I thank artsygeek9796, SilveryLining1 and FurballFairy948 for helping.

It is said that many years ago, the Crimson Dragon God took on a human form and came down from the heavens to rule and became our kingdom's first Sovereign, still known as the Crimson Dragon King to this day. However, not long after the Crimson Dragon became human, he was forced to fight with the people he had loved and ruled as evil quickly seeped into his subject's hearts. They had forgotten the gods they once adored and the kingdom fell to ruin, and the people, in their desperate thirst for power, seized the Crimson Dragon King. Seconds before the people were set to kill their ruler, the heavens opened and the other four Dragon Gods descended to the Earth.

"Crimson Dragon, we have come to save you. Destroy these faithless humans, for they have no love, and return with us to heaven."

But the Crimson Dragon refused their request.

"No. Even if the humans hate me, even if they betray me, I cannot stop my love for them. They have taught me what it is to truly feel."

The Dragons loved their Crimson brother very much and respected his wish, swearing to watch over him. In order to protect the Crimson Dragon, the others gave some of their blood to four human warriors who were loyal to their friend, thereby granting each man one of their powers.

One was given sharp claws that could cut through any earthly material. Another, the sharpest eyesight with which he could see for miles. The third was given the power to jump high into the heavens above and the fourth obtained a strong, impenetrable body.

"From this day forward, you shall act as our avatars. We have granted you our power so you may protect the Crimson Dragon. It is your duty to defend him with your lives."

These warriors, armed with the powers of dragons, lead the clans of the kingdom and protected their master, restoring order in the land previously mired in chaos.

In time, the Crimson Dragon King grew weary of battle and retired to his eternal rest. At long last, the Dragon Warriors' work was complete. They mourned the loss of their master deeply and cried over his lifeless form, but they didn't know if the tears they cried were really because they love the man or if it was the blood of dragons in their veins that cried out for their fallen friend.

After their king's death, the dragon warriors felt their powers were too much for humans to comprehend and made the humans fear their strength. As a result, they left the clans they had led and disappeared, never to be heard from again. Those people of the clans who remained behind formed the five lands of the Kouka Kingdom we know today.

"Read it again, Mama!" a three year old girl said, looking up at her mother.

"Again? You've heard me read it so many times YOU could tell me the story," she answered with a soft giggle, "anyway, it's time for bed. If you want, I'll tell you the story again tomorrow."

Yawning, the little girl snuggled into her pillow and felt her mother kiss her goodnight before she fell into slumber.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun shone over the village, where a couple of children were playing with wooden tops. One of them was the little girl laughing among them.

"Ready, spin it!" one shouted.

"Go!" another cheered.

They spin another top, and when they hit, one of them gets knocked out and flew away.

"Yes!" the boy laughed as he went to retrieve it. But stopped when appeared a little boy wearing a cat-eared mask with the top in his hands.

The other kids gasped, murmuring about him being the fearsome Blue Dragon. But the little sapphire haired girl wasn't afraid. She heard the villagers warn about the Blue Dragon being a monster, but this was just a kid their age.

He spoke out in a shy, quiet voice. "Uh, sorry. But... can I... can I please watch you play?"

His only response was their screams as they ran.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?" The little girl shouted. She looked back at the Blue Dragon. He was just a few inches taller than her and his hair was a lighter blue than hers. She wanted to approach him, to know him. But standing behind him was a large man that towered over them. He had blue hair like the boy, but it was much longer and flowed wildly behind him. He also wore a mask too, but instead of cute cat ears, sharp horns were attached. And behind that mask, she could feel him glaring at her, intimidating her.

She ran off and hid from the scary man. 'Surely that was the real Blue Dragon!'

"Blue Dragon!" the man called to the boy.

The little boy gasps, the top fell out his hand. "Ao!"

Ao roughly grabs the boy. "Come on!"

They walked by villagers, they would back up in fear and gasp with terror in their eyes. But the girl was carefully following them so they wouldn't hear her, though they could see her with their dragon eyes.

Someone scolded her and call her by name.

"Hui-Ying!"

She looked back for the source. It wasn't her mother, just some of the villagers.

Their eyes warned her not to go near them, and they motioned for her to stay, although she disagreed.

"He's not a danger to us," she tried to reason with them.

"Foolish girl! Why can't you just listen to your elders and do as you are told?!" They never understood her, but she refused to cry in front of them.

"Because you're all blind!" she yelled and ran off, away from the villagers.

