A couple of days had passed since the events of Elwynn's costume party, and Selena had started acting rather strangely... For Selena. She seemed subdued, a guilty weight seemed to be in her shoulders and neck as she went about her business, when she did: She'd also become very private and self-isolating, nowhere was she more so than with her siblings, retreating or finding an excuse to leave the room whenever they neared. Her head drooped and her eyes were dim. Something was wrong, and Elwynn and Alexandria were worried.

"I just don't get it." Alexandria spoke to her brother, over tea and a plate of nibbles delivered to them by a palace servant. "She won't even look at us, Elwynn. I'm really worried. What could we have done? Why is she avoiding us?"
"She seems upset." Elwynn responded, casually chewing on some peanuts, which he'd taken from a bowl. "She's been like it ever since she woke up from that dream she had."
"The Oz one?"
"She told you about it?" Elwynn blinked.
"I cornered her yesterday, and I told her about mine, and begged her to tell me about hers..." Alexandria explained, taking a moment to fill Elwynn in on Selena's adventures in her dream.

"...and that was it." She told her brother: "...But she never finished. She found an excuse to go before she got to the end of the story."
"So she was Dorothy?" Elwynn nodded. "And that was why she was clawing her feet? She didn't want the Ruby Slippers, or to be dressed in a blue and white dress with little bows on it?"
"Yeah, the shoes were stuck on her hind paws. Nothing she did would make them come off, and they apparently shocked anyone who tried to get them off."
"Hmmm, kinky." Elwynn smirked, stopping once he saw Alex scowl "Alright alright! Still... She wouldn't be like that because of magic shoes being clingy though, right?"
"No... There was something else. She said I was in the dream. I was Glinda, which is awesome."
"Oh, really? What about me?"
"You were the Wizard of Oz... Though she beat you up and scared you off she said..." Alexandria blushed. "That got her to smile, for a moment, but then she was sad again."
"So, people she knew were all characters in her dream?" Elwynn spoke. "Who was the Wicked Witch?"
"The green one? She wouldn't say. It was when I asked that she ran off..." Alexandria paused. "Maybe that's it? She said the dream she had wasn't the same as the story... Maybe the witch won? She'd been caught, she got stung by the Jitterbug, and was captured... Maybe being magically forced to dance, captured and threatened by the witch must have really shook her up?" She gasped. "What if she hurt her? Or Toto?! Oh, poor Selena, she must have been really scared!"
"No, no, I don't believe that. Selena's tough, she wouldn't have given in like that. But I do agree... Something must have shook her up quite a bit." He sighed. "We need help with this, Alex."
"I know, but mum and dad are in London."
"So, we need somebody!" Elwynn snorted. "Screw politics. That's what mum would say if she knew about this!" He groaned. "What about Eve? Eve's awesome, she'll know what to do!"
"Agreed." Alex nodded. "I'll call Eve, you call Ddraig. One of them will be able to help out."
"Deal." Elwynn concluded. "But, one thing... What DID you dream about? I... I was Oberyn Martel from Game of Thrones... Hehe, that brothel..."
"Oh, brother..." Alex gagged.
"Fine, what about you?"
"Me? Oh, I was Asian, and I was living in Indomalya with Liang. I had this lovely, white dress, like mum had to wear to London, and Liang walked with me through these lovely gardens, and we wrote poetry together in this pavilion next to a pond filled with large, colourful fish." She sighed happily, blissfully wandering off into a fantasy.
"You done?" Elwynn deadpanned.
"Yes, I'm good, let's go." Alex blushed, and they went their separate ways.

Both Eve and Ddraig responded to Elwynn's and Alexandria's calls, promising to get home as soon as they could. Ddraigtanto and Alexander where in London, at a political summit with Conservative prime minister, Sir Richard Hope Francis; probably a thoroughly enjoyable and pleasant man in some alternative universe, but in this universe, Ddraig would rather beliterally anywhere else. Eve however was living in Warfang with Olivia as guardians, they were much closer to home, which is why they were the first to arrive.

