As we start flying west, I start to think about my parents. Do they even deserve to be called my parents? I don't understand why they hate me so much. Why am I such a disappointment to them? To the kingdom?
"Please don't think about it too much, Adira. Just enjoy some time with Gallagher. Also, I'm making you tell me what happened with him tonight if you avoid it." Storm comforts.
"Thanks, Storm, and don't worry! I'll tell you later." I reassure.
"Ok. Just promise me you won't think about your parents." He says.
"I promise, Storm. Thanks." I thank as I pet his neck.
"No problem, Adira." Storm comments and leaves the mind link, probably to talk to Rain. They would be a cute couple.
"I heard that." Storm growls.
"Oops. Sorry, but I'm not wrong. You two would be adorable together!" I exclaim.
"Stop please. I'm gonna try to talk to her. You should talk to Gallagher. He's staring." Storm growls. He's staring? I look over to Gallagher to see him watching me and smiling warmly at me. I smile back and decide to break the silence.
"So, where are we going?" I ask.
"You'll see, but I think you'll like it." He says as he pats Rain's neck. They start to fly closer to the ocean and we follow them. As Storm and Rain get right above the ocean, they swing their spiked tails down and make large splashes and waves as we keep flying. Storm and Rain look at each other mischievously and I start to get worried.
"Uh, Gallagher?" I ask.
"Yeah? What is it, Adira?" He asks worriedly.
"The drag-" I get cut off just as our dragons dive into the water. Luckily, I breathed in some air before they did. They swam at super speed as they spiraled through the water. They lifted their necks up slightly so we could get some air. Gallagher and I gasped for air when they did. We looked at each other and smiled just before we get pulled back into the water. They quickly swam through the water and I was losing air. Storm swam faster as he could sense my struggle. A few seconds later, we flew into an underwater cave. We flew out of the water and onto the cave floor. I gasped for air as he landed.
"Sorry, Adira. Are you okay?" Storm asks.
"Yeah, I'm okay." I say as my breathing returns to normal. A few seconds later, Gallagher and Rain fly out of the water. Gallagher gasps for air just as I did. Once his breathing calms down, I speak up.
"Are you okay, Gallagher?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you? I noticed Storm swim faster than us. I figured you were losing air faster than I was." He said worriedly. I nodded as I got off of Storm.
"Yeah, I'm fine, and yes, I was running out of air." I say as he gets off of Rain. The dragons walk to a corner of the cave and sit down, waiting for us to continue into the cave. I walk over to the water we flew out of and squeeze the water out of my hair and clothes as much as I could.
"Good, sorry about that. I told Rain to tell Storm about going underwater to get to the cave." Gallagher says as he runs his fingers through his hair.
"It's ok. That was pretty fun." I say, smiling. I look at the cave floor so see it's a very small space. The rest of the cave floor is filled with water, deep enough for our dragons to swim through. I look up at the ceiling and gasp. Many swirls and patterns run along the ceiling. Dips and curves in the ceiling make it look like an illusion.
"It's so... beautiful." I say, still staring at the incredible cave ceiling.
"I knew you would like it." Gallagher says, smiling at me. I look back to him and smile.
"Ready to explore the rest of the cave?" He asks as the dragons walk into the water, leaving out their tails so we can get on them.
"Yeah!" I shout enthusiastically as I walk up Storm's tail onto his back. Gallagher chuckles and gets on Rain. The dragons walk deeper into the water and swim slowly through the tunnels of the cave. I stare at the amazing patterns and smile. I turn back to Gallagher to see him staring at me. He smiles at me and I smile back as the dragons swim faster. We soon enter a room with beautiful blue crystals in the ceiling. I stare at them with wide eyes, my mouth slightly open.
"Wow..." I whisper. A smile appears on my face and I turn back to Gallagher who's still staring at me.
"Cave crystals? How did you know?" I ask.
"I don't know. I guess I just thought that you deserved to see something as beautiful as you." He says as he looks up at the crystals. My eyes widen and I feel kinda confused. I know he changed, but I didn't think he changed this much.
"He likes you." Storm says.
"Yeah, I noticed. He's only a friend, so don't bite him please." I say.
"I won't. I wasn't thinking about that anyway." Storm reassures.
"Good. What were you thinking about? Was it Rain?" I tease.
"Shut up." Storm growls. I almost forget about Gallagher being there and what he said.
"Oh, uh, thanks." I say as my cheeks burn. Seriously, what is wrong with me? Do I like Gallagher? No. No, I don't.
"Adira? You okay?" Storm asks, probably hearing the argument my mind just had.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I say back.
