Update :D

Hezpeller: Thanks! Here is the new chapter :) Hope you like it.

ada69: Thank you!
OK. I'm working on that XD
Let's see how it turns out :P

Fudogg: Here is the new chapter. Hope you enjoy it :)

Noble6: Yeah. It still kind of bothers me that they didn't do something like that on the show. It would be awesome! XD
Well, hope you like the new chapter.

Onej6: Thank you! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! :)

Marcie Gore: Thanks! Here it is. Hope you like it :)

Here we go again. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own "American Dragon: Jake Long" or any of the characters/ episodes. They belong to Disney.

Chapter 25: Family

"Jake! This is amazing!" Rose exclaimed while making flips in the air.

"It is" Jake said as he watched her. "Did I mention how graceful you are?"

She shyly smiled back at him. "Hey! Do you think I can breathe fire too?" She cheerfully asked.

"I don't know… Try it" Jake answered. "Just breath in and let it come out" He said and demonstrated.

Rose concentrated, trying to find the heat inside of her. She slowly gave a long breath and closed her eyes…

Jake started to laugh uncontrollably at the scene: Rose started to cough after puffing just a little bit of black smoke.

"That's… (cough) not… (cough)… funny!" She yelled at him.

"Sorry…" He said trying to calm down.

"Now I think I need some water…" Rose said, trying to get rid of the dirt in her mouth.

"OK. Let's go home. The others might be starting to get worried by now"

And with that they flew back to the house.

"Uh… Jake? How do I land?" She sheepishly asked.

"Just use your wings as brakes, you know?" He answered.

"OK. I'll try…" She managed to slow down as she approached the ground and was going to make a perfect landing… Unfortunately, she lost the balance and fell with a yelp the second after her feet touched the ground.

"Gotcha!" Jake spoke after he grabbed her just in time.

"You knew I was going to fall again, didn't you?" She mumbled.

"Maybe…" He said with a smirk.

"I'm such a klutz" She laughed.

"Hey. You just need some training" Jake tried to reassure her. "Look at the bright side… At least you are able to dragon up with no problems" He said with a mischievous grin…

It took Rose some seconds to realize what he meant with that. Then, she gave him a deadly glare.

"Yo… Chill… I was just kidding…" He put his hands up in defense. "C'mon. Let's get in. Maybe mom made some breakfast for us" Jake said with a smile and opened the door. "After you"

"Such a gentleman" Rose joked. Then she turned her attention to the living room and received the greatest shock of her life…

"Surprise" Jake whispered into her ear.

There they were… Her family…

Rose tried to say something, but her voice completely disappeared.

"Rose?" She turned around and saw her. "Is… Is that really you?" It was Luna, her twin sister.

Rose continued speechless as Luna approached her. The sisters just kept staring at each other. They felt like looking into a mirror.

"It's Luna, right?" Rose nervously asked.

Luna just smiled and nodded. Rose raised her right hand (the one with the birthmark) and let the palm facing Luna. In response, she did the same with her left hand and they touched in a comparing hands gesture.

Finally, Luna jolted forward and embraced her sister. "Oh my God! I can't believe this! There are so many things I wanted to tell you… But I don't know where to start!"

Rose was taken aback, but she eventually returned the hug. "I'm here sis…" She didn't know why, but calling her that way felt really natural, even though it was the first time they ever talked. "I'm here…"

When they broke apart, Rose looked at her parents. Everything seemed so surreal. She was feeling numb. It felt more like a dream. Her mother had both hands over mouth and her eyes were twinkling. Her father had his mouth hung open.

"M-mom? D-dad?" Rose said, trying to hold back the sobs. She slowly walked into their direction and showed them the birthmark.

"Rose?" Violet kneeled down and looked into her eyes. She could recognize them… As clear as fourteen years ago. "My baby… My little girl…" It was the only thing she could say while she wrapped her arms around her child.

Jim also kneeled down and hugged them both, with a pure smile and tears streaming down his face. He was muted. All the words that wanted to come out were stuck inside his throat. He looked at Luna and motioned her to come. He wanted the whole family to be together on that special moment.

The others just watched from distance. They thought they should leave them alone for a while. They all were in the merge of tears too.

James never thought he would see his daughter again. He was the first one to give up after the police told him that there were almost no chances of finding her. Violet, on the other hand, never gave up and neither did Luna, after she was told about her twin sister. He deeply regretted it. Maybe they could've found her earlier if he tried harder. But it didn't matter anymore. There she was. The family was complete again.

"Mom… Dad…" She whispered while feeling their warm embrace.

"We love you sweetheart. Don't worry… We are here for you. We will finally be able to live together, as a normal family…" Violet tried to say, but this caused Rose to let go of them and walk away.

She sighed. "There's something else I need to tell you… I'm… I'm not a normal girl anymore…" She said with her back turned to them.

"It doesn't matter" James finally was able to say. "You are still our daughter. We will accept you just the way you are…"

"It will not be easy…"

"We can take it…" Jim trailed off when he saw yellow flames engulfing Rose. The family stared in shock as they saw her transforming into a… dragon? They started to back away full of fear.

"Please… don't be afraid… It's me… I won't hurt you…" She spoke softly.