Selena had retreated to her bedroom, as she'd done for the past two days. She was packing a bag, for she wouldn't be staying in Avalaria much longer: It was the 23rd Century, and Selena was in charge of Avalar's off-world colonial ventures, namely a lunar base turned colony. She stood in the mirror, looking at herself in her grey uniform. She was effectively the governess of the lunar colonies, and wasn't due to return for a week. She felt awful around her family however, she couldn't bring herself to stay, not with the knowledge of how bad she'd been to them all.

There was suddenly a knock on her door.
"Who's there?" She called out.
"It's me." Came Eve's voice from behind the door, a gentle, calm voice which Selena couldn't help find comforting. "Can I come in please?"
"I, I'm busy..." Selena stammered, her voice faltering.
"Aww, but I came all this way to see you." Eve purred. "Are you sure you can't spare a minute for your big sister?"
Selena gulped slightly, taking a moment, and opening the door. "Alright, come on in." She stepped back, inviting her older sister inside. Eve was already in her early 20s by the time Selena was born, and Selena always respected her; now, in her mid-40s, Eve had turned from a rather insecure, shy teenager and young adult, into a very capable adult. She'd been through the ups and downs herself, and had taken on much of her mother's wisdom.
"Hmmm, are you really going so soon?" Eve asked, looking at Selena's uniform as she sat down on the bed. "I was told you didn't have to go back to New Warfang for a good while yet."
"Oh... Erm, I was called back." Selena said. "I'm needed back at the colonies."
Eve smirked. "Really? What for?"
"Just, stuff. Colony stuff, probably to do with the ozone generators, or a problem with a lack of nutrients in the dirt, I don't know."
However, Eve simply scoffed. "Selena, if I've learned anything from being a part of this family, the good Ixeniejirs and di Avalarias are terrible at lying."
Selena looked away. "I'm not a good di Avalaria." She spoke after a while. "I'm easily the worst. Even Elwynn isn't a total bitch to all of his family."
"And you're a total bitch?" Eve asked, and Selena nodded. "Hm, they've really lowered the bar for what constitutes as a total bitch from when I was young like you. For starters, total bitches usually didn't give a damn about other people, nor did they care if they were being bitchy or not."
Selena went silent. "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw what I did in my dreams not long ago..." She stammered. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't. You'll all hate me."
Eve smiled. "Nobody could ever hate you. Not really..."

Selena, while she loved her elder sister for her kind words, was not convinced, and was no more convinced once Eve finally left, exchanging hugs and then parting, leaving Selena to continue with her packing. Eve had insisted Selena promise to say goodbye to Ddraig once she arrived in Avalar. Truthfully, this was a promise Selena did not intend to keep, she wished to be on the next shuttle to the moon before her mother and father returned from England.

However, Selena had forgotten one important characteristic about Ddraig: She was a mother first, and an empress second...

Night fell on Avalaria as Selena finished her packing, and began to collect her bags to leave. The moon hung high in the darkened sky, a faint, tiny spec of lights glittered on the Lunar surface: New Warfang. Now, people could look up at the moon at night, and know that, on its surface, their fellow men were looking back. A knot formed in Selena's stomach at the thought while she walked down a quiet corridor of the Palace of Avalaria: She'd always been excited by the idea of space travel, ever since she was a little hatchling watching science fiction shows on the television. Now, in the 23rd Century, she lived it, but she'd put herself into something of a self-exile in the process. She never really cared once the initial homesickness wore off, but now however, she felt like she deserved it. She paused slightly, looking out a window, up to the moon in the sky.

"Selena?" The dragoness jumped out of her skin at the mention of her name. She spun around, seeing Ddraig standing in the corridor nearby. She looked positively angelic in Selena's eyes, even as she entered her 60s: She wore a flowing, white dress of silk, trimmed with faint purple linings and embroiled with flowers. Her head and her wings, wrists and tail were adorned with silver: a delicate wreath of folded silver and amethysts hung from her head as a crown, and a similarly made necklace hung around her neck. Her eyes were bright and warm, as though the creeping hands of age were themselves too shy to approach her, and could naught but bow in her wake.

