I tried my hardest not to whine at the pain my head was in as I slowly opened my eyes. There was a horrible pounding in the back of my head, just below my horns, and it hurt. I could remember having worse headaches, but this was still at least a six, maybe even a seven.

And what had been with that dream? It had been so scary. Like I had been trying to scream at everybody the whole time, but couldn't. My mouth had been tied up, and I couldn't open it, for... for some reason. I had been... gagged? Somebody had ordered me gagged, because I was shouting so much, but... I couldn't remember what I had been shouting. And I couldn't get away, either. I just had to sit there and watch, not even able to throw anything, while all those people said those mean things about me, and made me more and more upset...

No. No, that wasn't right. That hadn't been me. It couldn't have been, could it? It was some human... it was a courtroom, like on those shows Steffie liked to watch, and those were always about humans. When humans caught a bad human and had to decide how to punish them. So that dream... that couldn't have been me; it must have been a dream about being someone else. Somebody in one of Steffie's shows... though I couldn't think of any characters that looked like any of those people. And it had all felt so real, like I had actually been there...

My head hurt so much...

"-knew her nerves would adapt, but I'm worried, especially with her dreams. Even if the gland grew less effective one day, the damage it had already done was supposed to be permanent. But this feels like things are coming back to her. She's fine in the air; it's only on the ground that she's clumsy. Situations with overlapping instincts are causing her problems, but situations that would only have one set of instincts, like flying up in the air, she does perfectly fine in." Steffie's voice drifted up from somewhere beyond the pounding in my head. I tried to lift my head to see where she was, but that turned out to be a bad idea. I slumped back into the grass beneath me as the pounding in my head grew worse.

"I saw. We had no idea they could be so graceful. The videos you sent over have caused us to rethink a lot of our theories. I still can't believe she turned as sharp as she did when she saw the second group of balloons, and I actually watched her do it. The fossils didn't even begin to tell us what these creatures were really like." Jean's voice, from near where Steffie's had been. "She should be okay though. It's been a year. Even if more old connections reform, her brain knows what it's doing now. It won't..." Jean's voice broke as she trailed off.

When she spoke again, it was unsteady. "I can't keep spending time with it like this. Her. It. She always seems so innocent and happy, but any time I look at her, all I can think about is Tiffany being murdered, and everything that I went through. I know it's not her fault, but I still-"

"Good morning, Joy!" Steffie's voice was suddenly loud, interrupting Jean. "Are you okay?" I heard shuffling as somebody walked closer.

I felt Steffie's hand on the back of my head, where the pain was coming from. She rubbed just below my horns, and some of the pain faded. I opened my mouth slowly, hoping that slow movements would keep the headache from getting worse, and tried to talk. "Headache. It's weally bad..."

"Aw, I'm sorry." My vision was still blurry – I think the pain in my head was causing me to cry a little – but I thought I could make out Steffie as one of the blobs moved closer, and I felt her hugging my neck. "Did you have another nightmare? Just try to calm down; you're safe now. I'm here."

I gave a slow nod. I realized my wings were sprawled out around me, and I pulled them back to my sides, hugging myself a little with them. "I tink it was about one of your shows... there were men dressed up in suits, and one had the gavel thing, and there was a perfon talking, but she was saying..." I frowned to myself as I tried to remember what I had been about to say.

What had the witness been saying...?

"...I don't 'memb... but it was scary, and mean. I wanted to talk but something was stuck in my mouth and I couldn't, and I couldn't leave because... because somefing was keeping me there, so I just had to listen, and... and..." My vision started to clear enough to make out Steffie. She was holding me, but she wasn't watching me. She was looking at something on the other side of her – after another second I managed to make out Jean standing in that direction – with her serious, 'see what I mean' expression. "It was scary. I couldn't do anyfing, and everybody was mad at me."

