The day after Dragonfest passed quickly. With the festivities completed, life went on as usual. Jarek found it amazing how dragons could quickly move from one part of life to another. In many ways, they were like humans. Granted they were large, serpentine, and lived long lives, but they were overall like humanity in many aspects. Jarek supposed the day went by quickly for him as he was waiting for the following evening; that was his special time with Sisu.
"We're just two friends hanging out, nothing more," Jarek told himself.
He and Sisu were merely friends and nothing more. With how stressed she had been during the festival, this was simply meant to let off steam. Upon meeting Reela, Jarek could understand why the dragoness would be irritated with her, but Jarek knew there was more to it; he had known Sisu long enough to know there was more to her than what was initially presented.
All those thoughts would have to be put on hold as Sisu entered. They had chosen a secluded area by the river. The water hardly made a sound as it gently flowed, a perfect accompaniment for the evening. Fireflies hung in the air dotting the area with light, so much that Jarek could see himself reflected in Sisu's eyes. The dragoness looked the same as she usually did. Yet for some reason, she seemed cleaner. Though Jarek may have just been assuming so due to how nice of an evening it was.
Whatever the case, Jarek couldn't deny it, "You look great Sisu."
"Not looking too shabby yourself Skippy," Sisu complimented, "So what are we doing tonight?"
Jarek stopped to ponder, but realized, "You know? I haven't thought of anything."
"Well that kind of puts a damper on our plans," Sisu jokingly remarked.
"Hey we don't have to do anything big, we could just...sit and look at the stars," Jarek lay upon his back, patting the ground next to him.
Sisu followed Jarek and lay in the same position as he did, "Wow, so many stars out tonight."
"Yeah, when my sister and I were really little we would do this all the time," Jarek reminisced.
"Funny, my siblings did the same thing; sometimes we would even make patterns out of them," Sisu recalled.
"Kind of like with clouds?" Jarek asked.
"Sort off, but with stars, you had to put more work into it," Sisu shook her head and grinned, "My Ba was the best at it though."
Jarek noticed a tiny lapse of emotion in Sisu's voice. It was as if her mood had dropped.
"You know? I don't think you've mentioned your father?" Jarek truthfully knew nothing about the Datu parents.
Sisu didn't answer, which only furthered Jarek's belief it wasn't something she wanted to talk about. He could sense her rising tension as if a lid was being kept on an overflowing pot.
"How about this? Let's play a game, I'll ask you a question, then you ask me a question." Jarek offered.
About 30 seconds passed before Sisu answered, "Sure."
"Okay, first off, what were your parents like?" Jarek asked the first question.
Jarek had feared that might be personal, but he saw Sisu grin, "Well Ma was very "polished", very polite, refined, the perfect lady, and I don't mean like Reela, she was a real noble. And she made the best noodles," That was one parent, "And Ba was so funny like he was the funniest dragon ever. Everywhere he went he spread good vibes. He was my first best friend."
"Sounds like a great guy. I wished I could have met him," Jarek said.
"Yeah, me too," Sisu said lamentably, "Okay, my question, why are you so protective about the beard?"
Jarek stroked the aforementioned beard, his claws dangling just slightly off of it, "I guess because it reminds me of my father," Jarek admitted.
"Your father huh?" Sisu replied.
"Yeah, he had this awesome beard, and when he died I promised myself I would grow one to remember him by," Jarek recalled his father so vividly, "I think you would have liked him; he was a thief sure, but he followed a code of honor."
"It sounds like you respected him a lot," Sisu replied.
"I did. Ma was great too, she had this grace about her, but she wasn't dainty, she was tough, and I guess it makes sense considering she was born in a desert."
"Desert?"
"Right, yeah I never told you, my mother was from Tail."
"Yeah you sure left that out," Sisu remarked, "I'm surprised. When I woke up after five hundred years, The other tribes weren't exactly getting along."
"Yeah when my father was younger he traveled around, and that brought him to Tail. He met Ma the same day he arrived and well it was love at first sight," Jarek knew the tale well, for it was one that had been told to him as far back as he could remember, "Long story short, her family didn't approve of him, so they eloped."
Sisu chuckled, "Your father sounds like a scoundrel."
"Oh, he was," Jarek chuckled back, "Okay, next question. Sisu, why are you so down on yourself all of the time?"
"What do you mean?" Sisu asked.
"It's just whenever anyone praises you, you always try to downplay everything you do."
That was something Jarek had consistently noticed about Sisu. Whenever her accomplishments were brought up, no matter how much praise was heaped upon her, Sisu would not praise herself.
"You really want to know? Sisu sighed.
Jarek's nod was all she needed to continue.
