Tessa's POV:

I watched the green and blue planet rapidly get bigger as we approached it. With a quiet trill, I turned my head to look between Soranto and the window.

"Yes, we're almost home," he reassured me, managing to find words that neither Drae nor any of the other fifty-some passengers would find unusual.

"I know, but I'm still really excited."

When I looked back at the window, we were so close to the planet that I could barely see the horizon out of the window. This shuttle was fast, and even though it was supposedly slowing down, the features of Earth's surface were rapidly becoming clearer.

Grey and brown areas became mountains, and lakes and rivers were now visible among the forests and meadows. The Kymari city came into sight as we descended towards our destination.

The only way I knew we had landed was when a bell chimed and people started getting up. Soranto and Drae waited for most of the crowd to leave before they got to their feet.

"We made it!" I told my family.

"We're just outside the main gate, off to the side in a small park," Dad replied.

Soranto exited the shuttle and began following the crowd heading towards the big gate that led to the rest of the city.

"Soranto."

The three of us stopped and turned around. I sat up straighter, trying to figure out how Elder Dairno had crossed the open area behind us. He hadn't been on the shuttle, so he must have been walking from the other direction.

"Elder Dairno," Soranto replied, bowing his head slightly as the old Kymari approached us. The slight tension in Soranto's muscles made me glance up at him before shifting my gaze back to the Elder.

"Thank you for the effort you put into going after Tessa and keeping her safe. You are a prime example of how all bond animal handlers should react. The reports I saw said that she is unharmed and that you only sustained minor injuries, is that correct?"

"Yes, Elder. As far as the medical team could tell, Tessa has no injuries, although she may have some bruises since some of her scales were cracked."

He nodded slowly. "And of yourself?"

"I had planned to take tomorrow off to ensure Tessa is truly recovered from her adventure, although I would be able to do a full patrol if needed."

"Your ambition is commendable, but take the next three days off. If your friend gets restless, the parks or the training areas are preferable destinations."

"Thank you, Elder. You also have my gratitude for rallying the fighters to our aid so quickly. I'm not sure I could have made it back without their assistance."

"You are welcome, although your wife was already organizing some groups."

Soranto bowed his head again, this time deeper. "Perhaps, but it would have taken an Elder's command to shift our entire border defense. Thank you."

Elder Dairno inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Indeed, although they will be back in place within a day or so. In the meantime, I believe your welcoming party is waiting outside for you."

After bowing his head once more, Soranto turned and continued walking towards the gate. I glanced back out of the corner of my eye to see Elder Dairno watching us leave.

After hesitating briefly, I shielded my emotions and whispered as quietly as I could, "Thank you."

Elder Dairno simply nodded, unsurprised, before turning to go. Yep. He knew.

My mindvoice was so soft that it could have been dismissed as the whispering of the faint breeze. I hadn't been looking directly at him, but he hadn't even looked around to see if anyone was near him. Keeping him in the corner of my eye, I watched him slowly walk towards a different shuttle.

Taureen and Alec had been wondering if the Elders somehow knew, and now it was clear that at least Elder Dairno did. I wasn't sure how he knew, but I had spoken with every bonded dragonet about how their handlers reacted the first time they had mindspoke them. None of the Kymari had remained so utterly calm and composed when they heard a voice whisper in their head for the first time.

This discovery wasn't one I was going to be revealing to the wild dragonets anytime soon. Maybe not even in the next decade. They were uneasy enough with our handlers knowing we could talk; this would just be unnecessary stress that wouldn't change anything.

I would tell Soranto and Adeline in a week or so, since I could trust them to keep this a secret. They could probably mention it on the quiet side to Taureen, Aeria, and Alec. Maybe word would trickle down to the bonded dragonets without them knowing the source. That seemed like a safer choice on my part.

Shrill whistles made my head jerk up to see blurs of gold, silver, and blue streaking towards me as we approached the park.

"Go on," Soranto said with a laugh. "It looks like they missed you."

I took off without a second thought, eager to greet my family. Our reunion was full of whistles, trills, whirls, and spins that probably resembled the Morning Song as we danced around one another. Our mindlink was flooded with feelings of love, joy, happiness, relief, and how much we had missed one another.

We eventually landed on a large rock, where I bumped noses and wings with my family in a secondary greeting. Mom draped her wing over my back and nuzzled me affectionately. Dad's silver wing covered hers while Dirk somehow squirmed into the middle.

When our family hug came to an end, I wasn't too surprised to see that Soranto, Adeline, and Maria were just ending their own reunion embrace.

I tilted my head as I noticed that Tran, Vick, Rhay, and Sadria weren't here. Soranto's gaze moved over to us when Adeline turned to speak with Aeria and Taureen, who were standing nearby.

Mom stood up straighter and looked right back at Soranto. "Thank you for returning my daughter to me."

He inclined his head briefly, unable to reply with Adeline and Maria present.

