A.N.: So many headcanons here guys, so many headcanons.
"So… I heard you're a Pisces?" Still sitting cross legged, Jake turned around at the voice. He was on top of a rather large boulder on the downwards slope towards Hagrid's hut – so he had to look down. A girl with long dark straight hair stood below, all snuggled up in her blue and bronze striped scarf. She seemed a year or two older than him. Jake also happened to notice that she was quite cute.
"Oh, hey." He combed his fingers through his hair self-consciously. "Uh, yeah, that I am."
She laughed quietly and he couldn't help but smile at the sound. "So it really is true then? You're the dragon?"
"Depends on who's asking." He couldn't help responding with that line, and he kind of wanted to facepalm for that. He kept his smiling front on the outside though. "Wait, I'm coming down."She shifted a few steps out of the way and he easily slid down the snow-covered boulder. As he landed, he patted the ice off his winter jacket.
"Since they're fire-breathers, aren't dragons supposed to keep warm though? I mean, aren't you cold? You're not even wearing gloves, or a scarf." He looked at himself like he hasn't seen the clothes he was wearing before. At least he was wearing long pants this time.
"Ah no, I don't really need that many layers. I have all the warmth I need right here." He pursed his lips and let out a small ball of flame in his breath; he then took it in his hand and let it slide through his fingers before gradually dissipating.
"Wow, okay." The pretty girl seemed quite impressed. "That's amazing."
"Always a pleasure to feed the ego, thanks." He grinned, leaning with one shoulder onto the boulder's base, arms crossed. "So, beside my sign and body temperature, is there anything else you'd like to know?" (Damn it, Jake, what is coming out of your mouth like I don't even)
The girl blushed bright red and he couldn't help but feel at least a little bit smug about it – just a teensy tiny bit, mind you.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, I just…"
"Hey chill, I didn't mind. Really." He tried to coax her out of her shell, not wanting her to be uncomfortable, not to mention have her apologize for nothing (besides, it was his fault for being such a douchebag flirt). "Got something specific on your mind you wanna ask me?"
"Well, no, not really. I just… I was taking a walk to clear my head a bit, then I saw you and. And since the school year started we don't always see you around, and I didn't get the time to meet you myself properly…" she buried her chin in her scarf, flustered and unsure once more "I thought this might be a good time as any."
"Fair enough." He smiled in what he hoped was a friendly manner. Dang she was sweet. "I'd like that."
She brightened at his response, giggling, nervously excited. "Okay." Her joy made her face glow, giving off a beautiful warmth that settled in his heart. Sometimes Jake forgot how nice it was to meet new people, make new friends. All that excitement with the supernatural tended to overshadow the smaller, but nonetheless precious gems in life, what with magic's flashier tendencies to bedazzle.
Gems like the beauty of someone's genuine smile, shy yet hopeful, as they held out their hand towards you.
"Cho Chang." He took it, shaking it with a loose grip.
"Jake Long."
"So it's true, that you have a name. That's your real name?" He tilted his head at her, one eyebrow raised.
"Of course. Everyone has a name."
Cho's cheeks reddened again in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. God, I'm so tactless today. Of course you have a name."
"Of course." He parroted her, and couldn't help the amused grin off his face. Silly little wizards. "And in case you're wondering why I never brought it up, it's because none of you ever asked. Also, because I still had to wait for the proper clearance from the Council before giving away any kind of info about us, names included."
She nodded thoughtfully, processing his reply. "I guess I'm just really out of it lately." She rubbed her cheeks with her mittens and age differences be damned Jake seriously had to resist the urge to smother her into a hug because she was absolutely precious. "I mean, a lot of stuff is happening all at once and. It's just a lot to take in, you know?"
"Yeah, I think I know what you mean." This entire damn mission away from his home and family, sitting among wizards to make sure they play nice and having to fight his long-term girlfriend - the world loved him like that… Not to mention the fact that he had his fair share of trouble on a daily basis back in New York as the AmDrag too. Ugh, he wondered if Haley was doing okay. And he couldn't help but miss his best friends... Cho saw the thoughtful look on his face and stared for a while at his features, his furrowed brows, his tense shoulders. She tried not to think about what she heard had happened right before winter break in the Grand Hall. It didn't seem like it'd be a good idea to pester him about it.
