Chapter 9: Pride, Joy, and Sorrow!

MEANWHILE, ON TITAN…

Vinnie sits on the patio while he is enjoying one of his favorite beverages from his childhood. The taste almost reminds him of root beer from Earth. As he takes another sip he begins to look aimlessly out into the yard he once grew up in. He remembers the good times he had as a child. The games he and Julie would play…his very first 'test' kiss they shared in the bush at the end of the yard. Vinnie smiles when he also begins to remember the first riding lessons that Russell taught him when he was just turning seven. That led him in becoming a racer, something that made Russell very proud of Vinnie.

As he started thinking about his father figure, Vinnie suddenly felt sad. He felt there could have been something that he might have done that would have saved his life. Perhaps if he had found him minutes sooner in the collapsed mine? Yet, Vinnie let out a sigh, knowing that there wasn't much that could have been done. What had made him feel worse was when he had to tell Julie. She felt that her world had just crumbled around her. While Valerie took care of baby Marina, Vinnie cared for Julie. Now, he is back home. Julie needed him, so again he is caring for his best friend.

His sad expression became a worried one. Never had he seen Julie look so sick. It is understood why no one has tried to contact him sooner, being he was 'missing in action' on Mars. But he is glad that Janice, Kerry, and Mandy found him. Vinnie's heart ached when Julie tried so hard to stay up as long as she could to talk with him. She even stayed up to try and finish dinner. Eventually, everyone agreed that it was time for her to get some rest. Janice helped her to her room, while Valerie cleaned up the table, and Vinnie went with Marina to go outside. And now, here he is. Sitting out on the patio staring off into space while Marina practicing in doing her flips.

"Hey, Vinnie…Watch this!" Chirped the young child mouse.

Vinnie was so deep in thought that Marina's voice took him off guard. His head snapped up and peered over to where Marina stood. He realized that she is now on the fence in a pre-performance pose.

"I'm watching…" Vinnie calls back.

As soon as Marina got Vincent's attention, she began showing off a summersault, followed by two back flips, and another half-flip just before landing successfully on the ground.

That's very good." Vinnie cheered, clapping his hands. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"From school." Marina said plainly.

"Oh, yeah… School…" Vinnie trailed off in memory.

Marina looked over to see Vinnie's bike sitting in the driveway. She walked over to it, and marveled at the details. Vinnie noticed that Marina has found an attraction to his bike, so he gets up to join her.

"You like it?" He asks her.

"Yeah! Where did you get it?" Marina responded intriguingly.

"Actually, believe it or not, your grandfather built it for me when I was a teenager." Vinnie proudly says.

"Wow, he did a great job." She said before letting out a sigh. "I wish I was old enough to remember him."

"He indeed was a great mouse." Vinnie smiled thoughtfully after his mentor.

"Maybe someday I can learn how to ride a bike like this." Marina inquired.

"You mean to say no one has taught you how to ride a bike yet?" Vinnie asked in almost shock.

"No. Mommy's been sick, and everyone else has been very busy taking care of her." Marina said in a disappointed voice.

Vinnie thought about it for a moment. He then snapped his fingers together as he came up with a solution. "Say, since I'll be home for a while, why don't we go find my old bike, fix it up, and I can teach you how to ride myself."

Marina's face beamed when she heard him say that. "You will? That's great!"

"I belief my old bike should still be in the storage around the back of the house…shall we go find it?" Vinnie suggested as he held out his hand to her.

"Ok." Marina cheered excitably.

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- Flashback -

NINE MONTHS LATER!

It is a calm afternoon on Titan. Saturn beautiful rings covered the eastern sky. The heat from the plant gives a warm comfortable environment for the citizens on the large moon. Many white Mice, along with other aliens that lived on Titan, all survive in a nice quiet community.

All is as it usually is, until a familiar cry fills the air.

"AA-OO-WWW!"

