Pt’this woke slowly. He lay on his stomach, and there was a weight on his arm. It was odd for him to lie on his stomach. Then his tail twitched. Tail? He smiled to himself. He was in dragon form this morning, not elf. The weight on his arm was Sapphire curled up. She had been right. He did sleep better in his true form, so much so he had done it for the last few nights. She had lain on his arm each time. Gently, he caressed her cheek with his tongue. It was the closest thing dragons had to kissing unless he wanted to bite her. But human skin didn’t hold up to that like scales did. Carefully, he laid her on the bedroll next to him. He took elf form and recovered her with the blanket. Softly, he headed towards the door. “Where are you going?” Sapphire asked. He stopped. He hadn’t wanted to wake her. “Just for a walk.” “Want company?” She offered. He shrugged. “Might as well. You’re just going to follow me anyhow.” She was a great thief and could move as silently as anyone, even the elves, but their bond told him where she was so she couldn’t sneak up on him. He waited at the door while she put on her boots. He held her hand as they walked. “I’m okay.” He told her. “You don’t need to follow me all the time.” “I’ve heard that before,” was her response. He said nothing. “In fact, I think those were your exact words right before you tried to kill yourself.” He stopped. He had forgotten about that. It was right after Mirimar had died. Those closest to him had started a deathwatch, taking turns staying with him to make sure he didn’t do just that. It was needed when a dragon lost their mate. Friends and family would sit with the mate of a dragon who had just died to help them out, keep them company, and make sure they didn’t kill themselves. Even though he had barely known Sapphire at the time, she had come too as a favor for his nephew. One of the first times she was there, he had told her he was okay being alone for a little while. She had let him go off by himself, and he had tried to end his life. What he hadn’t known at the time was her stealth. She hadn’t believed him then either and had followed. She had stopped him from hurting himself. She then scolded him mercilessly for lying and for trying to kill himself until someone came to take her place. Surprisingly, she hadn’t told that person about the incident. He didn’t believe she had ever said anything about it to anyone. “I’m not really that bad this time,” he insisted. He had been planning to just go for a walk. He had no intentions of hurting himself. “I know how bad you are. You’re going to have to deal with this sooner or later,” she said. “When we leave here, it’ll fade again,” he said. “What if it doesn’t? Shimmer is convinced she saw Mishtali. She’s going to go after him. She’ll need your help.” “She always needs my help,” he sighed. “I’m tired of her needing my help.” “It’s part of being a family. What are you going to do when it’s our family? Or maybe you no longer want one?” “What?” “Before this started you could barely keep your hands off me. Now you barely look at me. You’re having second thoughts because of what I told you.” Sapphire’s parents had been abusive to her and her sister. They had done horrid things to them. Pt’this had been the only one she’d told all they had done to. “What? No. I told you that didn’t matter.” “You have a funny way of showing it.” “Sapphire, Frindahl, I love you. I want to be your mate, but too much is happening.” “That’s why you need to deal with it.” Pt’this sighed. “I know. I really am trying to. How did you deal with your problems?” “My problems were different. I don’t know that what I did will help. But one thing to remember is you’re not alone. You have people to help you. Don’t shut them out.” “I’ll try not to.” “A little sex might not hurt either,” she said slyly. “I do still think about you. Mostly it’s when everything is quiet, and you’re already asleep.” “That would explain the dreams I’ve been having.” She smiled. “You’ve been having dreams about us?” Pt’this looked surprised. “Tell me about them.” Before she could, a shadow passed overhead. Ann, in dragon form, glided to a landing a short way ahead of them. She transformed back to human, laughing. She was dressed, but her feet were bare. “You lost your boots,” Pt’this scolded. Young dragons often lost clothing inside their vials when first learning how to transform. This was only Ann’s third time taking dragon form. She looked down at her feet and laughed again. “No, I forgot to put them on. Andy and I were talking, and you’re not the only one who can fly but Andy didn’t think I was strong enough and I thought there was only one way to find out. So I tried and, although I mostly glided, I did fly a little.” Andy came running up a moment later carrying her boots. “Are you trying to break your neck?” He scolded. “I’m fine. I flew!” “Barely. Just be careful,” he said and handed her the boots. She put them on. “No more jumping out the window.” “You jumped out a window?” Pt’this cried. “You do it all the time, so did Kith.” “We’ve had practice. You need to work on taking off. Jumping is dangerous,” he scolded. “Welcome to a family,” Sapphire whispered.