A/N: I hate it when I don't write because I'm procrastinating. I also hate it when I don't write because I'm busy. This chapter had both. Yaaaaaay.

Chapter 17

"Moon!" Kinkajou squealed, leaping forward and practically tackling her in a tight hug, "Oh, wow! I didn't expect to see you here! What luck!"

Moonwatcher laughed and returned the little Rainwing's embrace. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here either. It's been too long, hasn't it?"

"Waaaay too long," Kinkajou agreed, "At least a year, if not more. Ever since graduation it seems like we just never get the chance, and I haven't even gotten a letter from you recently."

Faltering a little at that, Moon released the Rainwing and stepped back. "Yes well…I've been a bit busy and…"

"Winter!" Kinkajou cried, cutting her off as she caught sight of the Icewing in the other room, who had stood up and begun to approach after hearing the visitors. She bounded over and stopped right in front of him with a huge grin on her face. "Good to see you again, Sparkles."

A part of Moon expected Winter to frown and huff at the old nickname, but instead he just kind of rolled his eyes with a grin on his face. "It's good to see you too, Kinkajou," he said before allowing the Rainwing a much more relaxed hug than the one Kinkajou had given her.

Despite herself, Moon couldn't help but bristle internally a little bit at that. It wasn't a romantic hug or anything between the two, but there was something about seeing Winter so easily embrace another dragon that just stung a little. It reminded her that, although he was trying and getting better at letting himself touch her, he still wasn't to that point with her yet. And it reminded her of why exactly he wasn't.

"Hello Moon," Turtle's voice greeted, and Moon looked back at the Seawing, almost having forgotten that he had come along with the bubbly Rainwing. He raised a paw and waved.

"It's good to see you, Turtle," she said, offering him a hug as well, and the two shared a greeting embrace. Her old clawmate looked her over as he stepped back.

"You look older than I remember," he told her with a shake of his head. "Funny, I still see everyone in my mind as the dragonets we were at Jade Mountain."

"It seems just yesterday, doesn't it?" she asked, looking him over as well. Turtle really had seemed to grow up more than any of her old clawmates. He had grown much taller, his face a bit sterner, and much of the fat that had once been on his body had been toned into muscle from the work-out regiment that he'd gone on since the fall of Darkstalker. Moon didn't have much of an idea of what passed as handsome for Seawings, but she would have considered the Seawing prince before her as such.

So it was no wonder to her that Kinkajou thought the same and had made sure to nab him for herself regardless of Anemone's old love spell.

"Well, what brings you here?" she asked Turtle, "I wasn't aware you'd be visiting, nor do I think Winter was."

Turtle shrugged. "You have Peril to thank for that. We met with her not long ago and she told us that we needed to come and visit Sanctuary."

Moon felt an unpleasant chill go down her spine. She had not yet told any of her old friends except Peril—or anyone outside of Sanctuary save her mother—about her fallout with Qibli and her son with Winter. And she wanted to be the one to tell them herself, when the time came. Which it seemed would be sooner than later, but she hated the idea that they would have been told by someone else before her.

"Did Peril say why?" Moon asked tentatively.

Turtle shrugged his wings. "Actually, no. She just said that we needed to, and it was important that we visit Winter sooner rather than later. I thought it a little odd, but as Kinkajou and I were making plans that would bring us this way we figured that it would be a small thing to drop by. And here you are, too! Very lucky…if it is indeed luck."

He looked at her knowingly as Moon gave a small sigh of relief, and she could tell from his mind that it was true. Peril at least was discrete, and Moon would be able to break the news herself. Which she knew would be coming imminently. After all, if they realized that she was here, then the next logical question that would come to their minds would be—

"Is Qibli here too?" Kinkajou asked loudly, "Oh! And your egg! You have an egg that's supposed to have hatched, haven't you?"

"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten," Turtle said, looking at her with renewed interest, "You're a mother now, aren't you? Kinkajou was so excited when she heard you were with egg. Excited and jealous."

"I was not jealous," Kinkajou huffed, then paused. "Well…maaaybe a little. But we've been trying so long, and you go ahead and have an egg seemingly like that. So I think a little jealousy is justified."