"I heard…" she swallowed apprehensively "Not too sure how accurate it really is, at least for the kind of dragon you are, but I've heard that most dragons have a very protective streak. They have a strong instinct to guard, to fight in order to keep certain things safe." Jake nodded, curious as to what she had to say about that. She seemed to want a verbal affirmation though, as he realized she was probably looking for an answer to something that plagued her, the girl's gaze fearful of something he could not see nor touch.
"Yeah, that's true." He affirmed then paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Actually, I think that the best word would be "possessive". There are dragons out there that hoard things for themselves, who want to keep their belongings as physically close as possible; and there are also those who especially care about certain people, relationships, that they protect just as fiercely as the former do with their belongings." He turned his head back towards her. "Why'd you ask?"
Cho seemed to need a few moments before replying, her voice small.
"Have you ever… failed?" Oh.
Oh.
The young dragon knew the wizards were currently in a war. He could smell the fear and paranoia, even under the warm layers of comfort the castle gave off. Of course they were scared of the dark.
Jake could now see what the look on her face was. She had a shadow there, in the grooves of her pretty features, dampening her spirit with sorrow. He sometimes noticed it on the creatures he encountered in his missions as the American Dragon, saw it on the streets on people's faces back in New York. Saw it on Rose's face whenever he insisted she quit and come to him for good, whenever she talked about the family she had but never knew or about the lies she'd been fed all her life by the Huntsclan. Something inside him told him, like a whisper in the back of his mind, this time unusually clear and persistent. Her heart was fragile, scarred and holding itself together with thin lines of stitching.
He swallowed, feeling phantom pains of helplessness wash over him with painful clarity and etch into his face – like he never let himself usually do, not when he had others counting on him. This time he needed to show weakness, his humanity, for this sad girl.
"A few times, yeah." His voice sounded small to his own ears. "But something tells me it's less hard to get over what I've been through compared to what you've faced."
Teardrops started falling down her pretty face, like he had taken the breath out of her lungs with his words. And it was true; he was a dragon, he had his strengths and resources to overcome his weakness, he was meant to fight the pain. Huntsgirl had been raised by cruel people and was a bone-deep warrior with a spine of steel.
But Cho was young and so very human, confused, without the clarity in her wants and the self-awareness of her own strength, things needed in order to fight and stay whole. She covered her mouth with her hand and Jake felt an insane amount of need to protect this poor young human who did not deserve whatever she had had to face. It seemed like everyone here was so preoccupied by their own fear, they had no time to spare to see how badly hurt she was.
So he told her "You're stronger than you know."
She seemed to be chocking with the rush of air wanting to come out in sobs. "I… I'm really not. If I was I wouldn't have…" Her face was red and not so pretty anymore, pain bleeding through straight from her shattered heart. Jake stood to face her properly and placed his palm on her cheek. "You faced things worse than you had ever imagined and you still fight against the shadows it left behind in your life, even now. I can feel your spirit struggling to overcome them." He gently nudged her face to look at him. His eyes were sad, but his smile gentle and affectionate for the girl with raw water and salt seeping from her wounds."And when I'll have to face the darkness and have my heart break as well, I hope I'll deal with the pain with at least half as much dignity as you do."
Cho swallowed, fresh tears seeping out but her brows no longer furrowed in a pained frown. "I… other people have to deal with a lot worse. Cedric's death… and everything else… it's still painful, but it's all in the past now. Other people, like Harry, had to deal with so much more every single year, nothing I've been through can compare to..."
She paused, trying to breathe past the memories slicing up her lungs. She saw through her blurry eyes Jake coming closer to her face and her mind blanked for a moment. She was on the verge of hyperventilating, this was like her relationship with Harry all over again and no she couldn't, not now, she wasn't ready for this, she mustn't…
His warm breath washed over her skin as he lifted her knitted hat and kissed her forehead. It felt like hot wax stamped above the space between her brows, the warmth sliding inside her head and she found herself closing her eyes as she felt it seep somewhere deep. He brushed his thumbs against her cheeks, the bare skin of his hands warm and dry, making her tear tracks vanish. A feeling of safety overcame her shaking limbs, like a blanket meant not to cover and hide her ugly scars, but to bring comfort and warmth to dull the pain.
