Disclaimer: I don't own American Dragon; Jake Long!

Title: Rain Will Fall

Summary: The first transformations are always the hardest.

Warnings: The beginning might be a bit choppy.

...

werepirechick- I actually talk about that this chapter a bit! =) It's a lot like that. They're still human, at least a little, considering their father, but the dragon in them is so much more prominent genetics-wise.

Anon- Thanks! =)

Guest (June 23)- Thank you! I appreciate it. =)

MsMusicLover- I loved the idea of 'were-lizard's', honestly. I can just see Jake going 'did I get bitten by a lizard at some point and just not know it, what the heck?'

...

It was burning hot out.

At least, it felt like it was. Pulling at the stuffy sweater collar, Haley Long wondered how the teachers could be legally allowed to enforce the dress code on a day like today. Even more amazing was that her older, and taller (heat travels upwards), brother had waltzed out the front door in a long-sleeved jacket and could still say it was cold out.

She really wondered about him sometimes.

And, to top it all off, they'd gone on a field trip. Sure, her school took them on field trips all the time, but they never went to places like a forest. Or stayed in the country. It was a private school for a reason, people! Couldn't they... spiff it up or something? Maybe go to an art museum somewhere instead of some random forest to 'study wildlife in it's natural environment'?

Pushing her way through some brambles, she imagined a thermometer rising all the way to the top and bursting open- the way they do in cartoons. She wasn't sure what the highest recorded temperature due to naturally occurring weather was, but she was sure that this beat it. By a landslide. How could the others march along so easily in this?

Speaking of the others... where were they?

She warily looked around, every movement feeling like a fire cracker popping in her muscles. Her class was nowhere to be seen, and the path was missing from her feet. Had she stumbled off without knowing it?

She collapsed against a tree, panting. The temperature rose another few hundred degrees. If she didn't know better, she'd swear she was on fire.

...

...

Wait.

What was that weird sensation?

Opening her eyes, she shifted her gaze down to her hands. The left one looked alright, but something was wrong with the right one. It was all yellow and red...

It took a second, but it finally clicked. Her hand was on fire. Her right hand was on fire. She was on fire!

"Ahh!" She shrieked, jumping up with new-found energy. She swatted at her hand. "Fire! Fire!" Soon the other one caught fire. The flames spread to her knees, then down; the fire on her hands drew upwards.

She rolled, she swatted, she even threw herself into the nearby stream, but nothing seemed to be working. Her energy spent, she sprawled across the ground as the fire covered her fully, squeezing her eyes shut in her panic.

Wait. Why wasn't it hurting? The fire covered her, but she wasn't feeling any pain or smelling any smoke.

Then she started changing.

Things extended from her back; her nails and teeth sharpened. Her skin gave way to purple scales.

She blacked out.

Waking up a few minutes later, she realized that the fire was out, and her body was starting to cool itself down.

She put a hand to her head. "Ugh, what happened?" She looked at her hand; purple scales and sharp claws. "Huh?"

Struggling to her feet (which didn't look much like feet anymore), she stumbled over to the glass-like stream. Holding her breath, she took a look at herself.

And screamed.

Jake Long was tired.

He always was nowadays. He'd only been in American dragon training for a few weeks now and he already felt beaten into the ground. Training, magical creatures, school, Trixie and Spud, dad, life.

So he slept. Wherever and whenever he got a free second, he went to sleep. He didn't do much else lately, especially on the weekends.

"All he does is sleep." Jonathan grumbled, not unkindly, eyeing the boy currently out-cold on the couch. "Do you think something's wrong?"

"No, no, I doubt it." Susan waved her hands. "I'm sure he's just been busy with his friends."

The phone rang. Susan picked it up. "Hello? Er, yes, this is. Oh. Oh, dear. No, no, I'm sure it's nothing. Thank you for calling. Goodbye."

"What is it?"

"What, that?" She shrugged her shoulders. "The school called. Haley's running a little late."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure she's fine. Jake? Jake, can I speak to you in private?"

Jake stirred, if only a little. "Huh?"

"Us. Talk. Private." Susan grabbed him firmly by the arm and tugged him out of the room.

