Chapter 10: My Son, My Friend, Spyro the Dragon

"I love you both, too."

Sitting there, crying tears of joy, Crash thought back to what Aku-Aku said about Spyro. ˂You love him like the son you can never have.˃ Crash hadn't understood fully of what he meant until Spyro said his first five words. I love Spyro like a son because of Tawna's death. Subconsciously, I imagined Spyro, helpless in his egg about a year and a half ago, as the child Tawna and I never had. Aku-Aku of course saw through the veil in my head and stated the truth to me directly, but I never comprehended just how literal Aku-Aku's statement was until my son sat next to me on the anniversary of Tawna's death.

I'll have to tell him now, tell him that I'm not his father and that he's not really a part of my family, even though to me it will feel like I'm lying. It would be like tearing my own arm off, but it's the right thing to do, to tell him the truth. That I took Spyro from his time, the life he has now is not the one he was supposed to have, and brought him to my home instead. I just hope he understands; I hope he can forgive me for lying to him all these years.

And then Crash started having the sneaking suspicion that Spyro already knew. The difference was subtle, but Spyro stopped calling him dad or father and just called him Crash. He regarded him less and less like his caretaker and started to act more independent. He didn't ignore Crash or like him any less, he just became less reliant on him. He was happy without him. Coco and Spyro began to hang out more frequently. The sciences and vastness of Coco's intelligence and the studies she preoccupied herself with on this boring yet tranquil island intrigued Spyro to no end. And in time, Spyro essentially became her assistant to the things she was working on.

"It's freaky sometimes just how much like a bandi… just how human Spyro is sometimes." Coco said to Crash while they were eating together. Coco was probably going to suggest how much like a bandicoot Spyro was, but then remembered that they themselves were modeled after humans. Coco and Crash sometimes forgot that fact. Spyro was out exploring the island. He had recently begun flying and was taking the opportunity to venture the skies of the Wampa islands. "Ever since he taught himself how to speak, I've seen how fast he picks up on concepts and ideas. Could you imagine what the rest of the Dragons were like all those millennia ago?"

Coco's comment bothered Crash, simply because it reminded him of what he did to Spyro. Earlier, it was easy enough just to remind himself that he had rescued Spyro from certain death and did the only appropriate thing in bringing him to his home and out of danger. But now that Crash had time to think about it, it was harder to convince himself that he had done the right thing after all. If he had tried, even with the injury to his stomach, he could have found Spyro's home and parents. He could have done something to bring Spyro to his true home. But now it was impossible to bring him back because the Time Twisting Machine was destroyed during his final encounter with Dr. Cortex.

But what was the problem? Spyro seemed happy enough. No, that wasn't entirely true. He would never see another Dragon again; he would never have children of his own. He was the last of his kind and would die alone. And I don't even have the courage to tell him what I did to him. Crash knew it now. I still want that innocent, helpless Dragon that could rest on my lap, where I could look at him and see how much I mattered in his life, blissfully unaware of the great wrong I did to him until now.

"Crash, what's wrong?" Crash hadn't replied to Coco's comment, lost instead in his thoughts.

[Nothing.]

"Come on now, don't lie to me. I know when you're anxious or depressed. It's written all over your face and droopy ears." Sometimes Crash hated just how much his facial features revealed his emotions. A guess it's a disadvantage of having prehensile, long ears. Although the excellent hearing was a good enough tradeoff… maybe.

[Coco, I want to tell Spyro the truth about his past.]

"Well what are you waiting for, Crash? Sheesh, what, were you waiting for me to do it? You brought him to the future; you're the one who he loved first, so you should break the news, and soon." Her brisk answer surprised Crash. And pointing out that he may have waited too long was just another reminder of just how much of a coward he'd been.

[I'm… nervous about telling him.]

"Well, I can understand why you apprehensive of telling Spyro the truth. You fear it he will be angry with you, or it will distance yourself from him more. But you know and I know it's the right thing to do. And honestly, I think Spyro already knows, or at least is suspicious. He really is smart, Crash. Just tell him, I'm sure he'll understand."

So Coco could also read his thoughts like Aku-Aku could. And if I threw her into the ocean, she'd just swim back. [I just feel guilty Coco. Guilty for bringing Spyro here and for not telling him that I did. And I'm afraid of what he'll think of me when I tell him. Part of me doesn't regret my decision, for I love him too much to feel otherwise, but I also know it was selfish of me… the decision I made.]

