Hello, my fellow fanfiction readers. Wow, I see it's been three years since the last time I put up a chapter, so without further ado...

Just like Magic

When Alys opened her eyes the next morning, she thought for a moment that it was still night. She was in complete darkness except for a sliver of light in a leftish part of her line of vision. She sat up with a start and bumped her head against the sky, which fell away to reveal yesterday's campsite, now flooded with light. Alys blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted. Only then did she realize that the thing blocking the sun before was Selendrile's large, sinewy wing, which he had placed over her during the night, enclosing her in a cocoon of warmth whose presence she now missed.

The first thing she noticed once she had gotten her bearings was that she and the golden dragon were alone. There was a large patch of upset earth where the witch had made her nest the night before, and claw marks in the ground where she had heaved herself into the air. Alys shrugged. In spite of everything, that woman was a mystery to her. Most likely, she would turn up at the moment no one expected her. Renn was gone, too, though this did not surprise Alys. He would have to get back to Mother Margaret and the inn.

She got up and stretched, her limbs deliciously warm after spending the night under Selendrile's wing. The golden dragon was awake, she saw, and his giant amethyst eye was fixed on her. Alys smiled. "Good morning," she said, walking over to his head. Feeling daring, she even patted the side of his head, which was warm to the touch.

Good morning, someone answered back.

Alys jumped. She hurriedly scanned the area for the source of the voice. Seeing no one, she decided that it must have been her imagination playing tricks on her. And yet, that voice was so odd…surely nothing her subconscious was capable of creating. She had the strangest feeling that the voice had actually been inside her head.

Dragon got your tongue? said the voice with a hint of smugness in its tone.

"Who said that?" Alys said, heart pounding furiously.

Guess.

The golden dragon was wearing an expression of innocence that she didn't believe for second. "Selendrile?" she gasped. "But how—"

Magic, said Selendrile.

Alys stared. She knew it couldn't be spring yet; the goose bumps on her arms were a clear indication of that. And yet, clearly, Selendrile could now communicate telepathically, an ability he was only supposed to attain when he turned eighteen. She opened her mouth to ask, but Selendrile had an unusual look on his face that deterred her. He didn't want to tell her. . .yet. But she'd get the answer out of him someday.

"That's great," said Alys, beaming. She couldn't help noticing that Selendrile—even by his standards—did not share her enthusiasm.

Alys, however, was over the moon. Now she could speak to Selendrile no matter what kind of beast he happened to be in the shape of, and now that he was of age, he would be able to turn into a human during the day as well! No that there was any reason to, she reminded herself. His only reason for making himself look human had been to blend in in various towns, or speak to her, but now . . . .

She sighed. "Listen, I think I have to go back to the inn for a while, to get some food and fresh bandages. Besides, you need something to eat, too, don't you? Or else you'll go hungry while you can't hunt."

Selendrile did not answer.

Walking into town that day was strange. At first, Alys thought she had gotten lost and walked into the wrong town. But no: there was the bookshop where she had bought her ill-fated dragon book; there was the smithy, and in the distance she could see the spot on the hilltop on top of which stood the local mill. Apart from the buildings themselves, however, everything had changed. Instead of hiding behind closed doors, the people of Quinn were out and about, dark looks and austere expressions replaced by smiles. The town was as run-down as ever, but in the hearts of its people, a miracle had taken place. Alys could read on every single face the great weight had been lifted from their shoulders with the defeat of the red dragon. Perhaps, she thought, they would be able to welcome their savior into their midst in spite of his species. If not, she would have a grim decision ahead of her.

She knocked on the door of "The Dragon's Claw" with a feeling that she'd left her courage back at the clearing. But when the door swung open and she was enveloped in the warm embrace of Mother Margaret, all thoughts of angry villagers with pitchforks vanished.

"Oh, Alys, I'm so glad to see you!" said the older woman as she wrapped her arms even more tightly around Alys.

"Renn told me you were alright, but I had to see for myself!"

Alys was, for a moment, unable to speak, not exclusively because of Mother Margaret's iron grip. It had been a long time since anyone had been this happy to see her.

