I Love You, Handy.

Chapter 9. I don't believe it…


One week had passed in Smurf Paradise and the two Smurfs were happier than ever, knowing they always had each other. However, they did miss their friends very deeply and wished there was some way they were able to see them again. But in the meantime, they had to wait if anything happened later on whether their home in Smurf Village was safe to go back.

It was early afternoon as the sun shined bright. Hefty had gone out for a run around the forest about two hours ago. Handy stayed behind to work on a ceiling lamp that needed to be fixed. He was up on a tall, sturdy, latter tweaking with a few loose screws and bolts. After a few more tweaks, he finally finished fixing up the lamp.

"Phew..." he exhaled with relief, rubbing his forehead with his arm and smiled.

Handy then smurfed down the ladder slowly and made it to the bottom safely. He closed the ladder up and carried it to the front closet to put it away. As he made his way into the kitchen, he looked at the clock on the wall over near the very small table in the corner he had built a few weeks ago. It was a quarter to one and wondered when Hefty would return. The blue mechanic walked back out into the living room and smurfed to the front door. He opened it to look outside to see if his Smurf had come back.

There was no sign of Hefty and soon started to worry. Handy walked outside the house and seen Feathers in her new nest they both smurfed for her not too long ago. He walks up to her and gently strokes her head.

"Hey Feathers. Have you seen Hefty somewhere?"

All the majestic stork could do was ruffle her feathers as some of them fell from molting a little. The Smurf giggled and pets her some more. His expression changed and grew worried thinking when Hefty was going to return.

"He should be back already..." he said to himself.

While Handy stroked her head, somewhere on the other side distant from their home, something was lurking from behind the brush and started to rustle. Handy heard the sound and jumped a little. The sound had gotten louder from the brush when two red burning eyes beamed through. Handy soon felt startled and scared not wanting to find out what was behind them. But as soon Feathers had looked, she began to squawk shrilly and loudly. The Smurf turned to see there was something eerie sneaking out from the brush. He looked closer and seen it was a deadly python!

It was bigger than Feathers by far, and was longer than the length of 12 Smurfs put together. Its scales were as black as an endless night while they shined and sleeked, its eyes were red as Hell fire burning with evil, the tongue slithered from its mouth with the same color as its scales, and its mouth opened wide revealing its sharp, long, fangs while venom seeped through. The large, poisonous, beast slithered out of the brush, heading towards Handy and Feathers.

Handy stared at the python all shocked and scared. He wasn't able to move while he felt his heart racing and trembled with fear. The python slowly made its way towards them as Handy held onto the stork really close. He would've jumped on her to fly away, but he was too scared to even move one muscle. Somewhere not from behind, Hefty had returned from his jog. He had seen Handy from far away standing next to Feathers and witnessed what was happening. The blue muscleman gasped as he seen the horror of the vicious, black, serpent making its way to smurf them.

His eyes soon grew angry and shocked to see Handy almost near his demise. He clenched both of his blue hands into fists of rage as his heart began to race with fear and hesitation. His breath became uneasy and grew more furious by the second. He turned quickly to a nearby tree and broke a piece of loose bark off. It was sharp and big enough to stop the fowl, treacherous, reptilian monster. And without any haste, he ran towards the python before Handy noticed he had come back. The hellish monster opened up its mouth and hissed while more venom spewed from inside. Before it was about to make its attack on Hefty's mate, Hefty pierced the sharp bark right into the back of the python. It cried and hissed as it turned to Hefty angered and vengeful. It tried to bite him, but missed when Hefty got out of the way and grabbed the python by its neck.

"Handy! Get in the house! NOW!" the strong Smurf cried, turning to Handy.

"Hefty!" he gasped.

The terrified Smurf still doesn't move, now seeing Hefty was standing in front of the giant python fighting it off. Hefty tried to hold it off as much as he could as it hissed ferociously at him. He saw Handy still standing beside Feathers, scared half to smurf. He turned angrily at him seeing he didn't do what he was told.

"GET IN THE HOUSE!" Hefty shouted to him.

Handy gasped suddenly and finally does what he said and runs in the house. He slammed the door shut, still scared and didn't know what to do. He soon looked out of the window, worriedly, and watched Hefty fighting with the python. Hefty strained himself to break the black, venomous, serpent in two while Feathers flew to the trees.

"Smurf with my Smurf, will ya?" he shouted angrily at the spineless reptile.

