Legend of the Great Dragon (15 page)

 

 

“Pretty sure I got hit by a bus,” Ichi mumbled, rubbing his eyes. When his vision adjusted and was no longer blurry, he noticed he was in an unfamiliar setting. The room reminded him of a hotel, and when he looked out the window, he saw the ocean.

“Hello? Anyone here?” he called out.

Mikko stood in the doorway. “You're awake and actually coherent now.”

“Something like that.” He lay back and groaned. “Where am I? Back in Oceina
,
at your grandma's?”

“No, we're in Shanrea,” she said, sitting down in a nearby chair.

“Shan-what?” He rubbed his forehead with one of his hands.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Shanrea. My mother grew up here. We're at the Shanrea Grand Hotel. Five days have passed since your encounter with Lee.”

“Five days!” Ichi's eyes widened and he sat up again. Immediately he regretted it as blood rushed to his head, causing him to see spots and become light-headed. With a gentle hand, Mikko eased him back onto the bed again.

“Yes, five days. We have been here for one. Leaving Terran City was complicated. There's civil unrest in the entire nation. Flying out was near impossible.”

“Why don't I remember any of this? Have I been unconscious this whole time?” He scowled at the idea. The blast of fire hadn't been that bad, had it?

Mikko brushed some of his hair to the side. “You've been… a shell. Your body would awaken, but not your mind. It must have something to do with Lee's dark magic.”

“Who?”

“Lee, the man who was attacking me when you found me at the penthouse.”

That part Ichi remembered. He had gone to the address Teo had found on the computer. When Ichi had heard her scream, he'd broken down the door. There had been pain, a flash of light, and then nothing but darkness. No dreams, nothing. He wouldn't have believed her when she said no time had passed if she hadn't seemed so frightened.

Slowly, he sat up once more. “So the people of Terran are rioting, is that what you're telling me?”

She nodded. “Lee started a war in retaliation. I know he's behind it even though I haven't seen him since the day he attacked — not even in a dream. That worries me. It's good to see you back, so I'm going to focus on that instead.”

“Is everyone okay?” he asked quietly.

“Uncle Tyson is still in Terran. He created a diversion so we could escape. Teo was able to get his
fiancée
and bring her with us. Correction, they're married now. The whole thing went quickly.” Mikko smiled softly.

Ichi laughed. “We should get married.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Okay, I heard you, but I don't understand.”

He exhaled heavily. “I love you, you know this. And I know you feel something for me too.”

“Yes.” Mikko sighed. “Getting married doesn't seem like a good idea, though. Soon I'll have to face Lee again, and if something goes wrong…”

“We'll have had those brief moments of belonging to one another.” Ichi cupped her cheek with a hand. “A week, a year, a millennium, I just want to be your husband. Your family. We belong together.” The smell of tears filled his nostrils.
Great, she's going to cry. Not what I was going for.

She turned away from him, waving a hand in front of her face. “I'm sorry.”

“Not interested. Got it.” He'd respect her decision, but he wouldn't ever like it.

“No, I'm sorry I'm crying so much.” She chuckled softly. “I'm trying to keep control of my emotions so I can articulate what I want to say, and all I want to do is bawl my eyes out.”

Ichi opened his arms. “Go ahead and do so against my manly chest. I can wait for you forever.”

Another laugh left her beautiful, delicate lips —
a sound
much preferred to her sniffles. She moved closer, lying against his shoulder. Then she whispered, “I want to be with you.”

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

“Yes.” She lifted her face to his and kissed his jaw. “Because I love you. I've been so afraid to let myself feel anything for you because of who I am… what I am. Is there a place for someone like me to get married?”

“Obviously there is. I'm thinking the beach.”

Her lip quivered. “My parents were married on the beach here.”

He leaned in and met her lips with his own. “Even more perfect.”

 

 

I can't believe I'm doing this.
Mikko had to pinch herself to make sure she was still awake.
I'm getting married.
Never in a million years did I ever think this would happen.
Ever since she was little, she'd dreamed of it happening. Knowing she was different from the other dragons gave her a hard dose of reality.

The wedding was happening; the whole thing was real. A dragon priest was called shortly after Ichi proposed and all of the paperwork was drawn up so the two could be wed the next day. She did not wear a puffy white dress, and he did not wear a tuxedo. Neither one of them dressed up, period. The whole event would be casual, much like she preferred. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before returning to the daunting task ahead of her.

Teo kissed her cheek as he gave her away. “This is perfect,” he said.

His words calmed her and reassured her of any doubts. He escorted her to Ichi, who stood in the same place her father had the day he'd married her mother. Mikko knew this because she could see the ghosts of her parents.

Her mother was crying.
“We're so blessed to be here to see this.”

“And we're so proud of you,”
her father added.

“This is crazy,” she admitted, more talking to them than anyone else. No one but she could see them, however.

Ichi laughed. “My dad once said that the crazy decisions were always his best ones. Over thinking complicates things.”

“And love is illogical,” she said.

“Something like that.” He took her hands in his own and gave them a squeeze. “I love you and I'm going to support you in everything that happens until the day I die. I'm pretty sure I loved you the moment I first saw you at that party. The closer we get, the more I know it's true.”

Mikko closed her eyes, listening to his words and drowning out the rest of the world around her. She wanted to savor the moment. Her happy days would soon be replaced with those of stress and horror. Every good memory she had would help her survive the trials to come.

