"And instead of announcing his arrival home in a loud booming voice, Puna crept quietly into the cave and finally saw Kihawahine's true form," Grandpa paused, his winged eyebrows raised high, comically wrinkling his forehead.

Kala giggled, leaning forehead, her eyes shining with excitement. "What did she look like grandpa?"

"She wasn't a woman, but a dragon! Covered in bright green scales, slime dripping off her fangs. Puna was so startled by her ghastly appearance, he gasped and woke her up!"

He couldn't help himself. He'd heard the story so many times he knew it by route. He swung down from the top bunk, his hands curled like claws, he snarled at his little sister. She shrieked and fell over in a fit of giggles. Their grandfather chuckled which morphed into a cough halfway through. The old man bent over, clutching his knees in a way that made his grandchildren both go silent with concern.

Kala slipped out of bed first, offering a glass of water from the night stand. He had the first digit of 911 up on his phone before his grandfather glared at him over the glass of water.

"That is quite enough Jake. I'm not going to drop dead over a little cough," he wheezed. Jake had the grace to blush as he put the phone away. "Now do you want to hear the rest of Puna and the Dragon Goddess?"

Kala reached for his hand, squeezing it before she climbed back into bed. "That's okay grandpa, we can finish it tomorrow. You should get some rest." Her tone made him sigh. Too mature for an eight year old. Funny that his grandfather said the same thing about him at sixteen.

Grief had a way of aging the young.

He rolled onto his back, looking up at the plastic stars Kala stuck on the ceiling a couple summers back, when her whimsical side was alive and well with their parents. It was only Jake's insistence that kept her from taking them down. He stared up at them, pretending to star gaze until he heard his sister's heavy breathing.

Once he was certain she was truly asleep, he eased from the top bunk, landing soundlessly on his feet as he tiptoed through the house. He made it all the way to the porch when his grandpa's voice stopped him cold.

"Going somewhere Jake?"

His shoulders drooped. "I was hoping to sneak out for a late night swim."

"Long as you leave those behind," said his grandpa. Jake cringed. He counted on the dark hiding the pack of smokes tucked in his sleeve. "Try not to let grief give you a nasty habit," said his grandpa, giving him a cheeky wink through a puff of pipe smoke.

"Hypocrite," Jake muttered, tossing the smokes on the table. It was true was trying to quit. His sister hated it, and the only reason he'd started was the stress surrounding their parents passing. It was only through his grandpa's vigilant eye he had made any progress in quitting at all.

"We're fireproof, not cancer proof, boy," his grandpa grinned, chewing the pipe stem. Its smoke smelled clean, like burning herbs. Jake stifled the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of the 'family legend'.

"I'm still going for a swim. It's a warm night," he said, ducking out the back door before his grandpa started rolling out the stories.

He used to love those stories, begging his grandpa to regale him over and over with the myths of his childhood, legends of the Night Marchers, of Nanaue the Shark Man, or Greedy Chief Hala'ea. His personal favorite was always Puna and the Dragon Goddess, the same one his sister loved so much now. Or their own family legend, how grandpa insisted they were descended from Firewalkers, blessed by the great goddess Pele herself for their bravery and love of the land. His mom used to tease him, insisting grandpa's day job was once walking through lava flows to collect pieces for tourists, a story their grandpa merrily supported.

Jake kicked up the sand as he made his way to the small cover not far from his grandpa's cozy beach house. He'd spent nearly every summer here growing up, while his parents traveled for work, diving for conchs on the weekends, swimming in the inlet beneath the pale fat moon, hiding in the cave behind the waterfall. He used to see this place as a slice of paradise.

Until the day his parents didn't come home.

The water was waiting for him, rippling slivers of moonlight. He peeled off his shirt, letting his body glide into the warm water in a smooth practiced motion. Like coming home. He rolled over, letting himself float on his back as he looked up at the real stars, swirling and wild so far out from the light pollution. Here, he could almost forget it all.

Something splashed into the water from the shore.

Jake sat up in the water, jerking around. There were a few animals that might give him a bad time swimming at night, none of which he wanted to run into. He started inching toward the shore when she emerged, droplets shining like split gemstones tumbled from her long black hair as she rose from the water. It ran in loving rivulets down the curves of her body. Her very naked body. Jake gaped, a furious blush creeping into his cheeks before his sense of propriety caught up to him.

"Oh," he yelped, spinning around and covering his eyes as the girl yelped, ducking down into the water.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Even furious her voice sounded lovely. Jake shook himself.

"Me? At least I'm wearing shorts. Why are you naked?"

"I live here," she snapped, "and I didn't expect to run into another swimmer this late."

"Well I live out here too and I gotta tell you lady, I swim out here all the time."

