They ran together across the courtyard and into the garden, disappearing in the rows of plants and thick flowers.
Ling Ling held on tight to his hand while Junjie led her to a massive maze dodging flowers and shrubs that kept getting in the way until they reached an open space right in the middle of the massive garden.
Then what?
Ling Ling knew this place was breathtaking but this is nothing new her. She had been in this place numerous times before, it had been her favorite spot outside the palace.
Junjie had taken her here on afternoon dates before.
"Hold on to me," said Junjie as he tightened his grip on her hand, making sure he don't let them slip.
Ling Ling has tiny hands and with Jungjie's wide palms, he felt like he could easily lose her.
He shifted just in front of her. His wide back blocked her view, strong square shoulders, Junjie is a foot taller than Ling Ling which made him looked like a massive tower crowding her.
"What for?" Ling Ling asked, she could hardly contain her excitement.
Junjie flashed her one of his gorgeous grins over his shoulder and pulled her closer, guiding her arms around his waist.
Ling Ling blushed.
"You'll see," he sang melodically.
She pressed her cheek on his hardened back and they both stepped forward.
Junjie leaped into the air and suddenly burst into something else, something big, and something heavenly.
Limbs retracting and body elongating, his smooth skin hardened coated with thick scales that shined and glittered silver and blue when the sun hit him.
His body reshaped into a dragon, a beautiful, majestic dragon, as they ascended skyward joining the scattered formation of clouds.
Ling Ling gripped onto him, her face buried on his thick hair. Ling Ling smelled his natural scent. He smelled of trees, rivers, and mountains.
"Pick up your head." Murmured Junjie looking very strange right now as a talking dragon. Even in this form Ling Ling saw the smile pressed on his lips. "You're missing out on view!"
Ling Ling picked up her head by an inch but the violent wind smothered her right away. She buried her head back on his neck.
Junjie descended a bit lower, to a height where Ling Ling wouldn't be scared and the wind would be tolerable.
She felt the knots on her stomach as he began his descent and squeezed her arms around him tighter.
The dragon let out a smooth laughter. "I'm sorry, Ling Ling. I didn't think about you being afraid of heights, I forgot humans are typically afraid of heights."
Ling Ling would have answered, but she's still arrested by everything that's happening.
The view was beautiful and she's a hundred feet in the sky, riding a talking dragon.
There's plenty happening in her head.
Junjie glided smoothly and finally, Ling Ling picked up her head. She looked forward, not wanting to draw her eyes to the ground.
They were not too high anymore Junjie was merely gliding over above the trees in the mountain.
He laughed. "It's okay, I'm not going to let you fall off."
Ling Ling picked up her head, testing the view before her.
"See, we're not that high anymore."
She straightened her back and cracked her eyes open entirely to see the view. A smile appreared on her lips.
"This is beautiful!" She gasped.
"It is," agreed Junjie as he prepared to land on the ground molding back into his original form.
By time his feet touched the ground, he's back in his human form with Ling Ling still carried on his back. Leg on each sides of his waist, arms wrapped around his neck, breast on his back. 😜
"We're here."