(Ember POV)

When I woke up, the first thing that I thought was how dark the afterlife was. It took me a while to realize that I was still alive, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I quickly noticed that my wing wasn't in excruciating pain anymore, but I also noticed that I couldn't seem to move it. When I tried to forcefully outstretch it, suddenly,

"STOP!"

I looked up, startled, and noticed the hyuman holding his hand straight out and eyes wide. He then started rambling on about the damage that my body had gone through, and that moving my wing could cause permanent damage. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so I laid my wing down on the damp cave floor without any resistance.

He looked surprised when he saw this. "Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be able to understand you?" I questioned, confused.

"Alright, I don't understand you so if you understand me, I'd appreciate it if you could blink once or thump your tail on the ground, or something similar."

A lot of thoughts quickly ran through my head, but the predominant one was 'How interesting'

I complied and blinked, long and slow. He started to say something to me, but then he froze and seemed to be looking at nothing. After a little while, he started talking to himself happily about his dreams coming true or something. It was all very confusing, to be honest. However, what I can say is that the smile that was plastered on his face while he was talking was mesmerizing. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. He was so intriguing, and since I couldn't fly anyway due to my wing getting fucked up, I might as well satiate this curiosity.

I felt a growing urge to see how far this curiosity would go, so I started slowly moving towards him. When I got close though, my rationality started deteriorating quickly. He smelled amazing, like every smell that I'd ever been fond of put together. I couldn't help myself and started rubbing my face on his leg and getting more of that wonderful scent.

When he put his hand on my head, I was so startled that I jumped away from him and sat, looking at him. I noticed a deep red hue forming on his face and he looked quite embarrassed. My heart started beating quicker, but I attested that to how startled I was from his hand.

"What's wrong?" He then quickly asked. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

I hesitated for a little, and then looked at him incessantly. If he really doesn't understand me, how am I supposed to respond to a question like that? He caught on quick, however, and this pleased me.

"Oh, duh!" He facepalmed at his stupidity. "Why don't you shake your head left to right when the answer is no and up and down when it is yes," he suggested. 

I nodded, feeling a little bit foolish in the process, but he looked satisfied, and I felt like I did ok.

"Well then, is there anything wrong? Are you in pain? Do you need anything?"

I shook my head, not willing to admit anything.

"You know, I can't help you if you don't help me help you."

I walked to him, taking my time, as I didn't want to lose control again. He started checking my body, seemingly making sure all of my injuries were fine. It's funny because I would never let anyone, not even my mother touch me like this. It is a very sensitive and rare thing for dragons to let themselves be touched, even by their own kind. And yet, here I was, feeling bliss like I had never felt before. Truly fascinating.

"You seem to be fine, other than an increased heart rate, but that could be nothing. I'll continue to check your condition until you are ready to leave if that's alright."

I nodded and rolled back onto my stomach, only slightly sulking when it ended.

"Do you have a name?" 

I tilted my head, not sure if I had heard that right. It could very well be a word humans made up, and I would have no idea what he is talking about if that was the case.

"Oh, you probably don't know what that word means, huh. Well, it's sort of like something people call each other so that they know who you are talking to. For example, my name is Kai. Do you have anyone who calls you something to address you?" he inquired.

After a bit of thinking, I realized how sad it was that for my entire life, nobody had called me anything but girl, child, or something similar. In dragon culture, you only receive a name if you commit an act of great valor, or of great sin. I had never really thought about it before, but now that I'm sitting in front of a seemingly free creature with a name of their own, it made me quite sad. I ended up shaking my head in response.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by asking," he replied, looking like he felt guilty. "Well, I'll need to call you something, I don't like the feeling of just saying you, or dragon, so do you mind if I give you a name? It doesn't have to be permanent or anything, just one so that I can address you without issues."

After the long thinking session I had just gone through, this sounded fantastic! It is going to feel great not being referred to as an object or a nobody for once. I expressed my feelings by nodding quickly, trying to convey how much I wanted this.

He laughed and said "Alright, alright, geez. Settle down, will ya?" 

After a little while of thinking and peeking not-so-subtle glances at me while doing so, he spoke.

"How does Ember sound?"

Those four words. I will never, for the rest of my long, long life forget those four words. As soon as he said it I felt something foreign bubbling up inside of me. I could tell my heart was going crazy, beating faster than it had ever beaten before, but that was past my concern. I looked at him for what felt like an eternity, noticing so many things I hadn't noticed before. He was just, so beautiful.

In my twenty-something years of living, my mother brought many dragon boys to the mountain as potential mates, According to her, all of them were considered very good looking and handsome, but at this exact moment, despite knowing we were two completely different species, despite knowing I had only been with him for less than 3 days, I wanted him. 

It was overpowering, but I fought the desires accumulating at an alarming pace inside of me off with all of my willpower. The only thing that kept me back was remembering the various tips my mom used to give me on how females were supposed to get a male to want to be their mate. For some reason, I really wanted the hyuman, no, Kai, to like me as much as I like him.

I felt my mind getting lost in chaotic bliss as I jumped at him and got on top of him, doing who knows what. I only held myself back enough to where it just seemed like I was being overly affectionate, after all, in all the stories my mother told me regarding hyumans and dragons, they were always afraid of us, and I couldn't let that happen. 

'If he feared me, he would leave. No, no, what am I thinking? My Kai would never leave me.'

The last thing I remember thinking before fully losing myself in the wonderful bliss was: 

'Nobody is ever going to take my Kai from me'

(AN: the possessiveness is actually normal for dragons, at least in this world. They are naturally very protective/territorial of the things that they care about like gold for example)