Kingdoms Falling

Chapter 20

"Can we talk?"

He'd found Cotton on the training deck, a large cave open to the sky with vegetation growing across and up every nook and cranny. Half of the cave appeared natural, with stone walls jutting towards the heavens and small bubbling waterfalls gurgling into a center pool. The other half looked like something out of a science-fiction novel. Large metal beams drove into the walls and huge bags and other unusual objects hung down and littered the floor. Unsurprisingly, Cotton had located one of the largest punching bags and was ruthlessly tearing away at it with her wings and tail. She hadn't heard him come in, and she started at his voice.

"What about?" She went on to smash her tail against the bag once more, sending it flying backwards and slamming into the rock backboard. "Your little training session with Lilac over?"

"It wasn't really a 'training session'," Meadow corrected, adjusting his glasses nervously, watching as the princess hit the punching bag once more before pointedly walking away. He ran after her. "Though I did learn something."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"You knew who I was."

Cotton paused. "What are you talking about?"

"Back in the Dream Realm, when we first met," Meadow recalled. "When you were addressing something Cloud said, you called me Minnow Grass. But I had never told anyone my name. Remember?"

"No."

"Well, you did," Meadow insisted, catching up and pacing himself to jog alongside her. "And there's only one way that could be."

"Can't wait."

"We must have met," Meadow said. "Before that. And I finally figured it out."

Cotton sighed. "Did you?"

"And, actually, you're the one that did most of the work for me," Meadow said. "That painting you did of the forest. I knew it looked familiar. And that's because we've both been there!"

"I don't think I follow," the dragoness said as she started toward the water to wash the dirt and blood from her talons. "You're saying we'd met before Clouddusk drug us all to that meeting? Unlikely. I'm a Raynbow dragon, and I certainly have no memory of ever meeting a sea dragon...or whatever you are...anywhere."

"But you did!" Meadow insisted. "When we were hatchlings! You were crying, and I...I tried to intervene. You ended up giving me my name and you told me how you wanted to be a different dragon and that you were running away from your family."

"Doesn't ring a bell." She shrugged. "You must have the wrong dragon. Sorry."

"Just because your born into one family, doesn't always mean you belong there."

Cotton froze, talons halfway inclined to the water. "What did you just say?" Her gaze was like fire, but he steeled himself and continued bravely.

"You told me that. I remember, and I think you do too."

Cotton growled, plunging her claws into the lake and watching the grime float away. "That was a long time ago," she muttered.

"But, you do remember me," Meadow pressed. "You recognized me, even after so long. Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Because it's like you said," the princess snapped. "We were hatchlings. We didn't have a clear grasp on reality or our place in this world. We didn't understand that there are things we simply cannot change, and that we must accept it, if not for us, for the good of others."

"Like you did?" Meadow inquired. "You said a lot of dragons depended on you. I didn't understand what that meant, but I think I do now. I saw the way you stood up for those dragons...your subjects. You were willing to take Twisterheart on single-talonedly if that was what it took. It was incredibly brave."