I spoke to a few friends of mine about this series, to see exactly what they thought about the way I wanted to end it all. They thought that Zac and Jason deserved a decent and happy ending to their story. I disagree, and this is why I wrote the series closer the way I did. But. I'm all for appeasing my friends, and my fans too. So, because you wanted it, here it is, the alternate ending to my Dragon's Love series. The start and majority of the story is the exact same, but you'll see it has a happier ending than the one I gave. Meh. The rest of the series can be found here: http://yiffstar.com/index.php?pid=3995 - Faora pt 3/2 A Dragon's Love Love Confronted – Alternate Ending The seat was actually quite comfortable. The temperature was just right. There was a cool salty breeze flowing over his scales. But despite it all, each of these little things couldn't possibly help Jason feel any better about what had just happened. He glanced momentarily at the rear view mirror as his friend Anthony drove him away. Almost before his eyes focussed on the blue figure growing smaller with distance, he looked away again. Closing his eyes, the dragon gave a deep sigh. The tiger in the driver's seat, Anthony, gave Jason a quick glance before turning his attention back to the road. "You made the right choice," he growled, whipping his ute around the corner. "He doesn't deserve to see you cry, don't give him that." "He wouldn't want to see me cry," Jason muttered back, a fresh ripple of anger moving through him. "He wouldn't want to make me. But that doesn't mean he would give an inch." Anthony had no real reply for that comment. He drove in silence back to his apartment, leaving Jason to contemplate recent events. He knew his friend had been through a lot of pain, and he knew the source of it. He hadn't told Jason either, but there was no way he was going to let Zac get away with this, either. Jason though just stared out the window, watching the buildings and people flick by. He tried to focus on them, tried to use them as an excuse to forget...but he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, Zac was all that was in his mind. It angered him no end. He'd been there for so long that Jason could barely remember a time when Zac wasn't there. They'd been inseparable friends, nothing could have torn the two of them apart. At least, nothing tangible. The dragon desperately searched his emotion-clouded mind, flickering through his memories of the last five years for something, anything to give him release. It came to him then, a painful burst of realisation. Nothing tangible had been able to tear them apart. It was something invisible, something unseen. Something that had been denied, something that had finally been revealed. Jason had known for years how he felt, and he'd held back. He'd never told Zac how he truly felt. For a fleeting second, he thought about it...wondered just how different things might have been if he'd been brave enough, if he'd been able to take the plunge and speak. Shaking his head and swiping a taloned hand across his eyes, he forced the thoughts away. He couldn't love me now, why the hell should it be any different no matter what had happened? Jason released a low, deep growl and punched the dashboard firmly, sighing and slumping down, exhausted. Anthony didn't turn to him, didn't say anything. He knew better than that, knew that he needed to give Jason space. And probably Zac too, for that matter, he thought to himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solitude was the last thing Zac wanted. He watched him go. Watched his friend leave. Watched him turn his back on everything they'd ever done for each other. And because of what? He turned around, roaring at himself as he lashed out, kicking a garbage can clean across the road, nearly clipping a surprised equine hurrying out of the projectile's path. Squeezing his eyes shut, he beat his fists against the brick of the apartment's walls over and over again, venting his anger and pain and self-loathing on the unyielding surface. Suddenly, all energy left his body. The anger left him, leaving him to slide down the wall slowly, curling into a heap where it met the ground. Zac wrapped his arms around his legs tightly, tail coiled around his ankles as he sobbed quietly to himself. Because of me...because I was so fucking stupid about it all... Another wave of anger welled up inside his body, but this time, he used it. The energy that it lent him gave the strength to stand, and walk back into the apartment building, and stay upright all the way back to his room. Once there, he collapsed. Grief overpowered him once more. Zac's legs buckled, giving out beneath him and leaving the dragon to drop to the floor. He could do nothing but lay there, curled up on the carpet, sobbing quietly to himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was dark when Zac woke up. The dragon couldn't remember falling asleep. He sat up slowly, disoriented, as if from a bad dream. He