(AN) Well here we are with the second chapter in this two-shot. I hope you all enjoy, and remember to Read And Review.
This Chapter will show everyone coming to support Ducky in her grief. And will end with the origins for the Day Of Remembrance.
Disclaimer I don't own The Land Before Time. All characters and locations belong to Universal Pictures and Sullivan Bluth Studios.
Chapter 2
Topsy and Tria were walking in the woodland area, trying to find where Cera had went. So far they had had no luck and were walking deeper into the woods, the trees were now casting dark shadows over the ground, and Tricia who was tagging along behind her parents started to feel a growing sense of unease.
"Cera!" Called Topsy In concern, "Cera, where are you?"
The male Threehorn turned to face his Mate with a mixture of worry and fear.
"This is not good!" Remarked the Threehorn, "What If she's wandered out into The Mysterious Beyond, anything could happen to her then."
Topsy bowed his head and tried not to fall into despair. Tria came up next to her Mate and gently nuzzled him.
"Don't worry Topsy, we'll find her." Assured Tria.
Something caught Tricia's attention, and she started babbling in delight. Both adult Threehorns turned to face where Tricia was facing.
It was a bush, and poking out of the bottom right corner was a small orange tail.
"Cera!" Cried Tria in relief, "Come on out Cera, we can see your tail."
The Bush suddenly began shaking, and out from it emerged Cera. The Threehorn looked up nervously and began whimpering at the sight of her dad.
"Oh, h-hi Dad." Whimpered Cera in a nervous voice.
"Cera, we were talking with Littlefoot's Grandparents, And they told us about what happened at Thundering Falls." Explained Topsy.
"Oh they did," answered Cera, "I guess they told you about what I said?"
"Yes they did," replied Mr Threehorn, "Cera, I know I may be a bit bossy and maybe loose my cool sometimes, but that dosn't mean that I'll ever become like this Rolf person!"
"It dosn't?" Asked Cera as she looked into her dad's eyes.
"Of course not!" Said Topsy, "Cera you're my daughter, you're all I have left of... her and your siblings. And no matter what I'll always love you, and Tria, and Tricia too."
Topsy and Tria walked up to Cera and gently nuzzled her, Cera feeling calmer closed her eyes and smiled. She then felt Tricia snuggling up to her and Cera gently nuzzled her stepsister.
After a few minutes the family of Threehorns stopped and Topsy began speaking in a more stern manner.
"But I'm also very disappointed in you young lady!" Stated Topsy sternly.
"Why's That Daddy?" Asked Cera curiously.
"Cera, Ducky's your friend and you've really let her down!" Continued the Threehorn, "Ducky was forced to relive one of her worst memories, and was hoping that you would understand her pain when she told you about what happened to Judy. But instead you freaked out and thought that I would become like Rolf!"
"But dad, she said we didn't understand," retorted Cera, "How can she say that when she knows.. Littlefoot lost his Mother and I lost my Mom and siblings."
"She was distressed and grieving Cera," answered Tria in a soft but stern tone, "grieving can make us say things we don't mean. Ducky knows how hard it was for you, Littlefoot and Petrie, and I'll ask you this. Did Littlefoot and the others accuse Ducky of not understanding?"
"No!" Answered Cera in a low voice, a small pool of guilt was now beginning to form in her stomach, "In fact Littlefoot tried to stop me, but I didn't listen."
"I hate to admit it, but for once the Longneck's right," said Topsy, "When a friend is grieving over the loss of someone close to them, then they need support and comfort from their friends and family, and someone who can understand and help them through this. And right now Ducky needs all of her friends to be there for her, and that includes you Cera."
"Cera, the next time you see Ducky we want you to apologise for your behaviour, do you understand?" Ordered Tria, still sounding stern, "Promise me Cera!"
Cera bowed her head slightly, and knew that her Dad and Tria were right, she had overreacted at Ducky and knew that she'd been hurt by that. Ducky had needed all of her friends, and she'd let her down. But still she decided to be weary, just in case she made Ducky blow her cool again.
"I promise Daddy." Answered Cera as she snuggled up against the older Threehorn's leg.
"I'm very glad to here that!" Replied Topsy, who returned the hug with a gentle nuzzle.
A short while later, Ducky was walking towards her family's nest. She was feeling slightly better than earlier, but now she felt some guilt at how she'd yelled at Cera. As Ducky entered the Nesting Area, she saw her parents, Spike and her other siblings eating lunch. The Young Swimmer barely had time to call out, when quite suddenly she was bowled over on to the grass and being licked by a very happy Spike.
