I'm back, like I promised, and now I'd say it's time we really get into the story with chapter one! This is when things will start setting into motion!

Enjoy!


CHAPTER 1

Uneasy Feelings


Ducky was awakened early one morning after feeling a warming sensation on her cheek. Gradually, it began to tickle her, and she began to giggle in her sleep. She knew that only one thing in the Great Valley could possibly give her such a sensation.

The Swimmer slowly opened her eyes, giggling as she felt the sensations tickling her, and she noticed Spike licking her cheek in an effort to wake her up in the same playful way that he always would.

"Spike! Stop it!" Ducky giggled, "That tickles! It does!"

Spike stopped licking his foster sister, and she sat up in the nest and stretched her arms while yawning.

"Good morning, Ducky," her mother called.

"Good morning, Mama," Ducky replied once she stopped yawning.

"Did you have a good night's sleep?" asked Mama Swimmer.

"I did. I did," Ducky replied.

"That's good," chuckled Mama Swimmer, "You woke up just in time for breakfast. Spike's already had his."

Ducky sighed as she climbed out of the nest and joined her brothers and sisters for breakfast. She couldn't help feeling strange for being the last one up this morning, since she never was the last one up, … and she quickly remembered why.

All throughout the night, Ducky had been thinking about Petrie in her sleep, and all she could contemplate now was how she was going to tell him that she had developed special feelings for him. She didn't want to simply approach him like she always would and give him a cuddle, as that would be a little too sudden for him. Suddenly, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to see him today. The two had been best friends for over a year now, yet now she felt so nervous about the idea of simply being in his presence.

The sound of her siblings' chewing on nearby tree stars managed to get her to cast her thoughts aside, and she grabbed a few ground stars and enjoyed them tremendously. Before long, she had eaten nearly more than enough ground stars to keep her energized for several hours (or at least until lunchtime).

As soon as she finished eating, the young Swimmer sat down on a rock near the nest, not really feeling like playing with her friends at the moment, and she stared off into space. All she could think about was her longtime Flyer friend whom she felt so attached to, … but not for long …

"Ducky?" Mama Swimmer spoke gently as she approached her daughter, "What are you doing, just sitting there, doing nothing?"

Ducky didn't know how to get herself out of this situation. She had to come up with a valid excuse.

"I do not know, Mama," she said, "There is just so much on my mind right now."

"What kind of things are on your mind, dear?" asked Mama Swimmer.

"Well, I do not think now is the best time to explain them," replied Ducky.

"Okay, sweetie," said Mama Swimmer.

Ducky felt relieved to hear those words, knowing that she had managed to get her mother off her case, but her relief was short-lived …

"Why don't you run along and play with your friends?" her mother suggested, "Spike looks like he can't wait to meet up with them."

"That was the last thing I wanted to do," thought Ducky as she sighed in defeat.

"Okay, Mama," she answered, giving in.

Spike instantly ran up to his sister and playfully licked her face again.

"Spike!" giggled Ducky, "Stop that!"

"Run along now," chuckled Mama Swimmer, "I'll see you two later."

"See you later, Mama," replied Ducky as her mother returned to their nest.

Without another word, Ducky jumped off the rock she was sitting on, and she led Spike on their journey to their friends' regular meeting place.


Petrie felt rather groggy as he woke up to the sound of his mother and siblings eating their breakfast. He was used to often being the last one in the nest to wake up in the morning.

However, he knew why he was feeling groggy …

He had been having strange sleep stories about Ducky. He was still wondering if they were meant for each other after he couldn't stop thinking about her for yet another night. This was the fourth night in a row which he could only endure happy sleep stories about her.

"Good morning, Petrie," the Flyer heard his mother's voice gently greeting him as he felt a pleasant sensation on his head.

He knew it could only be his mother gently patting him on the head, and he grinned. At least it wasn't one of his brothers or sisters trying to wake him up in such teasing ways like they often would.

"Good morning, Mama," Petrie yawned as he stretched his wings.

"You're quite one to oversleep, Petrie," one of his brothers teased.

"Always having so many weird sleep stories," said one of his sisters.

The other children laughed, and Petrie flushed in embarrassment. Mama Flyer could see how embarrassed her son was, and she turned to her other children to stop the teasing.

"Now, children," Mama Flyer scolded them, "You know Petrie can't help that sometimes, so try to give him some personal space, okay?"

The other Flyer children stopped teasing Petrie and quickly resumed eating their breakfast.

"They never stop teasing me," sighed Petrie sadly.

"I'm sorry about them, sweetie," Mama Flyer sympathized, "I know you sometimes have a hard time getting up in the mornings. I'm sure a lot of other dinosaurs go through the same thing."

Petrie looked down as he stood up and climbed out of the nest. It was then that Mama Flyer noticed that something was a little … off … with her son.

"Petrie, are you feeling okay?" she asked him, "It seems to me that there was a very good reason why you overslept this morning."

Petrie gulped nervously. He couldn't tell anyone, not even his mother, the real reason why so much was on his mind. He knew that he would likely receive tons of backlash if he did, so he had to think of a valid excuse for his abnormal behavior.

"M-Me feel okay, Mama," he stuttered, "Just … had weird sleep stories."

Mama Flyer didn't feel convinced, but she decided to shrug it off for now, since Petrie had only just woken up and didn't need to deal with so much pressure after just climbing out of the nest.

