Chapter Three:

Isla, Skye and Nia sat on the velvet orange sofas each trying to think of something to say. The two crew members were on their break; Nia was knitting yet another scarf and Skye was writing in her notebook and researching Dragon Lore on her laptop. Isla's mind was taken up with Elliot who was now in the Hospital space pod and seeing him lying there. Skye, who was trying to lighten the mood, said, "Did you know that dragons can lay five eggs at a time?" That is so cool!" Her face lit up when she spoke and Isla was grateful for the distraction.

"I didn't know that! I thought it was three at most. I found out from Cosmo that Whale-Dragons actually hide their young in the scales underneath their wings. Sort of like pouches, which I thought was amazing!" 

Cosmo, as far as Isla knew, was curled up next to Elliot's bed and she just wished she could be there too. Charlotte had been in her room for a whole day now and she started to get concerned. Even though Charlie had no burns, she couldn't even look Isla in the eye when they went to the Hospital pod. Isla wondered what she and Elliot could possibly have seen in that room. A twinge of pain on her arm where she'd put gel on her burns brought her back to the present.

"Oh that's a good one. Thanks!" Skye replied, flipping her hair over to the other side as she jotted it down in her notebook.

"Hmm. I didn't know that either. Very cool! By the way, have you seen Elliot yet? It's already Friday and since the IGF have moved the physical Trials to Monday and the ceremony to next friday...," Nia trailed off.

"Yes, I went with him, Charlotte, Mum and Dad and their dads when it happened," Isla replied, "he was sleeping most of the time, but when I had to leave at 10:30 pm because of the curfew, he was just waking up and seemed slightly better." Yet again, she wished that Luca was there; he would have known what to do, what to say.

Her two friends sighed in relief at the news. Isla spied Finley sitting alone on the other side of the room and quickly excused herself as she weaved through the crowded Headquarters in his direction. She waved to her aunt and uncle who were in deep conversation with her cousins.

"Hi," Isla said simply, plonking herself down on the empty spot next to him. Looking up from his sketchbook he quickly slammed it shut making her jump in the process.

"Hi. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Finley answered, smiling sheepishly, his slight blush showing off his freckles. Isla wondered what or who he had been drawing, but she had a pretty good guess who that was. They'd known each other since almost all their lives and Isla knew his secret even if he didn't tell her.

"That's fine. Since the trial I've been more jumpy than usual," Isla admitted. Somehow talking to Finley always makes her feel better. He was just so calm and listened without interrupting.

"Umm. Are you able to tell me what happened?" he asked gently while pacing his pencil, coloured pencils and the sketchbook on the small table opposite them.

Taking a deep breath Isla recounted what had happened shuddering at the thought of Luca really out there alone, his ashes spread amongst the stars. The Intergalactic Federation wouldn't even let her come to the Ashes Service as it was going to be 'too upsetting' for her, Elliot and Charlotte.

Finley listened intently then whispered, "that must've been.. Horrible. Sorry Isla,"

"I just... I don't understand what the point of it all was and how did I get all those burns? And Elliot. It looked so painful. And, I'm glad, of course, but why didn't Charlotte get any burns?"

"Honestly, I don't know," he answered after a minute, "maybe she... no, never mind,"

"What is it, Finley?"

"No nothing. It couldn't be," he replied, finally trying to convince himself more than anything. Isla what Finley was getting at and to be perfectly honest she had thought that herself. What if Charlotte chose to save herself, and that's why she didn't get any burn marks?

Deciding to drop the subject, Isla asked, "What are you working on?" she indicated to his sketchbook. He looked down and ran his fingers through his orange hair. An obnoxious bout of laughter came from one of Isla's cousins and they both rolled their eyes at each other.

"Promise not to tell?" Finley finally said seriously. Just then the lunch gong went signalling that lunch was ready in 30 minutes.

