Note: Directly follows on from Season 9's "The Smurfs That Time Forgot". Some notes if you haven't recently seen the episode and need a refresher: the smurfs need to return the small dinosaur named Crinkles into its own prehistoric time because being in the smurfs' time is bad for its health. Grandpa Smurf is in possession of some time crystals that can get the job done. When leaving, many of the smurfs get unexpectedly taken along back in time due to a mishap. If you want to be clear on everyone taken time travelling, see note at end.
"Come along now youngins, you ought t' be getting to sleep, it's way past your bedtime. Don't want you to be catching a cold, now." Farmer tugged at Slouchy and Nat's arms.
"Mmm, and that certainly wouldn't do" Woolly Smurf chimed in helpfully with a chuckle, "You should go to bed and rest up well for the morning for when the others are back. You don't want to be feeling all sick when they return, do you?"
In fact, at this point it was past just about everysmurf's bedtime, yet very few smurfs had decided to call it a night. Papa Smurf was usually the smurf who made sure that the smurflings got to bed on time and tucked them in and such. Nanny had given permission for the smurflings to wait up a little longer for Papa and the others to return, but it was quickly becoming apparent that they may all be waiting a little longer than expected, and the smurflings needed sleep. Some smurfs were starting to realise that they needed to step in and do something, or else the smurflings would continue to just be left out here in the biting cold. They needed sleep and the warmth of the indoors.
"How much time has passed now since Papa and the others left to return Crinkles, Father Time?" Nat asked, ignoring Farmer and Woolly's gentle urging.
Completely out of place in the small mushroom-enshrined village, Father Time had, for his part, promptly sat down and begun waiting along with the others soon after his arrival. The smurfs had done their best to help him get comfortable and keep warm, but there was only so much that could be done – they didn't exactly readily have resources on hand equipped for someone that wasn't smurf-sized. Father Time was jolted out of his thoughts by the little smurf who addressed him, but was not given an opportunity to reply before Nanny stepped in.
"Never you mind little ones, all that matters right now is that you go and get some rest. I'm sure Papa and Grampers and everyone else will be back in the morning!"
"In the morning… what happened to them getting back tonight?" Nat asked.
"I think everyone will be here when you wake up tomorrow, won't that be smurfy? The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you'll see everyone again!" It was clear from this response that Nanny had hardly heard what Nat had said.
"I don't want to miss their big return!" Nat insisted, and Slouchy nodded sedately in agreement. Nanny let out a sigh.
"Please smurflins, let me take you back to your mushroom. We're not saying you'll miss the big return, why you may wake up just in time. The earlier you fall asleep, the sooner you can wake up tomorrow so you don't miss it" Farmer offered.
"Gee Farmer, we can't just go back to our rooms without Snappy and Sassette. How will we ever be able to fall asleep knowing that they're not here with us? Who knows what they're up to right now. No Papa Smurf to wish goodnight to – no, we want to stay up and wait with everyone else." Slouchy's voice grew more and more firm as he went on, full of resolve.
Nearby, Weepy Smurf burst into tears again and was ushered away by some other smurfs, putting some more distance between the sounds of his cries and the smurflings so as not to cause alarm.
"If you really want t' wait out here with us… I guess one night can't hurt too much" Farmer said, defeated, and the two smurflings instantly cheered. At a bit of a loss, he looked around for any signs of some other smurf stepping in to help manage this situation. Whether to offer assistance or override his decision completely, he didn't care. His place was in the fields, not with handling the smurflings.
"Say, why don't you… go and get your tents and sleeping bags. We still expect you to get some sleep" Nanny said with finality before adding on with a faint smile, "And we promise to wake you the moment anything happens!"
Nat and Slouchy raced off to collect their things, not wanting to miss anything while doing so.
Nanny turned to Father Time once they were gone. "Say, what is keeping them all? I mean, they do have the time crystals right, so shouldn't they surely have the ability to decide when they return?" she shook her head. "What's the point of keeping us all waiting like this?"
Father Time was at a bit of a loss. "Well, for them, it may not be the case that they are intentionally "keeping us waiting" at all. Time is relative – it's true that they could have all returned immediately after they left in the first place, with hardly a minute passing in our own time, but with much more time passing for them, and their mission to return that dinosaur having been accomplished. But my understanding is that it's difficult for the crystals to be so exact to the very minute when returning people to their own time. When people aim to return to their own time that doesn't usually amount to one minute passing since they left, more like usually half an hour or more, perhaps..."
"Well, we can certainly be sure that more than half an hour has passed" Farmer said impatiently. It sounded to him as if Father Time had just waffled on rather aimlessly in an attempt to sound reassuring, but it only cemented the notion in Farmer's mind that something was awry and that the very man who was supposed to be an expert on time didn't know what to do.
"I'm sure everything is fine, there seems to be a slight delay but there must be a good explanation for that" Father Time replied calmly as the smurflings returned. Some other smurfs greeted them and started to help them set up their stuff to settle down for bed.
"'Spose you'll be telling us that only time will tell, eh?" Farmer prodded the man, who only let out a small, nervous chuckle in response.
"You know, this is a good idea if I ever saw one" they overheard Harmony commenting as he finished up setting up the little beds for the smurflings, "I think I'll go and grab my things and join you!" some other smurfs murmured in agreement and also walked off into the directions of their homes.
"Father Time, it's far too late and cold for you to stay out here with us, you should really be gettin' back to your own place" Woolly prompted, "We wish we could offer you a room to stay in, but uh..." he trailed off awkwardly.
"No, no, it's fine, I can catch up on sleep later. I'm already out here and going back home now would be more trouble than it's worth..."
And so he stayed with them all, and the night wore on. The smurflings were soon asleep, and the other smurfs were beginning to follow, either setting up their own sleeping arrangements and clustering together for warmth before nodding off, or retiring into the comfort of their own homes. Father Time's eyes closed for extended amounts of time intermittently, but for the most part he remained awake. Two smurfs in particular seemed determined to stay awake with him – Nosey and Reporter. He realised that Nosey must have been snooping around and listening in on their conversations all evening, and had overheard Reporter asking Nosey for any details he had come across. Naturally, if there was any sort of story to be had concerning the time crystals and the brief journey undertaken by the seventeen missing smurfs, Reporter wanted to be the first to get his hands on it. But even the burning curiosity of these two smurfs who wanted to be the very first to witness anything gradually became quelled by exhaustion, and they succumbed to sleep.
The sunrise was stunning, but Father Time alone was awake to observe it. Bathed in the beauty of the morning, he could temporarily put the fact that Papa Smurf had not yet returned with his fellow smurfs to the back of his mind.
End Note: In total, 17 smurfs go back in time with the time crystals as follows: Papa, Baby, Brainy, Clumsy, Grandpa, Greedy, Grouchy, Handy, Hefty, Jokey, Lazy, Painter, Sassette, Smurfette, Snappy, Vanity and Wild. In addition, Nanny's pet Smoogle was also taken along.
Next chapter will be up soon.