"No you don't. I would have run into you by now."

Jake swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "Well, I live out here now." His voice came out slightly strained. "Look, I didn't mean to intrude. I'll leave--"

"Wait! It's okay. My suit is right shore. Just give me a sec." He heard her splashing to the shore, the sound of wet material slapping on stone, followed by a few choice words. "Alright, it's safe for you to look now."

Still blushing, he turned around to find her regarding him curiously. A modest two piece now covered her body and made him feel less of a pervert for ogling at her.

"What's your name?" She tilted her head when she asked the question, letting the moon hit the delicate angles of her face. She was almost uncomfortably beautiful but a wild splash of freckles over the bridge of her nose toned it down. The kind of freckles that made you want to kiss every one of them...

He cleared his throat. "Jake. I live on the other side of the beach with my grandpa and little sister."

She straightened her neck, easing down in the water across from him. "You can call me Kiha."

Jake grinned at her. "Nice to meet you Kiha."

She froze at his smile, sinking down into the water so her words came up with the bubbles. "Nice to meet you Jake."

He laughed. "So Kiya, what do you like to do besides swim naked with unsuspecting boys?"

It was her turn to laugh. "I'm awfully fond of wind sailing."

With the ice broken between them, the conversation continued between them, moving from the water to the shore where they kicked their feet in the water and continued talking until Jake realized the moon was starting to set.

Jake sat up. "Shit, I need to get home. I'm supposed to go job hunting tomorrow." He hesitated, looking sidelong at Kiha as she sat up next to him. "Will I see you again?"

She grinned. "I imagine you will if you swim at night as often as you say." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Until next time, Jake."

***
"And she was so angry at Hinole for aiding in Puna's escape she dove into the waves after him. He outsmarted her by shifting into the Hinalea fish. Do you remember that time we ate Hinalea at Auntie Keilani's luau?"

Jake tuned back into the conversation as his grandpa pulled into the driveway. The Puna and Dragon Goddess story again? This had to be the fifth time this week Kala asked to hear it. Not that Jake could begrudge her. He was glad something made her laugh again. Especially since he'd found his own source of happiness.

He'd gone swimming every night this week, meeting Kiha each time. They talked and laughed for hours, a habit his grandfather started frowning on when he skipped home around dawn this morning. If only his job hunt was going so well. He'd wanted to ease his grandpa's financial burden by scoring a summer job, but all the good ones has been scooped a couple weeks before while Jake and Kala were still transplanting their lives.

"Wish I was fire proof," he muttered. "Then I really could gather stones for tourists."

"What was that, Jake?"

"Nothing grandpa, just tired." He caught the old man's eye in the rear view mirror. "Which is my own fault."

"Kala could you take the groceries into the house?" His sister skipped off, swinging their grandpa's canvas shopping bag at her side. Grandpa caught his arm as Jake started for the house. "I don't begrudge you time with new friends Jake, or insist on you getting a summer job. We'll be fine even on my meager budget. Just be responsible. Don't stay out all night. You might turn into a Hinalea."

"Har har," Jake grinned. "I'll reign it in grandpa."

"See that you do, and remember Jake," said his grandpa with a wink, "we really are fireproof."

***

Kiha lay next to him on the sand, her head tucked against his shoulder as they watched the stars together. "What about your parents?"

Jake tried not to flinch. They had run through a gamut of topics without ever touching on family. He knew it was only a matter of time before the conversation swung that way. He inhaled for strength. He'd gotten to know Kiha so well over the past couple weeks, he knew her better than he'd know anyone in his life apart from family but neither of them spoke much about just that, family, or the past. He knew her favorite foods and the way her nose crinkled before she laughed. How her eyes lit up when they talked about the constellations. But he didn't know much about her past. If he thought about it, he realized, Kiha never quite told him where she lived.

"My parents traveled a lot for work. There were state side on a business trip when they got into a bad accident. A pile up. Four or five cars, wasn't so bad except a tractor trailer skidded into them."

Her arm snaked around him, holding him tight. He returned the hug with equal ferocity.

"I'm so sorry, Jake," she whispered.

"There's been a lot of bad lately," he admitted, running his fingers through her hair. "But I got to meet you."

For a moment she stiffened. Jake thought he'd gone too far when she rolled away, sitting with her back to him. "My family doesn't really get me. They don't see the real me," she peeked at him from beneath the curtain of her hair, her eyes wet with tears. "I'm not sure you would like the real me either Jake."

He blinked. He could have sworn he saw a pattern of scales flash across her back. Kiha cringed, scrambling to her feet. "I need to go." She was running away across the sand before Jake could get a word in.

***

"And when she saw her husband's disgust, she flew into a rage, cursing him, calling him evil, even threatening to eat his eyes," said grandpa, shuddering for Kala's benefit. She made a face.