"Okay, okay." He jerked his arm out of her grip. "What's up?"

"Haley wandered off during the field trip."

Jake felt a twinge of worry despite himself. "Shouldn't we call the police?"

"Normally I'd say yes, but... Jake, it's almost that time. just... go check for me? If you can't find her..." She sighed. "Then we'll risk going to the police."

"Okay." He nodded. "Tell dad I went to hang out with Trixie and Spud, okay?"

She didn't reply. Jake grabbed his jacket and slipped out the door.

"Okay, okay. Don't freak out. It's just scales." Haley paused. "And claws. And wings." She shook herself. "I can handle this. It's no big deal."

But what would her family think? She couldn't just go home like this, could she? Her father would have a heart attack.

And mom... what would mom do?

No. She shook the thought away. She would have to ease them into this slowly. But how?

Haley curled in on herself and kept walking. She'd discovered she could walk on two legs almost immediately after changing, but she was starting to regret not staying still. She was only getting herself more and more lost.

She could say it was a defect, but that wasn't really the truth, was it? You were born with defects. Haley wasn't born like this.

(She didn't think. She'd never seen any baby pictures of herself or Jake, now that she thought about it. She was fairly sure they didn't exist. Curious.)

It certainly couldn't be counted as a disability, but, if not, then what? She couldn't just go up to them like this and say 'surprise' now, could she?

"Come'on, Long. You're smart. You can figure this out."

What would Jake think? It was hard for her to pinpoint him sometimes- he had a habit of switching between immature and surprisingly sensitive at the drop of a hat- but if her own brother freaked out, then what hope did she have for her parents?

That's around the time it started to rain.

"Ugh." Jake grumbled as the first droplets of rain hit his face, shaking them off. "Just great."

He didn't pretend to be a fan of rain. And after all he'd went through in it, who could blame him?

Eventually the rain got too heavy to see through easily, making Jake rely more on his sense of smell and hearing to find his way. He didn't have to look very long, however.

Haley, in a vain attempt to get out of the rain, had ducked under the roots of a tree that had become slightly uprooted from the ground. A wild animal- of the magical variety, considering the spines on its back and pig-like body- was curiously pacing around the hole in search of a place to hide.

Jake landed behind it and swished his tail menacingly. The creature squealed and disappeared into the bushes.

"Haley?" He called, turning back into his- very wet, might he add, with none of his dragon side's scaly protection- human form. "Haley, you in there?"

"Go away!"

"Hey, it's me. Jake. Mom sent me to pick you up."

"I don't care! I'm not coming out!"

"Haley, if you don't hurry up you're gonna get sick and I'm gonna get in trouble for it."

The small body inside shifted around. "I can't go home like this!"

Jake sighed and crouched down, setting his hand on the ground in front of her, palm up. "Haley, look."

He transformed again without another word. Haley couldn't see most of him from her hiding place, but she could see the red claw staring her in the face. "Jake?"

"Yes, Jake. Now get your butt out here."

Haley gingerly crawled out, shivering. "Jake? W-What's going on? Why do you look like-"

"Come'on, Haley." He interrupted with a small smile. "You're smarter than that. Why do you think we look like this?"

She didn't say anything a long moment. "Is it... genetic?"

"Bingo." He bent down and picked her up. "I'll explain on the way."

Haley found herself feeling surprisingly at home in the air- albeit a tad uncomfortable, curled up in Jake's scaly arms. She clung to this feeling as best she could as Jake answered her questions.

"You know, it's kinda funny." He says. "My first transformation was during a rainstorm. Must be a trigger or something."

She took it all in quietly, then forced her eyes open to look up at the figure of her older brother flying rather gracefully through the air. "Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?"

"Gramp's shop. We need to get you back before you start falling into hibernation- or the cops start lookin' for ya'. Whichever happens first."

"Hibernation?" That made sense, she supposed. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Y'know, hibernation." She slurred, yawning. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Oh. Nah. I'll be fine. I know how to control my inner flame. It'd be hard to get me to fall into hibernation now." He paused. "That doesn't mean I don't feel sleepy sometimes in the winter, though. But you'll get used to it."

