The Dragon's Child Bride

A/N Finally got \'em together. There\'ll be some blooming romance in the next chapter. Yay! Please keep reviewing, they make me so happy!

She felt warm and fuzzy all over, felt as if she never wanted to wake up. Laylani was almost positive she was still in a dream. She felt as though she were surrounded by satin sheets and a down comforter.

‘Right’ she snorted to herself, ‘Like you know what satin feels like.’ She had probably just fallen asleep by the heating duct outside the warehouse. Yes, that would explain it. But she almost never got that spot, and she certainly didn’t remember having to fight for it last night like she normally would’ve.

Last night. What had happened last night? She tightened her eyes shut trying to force herself to remember. She could see and hear bits and pieces, but nothing that connected in any meaningful way. She remembered the shadows, and that sucking force that felt like it was going to rip her apart. Something about the little boy. Then…nothing. Blackness.

All at once the memories hit her like a ton of bricks. She shot straight up with a gasp and her eyes snapped open. They were going to get her, she couldn’t run. There was no way out, no way out. She looked around frantically, trying to see what she was up against. But they weren’t there. The Dark Robes weren’t there. She wasn’t even in the same storage room they had cornered her in. She looked around again, trying to at least assess where she was. No, certainly not the storage room in the back of that cheap motel. This place was pretty. All purple and girly. There was something familiar about it, too. Something she couldn’t put her finger on. She had been here before, but when? Why?

Laylani felt his presence before she saw him. It was a boy. No, not exactly a boy, someone on the cusp of being a man. He couldn’t have been more then twenty. And he was handsome. Probably the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. His hair was such a light color of blond it was almost white, his skin was pale and he was built. Not bulky muscle like most of the men she had known, but lean and brawny. An athlete of sorts, she decided.

His lips were slightly parted so invitingly. She had never wanted to kiss anyone as much as she wanted to right then. She had even begun to lean towards him before she stopped herself. She couldn’t just go around kissing random men. This one looked too refined for her anyway. He would never have her. Still, his hand was on hers.

She was about to try to get out of the bed and find out exactly where she was when a wave of exhaustion hit her hard. All at once she was so tired she could barely move. She decided to forgo her excursion in favor of lying down again. Perhaps this strapping young man could help her.

“Um, excuse me.\" she said softly, \"Sir? Wake up sir…\" she shook his hand gently. The man groaned and mumbled something that sounded a lot like \"Piss off.\" Laylani couldn’t help but giggle. Sure, it was rude, but how would she feel to have some stranger waking her up when the sun had barely risen? It was the giggling that made him slowly open his eyes. He knew that sound anywhere.

\"Lani!\" said Draco, \"You’re - you’re awake. How do you feel? Can I get you anything?\" She stopped laughing. How did this man know her name? Why was he being so attentive? She stared into his eyes with a look of wariness and confusion.

His eyes. This beautiful man had the most amazing eyes. They were a dark gray, almost silver. She had never seen anything like them, and yet she knew in the back of her mind she had. She had seen them exactly. Known someone, known him. But from where? In all her life she had never been anywhere so sophisticated as to see a man like this. Hell, she’s been locked in basements and closets as early as she could clearly remember, only seeing her captors. This man was surely not a Dark Robe, was he? No, she would have definitely remembered him then.

The man was still staring at her, waiting for something, anything. She felt like he was expecting her to get up and dance or something of the sort. She was confused, but figured she was in no immediate danger from him, so she merely put up her guard and began to ask all the questions she could think of.

“Who are you? How do you know my name? What am I doing here? Matter of fact, where am I?”

Apparently she had said something wrong because the man’s pleased face fell. “You…don’t remember me? Don’t remember any of this?” He began to raise his voice. “How could you forget? You don’t know this place, don’t know me at all?”

He looked upset. Really upset. Laylani cowered a little. She hated upsetting people in the first place, but she knew by experience men yelling at her usually meant men hitting her. Desperately she tried to calm him down.

“Don’t be mad, please don’t be mad. I’m sure I can remember you. Give me a hint. What state are we in? Were you the dentist back in Baton Rouge? No, um, the motel owner in Ashland? No, he was old. O, I know, you’re that nice boy who used to give me change from Blue Earth, right? How’ve you been?”

His expression told her she hadn’t even been close. He stood up, and Laylani brought her arms up protectively to block the impending blows. But they never came. She slowly lowered her arms. The man was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco left, furious. How could she not remember him? He had thought of her everyday, dreamt of her so often, and she couldn’t even remember his name! He felt like an idiot, devoting himself so completely to the memory of someone who obviously couldn\'t have cared less about him. He came to the library, slamming the door behind him.

“Didn’t everyone ever tell you libraries were quiet places, dear?” Narcissa looked up from her book by the fireplace. “Come here, sit. Tell me what’s wrong. Are you still upset about that Quidditch-”

“It’s not about Quidditch, Mother.” snapped Draco. For all the ‘ESP’ woman were supposed to have, his mother didn’t seem to know a damn thing. “It’s…she doesn’t…I mean, she won’t-” Draco took a deep breath. “She doesn’t remember me.”

