The questions flooded my ears as I slowly drowned from how overwhelming they were. My only saving grace was the fact they were quickly running out of things to inquire about. What they asked mainly pertained to what the "fire lizards" liked to do in the park as well as how an intelligent species like ourselves got along. Any other type of question was erased from my mind as I quickly forgot, simply with how fast they were asking their next round of questions.

Apparently humans weren't the only creatures with problematic societies and constant wars among themselves and my caretakers were interested in how we maintained our peace. I kept my answer short by telling them we had open feelings about everything. If we didn't like something, we'd try to come to an agreement that would make both parties happy.

In truth, there never really were any huge disagreements between us dragonets. With the mind link, our thoughts were practically an open book that left nothing completely unattended. My only hope was that through the future generations, someone wouldn't come along to destroy that peace. Though, as long as we raised our children correctly, it was unlikely something like that would actually happen.

I was relieved when the questions eventually completely died down and morphed into a mellow conversation. Answering questions back to back was extremely tiring.

Marcy was the one instigating the flow while tidying up the area around her, "We're planning on heading back up to my sister's place today. You like Terra, right?"

I looked up from the sketch I was doodling in the sand, "I remember Terra. She kept to herself most of the day when I was there, but I don't have any problems with her."

I looked back down at my random lines in the sand and realized I had no idea what I was even drawing. I tried tilting my head to the side for a different angle, though that didn't do much. Maybe a whale with stripes? Or possibly a fat tiger balloon?

I huffed and erased the weird picture like an old etch a sketch. Without practicing for so many years, my skills had become very rusty.

Turning over my little egg, I peered outside the large window which was placed near the front door. It was pouring down in buckets, just as I'd predicted.

Tuskon was walking through the house, grabbing different weapons to move to the side room. I decided to mess with him a bit.

Facing his direction, I called out to him, "Have you ever seen the rain?"

Tuskon was confused and looked outside the window before turning back to face me, "Yes. It's not an uncommon occurrence on this planet."

I continued, "Have you ever seen the rain, coming down on a sunny day?"

My caretaker really had no idea what I was talking about, "No? But I've heard of it being common elsewhere."

Tuskon walked around the sitting room and put more objects away, "This is the first time you've seen rain, isn't it?"

I responded swiftly with my half lie, "It's the first time seeing it with my own eyes. Dan would usually be the one who would share images of what everything around me looked like. Seeing it myself is much better though."

Tuskon nodded and added another weapon to his already large armfull, "I'd imagine so."

I continued to watch as they both ran around the room cleaning different things. Humor trickled through my tired body as I thought back to the song I referenced to my alien caretakers.

Have You Ever Seen The Rain was the song my parents claimed as being theirs. They never told me the full story of why it was their song and how it played a part in them meeting, and I never bothered to ask. All I could remember from the story was that it was raining the day they met, and my mom was my dad's sunny day. I'm fairly certain more happened, but I didn't care enough at the time to ask for any details.

Shifting my weight and nudging my egg again to turn it on it's side, I looked back at my busy caretakers. I couldn't remember any other given time when Tuskon willingly cleaned up all of his weapons from the sitting room.

I was just about to ask what special occasion called for such tidyness when I was interrupted by the familiar chime of the front door. My ears slightly flattened in annoyance. What was with my luck and not knowing about these sort of things until the very last moment?

Tuskon quickly dumped his armload of weapons into one of the side rooms before calling out, "Come on in!"

In the front hallway out of my view, the sound of the door smoothly sliding open filled my ears and I committed the interesting sound to memory. It was nearly completely silent, yet I could somehow still make out the whisper of air that escaped the mechanism which operated the door. The sound to me was a mixture of a human store's sliding door and the sound of air escaping a newly opened can of soda. Not that it mattered what the front door sounded like.

A chilly breeze was swept in as the door opened and whoever was waiting on the other side walked in. The pounding of the rain as it continuously hit the ground outside was also present, yet the sound didn't completely process as a certain smell reached my nose.

With an excited trill, I carefully stepped away from my egg and launched myself at top speed towards the door and the scent. The Kymari at the door seemed to have expected me and held out his fist for me to land on.

