You woke up, lying on a beach in the middle of the night. Except, this beach was quieter...the gentle lapping of waves against the shore, rather than loud crashing ones, and, it didn't smell of sea salt. Overhead, tiny twinkling lights could be seen, of millions of diamond-like stars overhead. It's odd how you suddenly got here, when you distinctly remember falling asleep in your bed, and looking out your window as you slowly fell into a warm, pleasant, deep slumber. Slowly, you get up, brushing the sand off of your pajamas, simple comfy shorts, and a white T-Shirt; looking around, you see what looks to be an ocean, as you stand on a white-sands beach, at the edge of a dark hardwood forest. A cool, gentle breeze caresses your face on a lukewarm, pleasant night, as you look out at the ocean, and say aloud, "...H-How did I get...here..." Behind you, a gentle, loving voice, that sounded more like a lullaby of a song, answers, "I brought you here." You turn around to see a beautiful blue and white dragon, with yellow horns, and beautiful green eyes, slowly stepping out from the forest. You jaw dropped when you realized who she was.

Almost a year ago, you began having horrible anxiety attacks...attacks that would leave you paralyzed, and silent, unable to do anything, but suffer silently. They didn't happen too often...but when they did, they terrified you. They usually resulted in a trip to the bathroom, or an immediate lunge for a nearby trashcan, to empty your bowels at the end, once you regained control of your body. You needed to stop them, but you hated psychological drugs...you knew they could cause problems just as they fix them in the same hand. What you needed, wasn't medicine to control it, but rather, something to eradicate it. For months, you masked your pain behind a mask of happiness. You tried to remain positive, and for the most part, your mask worked. Friends were mostly oblivious, save for the few times your mask cracked, and your true colors seeped out. Family was the most oblivious, expertly hiding your pain from them to avoid questioning, and to avoid being forced into therapy.

But after a bit of soul-searching, you realized what you needed most, was a sort of companion, or guardian. This guardian came to you one day as you were looking online. You found someone was making a giant inflatable dragoness, named Ayru. And as soon as you saw her, you knew...you just /knew/ she would be the answer to your problems. You wanted nothing more, as soon as you saw her, than to hug her, press your body against her, bury your face in her neck, and just cry...just let go of all of your problems.

But she was expensive. $600. You had most of it saved away, but you worked hard, really hard to come up with the rest of that money, and so the day finally came. You paid for her with utter excitement. Now, to wait. After a few months of waiting with abated breath, and a couple more anxiety attacks, she finally arrived in the mail. Your hands shook as you sat there opening the door to see the man with your package, and shook as you signed off on it. After he left, and you thanked him, you quickly carried the package outside to your backyard, where you were met with a beautiful, partly-cloudy day. Delicately cutting the package open with doctor-like precision, you were greeted with the pleasant smell of fresh vinyl. You struggled for a bit, trying to take her out of the package, before she finally came out and landed on the tarps you set up on the ground as a precaution to hidden objects in the grass. Grabbing your pump, you unfolded her and found her nozzle, plugging it in, you inflated her, and stood there in awe as she slowly inflated to her 7' high, 13' long form. You shut it off when she was full, and stepped back after plugging her valve. Gazing over her, she was even bigger and more beautiful than you had ever imagined. Her lovely spots on her back, her brilliant blue body, loving and inviting smile, and her beautiful green eyes mesmerized you. But quickly, your emotions began taking over, and slowly, tenderly, you walked up to her, at first just gently tracing your fingers over her, before finally wrapping your arms around her neck, and hugging her tightly.

You cried for what must have been hours, as mountains of built-up emotions finally fell off of your shoulders. The pressure of depression and anxiety that you once felt, washed away, and you were relieved. But that was almost a year ago. You used to sleep with her every night in your bed. You would partly inflate her and push the air towards her head and upper body, before carefully tucking her lower body away to keep the air from flowing back. Her paws would be fully inflated, and her head would droop down, muzzle resting on your pillow. You would slip under the covers underneath her, and wrap your arms around one of her paws, as her head nuzzled your back. With a paw to either side of you, it was as if she was protecting you as you slept. And you did feel safe for once, sleeping much deeper than ever before, and having peaceful, happy dreams...something you hadn't had in a long time. And not only would you sleep with her, but you would also watch movies while laying on her back, and snuggle her, hug her, kiss her, give her all of your love and affection, both of which finally emerged out from under the mountains of depression and anxiety that covered them up.

