Disclaimer: I don't own anybody who was ever on the show. I could have typed the people I do own, but that would take up too much space. I don't own the NFSA (National Figure Skating Association). I don't even know if that's what the name of it is. Maybe it's FSA, or WFSA. Forget it. Point is, I don't own it.

Author's note: Had these edited into chapters years ago, them plumb forgot and didn't get around to it… Thanks to MightyDucks for faving the story and reminding me!

Chapter 1

Veranda, in jaguar form, crept closer to Chameleon through the darkness of the shadows. 'Fool,' she thought. 'He's got his guard down, that's like saying "Please Veranda, pounce on me."' Veranda stopped and crouched on her hind legs. With a sudden swiftness, she pounced and landed on Chameleon's back with a roar. Chameleon fell with a yelp. Veranda jumped off of him, dodging the laser blasts that were flying towards her. She resumed her place next to Nosedive, watching for any other chances for her to pounce.

"Nice hit, Veranda," said Nosedive as he took a shot at Chameleon.

Veranda attempted to purr, but she was too busy trying to dodge laser blasts. One particular blast made her jump away from Nosedive. When she turned around, she saw the laser blast heading straight towards Nosedive's head. Nosedive didn't see it; he was too busy aiming a shot at Chameleon.

"NOSEDIVE, LOOK OUT!"

Without thinking, she ran and jumped right in front of the laser's path. Nosedive saw a black blur pass his eyes and felt something furry brush against his face. The scream/roar he heard was unmistakable.

"ROAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

"VERANDA!" He watched as she landed with a heavy thump, shoulder bleeding from the blast she took for him. Emerald took off and swooped down, scooping up Veranda and lifting her to safety. She carried her behind the rest of the team. Nosedive turned to Siege, who shot the blast. Nosedive stared at him with eyes burning with rage.

"YOU!"

With that, he charged at him, knocking him to the ground. To everyone's surprise, Nosedive grabbed Siege's throat, and slamming his head into the floor.

"GET HIM OFF ME!"

Chameleon attempted to help Siege, but the second he got close, he was looking down the barrel of Nosedive's loaded Pucklauncher. They stood there for a second, Siege down on the ground, with one of Nosedive's hands on his throat, while the other was pointing the Pucklauncher at Chameleon's head. There was a small buzzing noise as the Pucklauncher activated, ready to fire. Chameleon fell backwards, crawling away like a bug.

Nosedive calmly moved the Pucklauncher away from Chameleon and pointing right at Siege's head. "You're getting off this time, but if this happens again, you won't be so lucky." With that, Nosedive holstered the Pucklauncher and walked away. Siege, Wraith, and Chameleon teleported out.

-

Back in the pond, Mallory was having a nap. But, with the nap, came a nightmare. The team had returned to puckworld. Mallory was walking past an ally when her father appeared.

"Mallory?"

"Dad?"

They hugged each other. "I thought you were killed in the bombing," said her father.

"I joined the resistance. Dragaunus and his henchmen are back in the Dimetional Limbo, where they belong," Mallory heard footsteps behind her. Her father froze. He pulled out his gun.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Mallory, don't move. Duke L'orange is behind you with a child,"

"So?"

"He could have killed the parents!"

"I am one of the parents! Dad, I need to tell you…"

"Give my Granddaughter…"

"Dad, just shut up a second and listen to me! I'm not a McMallard anymore!"

"What? If you're not a McMallard, what are you?"

"I'm a L'orange now."

"What? Can this be true?"

"Yes. The father of your granddaughter is Duke L'orange,"

"I don't believe this. He's a thief! Th most notorious one at that! Why HIM?"

"Because I love him! He died twice protecting me!"

"Would be better if he was dead! I don't want to see my daughter slaving away to a thief, doing all the housework,"

Duke couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Now wait just a minute there-"

"Quiet thief! This does not concern you!"

