Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Dragon and The Speedster" I'm glad you all enjoyed the next chapter! Guess what?!? Since I am posting this on the 14th of this month, SOON IT WILL BE MY SOMETHING-th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT!!!!!!!! ::throws confetti in the air:: So because I'm in such a good mood, I'm posting a LONGER chapter, SOONER than you all expected! So before I get to the fic, My loving fans need the answers to all their questions!

Dahc Wardub: Thanks for reviewing luv. Is this soon enough for you? Lol.

Trebor Joe: No, I can't give you $100. Though next time we get together, I need to ask you just what all you want in your picture.

DeHaven: Hello again friend. No, Marduck's not one to really stay mad, even if a stubborn dragoness is infuriating him by not wanting help. Can she blame it if she is not all that trusting? Lol. I shall email you as soon as this is up and running.

Co-Author's note: Sorry to hack in and change this Ru, but first off I don't think you should give out your age. And second, I had something to add to our response to DeHaven. Marduck didn't leave because he was angry at Ryuu, but because he was angry with himself. You'll probably understand better if and when we ever get into Marduck's story.  (Also, I did a little story editing for once. Hope you don't mind…)

::back to Ryuu::

ONWARD!!!

Koori looks sad at the mention of her dead brother. She looks up at Marduck. "Do you miss him?" She asks him, knowing of their travels. Marduck tries to smile down at the young dracoling and he pats her shoulder. He sighs and there is much sadness in his voice. "He and I were good friends. I have few of those.... I haven't seen him for many, many years.... And the news that I may not again is a deeply painful thought. I do miss him." Koori sighs. "Ryuu took it hardest of all of us. Being of Death, she could feel him die. Yet she couldn't help him. We haven't seen her since he died. It's amazing Suki and I found her." "Koori..." Marduck smiles down at his young friend. She looks up at him. "Yes?" "Would you like a ride?" his voice is soft and caring. She smiles. "Sure!" Marduck smiles and reaches down and carefully lifts Koori onto his shoulders. Koori smiles. Suki, who was still running ahead and looking back every-so-often, looked at her and laughed, though said nothing. Ryuu looks back and sends a smile to Marduck, nodding at him. Marduck, had an odd look when he catches Ryuu's glance, but he nods back. Dahc is doing cartwheels along side the group. They walk for a while until Suki stops and does a flip in her spot. Koori speaks up from her perch on Marduck's shoulders.

"Turn left here Ryuu." Ryuu nods and does as Koori instructs. Dahc is following Ryuu in a handstand-walk. Marduck smiles and follows up the back of in the group. Suki jumps and does a flip, landing in front of Ryuu and running ahead. Dahc bobs up and follows Ryuu, hopping around her in small circles Ryuu chuckles. The group walked in silence for almost an hour, both Suki and Dahc hopping around, doing flips, and odd stuff like that. All of the sudden, they came to a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a portal. Marduck gently lowers Koori to the ground and pats her head. Koori smiles up at him, adjusting her kimono. Dahc slows down and gets close too Ryuu. Ryuu looks at the portal. Suki and Koori walk over to it.

"Come on Ryuu! Lets check it out!" Suki exclaims to the elder dragon on. Dahc stays behind Ryuu. Marduck walks near the portal and his eyes glow bright blue. After a moment he turns back to the others. "Seems safe..." Ryuu looks at it again. "I can't sense anything wrong from it Ryuu...." Koori says lightly. Dahc seems a little worried. "Ru..." Ryuu looks at him. "Yes Dahc?" "W-what'd you think?" He seems unsure of the situation. "What's wrong luv? Afraid we won't get back?" "No.... It's just...." Dahc looks down. "What's wrong luv?" She turns and looks at him. "I... I h-had a bad experience with a strange portal once....." Ryuu nods. "Don't worry luv. I can always teleport us out. Ok?" He still seems a little unsure but he nods. "R-right..." Marduck smiles and waves back at the group. "New places, new people, new adventures! Wish me luck!" He strolls forcefully through the portal. Koori and Suki look at the portal, and, deeming it safe, walk through after him. Dahc is behind Ryuu. Then he grins and looks at Ryuu, a cocky expression on his face. Ryuu looks at Dahc. "Ready luv?" "Ya know.... We're all alone....." Dahc winks and wiggles his eyebrows. Ryuu chuckles. "As much as I trust your cousin, I'm not leaving Koori and Suki in a new dimension with him...sorry luv." She walks toward the portal, then turns back and holds out her hand to him. "You coming?" Dahc looks around, sighs and follows at Ryuu's heals. Ryuu takes Dahc's hand. "It's ok luv." She walks into the portal.

