A/N: This is the first of back-to-back "special" chapters that will be updating today and the second day of the New Year, respectively! I call them specials because they are not quite long enough to be considered full chapters, don't directly advance the plot, and would mess with the chapter count if they were chapters (40 chaps is a much cleaner number than 43!) But they do contain key backstory for the characters that cannot be illustrated through dialogue, so they are as essential to the main story as the action bits! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this little snippet of Kolton's childhood!
You can probably guess the next special's protagonist; but the third and final one might surprise you. Of course, that doesn't come until a few more updates. So for now, happy reading!

Special-My Father's Son

The night air was chilly and crisp. The spectrum ribbons danced through the sky. A massive airship cut through the lights, sending the colors bouncing about the deck.

"Sight for sore eyes, eh, son?" a gravely man's voice spoke. The Pirate King was leaning up against the ship's wheel. Beside him was a young Kolton, no older than 7. His jacket was two sizes too big and seemed to swallow him whole. The boy nodded, eyes transfixed on the sky above.

"Is it fun?" Kolton muttered.

"What was that, my boy?"

"It is fun? Steering the ship?"

Kublai gave him a wide, toothy smile.

"Why don't you give it a go and see?" He stepped away from the wheel, gesturing for Kolton to step up. As Kolton did so, Kublai took off his helmet and put it atop Kolton's head. It was humorously big, and slid down over his eyes.

Kublai gave a hearty laugh. But Kolton seemed determined to keep it on. He pushed it up with a hand and took the wheel in the other.

"Rule number one," Kublai chided, carefully putting his hands on his helmet and holding it up for him. "Two hands always on the wheel!"

Kolton took it between his tiny fingers. The determination in his gaze was impressive for a child so young.

He stared at the seemingly endless stretch of sky beyond them. He nearly tumbled over when his pull of the wheel turned the ship's nose abruptly. Kublai caught him and set him back on his feet.

"Eh, you'll get the hang of it someday! Garharhar!" He rubbed his son's head, pushing the helmet back over his eyes, and Kolton giggled.

It seemed like the two were the only sky pirates on the massive ship. Kublai leaned up against the railing, staring up at the sky, deep in thought. Kolton mimicked him, pressing up against his father's leg.

"Times like this I wish your mother was around." Kublai sighed.

"I want to meet her," Kolton muttered, playing with the fur of his jacket between his fingers.

"She is a very busy woman, Kolton. And she requested that you stay with me, and you do not pay her any visits until you are much older. But you will meet her in time, I'm sure."

"Does…she like me?" Kolton's gaze dropped to the deck floor.

"She loves you more than the sky itself, my boy. She told me that she fears that you will want to stay with her, if you meet even for just a minute. But perhaps she fears it will be she who will not want to let go of you. Regardless, I promise, there will come a day when she will be ready to see you. Maybe even when you're a full-fledged sky pirate yourself." Kublai grinned. "Or a captain!"

Kolton's eyes widened, and he stared up at his father.

"Captain?" His voice came out as a squeak. Kublai nodded.

"Of the entire sky pirate fleet! Been doing a lot of thinking. There are plenty sky pirates qualified for the position...but if you prove yourself in the next few years, I would be more than happy to pass my helmet on to you. In the meantime," his gaze fell to his belt, "I have a gift for you."

He unhooked a broad, curved sword from his belt. Kolton's eyes grew impossibly bigger, admiring the weapon with childish wonder.

"Can I hold it?" he asked, reaching out his hand as if in a trance. Kublai handed it over. It took two hands on the hilt for Kolton to pick it off the deck, but his fascinated gaze didn't waver for a second.

"This is not just for you to hold, my son. It is yours to wield."

"To wield?" Kolton nearly dropped it at the words.

"Aye! It's all yours. Think of it as your first tool on the way to becoming the captain. I'll even give you a few lessons!"

"Captain…" Kolton lifted the sword off the deck. His hands trembled with the effort, but he managed to point it towards the sky. He gazed beneath it, at the boundless sky around him; a sky for him to someday rule. He broke into a grin.

"I'll BE captain!" he declared proudly into the night air, puffing out his little chest. "Best captain there ever was!"

Kublai laughed.

"That you will, my boy! That you will…"

The colors morphed into a different pattern. The air remained chilly, but the ship and the father-son duo had vanished.

Kolton's face was tinged red. Alexa was grinning.

"That was adorable, Kolton."

He pulled up the collar of his jacket to hide evidence of further blushing.

"No it wasn't," he mumbled into it.

"Your voice was all squeaky!"

"W-was not!"

Alexa laughed.

"Now I understand why you love that sword so much! I had no idea your dad gave it to you."

Kolton pulled the jacket back down.

"I wouldn't let it out of my sight since that day," he admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Except…well, no way I'll be captain now. Not…not after what I did."

"Who cares about that?" Alexa shook her head. "Kolton, what matters is that you're a hero now. We're part of the resistance! Your dad will see how much you've done, and he'll forgive you."

"If we even can save him—"

"We will," she interrupted. "We're going to go to Morriban, and we're going to save our dads. Together, ok?"

Kolton seemed surprised by the force of the tone, but he nodded.

"Yeah. I like the sound of that. Sorry about being a downer for a moment there, I…kinda wish times were as simple as that memory." He shook his head. "Nah. Times can be the simple again, the moments the Zoorians are good and beat."

"Yeah, exactly," Alexa agreed.

Kolton broke into a sudden grin of his own. "Heh. No more fear of heights for you, hm?"

Alexa blinked. She nearly forgot they were still skyward, and that the lights were not a ground phenomena. Alkira didn't seem shaky anymore, either.

"I…guess not?"

"Who would have thought it would take a sky pirate to break you out of it?"

Alexa scoffed.

"Excuse me, but you didn't even try helping us when we were down there."

"What are you talking about? I'm the whole reason you even got up here! Dropping you, remember?"

"Oh yeah...thanks for reminding me of that." Alexa glanced down at her dragon. "Hey, Alkira, get me up to him so I can give that arm of his a well-earned punch."

"Fly, Esemar, fly!" Kolton frantically spurred his dragon forward, Alexa in hot pursuit.

They spend the remainder of their time in the sky that way, exchanging various jibes and laughing all the while.

Neither of them had any idea what the coming week was going to hold…but at least in the moment, they could have a bit of last-minute fun.

Alexa had no idea what time it was when she returned to the inn. But she was not at all tired, her mind still racing from all of the adrenaline of being in the air. She couldn't wait to show her dad that she wasn't scared of heights anymore.

Inside her inn room, Tiny was sound asleep. He had apparently become warm under the mess of blankets, because he had taken off his scarf; which currently sat on the desk. A glimmer inside of it caught Alexa's eye as she sat on the edge of the bed.

She quietly examined it. It was the pebble Kolton had seen when he was in Tiny's body. They never did have a chance to ask Tiny what that was about. Then again, Tiny probably wouldn't say. He didn't seem too fond of his own memories.

Suddenly, Alexa's pocket heated up once more. She fished out another Past Petal, which had also grown. It appeared to be resonating with the scarf. To test the theory, she put it on top of the scarf, and watched as it began to glow.

Alexa hesitated. Tiny was asleep, and she didn't think it would be a good idea to wake him up. As curious as she was about his past, she knew it was probably best not to pry—

But the petal had other ideas. It had already vanished in a burst of blue sparks, and the corners of the room began to fade into the now too-familiar white.

"Again?" Alexa muttered. But she knew there was no way to stop it from happening, so she took a breath, and steeled herself to plunging into yet another memory: this time, of the very first companion she ever had in the Other World.