American Dragon: Haley Long (Season One)
Chapter/Episode 15: You Remember Me? I Remember Your Brother
Various pictures of various family members were all over the walls of the Belden house. Leah sat on the floor in the middle of the room with a notebook on her lap and a pen in her hand as her brother, Ian, stepped out of the kitchen with a can of soda in his hand. Snapping the can open and taking a sip, Ian walked over to his little sister and looked down at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm writing my speech for graduation." Leah answered without looking up. "Principal Alexus wanted me to make it. So, I'm working hard..."
"Well, I'm sure you'll do fine..." Ian tried to be optimistic.
"I hope so..." Leah replied. "Ian, do you mind?"
"Mind what?" Ian asked, but the second he finished asking this, Leah's meaning hit him. "Oh, okay. Sorry for bothering you..." Ian then turned and started to walk into the kitchen, but a sudden crashing noise and a scream of fear coming from his sister made him stop and turn around.
Ian could see that there was now a hole through the window, and there was a brick on the floor; Leah was cowering against the wall. "Are you okay?" Ian asked, and although it took a moment, Leah nodded. "Okay, just...stay where you are..." Ian advised.
Leah nodded quickly, and Ian walked over to the brick. Bending down, Ian grabbed the brick and stared down on it.
BLACKOUT; PLAY THEME SONG
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Meanwhile, at the Long household, Haley was laying on her back, holding a paddle-ball, bouncing the ball repeatedly off of the paddle, sighing in boredom. Haley kept her eyes on the ball the entire time, even as her father exited the kitchen and walked over to his daughter. "What are you doing, Haley-hoo?' he asked.
"Nothing..." Even as she answered, Haley kept her eyes on the ball that was bouncing off of the paddle.
"Well, gee..." Jonathan Long was rather surprised. "That's awfully unlike you, Halers...I mean, don't you have dragon training or something?"
With her father's mention of this, Haley immediately stopped paddling the ball, and sighed as she sat up. "Dad..." Haley spoke after a moment of silence. "There has been no need for the American Dragon."
"What are you talking about?" Jonathan asked nervously.
"The American Dragon hasn't been needed since February..." Haley repeated. "It's now June. There haven't been any crimes committed in the Magical World. It's a little weird. Even Sun isn't doing anything, though. She finally just told me that I could have a few days off from training."
"Oh..." Jonathan was at a loss of words. "That's good...I guess..."
"Yeah, well..." Haley continued. "At least that gives me time for the interview for the college I want to go to. Hopefully, the representative will be here shortly."
LINE BREAK
Haley could feel herself shaking as the representative from the college sat down at the kitchen table. The representative was a petite woman of about forty; she wore a dark red jacket and skirt, and her brown hair was up in a ponytail. "Please sit, Miss Long..." the woman ordered softly. With her parents at her side, Haley pulled back a chair and sat down, staring the representative right in the eyes.
"Miss Long..." the representative started.
"Please..." Haley cut her off. "...Just call me Haley."
"Miss Long..." the representative ignored her. "I'm sure you are curious as to why I asked to come down here..."
"I just thought it meant that you wanted to get to know our daughter..." Susan spoke up.
"Actually, I'm afraid not..." the representative sighed. "Miss Long, your test scores are the highest we've seen, but unfortunately..."
"What?" Haley asked.
"Unfortunately..." the representative repeated before continuing. "It is the fact that you are a dragon that greatly worries us..."
"What?" Haley was shocked. "But...why...?"
"Well, you see Miss Long..." the representative continued. "We have never had a dragon on our campus before. And although it is not my decision, the school board for the university would like to keep it that way..."
"Wait, are you telling me that my daughter can't go to the school she wants to go to, even though she has the grades, because she's a dragon?" Jonathan was shocked, but anger was quickly taking its place as the central emotion that he felt.