"That's awful!"

"Grandpa, I'm going for a walk," said Jake.

"Oh, oh, can I come? I wanted to pick up some sea shells," said Kala.

Jake hesitated. "Sorry kiddo, I wasn't planning to head to the beach." He actually wasn't certain where the heck he was going but hope to catch Kiya with the sun still up.

"You and I can head to the beach later," said grandpa, nodding at him. Jake didn't need any more invitation than that. He jogged to the cover, the water jeweled toned by the afternoon sun. It was kinda foolish to hope today would be the one day Kiha swam earlier in the day though he was hoping if she lived nearly she would spot him wandering like an idiot through her window. He started to look around seeing if he could spot any houses visible from their swimming cover when he caught a flash of deep hued orange through the green. Puzzled he crept forward, gently nudging aside the vegetation just in case the source was something not too friendly. He moved a massive fern to see a flash of orange scales, a rich carnelian against the surrounding greeny. He took another step, wishing to get a better look. A fallen branch snapped beneath his feet. The scales rippled melting before his eyes into smooth rum colored skin. He looked up into Kiha horrified face, a pattern of scales smoothing from her cheek as he watched. Her bottom lip trembled a second before she screamed at him.

"Don't look at me," she cried, covering her face as she fled him. "How could you? Why did you sneak up on me?" She sobbed into her hands. "I don't want to see you again, Jake."

"Wait, Kiha!" He felt as if she'd slapped him. "What was that?"

The question made her shoulders shake. "I can't do this. Not again." She looked up at him, tears running down her heart breakingly beautiful face. "I'm sorry Jake. Goodbye," she whispered.

It happened in a blur. So fast he wasn't quite sure what he saw but in a moment she was gone. And it was quite possible the girl he was falling for turned into a dragon before she vanished.

***

Jake sat down at the dinner table, slightly shell shocked by what he'd seen. He mulled it over in his mind, chewing on it until he realized he really didn't care what Kiha looked like. That was how he knew he really cared for her. He rested his chin in his hands, wondering how he could tell her just that.

Poor Kiha, her expression was so shattered when she realized he saw her. He sighed, wishing he'd pressed harder to know where she lived. There was a very real possibility of him never seeing her again if he didn't know where to find her.

"You look like you are trying to think yourself through a mountain," said his grandpa. Kala was across the room, playing checkers with Auntie Keilani, an old family friend of their grandpa who was visiting for the evening. Jake tapped the table with his fingernail, watching his grandpa carefully pack his pipe.

"Do you think there is some truth in those old legends, grandpa?"

The old man considered the question as he lit his pipe, drawing in a breath of sweet smelling smoke. "There is quite a bit of truth if you believe it. If you don't believe it, it is simply myth. Was there something in particular bothering you, Jake?"

He thought of his grandfather's stories, particularly the legend of Puna and the Dragon Goddess Kihawahine. The Dragon Goddess who fell in love with another goddess's husband and spirited him away, keeping him prisoner in a secret cave. Eventually Puna, saw her true face and managed to escape back to his first wife. The story always painted the Dragon Goddess as the villain but the more he thought about it, the more off that seemed. Puna and Kihawahine lived happily together for a time, the Dragon Goddess seeing to all his needs. He stayed with his "jailor" without any real attempts to escape until after he'd seen her true face. It wasn't until he saw scales he ran back to his other goddess.

No wonder Kihawahine was so pissed.

Kihawahine...Kiha.

Jake sucked in a breath. "I think I'm dating the Dragon Goddess."

His grandfather coughed out a puff of pipe smoke. "Mind running that by me again, slower as I am old and feeble minded."

Jake fidgeted. "Can we go out on the porch?" Away from his sister's prying ears.

His grandpa obliged him. He waited for the old man to get comfortable before he launched into the tale, laying out the details of how he met Kiha, although he did leave out her initial nudity. He told his grandpa about the girl he'd grown so close to, his story culminating with the encounter that happened earlier that day.

His grandpa spent a few minutes in silence, chewing on the stem of his pipe. Jake was certain he'd gnaw right through it.

"She really turned into a dragon?" He couldn't quite read the expression on his grandpa's face but it was something akin to awe. "A real dragon?"

"It was pretty dragon in shape. That's not the point," said Jake waving an impatient hand.

"It's not? I thought it was a pretty impressive point," said grandpa.

"My point is, she ran, and I don't know how to find her. I want to tell her I don't care she's a dragon."

His grandpa's eyebrows rose. "You don't?"

"No!" Jake inhaled for patience. "I think I'm falling for her."

"Falling or fallen?" It seemed an odd question from the old man but his smile was all too knowing.