...At least, that was how Selena saw her. Sure, Ddraig had a few wrinkles under her eyes, and she wasn't so quick on her feet anymore, but she was her mother, none of that mattered in the face of it all.

Selena felt a lump deep in her throat as the empress, her mother, came to sit next to her by the window. It was then Selena noticed that Ddraig had a small cage with her, covered in a blanket, which she set down beside her.
"Mother..." Selena spoke, her voice shaky. "I, I thought you were in London?"
She chuckled. "Oh, I was. I could be talking with the Prime-Minister of England, and I could listen to him go on and on. But then I heard one of my daughters was having a rough time. You tell me, where do you think I'd rather be? What is more important to me? The Kingdom of England and its dull, boring old PM, or my daughter, a daughter planning on flying off back to The Moon before I get a chance to say goodbye?" She smiled. "I'd tell a thousand English prime-ministers to go away in no civilized words before I allowed my daughter to leave the planet without me being there to wave her off."
"You, you didn't actually..."
"Oh, gods, no!" Ddraig chuckled. "Your father's more sensible than to allow me to do that. I wanted to. Elwynn called for me, and when one of my aides, Alice I think it was, came to tell me what happened, I was in a meeting. I was perfectly happy to get up and walk out, so I did. It was your father who suggested I at least wait until we'd finished, then I bailed on the summit as soon as it was done." She paused. "I asked your father to go make us some tea and a cheese platter. I wanted to speak to you in private first... Something is making you unhappy. Please tell me what, I want to help."
"You, you can't... It's my fault..." Selena stammered. "I, I've done horrible things to you, and my family, both in dreams and reality." She stammered.
"Oh, yes, this Oz dream of yours?" Ddraig spoke. "I recall Elwynn saying that Alexandria was quite jealous. She loves the wizard of Oz... But, there was something else, wasn't there? Please tell me. It's a dream, it's not real. I won't be angry."
There was something to how Ddraig spoke, this motherly warmth, which disarmed Selena, and loosened her tongue, and her tear glands in good time. "...Well, erm..." She gulped. "...Everyone in the dream was my family, or friends. Alex was Glinda, Elwynn was the wizard... Dad was the tin man..." She faltered. "But, I was really horrible to all of them. But..." She faltered again. "...You were in it too..."
"Oh?"
"Yeah..." Selena croaked, feeling her eyes go wet. "...You were the Wicked Witch of the West. You hated me, you wanted to kill me, but... But I killed you first..." Her sniffed, wiping her eyes. "But I didn't know!" She quickly added, in tears. "I didn't! You wore makeup to make your scales green, and, and you wore a big hat! I only did it to prove I wasn't a wicked witch myself, a-and to become queen of Oz! I, I didn't know, I didn't!"
Ddraig took Selena's paw in her own, the affection did nothing by provoke Selena to cry even more. "Well, as I said, it's just a dream."
"But it wasn't! Was it!?" She sobbed. "I've been being horrible to everyone long before that dream. I've been so desperate to be a queen, and so jealous of my siblings, and, and resentful..." She lost her words again, speech was hard as she gasped for air between sobs. "...I'm so sorry. I've been an unworthy princess, and a terrible daughter."

Ddraig said nothing, she pulled her daughter into a hug, tightly wrapping her wings around her, and letting her cry; it was a side to Selena she'd not seen in a long time.

She allowed Selena to cry and let it all out, before she whispered softly into her ear.
"Shh, my dear, it's alright. I told you I wouldn't get angry about it." With her forepaw, Ddraig stroked the back of Selena's neck, holding her close. "I should've seen the signs that something was making you unhappy long before now. I'm sorry." Ddraig pulled back slightly, but remained in the hug. "Well, no more. You're old enough, and it isn't fair that all your siblings hold titles while you don't. I know I gave you a duchy which you rejected, but I know that was partly my fault. You were young, and I interfered too much. I might as well have never even bothered." She sighed. "If I had the land to spare I would've given you a crown already. Still, you have your Lunar colonies. We could make those into a kingdom of their own, and name you queen, if you like?"
However, Selena shook her head. "No, not yet..." She responded. "I, I'm not ready. That much I know for certain. I want to feel like I actually deserve it first, I want to earn a crown, not just be given one."
Ddraig smile faded slightly. "Oh. Are you sure?" Selena nodded. "If you're sure. I still feel you deserve it though. Though, that reminds me..." Suddenly, she turned to the covered cage she'd brought with her. "...I have something I'd like to give you. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for a while, seeing as everyone's flying the nest. However, I feel your need is greater than mine..."

