Soooo sorry about the long absence. Studying for finals, then two weeks of actual finals, end of course exams, AP tests, end of the years projects... It was insanity. But it's summer now and I'm free, and updates should be much more frequent. We're getting pretty close to the end, actually. *happy squeal*

People gape, cry out, and scream as they fly over Ba Sing Se, but Kyuri ignored that as Zuko steered her towards his apartment. He climbed down Sangilak's tail at her prompting and droped into the apartment, looking around. It wasn't much, certainly nothing like the Fire Palace, but it was better than the road, and it had been home for a while. Zuko was a bit sad to leave as he packed his few clothes into his bag and went back out the window, scrambling back up Sangilak's tail.

Kyuri moved easily on his back as the dragon's body rose and fell with the wing beats. She tied down Zuko's bags and resumed her seat, all the while Zuko clutched a spike to stay in place and watched her in awe.

"How do you do that?" he demanded.

"Practice," she said with a shrug. "When a dragon and Dragora are truly one, she can ride from anywhere, even the tail. Well, that's not entirely true. Don't try to ride the wings."

Zuko glanced back at the furry tip of Sangilak's tail and winced. He really didn't like to think about anyone riding back there, let alone her.

"Where are we going?" Zuko asked.

"Away from Ba Sing Se. Towards the Eastern Sea," Kyuri said vaguely.

"And where then?" Zuko pressed.

"To the Island of Flame," Kyuri said. "I'm going to call a Gathering."

"A Gathering?" Zuko repeated, confused.

"A Gathering of dragons and their Dragora. There are a few of us out there in hiding. We were planning an attack on the Fire Nation capitol and we can't take the five dragons your father has in his service with just me and Sangilak."

"You have the power to call dragons and their Dragora together?" Zuko blinked. "But how? Do you know where they all are, or….?"

"I don't have to know," Kyuri said, shaking her head as they descended into a clearing. Night was falling, and it was time to set up camp.

"So what are you going to do?" Zuko pressed as she slid off Sangilak and sat on the ground, cross-legged, her wrists resting easily on her knees. Sangilak moved to stand behind her and lowered his head over hers. His chin settled on her crown ever so gently, his breath stirring her hair. "Kyuri-?"

"Silence!"

Zuko stepped back at the harsh voice in his head and looking at Sangilak edgily. The dragon was glaring at him with burning yellow eyes. Wisely, he kept silent, and sat down near her, watching intently and wondering what she was doing. Sangilak's eyes closed again, bony eyelids shutting with a click, and his breathing began to slow. It took Zuko a moment to realize that Kyuri's was slowing too, and that they matched perfectly. He opened his mouth, unable to resist his curiosity, when Kyuri's eyes snapped open, bloody red. A low thrumming vibrated in the air, more felt that heard, and it made Zuko's hair stand on end. The animals in the forest went nuts, chirping and chattering as the fled the area. The thrumming became audible and Zuko realized it was Sangilak growling deep in his chest. Almost instantly afterwards he realized that it wasn't just Sangilak, but Kyuri too.

Sangilak's head snapped back and his snout lifted into the air as he parted his teeth and roared. Below him, Kyuri's head snapped up as well, red eyes glowing in the night as she pulled her lips back into a snarl and let out an amazingly draconic roar that harmonized with Sangilak. Zuko sat there, staring in awe as they two roared for a solid minute and a half.

They finished and slumped, lowering their faces and closing their mouths. The forest was dead silent but for the ringing echo.

"It's done," Kyuri said softly as her eyes faded back to blue, her voice scratchy.

"What's done?" Zuko demanded, moving to her side and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she swayed. "What was that?"

"The Summoning," Kyuri explained, leaning on him willingly as she stretched her legs out in front of her. "Every dragon will have heard that."

"It was loud, but it can't possibly have been that loud," Zuko said skeptically.

"It wasn't a physical shout. It was a mental shout. What you heard was only an echo of what it actually was," Kyuri explained with a small smile. "I had to be very careful to keep from causing you brain damage, what with you so close and me never having done that before."

"What… could have happened?" Zuko asked slowly.

"Paralysis, cranial bleeding, deafness, stroke, memory loss," Sangilak said, his tone mocking. "Nothing too regrettable."

"I don't think your dragon likes me," Zuko whispered to Kyuri.

"I can hear you no matter how quietly you talk."

"Play nice you two," Kyuri said sternly, flicking Sangilak's nose. The dragon snorted and pulled back, chastened. There was silence in their little clearing and Zuko could actually watch as Kyuri's face fell into deep sadness and pain. He scooted closer, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her against his chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"No," Kyuri whispered back, and Zuko felt wet drops on his shirt. He knew she was crying and he wanted to burn every single one of her friends for leaving her like this.

