A Fight For Love

The Truth

Leyla groaned and rolled over in her bed. She peaked one eye open and took a look around the room. Dak was asleep and facing the wall away from her. Leyla sighed again and untangled herself from her blankets, which were wrapped around her legs. She then crept silently down the ladder, trying not to wake up Summer or the other dragons as she quietly leapt to the ground and made her way outside and up to the roof to get some air. But Leyla had failed to notice that someone was following her as she laid on the roof, gazing up at the stars. "Leyla? There you are! Why aren't you in the roost?" Aggro came up to her. Leyla jumped up at the sound of her voice, not expecting anyone to find her here. She slid down from the roof and stared up at her with a suspicious look on her face. The 11-year-old crossed her arms and stared up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you out here?" She stopped her by asking her her own question. "Why are you out here?" Leyla could tell that she wasn't expecting that because her mouth dropped open but no words would come out. Leyla was about to head back inside but yet again, Aggro stopped her before she could take a step forward. "What do you want Aggro?" She asked her, her patients wearing thin as she awaited her response. In truth though, Leyla just wanted to be left alone, but she couldn't seem to even get time to herself anymore these days. It was silent for a few moments and Leyla watched Aggro with narrowed eyes. What is she planning this time? "Never mind, I'll tell you tomorrow." She eventually replied after a few moments of awkward silence. Leyla sighed in frustration and narrowed her eyes. "Ok... whatever you say, Aggro." She muttered under her breath as she headed back to the room that her and Dak shared to get some sleep.

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Summer loved Leyla a lot but this odd behavior of hers is getting rather annoying and just outright ridiculous. She knew that something was wrong but she wasn't letting anything slip. No matter how many different tactics Summer tried to use to get her to talk, it was no use and Summer felt like this whole plan that Aggro had was completely and utterly hopeless because nothing she tried seemed to work and the stress of it all was making the young Fastfin feel like she might burst into flames. Ugh! For the love of Clow Reed! Why is this so damn hard? Why can't I get my best friend to upon up to me? Summer mentally screamed in her mind as she took to pacing around in an endless circle. Am I missing something important here? Is there something else that I haven't tried yet? Oh dear mother of the stars! I gotta do something about this soon or else I'm gonna explode! They were all sitting around the fire and eating breakfast when an idea hit Summer like a bolt of lightning. She was gonna ask Leyla if she wanted to go swimming with her in the ocean! Yes, you heard that right. The ocean. The ocean filled with eels! While the eels scared the young Fastfin to death, she would totally fight off eels if it meant getting g her best friend back to her normal happy, know-it-all, sassy, and dragon-obsessed, sweet, and cute lovable human self. Wit, hold up! Did she just call her best friend cute? Damnit Summer, you're a dragon and she's a human! Get a grip girl and focus! She shook her head and tried to hide the redness in her cheeks at the thought of her best friend. A girth laugh escaped out of her throat and she covered it up with a cough when the others turned to face her. "You doing alright over there, Sun?" Winger asked her with an amused glint in his eyes that spoke without worry's that he knew a lot more then he led on. The sea-foam green Fastfin shot him a wide smile and nodded her head. "I'm fine, Wing, just excited to tell Leyla something after breakfast, that's all, so stop worrying, okay?" She grinned cheekily over at him and returned to watching her best friend. Yes! This might be her chance to ask her what's been bothering her. But Summer had to be careful about this, she can't let her know what she was up to. And so, with the thought of swimming with Leyla dancing around in her mind, the young water dragon smiled once more and quickly swallowed the rest of her foot before standing up and heading toward the log that the young preteen was sitting on. Giggling softly to herself, Summer stared straight ahead of her and casually trotted over to where Leyla was sitting and took a seat beside her. The two girls just sat in a companionable silence for a while before Summer finally decided to say something to crack open the iceberg. "Do you want to go for a swim with me, Ley?" Summer asked, flicking her tail from left to right as she watched her expression. Eventually though, she slowly nodded her head in agreement with Summer's suggestion and Summer herself had to suppress a victorious smirk as she waited for her friend to gather the things that she would need for their little swimming escapade.

-l l l l l-

As Leyla packed up some stuff in her small bag, her mind kept flashing back to the way Summer had so-very-casually asked her if she wanted to go for a swim with her. "She's up to something!" Leyla muttered under her breath. "And I'm going to find out what exactly it is that she has planned for me this time." The young red-headed 11-year-old preteen whispered quietly to herself with a sly smile forming on her face as she made her way back down the latter and over to where Summer was calmly sitting. "I'm all set and ready to go, Sum!" Leyla called out to her dragon as she leaped onto the saddle and Summer unfurled her wings and took off like the spirits of the forest themselves were chasing her. "Soooo, where exactly are we going?" Leyla decided to play dumb so Summer wouldn't think that she's onto her. Summer turned her head to face Leyla and she blinked a few times in confusion. "Keep your eyes in front of you when you're flying, Sum!" She cried out in alarm as they nearly got knocked into a sea stack. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Leyla almost shrieked. "We could've crashed!" Summer gave her a humorless laugh in response. "Oh, I'm sorry! But I was just more focused on worrying about my best friend!" Summer retorted with a small huff. "What's with you? Why are you acting so distant Ley?" "What do you mean?" She asked, deciding to play dumb. Summer scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I don't believe a word out of your mouth!" Leyla scowled, turning her head away. "So what? Why do you care?" She spat bitterly, her tone oozing hurt and laced with venom. Summer jerked in mid-air, coming to a complete halt. "Why do I care? Why do I care?" She growled, eyes narrowing in both shock and disbelief at her friend's harsh tone. "You wanna know why I care? I care because you're my best friend! I care because the whole team's been worried! I care because you're brother is starting to suspect something is wrong! Ugh! For Din's sake! Just spill the dang truth already!" Summer ranted angrily, her tail lashing back and forth and her eyes blazing alight with fury. After that little outburst, a tense silence feel on the two girls before Leyla regained her voice, albeit a bit shakily. "I-I don't know." She whispered, tears springing to her eyes. "I don't know Summ! I wish I did! I wish I knew why my emotions are all over the place! I wish I knew why I keep finding blood stains on my clothes!" Leyla choked on a sob and clenched her fists, lowering her gaze and shutting her eyes tightly. "C-can we just g-go b-back now?" She softly pleaded to her dragon. Summer's eyes softened and she brought Leyla closer with her tail, wrapping her wings around the girl's small frame as sobs racked her body. "I'm so sorry, Sum!" Leyla gasped out in between sobs. "I-I didn't mean to worry anyone. I-I just-" Summer hugged her even tighter, whispering comforting words into her ear.