Then he takes the bark out of the python and slit its neck. The creature screamed as Hefty ran to the other side away from the house to make it come after him. It hissed and made its way towards him while blood spilled from the monster. Hefty turned and smurfed a very large boulder bigger than his size. And with all his brute strength, he lifted up the large boulder over his head. He strained a little from the heavy weight he smurfed, but he was doing this for Handy's safety. The vicious snake spread out moving side to side while Hefty smurfed his target for the middle. And when it got closer, he threw the boulder straight at it, crushing its middle. It shrilled when it couldn't move anymore as the strongman reached for another boulder, much smaller. He aimed for the head and threw it. However, the python dodges it with its long, scaly, tail and whacked Hefty's lower side as he screamed. The tip of the tail was so sharp; he began to bleed a little. He knelt to the ground with his arm on his cut while the python's neck reached out to him with its fangs, ready to bite him. He looked up to the snake with a hateful glare in his eyes before it was about to smurf him good.

But suddenly, Handy comes out of nowhere with a kitchen knife in his hand, shielding Hefty behind his back. "Don't you DARE hurt him!" he cried when he soon threw the knife right into its eye.

The python screamed as blood gushed out from its eye. Its head collapsed onto the boulder that crushed its body in between earlier. The mechanic slowly helped Hefty up, seeing the small flesh wound the snake did to him. He looked to Handy finding he had come back out to save him. Then he turned to the black reptilian and pushed Handy to the side to finish the job. As the python's head laid there, still breathing; the heart-tattooed Smurf took the kitchen knife out of its eye and slashed its throat and head. He threw the knife down to the ground while the snake was still screaming as he rushed to smurf up the boulder he tried to throw earlier from it dodging it.

And before the monster would strike again for the last and final time, he smashed its head into the other boulder multiple times. Its head, skull, and parts of the brain were completely crushed while Hefty smashed the rest of its half with blood spewing all over. Handy watched the drastic scene all in shock as Hefty finished killing off the python. Hefty's breath became very uneasy and panted from the nerves and anxiety quivering within. After the creature was finally dead, Handy ran to the brave Smurf and hastily embraced him. His body begins to shake and he started to cry.

While he was crying, Hefty took a hold of him tight and stroked his back. He calmed his Smurf down as he spoke to him softly, "Don't worry… it won't smurf us anymore…"

"Hefty..! I was so scared!"

The frightened little Smurf held him tighter, still crying in his broad chest.

"Shhh…" the strongman shushed him softly, stroking his back more. "Please, don't cry Handy…" Hefty soon closes his eyes and soothes him more, caressing his back gently.

Handy begins to calm down a bit and looks into his eyes with tears still running down his face. Hefty wiped his tears away with his thumb and stroked his cheek with a gentle touch.

"I thought I was gonna lose you…" Hefty said. "Thank God, I smurfed here just in time. You've got to be more careful when I'm not around."

"I was worried, because you were gone for so long. Then I went outside and suddenly this beast appeared behind me...!"

Hefty sighed as Handy cried again upon his chest. He wrapped his big, strong, arms around him and his hand on the back of Handy's head.

"Handy… Please… You're all that I've got… If anything happened to ya if I hadn't smurfed sooner, I…"

Hefty couldn't finish his sentence until Handy kissed his cheek while he still cried.

"I'm just relieved you're safe." Hefty sighed. He looked down at his beloved Smurf for a little while until Feathers flew down and landed beside them.

The blue inventor calmed down again and wiped his tears away, looking up to Hefty in his arms. "Where have you been for so long anyway...?"

"I'm glad ya asked…" Hefty replied, breaking the embrace. He took his hat off and reached into the inner pocket inside.

He soon revealed a small, blue-sapphire, crystal diamond, appeared to be shaped like a heart. Handy's eyes widened as he seen its beauty. It sparkled and shined just like Handy's blue eyes in the starry and moonlit night.

"Ahww, where did you found this?" Handy asked him, awestruck. "It's beautiful!"

The blue muscleman put his hat back on and responded clearly, "Well, when I was about to smurf back home from my jog; I decided to smurf a little longer. I soon smurfed across a small mine filled with diamonds and many colored rhinestones in different shapes and sizes. I wanted to bring one of the stones I had found to give to ya, but I thought this was much suitable. If Miner Smurf were here; he'd be smurfing all over."

"Ahwww Hefty, thank you!" Handy cried happily and kissed him "It's just the right size to smurf a necklace out of it..." He blushed and smiled upon his handsome Smurf, feeling very special for Hefty always thinking of him.