"It's okay. Nobody's mad at you." Steffie's hand stroked down my neck again, then came back to rest just below my horns. The pain in my head started to fade to a five or a four, and I tried to force myself to take slower, deeper breaths. Tremors started to run through my wings and I could feel my body wanting to shake, but I did my best to keep still.

Steffie closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath of her own, and she looked back down at me when she opened them. "I think we've had enough excitement for today, and Jean has a bit of a drive to get back to the lab. This is a good time to stop for the evening. Let's get you cleaned up and get you dinner, and then you can have some more cake for dessert. And then after that we can relax and watch some television. Does that sound like a good way to end your birthday, sweetie?"

The thought of being back in the comfortable surroundings of my den seemed like a really good idea right then – not to mention the thought of more of that yummy cake – and I gave Steffie another slow nod. "I'd like that, please."

"Okay." She rubbed over my neck again, then slowly rose back to her feet. "Say goodbye to Jean, and then we'll go inside."

The pain in my head had become manageable enough, so I pushed myself up into a sitting position and smiled, fanning my wings out as I did. "Goodbye Dok Tor Jean! Thank you for spending my birfday with me! I had lots of fun playing the balloon game wif you." I felt my smile growing wider as I thought back over the day – the change to the balloon game had been frustrating at first, but after that it had been a lot of fun to play the game with Jean and Steffie. And I had been glad that she had gotten the chance to enjoy some of the cake, too.

Jean's hand started to tremble at her side, but she crossed her other arm over her belly to hold that arm, and it grew still. "I had fun, too. It was good to see you. Happy birthday." She looked from me to Steffie and nodded. "I'll call when I get to the lab. Have a good night."

"Drive safe." Steffie smiled at Jean and lifted one hand to wave goodbye. I shifted my weight off of one hand, then lifted it to wave, too.

Jean's hand started to twitch again as she turned and walked towards her van.

Steffie lowered her hand to reach between my horns and pet over the back of my head, where the dull ache had faded to just an occasional twinge of discomfort. "Come on, let's go inside. Between that nap and all that exercise, you could use a shower and some dinner."

I looked back at Steffie in excitement, spreading my wings out a little. "A baf?"

Steffie smiled softly, but shook her head. "You know those use up too much water. You had one yesterday; just a shower today."

"Aw..." I hunched down a little and let my wings droop, then looked back up and tried to hide my smile. "Even for my birfday?"

My caretaker giggled, but she just reached down to poke my nose. "Nope! We need to save the water for the other workers; no bath until tomorrow."

I couldn't help myself, and I giggled too. "Okaaaay."

Steffie giggled again and skipped past me, leading the way back into our home.

I came to a stop at the cliff and waited for Steffie to open the door. There was a small black panel beside the door that Steffie would either hold her finger against, or that a worker would hold a card against, and then the red light on the panel would turn green, and then the door would unlock and swing open. I would usually glance up at the pretty yellow flower painted on the rock above our door while I waited on Steffie... but this time my friend stopped short of the door.

"Go ahead and open it! Use your headset, so we can be sure it works." She pointed to my horns, then pointed at the panel beside the door. "Just hold your horn up to it and you should hear a beep."

My eyes went wide as I remembered what else Steffie had said about the headset. I could open the door to our home, any time that I wanted! I ran up to the wall and sat up on my haunches to bring my head up to the level of the panel.

A shiver went through me as my horn scraped against the rock, and I ducked my head back down in embarrassment. I took another breath and tried to line up a little better so that my horn rested in front of the panel, just like the way Steffie held her finger up to the panel when she wanted the door to open...

The panel made a familiar 'beep' sound, followed by the 'click' of the door unlocking.

I looked back at Steffie in disbelief. I had just unlocked the door! All my life I had needed to wait for Steffie to be ready before leaving our home, but now I had the ability to open the door on my own. I could go outside and go flying, any time that I wanted!

Steffie smiled back at me as she pointed back at the door. "Go on, Joy."

