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ZW collapsed down onto hir bed, letting out a sigh of exhaustion. What a day it had been; hir first day ever in fact. Before today, ZW hadn't existed at all. Yesterday shi had been two very separate people, but by the magic of a mystical dragonbadge, those two had become one and the same. And, of course, the very first day ZW had been herm-self, all hir friends had been captured by a greedy dwarf with a curse! After shi had saved the day, of course, everyone had wanted to talk, ask questions, and generally understand what had happened to their old friends Zak and Wheezie.

Hir emotions were running strong this night. After answering many questions and explaining over and over that shi was the same two friends they had known, but now a completely new person, shi just wanted to get some sleep and start with a fresh day. Things were moving far too quickly. Shi hadn't even decided on a proper NAME for hirself, much less been able to completely sort out everything about who shi was... what shi was.

As shi lay there, something felt wrong about the bed. It was just uncomfortable somehow... it was messy...

Getting up despite the fatigue, shi made the bed. Hospital corners, crisp sheets, and completely organized, shi laid back down.

No... now this wasn't right either! Now it was too clean and organized! Shi couldn't sleep on a bed that looked like it had been done up for presentation rather than rest! Frustrated, shi jumped and bounced a bit on the bed, wrecking the creaseless perfection into something both organized and yet lived-in. Smiling at hir newfound comfort-zone, shi leaned back and finally drifted into hir dreams.

ZW stumbled into the shower of hir cave, bleary-eyed and still quite confused. As much as living together had been complicated, suddenly not having to agree to do simple tasks like walk and stretch seemed both a luxury and like something was horribly missing. Still, luckily shi was able to make it to the bathroom just fine and turn on the water.

Zak and Wheezie's scales were musical, it was something they had always loved about themselves. And as the cascade of water from the shower struck their scales, ZW found out that this had not changed... well not in the sense that hir scales were still musical. But instead of single notes, the water tapped out in harmonious chords that stirred and swelled as they played on. Soon, as hir body was saturated by droplets, the scales seemed to be working out a symphony of their own.

Though shi had just hours ago played a song upon these very scales to save hir friends, the sound was still a marvel, and the wondrous unity of the sounds that shi remembered as being distinctly 'Zak' or 'Wheezie' in their works now blended effortlessly as shi played. Every movement of her body was a movement in the song, repositioning each portion of hir body sending droplets onto new combinations of scales.

In moments ZW had worked out the new patterns in hir scales, playing as shi had not done since Zak and Wheezie had been children. Despite hir possession of their memories and experiences, everything was new and delightful. It was like shi was a child herm-self, discovering what hir body could do and how shi could do things with it. Before long, all thought of actually cleaning in the shower was long forgotten as shi conducted an orchestra of one and sang newly invented arias to hirself in hir new mid-range voice. As shi practiced, the notes shi was able to hit grew to encompass the ranges of both Zak and Wheezie, letting hir sing high or low with no trouble of effort. Shi could even emulate the old voices exactly.

As much as it pained hir to admit, shi liked who shi had become. A harmonious blend of hir predecessors, a new person and the same people. Shi had so much to offer to others, so much to become herm-self that feeling guilty that shi had arisen from Zak and Wheezie's union seemed wrong. Besides, shi could be Zak, shi could also be Wheezie. They weren't gone, they just... went together like notes in a song, like the harmony to their melody... like a unison of voices.

"Unison!" shi cried to herm-self, "That's what I'll make my name. Everyone can call me 'Uni' and it doesn't even sound tacked on!"

Quitting the shower and drying off, Unison made ready to face the day and tell everyone of hir decisions. Now dry, shi took a long look in the mirror to see just what kind of dragon shi really had become. The day before, just after it had happened, shi had only glanced at hir reflection just to see what had happened. Shi had seen the swirling green and purple patterns on every part of hir body save hir cream-colored belly-scales which were never different anyway.

Hir body was of the same proportions, even though hir shoulders seemed a bit too wide because of the single long neck that arose from them. Hir head sported features that were a blend of Zak and Wheezie's faces and on top and all down the back of hir neck, the head-scales of both sat on top, uncombined and yet all present making hir head-scales fuller and more numerous. But there was one more thing that Unison had yet to examine... something that took a bit more time.