"I'm glad you love it." Hefty hugged him and smiled. "And sorry about earlier…"

Handy cuddled him and sighed. "It's okay... You're here now, and that is all that counts."

"Heh… Now I know how ya felt when I almost nearly drowned," he responded, embracing him closer.

"Ohwww, don't remind me about that... It was horrible..."

The small, slender Smurf snuggled up to his cheek when Hefty began to chuckle. Suddenly, there was a sound of a tear felt up against the strong Smurf. His eyes widened after he had heard it.

"Uh oh…"

"What was that?" Handy asked, looking at him.

Hefty then look down and saw there was a rip on the side of his pants.

"Oh smurf it…!" he cussed. "That damn snake…"

"Ohh!" Handy said when he too looked down. "...And we don't have anything here to sew it again...!"

"Well… isn't this lovely…" Hefty remarked, feeling paranoid. "We've been here for at least a month; and now this happens…"

Handy started to giggle still looking down at his torn pants. Then he looked back up, smiling at him with his eyes hooded. "Well, if you ask me, you don't need them anyway. We all know you look pretty good without them."

"Heheheh… You're right." Hefty laughed a little. "But… I can't smurf around if I'm in my birthday suit…"

"Right... So what do we do now? There's no way to sew it again or to get any new pants for you..."

"You're right…" Hefty began to sigh. "There has got to be something we need to smurf… but what?"

Then all of a sudden, Feathers begins to squawk again when she looked up to the sky.

"What is it, girl?" Handy said, looking up at Feathers and soon looks up.

Hefty looks up as well when they all had seen two storks flying above them. The storks were flying closer to where they were standing until they heard a call coming from above.

"AHOY DOWN THERE, LADS!"

"That voice… Is that…?" Hefty had recognized that deep, Scottish accent from far up.

"It's Gutsy!" Handy smiled happily and starts to wave. "HEY, HELLO!"

Hefty also smiles happily, seeing it was their friends who came for them. "GUTSY! HE'S ALRIGHT!"

"HEFTY! HANDY!" A female voice was called when they saw it was Ashli, who had smiled and waved. And sitting behind her was none other than Grouchy himself. On the other stork, where Gutsy was, Shini was sitting behind him.

"Oh smurf, I can't believe it!" the inventor cried with joy.

Soon, both storks landed right in front of Hefty and Handy, along with three very large wooden boxes they smurfed with them.

"You know what? I hate sitting on the back of a stork for such a long time!" Grouchy Smurf retorted hastily. "But it was totally worth it...!" His attitude soon changed and smiled.

"Helloooo!" Shini called out to them.

"Shini! Grouchy! Guys!" Hefty cried.

Both Smurfettes quickly jumped off the storks and ran up to them. Ashli had smurfed into Hefty's arms and Shini smurfed to Handy, hugging him.

"Oh you guys! We've missed you so much!" the black-haired Smurfette cried.

"We're so glad to see that you two are alright!" Shini said.

"Ahwww, but how did you know that we were here?" Handy asked.

"You'd be lucky knowin' Ashli knew where you two were!" Gutsy responded, getting off the stork. "She found out when she remembered smurfin' about this place to one of ya not so long ago."

"I thought I wouldn't smurf you guys ever again!" the handy Smurf said, feeling real happy to see their friends again.

"We were so worried about you after what had happened when we left." Hefty said to Gutsy.

"Ahh… no need to be worryin' 'bout me, fellas," the Scotsman with the brown, curly, sideburns spoke. "It may have taken a lot of guts to fight for ya, but in the end, I still won the battle on the count that I've managed to heal over the past weeks from some broken bones."

"Man, Gutsy… we still don't know how to thank you for all your help," the muscled Smurf said.

"It was nothing! I would've done the same for anysmurf!"

Ashli, still in a sweet, tender, embrace in Hefty's arms, turns and discovered he had a cut on his side.

"Hefty…. What happened to you?" she said, looking up to him.

"What?" he asked, looking down at her, confused.

"You have a cut…"

She started to worry until she turned to see the dead python behind them.

"AHHHH!" Ashli screamed and holds him tight. "What the smurf is that doing there? I hate snakes! I HATE THEM!

"You and me both, sister," Grouchy said, getting off the stork and folded his arms. "That thing is awfully disgusting…"

"That thing you are speaking of attacked us!" Handy replied. "And Hefty saved me."

