Avi sat on a rock in the clearing, tapping his foot on the ground as he waited. He had committed nearly a dozen traffic violations in his haste to get to Scott’s, but he’d made it there and back again in record time. He’d rushed back only to find both the beautiful girl and Scott were gone. He checked his phone and found a text from Scott he had missed in his rush.

Scott: If we arent back just wait for us by the stream BBS

So he set the backpack he had hurriedly tossed all of the ‘blackout relics’ into (minus the fragile purple bottle which was snuggly wrapped in a washing cloth and  tucked safely in his jacket pocket) next to him and began to hum as he drew little creatures in the dirt with a stick he’d picked up.

“Avi?”

He hadn’t heard a single noise to indicate her approach and the sudden break in silence caused him to drop the stick and clutch at his chest.

“I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you.” She rushed over and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and kind of stared into her face, the kaleidoscope of color swirling in her eyes rendering him momentarily speechless.

She blinked and tilted her head, brow furrowing and eyes shifting, not quite sure if they wanted to be teal, orange or pink. She leaned her face in closer.  “Have I broken you?”

He smiled and laughed, a blush coloring his cheeks as he looked away and adjusted the black beanie on his head. “No, I’m fine. I just got a bit distracted.”

She smiled and grabbed his hand, tugging eagerly. “We must go.”

He stood and slung the pack onto his right shoulder as he followed her towards the veil.  

“Wait.”

She spun to look at him, cold fingers still holding tightly to his own.

“You should take this. I don’t want to break it or anything.”

He pulled the little bundle from his jacket pocket and carefully unwrapped it offering the beautiful bottle to the very wide eyed girl. She took it with the utmost care and turned it between her fingers. She tucked it gently into a pocket of sorts in the fabric about her waist. She turned back to him and nodded. “Now we must not linger. Be ready to run and do not  let go. If anyone sees you…it would be very dangerous.”

“Alright. I’m ready.” He so excited he was bouncing a bit on the balls of his feet.

She reached out a hand and the air shimmered a variety of purples, pinks and blues and then he was being yanked through the veil.

-

Avi was the absolute WORST at staying focused. There were just too many colors, too many things to see and too many creatures to stop and look at.

“Wait! What are they?” He stopped and pointed at a group of creatures in the trees that looked a bit like furry multicolored smurfs.

‘I will show you the norpaks later, we must go.”

He lurched forward as she tugged on his arm and began to pull him along, her strength much greater than her small, lithe body suggested. “Ok, ok i’m going.”

FINALLY about 10 more delays and a hundred questions later they reached their destination and Avi was so excited as her tree lifted him up to her home that he kept wiggling about and asking even more questions. He kept calling it an ‘Ent’ and asking if it could talk.  He was a lively fellow, but very strange.

She went inside and as expected her little guard pudgey was right there hissing at the man’s ankles as he followed her. He was so excited that he didn’t even care that it was angry and he lifted the tiny thing into his arms, much to it’s dismay.

Oryn watched him closely and couldn’t help but laugh at the wide-eyed expression Lia had as she slowly faded back from red to blue, finally cuddling into the warm body. A sucker for warmth and love that one.

She left Avi to baby dragon heaven as she moved back to her room only to find Scott, Sora and Sarah all fast asleep. Scott had moved up onto the opposite side of the bed next to Mitchell and Sora and Sarah were cuddled close between them. She moved over to her friend and pulled the purple bottle from her pocket opening it carefully. She lifted his head gently and poured the contents into his mouth.

Now all she needed to do was wait.

-----

He inhaled slowly, holding the air in his lungs before slowly releasing it. His eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision filled with… a sparkling silver Sora. The young pudgey was perched on his chest, nose nearly touching his own as it blinked down at him. He felt a bit disoriented as he tried to remember where he was and what happened.

“Mitchell?”

He turned towards the familiar voice and felt the smile creep up his lips as he saw his friend.

