Prologue

Five summers had passed since the Gummis of Gummi Glen had lost their home. They stayed in Ursalia and waited for the Great Gummis to sail their way again. With Duke Igthorn out of the way, there was nothing they couldn't do. And they did return. They waited a whole year to play it safe, but at Zummi's invitation (with careful consideration) they sailed to the Capital City at Ursalia. This time, they brought eight ships instead of three. And they had humans with them! The Barbics were shocked at first, but they overcame their pride after a while, and it was easier with the Glen Gummis to help them.

Everything was finally going the way they had always dreamed. The young cubs were growing up and their eyes were landing on their new friends. The new spring wind promised a fresh start. Sunni and Buddi were seldom seen without each other. Even Zummi and Grammi finally admitted their feelings for each other after seeing other bears pair off into mates.

Before long, gummi bears that had been single all their lives were looking for someone. There were finally enough to chose from. And they needed to make more.

Some of them were too set in their ways. Old Thornberry, (though a romantic at heart) considered himself too old. And Tummi Gummi considered himself married to food. Ursa made a vow to never forget her old mate, even though her eyes did stray to Gruffi sometimes. But the stubborn bear from the Glen refused to advance it to anything else. All of the other gummis were pretty sure that he would remain Ursalia's most eligible bachelor forever. And that was just the way he liked it.

Part 1

The spring breeze had turned into a strong wind, and most of the gummies were indoors. But Gruffi was restless. It wasn't that he didn't have enough to do in his new home, in fact, sometimes he had do too much. He was both a High Council member and a founder of the Builder's Guild. But he had always wondered about the Glen. It had been destroyed, but not bad enough that he couldn't fix it. However, the longer he waited, the longer it would be left to further decay. He had to do something about it. The problem was...nobody wanted to go back.

Zummi made his home at the library, and with the help of the others, he'd managed to make new books and even copies of some of the books the Great Gummis had brought over with them. He and a few other magicians spent all their time there, and Gruffi understood that. But when he wasn't there, he was with Grammi on a moonlit balcony, or in some meadow of flowers somewhere. It made Gruffi a bit sick if he thought about it too much. Not that he denied them their happiness, but he wondered what the point of it all was. Those two weren't young enough to have cubs anymore. Wasn't that the reason to find a mate? Well, if it was, he wasn't looking for one anytime soon. He'd done enough childrearing with Sunni and Cubbi. And he'd done a pretty decent job at that. He smiled when he thought of them. Sunni was a real little lady now. The other day she had come running with the news that she and Buddi were engaged to be married. In his eyes, she seemed too young for marriage, but it had been five summers already, and she was almost 18-summers-old. The official age of a Gummi adult. And he knew that Buddi would take care of her. He had grown into a strong man...stronger than himself, if he ever cared to admit it. Which he never would.

All of the other Glen Gummis were happy. Except him. Which was normal for Gruffi, but he really felt like something was missing. He didn't handle change very well, and he was used to doing things his own way. But now there were too many Gummis in one place, and they all had their own opinions. He had never been in a city before now, let alone tried to live in one. It suited the others just fine, but not him.

However, Gruffi also didn't want to be alone. He needed someone to protect and look after… The last time he mentioned that out loud, Grammi had overheard. She suggested finding a mate. He just rolled his eyes at her. Love was not the answer to his problems. He was too practical for such a thing. Wasn't he?

As the months went by, he missed the forest more and more. It had peace and order. This place was the opposite of order. Especially since they had been here for five summers already, and they had yet to establish a leader. He'd heard Zummi talking about a monarchy, but who would be the right gummi for a king? It just seemed like too much of a responsibility. And coming from Gruffi, there was something to be said for that.

They had even asked him. Just once. He'd stormed out of that room as fast as he could. King Gruffi. Absolutely ridiculous.

