Relena awoke, coughing and sputtering for air. Her entire body ached; every muscle complained and her head pounded ridiculously. She tried to open her eyes, but the light attacked her senses and made the pain sharpen through her skull. Her mind was foggy as she tried to recall what exactly happened. She was wet. Not cold exactly. There was a warmth under her; strong, steady, and… breathing! The dragon! She found the strength to jump to her feet, but immediately regretted that decision as her world spun.
He was unconscious. Part of his giant, reptilian body was still in the water. His breathing appeared to be steady but he was clearly injured. From the angle of the wing she guessed it was broken in the fall. The rocks of the Cliffside shore clearly did some damage to his scaly skin. It was hard to remember that the beast before her was both the monster that abducted her and the man who had taken care of her.
"But which one will be in control when he wakes?" As if in answer, the spot on the dragon's chest began to glow. Embers, like tiny fireflies, began to rise and swirl in the air around her, dissolving the form of the dragon and leaving that of the man behind. A very naked man. Relena's cheeks burned with a deep blush and she looked away.
He had saved her life. He risked his own to keep her from plunging to her doom and yet the dragon brought her here to kill her?
"None of it makes any sense!" She groaned. "Do you want me dead or don't you?" She heard him moan and noticed that the tide was about to sweep him off the shore. "Oh, no you don't! You're not getting off that easily!" She ran over and grabbed his arms at the wrists and began to pull. His groans continued as she dragged him which made her realize how much the rocks beneath him must be hurting his skin.
"But I can't leave him this close to the shore. The tide will surely get him. And I'm not strong enough to carry him…" Relena breathed deeply, her mind going over every possible solution. Finally, her eyes fell on the thick skirt of her gown. Sighing, she tore off the overskirt of her dress clear across until. It was free of the rest of her garment, and then laid it flat on the rocks beside him. Using what strength she had (and keeping her eyes above his waist) she rolled him over onto the discarded fabric, and then took hold of the top of the skirt. She pulled with everything she had, dragging him inch by inch up the path of the Cliffside.
"First you… abduct me! Then y-you pretend to be my… oof! Friend! Oh!" She stumbled and took a moment to regain her breath. "When you wake up, you have a lot to explain!" She continued to drag his motionless form up the side of the mountain they appeared to be on, all the while her muscles were burning and her bruises complained. To make matters worse, a cold, driving rain began to pour down on them and she nearly lost her footing on the slick rocks!
"I can't keep going. If I slip, we may both die!" She scoped ahead as best as she could through the curtain of falling rain. The dark gray shadow of an outcropping not far ahead caught her attention. "If we can make it into that crevice then we might be able to rest safely." Gathering all of her remaining strength, Relena took hold of the fabric once again and pulled him inch by inch into the safety of the alcove.
The water continued to slap past the rocky outcropping, but for the most part they were safer than before. Unfortunately, the cooler mountain breeze reminded her of her wet skin forcing her to shiver. There was no tinder for a fire. "I wouldn't know how to start one anyway." There was no blanket to warm her either. She glanced at her unconscious companion and a blush heated her cheeks to an inferno.
"I couldn't. It wouldn't be proper… not at all… but…" another shiver racked her body. She frowned. It really was her only option and her best chance to keep from catching pneumonia. She knew his body was warm like fire itself. She had felt it when she saved him from the water's edge. Sighing in defeat, she made her way over, rolled him onto his side and lay herself down next to him, her back facing his.
The moment her skin so much as grazed his, however, his body jerked up and lit into a vibrant orange glow. A vicious growl tore from his chest though he appeared to be asleep. If he moved; if he transformed there in the alcove, then they could both plummet to their doom. She needed to focus! To think of something fast! As if by instinct, she pulled him to her, burying his face in her hair and rubbing his back in a soothing manner.
"Heero! It's alright! Calm down!" But he continued to heat up and the chance of his transformation grew. Suddenly, Relena found herself humming an old lullaby; one she had not heard since childhood. Heero's body stilled within her arms and he slowly calmed, the glow subsided, the searing heat cooled slightly, and finally, he collapsed into her lap. She continued to sing to him as she leaned against the wall of the alcove. He was still very warm. And she needed to rest… Her eyelids felt so heavy…
"I'll rest for a bit… Just until the rain stops…"
Relena woke from her dreamless sleep to her body complaining from the previous day's efforts. Her muscles ached in protest and she felt as though no rest had been afforded to her by her sleep. She looked down at the man whose head still lay in her lap. The gentle rise and fall of his chest proved a positive sign of life.
"Well, we made it to the morning. Now what do I do?" She noticed the deep, bloody gashes that marred his olive skin and frowned. "If they turn septic I may never get my answers." Relena recalled the paste Heero brought her for her own wounds that seemed to provide instant relief. "He said it came from some flowers?" She tried her best to remember how he'd described them. "Right. Well, I can't help either of us if I do nothing. Here." She very gently and carefully removed herself from under him and laid his head on the stone surface. "I'll be back with salve for your wounds. Then, when you wake up, we're having a long talk."