Moon's eyes flickered to Winter, who looked as uncomfortable with the current topic as she felt. Neither of them really knew how to break the news to their friends. She could already see in her mind their smiles slowly falling as she tried to explain the situation.

"So is Qibli here?" Turtle asked, "He must be, wouldn't he? I can't imagine either one of you would want to travel alone with a dragonet so young."

Moon gave a very long sigh. "I'm not really sure how to tell you this but…Qibli isn't here. It's…well…" she rubbed an arm and swallowed uncertainly.

But before she could continue she heard a door crack open from across the room. "Mommy?" she heard Coldshock's voice call out, and she looked over to see her son's head peering out at her and their visitors from around the door.

There was a moment of silence, and then Kinkajou gave an extremely loud squeal of delight. An explosion of pleasure and excitement radiated from her mind so loudly it almost gave Moon headache.

"Oh!" the Rainwing cried, practically vibrating where she stood. Moon could tell it took every ounce of her self-control not to rush over and scoop up the small dragonet. "Is that your dragonet? Of course it is! He looks just like you, Moon. Oh, Three Moons! Look at him!"

Coldshock just looked at them with wide, almost wary eyes as he stepped out. His gaze flickered to his parents questioningly. "Da?" he asked, looking at Winter.

Moon was the first to really move again, stepping towards her son and leading him towards their visitors with the gentle guide of her tail behind him. He walked forward hesitantly, which was a little odd. He wasn't normally so shy. Then again, he hadn't had to deal with a dragon as energetic as Kinkajou.

"Guys, this is Coldshock," she introduced him, "Coldshock, the pink Rainwing is Kinkajou. The green Seawing is Turtle. Kinkajou and Turtle are friends, okay?"

Coldshock gave a small nod, growing a little more confident as the two dragons smiled down at him.

"Good to meet you, Coldshock," Turtle said, lower his head down to the dragonets level. Funny name for a Nightwing and Sandwing hybrid, Moon heard him think to himself, and she winced.

"Can I hold him, Moon? Can I?" Kinkajou asked eagerly. Moon looked at Winter for permission, and he gave a nod of his head. Moon passed that nod along to the Rainwing, and in an instant she had the little dragon in her arms as she sat back on her haunches. "Oh! He's so cute, Moon. What a handsome little dragonet. You're super lucky, you know that? And what pretty scales! I wouldn't expect those silver stripes from a Sandwing or a Nightwing. And his horns…and…scales…"

She trailed off, still excited, but Moon could hear the ominous words suddenly echo in the Rainwing's mind. Something feels off. I don't know what, but something feels wrong here.

The sinking feeling only grew as Turtle reached over and gave the squirming Coldshock a pat on his head. A small frown crossed his face. He's cold.

Turtle turned towards Moon. "You said Qibli isn't here?" he asked, and she could practically see the pieces falling into place in his mind. The dragonet's name basically screamed his heritage, after all.

"He's not," Moon said, "I…well…it's not very easy to tell you guys this. You're friends to both of us. But…Qibli and I…we aren't together anymore."

Turtle gave a somber look while Kinkajou stared at her like she'd grown a couple extra heads. "Wait…what?" the Rainwing asked in disbelief, "I don't understand. What happened? And what about his son?" she looked down at Coldshock, who wriggled out of her claws and hopped down to the ground. He ran over to Winter and clung to his arm with a whimper.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Moon sighed. "Coldshock isn't Qibli's son. He's mine and Winter's."

…And there it was. What Moon had been fearing. As soon as she said the words she was hit with the emotions from their minds. The disbelief. The disappointment. The flabbergasted anger. And from Kinkajou specifically, a special type of disgust that she hadn't heard in the Rainwing's mind since the fall of Darkstalker.

Moon closed her eyes. She hated this. She had avoided anything like this for this reason. The dragons in Sanctuary had been one thing. Most hadn't cared, and those that did she didn't know enough to care. But these were dragons that knew her, that were her friends. And she could see the judgement in their eyes and hear it in their minds like it was daggers digging into her scales.