They were petrified. Jake and the others just watched everything unfold in front of their eyes. Expectations grew when Violet finally started to walk into Rose's direction again.

"Violet! Don't!" Her husband tried to stop her, but was ignored. All she could do was stare deep into the dragon's blue eyes.

"What they did with you?" Violet whispered while stretching one of her arms and finally touching the dragon's face. Surprisingly, her scales were warm, not slimy and cold like she expected.

"It's all real… Fairies, leprechauns, unicorns… They all exist. And dragons… They are the protectors of the magical community…" Rose paused. "The Huntsclan does terrible things… They hunt them all… They are cold-blooded murders… And I was one of them. I was a monster… But then I found out the truth and switched sides… I've been acting as a double agent ever since. Then, they found out that I betrayed them… Everything went wrong and I almost died…"

"Rose…" Jim started to approach her too. He finally realized she was still her daughter.

"It was the only way… Jake had to transform me into a dragon to keep me alive…" Rose said and turned back to human.

"But… How?" Luna was shocked. "My sister is a dragon?"

"Jake and I are bonded. We are connected through heart, mind and spirit… It seems that we share the same dragon shi too…" Rose answered.

"Bonded? Are you saying that you two are kind of married?" Jim asked, outraged.

"Technically not, but it depends a lot on how you look at it… We are just… together… I don't know…" Jake said with his head down. He was afraid of what they were thinking. "There weren't any other options left… I'm sorry…"

"Wait! You're a dragon too?" Violet asked.

Jake nodded and dragoned up. That action made the Collins back away in fright again.

"Don't worry… Dragons aren't evil… They don't hurt innocent people" Rose tried to calm them down. Jake noticed her silently begging him to turn back to human.

James turned around to face Jonathan, his voice shaking. "Jon? Are you…"

"Oh… No, no, no. It's just my wife's side of the family" Jonathan said with a smile, trying to calm his friend.

"You know all of this is really hard to believe, don't you?" Jim remarked.

"Yeah. But I guess you get used to it…" Jonathan replied, shrugging.

Then, they turned their attention back to Rose, who was staring at the floor. James walked over to her and lifted her head, so she could look into his eyes. "Sweetheart… It doesn't matter. We love you… All of you"

She smiled in response and hugged him. "Thanks dad…"

"Look at you… You've grown up so much… You are almost a woman…" Violet said, caressing her hair.

Rose gave a shy smile, but it soon faded. "I wish it could have been different…" Then, she buried her head on her mother's shoulder and started to cry.

"There… There… It's alright… Let the tears wash everything away…" She whispered to her daughter.

After some minutes, Rose calmed down again, but didn't move. Her mother's soft fondling made her stay in a kind of half-asleep state.

"Jon… I don't know how to thank you" James tried to say, but he couldn't find the right words.

"No problems Jim. That's what friends are for, right? Besides… My son is the one you should thank. He did everything. I just gave him a little tip"

"Jake?" He called the boy.

"huh?" Jake was smiling as he watched Rose with her mother, but then turned his attention to the man.

"Thanks for helping us to reunite our family" Jim said, offering his hand.

"Hey… It was nothing. I would do anything for her" Jake answered and shook his hand.

"Are you two…"

"Dating? Yeah. Pretty much" Jake said with a chuckle. "We couldn't always be together because of the Huntsclan… But we managed to make it work somehow"

"I'm glad she found someone like you, who really cares about her"

"Well I…" Jake was nervous. He finally realized he was talking to Rose's father. Most likely his future father-in-law. "I really love her, you know?"

"I bet you do" Jim answered.

"Jake!" She heard someone call him. Before he could do anything else, he was hit by something purple and gold. It took him some seconds for his mind to register Rose with her arms tightly gripped around him. He sometimes forgot how strong she was.

"Thank you Jake! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Ugh… Rose… Take it easy… You are cutting my air supply… And I need that to keep myself handsome as I am"

"Modest as always…" She commented with a smirk.

"I know you are, but what am I?"

There was a short pause…

"I love you" They said in unison and blushed slightly.

"Happy homecoming" Jake pecked her cheek and started to drown in the deep blue of her eyes.

"Ah… screw this!" Rose finally said and passionately kissed him on the lips.

Jake wasn't expecting for that. It seemed that Rose would never lose her sneaky nature. Then, he finally gave in and closed his eyes, enjoying the love from the girl of his life.

When they broke apart, the couple realized their parents were glaring at them.

"Uhh… This is definitely awkward…" Jake remarked.

Rose just shrugged in response with an innocent smile. "What? My instincts got the better of me"

Finally, Jonathan coughed to get everyone's attention. "C'mon… Give the kids a little break. Now… Jakers, Rose… I think it's time for you to tell us your story from the beginning, because we really want to hear it"

"Ok… I guess…" He said, a bit unsure. He looked at Rose, who just nodded with a smile.

After that, the Longs invited everyone to eat breakfast with them. They reluctantly accepted and plates full of pancakes were served. At the same time, Jake and Rose started to tell about how they first met. It was going to be a really interesting meal, with laughs, tears and everything else…

Well... Looks like I was mistaken. I'll write one more chapter and just then the epilogue. :P

Anyway. I hope you liked it!

Thanks for reading! Cheers!