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Tsunami was restless, she had been the director of Jade Mountain Academy for a decade and a half and she had seen many teachers come and go but her friends stayed. Even Webs grew to be a students' favorite.

She looked out of the window from her room, daydreaming some. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stay at the head of the Academy anymore. After all those years, she felt like she had given everything she could and it started to be boring.

She missed the fights. But Pyrrhia was not what it used to be, it wasn't the barren land that was the midst of wars among tribes every other week. It was now a peaceful continent almost all over thanks to what they had accomplished with the school, they even inspired Pantala and had aspiring teacher coming to Jade Mountain to learn here before moving back. And then there had been fewer Pantalan dragons, Hivewings, Silkwings and Leafwings, and she somehow missed them too. They had brought some new thinking to the Academy, and made StarFlight bounce with amazement at the books they offered him.

She chuckled.

But JMA was now a model of inclusion, even when it came to Nightwing powers, mind-reading and seers, as well as Animus. This last one took several years for other dragons to accept them but with patience and lessons, and sometimes showing teeth, they eventually managed to get them accepted. With now some Animus dragons growing to be the respected figure among others that they trusted to keep others in check in case someone went rogue.

Tsunami sighed.

Someone knocked on the door.

"May I?", a voice asked.

She turned around and found Sunny looking at her. She nodded at her and sat at her desk.

"Of course, Sunny, any time!", she pointed at a chair, "what can I help you with?"

Sunny sat down too.

"Well, it's been clear that you have not been happy for some time and me and the others we wondered if there was something we could do to help..."

Tsunami put her chin on her talons and looked at Sunny for a while but it was like she looked through her as if she wasn't here.

"I'm not sure if you can or not, Sunny..." she eventually said.

Sunny got up and walked around the desk. Tsunami was still much bigger than the yellow dragon. She put her wing over her gently where she could reach.

"Thank you..." Tsunami whispered and looked sad.

"You miss being able to do something that you think is constructive and you think you've done everything you could do with the Academy, is that it?"

Tsunami blinked twice and smiled softly.

"Even after all those years you still amaze me with your power of deduction."

Sunny flushed.

"It wasn't too hard, we've been all together for so many years, it's like we are family.", she peeked outside, the snow was falling hard around Jade Mountain at this time of the year.

"I... I really don't want to leave you all but I want to do something new, something different..."

"Have you talked to Riptide about it?"

The Seawing nodded, "he said I should try to find something that fulfills me but I'm afraid I might get bored of it after a while like I am about the Academy."

"And it took fifteen years for you to get bored, sounds to me like a good time to move on. That doesn't mean we will forget about you and when you want to come back and be the one to yell at students again, you will be welcome!", Sunny tail flickered.

Tsunami laughed, "You know I haven't snapped at a student for years now."

"But you often want to, don't you?"

The Seawing chuckled then her smile turned sad, "I don't think I can leave you all behind, what if..."

Sunny put her talon on Tsunami's muzzle, "You know we can always stay in touch, and knowing you, you will enjoy yourself so much that you won't even think about writing."

"Hey! That wasn't nice", Tsunami pouted.

Sunny looked straight at her, "We all knew that time would come eventually so don't be sad about what you will lose, be happy about what you will gain".

She turned around and left before Tsunami had a chance to reply.

Sunny, Clay and StarFlight were discussing in a secluded classroom where they usually did their meeting.

"I really think we must do something for her, but what?", Clay observed.

"What about something season-related?" offered StarFlight

"Like throwing her in the snow?" said Sunny

"I was more thinking along the lines of a making a party or something like that, plus it's the fifteenth anniversary of the Academy, so we could combine both."

Clay looked at StarFlight then at Sunny, he tried to think of some ideas. Nothing but cows came to his mind.

"No cow." Said StarFlight

"Not fair!" the Mudwing interjected and laughed.

Sunny looked out of the window, the wind was moving the falling snowflakes in spirals.

This time of the year, the days were shorts and so were the lessons. The teachers didn't want to disturb the natural cycles of the dragonets and moved their lessons accordingly but they were still starting and ending the days under the lights of candles and other animus-powered devices. Of course, they even added night lessons for the ones who were nocturnal, a demand first raised by the Nightwings. It was first considered an issue under the premise that it would disrupt the idea of tribes mixing together but when brought publicly and discussed with the students, it turned out that all the other tribes liked the ideas. Many students, Skywings, Icewings, Rainwings came forward claiming they were also night crawlers, even if they were not Nightwing hybrids.

