The Prince And The Dragon

Written By: Panda-ko!
A/N: Everyone who reviewed – thank you~. It helps with W'SB, y'know. :3

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Another long, boring week later, Ivan and Yao were talking around a blazing camp fire about the day, their families, and anything that came to mind.
How they were around a camp fire and not in the cage room was something Ivan rather regretted. . . .
Said prince had been in the middle of telling Yao about how he wished Natalia would just die somewhere – most preferably in a pit with a couple of pythons and maybe an alligator, but of course he wouldn't tell Yao that – said crazy princess popped into the room and began to try and kill Yao.
This led to Ivan fake-crying loudly, and Natalia left them alone, but then Yao said he wanted out.
So that was why they were in the woods of [insert Russian word for Yellow Forest here] instead of the palace.

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"Yao."

Said other looked up from his drawing on the sandy ground.

"Yes, aru?"
"Will you. . . . Can you ever become human again?"

Yao frowned for a moment, then turned back to the ground.

"Yes, aru. I can. Why?"

Ivan tilted his head slightly.

"How?"

Yao twitched, visibly annoyed at being asked so many questions.
Ivan pouted slightly and put on his best kicked puppy face.

"Yao~. . . . I wanna knoooooow."
"Who said I wasn't going to tell you aru!"

Yao glared at him, but when he saw Ivan's teary eyes, he sighed.

"Aiya, don't be that way aru! I'll tell you, okay?"
"Yay!"

Ivan laughed and threw his arms around Yao's neck, resulting in the poor man nearly choking.

"Aiya, stop it aru!"

Ivan let go, and Yao leaned on a tree trunk to stare into the starry Heavens.

"Well, there are two ways aru."

He held up two fingers, and Ivan nodded.

"Go on, da."
"Well, the easiest way is to kiss someone that loves you, like in the stories aru."
"Then why don't I just kiss you?"

Ivan suddenly looked more eager than he'd ever in past days, and Yao shook his head furiously.

"No aru! I have to love the person back aru, so that isn't possible."

Yao looked back up at the sky, not noticing the now-disappointed look on Ivan's face.

"What's the other thing you have to do then, da?"
"Well, go back to the person who did this to me and demand he change me back aru."

He shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Ivan sighed inaudibly and threw a stick into the fire.

"What happens if he doesn't?"
"Then I have the other option aru."

Ivan thought for a minute and folded his arms.

"Well. . . . Okay. Are there. . . . risks if you don't become human again. . . ?"

Yao nodded.

"If I don't get him to lift the spell, or if I don't find someone that I really do love aru, before I'm twenty-four, then I'll lose my soul and become a mindless dragon that'll just kill aru."

Ivan frowned and threw another stick into the fire, which was about dead.

"Is that bad?"

Yao glanced at him, looking incredulous.

"Of course it's bad aru! Mindless dragon that will do nothing but kill. Does that sound good?"

Ivan reddened slightly and shook his head.

"No. . . ."
"Exactly aru. You are so silly. . . . I certainly feel sorry for your subjects when you ascend the throne aru."

He turned his head to the sky once more, rather haughtily, and Ivan felt a pang of sadness.

If you hadn't said you didn't love me back, I would've picked you up a second ago and said 'but you're going to help me with complicated decisions, da.'

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It was a couple of hours later that Yao had finally gone to sleep, and Ivan was watching the fire.
He was thinking about what Yao had said earlier, when they were talking.

'I have to love the person back.'

That basically meant, to Ivan, that Yao didn't see him that way.
And he'd basically just blurted out his feelings for the man, but Yao didn't seem to notice.

"I suppose. . . . Feeling something for you is wrong."

Ivan whispered to the sleeping form of the other.
Yao just mumbled something unintelligible and turned over.
Ivan laughed lowly, bitterly to himself, then sighed and slid under his blanket.

"I suppose it's not meant to be."

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"Yao, I had an idea last night after you fell asleep."

Yao glanced at Ivan from his perch on a tree branch.
Ivan grinned.

"What's your idea, aru?"

Ivan pouted and pointed to the ground beside him.

"Sit beside me, first."

Yao scowled, saw Ivan's pout, and gave in.

"Fine, aru."

He hopped down, to the space beside him, and looked slightly interestedly at the prince.

"So aru? What's your idea aru?"

Ivan smiled and clapped his hands excitedly.

"I can take you to that person that turned you into a dragon, da!"

Yao looked confused for a minute and leaned back, as if to study him from afar.

"What aru?"
"I said, I can take you to that person that turned you into a dragon so you can ask him to turn you back!"

They were quiet for a moment, staring at each other.
Then Yao, in a rare moment of childish affection, threw his arms around Ivan, hugging him tightly.

"Would you really, aru?"
"Da!"

Ivan hugged him back, causing Yao to blush slightly.

"Thank you, aru. . . ."
"You're welcome, da! Anything for my little sunflower~."

He giggled, and Yao pulled away.

"Where did you come up with that nickname aru?"
"You look almost like a sunflower in the fire light, da, so I thought I'd call you that. I'll stop if you don't like it, though."

Yao shook his head, smiling slightly.

"No aru, it's fine. And thank you aru. Again."

Ivan smiled back.

"I already answered that."

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A/N: Okay, that's done. Now, time for your after-chapter questions.
Were they IC? Was everything understandable? That's pretty much all. . . . Please review now~. :3