"Basically...yes..." the representative gave a very small, sad smile. The smile was directed at Haley, but the teenage girl did not see it; burying her face in her hands, Haley jumped from her seat and hurried out of the kitchen; a minute later, everyone in the kitchen could hear the slamming of a nearby door. "Mr. and Mrs. Long..." the representative tried to reason. "Please know that this wasn't a de..."
"I think you'd better leave..." Susan cut her off.
The representative did not say anything more; instead, she nodded and stood. Both Susan and Jonathan watched as the woman left the kitchen, and together, they heard the front door open and close. "I'm going to go check on Haley." Susan told her husband as she started to walk out of the kitchen.
LINE BREAK
Leah panted heavily as sprinted down the sidewalk, her heart pounding against her chest; her run was only made harder by the brick she clutched in her hand. In her head, she could still hear Ian calling her name as she ran out the front door and into the night. Leah's heart leapt for joy as she saw Haley's house close by.
With only a couple more feet, Leah turned and ran up the steps, using her free hand to pound on the door. By the time Leah could hear the lock from the inside being clicked, her heart had started to slow down, and she found that it was becoming easier to breathe. The door was then pulled open, and Leah could see Susan Long standing in the doorway, looking at her.
"Oh..." Susan seemed surprised to see her, but she soon overcame her surprise. "Why, hello Leah."
"I need to talk to Haley..."
"Listen Leah, I don't think tonight is the best time..."
"But it's important!"
"Listen, I'm sure you two can talk about it tomorrow in school..." Susan tried to reason with the girl on her front porch, but just by looking at her face, Susan could see just how persistent Leah was going to be. With a sigh, Susan gave in. "Alright, come in..."
"Thank you..." Leah replied, stepping into the house.
"Make yourself at home..." Leah could hear Susan from behind her. Leah nodded, and she walked over to the couch, placing the brick on the coffee table before sitting down.
"Where's Haley?" Leah asked, but she didn't have to wait long to get her answer. Leah turned her head at the sound of a loud sniffle, and Leah could see Haley exiting a room, rubbing her eye. Leah could tell that the girl had been crying. "Haley, I'm sorry if this is a bad time, but I need to talk to you..."
"About what?" Haley's voice cracked.
Leah didn't answer verbally; instead she grabbed the brick, got up from the couch and held up the brick for the American Dragon to see.
"This was thrown through my window..."
LINE BREAK
The next day at school, Leah sighed as she walked out of the door of her science class, amongst a crowd of about twenty people. Leah passed through the door, but the other twenty students passed her, making her grunt as she felt herself being jerked to the sides. As soon as the students had passed, Leah breathed a sigh of relief and she scanned the hallway, finally sighting Haley placing one of her books in her locker.
"Haley!" Leah called as she rushed over to her friend, just as Haley turned around. "Haley, I'm sorry that I caught you at a bad time last night. What even happened?"
"I didn't get into the college I wanted to..." Haley muttered.
"What?" Leah was shocked. "I don't buy that! You have the highest grades in our class, except for maybe in O'Yrael's class..."
"It's because I'm a dragon..." Haley growled before she sighed. "I guess I'll never be able to get into a good school."
"I'm sure that's not true..." Leah tried to say something positive. "I know you'll get into a good college. And I'm not trying to sound greedy, but what about my problem? A brick was thrown through my window. What if my life is in danger?"
"I gave the brick to Sun..." Haley explained as they started to walk down the hallway. "She's inspecting it. Maybe there is something we can find out something about it..."
"You mean like who threw it?"
"Probably not..." Haley answered. "But you never know..."
LINE BREAK
Leah sighed a sigh of relief as she and Haley stopped in front of Canal Street Electronics. Haley pushed the door open, making the bell above it ring out, and the two stepped inside the shop. "Sun, are you here?" Haley called out, and the next thing both girls knew, Fu Dog trotted into the room.
"Hey kids..." the shar-pei said. "Sun's back there looking at that brick was thrown through Leah's window..."