It was one thing to be the leader of only five Gummis. But 500? He sighed to himself. Well, he thought. There aren't that many yet, but if they keep pairing off like this, there will be soon. Good grief. He sighed again, and his thoughts came back to the old Glen. If he could just convince some of the others that it could be used as a sort of post, maybe he could go back and fix it up. Then, he might be able to come back and take some of the others home with him. Just so he didn't have to be completely alone. He'd seen what that did to the brain. Gusto Gummi was a perfect example of a crackpot. He wouldn't mind getting away from him for a while, either. Between him and Ursa, they were both trying to tear him apart. With Ursa it made sense. She could still have a family. But Gusto? All these years, he's known the crazy artist looked up to him and admired him, but he hadn't known it was love. He was too traditional and old-fashioned to think of such a thing. But when he's seen the look on Gusto's face at his very blunt refusal, it had made him feel a bit heartsick. It wasn't the guy's fault he had feelings for him. After all, Gruffi did bring a lot of things to the table. He just didn't want that table to be quite as colorful as Gusto's…

A few hours later, he had come up with a plan. He would turn the Glen into a waystation. There were more Gummis out there, trying to find Ursalia. A lot of them had no idea how the Gummiscope worked, and the giant beam of light would just look like nonsense to them. Some of them were a bit primitive. The Barbics hadn't even known what Gummi Berry Juice was. The Glen would be a perfect way to change that. He could find any wandering gummis and bone them up on the Way of the Gummi. The idea made his heart beat a little faster. Finally, some way to be useful!

When he asked the High Council (he was one of them himself, so it was easy to convince them) about his idea, they agreed with him, and decided to send along a few more gummis that were good builders. Gruffi didn't like this idea at first (he'd wanted to go alone) but he had to admit that he was no spring chicken anymore, and a few good helpers could make things much easier.

But when he found a few of the Glen gummis and told them about it, they were bewildered.

"Why would you want to leave, Gruffi? This place is more than we could ever have dreamed of!" Sunni asked.

"Well, it's not like I'm leaving forever. I just want to get that old place running again. The Council has agreed with my plan to make it a waystation. Somewhere for the wandering Gummis. There are more of them out there, you know. And they need my help."

"But...what about my wedding?" She pouted.

"Eh? What about it?"

"Gruffi! You have to be here! You...you were…" Her eyes filled with tears. Buddi cleared his throat.

"Um...she... that is...we...wanted you to be the one to give her away at the ceremony, Gruffi. You are…the closest thing to a father she's ever had." Sunni looked at him imploringly. Gruffi felt his eyes burn and blinked hard.

"Sunni… I...I don't know what to say."

"Say that you'll stay!"

"Oh, sweetie...I just can't…" He sighed. "I already have everything ready, and the Council is sending half of the Builder's Guild with me. We are leaving tomorrow."

His jaw tightened as Sunni dissolved into tears.

"Hey, hey, now. Don't cry! I'm coming back!" He fluttered his hands at her nervously.

"You are?"

"Well, of course I am. I just said I wouldn't be gone forever. Your wedding isn't for another six months, right? I'll be back before then. I promise." He gently took Sunni by the shoulders and smiled at her.

"Okay, hon?" She nodded, and her own smile was like her namesake.

"Oh, thank you, Gruffi! I'm gonna miss you." She pulled him into a hug and he squeezed her tight.

"Me too, Sunni."

He had just finished checking the Quick Cars and making sure everyone from the guild was with him when he heard a voice behind him.

"Gruff! Wait!"

When he saw the light blue form of Gusto heading toward him, he held back a sigh. He had no idea what to say with him, and hoped against hope that he didn't want to tag along. He cared for the bear, but he was sure that Gusto's nature would not be what they needed for this mission. Not to mention...he could feel a big dramatic scene coming on. Starting with "don't leave me!" Gruffi was 100% sure he couldn't handle that. He glanced longingly at the Quick Car. Gusto stood inches from him.

