Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.

Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.

Special Thanks to Alec the Dark Angel for being my beta for this story.

Special Thanks to Strigon175 for being my beta for this story.

Special thanks to Sicarius19 for providing and writing out the main story for the Terrador Social Arc.

Chapter 38

Heartbreaker

The atmosphere around the group of friends had taken its lowest point. Hearing Zaze's backstory completely changed their outlook on the sprightly yellow dragon. He was happy as can be, carefree, friendly and downright charming. Who knew that behind all that was a dark, violent past. Phase was right. It was something best forgotten. And something that Zaze shouldn't remember for his sake. On the brighter side of things, at least Phase didn't hold any grudges against his brother. It was all an accident anyway.

"Dang dude…" Flame said, trying to find the right words. "That's…heavy."

Phase nodded, looking at the four of them. All of his listeners had earnest expression on their faces; they were clearly revaluating their outlook towards Zaze. "Now you know why I'd rather keep it a secret. Yes, I understand that I should tell Zaze at some point. But…" the dragon shook his head. "Now's not the right time yet."

"You're not angry; are you?" Crombe asked.

Phase let out a sigh. "I…was. But throughout the entire time I searched for him, I kind of realized that it was all an accident. And somehow, him running off…was kind of a way of atoning for what he did. He did have to survive out there, all by himself."

"True. And don't worry," Ember smiled at him, "we'll keep it to ourselves."

Phase smiled, grateful for their understanding. "In any case, I think I'll go lay down for a while. See you guys around."

"Bye, Phase. Thanks for the story," Flame said, waving a paw at him.

"Don't mention it," he replied back, walking off.

Ember then said, "Don't worry, we won't."

As the dragon exited the fray, Flame turned to Crombe who was scratching his chin.

"So…we've got that out of the way; you wanted to tell me something?"

The earth dragon looked at him and contemplated for a moment. It was best to get this off his chest.

"Crombe? Telling you something?" Ember snorted. "Like he would ever do that."

Crombe flashed a cheeky grin. "I would actually."

"Wow," she replied with genuine surprise. "Look like someone's finally talking. What's this about?"

"You said something about dreams?" Flame asked, getting to the point.

Crombe nodded. "I've been having dreams lately."

"About?"

"My past…"

Ember glanced at Flame. They were finally going to get a chance to get to know Crombe a little bit better. They were going to have two stories in one day; how convenient.

"I hate to ask, but…why are you telling this us now?"

Crombe looked at the pink dragoness. "I guess I was kind of reminded of it by Phase. Family, I mean. I miss my parents, no doubt. But I also miss her actually."

"Who?"

"My cousin."

"We all miss our loved ones, Crombe. There's nothing we can do." Then Ember braved herself to ask the question. "Is he still alive?"

Crombe shrugged. "I'm not sure. She left along with his family before we got attacked."

"Well then, keep your hopes up," Flame said, smiling at him, "you never know, right?"

"True. It might turn out like Phase, huh? Just popping out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Yeah, but it might also be something different. Do you know what she looks like? Do you know her name?"

"We were young; probably around hatchlings. My life was turned upside down during that time. It's harder to remember the happier memories. I don't even remember her name. And I highly doubt he remembers me back."

Ember patted Crombe at the back. "Don't be sad, Crombe. Don't give up hope."

The earth dragon smiled at her. "Thanks, Ember."

0

"I am assuming that Spyro and Cynder have been taken care of?"

Somewhere inside the dragon temple, two familiar figures we're conversing with each other. One of them was standing at the corner of the room, looking outside the window. The other was lounging lethargically at the bed, not having a care in the world. The dragon sat up and turned his attention to the other.

"I do not lazy around, if that's what your insinuating." The dragon rolled over and rested his head on the pillow. "They weren't even fun, honestly."

"Really?" the other dragon asked, looking at the other. He padded over to him, giving him a curious look and said, "The purple dragon?"

"Yes, and even his ragtag of a girlfriend Cynder, as well as his annoying lamplight of a companion were nothing but a nuisance."

"So they weren't all that interesting in battle?"

"Truly; they even had a hard time dealing with my pet."

"How is your pet anyway?"

"He's fine," he replied. "A bit antsy though."

"Why?"

"He's getting bored."

"Oh."

"But I told him not to worry."

"What do you have planned for him?" "

"He's going to visit us."

The dragon blinked. "Wait, by visit you mean—"

"Yes, my dear friend. The time has come. Why do you think I am here talking to you then?"

"I don't know. I thought you were just messing with me."

The dragon chuckled. "Hardly."

"Would that include everyone then?"

"Everyone."

"It's going to be a party then."

"We'll raise the roof." He chuckled at his own statement. "And burn this place to the ground."

"You're going to go that far?"

"Depends; if he can stop me, then why not, right?"

"You have a point."

"Just be in position when the signal is given."

"Remind me again what the signal is."

"You'll know it when you see it."

"Understood; but don't forget our agreement."

"Oh, please. I know full well about that. Just don't forget where you should be later."

"Please, when it comes to hamming things up, I'm all down for it."

The dragon smirked. "Let's see how good you really are, Zaze."

0

"Um…Zaze?" she asked, when the atmosphere all around them went back to neutral.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure."

"In private."