"Sun..." Haley repeated, and she and her friend walked passed Fu and into the back room. Both girls could see Sun sitting at the table, picking at the brick with her claws. At the mention of her name, Sun looked up and greeted them with a nod. Lu Dog was behind Sun, lying on the couch, chewing on a bone.
"Find anything odd?" Haley asked.
"Well, not at the moment, but I'm looking..." Sun answered, returning her gaze to the brick. Sun continued to chisel at the brick, but as she traced the side of the brick with her claws, Sun's eyes widened as the brick cracked open. "That's odd..." Sun muttered to no one in particular, even as the brick started to crack and completely crumble away, leaving a pile of dust, a piece of paper sticking out the pile.
"What is that?" Haley asked, Leah peeking over her shoulder.
"I don't know, Haley..." Sun reached down and pulled it out of the pile, revealing to Haley and Leah that the paper was folded in half. Sun unfolded the paper, looking at whatever was written on it; Sun's eyes widened and her lips parted.
"Sun, what is it?" Haley asked, but Sun didn't answer. Instead, she handed the paper directly to Leah, who took it and read it; as Leah read it, Haley could see that whatever was written on it had the same effect on Leah that it had on Sun.
Curious, Haley walked behind her friend and peered over her shoulder, taking a look for herself, and what she saw surprised her, making her eyes widen and her heart feel like it was rising up to her throat. Written on the piece of paper were two simple words:
Miss Me?
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
At first, Haley thought she had read the words wrong. Miss Me? What the heck could that possibly mean. Haley had decided to take another look at the piece of paper, but she still read the exact same words. "What does it mean?" Haley asked, turning her head to Leah, only to see that her friend was shaking, her eyes wide with fear, rapidly blinking in order to prevent tears of fear. "Leah, what's wrong?"
"It's him..." was all Leah could say.
"Who?" Lu Dog asked, who had been drawn from her bone by the scene unfolding in front of her very eyes.
"The dragon that attacked Ian!" Leah exclaimed, clenching her fist and crumpling up the piece of paper.
"But Leah..." Haley asked. "Wasn't that like five years ago?"
"So what?"
"Well, have you ever gotten one of these before?" Haley tried to word her question in a way that wouldn't set the girl beside her off. "Is it...an annual thing?"
"No!" Leah exclaimed, turning to Haley. "It's never happened before! Never in these five years! But I know it's him! I can feel it..."
"Haley..." Haley could hear Sun's voice from the couch. Turning her head, Haley stared right into Sun's eyes. "Haley, Leah could be in grave danger. Her whole family could be, for that matter. You and Lu need to take her to place where she will be safe."
"Why me?" Lu asked.
"Because it is your duty as an animal guardian..." Sun replied, glaring at the golden before staring at Haley. "...And it is your duty as the American Dragon..."
LINE BREAK
Haley could feel the cool air of the night hit her face as she exited the shop, along with Leah and Lu Dog. "Haley, I just want to go home..." Leah told Haley as the three started to walk down the sidewalk. "I'll be fine. My parents won't let that dragon come near Ian..."
"Are you sure?" Haley asked.
Before Leah could respond, the golden retriever walking alongside her spoke up: "Haley, listen to your friend. She's says she wants to go home. So, let's take her home..."
"You're only saying that because you don't want to be bothered..." Haley snapped.
"Yeah..." Lu muttered. "What did you expect?"
"Something more from an animal guardian..." Haley shot back.
"Guys, can you just stop?" Leah finally just asked. "I don't need this right now. Look, we're almost there. You can argue once I go inside..."
And sure enough, both Haley and Lu Dog could see Leah's house close by. "Well, I think I can take it from here..." Leah said as she took a couple feet away from Haley and Lu; but as she watched her friend, Haley just couldn't get rid of the feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"Haley, let's get back to the shop..." Haley could hear Lu Dog, even though she could not see her. "I'd like to get back to that bone..." Haley could even hear the jingling of Lu's collar as she started to walk away. Haley didn't care, though. Instead, Haley turned her head, looking into the sky. Something wasn't quite right...