looked blurrily around the room, thinking to himself for a moment, trying to remember what happened. He flicked on a light and headed out towards the lounge room. "Hey, Jase! Where are..." He trailed off slowly, sudden memory coming back to him. Zac's words hung in the air for a moment, dropped with a sudden exhalation of overwhelming sadness. "Dammit..." He walked slowly towards the kitchen, shoulders and wings slumped down. He opened the door of the fridge, looking over the contents for a moment, before pulling out a bottle of Coke. He shut the door and glanced around the kitchen for a moment, before opening a pantry and removing a bottle of scotch. Zac sighed wearily as he poured the drink into a large glass. He set the two bottles down on the table as he dropped ingloriously into a chair. For a long moment he just sat there, before picking up the glass and taking a deep gulp. Maybe if he drank enough, he could forget the pain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anthony opened the door to the spare room of his house, revealing a simple little bedroom. "It's not really that much," he said slowly, apologetically, "But it'll have to do, unless you'd rather sleep in the living room." Jason stepped into the room, looking over the small bed there with a nod. "It'll be just fine Tony, don't worry," he replied, tossing his suitcase onto the bed and following it himself. "This room alone is bigger than what I had at Zac's apartment." "Well, it's your home now, for as long as you need it to be." The tiger looked over his dragon friend closely. "Is there anything I can get for you? Extra sheets, glass of water?" Shaking his head, Jason leaned back on the bed, sighing at the ceiling. "No thanks, I'm okay. I think I just want to stay here and think for a moment, about what I can do. I can't stay here forever, of course." Anthony laughed softly and shook his head. "Course you can. Denise and I were going to convert the room to a nursery, but kids aren't coming up for a while. You are allowed to stay as long as need be. Lord knows you've been through enough." The dragon didn't say anything, merely gave a miniscule nod of his head. Anthony looked about to say more, but a gentle touch on his shoulder drew his attention away. The face of a young tigeress, his wife Denise, stared back at him, shaking her head slowly. He nodded, turning away from the door, his wife in tow. They said nothing to each other until the two sat down in the lounge room. Denise was the first to break the silence. "He seems more shattered than he wants to admit." Anthony just shrugged and leaned back. "Damn straight he is. He loved Zac, and look what the bastard did to him." He growled softly. "I'm thinking of paying him a visit in a few days, after I let the loneliness get to him. Show him how I treat the pricks that hurt my friends." The tigeress had no reply for that immediately. Finally, she responded, leaning forward to stare at the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Jason will need to go back to Zac's to pick up his belongings," she pointed out, "And he'll insist on going with you." She paused for a moment. "I don't think you should go there." Her husband snapped his head up, eyebrows furrowed. "Why not? Afraid I'm going to do that dragon some serious harm?" he retorted. "Actually honey, yes, I am." She looked up at him, finally gazing right at him. "Look, you know that Jason loves him." "Loved," he interrupted bitterly, "Loved. Past tense." Denise shook her head strongly. "No. He still loves him. Love doesn't fade away that quickly, no matter how big the hurt is. Even if he shuts down every emotion he feels, he'll still love Zac, deep down." "Then we need to find a way to break that," he said firmly, nodding to himself, "Get him some emotional distance from that arsehole-" "Maybe," Denise cut in, "But that will take time, and it's not the immediate issue here. Love, Jason will go back there. You can't, because if you go, you'll get into a brawl with Zac, and that can only make things worse." She stared right at him, eyes blazing with conviction. "If I take Jason back, maybe I can help him. Either get them back on good terms, or at least help Jason cope and move on." For a long moment, Anthony was silent. "Jason's my friend, not yours," he stated, "He'd rather have me there when he goes back than you." "Just because he met me because of you doesn't mean he's not my friend too, Tony," she replied mildly, "And you know that. And I think it's better that he have an empathic soul there with him than...well, someone spoiling for a fight." The tiger mulled over that for a second, then nodded. "We let Jason decide," he suggested, "It's what he wants after all, right? He'll decide which of us he'd want there most, and that one goes." Denise stood up and walked over to her husband, sitting down in his lap and snuggling into him. "And I didn't even have to suggest it to you. See, hon? I'm already changing you. Next step: you put the toilet seat down." "Now now Den, let's not look for miracles." