The Lion's Lady

A Momentary Embrace

Linda found herself in front of Leonardo in his Lion form fighting a dragon that seemed out of control.

"I've finally found you..." Says Linda tearfully. "But how am I supposed to splash you with Fairy Tears like this?" She thought.

But, while Linda was thinking of a way. The dragon noticed her and began to aim for her.

Linda saw the dragon flying towards her and started to run, "Why is it after me now!"

Leonardo noticed quickly and ran towards Linda, then grabbed her and threw her on his back.

Leonardo worryingly yelled, "Are you okay?!"

Linda with her face burrowed in his fur, took a while to respond, "Yes..." She says tearfully.

Leonardo, relieved, says, "Thank goodness... I wish I could say more, but we have a dragon to fight..."

Linda nods her head and says, "I have something that can help with this dragon."

"You do?" Says Leonardo.

"Yes, but you have to get me as close to the dragon as possible." Says Linda determinedly.

Leonardo nods and begins to run towards the dragon while dodging every attack. Eventually, Leonardo hopped onto the dragon's back.

"Is this close enough?" Says Leonardo smirking.

"Yes." Says Linda, then she grabs the bottle of Fairy Tears and splashes half of it onto the dragon.

Leonardo then hops off the dragon back and runs away from it as far as he could. Because the dragon began to wail back and forth, while getting smaller and smaller.

After getting far enough, Linda hopped off of Leonardo's back to splash the Fairy Tears on him as well.

Once the Fairy Tears landed on Leonardo, a bright iridescent purple light began to shine from him. It was so bright that Linda had to close her eyes. But, when she opened her eyes again, she saw Leonardo in his human form.

Linda tearfully ran to give Leonardo a hug, "I've missed you!"

"I've terribly missed you too!" He says while holding Linda gently.

They held each other for a while, until Linda noticed that Leonardo was nude.

Linda, embarrassed, says, "Let's put some clothing on you." And grabbed some from her baggage.

Leonardo, blushing, says, "Thank you, Love." While smirking.

Linda blushed and gave him the clothes.

While Leonardo gets dressed, he notices Linda's hair.

"I see you've cut your hair, you look beautiful." He says while smiling.

Linda smiles, blushes and twirls her hair and says, "Thank you, It's easier to take care of..."

Then, Linda figures out the direction the Griffin is in.

"We'll have to go this way." Says Linda.

Leonardo finishes getting dressed and says, "Where are we headed?"

Linda looked at him with a smile and said, "To find a Griffin."

Leonardo, confused, says, "A Griffin?"

Linda then grabbed Leonardo's hand and said, "It's a long story."

Linda then explained what happened to her over the 7 years they were apart and the deities she met before she arrived, while they were making their way to the Griffin.

Once Linda was finished, Leonardo stopped walking and pulled Linda in his arms and hugged her.

"I'm proud of you, and I'm sorry for leaving you... it won't happen again..." Leonardo says tearfully.

Linda hugs him back and says, "I know... but what about you... you were a Dove for 7 years, and bleeding..."

They continue their walk hand in hand and Leonardo starts to tell his experience.

"It was a strange feeling, but I didn't feel any pain from leaving behind drops of blood and feathers, but those 7 years felt like I was trapped in a dark box for an eternity... like everything felt out of my control and I couldn't do anything... But, then all of a sudden I was back as my lion self and started fighting a dragon."

Linda stopped and looked at Leonardo with teary eyes, "I can't believe you went through that... I wish I was there with you..."

Leonardo smiled and said, "Actually you were there... the memories I've made with you kept me sane."

Leonardo then pulls Linda and continues, "My love for you is boundless."

Linda then says, "I love you and I'm happy that we're together again."

And then they kissed.

Afterwards, they finally reached the Griffin.

Leonardo looked at Linda lovingly and said, "Once we get back, let's officially get married."

But before Linda could respond, Leonardo quickly stood on guard protecting her.

"What's the matter?" Linda says confused.

Leonardo looks very stern and says, "We have unwanted company."

"So~ you two aren't officially married."

Linda gasped as she saw that it was Princess Robyn.

Before anything was said and done, Princess Robyn used her magic to bypass Leonardo and faced Linda.

Princess Robyn grins and says, "I told you I'd make you regret it." and pushed Linda into the Red Sea.

Then, before Leonardo could react Princess Robyn used her magic again to completely knock Leonardo out. Linda emerged from the water and saw Princess Robyn summon a dragon and took off with Leonardo.

After Linda got herself out of the Red Sea, she looked dejected, "Why can't we stay together?"

-End of Chapter 13