On the other side of the portal was a vast forest. Suki was up in a tree, hanging upside down, while Koori was sitting on a stump, talking to Suki. As Ryuu and Dahc stepped onto the soft ground, Koori and Suki looked over at Ryuu. Marduck was kneeling down studying some odd flowers. He had a small journal out and is jotting down notes. Ryuu looks around. "We're on Drakon..." She mumbles in awe. Dahc smells the air. He looks like he's trying to get his bearings. Ryuu lets go of his hand. "You ok luv?" Dahc looks down at his hand for a moment, then looks at Ryuu and blushes. Suki and Koori giggle. "Old h-habit...." He says quietly. Dahc looks down at his feet. Ryuu tilts his head up to look into her eyes. "It's fine luv." Ryuu smiles. "Don't worry about it." Marduck finishes taking his notes and pulls out a small bottle. He gently removes one of the flowers from the ground, roots and all, and places it in the bottle, closing it tightly. He places his hand on the bottle and it glows slightly for a moment. He puts his things away and stands up. Suki moves so that she is dangling from her hands instead of her knees. She starts using the branch like a high-bar, then dismounts with two flips and 4 twists, sticking it as she lands. Dahc runs over to Suki. "C-Can you t-teach me to do that???" He asks eagerly. Suki giggles. "I've known how to do that all my life. All Dragons do. Koori's better than I am, but Ryuu's the best of the family." Ryuu blushes and looks away. Dahc runs back to Ryuu. "Can YOU t-teach m-me?" He asks even more eagerly. Ryuu looks nervous. "I'm not as good as she says..." she trails off. Dahc pokes her playfully in the gut. "I bet you ARE!" She chuckles dryly. Koori and Suki run up to her. "Show us YOUR skills Ru!! Pwease??" Suki begs. "Ya, Ryuu!" Koori chimes in. Dahc rubs his sideburns and a mischievous gleam comes into his eyes. "Ya wanna s-see her up in a tree girls?" He asks the younger two playfully. The girls smile mischievously. "YA!!" They say in unison. Ryuu chuckles nervously. Dahc winks at Ryuu.

There is a crack, and no one is sure where Dahc is. Ryuu concentrates on her pendent, trying to find her companion. "Boo-Who!" Dahc is behind Ryuu. He kisses her on the cheek and pinches her teasingly. Marduck leans against a tree, watching the two with an odd gleam in his eye. Ryuu chuckles, and then reaches out to grab Dahc. Before she can, there is another crack and there is odd laughter in the distance. She smirks and closes her eyes, concentrating to sense his aura. There is a soft crack and Dahc is standing in front of Ryuu. He kisses her flat on the lips and tickles her belly fiercely. There is another crack and he is gone again, still laughing. She gasps and jumps back, startled. Her eyes are wide with shock. Suki and Koori walk over to Marduck. There is a crack and Dahc is standing a few feet in front of Ryuu smiling. "Come-on luv! Aint ya up for a little game?" She growls playfully and fakes a lunge toward him. Dahc grins and is gone with a crack before she gets close to him. He appears behind her and grabs her butt. She spins around with cat-like grace and grabs for his hand. There is a crack and Dahc is climbing up a tree, laughing like a hyena. Ryuu closes her eyes and disappears.

Dahc whistles a funny tune and plays around in the branches, jumping from one to the next with quite a lot of agility, but pausing often to make a choice of his next movement. She reappears above him, quiet as death itself. "Hi-o Ru!" Dahc dodges whatever she had planned and flings himself to the next tree. Ryuu jumps and grabs onto a branch, spinning around it once then perching on it before lunging at Dahc playfully. Dahc tries to get out of her way and nearly falls out of the tree. He scrambles up and jumps to the other side of the tree. Instead of Dahc, she grabs a branch and does two spins on it, before perching and leaping to the top of another branch. Dahc climbs atop a branch and does a handstand on it. She leaps at him, but he drops suddenly to a lower branch. She flips in mid-air and grabs the branch he had been on, doing a handstand, then spinning and attempting to kick him off his branch. She catches him and he plummets to the ground with a yell. She does another spin on the branch, then dismounts and catches Dahc on the way down, landing perfectly with 5 flips and 7 spins. She puts Dahc down on the ground. He smiles up at her. "Hey luv... Nicely done!"