"Hey, I know what you're thinking, bear…" The artist shook his finger at him. "I'm not gonna try to stop you from going. I already know better than that. There is no stopping you once you've got an idea in that incredible brain of yours. But… I just want you to have this." He placed something small and wrapped in green fabric into Gruffi's larger hand.

"Aw, Gusto you-"
"Just!" He yelled dramatically, causing Gruffi to flinch. "Open it when you get there, okay...and try to be alone when you do…" A bright blush gleamed on Gusto's pale face. "I know you're not into goodbyes, Gruffimundo. And frankly, neither am I." He looked over Gruffi's shoulder at the other gummis in the Quick Cars. They had loaded four of them. They looked out, some a bit impatiently. Gusto's eyes showed he wanted to do more than this, and Gruffi could sense it. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well then, let's not say it. I'll be back, Gusto. Okay?" He gave the bear a half-smile, and shook his hand firmly. With the other one, he tucked the package into the satchel by his side.

"Don't forget me…" Gusto's eyes pleaded with him. Gruffi shook his head and snorted.

"Who could forget such a colorful gummi like you?" He filled the world "colorful" with scorn, but Gusto beamed at him anyway. His insults always seemed to fly right over the artist's head. Especially these days…

"Oh, I can't TAKE IT!" He exploded and lunged toward Gruffi, flinging his arms around him. He squeezed hard and buried his face in his neck.

"Great Gummis, Gusto!" He whispered fiercely. "Get a hold of yourself! The guys are watchin'!"

"I couldn't care less, Gruff!" Gusto whispered back. "Someday, I'm gonna tell the whole world that I love you!" Gruffi pulled away frantically.

"You ever do that and I'll bounce you into next Thursday!"

Gusto's eyebrow cocked up.

"Oh ho… Once can only hope, old pal." He turned away then and waved over his shoulder. "Take care, Gruff!" He said jauntily, as if to erase the rest of what had just happened. Gruffi felt like he would die of humiliation. His face was redder than a beet. Before he turned to the others he took a moment to catch his breath. Darn that Gusto… He thought. He'll be end of me… He knew every member of the Builder's Guild. After all, he'd helped form it! These gummis were like brothers (and a couple of of tough sisters) to him. And they just saw him get pounced on by another man in a loving embrace! Not to mention that remark about getting bounced! Gruffi was a bit innocent in the ways of physical love, but he knew without a doubt what the idiot had meant by that! Even if a female had said that, he was still a very private bear, and she would have gotten a firm scolding. He wished he could go back and give Gusto one, but he knew it was useless. The weird bear just took his scolding and yelling as some sort of invitation and used it to fuel his strange feelings and desires. Gruffi took a moment, shook his head violently and swung around to face the guild. They were unnervingly quiet. Except for the two lady gummis who were whispering and giggling. This was going to be a long trip.

In the five seasons they had lived in Ursalia, Gruffi had helped rebuild the Quick Tunnels. But since the Glen was destroyed, they didn't tunnel as far as that. The road to the city was long, and the first time Gruffi had traveled it was with Cubbi after that disaster with the Great Book. He still shied away from that subject in his head, like it was as hot as the fire that had burned the book. Since then, they'd gotten a new one, but it was still hard to think about. He didn't mess up that badly often, and when he did, it hurt. He had been the responsible one from a very young age. He remembered taking care of cubs younger than him even when he was only 4 summers old. That was before the Glen. His memories of back then were hazy.

Even as he'd dug the tunnels (with a giant drill he built from the old blueprints) he'd known that he would go back the Glen someday, at least to repair it. He stopped digging only half a day's walk from the forest. A few times he'd used the tunnels with Grammi and Sunni to go back and gather Gummi Berry plant trimmings to make their gardens in the city bigger. But for some reason they never went to the Glen. He figured it was either too painful for them to see it wrecked, or they just didn't care that much anymore now that they had a new home. It was the former for him. He wasn't sure how bad it would be when he got back there, but he knew it was going to take a lot of work.