Dragging a chair over in front of the mirror, Unison sat down and spread hir legs. Zak and Wheezie had each had a set of genitals, completely separate and private. And being brother and sister, this made them as a whole a dragon of both genders. After everything that had happened since Wheezie had discovered the joy and love of being with her brother as more than just conjoined siblings, their individual parts had taken on a new level of significance and meaning.

A dragon's genitals, male or female, were tucked away within a special slit, normally hidden by scales. Of course, an aroused dragon had little chance of hiding it, but a normally un-stimulated one did not seem to even have them. Unison gently spread the protective scales hiding hir special bits, testing to see what shi had been left with. A bit of tickling and teasing caused hir special place to swell, expanding hir shaft from within as it unfolded to prominence. It looked okay, but shi wasn't certain it was actually the same or not.

In a flash of inspiration, Unison reached into hir pouch, rummaging around in the hoard of objects there. Shi would certainly have to organize that as soon as shi was able, but for now shi had only on object in mind. A brush of hir finger against something hard, large and firm told hir that shi had found it! Withdrawing hir hand, shi pulled forth the special 'toy' that Wheezie had crafted from Zak's penis some time ago after they had first discovered the joys of pleasuring themself and each other.

Unison sighed as shi looked upon the purple resin phallus. Wheezie's favorite catchphrase engraved around the base with her own claw. So many fine memories had been made with that simple lump of resin...

...but now Uni had to work to get herm-self hard again, just to test the size of course. Finally achieving full arousal, Unison smiled to see that the copy was a perfect match... Zak's penis was now hir penis, just as it had been. A buzz of sensation shivered Uni's spine as shi found that shi couldn't take her eyes off the toy. A slight smile crossed hir features as a hand slithered back into hir pouch, looking for just one more thing.

"I suppose there's one more thing to test..."

Ancient magic had created Dragonland, filling it with wonders and delights for all who dwelled there. The same magic had, in ages past, been harnessed by the ancient dragons who found that their lives would become joyous and fun if they learned to conquer their personal failings. The oldest and wisest of the dragons fashioned the first Dragon Badges to help dragons learn not only what their problems were, but to glow and remind them of the things they did right in their lives. The first of the Dragon Badges were wrought from the raw magic of those wizened times, manifesting into treasures of great power. These had been used to instill those who wore them with abilities that would aide them in overcoming their disharmonious personal issues.

From these, the dragons of generations to come crafted lesser copies. Copies designed to teach their children the value of kindness, friendship, compromise, assertiveness, bravery, and a host of other virtues. Each badge was keyed to the owner so that it would resonate with the individual, sensing what the dragon might be having trouble with and glowing to reassure them that they had done something right.

And now a new badge was being made. Quetzal labored at his workshop, crafting the new badge as he had for every new student that he had ever taught. In front of him was a pair of badges, one a quarter-note, the other, a double-eighth note. These were Zak and Wheezie's old badges, ones keyed to help them with their uncommon situation of being two wildly different personalities but conjoined into the same body. Now he worked on them, forging them into a new single badge, one that was in the shape of a bar of music, a single stanza, rather than separate notes.

"Is... is that one... mine?" Unison said softly over his shoulder, "You're making it from the other two?"

"It seemed appropriate Za... I mean. Whe... I mean,"

"Unison," shi giggled, "I know it's gonna take some time to get used to, but I guess that it's going to be what my new badge is all about... learning to accept myself and getting other's to accept me."

"Mmmm perhaps," Quetzal mused, "But there might be more challenges than that for you to face. Zak and Wheezie, for all their disagreements, had problems of their own, and you'll likely have to face them as they become more obvious."

"I don't know Quetzal," Uni said doubtfully, "As far as I can tell, I think I'm more like the best of both. This old dragon badge really did a lot for me. For example, I found out that I'm no longer obsessively clean or incredibly sloppy. It's... it's become a happy medium pretty much everywhere! My scales are even working together in unison."

Quetzal let out a soft little snort of laughter.

"Aheh," Uni laughed as shi realized what shi had said, "No pun intended."

"At any rate, ehm, Unison, I know it might seem that everything is better now, but you have to realize there will still be challenges for you personally. Learning to balance your time, for instance, or maybe..."