Zaze blinked. "Uh, sure, I guess."

As the two dragons walked off discreetly outside of the Dining Hall, the others continued to chat with one another. Zaze and Latis walked over to one of the secluded balconies to get the privacy they needed. The sun was out and was shining brightly down on them. There were no clouds in sight and a cool breeze washed over them. It was a perfect day by anyone's standards. Latis could feel her heart race as the moment she both dread and wanted was here. She could finally quell the questions that were buzzing through her head. She nervously faced the electric dragon next to her, who was just looking outwards, admiring the scenery. This was it.

"So um…" Zaze turned look at her, "you wanted to tell me something?"

Latis nodded. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away then."

"Zaze, what do you think of me?"

The electric dragon cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I ask. What do you think of me?"

"You have to be specific Latis, I can't really answer you properly if you don't."

Latis looked down to the ground. He did have a point. "Okay, let me rephrase that. Zaze, am I someone important to you?"

"Someone important to me…" Zaze looked at her curiously. "Okay, what happened? And why has this come up?"

Latis blinked. The question caught her off guard. "I-uh…" she avoided his gaze, "just wondered, you know."

"Well, do I really have to answer? Isn't it obvious?"

"Yes, please."

Zaze smiled at her. "Well, I think of you as a friend; a great friend. Someone that I can trust and know that has my back. So to answer your question, yes, you are important to me."

Latis looked down to the floor. That last statement cut through her. "How can you say that I have your back?"

"Huh?"

"When all I've been is nothing but a nuisance…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Zaze…you're strong," she looked up at him, "almost on par with Spyro. And me…well…not so much."

"Is this because of what happened back with the Dark Dragon?"

Latis quieted down, not really wanting to answer. "I am right, aren't I?" Zaze asked.

She nodded, making Zaze shake his head. "Latis, are you still beating yourself up for that?" She didn't answer him. "Was that why you were training the other day?"

0 = 0 = 0

"It's like, whenever I am alone, something important or something relevant happens."

Just then, a loud sound echoed through the silent Temple halls.

"Like that!" Zaze said to no one in particular.

Immediately, he bolted into action. He ignored his aching stomach and ran to where the sound came from. Something was going down and he was going to find out. He skidded to a halt as he stopped in front of a slightly ajar door. He recognized it was the Training Dojo. Curiously, he peeked in to see what was going on. To his surprise, it was none other than a familiar ice dragoness.

It was Latis. And she was training.

He decided to just watch her and not interrupt, seeing as she seemed to be concentrating rather heavily. A dummy emerged from thin air to the side and charged at her. She whacked it with her tail and proceeded to barrage the other dummies with a torrent of ice. One by one they all disappeared. A couple more appeared and ran at her all at the same time. Quickly, she spun in place, summoning a wall of ice around her. Zaze felt the drop in temperature immediately. That ice wall must have been very thick. As she spun inside, icicles began to launch themselves seamlessly from the thick ice wall, impaling the rushing dummies. As the dummies disappeared one by one, the icicles melted onto the floor, creating puddles that joined together to make one wet floor. The ice wall broke apart, with Latis launching herself into the air. Zaze followed her with his eyes as she arranged herself for her landing. The remaining dummies that survived waited for their opponent to land on the floor to attack her. However, they never got the chance. As she landed on the floor, she summoned forth all her element. The wet puddle on the floor froze completely, and out from it, stalagmites came. And they all impaled the dummies that never saw it coming.

Zaze was speechless. When did Latis become so…powerful?

The ice dragoness panted, beads of sweat forming atop her brow as the stalagmites melted back onto the floor. She pulled it off. She actually managed to pull it off. She smiled to herself, feeling contented at her achievement. She decided to rest for a while, seeing as doing something like that takes a lot out of a dragon.

0 = 0 = 0

Latis looked up at him, and nodded. "Yes, Zaze…I feel bad."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

"It is!" She turned her head and avoided his gaze. "So far, I've been nothing but dead weight."

"No, you're not!" Zaze placed a paw on her shoulder. "You've been quite helpful!"

Latis shook her head. "I nearly died."

"But you didn't," he assured her, "don't worry. I'll always be here for you."

"Is there a specific reason behind it?"

Zaze sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

Latis nodded. "Tell me what you really think of me, Zaze."

Zaze then walked up to her, and looked her in the eye, and said in the most sincere voice he could muster:

"Latis, it's because I love you."

It was at that moment, that everything just felt right for her. Latis could finally spill her feelings to her electric dragon friend, Zaze. But before she could confess, Zaze continued talking.

"...like a sister!" he finished, with a childlike smile on his face.

Somewhere, the sound of glass shattering could be heard.

Author's Notes:

I regret nothing. Please don't kill me.

In my defense, so far, the whole Zaze x Latis thing has been one sided; We never hear from Zaze. Until now, that is. Truth be told, Zaze HAS been always saying the truth. When asked, he always referred to Latis as a good friend. I decided to switch things up a bit here. The hero doesn't necessarily ALWAYS gets the girl, right?

Please take some time to R&R.

And favorite it, along with the author!

The OC "Pyrus" belongs to Alec the Dark Angel.

The OC "Decibele" belongs to Sicarius19

The OCs "Manuel" and "Alyssa" belong to SpyroonEarth.