of fire dragons and singing stars
chapter three
Rachel's mouth was desert-dry as she tried to voice a reply to the dragon-girl's introduction; all she could do was squeak and cough and blink rapidly. Her mind was reeling as it attempted to process everything she had just witnessed. It was one thing, after all, to see the shadow-shape of a dragon flash across the night sky in the light of a bright moon – and quite another to see the actual creature, live and in the flesh, only a couple of feet in front of her.
She couldn't stop staring at Santana. The girl was so beautiful that words actually failed her.
It was possibly the first time in her life that she'd ever been struck speechless; her dads and friends would probably have given anything to see this moment. The thought of them laughing at her inability to form even the simplest of responses made her flush with anger at herself. She was Rachel Berry, damn it, and she was not going to be made to look like a fool, dragon or no dragon.
Yet when she finally opened her mouth to speak, the only words that came past her lips were "You – how – what?" She felt like crying with frustration, finally tearing her gaze away from Santana to focus her eyes at her feet instead. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as though she would shatter into a million pieces if she didn't do something to hold herself together.
Santana was acutely aware of the girl's distress, and quickly realized that she had to do something to alleviate it before a nervous breakdown occurred. She could hear Rachel's heart racing, felt the blood rushing through her veins at an elevated rate, knew the danger of the girl's mind fracturing before she even got the chance to learn and understand the truth of everything that was happening to her.
Needless to say, that would be a disaster. She could not allow it.
"Relax, short stuff. I know this is a lot to take in all at once. You're the first human to get this close to a dragon in thousands of years, and the first to see one of us assume another form in – well, ever. I'd be overwhelmed too if I were you, I guess. Not that I have any frame of reference to draw from, of course, but...still."
When Rachel's head suddenly snapped up, there was a feverish look in her wide eyes, and her skin was pale. It was clear that she was in a state of shock. She licked her lips and shifted from foot to foot nervously, her breathing labored. "I...I have to go. Homeroom. Yes. I have to get...get to homeroom. Can't be late, no. I'm never...never late."
One mind began to reach out to the other, but that approach was quickly rejected in favor of a more human solution.
Santana grasped Rachel's wrist in a firm but gentle hold. As the warmth of the contact spread quickly through the smaller girl's body, her quaking, heaving breaths slowed. The dragon-girl's eyes shone with kindness as she caught and held Rachel's, and her soft smile of reassurance helped to calm her further.
"Hey. It's all right. Everything is all right. Okay? Deep breaths. You're all right," Santana whispered. The certainty in that voice, the command in it, left Rachel no choice but to believe what she was hearing, enabling her to come back to herself at last.
Shuddering, expelling her anxiety in one giant breath, Rachel found her voice at last.
"I'm - I'm not sure anything will ever be completely all right ever again. My entire world just changed in the space of a few minutes. But there's no time to talk about this now, because I really do need to get to homeroom...Santana."
The name sounded far too small to encompass all that the slender, caramel-skinned girl actually was, as it came rolling off Rachel's tongue for the first time, but she couldn't deny that she liked the sound of it just the same.
Santana, for her part, was amused by the way the girl said it, as though it were a word in an alien tongue and not a human one. Of course, her actual name, her secret name, could only be spoken in the true speech of dragonkind, for it was impossible for the small folk to even attempt to verbalize.
Her smile widened, now that the moment of crisis had passed, and Rachel was just standing there, looking at her expectantly.
A startled little "oh!" passed her lips when Santana's hand slipped into hers.
"Then let's go," the girl who was also a dragon said, chuckling.
And suddenly, time and space bent around them, the sensation registering to Rachel as the world pressing around and on top of her, as though she were being tightly squeezed by the air itself -
She opened her eyes to find that they were both standing at her locker, the tide of humanity that was the McKinley High School student body flowing around them as though they hadn't just been standing on the roof a second ago.
Santana merely shrugged at Rachel's bewildered, questioning look. The girl had so much to learn. She only hoped that there would be time enough to teach it all.
Nonplussed, Rachel shook her head and turned her attention to the task of opening her locker to gather her books and supplies, wondering how she could possibly pretend that this was going to be just another normal, ordinary day of school. She had seen a dragon!
And then, perhaps even more incredibly, she had seen that same dragon transform itself into a girl. Not just a girl, either – an absolutely stunning girl, with the most gorgeous skin, the darkest, silkiest hair, and the most amazing eyes and lips and smile she had ever seen. She felt herself blush as she allowed herself to think, for the most fleeting of moments, about Santana's body, those long, lithe, toned limbs and hard curves.
