Jaejoong rode Sailor with Blur faithfully accompanying them. It was bittersweet to have Yunho’s dragon always nearby. The fact that Sailor and Blur were mates was now a constant reminder of the way he had started to miss Yunho. Jaejoong missed his friend almost as soon as Yunho left but he got him back in a way. Yunho was talking, laughing, supporting and teasing him the way he had done all their lives. It was almost as if everything that happened since the adulthood ceremony had never happened. It was also never mentioned. 

However, it happened a second time that Jaejoong simply went to Yunho’s house on the usual day. He felt restless. Even after visiting Lydia and being able to be with her and their son, he felt too energetic. There was this need that apparently had been slowly building up and now he was very much aware of it. He had with Lydia often but with Yunho had felt very different. And now that things were calm and becoming routine again, he needed both kinds of . It was very strange for Jaejoong to realise that his body had grown accustomed to it. 

Jaejoong had stopped questioning if Yunho was his Linked One or not a long time ago. He still could only think of Yunho as a friend but he was also coming to terms with the fact that he was ually attracted to Yunho. Seeing him on the screen and hearing his voice had lately become an interesting experience. Jaejoong would stare at the man’s lips, at his neck, at his hands, at his arms and just remember what it was like to feel Yunho on him. He missed the way Yunho kissed him, touched him and made him come undone until he was barely aware of anything but the pleasure he’d feel. 

The flight took a long time. Jaejoong made Sailor take him almost half way across the planet. The wind on his face had a calming effect. It made him feel free. 

…

Lydia snuggled against Jaejoong. Jun Woo was asleep in his cot. They were back in their home and just enjoying each other. But she had a matter she needed to discuss with her Linked One. A certain matter that Jaejoong liked to avoid. Considering the diplomatic mission was over and Yunho would be back in just a few short purple cycles, Lydia decided to attack head on.

-Jae, I want to talk with you.

Jaejoong kissed the top of her head and waited, smiling softly at her. 

-It’s about Yunho.

Lydia noticed how her Linked One immediately tensed then forced himself to relax.

-What about Yunho?

-Are you going to continue as before?

-Ah… yes.

-Are you sure? Spending just a few hours with him isn’t exactly fair. You know that. Or enough to help your relationship. Even your friendship. I’d hate to see you two lease the easiness you regained during his trip. You two have been smiling so much more. You need each other. Don’t shut him away again, Jae. Please don’t stick him in the calendar like a chore you must attend every few purple cycles. 

-I… I don’t know. I’m still not comfortable with…

-Please, promise me. Both me and Jun Woo love to see you smile. Promise me you’ll not force him to only see you on a schedule. I will soon be back to work and taking Jun Woo with me. There will be days you’ll be alone as before. But you know you don’t need to be alone.

-I’ll think about it.

-Good. Thank you. Now, what do you say to take advantage of the fact our son is sleeping?

-Come here.

…

Changmin tapped his fingers on the console. Everything was ready for the return of the diplomatic mission. Accommodations and assignments were already prepared for the new Chosen Ones and the medical and scientific staff was on stand-by to collect the samples and experience results. The mining had been adapted to the new treaties. There had already been a shipment delivered to Seffren. There had also arrived new supplies from the colonies in greater number than before. Yunho had been very successful in his treaties. The mining would continue at a sustainable rhythm, not causing stress to Lhara’s environment and the exchanges for it were now more beneficial. 

One of the shipments received included the materials needed to build more ships. They would need to have a fleet of ships with fighting capabilities. Most of the other colonies had theirs. 

The rhythmic tapping carried on. Changmin was impatient. He knew that Yoochun probably had a lot of stuff to take care of on his own end but that knowledge didn’t help him wait.

-Max?

-Yoochun, finally! 

-Impatient as always. I already have Lhara on my screens. We’ll be there tomorrow morning. 

-You are never again leaving on a trip.

-Wait…

There was indistinct conversation on the other side. Changmin huffed.

-Unbelievable. Sometimes I think that if I hadn’t come, this trip would still be half way. Even after a trip this long, it’s like the crew still doesn’t know what to do. Please tell me the people you and Jaejoong have assigned to train with the ships are doing better. 

-Yes, Yoochun. Don’t worry. I’ll not have you needing to personally fly every damn ship. 

-Good. 

Yoochun sighed, moving a hand across his hair to get it out of his eyes. Changmin’s chest felt tight. He didn’t know why. He thought Yoochun looked tired.

-Will you sleep before landing?

-Yes. I made sure to prepare everything and I will personally kick anyone who interrupts me while I sleep. The rest of the trip home is to simply move forward until it’s time for me to take over. Oh, you should sleep too.

-Why?

Yoochun got closer to the screen with a mischievous smile and spoke in a deeper voice.

-Because the second I am free of all responsibilities I intend to make sure you do not sleep or rest for a long time. 

Changmin shivered at the tone of his Linked One. He covered it with a smile. He liked the way they both thought alike.

