Early in the morning, Puss ran out of the city with Vivianne sitting on top of his hat.
His speed and flexibility were impressive, which allowed him to leave the city without drawing attention.
Not that he would draw much attention anyway, being a stranger in Far Far Away, but Vivianne was not the same. The beautiful little fairy was a head-turner wherever she went, although Puss also thought his own charm wasn't much inferior to hers.
Entering the forest beside the city, Puss ran for a while until he reached a small clearing, where Fiona was cooking some eggs on a rock, using a branch as a spoon.
At her side, Aurora turned her large draconic head toward them, having caught their figures out of the corner of her eye.
"Hrrmmm…" She growled gently, calling for Puss.
Puss winked at her with a calm smile, but someone else wasn't as calm as he was.
"Mother-plucking dryad hugger!" Vivianne cried out in fright, hiding behind Puss's hat. "I asked you to bring me a scale, not an entire dragon!!" she complained in a whisper, peeking out just a little and staring at the dragon with fear.
Aurora scratched her neck a little awkwardly and waved her arms, trying to say there was no danger.
"Hrrmmm…" she growled, trying to communicate, but that only scared the little fairy even more, who completely hid herself.
Puss rolled his eyes in amusement, lifted his hand, and fished a tiny fairy from behind his hat with two fingers, holding her up by the dress and bringing her in front of his eyes.
"Vivianne, why are you reacting so surprised? I already told you my friend was a drag—" Puss froze mid-sentence.
Right in front of his face, the fairy, whose short green dress had been lifted when he grabbed her by the collar, was completely exposing her beautiful white legs—and a lovely pink slit that made Puss lock up, staring fixedly without blinking or breathing.
The fairy, noticing that Puss had frozen, looked at him in confusion. But when she felt a cold breeze below and saw where his eyes were glued, she lowered her head—and saw the dazzling scene revealed.
"AHHHHH!!" she screamed, frantically flapping her wings and escaping from Puss's hands, quickly pulling her dress down in panic.
Puss snapped out of it at her reaction and rubbed his nose, slightly embarrassed.
"Why are you not wearing panties?" he asked helplessly.
Vivianne clenched her teeth at him, cheeks flushed.
"Because in the rush I forgot to put them on when we left this morning, okay?! And why were you staring without blinking—that wasn't gentlemanly of you at all!" she shouted angrily.
Puss scratched his eyebrow, not knowing what to say. He couldn't exactly admit that the sight had stunned him and left him powerless to turn away.
"Ugh… sorry, I was caught off guard," he could only apologize a little sheepishly.
Vivianne huffed, ran to grab a leaf, and made herself a makeshift pair of panties. She put them on and enchanted them with her magic dust so they'd stay secure on her body. Then, still ignoring Puss angrily, she flew cautiously closer to the dragon.
"You must be Aurora, correct? May I examine your situation with my magic dust? That guy told me a bit about your condition, and maybe I can lend a little help," she spoke seriously, staring at the dragon, though it was obvious she remained on guard before such a powerful creature.
Dragons were simply peak beings of the world, and Vivianne couldn't help but be cautious before one. She had many children to raise and would not leave them alone because of recklessness.
Aurora looked at the tiny fairy, who was even smaller than one of her eyelashes, with a complicated gaze. She had seen the scene earlier, and the way Puss had stared at that part, and couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. But she didn't blame either of them, and she knew it hadn't been intentional.
She just couldn't help but envy, a little, the fairy's beautiful human body that had stunned Puss with just a glimpse.
Sighing softly, she discarded those complicated thoughts and nodded gently to Vivianne, with a grateful look.
Seeing the well-behaved nod from the enormous dragon and her gentle gaze, the fairy grew less worried and began to softly sprinkle her golden magic dust over her.
As Aurora turned into a shimmering golden dragon, Vivianne placed an arm under her chest, rested her other arm over it, and propped her chin on her fist, her face thoughtful.
"Hummm… this is complicated," she murmured, blinking with a serious expression.
Puss's feline ears twitched beneath his hat at her murmur.
"What did you find?" he asked, doubtful and serious.
Vivianne turned to him and sighed.