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was three days later before Jason could summon the will to leave the house for anything. Finally he left, going down to a park for a while to spend some time out in the open air, at Denise's suggestion. It was another two days before he could find the strength to suggest going back to Zac's apartment to collect his belongings. He approached both Anthony and Denise at the same time, explaining how he felt. "I...I'd rather go by myself," he said slowly. "I know it's going to be hard, but...I think I know what I'm going to find when I get there. It's not something I'd really like either of you two to see. It's not something I want to see." Denise laid a paw on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "But we're not going to let you go there alone, Jason. You're going to need someone there with you. You might think you're shielding us from something, or that you could handle it alone...but believe me hon, you won't be able to." He sighed softly. "Maybe you're right. But...I'm still not sure if going back now is a good idea. I could always wait a bit longer to grab my stuff." He looked down, cheeks flushing in silent shame. "You're afraid to go back?" Denise asked softly. Jason looked up, nodding once. "A bit, yeah... I don't want to see Zac right now. I don't want to be anywhere near him. I fight to think about anything that's not him." He sighed. "And I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it alone, no. But I'd rather learn to control myself now, rather than later. I have to get over this...and I think I have to do it alone." Anthony stepped forward and shrugs. "You don't have to be alone, Jason. You've got us, and your other friends. We're all here for you. But you haven't said anything to any of the others, I know. Alone isn't the way to deal with this whole thing." Jason narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to the tiger. "Alone isn't the way to deal with it?" he snapped, "How else am I meant to deal with this? With a brand new lover beside me? With a personal harem at my back?" The tigeress gave Jason's shoulder another gentle squeeze. "Of course not anything like that, dear," she said, voice soothing, "We just mean that you need some support here, now. You can't go back there alone, Jason. You need someone to help you through. And because you won't tell your other friends, you're stuck with us." After a minute of careful consideration, Jason nodded with silent assent. He turned around and away, going back to his room for a moment, before coming back with a small plastic bag, filled with clothes. "Zac's," he said, answering the unspoken question shared by both tigers, "We'd always forget whose was whose. His got mixed into mine." Anthony nodded, then turned to the kitchen counter and grabbed the keys to his ute. "All right then, let's head off." He was halfway to the door before he realised that Jason wasn't with him. The tiger turned around to see Jason standing exactly where he'd been when he started to walk. "Uhh..." Jason stepped forward. "I don't mean to offend, Tony... You're a great friend, and I owe you so much. It's just...I think I'd rather have Denise come with me this trip over." He looked down. "I know how you feel...what you want to do to Zac for what you think he did to me. But I don't want that." Anthony looked his friend up and down, before shrugging and tossing the keys to his wife. "It's your choice, after all," he said simply, before giving the dragon a look of sadness. "But if he hurts you again...well, I will go after him. Got it?" Jason stared at the tiger for a long moment, before Anthony was forced to look away from the other's withering stare. "No, you won't. Listen to me, Tony. You do not go over to Zac's for anything. Especially to beat the shit through him. If it comes to blows, I'll be the one throwing the punches, not you. It's not your place. You, got it?" A flick of his eyes showed Denise standing behind Jason, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. Sighing, Anthony nodded and sat down slowly. "You're right," he conceded, "I'm sorry. It's just...you're still hurt about this, and I want to hurt the bastard back for it." "So do I, sometimes," the dragon admitted softly, "And that's why I want Denise to come. She'll stop me from doing something I'll regret later." He turned to the tigress. "Right?" She nodded with a gentle smile, jingling the keys. "Of course I will, Jason, you know that. Anyway, we'd best be off now. Sooner we get going, the sooner we get your belongings." Jason winced audibly. "I'm giddy," he replied flatly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The trip down to Zac's apartment block was a silent one. Denise didn't try to make any conversation along the trip, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. And Jason was too caught up in his own worry to say anything. The ute pulled up outside the block, and Denise turned