Romance for One

"I am tired of your excuses, Diamond!" Echogreen yelled at Diamondspirit. "You give me nothing but stupid, tired, and old excuses. I'm sick of it! At least come up with something original for once. It's the least you could do." She glared at the brown drake.

"Echo-"

"I mean, I get it," she said, throwing up her wings in disgust. "You're a deadbeat dad who doesn't want to raise his kids. This is the fifth week in a row where you haven't been home for dinner. Are you seeing someone else?"

"I-"

"Oh, and don't try and say that you're planing something for this stupid human's holiday filled with love and romance. You'll just come up with something half-assed and I don't want that." She looked away. "I don't want anything from you."

Before Diamondspirit could speak, Echogreen had run out of the cave and shot into the air. The kids were still in the cave, and they probably heard her accusations against their father. For too long Echo had been covering for him claiming he had work or he was on an expedition.

The truth was, she didn't know where he was. She didn't know who he was anymore either. Once they had children, she had been the one to raise them while Diamondspirit went to Thor knows where.

He wasn't faithful and she should have seen that from the start. She'd stay, though. That's what she was trained to do. She was trained to stay with her mate. If she left him, she would die - probably literally. All the other times she thought of leaving him, there had been intense headaches and migraines.

She shook her head. No. She would stay.

After flying for a few hours with no real direction of where she was going, she came to a familiar rock outcropping on an island. It was her old home.

She landed and looked carefully through the debris and wreckage that were the caves. It had been forever since she had been here. This was her home when she was first on her own. She had figured out most of life here.

She pawed the ground uncomfortably. There were too many memories here. She should move on. Yet ... yet she couldn't leave it. She had to fix it up a bit.

She set about moving away the boat wreckage from the once beautiful sandy beach. She started to hum a bit, and once she did, vines started to grow out of the ground. They helped her with her wreckage clearing. They started to crush the wooden planks in their iron-like grip.

Pretty soon there was a small mountain of veritable sawdust.

Echogreen had stopped humming long ago, but the vines still grew and helped. When she thought that she was finished with clearing the area, she looked up. The sun was high in the sky. It was almost noon time.

She looked around and saw the sawdust mountain. She smiled. It would be nice and soft. Perfect for a good rest.

She walked slowly over to the mountain and sank gratefully into the deep softness of the wood. She moved around and adjusted her wings a bit.  She breathed in and out, deeply. The sweet smell of fir and pine carressed her nasal passages.

She smiled to herself, all thoughts of Diamondspirit gone away.

When she woke almost a full five hours later, she was well rested and feeling a lot better than she had in several years. She felt freed and relaxed.

That's when she felt the presences of two Night Furies.

She stood up hurriedly from the sawdust- spreading it all over the place. "Who are you?" she asked. "Where are you?" The next question was uttered after not being able to find the dragons.

"You need to look closer, Echogreen," the voices said. "Come to the caves."

She didn't feel any fear from these spirits, and usually she could feel if someone was dangerous or not.

So, Echogreen walked to the cave entrances and stuck her head in. Caution prevailed and she slowly walked in, taking stock of everything. There were many stalactites and stalagmites. There was also a low "tinking" sound as water dripped to the ground.

At the end of the tunnel, Echogreen gasped. There were two, starry-like Night Furies there. They were translucent and their auras shifted lazily. One was a deep magenta and the other was a gray or black color. Echo couldn't tell.

"Who are you?"

"Who do you think we are?" the voices asked in unison.

"I...I'm not sure."

This time only the magenta colored one spoke. "Don't lie to yourself, dear. You know who we are. Trust your instincts."

Echogreen breathed in and out slowly. She had to be rational about this, very rational. But...there was no rationality in the spirits standing before her. There was no rationality when there was magic in the world.

"Are you...you're not...are you?" Echo didn't want to believe it for fear she was going to be wrong. She didn't want to lose her parents twice.

The black one's aura brightened a bit, but dulled down to it's regular pulsing sensation. "It's true, daughter. It is Echolocation and Callik. Your parents."

"This is impossible."

"With magic, nothing is impossible. When you used your magic in a place where we were watching over you the most, you called us into sight. Echogreen, darling, you need to go back to your children. Diamondspirit won't be able to father them on his own."

"He wouldn't be able to father them period," Echo said bitterly.

"He's afraid of failing," Echolocation said softly. "Give him the opportunity to thrive."

"No."  Echogreen shook her head. "I will not. I can mother my children on my own. Maybe G-"

"Echogreen, no. Don't do that to yourself. Go back, we urge you." This time it was her father that spoke.

"You're needed at your cave," they said in unison. "We will transport you there with Echolocation's ability. Farewell, daughter."

Before Echo knew what was happening, she was outside the cave's entrance at moonrise.

She immediately felt the loss of her parents. It was something she hadn't felt for a long time, and she didn't know what to do. She shook her head to herself and walked into the room where she had deemed the guest receiving area.

There, the cave was lit with a soft and pink light. The large rock that served as a table was covered in rose petals. There were cooked (and seasoned!) fish on both ends of the rock.

The rest of the cave had a musky, but sweet, scent to it. It was definitely something Echogreen hadn't seen before, or smelled.

"You're back," Diamondspirit said, coming out of one of the tunnels. "I was hoping you'd back. Please, sit down."

Echogreen tentatively sat down at one of the ends of the table.

"You can dig in and eat. The fish are still warm."

"The-"

"The kids are asleep as well. I don't think they remember what happened at the start of yesterday. Courtesy of Toothless."

Echogreen nodded slowly. "Why did you do this?"

"I...I guess this is my way of saying sorry?" Diamondspirit blushed and looked down. "I feel bad for leaving you for all those weeks. I couldn't deal with being a father."

"Then why...why would you even stay? Diamondspirit, just go. Leave me." Echogreen looked down at the rose covered ground. "You didn't have to do this."

"But I wanted to," Diamond said, his voice pleading. "I want to make us work."

"I don't think it can."