Ddraig removed the cover from the cage; opening it, out came something which took Selena by surprise: A black wyvern, no older than a baby, crawled out, squeaking and curiously looking around with her big, grey eyes. It looked like Toto, from her dream, but it couldn't be, could it? Still, their eyes met, and suddenly, something just clicked, like meeting an old friend. The wyvern squeaked again, crawling over to Selena with its wings and legs, before sitting next to her, rubbing her head against the dragoness' foreleg. Selena couldn't help but look down, a smile spreading across her face like a wildfire.
"Oh, wow." Selena spoke, slightly giddy. "She's amazing! Wherever did you find her?"
Ddraig smirked. "A London pet shop, would you believe? I saw her, sitting in a cage in the window, and something just stirred. She's such a fine wyvern, a good, strong, healthy one, and the shop owner said she had quite a nice temperament. It seemed like a good opportunity, and ancestors know that if I didn't get her, someone else would. I must say, she's certainly taken a liking to you."
Selena was grinning like a schoolgirl, she couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy about something. "She's perfect." Was her response.
"The shopkeep has her called Toto in England." She pulled out a large sheet of paper. "See here, her Hatchery Club birth certificate. You'll want to hold onto that."
"You're joking, right?" Selena scoffed. "After what I just told you, that's what she's called?"
"I know, I know. The coincidence is not lost on me either." Ddraig responded.

At that moment, Alexander returned, and Ddraig filled him in on what had happened. The green dragon winced, setting down the food and drink he'd made and going over to give his daughter a hug himself: In politics, he was a stiff, formal dragon, but the reality was that it was just a mask, he loved his children, and to see them hurting weighed heavy on him.
"Selena, my child." He spoke. "You shouldn't run off back to the moon this early. I dare say it's not even possible! The shuttle isn't due to return until then, and it's not something one can rush. Oh please, dear, stay home with us for a while. We see so little of you."
"Probably for the best." Selena sniffed. "I know I can be moody and difficult a lot of the time."
"Oh, we've never met anyone like that before." Ddraig smirked, exchanging glances with her husband. "Have we, Alexander?"
He rolled his eyes. "Oh, no. Indeed we have not." He spoke in playful sarcasm, before returning to Selena. "Of course we jest, Selena. Nobody is perfect. You have a lot of your mother in you."
"Yeah." Ddraig nodded. "I can be a bit moody at times, we all know that."
Alexander draped a wing over his wife, adding. "But, there's nobody else I'd rather be with. The same goes with you. You're my daughter, you're family, and I wouldn't give you up for anything."
"Indeed." Ddraig finalized with a smile. "We can all be a bit difficult sometimes, but that's part of being family. There's nothing you could do which could ever really stop us from loving you."

Selena's mind was not set entirely to rest from her talk with her parents, but it helped. She agreed that she should remain at home until the shuttle arrived: This would've been a problem for her even if she'd refused, Selena rationalized; it would be better for her to wait in her family home, in her own bed, surrounded by loved ones, rather than alone in a spaceport hotel.

Selena, in the meantime, chose to stay at home with her family, as well as finding a suitable name for her new pet. As 'Toto' was already placed on the birth certificate for an ID name, she was tempted to go for that, but the temptation to put her own flare into the wyvern (who was clearly leaps and bounds beyond dog in her eyes).
She began thinking of names, and immediately took inspiration from Space. Apollo, perhaps? No, it didn't suit her. She looked into the names of the bodies of the solar system. She considered a great number of them, from Venus to Cares, but no! None of them fit! It drove her to madness, but, as she continued to think on spacecraft and historical space programs, it suddenly hit her: Sputnik, in Russian it meant "Fellow Traveller of Earth", a companion in her adventures, which is exactly what this wyvern had been to her. Plus, it could be shortened into an even more fitting name, Nikki. Nikki, yes. That would do nicely. The wyvern herself seemed to like the new name, and so it was settled: She would be called Nikki. Now Selena just had to arrange it, and find her pet a nice new collar.