Phugesh's green skin was much darker than either of my caretakers. I didn't see any reason why their skin tone would matter though. It was just something I involuntary noticed with my new eyesight. Getting entranced like that was just something I couldn't overcome.

My Kymari friend smiled and scratched the area right between my shoulder blades. It felt as if I was melting under his touch. With every stroke, I could feel any dry itchiness being swept away.

Right behind him, his mate strode in carrying a small bundle within her arms. I never caught his mate's name, but I certainly wouldn't forget his daughter's.

It was easy to tell they had used something to keep the majority of the rain off of them. For the most part, they were dry, but some areas along their backs, arms, legs, and shoulders were noticeably damp.

With today's weather coupled with the everyday humidity, it surprised me that Spikey Head's hair was still sticking straight up. I wasn't sure if hair product was the answer, but someday I knew I'd figure out the mystery.

I jumped onto his shoulder and gently walked around his head and under his chin with a soft thrum like the cat dragon I was. Flicking his ear with the tip of my tail, I flew off to land carefully on his mate's shoulder.

She instantly stiffened, clearly unsure on how to act. Her own skin tone was just slightly darker than Tuskon's, but didn't come close to reaching the level of her mate's. I quickly brushed my cheek along the bottom of her jaw before lowering myself down onto the warm bundle that was Iso.

I loved this child just as much as I loved each of my eggs. Her breathing was smooth and her skin was almost as dark as her father's. Soft fuzz of black hair coated the top of her head like moss on a rock. I had half expected her to be asleep, but was pleasantly surprised to find a pair of milk chocolate eyes staring right back at me.

I trilled and cooed at Iso until an adorable laugh escaped her lips. Her tiny hands reached out to grab onto me. I allowed her fragile fingers to clamp onto my left ear tuft and she proceeded to pull on it. The experience was exactly like any baby yanking on your hair. Except this was a little more painful.

I only let this continue for a few seconds more until I was too uncomfortable to remain still. Shaking her off, I blew a stream of warm air into her face, causing her to squirm in her blankets out of confusion.

My limits for being touched had reached it's peak and I did not want it to continue rising. The sand tray was just as I'd left it when I returned. Laying down, I threw some warm sand over top of the light colored shell and covered it with my slightly lighter green underbelly.

Phugesh only laughed at my actions and invited his mate to sit and rest on one of the now many weapon free sofas. It must have been part of Spikey Head's request for any weapons laying around to be stored away for the safety of his grabby daughter. I'd probably do the same regarding any sharp objects.

Marcy sat right next to Iso and her mother. Meanwhile Tuskon was still busy stuffing weapons and weapon parts into the side room. Quite a few of the things he grabbed I hadn't even realized were dangerous.

It was only a matter of seconds before Tuskon had then ducked into the kitchen and popped out with some food for snacking. He was a little out of breath, but otherwise looked fine with the smile he held on his face.

Marcy showed no sign of fatigue as she started a pleasant conversation between them, "How has it been lately now that little Iso is around?"

Phugesh smiled and gave his daughter a finger to hold, "She's a whole lot of work, that's for sure. Calina has been making absolutely sure that all of my weapon prototypes have been practically nonexistent before Iso can even enter a room. I'm having enough trouble locating all my work let alone making the time to watch this little bean."

A bit of what Phugesh said struck a cord. I now knew his mate's name was Calina, but that wasn't what suddenly hit me. It was what he said about his work with weapon prototypes that caught my attention.

Both Tuskon and Phugesh were supossidly patrol guards, but their homes and constant talk about weapon models would point to them doing something extra. I could remember multiple conversations in which they talked for hours about different components and functions of weapons. Was that normal for the Kymari?

Tuskon found this time to speak, "I know how that goes. With everything going on with Aspen, I've had very little time to work on anything new to bring to the board. I'm close to simply passing my position on to you."

It's at that point when I was really regretting not paying attention to their earlier conversations. I wasn't understanding anything that was going on.