Many of the citizens rushed off the street and head for the safety of the sidewalks beside the buildings. Down the street a cherry red bike comes screaming up the hill. The bike immediately becomes airborne. It manages to capture a glimmer of light reflected from the planet in a cool effect. The rider on the bike shouts out a warrior cry before gravity brings the bike back down on Titan soil.

As the mouse and his bike ride off the pedestrians all started shaking their heads.

"That Vincent is just too reckless." One of the older female mice says.

"Indeed." Another elderly female mouse agrees.

Vincent pays no attention to some of the dirty looks he's been getting as he speeds down the street. There is more important thing on his mind. In fact, his mom just called him to come home as soon as possible. The news she gave him was something he's been waiting for months.

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Valerie and Russell stood in the living room. Russell started checking to find extra film for his video camera when a familiar cry coming up the street catches his attention.

"Ah, sounds like Vinnie's here." He grins, twitching his ears.

"Honestly, I swear he gets more dangerous on that thing everyday." Valerie says, referring to her son's riding skills.

She peers out the window to see her son skidding his bike up the driveway. Before it makes an official stop, Vinnie hops up onto the seat. He jumps off doing a tuck and roll in the air before landing expertly on the other side of the fence. After, he tears off his helmet and tosses it beside his bike before running up to the front door.

Russell looks over her shoulder and smirks. "Well, at least he knows well enough to keep his helmet on until he is officially off the bike."

Valerie shakes her head as she turns her attention to the door where she expects him to rush in.

With an enthusiastic look, Vinnie throws open the door. "Mom! I got your message... Where is she?"

Valerie chuckled. "In her room, Vin."

"Whoo! I can't believe it finally happened." Vinnie cheered as he ran down the hall.

Russell places a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "You know the way he is acting you'd think it was his daughter that was just born." He smiled proudly.

"Yeah, well, that's my son for you. He can get so excited over anything." Valerie again chuckled.

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Julie sat on her bed as she admired the small little infant that is carefully wrapped in a soft pink blanket. It felt as if she was holding a fragile hairless doll. When she hears Vinnie's trademark yelp coming from down the hall, Julie starts giggling. How his presents always made her feel happy.

Like compulsive woodpecker, Vinnie taps lightly on the door. That was enough to get Julie laughing out loud.

"Just get in here, Vincent!" She laughed heartily.

"I came over as soon as I got the news." Vinnie said gleefully as he walked in.

"I'm glad you made it." Julie grinned.

"Hey, boot camp cannot keep away long from this." Vinnie chimed.

Julie frowned for a moment. "Why do you want to train to be a warrior so badly?"

"Well, you know, in case there is trouble in the Universe, I want to be prepared to fight. Everyone loves a hero you know." Vinnie puffed out his chest, flexed his arm, and grinned in a macho way.

Julie shakes her head in disbelief, and at the same time, couldn't help but to smirk over his ego. "Sometimes I think you take our stories a little too literally."

"No way, sweetheart, they speak the truth."

"Maybe you, perhaps…but I'm no hero, Vinnie." She says with a more serious look.

Vinnie paused and looked at Julie for a moment. He watched her look down at her newborn child with a sad expression.

"Sure you are." He finally tells her.

"How?"

Vinnie sits down beside his best friend, and with a finger he gently strokes the baby's cheek. "Every Mama is a hero."

Julie suddenly felt better with Vinnie's words. She looks up at him with a grin. "You know Vinnie. Sometimes you say can say the right thing at the right time."

"Awe, thanks." Vinnie grins, trying to hide his blushing. He looks down at the baby again. "C-Can I hold her?"

"Of course." Julie hands her baby into Vinnie's awaiting arms.

She sighed contently as she watched Vincent hold her daughter tenderly and making cooing noises at her. Apart of her wishes that if only he would have been the biological father, instead of Calvin. There had been so many adventures her and Vinnie went on as children. Each one of those adventures, of course, had been overly dramatized into their stories at the Tavern. Julie broke out of her thoughts when Vinnie spoke to her.

"Have you given her a name yet?" He asks her.

"Huh?" The question took her off guard for a brief moment.

