Hehe! It's me againnnn! Sorry it took a little while...don't blame me.

Anywho while reading this feel free to look at my other fanfics...pwease...pwetty pwease?

[Grandpa's Shop

Even in his old age, Lao-Shi was not one to complain or sit idle while things had to be done—that's why he was scrubbing the hard wood floors of his shop diligently. He hummed lightly, bobbing his head to the rhythm in his head.

Of course, scrubbing the floors was Jake's job and he would get an ear full the second he walked through the door. At least that's what Lao-Shi always said before he felt bed for his grandson.

He was very proud that Jake was taking his dragon duties seriously now and days but deeply saddened for the reason. He had given Jake the option of taking off on days where he felt he, Jake, could use some rest. To Lao-Shi's dismay, Jake never took him up on the offers. At one point Jake became almost robotic in his labors around the shop.

Lao-Shi threw the scrubbing rag into the little bucket next to him, ignoring the dirty brown water that splashed his robes. He couldn't bring himself to yell at his grandson when for the last three years he's been struggling for things to say to his grandson. Small talk about the wheather had long since stopped working. He sighed and sat cross legged on the floor to think in the silence of his shop.

The little bell above his door chimed loudly, accompanied by the door flying open and two franticly excited teenage boys running in, "Grandpa!" Jake said excitedly.

Lao-Shi, not used to Jake being so happy, stared bedaffled, "Jake?" Spud dropped the briefcase in front of Lao-Shi and was nearly bursting at the seams with glee. Lao-Shi looked at it precariously and then smiled, "Thank you?"

"No! Look inside!" Jake urged.

Suspiciously Lao-Shi opened the case. He pulled out one of the pictures and eyed it warily, "She is quite pretty but who is it?" he asked, looking at some of the other pictures.

Spud couldn't contain himself, "Trixie! It's Trixie!"

Lao-shi dropped everything. His eyes suddenly got wide and his mouth went agape. A lump formed in his throat that seemed to block the entire airway, cutting him off to life giving oxygen. His lips began to quiver, his tongue felt dry and swollen, "No." he said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

Jake and Spud, both still beaming down at the old man, couldn't quite understand the meaning of Lao Shi's expression. Nevertheless they were still happy. Finally Trixie was able to be found and they were going to find her—that night.

Lao Shi bent down and got on his knees to gather up the scattered photos and papers, shoving them into the briefcase. He was focused on getting those pictures off his floor and out of the shop. He began muttering something in Chinese very quickly.

"Gramps?" Jake was now by his grandfather, wondering why the usually calm Lao Shi looked so stricken with fear and anxiety. "Gramps, what's wr…"

Lao Shi raised his hand to quickly silence his grandson. He shook his head slowly and turned away, shuffling towards his dirty water bucket. "Where did you get these photos?" he asked, not looking at either of them.

Spud frowned, "We have our sources."

"We thought you'd be excited." Jake said.

Lao Shi's hand began to shake as he lifted the pail, "I-I am, Jake…" he said softly, in a way that gave Spud the notion that he did not mean it.

A smile that could light even the darkest recesses of the shadow world suddenly crept across Jake's face. Lao Shi couldn't see it but he felt it, an energy within Jake that had long since been snuffed out. He didn't dare take that happiness away from his grandson.

"Where's Fu?" Jake asked, the excitement in his voice made Lao Shi feel worse about what was bound to happen.

"In the back room."

The sound of Jake's footsteps retreating towards the hidden room in the back of the shop gave the old man a chance to sit and think. He pushed the bucket and the scrubbing brush away from him gently and sat cross legged on the hard wood floor.

"G?" Spud suddenly spoke up. He didn't follow Jake into the back room, something was telling him not to. His genius instinct.

"Yes, Spud?"

Sauntering across the floor carefully, Spud took a seat next to the old man, one elbow on his propped up knee. He didn't look at Lao Shi but could feel the air becoming colder around him, "Something is wrong, isn't it."

Lao Shi chuckled softly, "You truly are a genius." He sighed and leaned back a bit before twisting his neck left and right to crack it, relieving some bent of tension in the muscles, "Spud… you two can't go after Trixie tonight."

"What?" Spud said immediately after, eyes as wide as dinner plates, "You're joking! We can bring her home. After three long years she's can come home!"

Lao Shi shook his head.

For another minute and a half they sat in silence, listening carefully to Jake telling the story to Fu in the back room. He sounded to happy, so free. Spud let out a grunt, "Explain yourself."

"I'm not at liberty to explain anything to you, Spud."

With a hard glance, Spud rounded on the old man, "You think it's going to be any easier explaining it to Jake? Listen to him!" he jerked his thumb at the door. Once again Lao Shi fell dead silent.

As a way of trying to get rid of the subject, Lao Shi grabbed the scrubbing brush and began to run his fingers along the bristles. He just did not want to explain, especially not to Spud. He never thought he would have ti explain anything in the first place—The Council of Magic had been so careful over the years that—was this the beginning of their cautious system falling apart.

"Lao Shi!" Spud said with enough force to snapped the old dragon out of his thoughts.