I nodded again and looked back at the door. There was a handle about halfway up the door, and I only needed to lean forward a little to reach it. I pulled down on the handle and pushed on the door, and it swung freely away from me.

The door was open. I had opened it.

I stared into our home, still overwhelmed by what I had done, and just how much it meant.

Steffie giggled, and I felt her pat my shoulder. "Go on. You still need a shower, remember?" She reached up to my horn, and I felt a strange tugging sensation at my cheek as the sticky part of the headset pulled away from my scales. "I'll put this away – it's not waterproof, so never bathe or shower while you're wearing it – and I'll get dinner started."

"'Kay!" I hopped a little as I settled back to all fours and pranced through the open doorway, still excited that I had opened it all on my own.

The first room in our home was the room Steffie called our 'den'. Which was super confusing. All the TV shows I watched said a den was where a dragon slept, but nobody ever slept in this room at all, and the room I did sleep in was supposed to be called my 'bedroom', not my 'den'. Steffie would call this room the living room sometimes too, which only made it more confusing – the room didn't seem to be any more or less alive than the other rooms of the house, so I couldn't figure out why it had that name, either. I didn't really know what I was supposed to call it anymore, or why, but Steffie seemed to be okay if I called it the living room, so I tried to call it that.

Even though she got to call it 'den'.

The living room was a large open space that ran most of the length of our home. It had been carved out of the rock of the cliff and smoothed down so that the walls gleamed with a polished look from the lightbulbs set in the ceiling. There was a pretty red rug that covered the floor and kept it from getting too cold, even though it would bunch up and create uncomfortable lumps when I tried to lay on it. A soft brown couch and a brown coffee stand for Steffie to use were on one side of the room, with a television on the other side, and – depending on when Steffie had last told me to clean up – various toys or coloring books could be scattered over the floor.

Towards the back of the carved-out room, the living room changed into the 'kitchen'. There wasn't really anything that divided the two rooms – no doors or walls, or even the curtains that workers sometimes set up outside in the Arboretum – but Steffie insisted that the table, cabinets, stove and refrigerator were all part of the kitchen, and not the den. Living room. Whatever.

Other than the door leading outside to the Arboretum – the door I had opened! – there were two other doorways leading from the living room. One had a door like the one that led outside, this one leading to Steffie's room. I wasn't supposed to go in there – Steffie had said there were some things she kept in there that could hurt me if I wasn't careful around them, so they were kept locked up for my safety – but I had caught a few peeks of it when she went through the door. It had a bed that seemed just as squishy and uncomfortable as the couch Steffie liked, and a piece of furniture that I think was supposed to hold clothes, like a dresser... but I could usually spot pieces of Steffie's outfits strewn along the floor or over the bed, so I couldn't be too sure.

Beside Steffie's door were panels, kind of like the one by the door that led outside. These didn't light up or show what was outside, though. Steffie said one was for turning the lights on and off in our home, while the other one was meant to be used only if there was an emergency and Steffie needed help. It was very important that I not play with or touch the button on that panel, and I wasn't supposed to be in Steffie's room anyways, so I usually didn't pay that side of our home much attention.

And the other doorway from the living room led to my room! I kept prancing a little as I walked through it, still excited to have opened the door. My horns brushed against some pretty strings of colorful beads that divided the living room from my room – I didn't need a door, because doors were meant to keep people out, and the only other person allowed in our home was Steffie, and I didn't see any reason I would want to ever keep her out of my room – and then I was inside my bedroom.

Unlike what I had sometimes glimpsed of Steffie's room, my room had a raised slab of smooth, cool, supportive stone that served as my bed. It took up about a third of the room and had plenty of room for me to sprawl out on, even if I stretched my wings all the way out. The bed was very comfortable to lay on, especially when I was tired – cool enough to relax on, supportive enough that I didn't have the alarming sinking feeling that Steffie's couch gave me, and firm enough that my back didn't get uncomfortable during the night. A nice surface to fall asleep on.