Phugesh just waved him off, "I'm not taking the position your father left for you. On a separate note, I've noticed Aspen's been more observant lately and hasn't made a single clicking noise since we've been here."

Startled by the sudden topic change, Tuskon acknowledged him, "We were waiting until our return to break the news to everyone. The reason for our leave was because Aspen was having a special procedure done on her eyes. Sorry for not telling you of her blindness sooner."

Our Kymari friend was expressionless, "Don't worry about that. It's not like I haven't known."

I didn't know how, but I had started choking on my own breath out of shock. The Kymari conversation on the couch abruptly paused and they turned their heads to watch me for a few seconds while I continued my coughing fit. Trying to play it off, I stood up and stuck my muzzle into my water dish until the cool water succeeded in calming my irritated throat. I released one final cough and laid back down as if nothing had just happened. Though, I was silently screaming inside for how embarrassing that was.

Surprisingly, Marcy was next to speak, "How could you have known? The only ones who were supposed to know were the Elders and other handlers."

Phugesh looked apologetic, "Oh, I didn't know it was a secret. I'm truly sorry. I just saw her eyes and figured it was common knowledge."

The only thought running through my mind was "yikes". I couldn't believe Phugesh found out so easily and wasn't even phased! Both the vet and my caretakers were surprised to find out I was blind, but Phugesh just took it in strides as if it was normal!

A sudden migraine started probing my skull as I couldn't overcome the fact that Phugesh had known long before I knew the secret was even out. The water dish was once again very enticing, but for a different reason this time around.

Far too many things were happening all at once for my brain to keep track of. I decided to push everything back into the dusty corners of my mind just so I could better focus on what was currently happening right in front of me.

Tuskon spoke just as I started drinking again, "It's nothing to apologize for. You were heading to your own parents off planet, weren't you?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Calina place Iso into Phugesh's lap before speaking herself, "That was the plan, but until this rain let's up I'm afraid there's not a whole lot we can do. The ship that's in orbit is having trouble with their navigation and can't see past the cloud cover enough to dock."

Spikey Head took over, "Since you live closer to the port I figured it would be easier to wait it out here. Thanks again for having us last minute like this."

I lifted my head out of the newly empty dish as Tuskon smiled and waved his hand, "It's the least I could do considering all that you've done for me. I'd rather not leave until the rain stops as well. It's a pain to have to travel in an electrical storm."

Phugesh suddenly smiled as an idea came to him, "Then this is the perfect time to work on those new model plans! Unless you have something else you need to do?"

Tuskon laughed, "No, we can go and focus on what I have in my work room for now. I assume you lovely ladies will be fine out here?"

Calina held a small amused smile on her lips as she took Iso back into her arms, "For now."

The two guys were off leaving the rest of us to enjoy the quiet without them. My water dish was empty but my migraine was still present. The only thing I could logically think to do was to grab the dish and fly it over to Marcy's lap.

Calina found my actions amusing, "You really have grown so close to your firelizard. I can't help but to feel a little jealous of what an amazing guardian you have."

Marcy lifted me up to her shoulder and stood up with my bowl in her hands, "What do you mean by that? By her being a guardian?"

Calina stood up as well to follow her into the kitchen, "Just think about it. Before your firelizards showed up, your families business was about to go under. Because of your little guardian, you guys were able to receive the funds you needed to continue making weapons."

I flicked my ear tufts in their direction to avoid whipping my head around. The last thing I needed was for my headache to get any worse.

Marcy filled my dish with fresh water, "I've never really thought of it that way, but I guess we have a lot to thank Aspen and Dan for."

I myself had never realized how much I was benifitting my caretakers. I felt more like I was just being a burden if anything.

Marcy walked us back to the sitting room where I enjoyed sticking my face back into the cool water. Their conversation continued on to separate topics I had no interest for. Iso quickly became tired and fell asleep in her mothers arms. I wasn't far behind as I soon closed my eyes to dream as well.

* * *

I had woken up just before our guests left. The rain had cleared up completely allowing the ships in orbit to dock safely.

