Present…

"I gave everything I had to her." Eclipse's eyes never left the fire during his telling. Cynder and Spyro listen to the whole thing, not interrupting him once. "I still owe her though."

"You don't owe Aurora anything." Eclipse glared at Spyro, immediately silencing him.

"If it was not for Aurora I would've killed myself. I would've carried myself as a demon instead of an actual person." He smirked. "In many ways, she saved me more times than I saved her."

"The whole thing about your darker side bringing you back was real?" Cynder's voice matched her expression of disbelief.

"Why would I lie?" His smirk went away. "I have no reason to."

"Was that him that attacked me in the alley then?"

"I didn't want to hurt you but when I saw you behind Aurora…" The fire shifted into the face of the Terror of the Skies. "... everything came rushing back."

"Is there anyway to get rid of him?" Spyro asked, swatting the fire back into its natural form.

"His power drains everyday, without Malefor to feed him dark energy and the absence of killing dragons, he will eventually fade." He turned his face, showing different colored eyes. "Until then, we'll share the same body."

"That's strange." Spyro marveled at his eyes before Eclipse changed it back to silver. "Can you still use it?"

"Yes, whenever I let him do that I can still see out of both eyes. He more of just watches what I'm seeing, like a second pair of eyes." The red color then started bouncing between the iris' like a ball. Spyro watched in amazement while Cynder began to giggle.

"He seems a little excited?" She managed to say between giggles.

"What is he doing?" He asked, cocking his head a little. She tried to mimic what was happening with her eyes but she could only move them side to side. He sighed and they stopped almost immediately afterwards. "Sorry, he did that the day after I came back. Ardere and Frost were convinced that I had been possessed or something."

Cynder saw the sky turning black behind them, stars were already beginning to appear. She still had to visit the clinic to check on Aurora and Flame but she also didn't want to leave Spyro alone with Eclipse. Not after what happened when she got here. Spyro seemed to have read her mind as he got up and walked out to the balcony.

"I'm going to check in on the clinic, make sure everyone is okay. I'll make sure to check in on Aurora." He leapt off, catching the wind with his wings and soared off in the direction of the clinic.

"Cynder?" He was closer to her now, holding her paw in his. Blood rushed to her cheeks, betraying her commands. "I've been thinking about you." An embarrassed smile spread across her face.

"Have you?" Her body betrayed her again, placing her other paw on top of his.

"Yes I have and…" His eyes were filled with too many different emotions at once. What is he doing? "...I love you..." Her heart both skipped a beat and dropped into her stomach. What about Aurora? I could never live up to her. "...but not the way you want me to."

"W-What do you mean?" She didn't mean to stammer her words.

"I'm not the same Eclipse that fell in love with you. Truth is Cynder, we've both changed since then." He patted the top of her paw. "We're better now and in those three years I spent searching for you," He looked into her eyes. ",I forgot why I loved you like a lover." Her world shattered at his words. She knew what he meant, she was holding on to a pipe dream. There was nothing to reignite between them, their spark had died. "The night I died, I realized that I wasn't thinking of you after I left that sanctuary."

"What about last night, outside the council hall?" Her eyes starting pooling tears.

"I was confused. We both were." He motioned to his head. "I won't lie to you, I meant what I said. There was a part of me that wanted you back but the more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense."

"I-I-I don't know what to say." She was caught off guard when he pulled her into him. "I don't know what to do."

"I'm sorry that I let the spark die. I'm sorry I can't look at you how I use to." He paused for a brief moment. "I'm sorry I can't love you like Spyro can."

"I don't want him. I don't want his love, not while your here." She tucked her head into his shoulder, letting her tears out as she did so. "I still love you."

They didn't say anything for awhile. Eclipse's eyes traveled between her and the fire in front of them. Cynder kept her head tucked into his shoulder, not wanting to show him how much it really did hurt her. I lost him. He kept his wing over her, something that she wanted to be hers and hers alone. She knew it was selfish to want him like this. She wished Aurora wasn't real, that she just disappeared from his life. Evil thoughts circled in her head but she knew better than to act upon them.

"You wouldn't be safe with me." He laid his head on top of hers. "Right now I'm barely holding him back. I couldn't bare to see what he would do to you if he caught us off guard."

"W-We could make it work." She was desperate.

"No we can't. At least, not when I'm like this." She saw his talons twitch. "I'm too dangerous for you."

"But your not for Aurora." His whole body flinched.

"Not anymore. It's been agreed upon that the three of them aren't to be harmed by him." He explained, stacking his paw on hers again.

"Do you want me dead?"

"Never."

"Then why didn't you extend your protection over me?"

"Cyn-"

"Did you ever love me like her?"

"Cynder I-"

"Was I just a trophy?"

"I thought you were dead!" She slid out of his hold, turning to look at him. "I knew you were with Spyro when he defeated Malefor but I didn't know if either of you survived. The dark part of me wanted you dead and I didn't think I needed to care." He put his head to the ground. "I wanted to believe you were alive somewhere, living a happy life with him."

"I couldn't-"

"I know you have feelings for him and I know he has feelings for you." He frowned at her. "I love you Cynder, but not like her and certainly not like how he loves you."

