her grimace, but her unease was beginning to grow worse. A hatchling was trouble enough, but a crying hatchling? She thought about turning around and facing Ember's wrath, but she had already reached her destination.

Cynder's shadow loomed over the back of the young hatchling. His paws were rubbing against his eyes in a vain attempt to stop the tears. He didn't appear to notice Cynder behind him, making her feel even more uncomfortable. Deciding not to spend the next few minutes standing around awkward, Cynder cleared her throat.

"Ahem."

The hatchling turned around, looking up at the older dragoness with wide eyes. His sobbing had ceased and a thin line of mucus trailed from his snout. Cynder wasn't sure that this was much more of an improvement. Had she lacked any self-control, she would have made a face. Licking her lips apprehensively, the dragoness greeted him. "Hello."

The gray-scaled dragon lifted a shaky paw and made an attempt to wave at her. "H-hello…" he replied meekly.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Cynder asked.

The hatchling averted his gaze from the dragoness, tears threatening to reform. Immediately, Cynder could tell that a direct approach was not going to get her anywhere. She quickly tried to think of some other way to cheer up the youngling. Her emerald eyes fell upon his scales.

"Are…are you a wind dragon?" she asked in hopes of distracting the young dragon. This question earned Cynder a silent nod and a short sniffle. Seeing a lack of tears gave the black dragoness something to work with. "I don't see too many wind dragons in Warfang," she continued in a gentle tone.

The small wind dragon looked up at her and said, "My mommy says that wind dragons are really rare."

"You must be very special then." The hatchling gave her a small smile. She was making progress. "What's your name?

"C-Cirrus."

Cynder gave the young dragon one of her kindest smiles. "Well, Cirrus, it's nice to meet you."

"I-it's nice to meet you too…" he said in a near whisper.

"So, uh…" Cynder started, trying to come up with something else to talk about. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention—a small cone of flame conjured from a young fire dragon in the distance. "Do you mind showing me your wind breath?"

Cirrus absentmindedly began to pull out strands of grass from the ground. "I-it's not very good…" he murmured.

"Why not?"

"I don't have anyone to teach me…" Cirrus replied dejectedly.

Cynder's brow furrowed in confusion. "What about your mother?"

The young wind dragon rubbed his snout. "Mommy has to work a lot and she gets really tired when she comes home. She doesn't have time to teach me."

She felt a pang of sympathy for him. "And you don't have anyone else to teach you?" she asked quietly.

Cirrus shook his head. "I don't know any other wind dragons. Not even the purple dragon can help me."

Cynder looked over at Spyro. He was still actively helping the hoard of little ones that had approached them earlier. "So is that why you aren't with those other hatchlings?" The black dragoness didn't need an answer for that one. Cirrus's sad expression was enough of a response. "Then," she started, "how about I teach you?"

As soon as those words left Cynder's lips, she couldn't help but inwardly flinch. Was she even fit to teach anyone, let alone a hatchling? Cynder had no time to contemplate that question before the Cirrus's face lit up.

"Really?" he exclaimed. "You can teach me?" Cirrus's excitement quickly dissipated as confusion took its place. "But…you don't look like a wind dragon."

Cynder shook her head. "No, I don't," she said. "But I can do this…" The black dragoness stepped back and turned away from the young wind dragon. She inhaled deeply and released a steady breath of wind from her maw. As Cynder released control over her wind element, she could make out a gasp of amazement behind her.

Before Cynder could face Cirrus again, she was bombarded with questions. "How did you learn how to do that? Who taught you? Can I do that too? Can you teach me?"

"Well," Cynder started, not quite sure where to begin. Where should she start? She had never taught something before. Everything she had learned had been through experience. Cirrus looked up at her expectantly. An idea came to mind.

"Close your eyes," she said after a pause. "Look deep within yourself to find the source of your element." The small wind dragon followed her words without hesitation. Cirrus scrunched up his face in his attempt to find his inner wind.

"I…I think I feel it," Cirrus spoke after several moments of searching.

Cynder blinked. She had recalled some of the lessons she had witnessed Spyro take with the guardians in the past and figured that it would be a good place to start. She didn't think it would actually work, or at least, not so soon. "Good. Now let it fill you and when you feel like you're ready to burst, let it out."

Cirrus nodded and opened his eyes much sooner that Cynder had expected. A small jet of wind burst from the hatchling's maw. It was still quite small considering how little Cirrus was, but his breath was actually a bit bigger than the ones Cynder had seen from the hatchlings around Spyro. Cirrus noticed this in particular and let out a loud cheer.

"I did it!" he shouted. Cirrus's enthusiasm and large grin warmed Cynder's heart. The little dragon rushed to her side and wrapped his tiny forepaws around one of her legs. "Thank you."

Cirrus broke away from the hug and asked her if she could teach him anything else. Cynder beamed at him and they spent the next hour or two working on his wind element. By the time they had decided to stop, the sun was a bright orange. Cirrus thanked her one last time before scampering off back to his friends who were also finished learning from their own instructor.

Cynder scanned the park, looking for either Spyro or Ember, and found the two dragons sitting in the grass chatting with each other. Curious, the black dragoness made her way over to them. As she neared, Spyro stopped mid-conversation to greet her.