"I thought I had built the perfect defense," Kyuri said softly. "If you're never close to anyone, they can never hurt you. You stay strong. But I slipped. I let people in. Katara, Sokka, Aang, Toph. I let them all in and they all just… I've never seen Sokka look at anyone like that," she said, her voice haunted. "And he was looking at me."

"You still have me," Zuko said soothingly as he stroked her back. "I'm not much of a consolation prize."

"No," Kyuri said, pulling away from him and sitting up. She raised a hand and wiped the tears from her face. Her expression was calm and dispassionate. Zuko knew that she would never let him see her hurting for very long. He was amazed she'd let him see her cry for this long. It could be a problem later on for them, her insistence on people being kept at arm's length, but for now, he understood.

"You stood by me when they didn't," she said, shaking her head. She stretched out a hand and cupped his jaw, stroking the edge of his scar with the tips of her fingers. "We used to be enemies, but you showed more loyalty and care for me than people I've known most of my life. That… means more to me than I'll probably ever be able to express."

She leaned forwards and Zuko met her halfway, mouth slanting to fit over hers. They kissed softly as night fell, therapeutic for Kyuri and reassuring for Zuko. She reveled in the feeling of having someone there while Zuko was relieved she hadn't drawn back into her shell and was still just as open with him as ever.

"We should sleep," Zuko said finally, pulling back regretfully. Kyuri sat in front of him, her hair ruffled from where his hands had been running through the short, silky locks. Her eyes were ever so slightly glassy and her color was high, her lips slightly swollen. She looked thoroughly kissed, and thoroughly happy about it as well. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of seeing her like that.

"We don't have any blankets," he realized with a frown as Kyuri gathered herself.

"We don't need them," she said, standing up and pulling Zuko over. She stretched out on the grass with one arm cushioning her head. Zuko lay beside her, curious.

"I'm still cold," he said. Kyuri chuckled slightly and tapped Sangilak's scales. "Sang?"

A wing wooshed out overhead and Zuko suddenly found himself encased in blue-tinted darkness. The air was warm, heated by Sangilak's body. He could faintly see little webs of tracery in the wing above him, veins working through the membrane. Slowly he fell asleep to the sound of Kyuri's breathing.

Kyuri's eyes fluttered open in the morning feeling delightfully warm. She pushed back against the warmth she was leaning against and felt it shift. She realized it wasn't Sangilak's scaled side as she'd thought, but human skin covered in a thin shirt. Kyuri stiffened for a moment as she realized she was cuddled up against Zuko, that the weight draped over her hip was his arm, but then she relaxed and accepted it, lying there is a dazed, half-awake state and basked in his warmth. Slowly, she felt him come alive, and that was when she rolled in his grip, pulling free.

"Where're ya goin'?" Zuko said tiredly. Kyuri looked back at him and smiled at his groggy expressing and bed head. He looked, dare she say it, adorable like that.

"We've got to get on the road," Kyuri said. "Some of them will already be there."

"Some of who?" Zuko asked, still out of it as he sat up.

"The Dragora and dragons," Kyuri said with a snort. "The Gathering. Remember?"

"Oh, right," he said, standing up and stretching. Sangilak's wing pulled back and he blinked as sunlight hit him right in the eyes.

"Oops," Sangilak said with a gruff snicker.

"Bad dragon," Kyuri said sternly, tugging on one of his horns. "Be nice. I like him a lot, so you'll have to get used to him."

"If I must."

"Come on," Kyuri said, mounting Sangilak. Zuko got up behind her and the dragon took off. The trip was quiet, mostly just interspersed with small talk, and by midday they were over water and heading to the mysterious island where the Gathering would take place. Zuko noticed that the closer they got, the tenser Kyuri became.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked.

"Well," Kyuri began slowly. "Technically, I'm not allowed to call a Gathering. I'm not that highly ranked."

"Highly ranked?" Zuko blinked.

"Dragora have ranks, although they're actually based on the dragon they've bonded with. Hatchling, fledgling, hunter, blooded, and matriarch. There is only one matriarch," Kyuri explained. "A hatchling is one who's only had one Dragora. A fledgling has achieved the Meld with at least once, as Sangilak and I have. I'm a step above, a hunter. A hunter is one who has seen battle while joined with a Dragora. Not just a fight, but a true battle, in a war. The blooded are tied to dragons who have slain another dragon and Dragora pair. The new matriarch is chosen by the previous matriarch before she dies. Only a blooded can call a Gathering. Traditionally, even they don't call Gatherings. It's usually the matriarch. The blooded could be seen as generals," Kyuri summed up.

"Do you still have a matriarch?" Zuko pressed. "I mean… Was she killed when my great-grandfather… started hunting dragons?"

"Oh no," Kyuri chuckled. "It would take a lot more than a Fire Lord to take down Matriarch Zhenzhu."

