Prologue:

The cold wind blew into the swimmer's face with unhindered force. Ducky didn't mind the cold, not at the moment at least. The Cold Time hadn't fully arrived just yet but the first snowfall of the previous night determined that it was just around the corner.

Sigh…

The young adolescent swimmer cast a view over the hostile, rocky landscape in front of her - The Mysterious Beyond. Standing just at the edge of the Great Valley at one of its many hidden entrances, her gaze scanned the distant horizon yearningly, her heart aching. Nothing, just nothing but rock, mountains… and hopelessness. Before Ducky knew it, her arms were embracing her legs, tears welling up. No matter how long she stared at that one spot where she saw him disappear… deep inside she knew that she'd never see him again. Never…

The previous day:

Ducky looked at Petrie sadly as they stood at the hidden entry into the Great Valley, unshed tears in her eyes.

"Are you sure that this is the right thing to do?" All her instincts told her was to pull the flyer into an ever-lasting hug, never letting go again but things were not this easy.

"You know me have to do this..." the flyer spoke in an unusually emotionless voice, sounding tired and exhausted above everything else.

"Yep, yep... yep..." tears finally erupted all across the young swimmer's face as the realm of the situation was ultimately hitting her. "I am what I am and you are... what you are... we are just... not supposed to..." Ducky never finished her sentence as her knees gave in, her limp body falling flat onto the cold, snow-covered ground, wailing like the child she used to be... and still was in a way.

"Me sad too but this be circle of life," Petrie spoke with a wisdom seldom heard from the clumsy flyer as he approached his friend a last time to help her back to her feet, holding her hands with shaking arms, his eyes almost losing themselves in the sparkly light that got reflected from the blue, tear-stained eyes of the swimmer. "Me may be far away but me never forget the feelings me have... for Ducky..." A single tear left the flyer's eyes as his mind switched off completely, all he felt being empty, sad... and lonely.

"I will not ever forget you either, oh no no no!" Ducky cried out as her vision blurred, their hands finally detaching. "Farewell… Petrie" Then she erupted into painful, cramp-like weeping.

"This not good-bye forever, 'member? Maybe me come back one day but..." Petrie sighed. "Maybe when me find girl flyer like you one day... until then it be farewell..."

"I love you... Petrie." Ducky wailed.

"Me too..." Petrie whispered with ever so much regret in his hoarse voice. Only after nuzzling his friend one last time, he took off towards the horizon. Ducky kept watching him fly away until he was long out of sight, wailing on the snowy ground regardless of the icy cold until way after the Bright Circle had gone to sleep.

Back to the present:

In the end, all that the swimmer was left with was the feeling of loss, emptiness… and sorrow. There had only been one time in her life when she had been feeling this lonely - right after the big earthshake struck, separating her from her family. Back then, hope came in the form of Littlefoot, providing just the company she needed to keep going and survive. While survival clearly wasn't on the line this time, the swimmer had her doubts whether she would get used to the hole in her heart anytime soon for it was filled with nothing but grief and despair.

"I miss you so much, Petrie… so so much…" For what felt like the hundredth time that day, the girl completely collapsed into a heap of misery, the frosty air chilling her to the bottom of her heart yet she wouldn't have it any other way. The numbness caused by the icy wind that came blowing ever so intensely from the mountains felt strangely comforting, wrapping around the shaking dinosaur like a blanket, albeit one that ripped every bit of warmth from you.

"Please come back… oh Petrie!"

So cold…

Petrie retreated deeper into the cave. He barely had any time to react before the first blizzard of the season grabbed him with an iron grip, almost succeeding in taking him down. If it hadn't been for the small opening in the rock wall that turned out to be a cavern just about big enough to provide him shelter from the wind, it'd have more than likely meant certain death in the icy winds of the Beyond.

Shaking like a hatchling, he tried to regain some of the warmth he had lost during the short exposure to the wrath of the Cold Time. It was still agonizingly cold in his cave but at least no winds would further accelerate the process of cooling down.

Ducky…

What was she doing now? Petrie knew it was a choice that had to be made but it wasn't an easy one to be made nonetheless. The flyer knew trying to prolong their time together would only make the final parting the more painful. It was just this that drove him to leave the Great Valley prematurely in order to live a life of his own, find a mate, start a family… and forget about the laws of nature not working the way they should in their case. Why he'd developed a romantical interest in a dinosaur so different from his species, Petrie did not know but one thing the poor flyer was too well aware of - that his heart was not deceiving him. It had taken him a whole Cold and Warm Time to figure out all of that stuff and tell the swimmer about his innermost feelings, only to find out Ducky was feeling just the same about him. They had been a couple for a good amount of Moon Cycles but, as they grew, The Time Of Great Growing hitting both of them harder than ever, the size difference growing ever so fast… Well, at some point logic had won the raging battle in the flyer's head. As soon as the storm was over, he'd continue his journey towards a place where fliers were said to gather for courtship every cold time. As much as he hated it, he knew he had to leave his previous life behind to live the life of a flyer or else he'd always stay the odd one.

Nonetheless, as night overwhelmed the storm soon, the wind dying down to a gentle snowfall, Petrie allowed himself to rock himself into an uneasy sleep. It'd still take a long time until he'd be over leaving his love behind after all...

Whelp! What started as a pretty random something turned into a fleshed out fanfic idea!

I always liked the relationship between Ducky and Petrie. For the sake of this story, I will have them fall in love with each other despite the species barrier, and they will have to deal with the impossibility of their feelings for themselves now.

Hope you like this little introduction. I'll be sure to add another chapter soon! Already got a fair amount of chapters done and finally decided it's time to upload this :)