Dragon Raja

2 - The Promise We Made

After the orphans at Black Swan Bay spent all of Christmas Eve decorating the tree and getting ready for all the festivities, everyone was ecstatic. Christmas was finally here, and children could be heard miles away from Siberia Harbor, singing and laughing to their favorite songs.

Once the night came, Dr. Herzog would gather all the children around the tree to light it up, shining brighter than the lighthouse. The older kids would set up fun activities for the younger ones, to make Christmas even more enjoyable than just the tree lighting and gift exchanging.

Today was also the day of the evaluation. As far as Y/N knew, only she and Anton were participating this year. The other 18-year-olds either didn't meet Dr. Herzog's requirements for the training or in Z's case, just weren't interested in going to the capital.

Y/N woke up early, the training would begin soon and she wanted to get some time to practice before showing Dr. Herzog what she was capable of. As if on cue, just as Y/N was about to walk out her bedroom door into the cold, Renata was just about to knock.

When the door opened they both smiled at each other knowingly. "Good morning," they each said, "Merry Christmas,"

Renata leaned forward and grabbed onto Y/N's wrists. "I was going to ask if you wanted to help me gather flowers as a gift for the director,"

Y/N gently pulled her wrists out of Renata's grasp and instead interlocked fingers with her best friend. "I'd love to," she said, "I'm sure that would make him happy, he's done a lot for us after all,"

The girls smiled at each other before Renata tugged on Y/N's arms and brought her outside in search of flowers for their director. As they search high and low, unfortunately, neither one of the girls found a flower. During this time of year, they would usually be able to find little budding snowdrops, but to their disappointment, they found nothing.

The children playing around the orphanage suddenly came to a halt and rushed to the entrance of Black Swan Bay, where Dr. Herzog made his way in.

Y/N and Renata exchanged glances. Y/N shrugged at her friend who sighed in defeat. Perhaps they'll just have to find something else to gift him.

The girls walked side-by-side to Dr. Herzog, who was busy greeting the children surrounding him. They bombarded him with question after question, mostly about their gifts.

When the director sees the two friends approach him, he smiles. The other children notice as well, and while they don't necessarily leave the director alone, they linger around, playing as close to Dr. Herzog as they could without interrupting.

As the director himself said, it's rude to interrupt while the big kids are talking to him.

"Y/N, Renata, how have you two been? You're both looking so pretty today. What are you two up to?" Dr. Herzog asked. The girls giggled but not without noticing him look around the orphanage as if looking for someone in particular. "Is Z not with you two?"

Y/N and Renata looked at each other cautiously, careful not to make any expression that would suggest Dr. Herzog worry. As if speaking telepathically, the girls smiled at the older man, trying to distract him from searching for the absent boy any longer.

"We were just looking for some flowers to give to you as a present," Renata said.

"Yep. It's Christmas after all, everyone deserves a gift," Y/N continued.

Dr. Herzog shook his head, "I'm afraid the flowering season has already passed, my dears," but then he smiled softly at the girls. "But you two seem to always have luck on your side. Keep looking,"

As he finished his sentence, he began to walk away, down to the training area. Before he left, he made sure to put in a few more words for the girls. "Make sure you don't neglect your training, Renata. And Y/N," he turned back to smile at her, "I'll see you shortly,"