Despite the protest of her muscles, she got to her feet and followed the trail to the top where the flowers grew. She couldn't help but catch a glimpse of how beautiful everything was. Foreign plants with vibrant colors the likes of which she'd never seen were a stark contrast to the rich greens. The sky was the purest blue that she had ever beheld and the clouds appeared to be taking a lazy nap above her. The call of the various birds pierced the air in the distance and clashed against the roar of the ocean below.
"I always dreamed of seeing a place like this. I just wish it wasn't under these particular circumstances!" She quickly gathered as many flowers as she thought she might need and then made her way back down to the alcove. Placing the flowers down, she used a stone to keep them from blowing away before making her way down to the surf below. She needed something to hold the paste and a shell would do the trick. Relena wanted no time returning to the alcove where she crushed the flowers and scooped some up with her fingers to apply to his wounds.
"Please don't burst into flames." Fortunately, the dragon, or Heero, or whatever he was, still seemed to be completely unconscious and she was able to cover as many of his wounds as she could. Once finished, she took to covering her own wounds with the cream. Her stomach gave a growl in protest and she realized how long it had been since she'd eaten anything. Unfortunately, she was still plagued by exhaustion and her head spun as it did the day before.
"As much as I would love to go foraging, I need to get some rest. I can figure the rest out later." And so she lay down next to him once more, enjoying his warmth by proxy. She fell asleep listening to the gentle cadence of his breathing.
The sound of a crackling fire greeted her when she woke. Relena opened her eyes to find that her companion was gone. The discarded skirt that she'd used to drag him now covered her. As she sat up, she saw a plate of fresh fruit waiting next to her and a large coconut shell full of water.
"He left these for me?" Though a bit confused, Relena partook of the sustenance her apparent captor offered much to her empty stomach's delight. The fruit was ripe, sweet, and juicy and the cool refreshing water slicked the thirst she hadn't realized she had. Once she had her fill, Relena decided to go looking for Heero in hopes of receiving answers to her growing list of questions.
It took a good while to locate him. Either the island was much bigger than she initially thought, or she was still so tired that it felt like it. The object of her search waded in the shallow waters of a lagoon with a makeshift spear held poised in the air. At his feet was a small tray made of wood which contained several fish of various sizes. Her gaze couldn't help but be drawn to his raw, masculine form: toned muscles, lean rather than bulky, taut with anticipation of his strike. He wore a sort of loincloth around his lower regions but it did nothing to conceal the sculpted musculature of his legs. He looked every bit the powerful predator she now knew him to be and yet, she was drawn to him.
If he knew she was there, he gave no indication. Silently, Relena watched him successfully pull one fish after another out of the briny blue. She dared to walk a little closer, careful not to break his concentration, all the while her cheeks burned from staring at him so unabashedly. In her kingdom, the men never showed this much skin. Occasionally shirts would be shed during the warmer months for sports or outside labor but such things were deemed less than appropriate for a princess to witness. This was the first time she was truly able to see a man in such a state and he was completely and utterly…
"Beautiful…" He froze and she realized she'd said it out loud. If her face was hot before, now it was ablaze with sheer embarrassment.
"What do you want?" His voice was low and colder than it had ever been. He didn't turn to look at her but rather kept his attention on the water below. Somehow, Relena found her composure and took another small step toward him.
"Well," her voice came out softer and at a higher pitch than she'd intended. She cleared her throat. "A few answers would be nice." She heard what she believed to be a scoff.
"I'm a dragon. I abducted you."
"Yes." She felt a bit annoyed with the terse tone of voice he used. "I found that out for myself." From her current point of view she could see nothing of his face. "What I need to know is: why?"
"Why what?" She felt her ire rise.
"You know exactly what I'm asking!" She stepped forward into his line of sight but he still refused to look at her. "Why did you abduct me? Why were you helping me instead of trying to kill me?"
"Because the dragon wants you dead." His answer was neither loud, nor soft and his tone held a heavy severity. Nonetheless, his reply confused her.
"But aren't you the dragon?"
"Yes."
"But you speak of the dragon as though he is a separate entity."
"Yes." She fought back an annoyed groan.
"Will you please at least try to make some sense?" He finally turned to face her, eyes locking with hers. There was an intensity swirling in those blue depths: fiery and wild, but there was also sorrow. It was quite the contrast and it stole her breath away.
"I am the dragon but the dragon is not me." He sighed and it was only when he leaned on his spear that Relena realized he was still quite weak. "The ability to turn into a dragon is something my ancestors inherited a long time ago through a pact we made with an ancient dragon. We are the hosts of the spirits of the dragons that have come before us, but we are given the free will to choose to become one."
"And you wanted to be a dragon?" He became quiet again as if considering how or what to tell her.
"It's complicated." He limped over to the basket of fish. "And a long story." His voice was softer now, lacking confidence. His shoulders slumped and he lowered his head. It was clear that the subject deeply troubled him
"Well, I have nothing but time." She offered him a small smile but he didn't look. Finally, he shook his head in resignation.
"Follow me." He used the spear as a can and began walking up the winding path along the mountainside and she followed, hoping to at last receive the answers she sought.
