Kira smiled even though she felt saddened. "We were talking about my parents, too. Even out here I can't get out from under their shadow, especially Mother's."

"Do they…hurt you?"

"Why would you ask me that?" Kira demanded, shocked at the question.

"When they come up, you sometimes sound like they're…I don't know."

Kira frowned up at the stars. "Jason, my parents are dragons. I realized that a long time ago. Not bad dragons. They're wonderful dragons. But when a dragon is there, that's all anyone sees. A dragon is big and impressive and dangerous, though my parents are only dangerous to people who want to hurt other people. And I'm this girl, in the shadows, in my mother's shadow, and all anyone sees is the dragon. It's an amazing dragon. I love that dragon. But because of her, no one ever sees me. No one ever will. They see her. And I'm not her and I never will be. No one can ever be like her." She stopped, appalled to realize how much she had just said of her inner feelings to this boy from Urth.

Jason took a little while to reply. "That's weird, too, because I'd call my mom a dragon. And not a wonderful, great dragon. The sort of dragon that chews up people and spits out the bones. My dad, too. I've been stuck in their shadows because they won't let me out. They want to keep me small, because they think that hurts the other. And I don't want to be like either one of them. But I'm afraid I might be like them. And there might not be anything I can do about it. I'll grow up and be awful and that's that, because that's who my parents made me."

"You don't have to be," Kira said. "Every once in a while, Jason, you slip up and let me see under that protective shell you've built around yourself. I think the Jason you're protecting in there is a lot better than your parents. I mean, look what you're doing. You're risking yourself to keep your mother's company from maybe causing the deaths of many, many people."

Jason's answer came after another pause. "My mom would say I'm doing this for another reason."

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter. Never mind."

"Why?" She might not be her mother, but Kira had learned from her how to demand an answer in a way that made people listen.

"She'd say it was because," Jason said reluctantly, "I just wanted adventure with…someone like you."

"Well…that's stupid," Kira said. "Why would you want to jump off a train into a river?"

"I didn't jump. You pushed me."

"You keep saying that like it's a bad thing, but it kept us from being caught, remember? Anyway, it's not like I'm always nice to you. I mean, I've got my mother's temper, and I know I've yelled at you."

"I deserved it when you did."