"I won't, I promise," she replied, feeling elated that he finally trusted her with his drawings. They confided in one another of course, but Finley was very private when it came to his sketches. She was rarely given a chance to see them. Nodding more to himself than anyone, he opened the book to the page he'd been drawing and Isla stared at Finley in wonder. His skills were truly amazing; he had drawn Elliot, like she'd expected him to, but the drawing was spectacular. Finley had drawn himself holding hands with him and their expressions toward each other showed pure love for each other. He'd coloured in the exact shade of Elliot darker blue eyes and the faint freckles underneath them. Finley's paler blue eyes stared at her through the drawing and his smooth ginger hair created a contrast to Elliot's dark brown slightly wavy hair. 

"It's beautiful," Isla said, taking the sketchbook from him gently.

"Thank you. I've... well... I've liked him for ages. I just haven't told anyone except for Luca," Finley said.

"I know. I've guessed, but thanks for telling me," Isla whispered. He gave her a surprised look, which Isla secretly found amusing. While it was true that Luca had told her that fact, it was obvious especially since she caught herself staring at Finley a little too long. It wasn't until she saw him and Elliot together that she realised that she, too, adored him. An image of Taylor, the beautiful brunette she'd seen at the Intergalactic Federation a few days ago and shook her head trying to clear her thoughts.

"How did you know?" he asked bewildered.

Just then the 15 minute gong went, interrupting their conversation.

"Should we get some food?" asked Isla relieved as he gathered all his pencils from the table and tucked his sketchbook under his arm. They walked together in silence as Cosmo flew over to them. The cafeteria was meager compared to the Headquarters so it was much more crowded; Isla liked to think of it as cozy.

Charlotte weaved through the people towards Isla, Finley and Cosmo, who was sitting on her shoulder.

"Charlie! I was worried about you. How's Elliot?" she asked, hope dancing in her eyes. Finley waved awkwardly and was about to leave when Isla pulled him back.

"He seems much better. Dad called me through GalaxyExpress and said that he's awake. They've put gel on his burns and bandaged them, but he's sitting up now and they think he'll be ready for the physical on Sunday," Charlotte replied as they lined up at the three food machines.

"That's great!" Finley said enthusiastically. Cosmo flew off to save them seats and Isla agreed with him as the three of them reached for a plate. Isla clicked the 'pizza' option of the food vending machine, chose her toppings; ham and pineapple and watched as the pizza appeared on her outstretched plate as if by magic. Next she moved onto the drink machine and even though she'd seen it so many times she was still fascinated when she watched the liquid flowing into her glass. Charlotte had always smirked playfully at her about this and this time was no different.

"Where's Cosmo?" Charlotte wondered.

"He's here!" Finley called, waving the young ladies over to them. Once everyone in the room was seated the space pod shuddered, knocking over Charlotte's drink.

"What was that?" Max wondered. He had just come to sit beside them a few seconds earlier.

"Could it be another meteor shower, Dad?" Isla asked.

"Could be, but it wasn't forecast and Gabriella didn't say anything about it. I'm going to go down and have a look. It could even turn into a dust storm. Won't want to be stuck in that, especially at the birthday ceremony. Be careful, okay?"

before Isla and Charlotte could insist on coming with him he was gone. Finaley's parents were already instructing others to abandon their food and go underneath the tables before. They were in charge of the emergency procedures in the Beckett's, the Lane's and the Maxwell's spaceship. Finley, Charlotte and Isla hid under the table while his parents made sure that all the chairs and tables were securely bolted. Isla noticed that Finley hugged his drawing book as if his life depended on it, and maybe it did. The eerie silence had fallen in the cafeteria and it seemed to stretch on and on until another shuder rocked the pod. Every room in the spaceship, even if it had a floor underneath it or another room next to it had a large circular window looking into the outside world. Now as the three were sitting on the protective glass, Isla looked down her stomach doing a flip as she saw large rocks the size of her head rocket past. She cried out as several of the rocks collided with a dragon's body and mashed them to pieces. Both Charlotte and Finley put their arms around her both feeling the same dread creep up on them everytime that the showers occur. Not for the first time Isla so wished that Luca was there; he would've made everyone laugh in seconds. They also missed Elliot how was now, unbeknownst to them being escorted back to their space pod in these dangerous conditions. Isla would be furious if she knew; why couldn't they just wait until the storm blew over? Below them the space dust swirled and the massive rocks crashed together, a booming sound echoing throughout the spaceship making the dragons flee. Tiny jellyfish, the size of Isla's palm clung onto the Whale-Dragons in an attempt to save themselves.

