She dreamt of Indigo.

She usually dreamed of him, true, but only of the night he had died, or other scenes of his life mixed with sadness. This one was almost...happy.

They were in the secluded grove that they usually stayed when they had a moment to themselves, and they rested for a moment, just enjoying each other's presence.

Indigo spoke first, his dark form lying among the trees like a serpent. "Evelyn, I can't stay long-"

"I know," she interrupted, even though she didn't. "What's happened?"

He chuckled deeply. "You've been chosen, 'Lyn. I thought that much was obvious."

"But by whom?" she cried, yearning leaking into her voice.

"Luna, of course. Take good care of her, please. She'll need it." He looked at her fondly for a moment and then continued. "You won't remember any of this, I'm afraid. But hopefully the feel of it will stay with you."

"Wait!" she tried to choke out, but she could feel herself fading.

"Goodbye, Evelyn." He whuffed softly, and she felt the breeze on her hair. "I never regretted choosing you."

#

Evelyn came awake slowly, her senses springing into action one at a time. First came hearing and the sounds of breathing. Then came touch: there was a softness beneath her, and a warm body pressed up against her stomach. Then gradually, the musty smell of scale oil permeated into her atmosphere, and she opened her eyes slowly, feeling contentedly drowsy.

The first thing she saw was the dragonet. She was curled slightly, like a crescent moon, so that she was aligned with Evelyn. She was a ghostly white, not cloud-white like some dragons, but ethereal and delicate, which made her look tinier than she really was. Not that it was all deception. Her head came up to Evelyn's chest and her rear, not including her tail, came to less than mid-thigh. Her wings, whose webbing was gossamer-thin and see-through, folded over her stomach, the image of peacefulness. Evelyn felt her lips stretch into a smile at the sight, and lowered her head back down on the straw.

Wait, straw?

Evelyn raised her head muzzily to look at her surroundings, although her body protested for more sleep. The bed of straw she was asleep on was enclosed by four walls they rose high-twice the height of a normal ceiling, with a removable tarp for a roof. A dragon pen? But why...

But she knew the answer, didn't she? She's known it back in the hatchery, and she knew it now, without even having to check for the presence in the back of her head. She'd been chosen.

It seemed impossible. Stories of second dragons were rare, and they usually only happened to legends from long ago, when the wings were in danger and nothing else could save the kingdom. She was no legend, was she? She snorted at the absurdity of it.

Her train of thought was interrupted when the doors at the other side of the dragon pen opened with a whisper. Marvin poked his head in, and then opened the door wide when Evelyn lifted her head. She smiled when she saw Seraphine peering over his shoulder.

She sat up slowly, careful not to disturb the sleeping dragonet, while Marvin sat down cross-legged next to her. She miles at him, enjoying the new sensation on her face, but when he smiled back tentatively, she could tell something was wrong. Seraphine settled herself looped completely around them, her head in Marvin's lap.

Evelyn felt the usual pang of memory when the position reminded her of Indigo, but instead of being overwhelmed by sadness, she felt...reassurance. Yes, the pain was still there, but soothed, as if it was an injury just starting to heal. She froze in her thought, suddenly afraid. What if this meant she was forgetting Indigo? Absurd, but it had validity in her mind, and doubt began to grow. She turned her gaze to the dragonet and felt resolve harden inside of her. No, this felt right. Indigo would be telling her to get on with her life.

"Evelyn...." Marvin began, hesitant, and she turned her eyes to him, suddenly realizing how uncomfortable he looked.

"What I'm supposed to ask you, er, well, nobody really knows...I mean, what we don't know for sure...well, what happened?"

She closed her eyes for a moment before answering, ignoring his awkwardness. "I've been chosen," she smiled, the spoken words sinking in. Suddenly she wanted to shout it at the top of her lungs and let the whole world know. She opened her eyes with a ridiculous grin on her face, only to find Marvin looking at her with a grim expression.

"This is bad," she caught him muttering under his breath.

"How?" She asked, maybe a little too sharply. She lowered her voice with a glance at the dragonet and continued. "Second dragons have happened before, I've already had all the proper training, but I could go through it again with her, there's nothing the council can say against me, I don't-"

"No, 'Lyn." Marvin grabbed her arm, cutting her off. "That's not it."

"Then what is it?" she hissed, careful to stay quiet. "What's the problem?"

Marvin shied away from her glare and dropped her arm. "I-it's the council..." he trailed off, obviously not wanting to say more.

Seraphine intervened. "Evelyn, what Marvin's trying to say..." she hesitated too, and Evelyn's heart quailed in fear. Then the dragoness looked her in the eye. "The council wants to kill your dragon."

Duh, duh, duh! I love ending on cliffhangers. Just for the record, I usually hate reading author's notes, so if you skip this, I applaud your good choice. I just wanted to have a moment of nostalgia, considering that when I first started this idea, I was intending it to be a 5,000 word short story. I was really wrong. It's turned out to be great, and will hopefully be getting even greater! About updates: I'm trying to be more timely with them, but bear with me, please. Also restrain your lions and tigers.

~FlythruFire