*Chapter 35*

Tessa inhaled a sharp, slow breath and gently stirred. She could feel the warmth of sunlight hit her eyelids, from where, she wasn't certain. She furrowed her eyebrows and tried her hardest to squint her eyes open. With not a ton of ease, Tessa finally pried her eyes open and got a good look at where she was. She furrowed her eyebrows harder and remained frozen in confusion. She inhaled another breath and, with a confused flutter, her heart danced at the scent of that familiar smell she had grown to love. She blinked a few times and held her attention on Zane's night stand. She gently brought the warm, clean white sheets to her nose and inhaled yet again. She let her eyes lull closed, as well as a goofy, sleepy smile sprawl her face. She knew, all along, Zane's bed had to have been comfortable, though she didn't imagine it to be anything like this. With her dreamy thoughts, her eyes peered open in a jolt; she had to wonder just exactly what happened the night prior. With a hard, silent gasp, she shot up and eagerly looked around in a panic. She inhaled a few nervous breaths and flinched as she suddenly saw Zane rush over to her, his tender hands extended, as if to ease her thoughts.

"Hey, hey, shhh," Zane cooed quietly as he quickly approached her. He sat down on the edge of his bed and gently put a hand on Tessa's upper arm, the one that wasn't wounded, "You're fine, everything is okay, you're with me."

"Zane!" Tessa loudly breathed in a rush of sudden adrenaline, she gazed up at him in pure, exhausted shock and felt her heart jump for joy, she panted softly as Zane warmly tucked her hair behind her ear and peered down at her in pure, surprised curiosity; she continued on, "Y-You... How did you find me? How are we in your loft?"

"Take a few deep breaths for me," Zane said, almost through a small chuckle; he smiled into her glorious, hazel eyes and shook his head, "I'm so glad you woke up."

"Where... What happened?" Tessa croaked as she rubbed her forehead in confusion, though she inhaled a sharp gasp and grappled at her leg, "Ow, ow."

"Relax, take it easy," Zane prod quietly as he gently held her arm a little more firmly, "You're beat up pretty badly."

"How did this happen?" Tessa eased as she got into a more comfortable sitting position, though she froze as her eyes bulged, "User, I-I... I was lost! How... How did you find me?"

"I didn't," Zane glanced down to his sheets and pierced her eyes with his knowing, blue orbs, "Zed did."

"Zed... THE Dead Zed?" Tessa hissed in disbelief as she scrunched her face, Zane nodded and gently peered into her soul.

"Yeah," Zane eased as he finally slid his hand off of her arm and held her hand tenderly, "The jungle shape shifted on you... You got so lost. You were practically double the distance, from here to The Flip Side, away."

"User," Tessa felt a hard blush come over her face, she finally came to her physical senses and realized she was draped in Zane's comfortable clothing, "I-I fell asleep... Oh! I met this dragon! I thought he was going to eat me, but... He ended up protecting me, I guess? Was that a dream?"

"Nope, she's here," Zane said kindly, though Tessa largely furrowed her eyebrows.

"What? But, we were in the forest," Tessa gestured her hand lightly and let her eyes scan Zane's comfortable, warm home.

"I know," Zane chuckled, "She followed me all the way back here. She's in my garage, sleeping."

"She?" Tessa gave Zane a curious look.

"Yeah, she's a beaut," Zane nodded lightly, "Looks like you've landed yourself a companion."

"A companion," Tessa beamed an intent, curious smile, though she largely winced as she attempted to move.

"Easy," Zane said tenderly as he helped Tessa scoot to the edge of the bed. He stood and gently held her hand in his, "You have a few nasty wounds... I-I tried to clean them as best as possible. Looks like you fell from a high place, no?"

"Yeah, I fell out of a tree," Tessa grimaced as her shaky legs finally let her stand. She gripped Zane's hand and harshly furrowed her eyebrows, "I-I guess I landed in something sharp... Or maybe brushed something on the way down. That's when I met the dragon."

"Yeah, well... It's been weeks," Zane fibbed, though Tessa shot him a hard, confused gape.

"Weeks?" Tessa argued with shocked eyes, Zane tried his hardest not to laugh.

"Yeah," Zane forced a sorrowful voice, "You failed Academy and Sugar Rush's kingdom fell... But, good news is, we got married and had a baby in that time!"

"Oh, go... Game over, you jerk," Tessa spat as she largely swat Zane's arm; he jolted and bellowed a happy laugh, which caused a few annoyed laughs to escape Tessa's figure as well.