"Okay, when I was really little, every other dragon my age was learning how to use their magic. They were doing all these fantastic things and well I was a little...jealous."
"You jealous? No way," Jarek teased.
Sisu chuckled lightly and continued, "Well believe it or not I was jealous. Jealous hard. The only other dragon who hadn't discovered their magic was Reela, and boy let me tell you she could throw a tantrum."
Though Reela was dignified now, the idea of her being a spoiled brat as a youth made sense to a degree. Jarek was thankful she seemed to have grown out of it, (at least in some fashion), otherwise, he was certain Sisu would have cracked completely.
"My Ba saw how upset I was so he sat me down and said, "Look kiddo, why don't you take a swim? It might help you cool off," Sisu deepened her voice somewhat as she gave an impression of her father, "Ba always knew what to do, so I took his advice and I swam. And every time I felt upset or jealous, I would just swim. And the more I swam, the calmer I felt, so I kept doing it, and you know what? I realized I was a really good swimmer. I mean really good," Sisu's face lit up at that very moment, "And that's when I realized, swimming was my magic!"
Sisu's excitement rose with her voice, "I raced home to tell everyone...but when I got there I learned I wasn't the only one who learned magic," Sisu's jovial voice faded, "Reela figured hers out before me, and pretty soon she was turning rocks to gold. At that point, my magic hardly seemed anything worth talking about."
Now it all made sense; this was where Sisu's jealousy of Reela began, and it was where her self-deprecating nature sprung. Jarek grabbed hold of his beard, lightly tugging at it. For the moment he felt something tug within him as well.
"Okay, probably not a good idea to talk about this," Jarek chastised himself.
"It's okay Skippy, you didn't know," Said Sisu.
Jarek smiled at her words, but he felt he had to redeem himself, "New plan, let's get up."
Sisu eyed him curiously, "What for?"
"Well, I was thinking we could follow your father's advice and go for a swim!"
"At this hour?" Sisu asked skeptically.
"Come on you're a water dragon, this is like your thing!" Jarek reminded.
Tilting her head and then shaking it off, Sisu replied, "Eh I dunno."
"All right all right," Jarek gave up, but immediately stood erect, "Oh my gosh, what's that in the river!?"
"Huh? What is it?" Sisu asked slightly alarmed.
"Just check it out!" Jarek urged.
With childlike curiosity, Sisu poked her head towards the river but saw nothing save for her reflection in the moonlight, "There's nothing here."
And this was the opening Jarek needed. With a mighty shove, Jarek pushed Sisu into the river. The dragoness let out a yelp as she felt the chill of the water soak her, and the sound of Jarek's laughter filling her ears.
"You dirty little sneak!" Sisu cried.
"Hey just trying to cool you off teach!" Jarek laughed.
Yet his laughter came to a halt as Sisu reached up and grabbed hold of him, dragging him under into the watery depths. Jarek emerged shortly after gasping for air. Now it was Sisu's turn to laugh and laugh she did. This only provoked a sly smirk from Jarek who playfully shoved her and then dove underneath. Sisu quickly followed and the pair entered a swimming race. They tried to outdo one another, twirling and swirling underneath. Sisu indeed was the better swimmer so she quickly won the race, emerging back onto shore with Jarek trailing behind.
"And Sisudatu takes the gold!" The dragoness cheered, "With Jarek aka "Skippy" taking the silver!"
Jarek lunged towards Sisu and the pair tumbled as they laughed at one another. They came to a halt side by side and face to face. Their eyes met and in that instance, they became lost in each other's gaze. Jarek looked into Sisu's eyes and Sisu stared right back, They fell into a trance, never straying from one another. The more they stared the more they didn't want to look away. But in a swift snap, the pair looked away.
Without saying another word, the two dragons quickly rose and were back on their feet, "Thanks Skippy, I really needed this," Sisu replied.
"You're welcome, glad it helped," Jarek responded.
With nothing more to say, the pair decided to head home, but Sisu had one last for Jarek. Though looking hesitant for a moment, Sisu moved in and gave Jarek a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Consider that an extra special thank you," Sisu added, "Goodnight."
Jarek's eyes grew wide and immediately he covered the spot where Sisu kissed him. He felt hot and tingly all over, and his heart began to beat furiously in his chest. And he was certain something else was going on, but he wouldn't dare say it.
Slowly Jarek smiled and muttered, "Goodnight Miss Sisudatu."
As Sisu walked away, Jarek couldn't deny she looked lovely in the moonlight. And deep in his thoughts, he wondered if he would ever wash this cheek again.
A/N: There is a clear reference to another Disney film. Can you guess what it is?