Mother Margaret led her into the empty sitting room, where someone had laid out a small lunch. Alys's stomach rumbled.

"You must be ravenous, dear. Sit and eat before tell me a thing about what has happened to you!" said Mother Margaret.

All through lunch Alys wondered how she could ever explain all the strange things that had occurred in the past few days. She only hoped that Mother Margaret would eventually be able to accept her friendship with a dragon.

"So, Renn tells me that your dragon friend lifted the curse upon our town," said Mother Margaret.

Alys nearly choked on her bread and ham.

"Well, don't look so stunned, child!" laughed Mother Margaret, giving her several good, hard thumps on the back. "Renn told me the gist of it this morning. But I'd love it if you could fill in the details."

When Alys had regained her voice, she told the whole story: of her father and the witch accusation, of being tied to a stake, of the failed revenge plan and, finally, of her entire misadventure with Narissa, the red dragon. Mother Margaret listened intently, never interrupting with so much as an "Oh, my!"

When Alys finished, she braced herself for comment. But all mother Margaret did was squeeze her hand say, "It sounds like you've been through a lifetime's worth of adventure, child."

"I suppose I have," said Alys. "All I want right now is a quiet, evil-dragon-free existence…but I suppose that's too much to ask."

Mother Margaret smiled. "Well, I can't promise anything about dragons, but you know you're always welcome here at The Dragon's Claw. In fact, I want you to think of this place as your home.

Alys felt her throat tighten a little. How long had it been since she had been able to connect a place to that word?

"I'm truly, truly grateful," she said in a voice that was not quite her own. "But I don't know if I can. Selendrile definitely needs to stay close for a while to recover, but after that? Even if he did agree to stay, how could the people of Quinn ever accept another dragon into their midst?" There was no keeping Selendrile a secret, not if they had to stay in one place.

"It's not going to be easy. That I'll admit," said Mother Margaret, sighing. "But between the two of us—and Renn, of course—we should have a fair chance of convincing people of you friend's honesty. After all, he is a hero!"

Alys was, for a moment, speechless. Then she ran over to the other side of the table and hugged Mother Margaret, saying "Thank you, oh, thank you," as she hid her face in the other woman's chest to hide the tears that had crept to the surface against her will.

The next few weeks passed quickly. For two weeks, Selendrile was too injured to move away from the clearing, but the residents of The Dragon's Claw would regularly bring fresh bandages and food. Selendrile grumbled that he did not need any of this, that he was a dragon and would fend for himself, but Alys always silenced him with a look.

Once the townspeople were told the news that their worst nightmare had really passed, the celebrating began. What was more difficult for them to wrap their minds around was the cause of their good fortune.

It was Mother Margaret who finally broke the news at a celebration one evening at the inn. Alys had protested, wanting to take care of her own problems, but Mother Margaret thought the townspeople would be more accepting if they heard it from one of their own. Especially after at least a tankard of ale.

At first, people were shocked. Some refused to believe the entire story. Some got angry. Some were terrified that Alys had brought a new curse upon the town of Quinn. Alys produced a cast-off scale of Selendrile's in order to prove that there was more than one dragon, which sent the entire room into an uproar. There were screams, swoons, and very nearly another tavern brawl. But Mother Margaret, aided by years of experience as an innkeeper, as well as several well-aimed buckets of cold water, was able to calm down the crowd in a matter of minutes.

After that, for once, things only got better. Some of the children were curious to meet a real dragon, rather than one that hunted them in their dreams. So one day, Alys took them to the clearing where Selendrile rested. Soon, most of the townspeople were drifting back and forth between the town and the golden dragon, bringing food or bandages as a pretense to see the dragon. Some remembered the handsome young stranger who had come to Quinn with Alys, and were told, to their astonishment, that he and the golden dragon were one and the same person.

Soon, Selendrile was well enough to move around on his own. His dragon magic hastened the healing process to such a degree that he needed no bandages after one week, although his muscles were still healing from the deep gashes. Three weeks later, he was well enough to shape-shift again.