And then, she saw it. A fireball coming right for them-to be more precise, a fireball big enough to incinerate all three of them was coming toward them. "LEAH!" Haley shouted, sprinting over to Haley and slamming into her; both girls toppled to the ground as the fireball slammed into the building that the three were in front of, making it go up in flames.
"Haley what are you doing?" Haley could hear Leah grunting under her weight, and Haley could feel herself being jerked to the side, which was fortunate, seeing as Haley could now see another five fireballs soaring toward them.
"Come on!" Haley yelled, forcing Leah to her feet, and forcing her into the streets, just as the fireballs all hit the building; this was enough for the building, and it finally exploded, the explosion knocking Leah and Haley off of their feet as splintered glass shot passed them.
The two girls groaned as they slowly stood up. Haley glanced back at the building. "Where's Lu Dog?" she could feel her heart sinking, but to her relief, she could hear the jingling from the golden retriever's collar, and only a moment later, Haley could see Lu Dog rushing up to her. "Thank god you're okay..." Haley sighed. "Now come on..." The three turned and were about to continue across the street, just as an even larger fireball slammed into the ground. Haley and Leah both screeched as they fell backwards. Leah recovered first, and she pointed to the fire. "Haley look..." Looking at what her friend was pointing at, and she could see a dark figure in the flames!
"Alright, I've had it!" Haley stated, and grabbing onto Leah's wrist and Lu's collar, she jumped into the air, transforming into her pink dragon form and flying off into the night.
LINE BREAK
Fu was at Sun's side as the Korean Dragon stared into her old computer monitor. Sun sighed and was just about to stand up when she heard the bell above the door ring, and the next thing she knew, Haley, Leah and Lu Dog all rushed into the back room. "Haley, what happened?" Sun asked.
"We were attacked!" Haley answered. "Oh man, if I doubted what Leah said before, I sure as heck don't now! Sun, I've never seen anything like it before!"
"What happened?" Sun asked.
"Fireballs!" Leah answered for Haley. "Several fireballs were chucked at us! And then, there was this big one in the street! And what was really weird was that I thought I saw a figure inside of it. Haley saw it, too! Right, Haley?"
Haley could now see that all eyes were on her. "Y-Yes..." Haley managed.
"Hmm..." Sun seemed to think as she turned to face the computer and typed something onto the computer. "According to the records of the Dragon Council, there was only one dragon that was known to have that power..."
"What power?" Lu asked.
"The power to control fireballs in that manner..." Sun said, motioning for both Haley and Leah to look at the computer. When they both arrived at the computer and stared at the screen, they saw that they were looking at a picture of an extremely dark green dragon, muscular, with absolutely no hair. "That's him!" Leah nearly shouted.
"Are you sure?" Sun asked, starting to read from the page. "According to this, his name is Seth Zaid, and he escaped from prison about five years ago. Are you sure this is him?"
"Yes!" Leah confirmed. "But...there were a couple of differences between the picture and..."
"Alright, Leah..." Sun cut her off. "We will keep you safe. However, you have to do your part in the deal. You need to stay here at all times; this is where you'll be safe. You can leave to bring your family here, but I want you to stay here. In the meantime, I will alert the Drago..."
"But what about graduation tomorrow night?" Leah cut her off. "I can't miss it..."
Eh, I don't think you have much of a choice, kid..." Fu countered.
"But..." Leah tried to explain. "Principal Alexus wants me to give a speech..."
Sun looked like she wanted to argue, but instead, she sighed. "Well Leah, I cannot stop you from going..." the Korean Dragon finally said. "If you feel that you have to go, then I can't stop you. However, I will be there tomorrow, keeping a close eye on you..."
LINE BREAK
The next night, Leah could feel her heart pounding against her chest as she stood by Haley's side in the back of a long row of several students all wearing purple caps and gowns; all of the students were lining up behind a large stage where Principal Alexus stood in front of a large machine that was printing out dozens of pre-rolled diplomas. Many other teachers were also on the stage, as well as Mrs. O'Yrael, who was in a full body cast.
