A/N: HOLY. CRAP. How long has it been since I last updated? Far too freaking long, I do believe. So here's a SUPER short chapter to tide you over until I can get my butt in gear and write something of decent length. =_=

Atash didn't believe what he saw. He couldn't. Lila had been shot. He had seen her body sprawled lifelessly upon her bed. There was no way she could be alive. Yet there she was, very much alive and smiling amusedly at the trio's shock.

It was a hallucination, Atash told himself. He had read once that grief can cause a dragon to unconsciously create imaginary worlds for themselves. Sometimes they'd see and even talk with the person they lost.

No. He wouldn't let himself get excited, only to have his best friend torn away a second time.

"So," The purple dragoness' familiar voice pulled Atash from his thoughts, "How long have I been out?" The amused smile hadn't left her face.

Out of the corner of his eye Atash saw Suishou crack a wide grin. Apparently Lila's voice was enough to pull the blue scaled dragoness from her shock, "I knew you weren't dead!" She shouted in an uncharacteristically shrill voice, then caught herself returning to her normal cool and collected tone, "You're just too damn stubborn to die."

"That or I'm just too much of a badass."

The two dragoness' embraced with a laugh.

"Indeed you are." Suishou said.

It was then Kopaka finally spoke, "You are certainly full of surprises young dragoness," Atash noticed a little smile on his face, "I had thought for a moment there that you were dead."

Lila smiled again, "I got better."

As Atash watched the scene play out one thought kept running through his mind, I'm not the only one seeing this! His heartbeat speed up, Lila was alive. A large smile appeared on his face. Lila was actually alive! Without thinking Atash rushed across the room and flung his forelegs around the purple dragoness.

Lila was taken off guard by the sudden display of affection and tumbled to the floor, the red scaled dragon atop her. She blushed profoundly, "N-nice to see you too, Atash."

"Oh!" The red scaled dragon felt the blood rush to his face as he scrambled to his feet "I-I'm... Eh... Sorry..."

There was a brief moment of awkward silence. Atash silently prayed that someone would say something- anything- just to end the uncomfortable situation.

After what felt like ages Suishou finally spoke, "Go get a room you two."

Atash felt his face burn hotter than before. He hadn't meant 'anything' literally!

The chill of the night sliced though Breeze's scales. She tossed and turned, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not escape the cold, biting air of winter. She curled up to her sleeping brother, but even that did nothing. And because of the cold, sleep refused to come to her.

But maybe that was a good thing. For the dreams had been getting worse. Every time she closed her eyes they would be back, reminding her the life she had lost. Taunting her with the days she could never return to.

She knew not how long had passed since sun had set, but at some point during the night Breeze gave up on trying to sleep. She stood up, making sure not to disturb Tremor and poked her head out of the alleyway they had taken refuge in for the night.

The icy streets were completely empty. Aside from Breeze, nothing moved. It felt as if the world had stopped. It was a surreal contrast to the maddening hustle of the day and somehow, it made the night feel even colder. But the streets weren't what Breeze was focusing on. Her attention was on the sky.

Breeze's father once had once told her the only reason they stayed in Volans was the view. The city was held aloft at such a high altitude that clouds rarely drifted up to obscure the sky, resulting in a spectacular display of the stars. Almost every night growing up, Breeze, Tremor and their father would sit out on the balcony, simply staring at the stars.

She would get lost in those skies. It made her feel small. She would wonder just how far away those stars were and what it would be like to visit them. Some nights her stargazing would bring her to the deeper questions, who had made the sky and the stars? Why had they done so? Did the creator still exist? It was on nights like those that she would fall asleep on the balcony, dreaming of creation and of gods and of far off worlds.

But on that night she thought nothing of the sort. No, that night she thought of the life she had lost. She thought of those nights lost in the skys. She knew it was useless, that no amount wishful thinking could bring it back, but she couldn't find the strength to think of anything else.

"What are you doing up?"

The gold scaled dragoness started at the voice and spun around to face the speaker. Tremor stood behind her, an amused grin on his face, his first smile since their parents died, "Someone's feeling jumpy tonight."

"I just thought you were asleep." Breeze muttered, recomposing herself.

Tremor sat down beside her, "What's on your mind?"

"The past."

Tremor's smile vanished and he was silent for a moment, "Maybe it's best if we just move on."

Breeze sighed, "To where? I-I mean, the orphanages are all full. We can't exactly do much else without money."

"Well, you know... There's always the factories. At very least it's a paycheck."

Breeze shuttered. She'd heard horrible stories about the factories, with their ridiculous hours and harsh work conditions all for nothing more than a few coins a week. "No. I'd rather die than see your life wasted in those awful places."

"Well what else is there? You said it yourself, we can't do anything without money."

"We'll find another way to make some?"

"How?"

"I'll come up with something."

"No offence sis, but you'd better come up with something quick. I'm hungry."

"I know... I- I just..." She trailed off.

There was a moment of silence, "I'm sorry." Tremor said, "That was rude of me. I know you're trying." He draped a wing over his sister's back, "You should get some sleep. We'll figure something out tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay."