Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH for 100 followers! I'm just going to do a double update for this milestone. I've got chapters ready for both Ruby Embers and WOFOSB, so just tell me which one you want.

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Ember paced around restlessly by the door at Crim's house as he waited for Ruby. The reality that Ruby might hate him for what he did didn't really hit him until now.

Not that he blamed her. He left in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye. And he may have left her with a dragonet who she had to protect by herself for the past three years.

So yeah, if she decided to never speak to him again after tonight, he would totally understand.

Of course, he would also be trying as hard as possible to get Ruby back.

Tap tap tap.

She was here. Ember stepped outside and saw Ruby for the second time in a day. He couldn't stop himself from reaching out to touch her. Just to make sure she was real and he wasn't dreaming.

She stepped back and he dropped his talon, not looking at her.

"Sorry," they said simultaneously.

"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have tried to touch you."

"It's not like that was the most intimate thing we've done."

An awkward silence washed over them.

"We need to talk. Will you come with me?"

Always, he thought.

"Where are we going?" he asked instead.

"Just follow me."

She landed in front of a tree on a mountain a few miles away.

"Our spot," he mused.

She smiled faintly at him. "Yes."

Ruby's scales shimmered in the moonlight and her warm amber eyes stared at him. She held her talon out in front of her, and Ember took it in his.

"Ruby, I-"

"If this is about you leaving, I understand. You don't need to apologize."

"No, listen to me," he urged. When she was silent, he went on. "Ruby, I was in love with you. I still am. I thought it would protect you if I just... left. You didn't need me in your life. I was a constant source of stress for you. You weren't expendable, but I was. Scarlet could kill me silently and quickly. Or even put me in the arena and no one would be able to question her. I thought it would be best if I just ran away."

"Ember, how could you think that? I was slowly dying on the inside for years. I have not been happier. I live for my son. He's my lifeline. I was finally about to get over you. And then you came back. Why can't you just leave the past alone? We're not meant for each other, Ember. If Fate wanted us to be together, it wouldn't have taken you away. It wouldn't have made me, made Ruby an illusion. I wouldn't have a son who has no idea who his father is because he decided to run away to protect me. At least, you could have told me."

"I did tell you!" he cried. "I told you that I wouldn't do anything stupid. I left you a note before I left! I came back to you after the danger passed."

"Running away from your girlfriend and your dragonet didn't seem stupid to you?"

"I didn't know about Cliff back then. You never told me!"

"It was entirely possible, given our situation. You couldn't have asked?"

"You knew I would do something like this and run away. So why didn't you tell me to try and stop me?"

"Because I loved you, Ember. If you wanted to go, I couldn't force you to stay."

"If I knew I was about to have a dragonet, I would have stayed whether or not you forced me."

"It doesn't matter whether or not I forced you to stay. Telling you about Cliff would have made you stay no matter what happened."

"And now you're not blaming me for leaving?"

"No! But your choice to leave cost your son the chance to be with both of his parents. It cost you the chance to see your son hatching. You didn't hear his first word. You weren't there when he flew for the first time. You haven't even heard him sing!"

"He sings?"

Which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"Anyone who has met Cliff knows that he sings! You've met him, you've found out about your relationship, and you don't even know the first thing about him!"

"I have never met him before! I don't need to know everything about him the first time I meet him. He's my son! I will get to know him, Ruby."

"You've only known about his existence since about 4 o'clock this afternoon. That's not normal behavior for a father, as far as I know."

"It's not normal for your girlfriend's mother to be threatening you with death every chance that she got."

"It's not normal for a dragon in the army to run away from a fight!"

"I don't like to fight. I joined the army for you and I left the SkyWings for you. I came back for you. Everything I have ever done in my life was for you!"

"I didn't ask you to join the army for me. Maybe I would have even been better off if you didn't. Maybe I could have fallen in love with a dragon who wouldn't run away."

"Yeah sure. And he would have been dead before I even ran away. If that martyred soul died, he would have been the good guy because he sacrificed himself for you. Guess what? I sacrificed myself for you too but I'm the bad guy because I ran away. Well I'm sorry that I didn't choose to die instead. I heard that you became queen six months ago. But I also heard about some Queen Scarlet spottings. I wasn't about to come back home just so that your mother could kill me once she saw me. So I didn't come back until a week ago. You were fighting your mother, you turned into my best friend who is also your sister and you killed your mother. I don't even know why I'm still standing here, arguing with you. You didn't even have the guts to try to find your boyfriend after he ran away for you. How am I supposed know anything? How was I supposed to know if you still loved me?"

"Stop!" she cried.

"Why should I? It's the truth!"

"Get out."

"This place does not belong to you. I found this place and shared it with you. This is our place. You can't claim it."

"I'm the queen. Every blade of grass on this mountain is mine. And I don't care how close we once were. You're not my husband. You're not even my boyfriend anymore. You're just the father of my son. You're just another one of my subjects now."

"Oh, I see. You're the queen so everyone has to follow your every order and blindly worship you. Well then, I'm sorry, your majesty. I'll be on my way. I'm sorry to bother you with my presence, Queen Ruby."

Her face twitched. "Goodbye, Ember," she finally said.

"Goodbye," he said, without looking back.