I liked my bed, but Steffie couldn't stand it. Sometimes she would sleep in it with me after I had a bad dream, and it always left her stiff and grumpy the next day – which made me feel bad, even though it made me feel a lot better to have her there when I was scared. But for me, the bed was perfect.

My bedroom was about the same size as the living room. Opposite my bed was a section of stone floor surrounded by a raised lip – it was probably high enough to come up to my knee, and easy enough to step over – with a drain in the center of the floor. High up on the wall – high enough that I had to stand on my hind legs to reach – were a pair of knobs and a button, and even further up the wall was a nozzle that would spray water when I turned one of the knobs.

To the side of that section was a basin that jutted out from the wall, also high enough up that I had to stand on my hind legs to reach it, with a yellow toothbrush resting on it and a mirror in the wall right above the basin. And back on the other side of the first section was a smaller 'segment' of stone, this one usually covered by a plastic lid that I could open and close whenever I needed, and which stayed flooded with water – except when I pushed a button on the side of the raised 'lip' that sectioned it off, which caused all the water to drain out and be replaced by new water.

The middle section with the nozzle was my 'shower', where I went to get clean – and sometimes just to relax while the water warmed me up, though if I used up too much water it would upset Steffie, since we needed to save water for other workers in the Arboretum. The basin was a 'sink' like the one in the kitchen – even though it didn't really look anything like that one – and had knobs and a faucet that I could use for when it was time to brush my teeth. And the smaller section back on the other side of the shower with the water in it was what Steffie called a 'toilet'.

Steffie says it's not polite for me to talk about what I use that for.

Other than that, my room was mostly open space. There was room to play between my bed and the shower, but I usually went out to the living room when I wanted to color or play other inside games. There was a 'closet' on one side of the room – back towards the outer wall of our home, facing the rest of the Arboretum – which was a smaller room meant to hold clothes and stuff... but since I didn't usually get cold enough to need clothes the way Steffie or other humans did, that area was empty, too. The only other thing of note was a second curtain of beads over another doorway, which led to the final room of our home.

That last room was what Steffie called a 'workroom'. I guess it was where workers in the Arboretum did their work in their houses – Steffie had told me at some point that our home was a 'standard design', and that all the doors I saw spaced along the cliffs led to the same type of rooms as the one our home had, aside from a few unique things our home had specially for me. That last room was just as long as the other rooms, but in the other direction, as if somebody had turned it around so that it would run behind the 'front' rooms. I wasn't sure what kind of work the workers used the 'workroom' for... but for us, it was a pool.

It had shelves along the wall, and counters, and a few chairs, and then the back half of the room was scooped out to form a giant pit. Steffie would fill that pit with water on some days and I would have a bath, and Steffie would put on a special outfit she called a 'bathing suit' and come swim with me. Or when she was done swimming, she would sit in one of the chairs and work on her tablet and watch me play.

But as much fun as it was, Steffie was right in how much water it took up, and it wouldn't have been right to take water the workers needed just so I could have even more fun. Especially not with all the fun I'd already gotten today! Cake, and flying, and a new present that let me go outside and fly any time I wanted...

I skipped over the lip of the shower and leaned up to turn the knobs on the wall, falling back to all fours as cool water began trickling over me. After a few seconds the water turned warm, and I sighed and sprawled out in the shower. My headache slowly faded beneath the water until the ache was finally nothing more than a one – an annoying but ignorable feeling of pressure in the back of my head. The water ran over my scales and onto the stone floor, pooling a little as it made its way down to the drain, and I spotted bits of dirt and small bits of grass drift along with the water.

That was embarrassing – I must have gotten dirtier than I had expected by laying out in the dirt – but it was hard to worry too much about it. It just felt too relaxing in the shower to worry. Especially as the smell of cooking meat started to waft its way in from the kitchen. It was so easy to just drift off and lose myself in the gentle sounds and smells around me, and the memory of how happy today had been...