"Isla! Isla?"

It took Isla a few seconds to register that Finley had been talking to her, "yes?"

"Elliot's back!" the pure joy in his voice was evident and the aching feeling in her heart returned. Looking around she realised that Charlotte and Cosmo had already gone. A loud bang, which caused some screaming, emintated around them.

"That's great! But how? We're in the middle of an unexpected blizzard," Isla said, confusion evident on her face.

"I don't know, but let's go and find out," Finley said, sounding much more confident than 20 minutes before when showing her his drawing.

Before they could crawl out from underneath the long cafeteria tables and a tremendous crash filled the room startling them and making them both bang their heads on the table. Isla peaked around the corner and saw, to her dismay, that the food and drink vending machines had fallen.

"Never mind," decided Finley, shaking his head. That was going to be his job with Skye and Ryan to heave those machines up again and see if they had been damaged in the fall. Isla was perfectly content to stay there a few more minutes before the real world hit her to be honest. Before her anxiety about the Trials and having to run her own space pod; before Elliot and Charlotte could start asking endless questions about if Luca had said something to her before his death that was suspicious and before Finley only had eyes for Elliot.

"Maybe it's better to just wait here until the storm passes," Isla suggested, hoping he'd agree, "we can see Elliot in a few minutes. Well, hopefully,"

"Good idea. By the way, I told you who I like so now it's your turn," he teased lightly, a smile playing on his lips showing his dimples, no longer the shy young man from before. Isla gulped, unable to speak for a moment, suddenly highly focussed on the dust storm and watching the jellyfish and the dragons. She suddenly wished that both Charlotte and Elliot were here after all. Seeing her distress Finley put his hands up in surrender, "I'm just teasing. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to,"

"Actually, I like...," Isla started.

"Hi! Look who's back!" exclaimed Charlotte loudly over the sound of more booming meteors. Isla silently cursed her, and couldn't help but smile when she and Elliot crawled underneath the table towards them. Hiding the painful twinge in her right arm as Isla waved to him she and Finley said in unison, "Welcome back,"

"Thanks," Elliot replied, sitting between the blond young woman and the ginger-haired young man. Charlotte plonked herself down next to Isla. They said nothing for a while just listening to the rumble of the dragons as they dodged the biting dust hearing the murmuring of the other passengers. Elliot and Finley chatted about various things each not saying what they really wanted to. Charlotte's mind flashed back to the trial; at the point where she needed to make the decision and instead of choosing the others she chose herself. She wished she could go back and fix her mistake now, but of course she couldn't and the regret sat like a lead weight in her stomach.  Gradually, 15 or so minutes later the meteor shower seemed to have passed and everyone stayed sitting staring at the damage outside the circular window below them and Isla wondered if the storm did any damage to the nine forbidden planets and how many poor wounded animals were out there. She'd always wanted to start a Dragon, squid and jellyfish hospital.

"Hi, this is Gabby speaking. It is now safe to come out from under the tables,"

Hearing sighs of relief and laughter, Finley and Isla got up and waited while Charlotte and Elliot crawled out from underneath the table. Cosmo swooped down, seemingly out of nowhere, and landed on Isla's shoulder making her scream.

"Would you stop doing that?" she exclaimed earning herself a small chuckle from Finley, which was beautiful if she was being honest with herself. Isla rolled her eyes at him and Elliot just smiled. Cosmo didn't say a word; he was watching Charlotte who had gone the opposite direction towards the bedrooms. Ever since the trial two days ago she had been acting more different than usual; even at the hospital with Elliot. It was almost as if she couldn't look at him, which made Cosmo wonder what exactly happened in that room. Karolina and Dylan could be seen talking in the distance and as hard and Isla looked for Charlotte she couldn't find her.

"Training for the physical trial commences in 10 minutes," The sound of the loudspeaker seemed to Elliot and Isla to close in on them as did the eyes that all swivelled in their direction. Finley said a cheery good luck, but anyone with a brain could see that he was reluctant to leave their side, especially Elliot's. His pale blue eyes held emotions that mirrored their own; fright.

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