It worked, Lao Shi looked at Spud with what looked to be tears forming in his eyes, "We've been so careful over the years." He blurted out.

"Careful? About what. I know you've been watching the pruned and stuff but…"

"No, no," Lao Shi put his hands up, "Careful about…" he looked towards the door to the back room.

Spud followed his water filled gaze and then frowned, "Why would you and the Council of Magic have to be careful about Jake? Does he have rabis?"

Spud's attempt to lighten the mood failed miserably. "Jake will be out of there soon and if you don't tell me then you'll have to tell him."

"You're right," he closed his eyes, one tear streaking down his wrinkled and aged face, "But what I tell you, you cannot tell Jake."

"Why?"

"I'll let you're superior intellect figure that one out when I'm done."

Lao Shi took a deep breath before continuing, weighing whether or not telling Spud was the best thing to do. Either way, knowing Spud, he would have found a way to get answers even without him.

"A while ago," Lao Shi began, "The Australian Dragon was fighting a member of the Huntsclan. It was a fair fight, one on one when…" he paused to make sure Jake was still talking to Fu dog, "While he thought he was gaining the upper hand by driving the foot soldier into the outback, he was really diving head first into an all out ambush."

Spud gave a small grunt of understanding mixed with shock. He didn't want to interrupt the flow of the story by voicing his opinion at that point.

"It was horrible, from what I hear through the network. Over fifty foot soldiers," he shuttered before continuing, "Fred was making quick work of them before those two showed up."

"Those two?"

"The Huntsman and Rose." He noticed how Spud quickly dropped his eyes to the floor. Any mention of Rose around Jake was taboo.

"So then what happened? Even with all these secrets, if Fred Nerk died then…"

"Let me finish." Lao Shi instructed. He cleared is throat, "He was fighting with the very last bit of his strength when they arrived and surely would have died if… if she hadn't barged in and took him away."

Spud groaned, "Let's use names, Lao Shi."

"Right, sorry. I like mystery in my stories. Now listen up." He looked away from Spud, the finally was coming, "After spending nearly a week in the hospital in critical condition and intensive care, the Australian Dragon woke up. The Council of Magic questioned him first, whatever he said to them wasn't much to go on, and that's when the Dragon Council came in. Fred told them everything down to every last detail, not that it was hard for him seemed to linger quite heavily on the person who saved his life… so to speak."

Spud leaned in closer, "Well."

Gramps sighed again, this time longer than all the others, "According to the report, Fred Nerk described his hero as a heroine. Black, long, whip-like ponytail, cat-like grace when she moved, midnight black eyes and long lashes to match…hourglass figure,"

"Trixie!" Spud gasped.

Lao Shi nodded.

"How long ago is a while?" Spud asked, referring to Lao Shi's earlier vague time frame. When the old man didn't speak up Spud asked the question again, this time with more force, "How long!?"

"One year ago…"

The fury on Spud's now red face did not go unnoticed, "One year! You found Trixie one year ago and didn't tell Jake!"

"Shoosh, shoosh! It was in Jake's best interest."

"My ass."

Lao Shi stood up and went to stand behind his counter with the register, "It was out of my hands. The Dragon Council ordered me not to say a thing to the American Dragon because he…"

"Was to emotional attached to the subjects involved, I know, Lao Shi." Spud ran to the counter so that he wasn't yelling any louder. He prayed that Jake hadn't heard anything yet, "But is the Dragon Council more important than your own grandson?"

Lao Shi was stricken by that question as though Spud had zapped him with some sort of paralysis spell. He hated the fact that Spud was right. He hated that no matter how much he loved his grandson he had to obey the Dragon Council, he was bound by magical law—that was his way of life. He frowned at Spud, who was glaring at him in the worst possible way, "Don't pretend to be so innocent, Spud."

Spud took a step back, not knowing what he meant.

"I may have been old back in the day but I was not blind," Lao Shi said, "You and Trixie… may have been more than friends if that night had never happened. And where would that have left Jake? Alone. That's what."

"What are you saying?" Spud was down to s whisper.

"I'm saying that you're not just mad for Jake, you're mad because you still love Trixie."

"L-love Tri-Trixie?"

Lao Shi chuckled, "And because I'm not completely blind, I clearly noticed the way Jake pined for her, yearned for her when she was gone. He feels the same way for her as you do."

"They were best friends. Jake—Jake and Rose."

"He may very well still feel something for Rose but feeling for Trixie developed shortly after…"

Spud was shaking now, backing away slowly from Lao Shi, "You lie."

"Do I?"

The back room door flew open and Jake appeared a smile still on his face. The smile slowly faded once he caught whiff of the tension in the room and the look on his best friend's face, "Spud…what's wrong, man?"

Spud made a hasty b-line for the door, "No-nothing. I'll see you later Jake." And then he all but sprinted out of the door and down the side walk.

Jake turned to Lao Shi, confusion and bliss all over his face, "What was with him?"

Lao Shi shrugged, beginning to wipe down the counter with a dingy brown rag, "He's always been a bit off."

Oh shiggety snap! Grampa ain't so lovin no, no, no.