"Good thing nothing happened to you!" the brunette Smurfette said. "But ewww, Grouchy is right. It looks disgusting like this..."

"Hey Handy, Hefty..." Grouchy spoke, "…we brought you something!"

"Hmm? You did?" Hefty asked.

"We sure did, lads!" Gutsy responded as he continued. "It took us nearly an entire week to smurf these heavy cargo into these large wooden boxes! I didn't think these storks would be tough or strong enough to smurf it over here!"

"These are really large!" Handy exclaimed examining the boxes. "What the smurf did you put in there?"

"Well, just some stuff you might need, hehe…" the grouchy Smurf chuckled.

"Honey, can you smurf me the crowbars?" Gusty called out to Shini.

"Sure!" She then takes out the crowbars from her backpack she smurfed along with her and gives him the two they had brought.

"Thanks, lass! Hefty!" He throws one to him. "Help me smurf open these crates!"

"Sure thing, bro!"

They both had opened up the three crates they had smurfed. In one crate was both Hefty and Handy's equipment they normally used for working out or for carpeting. Half of Hefty's good weights and Handy's good tools were still in good condition. And Hefty really needed to use his weights to get stronger and Handy with his tools to invent something better for themselves. In the second crate were all kinds of foods, flour, breads and meats. And there were some pots and pans offered by both Shini and Ashli along with some baking and cooking utensils. In the third crate were towels, face cloths, cleaning essentials for when they needed to bathe, twelve new sets of clothes, nightgowns and hats, and a new clean quilt with sheets and pillow cases for their bed. Both Hefty and Handy were very much surprised for their fellow Smurfs to smurf such a thing just for them.

"Holy smurf! You guys are awesome!" the blue mechanic cried out.

"Heh... wasn't easy to put all the weights in there..." Grouchy replied, thinking he would have to smurf up the weights again and didn't like the idea.

"Tailor was so kind and sewed all the new clothes just for you two." Shini smiled.

"Awww, thanks guys!" the heart-tattooed responded in a thankful manner."We really appreciate it!"

"Let's say we smurf all this into the house?" Ashli suggested. Soon she turned to the dead python again. "But uh…. Can we do something about that first…? It's really giving me the creeps and making me sick to my smurf."

Hefty turned around and saw the serpent from earlier. "Oh, yeah…" Then he turned to the Scotsman Smurf. "Hey, Gutsy! Do you think you can help me get rid of this?"

"Sure thing, me boy!" he said, walking up to him and helped him push the boulder off the dead snake. "It's a shame we didn't smurf here sooner. I would've shown that thing whose boss around here and give him what for! But it's a good thing your giblets are still intact. Haha!"

"Heh… very funny…" Hefty sneered at him with his eyes hooded.

After Hefty and Gutsy got rid of the carcass, dumping it into a nearby ditch, everyone helped to get all the stuff the Smurfs brought into the house. Once they all came in, some of them were just amazed to see a house just like the ones in the village, only bigger. Shini was very much surprised and enjoyed it the most.

"I have to say, I really like your house!"

"Thanks!" the long, black-haired Smurfette replied, thinking Shini was talking to her. "….. Oh! You were talking to them? Well, it was my house. But I see you two really smurfed it up quite nicely."

"Hehe, it was really messy when we found it." Handy said, "But we smurfed it up in one day."

Shini suddenly turned to Ashli, feeling somewhat dumbfounded and confused. "Your house? Do you mean, you build this all by yourself?"

"Well…. define 'build'…" Ashli blushed as she continued to speak. "I kinda had a little help with one of my spell books. They were given to me by an old peddler woman, who I've spent most of my time with before she passed on many years ago. You see, after I was accidentally turned into a Smurf at the age of 25 by my evil wizard of a father; because he never knew that I was still alive, thinking he had smurfed me with one of his spells; I left my father's home after he was executed for second degree murder. And that's when I was found by a sweet, old, woman who lived all by herself. She knew some magic and gave me a few spells to study and add to some smaller books I was able to smurf. She lived for a very long time… probably more than how old a Smurf is at a hundred years! But sadly, it was her time to go… But she told me what she knew about the Smurfs species, which made me thought of finding whether you guys existed or not. So after she passed on, I decided to make my journey across the seas for decades to find the land of the Smurfs. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any traces until I smurfed here."

"Whoa, that's a smurfy story!" Shini said, feeling astonished by her story.

"So that's it!" Handy cried out, smurfing his fist into his palm. "I knew you didn't build this house completely by your own, hehe!"

