Disclaimer: I don't own The Mighty Ducks.
Adam Banks would never admit it to his father, but he liked being on the Ducks.
When he first was told he had to move to the Ducks, he thought his life was over.
When he first got to practice and he walked in to silence, he knew his life was over. The way they stared at him. The way that he wasn't a Duck, even though he put on the uniform, as Jesse said that first day. The only one that wasn't mean to him was Charlie, immediately welcoming him to the team. The way they didn't trust him the first day and game and didn't pass him the puck until the very last second.
As practices and games went on, though, he started to like them more, and in turn, they started to like him more. They laughed and talked with him. They reminded him of why he wanted to play hockey. In reality, he thought being a Duck was better than being a Hawk.
Sure, his brother was a Hawk, and everyone he really cared about were Hawks, but they didn't call anymore. Coach Reilly was tough and worked the Hawks until they were bone tired and they needed one-hour showers to feel clean again. Coach Bombay took them to North Stars games and let them have fun while still making them work hard.
Of course, he was still a little iffy about having fun while on the ducks. At that Stars game he hid himself behind his jacket when he saw two of his ex-teammates. He knew Jesse saw that, but he couldn't let people know that he liked being on the other team. Especially his father.
Phillip Banks had only ever wanted the best for his kids, Adam knew. That meant the Hawks. That meant that Adam couldn't show how much he seemed to love these new teammates. More than he loved the old ones. He didn't want to disappoint his father when he tried so hard to keep him on the Hawks, but he couldn't deny that the Ducks were a better team than the Hawks…in the nice category, that is.
But what really made being on the Ducks worthwhile was the fact that they cared about him. When he got hurt during that Championship game, several of the members high-fived him, and Jesse seemed to actually like him. Even though Larson asked him if he was okay, he knew that if Bombay asked somebody to knock a Hawk down, they wouldn't do it. Not like McGill did. Jesse even said he'd kick Hawk butt for him.
He knew his team knew how much he liked being with them. He knew that they knew that if he had to choose between the Ducks and Hawks after being on both teams, he'd undeniably choose the Ducks.
But as he lay in bed three nights after they won the Championship, after hanging out with Charlie, Greg and Guy again, he knew that team was where he belonged.
So if his father ever asked him if he liked being on the ducks, he'd deny it. To anyone else, he'd admit he liked being a Duck. His father couldn't handle that news just yet…