The Reawakening

Chapter 6: Revealed

After the door shut, Coquina once again tried to get up, but River playfully pushed him back down.

"Give up, fluffhead!" River laughed. "You'll never heal if you don't stop!"

"Aw, come on... I just want to sit up!" Coquina laughed and tried again. River forced him down, then began to wrestle with him, playfully pushing his head down to the floor with her talons. He flared his wings, pushing her talons off his head and got up.

"Coquina, get back here right now!" She couldn't keep from laughing. She tried grabbing him by his horns, but he jumped back from her.

"Nope, I'm good!"

She then lunged at him, toppled him over, then pinned him down.

"I got you now, 'Qui! Give up!" River laughed as Coquina struggled to slip from beneath her. He tried flipping her off of him until she held down his tail, reducing his leverage.

"Come on, I've been here since late afternoon! I want to get up!"

"And what I say in my house goes!" She smiled.

Coquina stopped struggling.

"Fine, I guess you have a point there, River. I'll lay back down..." River let off of him and he walked back to the pillows. She followed him back to the pillows in case he tried anything. He laid back down on the pillows, sighing. River went back to the kitchen, putting water into a kettle and put it on the stove.

"Tea, Coquina?" She turned her head to him.

He thought about her question thoroughly. Yes, he did like the tea River had, but he knew she loved it. He didn't exactly want to drink it, even though he knew she didn't mind sharing it with him.

"Uh, no thanks, River. I'm okay," he spoke hesitantly.

She faced him and tilted her head at him. "Why not? Are you 'too good' to drink my tea?" She spoke mockingly.

Coquina smiled and looked toward River. "No, of course not. I just thought... okay, you have a point. I'll take some tea, River."

She smirked, knowing she won the tiny debate between them. It had been so long since they had been together. She had truly missed talking to him. How she wondered how she came to love a fox, of all things. She loved Coquina even when he was a fox, but now... he was everything she dreamed of: a handsome SeaWing. A SeaWing prince, at that.

A prince? Maybe that's why he hid his identity and species... but why would he hide that? Maybe I'll talk to him about that later.

The tea kettle began to whistle, and River finally came to, snapping out of her thoughts. She quickly opened a cabinet and took a teacup, then took two teabags from the assortment bag of tea, one raspberry herbal tea for Coquina, and one rose herbal tea for herself. She placed each tea bag in a cup, then removed the kettle carefully from the stove, then poured the blistering hot water into the ceramic teacups.

"Okay, 'Qui, Just give it some time to steep, and your tea will be ready to drink, sweetheart."

Coquina was about to get up to get his tea, but River gave him a paralyzing glance, and he sat back down, avoiding her eyes. River picked up his cup of tea by the handle and carefully walked to him and placed it in front of him.

"Thanks, River. It smells very nice. I'm sure it'll tase even better." Coquina smiled cheekily.

River smiled and went back to the kitchen and got her cup of tea, then went back into the living room and sat next to Coquina, twining her tail around his. They sat in silence for a while as they waited for the tea to steep.

"So... Coquina... why were you a fox...?" She asked quietly, then sipped her tea.

Coquina stared at his tea, then looked up at River, then back at his tea and sighed. He picked his cup up and sipped it, then put it down.

"My mother is a descendant of the royal SeaWing family. My father was not. My mother's side of the family prohibited her to marry anyone outside the royal lineage, or she and her mate would be punished by death. My mother, Crest, married my father, Rift. They kept it secret for quite some time, a year, maybe. Around that time, they had me. I was about five months old when they were found out about. We had to flee the Kingdom of the Sea to escape them. Mother and father knew of someone who could help us, a NightWing scientist named Rex. He created the apparatus for us to wear. He said in a land quite far away, there was a civilization of foxes the dwelled in Pyrrhia that we could join to conceal our identity. Eventually I moved on in life and strayed from the foxes, and that's when I met you."

River sat there, her eyes wide in disbelief confusion, and awe, looking at Coquina.

"I... didn't know that about you... I thought you were just a fox..."

Coquina sipped a little of his tea, then sighed.

"I'm sorry, River, I know I should have told you sooner..."

River put a wing around Coquina comfortingly, leaning into him. 

"Well, I'm glad I met that little fox, he proved to be a kind, sweet dragon. This means you don't have to ride on my back anymore when I want to take you somewhere." She laughed a little, nudging Coquina in the ribs. 

"Yeah, that too."

"And you don't have to use the animus jewel to pretend to be a SeaWing anymore. Plus, you didn't look nearly as handsome as you do now, but still, I love you all the same." 

She took a sip of her tea, then set her cup back onto its saucer. River looked over at Coquina. He had bandages around his neck, sides, wings, and tail. She thought about how painful it was to watch him torn apart by Bloodbath like he was a piece of meat. She winced at the thought, shooing it away quickly. 

Why is he such a danger magnet? She thought to herself. He couldn't seem to live a peaceful life without some dragon trying to kill him 24/7. But now that I'm here with him... I can protect him. But... What abo earlier? I just sat and watched him lose that fight... I didn't do anything to help... Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Coquina, I'm sorry I didn't help you fight.... Me and Twilight could have both helped..." She sniffled slightly.

Coquina realized that she was crying, and pressed the right side of his cheek to hers.

"River, don't do that. I told you to stay back, so it's not your fault. Please, don't cry..."