"That doesn't make your own suffering any less important." He said as he placed his chin on to her shoulder and she was struck all of a sudden that he was actually so much shorter than her. She didn't know what came over her as her arms moved of their own accord, settling gingerly on the boy's sides. He had his own placed in his front pockets, keeping them out of the way, thinking it best to let her decide how physically close she wanted to be. He was like a furnace, his body heat almost radiant as she felt it even through all the layers of her clothes and the cold air left between their bodies.
The maiden was never the dragon's captive, but its protégé. (Some were its master too.)
They stood like that for a while, silent and warm, under the dark sky, surrounded by snow. As she opened her eyes, she saw him staring at her. But she felt no tension like before, no fear of what this might lead to, that it might bring her more suffering. For once in a long time, she did not feel guilt. She swallowed as she stared right back into the dragon's eyes.
"Which one are you?" Cho couldn't help but ask quietly, as she stood so close to this boy who seemed to be made of fire itself.
He smiled at her with a feeling he could not name as he raised his head from her shoulder. He answered in an equally quiet, subdued voice, like he had put her aching heart to sleep and was trying not to wake it from its healing slumber.
"I'm pretty much the latter." The he cleared his throat, continuing with his regular voice. "I'm actually a Protector, officially. Ever since my powers came out, I've been assigned to take care of the entire New York City. And once I complete my training, I'll have full jurisdiction over the entire United States." What? A guy can't be blamed for wanting to brag in front of an audience. He saw the girls' awed glimmer in her eyes and he smiled. It was nice to have something to be proud of, a duty to others and yourself.
Jake paused for a second, unseeing, suddenly lost in his thoughts.
"Although" he couldn't help but add in a neutral tone, the words spilling on their own past his lips "to be fair, these two types of dragons aren't that different from each other. Some can be like both at the same time. And while I don't sleep on literally everything I own, I can't say I'm totally selfless either." He looked her in the eye and Cho couldn't even blink at the sight. "I have my own desires." His eyes were dark and so deep, like the inside of Cho's black ink bottle. "I want so many things. And some things in particular seem impossible for me to have, but that doesn't stop me from wanting them." But ink was too wet to look like it burned. "Sometimes it feels like the thing I want the most is the one I can never truly have. And yet, I often feel like I will die for the sake of protecting it. Either way, I'm dead, because if I'm alive and I don't have it, I might as well die from the gap left by my own selfish need for it."
He then removed himself from under her hands and took a few steps back. Cho felt the winter cold on the surface of her skin once more. Jake leaned again onto the boulder, clearing his throat awkwardly. He broke eye contact as he shrugged with one shoulder, trying not to give too much away. "Like I said. Possessive."
I feel like Cho Chang did not get much of a chance for closure in the books and had it even worse in the movies. I can't imagine what it would be like for your beloved boyfriend to be killed in cold blood by an entire community's living nightmare; it was practically the murder that spurred the entire world into living in perpetual fear once more, the first of many more to come. This feeling of general panic made it harder for anyone to understand that she really needed someone to help her overcome her loss. And like Hermione said in the fifth book, Cho felt awfully guilty for liking Harry. She cried often, much to Harry's clueless annoyance. Her best friend betrayed Dumbledore's Army, and defending her even the slightest bit made Cho herself be seen as somewhat of a traitor. Harry was in his first relationship and damaged her more with the lack of support and understanding. He's so used to trouble finding him, his own pain so big and acknowledged by everybody, he could hardly understand why anyone else would complain when they had so many things he didn't. It's not really his fault, but neither is it Cho's.
Idk, I just wanted to write a silly little scene with her and Jake (Chinese heritage, represent! or something like that...) but it quickly turned like this and I didn't have the heart to make it any less heavy, because I realized that I really needed to see someone give the poor girl some relief. I'd like to think that three-four years of working for the magical community coupled with his protective streak, Jake would know a thing or two more about other people and their needs. He always seemed like a thoughtful, caring person to me, so becoming a tad more observant helps him in this department as well.
I'd like to think these two would become good friends, maybe even visit each other from time to time after this entire mess is over.