Alys knew that Selendrile was coming minutes before she could see him with her own eyes. This was not thanks to some sixth sense, but because of the excited shouts that filled the streets after the first townspeople saw Selendrile strolling into Quinn. People rushed to see the dragon dressed up as a human, and everyone, upon closer inspection, insisted that they had been aware of his true identity all along. Finally, there was a knock on the inn door. Alys, not wanting to seem too eager, took her time answering it, though she was close to bursting inside.

But when she saw Selendrile standing in the doorway with a slightly harassed look on his face, she nearly lost her composure. She would have liked nothing more than to hug him, especially as a human, but she was acutely aware that half of the town was staring at the two of them. Instead, she politely held out her hand to Selendrile, who gave it a quick squeeze. "Hello, Selendrile," she said, breaking into a wide smile.

"Hello," said Selendrile.

"Won't you come in?" she said.

Selendrile stepped inside, and Alys shut the door, glad to finally be rid of the town's prying eyes. "Follow me. There's a back way out of here that we can take." She led him through the inn and into the little patch of garden. The formerly run-down little fence had been replaced with a brand-new one during the last few days.

The Dragon's Claw was at the edge of town, and beginning at the fence there was a little path that wound its way past the remaining few houses of Quinn and into the nearby fields. It was quite nice out that day. February had turned into March, and while the air was still cool, there was a suggestion of spring in the air. The morning dew was still fresh on the fields, glinting whenever the sun slipped out from in behind the cloud cover.

Alys took all of this in as she walked in silence with Selendrile, who seemed to feel that he had done his part by showing up.

"It's good to see you looking so healthy," said Alys in an attempt to break the ice.

Selendrile shrugged. "Dragons heal fast."

They continued without speaking for a while. Alys was just about to ask why Selendrile had come when he spoke. "So you've been. . .happy in this town?"

"Yes," answered Alys. "It's much nicer now with that awful Narissa gone."

Selendrile considered this. "Everyone seems to think I'm some kind of a hero."

"But you are!" Alys protested. Selendrile stiffened, as if the idea made him uncomfortable. She laughed. "You came back to rescue me. You faced a dragon that was much larger and stronger than you, even though you knew you could never win. It doesn't matter how she actually died—what you did was heroic." Thank you, she added mentally.

Selendrile shrugged his shoulders again, and rubbed the back of his neck in a human sort of way. Then, being Selendrile, he grinned wickedly. "If you insist."

Alys shook her head and rolled her eyes a little, but she was smiling.

"There is something else I wanted to ask you, though," said Selendrile, serious again.

Alys nodded.

"Remember that time you—" he coughed— "saved me from that evil little human Atherton's iron shackles?"

"I remember," said Alys, puzzled. She could not imagine why he should bring that up now.

"Before you left to get help, you did something. Er—being a dragon, I'm not quite familiar with everything you humans do. You sort of leaned in and. . . ."

"Yes?" said Alys a little breathlessly when Selendrile didn't continue. Her mouth had gone dry.

"Well. . .you sort of leaned in and. . .brushed your lips against mine." The words were forced out as if they had been badly rehearsed. And what was that unusual discoloration of Selendrile's features. That was never a blush!

"It's, er, what humans call a kiss," Alys managed.

"A kiss."

"It's a gesture of affection. You know—a mother could kiss her child on the cheek, or a friend could kiss a friend, or . . .." Alys swallowed.

"Or what?"

"Or two people in love could kiss each other. To show that they love each other. Because, you see, actions are more powerful than words."

There was a pause. Then: "I see."

Alys was sure, at that moment, that some dragon sense of Selendrile's must be picking up the pounding of her heart. It certainly sounded loud enough to her own ears, which were fiery red.

Suddenly, Selendrile stopped and turned towards her. He had the strangest look on his face.

"What are you—," was all Alys was able to get out before Selendrile closed the rest of the distance between their faces. Alys barely had time to register what was happening before Selendrile pulled away.

Alys stared at him, mouth agape. "What was that?" she gasped.

For a moment, she thought Selendrile was going to say something important. But, after all, he was Selendrile.