“I don’t doubt that. Draco, she’s been away for eleven years. Merlin only knows what’s happened to her since then. You can’t expect her to remember you right away. Give her time. Her memories will come back, you’ll just need to be patient. I take it she’s sleeping again?” Draco looked at his feet, an awkwardness on his face. Narcissa’s jaw dropped.

“She’s fully conscious and you just left her there? Draco, how could you? Think of how scared and confused she must feel waking up in a strange house with a strange man by her bed! And you left her there alone?”

Narcissa was up and nearly out the door by the time she finished this statement. She quickly climbed the stairs two at a time. She was practically in a run by the time she got to the third floor. She opened the door to Laylani’s room. She was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, this was indeed strange. The handsome man had apparently waited most of the night for her and now he was gone. Just left her there. Wherever ‘there’ was. Laylani again tried to stand up. She may not have known where she was but after that little fiasco, she highly doubted she was welcome anymore.

She slowly worked her way out of the bed and onto her feet, grabbing the side table for support. God, she felt weak. She made her way over to the far wall where there was a window. She looked on at the dying landscape. So this was what autumn looked like. She had never been to a place where the plant life really changed by the seasons. She stood a moment with her hands pressed against the glass, eyes passing over as far as she could see. They focused in on an old tree, thick around with low, sturdy branches that were perfect for climbing. Climbing. She had climbed that tree once. The memory played through her head like an old home movie.

It had been late spring, maybe May or June. She had been wearing the pink t-shirt she had loved so much. It had a unicorn on it, that’s why it was her favorite. She was standing at the bottom of the tree, looking up longingly at the little boy nestled in the branches. He called to her, telling her to come up, that he wanted to show her something. Laylani remembered he had taught her how to climb that tree not long ago, and how she had managed to clumsily operate her chubby hands to get her high enough to sit next to him. He held her hand, and he pointed with the other.

“See?” he said pointing at an open field in the distance. It was beautiful, lush and green, for some reason had a white arched trellis square in the middle.

“Mummy said that’s where we’re going to get married.” She had smiled at that, given him a kiss on the cheek. She looked at the boy and felt such love. It was those eyes, those silver eyes……

Laylani drew herself back into the present. Sporadically she would have memories with the little boy and what she assumed was family. She could never remember his name, so she always referred to him in her head as ‘the little boy.’ Those were her favorite memories, the ones she crawled into and lay down on when things had been so bad, too hard to bear. In her mind’s eye, she could see his face. He had such magnificent eyes.

“Those eyes!” she said aloud. “The little boy had those eyes. That man is the little boy!” She didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it before. The face may have changed, but those eyes were unmistakable.

She had never known much about her past. Over time the Dark Robes made her forget somehow. But for once she felt like she had some idea. And now that she knew one thing, she was desperate to know more. She had started wondering about her past some time ago. Where had she come from? Where had she been? Who was she, really? This place, this man, they could have the answers. She looked around the room for more clues to her mysterious history. Near the door, someone had hung picture frames on the wall. She slowly staggered towards them, stumbling against the wall. She pressed her hand against it for support.

The pictures were coated in a layer of dust, but she could see them none the less. The first one was of the little boy and what must have been his family. Yes, it had to be his family. She vaguely recognized the faces. The pretty woman had been somewhat of an aunt to her, taken care of her a lot. The man, the man had read her bedtime stories and taken her on her first pony ride.

She scanned through more pictures of the boy and his family. She was some of them. She recognized some of the events, but nothing specific. There was some of a party, a birthday party. Some were of what she could only assume was her and the little boy when they were babies. She focused her attention to the last set of pictures. It was her with a man and a woman. She knew them. She knew them somehow. She traced her fingers over the woman’s face.

“Mummy.”

The word had just popped out of her mouth without thinking. Yes, this was her mother. Short memories floated through her mind. The way her mother’s perfume smelled. How she would call Laylani ‘Sun Sprite’. Her tight hugs. A single tear ran dawn Laylani’s cheek. She could remember her mother. Layla. That had been her name. She was named after her mother.

She could only assume the man was her father. She couldn’t remember him. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the memories to come. All that came was a sinking feeling in her stomach that made her feel sick and heartbroken. She stopped trying to remember. If she wanted to be sad, she had plenty of readily accessible memories she could draw upon.

Still, this had been a wonderful start. She had memories, memories that needed to be explained. If she could find that man again, maybe he could tell her. She staggered wearily towards the door and made her way into the hall of what proved to be a massive house.

‘The proverbial needle in a haystack.’ she thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“She’s gone, Draco, she’s gone!” cried Narcissa. She collapsed on the bed in tears. She had already lost that little girl once; it would kill her if she had to lose Laylani again.

“Mum, calm down,” he said in a soothing voice, “She can’t have gotten far. Come, we’ll look for her.” Narcissa nodded. It was true, the girl would have limited strength, she had to still be in the house somewhere.

“I’ll check upstairs,” Draco called over his shoulder. He felt horrible. How could he have been such an ass, leaving her there in such a state? He had to find her.

He didn’t have to go far. He found Laylani, collapsed on the stairwell to leading to the fifth floor. Draco dropped to his knees next to her.

“Lani, Lani, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. Please, please be okay.” He gently lifted her head to face him. She opened her eyes and gave him a small smile.

“I remember you.”