Jake blinked at Lao Shi for about two seconds before he burst out laughing. Fu sighed and shook his head and Lao Shi looked annoyed. Jake continued to giggle while Lao Shi glared at his errant grandson. "It is not a joke," he said sternly.

"Dragons?" Jake asked. "Gramps, dragons don't exist. They're not real."

"And neither are talking dogs, right?" Fu asked Jake from his seat on the recliner.

Jake turned and stared at Fu. His mouth dropped open in shock and Fu grinned broadly. "What's the matter, kid? Never seen a dog talk before?"

Jake let out a half strangled squeak and promptly fell off the arm of the chair in his effort to get away from the talking dog.

Lao Shi calmly continued to sip his tea and waited patiently for his grandson's panic attack to wind down. "Th-th-the… Fu… he… dogs can TALK?" Jake asked finally.

"Eh, a few," Fu replied casually as he jumped down from the chair. "I'm also about two hundred years old, but that's not the point."

"No, it's not," Lao Shi said slowly as he set his empty tea cup down.

"Dragons?" Jake asked weakly as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Lao Shi nodded and stood up. Jake watched with wide eyes as his grandfather raised out his arms and in a swirl of light his tiny frame disappeared to give way to a slender, lizard like appearance. He was thin, lank and a very deep blue color. Jake did everything he could to process what had just happened in the past few moments and found himself coming up short. He swayed a little, and Lao Shi quickly returned to his human form.

"Kid, stay with us," Fu said in a rough voice and bit Jake gently on the arm. Jake winced and weakly swatted the dog away. Fu backed off but quickly came back over when Jake groaned and put his head in his hands.

"I know it's a lot to take in…" Lao Shi began.

"Take in? Take in?!" Jake asked angrily, glaring at his grandfather. "First of all, I'm still half convinced this is a bad dream and that I'll wake up and everything will be fine. Second of all, why did NO ONE TELL ME?" Jake yelled. "Does mom know? Does Haley or Dad know? I mean, what kind of family is this if you keep this big of a secret from me? 'Oh hey Jake, by the way, you're NOT HUMAN.' I mean what kind of wake up call is that? What is wrong with you, gramps?" Jake yelled, finally running out of breath and cutting off his rant to take in some air.

Lao Shi looked at Jake with something akin to sadness in his eyes. "Well, I admit it wasn't the wisest of decisions." Jake snorted rudely but Fu put a paw on his leg and Lao Shi continued. "However, it was your mother's wish that you not know until you were old enough to control your magic. By the way, yes your mom knows. She is a dragon as well, however she cannot transform or use very powerful magic as the ability to awaken her magic skipped her generation. Your father and Haley do not know. Your dad is human and Haley is also a dragon but she cannot control her magic yet either. As for the reason no one has told you, that will take a bit longer to explain."

Jake frowned and stood up. "Couldn't someone said something? Anything?" he asked.

Lao Shi shook his head and patted the cushion next to him on the couch. Jake stood where he was and crossed his arms over his chest in open defiance. "If you wish to know about why we kept the secret then come over here," Lao Shi said quietly.

Jake glared at his grandfather for a bit longer before walking over and taking a seat on the couch. Lao Shi leaned over and brought out a thick, leather bound book from underneath the coffee table. Fu trotted over and jumped onto the couch as well. "Oh goodie," he said in a smarmy voice. "I love story time."

Both Jake and Lao Shi gave Fu dirty looks and the dog shut his mouth. Lao Shi opened the book and a clear, 3-D image appeared over the yellowing pages. "This country, the United States has been in a state of unrest for many years," Lao Shi began. "It's magical population has fought amongst its self for centuries and without any leaders no one has been able to stop them."

"Why?" Jake asked.

"They never listened," Lao Shi said with a sigh and pointed to the picture. It was a map of the state with little red dots all over it. "These are all battles that have been fought in the state of New York alone over the past five hundred years."

Jake looked at it and his eyes widened. "That many?" he asked.

Lao Shi nodded.

"But what does that have to do with me?" Jake asked. "I mean, why hide it from me?"

"Dragons are the creatures of balance in this world," Lao Shi said gently. "We are the ones that other magical creatures look up to for protection and guidance because we are very powerful. Every country has a dragon representative, leading and helping the magical population that lives within its borders. Every country except the United States."

Jake shifted uncomfortably. "Um… gramps… you don't mean…"

"About seven years ago you were chosen to be this country's first American Dragon by the High Council," Lao Shi said sternly. "You are the oldest natural born dragon in this country and they believed you had shown certain qualities then that would make you a good candidate."

"B-but… I'm a kid," Jake said. "I'm in middle school, I can barely get through history without falling asleep. What do you mean 'American dragon'?" Jake asked.

"However that isn't something you need to worry about yet. You only need to worry about controlling your magic and transformation. The rest will come with time. Also, I will be in charge of your training, young one," Lao Shi said with a smile. "This won't all happen at once."

Jake still looked extremely unhappy. "But still. Why not tell me?"

"Your mother did not want you to live with this over your head your entire childhood," Lao Shi said. "And I agreed with her."

"Oh," Jake said quietly. "I…" he shook his head as if to clear it. "Are you sure this isn't some whacked out dream, G?" he asked.

Lao Shi smiled at the return of Jake's regular speech pattern. At the very least his grandson was getting comfortable with the idea. Baby steps were needed to start this because the next step was a big one. "Yes, I am sure."