the engine off. She looked over at Jason slowly, dropping her eyes down. "Are you going to be all right in there?" she asked gently. The dragon gave a shrug, still looking straight ahead through the windshield. "I honestly don't know," he answered, eyes flicking momentarily up to the building. "I think I know what I'll find, it's something I have seen before." He turned slightly, looking at the tigress. "You can still opt not to come inside." But she just shook her head firmly. "Not a chance, Jason. If you go in there, you're not going in alone. I'll be there the whole way, don't you worry. Besides, it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be." Jason didn't answer that. Instead he just sighed, opening the door and sliding out of the ute. Denise followed him up to the building, keeping an eye on him as they went up towards Zac's door. He seemed to be in moderate control of himself, but even as they rose, she could see him becoming more edgy. With a final sigh of resignation, Jason tapped quietly on the door. "Zac? He called out, "It's me...can I come in?" For a long minute, there was nothing but silence. Jason looked over at Denise, who shrugged back at him. "Maybe he's gone out," she suggested hesitantly, before there was a click from the other side of the door. The door opened slowly, and Denise had to work very hard to restrain a gasp. It was Zac all right, but at the same time, it looked nothing like the lively dragon she'd known. His scales were dulled down immensely to a sickly blue-green. They'd lost their natural sheen completely, and appeared to be ill looked after. His eyes were just as flat and lifeless as his scales, normally brilliant blue orbs replaced by unnaturally near-black spheres. "Hey, Jase..." As he spoke, the scent of alcohol was strong on his breath. "Come on in. Sorry if it's a mess." Jason didn't say anything as he walked inside, Denise too shocked to even open her mouth. The three made their way to the couches in the center of the apartment and sat, still silent. The smell of booze was stronger in the air here, and there were several empty bottles of various intoxicating drink laying around on both table and floor. "Can I get either of you anything?" he asked, voice as much of a shadow of it's former self as the rest of him, "Water? Beer?" Denise shook her head, slowly regaining her composure. "Water would be nice Zac, thank you," she replied, voice almost but not quite covering the horror she felt at what she was seeing. "I'm fine, Zac," Jason said, leaning back in the chair with a sigh. He had, of course, known exactly what to expect coming here. This was the same slump Zac had gone into the first week after loosing his mate. Jason knew Zac didn't care that much though, but then, they'd been friends for so long, and were so close, that he'd figured this would have left a similar effect on the other. As Zac left to the kitchen to fetch Denise's water, the tigress leaned over to Jason. "This is madness," she hissed, "What the hell is wrong with him? Did you know he'd be like this?" Jason just nodded, not saying anything else. Zac returned a moment later, carrying a surprisingly clean glass filled with water. "There you go," he said, passing the glass to Denise. She thanked him and leaned back in the chair, not quite sure what to say. She didn't really have to say anything at all. "So, I'm betting you're here to grab some of your stuff," Zac said, "Don't worry, I didn't touch anything of yours. I was going to pack it up for you, but I guessed you'd not have liked me touching anything, so I let it be." Waving his hand, Jason just shrugged. "I really don't care if you did or not," he muttered, looking down. "Not that I'd expect you to care either. You've shown lately that you're fairly incapable." Denise could hear anger in his voice now, faint but certainly noticeable enough. "Jason, that's hardly fair-" "It's perfectly fair, Denise," Zac interrupted sadly, looking at the floor, "I deserve it, I deserve everything he can throw at me." He looked up slightly for a moment, before resuming his study of the carpet. "Actually, I'm surprised that Anthony isn't here, pounding my face in." "We all decided it would be better if I came instead of Tony," Denise answered before Jason could say anything, "The last thing we want is a fight." For a second, Zac studied her face, before flicking his gaze over at Jason. The other dragon met his gaze evenly, his eyes burning with internal anger and pain. "It's certainly not the last thing on some minds here," he said softly. No one had anything to say to that. Zac reached over to an end table beside the chair and snatching up a small bottle of beer, taking a quick sip. "I suppose you'd like to get started on moving your stuff out to the ute now. Would you like my help with anything?" Jason stood, walking over to the door, not even looking at Zac. "I don't need you. Not to help, not for anything. Excuse me." With that, he swept out of the room. Denise watched him go, a