"Here, son," she said as she handed Petrie a tree star, "I saved this one for you."

Petrie gladly took the tree star and took a small bite out of it. In no time, his taste buds were treated to the delightful taste of the tree stars that grew not so far from where their cave was.

"Thanks, Mama," he smiled, "This so good."

"I'm glad you like it, dear," chuckled Mama Flyer.

Petrie finished his tree star in just a few minutes, and he quickly stepped out into the open space in front of the Flyer family's cave.

"Are you going out to play with your friends, Petrie?" asked Mama Flyer.

At that moment, an odd thought struck Petrie …

He didn't feel very sure about playing with his friends, especially if Ducky was going to be with them today. He didn't quite feel like seeing her today after thinking about her for so long. He wondered how he could approach her the next time they met, but nothing came to mind. She may have been his best friend, but he suddenly felt so nervous about her. He couldn't bare the idea of seeing her while he was developing special feelings for her.

However, Petrie also did not want his mother to find out why he was feeling so strange, so he decided that he was going to take off towards his friends' meeting place so that she wouldn't become suspicious about him.

"Yeah," he finally said, "Me can't wait to see me friends."

"Okay then," replied Mama Flyer, "Run along now, and have fun."

"Me will, Mama," said Petrie as he opened his wings and took to the skies, "See you later."

"See you later, Petrie!" he heard his mother call back before he set off on his journey.


Meanwhile, Ducky and Spike were still on their journey towards their friends' usual meeting place. In just a matter of minutes, they would be meeting up with Littlefoot, Cera, Chomper, Ruby, and … Petrie …

Suddenly, Ducky froze as she began to think about her best friend again. She still felt nervous about seeing him at a time like this while she was developing feelings for him. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him at all today.

Spike took notice of his sister's abnormal behavior, and he gave her a worried expression. Ducky could tell what her brother's expression meant, but she couldn't let him bother her at a time like this.

The Spiketail let out some groans that only Ducky could understand, and the Swimmer sighed and looked up at him.

"You go ahead and find the others, Spike," she said, "I will catch up in a little bit."

Spike nodded and set off towards their meeting place, while Ducky looked to her right and found her favorite shallow river just a few yards away.

Once Spike was no longer in her sight, the Swimmer walked towards the river and sat down right on the bank. She dipped her feet into the cold water and sighed as she could not stop thinking about Petrie.

"I have never feeled this uneasy before," she said to herself, "Petrie's been my best friend ever since we first meeted. There is just something about him that I find so … so, … I do not know how to explain it. No, no, no."

She knew that no other dinosaur her age would know anything about what it was like to develop special feelings towards someone else, so Petrie would probably not be able to understand how she felt about him. However, she did have a hunch …


Petrie giggled happily to himself as he was enjoying his flight through the skies over the Great Valley. He felt like nothing could strike him down. He didn't know how to explain it, but it felt like just another happy morning in the Great Valley.

It was then that he looked down and gazed at the beautiful river below him. The water glistened beautifully as the Bright Circle's light gorgeously reflected it. It was one of the most amazing sights he had seen in quite a while, even over all the adventures he and his friends had been through over the past year.

Then, he noticed someone sitting on the edge of the river, and he gasped in shock once he realized who it was …

"Oh, no! It Ducky! Me must hide!" he thought to himself as he swooped downward and took cover behind some plants in a panicky state.

Among all his friends, Ducky was the last one whom Petrie was planning to see today. He still didn't know how to approach her with these newfound feelings spiraling within him. It felt nearly too much to bear.

"Why me feel so nervous around her?" he thought, "Me wish me could just forget all about these strange feelings!"

On the other hand, he began to imagine that all his feelings were one-sided. After all, nobody at his age would likely be experiencing feelings like these, so he was sure that Ducky wouldn't be feeling the same about him.

Taking a few deep breaths, Petrie peeked across the river to get a glimpse at Ducky.

There she was, soaking her feet in the river with a strange look on her face. She seemed to look exactly how he had felt this morning, and the Flyer started to feel a little uneasy with himself.

Now, he wasn't sure that his feelings were one-sided. He was suddenly picturing himself in one of his sleep stories where it was just the two of them together, having an adorable time. He started to have a hunch that she was feeling the same about him as he was feeling about her, and he felt rather spooked by it.

"Maybe, … me should just go meet up with Littlefoot and others," he insisted to himself, and without a second thought, he left his hiding place and walked along the riverbank, keeping himself hidden behind the bushes so that Ducky wouldn't see him.


Ducky had finally decided that her feet were cold enough, and she scooted backwards before standing up. Petrie was still stuck on her mind, and she still wondered how she would act the next time she saw him, but for now she had decided that she would take her mother's advice and play with her friends for a while.

"I had better get going," she said to herself, "Littlefoot and the others will be waiting for me."

With that, she pressed on with her slow walk towards their friends' meeting place. She stayed alongside the riverbank so that she could listen to the gentle sounds of the water glistening in the daylight. The sounds of water could always take her mind off certain things whenever she needed it to.

Then, once she got to the end of the river, where the two riverbanks would join, she looked to her right, … and she was met with a completely unexpected surprise …


Just when it seems that the two had avoided each other for the morning, it looks as though they're going to be in for one nervous encounter.

I'll be seeing you later with the next chapter, where Ducky and Petrie may have to overcome their nervous panic attacks and try to tell each other just how much they mean to one another.

Until then, see ya soon!