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Tallulah was a phenomenon; anyone who has seen or interacted with her could tell you that. Somehow, in the little time she has been around the island, Tallulah had managed to get everyone wrapped around her little finger. She had that something that made you feel the need to protect her and defeat all sorts of enemies to ensure her safety. Chayanne wasn't exempt from this, promising to protect her during their first encounter.
Learning about Tilín's passing made Chayanne's need to protect his niece-little sister even stronger. He couldn't help but see Tilín in everything Tallulah did. They were so similar in many ways and different in much more. Even so, Chayanne would make sure Tallulah wouldn't remember the cold or loneliness of the attic.
She has told him little bits and pieces of how life was for her before her papa found her. Chayanne doesn't want her to go through any of that stuff ever again.
That was why Chayanne went along with her to school that very first day. He didn't want to go, but someone had to assure Tallulah got there safe and that neither she nor any of Chayanne's cousins got injured, or worse, under Quackity's care.
They got there hand in hand, and Chayanne never took his eyes off her, not even when Quackity asked her to stay behind while everyone left to their respective houses.
He took notice of Bobby's behaviour around her. The punches and mean glances he threw her way. Chayanne would do something about that someday, but first, he had to bring a smile to Tallulah's face again.
Chayanne heard his brother Wilbur and his dad Philza talking the other day. Wilbur wanted to give Tallulah a crown, but he didn't know how. He wanted to gift her something fancy, golden, that made her feel like a princess.
Maybe Chayanne's idea wouldn't make her feel like a princess, but it could at least make her feel special.
Rumming through the chests outside his house, Chayanne found a few pieces of loose paper and flowers of different varieties but took only the paper and the purple flowers with him. Deeming it was enough, he got inside the house and saw Tallulah sitting on the double bed playing the flute. She stopped when he sat beside her and put the paper and the flowers aside.
"Can I bride your hair?"Chayanne wrote on his magnetic board. Tallulah nodded and pointed at the paper and flowers. Question-what-is-that, she chuffed. "You can play with the paper," he erased the message after Tallulah read it, "and I'm going to put flowers on your braid."
His niece-little sister nodded enthusiastically and grabbed the paper before turning around to allow Chayanne to braid her hair. The dragons worked beside each other while quietly communicating with chuffs and snorts.
Once Chayanne finished braiding her hair, Tallulah tried to see her reflection in the bathtub in the backyard. She couldn't see much, but it made her happy that her hair was decorated with flowers of her favourite colour.
Chayanne turned to see Tallulah after she tapped his shoulder. His eyes were shining when he spotted the paper crown Tallulah was holding. Take-it Tallulah chuffed, and Chayanne didn't hesitate when he grabbed it and put it on his head.
He never took the crown off, not even when his dad insisted on it when they went on an adventure two days after. It was Tallulah's gift, and Chayanne wanted the whole island to see it. Tallulah was the same. She didn't want to wear a helmet because it would ruin Chayanne's braid.
Perhaps the end of their adventure could've been different if they weren't so stubborn.
He didn't know where the monster came from. One second, Chayanne's dad and niece-little sister stood on the chore, Tallulah scribbling something on her magnetic board, and the next, they were bleeding on the sand.
Chayanne's hands were trembling. His grip on the sword has never faltered, but could you blame him? He was scared. His worst fear was coming to life, and he couldn't defeat the beast to aid his family.
It didn't take long for the beast to defeat him too.
He crawled towards his dad and Tallulah, the crown no longer resting on his head. Through his foggy vision, he could barely make out Tallulah's form. Chayanne put a trembling hand on her chest and wailed when he didn't feel it move.
She is gone she is gone she is gone she is gone—
"I'm sorry, Chayanne, I'm sorry," his dad said, carefully brushing Chayanne's hair as he sobbed. "They— they don't want us to live. They don't want us to live in this world."
Chayanne tried to chuff assurances to his dad to let him know it was okay, that he wasn't upset with him, but his chest hurts.
"I'm so sorry, Chayanne. I thought it was safe." he tried to take his dad's hand, but Chayanne couldn't move anymore. "I couldn't— I couldn't see him."
The last thing Chayanne saw before gasping for air in the warmth of his bed were Tallula's purple flowers tinted with blood. He sat on the bed as fast as he could without getting dizzy and frantically searched for Tallulah.
A body collided with him before he could stand up.
Safe-safe-safe.
He hugged Tallulah, holding her close as if she would disappear from his grasp when he least expected it. Chayanne hid his face in her head. He would have to re-make Tallulah's braid, but it didn't matter. It was a problem for the future.
The sound of the door opening and closing announced the arrival of someone else. Chayanne lifted his head from Tallulah's hair and saw his dad. Chuffing softly to not disturb Tallulah's sensitive ears, Chayanne extended his arm for his dad to join the hug.
The three stayed in that position for longer than five minutes. All of them needed the reassurance that the other was safe, that it was just one of those nasty nightmares that it was impossible to wake up from.
Everything would be alright as long as they had each other.