I was quite certain that the storm had included much thunder and lightning from what I'd witnessed before I fell asleep. It wouldn't really matter how loud it was though, simply because I was a pretty heavy sleeper. In my past life, the only thing that could successfully wake me up, other than my fifth morning alarm, was the whine of my old dog. Being woken up by him was never my favorite though.

We all exchanged our appropriate farewells and I was able to watch as the small family entered into their own vehicle. I thought they had walked here, though now it made more sense as to why they didn't. A wet and cold baby was a sick baby, and a sick baby was a potentiality dead baby.

Calina tucked Iso into a safe looking seat that reminded me of a rear facing car seat. I suppose this would have been safer than what the humans could come up with, though. Hopefully. Probably.

Our Kymari friends left, leaving us to walk back into the now silent house. I sat motionless on Tuskon's shoulder as he walked over to set me back in my sand tray next to my egg.

Sitting on his shoulder, right in front of the heat lamp, I tapped into the mind link I had with my two caretakers, "What kind of work do you do when not going on patrol?"

Tuskon reached up and I stepped onto his fist, "We run a side business making weapon models and prototypes. Phugesh helps where he can."

I'm already down in the sand as I look up at him, "Does patrolling not make enough?"

Tuskon sits down in the seat right next to me as Marcy heads to the kitchen, "It makes just enough to live moderately."

My egg was soon covered in sand moments later, "Then why patrol if it doesn't even make a lot?"

Tuskon only laughed, "I guess you really don't know a lot about our customs."

I shook my head at him as I laid down in the warm sand, "I may be intelligent, but I'm far from all knowing."

He used a finger to scratch the scales between my ear tufts, "Well, patrolling is more of a duty to the race than it is a job. It still pays enough that you won't live in poverty though, which is still a big point in our society. After being with Marcy for a few years, we took up parts in my family's business to make enough to afford this better living arrangement. Then you and Dan came along and just added zeros to the patrol pay roll. It's honestly way more than we actually need, though I'm glad we had the actual funds to fully pay for your treatment."

I tilted my head for his nail to scratch a slightly different area, "I assume Marcy doesn't patrol, so what does she do when you are both gone all day."

Marcy walked in with a bowl of fruit and answered for herself, "I help with securing the proper funds for his expensive projects. Whether it be money or materials, I obtain them for the whole business."

My ears perk up at the sight of food, "How do you do that?" I paused before whispering in the mind link, "Are those strawberries?"

Marcy makes room on her lap for me, "It's a little complicated trying to explain it in a way that you might understand. You can try imagining my work as convincing other families and businesses to support our business. This is why I usually have Fillis and Quin come over. Their families run two of the biggest galactic mines that hold the materials we need to produce our weapons." She uncovers the bowl to reveal an assortment of mixed fruits, "It's the leftovers from your trip."

"I never liked them." I mumbled while climbing into Marcy's lap, "Got any sunburst berries in there?"

Marcy ignored my first statement as she picked out one of the delicate berries to give to me. It was finished in two bites, though before I could ask for more, the bowl was right in front of me for my own enjoyment. Personally, I was more than happy to feed myself.

The fruit inside the bowl became nonexistent within minutes. My distraction was clear as I hadn't noticed Tuskon pulling out the wonderful cleaning oil and scrubbing pad. His lap was my next destination as I accepted the relaxing massage. Despite having already received so much sleep today, I closed my eyes and fell into the inevitable.

* * *

We arrived at Terra's home sooner than I expected. The scenery on the way there was lovely, but could never top the beautiful garden where Iso's baby shower took place. If I could, I wanted to go back there some day so I could see it with my own eyes.

I shook off the last little bit of sleep as Tuskon rang the Kymari doorbell. The tinkling sound my scales made were drowned out by the chime of the door and a few startled thumps on the other side. The voice of Terra called out to invite us in moments later.

Tuskon tightened his grip on a small box as he opened the sliding door to allow the three of us in. I didn't know what was inside the container, though I did remember him buying it before we went off planet. Other than that, I was pretty sure it was a gift for Marcy's older sister.