Hui-Ying followed them to their hut and listened to their conversation. She couldn't understand, not that she couldn't make out the words, for she had strong ears that hear very well.

"I told you to stay here when I'm gone," Ao scolded, "You never listen to me."

The Blue Dragon hung his head apologetically. "Sorry... Ao. It's just... all that I want is a friend."

"Is that right? So have you made any friends yet?! Huh?! You're not even close! Those little jerks don't wanna be friends with you!" he said harshly.

Hui-Ying wanted to go in there, to say that she wanted to be his friend, but couldn't because Ao might lose his temper again and try to hurt her. Blue Dragon could've mentioned the one girl that didn't run away from him. Instead he flinched at his words and tried to appear smaller.

Ao sighed. "Geez, you're always getting into trouble."

"Sorry," the young Blue Dragon said, "Hey, Ao, do you mind if I ask you something about the villagers? Why do they run away from us? I don't understand. The power that we have, is it a curse like they say?"

Ao closed his eyes as he spoke. "Anyone who looks into our eyes turns to stone."

He gasped in shock, as well as Hui-Ying from outside their window.

"That's what they say. It's a lie the villagers have be propagating for centuries," he explained, "Our power won't turn them to stone, but it paralyzes their nerves and in some cases, it can even stop their hearts from beating. It's a frightening power; it's very dangerous. It would kill us if they thought it could."

Hui-Ying listened to the Blue Dragon whimpering in fear, but then jumped back when she heard the man slam his hand on the wall.

"Stop crying! You're not cursed!" Ao shouted angrily.

"But I am cursed! Everybody wants me dead!" the boy said through his tears.

"Yeah, that's right! Your whole existence is a curse, granted on you by the Blue Dragon!"

Hui-Ying flinched at his harsh words, his voice filled with bitterness and hatred, his golden eyes hard and teeth gritting as he raged on.

"Damn it! I don't know why this ancient power haunts this village! One dragon dies, one takes it's place! Why won't it just end when we die so people can be free from the burden of their fear?!"

Another slam of frustration. Another shudder down her spine.

"But they make up these lies that do nothing but make it worse for themselves!"

Scared, she felt she had heard enough of the Blue Dragon's curse, and began to run home.

The door slams, a woman looks up from her sewing to see a little girl trudging in.

"Hui-Ying, you're home," she welcomes the girl with a warm smile.

Hui-Ying lifts her face to meet her mother's gaze. "Mama, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," her mother assures her. She motions her to sit beside her, Hui-Ying comforted in her embrace.

"Why do the villagers treat the Blue Dragon so badly when he's one of the heroes of the story?"

Her mother blinked, slightly taken back by her question, and sighed heavily before giving her response.

"The Blue Dragon is a very powerful man. And many fear that kind of power, because they don't understand it."

Hui-Ying listened intensely as she spoke.

"Ao, the one mentoring the young dragon, is a very fierce man. But back then, I didn't see him as a threat. He protected the village and kept us safe, even when he was isolated. He found it in his heart to accept that role, and it was something I admired deeply about him, that I couldn't ignore him like everyone else has."

"You fell in love with the Blue Dragon?" the girl asked in awe.

Her mother smiled fondly. "I did. He was wary of me at first, as expected since the rest of the village was wary of him. But he soon warmed up to me, and we became close friends."

"So then you know that the Blue Dragon would never hurt anyone!"

Her face fell at that statement. "No, Hui-Ying, that's not true."

"But you said he was good!"

"At heart he is, but his power made him dangerous."

"Because they don't understand it, but you do! Why can't you tell the villagers that he'd never hurt them?"

"Because he had hurt one of the villagers," she said, her eyes shut as she recalls the memory, "Years ago, I had caught the interest of one of the villagers. He was very forceful when he grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Ao had come to my rescue and the two of them fought. But during the fight, his mask had fallen off. And when the man met his eyes, he went stiff and collapsed. I could never forget the look of pure fear in his eyes, the tears that fell from them, screaming when his mouth couldn't…. He had been paralyzed for almost a week. After that, the villagers kept away from him like he was a monster….. And I did too."

"But didn't you loved him?"

"I feared him more." Her mother looked away, her voice filled shame and sadness as she spoke. "Hui-Ying, I'm not saying that the villagers are right for how the treat the Blue Dragon, but I understand why they do. The power he has can kill someone. No matter how good a person may be, when granted that power, he will always be alone."

"But that's not fair!" she cried stubbornly, "The blue dragon is a hero! It's in the story!"

"Just because he's the hero from the story, it doesn't mean he'll get a happy ending."