"Heheh! I never knew ya had it in ya, Lassie!" the Scotsman in the blue and white plaid kilt replied.

"Thankfully, I have magic along the bloodline." Ashli responded, "But I never really like to use it that much. I'm not really the magic type since it's from my father's side."

"Well, at least you managed to survive on it. That's why Papa-" Hefty paused what he was about to say and thought about Papa Smurf. He had turned to Shini and Gutsy with a worried look on his face. "What's happened? Has anything changed since we smurfed?"

Gutsy looked to Shini, and sadly turned back to Hefty and Handy. He lowly put his head down with a sigh of grief. "You two don't really want to know what has happened…"

"It became a horrible place, and I hate horrible places..." Grouchy replied, disappointed.

"It's not the village we once knew anymore..." Shini said, putting her head down.

The muscular Smurf's eyes widened as the blue mechanic held him close.

"But… what happened…?" Hefty asked feeling discouraged.

Ashli then walks up to them, putting her head down as well as she began to explain. "All the Smurfs…. they divided into two. And… they're not speaking to each other and not providing for each other's side. One side is against the both of you and other Smurfs who support you. And as for Smurfette…"

She sighed and looked up to them as she continued, "She hates you down to the bitter core. Especially you the most, Hefty… And she hates me seeing that I too had the same feelings for you."

"Ashli…" Hefty sadly lets go of Handy and walks up to the little Smurfette when he soon embraced her gently.

The Smurfette in the white-leathered high-heels hugged him back. "I'm so sorry you guys…" her voice broke when tears began to water in her light-purple eyes.

"But... what about Papa Smurf?" Hefty had wondered.

"He totally changed..." Grouchy began, "…he's not our kind and caring Papa anymore..."

"It's like he became crazy or something!" Shini with her small glasses cried. "He even smurfed up guards all around the village, so none of the Smurfs who are on your side can go out to search for you..."

"...Oh god, this is horrible..." Handy felt more terrible by the minute, "...but how is it possible that you four were able to smurf here then?"

"Ashli had Brainy and Clumsy stall Papa by taking him out for the day." Gutsy explained, "And she was able to persuade two Smurfs who were guarding the coop to the storks by helping her get something for her in the forest. So we can't stay here too long. But we'll still help ya get everything smurfed before anything else happens."

"I… I don't believe it…" Hefty spoke lowly with his blue eyes starting to water.

Handy suddenly let himself fall into the couch, more discouraged than ever. "Why... why is this happening? We're not even in the village anymore… so there's actually no need for all the... hate against each other..!"

"Like I said... I think Papa became totally crazy..." Shini implied.

"No…" Hefty couldn't believe everything that was happening. All because he and Handy loved each other like no other Smurf can.

"We're so sorry…." Ashli responded with a tearful sorrow. "I don't know what's become of everyone now. It seems the family just fell apart because of something they just can't accept."

"All this trouble just because of us..." Handy began to speak, "…just because of... love...! I don't get it! Why can't they... just accept it? Why can't they accept our love?"

Handy soon started to cry as Hefty turned to him and let's go of Ashli. He sat gently on the couch next to Handy and cuddled him in a strong embrace. He too felt tears coming from his eyes and cupped Handy's cheek with a simple touch. Then he kissed his tears away on his cheek while he still embraced him. Handy held him tighter as more tears came down from his eyes, making Hefty's fill up more.

"Hey, hey, no need to cry there buddy…" Grouchy said. "We're not dead yet."

"That's right." Shini agreed with him. "The village just... changed... but every one of us is fine. And we're all happy as long as we know you two are fine too."

The sad couple then both looked up to them and the other Smurfs. They never felt so relieved and happy, knowing they were still loved and appreciated. They had seen that their fellow Smurfs have accepted and had their full blessings for the both of them.

"Thank you…" Hefty spoke. "Thank you for everything you all have gone for us…"

Handy soon calms down a bit and responded with a small smile, "...I'm so glad to have such good friends like you…"

"Aww… you guys… We love you all so much." Ashli said, happily walking up to the couch and hugged them both.

Gutsy and Shini soon did the same thing and formed a group hug along with the rest of them. Then they noticed Grouchy didn't join the group hug while he stood there with his arms folded. They all looked up at him while he had that famous scowl of his on his face he was known for. He looks at them while they all still stared up at him. And without any refusal, he was sure he had to give in. After all, Grouchy, deep down… had a heart of gold.