“Are you.. are you alright?” She asked hesitantly.

He slowly began to sit up and laughed a bit as Sora propped his front paws on his chest in order to rub his face all over his own.

He caught site of the sleeping man next to him out of the corner of his eye and as he turned to look at him he felt his heart create a relentless beat like a sledgehammer against his chest.  ‘What did you do?” he whispered as he shifted to turn towards him. Sarah was sleeping wrapped up in the crook of his elbow, body a glittering gold that matched the golden symbol on his forearm perfectly. He reached out a trembling hand, hesitating for a moment or two, fearing that he was just an illusion and his hand would find nothing but air. He gasped slightly as his fingers met the warm skin of Scott’s cheek. He couldn’t help but stare as he traced that strong jawline, the slightest bit of stubble tickling the pads of his fingers.  He looked older, more angled. His muscles were fuller, his skin slightly darker, hair lighter. He drank in every single detail he could.

“I was frightened.”

He could hear Oryn, but couldn’t tear his eyes away from that face.

“I did not know what else to do.”

“You gave him back his memories.”

“The barrier was failing. He remembered you even before I took it down.”

“How will I ever be able to say goodbye to him again?” He sounded so sad and ran his thumb over his bottom lip.

Sarah began to stir and shift and that is what began to rouse the gorgeous blonde man from slumber. The moment those familiar blue eyes spotted him, the large man was fumbling to sit up. “Mitchie?”

He gave him  a sad smile, but then he was pulled into those arms once again and he clung to his warmth like it was a lifeline.

“You scared the shit out of me, you know that?.”  

He could hear that fear, painted all over the trembling voice. He didn’t know what to say and just let Scott manhandle him, settling once he held Mitch’s face in his hands.

“What did you do? How could you… Don’t… I mean.. you can’t.”  Scott stuttered, trying to express just how upset Mitch’s actions had made him.

He couldn’t help but smile at the man’s loss for words. ‘I never thought I’d see you again.’

Scott had tears sliding down his face as he brought their lips together again, heart so full he was practically bursting just from having him back in his arms again.

‘I love you” he sniffled as he began to kiss all over Mitch’s face, eliciting a quiet giggle from the boy. He finally let his forehead rest against the other’s.

Mitch laughed a bit, the tears beginning to fall. “I love you too, so much.”  Their mouths met again, each searching for contact they hadn’t had in far too long.

Oryn decided it best to give the reunited lovers some alone time and quietly went to go check on Scott’s Avi.

She shook her head as she found him sitting on the floor, covered in pudgeys.  She laughed as Lily climbed up to his shoulder and decided to perch there. The bearded man smiled and she rubbed her tiny green head against his before flopping down, legs hanging lazily. Lia was asleep upside down in his lap and Ea and Eve were enjoying all of the rubs and scratches they were getting on either side.

“Can we just talk about how CUTE these little guys are.” Avi looked up at her with a grin

Oryn shot him an offended look. ‘Lily is a female! They are all females.’ She reached out to pull the tiny green creature from his shoulder, but her little feet moved in midair as if trying to get back to him. Oryn held her close, protectively even as it tried to wriggle out of her grasp.

‘Oh, sorry little girl.’ He reached out and rubbed its head, Ea climbing his leg as she tried to chase the hand that had been giving such wonderful belly rubs.

“Tell me everything about them.” His smile was bright and she found it quite pleasant to look at. She placed Lily back on his shoulder where she clearly wanted to be and she immediately snuggled in against his neck. He chuckled.

“They look like little dinosaurs.”

“What is a dinosaur?” She folded her legs beneath her as she sat next to him.

“Oh, they’re kind of like dragons, but not as cool. Almost, just not.”

“But they are dragons, pudgeys are. They are just babies, hatchlings.”

“This is the best news I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I want to take them all home.”

“You cannot.”

He grinned and for some reason her eyes flickered a deep brown as she quickly looked away at the floor.

Strange creature indeed.