"Oh Spike!, I am glad to see you two, I am, I am!" Giggled Ducky as Spike continued to lick her, and she tried gently pushing him off.
The baby Spiketail calmed himself and stepped back to allow Ducky to get up. Sura then approached the Big Mouth and scooped he up into a hug.
"Ducky!, there you are!" Exclaimed Sura in a proud voice, "I heard about what happened at Thundering Falls, and I'm so proud of you."
"Oh, thank you Mamma," Said Ducky, "I did-ed what you told-ed me to do, I did-ed I did-ed. And it felt good to tell them."
"I'm so glad to here it," replied Sura as she placed her daughter on the ground, "Now your friends will be able to help you, and be there when you need them. Although, I'm quite disappointed that Cera freaked out and might be avoiding you."
"I feel guilty for yelling at her," lamented Ducky, "I do!, I really do!"
"You have nothing to be guilty about," stated Ruphus, "You were distressed, and while it was wrong of you to raise your voice to Cera, and it was also wrong of you to accuse your friends of not understanding, she shouldn't have said those things. I'm sure she'll come round eventually."
"I hope you are right, I really do. Yep!, yep!, yep!" Commented the Big Mouth.
"Is anybody going to tell us what this is all about," piped up Echo, "What was wrong with Ducky last night?"
Ducky's other siblings looked at their sister in concern, they had all been confused when Ducky had woken up screaming in absolute terror, but Ruphus had quickly told them to go back to sleep. Ducky had then been the last up this morning, when usually she was the first up, the honour of being last up mostly went to Spike.
"It was a scary sleep story about... Judy." Answered Ducky in a saddened voice.
The others tensed up as they heard that name, a name they hadn't heard Ducky say in two Cold Times.
"J-Judy!" Stammered Ray, "As in Judy... the Swimmer you were... friends with?"
"Oh Ducky!" Said Diver in a saddened tone, "I'm so sorry. We all should've been there when Judy came begging for help, we could've done something, we could've-
"There was nothing anybody could do," explained Rapid in a comforting tone as she hugged Diver, "What were you thinking, that if we tried attacking Rolf, that it would've stopped that violent maniac. That wouldn't have worked, if we'd tried, we'd have all been thrown into a rock and maybe even killed."
"Rapid's right dear!" Agreed Sura, "We all did the best that we could've done, ... Nothing could've told us he would go that far."
The older Big Mouth bent down and gently nuzzled her children. Ducky, Spike and their other siblings then raced over to the pile of Tree Stars and Water Greens, and began eating.
"Hay!, what about that Swimmer you kinda befriended after Judy was murdered?" Asked Sandy, "You know Juno, Hollow and Bubbles. Have you ever told anybody about them?"
"No!" Answered Ducky, "Although I do feel guilty about not befriending her and pushing her and her siblings aside."
The next morning, Ducky was relaxing at her nest and had decided to spend the day with her Mom. She was lying back on the grass with her hands behind her back, when suddenly she spotted something approaching from afar and looked up.
"Oh my!" Exclaimed Ducky loudly, which made Sura walk up next to her.
Grandpa and Grandma Longneck were entering the Nesting Area, Arial was flying just in front of them. The two elder Longnecks then stopped in front of Ducky and Sura, while Arial landed gently and gracefully on the ground.
"Oh!, hello Grandpa and Grandma Longneck, Ms Flyer," greeted Ducky politely, "What are you all doing here?"
"Well we actually came here to see you Ducky," answered Grandpa Longneck, "Littlefoot told us about what you told him and the others about... Judy."
"He-he did?" Asked Ducky in shock.
"Yes!" Answered Grandma Longneck, "I think your friends really wanted to make sure that we all knew and could understand what you've been through... And we're all very sorry for your loss."
"And you've got my condolences too!" nodded Arial solemnly, "And now that we all know, we can help you come to terms with this loss and move forward. And I'm sure Cera will eventually come round, it's an absolute shame we never got the chance to meet Judy, I think we would've liked her and I'm sure Petrie and your other friends would've loved her too!"
Littlefoot's Grandparents nodded in agreement. Ducky felt a lump in her throat, she could never have expected that from anyone and it made her feel warm inside.
Sura turned to look at her daughter, and saw tears building up in her eyes, with her lip trembling. Ducky thenburst out crying tears of joy. She then charged at Arial and wrapped her arms around the Flyer's waist in a big hug.
"Oh, thank y-you, thank you, thank you!" Exclaimed Ducky in a hysterically delighted voice, as she sobbed into Arial's chest, "You are all so very kind, you are!, you are!, Judy would be so, so p-proud and happy, she would!, she would!"
