A/N: I gotta thank Ash for this idea

A/N: I said I would be making a few changes, right? Well, here's the first of 'em. Like I said, though, I won't change the story, I'll put in some parts that were left out and try as hard as I can not to have them interfere with the story. I gotta thank Ash for this idea. So, without further ado…

Time in Between-Part 1

The goddess scowled as she watched two young boys, transformed into Whelp Dragons, take out her troops. The boys, Ryu and Teepo, had been fighting her armies for quite a while, and they were overtaking them alone.

"Goddess, it seems as if one of them is the destined one," said a deep voice. The goddess turned to see a large gargoyle-like creature with enormous bat-like wings.

"What do you mean, Garr?" she inquired.

"The Destined One of the Brood," answered Garr. "The third Destined, to be exact. Each Destined One fought a war against the gods, and each time they triumphed."

"Hmmm…" The goddess stroked her chin thoughtfully as she turned her head towards the scene of destruction Ryu and Teepo were making. "So Ryu or Teepo here may be the one to overthrow my rule?"

"Yes," said Garr.

The goddess watched them take out another line of Guardians. "Very well. Garr, see to it that they don't. Failing that, seal them away."

"As you command, Goddess." Garr bowed to her, then flapped his wings and took off.

"AH!"

Ryu sat up in bed with a cry, clutching his head.

It had happened again. That was the fifth time this month he had had that dream.

Why? he asked himself. Why am I having these dreams? Why do they refer to me and Teepo?

He shook his head, letting his arms drop limply to his sides. It's too much to comprehend, he thought. There's gotta be some meaning to it.

After lying in bed for another half hour or so, he realized he couldn't sleep. He threw off the white covers and tenderly slipped off the bed.

Then, he realized that Teepo wasn't in his bed.

He raised an eyebrow. There was another coincidence going on-every time Ryu had that dream, Teepo disappeared from his bed. Each time he was found outside, looking at the stars, but it seemed…strange that every time he did that Ryu had that dream.

Ryu sighed, walking over to the door on the upper floor of the cabin. He looked at Rei's bed before opening it-the human-tiger hybrid was still snoring away.

Slowly, Ryu creaked open the door. And sure enough, Teepo was sitting on the logs making up the walkway around the cabin, peering up at the stars.

"Teeps?" Ryu whispered.

Teepo jerked and almost fell off the logs. "Hey, do you have to interrupt me every time I'm looking at the stars?"

"You're not just looking at the stars," Ryu whispered. "You're thinking, aren't you?"

"Well…" Teepo shifted his position, reclining on the logs. "Yeah, I'm thinking. Why?"

"About what?" Ryu asked.

"Uh…none of your business?" Teepo replied pathetically.

Ryu rolled his eyes. "That's not good enough. C'mon, you can tell me."

Teepo shrugged. "All right, all right. I've been having this weird dream lately…"

Ryu's eyes widened. Same dream, or different? he wondered.

Teepo answered the unspoken question. "It's about…this…uh, goddess, I guess. She was watching two…dragons, I think, fighting a battle…and she ordered this big, gargoyle-looking creature to seal them…and they called the dragons Ryu and Teepo."

Ryu almost fell flat on his face, but he recovered. "Wait a minute…"

"Yeah?"

"That's the exact same dream I've been having."

Teepo jerked again, and this time he did fall off the logs. Ryu laughed wildly as he struggled to climb back up. Finally, Teepo gave up and ran up the walkway back to where he was sitting. Ryu was still laughing when Teepo reappeared on the balcony, his face red with embarrassment.

"That was uncalled for," Teepo snapped.

"Sorry."

Teepo accepted the apology and reclined on the floor of the balcony this time-he wasn't going to risk falling off again.

"So, are you serious?" Teepo asked. "You've been having the same dream?"

"Uh-huh," Ryu mumbled, nodding his head. "But why? What did we ever do to that goddess?"

Teepo looked at Ryu oddly. "You think that what happened in the dream was real?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ryu answered, nodding again.

Teepo smiled. "Come on, it's just a bunch of baloney. Some strange nightmare."

Ryu shrugged. "It may be, but I still can't shake off that feeling."

"Ah, don't worry," Teepo said. "'Sides, if anything bad does happen, we got each other. And Rei."

Ryu smiled. "Yeah…like brothers."

"Brothers?" Teepo was about to say more, but then he stopped. "Hey, you know…I kinda like that."

"What, that we're like brothers?" Ryu asked.

"Yep. Not bad at all."

Ryu smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We'll protect each other, like brothers should."

Teepo grinned. Protect each other…yeah, we really need that.

The two brothers gave each other the high-five. There was no more talk for the rest of the evening, and they knew that everything would be all right.

A/N: Sorry it took so long, Jason. And Ash, I am very sorry that I didn't put in the plot twist I told you I would. Maybe I should do another chapter of Time in Between before doing the next one. What do you guys think?