No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I managed to scrape enough time together to write a short but crucial chapter in Dragon's Fury. I WILL finish this story by hook or crook. I can't promise the highest quality, but I will finish it. I'm sorry to my readers for leaving you hanging for so long. Thanks for reading.

Dragon's Fury

Chapter 18: Facing tomorrow

"So what are your qualifications? Why do you think you would be the best at this job?"

"Ummm, well I'm a hard worker, I'm motivated and I can work any hours you need me too."

"But you look awfully young, do you have any work experience."

"I haven't had any paying jobs but I have done a lot of volunteer work. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty."

"How good are you at working with other people?"

"Very! I don't have any problems getting along with people."

"Do you have any references?"

"Yes; I have the Grim Reaper himself."

Will sighed. "Cut."

"What was wrong with that?" Billy demanded!

For the past couple hours, Will had been helping Billy practice job interviews. The boy's future intent was to get a job so that he could send Mandy money to help care for his future daughter. From a distance, he felt it was all he could do.

"Even if people believe you about it being the Grim Reaper, he's not the best reference; let's be honest."

Billy sighed. After hours of Will's brutal practice, this was as far as he had gotten. The frustration was eating into his confidence. He didn't have large reserves of that to begin with.

"He's the best reference I've got."

"If that's the case then you have a lot bigger worries than finding a job."

Billy grunted. It was true that he didn't exactly have the best reputation; neither did Mandy for that matter. Perhaps for that reason, it was better that Mandy left for new pastures; he just wished he could join her.

"What do I do then?" Billy asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

Will stood up. "Work on improving your reputation. Get good grades, keep doing volunteer work to collect good references, expand your horizons, make better friends. Do that and it will make a bigger difference than any money you could send."

Sighing, Billy ran his hands over his face. "Do you really think it'll be enough?"

"Mandy will be just fine. She has her real mother to look after her; Buttercup and I will be around there; and with all they'll make from selling all of the stuff from Mandy's house, and the house itself, she'll be more than taken care of financially until you are ready to support her."

Billy gritted his teeth. "I know that, I know-it's just…. I don't want her to feel like I'm not taking part and just leaving her by herself. I want…. I want to be a part of it, ya know?"

Will nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. With my job I'll be separated from my family too; maybe for weeks at a time. That's why I have Mercy helping to take care of Buttercup. Mandy has Krystal looking after her so you don't need to worry. Besides, I'm sure you'll be able to visit often enough, can't Grim create portals?"

Billy rolled his eyes. "Well yes, but it was considered a misuse of his powers so he's been limited in when and how he can use them."

Will raised his eyebrow. "They're pushing around the Grim Reaper?"

"Yeah, he's kind of a pansy, but I guess you never hung around him much."

"I haven't seen much of him since I got here; though I suppose he's quite familiar with my work."

"What exactly do you do?" Billy asked.

Will waved his hand. "I can't talk about it. Let's just say that I might be away from home a lot 'cause it involves a lot of travelling."

'And killing if Grim is involved that much' Billy thought.

"U wanna' keep going?"

Billy knew he was referring to the interview practice. "I guess so."

"All right so let's skip the references and go further."

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Mandy sat at the table in the kitchen flipping lazily through a fashion magazine and couldn't help but identify which outfits she wouldn't be able to fit into a few months from then.

The table and chairs in the kitchen were among the few pieces of furniture that hadn't been taken out of the virtually empty house. Odd how most of her life she wished to be left alone, and yet now she craved companionship.

Fortunately she did have some for the moment. Buttercup stood at the stove frying some fish for dinner. The girl had insisted on cooking it as way of helping Mandy relax and to show off her cooking skills.

Mandy found it very odd to see Buttercup acting so domesticated, and seeing her standing at the stove in an apron stirring and humming, it was almost jarring.

"It'll just be a few minutes", Buttercup told her cheerfully.

Mandy sighed. "Wouldn't you rather be at the concert? You don't have to stay here and babysit me."

Bubbles and Blossom had gone to the Missy Mrs. Concert for the night, and while Buttercup had been offered a ticket she declined the offer, opting to stay with her instead.

"I figured it would be better if I stayed so you didn't have the time to wallow. Besides, it's not just you, I have to think about the twins." She tenderly put a hand on her stomach. "I used to love rowdy concerts, the louder and rowdier the better, but with these two it's just too risky, especially with this being her first concert in almost a year."

