Thanksgiving has finally arrived, and everyone in Bird Island gathered around for all three tribes' first Thanksgiving together. The food contained worms, fruits, vegetables, fish, and other non-bird-and-pork meals. The birds and pigs were all nervous when they put the food they offered at the long table for the Thanksgiving lunch since Aggie invited her maternal family to have Thanksgiving with them. Aggie's family didn't know about what happened to her or heard about the news. They all hoped the lunch would be just fine.
"I hope this Thanksgiving is gonna be good," Stella sighed while putting a bowl of sliced apples on the table.
"Yeah, the Grand Galloping Gala was a bust with a changeling roaming around," Chuck agreed with her.
Ruby then mentioned, "Can't believe Screwball knew that changeling, and used her own magic against her father."
"Well, we can't get involved with that tension. All we have to do now is to enjoy this Thanksgiving because Ms. Aggie's family is coming, and we have to make this lunch perfect," Judge Peckinpah announced.
"Do you think they know about what happened?" Hal asked in worry while asking a bird and a pig at both of his sides.
"I don't think so. We haven't heard anything from them about what happened. Maybe they haven't known yet," Matilda answered
"If that's the case, let's just act normal and pretend nothing happened during lunch today," Leonard suggested.
"Good idea," Silver nodded, "Let's not mention about.., what happened."
At the Eagle Family's house, Zeta was looking through her window, seeing down the small birds, pigs, and her fellow eagles readying for the Thanksgiving lunch. She was so worried that the lunch might be ruined if her older adoptive sisters heard about what she had done before. She started to panic as she walked away from the window, pacing around the room. His husband and daughter stared at her in worry.
"I'm so nervous. This is the first time I have Thanksgiving with my adoptive family," the purple eagle hyperventilated.
"In the Philippines, we don't have Thanksgiving, so this is also my aunts' first Thanksgiving," Aggie explained while transforming herself from her bird self to her normal human self, "Look, I think my family didn't know much about… what happened. Everything will be fine."
"What if they will? What if they'll find out sooner or later?" Zeta asked.
Aggie patted her adoptive aunt's wing, "You'll just have to face the music. Come on, you're a grown eagle, and you have a husband and daughter. You can handle it."
"I can handle everything except facing my sisters when they find out what I did."
"Well, that's the part of growing up in an adoptive family who loves you, and missed you when you disappeared."
Zeta looked down at her adoptive niece, and thought about what she had said. She was right. The eagle has to face the music. She can't run away from the family who took her in when she was a little hatchling this time. No matter what happened, she had to take responsibility for her own actions, and tell her family the truth when the time was right, and they were still her family, no matter what.
In the human world, at Anunciacion's house, the Mondejar sisters and their families were wrapping their food offering for their first Thanksgiving lunch.
"So, do we have to bring the turkey?" Anunciacion asked.
"Anunciacion, they're birds! They don't eat fellow birds!" Encar reminded.
"What about ham?" Dam suggested.
"They have pigs there," Julie reminded.
"What are we supposed to eat?" Quake questioned
"Well, we have fish," Kendee answered, wrapping a fish with sweet n' sour sauce with plastic.
"Good enough," Salome shrugged.
"And seeds. Birds like seed," Michael Villa poured some sunflower seeds in a bowl with his son.
"And anything that pigs like," Lye added while wrapping three balls of cabbages on a plate.
"I'm so excited for our Thanksgiving. Especially meeting Zeta again. She's a grown eagle," Rosario said excitingly.
"Well, this time, we'll never miss anything else," Dolores "We hope we didn't miss anything."
Bernadette was also there helping her sisters with Galileo and Leslie assisting her. They heard every conversation that their family said, and they were so worried. They knew what Zeta did to their daughter, but they didn't have time to tell the rest of the family. Zeta just got back, and they didn't want their family to break apart again. They still need more time to think when they will know what was happening to Aggie, Zeta, and the rest of the birds, pigs and eagles.
"Yeah… didn't miss anything," Bernadette murmured in worry with her husband and adoptive son frowned.
Back at Bird Island, the Eagle family and Aggie flew down from the mountains, and landed on the beach while Zeta carried a bowl of salad as their offering for Thanksgiving. On their way to the party, they were encountered by Red who was holding his staff.
Though Red stopped running when he had his eyes on Aggie, who was still feeling awkward about their relationship and the event of the Grand Galloping Gala. They hadn't spoken to each other since that time, until Aggie broke a silence.
"Red. I, uh… great to see you around here."
"Um, yeah, me too… I mean, it's great to see you around… too," Red stammered, but they rather looked away from each other before they could stare more, "Anyway, do you think inviting your family would be a good idea?"
Aggie nodded, "I'm sure. Besides, Zeta hasn't been spending time with my aunts and mom for years. I think Thanksgiving will make up for their lost time."
"I hope this is gonna make up for their lost time," Zeta chuckled with concern.
"Well, let's hope they won't bring poultry or pig-meat for Thanksgiving. I know how you humans eat," The Cardinal bird chuckled, "Oh, this morning, I've been practicing with the staff, and take a look at this," Red then pointed the staff at Aggie as it glowed, and unleashed a holographic light at her face, which caused her to widened her eyes.