She leaned up and kissed his lips. “I loved you the day I first saw what was in your heart, in the garden. You were always in the back of my mind. I followed the wind because I needed to be with you.”
Whatever happens, you will always be my place of peace — a gift from God to serve as my reminder.

And as much as she wanted to share that thought with him, to confess it, fear got the better of her. If she admitted aloud the tribulations that were destined to be in her future, it would sour the moment. She didn't want to think about only having Ichi for a week or the possibility of her failing. Remaining focused on her dream of a long life with him is what would help keep her strong, give her a personal goal to achieve.

“Were those your vows?” the dragon priest asked, looking between the two of them with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure,” Ichi said. “I think that covers everything in a nutshell. She's stuck with me for life whether she likes it or not.”

Nodding, Mikko kissed him again. “Ditto.”

“You're supposed to wait until after we're married to do the kissing thing. Haven't you seen any chick flicks?”

“Stop talking then so he can marry us already.” She rolled her eyes.

The priest frowned and waited a few more seconds. “I bless this relationship and declare you married before God and according to the laws of our kind. Go ahead and go back to kissing?”

Mikko puckered her lips, readying herself for another small but tender moment with her now husband. Instead, Ichi draped an arm around her waist, dipped her, and crushed his lips against hers with a fierce passion. A fire she was happy to reciprocate. Her fingers tangled into his hair as she trusted her heart to guide her through the kiss. The rest of the world melted away and she was positive she was in her own personal heaven. No more fear or doubt. Only joy remained.

 

 

Ideally, Ichi would have taken his new bride far away for her honeymoon. The two of them would escape from everything and live happily ever after. He knew none of that would have pleased her, however. Mikko was set in achieving her destiny, and he planned on being supportive of her decisions even if some of them were frightening to him.

The last thing he wanted to do was watch her get hurt. Their time together was precious and fragile; it needed to be cherished and treated with the utmost of care. There was so much about what Mikko had to do that he didn't understand, but to him, that's what made him most qualified to be her husband. He loved
her
and not any kind of preconceived notion of her that came from reading an ancient prophecy.

Most of the past three days had been spent in the hotel room. Ichi selfishly wanted to take up as much of her time as possible. They ordered room service and played cards until all hours of the night. When everyone else was asleep, the two sneaked around the halls or played on the beach under the moonlight. Of course they made love, but they did so much more than that. For three days, all that existed in the world was them. They were the most beautiful three days of Ichi's life.

On the fourth day, the phone rang.

“Yeah?” Ichi answered, rolling his eyes at Mikko as she watched him from across the room.

“I'm sorry, sir, I know you said you didn't want to be disturbed unless it was important,” the concierge said.

He let out a heavy sigh, hoping his annoyance came through. Why couldn't the staff get to the point? “Yes, I did say that, and I'm guessing this is important or you wouldn't be bothering me now.”

“Of course, sir, I have a Tai Oceina who wishes to connect to your room phone. She insists it's of life or death importance. Is this a call you want to receive or should I tell her you're unavailable?”

“We'll take the call,” he mumbled. “Mik, it's for you.”

Frowning, Mikko walked over to the bed where he lay and took the phone from him. “Hello… Hi Grandma… Yes, we're having a good time… I'm sorry you couldn't be there too… I don't want to be rude, but what's going on? You didn't call me just to shoot the breeze.” From there Mikko was silent for the remainder of the conversation. Outside of an occasional “yes”, “okay”, and “uh huh”, she didn't share a thought. Finally, she ended with, “I understand and we'll be there soon. Good night, Grandma… Don't apologize. I know you couldn't avoid interrupting… I'll see you soon… Love you too.”

She hung up the phone and ran her hands along her thighs. Her face was expressionless and difficult to read.

“We're going to Oceina now?” Ichi asked.

Mikko nodded. “My grandmother had a dream. In it she was told that we needed to be brought to Oceina City as soon as possible. The time is here, I can feel it. In a few more days, I'll be seeing him again. If she hadn't called, I would have gone on my own. She said it was imperative that I bring you with me and not leave you behind, however.”

“Would you have? Left me here, I mean?” He could barely ask the question as his chest tightened with heartache.

“I don't want you to get hurt,” Mikko choked out. She took in a deep breath and blinked away her tears. “Please, I don't want to talk about this right now. We don't have to go right this minute. She only wants a day with me to help me be ready, to pray with me. Give me this one last night to simply be your wife and not the Great Dragon.”

He kissed her forehead. “What's the Great Dragon?” He smirked and kissed along the side of her face and to her lips. “I love you.” And until the sun rose, he made sure to show her how much.

 

 

Mikko's honeymoon bliss had been extended for another day. Ichi flew her to Oceina City in the evening, arriving while her relatives were sleeping. The next day was spent making small pleasantries with her grandmother, showing off pictures, and giving the few details of the wedding ceremony that she had. Being married was wonderful, Ichi made for a great lifelong companion, and her heart was so full of love for him. Mikko couldn't remember the last time she'd been so fulfilled and no longer lonely.

The happiness had to be put on hold for a moment. Lee was coming for her and at any moment he would be displaying more of his power in an effort to taunt her. As much as she wanted to spend all of her remaining time with Ichi, she needed to be focused and prepared. So during her last moments of resting, Mikko spent her time with her grandmother in deep prayer and meditation. Through this she entered into another dream
.