Author's Note:

Hey Everyone! Another short story for you today. Recently, Cheetah has left to go and study at a college different from the one that I am currently at. This short story depicts everything that I felt when I said 'see you later' and what my reaction will be when she gets back. Hope you guys enjoy today's one-shot and leave a review of what you thought.

Happy Reading!

Half The World Away

4th September

Five months now it's been Cynder and I. Five glorious and bliss months. I don't know where the time goes sometimes, feels like it wants to get away from me like I'm some sort of disease. To be honest with the amount of creatures that run away from me because of my powers or reputation I wouldn't be surprised. But Cynder doesn't care. She never leaves me, she never leaves my side. Always there with a smile and a helping paw, with a hug and a nuzzle now and then. That was… until now.

Cynder was given the opportunity to protect and take care of younglings in the east for a few days per week. She was so excited to go and do something that she always wanted to do, but there was one thing that nagged at the back of her mind. How much she was going to miss home.

What about me, you ask? Well, that's a simple answer. I wanted her to go and do what she wanted to do, but of course I would miss her greatly. I'm finding it hard to write this now as she's gone, dropping a few tears on the page as I write. Hah, tough dragon, my tail section. But the one thing that keeps me going is that I will see her again. In a few days of course. You might call me overdramatic, but I don't care. I know what I know, and what I know is that I love Cynder. With all my heart. I would do anything for her, even move mountains if I had to.

On the day that she left, she seemed down to begin with, which was understandable, I guess. She held onto me tightly, not wanting to let me go. She'd always been stubborn and not wanting to show her emotion. Sometimes I'd have to really dig deep for her to tell me what was wrong. We were in the living room and laying together on the sofa in each other's arms, her eyes fixed on the fireplace.

"Cynder? You okay?" I asked her as I sensed her sadness.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a sad tone in her voice.

"Honey, I know when something's up with you," I said to her with a smile and a raised eyebrow. "Now come on, tell me what's up."

"It's nothing Spyro," she insisted. "I'm fine."

"Cynder," I called down to her in a serious tone. "Tell me."

She sighed in defeat and sat upright opposite me. Tears were growing in her eyes as she continued to look into mine. I hated seeing her like this. It broke my heart seeing her cry.

"I'm scared of how much I'm going to miss you and the others," Cynder mumbled as she tried to fight back tears.

"Now listen to me," I said as I picked myself up and stared deep into her eyes. "Of course you will miss all of us but we're not going anywhere and it's not as if you're going to a different realm now is it? Yes, you won't see us for a few days, but we'll be right here when you get back."

Cynder smiled a little and smothered me in her embrace.

"Hey, do you know why I fell in love with you?" I asked her.

She shook her head and then waited in anticipation for an answer.

"Because you never give up. You never let go and you're always there for me no matter what. I fell in love with you because I knew that you would never let me down and would always be there with a smile and a warm hug. The way that you look at me is something that I treasure when times get rough and when something does happen, you're always there again with those eyes. Those eyes that you have… I could get lost in them for days and well… what can I say other than you're beautiful? Always have been and always will be because you're my Cynder. Now and forever."

Cynder whimpered slightly and surged forward with tears running down her face, soon connecting her lips with mine. It was more passionate than any other kiss she had given me and I was taken aback at the sheer force of it. It only lasted for a few seconds, but as always, it felt like hours. I pulled back and continued to snuggle with Cynder for the rest of the afternoon until it was time for her to go. She had already packed everything the previous day, never ceasing to amaze me how prepared she was for everything. Even for her elemental exams which I almost failed and she passed with flying colours. Hah, 'flying' that's a good joke, me. Oh, where was I? Oh, yes.

Being honest, nearly failing those exams made me feel like a failure, spending days and nights feeling miserable and useless. The guardians didn't help much either, telling me I need to be better whereas all Cynder got was praise and applause. I won't lie, it hurt me and I was jealous of her in every way. But being the amazing dragoness that she is, she never gave up on me. She told me to start believing in myself, and show the world what I can do. Well, I did put the world back together so that does tend to leave a pretty big message. But that wasn't her point. I needed more confidence in myself, and I promised her that I would never give up, especially on her. That was the third time she had brought me through a hard path. One of them was my family. I didn't know whether they were alive or dead, or even remembered me. I was lost, but Cynder was there yet again to pull me out of the dirt.

As she walked to the door with her bags slung over her shoulders, I didn't take my eyes off of her for one second, making sure that I took in every feature before she goes. I felt like a hole was burning through my heart as she opened the door, I longed for her to stay. We shared one final embrace and a short kiss before we said our goodbyes. She flew off into the distance and I was left alone. I knew it was only a few days. But to me, a few days is a lifetime when it comes to Cynder. I know, overdramatic right? But one thing is for sure, when she comes home, I'm not letting her go without a bunch of hugs.

Ew, I just made myself cringe. That's actually quite impressive. You can tell how much I am missing her now though, I don't stop thinking about her. Wait… someone's at the door. Could it be? CYNDER!

There you have it! I had a lot of fun writing this and it is short but in the end there's not much to say. I got very emotional writing this too, a few tears falling onto my keyboard as I typed it. I do miss Cheetah greatly, but then again it is only a few days and we talk to each other everyday making sure that we're both happy. If you do end up finding time in your busy schedule Cheetah, love you and I hope you're enjoying your time at college and I'll see you soon! Hope you guys enjoyed the one-shot.

And this is Mystic… Signing off ^_^