Disclaimer: I didn't see anything… err wait – no, that's what I say in the event I ever witness a mob hit or a drug deal. I don't own anything is what I meant to type.

Note: This one is for the super, magnificent, and always entertaining BePeachy who wrote: "One of skull crushers babies misses Hera too much and decides to go find her... and succeeds"

Hera is ten

The Dragon Days of Summer

The Cullens, sans Carlisle who was at work, were all watching a movie in the living room when a tearful Hera joined them. Edward immediately read her mind so that he'd know who to kill for making his mate sad while Emmett pulled Rosalie onto his lap and scooted over so the sad little phoenix with the drooping wings could take a seat between him and the telepath.

Jasper frowned at the negative emotions coming from his sister. "What's wrong, Hera?"

The little girl sniffled before replying. "Slashy's missing!"

Everyone immediately offered sympathy to their beloved phoenix. Gut Slasher, nicknamed 'Slashy' by Hera, was the child's favorite dragon out of Skull Crusher's clutch from a little over two years ago. She and the baby Ukrainian Ironbelly had bonded the instant the two had met. The hatchling had taken to Hera so much that she was inconsolable for days every time Hera had to go back home to Alaska after a visit. Dreadblade said it was perhaps the most disturbing thing he's ever bore witness to.

"She paces back and forth at the entrance to the enclosure," the goblin had told them. "After wearing herself out, Gut Slasher will then start with a keening that gets louder as the night passes… the noise is similar to the sound small human children make after injuring themselves. Then when she finally calms down she drags around the large stuffed gryphon that Hera brought to her on their second meeting and will hardly eat for days!"

From Dreadblade's description it was almost as if the charismatic little dragon thought Hera was her mother!

"Oh pumpkin, what happened," Esme asked after crouching down in front of her daughter and giving her a much needed hug.

"Yeah," Jasper added, "how in the world did she break out of Gringotts?"

Hera shook her head. "She didn't. Tmora said that the last time the dragon handlers portkeyed the babies outside to play in a warded area, Slashy found a hole in the wards and just took off! Dreadblade did his best to follow her, but she was too quick for him to keep up. Thank you," she added when Emmett passed her a tissue box.

"Calm down sweetie," Alice said soothingly. "I'm sure she just wanted to stretch her wings… she'll probably head back to the playground once she's had her fun."

Instead of mollifying the little girl, her sister's words only made Hera cry harder. "That's what Dreadblade thought, but this all happened five days ago!" She pulled out some more tissues and blew her nose before allowing Edward to pull her in close for a hug. "It's why they waited so long to tell me. They didn't want to worry me over nothing, but Dreadblade is certain that if she was meaning to return she would have done it by now."

After Hera had finally cried herself to sleep, Edward worriedly put her to bed and watched over her during the night. The ten-year-old tossed and turned many times while she slept, but her dreams weren't otherwise disturbed. He sighed, wondering where in the world one would go to look for a missing dragon. It seemed absurd that a creature that large could simply disappear! He smiled when he caught Jasper's thoughts. His brother was trying to decide whether or not the dragon sightings web page he'd just discovered could be trusted. Emmett was actually considering going overseas and handing out flyers!

One thing about the Cullens… not a single one of them could stand to see Hera crying.

Three days later found Hera dejectedly sitting in her tire swing, letting the rope twist her whichever way it liked as she held onto the thick rubber. She had almost given up hope of ever seeing her favorite dragon again, and knew that Dreadblade wasn't even looking for Slashy any longer. He'd told her it was unbelievable that no beings, either magical or non, had caught sight of the twenty-foot tall fledgling. The goblins had, of course, reported the loss to the Ministry of Magic in London so that the Magic Reversal Squad could be prepared to modify any non-magical humans' memories while the dragon handlers recovered the wayward animal.

Hera was startled out of her thoughts when a shadow separated her from the sunlight moments before a giant animal landed beside the swing. The ground shook as the giant beast let out a triumphant roar, causing it to drop a much-loved and slightly soggy stuffed gryphon from its mouth.

"Slashy?!" The phoenix vacated the swing and began laughing as her friend's giant snout began lovingly nuzzling her belly. Hera's entire family, who had all run out of the house at full speed when the dragon roared, all wore slack jawed expressions.

"How in the world did she enter the country without showing up on the military's radar?" Jasper ran his fingers through his hair and periodically scanned the sky as if expecting a squadron of fighter jets to buzz their house at any second.

Emmett shook his head and stared as his baby sister and the dragon tumbled around the yard. It was like the animal was a puppy and not a gigantic fire-breathing creature named 'Gut Slasher'. "Never a dull moment."

Rosalie, whose jaw was still dragging the ground, could only nod in agreement.

"But daddy, why not?" Hera had just been told by her father that Slashy had to go back to Gringotts and neither she nor the dragon were accepting of his decision. "She came all this way to see me, can't she at least stay longer?"

Carlisle sighed. It wasn't easy to be stern when faced with his youngest child's large green eyes swimming in tears. "Princess, I sympathize with you both… I really do, but you know Slashy can't stay here. What would happen if she were discovered by the non-magical world?"

"I know… they would hurt her. But couldn't we build her a giant pen with a roof over it so no one could find her?" She squeaked when Edward picked her up unexpectedly.

"Sunshine, if we built Slashy a pen it would have to be bigger than our house and that would be incredibly suspicious to the police. They'd probably think we were growing a large amount of drugs or something." He kissed the top of Hera's head before placing her back on the ground. "Now I know from reading your thoughts that you know what has to be done, no matter how difficult the task is."

The phoenix sighed sadly before rubbing Slashy's belly. The dragon seemed to know what was about to happen because she didn't even purr from the familiar action. "I'm sorry, Slashy, but daddy and Edward are right. You can't stay here with me no matter how much we both want it."

In answer, the dragon began making the keening sound Dreadblade had described. "No young lady… none of that," the little girl said as sternly as she could while fighting her own emotions. "You're getting to be a big girl now," Hera continued after Slashy was again silent. "I know it's hard, but you're a strong dragon and you have to show it! I'm always gonna come back to visit you… we both just have to be brave until we see each other again, right?"

Gut Slasher huffed out a pout before licking her beloved Hera with her giant forked tongue, causing the phoenix to let out a sudden giggle as half of her hair stood straight up from dragon spit. "Ewww… Slashy, gross!"

The huge gray dragon gave a self-satisfied rumble before laying down and taking an impromptu nap.

Once notified about the dragon's unscheduled visit via Hera's letterbox, an astonished Dreadblade had quickly portkeyed over to the Cullens' home with the huge collar he used to transport dragons to and from the playground. Soon the pouting fledgling was being whisked away with her beloved stuffed gryphon. And though she always remained very close to Hera, she never again tried to escape to see her.

Though that doesn't mean she wasn't often tempted….

Thanks for reading and reviewing! *hugs*