Marduck smiles and claps. She smiles. "It was nothing." Koori and Suki smile. "Ya, It WAS nothing. She can do MUCH better than THAT!" Suki called. Koori just clapped. Marduck smiles. "I'd love to see it sometime..." Koori smiled an odd smile and Suki grinned. Koori looked at Ryuu. "Lets go that way!!" She points down the trail. "Pwease??" Suki adds. Ryuu looks around. "Why not? It's Drakon. I know my way around. Nothing should attack us." She offers a hand to help Dahc up. Marduck shrugs. "One way is as good as the next for me.... This place is new...." He has an odd smile on his face and a far away look in his eyes. Suki takes the lead again while Koori steps beside Marduck. "It's anything but new to us. This is our home world." Marduck smiles and nods. Dahc is bobbing next to Ryuu once again. Ryuu steps up behind Marduck and Koori. Marduck chuckles and follows behind Koori. Ryuu looks back at Dahc. 'What's up luv?' she asks mentally. She senses a mental chuckle. He bobs just out of her view path. She rolls her eyes and looks ahead of her, watching Koori speaking lightly to Marduck, pointing out various things around Drakon. Marduck seems to be listening intently and asks many interesting questions. Dahc is trying to hide behind Ryuu and catch her attention at the same time. Suki does a flip and then ducks off into a side path. Koori tugs on Marduck's sleeve and leads him down the same way her sister had gone. Ryuu tries to look back at Dahc again. Dahc hops out of her sight range once more but follows along close behind. Ryuu seems hesitant to go down the path. Dahc walks into her rather hardly. "Hey! W-Why'd you s-stop Ru?" She looks back at him. "Hum? Oh, sorry." She seemed to have been lost in her thoughts. Dahc cocks his head to one side, smiling kindly at Ryuu.

"You're nice, ya know that?" Dahc says rather unexpectedly. Ryuu blinks. She seems to be slightly confused. She then blushes. "Um...thanks…I guess...." Dahc blushes. "I t-think…Y...You may be t-the best friend I've ever had since I left home......" Dahc trails off. Ryuu smiles at him, and seems to be at a loss for words. Dahc steps forward slightly, almost hesitantly, his arms outstretched.

"M-May I Ru?" He asks in a quite voice full of emotion. She nods, a bit startled. Dahc steps forward and hugs Ryuu firmly, but gently. After a moment, he softly rests his head on her shoulder. She wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his. "I.... Thank you Dahc..." She says, so lightly that he can barely hear her. He moves his hands to around her waist, and for a moment is seems that he may be plotting something, but then he tightens his hold and leans back, lifting her off her feet. "For what luv?" He asks, his voice full of joy, and his eyes sparkling slightly. She wraps her arms around his neck, holding on for balance, giggling. "For being yourself." Dahc smiles and gently puts Ryuu down, then hugs her tight again. She hugs him closely. Dahc gently kisses her cheek, then whispers softly.

"Was that okay?" Ryuu smiles and nods, an unreadable expression in her eyes. "Yes. It was." He kisses her softly again, closer to her lips, but still on her cheek. "Was THAT okay?" He repeats softly. Ryuu gasps slightly, and, unable to find words, nods. Dahc pulls away slightly and gazes into her eyes for a moment. The little lightning bolts are moving rather slowly, and each one can be picked out. There is much care in his face…in his eyes... Ryuu's golden eyes sparkle with emotion, looking deep into Dahc's thunderous ones. He moves slowly, ever so slowly, until he rests his lips upon hers. He closes his eyes and presses lightly into the kiss. She gasps at the contact. All of sudden Suki busts out onto the main path.

"RYUU!!! COME ON!!" She skids to a stop before the two, then blushes and starts to run back down the path she came. Dahc jumps a foot or so away from Ryuu in shock. He smiles sheepishly at Ryuu and then begins whistling and motions toward the path. Ryuu seems startled at first, and then growls at her luck. She falls into step alongside Dahc. She absentmindedly brushes her hand against his. Dahc blushes and looks at her, sensing the hint, but seeming almost afraid. Ryuu catches his eye, and seems to nod slightly. Dahc smiles and takes Ryuu's hand in his. After a moment, he begins swinging his arm and continues whistling. Ryuu giggles and walks down the path, a small smile on her face the whole way. Ryuu catches Dahc looking at her several times, but each time she does, he darts his eyes away and whistles louder. She smiles and begins humming an odd lullaby-sounding tune. Dahc stretches his hand and scratches the back of his head.

Ok guys, It's my birthday, so please review. Thankies!