Haley could sense how nervous her friend was; putting her hand on Leah's shoulder, Haley whispered: "Everything is going to be okay..." But as Haley herself did not quite believe this, she glanced over at the rows of seats, where all the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles all sat. Haley soon found Sun, who was sitting next to Jonathan and Susan and Fred Nerk, who had shaven his Council attire and was now dressed in formal clothes, and he seemed even more on the edge than Sun did. Haley could also see Mr. and Mrs. Belden sitting a couple of rows in front of Sun, along with Ian.
"Haley, come on..." Haley turned her head at the sound of Leah's voice. The line was quickly moving quickly. However, before they could even take two steps, they both heard snickering, and they could see Olivia Mears and Sierra Tatlock standing at their side, both wearing the same purple cap and gown. "What?" Leah asked.
"We're going to go graduate before you do..." Sierra smiled cruelly. "Seeing as we're more popular, therefore we deserve to do it first..."
"Hate to break it to you-well, I actually don't mind..." Haley shot back. "But it's in a alphabetical order. Leah's going before any of us."
"You'll be surprised, Haley..." Olivia joined her friend, smiling as they stepped in front of them, cutting them in the line. Haley growled with anger at this. How could these two get away with this? "Don't worry, Haley..." Haley could hear Leah speak. "They're just taking out their anger on us. We both know they're just ticked off about their third fellow witch not graduating with them..."
The line was moving very fast, thanks to the advanced technology up on the stage. In just a few minutes, both Haley and Leah were walking up the stage, following Sierra and Olivia. Principal Alexus reached into the machine and pulled out the final four diplomas. Alexus handed two of them to Sierra and Olivia, who moved to the side; Alexus then started to hand the final two diplomas to Haley and Leah, but that was when it happened! A large fireball slammed into the stage...
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Haley had not seen the fireball coming...not until it had been too late. The fireball slammed into the stage, with such a force that Mrs. O'Yrael fell backwards off of the stage, hitting the cement, with several cracks being the result. Both Haley and Leah found themselves being shoved back roughly as all of the other graduated students and teacher fled, running down the stairs. Both girls grunted as the final teacher ran in-between them, bumping both of their shoulders. The two recovered as quickly as they could, and they stared into the fireball as a dark figure started to form. Then, the figure stepped forward, out of the fireball, and onto the stage. Both girls gasped; standing in front of them was the dark green dragon, standing in front of them was Seth Zaid, the dragon that had almost killed Leah's brother.
In the bleachers, where the families sat, almost everyone was gone; the only people who remained were Sun and Nerk, Jonathan and Susan, and Leah's family who were all sitting petrified several rows away. "That's him!" Sun declared, both she and Nerk leaping up from their seats, and transforming into their respective dragon forms before flying over to the stage.
Back on the stage, both Haley could see that Leah was frozen with fear at the reappearance of this dragon. Growling, Haley could feel the fire in her body, commanding her to transform. Zaid seemed to sense this, as he smiled cruelly as he shot his tail at Leah. Leah tried to dodge this, but the tail, which Haley could see had a chunk at the end missing, wrapped around her neck, pulling her over to him. Zaid then secured his new captive by putting his claws to her throat; Haley was surprised to see that Zaid's claws were missing, and had been replaced with steel ones.
Then, Zaid spoke, in a very raspy voice: "Transform, and she will die." He warned, glancing up into the air. "The same goes for two..." He, of course, was talking about Sun and Nerk. "Both of you land and revert!" Zaid demanded. Almost reluctantly, Sun and Nerk complied, lowering to the ground and reverting to their human forms.
"Very good..." Zaid smiled, pulling Leah as he started to walk to the edge of the stage. "And as a reward, I will let you dragons live. Unfortunately for this girl, though, I'm here to finish what I started..." Zaid had by this point, reached the edge of the stage, and he was now spreading his wings in order to take off. However, before he could, a decently sized rock smacked into Zaid's head. Zaid blinked once or twice, before he finally looked out into the audience, making eye contact with Mrs. Belden, who was holding another rock. At her side was her husband and her son.