…

Junsu finished bottling and labelling everything. They were carrying back some new medicines and were still in the middle of experiments to create new ones with the ingredients they collected. Lhara had few diseases but they had become a medical centre for the other colonies. What little Lhara’s doctors and scientists didn’t know, there were always Chosen Ones, like Sarah had been, who came with their expertise and helped. One of the new ones had already helped with an experiment on a very specific Tarpar disease. 

On her side of the laboratory, Sarah finished typing her notes. She was feeling very confident on her results. She looked again at the brain scans on her screens. One was of Junsu showing healthy ridges on the hypothalamus. The other was Jaejoong’s. One ridge completely gone, one almost intact, the others broken in half. It was the scan right after his fall. There was also a more recent scan. There appeared to be little difference but the edges had grown smoother. 

Then there were two more scans. Sarah hadn’t showed these to Junsu yet. She had taken them out of curiosity. They were hers. The first right after realising she might suffer effects from the dragon water. The second just the day before. On the first one there were barely any ridges. The change was minimal but she knew that that surface had been perfectly flat before. The growth was the same as with Jaejoong after he drank the water. But the last one… On the last one she had full grown ridges. Much smaller than Junsu’s but they were definitely there. Not nearly enough to allow for a true telepathic conversation but they were now aware of each other and could easily feel their emotions. She used that link to call for Junsu.

Junsu listened to Sarah’s explanation and started to smile more and more. Then he remembered something and froze.

-You accidently spilled some dragon water on your arm and soon after the ridges grew. But… Jaejoong took dragon water even before we left. He took it more than once. And yet in this recent scan… There’s almost nothing to show for it. 

-Yes, Junsu, but look at mine now.

-They continued to grow. Jaejoong’s have stopped.

-I think the difference is stimuli. 

-Stimuli? But what kind of stimuli?

-That situation with my mother. That was the changing point. Even with such a distance between us, my panic was enough to push the link to call for you. You said so yourself. Before that the link was barely there and now we feel it easily. I believe it was only then that the ridges grew.

-We have no way of knowing that for sure. 

-Yes, I was too shocked to think for a while and then too busy. It was only when revising everything that it occurred to me to verify if anything was different. 

-Sarah, if your theory is correct, it would take almost a death or life’s situation to trigger a growth in Jaejoong’s ridges. And until then the recovery will continue to be minimal. He has barely recovered his dragon link. 

-Slow but not impossible.

-You were rightly scared you’d never see me again. I can’t imagine any situation in Lhara that would cause Jaejoong that kind of panic. 

-We could create something to make him think Yunho was hurt.

-No. We are not sure, Sarah. That would be cruel. 

-Well, at least he should continue drinking dragon water when the dragons let him. 

-Come on, let’s rest. We are about to land soon.

…

There was a huge enthusiastic crowd waiting for the spaceship to land. Changmin observed with a critical eye as Yoochun smoothly landed the huge ship making it look easy. He didn’t like to admit it but he couldn’t land a ship like that and he definitely didn’t even want to consider flying one of that size. His and Yoochun’s parents and were nearby. He knew that everyone else was also around somewhere. He just had no idea where Jaejoong was. He could sense that his friend was very nervous and he supposed that it was because of seeing Yunho in person again. He hoped the two of them would get along better now. The fact that he had slowly become aware of Jaejoong again surely had to be a good sign his friend was getting better. Jaejoong still seemed to struggle with viewing Yunho as his Linked One. Changmin touched his bracelet and called him.

-Jaejoong?

-Changmin? What is it?

-Where are you?

-Arriving.

-Really? Are you sure you’re not hiding?

-Brat! Why would I hide?

-Jaejoong, you do know it wasn’t easy for me to accept Yoochun as my Linked One, don’t you?

-Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around? You’re impossible to get along with.

-A bit too. – He laughed. –But we decided not to lose our friendship and instead use it to help things. 

-Changmin, you two had the Connection to help you or force you if necessary.

-Yes, but only with the physical part. The not fighting had to be our conscious decision. 

-Lhara, not you too. I am not about to go back to not talking with Yunho, alright?

-Just checking. You can be an impossible brat yourself.

-As if. See you soon.

-Ok, see you.

…

The second Junsu stepped outside, his brother Junho practically run him over, closely followed by his parents. Only Junho’s Linked One remained to the side, laughing at them and waving happily at Junsu. Sarah approached warily, not wanting to be engulfed in a similar crushing hug. She said hello to Junho’s Linked One and the two women smiled on at the happy family. Then, the small group turned their faces to them and despite their screams the two women were indeed engulfed in the family hug. Sarah’s laughter rang clear followed by the others. 

…

Jihye moved from one foot to the other. She hated waiting. She complained to her brother again. 

“Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry…”

“Jihye, I swear I will make you regret doing that.”

“Oh, what can you still be doing? The ship has landed, everyone is coming out. Why are you still in there? Get out here. Mom and dad are waiting. I’m waiting. I hate waiting.”

“Lhara, you are spoiled. I pity your future Linked One.”

“Plenty of orange cycles until that.”

Yunho finally showed up and Jihye screamed and grabbed on to him. He had to duck so his sister could hug him around the neck. He knew she’d squeeze too tight but despite his protests he liked to indulge her. It felt good to be back and with his family.

