Aerie was fully grown, now, her horns long and her body dozens of times the size of her dear mother, who used to curl up around her and snuggle her up tight, who now could sleep on her nose with room to spare.

She stood atop a hill, the wind blowing her mane, the fur growing longer and longer as the weeks passed, turning silver the longer it got. The view was amazing, Pegasus turned orange and red, the lights from above lighting it all up in brilliant shades. It was beautiful.

"Mom?", Aerie asked, turning her head, searching for her parent, "Where are you?"

She picked up the flowers she'd gathered and went to search for her, wanting to present her beloved parent with a small gift. A 'thank you' for the months spent nurturing her. Sharp couldn't give hugs or carry Aerie when she was sick or hurt, but she did her best, and it was all the dragon could ask for.

Such a thing nearly brought tears to her eyes, too.

@Sharp

The day was bright. Bright and gentle.

The forest spilled down the mountain in rolling hues of orange and reds. Golden leaves swept through a fine wind. Dormire flowers waved in the fields. Birdsong and Kooru bellows filled the air. It was like a fairytale paradise, and the pinkish morning cavelight only accentuated it further.

Sharp's spiny head popped out of the grasses, then went down again. Up and down and up. She wasn't going anywhere in particular, simply ambling through the moor without a care in the world. It was nice this way. No worrying over gemstone sales, or fleeing from whatever kaiju battle of the week it was. Just having fun, snapping bugs off the ground and sniffing flowers like she was a kid again.

Aerie was over the horizon, but Sharp could still see her in all her glory. The dragon was massive, now, a delicate titan dozens of times larger than herself. Simply seeing her made her heart swell with pride. Look at her little lizard go! Sure, she may not be able to hug her goodnight, or carry her in her cart each day, but that didn't bother her. Aerie was around, and that was enough.

The dragon's voice called out to her. Sharp's head snapped up, the rear end of an unfortunate wallcrawler sticking out her mouth. "Huh? I'm here! I'm here!" Hopefully her yell was audible over all the chirping. She finished up the last of her snack and scampered over to her child. Which was difficult, given she was 8 inches long and Aerie was on the top of a hill. Still she made it, and peered up her daughter's claws to cheerfully ask: "What'd'ya need?"

© ©

@Aerie

Aerie perked up, her long ears flicking forward like a rabbit's as she scanned the ground, spotting her mother and quickly making her way over. She held the flowers in her mouth and ever so gently set them down, bumping her snout against Sharp's nose.

"Hi mom," she said softly, "I got you these... I got thinking and I was just... I'm just so grateful. For you and all you've done for me."

She lay down and clasped her hands together, claws clinking against each other as she did. She was already getting emotional, tears pricking her eyes, her throat clogging, but she couldn't help it. Everything her mother had done for her was appreciated, and she couldn't be more thankful.

"I miss being able to hug you," she sniffled, "But you try your best to still give me affection and care for me even though it's so hard to even try, a-and I'm just so grateful."

Aerie brushed her head along Sharp's body, tearing up even more, "I love you, mama. So much."

@Sharp

Okay, this was gonna make her choke up.

When Sharp looked up, past the waving wildflowers and up at her daughter's face, all she could think about was how warm she felt when she first brought her into her home. Oh, Aerie was just a little squirt back then-- small, blind, completely prone to the elements and crying out. Sharp was just a young'un, too, a panicked lizard trying to calm this dragonet down and figure out what to do. They both grew so much.

She didn't know how to react. Sharp was not a lizard of many emotions. Primal fear and the joy of making a new sale, mainly. Faced with such adoration from her daughter, and her own feelings, she could barely react.

"W-wow," the lizard stammered, staring at the massive bouquet of flowers. "You picked these all... for me?" this was worth more than any shiny. It was priceless. She sniffed the blooms gingerly, listening to Aerie speak. Oh caves. Oh my. She was-- She felt so--

"Raising you was the best thing I've ever done," Sharp eventually managed, staring up at the dragon with misty eyes. "You were s-so small, and weak, and I was just a dumb little Sharp but I knew I couldn't just leave you there. A-and look at you now! You're stronger than momma! And I just-- I just--"

As Aerie leaned down to brush her, the sungazer reared up at the same time, placing her tiny claws on the wyrm's snout. "I love you too. I love you more than the world."

And right then and there, Sharp cried for the first time.

© ©

@Aerie god this is LATE

”Yeah mama,” she sniffed.

Aerie started to cry too, also for the first time (at least in her adult life, she was a teary little baby). She pressed her snout against Sharp gently and sniffled, lip wobbling.

”Oh mama, don't cry-”, she said, and started to sob softly, bringing a set of crazy sharp talons forward and gently hugging Sharp with them, her ears down and tail coiling around the two, ”The world ain't got nothing on you mom. You're the best out of everything.”

Not only did Sharp raise her but she raised her into a good person. Now all Aerie had to do was figure out her path in life.

”I'll always be your Fuzzy,” she said softly.

Aerie loved her mama with all of her heart. She'd do anything for her, really. And since age wouldn't take either of them, she was lucky enough to have Sharp forever. And wasn't that truly amazing?

@Sharp