She didn't want to continue the conversation. She ran out and jumped into the night, catching the wind under her. He called after her but she didn't turn back. She didn't land, just let herself crash into her room.

Everything about them came rushing back, every moment they spent with each other. Tears came in full force as she paced back and forth. Why can't I stop? Why do I feel this way when it should've been over three years ago? Does she have something that I don't? How is she better than me, I saved the world all she did was be afraid. I knew Eclipse for twelve years and she only knew him for five months. I loved him longer than she ever did, I gave up more for him. Her heart ached. She was both angry and depressed, she felt like everything was crumbling around her. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Her legs were tired, collapsing beneath the weight of untamed emotions. Everything came out, all tears that weren't used, all the pain that no one saw, and all the emotions that she had hidden. Her eyes found the fireplace, its emptiness making her breakdown more. She closed her eyes, trying to take away the tears but exhaustion took her instead.

She woke up with the feeling of someone's wing over her back and pressed against her side. She didn't look to see who it was, instead just laid there and enjoyed the warmth of their body heat. She felt her face, realizing that she had cried in her sleep. Her eyes feel dry and her cheeks still felt damp. Her smile fell when she saw that it was Spyro instead of Eclipse.

"When did you come in here?" She poked his nose, he groggily opened his eyes.

"You were crying in your sleep so I decided to help." He stood up, stretching his body as he did so. "I didn't want to wake you."

"It's okay, you were just unexpected." She joined him off the ground.

"Let's get something to eat." He went out into the balcony.

"Where are they serving food?"

"They fixed everything in the great hall, turns out that most of the damage was contained to the insides. Nothing that couldn't be fixed quickly."

"Then lead the way." They jumped off Cynder's second story balcony and proceeded to the great hall. Spyro was right, the front of the building looked like nothing happened. All the scorch marks were removed and the doors have been reinstalled. All the blood stains in the courtyard have also been washed away.

Inside was worse but still functional. The back wall was lined with the debris from the explosion. Some of the pillars still had the black marks or cracks in them but they seemed to steady. New tables and seats replaced the old ones, for the most part it seemed like everything was back to normal. Their friends were even sitting in the same spots as before.

She smiled when she saw Ember waving them down with the Ardere and Frost. Spyro left her to get the food while she sat down at the table. They looked happy considering what happened the day before.

"How are you doing Cynder?" Ember asked with her normal excited eyes. "I know that I'm doing just fine." Frost almost choked on his food when he laughed.

"Little bit of an understatement." He coughed, Ardere nodded before going back to eating.

"It's not my fault I like to look on the bright side of things." She glared at Frost in a very menacing way. The three of them looked between themselves before laughing at her. "What? Did I say something?"

"No, no. Just…" Cynder snickered at the two boys, "...never change Ember, never change."

"Hmph." Spyro came back just as they stopped laughing. "Spyro, they're making fun of me." He only smiled at her.

"It's all in good fun Ember." He sat down next to her, pushing food over to the other dragoness. The five of them continued to talk while they ate. The topic of conversation kept bouncing around, mostly just harmless things. Spyro kept looking up at her, usually with some big goofy smile. Which only resulted with her calling him an idiot before laughing. Eclipse is right, he does have feelings for me and for the most part I share them. I just need to accept that Eclipse is happy with Aurora first.

"Have either of you seen Eclipse today?" Her question seemed to make everyone's mood drop. She grew worried.

"Eclipse has been at the clinic since last night, with Aurora." Frost answered, his eyes stuck on the table.

"She's still unconscious, but the doctor says she's already getting better." Ardere looked over at Spyro before switching to her. "He's been there since you left his room."

"He slept there?"

"The doctors tried to get him out but he's intimidating when he wants to be." He scratched the side of his neck with a nervous smile. "We would've tried to help but he's stubborn when it comes to Aurora."

"Flame's been released and he's been moved to ground level, at least until he heals." Ember's paw suddenly was on top of hers. "The two of them will be fine don't worry about that. Spyro pulled some strings with the guardians and they're receiving some of the best medical care in the city."

She turned to Spyro. "It was the least I could do."

"Why don't they use crystals on them? Wouldn't it be faster?" Cynder looked to them for an answer.

"Aurora's body has never taken well to crystal healing, they also don't want to jeopardize her becoming too dependent on them." Frost answered, poking his last chunk of meat. "She's honestly in a bad place."

"Same with Flame, the amount of red crystals he would need to repair his wings brings a high chance of addiction." Ember agreed.

"Sorry I killed the mood guys." She apologized. Ice had frozen over the conversation, the question obviously being a sour topic. The mood was slowly revived when Spyro began making jokes about how many times Frost poked his food. Cynder wasn't really paying attention though, she was too worried about Eclipse. She left as soon as she finished her food, ignoring Spyro's pleas to stay with them.

She chose not to fly, there was too much on her mind. Eclipse slept with her. To care for someone that much… Something was keeping her from moving on, she couldn't pin down what. Whenever she thought of Spyro, Eclipse always invaded her thoughts like they were one in the same to her. She remembered what he told her last night, how it still made her ache. She wanted to find a way to make him love her again, but she couldn't.