"If it concerns my wife and my child, it sure does! I would never-"

"I said silence! No one wants to hear from you-"

"I do!" argued Mallory. "He's saved me more times than you have! I decided to marry him, I decided to have his child, and if I have to quit the military because of that choice, so be it!"

"You mean to tell me that you are going to quit the military, because of a thief?"

"If that's what I have to do to stay with Duke. I am not leaving him,"

He raised the gun so it was pointing at Duke's chest, which had his daughter in front of.

"DAD, NO!" Mallory leaped in front of Duke, to protect him. She shut her eyes, waiting for the gunshot. She heard the bang, but she didn't feel the bullet ripping through her. She looked up at Duke, who was trying to calm their crying child. She looked at where her father was standing, and let a small scream. Her father instead of using the bullet to kill Duke, he used it to kill himself. At that second, Mallory woke up screaming.

-

Duke was walking towards Mallory's room when he heard her scream. His mind ran over the possibilities of why she screamed. It's towards the end of her final month. She could be going into labor, or maybe Dragaunus appeared in her room. Maybe she found a rat in her room. He highly doubted the third one, but he took the first two into serious consideration. With panic growing in each step, he sped up to a running pace. "Mallory?!" When he reached her door, he considered getting out his saber, just in case. He decided against it and peeked in. When he saw Mallory sitting up in her bed, he carefully entered. "Mal, are you OK?" He walked up to her bed. "I heard you scream, and-"

He was interrupted when Mallory jumped on him, hugging him. "Calm down Mal, it can't be good for our child when you get all stressed out like this."

"I'm sorry, I jut had a dream that when my dad found out about us, he killed himself,"

"Its alright now. It was only a dream,"

"In my dream, we had a girl,"

"A girl, eh? I wonder if that dream was partially right, because I wouldn't mind if we had a girl,"

"I wouldn't mind either." Mallory said with a small laugh. They finally pried themselves away from each other and Duke put a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure you're all right?" Mallory nodded. "You hungry?" Mallory nodded again. As Duke led her to the kitchen, Waterstar met them halfway.

"Wing wants everyone in the Ready Room. It's mail day,"

"Again?" asked Mallory. Waterstar nodded and headed back to the Ready Room. Duke and Mallory followed her.

Once they were there, the mail was sorted out. Veranda took one look at one of her letters, and immediately started to open it. She read it with wide eyes.

"What is it?" asked Nosedive. "It's a letter from the NFSA. It says I may be able to compete in the next Olympics if I do good enough. They want me to go to Minnesota to try out. They even sent the tickets,"

"How many?"

"Five. It says here that the extra four are for any one that wants to go with,"

Wildwing knew what was coming next.

"Wing, can I go?"

"I don't know, Dive. Do you think you could behave yourself?"

"Yes now can I go?"

"Why doesn't he just call me dad?" mumbled Wildwing. "You can only go if an adult goes too,"

"Alright!"

"Any other volunteers?"

"I might as well go too," said Tanya. "Gotta get out more," she reasoned.

"There are two more spots left,"

"I can keep Tanya company," said Mallory.

For some unknown reason, possibly either a lapse of sanity, or temporary stupidity, both Duke and Wildwing let her go.

"I'll go," said Emerald.

"I don't know about that one," said Sunstar.

"Oh mom can I please go? I promise I won't get in the way and I won't bother anyone and-"

"OK, alright. If Wildwing and your father say it's OK, then you can go. Just don't give them your puppy face,"

Emerald turned to Razorwing. "Can I go, dad?" she asked him, her tail twitching back and forth at a steady pace.

"I suppose, as long as you be careful,"

She turned to Wildwing. "Can I go?"

Wildwing looked into her bright hazel/green eyes. "Alright, but if anything bad happens, give us a call and we'll be there as soon as Arowing can get us there," Emerald beamed and her tail started whipping back and forth at a fast rate.

"When does the plane leave?"

Veranda scanned the letter. "In a week."