"Didn't we just have this conversation?" he said, rolling his eyes.

"Really?" said Alys in exasperation. "That's all you can say at a time like this?"

She could wait for him to do his part. But, knowing him, he would try to wriggle his way out of it. Direct confrontation almost never worked with him, so she decided to try a different tactic. She said absolutely nothing.

Minutes crawled by as Alys and Selendrile stood in silence. The tension grew thicker with every second, but Alys felt just fine, unlike the normally serene golden dragon, whose jaw was clenched tightly.

"Fine!" he burst out. "I can't believe you're making me say it."

Alys grinned smugly. At last, a win.

"I love you, alright?."

Well, that wasn't what…it was just…what just happened?

"What?!" spluttered Alys.

"You heard me," said Selendrile sulkily.

"You mean you actually…like you said—but why?" The words came out in a squeak.

"Why? I don't know. You're just as annoying, stubborn, and human as you always have been, so really, I have no idea."

"How did this happen? How can you know for sure? I mean, after all—"
"Dragons don't care about anyone? I know. But this one does." Even telepathy could not have made it any clearer that if Selendrile had to repeat this, heads would roll. The look on his face said it all.

"Alys. You know I'm new to this." He took a deep breath, fixing her with his gaze. "All I know is that, for the last year or so, I've basically turned my life upside down in order to keep you around. Lately I've been asking myself, why? I realized, when I was all alone during the winter, that it's because having you around makes my life more interesting. Better. But it wasn't until I found out that Nerissa kidnapped you that I realized I would do anything in the world to keep you safe. Including put myself in danger." He paused, looking briefly at the ground before meeting her eyes again. "Is any of this getting through to you?"

Alys opened her mouth, then shut it. She could not speak. She could barely think. Thoughts tumbled around in her head: she wondered if she was awake, or dreaming, or maybe in some bizarre parallel universe where everything stood on its head. This could not be happening. She began to study Selendrile's face: more handsome than humanly possible, with golden hair that framed his perfect features, the mouth that so often curled into a wicked grin, and those amethyst eyes—the only part of his appearance that might hint at his true identity. And yet, looking closely, she felt that he looked more human than he usually did. Perhaps it was his evident nervousness that made him seem a little less invincible. Even his eyes, usually so alien, betrayed a weary apprehension that made him look almost…vulnerable. And then it occurred to Alys: what if he meant it?

"You're serious," said Alys, looking straight into his eyes. It was not a question.

Selendrile nodded slowly.

Heart pounding, Alys stepped a little closer to him. Hesitantly, hardly daring to, she tilted her head up towards his face and finally, finally, kissed him. Neither really knew what they were doing, so they went by trial and error, but it did not matter. Somehow, Selendrile's arms ended up around Alys holding her as tightly as she had ever hugged him. When they came up for air, both beaming, Alys whispered, "I love you, too."

As happy as the townsfolk had been about the death of the red dragon, letting their acclaimed hero, Selendrile, actually court a human proved to be a bit of a problem. Renn suddenly became difficult to find anywhere, and the general attitude towards Selendrile took on a frosty touch. The only person who freely gave her blessing to the match was the ever-supportive Mother Margaret, on whom Alys was coming to depend more and more every day. However, with time, people began to accept the concept like some sort of freak of nature, a one-time, never-to-be-spoken of occurrence that just happened to be part of the town. And while by far not everyone was completely at home with the idea, people generally had the decency to keep their mouths shut. So it was remarkable, really, how quickly the men of Quinn warmed up to the new bartender.

The word "marriage" failed to come up in conversation. . . ever. Alys did not dare broach the subject to Selendrile, who had enough to manage what with the townspeople's whispering and pointing and sometimes glaring. The two had sort of an understanding, and at least Alys knew that Selendrile was not likely to fall in love with anyone else. There was no need to discuss very much. For now, Alys was more than content to live at the inn. Her most impossible dream had come true, and that was enough. But she did have to smile a little when she pictured the frightened-deer expression on his face if that conversation ever did happen.

