I have a few more shorts from NaNoWriMo that I would like to polish up and, rather than posting a bunch of little stories, I will probably just add to here.
And, because I've never actually said this, thank you to all those that take the time to review. I'm not here for that, but it's so lovely to see this little corner of the fandom still teeming with dedicated fans ::cough::twenty::cough:: years later.
Lucky Puck
They all lined up on the ice, facing the opposite side. Their opposing team would normally be their mirrors, player lined up with player, before they would get in formation and the puck would drop.
It was your typical respect for one another that the ducks were very familiar with. While Earth certainly had some lax rules and violent tendencies in their version of hockey, poor sportsmanship was not one of them.
Tanya watched as some attendants skated out and adjusted a large, rolled-up tarp on the ice, where their opponents would usually stand.
Instead, their opposing team had stationed themselves to the right of the Mighty Ducks, watching the same area. Only their rival's team captain stood away from the group, next to Wildwing and in between the rest of the ducks.
Tanya's eyes wandered to the crowds surrounding them. The lights were dim and the banter subdued. The announcer had just broadcasted what was about to happen.
Back home hockey was an everyday way of life. Yes, some ducks didn't play; it wasn't unheard of. Many would play in their younger years but eventually grow out of it. But the majority would still play well into their later ages: friends, family, coworkers, and neighborhoods were just a few of the communities that would have hockey games throughout the year.
There was professional hockey, too, though it was probably harder to get into than Earth's strict requirements for their professional sports.
Tanya could not even imagine how a professional hockey player from their world would annihilate the best team of athletes here. Ducks' anatomy made them stronger and more agile than most humans, which made playing hockey here feel like cheating in some respects.
Tanya mentally shrugged it off. With no backup players and the constant requirement of saving the world, they gave the other teams a fair chance to beat them multiple times throughout the season. Hell, they didn't even win the Stanley Cup last year, after all.
With the rolled tarp positioned the way they wanted it, the attendants took the ends of the heavy fabric and unwound it towards Tanya and the rest of the group. She watched as the end of the material stopped about two feet from her team, the wetness of the ice acting like glue and helping to keep the tarp from rolling back up on itself.
Tanya swallowed, uncomfortable with what was about to happen. She didn't do well with these sorts of things. None of the ducks would have had experience with this, either.
Because hockey was such a normal part of their lives back home, special considerations like this weren't done in their professional sports. You didn't have the dedicated song, the funny shirt-launching mascot, or the gaggle of skimpily clad cheerers along the sidelines.
It was hockey, pure and simple. Teams were announced, respect for the upcoming competition was shown, and the game commenced.
When it was over congratulatory remarks were exchanged and the audience went home.
Tanya's drifting mind had caused her to miss the first part of the announcer's statement. She strained to hear the end:
". . . gave their lives for the safety of this city. Please welcome their families to the ice!"
The crowd around them stood and began clapping. On the other side of the stadium some people in Mighty Ducks jerseys emerged and walked out onto the ice, the tarp preventing them from slipping.
The applause was loud but not boisterous. This was a sign of respect and admiration, not encouragement and excitement.
There were two families: two moms, three sons and two daughters. But they were not complete anymore.
Their dads had died in the line of duty.
Over the applause the announcer's voice could be heard: "Their families stand here today as a symbol of strength and unity for our city. We will not forget their sacrifice."
The families lined up facing the ducks and their rival team. The wives of the officers stood in the middle, next to each other and facing the two team captains for tonight's game. The women did not know each other. The officers being honored tonight were from two separate precincts that ended up facing off an armed robbery together.
The wives only ended up meeting in the hospital.
Next to them were their respective children. On the far side were two teenagers, a girl and a boy. The girl's hair was pristine in a bun, the jersey she wore brand new and way too large on her. The boy had spikey blue hair that reminded Tanya of Mookie's, along with some interesting tattoos peeking out from a well-worn jersey with Grin's number on it.
The girl was doing her best to keep a neutral expression, but as the crowd continued to clap and as the large screen above them showed family pictures of the officers, her stony face began to break down.
Her brother had not taken his eyes off the monitor above them, watching the memories of his life swish by in a slideshow. He hadn't seemed to notice that his idol Grin stood in front of him.
Three children stood on Tanya's side, two boys and a girl. Mallory stood in front of the oldest boy, who looked many years younger than the teenagers. He wore a jersey with Mallory's number on it.
The second boy stood next to him and looked to be close in age to his brother. Nosedive stood in front of him even though the boy's jersey had the telltale double zeros of Wildwing's.
Tanya's faceoff was with a tiny little girl with curly red hair. She was the youngest of them all: four years old, according to their debriefing this morning. The jersey she wore was meant for a kid but still swam on her. She also had the double zeros.
The crowd was loud, and the background music added to the heavy effect of absolute submersion of noise and emotion. Tanya did her best to draw a soft grin as she kneeled in front of her counterpart.
"Hi there, I'm Ta—Tanya."
The little girl looked straight at her with big eyes now that Tanya was at her height.
"What's your, uh, name?" Tanya probed when the little girl did not respond.
"Melanie," she softly replied. Tanya's proximity only let her barely hear the small girl. The blonde duck nodded at her and pointed to her jersey. "Are you a fan of Wildwing?"
The little girl cocked her head. "While wind?"
Tanya laughed and decided to take another approach. "I like your shirt."
Melanie beamed at it. "It has eyes on it, just like my daddy's!"
Tanya's smile dissipated quickly, unsure of how to respond to that. She nervously glanced at her other teammates to see them attempting their best at holding conversations with the families.