…

Yoochun was the very last person to leave the spaceship. He was very much aware of Changmin but they were both silent. Their telepathic link however thrummed with how much they wanted to touch each other. The second the ship had been in near enough distance to trigger the telepathic links again, Yoochun had been suffering from a very hard case of pointing up. He knew Changmin was feeling the same effect. They had been away for a little over 9 blue cycles or months. It was too long. He was starved for his Linked One. A strong feeling of admonishment reached him. Yoochun could picture Changmin tapping his foot impatiently for him to hurry up but the order of priorities was clear. Yoochun was practically being ordered to hug their parents first so that they could disappear with a clear conscience as soon as possible. He switched off the last pieces of equipment and hurried away.

Changmin’s breath left him when Yoochun finally came out. He felt stupid to have forgotten how Yoochun looked so much better in person. He had the niggling suspicion that maybe he had never really noticed before. Pride swelled in his chest. His Linked One was gorgeous. And as aroused as he was. Changmin took a deep breath and forced himself to get the pleasantries out of the way before he could jump on Yoochun. But what a jump it was going to be.

Yoochun’s entire body shivered as he saw the look on Changmin’s eyes. He had to close his own eyes for a moment to get some control before opening his arms for his mothers. His Linked One was right. They could wait the few minutes necessary to greet their parents. 

…

Jaejoong arrived and watched the small groups still milling around from a safe distance. He knew Changmin was becoming capable of sensing him again. He wondered if the other three would too. He sighed. He still felt no telepathic link with Lydia and it made him especially sad not to have one with his son. 

Junsu was laughing with his family, his arms around Sarah. Yunho had his sister hanging on his arm, probably talking non-stop. Yoochun was trying to get his mothers to stop crying. 

Jaejoong watched with curiosity at the way Changmin hurried to greet Junsu and Yunho but immediately returned to where his parents were greeting his Linked One. Jaejoong was surprised at the looks Changmin and Yoochun were exchanging. There was no doubt what the two men were thinking about. Jaejoong’s attention was turned to Yunho again. He looked good. And very happy and relaxed. 

A big group approached and Jaejoong could no longer see Yunho. To his surprise it was his own family greeting Yunho. Jaejoong smiled and approached slowly. 

-Hurry up, Jaejoong. Changmin and Yoochun are seconds away of running to any place where they can be together and Junsu is probably leaving soon as well. If you want to greet them, you have to hurry up.

-Lydia!

-Come on. You have a baby boy to introduce.

…

Yunho felt a tingling in his spine. It was familiar. Very familiar. He lifted his head and searched. Then his face broke into a huge smile. Jaejoong was approaching with Lydia and the baby. He ran to them and hugged the three at the same time. Then, he turned his full attention to the giggling baby.

-Hi, Jun Woo. Nice to meet you. I’m Yunho.

Lydia smiled and allowed Yunho to hold the baby. The tall man gave her a happy grin and then allowed the baby to grab his fingers.

-Aren’t you a strong one?

The others approached as well. Junsu and Sarah cooed at the baby and hugged Jaejoong. Yoochun looked torn at the group. Changmin sighed and grabbed his arm.

-Come on. You should meet Jun Woo. Hey, Yunho. Don’t keep the kid all to yourself.

-But I need to save him from influences like you.

-You wish. Hand him over. 

Behind Changmin, Yoochun hugged Jaejoong. Changmin was aware of Yoochun’s curiosity at the feelings he was surely transmitting. Still, it felt so good to hold the baby. He turned to his Linked One and handed over Jun Woo. Yoochun’s eyes opened in surprise but he smiled at the baby. And suddenly, he understood Changmin.

Jaejoong looked at Yunho, feeling suddenly very shy. He was feeling too self-conscious and didn’t know what to say to his friend and Linked One. 

A gush of wind caught everyone’s attention. Actor, Sailor, Blur, Chami and Mira landed and were singing their joy.

Junsu grabbed Sarah’s hand and raced to Mira, waving at everyone and screaming goodbye.

Lydia opened her arms so Yoochun could return Jun Woo. She smiled indulgently as Yoochun and Changmin looked at each other for a moment before following Junsu’s example. Lydia laughed as Changmin grabbed Yoochun by one arm and they jumped up into Actor and disappeared away. 

Yunho was silently staring at Blur with tears in his eyes. He had missed his dragon so much. 

Lydia nudged Jaejoong.

-Why don’t you go with Yunho fly for a while? I’m keeping to my original plan and visit my parents. They are a much quieter help with Jun Woo than your sisters. Have fun.

She kissed Jaejoong’s lips, waited while he hugged Jun Woo, nudged him again in Yunho’s direction and went to Chami.

Jaejoong waited, just staring at Yunho’s profile. It was good to have Yunho back. It felt… right. He looked around, finally noticing that everyone had disappeared. They were the only ones still left.

-Don’t just stand there staring at Blur like you never saw him before. How about a race?

Yunho turned to Jaejoong with some surprise still evident in his face before it changed into a pleased smile.

-You’re on. Just don’t be upset when you lose.

-As if I'll lose. You wish.

The two dragons happily took to the clouds with their riders.

…