It was nearly two month after the first encounter when the dragon and Jessica came upon each other again. Despite Glen's warnings and punishments, Jessica still managed to escape long enough to go and have fun in the woods. She walked around often, and on a whim she turned towards the stream where she had seen the dragon. She was curious about the dragon, though she was still a little bit scared.
The dragon was napping in the sun at his favorite spot near the stream, absorbing the last hour worth of warmth when he heard the sound of something approaching from the bushes. He opened his eyes slightly and saw the same girl with the beautiful face watching him. 'So, she's seen me again,' he thought to himself. 'I bet she's going to run away again. Damn.' With this thought he gave a small snort and tried to go back to sleep.
'Wow! It's so... majestic!' Jessica thought to herself as she came into view of the stream and the napping dragon. As quietly as she could she got into place in the bushes and kept still. She didn't want to wake it, but she did want to study the dragon. She was good with a brush, and she wanted to memorize everything about this scene so that she could re-create it later on the wall in her room.
They stayed this way for nearly ten minutes before the dragon realized that she wasn't running away like before. 'Maybe this time she will be different. After all, I didn't do anything to her last time,' he thought. With this, he realized that he was the one that was going to have to make the first move, otherwise she would just try to leave as she came. With this in mind, he opened his eyes and turned his head to face her, making sure not to move any other part of him.
Jessica felt another stab of fear when the dragon opened its eyes and turned its head towards her. She realized that it must have better hearing than her, so of course it had heard her. She readied herself to run again, then her mind cut through her terror. The dragon hadn't done anything to her last time, she had caused herself to flee. Maybe it wouldn't do anything this time. So she stayed, tense and ready to run, but this time, only if the dragon did anything to her.
The dragon saw her tense up and almost lost it. The only thing that prevented him from breaking down and crying out was the fact that she hadn't run yet. Even so, several tears made their way to his eyes and leaked out.
Jessica couldn't believe her eyes. The dragon was crying! Or at least, tears were coming out of his eyes. When she got a better look at those eyes, she saw something in them that she hadn't seen before; an incredibly deep sadness, like nobody in the world had ever loved him. They also seemed intelligent, almost human in appearance. She was mesmerized by those eyes, and she couldn't look away.
Neither looked away from the other for a long time. It was only when the sky began to turn red in a beautiful sunset that Jessica came back to herself. 'Oh no! It's sunset! Glen will be so mad at me!' she thought. She turned away from the dragon and started running back to town when she heard something from behind her. It sounded like crying, and she went to investigate.
___________________________________________________
The dragon burst into tears when Jessica turned and ran. She had stood there long enough that he thought she might understand, that she might even not leave him. When she turned away from him and ran, he felt all his sorrow come up and burst out of him. He cried hard, harder than he ever had before. They had shared something special, and she still thought him a mindless beast! His father was right: no one could love him; he was going to be alone forever.
___________________________________________________
When Jessica reached the clearing by the stream again she saw a sight she never in her wildest dreams thought she would see: a dragon, bigger than a house with long sharp teeth and claws, was crying like a baby! Deep shuddering sobs wracked its frame, and its beautiful blue eyes were covered with its paws. It really was intelligent, and she was the only one around to help. 'I can't just leave this dragon, it needs help,' she reasoned. So she carefully walked up to its large head and began to stroke it while cooing softly, like the dragon was no more than an oversized baby. "Don't worry, everything will get better eventually," she said softly.
The dragon was crying too hard to notice her return, and was shocked when she started to stroke his muzzle. He had never felt anything so soft and nice before, and once his sobs stopped he could hear her talking to him softly, saying that everything would get better. When he finally stopped crying, her removed his forepaws from his eyes and said, very quietly, "Thank you."
Jessica was happy with herself. She had managed to calm down this massive creature before her, and he had finally removed his forepaws from his eyes. She smiled at him, and then he did something she never would have expected. "Thank you," came a voice, the same voice she had heard when she ran away the first time. It was talking to her! A talking dragon! She stood up, eyes wide with shock, then collapsed as she fainted and fell to the ground.
The dragon was a little surprised at her reaction to his thank you, and wondered what to do with her. He could watch her and hope that she woke up soon or take her back to his cave and spend the night. He knew there were animals in the forest that would not hesitate to take a bite out of a human, and it was getting dark fast. What should he do?
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