twinge of pity welling up inside her for Zac's situation. "You don't deserve to be spoken to like that, Zac..." But he didn't agree. "Of course I do. I couldn't give him what he wanted. After years of his pent-up emotion, I couldn't give him anything. I couldn't do the right thing." He shook his head. "No, I deserve it." "No you don't," she argued gently, reaching over to pluck the bottle from his clawed hand, "And what the hell is wrong with you? You should know better than to get yourself drunk at a time like this. This place looked like a bomb hit it." Zac just shrugged, looking down at the floor again and leaning back. "It doesn't really make a difference in the end now, does it?" The tigress just stared at him for a second. "What happened, Zac? Jason wouldn't say anything to either Anthony or me." She eyed him closely. "You're the only one I have left to ask." He smirked down at the floor and shook his head. "That doesn't really make a difference in the end now either, does it?" Denise shrugged. "It might not," she admitted, "But it could help you in the end to talk about it, get it all off your chest. And maybe you can move on from all this a little faster...and with less drink," the tigress added, shaking the beer bottle around. Zac continued to stare downwards, before sighing heavily and closing his eyes. "He told me the truth," he said slowly, recalling the moment at the beach with perfect clarity, "He told me how he really felt about me. And I told him that I couldn't love him back the same way." He laughed bitterly, a tear at the corner of his eye. "Ironic, really." Cocking her head, Denise leaned forward. "Ironic how?" she asked. The dragon looked up slowly, looking right into her eyes. His gaze seemed to bore right through her, voice suddenly gripped by energy. "That really...I do love him. I always have, and I just couldn't admit it, even to myself. "I don't know why I couldn't just come out and say it to him. I guessed I just never knew it myself." He shook his head. "But loosing him...having to watch him be driven away from me, knowing his last words to me were in anger because I couldn't love him...well, it put things well into perspective for me." From behind him, Zac could hear the sound of a door closing quietly, and approaching footsteps. He didn't turn around. "You find everything you wanted to?" he asked, voice flat again. The last thing he'd expected was to feel lips pressed against his. Zac froze completely, his body going completely rigid with the unexpectedness of the gesture. His mind spun, reality blurred. His first impression was that, for some reason, Denise had been the one to come forward and kiss him, but as tear-filled eyes focused, he could only see blue scales. Jason pulled back slowly, looking down. "I...I heard you," he said slowly, tears streaming down his face, "Yes. I found everything I wanted to. And he's sitting right there in front of me." He looked up to Zac, pleading in his eyes. "I'm so, so sorry...I was acting like such an arsehole..." The older dragon just stared up at him, still in shock from the kiss. His mouth worked at the air for a moment silently, before he was able to form words. "No, I'm the one who should apologise, Jase...I should have been able to tell you how you felt sooner, I should have figured it all out sooner." Jason choked back another round of tears, stepping forward and wrapping his arms tightly around Zac. For the first time, the other dragon didn't hold anything back from him, holding him just as tightly. Zac touched his forehead to Jason's gently, tilting his head up with a single talon. Their eyes met for a long moment, before Zac leaned forward and tenderly kissed Jason. The kiss wasn't that long, and Jason pulled back slowly. Zac leaned back in his chair, looking up at the other dragon. Jason's eyes were still closed, his head tilting back slowly. "Jase? Close your mouth. You're drooling." He opened his eyes and looked back down with a smile, snuggling down against Zac's chest scales. "Can't help it," he replied softly, tears streaming down his face. He began to purr softly as he felt Zac's hands encircle him, holding Jason tightly against him. Zac looked up at Denise and smiled softly. "Thank you for bringing him back to me," he said quietly. But the tigress just shook her head and smiled. "I didn't have to bring him back to you, Zac. You're the one that had to do that." She stood up slowly and nodded. "I'll let myself out." She turned away, out of the corner of her eye seeing Zac nuzzling Jason's cheek, before she started out the door. She closed it gently behind her and started to walk back towards the ute. She looked up and smiled at the bright blue sky. Perfect day. Well, there you go, you can stop crying now! You've got the happy ending you all wanted to have! Nya! Hope you like it. As always, drop me a line at [email protected] and tell me what you thought of it. Appreciation, critiques and your thoughts on which one you liked better would be very appreciated!