A Dragon out of Time, A Crash and Spyro Story

Chapter 10: My Friend, My Son, Spyro the Dragon

"I love you both, too."

Sitting there, crying tears of joy, Crash thought back to what Aku-Aku said about Spyro. ˂You love him like the son you can never have.˃ Crash hadn't understood fully of what he meant until Spyro said his first five words. I love Spyro like a son because of Tawna's death. Subconsciously, I imagined Spyro, helpless in his egg about a year and a half ago, as the child Tawna and I never had. Aku-Aku of course saw through the veil in my head and stated the truth to me directly, but I never comprehended just how literal Aku-Aku's statement was until my son sat next to me on the anniversary of Tawna's death.

I'll have to tell him now, tell him that I'm not his father and that he's not really a part of my family, even though to me it will feel like I'm lying. It would be like tearing my own arm off, but it's the right thing to do, to tell him the truth. That I took Spyro from his time, the life he has now is not the one he was supposed to have, and brought him to my home instead. I just hope he understands; I hope he can forgive me for lying to him all these years.

And then Crash started having the sneaking suspicion that Spyro already knew. The difference was subtle, but Spyro stopped calling him dad or father and just called him Crash. He regarded him less and less like his caretaker and started to act more independent. He didn't ignore Crash or like him any less, he just became less reliant on him. He was happy without him. Coco and Spyro began to hang out more frequently. The sciences and vastness of Coco's intelligence and the studies she preoccupied herself with on this boring yet tranquil island intrigued Spyro to no end. And in time, Spyro essentially became her assistant to the things she was working on.

"It's freaky sometimes just how much like a bandi... just how human Spyro is sometimes." Coco said to Crash while they were eating together. Coco was probably going to suggest how much like a bandicoot Spyro was, but then remembered that they themselves were modeled after humans. Coco and Crash sometimes forgot that fact. Spyro was out exploring the island. He had recently begun flying and was taking the opportunity to venture the skies of the Wampa islands. "Ever since he taught himself how to speak, I've seen how fast he picks up on concepts and ideas. Could you imagine what the rest of the Dragons were like all those millennia ago?"

Coco's comment bothered Crash, simply because it reminded him of what he did to Spyro. Earlier, it was easy enough just to remind himself that he had rescued Spyro from certain death and did the only appropriate thing in bringing him to his home and out of danger. But now that Crash had time to think about it, it was harder to convince himself that he had done the right thing after all. If he had tried, even with the injury to his stomach, he could have found Spyro's home and parents. He could have done something to bring Spyro to his true home. But now it was impossible to bring him back because the Time Twisting Machine was destroyed during his final encounter with Dr. Cortex.

But what was the problem? Spyro seemed happy enough. No, that wasn't entirely true. He would never see another Dragon again; he would never have children of his own. He was the last of his kind and would die alone. And I don't even have the courage to tell him what I did to him. Crash knew it now. I still want that innocent, helpless Dragon that could rest on my lap, where I could look at him and see how much I mattered in his life, blissfully unaware of the great wrong I did to him until now.

"Crash, what's wrong?" Crash hadn't replied to Coco's comment, lost instead in his thoughts.

[Nothing.]

"Come on now, don't lie to me. I know when you're anxious or depressed. It's written all over your face and droopy ears." Sometimes Crash hated just how much his facial features revealed his emotions. A guess it's a disadvantage of having prehensile, long ears. Although the excellent hearing was a good enough trade off... maybe.