Chapter 583

583 A Dragon’s Wish

Zazzy had just finished cleaning herself off in her favorite spot when she decided to head home. The day hadn’t been anything like what she’d hoped for, so she was taking her time flying back. As she watched the sun setting in the early evening sky, Zazzy felt her last bits of hope fading with it.

Her birthdays always seemed to be a massive celebration every year, but this year, in a country that supposedly worshipped dragons; she’d spent the majority of her day alone. She’d expected her parents to come find her, or her Uncle Genie, or someone, but no one had..

‘Did they forget about me? I know that Mom and Da had a lot of work to do with Uncle Genie and Uncle Bai, but did they really forget about me?’

As her thoughts ran amuck, Zazzy flew through the sky in a listless manner. She hadn’t been paying attention as she neared the castle, and practically ran into Genie midair. He swerved to avoid the bulk of her, but still got smacked by the non-pointy side of her tail in his shoulder.

It didn’t leave any kind of damage, but it had hurt like hell for a few minutes. As Genie flew around erratically, Zazzy tried to apologize, but since she couldn’t use any human languages, it just made her more frustrated. As he gritted through the pain, Genie realized that Zazzy was upset, and tried to comfort her..

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I know that you did not do it on purpose, and it barely hurt, so don’t fret over it.. By the way: happy birthday, Zazzy.”

Genie was rubbing at his shoulder as he’d spoken, which didn’t make Zazzy feel any better about it. She hated how large she was now, and missed when she was small enough to sleep with her parents.. ‘If I was still small, I wouldn’t have hurt Uncle..’

Seeing despondency reflected in her eyes, Genie tried to cheer her up; “It was just a love tap, Zazzy. There’s no need to feel bad...or are you upset over something else?”

When Zazzy shied away from his question, to Genie; his theory had been confirmed. He wanted to ask her questions right then and there, but they needed to move away from the estate first. Dragons were known for having extraordinary eyesight, and he didn’t want to risk Zazzy seeing the decorations yet.

.....

It took a bit of coaxing, but Genie managed to convince Zazzy to follow him to the northernmost point of the city. The dragon bones that surrounded the capital stuck out the most there, and had a wide enough spot for Zazzy to land at the highest point. It was one of Genie’s most favored places to sit and think, and only three others knew of it.

It wasn’t too far from Bai Lei’s home, but enough so that Zazzy wouldn’t be able to clearly make out any details. The structure towered over the city, and offered a wonderful view of it. Due to it, the northern section of the city was the best protected, and was the designated area for the city’s emergency shelters.

The vast majority of them were built as stand-a-lone structures, but the oldest ones had been carved into the dragon bones. The place that Zazzy and Genie were now sitting was one, but they weren’t used as anything more than storage during peaceful times. Knowing that they were alone, Genie began the lengthy process of trying to communicate with Zazzy.

It had taken an hour to finally get the gist of the dragon’s problems, but Genie finally understood why Zazzy was so dismayed. She was lonely on her birthday, which would make anyone feel sad.. ‘But it’s because everyone was setting up for the party..’

Zazzy sighed heavily as she adjusted how she was sitting on top of a shoulder blade. Genie felt his heart constrict as he watched her continuously glance towards his brother’s house. He wanted to tell her that there was a massive party waiting for her back home, but he also didn’t want to spoil the surprise..

‘Everyone has worked so hard for her, to make her happy.. And I know that Zazzy will love it.. I can’t ruin it just because it’s breaking my heart to see her so upset.. I need to cheer her up without telling her the truth..’

Genie tried to make her feel better by telling her jokes, and getting her to play, but she wasn’t having it.

“You just want to see your parents, don’t you?”

When Zazzy nodded in the positive, Genie realized that he may have the perfect distraction for her..

“Would you like to hear a quick story about them before we head back? It’s from when they were children, and they used to sneak off into Warrick Forest.”

Zazzy perked up, excited to hear the tale. She missed hearing the stories that Peggy would tell her, especially since she rarely got to see her lately. After curling her tail around her leg, she looked towards Genie expectantly, and waited for the tale..

It was about a time that Genie had secretly saved them from being kidnapped by Nomads. Who actually turned out to be rogue Highlanders that had been banished by King Murdoc. Zazzy looked a tad confused when Genie had referred to him as a king, unaware of the fact.

She tried to imagine Murdoc and King Magnus side by side, but all the image did was make Zazzy doubt him even more.. ‘No way is Uncle Murdoc a king..’

