Chapter 8: Reunion
The months passed again and Summer vacation was upon our heroes. Rose and Seth had taken to training Ron and Mark so they could easily help Ben. Ben had been a dragon for over a year now and had MUCH better control.
Seth and Haley had gone to France to visit Karen and see how she was doing in the school for dance leaving Jake in charge of the shop. But now school was over and Ben, Ron, and Mark had graduated middle school and were mentally preparing for High School.
Of course, Ben had bigger problems to worry about that were scarier than High School.
"Dad! Do we HAVE to go?" Ben whined
"Yes Ben. I don't like it any more than you do, but I missed the past five reunions" Jake said. "And you missed the last one due to our training"
Jake turned from packing the suitcase and smiled at the fact that Ben looked as if he'd rather give an ogre a foot massage than go to the reunion
"Ben. I know how you feel" Jake said placing a hand on his son's shoulder "I HATED going to Aunt Kathy's when I was your age. Heck, when I spent that seven years abroad to hide the skull, when I was in her neck of the woods, I camped out on the beach to avoid the reunion. But let me give you a tip. If your second-cousin Nicky gives you ANY grief and you're challenged to a dragon competition, check for loopholes. If you race around the island once, make sure you only do it once"
"Does Nicky have his powers?"
"I haven't heard anything, but that doesn't mean he doesn't" Jake said before smirking. "It's for this purpose I haven't called your Grandpa Jonathan and Grandma Susan to tell them about your training. For all they knew, that fire breath when you were a baby was a flook"
"!" a scream came
The two dragons transformed and flew to Julie's room.
Julie had been trying on her new swimsuit when she noticed that her arms were covered in purple scales
Jake relaxed and transformed back as Rose made it to the top of the stairs
"What's wrong?" Rose asked as she entered the room as Ben gapped at his sister
"Being around us in our dragon forms activated Julie's dragon gene like it did with Haley" Jake explained
"That's it? I'm just getting my powers?" Julie asked
"Yeah" Jake confirmed. "Of course, you won't be at FULL power and flying will be a bit difficult until you turn 13"
"Whew" Julie sighed with relief before perking up. "Does this mean I can help Ben?"
"No/We'll see" Ben and his parents answered
0000
The next day,
"Can I transform and go on and show off?" Ben asked as Jake knocked on the door of Kathy's beach home
"Ben" Rose warned as the door opened
"Hello Aunt Kathy" Jake greeted
"Jake! Come on in" Kathy greeted as she hugged Jake before turning to Ben and Julie "There is no way these two are Ben and Juliet"
"Hi Aunt Kathy" the kids greeted, Julie a bit more enthusiastically than her older brother
"Hello Rose" Kathy greeted the kids' mother politely
"Hello Kathy" Rose returned the greeting knowing that the lack of warmth that Jake and the kids got was due to not only her human background, but her dragon slaying past (even though the only dragon she 'slew' was the Dark Dragon).
"And Fu Dog! You managed to come as well"
"Yeah" Fu said
The Longs went into the house.
"So Jake," Kathy said. "We missed you at the last few reunions"
"Yeah. Sorry about that Aunt Kathy" Jake apologized. "The year before last, there was an incident in Alaska I had to tend to and last year, Ben was in the middle of his training. He got his dragon form last year"
"Really?" Kathy said. "Well, Nicholas got his dragon form 6 months ago"
"I'm getting my form" Julie said with a grin as she concentrated hard and transformed. "Daddy says that I just need to hang out around him and Ben more during their training and then I'll be as good as Aunt Haley was"
"That's nice dear" Kathy said
The family then went into the living room.
"Well, well. If it isn't the prodigal" an Asian-American man a year younger than Jake teased
"Hello Greggy" Jake said using the childhood nickname of his cousin before turning to his cousin's son. "Hello Nicky"
"Actually, I'm going by Nicholas now" Nicky, who was the splitting image of his father, admitted "I've gotten my dragon powers now"
"I've had them for a year" Ben told his cousin
"Whoa. Déjà vu" Fu muttered
"What do you mean?" Rose asked
"The looks Ben and Nicky are giving each other…the same glares Jake and Greggy gave each other"
DING DONG
Kathy went to open the door as Jake greeted his other aunts and uncles as he pulled Ben along knowing that if he left Ben and Nicky alone for too long…well…it would really be him and Greggy all over again.
"Aunt Rose!" a voice came gaining the blond's attention
"Karen!" Rose exclaimed as the ten year old Asian-American girl jumped into her arms. "You've gotten taller"
"Merci" Karen said showing off her French before turning to her cousin. "Hi Julie"
"Hi Karen. How was France?"