The days before Selena was due to return to her lunar colonies went by very nicely. Her family refused to allow her to hide away, and suddenly Nikki became the excuse to keep her close to her family: They would help her get supplies for the pet, and teach her how to look after a wyvern. Nikki herself wasn't a young hatchling, and had picked up some good habits from when she was in the care of the store owner from London. It wasn't perfect, but Nikki learned quickly.

On the day before Selena was due to head off to The Moon, however, her siblings and mother were a little busy with certain matters for most of the day. Alexandria had been curious about Selena's tendency to go about her day in a bipedal form, rather than as an ordinary dragoness. It was something which had not gone under Selena's radar herself: She simply seemed to find it easier to do her work when she didn't have to walk about on all fours; she'd also come to find a great enjoyment for clothes as well, though she refused to admit it to her family, and instead remained in her work uniform (she was very proud of her job, so this was not an issue for her).

Nevertheless, the day eventually came for Selena to leave, and so Ddraig, Alexander and the rest of Selena's family accompanied her to the launch pad to see her off. Ddraig was very keen to help her with her luggage, despite her packing quite lightly, and took it herself to the loading bays before coming to say goodbye.

"Oh, my dear child." Ddraig spoke to Selena, hugging her tightly with her wings. "I'm going to miss you so much. Please call me, or strike up a video chat with us at some point. I hate how we see so little of you when you're in New Warfang. You will keep in touch, and let us know when you get home safe, right?" She asked.
"I will, mother, don't worry." Selena replied, smiling weakly as Ddraig continued to hold her. "I've never had problems in managing a ship though. It's one of the few things I'm good at, there'll be no problems there I assure you."
"It's natural for parents to worry about their loved ones." her father said. "And Ddraig?" He chuckles. "She worries more than most."
"Only because I care." The mother dragon retorted. "Perhaps I'm being irrational, Selena is a magnificent captain of starships. But she's my daughter, I'll worry about her for just about everything. I'm her mother, I'm allowed. If Selena ever has kids, she'll feel the same way, I assure you."
Selena couldn't help but blush at her mother mentioning the topic of her becoming a parent someday: It never crossed her mind, mainly because she wasn't interested in having kids (she was far too busy with work as far as she was concerned). "Mum, please, I'll be fine. Really."
"We'll have to come up and visit you sometime." Elwynn spoke, entering the conversation with his characteristic grin. "Won't we Alex?"
"Yes of course." Alexandria added. "I'll bring Liang, he'd love to see New Warfang." She ran up and hugged her sister. "Ooooh, I'll miss you so much! I'm already welling up about you going!"
Selena smiled, Alexandria was her twin: They might have had their disagreements, but they'd always been close, and she'd definitely miss her too. She'd miss them all in truth, even though she didn't always see eye to eye with her family, she'd realized just how much she valued having them on her mind. As Nikki chirping, sitting atop Selena's shoulder, she turned to see that it was time to board. She sighed, exchanging one last goodbye with her family, and went to join her crew.

The world's spacefaring efforts on this level was only in its infancy, the only a few countries had any real presence in space, and Avalar as one of them. Avalar's interests in the other worlds and moons of the solar system lay in terraforming and colonization; one too many famines, coupled with increasing overcrowding, had made the Avalarian Empire look skyward. This led in time to the foundations of what was now New Warfang.

