A Dragon's Love (Young Justice)

Downtime

I slam into the wall and ground hard. Aqualad comes crashing into the wall inches away from me. The others have already been taken out, and were currently lying on the ground unconscious, so it was just me and Aqualad left. Clayface, as I think that's his name, comes chuckling over to us. He goes to take the finishing blow, when the sky lights above him smash inwards, bringing Batman down with the broken glass shards.

He sends two batarangs at the huge monster in front of us, and they explode in his arm. He goes to hit the Dark Knight, but misses as he jumps away. He tazers the creature, and he melts away into a large puddle in front of us on the ground. "Great," I say, gasping. "Wonderful timing. Now... I can faint... in peace." And with that, my sight was seized by darkness.

When I awoke, I kept my eyes closed, noticing two strong arms holding me into a well-toned chest. Wait, where are they holding me?! I stiffen up, before realizing that one arm was underneath my knees, the other one was just above my wrappings. I sigh in relief and nestle my head just under the neck of whoever's carrying me. I take a deep breath, smelling the faint scent of the ocean. Normally, I hated the smell of the ocean, but on this person, it smelled just right. I rub my head against the figure's skin, somewhat resembling that of a kitten rubbing it's head when begging to be caressed. I can hear his heartbeat, and it's thunderous pounding is rather soothing.

Without warning, whoever's carrying me stands up and starts walking. I get jostled around with each step, making me uncomfortable. I grunt, trying to find comfort once more so that maybe I can fall asleep from the exhaustion. His steps slow down, making his walk smoother. I settle down, attempting to fall back into my dreamless sleep, but apparently, that wasn't going to actually happen.

"I need to talk to Aqualad." I hear Batman's voice; sounds to me like we're back in the cave. Which room in the cave, I'm not sure, and I really don't care at the moment. "The rest of you hit the showers, and head home." I keep my eyes closed, figuring that whoever's holding me will think I'm still sleeping. I don't want to get up. "Head home?" Superboy asks, "I am home." They all walk away, but, wait... Who is holding me?

"Just Aqualad." Batman says. Another set of foot steps walk away from whoever's holding me. Wait, does that mean that Kaldur's holding me? "I am sorry you had to intervene. I know the team performed poorly-" Kaldur, who's chest vibrates against me as he speaks, is cut off by Batman. "The team performed adequately. The problem was you. You're their leader and your head wasn't in the game."

"No, you are..." Kaldur'ahm trails off. He sighs. "Correct." He readjusts me in his arms so that my head is higher up on his shoulder, before I feel him move his head to look back at Batman. "Of late, I am not even convinced I belong on the surface world. For so many years it filled my every thought. But now that I am here, most of my dreams are of Atlantis." "Atlantis... Or someone you left behind?" Batman questions. Without any inclination as to why, I felt a pain in my heart. It was a small pain, similar to one I felt before, but I couldn't remember where exactly.

"You can split your time between the surface and the sea, but not your mind. Either you're here 100 percent, or you need to walk away. Make a decision, Kaldur, and make it soon." I sense him look down at me. "Go put Dracona in her room, she'll clean herself up when she's awake." He tells him, walking away. Kaldur sighs, looking down at me.

I feel him start walking again, and move my head from his shoulder to the crook of his neck, humming before falling silent. Kaldur stiffens as I move, heart quickening it's pace, but relaxes once I've settled down once more. I take another deep breath. I just can't get enough of his scent. It's intoxicating.

I hear a door open, and he walks into a much smaller room from the hallway. He walks carefully around objects in the area, before gently setting me down on something soft. The velvety feel of blankets under my hands tells me that I'm laying on a bed. Instantly, I long to be in his arms again; I crave the smell of the ocean on him. He straightens up, and stands there for a few minutes, obviously lost in his thoughts. I hear him sigh, and he bends down, leaning on the side of the bed, placing a small, gentle kiss upon my head, causing my heart to flutter strangely enough.

I don't open my eyes until I hear the door close behind him as he leaves. I stare at the door for a moment as I sit up. I recognize my room, and my possessions within it. I sigh. "Why do I miss being in his arms?" I wonder to myself. "And why do I crave his scent? It's like craving to swim in the ocean without getting wet. Sensing something, longing for it, but it's just out of my reach..." I shake my head, it hurts too much to think straight.

Getting up, I go into my bathroom to get myself cleaned up. I strip down, and out of my soiled suit. I set it into my hamper to wash later, and put my mask on top of it's lid. Something catches my eye, movement, and I turn to see myself in the mirror. I study my appearance; the choker I wear around my neck that I'd worn since I was 100 years old, which was given to me by my grandmother from my father's side and I wear as a reminder of who I am. I stare at the length and color of my hair, the faint mark left from where I was hit by lightning, the wrapping so tightly bound around my waist.

Ever so carefully, I unwrap the encircled gauze from around my midsection. I set it on the counter, by the sink, before turning my skin into my winter white scales. Being ever so careful and delicate, I slowly set myself on fire. Being a dragon, especially from the kingdom of fire and air, my scales are fire-proof, thus making a very good way of getting clean. My hair turns to a midnight black as the strands warm up from the heat. The clay burns off of me, and I feel brand new, like a phoenix reborn from it's ashes. Afterwards, I go back into my room, wrappings and mask back on, and pick out a new dress before heading out to find something to eat. It's nightfall now, and I haven't eaten since this morning.