Goodbye

Jake Long, The American Dragon, and his on-and-off girlfriend, Rose, sat on the tip of Victoria Peak, the place where, just the previous night, they had defeated the number one threat to the Magical World once and for all. The two had just been enjoying the company between them, but there was a question that was bugging Jake.

"So…Rose…" Jake started. "Um, so, how is your new life? How are your parents?"

Rose smiled slightly before she spoke. "They're great, Jake. I mean, sure, my dad can be embarrassing sometimes, but I don't know what I would do without them. My sister is basically my best friend…They're perfect, Jake. And I have you to thank for it. You gave up everything to give me the life I always wanted."

"It's no prob, Rose!" Jake smiled. "I'm just glad that it's just cool between us now."

"Yeah…" Rose's smile started to fade. "But…you have to go back to New York sometime, though. You're the American Dragon, and the Magical World will always need you."

"Yo, Rose…" Jake put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. We're not leaving for another week. The Dragon Council wants to talk to me about my dad finding about the existence of the Magical World. We don't have to worry about saying our goodbyes just yet…"

Rose smiled slightly, assured, as she brought her head back up. "So…" she tried to change the subject. "How's New York? I have missed it, and although I didn't realize it until last night, I've missed you."

"It's fine." Jake replied. "It's nowhere near as great without you, though."

"Oh, come on, Jake." Rose replied. "You went after other girls, didn't you? When I went into your dreams before you and Spud came to the Academy, you were so sad. I almost wished that you had tried to find someone else; I wanted you to be happy. So, did you have any other relationship with another girl?"

"Well, there was one girl…and a siren…" Jake responded. "Danika Hunnicutt and I have a little something together."

"Never met her…"

"How about you?"

"Well, there were always a couple of boys that liked me." Rose replied. "And to be perfectly honest, I kind of liked them back. They weren't like Brad. They were considerate and not egotistical. Yet, there was almost this force that seemed to keep me from saying yes to them."

"Dang, seems like someone's got it big for the Jake-Man!" Jake smiled, mock boasting.

"In your dre…" Rose started, but she was cut off as her cell phone started to ring. Reaching into her pocket, Rose pulled out her phone and put it to her ear. A moment later, she brought it away from her ear and stood up. "Sorry Jake, but those were my parents. They want me home for dinner."

As Rose started to turn and walk away, Jake suddenly realized he had something for her. "Rose, wait!" Jake jumped up and ran to her as she turned around. "I almost forgot…to give you this." Jake held out his hand, revealing a Dream Charm.

"Jake…" Rose was shocked. "That looks just like my old Dream Charm! How is that possible?"

"It's not…" Jake smiled as he slipped the band of the bracelet over Rose's wrist. "See, while after the Homecoming dance, I was able to find a magical creature that made these. You know, as hope that I would see you again and so I could give it to you."

"Jake…"

"You should get going…" Jake frowned a little. "I'll see you tonight, and I'll also meet you once you get let out of school."

"It's a date!" Rose smiled, before turning around and walking down the mountain.

&*%

Jake entered his hotel room with a smile on his face. Closing the door, Jake turned around to show his big, happy grin to his entire family, only to have it disappear completely from his face as he saw everyone packing their bags and suitcases.

"Jake, I'm glad you're back!" his mother, Susan called to him. "Go get your things and start to get packed."

"Yo momz…" Jake was shocked. "I thought we still had another week left!"

"Well son…" Jonathan added as he set his bag on the ground. "You see, Mr. Lockjelly called us while you were gone. He needs me at work in two days. So, we need to get going."

"But, I had a dream date with Rose tonight!" Jake felt as though he was about to start hyperventilating. "And then I was going to see her tomorrow! There were so many things that we could have done together!"

"We're sorry, son." Jonathan replied. "We're leaving tomorrow morning, so you can still do that date dream thing…"

&*%

Jake closed the door to his room and slowly made his way over to his bed before plopping down face first onto the mattress. His hand reaching out to grab the Dream Charm Holding it in his hand, Jake slowly felt himself drifting off to sleep.

&*%

Jake immediately found himself in the Dream Corridor. Making his way to the door that read "Rose Whitman", Jake opened the door and stepped in…

Inside, Jake could find Rose sitting with her back to him. She seemed to be staring off into space. As Jake got closer to her, he could see why. Rose was looking at what appeared to be a screen; all of the things that had happened between them were playing by. As Rose turned her head at the feeling of Jake's hand on her shoulder, Jake could see that the memory on the screen was their first dance at the school.

"This is my favorite memory…" Rose spoke suddenly. "Do you want to watch with me?"

"Actually, Rose…" Jake spoke; he knew that he had to tell her, that it would come up sooner or later. "I have some bad news. We're leaving for New York tomorrow…"

Rose's reaction broke Jake's heart in two; her eyes widened with tears forming in them, her mouth dropped open and all the color vanished from her features. "But…But you said…said that you'd be here for…a…ano…another week."

"I'm sorry, Rose…" Jake sank to his knees and hugged her. "That's what I thought. Apparently, my dad's boss called him in for some unknown reason."

"I knew it would be…p…painful t…sa…saying our go…goodbyes..." Rose whimpered. "But I didn't think it would be this painful…"

"It's okay, Rose." Jake comforted. "We still can see each other with our Dream Charms."

"No… we can't!" Rose forced herself out of Jake's hug and stared at him with her tear filled eyes. "Jake, there are two different time zones. When you're asleep, I'm in school. Jake, I don't think that there is any way that we can make this work…"

"Rose…" Jake was trying to stay strong, but he didn't think he could keep it up much longer.

"When are you leaving?"

"First thing in the morning…" Jake lowered his head. "You'll be in school…"

No sooner had Jake said those words did his alarm clock start to beep in his hotel room. Jake's eyes widened as he disappeared from the Dream World in a bright flash.

Rose closed her eyes and looked down, struggling to hold back another whimper. "Goodbye, Jake…"

END

A/N: Behold my terrible one-shot! I basically wanted to write something for the two year anniversary of the day that this magnificent show ended its run forever. So yeah, it's going to be sad.

I basically wanted to use some of my own thoughts and describe the ending of the show in my story:

-One week left = the story has at least another season to tell

-Vacation ending sooner than expected = premature cancellation of Am Drag

-"More stuff to do with Rose" = more stories to tell; many things left unanswered

You may also realize that I gave Rose a last name! You may go "But there was no last name on her dream door!" I know, and I gave her one because she now has a new life with a real family, so therefore, she deserves a last name. I gave her the name "Whitman", as in Mae Whitman, Rose's voice actress. How creative…