"Maybe what Quetzal?" Unison huffed impatiently, "All Zak and Wheezie's problems are gone! I'm no longer impetuous like Wheezie, nor am I a stick in the mud like Zak! I'm both, and I'm better. Believe it or not, the things that Zak and Wheezie had trouble with was getting along. Those two old badges glowed when they were harmonious and compromising, but I AM harmony! If I could spread that to Dragonland, just think what could happen! What else could I possibly have to worry about?! What else could I need to work on?!"

"Humility perhaps?" Quetzal replied calmly, knocking the wind squarely out of Uni's sails.

Stunned by hir wise old teacher's words, Unison sat heavily upon the floor, feeling for all the world like shi was a child once more at the feet of hir aged mentor. Shi wondered at the concept of humility, wondering if it was really actually hir failing.

"But... but I can do so much, Quetzal." Uni insisted, "I... I could be a professional musician, a serious artist and not just some novelty act. I could... I could help others learn to organize their time and lives and still leave room for fun! The world needs me, and that's why I have to be out there!"

"Unison, I think you're getting too excited," Quetzal cautioned, holding forth the finished badge, "I know you have many things to offer, but perhaps you need to find things out for yourself. Here. You might not even need the badge, but please take it. Come back and tell me what you find."

Uni flew out over Dragonland in search of something to help with. Shi needed a project, something lacking in harmony. Shi needed to be able to show Quetzal hir triumphantly glowing dragon badge and have him admit that shi had been right all along. All of Dragonland would know that shi was right and that they should all listen!

Only a short patrol found Zak and Wheezie's old friends - Cassie, Ord, and Lorca - hard at work with something. Something very large. Upon closer inspection, Unison found that it shi had no idea at all what it was supposed to become. The realization dawned that this was exactly what shi had been looking for! A project! And surely hir friends would need hir help!

Cassie hummed brightly as she draped the flower-patterned glitter-cloth over the frames she had built. These frames she would hang on the outside while Ord put together the scaffolding that would form the frame. Lorca, in the meantime, worked on the harnesses that would allow the float to be pulled along during the parade. It was a big job but they all enjoyed it. And when Unison landed in their midst, they all knew the fun had only started.

"Hey guys! Whatcha doin'?" Uni called, a bit of Wheezie-like exuberance finding its way into hir voice.

"We're building a float for Quetzal's new-schoolers!" Cassie said cheerily.

"I'm making the frame! And we're gonna decorate it, and put Do-Re-Mi Birds on it, and have Two-Lip flowers singing, and my mom baked me three extra dragonberry pies to help me get through the day!" Ord added in his rambling sort of way before pulling a pie from his pouch and scarfing it whole, "I just hope it's enough!"

"And I'm rigging it so the whole thing can be pulled by just one dragon!"

"Great!" Unison cried, "Sounds like just the thing I can help with! Just point me in the right direction and watch me go!"

The friends all laughed and discussed the plans, showing Unison things that an extra pair of hands could be helpful with. Thanks to her musical abilities, shi was tasked with arranging the orchestral sections of the float.

Unison was so excited to finally have a chance to show off hir newfound harmonizing skills that the flowers and birds were arranged in ten minutes flat. After a quick round of direction, Uni was satisfied that the birds and flowers and hummer-bugs all sounded perfect together. This, however, put hir far ahead of the others, who's bigger jobs meant that they would go more slowly.

For a time Uni felt impatient, bored even. Shi had been so proud of herm-self with her arrangement that shi wished shi could interrupt the others for an impromptu recital. Bursting with energy, shi decided to show them all what a wondrous harmonizer shi had become.

"Wanna help me with the scaffolding?" Ord wondered as Uni approached.

"Of course," shi replied, "And the first thing I think we should do is..."

Unison went to work pointing out portions of the scaffolding that didn't look quite right. At some points the frames seemed uneven or unnecessarily spaced. In hir mind, shi tried to picture what the frame would look like with everything draped over it and quickly decided that Ord, in his simpleness, had messed up. Of course shi didn't want hir friend embarrassed by some small flaws, she thought to maybe just point them out.

But being that Unison was now challenged with finding the harmony in things, it took only a short time to think of the corrections that would have the frame looking beautiful. Shi wedged out a few nails here, repositioned a board there... and...

