Dragon Little and Dragon Father had had one of their perfect adventures.
They had chased the villains, split up, were first fooled by the villain’s plan, then fooled the villain and caught him.
This all took place on the side of a huge mountain full of tiny, poor apartments with steel roofs that are easy to jump on, and the chases on the rooftops were magnificent to behold from my high vantage point, and certainly magnificent to participate in if to judge by Dragon Father’s and Dragon Little’s faces.
Dragon Father had not disappeared too early, as he had over the last couple of weeks. He remained long enough to return with Dragon Little to Bonny’s Revenge and let Dragon Little put the villain in the Infinite Prison.
They watched the two suns, Dragon Father sitting on the edge of the plank and dragon Little sitting on his legs.
Suddenly, she grabbed his arm, hugged it and said something I have never heard her say to her father.
“You’re a hero, Dad!”
Dragon Father was surprised and seemed shocked by what she said.
“What? What did you say?”
“You’re a hero, Dad!” She hugged him tighter. She was only four and a half years old at the time, halfway between a toddler and a kid.
Dragon Father looked sideways, appearing completely embarrassed, his face growing red. “Joy, I--”
“You’re my hero!” She hugged him tighter still.
Dragon Father suddenly cried. It was a short cry - just a couple of seconds. It came out of him and he stopped it immediately.
She looked up at him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” his head bobbed up and down at a higher speed than normal for his nods. “Joy, I… Thank you. I don’t think that’s true. But thank you. You just filled me with so much warmth that I… You know,” he looked down at her and hugged her. “You’re my heroine, too! You’re a real heroine!”
They looked at the sun, hugging. Then Dragon Little said simply and innocently, “I know.”
—Told by The Red Dragon