"It's only been a few hours," Zane chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eye, "Your mom was over here, earlier."

"She was?" Tessa wondered, she kept her eyes trained to Zane's.

"Yeah," Zane breathed, "She left you with me because the minute I got you here was the one minute open arcade call... She trusted I'd keep you safe."

"For that sick joke, I'm going to pretend you made my life a living hell," Tessa heaved an annoyed giggle and slowly began to hobble to Zane's kitchen. He followed close behind, just to make sure she didn't stumble and fall.

"Then you'll never see me again," Zane said in a sarcastic, cheery voice; Tessa giggled.

"Wouldn't that be such a shame," Tessa teased as she glanced over her shoulder and wrinkled her nose, though she eased into Zane's kitchen and lightly gave him a sheepish, almost pleading look, "I'm really thirsty."

"Here, sit," and motioned as he quickly swung around a bar stool for her. He tenderly held her upper arms in his strong hands and helped her sit down, "Want water? What are you thirsty for?"

"Water, for sure," Tessa said in a pleadingly kind tone, "User, I have never been so scared in my life."

"I'll bet," Zane muttered as he quickly began to pour a glass of water for her, "I've been lost in the jungles as well... Definitely not fun."

"How did you get out?" Tessa wondered gently as Zane handed her the glass; she immediately began to gulp it down.

"I was fortunate enough to be close to my town," Zane gestured to his loft, "You were practically across creation."

"Zed found me?" Tessa asked again in disbelief, after one massive drink of water.

"Actually," Zane started as he leaned against his counter and crossed his arms; he was dressed in comfortable basketball shorts and a tank top, "I found Zed and made him find you."

"You found Zed?" Tessa largely questioned as her eyes bulged, "But... I thought his hideout was hidden?"

"It's not," Zane breathed as he looked away, "He has an outpost in the Flip Side."

"No kidding," Tessa said softly as she looked about Zane's strong figure.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Zane said as his concerned eyes caught hers, she smiled a little and shrugged.

"Some 'welcome home from your first day at Academy' party, huh?" Tessa wondered in a dull tone, Zane raised his eyebrows, as if Academy was something everyone had forgotten about.

"Oh yeah," Zane inquired lightly, "How did your first day go?"

"Pretty well," Tessa lightly shrugged, "Only issue is, Selka is in my first hour class."

"Selka's in one of your classes?" Zane wrinkled his nose and shot Tessa an incredulous look.

"Yeah, I guess he got held back cause he failed it, or something," Tessa concluded; Zane breathed a small laugh and looked out and across his loft.

"What an idiot," Zane hissed to himself, his intelligent blue eyes idly gazed off into his loft in contemplative thought.

"Yeah, I'm not excited for the day he realizes I'm there," Tessa said in an annoyed tone as she waved her hand around lightly and looked down to the counters.

"You'll be fine," Zane eased as he gave his attention back to Tessa, "He usually sticks to his stupid group, anyhow."

"I wish you were there, with me," Tessa finally braved as she felt her face get hot. She held her gaze to Zane's, though he tore his away with a bashful smile and a kind heart.

"You and me both, love," Zane breathed as his eyes scanned the counter next to him. After a moment, he let his electric gaze pierce hers, once more; they peered at each other for a few seconds, as if to silently convey questions they had been dying to ask each other. Tessa lightly raised her eyebrows and felt her stomach knot; the sweet nickname, she was hoping would stick, melted into her brain like hot, molten chocolate.

"Ah-hem, uhh," Zane coughed into his fist and gave Tessa a kind, though sheepish, smile, "Y-You want to see Lickity?"

"Lickity?" Tessa wondered after a few seconds of trying to switch gears.

"Yeah, your dragon," Zane chuckled and lightly rolled his eyes, "Sorry, the name just sort of stuck... Your mom called your dragon the 'Lickity Split' before she left, and I can't get it out of my head."

"Ohh," Tessa slumped her shoulders and beamed a wide smile, she let her eyes lull closed, "My mom's first cart was named 'The Lickity Split'... Now she sort of will call anything that is seemingly dorky or 'unable' that name."

"Seems ironic, really," Zane chuckled as he gestured towards his font door, "That breed of dragon is anything but 'unable'."

"I had no clue Dead Zed had dragons," Tessa wrinkled her nose lightly and finally became aware of her appearance. She nervously began to tidy her hair, though in a slow way, so not to seem too worried.

