Ash POV

Nicole approaches Cade slowly, slightly drowsy looking, small green eyes drooping as she walks to my brother, her brother when my father's arms to slack in what seems to be relief and disbelief.

He bends down, his head level with her small body, and nudges her slightly.

The room seems to hold their breath as they wait for my young sister's reaction, whether it be fear or wariness.

Giggles erupt from her chest as my brother gives her a strange, toothy, scaly grin.

"Stop! Stop! Please!" My sister wheezes out between giggles while Caden licks her hands as she lifts them up to feel his face.

Caden halts as Nicole instructed, but I see a mischievous glint in his eye as well as sadness and  relief. He obviously knows who she is, with a face and pair of green eyes that look so like our mother.

"Who are you, big Dragons?" She gestures, a note of curious hesitation creeping up in her voice.

I see a flash of pain in Cade's eyes as he turns his silver horned head toward me, as if to say I do it.

So I do. With one last warning glance at my parents, saying for them to not come and give me a hug. I wasn't finished with them.

They nod at me, although rather reluctantly, obviously not happy, but not wanting to risk their daughter being even angrier with them. Both wrapped in eachothers arms, my father having joined my mother when he let go of Nicole.

Extending my neck towards Nicole, I blow a small tornado out of my nose so it spirals into the air, just like I do in the winter to amuse her when it's cold enough. My jaw pulls back on my teeth in a toothy, unnatural grin as she startles back, but smiles and claps her hands as though to say, again.

I do it once more for her sake, before nodding to Cade gently. He understands.

I don't want my little sister to see this.

My brother swoops Nicole under his wing, and she emits a loud shriek of disapproval.

The crowd is still watching, clearly confused by what is happening.

I move closer to the centre of the clear spot in the crowd we have created, most probably because of fear and the power our forms emit.

They stare at me as though I am to do something spectacular. Which I suppose I am. To humans. To them, I suppose shifting is an everyday activity.

I pull forward the image of my human form from the back of my mind and pull it forward, projecting it into my vision.

I force my body to fold in on itself and return ir to its compressed, confining, weaker build.

My hair grows from my shrinking skull in long ginger curls and the scales retreat down my neck, exposing the black top underneath, along with the trousers. The only pieces of clothing I am missing are my boots and socks, which I know are in the backpack.

As soon as my internal organs settle and the severe pins and needles subside, I tune in the the shocked whispers circling around me while people glance at me. They basically repeat what they said before.

"How is that possible?"

"How does she have clothes on? Shouldn't they be shredded?"

"That's the missing girl!"

"She is the golden dragon?!"

"Somebody please catch me once more, I think I may faint again!"

Somehow, I think that last message came from one of the highly detailed tapestries hanging from the walls rather than the chattering students all around me.

Ignoring the audience I step around Cade's body to have some privacy.

Nicole leans against his armoured back, her eyes beginning to droop again in the minute she was out of my sight. She looks comfortable with my brother's tail wrapped around her small body. She was a strange girl indeed, not being scared of here spiked and horned beasts at such a young age.

"Nicole?" I whisper, but it seems to be enough to catch her attention. She looks up at me.

"It's me, Nicole. I came back. It's Ash."

Her eyes snap up to me as though I am not telling the truth before she recognises my bright red hair and my bright blue eyes, and her own light up as she launches herself at me, as I had at Cade not so long ago. Even though I hadn't been away so long.

Nicole wraps her small arms around me in a rib-cracking hug, and I kneel down to eye level with her.

She was crying. Such a beautiful face shouldn't cry. I wipe away the salty puddles from her cheekbones with the pads of my thumbs, which really didn't do much except wipe dirt across them.

She sniffles again, and burys her head in my wild hair.

Her words come out muffled.

"Mummy and Daddy looked everywhere, and they still couldn't find you.... and they cried everynight, but they didn't know I could hear them. We haven't been home since the mean men came. We had to stay at grandma's," she whispers.

My heart twists and guilt climbs up my throat and twists into a tight ball, almost escaping me, but I force it back down to my stomach, my eyes watering with more than just the effort of that action.

I shouldn't be so hard on my parents. At least not yet. They had already been through this before. Twice. And twice was enough. Third time lucky, I guess, since they got two of us back.

They had yet to see Cade in his human form after so many years. My little sister didn't even know that the massive beast behind us, shielding us from the crowd, was our long lost sibling.

"Nicole, sweetie, I have to tell you something," I say, smoothing her dark curls back, feeling them run through my fingertips like water, quite unusual for someone with hair that gets tangled so easily. It was slightly damp, so she probably had a bath before arriving here.

She looks up at me, not saying anything, but silently giving me consent in whatever I want to say.

"Well... it's... eh-" I hesistate, scratching the back of my neck. Is she ready?

Of course she is. She deserves to know, just like I did. Only i didn't get that opportunity.

I take a deep breath into my lungs to calm myself down.

My words are soft and slow, hesistant to her reaction.

"You see that big Dragon over there, the one that licked you?"

She bobs her small head, a sparkle of excitement in her eyes, "I didn't know dragons were real! They're soooo big! And that ones funny!" She points to Cade, who is looking the opposite direction, but I know he is listening in over the echoing of voices in the hall. His tail twitches at Nicole's comment.

"Yes.. he's very funny, do you know who he is?" I ask. She shakes her head.

Okayyy... how do I put this?

"Well, Nicole... you see.... you know the way you have a brother that was born on the same day as you? Your twin?"

A sad frown mars bar features while she replies, "Yeah, his name is Archie, and he is older than me and we all miss him lots. We have loads of pictures, don't we Ash?"

I incline my head in acknowledgement of these facts. They were all true. Ever since Nicole was told about Archie, my parents displayed all the photos I didn't even know they had of him for the week he was alive and well.

Her emerald eyes stare up at me expectantly, and I know that say:

"What do you want to tell me?"

The next words trigger something in the room, and the atmosphere changes, and not just because of the shock my sister receives, but the remaining people in the hall.

"Nicole, I have a twin too, and he is standing right behind you."