If I Could Say I Love You

Sixth Chapter

Peter hated his life. He was hungry, cold, and tired, not sleepy. Sometimes Peter wished that he could die, just to be with his family and best friend. But those thoughts changed when he met Harley Keener.

Peter genuinely liked Harley, and saw him as a real friend, something Peter had given up on long ago. Peter wasn't sure if he felt anything deeper than that towards Harley, but for now, Peter was more than okay with their friendship. 

Deeper into the night of that day, Peter went out as Spider-Man, swinging through the streets between the buildings with accuracy that came from practice. Peter was in a good mood, the day he spent with Harley and now swinging through the streets made him happy and peaceful.

Spider-Man landed on a building, his Spidey senses spiking in his head towards the building. Peter looked in the warehouse, his mechanical eyes on his mask narrowing down as he saw a woman standing patiently in the middle of the room. Peter's Spidey sense went crazy at the sight of the waiting woman.

Spider-Man opened one of the warehouse windows, climbing into the warehouse, going towards the roof. Spider-Man froze at the spot right above the window, one of his hands and one foot sticking onto the wall while the other two hung off his side. He stated at the woman, trying to figure out why she would be in a place like this.

"君を待っていたんだ スパイダーマン," The woman spoke in a language Peter didn't understand nor could he identify. The woman pulled out a sword from her side, flinging it out to point towards Spider-Man. Something red came hurtling at Spider-Man, that Spidey sense helped him dodge whatever was coming towards him at full speed.

Looking at it, Peter realized it was a spirit of a red dragon with gold eyes and gold whiskers. The dragon stared at Spider, it's body moving like a snake in the air, the wings flapping in their own special glory. Spider-Man was mostly entranced by the translucent animal that radiated power, glory, and majesty.

"Whoa," Spider-Man whispered jumping down in a front flip to land on the ground in front the waiting woman. Peter didn't want to be racist, but this woman looked exactly how pop culture described Japanese or Chinese people these days, with the weird skin color and black hair in a silky ponytail down her back. The woman wore a red kimono with golden dragons rising from the bottom to the upper leg area.

She had her ocean blue eyes pinned on Spider-Man, swinging her sword back, the dragon coming down with it. Spider-Man jumped out of the way, trying to kick the woman. The woman just raised her sword to met the foot, reflecting the attack back to the ground.

Spider-Man fell to the ground, the dragon landing on his arm to keep him in place. Peter could see the roof through the dragon even if it was in a red or gold filter. The dragon looked up, roaring as fire came out, before looking back at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man lifted his wrist, twisting it so his web shooters faced the dragon. As the golden flames started building up in the dragon's throat, Spider-Man shot, the webs tangling up in the dragon's throat. The dragon started coughing, jumping off of Spider-Man to clear it's throat.

The woman took a knee, coughing as well.
The woman stared at Peter with disdain as she sheathed her sword, the dragon shrinking to wrap around her swords handle. The woman tapped the dragon, and just disappeared into the air.

Peter sighed, getting up from the ground. That didn't kill the creature, but Spider-Man was able to find out that the dragon was connected to the woman, seeing as they felt the same pain. The dragon had to be connected to the sword, seeing as that's what controlled it and where it went at the end. So maybe if Peter was able to destroy the sword, the dragon might die. Or at least sever the connection between the woman and the dragon.

Running his head, Spider-Man stood up to walk away. He wondered why the woman was there in the first place. Was it for him, or did he get in something he wasn't supposed to? If it was for Spider-Man, how did she know that he would be there? Was he that predictable? Who was she?

Spider-Man swung away, the questions building in his head to make even more questions with no answers. This is gonna be a long night, Peter thought.

Spider-Man finally got to his orphanage, where the ivy grew to the metal roof and the doors were never locked. Peter sighed crawling into his room, flopping on the ground in a sense of tiredness.

Spider-Man pushed himself up though, taking off his suit and putting on his pajamas. Peter grabbed a journal he had beside his pallet since he didn't have a real bed or desk or drawers. Just a pallet and a bag that he kept all his personal items in.

Peter opened the journal and started doodling images of the dragon and the woman as he wrote down everything he knew about them. After Peter did that, he flipped through the work out pages, looking at all the villains he had faced before.

Peter stopped at the first pages, his first every villain. Skip Westcott. Peter couldn't help the tears that fell down his face as he started at the picture he drew of Skip when he first got the journal. Peter traced the edges of the soft page with his fingers, as he thought about that time. Being so afraid and scared for his life, and how he didn't want love again.

And here was Harley Keener, making him doubt that decision he made so long ago.