"Well? You are not going to have her nameless are you?" Vinnie snorted.

"Heh, no…" Julie trailed off as she thought about it for a moment. She started smiling as she remembered one of the best times they had as a child. After thinking about it for a bit, she then turns to Vinnie.

"Remember those vacation trips we took with our parents to the moon, Marina?" Julie tells him.

"The one that orbits Neptune? Yeah… That was always a blast." Vinnie chimes. "Those cliffs were always fun to clime."

"I was thinking because that place held a lot of good times for us that I would name her after the moon…what do you think?" Julie says.

"Marina… I like it." Vinnie smiled.

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FIVE MONTHS LATER!

Vincent got called in for his first mission from in the army. A tragedy had struck. One of the biggest mines had collapsed while there were workers still inside. Vinnie tries not to show any fear. This is always something he wanted to do, to be a hero and save lives. He stood focused on the mission at hand as he waited for the signal to go in and rescue the surviving minors.

"Vinnie!" A female voice called out to him.

He turned to see Julie waving at him. Beside her was his mom holding Marina, whom now has a full body of white fluffy fur.

"Vinnie, my father is in the mine. Please save him!" Julie tells him in a panicky tone.

As soon as Julie said that Vinnie's worry began to show. He had forgotten that Russell was going to do some routine inspection today. Slowly he nods at her, letting her know that he will do what he can to save her father. Vinnie swallowed a lump in his throat before for hearing the signal for the rescue team to go in.

Forty minutes had past and so far Vincent has been able to help save six injured white mice and four alien citizens from the mine. It concerned him that neither he, nor anyone else in the rescue team had seen Russell yet. As he headed further down the mine something caught his attention. When he looked down he recognized an arm berried under some heavy looking rocks. The arm belonged to a white mouse. Vinnie's heart began beating a mile a minute. Thinking that there might still be hope for this mouse, Vinnie bent down and started digging him out with his hands. After moving a few heavy rocks off of the body, he realized that he could use some help getting this victim out.

"Hey! I need some help over here!" He called out to anyone near by that would listen.

It didn't take long for two more cadets to run up and help Vinnie free the body from the debris. When they turned the mouse over, one of the cadets realized the condition of the body. Vinnie nearly threw up when he recognized the face to the body.

"We are too late for this one." The one cadet explains.

"No…" Vinnie trailed off, nearly breaking down in tears. "I know him… He was like a father to me…"

"I'm sorry. Maybe you should go out for some fresh air and clear your head for a bit." Another cadet suggested, patting Vinnie on the back. "We have everything under control here."

Normally, Vinnie would refuse the need to get some fresh air over something like this, but in this situation he feels that it would be a good idea. Like a zombie, he heads back outside the mine. His face and clothing are covered in dust and smoke. The image of Russell's lifeless body stung Vinnie's heart every time he closed his eyes. Everything seemed to appear hazy as he looked around outside. He began to pane over to the crowd of citizens watching the scene from behind a rope. The thought accrued to him that many of those people are here to see if his or her loved one would come out safely from the mine, or as a corps…like Russell will be soon. That is when he stopped scanning the crowed and only focused on Julie that just happened to have noticed him too. It was almost like the two of them could communicate telepathically. She started to appear really sad as soon as she caught the expression on Vinnie's face.

Vinnie knows that he has to go to her. Apart of him didn't want to, but the other felt it was part of his duty to tell her. He realized it would be better coming from him rather then one of the other solders on the rescue team. Practically dragging his feet, he walked up closer to Julie, Marina, and his mom. Julie was already shaking her head in disbelief as he approached them.

"No…" She whispered. Somehow she knew the news Vinnie was about to tell her was not going to be good. "Daddy…?"

Vinnie shook his head to show his own grieving. "I'm sorry, Julie… I couldn't save him…" He admitted tearfully.

Julie broke down in tears as she fell forward, right into Vinnie's arms. Valerie, still holding Marina, also found herself crying over the loss of the one mouse that had respected and loved her as an equal.