"Hmm, doesn't seem like Blossom's kind of thing."

Buttercup laughed. "Yeah I know, but she loves to scream as much as the next girl, even if she won't admit it."

Mandy smirked. "So then, do you think they'll like being auties?"

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Oh yes. Even if Blossom was still stuck in the state where she'd be constantly reminding herself how wrong and immoral I was, she'd still be excited. Fortunately she hasn't been that kind of person for quite a while.

Bubbles has been excited from the get go, she was the most excited in fact." Buttercup's expression turned dour. "It's just that with everything that's happened, it feels like the life has been sucked out of her. This concert will do her some good."

Buttercup put the food onto the two plates and then carried them over to the table.

"I read somewhere that fish is supposed to be really good for you, but then again they always come back and tell you that some new study says it gives you cancer."

Mandy sighed. "Yeah. It's things like that, that'll make it hard to eat healthy. My daughter's been through enough already."

Buttercup exhaled deeply. "I know what you mean. So have you been thinking of any names yet?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, we haven't talked about it. To be honest I haven't really thought about it either."

Buttercup took a bite of her dinner and put a hand on her stomach. "We're going to name our son Danté. I asked Will to come up with a name for our baby girl. He better make it a good one."

Mandy looked at her. "I've noticed how domesticated you've become all of a sudden."

Buttercup looked back at her puzzled. "What do you mean, 'domesticated'?"

"When we met you were a very tomboyish, very aggressive, very proud girl. I know becoming a mother changes you, but you seem to have slid into the role awfully smoothly. I don't think your old self would have recognized you."

Buttercup blushed. "I- I guess I just have a knack for it. As for why it didn't seem to affect me so much… I guess…. I was just overwhelmed by everything and things just piled up so that I basically could only go along with everything."

Looking back on those early days it made sense to Mandy. With so many things happening at once and one shock piling on top of another, perhaps it was the only way their minds could adapt without breaking.

"So then you're not nervous about becoming a mother?"

Buttercup grimaced. "I try not to think about it. It comes when it comes."

That reminded Mandy that tomorrow she'd be separated from Billy, starting a new life for her new life. Even though she was going to be with her aunt-mother rather, she was still anxious to be away from the father of her baby. Logically she shouldn't be since she knew she'd be well cared for, but she supposed it was instinct.

"Do you know what awaits you tomorrow?"

Buttercup sighed. "I have virtually no idea. I think that's what makes me so nervous. I've never lived away from home for long, and this time I'm going to be in charge of myself, a house and two kids."

"And a maid" Mandy added.

"Yeah, well she's taking care of me so I don't really have to worry about her."

"I guess one advantage I have is that I'm going to be living with my mother. Still, I'm not sure what to expect either."

Buttercup took another bite of her food and shrugged. "All we can do is hope for the best."

Mandy sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's all any of us can do."

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The airfield was virtually inactive, with only the occasional movement of a road vehicle disturbing the movement, with the exception of one small jet parked on the tarmac.

Will's uncle James, who had brought the plane was helping him load the plane with everyone's luggage. Blossom was saying goodbye to her parents while her sisters climbed into the plane. Krystal was already inside making sure her children were securely fastened; however one of those children was standing outside.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Mandy sighed. "Yes Billy, for the thousandth time I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about."

"You're the one stuck with the baby not me!"

"I know that! I know that better than anyone!"

The two said nothing for a moment then took a breath to calm themselves down.

"I'll miss you Billy, but it's not like we'll never see each other; and besides if you keep worrying about me you'll never be able to get to where you need to be if you expect to take care of me like you've been saying."

Billy sighed. "It's just… I don't want to feel like I'm not a part of… you know…."

"That's why I have a job for you."

Billy stepped back. "A-a job?"

"You have to come up with a first name for our daughter by the next time we meet. Make it a good one, got it?"

"Ye-yeah I got it."

The sound of the cargo door closing seemed to signal that this was the end of this chapter in their life. The signal that it was time to go.

How they wanted to embrace each other at that moment, to hold each other, to feel each other's warmth. However, they knew that if they did, they might never let go.

Wordlessly Mandy simply turned around and bravely strode up the steps of the small jet, followed by Will and his uncle who then shut the door behind them.

Billy backed away from the Jet as it started up its engines and taxied out to the runway. He stayed and watched until it lifted into the sky and disappeared from his sight, feeling like his heart had gone away with it.