"Uni! What are you doing?!" Ord cried as he saw what had been changed, "Those... those weren't in the plans!"

"Don't worry Ord," Unison said gently, "It was just a little off, so I fixed it. See? Looks much better now."

"But where are the Two-Lips supposed to sit?" Ord moaned, crestfallen "I worked a long time to get those right. Now I gotta fix them."

Unison saw what shi had done and felt ashamed, "I'm... I'm sorry Ord... I was just rying to help."

"Well... just..." steamed Ord, trying to hold back either anger or tears, "Just lemme fix it..."

"Heya Unison!" Lorca greeted his friend as shi walked close, "I thought you were helping Ord?"

"Y-yeah..." Uni replied softly, "I decided... umm... to take a break. I thought I'd come help you instead!"

"Alright! I could use an extra pair of hands to get these straps right! I've rigged a whole system to allow just ONE dragon to pull the whole float all by himself!"

Unison looked over the riggings and hitch, seeing how cunningly Lorca had wrought them. With the weight distributed and the balances right, shi could easily see how just one single dragon could pull a float, a choir of critters, and three dragons all at once! Even if one of the dragons was Ord! Unfortunately, Unison spotted just one teensy problem... the hitch was far too low. No dragon would ever be able to fly in that rigging and pull everything along! As Lorca wheeled himself away to find the proper tool for his next phase, Unison quickly rearranged everything so it sat higher and would allow a flying dragon to haul the float with ease.

"There," Unison said satisfactorily as Lorca rolled back, "Perfect."

"Wha... what have you done!" Lorca said, shocked and dropping his tools, "How am I supposed to pull this float now?!"

"Y-y-you? You were gonna..." Unison stuttered.

"Yeah, I was going to pull it all by myself!" Lorca exclaimed, "I rigged it specially so I could be the one to get it going!"

"I'm... I'm..."

"Oh just go and let me put it back," Lorca snapped, wheeling over to the hitch and quickly dismantling everything.

Unison trudged over to Cassie who was putting the finishing touches on her drapes and decoration. Ashamed at hir impetuousness, Uni slumped down and dropped hir head onto the craft table.

"I just... I just don't know what went wrong Cassie," Unison groaned, "I tried to help... I tried to make everything harmonious... I did such a good job with the chorus..."

Pink arms slid around hir shoulders in a reassuring hug.

"I think you just forgot that... well... while you might be good at something, you're not always going to be the best at everything. You've got to remember that oher people can be good at things too, and sometimes you need to just be there to help, and not to direct."

"But... but I feel like my purpose... the whole reason I exist... is to bring harmony to others... the same kind of harmony I found when I... became me."

"And I'm sure you will," Cassie reassured, "But you've got to remember, harmony includes you as much as anything or anyone else. Just like Zak and Wheezie had to learn to get along with each other, now you have to learn how to fit in with the dragons around you."

She leaned in and gave a little peck of a kiss on Unison's nose.

"And I'm sure you'll be great at that too. Now come on, you can help me."

With renewed vigor and sense of purpose, Unison leapt to hir feet.

"Alright Cassie! Lead the way!"

Finally the float was finished, and despite the earlier setbacks, Unison came through, helping hir friends get everything ready in the nick of time.

Unison and Cassie hugged close together as the new-schoolers loaded up on the float, each with a Do-Re-Mi Bird or a Two-Lip flower or a hummerbug. Immediately Unison saw a problem, but this time shi spoke up immediately. Though hir arrangement had been wondrous before, shi had done it on open ground and not in the final positions that were available on the float. In hir haste, shi had almost spoiled the sound completely! A few adjustments, agreed upon heartily by the others, saw the choruses of critters and dragons sending beautiful notes all along the path.

As Unison and Cassie watched the parade pass down the street, a shadow fell at their back, toward the setting sun.

"So... did you learn anything Unison?" Quetzal asked, as gentle as before.

"I sure did. While I might have something to give to the world, so does everyone else. I just have to remember that. I also learned that... well... harmony needs to be more than just one person."

A glow lit from around Unison's neck, sending out a few shining notes as it grew in brightness.

"I think that was the right lesson," Cassie sighed happily, hugging a little tighter on Uni.

"Come on," Unison said with a smile, "I'm sure there's more to be done... together."

"Together!" Cassie agreed.