"This game has a lot more than just dragons," Zane shook his head lightly and let his eyes widen. Tessa eagerly peered up at him through questioning eyes, he continued as he gestured his strong arms a little, "Each environment sort of has it's dangers. Here in these jungles, it's tree and sky dragons."

"Is that why she's tan? Camouflage?" Tessa wondered kindly, her eyes held inquisition on Zane's; he felt his heart jump at her pretty stare.

"Yeah," Zane said kindly with a gentle nod, "I'll bet you stumbled upon her, yeah?"

"Scared the sprinkles out of me," Tessa shook her head lightly, "All I saw was just this big pair of green eyes looking back at me."

"Sounds about right," Zane chuckled as he shoved his hands into the baggy pockets of his comfortable shorts, "You wanna see her?"

"Yeah," Tessa said with an eager smile, though with trying to stand in her sudden fervor, she winced and lightly fumbled to the counter.

"Careful," Zane jolted and raised his eyebrows. He lightly held her lower arm in one hand and held the middle of her back in the other. He curiously peered down at her and was happy to catch eyes with her, as if he was successful in reassuring her that he was there for her, "Take it easy, you still have those nasty wounds... Even though they're cleaned and all, you're still going to be sore for awhile."

"How, exactly, did you get me cleaned up and changed?" Tessa suddenly wondered as she finally, though wobbly, stood in an upright stance. She warily crossed her arms and gave Zane a teasing, though playfully angry smirk. She was floored once Zane's face turned hot red.

"Y-Yeah, that wasn't the easiest thing to do," Zane nervously gazed into her eyes, in hopes of conveying his full honesty to her, "I had Lickity help out, a bit, to be honest."

"You mean to say, you brought that dragon into your loft?" Tessa laughed as she pointed to Zane's front door, he beamed a cheeky smile and shrugged.

"Hey, she's a lot more graceful and smart than you think," Zane said with a kind, honest smile. Tessa rolled her eyes and looked away, though she averted her curious gaze back to Zane and raised her eyebrows in dewed surprise as he put his tender hand on the center of his chest, "I promise you, I was nothing but a gentleman."

"I'm just pulling your leg," Tessa beamed a playful, kind smile, though she flinched and let out a small laugh as Zane slapped his arms to his sides.

"Heart attack central, over here," Zane largely gestured to himself before he slowly marched out of his kitchen; he exhaled a laugh he was trying to stifle as Tessa's contagious laughter chased him all the way to his front door.

"I trust you, it's fine," Tessa laughed quietly as Zane opened the door for her, which led to a stairwell to two doors; one that led to inside his garage, and one that led to outside his loft.

"So certain," Zane snapped playfully, though he winced and gave Tessa a teasing smirk as she swat at him, once more. The two slowly made their way down the stairs as Zane continued, "Just be careful, going in. I've never woken a sleeping dragon."

"I don't think anyone would be brave enough to do something like that," Tessa whispered as the two neared the door that led straight into Zane's garage.

With a gentle turn, Tessa was brave enough to gently push into Zane's garage. She let her eyes adjust to the, surprisingly, bright room. The windows to the garage door brought in a nice amount of sunlight. She furrowed her eyebrows lightly and peered across his large garage. Looming near Zane's covered light bike was none other than the dragon that saved her in the jungles. Tessa beamed a curious smile and felt her heart swell. She tenderly took a few steps closer, and was happy to see her delicately sniffing at a few of Zane's tools and trinkets around his garage. Tessa gently bent her knees a little and rested her hands on them. She tilted her head gently and inhaled a readied breath.

"Hey," Tessa cooed quietly, though she flinched once, with quick reflexes, her dragon immediately looked over it's shoulder, like an owl searching for prey.

Her massive pupils largely dilated and shrunk yet again, her large ears perked as she finally turned to face Tessa. She grumbled an excited growl of a purr that emanated from the very depth of her large chest cavity. As easily as she could, she bounced over to Tessa and very lightly opened her wing span, just barely, as if she wanted so badly to glom onto Tessa. Tessa beamed a wide smile and stood up straight.

"She's a lot happier, today," Tessa exhaled a hard giggle as she shoved her snout into Tessa's center and had a few good sniffs, as if to check to see if she truly was alright. Tessa eagerly rubbed the top of her head and snout, which caused her dragon to groan a noise of happiness and lull it's eyes closed.