It felt forced and awkward, but not because they did not sympathize. They came to that same ill-fated armed robbery minutes too late. It was a scene that had burned in Tanya's mind, adding to her collection of horrors from the Saurian War. With all the good they had done on Earth, it felt like nothing compared to the atrocities that occurred to people each day.
It was a civilized trait that seemed to follow with every culture the more intelligent they got. Selfishness, greed, hedonism, and jealousy were just a few of the complex traits that became nothing more than the other half of a double-edged sword as the world became more enlightened.
Tanya swallowed hard and turned her attention back to Melanie. "Your dad was very brave, a-and so are you."
Melanie smiled again, though this time a haunted look crossed her eyes—a look Tanya had seen on too many young faces since the Saurians attacked. "I miss him. Mommy says he will always be with me, but I dunno."
She looked up and around at the crowd, watching them watch her. Tanya followed her gaze briefly. "Why don't you think he'll be, uh, with you?" she asked, bringing both their attention back to the conversation.
"I just don't feel him. If he's with me I should know!"
Tanya smiled, tears glazing the undersides of her eyes. "He is, but—sometimes you need a good reminder."
She reached into her hockey shorts and pulled out a puck. She placed it on her palm and showed it to Melanie.
"Your dad loved hockey, huh?"
Melanie nodded enthusiastically, her eyes watching the puck in the blonde duck's hand.
"Well, what's on this puck?"
Melanie smiled as she looked at it. "It's a heart!"
Tanya grinned back. "That's right! I wonder how that got there?"
Melanie's eyes got big as she looked at the puck and back at Tanya. "That's my daddy! He did that! He is here!" the little girl jumped up and down and looked around her. "Hi Daddy!" she hollered, waving for emphasis.
The crowd, mistaking her wave as a greeting to them, got even louder. Tanya watched Melanie keep her sights around her for a while, still swaying her arm, until she finally looked back at Tanya, her smile as pure as the ice she stood on.
"Well then, I guess you better keep this so your, uh, dad knows where you are!" With only the slightest hesitation Tanya held her hand out further, offering the puck—her Lucky Puck—to Melanie, who took the souvenir graciously.
"Thank you!" she said, hugging the puck to her. "I'm glad I found my daddy."
"I'm, uh, glad you did too, kiddo."
Tanya felt Nosedive gently shove her and she looked up at him.
The blonde teen was smiling at her, evidently having seen what had transpired. "We gotta make the rounds now, yo."
Tanya nodded, standing back up. "It was nice to meet you, Melanie."
Melanie grinned at her, still hugging the simple puck with a heart on it. "Okay, bye nice duck!"
Tanya took a deep breath and skated around to the end of the line, behind the Ducks' rival team. They would each shake hands with the family—all of them—and once all players had thanked the families for their sacrifice, they would clear the rink and the game would begin.
Tanya looked up as she waited, watching the pictures flash by on the jumbotron. Young children that must've been the teens years ago; wife and husband, father and baby; in uniform and with fellow officers. Every photograph that flashed by depicted special moments in these humans' lives. Their families were forever changed, like Tanya's. Like her team's. They couldn't save them, and they would never be able to save them all.
Her eyes drifted to Melanie, at the far end of the line now, shaking hands with Duke as he also bent down to her height. She was smiling and showing him her prize, mouth moving a mile a minute as she most likely told him how her dad was now a puck, with a heart on it, and keeping an eye on her.
Duke, who was kneeling next to the kid, turned his attention to Tanya. She blushed as he gave her a soft—if not slightly bewildered—smile.
She looked away, embarrassed.
Eventually the ducks and the opposing team had all shook hands with the families. Tanya was now back in front of Melanie, the smile on the child seemingly glued on now that she had that puck in her possession.
Tanya found solace in that.
The announcer made one last commemorative statement and the crowd, clapping and cheering for nearly five minutes now, gave one last oomph of applause as the family exited the rink.
She felt a hand on her shoulder as she watched the attendants roll up the tarp again.
"You ne'er cease to surprise me, Angel," Duke said to her softly.
Tanya turned to him and shrugged the compliment off. "It was, you know, just a puck."
"Yeah, but it mean' somethin' to you, Taun. You did a great t'ing tonight, don't kid yerself ot'erwise."
He squeezed her shoulder and released it, giving her his usual lopsided, charming grin that she felt he was way too good at.
She cleared her throat nervously and shrugged again, watching the attendants disappear into the hallways below the rink. She smiled to herself and watched the jumbotron begin counting down to the start of the game, glancing at Duke to see him still giving her that stupid grin of his—twice.
She felt lighter.
"Taunny!"
Tanya turned towards the call of her name, smiling at its speaker.
"Hey, uh, Tabby," she responded to her little sister.
"I made you a present!"
The little girl duck bounded up to Tanya, her brown hair in a tall ponytail that swished rhythmically behind her. She held out her hand to her older sister excitedly.
Tanya, attired in her high school's hockey uniform, slightly exaggerated her gasp of surprise at the present being given to her.
"That's a-uh, nice puck!" she exclaimed, taking it from Tabby to admire it.
"It's your winning puck from last night—I drew a heart on it so you don't lose it!"
Tanya's smile became more genuine as she realized the meaning behind the gift. "Oh, Tabby, it's perfect."
"It's your Lucky Puck!" Tabby explained further, still jumping side to side next to her sister. "It's gonna help you win tonight, too."
"You know it, Tabs!"
Tabby giggled and hugged Tanya around the waist, a gesture the older duck returned gratefully.
"All right, sis—go and sit with Mom a-and Dad now."
"Okay. Make sure to start the game with it!"
Tanya laughed and nodded as the duckling bounded out of the locker room with as much energy as she'd entered with. Tanya admired the cute puck again before pocketing it and returning to her preparations for the night's championship game.
She'd make sure this puck stayed with her always.
fin