The Long Family Reunion
Chapter 1: Old Rivals
Mei Long walked into her house with the mail and to the kitchen to sort through it.
"Hey, mom," her son, Jake, called. He had jet black eyes and hair that had green tips, and wore a red shirt, baggy blue jeans, and navy and gray tennis shoes.
"Hi honey, how was school?" Mei asked.
"Great now that it's spring break! No Rotwood for a whole week! Mom, what's wrong?" Jake inquired, seeing the frown spreading across Mei's usually content face.
Mei sighed. "Nothing. We just got word that we're invited to the dragon festival this year."
"What's that?" Jake replied.
"It is a yearly gathering thrown by our relatives in China. It is just a sort of reunion. This year it just happens to be this week." Mei said blandly.
"If it's held every year, than how come this is the first I've heard of it?" Jake questioned.
"Because, this is the first time we were invited." Mei replied with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Since I didn't have dragon powers or marry anyone with magical abilities…I just wasn't really included."
"Well that's whacked! Why the sudden change of heart?" Jake asked incredulously.
"They never thought that my children would have dragon powers, since once the line is…discontinued, it doesn't normally resurface. I guess it was quite a smack in the face for them when you were dubbed the American Dragon." Mei said with a smile.
"So…are we going?" Jake inquired after a moment.
"We don't have much choice. They even sent tickets. It is a good thing your father is still on his business trip, we'll get back before he does." Mei decided after a minute.
"When do we leave?" Jake asked.
Mei looked down at the tickets. "Tonight, so we better start packing."
Haley, Mei, Grampa, Jake, and Fu arrived in Hong Kong early. They were all straggled from the long journey, but Mei looked a bit worse than everyone. She was excited to see her grandfather, her brother, her nieces, her nephews, and even her step-mom. But she was dreading seeing her step-sister, Chow. She hadn't seen any of her family, besides her father, in thirteen years. Chow and Mei had been rivals growing up, and, even if unwillingly, they had split the family in two. Chow was the same age as Mei, but had been extremely cruel to Mei. She made fun of her for her birth defect, and flaunted her dragon powers in front of Mei. Lao Shi and Shen (her brother) stood up for Mei, while Jin (Mei's step-mother, Chow's mother) stood up for Chow.
Mei remembered when it had been announced that she would be marrying Scott. "You mean an American? Well, you never really were one of us." Chow had said. That was when Mei stormed out, never seeing or hearing from Chow again. All she knew was what her father had told her. Chow had married a wealthy man, the Korean Dragon, and had two boys: Wang, Jake's age, and Yuan, a year older than Haley.
"Yo, G, are we gonna catch a cab?" Jake asked his grandfather.
"Of course, young one." Lao Shi answered matter-of-factly. They stood on the curb for a few more minutes.
"What are we waiting for?" Jake said impatiently. Lao sighed.
"Patience. We are waiting for the right taxi." Grampa explained.
"The right taxi? Like, eight have already passed!" Jake observed, throwing his hands in the air.
Out of nowhere, a bright purple taxi-sticking out like a sore thumb among the red ones-buzzed around the corner.
"This is the correct taxi." Grampa stated determinedly, making his way to the front seat. Once inside, Jake noticed that the driver was a- troll?
"Yo, Gramps, you sure you know what you're doin'?" Jake asked uncertainly.
"Do not question Dragon Master!" Grampa scolded quickly. "We must take magical taxi to get to magical place."
Jake raised his eyebrows, but kept silent. Haley, however, took this opportunity to ask questions.
"Where are we going?" Haley asked promptly.
"Driver knows where, you don't need to." Grampa answered. But, as usual, this didn't stump Haley.
"Why is it a secret?" She continued.
"Because if you knew what it was, then you wouldn't not know." Grampa stated wisely.
"Who else will be there?" Haley inquired, not discouraged in the least.
"Your cousins, aunt, uncle, grandma, and great-grandfather, plus others." Grampa replied.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Great-gramps? He's still alive! He must be like-" catching the look Lao gave him, he stopped.
"Yeah, kid. Your great-gramps'll be turning the big 1-0-0." Fu chuckled.
"Does anyone in our family die?" Jake mumbled to himself, receiving a glare from Grampa.
"We're here!" The troll-driver declared in a nasal voice. Grampa paid him, and they stepped out of the taxi. They had left the bustling city of Hong Kong, and were now in a rural area, surrounded by flat grassland, some bonsai trees, and a bit of shrubbery. Amidst the well-groomed lawn, a large stone house stood.
A/N: I hope you liked that chappie. This'll be a thirteen+ chapter story, and it'll have some action with the Dark Dragon, and some fall-out between Mei and Chow. We'll learn a lot more about Mei's childhood through flash backs later on. REVIEW AND I'LL WRITE FASTER!