"Aaron!" called Meadow, running from the tall grass on the outskirts of the sandy beach. She and Bloom had been nearer the middle of the island, doing yoga and expanding their magic with the dragons, feeling one with the island and its inhabitants. It's always such an amazing feeling for Meadow, to feel the power from all the dragons on the island. But naturally she would rather be with her friends. "Zoe! Arkin! Yay, everyone is up."

As she rushes to her friends and family, she isn't paying any attention and her foot snags on the end of a root, toppling her head over heels into the sand.

"Meadow!" calls her mother, racing to her daughter. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" As Bloom reaches for her daughter, other hands are reaching for her and get there first.

It's Aaron. "Meadow, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Meadow stands with the help of her best friend, wiping at her partially sand covered face. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just didn't look where I was going. Thanks Aaron. That was fun Mom. I'll see you later for lunch?"

Bloom just shakes her head and says, "Yes sweetheart. Everyone is having lunch on the veranda this afternoon. Don't be too late, and no snacking before. Stella, per usual, went overboard with the food options. Oh, sorry Aaron." Bloom apologizes sheepishly, realizing that, though jokingly, she was making fun of Aaron's mother.

"It's okay Aunt Bloom. My mama tends to go overboard with everything. Dad and I would agree with you anytime." The trio laughs, then the younger ones walk off to enjoy time with their friends.

Bloom walks back to the house, watching her daughter and her nephew. No, future son-in-law? It's always so confusing for her. Aaron has always been like a son to her, though she has always called him her nephew. When Stella and Sky had decided that an arranged marriage might be best for the two, Bloom had vehemently opposed it. "An arranged marriage? You can't be serious! My daughter is only 2 for heaven's sake. We can't know who she will love. I won't force her to marry someone she doesn't love. I can't even believe you would suggest it. Either of you two." She had stared her husband and best friend down for a long time before they finally explained.

Sky was the first of the two to speak: "Bloom, babe, I know how you feel about arranged marriages, but–"

"There is no but, Sky. An arranged marriage almost destroyed us. What could it do to our daughter?"

"Bloom, sweetie" Stella interjected. "It's not set in stone, just a plan. If the kids fall in love with each other, that would be best, but it's not like we'd ever tell them that they are going to marry. It's just a plan that we want them to marry. Someday. But it doesn't have to happen. They can fall in love with other people if they choose to, but thinking about our kingdoms is just as important as thinking about our children's futures. A marriage tying our kingdoms would be perfect. The whole universe knows that we are already tied closely, but some might think that there would be an opportunity to drive us apart, however small it might be."

"She's right, Bloom." Sky jumps in, trying to use Stella's diplomacy to propel the idea forward. "Meadow wouldn't be engaged until someone asks her, but it just means that we would gently push the kids together, so they get to know each other. It's not set in stone though, like Stella said."

The argument had gone on and on, but eventually Sky and Stella had won Bloom over. After that, it was a done deal, and the kids were "engaged", but not. To this day it still hurts her head.

Leaving her mother behind, still reeling from the dragon energy, Meadow takes Aaron by the hand and runs toward her cousin and friends. "Hey Fase, River. Hi there Juniper. Are you gonna play with us today you two?" She is clearly talking to the youngest of their group: Zoe and Juniper. The two both shake their heads, pointing at Zoe's house where her mother and father are dragging chairs to the beach, both dressed in bathing suits and lots of sunscreen despite the earlier morning sun.

"Oh, that's right. Aunt Tecna and Uncle Timmy got babysitting duty. Are you guys gonna go swimming then?" Arkin says, joining the conversation. The two youngest nod their heads and look out to the water.

"Mommy!" calls Zoe, walking back to her mother, Juniper in tow.

"Well, at least we can play a big kids game."Fase says, eyeing the younger kids walking away.

"Be nice, Fase," chides his sister. "We were that small too ya know."

"That's right, River." says Arkin, smiling at her.

"Okay, okay. So, should we play Look and Find? We can do groups. Me and Aaron, Arkin and River, and Fase, you can go with Morfo. Sound good everyone?" Meadow leads their group.

"Ah man! Why do I get the pixie? Why can't I go with River?" Fase complains.

"That's okay with me, Meadow. Fase and River can be a team and I can go by myself. Or with Morfo I guess." Arkin suggests.

"No, we have to do teams. And you know why you can't be with River, Fase. She's your sister. It's not fair if you team up with your sister. You live with her and you guys are twins. It's just a rule. You can pick the next game though. You're with Morfo for now." Meadow tells the group. "Now, we're each gonna look for the biggest dragon scale we can find. Go!" she yells and the six are off, Morfo floating behind Arkin as he dashes toward the back of the houses.

"Meadow, where are we gonna look?"

"I know just the place. We'll win the game for sure." And she takes his hand and leads him off toward where she and her mom came from.

As they come to the edge of the grass, Aaron pulls his hand back. "Meadow, we're not supposed to go past the grass without a parent. We don't know what's in there."

"I know what's in there. Just a few minutes before I saw the beach, there was this nest and there were bunches of scales all over the place. It will be really easy to get there and I know the way back." She smiles at him and pushes the grass back for him to step in. "Come on Aaron. Don't you wanna win?"

The taunt did it, so he takes the first step, then another, and within moments they are well on their way to the nest. Expect that it takes a lot longer than she said to get there. Eventually, Aaron questions her directions.

"We're almost there. I can feel it!" She continues to point in the direction she believes the nest is, and they do stumble onto a nest, but it's taken them a lot longer. Probably closer to twenty minutes, which is practically forever for their age group.

"Oomph!" Aaron says as he trips and catches himself on his hands. As he raises his head, he catches sight of what he tripped over – a shiny rock, all rounded and half-buried. "Careful" he calls back to Meadow, pointing at the stone.

"Oh, it's a scale! Meadow shrieks, excited. "I told you we were close. We found it!"

Looking up, the two see the nesting ground before them, scattered with shed scales, broken shell scraps littering the floor, and grass-made nests rounded and bound together in a tight circle, each placed on top of dirt piles.

Thinking it a simple, snatch and grab, Meadow begins to look for a large dragon scale, walking nearer the nests.

"Meadow, don't get so close." Aaron warns her, but it's too late. A squawk comes from the far back nest, alerting the kids to a possible danger. And then, the head of a baby dragon becomes clear, peeking over the nest's edge.

A small, blue-grey scaled baby dragon stares at them, its snout reaching toward Meadow, clearly sniffing the air. Then, two more heads peek out over the first, seeking what the first must be looking at. Their eyes land on Meadow, then they journey to Aaron and an awful sound erupts from one of their throats and they are out of the nest, stalking toward Meadow and Aaron.

"Aaron?" Meadow calls back, turning her head to look at him. The quivering in her voice cues him into her fear, and despite his own, he grabs her hand and drags her away, running in the general direction they came from.