Jake sighed and rubbed his head. Finally he fingered his hair and looked at it. "Is that why my hair is green?" he asked. "I know mom 'dyes' it cause she thinks it's cute but… I picked up two years ago that she doesn't do it right."

Lao Shi grinned and nodded. "I was wondering if you had noticed that. And yes, that is most likely why. Most dragons have something that sets them apart from other humans. It can be more noticeable in some then others."

"Huh," Jake murmured. He stood up and looked a little dazed as if his brain couldn't keep up with the information being given to him. He raised his arms over his head to stretch out and winced at the pain in his shoulder blades. "G, why did you say all this after I told you my back hurt?" Jake asked slowly as he let his arms fall to his sides.

"Well, my guess is that your wings are about to ready to show," Lao Shi replied.

Jake sat back down on the couch in surprise. "Wings?" he asked. "B-but, you don't have those."

"I'm from China," Lao Shi explained. "Every dragon takes on the form that is suited to the country he or she is born in."

"I'm the first one!" Jake yelled. "How do you know I have wings?"

"Because your shoulders hurting is a sign of that," Lao Shi replied. "And your wings and tail will materialize first because those are parts of you that magic has been hiding all these years. Everything else you will have to learn how to control and transform but your wings and tail will come first."

"Oh joy," Jake muttered. "I have school tomorrow you know, and Haley and dad probably won't accept any stories I tell. Do you know when this is all gonna go down?"

"Well, we can wait for it to happen on it's own or you can take control of your own chi and materialize them on your own. However, you will not be able to return to school until you are able to hide them again," Lao Shi warned.

Jake adopted a smug look. "Well, I've been doing it for twelve years without knowing. How hard can it be?"

"Don't fool yourself kid," Fu warned. "Learning to control magic is very hard and it's going to be months before you can completely control your transformation."

"That's just 'cause you've never seen Mac Daddy Jake try it," Jake said with a grin.

Fu rolled his eyes and Lao Shi smiled. "Very well, we shall try it tonight. It should also help the pain in your shoulders go away once you learn how to properly control the chi flow."

Jake nodded. "Okay, sounds good G."

Two hours later Jake was sitting across from his grandfather and looking at him intently. "Okay, it hurts," Jake said.

"Concentrate on where it hurts, young one, not the pain its self," Lao Shi said gently. "You want to feel the wings as an extension of yourself."

Jake closed his eyes but ended up opening them again after half a minute. "Sorry, but…"

"Let's try something different then," Lao Shi decided. "Concentrate on the pain as something else. You're hurting because the chi flow is unbalanced and your wings are starting to grow. You need to open the chi flow so that you can materialize your wings and stop the pain. You'll still have growing pains but it won't hurt as much."

"Jake closed his eyes again and tried. After a little while he opened one and grinned. "Hey G, if this is part of growing, think I'll get taller soon?"

"One thing at a time, young one," Lao Shi said patiently.

Jake sighed and visualized everything his grandfather had told him too. The pain increased as it had the past ten times he tried it but instead he tried to visualize the 'chi flow' or in his case he pictured a river, as that was the closest to 'flow' he could get. The pain intensified for a second and then he felt no pressure on his back. For the first time in two weeks he felt no pain in his back. He opened his eyes, stood up and grinned.

Fu whistled and sat across from Jake. "Wow kid, your wingspan is huge. You won't be able to hide those for awhile," he said with a laugh.

Jake glanced back and saw two large wings in his peripheral vision. The upper part of the wings went well over his head and the lower tip reached to his knees. He blinked several times, trying to process it. Experimentally he tried to flap them and to his surprise the command was followed. Lao Shi put a hand on Jake's shoulder and shook his head. "We won't fly yet," he said. "You must first learn to control the magic. Try and visualize the chi flow stopping."

"No prob," Jake said easily. "Watch me," he told them and closed his eyes again. He opened them again and Fu was smirking quietly at him.

"Sorry kid," Fu said, almost apologetically. "It's going to take awhile."

"But… I told Trixie and Spud I was gonna hit the half pipe with them tomorrow," Jake said with a groan. "I'll get it, watch me."

Lao Shi quietly left the room as Jake stood and continued his attempts to bring in his wings.

Jake concentrated again on his chi flow, imagining the river again. If it worked before maybe it would work in reverse. His concentration was ruined as Fu began to laugh. "Fu," he growled.

"Sorry kid but I think that was the last thing you were trying to do," Fu said while pointing at Jake with a paw.

Jake blinked and looked down to where Fu was pointing. He saw a very long red tail draped over table directly behind him. He quickly thought about moving it off the table and it followed his command instantly. He continued to blink in confusion for a few more seconds before letting out a loud cry of frustration.

Lao Shi heard this in the other room and Fu's laughter following. He poked his head back into the room and nodded to Jake who was now throwing a pillow at Fu. "You have learned the first lesson," Lao Shi said calmly. "Nothing will come easily and excess pride will only slow you down."

So, when Jake is stressed or serious he doesn't use slang as much but when he's fine then he doesn't care. Awww, looks like he got himself in a little pickle huh? Ah well, it's his fault for being too over confident. Hope you guys liked it, it was kinda hard to write because I really didn't know what kind of reaction he should have. So, hugs and cookies to my reviewers and here's to an awesomely happy New Year's with more frequent updates. Yay!