Jake exhaled. "I'm pretty far gone, scales or no scales."

His grandfather clicked the pipe stem against his teeth. "Come, there's something I need to show you." He ducked his head inside, asking Keilani to watch Kala until they got back.

Puzzled and more than a little exasperated, Jake followed his grandpa down the beach, far past the cover he went swimming with Kiha in.

"Our family stretches back many generations on these islands. We have heavy ties to the land, the culture, and the gods of old. We pass down the stories and traditions to our children, keeping that spark alive," said his grandpa. "Your parents, much as I loved them, should never have left the island. The land nourishes our family. Protects them from harm. Your mother didn't believe the legends, not really. She married a skeptic. I tried to impart what I could to you and your sister, but it's likely the stories would've have been lost if you hadn't come to me now."

The air grew hot around them, the ground giving way to smooth and ribboned black rock beneath their feet. His grandfather was leading him to one of the active magma vents spilling into the oceans. There were a few dotting the islands. He didn't realize there was one so close to his new home.

"I guess every tragedy has a silver lining," said Jake.

His grandpa paused, his expression somber. "I would've given up the entirety of our heritage to bring your mother home alive."

Jake swallowed around the lump in his throat. "I know grandpa, I know."

"That being said, remember what I told you about our family?"

"That we were blessed by Pele?"

"Yes, the goddess of fire, lightning, and wind. As well as volcanoes," he nodded at their feet. Jake nearly jumped back when he realized how close their gotten to the flowing lava. His shoes were melting and he didn't even notice.

"Jake, do you truly believe that girl is a dragon."

His grandpa's voice was more serious than it had ever been. Jake nodded. "And you are willing to take a few risks to find her? To risk real danger?"

"Yes," said Jake in the space of a heartbeat.

"Then you're ready," said his grandpa beckoning to kneel down beside him. Confused, he did, wondering what his grandpa meant to show him when the old man seized his hand and shoved it into the lava.

**

Jake walked along the vents, following the vague directions his grandfather gave him. He'd tossed off his melting shoes awhile back, walking barefoot through lava and melted rock. He was walking through lava. The novelty of that hadn't quite worn off yet.

We are firewalkers, Jake. The blessed children of Pele. And it is Pele who punished Kihawahine when she came for Puna. She spared the dragon goddess because she felt the woman's pain. Sealed her away in a fish pond surrounded by lava. It gave the goddess time to cool off and lick her wounds. Like you said, Jake, there is a grain of truth in these legends. You're going to have to walk through fire to find your dragon lady.

He was certainly doing that now. Though he had no idea exactly what he was looking for. His grandpa described it as a boiling lake, surrounded by lava. It sounded like an uncomfortable location but it was his best lead.

He continued his course, until he saw the steam.

The lava was knee deep around the 'fish pond', a location so strange it was no wonder it had become a myth. He waded through, thankful he wore shorts as he singed the cuffs of his pants. Dread flip flopped in his stomach as he drew close, dread that he wouldn't find her here but through the clouds of steam he caught sight of a figure curled up on the rocks. He flapped his arm to clear the air, relieved by the familiar sight of her bronze freckled skin. Quietly sighing in relief, he began to wade through the boiling water toward her. It felt like a warm bath against his skin. He knew he must have made some noise moving through the water, but she didn't seem to register the sound, or belief someone could be approaching her out here. Not until he noisily dragged himself out of the water.

She shot up, giving a small shriek at the sight of him. "Jake," she sputtered in disbelief, blinking at his barefoot and sodden clothes. "How did you--" He held up a hand.

"I don't care about the scales. I don't. You could have two heads and I still would have come looking for you, but," he said, looking her meaningfully in the eye, "I want to see you, all of you."

Kiha cringed, gnawing on her lip. "Why would you want to see it?"

He knelt in front of her, placing a hand under her chin. "Because I want to see you, the real you." He tilted her chin at the last second, bringing his lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss, full of promise. "Please," he pleaded against her lips.

Her smile wobbled a little but held as she pulled away for space. She took a few deep breaths, meeting Jake's eyes one last time before her form shimmered. In her place stood a dragon, more like a komodo dragon in shape than the mythological dragons in film. No wings, but a sleek body in rich orange red and green scales that shone like gemstones. Her serpentine body was lithe, dangerous, and breathtaking.

"You're so beautiful," Jake breathed, brushing his finger along the smooth scales of her neck. She shimmered again, laughing as she fell against him in human form, tears streaming down her face. They held each other for a while, before Kiha pulled back, her brown eyes full of warmth.

"You really came for me," she said, stroking his cheek. A small frown creased her brow. "How on Earth did you get out here?"

Jake grinned down at her. "Didn't I tell you? I'm fireproof."