She closed her eyes.

Moon wanted to cry.

"How could you!" Kinkajou exclaimed, her voice incredulous as her scales shifted to various shades of black and red. Winter couldn't tell if her words were directed at him or Moon. Probably both of them, if he had to guess. He gently wrapped the end of his tail around Coldshock's smaller one, hoping to keep him calm as the Rainwing raised her voice and a large argument threatened to burst out.

"I…I…I didn't mean to…" Moonwatcher choked out. Winter could see her starting to tremble.

He felt a spike of anger flow through him as he heard Moon's distress. Steeling himself and calling on all the training he'd received as an Icewing to bury his emotion and harden himself to be as cold as ice, he took a step forward. "It was my fault," he said as evenly as possible.

Both Kinkajou and Turtle looked at him and narrowed their gazes. "Winter…did you—" Turtle began to ask.

"No!" Moon cried, interrupting him, "It wasn't like that! He…I…we both wanted it. We both messed up. And neither of us are proud of it, but now we have a son and…and…"

"And we're trying to do right by him," Winter finished firmly, doing his best to stand strong despite the way his heart pounded in his chest. Like he was sure Moon was, he hated the looks his friends were giving him. The subtle doubt and suspicion. The accusations.

I wish Peril were here, Winter thought to himself. At least the Skywing understood. But Peril wasn't exactly normal as far as dragons were concerned. He would be a fool to think that everyone else would be as supportive (or at least as apathetic) towards their relationship as she was.

"That's…admirable, I guess," Turtle said diplomatically, although the tone of his voice didn't exactly match his words.

"So what?" Kinkajou pressed, her gaze turning back to Moon. "You just abandon Qibli? Cast him aside? How do you think he felt about everything."

Moon wilted under her questioning. "Kinkajou—"

"How could you betray him like that?" the Rainwing went on. "Three Moons! And you, Winter. You were supposed to be his friend!"

Kinkajou's fury—such a contrast from her normal happy and excitable self—turned on him. She growled. It was an unusual sound coming from her.

"Kinkajou!" Turtle interjected. "Kinkajou, clam down and let them explain."

"But Turtle—"

"Calm down."

The Rainwing huffed but simmered down. Her tail twitched back and forth in irritation as she continued to glare at Winter.

For his part, Winter sighed and gave Coldshock's tail a squeeze for his own sense of confidence. "It was some months ago," he told them, "I was visiting the Sand Kingdom. It was the first time there since….well, since everything. It was all normal, until Qibli received a message from Queen Thorn saying she needed him and he left us alone for the night."

"Like always," Moon added, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Moon and I talked. One thing led to another. I…we…you all know my feelings about Moon. Words between friends became something more. Subtle touches grew more intimate, and before I hardly even knew what was happening we were in a bed together. It was only that one night." He paused to look down at his son. "I never thought anything would come of it. But it was enough."

"Enough to ruin lives," Kinkajou spat, as though her words were her venom. Moon winced as though the burning poison had covered her scales.

"Neither of us had any idea," Moon said meekly. "When Coldshock hatched…" she paused and shook her head. "I couldn't stay with Qibli after that. I couldn't bear his gaze. That's when I left, not before. Winter never even had any idea until I showed up at his doorstep."

Kinkajou continued to look unimpressed. "So you traded one male for another? I wonder how long Winter will last." Winter rose to all fours at that indignantly. But he wasn't the only one.

"Kinkajou!" Turtle reprimanded her with a glare. "This is Moon you're talking about. And not in front of a dragonet!" He pointed to Coldshock, who had moved to the corner of the room, looking at them all uncertainly.

That seemed to finally get to the Rainwing, and her temper cooled. "I…I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have said that, Moon. But when I think of what that must have done to Qibli…"

"It is definitely worrying," Turtle agreed with her. He fixed both of them with a stern look. "Qibli is our friend, too. I don't think either of us know how to feel about this."

"I understand," Winter told him with a nod, feeling like collapsing like he knew Moon felt like. "It's complicated."