"Nobody hurts my daughter!" Mrs. Belden declared, but Zaid didn't really care. The only thing his eyes saw was Ian.
"You!" Zaid growled. "You're alive! But how?"
This was all the distraction that Leah needed. Bringing her foot up, Leah shut her eyes as she brought it back behind, her heel making contact with a very sensitive area, even for a dragon. Zaid roared in pain, and his grip loosened, giving Leah the perfect chance to pull free.
Leah started running across the stage, but she tripped over her gown, falling down onto the stage. Even though he was in agonizing pain, Zaid saw this, and he shot himself at Leah, growling in anger as he extended his claws. But before he could reached Leah, a pink tail quickly wrapped around his neck, abruptly stopping him.
Haley grunted as she flew into the air, pulling Zaid up with her. Zaid, however, struggled against Haley's tail, and he lashed out with his steel claws, slashing Haley's tail. Haley howled in pain, releasing Zaid. Zaid started flapping his wings and he turned to face Haley, swiping at her with his claws.
As Haley dodged all of the swipes, she could see that Nerk and Sun had resumed dragon form and were now behind him. "Zaid, just give up!" Nerk shouted. "It'll be easier for you!"
"Shut up..." Zaid growled, slamming into Haley, catching her off guard and dazing her. Zaid whirled around to face the two other dragons. "Like I would ever give myself up..."
"It's either that..." Sun grinned with confidence. "...Or we capture you..."
"Or how about neither?" Zaid grinned, throwing his head up and blowing out a large torrent of fire. As the fire blew into the air, it split into two different and came down into his claws as two separate fireballs. Cackling, Zaid threw both of them, one at Sun and one at Nerl. While Sun was able to duck and dodge the fireball meant for her, Nerk was not so lucky. The fireball hit him in the chest, and the yelling Australian Dragon went shooting down to the stage several feet below.
Zaid chuckled as he watched this, but his chuckling soon came to an abrupt end as a loud "AIYAAAAHHH!" could be heard, and the next thing Sun could see, Haley came down on Zaid, her tail slamming into his back.
Zaid grunted in pain, and dazed, he fell down toward the stage, a crash could be heard a few seconds later. Haley smiled as she hovered over to Sun, who after a moment, returned the smile. "Well done, Haley..."
"Well, Sun..." Haley boasted rather playfully. "I try..."
Sun's smile had now completely faded, and she simply nodded approvingly. Haley could feel her own smile fading, and she simply followed her dragon master down to the stage, where they could see Zaid, who had smashed through the wooden boards of the stage. Zaid's upper body had gone through, while his lower body was sticking out; he was trapped, and to prove that point, he was kicking his feet blindly.
On the other side of the stage, Fred Nerk groaned as he rolled over and slowly got up, walking over to the defeated dragon. "Good work, Dragon Long..." he complemented.
"Thank you..." was all Haley could say, but then she added: "Is there anything else I can do?"
"No, you've done enough..." Nerk smiled. "I will handle transporting him to the Island of Draco..."
Haley nodded, and she found herself reverting to her human form. Haley eyes wandered across the stage, and she soon found Leah sitting down, her mother, father and brother all crowded around her.
"Are you okay?" her father asked.
Leah simply nodded.
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Belden asked, just checking.
Once again, Leah nodded. It was all she could do.
Haley wanted to go over to her friend and comfort her, but she found that it would be out of place and inappropriate. Leah was very shaken by this experience, and what she needed at the moment was her family. Haley wasn't going to barge in.
LINE BREAK
Haley sighed as she entered her house, her parents closing the door behind them. What a lousy graduation! "Haley..." Haley turned her head at the sound of her mother's voice. "I can fix you something to drink. Would you like that?"