As the days became shorter, the temperatures dropped, soon reaching freezing levels. The Icewings were rather unimpressed but a lot of the student were in awe discovering the white cover in the morning outside of Jade Mountain. Probably the most shocked ones were the Sandwings and the Rainwings whose usual land never got any ice nor snow. They first look dubiously at it from afar until others insisted they join them outside.

A few teachers had invited parents to provide with some warm clothing and when they couldn't or wouldn't, the Academy provided. Horn caps, ear muffs, and other scarfs were adorning students from all the tribes. And once they had accommodated to the weather, they were more than eager to play in the snow, making balls of it and throwing them at each other. Or laying down with their wings spread in the snow and moving them and their tails to leave a mark in the fresh white powder. Some even rolled big balls of snow that they put on top of each other and decorated them with twigs, branches or anything they could find to imitate dragon wings, arms or muzzle.

Clay was still trying to find an idea for Tsunami. The Mudwing paced in front of the entrance with the freezing wind hitting his face but he didn't mind, it helped him stay focus and awake.

Peril stood a bit further back, looked at him worryingly. She hadn't seen him this preoccupied in years. He had explained to her what it was about but she still felt a sting of jealously. She quickly pushed it away from her mind and tried to think of what she could do to help. Outside, she saw the students getting ready to get inside for the evening lessons. She wasn't the only firescale anymore and with the help of an Animus dragon, they managed to build a fireproof classroom where they could learn and read scrolls without destroying them. Peril had been extremely reluctant at first but she eventually accepted the magic as long as no spell was cast on her or any other dragon.

Nearby, in the library, StarFlight was in intense discussion with Fatespeaker.

"That's right and we should probably do something about it, what do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea", she pondered for a while, "but what should we do?"

StarFlight turned his head to the sound of dragonets playing outside and seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a while.

"Hmm, some winter celebration? I'm pretty sure Seawings never celebrate it and since we've entered the Solstice already, it could be a great opportunity..."

Fatespeaker looked at him, somewhat dubious.

"Do you think we have scrolls with celebrations around those?"

He shook his head, "I'm afraid not, but we probably can make something up!"

He walked out of the library, still having mixed feelings about Tsunami, he wished he could make her stay with his big words but he had the feeling that no matter how well he worded his opinion and arguments, her mind was set. If only they could make something that at least made her happy.

A strong icy wind caught him in the face, it felt like an invisible dragon flew by him and threw snowflakes at him before leaving unnoticed.

"Hmm, invisible dragon... snowflakes." Mumbling to himself.

He walked past Clay and Peril.

"Hi StarFlight." They both said at once.

"Hi Clay, Hi Peril!" he replied joyfully.

"Anything we can do for you?" asked Clay.

StarFlight stopped and thought for a while.

"I'm still trying to figure something out for Tsunami and the Academy.", he said as if one couldn't go without the other.

Peril looked at StarFlight and back outside, the sun had already set and she could barely make the outline of the trees bordering the entrance. Another gust of wind hit StarFlight in the snout. He shivered.

"I really wish it could bring something else than just snow to my face.", he grumbled.

"Ah, yeah! I wouldn't mind if it could bring me a cow!" replied Clay.

StarFlight froze for a second and beamed.

"That's it!" he exclaimed.

Clay blinked.

"What? You want cows for celebration? Not that I would be the one complaining but..."

"Yes! Erm, I mean, No...", he raised his talon and took his know-it-all voice, "So... When I was first hit by the wind, in my mind, it felt like an invisible dragon has hit me, and delivered some snowflake then left just as fast..."

StarFlight paused.

"You want a Rainwing to give snowflakes to Tsunami?", Peril asked.

StarFlight shook his head, "Nono, but what if... we had like an invisible dragon delivering gifts to Tsunami for the celebration?"

Clay pondered for a while.

"That's not a bad idea, I guess, but it needs more work."

StarFlight thought hard for a moment.

"What about we asks students if they want to bring gifts they'd like for the celebration?", he offered.

"That's actually awesome, StarFlight!" Peril said.

Clay took a little longer to understand what he was trying to tell them, then his eyes brightened and he nodded firmly.

"This is so going to work, StarFlight."