Avalar didn't have a lot of ships in space. Only two had any real military intent, the HMS Avalaria (a ship Selena captained herself) and the HMS Varinia. Everything else was either colony ships, shuttling people between Earth and The Moon, and mail carriers. One such mail carrier was traveling with the HMS Avalaria and flew past at a far greater speed than the bigger, heavier Avalaria could muster. By modern standards, a flight from Earth to The Moon would not take a very long time; even in the 1960s, it only took a few days for a manned flight to arrive. For them, it was practically a plane flight. It'd take just as long to fly from Warfang to New York. However, that still left roughly 12 hours of travel...

It was the equivalent of morning on The Moon when Selena and her crew finally arrived. She'd slept well on the ship the night prior, and was in slightly better spirits. Andreas, one of her friends and colleagues on the HMS Avalaria, had kept her company; even when she was at her grumpiest, Andreas always seemed to be able to make her feel a little better. She liked him, and she trusted him, that's why she'd given him a spare key to her New Warfang home in the event that she lost her own. They were on leave for now; Andreas was a passionate engineer and all-round tinkerer: He wanted to go look for some machine parts for a project he was working on, but promised to come see how Selena was settling down in New Warfang later on. This was fine to Selena, she had to see to some tasks as governor of the colony as well, and wanted some time to herself anyway...

Selena might have been a princess, but her New Warfang home, while modern, was no grand estate. She lived in an apartment in the colonial HQ building; a modern, clean, very orderly flat inside a very opulent, art-deco skyscraper of glass, stone and vast, ornate statues. She had quite a fine view of the colony from her home, and some wonderful skylights to see the perpetual blanket of starry darkness, and the vast Earth which hung in the night sky.

"Alright, little guy." Selena spoke to Nikki, who had perched on her arm, chirping happily. "Home, sweet home." She pushed open the door to her apartment, letting the wyvern fly off and explore her surroundings. The flat was a world away from Ddraigtanto's palace in Avalaria: It was sparsely furnished, and everything was new, sleek and modern, and yet coldly so. Selena had a fine house, but she'd made no efforts to make it into a home. She sighed, perhaps Nikki might help with that once she'd set down a bed and some food bowls for her. She scooped up a remote control with her hand as she entered the room, turning on a stereo to play music; Selena had inherited her mother's love of music, but unlike Alexandria, Selena found her preferences lay in various genres of rock music, 20th Century to be specific, the older the better.

Nikki, meanwhile, continued to explore the living room, making curious squeaks every now and then while a bipedal Selena flopped onto her sofa, kicking off her work shoes, tossing aside the coat of her uniform and loosening her tie, listening to the music and trying to relax after what had been, despite the best efforts of her family, quite a stressful week.
She would've stayed there for hours, perhaps have a nap to some of her more mellow stuff. However, her enjoyment was quickly interrupted, the sound of Nikki clambering on the floor against Selena's bedroom door and chirping distracted her, and dragged her out of her relaxation. She sat up, sighing, and going over to Nikki.
"Oh, you want to see the bedroom, do you?" She asked, causing Nikki to utter another loud peep in response. "Oh, alright." She opened the door, and Nikki quickly flew inside. Selena followed after her, watching as Nikki landed on the bed, squeaked happily and cured up atop it, taking a quick nap.

It was at that moment that Selena spotted something odd: Upon her bed, next to her luggage which the doorman had brought up for her, was a parcel addressed to her. This took her aback, she'd heard plenty of horror stories of mysterious packages appearing in people's homes, containing cursed items people only learned the malevolent nature of once it was too late. However, this did not stop her from at least looking at the contents before throwing it out if it seemed untoward.
She opened the box to discover its contents, a letter, a smaller box, and clothes, familiar looking clothes. Selena frowned, picking up the letter, and reading it aloud.

Dear Selena,

We really enjoyed spending time with you again back here on Earth. We're really sorry you've been so unhappy for so long, and that you've had a rough time of it as a result of your dream at Elwynn's party. Your siblings decided, the day before you were due to leave, to come to me and suggest getting you a farewell present. They took a trip to the Cavalier and Canter and commissioned The Tailor to make the outfit you'd told them about in your dream. They tell me that TT was extremely excited about the possibility of making a pair of the Ruby Slippers, and the final product looks wonderful I must say.

