When Sisu had finished up with her moment on the ice, she returned to the shore to where her eggs waited, feeling a sense refreshed.

But even so, maybe it wasn't wise to leave her eggs abandoned so long alone in the snow like that. Even here so close to Tong's village, anything could've happened to them. Being the most of her own self mattered in it's own, but so also did her eggs, her responsibilities as a mother.

Except they didn't matter, there were no tiny lives growing within those eggs, and she wasn't really a mother.

But something deep inside still called to her, telling her her eggs had to mean something, it couldn't just be motherly instinct could it?

She could find meaning in her own true self anytime, but she also had to find the meaning behind these eggs.

As she pondered the intricate meaning of eggyness in the Universe, Sisu heard a great crashing through the trees off to the side, pulling her from her thoughts. She turned her attention to the sound, then looked back at her eggs.

"Don't you worry, mama will be right back."

And then Sisu made her way through the trees to investigate, leaving her eggs once again alone in the snow.

As she made her way through the trees, Sisu could begin to make out the sound of a panicked voice starting to fret.

"Oh please, no! No, no no!"

Sisu peaked out from the trees, and what she saw made her heart stop.

"Amba?"

Sisu's sister was standing there surrounded by broken branches, hysteric. And at her feet was a heavily damaged dragon egg, its shell cracked and dented beyond repair.

Amba looked up at Sisu, tears beginning to form in her frantic eyes, "I crashed. I didn't mean to do it, but I did," she burst, "And now my egg... my baby's going to die!"

"Wait, an egg?" Sisu managed shocked, "An actual fertilized egg?"

Amba nodded.

"When did this happen?" Sisu asked, unable to process.

"I was embarrassed," Amba said, "Do you know what goes into fertilizing these things?!"

...

"Although it was sort of fun. You think we looked good doing it?"

Sisu glanced at her sister strangely. "You're my sister, so I don't really want to imagine that, but yeah, I'm sure the two of you had a good time. Well, until you had to lay that thing. Like ouch!" Sisu felt bad about cracking such a lighthearted remark at a time like this, but how could she help herself?

"It doesn't matter though," Amba said, growing quiet again, "I killed my baby!"

Sisu looked at Amba's egg, feeling a sudden sharp sense of shared grief for the broken egg as if it was her own. She couldn't imagine the pain her sister must be feeling to lose her egg like this.

Then suddenly, a warmth ignited itself in Sisu's heart as in that moment, it all began to make sense.

"Eggs," Sisu breathed.

Amba could only look at her confused.

But Sisu knew what her eggs were meant for now. Her eggs would never make her a mother, they would never grow into her own babies, but maybe they could save Amba's.

"Wait here," she told Amba.

"Wait, where are you going?" Amba asked, fear lighting her eyes at the thought of being abandoned.

Sisu made her way back through back through the woods to where her eggs still lay beside the lakeshore, so quiet and peaceful.

"I'm back," Sisu said, a little bit of sadness breaking into her voice, "Don't worry, mama thinks she's found what you're meant for."

Sisu arrived back at the spot where Amba was waiting, carrying her three eggs with her, "I think I have a solution," Sisu said, beginning to lay down her eggs in a triangle around the broken egg. "You know how my power is that I'm a really good swimmer, right?" Amba nodded, gently wiping her worried eyes, "I don't have the kind of powers you have, but remember how after we saved the world, you all brought me back from the dead and all that splish-splash? Well, I sat there thinking that maybe some of that healing power..." she finished arranging the eggs into place around Amba's egg, and at at that moment, Sisu's eggs ignited with a bright light, reaching softly toward the broken one in the center, "...may have carried over to my eggs."

Sisu gave a smile at Amba, and Amba's face began to warm.

"Who said you're the only one who can light up your eggs," Sisu said.

The two of them turned their attention to Amba's egg as Sisu's eggs radiated their healing light toward it. Amba's egg pulsed calmly in the light, but as the moments grew, nothing more seemed to happen. Sisu's expression furrowed.