The Nightwing smiled softly and blushed a little.

"But wait, where would we put all those gifts?", suddenly questioned Clay

"In the Great Hall, of course!", replied StarFlight

Clay turned around, the Hall was rather empty and it didn't look like gifts would be nice just being there on their own.

"We just need to find a way to decorate." StarFlight replied as if he had heard the Mudwing's question.

The next day, during their classroom, the teachers announced the news to the students. Most of them really like the idea and offered their own take on improving or decorating.

A young Icewing offered:

"I think a fir tree would fit nicely within the hall!"

Clay had a hard time figuring out how it would and what a fir tree looked like so the student drew it on the chalkboard.

Other ideas were offered, such as cactus balls from a Sandwing and some vines hanging from the walls in the Great Hall.

The course continued with much discussions and ended with a vote from the students. Clay decided to leave the drawings on the board so that other students could come, propose and vote on them.

At the end of the day, all ideas receive the same amount of votes and Clay wasn't sure if it was a great idea or a lost cause. He explained his dilemma to StarFlight, whose answer was just: "mix them all."

The Nightwing took his usual teaching voice and then proceeded to explain that they could just have a tree in the middle with cactus balls hanging from vines or from the tree branches. Clay still felt confused but trusted his friend, like he always did when StarFlight spoke like that.

Tsunami was packing her things in her room slowly, it felt colder than usual. Riptide had promised her he'd be here to support and celebrate with everyone but he still hadn't shown up and she wasn't sure when he would arrive. The last days she had spent as a teacher felt very painful despite the student being more attentive than usual with her.

She didn't think she had changed anything but it seemed her decision affected more people than she was prepared to accept.

She still didn't have a plan. She'd go back to the Sea Kingdom and decide from there. Coral would certainly have missions for her to do which could occupy her mind for a while until she settled.

Tsunami suddenly heard a lot of commotion in the Great Hall and a big crashing noise.

"Careful Squid Brain!" spurted a familiar voice.

She rushed out and saw Anemone next to a large tree barely fitting through the entrance. She ran towards her sister.

"Anemone!", she cried, "Are you alright?"

The smaller Seawing beamed when she heard her name.

"Tsunami, it's been so long!", she nodded, "I'm fine. I just don't know what they are trying to do with this."

"Oh, that? That's nothing, it's just what the others want to do to celebrate me leaving the Academy, I guess they are happy I'm going away", she smirked.

"WHAT?!", Anemone blurted, "you never told you were leaving!"

"Well, now you know.", Tsunami shrugged.

"You never were the one for keeping us updated, were you?"

"Come with me, I will tell you all about it."

---

---

Students in the Hall were still struggling to get the large tree inside. After many fruitless tries, they stopped and stared at each other. A navy-blue Nightwing-Seawing dragonet stepped forward and mentioned something about using magic. They all moved around in a large circle surrounding the tree and let him proceed. The tree slowly lifted and passed the door as if it was no more affected by the jambs and then stood upright before it planted itself firmly into the Hall's ground and stopped moving.

Clay looked at the mess the broken needles made on the floor and at the tree again.

"So... now what?"

StarFlight put his wing over his friend.

"Now we decorate!"

He whistled and a group of Rainwing started flying all over the place and hung vines everywhere they could, on the walls, on the stalactites and even a few in the tree.

"It looks... green." Pointed Clay.

"Give it time." Insisted StarFlight.

A few more Rainwings brought fruits and put them hanging here and there adding touches of red, yellow and purple everywhere in the hall. And as they did with the vines, they also decorated the tree with more fruits. Like a perfectly rehearsed choreography, the Rainwings flew away leaving the room to a couple of Flamesilks who weaved firefly silk around the fruits and sparely onto the vines were it glowed faintly and reflected each color like an illuminated garland.

All the other dragons watched in awe as the show unfolded. Then the Silkwings flew outside suddenly and someone cried:

"Everyone, come see this!"

There was some sort of vehicle standing next to the entrance of the Academy, barely visible in the night light even with the moons almost full. The Silkwings seemingly knitting around it with the same glowing silk that they used in the Great Hall. Soon, the vehicle shapes became more and more defined and stood clearly in the dark.

And then it started moving.

Everyone gasped and spread around it as it slowly crept further and further, leaving two neat tracks behind it in the snow. With distinct talonprints between them.