Selena paused reading once she got to that line. Rummaging through the box, she found them: Glittering under her bedroom light, a pair of beautiful red slipper shoes, the Ruby Slippers to anyone who laid eyes upon them. Selena felt her heart skip a beat slightly, remember the trouble they brought her, but at the same time, they were soft and comfortable to the touch.

TT has put all of the enchantments and magic upon them that you'd mentioned from your dream, but don't worry, one such piece of magic, the part which kept them stuck to your feet, has been omitted. She'd have no part in that kind of magic. We wanted to surprise you for when you got home, because you're my daughter, and me and your siblings love you dearly, no matter what.

With love,

Mum.

PS: I know you've said that you do not feel that you deserve a kingdom of your own. However, for when you do become a queen, you'll need a crown. It's not a matter of if but when, I know it! And so, I've had TT make a gift for you myself. Check the jewellery box! Xxx.

With the note, Selena's sense of worry for what the box contained quickly faded. She emptied out the box and checked over its contents. Everything from the dream was here: The Ruby Slippers, the green blouse, the white trousers, a green velvet cloak, underwear, socks, and that box. She took the box in her hands, opening it to reveal her mother's gift: A silver necklace, lined with emeralds, silver bracelets, and a silver crown, with emeralds set into its face; all masterfully crafted by TT in her jewellery forge, the work of a master goldsmith and tailor. She felt tears well in her eyes again, happy tears this time. She took a moment to revel in the happiness of the moment, after that, she decided she wanted to try on her new clothes.

She stripped nude, dragons had no need of underwear, save for added warmth, but underwear made by The Tailor was far superior quality to that which she normally wore, and they felt as such when she tried them on. Both the underwear and the socks were wonderfully, almost magically comfortable. The same could be said for her trousers and blouse, and then the shoes. She set them on the floor, slightly nervously, she slid her feet into the shoes... She stood there, wriggling her toes inside, if anything they were more comfortable than the shoes from her dream, they were a perfect fit, and some of the most wonderful shoes she'd ever worn! They clung to her feet, but slid off as easily as they went on when she tried; they were definitely not stuck on.

A sense of vanity overtook her for a moment. Striding over to a tall mirror, she couldn't help but pose her in outfit, sporting the necklace and bracelets in her attire.
It was strange for her: She'd never cared much for her appearance, save for keeping her starship captain uniform in good order, but these felt different; perhaps it was because they were a gift from loved ones she'd come to have a new appreciation for, perhaps it was because she'd had this outfit in a dream. Either way, she loved it, and would wear it every day from now one if she could.

At that moment, her doorbell rang. She sighed happily, before walking over and answering it, finding Andreas standing waiting.
"Captain Selena, I..." He paused. "...Wow." He gasped. "I know you'd taken to going about as a biped, but... You look amazing!"
She smiled. "Thanks Andreas, and you don't need to call me 'Captain' either. What did you come to see me for?"
"I told you, I'd come to see how you were settling in... I'm sorry, I'm a bit..." He blushed. "...A bit distracted. Those shoes look really good on you."
"You think?"
"Yeah. I didn't think you'd wear something like that. I'm really glad you gave it a go."
"Well, I suppose you could say I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pull off shoes like these." She shrugged. "I've always been a bit of a tomboy, I suppose."
They exchanged a brief chuckle at the thought, leaving Andreas smiling. "Say..." He spoke at last. "Forgive me if this is a bit awkward, but... I was rather hoping to ask if I could buy you a coffee sometime? I mean, we're both off duty, and... Well..."
Selena grinned, enjoying Andreas with his blushing cheeks and sudden meekness. "I'd like that." She answered.
"Great, great!" The yellow electricity dragon chirped. "Do you mean now, or perhaps some other time?"
"Hmmm, I can probably do now, I have to make a call first though, do come in. Do you mind waiting a little bit?"
"For you? I don't mind waiting at all."

And so, Andreas came inside and was invited to Selena's sofa. As for Selena, she loved the company of Andreas, her best friend. But first, she had to make a video call to her family back on Earth, she owed them a thank you, for everything...

The End.