"She's definitely a sweetie," Zane smiled as he finally budged into the garage, though he flinched and felt his heart drop once Tessa's dragon perked up and noticed Zane's presence. She gently lowered her head and lay her ears flat against her head. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and shot an incredulous look back at Zane.

"How'd you train her to bow like that?" Tessa wondered, almost in a defensive way. Zane held his hands up in surprise and shook his head.

"I did nothing of the sort," Zane worried, though he quickly squat down and rested on the balls of his feet. He tenderly held a hand out to Tessa's dragon and gave her a confused look, "I'm not gunna hurt you, remember me?"

"Maybe you remind her of someone," Tessa wondered as her dragon finally eased up and sniffed at Zane's hand. It wasn't until she finally licked it a few times did everyone, including her, become comfortable again.

"Maybe her old rider," Zane worried as she came along side Tessa, "I doubt she even had a name... I called her Lickity, earlier, and she immediately responded."

"Really?" Tessa wondered as she fingered her lip, though she dropped her hands and peered down at her dragon, "Here, Lickity."

Lickity immediately perked up her ears and bent down, as if to act like a playful puppy. She snorted a small noise and nudged her snout into Tessa's center, yet again. Tessa exhaled a hard grunt, though she painfully concluded it with a laugh. She firmly rubbed under Lickity's chin and beamed at Zane.

"Yep, seems about right!" Tessa laughed, she peered back down at her new friend and felt her heart swell, yet again, "Lickity it is."

"Sort of seems strange, that she was nameless," Zane wondered gently as he moved around the side of Lickity, "She's a perfectly wonderful dragon."

"She has a saddle," Tessa gestured, "Do you think her rider wonders where she is?"

"Here's what I've concluded, from this," Zane gently approached Lickity's side and held up some torn, loose flaps to the saddle strapped to Lickity's back, "See these tears? These aren't from wear and tear... What it looks to be, here, is that Lickity's rider was thrown."

"Thrown?" Tessa worried as she joined Zane, though Lickity eagerly peered back at them in curiosity. Tessa eased her bumbling heart and rubbed her side in an assuring manner, "You don't think... Lickity would have actually tossed her rider?"

"Dragons, when trained, are loyal to the bone," Zane said gently as his eyes continued to remained glued to Lickity's saddle, though he finally caught Tessa's eyes with his and concluded deeply, "Though, if you cross a dragon, you're nearly done for."

"You think... Lickity killed her owner?" Tessa worried, though she immediately ate her words; Lickity's sweet demeanor and perked expression held no ounce of killing thoughts.

"I don't think she killed her previous owner, though I'm sure she threw him, and lost him," Zane said gently as the two finally stepped away from Lickity's side, "See, look here."

"I guess any wild animal is capable of anything," Tessa added softly as the two moved to Lickity's face; Zane tenderly held her jaw in his hand and held her still.

"See these old wounds?" Zane pointed to a few old, scarred gashes on Lickity's snout, eyebrow bone and cheeks, "She even has that nasty tear in her ear... I'm thinking, whoever previously owned this dragon, was not kind to her."

"I can't believe it," Tessa breathed as her fingers tenderly rubbed Lickity's snout, "Who would do such a thing?"

"It's a feat if you can befriend a dragon and train it up, so that you can fly it," Zane said sorrowfully as he gently let go of Lickity's head, "Some people will breed and rear dragons just for fighting or racing... For winning money. My guess is, he was training this dragon to be a fighter, or a racer... And because of her stubborn spirit, she endured many beatings."

"Beatings for what?" Tessa hissed as she peered into Zane's eyes.

"Beatings for not cooperating," Zane shrugged, though he gazed sadly at the beautiful dragon, "My guess is, Lickity threw her rider and then was stranded out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but instinct to survive on. When she found you, she latched onto you like a lifeline, cause she knew, wherever there were humans, there was food."

"Dragons don't eat humans, though, right?" Tessa worried as she gestured her hand towards her new, supposed pet.

"No," Zane beamed with a small chuckle, "Lickity's particular breed likes meat, but not from humans."

"You know a lot about these dragons?" Tessa wondered as she crossed her arms, "You think there's more out there?"

"Oh, I know there's more out there," Zane said softly, "I learned a lot of this stuff at Academy... That, and taking the year off to just exist in your game gives you a wide perspective on things."

"You think we could teach her to fly us?" Tessa wondered curiously, though Zane eyed her with an annoyed smile.

"I think you've had too much excitement for one day."