"Hey, Cyn," he said cheerfully. He rose from the ground and nuzzled her lovingly. Cynder blushed at the public display of affection, especially in front of her new friend, but returned the gesture earnestly. As they parted, Cynder could see a knowing smile on Ember's lips.

"So I see you too have met," Cynder said. "What were you two talking about?"

"We were actually talking about you," Ember responded.

Spyro nodded in agreement. "She actually wanted to know more about you—your personality, what you like, what you dislike. Just small things," he added.

Cynder eyed her purple dragon suspiciously. "And what were these 'small things?'"

Noticing the accusatory tone of Cynder's voice, Ember came to Spyro's aid. "He just told me how you liked antelope and deer, how much you enjoyed reading and sparring."

Cynder relaxed, feeling relieved that Spyro hadn't divulged any embarrassing details about her or her life. "I see…Well that's just—"

"Oh! And he mentioned how you would make a great mother some day!"

The black dragoness opened and closed her mouth, trying to form words. She looked from the pink dragoness to her purple companion. Her gaze locked with Spyro's. "You…you think I'd be a good mother?" His only answer was a warm smile. "Why?"

"I was watching you and that wind dragon earlier," Spyro said before chuckling. "Did you really think I could keep my eyes off of you even if a bunch of hatchlings were climbing all over me?"

Cynder's cheeks were tinged red. "It-it didn't mean anything," she started. "I was—"

"It meant a lot to him," Spyro interrupted. "I know you don't really like hatchlings, but you still went over to him anyways. How could someone like that not make a great mother?"

Cynder looked down at her paws, thinking about his words. Spyro gave her a small lick on her cheek before pulling away. Ember, witnessing all this, beamed at the couple. After a few more moments, the pink dragoness spoke up.

"Well, I think it's getting late," she said, breaking Cynder away from her thoughts. "My aunt is going to be expecting my cousin to be home any time now." She stood up and stretched out her limbs. "It was nice meeting you two. I would love to talk again some time. Maybe I can bring my Flame next time." Her eyes brightened as an idea formed in her mind. "Oh! We can have a double date at one of the new restaurants! It'll be so fun!"

Spyro and Cynder nodded in unison and soon Ember departed. The pair left the park, sides pressed together and tails intertwined. Like many of their other walks together, this one was made in silence. The lack of conversation gave Cynder a fair amount of time to think over Spyro's words in the park. When they had reached the temple, Cynder paused and pulled away.

"Do you really think I'd make a good mother?" she asked before he could say anything.

"How many times do I have to say 'yes?'" he replied.

She shook her head uncomprehendingly. "But that was just one hatchling!"

"But you were still amazing," he countered. "And I know you'll be just as amazing for the next one."

"How do you know there will even be a next one?"

Spyro averted his gaze from Cynder's. He licked his lips with a hint of nervousness. "What happened today with all the hatchlings got me thinking," he started. "I actually really enjoyed teaching all those kids and I…I couldn't help but think." His eyes stared into hers. "How great would it be to have one of our own someday?"

"'Our?'" she repeated numbly. He wanted to have children with her?

Seeing no obvious expression on Cynder's face to tell him how she felt, Spyro began to panic. "I-it doesn't have to be right away or even any time soon!" he said quickly. His eyes and voice were full of sincerity. "I know this is still early for us, but I just…I can't imagine a life with you without an egg or two somewhere along the way."

Cynder's emerald orbs studied the handsome features of Spyro's face. Her eyes traced the outline of his strong jaws and the curvature of his golden horns. If she were to pick anyone to be the father of her eggs, it would be him. Cynder blushed at the thought.

"So, how about it?" Spyro asked.

"I'm not sure if I'll make a good mother," she said slowly, earning her a frown from Spyro. He opened his mouth to disagree, but Cynder stopped him. "But I think that I'm willing to try."

A wide grin was plastered on his muzzle. Cynder barely had time to see it before he pressed his lips against hers. When they broke the kiss, Spyro's snout was inches away from hers. "Can I spend the night with you?" he whispered.

"What about Sparx?"

Spyro's eyes flickered to the side, now thinking about his foster brother. "He'll understand."

"He won't stop complaining for a while though," Cynder joked, earning a chuckle from her purple dragon.

Spyro walked back to Cynder's side and tightly wound his tail around hers. "We can deal with him tomorrow. Tonight is going to just be about us."

Cynder gave Spyro a small lick on his snout. "I like that."

I have broken the curse! I've finally managed to upload a second chapter for anything for the first time in a really long time. In this case, I actually started working on this chapter shortly after the first. I've already planned a couple more ideas for this story, but for now I will take a quick break. I intend to write a fairly short oneshot for Zootopia soon, so for those of you interested, keep an eye out.

Regarding this chapter in particular, I do like the idea behind it. I wanted to play around with the idea of parenthood and how that would work out. I imagined Cynder being hesitant due to her past, though I'm not sure how well I actually did. I don't think I did as well as I could have with this chapter, but it was getting rather long and I did want to publish it. If you look closely, you could see how some parts were rather rushed. I didn't have much of idea of how to go about writing those out (like the one with Cirrus learning from Cynder). Ultimately though, I don't think what I wrote was particularly bad. Maybe I'll change my mind sometime in the future.

And lastly, this chapter at near 5000 words is the most I have ever written. Thank you for those who are reading this story and thanks especially to my one anonymous reviewer.