Genie had continued with his story, so Zazzy had brushed the thought off, and paid attention. It was a sweet, and funny story that also made him sound like a superhero when he’d gotten to the part about beating up ‘eight towering brutes’ all by himself. Hearing her grunts and snorts of amusement made Genie more enthusiastic in his telling, and he embellished the story enough to stretch out their time together.

By the time they’d left their bony perch, it was the perfect time.. ‘I hope she enjoys the surprise..’

************

Zazzy wondered what her parents had been doing all day as she and Genie flew towards Bai Lei’s estate. It had been dark for a couple of hours now, and as far as she could tell; her parents hadn’t come looking for her all day. As the buildings came into view, she decided to go straight to her little house instead of heading to the main courtyard.

‘If my parents care about me at all anymore, then they’ll come look for me..’

As the thought crossed her mind, Zazzy shifted slightly, so as to head to her barn. Genie noticed her slight deviation, and had instantly flown up next to her head. In his best forced calm voice, Genie spoke loud enough for her to hear him over the wind; “Ah, Zazzy? Where are you-are you going to your house?!”

When she nodded in the positive, Genie felt his stomach twist. He Had to get her to go to the courtyard, or the party would be for not.

He tried to coax her by saying that Skye and Tidas were probably waiting for her, which wasn’t technically a lie. But she didn’t change her flight path at all. At least, not until he mentioned that they might even have a present for her.

Once the idea was stuck in her head, Zazzy had redirected herself towards the courtyard. As they approached the expansive area, however, she felt her hope fading rapidly. There had been a new spot cleared for her, but Genie had informed her of the premeditated rearrangement the day they’d arrived.

Nothing seemed different or out of place, aside from a few new statues. She saw no lights or presents, or her parents anywhere as they neared the ground. Her heart had dropped as her feet landed, not realizing that all of the snow was gone.

The clouds had rolled in during their talk, and were now raining little flurries across the courtyard. The wind had a slight bite to it in the dark, but Zazzy couldn’t even feel it as she’d glanced around. She’d thought she’d smelt multiple humans, but wrote it off when she saw no one waiting for her.

Right as she thought that her heart would shatter, all of the lights in the courtyard clicked on..

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAZZY!”

Tens of people screamed as they seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and swarmed Zazzy. She lifted her foot, and curled her tail to make sure that she didn’t hit anyone in her excitement. Rukia was the first one to reach her, having broken away from her mother the moment she’d seen her friend.

Zazzy moved carefully as the over-excited child ducked between her legs, to avoid being stomped on by the crowds. She only recognized a handful of the people around her, and none of them were her parents. Her heart wavered, but all doubt was banished the moment she saw her parents cutting through the sea of people.

Skye, Tidas, Peggy, Ralph, Ronnie, Klaus, and Kari were all carrying the biggest cake that anyone had ever seen. It had two tiers: one for the guests, and the massive one on the bottom was for Zazzy. The cake looked more like one meant for a wedding, but they were feeding a lot of people and a dragon, so it was appropriate to make a multi-tiered one.

Instead of the three candles on top, Skye had designed a small, bonfire-sized candle, and placed it on the bottom tier. After they’d removed the top one, and set it on a table, Skye had a servant hand her a torch. As she went to light the wick, she grinned and yelled; “Happy Birthday, me scaly bairn..”

With her last word, Skye lit the massive candle. As pockets of minerals came into contact with the flame on the wick, tiny bursts of colors sparked and fizzled, making it look like the flame itself was a living piece of a rainbow. Zazzy stared at the beautiful candle for several moments before Tidas called out to her; “Happy Birthday, princess! Now make a wish, and blow out the candles!”

“GENTLY! Do it GENTLY!” Peggy screamed after, causing bursts of laughter to erupt from all around.

Zazzy stared at the beautiful light, not really wanting to blow it out. Her mother had told her about how humans usually blew out candles on their birthdays, but she never thought that her mother would make one for her. As her love for her parents swelled, Zazzy finally looked around the courtyard, too.

Glancing back at her smiling parents, it finally fell into place for for the young dragon..

‘They didn’t come to see me earlier because they were doing all of this.. I have the best parents..’

As the thought passed, Zazzy gently took in a breath. She stared at the flame a moment, then slowly began to blow it out as she made her wish within her heart..

‘I wish that Momma and Da will always see me as their first child..’