Jyn transforms back into a human and crawls up the riverbank. She breathes heavily and rushes over to check on me. “Are you all right?” she pants.
“Yes. Are you?”
Much to my relief, she nods. Without thinking, I wrap my arms around her in a tight hug. There’s a newfound ease here, the harshest of our recent challenges now over. It’s a miracle that we’re still alive, one I will not take for granted. I breathe her in. A jolt of excitement lances through me when I feel her, slowly but surely, embrace me back.
“Jyn…”
I stare deep into her eyes. This time, she doesn’t move away, as she normally would. Instead, she closes the gap between us and tenderly presses her lips to mine. It’s chaste and sweet, and in that moment, the rest of the world seems to disappear. It’s only once she pulls away that I see her face and note her bashful expression. Something tells me that this is the first kiss she’s had in centuries, maybe even millennia.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, a blush washing over her cheeks as she casts her eyes away. “I shouldn’t—”
“Jyn.”
“What?”
I lean in and kiss her again, thirsting for the sweetness of her lips and intoxicated by the soft moan that escapes her. I cup her cheeks in my palms as she grips my tunic tightly.
This feels soright. How have I managed to survive this long without her? Up until this moment, I’m not sure it can be said that I’ve ever truly lived. Every single one of my unanswered questions and doubts is erased with her kiss.
Why can I not shake this feeling that we have kissed countless times before?
Something is unlocked in the back of my mind as we embrace again, wrapped up in each other’s need with a growing intensity. Jagged pieces come together, memories that aren’t my own.
Sharp teeth and red scales that flare up in moments of anger. Three dragons. The story on the tapestry. Our red thread of fate. This inexplicable feeling of having known Jyn forever and always.
“Jyn?” I murmur, my forehead against hers.
“Yes?”
I pause. “In the old tale, there are three dragons: a red dragon, king of the skies; a green dragon, queen of the bamboo forests; and a blue dragon, prince of the sparkling seas.”
Jyn starts to pull away. “I told you, I don’t like this story.”
“You are the green dragon of legend,” I say slowly, watching her face for the barest hint of a reaction. My arms have gone slack around her waist. “And the blue dragon I keep seeing in my visions… He was your son?”
Her jaw grows stiff. “You’ve been having visions?”
I suck in a sharp breath. I might well be wrong, but if I’m correct…
Does she know who I am?
“The red dragon,” I whisper. “Are he and I one and the same?”
A darkness crosses her features, her eyes wide in conflicting horror and remorse. She opens her mouth to say something, only to shut it again. Jyn tries to get up and leave, but I take her hands and press them firmly to my chest. I let her feel my heart pulse against her palm, let her into my mind without resistance.
“Please, Jyn. Tell me the truth.”
“Sai, I—”
“Oh? What do we have here?” a stranger’s voice cuts in.
Jyn and I both look up to find a young man and woman walkingthrough the unkempt grass of the oasis. They’re dressed in flowing white robes with charming light blue embroidery patterning around the hems. Strapped to the woman’s back is a young babe, fast asleep. The man has a large basket of fresh fruit in his arms. The couple is connected by a healthy red thread.
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s strange to meet such friendly,normalpeople after so long away from civilization. They immediately strike me as trustworthy, not a hint of magic or anything suspicious about them. I’m especially glad to see they all have their noses and don’t appear to hunger for human flesh.
“Are you lost?” the woman asks kindly.
I rise, then help Jyn to her feet. “Yes, we’ve been lost for quite some time. We’re trying to get to the Moonstar Isles.”