"It's not working," she said, "It's enough to stabilize it, but not enough to heal."

"We need more eggs," Amba said.

Sisu's expression dropped, in that instant knowing full well what she needed to do.

"Of course I have to." Sisu grumbled, "Well Amba, looks like you're going to have to watch these eggs until I get back.

"Where are you going?" Amba asked, glancing up.

"Don't worry, me and the Universe have this thing going between us." Sisu gave her tail a whisk, "One extra order of revitalizing eggs, coming right up."

And before Amba could ask anymore questions, Sisu dashed into the woods.

Sisu looked around the woods, searching for what she thought would be a good place. Finally, she happened upon a reasonably quiet spot and took it in thoughtfully. For a place to bear excruciating agony, this place wasn't half bad.

"Okay Universe," Sisu said, getting into position, and arching her back just so in preparation, "you're going to have to show off my... well, I'm sure you know what... one more time."

And the Universe was all too ready to oblige.

Instantly, Sisu felt a tightening in her abdomen that caused her to gasp.

"Subtle," Sisu said, fighting off the urge to panic, "what say we take it easy this time?"

Well, apparently, taking it easy was a no-go; an instant later the contractions started full force, sharp, driving her breath away, sending her body collapsing, her rear end thrusting up in the air behind her. Sisu cried out in guttural agony.

"I said easy!" She moaned horribly. But easy was not the way things would be as sharp contractions continued to hammer her innards and make her moan out miserably. As far as innards go, you couldn't get more sensitive.

As Sisu suffered horribly, Amba emerged from the treeline to see what her sister was up to. She arrived just in time to see Sisu heft her rear in the air and cry out, "Oh my v*****!"

Amba was about to just slink quietly back into the woods, when Sisu glanced up.

"Oh, no, come and join me, it's fine," Sisu said, lifting her tail up and giving her rear end a shake, "once you can get past the pain, you can kinda see the appeal. Booties up!"

Then more contractions hit and Sisu's body arched out with a horrific wail.

"Nope, we are not getting past the pain, we are so not getting past the pain," more contractions and Sisu threw her rear end even higher into the air, going guttural, then extending out again as if her writhing body couldn't make up her mind on where to put it. Her tail thrashed behind her as her behind made quite the display.

Amba's brow furrowed in thought, "You know this all seems to look oddly familiar; where have I seen this before?"

Sisu shrieked as her booty shot up once more.

"Oh yeah," Amba replied in remembrance, "I think Pranee did something like this when she laid her egg."

"You think?" Sisu managed just before more soul-quaking contractions wracked her body; Sisu shrieked.

"Oh wow." Amba breathed, "You don't think I look like that when I lay an egg do you?" she asked.

"Very probably," Sisu moaned.

"Wow, I looked ridiculous." She paused for a moment "This will save my baby, right?" Amba asked uncertainly.

"It better!" Sisu grimaced, clearly wishing to be in any level of pain less than this.

But then the contractions intensified again, and Sisu flopped her body onto the ground, writhing around like some of Raya's discarded jackfruit jerky, moaning and wailing in pure Sisu-esque angst. All Sisu's ice-skating feelings of contentment were erased from her mind; if she'd have known this is where she'd be just a few hours later...

And then Sisu shoved her rear straight in the air once more again, her tail extending itself out of the way as much as possible, her whole body rolling with the arching movement of the egg.

"I hope you could do me a favor and advert your eyes for this next part!" Sisu cried, her face going red as she felt what was about to happen. And then she gave a gut-curdling scream as her innards more or less lacerated. "My v****!" And then an egg popped right flat onto the ground.

Amba just stared at her. "You used the five letter word that time." Amba remarked, "I've never used that word."