-

The night before the trip, Emerald started packing her bags. Sunstar peeked in.

"Don't forget a sweater," she said with a smile.

"Oh, hi mom."

Sunstar walked over to her and sat on her bed. "I talked with Tanya today, she said she would keep and eye on you while you were in Minnesota,"

Emerald pushed her own bangs out of her face. "I'll be OK."

"Why did you want to go anyway?"

Emerald shrugged. "I haven't seen much of the U.S. Besides, if Mallory is going, I might be needed, if you get my drift."

"Oh, so that's your plan. You want to be there in case Mallory starts going into labor."

"Gotta be prepared. Never know when that type of thing will happen. I'm not your average 12 year old."

Sunstar smiled. "Of course not. You're part of a superhero team, your mom and dad are Ducks, and you're one hey of a doctor. And you've made me the happiest mother in any dimension."

Emerald smiled.

"But," Sunstar added. "Even superheroes have bedtimes."

"Aw mom."

"Come on, into bed." Emerald crawled into her bed and pulled up the covers. "Tomorrow," said Sunstar, "I want you to listen to Tanya and take good care of Mallory. Hopefully nothing bad will happen and you won't need to change into an Artica while you're there."

"Mom? Tell me about Cheetora again."

"Well, Cheetora and I were best friends. I met her before I met your father. We met inside a burning ship. Tigor was outside with the rest of the team. I managed to get her and Felina out of the ship. Leea and Neo were already born. Cheetora told me that Felina was probably born the same day as Leea and Neo."

"When did you meet the Ducks?"

"Gosh, that was when Tanya and Wildwing were trying to get married." Sunstar smiled. "Wing didn't have the courage to ask her straight. He typed it up on Drake1. He couldn't talk to her for fifteen minutes without blushing after that." Emerald giggled. "Well, it's time to go to bed."

"Night mom."

"Night Em. Your dad is going to check on you later," Sunstar kissed Emerald on the forehead, then headed out of the room. She turned the lights off Emerald snuggled into her bed and shut her eyes to try to sleep.

Sunstar quietly walked away from Emerald's door. Razorwing met her halfway through the hallway. "Raze, I'm worried. I've heard lots of stories about planes crashing and I'm afraid-"

Razorwing looked at his wife and smiled. He comfortingly stroked her hair. "Sunstar, it's going to be alright. I'm worried too, but I don't let that get in the way. Don't worry. Everything will be alright, everyone will be back in the pond when their trip is over."

"I hope you're right. I don't want Emerald to get hurt, she's our only child."

Razorwing gently hugged her. "She's twelve years old, but she'll be fine, Tanya's going to keep an eye on her. "

-

The next morning, everyone awoke excited and a particular group of five found themselves too excited to think straight. When they were all ready to go, good-byes were said.

"Be careful over there," said Duke. "I don't want my wife or my kid to get hurt."

"I'll be careful," said Mallory, then lightly kissed him on the cheek.

Wildwing and Tanya were standing next to the vehicle bay doors. Wildwing had Leea in his arms, while Tanya had Neo.

"Be careful Tanya, I almost lost you once, I don't want to lose you again."

Tanya kissed him. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Nosedive and Veranda looked at each other. "You excited?" asked Nosedive.

Veranda nodded. "It's hard to believe, just a few years ago I was living in the streets, with no one that cared. Look at me now, I've got a boyfriend that will do anything to protect me, and I actually have a family," she said, holding his hand.

"One of them is actually coming with too," he said, looking at Emerald, who was talking to her parents.

"She's not only my niece, she a good friend too."

Emerald's ear twitched towards where Veranda and Nosedive were standing. She knew they were talking about her, but she pretended she didn't hear them. She continued to listen as her father continued to talk to her.

"We want you to listen to Tanya and be a good girl, alright?"

"Yes dad,"

"That's my girl," he said as he hugged her.