"Ok. Just tell me if something's wrong. Ok?" Storm asks.
"Ok. I will." I say as I look back at Gallagher. I take notice that his brown hair is quickly drying. It looks so soft... What the hell was that? No clue.
"Adira?" Gallagher asks, looking back at me.
"Hmm?" I hum in response.
"Wanna play 20 questions?" He asks as a smile appears on his face.
"Sure. How do we play?" I ask.
"Each of us ask 20 questions about each other. I'll go first. What's your favorite color?" He asks.
"Blue. What's yours?" I ask.
"Blue. When did you connect with Storm?" He asks. I look at Storm as he croons. I pet his neck and look back at Gallagher.
"When I was 5. When did you connect with Rain?" I ask.
"When I was 4." He answers, thinking about his next question. As the game continues, it's more comfortable to ask questions. We get to the last question.
"When did your parents stop treating you like their own?" Gallagher asks and my eyes widen. I hear Storm growl at him and quickly place a hand on his neck. He stops growling as my eyes start to water.
"Great. You're sad now. He's gonna regret asking that." Storm says as he glares at Gallagher.
"Don't, Storm. It's okay. Don't hurt him." I say as I calm myself down.
"He asked you a personal question. Why? Why does he need to know?" Storm asks no one in particular. I quickly hug Storm's neck, my arms engulfed by water as I do.
"When I was 13." I answer as a tear rolls down my cheek.
"He's making you cry." Storm growls.
"No. My parents make me cry. My memories of my parents make me cry. Seriously, Storm. It's okay. Please, calm down." I say. I feel his anger decrease as he stops growling.
"I'm sorry, Adira. I'm so sorry." Gallagher apologizes.
"Don't be. It's their fault, not yours." I say, letting go of Storm and sitting back up. I pat Storm's neck and he croons.
"I know, I just wish I could do something." He says as he looks down at Rain's back.
"I wish I could, too." I say as I look down at Storm. I feel arms wrap around me from behind. I turn around on Storm and look up to see Gallagher hugging me. I hug him back as he sighs into my hair. Being in his arms make me feel safe. Heat rises to my cheeks as he hugs me tighter.
"If you need to talk about anything, just come to me. If they hurt you, tell me and I'll deal with it. If they try to hurt you, I'll protect you. I promise." He says and my eyes widen.
'I'll protect you. I promise.'
His words echoed in my mind.
"Thank you, Gallagher." I say as we pull away from each other. We stare into each other's eyes.
"Anytime, Adira." Gallagher says.
~Time Skip~
After exploring the cave some more, we fly back to the castle. It's almost noon now. We land on my balcony and get off of our dragons. Storm and Rain start to talk to each other, so we go back into my room.
"Thanks for bringing me to the caves, Gallagher. I had fun." I thank him.
"No problem. I had fun, too. I'm glad we still hung out after this morning." He says.
"Yeah, me too." I say. He walks closer to me and hugs me. I hug him back and smile. He nuzzles his head into my neck. Chills run down my spine and butterflies flutter in my stomach. He's a great friend. It's too bad that I'll never see him again.
"Leo is flying here, now." Storm says. I quickly pull away from Gallagher and smile at him. He looks confused but smiles back. Leo lands next to Storm and I smile at him. He smiles at me, then looks at Gallagher and glares. I look at Gallagher to see him glaring at Leo. They know each other? I told Leo about how Gallagher was full of himself when he visited a few years ago, but they never met. At least not with me there. Leo gets off of Lightning and walks into my room angrily. He pulls me into a hug and I immediately hug him back. He holds me tightly and soon I can't breathe.
"Leo.... can't.... breath..." I say as he crushes me in his arms. His arms loosen around me, but still hold me tightly. A minute later he lets go of me and holds me to his side.
"Gallagher." Leo nods towards Gallagher, glaring at him.
"Leo." Gallagher says, glaring at Leo.
"Am I missing something? When did you two meet?" I ask them.
"A few years ago." Leo answers, wrapping his arm tightly around my waist.
"Get your hands off of her." Gallagher says through gritted teeth.
"Make me." Leo threatens. Gallagher immediately punches Leo in the face, making him let go of my waist and stumble backwards. Leo regains his balance and punches Gallagher in the face. I decide I should step in before someone starts bleeding.
"Guys! Stop it!" I say, running up to them. Gallagher looks at me and his eyes soften. Leo notices and punches him in the gut while he's distracted. Gallagher bends over in pain, but sits up right away, punching Leo in the face.