"Of course, why not?" Sisu said with an enthusiastic groan; she reached for the egg and gently rolling it forward, "If I'm going to be laying these things, I might as well be using all my favorite words. Crazy us dragons have those things, am I right? But us girls've gotta pee somehow." She gave her tail a swish, proud of her makeup, or at least as proud as she could be when that makeup was causing her excruciating agony. She stopped to take a quick check underneath, "What'd'ya know, still in one piece."

Amba looked a little bit weirded out by all this.

"Of course, you're my sister, so, yeah, pretend that never happened," Sisu said.

But Amba seemed to have regained her confidence, "Believe it or not, I have a v**** too. And you would not believe what it felt like to lay an egg through that thing."

Sisu made a face, "That is more information than I ever needed to know." Sisu looked at the egg she had just laid, and rested her paw on it gently, "Just one more baby like this thing, and we should be set." Her expression changed, "Yeah, totally not looking forward to that."

But before they could say any more, Sisu's face contorted, "Oh no, here comes the other. My v****! My v****! MY V****!!!!!!!!!!"

Sisu screamed utter agony as the next egg continued to be laid. She felt it, she felt it in her-

"UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHH!" Sisu screamed, and then the second egg was there.

Sisu slumped down onto the ground, letting her rear end just rest up in the air behind her in Sisu-esque fashion, while the rest of her body just deflated and sunk into the forest floor. She hoped the Universe was happy, because she had given it quite the show.

"Five eggs," Sisu said with finality, "What say we call that a day?"

But all was not said and done for, and no sooner had she said that Sisu felt it coming on once more. Her eyes went wide, one leg lifting up to clinch it, "Oh no, we have enough! We have ENOU-"

And then Sisu was howling again, sharp agony like never before in her sensitive regions. She threw her legs as far apart as she possibly could without it making it all unattractive (lucky us), and her rear skyrocketed into the air behind her as her back arched, her tail thrashing as she felt every single moment of it. It was a huge one.

"WHY!?" Sisu wailed, "DON'T WE ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH!"

But the Universe was merciless, an instant later the pain exploded once more beyond all levels of dragon comprehension. Sisu yowled.

"WHY ME!!!!"

But the answer was obvious, the display she was making couldn't be more amusing, that much she could be sure of. She hoped some unsuspecting critter in those woods was at least getting the best view, because it was a view. That was if her screams hadn't scared them all off.

“Show off." Amba mumbled, just a bit jealous of her sister's moves.

And then, Sisu's heart came to a stop as she felt...

Oh no...

Sisu's conscious mind might as well have exploded.

This time, Amba had to avert her eyes as there came one more horrific guttural shriek; even the sound of it was excruciating, and Sisu actually had to feel it; the sound of the last egg finally making its final pop into the real world. There was no way Sisu had been ready for that.

I do not want to know what that must've felt like, Amba winced to herself.

(Fortunately for us, she would know during her own next egg. In fact, why shouldn't Pranee join the fun too - maybe every dragon in Kumandra's next egg should be just as exciting, you know. But... yeah... that's a different story.)

As Sisu's fragmented mind regathered itself, she let out an agonized moan.

"Never make me go through that ever again."

And then her body dropped, right on top of the egg, smashing it to a million pieces.

Sisu and Amba looked down at the egg in shock, its gooey innards oozing all over the place and Sisu's body.

Then Amba's eyes went wide in the realization.

"So that's why you laid an extra egg," she breathed, "The Universe must've known you'd need a spare one."

"Or, you know," Sisu offered, "I could've just laid five eggs and I never would've fallen on this one in the first place, but hey, whatever works."

Sisu gave that grin before slumping down exhaustively in the egg slime once more. "Give me a few minutes will you, I'm going to need a sec to recover. I'll meet you back by the other eggs when I can actually move again." She arched her rear end into the air again and moaned "Ughhhhh!"

Once Amba was out of sight, Sisu took a glance back at her bottom and gave it a friendly pat, "To be fair, with a booty like you, it'd kinda be a missed opportunity not to see some egg laying action," but then she winced, "But wow, do these babies not need to hurt that bad."