"Did you remember to bring everything? Did you remember a sweater?" asked Sunstar.

Emerald laughed a little. "Yes mom." She picked up her bags.

"Is everyone ready to go?" asked Wildwing. A chorus of "Yes," came from Veranda, Nosedive, Tanya, Mallory, and Emerald.

At the airport, the excited group chatted.

"I hear Minnesota is a friendly state," said Emerald.

"Except for the hunting there," said Veranda.

"I hear that these next few months are the perfect time for-" Tanya was interrupted when an announcement came over the speakers.

"Flight number 47 to Minneapolis now boarding,"

"Well, that's us," said Mallory. Tanya handed the stewardess their tickets and loaded onto the plane. Emerald walked close to Tanya, not wanting to get lost. Once they found their seats, they got settled down in their seats. Tanya had a window seat, with Emerald sitting next to her. Veranda and Nosedive were sitting behind them, Nosedive having the window seat. Mallory was sitting in front of Tanya and Emerald, the seat next to her inhabited by no one. While the plane was taking off, Tanya told Emerald, "When your mom asked me to watch you for her, I was thinking to myself, might as well, Nosedive and Veranda like each other so much they might as well be married."

Emerald attempted to hold in her giggle, but it wasn't quiet enough so that Nosedive and Veranda didn't hear.

"What's so funny up there?" asked Nosedive.

"Nothing," said Emerald, hiding her grin.

When he pilot turned off the seat belt light, Emerald said to Tanya, "Can I visit Mallory? She looks a little lonely up there,"

"Go ahead, I think I will too later."

Emerald unbuckled her seat belt and moved up to the seat next to Mallory. "Hey," she said.

"Hey Em. What brings you up here?"

"Well, I figured you looked a little lonely."

"You figured right," said Mallory with a smile.

"Do you wish Duke was here?" Mallory slowly nodded. "Were you two hoping for a boy or a girl?"

"Well, I'm kinda hoping for a girl, but both Duke and I agreed we would be content if it was either,"

"What are you going to call him or her?"

"We haven't really agreed about a name yet. I think Tiffany would be good, if it was a girl. But f it was a boy," Mallory smiled. "The name Luke comes to mind,"

"Let me guess, Duke agreed with that one."

"I think he liked it. The subject of boy names showed up until I had a dream last week."

"Tell me about it."

"I dreamed that we returned to Puckworld and Duke and I had a girl,"

"So the subject of girl names came up?"

"Yep. We haven't agreed on one yet. If I have my child while we're in Minnesota, I hope I call talk to Duke through com while I'm going through labor."

"Well, Tanya told me the only thing that could keep a message from going through is electrical occurrence in the air."

Mallory looked down at the clouds they were flying over.

"If he was here now, what would you say to him?" asked Emerald.

After a pause, Mallory said, without looking away from the window, "I would tell him that I loved him, and that I was glad he could make it. I might need him on this trip." Emerald kept silent. Still looking out the window, Mallory said "I always imagined myself giving birth in my home or in a hospital." Mallory looked at Emerald. "Either way, my husband would have been at my side, helping me through my time of pain." She continued to look out the window. "But when he's halfway across the country, he won't be there. He'd be back at the Pond, wondering if he has a daughter or son yet. All I really want is to be able to tell Duke when I'm having our child. I waited until the last minute to tell him that I was pregnant. I don't want him to know that his child is born when it's been days since I've been in labor. He needs to know what is happening while we're apart."

Emerald thought for a second. "You could call him with your com right now. You could tell him anything you need to."

Mallory looked out the window for a few seconds, then lifted her head. "Alright, I'll talk to him,"

"Should I go back to my seat?" asked Emerald.

"If you want," replied Mallory. Emerald moved back to her seat and Mallory opened her com.

To be continued...

Author's note: Gawd, these are so embarrassing… Tried touching it up way back when I put it in chapters, but I'm beginning to think I need to just scrap it and start all over.