But after a bit of complications, and hard times, you had to move in with your mother to pay some debt from the college that ripped you off, and she, as nice as she was, did not approve very much of your furry lifestyle, and thoroughly disapproved of your purchase of Ayru. She tried to sell it without your consent, which nearly broke your heart in two, but you managed after many bitter words and argument, to get her out of the house, and have a friend hold onto her tightly. Ever since that day, your anxiety attacks returned, stronger than ever, coming almost every other day, and your depression crept back in. You have wanted to do nothing but leave, get your own place to rent, and inflate Ayru back up, so as to get rid of the depression and anxiety once again. You missed her, and cared about her, worrying about her almost every day...especially when a massive Category 4 hurricane hit Florida, where you and your friend lived. Your friend forced to evacuate, bringing Ayru along to the shelter, but being forced to leave her in the trunk through the middle of the storm. You cried yourself to sleep in worry during the storm. In the end, you were thankful that your friend, and Ayru were both fine, without a scratch or blemish.

But ever since you moved back home, you wished that one night, she would come while you were asleep, and carry you away to her den where she would take care of you forever more. Loving you, snuggling you, hugging and kissing you...but most importantly, being there for you. It was wishful thinking. But now...perhaps wishes can come true.

Ayru walked over to you, her form squeaking slightly as she moved, "I have missed you, and you have missed me even more," she said as she laid down next to you. She looked out at the water, and closed her eyes, feeling the breeze gently glide over her curvaceous body. You stood there, admiring her, and your heart was beating wildly, as if pleading, begging to just jump right out. She smiled and looked towards you, "You must be wondering how I am alive...I am just a toy, after all." she let out a small chuckle, "Your love breathed life into me the moment you first touched me. I didn't fully gain control of myself then, but I was conscious, and I could sense all of your past troubles. I wanted nothing more than to help you feel better. I wanted to make you feel safe, and love you more than anyone has. And I was sad when you put me away before you moved...and scared when your mother almost tried to sell me...the thought of being separated from you...it was a very...emotional...time. But I felt your love, as you stood up to her, and fought to keep me. And yes...I said felt. I can feel your emotions...sense them...and when you began to get more attacks, and get depressed, I grew sad, and tried and tried to move, to do something. Finally, one day, after many tries and failed attempts, I managed to inflate myself, and then made a plan to take you away to this place...my place. It's complicated how it came to be mine, but that's a story for another time...right now..." she moved towards you and wrapped her hands around you, hugging you, and pulling you into her soft, pliable, vinyl chest. Her head over your right shoulder as she placed her head on your back, as you could feel the underside of her head pressing against it. You were wrapped up in her arms...and you nearly fell apart. This was almost too much to handle for you, as your emotions welled up even higher, and you sobbed as you returned the hug, wrapping your arms around her neck, and pulling into the embrace. You sobbed and sobbed, to the point where you just went limp against her, and she supported you, holding you to her soft, cool, vinyl body. "Shhhhh...it's alright...shhhhh..." tears streamed down your face, when suddenly, you began to hear her sing an all-too-familiar song,

"You are my sunshine...my only sunshine...you make me happy...when skies are grey...you'll never know dear...how much I love you...so please, don't take my sunshine away."

She continued as you sobbed into her, until you slowly calmed down, tired, but still hugging her. She lifted you up, and placed you on her back, letting you hug her neck from behind. She slowly got up, and began walking back towards the forest with you on her back, humming the song gently as she went.

The forest was quiet, save for the occasional breeze and cricket chirp. Fireflies blinked on and off all around you as she walked deeper still, into the forest. You began to slowly fall into that ethereal state of semi-sleep, where you were barely conscious of what was going on, and consumed in the bliss and comfort of a relaxed body, until she finally reached a cave. She walked into it's, at first, cool depths, until it finally began to get warmer. You entered a beautiful room in the cave, with giant pillows and blankets in the middle, forming a sort of bed. Over it hung a giant, dark, curtain that almost looked as if it had constellations on it. Around the room sat piles of gold, a pool of water, and tunnels to other rooms in the cave, but you didn't pay much heed to that; you were still in semi-sleep.

She walked over to the bed and slowly laid down. You were still falling asleep, but she picked you up, and wrapped you in her arms, facing her belly, as she laid on her side, snuggling you close. One of her paws slowly rubbed up and down your back, as she leaned her head down to gently kiss your head, "Shhhhh...just fall asleep my dear, you have had a long day." And with with the aid of her gentle caress, and her quiet humming, you quickly fell into a deep, deep sleep, to which she followed shortly thereafter.