"I don't see what's so complicated about that," Kinkajou murmured, "You don't treat dragons like that. You just don't! You should be ashamed of treating Moon like that, Winter. And Moon, you should be ashamed of betraying Qibli and—ow!"

The Rainwing suddenly jumped in alarm. "What the…? Ouch!" She jolted again and looked around for something. Winter saw what was happening before she did: Luna was pecking Kinkajou's tail. The raven had gone unintroduced and forgotten up until now, and she had suddenly determined that this was the best time to rectify that situation.

Kinkajou just stared at Luna in confusion. "Why is there a raven? And why is it—ah!—why is it doing that?"

Winter couldn't help but smirk a little at the situation as Kinkajou swatted at the bird. Luna hopped away and squawked at her angerly before pecking her again.

"That's Luna," Winter introduced her, making no move to stop the bird, "Moon found her and took her in. As for why she's attacking…" he shrugged his wings. "Maybe she wants you to apologize."

"Sorry! Sorry. Sheesh!" Kinkajou swung her tail around and finally pushed Luna back. The raven gave one last angry cry before hopping over to Moonwatcher. Moon offered her tail to the bird, and the bird hopped from there all the way up to her shoulder. Winter noticed that Moon hadn't even looked up. She'd been staring downward for some time now.

Turtle gave a cough that sounded forced to Winter, attracting his attention. "Is that all, then?"

"Aside from that we're trying to raise Coldshock properly, yes," Winter told him. "Moon believes a dragonet should have both parents. I agree."

Kinkajou opened her mouth to say something, but Turtle shushed her.

"I just want to start over," Moon mumbled, her voice sounding defeating. She looked as though she could cry, if she wasn't already.

Her scales changing to a more subdued grey and purple, Kinkajou apparently took notice of that as well. "Moon…" she began, her voice much less harsh.

But she was interrupted by Luna who ruffled her feathers and hissed at the Rainwing. Winter hadn't even known ravens were capable of hissing. Neither, it seemed, did Kinkajou. The little Rainwing took a step backwards in alarm and confusion.

There was a moment of silence before Turtle broke it. "I think Kinkajou and I both need a little while to process this," the Seawing prince said. "We didn't want to intrude, so we got a room at the inn in town before coming over. We had thought that we might visit for a few days but…" he trailed off.

Winter glanced at Moonwatcher's forlorn figure. "I don't know," he said. A part of him wanted to throw them out for their words and actions. But he knew in his heart they were justified. "Give us this evening alone," he told the visitors. "It's not a good day for it anyway. I have a meeting soon and Moon…I think she needs to rest. Come back tomorrow morning and we can go from there, okay?"

"Okay," Turtle nodded. He began to step towards the door. Kinkajou stood still, looking at Winter and Moon. "Come on, Kinkajou."

With another moment of hesitation, she followed him outside. But she did give an apologetic look before closing the door behind them. "I…" she began to say one last thing, then shook her head and was gone.

As soon as the two had left, Winter rushed to Moonwatcher's side. He reached out to her, then pulled his claws away. He shifted awkwardly, not sure what to do, his mind telling him to comfort her while also reminding him of the dangers of pulling her into an embrace.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, finally settling on doing no more than taking one of her claws into his own.

She answered with a shaky nod. "I…I think so," she whimpered.

"Is there anything I can—"

"I don't know."

"Momma?" Coldshock's voice interrupted. He approached her tentatively, eyes filled with concern. As soon as he was close enough, she picked him up and hugged him tightly to her chest.

A part of Winter wished that he could be that dragonet being held tightly. Another part of him wished that he could hold Moon in a similar embrace.

"I…I'll go find Riptide and cancel our meeting," Winter offered. "Unless—"

"I'd like that," Moon said, her claw squeezing his tighter.

Winter shifted, lifting a claw to take a step away. Then he paused. He looked back at Moon, a war within him. He shifted again, this time moving himself beside her. Very slowly, he lifted a wing. Even more slowly, he set it down around her, feeling the so familiar yet unfamiliar warmth of the Nightwing.

"Moon," he began to speak, but that was all he got out.

Moonwatcher leaned into his side, and she finally began to cry.