Suddenly, a voice rose above the din of the crowded hallway, and Rachel was torn from her thoughts at the sound of her name being called. A smile leapt across her face as she looked up to see McKinley High's very own Unholy Trinity coming her way, other students scrambling and scurrying to remove themselves from their path.
"Hey, Rachel," the unmistakable voice of Quinn Fabray, soft, breathy and ethereal, yet charged with the confidence that came with being in command of the state's best cheerleading squad, lilted in her ears once the trio came to a stop beside her. The school's resident blonde goddess was looking flawless as usual, golden tresses pulled away from her perfect alabaster face in the severe high ponytail that was the trademark of the Cheerios, her uniform fitted to her body as though she'd been born in it.
Quinn was flanked by a taller blonde, also in a Cheerios uniform, whose smile was as wide and bright as Quinn's was small and reserved. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness at seeing her friend - but then again, everyone was Brittany Pierce's friend, because the girl was sweetness personified.
"Hi Rachel," Brittany said as she leaned forward to gather Rachel into her arms for the first of their daily hugs. No one loved a good hug as much as Brittany, and she insisted upon hugging the smaller girl every morning upon arriving at school, then again at lunch, again at the beginning of Glee, and finally at the end of Glee, before skipping off to spend her after-school hours with Quinn at the storied Fabray mansion.
"Good morning, Brittany," Rachel replied, relaxing into her friend's embrace. She'd really needed this hug, and Brittany, being the excellent reader of emotions that she was, picked up on that need immediately. She clutched Rachel just a little harder than usual, loving the way Rachel melted against her.
"Is everything all right?" Brittany asked, concern evident in her voice. "You feel a little tense today."
Reluctantly, Rachel pulled herself from Brittany's arms and said, "I'm okay, Britt." Her eyes darted back to Santana, who had somehow managed to make herself inconspicuous, leaning against the lockers next to Rachel's. "I just...I didn't sleep all that well last night. It happens sometimes."
The voice of the third member of the Unholy Trinity piped up in all its loud, brassy, gum-smacking glory. "Up all night thinking about your next solo in Glee again, Rachie? Sorry. Asperger's."
Rachel smiled indulgently. She had learned long ago that Sugar Motta almost never meant any of the unfiltered things that came out of her mouth. She was a loopy, ditzy redhead with a penchant for expensive, flashy clothes and jewelry, and though it sometimes didn't seem like it, the girl really didn't have a mean bone in her hyperactive body.
"No, Sugar. I'm actually very much looking forward to this afternoon's competition, as I have every confidence that Mr. Schuester will choose the soloist whose vocal range is best suited to whichever song he's selected as our opening number at Regionals."
The warning bell rang, effectively signaling that the time for idle conversation had come to a close, and now it was time for everyone to get to their homeroom. The penalty for lateness was detention, and no one wanted that.
The four friends smiled at each other, about to head off to their respective classrooms, but before turning to leave, Quinn surprised Rachel by gesturing toward Santana with a flick of her elegantly sculpted fingers and saying, "I hope you'll introduce us to your new friend later."
The head cheerleader's raised eyebrow let Rachel know that the request was not one that could be refused. They were friends, but Quinn was still intimidating, and very used to getting whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it; she was referred to as the "Head Bitch in Charge" for very good reason.
"Oh! Of – of course, Quinn. We'll see you later, okay?"
The eyebrow came down, and a serene, satisfied smile quirked Quinn's lips upward. "Later, Rachel." She linked hands with Sugar and Brittany as they began to walk away, and Rachel heard her command them: "Come on girls, let's go. We don't want to be late, do we?"
"Well, that one is a piece of work, isn't she?" Santana said as she emerged from the shadows, wondering at the exchange she had just witnessed.
"They all are, to be honest with you. But I love them," Rachel replied, smiling affectionately after her friends. "Now, we really must get going. There are approximately forty-five seconds left before the final bell rings, and -"
Santana smirked at her again, and before she could say another word, time and space bent around them once more.
"You really need to warn me when you're going to do that," Rachel gasped as they stood in the doorway. Suddenly, she realized that she hadn't even told Santana where the classroom was, yet a glance at the number on the door told her that they were indeed in the right place.
"Wait – how did you – ugh!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot in annoyance as Santana just continued to smirk at her.
And so it was that Rachel Berry then executed her first-ever storm-in.
Santana laughed softly as she followed Rachel into the classroom, but Rachel heard the whisper of fire in it. She shivered at the subtle undertone, but whether it was caused by fear or excitement, she couldn't tell.