Students were whispering and the murmur grew up:

"The invisible Solstice dragon!"

Clay poked StarFlight, "c'mon you told them that."

The Nightwing shook his head, "That wasn't me. And I don't even know who is pulling it..."

Clay blinked a few times and smiles. There was no need to break the magic for now.

The vehicle was moving fast in the snow. A large bag filled to the brim sitting in its back.

As the large sled came around, it stopped right next to Clay and an eerie voice said:

"The Invisible Solstice Dragon names you, Clay, as their representative for Jade Mountain Academy to show their benevolence to the world of Pyrrhia once again!", there was a pause and the voice resumed softly, "Please, step in."

Clay hesitated and looked around, StarFlight and Fatespeaker nodded. Peril barely held a chuckle. He put a talon onto the vehicle which creaked but didn't move much and slowly climbed next to the bag where there was just enough room for him to stand there.

The vehicle suddenly lurched forward, and once again traveled all around the mountain. Poor Clay tried bracing himself to look as good as he could while he was being buffeted by the snow.

Once the sled came back from the other side of the mountain, it suddenly veered straight towards the Academy entrance and to Clay's horror didn't seem to stop or slow down. As he was about to jump out, a soft voice, out of nowhere said: "trust us."

Clay nodded some and remained inside the sled as it smoothly slid through the gate and around the tree twice before stopping right in front of it.

There was silence for a moment, immediately followed by loud cheers, all the dragonets gathered around, bouncing and prancing.

Clay slowly stepped out of the vehicle. Tsunami smiled and bowed deeply at him.

"Your Majesty", she said with a hint of irony in her voice, and then whispered to him, "you certainly look the part with that white snow beard and your snow collar!"

He wasn't sure what she was referring to until he saw his reflection on an ice patch next to the tree. The snow had collected onto his scales like he was sporting a semi-long white beard that gave him a very strict look in the manner of a centennial dragon. A patch of snow was also covering his forehead as if he was wearing a cotton fluff hat and then looking down at his neck, he noticed that the white powder had also collected in thick lines covering partially his brown scales.

"Don't forget the bag" the voice told him.

Clay turned and grabbed the bag to pull it out of the sled.

"Everyone, welcome your erm... your..." the voice hesitated and Clay was sure to recognize its intonation. "Father Solstice!"

The youngest dragonets yipped and yapped and ran to Clay, who almost tumbled on the ground when they jumped on him at once.

"Oh... oh, oh!", Clay tried to play the part, "What am I even supposed to do here?", he whispered looking where he thought the invisible dragon was.

"Alright kiddo, let me grab a few things for you.", he tried when he received no answer.

He reached into the bag and got hold of a package, he pulled it out and to his surprise, there was a name written on it.

"Tsu..nami?", he hesitated and then coughs some, "This one is for Tsunami!"

The blue Seawing blinked and walked to Clay. She incredulously took the package from his claws and smiled. At that very moment, she did feel like a young dragonet again.

"I hope you've been a nice dragonet this year." Clay said in a low voice.

"Now, you're pushing it..." Tsunami winked at him and laughed.

Clay winked back and reached for another package, this one had three names on it.

"So, this one is for Abyss, Seiche and Whisperer."

Clay remember those names from this year's new arrival. The triplets of one of the teachers at the Academy. A green dragonet, who looked very much like a Seawing but without the flashing scales, followed by a navy-blue dragonet, who looked like a Nightwing with a Seawing crest and stars under his wings -whom Clay recognized as the one who enchanted the tree- and finally a purple dragonet, who seemed to look from neither tribe but with a more posed and assured attitude than her siblings, approached.

All at once, the dragonets said:

"Thank you, Father Solstice!" and left with their gift without fighting on whom should carry it.

The process continued until the bag was empty and everyone had received their gifts.

When Clay turned around, he saw a flash of pink and smiled as the sled was slowly moving away. He quickly stepped inside and waved at the audience of dragons.

As the carriage disappeared from view, he bent over and whispered "Thank you, Kinkajou. I'm surprised you could carry me."

The Rainwing's face appeared in the dark and winked.

"I have had help for that, thank you for playing the part, Clay." She said happily.

In that instance, he swore he saw a few more Rainwings head which made no sense to him as the sled design would only accept a single dragon to pull it.

But maybe it was just... The Invisible Solstice Dragon's magic.