Sorry it took so long.

Well, enjoy.

To Flowerstar; Cool!

To everyone; Thanks a lot! :D

Disclaimer: If I owned ADJL, there would be such thing as ADJL Season 5. Or 6!

Explain this to me

Chapter 4: To go

"Dragon?" said a voice beside Jake. Jake tried thinking of a cover story. But before he could say anything, the familiar voice spoke up again. "Jake? Is that you?"

"Say what?" Jake exclaimed and turned towards the voice. "Rose? Hey!"

Rose smiled warmingly at Jake. "What were you saying about dragons, Jake?"

"I uh...," Jake stuttered. "I was... you know...."

"Is it that mythology class that Professor Rotwood's forcing everyone in school to take? He just started on the chapter about dragons," Rose offered.

Jake lit up. Perfect cover story! "Yeah! Totally, I'm so obsessing over Rotwood."

"Well, it's nice to know there's someone else who pays attention in Rotwood's class." Rose and Jake laughed as they started talking about how their classes with Rotwood were. He even told her about the Tale of the Four Dragons.

It turns out that Rose totally digs magical creatures. But unlike Rotwood, she doesn't believe in them. I wonder if she believes in dragons...

Before Jake could ask, the sound of Jonathan's voice interrupted, "Jakeroo! There you are, we've been looking everywhere for you. Come on, family's saved you a seat."

"I uh..." Jake turned to Rose. Her smile told him that it was okay. And so he waved Rose goodbye and followed his dad.

=.=

"Hey Trix," Jake said after a few hours of silence between them. "Did you know Rose is here in the same flight as us?"

Trixie, who was sitting beside Jake and Spud, raised her eyebrow, "That's good news for you then. Wait, who's Rose?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot you don't know her," Jake began. "She's the new girl in our school, I mean, considering we've never really seen her around much."

"You mean the blonde you bumped into, Jakie?"

"Yeah. That's the one!" Jake said. Soon enough, silence hung upon them again. Looking around, Jake saw that the rest of his family was asleep. He felt that it was the perfect time to tell Trixie and Spud about being a dragon, for he could no longer keep it inside without knowing that there's nobody to comfort him about it. He knew that soon enough, he had to tell somebody. And Trixie and Spud were the perfect people for it. They understood him, more than his own family did. It was normal, he thought. It was normal for friends to know more about you, because they share your fears, your troubles, and your sufferings when you're in Rotwood's class.

"So guys," Jake began. "I... uh... You know about... dragons, right?"

"Jake, of course we know!" Spud smiled.

"Is it Rotwood again?" Trixie asked, concern in her voice.

Jake sighed. He wanted to tell them so badly, but he just couldn't bring himself to it. "Sort of... Guys, I have to tell you something. I..."

"Kids!" Jonathan suddenly exclaimed. "Look out the window, we're here."

He was right. Jake, Trixie and Spud squeezed together to look out through the window. The Hong Kong International Airport was on a small island built by land reclamation. It was beautiful, Jake thought. Moments later, the plane landed and the excitement made Jake forget that he wanted to tell his friends about his secret.

Soon enough, the Long family arrived at the entrance of their hotel. "Welcome to Hong Kong, Long family and daughter's husband," Lao Shi had said. "Let me show you to your rooms."

Once they were settled, Trixie and Spud walked over to Jake, who was seated on the bed in the room he shared with Spud. Jake was reading his mythological textbook, his face in a tight frown. It wasn't until his friends asked him what he wanted to tell them when Jake remembered about it. "I... uh..." Jake knew how badly he wanted them to know, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that I...," Jake sighed. "I wanted you guys to know that I like Rose."

Jake forced himself to smile. Trixie raised an eyebrow, she could always tell whether Jake was lying. But this time, she thought, he was half-lying. She knew that that wasn't what Jake wanted to say. Nonetheless, she was happy for Jake.

A few hours passed and the Long family was asleep. Jake woke at the sound of Spud's snores. He sighed as he sat up. Jake looked at his jacket, and saw the small brown book the old woman had given him. He took it out and flipped it open to the first page. Written in cursive handwriting, was the Tale of the Four Dragons. The book also had the location and maps of the rivers of Zhujiang, Huanghe, Heilongjian, and Changjiang. It turns out the Zhujiang river flows into the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Macau.

On the map, the city of Guangzhou, where the Zhujiang river is, was circled. The words 'Sea Pearl' were written near the circled area. There was an arrow pointing to the words., and back to the words dragon temple. Jake almost dropped the book. He stared at it again. There was a part of him that wanted to find out more, he suddenly felt the urge to change into his dragon form and fly off to the dragon temple on Sea Pearl. However, he felt afraid and doubtful, he didn't know what he could do and who he could turn to.

Sighing, Jake stood up, wore his jacket and headed for the door. Before closing the door behind him, Jake said absently to Spud, "Dude, I just wanted to let you know that I'm a dragon."

A few minutes later, Jake found himself wondering around a street nearby the hotel. He hadn't been noticing that he had been muttering the words 'Sea Pearl' over and over again until he felt someone run up from behind him. "Jake?" A look of worry crossed Rose's face.

Jake responded five seconds later, blinking numerous times. "I... what? Rose? What are you doing here?"

"I had dinner with my family just now," she glanced over to her parents who were talking to a man that Jake presumed worked at the place Rose and her family had dinner from. "What are you doing here?" There was worry in her soft voice.

"I just... needed some air," Jake shrugged.

The look of worry never left Rose's face. "You were saying sea pearl?"

"Yeah. Do you know about it?" Jake asked curiously.

"It's an island in the river Zhujiang River," Rose said thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Nothing..." Jake wondered if he should ask Rose about the Dragon Temple. Surely she would know, being a little bit crazy about magical beings and such. Jake made the decision and quickly asked Rose before he could change his mind. "So... you know anything about a temple on the island?"

Rose placed her fingers on her chin, thinking. "You mean the Dragon Temple? I've heard about it. They say there are paintings relating to the story of the dragons. I don't know what the story depicts, though. Nobody does."

The thoughts of visiting the temple crossed Jake's mind, "Why don't they know? Why don't they just visit the temple? Is it dangerous?"

"Kind of. The temple's in the bank of the river."

The thought that had occurred to me, it never left. I had such a strong feeling that I had go to this temple. I had to find the island. I had to.

Jake glanced over Rose's shoulder. "Well, I guess your parents are here. So, I'll see you around, Rose. Bye," Jake said, probably too hurriedly.

Before Rose could get a chance to ask what was his hurry, Jake had run into an alley beside the hotel. Rose turned, expecting to see her parents. But they were still talking to the man. Without thinking twice, Rose sprinted to Jake. They alley was dark, but she managed to catch a glimpse of him. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was drained when she saw flames engulfing Jake's body. She didn't hear him winced in pain, she didn't even hear him, or her thoughts, at all. When she saw that a dragon stood where Jake had, she questioned whether she was dreaming or not.

Rose couldn't believe it, but she felt familiar and drawn to the dragon, just like how she felt with Jake. She didn't know whether she was hallucinating or not, but whatever happened, it felt real. As the dragon flew off into the night sky, Rose whispered, "Jake..."

Truth betold, I ran out of ideas for this chapter, that's why I took so long. And I kept rewriting until I was satisfied. This is my fifth. So yeah. I'm pretty satisfied. I'll be sure to put in more Jake/Rose. I love their love, whatever it is, they showed me that when love is true, it finds a way. Okay... I'm getting corny. Well, bye.