"Tres Bien" Karen said as Seth and Haley entered the living room. "But I'm back for good now"
"Is that so?" Jake asked as he walked up to his niece
"Hi Uncle Jake" Karen said hugging her Uncle tightly
"She managed to graduate Top of her class" Seth announced
"That's good news" Jake said before turning to Karen. "Congratulations"
"Thanks" Karen said
"Um…Aunt Haley? Uncle Seth? Does Karen know…?"Ben asked
"Of course I know Ben" Karen said with a smile before concentrating and some blue scales formed on her arms. "My transformation is still weak, but Madame Moreau said that if I'm around dragons more, the transformation will be easier. Since she was the only one around, that's why its weak"
"I managed to transform for the first time yesterday" Julie informed her cousin
"Really?" Haley asked before turning to Jake for confirmation only to see him nod. "That's GREAT!"
"What color?" Karen asked
"Purple" Juliet said
DING DONG
Jake and Haley looked around as Kathy went to open the door to see who was left. Due to his Dragon Council duties, Lao Shi couldn't come to the reunion (but Jake had made a mental note to take Julie down to meet him). So who was left
The siblings exchanged a smile with realization and then stepped aside so that the kids could have a clear shot
"Hola Familia" a familiar male voice called out as two more entered the room
"Sorry we're late" an equally familiar female voice came from the woman
"Grandma/Grandpa!" Julie and Karen exclaimed as they made a bee-line for their grandparents.
"Hey Kids!" Jonathan Long greeted Karen and Julie as Julie hugged him. "Long time no see"
"Sorry we missed last year's reunion" Julie apologized. "Ben and Daddy were wrapped up in training so Ben could pass that test"
"Training?" Susan asked as she released Karen and turned to her son and grandson. Jake smiled at his mother and nodded
"Both kids have their dragon powers now" Rose explained.
"And Karen got hers three days ago" Seth added
"That's GREAT!" Jonathan congratulated the three kids
"Thanks Grandpa" Ben said
"Speaking of grandfathers," Susan said turning to her children. "Have you spoken to yours lately?"
"I had a word with him a few weeks ago. He's fine" Jake said
"I'm planning on introducing Karen to him after the reunion" Haley added.
"I'm looking forward to it" Karen admitted
"Me too" Julie said. "Ben told me of his meeting with Great-grandpa Lao Shi"
"At least you two were warned he's still alive" Ben pointed out as his grandmother took the opportunity to hug him.
"So Rose?" Jonathan asked. "Have you heard from your family lately?"
"Yeah" Rose said. "Just the other day actually. You know how my sister and her husband have been trying for a baby?"
"She finally conceived?" Susan asked
"Yeah…RIGHT after an adoption was finalized" Rose laughed "So I'm getting a niece and…whatever her new baby is going to be. She's only a month in so it's too early"
"And your parents?" Jonathan asked
"They're fine. Enjoying retirement in Utah" Rose said
"I always make a point to visit whenever I'm in that area" Jake added
"Hey Dad?" Ben asked "Does that mean that when we go train out-of-state, I can actually visit instead of calling them over the phone?"
"Of course" Jake said. "in fact, I was thinking for our long-distance flying lesson, we can fly to their home"
"Okay everyone" Kathy announced "Dinner"
Jake shot Ben an apologetic look as there was no room at the adult table for him. Then the father got an idea and motioned for Ben.
"Yeah?" Ben asked
"Remember your firebreathing training." Jake hinted. "If something's not as warm as you like it…you're the only dragon at the kid's table with GOOD fire-breath and control. You can also tell stories of your training"
Ben smiled
"Thanks Dad" Ben said realizing what his father was saying
Nicky LOVED being the center of attention. But from what Ben and his father had learned before the Hunters arrived, Nicky doesn't have an instructor yet so Ben was light-years ahead of his cousin.
This just might be the best reunion yet
TBC
Coming up:
Ben had no idea which parent looked deadlier. His mother or his father.
And it wasn't just them who came to his rescue. There was also his aunt and uncle, Fu Dog, his cousin, her dragon master who was the high school home economics teacher (Sun moved up), Trixie, Spud, Renee, Chad, and another guy Ben hadn't met yet yielding a stick.
"Looks like Long brought in the cavalry" Chang mused
"Got that right" Jake told her "Luckily, we're not too late"
"I beg to differ" Chang said before transforming and going for her staff
"Oh no you don't!" Rose shouted pointing her hunts-staff at the space between Chang and the magical staff.
However Chang got to it first and pointed the staff at Rose shooting the mother.
"ROSE!/MOM!" everyone shouted as Jake flew to catch his wife.