"Why don't we all go to our home to catch up?" Adeline inquired. "We can order dinner and have it delivered."

"That sounds good," Aeria replied.

"Are you going to join us, Drae?" Soranto asked. "You know you are welcome."

"Thank you for the offer, but I shall decline this time. I will stop by tomorrow and see how you are doing."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good evening."

Drae nodded and began walking towards a small shuttle that was landing beside the sidewalk, his limp still apparent.

The rest of our group managed to squeeze into a different shuttle and went to Soranto's home. I promptly flew over to the heat lamp and flopped down under the hottest part of it. It had been far too long since I had felt heat from above radiate through my scales and warm me to my core.

My muscles practically melted in the warmth. Mom and Dad curled up beside me, while Dirk chose a spot to the side that wasn't under the lamp.

"I'm glad to see you back," Dirk told me again for the fifth time.

"It's not a trip I plan on repeating. I think you get to enjoy the next adventure."

"My biggest challenge right now is getting Abby to not hiss at the street cleaning machines... I actually managed to convince her to fly to the edge of the road with me. She was fine with the shuttles, uneasy with the few Kymari walking by, but those robotic machines freaked her right out."

"That's your fun. You could always ask Taureen to have one stopped and put a sunburst berry on it. It's probably just the noise that bothers her."

"That's a good idea. I'll have to mention it to him later."

We fell silent, listening to Soranto repeat what happened. His edited version was quite believable, and I couldn't find any loopholes in it. In fact, his version almost made more sense, which was really confusing.

All of us listened intently to his detailed overview of how he tried to trigger the Morning Song. I hadn't realized that he had even altered the temperature and air pressure in one of the rooms to match the pre-dawn conditions at Taureen's home this morning.

Once he finished, Taureen replied, "That is rather interesting. We knew that the viewing walls wouldn't work because we tried them with Tasha and Keegan. The video you sent looked exactly like their morning dance, although there were some noticeable differences."

"It's a new discovery," Adeline said, "but we have no way of knowing if it would be sufficient long-term. The vets mentioned that the fire lizards' dance probably releases some sort of needed hormone or endorphin."

"If, for some reason, we had to abandon this planet," Aeria murmured, "it is a huge relief to know that we could take our companions with us and not have to watch them suffer. There are at least a dozen planets that are almost identical to this one in size, rotation, and distance from a star."

"Very true, but don't forget that they need something in the main park." Adeline crossed her arms with a thoughtful look on her face. "Then again, we could always have a massive biodome set up on a different planet and have a terraforming ship transplant the entire park there. It would have to be used as a last resort, but it could be done."

Mom rolled her eyes slightly, amused that so many Kymari were positive the dragonets needed something in the main park. It had been a group effort by the wild flock years ago when Mom had first been taken in by Taureen, but they had managed to make a lasting impression.

"I think their dance is more important," Soranto mused. "When Keegan first came here, he didn't leave the house or yard for over a month. So, either one of the plants in Taureen and Aeria's backyard is what they need, or it was the lack of seeing the sunrise that caused the depression we saw with Tasha and a few other injured fire lizards."

Adeline shook her head. "It can't just be the sunrise dance. Remember when a small section of the flock moved to a different park? All of the observers said that they were looking very hard for something with increasing intensity. The fire lizards returned to the main park within two weeks."

"Hmmm... True." Soranto's gaze moved to me.

I rolled upside down and grinned at him, letting all of the handlers and dragonets in the room hear me. "Maybe if you offer Mom a kiss, she will tell you."

A golden wing shot out and whacked me with an audible thwack. At the same time, Dad shoved me forward, pushing me far enough that I tumbled off the edge of the shelf. I flared my wings, turning my fall into a glide with a whistling laugh.

I flew up to one of the hotter niches in the tree branches and curled up in my new warm vantage point, grinning down at them. It wasn't often I managed to get such a reaction out of my parents.

"No one kisses your mother except for me," Dad stated firmly. "You and Dirk can get away with it, but that's it. Maybe Taureen, although I have never seen him attempt it." He had noticeably omitted Soranto from his mindlink, which didn't surprise me since I knew he didn't really plan on talking with Soranto anymore than he spoke with the other handlers. In other words, never.

"Why did they chase Tessa away?" Maria asked, frowning at my family.

"I don't know," Adeline replied, eyeing up the group, "but they better not do that too many times."

Dad backed up to his original spot, rustling his wings somewhat uneasily. Even Mom's ear tufts went back slightly under Adeline's gaze.

"Why is it that Adeline scares me more than anyone except for an Elder?" Mom pondered across the mindlink, only including my dragonet family.

"Because she doesn't understand limits and apparently has a few too many weapons?" I guessed.

"That might be it, although the motherly vibes I'm getting from her right now aren't something I can exactly miss. I didn't realize that you managed to sneak into her heart quite so thoroughly."

I grinned at Mom across the distance. "She makes a great ally."

Mom snorted and rested her head on her hands.