"Nahww, I love you guys too!"

Grouchy went up to the rest of Smurfs and hugged them too. They all hugged each other in a reunited embrace for a good while before they had to start working to get all the supplies they had smurfed with them.


Later on in the day, Gusty and Grouchy helped Hefty bring some of his workout equipment to the basement where he can exercise. They had also smurfed along some of Handy's work tools for storing down there. While they were smurfing all that, Ashli and Shini helped put new sheets on the bed and stored the boys' new clothes into the bedroom dressers. Hefty earlier snuck out a new pair a pants for himself after having that tore in his old pair. The girls also stored towels and other essentials for the bathroom. As soon they were done with storing to food supply as well, they decided to help Handy start learning how to cook. They all had smurfed into the kitchen to prepare a dinner for two. Ashli was nice enough to let Handy keep some of her cook books she had for a long time so he can whip something smurfy for himself and Hefty.

"So you know what you want to smurf up for tonight, Handy ol' pal?" Ashli asked him.

The blue inventor scans through one of the cook books given to him. "Oh I don't know... Everything in this book sounds delicious, hehe. But I think I'll start with something easy at the beginning." He turned and smiles at her.

"Ok! Let us see…." Ashli flipped through a few pages as she looked at some of the recipes, easy enough to smurf.

"Hmmmm…. AHA! That's it!" she said, pointing to a recipe for Baked Chicken Parmesan, "This, I HIGHLY recommend. Wouldn't you agree, Shin?"

"Ooooh yes!" the brunette Smurfette agreed with appreciation.

"Hehehe, okay then, sounds good!" Handy decided.

"Awesome!" Ashli said with glee as she started to give out the orders for the ingredients. "Shini, you go smurf me six tomatoes and one garlic clove. And also smurf me some basil, oregano, a pound of parmesan cheese, and of course, we can't forget the parsley."

"Okie dokie!" she responded and went to go smurf everything they needed.

"Next, we'll need two big pieces of boneless chicken. Handy, can you smurf them for me? We'll have to wash them thoroughly to get rid of any unsmurfy diseases we don't want to smurf. And I'll get the flour, eggs, and whatever else we need and have other things set to start, ok?"

"Of course," Handy nodded with a smile. He goes to smurf the two pieces of chicken from the meat storage and begins to wash them thoroughly in the sink.

"Ohh, something tells me we'll have lots of fun now!" Shini had said, coming back with the Italian herbs, spices, cheese, and vegetables setting them all on the table.

"Oh… we're just getting started!" Ashli replied, smiling happily.

Meanwhile, Hefty, Gutsy, and Grouchy were bringing the last of the weights and tools down into the basement. Gutsy soon plopped onto the grey mat they had placed on the floor, feeling exhausted.

"Whew! I don't know how ya do it, Hefty, but I sure am pooped to smurf anymore!"

"And I thought all this time, you were just about as strong as me!" Hefty kindly said with a chuckle.

"But not nearly as strong as you are!" the Scotsman huffed. "You can smurf just about anything better than I can! Heheh…"

"I hope I never have to smurf this heavy stuff ever again..." the grouchy Smurf implied, "…two times are enough if you ask me."

"Hey, at least it was more than ya expected." the muscle-bound Smurf replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Seems to me, you've got a little muscle smurfin' on there." He then pointed to one of Grouchy's arms.

"...Heh, yeah, if I would carry all your stuff from one place to another every day, I would look smurfier than you within one week!" Grouchy begins to chuckle.

Then Hefty and Gutsy all laughed with him until Hefty helped Gutsy get back onto his feet. The Scotsman Smurf fixed up his kilt until he had a thought that came to mind. He soon turned to the strong Smurf and asked him…

"So Hefty… I know this may not be any of my business, but when did you begin noticing you had these feelings for your best friend? And did he have the same feelings for you too?"

Hefty looked at him with a surprised expression. "Do ya really wanna know?"

"Of course, I do lad! Wouldn't you, Grouchy?"

"To be honest, I'm curious too. Yeah... so tell us, bud."

Hefty looked at both Smurf, eager to finding out how it all happened between him and his best pal and lover, Handy. "Ok. If you two insist…" he gave in with a sigh.

"I'm sittin' back down for this." Gutsy said, sitting back down on the mat.

Grouchy too joins with Gutsy on the floor as they both began to listen to Hefty's story.

"Well… It all started about a year ago back in mid-August..."


