What if...? JALGFY AU

Rainkeeper and Air Got Together?

A/N: Consider this the start of a mess of chapters all relating to What if the ships were different?

What if Rainkeeper and Air married each other?

Air hadn't expected it to happen. She hadn't expected to end up with Rainkeeper at all, especially with the way that Nightflyer looked at her. But she didn't know... There was something that drew her to Rainkeeper, something that Nightflyer didn't have.

Air suspected it had a lot to do with art. Nightflyer wasn't talented at it in the slightest, but he had tried to understand. Rainkeeper understood, though. He had understood her passion in the way only a fellow artist could. And that, combined with long nights spent on the art cave floor, pondering everything the universe had to offer and more....

Well, it wasn't much of a surprise when Rainkeeper finally kissed her, and she kissed him back. 

Nightflyer had been disappointed, but he had smiled through it and told Air that she should be with whoever made her happy, and if that was Rainkeeper, then he was happy for her. It had taken him a bit to truly get over her, but once he did, they went back to being just friends. Air was glad for that. She liked Rainkeeper, but she didn't want to lose Nightflyer as a friend because of him, so she was glad that she didn't have to.

And Rainkeeper...

Rainkeeper was wonderful. They spent hours and hours just talking. Air had no idea how they still found things to discuss, but they did. They talked about everything. Art, the moons, the universe, the idea that other dragons might be on different continents, all the different ways you could express yourself in art and what a release it was. 

Rainkeeper understood her, Air decided. He understood the struggles she hadn't even faced herself. Like how they both had a parent who could fight as easily as they breathed, but neither Air nor Rainkeeper were really interested in ripping other dragons to shreds. They'd rather create something than destroy, and wasn't that a wonderful thing to do to?

Joy found their relationship a little odd, but she approved. She didn't give a speech or threat about what would happen if Air hurt her brother because she doubted Air could actually harm anyone. She just begged her friend to not gush over Rainkeeper in front of her, as that was gross.

Clay and Glory found the relationship hilarious, but they approved as well, so Air and Rainkeeper continued to date long past their years at JMA.

They got married in the Rainforest, at sunrise, but Air wasn't sure it was a place she wanted to stay forever. The forest was nice, yes, but she was the only dragon of either of her parent's tribes there, and the Skywing in her missed the winds and open skies of other parts of Pyrrhia.

Rainkeeper was fine with that. The Nightwing in him itched to explore, and since they were both artists, they decided to use their talents as an excuse to get away.

They left the rainforest. Joy, Glory, and Deathbringer were sad to see them go, but they promised to visit plenty, so it would be fine. The rest of the forest didn't care either way. It wasn't like their crown princess was leaving. Rainkeeper's presence in the rainforest didn't alter their lives in any way.

So Rainkeeper and Air took off, exploring every bit of Pyrrhia they could, and turning it into art as they did so. Rainkeeper made beautiful paintings on driftwood in the bay of a thousand scales, capturing the endless sea and sky perfectly, while Air sculpted sharp Icewings on the edge of the Ice Kingdom (far from the Great Ice Cliff, of course).

They traveled for years, occasionally displaying and selling their art at different places all over the continent. They didn't have dragonets. Rainkeeper worried about how the Rainforest would react, and they both agreed that their nomadic lifestyle wouldn't be good for a dragonet. They did, however, spend a lot of time with Joy and Kelp's dragonets, and also Squelch and Adobe's, eager to fulfill their roles as the cool aunt and uncle.

They didn't have a real home, Air realized one day. They had places they liked to return to over and over, but no real place to ground themselves. It made sense to her, in sort strange way, that they didn't. All the tribes lived separately in Pyrrhia, their kingdoms blocks of the same kinds of dragons for the most part. But her was her and Rainkeeper, two dragons with four tribes between them. They didn't fit into any boxes the tribes had, so how could they stay in one? A forever wandering life was what they were destined for, and one they were happy with.

They had art. They had each other. They had the endless sky and the wind to carry them wherever they wanted. What more could they possibly need?