"No, Mom..." Haley replied. "I'm tired. I just want to go to sleep..."
"Alright, Haley..." Susan looked concerned, but she didn't press the matter. Instead, she just turned and walked into the kitchen, closely followed by her husband.
LINE BREAK
Haley sighed once again as she closed the door to her room, actually comforted by the darkness of her room. Not even bothering to change out of her gown, Haley collapsed onto her stomach onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow.
Haley just stayed like that until she heard a beeping noise. Groaning, Haley lifted her head from her pillow and turned to the sound of the beeping: her communication device, which was on her nightstand. Haley groaned, and was just about to ignore the device and put her head back down on her pillow, but a mechanical voice changed her mind.
"Incoming call from Leah..." the recording stated.
Her eyes widening, Haley sat up and reached out, grabbing the device, Haley pressed one of the buttons, omitting an image of Leah, who looked shaken, and just like Haley, had yet to change out of her gown. "Haley..." Leah spoke.
"Are you okay?" Haley came right out and said it. "You looked really shaken by what happen at the graduation."
"I was shaken..." Leah confirmed. "And I still am..."
"But are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." Leah answered. "Look, I just wanted to thank you for tonight, and for the last day or so..."
"Oh, come on, Leah..." Haley couldn't help but smile. "I'm just helping out those who I care about..."
"Yeah..." Leah seemed to agree. "But...I really just wanted to thank you for saving me..."
"You saved me before..." Haley tried to find a way to make them even.
"How and when?"
"How about when you defended me when I got arrested?"
"I never would have done that if you hadn't saved me before..." Leah answered, sighing. "Listen, what I'm trying to say is this: because of you, I feel much safer. That dragon has been put away where he can't hurt Ian or me. It's all thanks to you, Haley. You're a good friend."
Haley was completely shocked by this. She was not expecting a complement of this caliber. But before Haley could say anything else, the hologram of Leah faded, and Haley was left alone in her room.
After thinking about it for a moment, Haley smiled. "You too, Leah..." she finally said. "You too..."
LINE BREAK
At Leah's house, Leah had lowered the device when she realized that her brother was standing in the doorway. She hadn't meant to hang up on Haley after saying that, but she had been surprised to see her brother in the doorway.
Smiling, Ian walked into the room and knelt beside Leah's bed. "That was a nice thing for you to say..." he said. "And you're right. Haley is a good friend. If any dragon can prove that not all dragons are bad, Haley is the one to do it..."
"You trust her, don't you?" Leah asked.
"Do I have any reason not to?" Ian asked. "She's saved us all...She is a good friend for you. You're very lucky to have found her..."
"I know..."
Ian simply nodded, looking down at the floor. When he lifted his head, he had a new topic. "It feels good to not have to live in fear anymore. It feels good to know that that dragon is locked up where he can't strike again..."
LINE BREAK
On the Island of Draco, in the dark halls of the prison chambers, a creaky cell door was opened, and Seth Zaid was shoved into one of the cells. As Zaid fell to his knees, the cell door was closed and locked behind him by a dragon guard dressed all in armor.
Zaid rolled over and slowly stood as the guard glared at him. "Enjoy your stay here..." the guard growled. "I certainly hope you do, at least, because you're going to be locked in here for a very long time..."
Zaid matched the guard's scowl with a cruel smirk. "Really?" he asked. "Well, we'll just see about that..."
The guard didn't say anything else; instead, the guard just turned and walked off down the dark halls. As soon as he was alone in his new cell, Zaid allowed his smirk to transform into a full grin.
"This cell may hold me for now..." Zaid said to himself. "But I've escaped before. I won't be here for long, and once I get out, I will finish my business with those two children..."
Then, Zaid sat down in his cell, chuckling to himself, until his chuckle turned into a maddened cackle that was loud enough for everyone in the next door cells or the halls to hear, and even loud enough to be heard by the other dragons roaming free on the island.
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: Whoo! I think that was one of my best so far for AD:HL! Please tell me what you think with a review.