Reincarnated: A Dragon's Tale

06. Determination

 The sun was rapidly getting away from its highest point in the sky. Like a lazy dragon, I was lying in our usual meeting spot, waiting for the cheerfulness of the place to arrive. But when she arrived I noticed something.

 Today it was different than usual. She tried to show me her usual cheerfulness, but something was off. It was like watching a lie. Her usual smile was there, but her eyes were lacking luster.

 "Today is the day, you will be mine! It has to be!"

 You would believe I was lying if you just took her cheerful words at face value, but even in her voice something wasn't where it was supposed to be.

 As usual, she placed her hand on my head and applied some magic, and as usual, I blocked her attempts to get me. I thought maybe she just had a particularly bad day or something, but I wasn't ready for what came next.

 Her sweet smile vanished and her already lack-lustered eyes dried and got emptier than ever before, only for the dryness to be replaced by sheer wetness. She was crying, tears ran down her cheeks, those puppy eyes of hers were hurting my heart, and a part of me wanted to just avoid her gaze.

 I didn't understand anything, but her reaction hurt more than I thought it could. She faked a smile and...

 "I'll... see you later," she stated.

 Something was off, something was wrong here. What should I do? 

 As soon as that thought crossed my mind, her face was replaced with another little girl's face...

---

 "Dad, you're back! I've been playing a lot, I'll win this time!" Said my daughter ****.

 "I'm sorry, but Dad's got work to do," I said while ruffling her hair. "We'll play next time."

 "But you promised!"

 This time her tone showed a childish frustration, something easily discarded by us adults. 'She'll forget about this anyway, right?'

 "I am sorry, ****. Tell you what! Next time we'll play and I'll buy you some ice cream too, what do you say?"

 She stared at me with teary dissapointed eyes. "Okay..."

 I was sure this memory was a common occurrence for my past self. Something I didn't think much about at that time.

---

 What kind of man makes her daughter feel like that? What kind of man was I? The image of my daughter merged with the image of the little girl before me. Those sad puppy eyes, that disappointment, and resignation in their stare, that feeling of betrayal.

 What's wrong?

 As I mused useless things, she faked a smile for me, turned her back on me, and started walking away. No! Wait! What should I do?! I got the feeling that if I did nothing she would disappear. 

 Her tears. I don't want to cause them. Before I even realized it, I rushed and got in front of her. She opened her eyes wide as I towered over her, but before she could say anything I lowered my head in front of her, offering my head to her.

 She said nothing and did nothing for a few seconds, but after a short while, she touched my head with her little hand and poured some magic. This time I didn't resist at all, and I even put some of my own magic in the process. Suddenly, I felt something, an inexplicable spark and then I knew it, it worked.

 When I opened my eyes again, she was there, looking at me with her big little eyes and the sweetest smile she ever showed me before. I couldn't do anything before some tears started running down her cheeks, and she started sobbing.

 "Dad! Dad! I've..." She sobbed between words. "I can finally... I can..." she said before hugging me.

 Her sobs didn't stop for a long time, but these weren't tears of sadness but of relief and hope.

 I didn't understand anything. I didn't understand why she was crying, I didn't understand why she looked so relieved and so happy. I didn't understand all her words, I didn't understand most things. But there was only one important thing I understood. I will protect this girl for the rest of her life.