"Leo! Gallagher!" I shout. They don't notice me this time and continue to punch each other.
"Asshole!" Leo shouts at Gallagher. Leo punches Gallagher in the gut and he bends over in pain. Leo forcefully lifts his knee up to Gallagher's face. Gallagher falls onto the ground holding his nose and groaning.
"Gallagher! Leo, stop!" I say as Leo kicks Gallagher in the gut multiple times. I grab Leo's arm and pull him away from Gallagher. Leo looks at me angrily and pushes me away, making me fall to the ground. Leo narrows his eyes at me as he stands over me, fists clenched.
"You're seriously defending him?" He asks.
"He's obviously hurt and so are you! I don't want you guys hurting each other!" I shout as I stand up. By this time, Rain is roaring angrily at Leo and Lightning is roaring at her. Storm roars back at Lightning, defending Rain.
"I can't believe you, Adira! Why would you defend him? Did he kiss you?! If he kissed you, I'll kill him!" He shouts, scaring me. Storm senses my fear and roads at Leo.
"He didn't kiss me, Leo!" I shout.
"Then why are you defending him?!" He shouts, the dragons still roaring.
"Because he's my friend! I don't need my friends fighting right now! I have enough happening with me already!" I shout back at Leo, making his eyes soften.
"What do you mean?" He asks softly.
"My parents said I'm a disappointment to them and the kingdom." I answer quietly. Leo hugs me and I hug him back.
"I'm sorry, Adira." He comforts.
"It's not your fault." I say. He pulls away from me. He doesn't have any blood on his face, just a bruise or two, but his fists have some of Gallagher's blood on them. He looks back at Gallagher and glares.
"I'll meet you at the stables when you're ready. Take all the time you need to think. Just tell Storm to call Lightning if you need me. Ok?" He asks, turning back to me.
"Ok. I'll see you at the stables." I say as he hugs me quickly. He lets me go and walks back to Lightning quickly. Rain snaps at him, but Lightning protects Leo with his wing. Leo gets on Lightning and smiles at me before flying away. I quickly turn towards Gallagher and rush over to him. I kneel beside him and take his hand off of his nose. I hear Gallagher groan and I quickly rush to my bathroom to get a first aid kit and 2 warm, wet rags. I run back to Gallagher to see his eyes closing.
"Gallagher! Are you tired?" I ask. He nods slightly.
"Don't fall asleep. You could have a concussion." I say as I open the first aid kit. I grab a dry washcloth and ran back to him. I put his head on my lap and grab the rubbing alcohol. I put some of the alcohol on the dry cloth and look back to Gallagher who is widening his eyes. I see many cuts on his face and his nose doesn't look broken, but it's bleeding.
"Ok, this might hurt a little." I say as I bring the washcloth close to his face. I dab his cuts with the cloth while putting the wet rag under his nose to stop the bleeding. After I clean the cuts, Gallagher groans.
"I'm gonna go grab some ice for your nose. Don't you dare fall asleep." I say and he nods. I carefully place his head back on the carpet and rush outside of my room, downstairs. I grab a cloth and fill it with ice.
"Well, look who it is." I turn around to face my mother.
"I didn't think the disappointment would be back so soon." She says, glaring at me.
"No time." I say, pushing her away and running back upstairs and into my room. I rush over to Gallagher and place his head on my lap carefully. I give him the ice and he rests it carefully on his nose. As I move my hand to grab the other wet rag and accidentally touch Gallagher's stomach. He groans and I look back to his stomach. I quickly lift up his shirt to see a few cuts and bruises. I gasp and grab the cloth with the rubbing alcohol on if. I carefully dab the cuts on his stomach, noticing his six-pack. Heat rises to my cheeks and I quickly focus back on his cuts, or try to. After cleaning the cuts on his stomach, I pulled his shirt back down and looked back to Gallagher's nose. I lift the rag and see that the bleeding has stopped. The ice caused the swelling to go down and Gallagher has fallen asleep. I sigh and take the ice away from him. I gently drag Gallagher to my bed and somehow get him onto it. I put his head on the pillow and pull the covers on top of him. He looks so peaceful when he sleep. I smile slightly and start cleaning my room. I look on the balcony and see Storm comforting Rain. I walk towards them and their attention immediately goes to me.
"He'll be alright. I'm sorry, Rain." I apologize. She nods and smiles at me. I smile back at her and go back inside my room. I pull up a chair next to my bed and sit down. I look at Gallagher and smile. He'll be alright.
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Ok guys! Really long chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading! Next chapter coming hopefully tomorrow.