The spacious sitting room was just as I remembered it from last time. A sofa on the right wall faced the window on the left, while a center table stood in between them with two side tables on either side of the couch. It was nothing compared to the four sofas and three chairs my caretakers had, though. I still couldn't figure out why they needed so much sitting room either.

Terra wasn't out to greet us this time, though we could still hear her rummaging through one of the side rooms. Marcy and Tuskon both sat down on the lone sofa while I ventured to the window to take a look around the strange Kymari city.

The only thought that could run through my head before Terra walked in was, Wow these are some ugly buildings. I thought I had seen some pretty bad looking buildings in my time as a human, but these will always take the cake.

I turned around just as I heard our host entering the main room. Her hair seemed messier than usual as a few strands of her thick black hair stuck out in strange places. She wore her hair almost exactly the same as last time as well with half of it up and the other half down. One would assume she liked that hair style.

She patted away any dirt or dust off of herself before addressing my caretakers, "Sorry. I wasn't expecting you for another hour. I was just getting my work room set up for another project."

Tuskon looked her up and down with an eyebrow raised in a teasing manner, "I can tell."

Terra's polite smile dropped as she whacked him in the shoulder with the back of her hand. My chest clenched as a feeling of wanting to protect waved over me. Tuskon had set the egg holding safe box near him on the side table, yet that didn't seem to be what I was currently worked up about.

Tuskon took the hit with a laugh and held up the box for her to see, "Here, we got you this as thanks for watching our fire lizards."

She still appeared upset as she snatched the box from his hands. Upon opening it, her eyes lit up as she tried not to release a gasp of surprise, "Fine. You are forgiven."

Before anything else could be said, she skipped off with a huge smile to drop off the box's contents in the side work room. She returned moments later with her grin still plastered on her lips.

Terra glanced over at me then back at her other guests, "Where's the silver one? Dill, right?"

Marcy shook her head, "Dan died while locating sicora on an orbiting ship with Aspen."

Terra seemed saddened by this news yet had her mind focused elsewhere as she began to mumble to herself, "Dill must be someone else I know then." She paused to look over in my direction, "Is she upset with me? She hasn't made a single clicking noise since being here."

I lightly growled at her. It was becoming a bit annoying for my lack of echolocation to be pointed out by every single Kymari we've come across. Sometimes I wished that they weren't so observant.

Tuskon was the one to answer this time, "The clicking was her using a skill called echolocation since she couldn't see. You don't hear it anymore because she just had a procedure done to fix her blindness."

Terra didn't seem as surprised by this news, "Hm. Well do you think I could borrow her in my work room for a moment? I could use a fresh set of eyes to help me on this."

She walked up to me only to receive a low growl. I had just gotten comfortable and didn't want to move unless I absolutely had to.

"Oh don't give me that kind of attitude. I'll give you as much of this as you want if you come help me out?" Terra pulled out a clear bag of the recognizable blue fruit from a side pocket in her clothes.

Why did she always have more shia fruit on hand than my caretakers did in their whole house?! The temptation wasn't fair. My stomach remembered that it hadn't eaten in a while and my mouth was drooling just from thinking about the taste.

I shuffled around in my scales for a few seconds before giving up the waiting game. The fact that I was going to lose was never going to change anyway.

Accepting the delicious blueish fruit, I allowed her to pick me up into her arms. She was holding me a bit tighter than necessary, but I tried to ignore it for the sake of more shia fruit.

The traitors, whom I called my caretakers, didn't say anything as they just let it all happen. I decided I'd get back at them later for not trying to rescue me from this unfair situation. Though, since I'd never attempted getting revenge before, that might be a tricky task.

The trip across the main room was short. I sent a quick glare in the direction of the two on the couch only for them to smile back like nothing was wrong. To myself, and to any god that might have been out there, I cursed them for letting this happen.

However, I immediately took back any unkind intentions as the room was opened up to me. I would have been shocked by the sight of the room simply from the fact that the Kymari generally weren't the messy type, yet this kind of mess was different and one I happened to recognize. The type of mess right in front of me was none other than the mess of an artist.

More evidence around the room pointed to my theory being correct. Kymari art supplies that I could hardly tell apart were strewn all over the room. Some looked similar to canvases, paints, and brushes while other objects could literally be a cooking utensil for all I knew.