The older dinosaur's hearts all melted at this, Arial simply smiled and returned the hug. After a few minutes Ducky stopped crying and calmed down. The Young Swimmer let go of Petrie's mother's waist and walked back over to her mom.
"We'll be here if you ever need anything," said Grandpa Longneck, "I'm so glad we were able to make you feel better!"
The Two elderly Longnecks turned and left the area, followed by Arial flying up into the air and gliding after them.
Ducky did indeed feel much better, she felt that Judy had been given the proper send off that she had deserved for so long. However this hadn't really helped her pain, and she still felt as though Judy had died two weeks ago, instead of two cold times ago.
Sura bent down and gently nuzzled her.
"I think that was very nice, don't you dear?" Asked Sura in a gentle voice.
The young Swimmer simply nodded, and indicated to her mother that she wanted some time to herself. Sura smiled in understanding, and walked away.
Later that evening Topsy called a meeting for all residents of the Great Valley. Everyone turned up including the gang, Ducky, her family and Cera, who kept glancing at her friend nervously.
"Alright, attention everyone," ordered Topsy which instantly made the chatter die down, "I have called this meeting today or two very important reasons. Firstly, it's come to my and several other adults attention that Ducky revealed to her friends that she once had a friend before the Earthshake happened, this friend was called Judy and she was unfortunately murdered five days before the Great Earthshake... by her own father."
There was a loud collective of horrofied gasps from various residents. Some were too horrofied to speak, others looked appalled, while some, including Mr Thicknose looked at Ducky with sympathetic faces.
"And that's why I've come to the decision that child abuse of any kind will no longer be tolerated, accepted or allowed in this Valley," continued the Threehorn, "So if you discover that a parent or guardian is abusing a child, then I want you to report it to me, the Longnecks, Sura or Arial. Once we know this, we'll try and do what we can to protect the child and if needed get them away from their abuser."
Everyone cheered in delight at this idea. Ducky smiled, this change would truly benefit the Great Valley, now no child would have to suffer the way Judy had.
"And secondly, I'd like to announce that me and the other adults will be planning something to celebrate our long journey to the Great Valley and remember all those who perished along the way," declared Topsy, "It shall be called the Day Of Remembrance."
Everyone cheered at this. Ducky turned to her friends and simply beamed.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Said Littlefoot.
"It sure does Littlefoot." Remarked Ruby.
A few days after this, Ducky was sitting near the lake, when she suddenly noticed a familiar orange Threehorn approaching her from behind.
"Hay Ducky." Cera called out in a small voice, "Can I- can I talk to you?"
"Sure Cera, What is it?" Asked Ducky curiously.
The young Threehorn simply sighed, she had been putting off the inevitable talk with Ducky for the past few days, however she decided to finally get it over with after her dad found out she hadn't done it yet.
"Well... I guess I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the way I acted after you told me about Judy," explained Cera in a genuinely apologetic voice, "I shouldn't have made myself think that dad would be anything like Rolf, and I know now that you never meant to say all those things about nobody understanding. So now I understand Ducky, and I'll always be there just like everyone else, I won't run ever again. So, do you forgive me?"
"Oh Cera of course I forgive you," answered Ducky in pure joy, "You are one of my best-est friends and I could never stay mad at you. Judy would never have wanted-ed that."
Ducky then ran up to Cera and hugged her by the frills. Cera smiling, returned the hug.
"Hay Ducky, you wanna come look at the stars with me and the others?" Asked Cera.
"Sure Thing, I will!, I will!" Answered Ducky.
The two then continued to hug.
Later that night, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper and Ruby were sat on the top of a hill gazing at the star filled sky. Littlefoot imagined that he could see his mother, Cera imagined the stars taking on the form of her Mom and siblings, Petrie imagined his father, Chomper imagined the stars as his parents as did Ruby, who could also see her siblings.
Ducky could see the stars taking on the form of Judy and Nitha as well as, Juno, Hollow, Bubbles, Marina and Parsley who had also died.
"I will always remember you Judy, and you will be in my heart forever," thought Ducky, "Yep!, yep!, yep!"
(AN) well that's it for this two-shot. I hope you all enjoyed and remember to Read And Review.
As you can see I threw in a few nods to the Forgotten Friend since this is a prequel after all. Also I had Cera apologise and get told off since I feel that she was in the wrong in A Swimmer's Sad Secret.
Until Next Time this is TimeLordMaster108 Signing Out.