Wings of Honor: Saving Grace

Chapter 15: Pitching In In Possibility

The town bustled below us as we banked high above them.
I tried to track Marvin's mind, and while I had a general idea, there were way too many minds for me to isolate him out. But once Travers spoke into the radio, a bright red spark rose and lingered over a farm clearing on the edge of town. I watched as Vaquero flapped up to it, watching the flare as it fell and extinguished.
Woah.
"Marvin!" I spotted him, waving his arms in the middle of the clearing.
I swooped down and flared, buffeting him with sand. I landed with a running thump, then tearing up and engulfing him with golden wings.
"Woah!" He exclaimed. "Oh my Gracebringer. Oh my God! You're okay."
"I'm okay." I said through tears. "I'm back. I'm back with you."
Marvin just ran his hand down my back, and it was the greatest feeling on earth. Just being here, with him. I didn't want to leave this embrace, ever. He rubbed my neck, and we exchanged tearing into each other. It had been far too long. It had been far too long.
But alas, all things have to end someday. And I forced myself back into the hellish cold once more. Shivering. I already missed Marvin again. I wouldn't ever let him go like that again. Never again.
"So, who's this?"
I turned to see Vaquero sitting behind me. He immediately stood up, walking around me.
"I'm Vaquero. I was helping Grace find you. You are The Captain. Marvin, right?"
"That's right." As he petted my claws next to him.
"Are you the one who rescued the dragons from Jade Mountain!"
Careful Marvin. He's kind of a fan.
I figured that. "Well... I didn't help Bigtail, Carnelian, and Tamerin... other than putting a few bandages on them."
"But you saved their lives!" He walked up, starry eyed.
Marvin shrugged, crossing his arms. "I was just doing my job."
"Wow." Vaquero only gasped.
Marvin chuckled. "So, 'Cowboy,' how did Grace manage to rope you into her mission?"
"Ah well, funny story actually."
Uh oh. That's the way Gregory starts his stories.
Oh, now you're done it.
I didn't warn him before.
Here went Vaquero.

After the better part of the next half hour, Marvin got a full debrief of everything that has happened. And he followed surprisingly well. Nodding, the occasional frown, and even chuckling when he overheard some of my exchanges with Peril. Admittedly, some of them now were more funny in hindsight.
When we finally got through that beast of a debrief, Travers stepped around me and shook Marvin's hand.
"Travers."
"And you've shaved, Marvin."
"Yeah! I noticed! You look twenty years younger!" I commented.
He chuckled. "Yeah. I've been told I can grow a nice beard. One time winner of a no-shave-November contest."
I looked back to Vaquero, he was just looking at us in awe.
Travers stepped up. "So, we're ready to move out whenever you are."
"Oh! Yeah! I mentioned before. There's trouble in the Sky Kingdom! We need to get over there ASAP!"
"Yeah. Turtle and the Jade Winglet were heading that way. Turtle was really concerned about Peril."
But then a couple dragons came out of the corn fields behind me.
"Marvin?" A Mudwing... SandWing/SkyWing hybrid, almost desert camouflage scaled dragon appeared from the cornfields behind us.
"Ah. Amber. What's up!"
The dragon stepped up, looking at us, more at me.
"Oh. These are a few friends of mine. I've told you about Grace."
"Oh! You're Grace?" Amber walked up, way smaller than me, but she still shook my hand. "It's so nice to finaly meet you!" She turned back to look at Marvin. "You were right. She's a lot bigger in person." I giggled, hiding my blushing, and moving my shifting scales out of sight. "Anyways. We have cleared the field. We're ready to harvest."
"Okay. Line everybody up, and we'll go down the line."
Amber nodded, heading off. Marvin looked back at us.
"Sorry. I was out in charge of managing a few fields around here. Apparently my skills don't go unnoticed."
"If you need to stay and finish things up, we don't mind."
"Speak for yourself Gracebringer." Travers spat.
"I can help." Vaquero stepped up.
"Alright. The faster we get through this field, the quicker we can get a move on. Any volunteers, on me."

Apparently, harvesting corn was a lot more effort than I thought.
It's not that the harvesting bit is that difficult, we're born with claws anyways. In fact, even Marvin equipped himself with a machete like weapon instead of his trusty pocket knife. It was the dehusking part that made me want to go jump into a pile of shattered glass several times.
Apparently, a large dragon with large claws, tasked with taking off paper thin sheets of leaves while leaving malleable and pierceable kernels intact is very difficult. Difficult enough for Marvin to come up to me, with me pinching away the leaves and holding the corn with only three other claws, they were so small.
"You okay Grace?"
"Yeah." I half mumbled, half groaned.
He looked over at me, recognizing my struggles instantly.
"I... know, husking corn is a bit difficult."
I shot him an angry glare. You think?
"And... if you can't do it, then you can't do it. No shame in sitting this one out Grace."
I passed the corn to him, sighing. Tears flooding my eyes. I wanted to tell him, but... I couldn't. I was too humble, too caring to tell him.
"Grace?" Now he was concerned. "You okay?"
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "I... know I can't really shuck the corn."
He looked down at the mashed up vegetable, then back at me.
"Then that's okay. Just harvest them, put them in a basket. I can get someone else to shuck them."
"But-" I cut myself off.
"But what?" He asked, stepping up to run his hand on my side.
I really wanted to tell him, but I couldn't! It was just something I wanted to keep to myself. Was I a better person for wanted to keep this secret? Am I just shooting myself in the foot? What does Marvin think? I know he can't see my mind right now, but he can feel my emotions.
His next words all but confirmed it. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But you can talk to me about anything Grace. Doesn't matter what it is. Anything and everything, I will do what I can."
I just took a sigh, hanging my head.
"It's not that I don't want to shuck the corn." I paused. "It's just... I actually can't do it. My claws are too unwieldy. I physically can't get a grip."
"Okay." Marvin nodded. "Then why are you still trying, if you know you can't do it?"
"Because-" I swallowed. "Because," I said softly, a tear rolling down my cheek. "Because, I want to be with you."
We met each other, staring into the other's hazle eyes.
"Grace... you could've just said that. I don't have to be here." He walked, running his hand. "If you just wanted us to be together, that's all you had to say. I can't imagine what you went through. And if the things I've seen were any semblance... I wish I went along with you."
"No." I shook my head. Laying down beside him. "You had to take care of Kinkajou."
That roused a chuckle out of him. "And you're the one who said Kinkajou would be alright."
I curled myself around him, kind of trapping him. I covered him with my wing, forming a little tent for him. We just looked at eachother, at peace with one another. I knew he loved me as much as I loved him. He patted my tail.
"I promise, I won't send you on a mission like that ever again." He looked up, glossy eyes in the midday sun. "You're too special to risk Grace. I'm sorry."
Then he broke down a little, crying. I felt the tickle of tears rolling down my scales.
"I shouldn't have ever let you go." He mumbled into my wing.
I started crying too.
"I should've trusted you with everything. Everything I know. Even... even if..." I sniffed. "I love you Marvin." I burned my head in his little crevice.
I felt his hand brush across my snout.
"I love you too Gracebringer." He took a shaky breath. "I'm so happy you're back."
I gave a teary chuckle. "I'm so happy to be back. ... With you."
He pulled me in a little closer. A little closer to him. A little closer to his heart.
We just stayed that way for a little while.