"Well both 'parts' of you are correct brother. Find the courage to tell Spyro the truth. It's the right thing to do, and have confidence that Spyro loves you enough to forgive you. I know he does. You might think that because he's less reliant on you that he loves you less, but that can't be farther from the truth. Crash, you'll always hold a special place in his heart because in more ways than not, you are his father. All Spyro's doing is growing up, something you would have learned and experienced if you and Tawna ever had a child. It's just that Spyro's growing up incredibly fast, so fast that you felt you didn't have enough of his unconditional love and devotion. But don't hold that against him Crash. Embrace it, and let Spyro be your best friend instead of your only son."

Coco reached out and held her brother as he shed a tear. "Since when have I ever been such an emotional wreck," Crash thought to himself. Hopefully I don't cry in front of Spyro, sons shouldn't have to see their father's cry, telling their sons that they were never their father in the first place.

Crash waited in front of his house, listening to the waves gently crash on the shore as the sun set in the distance. Spyro landed on the beach behind Crash, walking up beside him once he landed, and greeted Crash.

"Hey Crash. Awesome day isn't it?"

"Ye-s, b…eu-tfl. K… kan we t…tal-k?"

"Well I don't know, can you?" Crash allowed himself to chuckle at Spyro's jest. He wanted this to be as painless as possible for himself, though he had no control over how this would feel for Spyro.

"M-ay we?" Spyro also laughed at Crash joke of correcting the grammar of his question instead of becoming annoyed at him for pointing out his horrible speech.

[I want to talk about you Spyro. Of how I first came to know you.]

"What, you mean when I emerged from my egg. You already showed me the fragment. What else is there to know? You're not going to talk about my conception, are you?"

Crash sighed audibly before rubbing his hand on the top of his head. Spyro must have sensed Crash's discomfort, for he didn't speak afterwards.

[I want to talk about how you came to be a part of our family.]

"Alright, I'm listening… well, watching."

Crash allowed himself a smile before continuing. [Coco and I are… not your birth parents.]

"Well that's a relief, brothers and sisters shouldn't also be mothers and fathers. If you and Coco… eloped, your inbreed children might look as terrifyingly deformed as I appear compared to you two."

[Coco said you would already know.]

"Coco knows a lot of things. I can see why you let her boss you around even though she's your younger sister. You know, the day I first spoke to you and Coco, I was planning on asking you about my parentage. I had spent so much time practicing my speech in preparation, but I decided not to ask after seeing you and Coco sitting together on the beach consoling in each other because of Tawna."

Crash looked away from Spyro and stared at the horizon. Spyro took the opportunity to sit down close to Crash and watch the sunset with him.

"So, where are my real parents?"

[Hard to say, I never met them.]

"Well how did you 'meet' me then?" Spyro asked confused.

[When you were still in your egg, you were stolen from your parents by thieves. I happened to encounter them by accident, and attempted to rescue you once I overheard that they had stolen you. In the altercation, I was seriously wounded, but managed to escape and brought you here.]

"So… my parents are still out there somewhere, along with the other Dragons?" Spyro seemed genuinely sad, which was what Crash feared. But I still had to tell him the whole truth before I could be concerned with what he thought of me.

[That's the thing, Spyro. When I brought you here to my home, I didn't just bring you here; I also brought you forward in time. It's hard to explain and harder to believe, but Cortex, if you remember Coco explaining him to you, had built a time machine to recover the Power Crystals scattered throughout the world during the times where their locations were last known. The particular Crystals that I went back in time for was hundreds of thousands of years in the past. Every Dragon that ever lived died so long ago. Your family, your kind, they are all gone. You are the last Dragon; you will never see another one again, all because I was too selfish to bring you back to the past before it was too late. I'm… sorry Spyro. Sorry for what I took from you.]

Crash began to tear up a little. A great burden had been lifted of his shoulders, but at the same time had to face the decision he made and the consequences it had on Spyro. Spyro meanwhile was still processing the information and the magnifications of what Crash told him. As he did, he looked at Crash who at one point he regarded as his father; torn apart at what hid did to who was once his son. "He's more upset about it than I am" Spyro thought.

"Well Crash," Spyro said as he put his front paw on Crash's should, causing him to look at him, "I guess both of us are the last and only of our kind. It's one thing we do have in common. And even though you may not have given me life, thank you for saving it." Although Crash rarely thought about it, he and Coco were indeed the only two of their kind. When they died, their new species would die with them. Crash allowed himself to relax. "Why does Coco have to know everything?" Crash thought to himself as he now sat next to his friend.

[I should have tried everything I could have done to find your parents before the Time Twisting Machine was destroyed.]

"It's going to suck being the only Dragon, Crash, but at least I'll have a family to spend my miserable lonely life with." Spyro held out his front paw in front of Crash, and Crash grabbed it and they shook hands, like they had first done almost five years ago. Then the handshake turned into a tearful hug, before they both went inside to see what Coco had prepared for dinner.