- two years later –

Kirishima's PoV

A little exhausted I flew over the mountains. I had paid a short visit to the dragon kingdom to see how things were going. In the past Katsuki had come along most of the time, but this journey had been really only a short trip and so we decided that I would travel alone for once.

A lot had happened in the last few years. Of course, the peace treaty that Prince Todoroki and I had signed had caused a great stir, and there were movements in both cultures which were against this sudden peace. But little by little the situation had normalized. The Order had done great work in this regard.

There was a time, shortly after the peace treaty was signed, when we had a little trouble with Mr. Dracoon. The man often had his own opinions, what was good for the Order. He would have liked to see the Order given more power, as they had been a major contributor to the peace. At that time, I had been glad that he no longer had any power of decision over me as a dragon prince. Strictly speaking, he never had, but only since I had reported about my position with the dragons, he had given up trying to bring me under his control. Todoroki and I worked closely together during this time and finally the rest of the order agreed that peace was the ultimate goal and they all refused to tolerate new disputes.

But in addition to the order, Katsuki and I had often been on the road in one country as well as in the other. It was astonishing. Although we got a lot of headwind every time, they changed their mind quickly as soon as they got to know me better. Apparently the direct contact was important, so they saw that half dragons and dragons were not evil or even dangerous by nature. About a year ago, when the mood changed in a positive direction, I once invited Tetsutetsu to participate in our reconnaissance mission. The cheerful silver dragon was very well accepted, even though I had to translate. On the journey back, he confessed to me that he was no longer afraid of the humans. At that moment I felt pure joy, because it confirmed that I had done everything right.

And just as Tetsutetsu and I went down well with the humans, Katsuki went down well with the dragons. At first, they had all been quite suspicious and had looked at his deathbringer as if the sword would attack them by itself. But with his rough manner and his stubbornness he fit almost better to the dragons than I ever did and quickly found acceptance.

I looked at the mountain range below me and was relieved to see that I knew where I was and wouldn't need much longer to get home. Even though I wasn't away for long, it rarely happened that Katsuki and I separated for more than a few days.

Slowly I began the descent when I saw the mountain in the distance where Katsuki and I lived. The small house was only a small dot at the moment, which grew bigger over time. Joyfully I flapped my wings.

A short time later I landed on the open space in front of our house. I moved my shoulders a little and shook my wings. Such long flights in one piece were always exhausting. But I never wanted to rest in between. I preferred to fly a little longer and then rest together with Katsuki.

I shifted back into my human form and walked towards our front door. "I'm back!" I shouted happily as I entered. But I received no answer. I frowned. Where was Kat?

I went back outside and looked around. Where could he be? Was he down in the village? Maybe at Miss Crownway's?

Then I heard soft voices from the small forest that lined the mountainside. I walked towards it, frowning. If I am not mistaken, I heard the metallic clang of metal on metal. A sword fight? I quickened my pace a little. I could think of only a few people Katsuki would rival. Actually, there was only Taran, but he should be on a mission together with Telana.

"Ha! I got you, Blondie!" I suddenly heard Tomoko's voice through the trees.

A broad grin fell on my face and I felt the tension suddenly disappear from me. A little slower I walked towards the clearing where the voices came from.

"Tch. Dream on, little one," Katsuki snorted amusedly as I reached the edge of the clearing. Smiling, I leaned against a tree and watched them.

They were so engrossed in their fight that they didn't even notice me. Katsuki held his dragon blade in his hands but handled it so carefully that he didn't even strike with the sharp edge but only with the flat side. Tomoko, however, swirled around him, a simple short sword in her hands. Eagerly she tried to attack and hit him, but no matter what she did she had no chance.

Katsuki moved as calm and relaxed as one hardly knew him. Unexcitedly, he parried one of her stormy attacks after the other. Then he dropped his guard seemingly unintentionally and Tomoko triumphantly held her sword to his chest.

"But now I really got you," she laughed, and my mate smiled a little as he pushed the sword aside with one hand.

A smile fell on his lips. Deliberately refraining from a victory wasn't exactly Katsuki's style, but he had taken the little girl into his heart. I liked seeing them together.

Tomoko had come up to our house more and more often in recent years. The older Miss Crownway was sometimes glad to rest for a few hours without the wild girl and she was always welcome at Katsuki's and my place.

"Really, Kat? You're teaching her how to sword fight? You know she's only ten, right?" I asked amusedly. The two looked up and I saw the joyful gleam in Katsuki's eyes when he saw me.

Tomoko jumped into my arms and I stumbled back a little when I caught her laughing. "You've been gone long!" she scolded me and hugged me tightly.

„That's not true. I just left yesterday morning!", I said playfully indignant when I put her down again.

Then Katsuki stepped towards me. He looked at me lovingly and I put a hand on his cheek. "Hey," he said softly and kissed me on the lips. I sighed and buried a hand in his hair.

Tomoko made choking sounds.

I detached from the kiss because I had to laugh a little and winked at Kat. He shook his head, rolling his eyes, before reaching for my hand to go back to our house with me.

"Hey! Is the training session over already?" Tomoko asked disappointedly.

"Yeah. Red just got back from a long trip. He should rest and eat something," my mate said determinedly.

I blushed a little. Even after all these years, the care and love of my mate warmed my heart. But Tomoko immediately agreed and she grabbed my other hand. Together we walked back through the trees.

A little later I sat down on a chair in our kitchen in relief and drove through my red hair. "You look exhausted. Did everything go well?" Katsuki asked worriedly.

I smiled at him wearily. "Yes, everything went well. By the way, I met Mashimo again. It was the first time since Ochako traveled with me and we managed to rebuild his teeth together."

"So?"

"Seems he's overcome his hatred for humans."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow. When he had met Mashimo for the first time, the two hadn't liked each other at all. Mashimo had an aversion to humans and Kat hadn't forgiven him for almost killing me during our fight in the arena. But even this enmity seemed to have dissolved in the meantime.

I had the feeling that the cultures were beginning to understand each other. For the first time I had the feeling that I could really lean back, because the rest would sort itself out.

Tomoko sat on my lap and told me what Blondie had taught her today. I listened to her smiling and absently braided a strand of her long hair. Meanwhile Katsuki cooked dinner for us three and soon the spicy smell of his curry filled our house. But for Tomoko he made it extra mild, because the little girl couldn't stand such spicy food yet.

I sat back and watched my mate serve us all some of the delicious food. I loved him so much and I could not imagine what life would be like without him.

This is how I imagined the future. A future together with Katsuki. A common future with my family, without the constant obligations of the last years. I smiled. Happy and satisfied. This was the beginning of the future.

- the end -

Hey everyone! This is the end of Dragon's Brood. Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and voting my story. I hope you enjoyed it! 🤗

And also a big thank you to kirishimaunbreakable for editing the whole story! ❤️