Hello!

Those who know me as a "Scooby Doo" fanfic author, are entitled to wonder why I publish a story in another fandom, and why it's not even a crossover with my beloved cartoon. ;) Well, I watched the "Captain Planet" show as a kid, but actually discovered it only a few months ago.

My favorite character of the series is Gaia, who's not just the Planeteers' mentor, but quite simply their mother figure. Unfortunately, although she's an important character, without whom the show's action wouldn't have even begun, not much is known about her past, motivation and attitude towards humanity. Luckily, that's where imagination comes in handy. :D

I started creating this fic on impulse, having a mental image of the scene where the sleeping Linka thinks it's her mom who's with her... and then it just kept going. To be honest, it ended up longer than I planned, but I think the end result still is pretty good.

Enjoy,

VerMa.

It was around midnight. Planeteers, tired by yet another busy day, were long since asleep. Only in Linka's bedroom, the light was still on. Led by a mixture of curiosity and concern, Gaia went inside without opening the door.

Linka slept in an armchair put near a tall floor lamp. In her hands, she was clutching a needle with thread, and her shirt, which she hadn't managed to repair fully before falling asleep. Taking everything out of the girl's hands, Gaia moved her onto the bed; she did it so delicately that Linka didn't even stir. Having covered her Planeteer with a blanket, Gaia stroked her blond hair and kissed her forehead.

"Children are adorable when they're asleep" – she thought.

Then Linka's soft, warm hand closed on Gaia's.

"Я тебя очень люблю, мама" the girl muttered, not waking up. (I love you very much, Mom.)

"А она очень любит тебя, Линка. И я тоже" Gaia whispered. "Спокойной ночи" she added, and slid her hand out of Linka's grasp. (And she loves you very much, Linka. And so do I. Good night.)

Then, she rewove the ripped shirt with a single gesture, turned off the lamp and soundlessly left through the closed door.

She still couldn't believe how quickly she'd gotten used to the Planeteers' presence on Hope Island. After all, they were human children, and she'd been trying to avoid any contact with this species since... since the incident with Zarm. Because of him, people had become disobedient and arrogant, plus they'd learned making war and killing animals for entertainment. It hurt her all the more that she'd come to like them; they were rather weak creatures, but more intelligent than others, so she'd thought they'd help her look after the Earth. It turned out otherwise. And even though Captain Planet had helped her to defeat and banish Zarm, the human nature remained corrupted.

That was why she'd settled on a self-made island, which she'd named Crystal, and which the people were never to find. But when they began crossing the seas and oceans, some of them lost their boat during a storm near the island. Gaia felt sorry for them, so she took them to the shore, provided them with fruit and allowed them to cut down some trees to build a raft, to make a supply of water and shoot a few animals, so they'd have something to eat. Actually, she'd even be willing to let them stay, as they treated her with the utmost respect, and besides, she couldn't be inhospitable to the beings that had given the Crystal Island the beautiful name of Hope Island. Unfortunately, one day, one man discovered the crystals, which she used to watch over the planet, and began collecting them avidly. At that point, for fear of others following his lead, she banished them all off the island. After that incident, she moved to the Crystal Chamber under the bottom of the shelf, surrounding the island.

She started to warm up to the humankind again only when her Lord assured her He'd forgiven them all the evil they had and would commit because of Zarm, and that now everything depended on them. Nevertheless, she still didn't really trust them and, to be honest, she was a bit afraid of them; she saw how they treated nature and one another. The recklessness of Europeans and Americans frightened her the most. Although she tried to remove its effects, over time it only got more difficult. Finally, at the end of the nineteenth century, people had polluted the environment so much that she no longer had the energy to clean up after them; she needed a moment of rest.

She didn't sleep long – only a century later, she was woken up by the effects of a certain Hoggish Greedly's actions. A quick check of the mankind's recent activity revealed that the Earth was in a critical condition. At that point, Gaia realized that no matter how she tried, she wouldn't be able to fix the situation single-handedly. The only option left was to get people, most preferably young, to save the planet from the consequences of their own carelessness. Thus, she sent out into the world five rings, giving partial control over chosen powers of nature. Before they disappeared, she'd noticed that on each of them, its future owner's name flickered briefly.

At first, she'd intended to keep the Planeteers at bay and not meddle too much into their lives. However, the very first words Wheeler had uttered to her, made her doubt her decision; and later, looking into the five teenagers' eyes, full of eagerness despite the initial confusion, Gaia completely changed her mind about her role in their lives. Of course, she was aware that as human beings, even those children weren't without flaws, but she also knew that they actually had their hearts in the right place.

She quickly realized she cared about them a lot more than it would be expected from her as a mentor. She reasoned with herself that they were still young, and therefore in need of care, especially the little Ma-Ti. Soon, however, everything changed once again. Zarm came back, misled four older Planeteers and tried to trick them to start a war. Gaia knew she had to save them; she was even willing to risk her life (and was really close to losing it!), just to free them from Zarm's influence.

She didn't tell this all to them openly. She didn't have to; she saw in their eyes that they'd more or less understood what had made her act like that. Later, when Captain Planet had sent Zarm far into outer space, and Planeteers had returned to Hope Island, Gaia demanded the five of them come to see her. Ma-Ti was anxious, and the others terrified. Having taken a quick look into their hearts, she found out they'd been expecting her to tell them off harshly. She didn't – it wasn't their fault that they'd had no idea what Zarm was really like. She simply reached out and hugged them; and then, she experienced something that had never happened before. Five hearts almost simultaneously sent her a simple message: "Mom".

Since then, she couldn't imagine a life without "her" children. By day, she watched them play and have friendly competitions, told them various (sometimes a bit embroidered) stories based on what she'd seen in crystals, while looking at the past, listened to their laughter and teasing at meals, healed their burns, cuts, broken noses, bruised knees and hurt feelings. By night, she divided her time between the slow but sure restoration of the environment wherever it was possible, silent watching over the sleeping Planeteers and, if necessary, repairing their ripped clothes, like she'd done tonight with Linka's shirt.

She reckoned that someday, all the five of them would grow up and start their own families, but for now, she was their mother, and her island was their home. She didn't know how long it would last; she didn't want to know. She was, however, certain of one thing – whatever happened, these kids would always have a special place in her heart.

PS – Feedback will be appreciated.

VM