It struck loud in Hui-Ying's mind. 'Just because he's the hero from the story, it doesn't mean he'll get a happy ending.' But shouldn't he? Shouldn't the little dragon that was destined to protect us, get the friend he wanted so badly? The kind, gentle boy that wanted to play with them, why does he have to be alone? Why does he have to endure that kind of suffering? Why do all the Blue Dragons? She then realized just how unfair the world could be, but that didn't mean she would go along with it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hui-Ying watched the young Blue Dragon from a distance, peeking from a large tree as he picked a flower from the ground. He's alone, as expected, in a quiet spot away from the village, but she doesn't know how to approach him.

"I know you're there," he says to her, so she steps out to face him. He's wearing his cute little mask so... she can't read the expression on his face, but she assumes he's probably not happy that she was watching him.

"I didn't mean to spy," she explains, "I just wanted to talk to you. I'm Hui-Ying."

He doesn't reply, and there's an awkward silence between the two.

"I like your mask."

Still nothing. Still awkwardly silent.

"Um….oh! Look what I got." She reaches into the sleeve of her dress and pulls out a top. "Do you want to play?"

He takes a wary step back, stumbling onto the ground. "Why are you being nice to me?"

"I want to be your friend."

She could sense the hopefulness as he looked up to her before it was clouded with suspicion.

"Why? I'm cursed. Why would you want to be friends with someone like me?"

"You're not cursed, you're the Blue Dragon!" she said with such confidence.

"I'm the Blue Dragon, I'm a scary monster," he whimpered.

"You're not scary. I've seen bugs scarier than you. You're gentle and nice and cool!"

"I'm...cool?"

"The coolest kid in the whole village!"

He giggled, pushing himself up and offering the flower in his hand. "To my friend."

She smiled and took it.

"Where are you?!"

Hui-Ying stiffened. She recognized that voice. Ao. The Blue Dragon grabbed her by the hand and lead her to the bushes. Through the leaves, they watched as the man stumbled into view.

'It's strange', Hui-Ying thought, 'how he could make me feel scared of him and sad for him at the same time.' Her breath hitched as he came closer. He stepped towards where they were hiding, his giant form casting an ominous shadow over them. The space between them got smaller and smaller until he…..walked right past them.

"How were we able to hide from him?" she asked aloud.

"He's losing his eyesight."

She had heard the gossip of other villagers that Ao was going blind, but she didn't think it was actually true.

"It's because of me."

She didn't know what to say about that, she just patted him on the shoulder. To stop the Blue Dragon from turning gloomy, she jumped out of the bushes and with a friendly smile:

"Come on, let's go play!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hui-Ying returned home after another play date with the Blue Dragon. They had been meeting in secret for a while now, keeping it from everyone in the village. She hadn't even told her mother, although she had a feeling her mother already knew about it but never said anything. She looked up at her mother, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen. The Blue Dragon had told her that Ao's sight was getting worse, to the point he couldn't recognize the little dragon unless he spoke. Hui-Ying knew this meant that his time is almost up.

"Mama?" she called upon her.

"Yes baby?" Her mother glanced down at her daughter when she spoke.

"You know…..Ao is going blind."

She paused for a minute, hearing his name. "Yes, I heard."

"He could be gone any day now."

"I'm sure he will be at peace when his time comes."

"Don't you think…." Hui-Ying trailed, not sure how to tell her, "now would be a good time to see him once more?"

Her mother frowned deeply as she thought about it. "No, I couldn't."

"Why not?" Hui-Ying asked.

"It was a long time ago when we once knew each other."

"He'd still remember you."

"That's what I'm afraid of. That when he sees me, he remembers how I betrayed him and left him alone."

"He might forgive you."

"I can't imagine what's worse: that he could never forgive me for what I've done, or after everything I did that hurt him so much, after so many years, he's able to forgive."

Being so young and frustrated, she couldn't understand why her mother wouldn't go. 'There was so little time left, why is she hesitating?'

"You have to see him before it's too late!"

"No, Hui-Ying. It's for the best," she said adamantly.

The little girl couldn't believe it. Her mother wouldn't go see her old friend that she loved so much, even when he was dying! 'She's thinking so selfishly,' she concluded angrily, 'she's just like the others!'

"How could you?!" she yelled at her mother, "You said you loved him! Why won't you just go see him?! If you can't look past the Blue Dragon title and see who he truly is, then you're just as blind and foolish as the rest of the village!"

And with that, she stormed out of the house.