Zora

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"I don't know what's wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you." Watermelon nudged the side of Zora's head with her own. "I found my charge late, too."

Zora sighed and flopped over onto her side. The platform swayed a bit under her weight; sometimes she missed the soft solidity of fresh earth under her side, even though she had little enough attachment to the place she'd been hatched. No parents, no clan, no nothing. She'd found a clan here, in Wind, and friends, but she still felt like she was drifting instead of soaring with purpose. Of course Watermelon wouldn't understand: she'd been born here. She had parents and a charge and a life.

"I've found two dragons," Zora said. "Two that I want to protect and shelter, and one I handed over to Tala without a second thought, and the other— how do you even know something's your charge?"

By some unspoken accord, she and Watermelon both glanced over the platform at the same time to where Watermelon's cat friend lay curled with her paws under her tiny body, gazing back at both of them with equanimity.

"You just— know," Watermelon said, her voice soft. "I don't know if I can put it into words."

Zora closed her eyes and pretended that the weight of those words wasn't crushing her. "Maybe Noelani is my charge. I shouldn't have handed her over to Tala. When I found her, I felt—"

"She's not." Watermelon wandered closer and put her heavy paw on Zora's shoulder, above her wing. "Zora, you would know. There's no rush. You'll find them. Tala is a good caretaker, and Noelani's doing well with him. You know she is."

Zora's side heaved with the force of her sigh. "I know she is," she repeated. "I'd be a terrible caretaker. I want to protect, but…"

Watermelon was silent for long enough that Zora started to count her breaths. "A charge isn't just a being. It can be an object, too, or a place."

Zora opened her eyes. "I think I would know if this place were my charge."

"You would." Watermelon sighed and flopped down next to Zora, resting her chin on Zora's side. "All I'm saying is that you can care about other dragons in the meantime. And you don't have to live with us to be a part of this lair, if it comes to that. You'll always have a place here."

"I know," Zora said, because she did. She only wished she could make her heart believe it.