Hello, it's me again! Didn't think I would come back, did ya? Well, surprise, surprise! I have a new chapter for this story. And this time, it's taking place during the events in chapter 73: Shattered Heart of Prismrain13's Reconnected. Shout out to Prism and Greymon for their support on this!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is Disney. Dragon is an OC created by Greymon Leader Batx flashpoint. The Reconnected story is Prismrain13's. Kyra is my OC, though. Enjoy!

Never Knew I Needed

While Tiana and Naveen were talking together on top of the riverboat, Kyra and Dragon were having a conversation of their own on a different part of the riverboat. They sat where they climbed abroad the boat earlier, feet dangling over the water as soft jazz music drifted from somewhere near. Kyra breathed in the night air, fully enjoying the cool breeze. She exhaled. "I can't believe Naveen is going to propose to Tiana."

Dragon smiled, arms crossed on top of the railings. "I gotta say, I'm a little bit surprised. They haven't known each other that long."

Kyra looked over to the boy beside her. "That's nothing. When my dad met my mom, the first words he said to her was 'Will you marry me'?"

Dragon balked, almost hitting his head on the railing above him. "Really?"

Kyra shrugged. "Yeah. It's a funny story that begins with a fist fight."

Dragon thought for a moment. "So your dad was fighting some guy when he met your mom? Did he, like, came to her rescue when some jerk wouldn't leave her alone?"

Kyra shook her head. "No, nothing like that. In fact, he wasn't even part of the fight. He was at this town festival with one of his friends. After failing to win a stuffed teddy bear from a ring toss game, his friend spotted a crowd forming around two men fighting each other. And it looked like it was getting out of hand. So my dad rushed over to intervene. He tried to push them apart, and got two fists to the face for his trouble."

Dragon winced. "Ouch."

"Yeah, and he was pretty much out of it."

"So then what happened?"

"While he was down on the ground, his friend and some of the festival's volunteers managed to break up the fight and those guys were kicked out. My mom rushed over to my father's side."

"Was she in charge of first aid there?"

"No, she worked at the petting zoo nearby. Someone was getting the first aid guy and she wanted to make sure he was ok. She got down and asked him if he was alright. And my dad, with blood on his face and his one eye already swelling, said 'Will you marry me?'"

"Did she say yes?" Dragon asked, intrigued.

Kyra blinked. "No. She said 'You probably have a concussion. Hold still.'"

Dragon couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, earning him a playful glare from Kyra. She continued the story.

"Then a month later, they ran into each other at the farmer's market. My mom recognized him. 'How could I forget the man that proposed to me?' She told us that's what she said to him, and he was so embarrassed. They spent the rest of the day together before she asked him out to dinner. My dad was so glad she asked him, he was too scare to ask himself." Kyra shifted her gaze back to the water, a faraway look in her eyes. "I miss them telling their stories. I miss them so much."

Both of them grew silent, a strange calm hanging over their heads. Dragon looked at Kyra solemnly, then reached out and took her hand in his. She squeezed back and his heart fluttered at her response. Something about her touch makes him feel warm and dizzy inside. Like laying in a meadow of flowers in the springtime or sitting near a comfortable fire in winter.

The light of the moon reflected in her eyes as she looked up. She broke the silence.

"In a weird way, Tiana and Naveen remind me of my parents. They don't always see eye to eye, but they got along. They supported each other and work together as a team. When I think of someone in love, my parents are the first examples that come to mind."

"I bet your parents would get along with them. Once we find them, we can bring them here."

Kyra raised an eyebrow at him. "We?"

Dragon stumbled. "Because, you know, after all this, you said I could travel with you. Remember?"

Kyra looked at him blankly before she started laughing. "Relax. I was just messing with you. Course we're gonna find them together, along with your parents and home. We're a team." Kyra lightly tapped his shoulder, breaking the hand holding. Dragon smiled albeit nervously.

Kyra propped her chin in her hand, leaning her arm against the railing, and let out a breath. Her expression grew serious as she watched the water reflecting the night sky.

"I didn't always believed I would find them. I would have dark days. There were a few times when I've decided to give up, to stop searching for my family. To move on and start anew. In the end, stopping my search was like trying to stop breathing. I couldn't survive like that. Finding them is the only thing I have left from my world. Besides Rusty. Everything else is gone. Forever. Sora got to go home, all of them did. Except for the few of us that didn't. For me, my family is home." Kyra shook her head, straightening up. "Can't believe I'm telling you this. I never told anyone this."

"So why tell me?"

Kyra shrugged. "It's...easy to talk to you, I guess. And I guess you understand."

"Cause I'm in the same boat that you're in. Minus the whole memory loss thing."

"Yeah," she guessed, fiddling with the sleeve of her shirt. "Do you really not remember anything before Twilight Town?"

Dragon pondered for a moment, head tilted slightly up as he stare at the sky as if searching an answer amongst the space between the stars. "Well...I did have this dream once. In it, I was a little kid wrapped in this fuzzy blanket and I was sitting next to a lady. She had a smaller kid in her lap and we're all sitting in a bed and the lady is reading us a story. Maybe it was a memory. I can't be sure." He sighed, resting his chin atop his arms. "I wish I could remember something. Where I was from or who my family was. What my real name is. Just something a bit more."

Kyra put a comforting hand on his shoulder. To think she once thought having memory loss could be preferable than knowing what you have lost. Her and Dragon's situations were different, but there was sorrow there all the same. Memory or no memory.

Dragon's light brown eyes met her amethyst-purple ones, the corner of his mouth lifting.

She smiled, before feeling a bit flush. Clearing her throat, she took her hand away and bit the inside of her lip. "So.." Kyra started, racking her brain for something to say, "have you ever dated?"

Dragon bumped his head against the handrail above him. "What?"