Pulling herself finally to her feet, she looked under at all the egg juices coating her lower body, "Well, it looks like I wet myself. Which isn't actually far from the truth. All from the same general vicinity."

Sisu limped back to the spot where Amba's egg still rested in its healing triangle, cradling her own eggs heavy-heartedly as she brought them to join the others.

"It's time." She said to them gently.

Looking at her three eggs surrounding Amba's in the healing triangle, she laid her two new ones down alongside them, forming them into a perfect star shape. As the three other eggs pulsed their light, the two new ones lit up, their light eliminating within that of the others; all of them feeding off of and strengthening the light of the other's; all of them working together to radiate their lifegiving essence toward Amba's egg in the center.

As the forest was immersed in the spectacular light, Sisu felt her heart tighten inside her; these eggs may not contain her babies, but she had felt a love for them almost as if they did. As the light of her eggs pulsed with the draining energy inside them, she could almost feel her talons reaching out to touch them one last time.

Then the nest exploded with brilliant light, and everything was enveloped in white.

The light faded, Sisu opened her eyes, the eggs were still there, resting where they'd placed them, sitting there in silence.

But...

The smallest crack.

Sisu gave a gasp, her arm reaching out, as if grasping for what she knew could never be; then, one by one, all five of her eggs disintegrated into dust.

Sisu sat there in silence, a small pang aching at her heart.

But there in the center of the center of the nest sat Amba's egg, still there as it had been before, a small light flickering along the lines where the cracks had once been.

A small crackling sound came from inside, as if a tiny voice was trying to get out.

Then Crack.

The shell came crumbling down, revealing the tiny little lifeform that had rested inside.

Stillness.

Then, the baby dragon cracked open its eyes, a yawn spreading across its mouth.

Sisu could only feel herself leaning in closer, staring in awe at the new life making its way into the world for the first time. And Amba was there beside her as she saw her own newborn baby the first time, the expression on her face that of a mother who could not have been prouder.

The baby dragon looked up and blinked its little eyes as it noticed the two dragons watching it. As the innocent little fluffball absorbed them with its vision, it's eyes grew wide in wonder.

"Hello there little one," Amba said, "Welcome to Kumandra. My little Hoa."

"Hoa?" the little dragon asked, sounding out the mysterious word in wonder.

"See that," Sisu said to the baby, gesturing to Amba, "That's your Mama, she went through a lot to have you, so don't you forget that."

"Mama!" The baby dragon chirruped, jumping up and nuzzling her face against her mothers. Amba went still at her baby's touch, felt the little pitter-patter of her heart within her own, and suddenly, she felt tears rolling down her eyes as she nuzzled her little Hoa back.

Sisu heart warmed at the sight of the mother and her child. Feeling with her talons her chest where her heart was, a sense of completion settled within her. Her job here was done.

Amba gave Hoa a gentle scratch under her chin with her talon, then turned back to Sisu.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your niece?" Amba asked, stopping Sisu in her tracks just before she disappeared beyond the edge of the treeline.

Sisu looked back at Amba, surprise on her face, "You want that?"

"Of course," Amba said, her face filling with emotion, "you saved my baby's life, how could I ever repay you?"

Sisu made her way back over to her sister. The baby watched approaching Sisu with wide wondering eyes.

"This is your Aunt Sisu," Amba told her child, "You saw her earlier. Say hello to Sisu."

"Sisu!" The baby cried enthusiastically, jumping up and resting her paws happily on either side of Sisu's face.

And under those gentle paws Sisu felt her heart burst. Suddenly a tear began to form in her eyes. And finally, it all finally made sense; her eggs may have never been meant to hatch, but for this precious life in front of her, it had been worth every egg she laid. All that agony and angst that had allowed for this little Hoa to live, maybe in some way it had all been worth it.

...

"So yeah..." Sisu replied, "Totally not doing that again."

But that is the entertaining part of dragons, right? They will always do it again.

Ouch!