~Flashback to that time~

I was working out as usual doin' my crutches and my lifting until a knock came at my door. So, I stopped what I was smurfing as I took a towel to smurf off the sweat from my workout, and smurfed to the door to see Papa Smurf had come by. He asked me to smurf a favor for him to smurf some fibrous roots in the west forest. I was honored to smurf him the favor. But he also warned me to watch out for Gargamel. So, I promised him that I would be extra cautious. And I was the strongest Smurf after all to smurf this mission. Anyway, when I was about to head on out; I soon noticed Handy was having a little trouble trying to smurf one of his newest machines into village's shed. So what did I do? I went up to him to smurf him a hand.

"Hey Handy. Ya need any help smurfing that thing in there?"

"Oh, hey Hefty!" he said after he had turned to him. "Yeah, this thing is heavier than I thought... If you don't mind, it would be really nice if you could help me to smurf it inside."

"Sure thing, buddy."

Hefty smiled and helps lift the machine up as they both brought it into the shed. He strained a little, but was still strong enough to carry the heavy machinery with Handy.

"Where do you want this thing smurfed?" the strong Smurf grunted.

"Right over there in the corner." Handy pointed with his head, looking in the direction.

"Ok..!"

The blue muscleman strained as they walked to the corner and finally placed the machine down.

"Phew!" Hefty wiped his forehead with his arm. "I think I just finished my workout for the day… heheh."

"Hehehe, thanks for the help buddy. And sorry if I was distracting you from something."

"Nah… you didn't distract me from anythin'. I was just about to head out to the west forest to smurf some fibrous root Papa needs for his potions. I better get smurfing."

Then the big Smurf headed towards outside.

"Ohh," Handy said as he goes to follows him, "Then you should watch out for Gargamel! ...Whoops!" He then accidentally tripped over the step at the door to the shed.

Hefty had turned back and helped him up smurf back on his feet. "You ok there? Wouldn't want you to be like Clumsy now," he chuckled.

"Yeah I'm okay hehe, thanks.

The smaller Smurf looks up to him while Hefty looked down to him and smiled.

"Well… I better get smurfin' before Papa knows I'm still here."

"Okay then, smurf you later buddy!" Handy waved with a smile.

As soon as Hefty went to turn to go leave the village, he turned back to his friend all of a sudden.

"Uh, Handy?"

"Yes, Hefty?" Handy looked at him.

The heart-tattooed Smurf then put his hand behind his head and scratches it with apprehension. "Um… if you're not too busy with anything else, do you… want to smurf along with me to get the roots?"

The blue inventor smiled at him and responded with a friendly gesture. "If you need some company, why not? I was done with everything by now anyway."

"R-really?" Hefty said, surprised. "Are you sure you smurfed everything?"

"I am sure!" Handy giggled. "Now come on, Papa doesn't like to wait."

Hefty smiled happily and goes to follow him. "Thanks Handy. You're a real true friend I can ever ask for."

"Say, you aren't afraid to go alone, are you?" Handy said, smiling back and nudges him with his elbow. "Hehehe!"

"Me? Are you kidding? I'm the bravest Smurf there is! And don't ya forget it! Haha!"

Hefty soon gave Handy a noogie on his head.

"You know I was kidding, man!" Handy laughed and pushes his arm away.

"Hahaha! Come on, I'll race ya!" Hefty then runs up ahead of Handy.

"Heyy!" he cried, running after him. "Hehehe!"

So Handy came along with me to get the roots Papa needed. We smurfed deep into the west forest, making sure we wouldn't be found by Gargamel or his fowl cat, Azrael. We grew a little tired from walking the whole way finding what we had went there for. But we both managed to find the roots as we carefully dug out the dirt and not break off any pieces of them. After we had gotten them good and smurf; we started heading back. Handy somehow was feeling a little tired when he stopped to catch his breath. I looked to see if he was alright, but he needed to lie down for a bit. I was worried he had told me this when we were so far from home and close to where Gargamel lived. So, I helped him up and found a small stream nearby. I set him down near a small bush where some smurfberries grew, and smurfed on them to get his strength back.

"I'm sorry," Handy yawned. "I don't know why I'm suddenly so tired... I didn't know it would take us so long..."

"It's ok." The blue strong Smurf said and sat beside him. "Maybe you've been workin' yourself too hard with all your inventions, and staying up too late, smufing up with new ideas."

"Yeah, probably..." he giggled and ate some smurfberries.