"Look, her dragon blood is very strong, and right now it has already swallowed a part of her human lineage. If things continue this way, even a true love's kiss may not be able to bring her human form back," she explained, tapping her finger on her chin.
Aurora grew disheartened upon hearing that, lowering her head in sadness.
Puss stepped closer and patted her paw, glowing with golden dust, smiling at her.
"Don't worry, even if you remain a dragon, I won't dislike you, and you'll still be beautiful in my eyes," he comforted her gently and with care.
He might not completely love her yet, but he was determined to bear responsibility for the woman he had made fall for him. Besides, he truly didn't find her ugly, and he was interested in testing how far his Furry Lover talent could make his little friend grow to satisfy a dragon.
Abandoning those crooked thoughts, and smiling amusedly when he saw Aurora's depressive gaze brighten up as she rubbed her snout against him, he shifted his eyes toward Vivianne, who was thoughtful while observing them.
"Señora Vivianne, may I ask why a true love's kiss is so important, when Aurora wasn't really cursed?" he asked, waking the little fairy from her daze.
"Huh?! Oh! That's simple. The first true love's kiss is something really potent. You must know that the girl has two lineages, one dragon, and one human. The first is much stronger, and slowly, as time went on, it kept tipping the balance in its favor, which is why this girl stopped taking her human form and assumed her dragon form full-time. If this continues, in a few more centuries, she will lose her human lineage entirely, and become a powerful pure-blooded dragon," she explained.
"Hmm… but where does the kiss come into this?" Puss asked, confused.
Vivianne rolled her eyes at him.
"Don't you know what a pause to breathe and process is? Let me finish before you speak."
She complained, flapping her wings faster, sticking out her cute little butt, and putting her hands on her waist in irritation, before continuing.
"Anyway, the kiss really is something powerful, and in a case of balance between the two lineages, the kiss can tip the scales toward the desirable side. So, if her lineage is in balance between dragon and human, a kiss could turn the fight into dragon versus human + true love's kiss. With the weight of the true love's kiss, the dragon lineage would be suppressed, and then she would remain in human form. Of course, the power of the kiss could also tip toward the dragon lineage, but that all depends on the compatibility of the kiss between the couple."
Her explanation made a few previously confusing things clear to Puss, and he nodded.
"Then why wouldn't the kiss work now?" this time it was Fiona who asked, frowning.
Aside from worrying about Aurora, whom she had come to see as a great friend during the days they had spent together, she also had her own concerns, since kisses and transformation were matters that concerned her as well.
Vivianne turned to her, and found her familiar, and seeing her crown, then looking at the dragon beside her, an idea lit up in her mind, and she seemed to recognize who stood before her, though she didn't mention it.
"As I said, a certain balance is necessary. A true love's kiss is powerful enough to help a human lineage suppress a mighty dragon lineage, but her dragon lineage has been in control for too long, and it has started to swallow her human lineage. Now… I fear she may not be able to become human again, even if she gets the kiss."
"But don't worry too much. In a few centuries, when her human lineage is completely swallowed and only the dragon lineage remains, she can look for a powerful mage to help her transform into a human, giving up the powers and benefits of that lineage."
The little fairy explained with a shrug.
Puss didn't like what he heard. After all, that was far too long, and it would leave Aurora suffering for ages. He didn't believe there wasn't another way.
And he also saw in Vivianne's eyes that she didn't seem completely out of ideas.
"You have a solution, don't you?" he asked as if it were a certainty, looking at the fairy with his intense green eyes full of hope.
"Well… I have two options. The first is to rebalance her condition, stealing a little strength from the dragon lineage and complementing the human lineage. That way, she could take on a half-human, half-dragon form in balance with her full dragon transformation."
"The other is to weaken the human lineage and hasten its destruction. That way, in about 50 to 60 years she would become a pure-blooded dragon, and then it would only remain to find someone who could turn a dragon into a human to help her."
She explained decisively, and then, without waiting, flew to Puss's hat.
There, she lay on her side lazily, closed her eyes, and rested her head on her folded hands like a little angel, to enjoy a rare nap, leaving them to decide.
Puss pondered, and he had an opinion in his heart, but it wasn't his place to choose.
He turned to Aurora and looked at her gently.
"Aurora, the decision is yours. Whatever you choose, I will support you."