My heart skipped a beat as I recalled the memory of Tuskon going into the store to pick up Terra's gift. I didn't know the scent then, but now that it was right in front of me, it was completely obvious. The smell of paint covered the room just as much as that store had and it sent chills down to the tips of my wings. I was very excited to see what Terra wanted me for.

She loosened her hold around me and gave me another small piece of shia fruit, "Go take a look around before we start."

I didn't have to be told twice, as I was already airborne before she could even finish her sentence. My eyes caught the colors of many paintings as I tried to admire as many as I could in as little of time as possible. With my breathing becoming faster due to the excitement, I had to cut my flight short. I quickly decided to land in front of a mirror to rest and to inspect my dragonet self.

While there didn't seem to be any differences in my appearance from when I had looked at my reflection in the window, I could now clearly see some kind of change had just occurred without my knowing. I wasn't sure how, but instead of my eyes being the familiar yellow that every dragonet adorned, my eyes shone brightly in a brilliant light purple hue.

I blinked a few times as I continued to stare at the reflection of myself. As my breathing slowed down and my mind was calming enough to process more information, my eyes started to change in color again. The shift was slow, but my eyes eventually reverted back to their natural yellow state. Specks of purple could still be seen within the sea of yellow, though the more I focused the more they seemed to vanish under the mysterious waves within my eyes.

I snorted in confusion towards the mirror. Last I checked, my eyes were not supposed to change color just from getting excited. It wasn't normal, that's for sure.

Terra clapped her hands together, "Alright, let's get started! Would you come over here?"

At this point, I would have come over anyway, but the shia fruit was an extra bonus. My eyes were forgotten when she patted a stool to her left as she held the fruit in her opposite hand. I was over there enjoying the fruit before anyone could even bat an eye.

I savored the flavor as I watched Terra set up multiple paints on a pallet. My snack was gone by the time she turned her attention back to me.

While her younger sister was more pear shaped this eager Kymari was basically a tall twig, "That large sheet of paper down there is yours. I doubt you can even understand me, but I'm going to use whatever you come up with as inspiration for myself."

I was given another piece of fruit as she pointed to the floor which was covered by the large sheet of paper. Just from feeling the texture of the paper underneath my feet, I could tell it wasn't the kind you should use for painting. Though, I wasn't in any kind of position to complain.

I trotted over to another pallet of paint which was set on the floor close to her. The paints looked bright with lots of pigment and seemed like they would be very expensive if I were to try and buy them as a human. Sticking my right hand lightly in the blue, I flexed my fingers in the paint.

If I had been anything but an artist in my past life, I probably would have enjoyed simply putting as many dragonet paw prints on the paper as possible. But because I would always be an artist, I had other plans.

I worked meticulously with the small amount of paint I was given. While Terra had given herself a wide range of different tones and hues she had only given me the three primary colors and white. I wasn't about to let this disadvantage get to me though.

I found the paints very easy to blend and even easier to smear on the paper with my hand. Starting from the top, I worked my way down so I wouldn't have to try stepping on or over the wet paint.

Terra was watching closely as she painted her own picture. However, even though she said she was going to use my painting as inspiration, it turned out she was just using me. Not that I minded. I was having too much fun to even care, at that point.

I went back to Terra for more paint only a few times before I considered my masterpiece complete. It turned out that I just needed a little extra push in the right direction to get my creative juices pumping.

I flew back to the stool to get a better view of my painting. Terra smiled and shook her head at how much paint I had covered myself in before giving me the last shia fruit in her bag.

I was extremely happy. In fact, I was the most happy I had been since Dan's sudden death.

Terra was quite surprised as she looked down at my work, "Wow. I wasn't expecting this."

I sat there with a smile as I looked down at the painting of this morning's sunrise.

I guess I could wait a little longer to see Dan again.

And here is a quick doodle of a dragonet (done by me) for your enjoyment.

Hey look! Another sketch! This ones to scale for comparison between a Kymari's hand to a dragonet! Enjoy!