"I will?"

"I dunno. Probably." Another pause. "You're gonna have to get used to your form switchin' up on ya', by the way. It does that from time to time. Kinda like dragon puberty, only it doesn't happen at a certain age. G says we'll probably end up looking more like the Chinese side of the dragon family by the time we're done. Just a warning."

They flew the rest of the way in silence. Jake landed on the roof of the store without a sound, shifting her so she was covered by one of his wings.

"Fu!" He kicked at the closed door irritably. "Fu, open up!"

Haley blinked, sure she had misheard. "Grandpa's dog?"

"Yup." He flashed her a toothy grin. "It's a long story."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" A voice called. "Seriously, kid, could you make a bigger ruc- oh."

Fu took one look at Jake, tired and soaked to the bone, then Haley, sleepy and bruised, and jerked his thumb behind him. "I'll go get 'em. You start warmin' her up."

Jake grunted his agreement.

Closing the door behind him with his tail, Jake carried her down the steps and into the back room, uncharacteristically silent. He set her down next to the heater and went to move away. Haley weakly clawed at him, feeling the chill much easier now that they were apart. "Wait. I don't wanna be alone like this."

"Yup. Gimme a second."

Jake disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing with a pile of blankets, which he promptly dropped on her. He took a seat next to her, quietly watching her untangle herself enough to wrap the blankets around her shoulders.

"Are you okay?"

"Yup. Why?"

"I don't know." She shrugs. "You're just being really quiet, is all."

He shrugged in turn and leaned back, resting his head against the wall. "'M tired."

"Oh." She shifted guiltily. "Sorry you had to go looking for me."

"Better me than a normal human. It's fine."

Lao Shi appeared soon after. "Oh, dear."

"Granpa?" She whimpered, cold and wet and tired.

"Yes." He gently lifted her out of the blankets. "Don't worry, I will walk you through changing back. We'll have you home to your parents by the morning."

At first the idea of changing back made her feel ecstatic, but the final product, the body she'd felt so comfortable in just hours before, suddenly felt alien. Not unnatural, just... strange. Not quite fitting, but still hers. She shivered, curling in on herself. "I feel cold."

"That's because of your transformation. Dragon's typically run a much higher temperature than humans. You'll learn to control that as you learn to change at will."

Jake shifted back to normal with a sigh. "I'd better go call mom."

"What about dad?" She asks, despite herself.

Jake and their grandfather exchanged a look. "You tell her." The older man says. Jake looked appalled.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"But you're the elder here; ain't it your job to-"

"Jake. You're her brother. If she's going to hear it from someone, it would come best from you." The old man paused. "I will call her for you."

"Ugh, lousy old man." He grumbles once he leaves the room, sinking into his seat. He massaged the bridge of his nose.

Haley found herself feeling surprisingly timid. She wasn't scared of Jake- never had been, never would be-, but... she was scared of whatever it was he was going to say. "Tell me what?"

"Okay... Long story short; mom knows, dad doesn't. Don't tell him. Like, ever. He'd freak."

"But-!" She stopped herself, because it makes sense. Jonathan was a good father, but he had his limits like everyone else. Haley couldn't blame him if he reacted badly to finding out his own children were scaly monsters.

She buried his head in Jake's chest, feeling tears well up. For the first time since she was little, he didn't complain. "It's not fair."

Jake sighed and shook his head, haphazardly wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Nope. It's not. Better get used to it, though. 'Cause that's how it's gotta be."

Author's Note: So... Honest time.

I kinda had the beginning of this written out a long time ago. That's why the writing style might be a bit off. This was originally going to be a oneshot, exploring Haley as she went through her first transformation. But then I lost interest and left it alone... for a year? Yeah. About a year. The paper- hidden away amongst the piles of unfinished stuff I've got on my shelf- was kinda yellow-ish when I dug it out.

I was going to leave it unfinished, but then I came up with Jake's chapter and I thought 'hey, this could be a good two-three chapter thing!' and got to work.

Random Fact Of The Day: The third chapter, which I might write someday (but no promises) was actually just going to be the two of them flying around at night and generally getting on each others nerves.

No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!