"You've met her?" Zuko gaped.

"I've seen Sangilak's memories of her."

"But… she'd have to be over a hundred!"

"A hundred and forty three I think," Kyuri shrugged.

"That's impossible!"

"Not for a Dragora. Age doesn't affect us like it does others. We're tied to dragons, and they're immortal. We're not immortal by a long shot, but we can make it to one hundred and fifty or even two hundred. That's rare though, because, like I told Aang," she chocked slightly on the name, "most Dragora are warrior-scholars. They travel to enforce justice. Lots of times, the people they're against fight back. Sometimes they win. It's a fact of life for us, that we probably won't get to die of old age."

Zuko paused. "But… that means that you'll outlive me. By a lot." He frowned. "I probably won't live past ninety, and you might have double that."

"No," Kyuri shook her head. "I doubt I'll have that long. I'll probably throw myself into a fight and end up dying on the point of a sword."

"Don't talk like that!" Zuko snapped. Kyuri rotated and looked at him, surprised.

"Why not? It's just a fact."

"I don't like to think of you dead," Zuko said softly. Kyuri smiled and her cheeks darkened slightly.

"I… don't like to think of you dead either. It would hurt a lot, I think," she said with a contemplative frown as she turned back around. Zuko looked up as he felt them begin to descend and saw the fuzzy outline of an island drawing nearer every second.

"Is that the island?" he asked.

"Yes," Kyuri nodded as they swooped past as cliff. Zuko saw it was riddled with caves, some still bearing the scattered bones and twigs of kills and nests from dragons long dead.

"Are there still dragons here?" Zuko asked.

"In hibernation, yes," Kyuri nodded. "They can go into a meditative sleep. It can last for centuries if they wish it. They'll wake when the Gathering starts. The Matriarch will already be here."

"How do you know?"

"Because she never leaves. She's stays here to hold the fort, so to speak."

"What's she like?" Zuko probed interestedly as they landed in a forested area. He looked around but saw no buildings, no dragons, no hint of the Dragora at all.

"Never met her," Kyuri shrugged. "I don't think anyone has aside from the hunters and the blooded. They come and go as they please. A few stay all the time."

"I don't see any buildings," Zuko said, frowning into the trees. Kyuri raised an amused eyebrow.

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know, some kind of meeting hall at least, some places for the dragons to stay, a few houses."

"Oh, we have those," Kyuri said with a smile as she moved to a huge slab of rough-cut rock in the middle of the clearing. Sangilak stood next to her and Kyuri reached into her belt, drawing a knife.

"What are you doing?" Zuko demanded as she set the blade to her palm. He moved forwards to stop her but with a quick jerk, Kyuri had opened a long, bloody line on her hand.

"Calm down," Kyuri chuckled. "A blood proof has to be given," she said, gesturing to the rock. She knelt and held her hand over it. Three red drops glittered on the rock. The ground rumbled and the rock slid back, revealing a well-lit tunnel.

"Only a Dragora can do that," Kyuri said proudly as she licked the dripping blood from her palm and bound it with a rag.

"You Dragora," Zuko muttered under his breath as he followed her into the tunnel.

It was beautiful inside. The walls and ceiling were completely covered in carvings detailing dragons and their battles, what Zuko thought might be the beginning of the Dragora, and then long lineages of dragons and their Dragora as they moved farther and farther down. He noticed several short tunnels that split off, each with a symbol above it and a long series of carvings down to a wooden door etched with the same symbol burned into the wood.

"What are those rooms?" Zuko asked softly as they passed them. He felt certain that this wasn't the sort of place for one to be loud. The whole place seemed to exude this solemn, sacred feeling. He thought this might be what it felt like to stand inside an abandoned temple, except this place was in a state of perfect repair. There was not a single crack in the stone. The dragon-shaped sconce twined around the torches that lit the way were burnished to a golden shine. There were no cobwebs or dirt in any corner.

"Those? Those are the private chambers of Dragora," Kyuri explained. "Their houses, as it were. The room passes down between Dragora of the same dragons. The symbols are the symbols of the dragon they all ride."

"Dragons have crests?" Zuko blinked. "What do they need them for?"

"We don't," Sangilak snorted as he lumbered along behind them. "But the Dragora use them to identify themselves. We dragons really only choose them."

"Who's is this?" Zuko asked, gesturing to a symbol of a blood claw, liquid dripping into a puddle below.

"That would be," she reeled out a long list of names. "Each Dragora picks a new name for their dragon because we can't pronounce their real ones. It makes lineages a nightmare," she said with a small smile.

"Where's yours?" Zuko asked as they rounded a corner into yet another long hallway.

"It should be down here," Kyuri said as she hurried down the hall and stopped before a hall topped by the symbol of an icicle crossed with a tongue of flame. "Yes, here."