Hefty lied down on the grass and exhaled while he felt comfortable next to his closet friend. "It's nice with just you and me alone together and away from civilization. We hardly get to smurf anywhere just to relax."

"That's right. There's always something to work on in the village. And in the spare time there's always somesmurf around, like Jokey with his stupid presents..." the mechanic stopped to laugh. "...But really, there's hardly ever a time where you just can be all alone by yourself... except at night."

"I feel the same way… It's like everysmurf is invading each other's privacy! Man… at night, there's never really much to do because everysmurf is asleep. When I'm still up half the time, I feel like I want to do at least… something…!"

Handy soon agreed as he nodded.

"The only thing I do at night is thinking about what I could do the next day and about new inventions... And if I really have an idea for a new invention, I sometimes can't wait to start it. So, would I smurf out of my bed in the middle of the night and start to draw on my blueprints. Somehow, I'm not a bit tired when I do this."

"Wow… you sure do keep yourself busy half the nights do you?" Hefty said when he tilted his head to him, still lying down.

"Yeah... no wonder I'm so tired now, huh? Hehehe." Handy replied, looking down at him.

Hefty smiled and chuckled lightly as he sits back up. "Come here."

Handy smiled and embraced him friendly in his friend's strong arms. Hefty closed his eyes and then brushed his hand against Handy's shoulder gently.

"Just relax and close your eyes." Hefty said, lowly.

"Uh... is... everything okay with you?"

"Yeah… Just try to relax. You've had a long day and I hardly get to see you."

The bigger Smurf strokes him more as Handy started to feel uncomfortable with what Hefty was doing.

"...C-could you... stop stroking me...?"

"Sorry…" Hefty soon stops while he still held him close and sighed.

"Are you sure that everything is fine...?"

I don't know what had gotten into me that day. For some reason… right out of nowhere, I began to feel very strange being that close to Handy. His skin was soft and smooth as a newborn smurfling. My heart had skipped a few beats while I still held him in place for this long. But, I didn't know what to say next. I looked down at Handy and just stared at him for a few minutes and didn't say anything.

"Hey buddy... just tell me what's wrong..." Handy worriedly looked up to him.

His eyes were so beautiful. He was gorgeous than any other Smurf for that matter. I just stared into his face for a long time as my breath started to hitch a bit. It was so hard to resist, but…

"You don't seem to feel so good..." Handy sighed. "I think we should smurf back to the village now."

Then the handyman took his hand and helped him stand back up on his feet.

When he held my hand for the first time, I couldn't help but blush. My body shook a bit and my heart started racin'. I took one more look at him until I resisted, and let go of his hand.

"You really should smurf to bed when we're back home again. It's getting late anyway..." Handy then picks up the roots they smurfed earlier.

"Uh… yeah. Y-you're probably right…"

Handy smiles at him and soon heads towards to the village along with Hefty.

Things were ok for a while after what happened earlier. But things turned out for the worse while we were on our way back to the village.

"Um, Handy?"

"Yeah?" he turned to look at him.

Hefty turned his head away, feeling a little ashamed for what he had did earlier.

"Uh… just so we're clear on this… I didn't do anything to upset you, did I?"

"...Ehh... what do you mean?" Handy said, confused.

"From earlier… did I make you feel uncomfortable…?"

"...Oh that... um... nah, not really. I mean you're my best friend."

The strong Smurf turned back to smaller Smurf and gave him a little smile. "Aww, Handy… and you're my best friend."

Handy smiled back, feeling honored to him as his best friend, no matter what. "So if there's anything you want to get off your chest, I'm always there to listen to you."

"Handy…"

Hefty then walks up to give him a gentle hug.

"Hehe, you're really into hugs today, huh?" Handy giggled.

All Hefty could do was sigh. He blushed a little without Handy noticing he was and turn to face him again.

"Handy. There's something that has been smurfing my mind. And… I really think I should tell you, considering you're my only true friend in the world."

"Then tell me. I'm here to listen to you."

Hefty smiled happily and looked at Handy in his blue eyes. "I… I think I lo-"

Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, an orange tabby cat jumps in front of them from behind a nearby brush.

"Azrael!" Handy gasped and jumped.

Azrael had smurfed our trail when he sensed us coming. I held Handy tight when I too began to feel frightened from him surprising us. But what we didn't know what happened next; was that Gargamel too had come out from the bushes with his sinister laughter smurfing out…

"I've got you now!" the wizard laughed evilly.