There was, however, one question that continued to nag at her. As much as she tried to ignore it, a small part of her consciousness could not let go of it; it was always there. She had to wonder what kind of a life this would be. Selendrile, the cold, unaffected Selendrile, had fallen in love. What would it be like for him to watch her grow older every year while he remained unchanged? It had to bother him that she would only be around for a tiny portion of his life. These were questions nobody but Selendrile could answer, but she dared not ask for fear that she might wake up out of her wonderful dream.

One spring afternoon, when the surrounding countryside was green again and the meadows were filled with flowers, Alys and Selendrile found a moment alone, away from the prying eyes of the townsfolk. They slipped away down the path at the back of the inn, enjoying the fresh air and, even more, the privacy. The local bird population, which had made a comeback in the absence of the red dragon, even sent forward a few brave representatives to serenade Alys and Selendrile. From a safe distance, of course.

For the moment, neither human nor dragon felt the need to speak. They were content to enjoy each other's company and walk hand in hand through a changed world.

Fifteen minutes later, they reached a spot that Alys declared lovely, so they sat down. It was a beautiful flat patch of grass and flowers on top of a small hill; the two young people were leaning against an old tree stump and watching the surrounding countryside. Presently, Selendrile spoke.

"Alys, I need to tell you something."

Alys had drifted off a little into a daydream where she was floating over the hills on the cloud, and jumped when she was snapped back to the present. "Yes, what is it?" she said, smiling.

"Do you remember that night, the first night after Nerissa died?"

"Vividly," said Alys, grimacing.

"Did you notice anything, I don't know, unusual during the night?"

Alys scrutinized him. "No. What is this about?"

Selendrile steeled himself before speaking. "We were visited by two dragons that night."

"Really?" squeaked Alys, not knowing if she should be terrified or just indignant that he did not wake her.

"From the Council of Elders. They were there to discipline me for revealing dragon secrets to a human."

Alys's eyes went wide as the words sunk in. This did not sound good.

"They gave me two choices, you know. One of them was to kill you."

Alys's breath stopped. She had to remind herself, despite her basic instincts, that it would do her no good to run.

"The other choice was to give up something so precious, it would change my life forever. They wanted to take away my immortality."

Alys could not speak, could not think. It was too much. Selendrile was staring at her, waiting for her to say something, but she could not. The golden dragon had to choose whether to kill her, or die young.

And then, at this moment, when the tension was so unbearable that even birds had stopped chirping out of terrified suspense—that was the moment that Selendrile laughed. A real, honest-to-goodness, un-Selendrile-like laugh.

"Alys, why on earth are you looking at me like I'm about to eat you? I just told you, didn't I? I made my choice that night, and you already know what it was!"

Alys gasped. "You mean you chose me?" Her mind was reeling…she did not understand… .

Selendrile had stepped a little closer. His entire face was shining, from his glittering eyes to his wide smile, and he had never before looked more human.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

First of all, I want to offer my sincere apologies to everyone who was reading this story three years ago and waiting in vain for the last chapter. I know how frustrating it is when fanfiction authors disappear off the face of the earth. But I also know that eventually you move on.

I have a confession to make. I wrote this chapter a long time ago-I think I started writing it three years ago, although I may only have finished it a year later. I always had something. But I suppose I never thought it was good enough. Not being much of an expert in the romance department, I felt embarrassed to write about something I knew so little of outside of the books and fanfiction I myself had read. And then, somewhere along the way, life happened, and somehow I never found the time to sit down and finish this little story. But I never forgot this story-how could I, when I got such beautiful reminders from my faithful readers over the years? I always intended to go back and finish it, although there was a point when I felt it would almost be pointless after waiting so long. I couldn't not finish the story, not when the end was so tantalizingly close. This story carried me through high school and beyond; it became so much more important to me than I could have dreamed when I decided, on a whim, to write a fanfiction.

Finally, I just want to thank all of you, my readers. Your reviews brightened my days and gave me hope; it was a joy to open my inbox, years after publishing my last chapter, and read your words of encouragement. Thank you for brightening my life, and I'm sorry I did such a terrible job of returning the favor. Thank you.