"Do we go in?" Zuko asked.

"No, we need to meet the matriarch first," Kyuri said, continuing down the hall.

"I can't believe you don't have any guards," Zuko said, shaking his head. "Anyone could just walk right in."

"Not without the blood of a Dragora," Kyuri said with a chuckle.

"What about Earthbenders? A troop could crack this place wide open."

"Mm, yes, and wake up an entire nest of dragons while they're at it," Kyuri said calmly. "Around twenty or thirty hibernate under the citadel at any given time."

"The citadel?" Zuko repeated.

"The citadel," Kyuri nodded as they arrived in front of a pair of solid gold doors. They were carved just as intricately as the walls and ceiling, decorated in dragons coiling around a sunburst pattern right in the center.

"Stand back," Kyuri cautioned, tugging him back as Sangilak took a deep breath and blasted the door with flames. Mechanisms ground and the door swung open soundlessly, perfectly balanced despite their weight.

"Whoa," Zuko said, gaping at the room inside.

It was easily as large as the palace he grew up in, probably double, in fact. The ceiling stretched high above, unseen. Three walls were ringed in huge bleachers, big enough for a fully-grown dragon to perch on behind the comparatively tiny thrones that sat in front of them. The fourth wall was dominated by a gigantic mural, the same image that was carved on the double doors. It backed a stage that held a single throne. Zuko thought that when the room was empty, it would have been filled with oppressive silence and a terrifying solemnity.

The room wasn't empty though. Dragons rested everywhere, each behind a throne, some occupied, more often than not empty. The dragon's scales turned the room into a shifting kaleidoscope of colors as the light of the torches and the braziers scattered around reflected across their scales. Stern human faces looked down from every corner of the room, all backed by monstrous dragons.

On the throne on the stage sat a woman. Her face was heavily wrinkled, her mouth stern and set. She was dressed in flowing purple robes of a richness that rivaled the wealthiest monarchs Zuko had ever seen. Her hair was bone white and pulled back into an elegant bun. Behind her was a gigantic purple dragon, easily Sangilak's size three times over. It stared at him with burning orange eyes.

Kyuri took his hand and walked into the arena, Sangilak behind them. Even he looked tiny in this place. Zuko was, in all honesty, too stunned to speak. But Kyuri squared her shoulders, took a breath, and spoke.

"Apologies for my tardiness, sisters. I didn't know we were meeting," she said calmly. Her voice reverberated around the room, showing careful attention to acoustics in the meeting hall's construction.

"Of course you didn't, you little fool!" snapped an old woman in blood red robes, backed by a dragon of the same color. Zuko looked around and realized that every woman wore a set of robes in the same color as their dragon. He and Kyuri were the only ones in normal clothes. He also realized he was the only male there. The only human male at least. "This meeting was called before you were even bonded! No one thought there was any need to inform a hatchling of this meeting!"

Kyuri stepped forwards. "I am no hatchling!"

"It doesn't matter what you are, child! You are presumptuous enough to call a meeting, and that is beyond your station!"

"Peace, Chay," said the woman in purple, raising a hand, and the speaker dropped silent instantly. The woman's eyes flicked to Kyuri and Zuko and they both realized that even her eyes were purple. "You did break a law, sister," the matriarch said, cocking her head. "That merits punishment."

"No!" Zuko exclaimed, jumping forwards. "She has information that can help you! Why shouldn't she call a meeting if she can help?"

The matriarch's eyes visibly went cold as she looked at him. "And then there is the matter of you. Sister, you've brought a male into the citadel."

"Not just any male!" Chay exclaimed. "The Fire Prince!"

Mutterings sprang up around the room and many eyes glared at Zuko, while others looked almost apologetic.

"Oh, be quiet Chay!" insisted another woman, this one clad in orange.

"Hold your tongue to those above you, Myeong!" Chay snapped and the woman shook her head.

"Arguing solves nothing," the matriarch said, holding up a hand once more. The room fell silent again. She looked down at Kyuri and Zuko. "Laws are laws. The male has seen us, our citadel, and our numbers. Were he anyone else, perhaps we would allow him to walk free. But his family alone is grounds for his death."

Kyuri moved in a blur, swords appearing in her hands as she stood in front of Zuko. She stared up at the matriarch thunderously. "Come and take him then!" she challenged, her voice ringing in the silence.

"Treason!" roared Chay, and many other voices took up the cry.

"Traitor!"

"Oathbreaker!"

"You dare draw steel against your matriarch?"

"Insolent hunter!"

"Give the girl a break!" some argued, favoring her.

"She's young."

"We don't know where the boy's allegiance lies!"

"Oh, sit down!"

"What's going on?" Zuko hissed to Kyuri as the room exploded.

"They might not kill you, but…"

"But?" he pressed.

"They're definitely going to kill me."