Kyra mentally slap herself. Why would she ask a question like that?

"Just curious, because we've been talking about my parents dating. Just popped into my head," Kyra explained, acting casual.

Dragon rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly shy. "Well, um...uh...once, kinda. With Olette."

Kyra raised an eyebrow. "You mean the girl in orange?"

"It was just the one date. To get me out of the dojo. My friends back home kinda think I'm a hermit."

"Are you?"

Dragon twiddled his thumbs, staring at them intently. "N-not really. I was just really busy with training back at Twilight Town, then when my master left I had to take care of the dojo, work part-time, and I tend to read a lot. Plus, I sorta had to train myself. I didn't date and I didn't go out much." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess Hayner, Pence, and Olette weren't completely wrong. I kinda did became a hermit when Golbez left. It was difficult for me to maintain relationships and I just...I felt safe in that dojo. I didn't mean to let so much time pass me by."

Crickets chirped somewhere off in the distance, mixing in with the sounds of music. A breeze ruffled through their hair.

"I think you're making up for all that time now," Kyra said, filling the pause in their conversation.

Dragon felt his ears burned up. "I am?"

Kyra nodded."Yeah. Venturing out into the worlds count as going out."

"Oh. Right," Dragon replied, avoiding her gaze.

A silence grew between them. Again.

"Have you dated a lot?"

Kyra's eyes widen while Dragon slapped a hand over his mouth, both surprised at the rushed words. Kyra ducked her head down and hid her face behind a curtain of black hair while Dragon, well, he froze in place.

What's wrong with me? Dragon thought furiously. Why did I phrase it like that?

"Yes."

That pulled Dragon back to reality. "What?"

"Yes, I've dated before," Kyra answered.

"Oh."

"Yep."

"Like, a lot?"

"Just enough." Kyra pushed her hair back, looking straight ahead. "Didn't go on many second dates. A good night kiss and I would be off to the next world. Most of the time I left before that. Only one or two of them turned into a relationship. There was this one time I stayed longer on this world because of this one guy. We dated for a while and..." Kyra grew quiet with the last words before stopping, her eyes welling up.

"And what?"

Her eyes closed, heartache contorting her face. "I can't talk about this anymore."

Guilt built up in Dragon's chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"You don't have to apologize. It's just..." She sighed, staring at her reflection as though it was a different face she was seeing. "Word of advice: When you fall in love for the first time, don't expect that first love to last forever. It's rare when that first person will be the one you'll be with for the rest of your life. It's rare for that to happen," she said firmly, as if she was trying to convince herself instead of him.

Dragon turned his gaze away from her, his heart falling all the way down to his shoes. He shouldn't have asked. He didn't know how much pain a question like that would have caused her if he knew. I am such an idiot.

Kyra, meanwhile, berated herself for bringing up the topic of dating in the first place. She shouldn't have brought up that conversation. Two years, and she still can't think of him without reopening the wound it left. It hurts, but she made her choice. She needed to change the subject fast.

Then she spotted the rundown building for sale across the water. She pointed to it. "See that over there? That's going to be Tiana's one day."

Dragon followed her line of sight. He raised an eyebrow. "That abandoned building?"

"It needs a bit of fixing up, but it's going to be her dream restaurant. She had her eye on it for a while. Showed it to me the last time I was here." Kyra crossed her arms over the railing and rested her chin on them. "Once it's open, she promised to give me the best seat in the house."

They watched as they past by Tiana's future restaurant, a thought slowly forming in Dragon's head.

"Say, Kyra...what's your dream?"

Kyra blinked. "My dream?"

"Yeah. After you found your family, what are you going to do?"

Kyra leaned back, gripping the railing and staring at the ceiling of the boat. She took a breath. "I... Haven't really thought about it. For eight years, my only goal was finding my family. I haven't thought about dreams or what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. But, you know, it's hard enough making plans for the future without having to worry about missing family members, having no home, and a homicidal psychopath bent on taking over the universe."

"Point taken."

Kyra tilted her head, mulling it over. "I suppose, once it's all over and there's some normalcy in my life, I'll figure it out. What about you?"

Dragon scratched his ear. "Well..growing up, I've always wanted to travel. See new places and help people in need. Most of all, I didn't want to be...alone anymore."

Kyra stared at him before giving him a playful smile. "Looks like you're living your dream."

Dragon ducked his head, but his face was beaming. Just then, the ship's horn blarred.

Kyra cleared her throat, standing up. She grabbed her red jacket she had draped over a barrel and slipped it on. "Guess we've reached our stop. Best to meet up with the others."

Dragon gestured for her to go on ahead. "I'll be right behind you. I just need a second."

Kyra nodded. "Sure thing. Don't take too long now."

Dragon watched her walk away and disappeared around a bend. He sighed, wistfully looking back at the sky. Ray's star, Evangeline, seemed to shine brighter than any other star in the sky. He could almost believe that she was so close that he could reach out and hold her in his hand. Such a thing, however, was impossible and never going to happen.

"It's easy to talk to you, too," Dragon whispered, so softly he wasn't sure he said it out loud or not.

"A feeling so close, you could reach out and touch it. I never knew I could want something so much, but it's true."

That one paragraph with the star is sorta metaphorical. Props to anyone that gets it.

Thanks again to Greymon for your help and the info on Dragon! You're awesome:) Check his and Prism's stories. Worth a look;)

Please leave a comment or review.

P.S.

For anyone wondering on the next chapter of Disney is Loco for Coco, that is almost ready. Just trying to make it perfect. Planning people's reactions are not easy.

Thanks for reading and remember to work hard for your dreams! And not to make deals with shady strangers. In fact, if you see a stranger, remember that it's danger.

P.S.S

If anyone has read the Burning Maze, PM me.