Waylene
***

Waylene moved away from Ailill as she finished oiling her dragon. Her
emotions were in turmoil .. feeling some anger at Kendal for hurting the
girl .. yet wondering if what she'd done was really all that different. Did
Kendal really love Ailill? Did she really love Z'lec ..

No matter what had happened she could never deny that she did indeed love
him. She always had, from the afternoon of that very first mating flight
which Raynod had won. She been awestruck and fallen head over heels .. So
what had happened? What had gone wrong?

And where did Traknor fit in? In the beginning, before Raynod flew Aura ..
she and the two of them had been nearly inseparable. And back then she'd
not considered becoming romantically involved with either of them .. they'd
just all been friends.

Once she and Z'lec had moved in together and Traknor had become involved
with Azlyn, the three of them saw less and less of each other. But Traknor
had always been close. Whenever Z'lec would run off in a snit, Trak would
come and make sure she was all right. She remembered Azlyn had been
concerned about it .. perhaps a little jealous. Though at the time Waylene
had thought she was just being silly.

Still now .. knowing how deep her feelings were for the blonde rider, and
his for her .. perhaps Azlyn had been right to be worried.

She found herself at her office and moved in to sit and stare at the
paperwork ..

***

>"Carie, good to see you. Where have you been?"

>"Under similar barrage of paperwork in my 'office'. I came to see if there
>was anything else you needed me to do."

"Actually, yes there is." Waylene said, glad to be thrown back into work,
so she didn't have to think about her personal life. "Cook has been upset
about that stolen meat. And she says now, she's had her stores ransacked."

Waylene reached for a paper on her desk and handed it to the girl. "Here is
a list of missing items."

Carie read over the list and frowned, "Wow, it looks like enough to feed a
small army .. or someone stocking up?"

"Cook is furious, and Trak's got riders looking into it, but so far they've
come up empty handed. She what help you can offer to Cook. I think she's
taken a shine to you. You might get more out of her then Trak.  All she
seems to do is yell at him .. and I think it's hindering the investigation."

Carie nodded, "I'll see what I can do. What about Diana .. I mean her remains?"

"Still nothing, but  at least Trey has been more helpful then Cook."

***
 <<Later that night>>

>"I'm glad he's going !! Do you hear me! Glad!!" her voice rose then she
>stood up, sat down again quickly as if her legs wouldn't hold her and
>burst into tears.

>"Oh gods... I don't want him to leave. The thought of never seeing him
>again is tearing me apart."

"Then tell him that." She moved to wrap her arms around the healer, "Koda,
please don't hide your feelings. And don't bury them.. because someday
you'll regret it. You have to be honest about how you feel or it'll only
make things worse."

"How could it be worse?" the woman sobbed.

"Take my word for it .. it could be." Waylene looked away as Koda studied
her quizzically. "Now you should go out and see Trak. I think he's been
waiting for you to return .."

Lakoda nodded and headed out to the green, where Trak had the wing
assembled. Waylene watched her go then headed to the stair that led to her
apartment. It had been a long day and Aura could probably use a good
oiling. She's spent the entire day testing the sands of the hatching cave
and heating them with her fiery breath.

<How are you doing love?>

<I'm itchy and I feel like I'm going to burst!>

<Oh, poor dear, I'll grab the oil.>

***

<I think I should stay in the hatching cave tonight.>

<Tonight, Love? You think it will be tonight?>

<Yes, it will be tonight. I'll call you ..>

Waylene laughed, her mood lightened by the time she'd spent alone with her
dragon. <I'm sure you will.>

<You should wash up, Mayhem says his rider is on his way.>

<Are you sure I got all the itchy spots?>

<I'm sure ..>

With that the golden queen plodded to the ledge and jumped off, her wings
straining to carry her heavy body lightly to the ground. Waylene headed
into the bathroom and washed the oil off her hands and arms.

She was ready when Trak walked into the apartment and swept her into his
arms, kissing her soundly. She melted into his arms and listened as he told
her of Ailill volunteering to train as a medic. And of his concerns about
Koda actually helping to train the girl.

>"I understand. Would you like me to talk with her about this?" she asked
>looking up at him.

>"Let me try first. I think she knows I was trying to do the best thing for
>the wing and warren, so she may do the training for the wing and warren,
>not because I came and asked her. But enough of business fer the night."
>he smothered her reply with a longer kiss than the first one, let her go
>and started for the kitchen calling back, "Remember I promised to make
>dinner for you tonight."

"Hooray! I love to watch a man in the kitchen!"

"Fine you can watch .." He chuckled and she followed him. Once she was
settled into one of the kitchen chairs he asked, "So how was your day?"

"It was a day .." she said non-committaly.

"Com on, 'Lene, what happened?"

"I went and saw Z'lec."

He frowned, "And .."

"And he hates us." She sighed heavily, "Not that I wasn't expecting that ..
because I was .. but .."

"Give him time."

"I don't think time will help in this one. Gods! The look on his face, Trak
.." Trak looked from away from his cooking to see the misery in her eyes.

"He'll come to realize that this is how it should be .."

"NO!" Waylene snapped. "I know you want everything to be okay, but it
won't." She stopped, realizing she'd sounded a lot more harsh then she'd
intended, "I'm sorry Trak .."

"Don't be sorry, love. I know this isn't easy fer you .. It's not easy fer
me." He smiled gently at her, "I know you loved him."

She nodded, "I still do. But I know that that's not enough. I tried to make
it enough .. but once you arrived I knew it wasn't."

Trak turned back to the pan he had on the stove. And Waylene stood and
moved to grasp him around the waist resting her head on his back. "At least
you understand what's going on between us. I'm not sure anyone else does ..
or ever will."

Regards,
Waylene & Aura
***
NRPG: I'm sorry I didn't get to everything I wanted to .. But I think most
of it should wait until the next morning or afternoon anyway.

Kristen
------------------------------------
Kristen & Scott Gant
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/gant.htm