No matter how much she wanted it, she couldn't bring herself to split them apart. They're committed to each other, Eclipse even laid down his life for her. What do I have against that? I don't know what I would've done if Spyro died while we were chasing Malefor. She fought against the tide of Eclipse thoughts, focusing on Spyro.

She felt safe with him, like she did with Eclipse. They faced Malefor together, and he never gave up on her. He said he had nothing left to fight for when Malefor turned me. Did he mean it like he loved me or was it because we were friends? She felt foolish for thinking the purple dragon meant friendship by that gesture. She knew that she had feelings for him and it was obvious to see that he too had these feelings. He would do anything for me. She reached up and touched the necklace he'd given her. I would do anything for him… right?

She poked her head through the door of the clinic. Eclipse was still sleeping next to Aurora on the floor. His legs twitched every so often, extending his talons with furiosity. He does have nightmares about fighting. She looked at her own paws. Can I stop them like she can?

She slowly walked over to them, careful not to wake either of them. Aurora's burns had been healed but the splatters of purple bruises still remained. She slept perfectly still, even her soft snoring seemed perfectly harmless. Cynder couldn't help but smile.

She crouched down, slowly placing her paw on top of Eclipse's. His legs continued violently twitch, his teeth came up into a snarl. Then he stopped. His legs gave one final twitch then relaxed, his lip fell back down and hid his teeth. She did it, she stopped his nightmares. Pride filled her to the brim, followed by pure joy.

Then Aurora began to groan and slowly started to shift her limbs. She flipped towards them. She was waking up, and Eclipse would miss it. Cynder started shaking him but he didn't show signs of waking like his counterpart.

"Eclipse you need to get up." She whispered, trying not to wake Aurora up faster. She shook him with more force, practically pushing him across the floor. "Since when did you become such a heavy sleeper?"

"He's always been like that, I couldn't understand it either." She froze when Aurora spoke, slowly turning to her. "Don't worry Cynder, I've been awake since last night. They're just keeping me here until the bruises heal and when my head trauma clears up." She smiled. "You know how he is."

"I certainly do." They both giggled as he continued to sleep.

"Are you okay?" She dropped her smile, instead taking on a worried expression.

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about." Cynder showed her own smile.

"He told me about last night and about the council chamber."

"He did?" She frowned.

"Yeah. He said that I should talk to you when I'm better but you're here now so I figured we should get it out of the way." Her voice still sounded dazed.

"I just wanted him back, I'm sorry I put you two in that position." She apologized, petting the top of his head. "He treated me like I meant something, the only one that did."

"I wouldn't want to let go of that either." Her smile returned. "He's a special one."

"He really is."

"Was he like this in the army?" Cynder's own smile returned with her question.

"He hated leaving me alone when we first got together, he feared that the apes would kill me at the time." She recalled when he beat down a squad of apes that were terrorizing her. "He gave me his rations when we were still being trained. He would go weeks on end without eating just so he knew I wasn't hungry." She remembered one of those occasions. Gual had taken away her rations after she failed a mission, then Eclipse showed up and gave her his. He told me he had already eaten. "He only interacted in three different ways. To me, he was loyal to a fault and he would die for me if need be."

"I know about that." Her voice took on a more depressed tone.

"If he saw you proved yourself to him, he respected you. He's only done this once, and that was when I told him about Spyro." She remembered that conversation, it was the first time he was actually intrigued in someone else. "If he thought someone was a threat or a risk to my well being? They weren't allowed to go near me without his knowledge." He only broke that rule once, when he had to leave me at Convexity.

"He's that simple?"

She giggled, "He really is now that I think about it."

"Do you want him back?" She'd been asking herself that question since Eclipse arrived in Warfang. Do I? She studied him, tracing the outline of the mark on the top of his head. Would he even be happy with me?

"He loves you more Aurora. I can't do that to either of you. I just want him to be happy." The words hung in her head a moment but she didn't want to take them back. It's time to move on. "Keep him. I have the goofball we call a saviour to look after." They both laughed.

"I told you she would say no." Aurora stated, confusing Cynder. Eclipse picked his head up, smiling at her. He was awake the whole time?

"I guess I was wrong." He wrapped his wings around her. "Thank you Cyn." She started laughing beneath him. "Should I go back to calling you Cynder?"

"Only you get to call me Cyn." She laughed as he released her.

"Okay."

"How come I don't get a cute nickname?" Aurora's protest made her laugh more.

"Your name is hard to make a nickname for." He smiled at her.

"What about Rora? That sounds fine to me."

"Why would I call you Rora? You can't even roar." Their smiles grew larger.

"I can roar! Watch this." She sounded like a baby lion.

"So scary." His mockery earned him another smack and a disgruntled dragoness. "Love you."

"Love you too." She mumbled before flipping back over with a, "Hmph."

She stayed with them a bit longer before leaving to find Spyro. She was proud of herself for finally giving up on getting him back. She settled on loving him as a brother, though it would take some getting used to. She smiled at the thought of having this talk with Spyro. This is long overdue anyway.