Then, the hologram light went off from Red's staff as Aggie blinked and shook her head. She didn't know what Red did to her until she remembered something, something that she didn't remember before until a second ago. She remembered a memory where Red and Silver got captured, Zeta explained her plans, Red and Silver's conversation about how Red felt about Aggie while they were still trapped, the birds and pigs made Silver's plan, the ice ball rolling, and… almost everything that Red remembered. Everything from Zeta's lair where Aggie wasn't present, and in Magic Island where the birds and pigs were searching for her, "You mastered the memory-sharing spell?"
"Yeah. When you gave me the staff, I decided to practice this for a bit. I guess I have to share my memory with someone who doesn't have the same memory as mine," Red explained.
"Wait, does that include…?" Mighty Eagle wanted to guess, but he was cut off.
Red nodded while spinning his staff, "Yeah, everything, well, depends on what I want to share. Now, I'm sharing the memory where Silver and I got captured and explain your plan. You know, because she wasn't around. And everything where Aggie herself wasn't around. I didn't include… everything, you know. Some memories are… confidential, and I don't want to share those memories with everyone."
"Yeah, I can only remember where you and Silver were trapped, running in an ice ball, talking about… you care for me…" Aggie then mentioned that, which made Red feeling down that he didn't get a chance to explain himself. But it was partially Aggie's fault for not hearing him out. Aggie snapped back at her thoughts, and shook her head, "And everything when I killed you. Darn it!"
But Zeta didn't like that idea. She knew Red had that memory where she launched molten lava-filled ice balls at Bird Island and Piggy Island, and if he casted a mind-sharing spell at Aggie's aunts, then they will know what she had done, "Mr. Red, you should be careful where you point the staff. OR else, everyone will know what you remember back in Eagle Island."
"Maybe it's a good thing, so everyone will understand," the red bird argued, "And it's not just my memories it will be shared, but someone who I can cast to share a memory from others.
"Understand that my aunt has been calling you and Silver lovebirds!" The human girl glared up to her aunt.
"UGH! I'll never let that down!" Zeta groaned in guilt when she remembered saying that, and her niece was listening to her words. She then looked down back at Red, "Red, give me the staff! I don't want you to share your memories with anyone during this Thanksgiving lunch!"
But Red yanked his staff away from her, "What? No! I'm in charge of the wand staff, so I'll be the one to hold it."
"Just give it to me, and I'll give it back to you after my sisters and their families are gone!" Zeta yelled as she grabbed hold of the staff.
But Red kept holding it as he tried to pull it away from Zeta.
The two birds were now in the middle of a tug-o-war as everyone heard a commotion between them. The birds and pigs stopped putting their food on the table, and walked towards the beach with their offerings to see what was going on.
Seeing a whole crowd of birds and pigs watching, Aggie tried to come between her ex and her aunt as she commanded, "You two stop it! You're making a scene!"
But none of them listened to her as the two tried to pull the staff from the other.
All of a sudden, a green portal appeared out of nowhere behind Red as the Mondejar family with their own families came through the portal carrying their food offering.
"Hey everyone, we're here!" Quake announced loudly.
This started Red and Zeta as the eagle quickly released Red's staff, causing him to flip his staff backward from his wings. The staff spun in the air, and fell on the ground, causing it to activate and unleashed holographic light where it was pointed at the Mondejar Family.
The Eagle Family, Red, and Aggie gasped as they realized the staff was sharing Red's memories to Aggie's family. It must've shared Zeta's memories to them as well since, during the Tug-O-War, Red might have copied Zeta's memories to his staff by accident, now the Mondejar Family had Zeta's memories as well.
After a few seconds for the staff to share the memories, the holographic light disappeared, and the Mondejar family blinked from the light that pointed their faces. They seemed to be seeing Red's memories for a moment until they realized what was going on.
"Encar, I can explain," Zeta said.
Encar gave herself for a few moments to understand what these weird memories that she had not seen before meant, until she finally understood. She might be old, but she's still smart to understand. Encar scoffed, and shouted angrily at the purple eagle, "ZETA!"
Though the other birds and pigs didn't know what was happening, the Eagle family, Red, and Aggie knew they were in big trouble now the Mondejar Family knew their secrets.
Half-an-hour later, after Aggie, the birds, pigs, and eagles explained everything, Aggie's aunts and the rest of the family were sitting and listening. Though Matthew Lucas was still too young to understand, Michael Villa kept his son distracted from listening.
"So, you know everything," Zeta said.
"Yep," Rosario nodded
"And when you mean "everything", you mean…"
"Yes, the ice ball, the break up, our sister…" Salome counted everything that she and her family had seen in Red's memories. They had seen a lot, like Zeta, their adoptive little sister, almost destroyed Bird Island and Piggy Island, Red and Aggie's break-up, Aggie's murdering spree, almost everything that happened.
"The murder ones," Galileo mentioned while covering his son's ears, "Dang, Agatha!"
"I am so sorry. It just happened, and…" Aggie tried to explain herself about the murder
But Anunciacion raised her hand for her niece to stop talking, "No need, Agatha. We already know the reason, especially with the memory. And we don't want to get involved with your break up, and mental breakdown."
"The only explanation we want to hear… is from our youngest sister." Dolores pointed as the sisters and Aggie's cousins turned to Zeta.
They were waiting for an explanation from her as Zeta sighed, and readied to confess. Aggie was right. She has to face the music instead of running away from her problems now that her cover was blown, "I thought at first taking over two warm islands would fix my problem of living in a cold Island where I belong, and even just scaring the inhabitants," She shook her head, "But I was wrong. I almost killed some many lives, and I also put my fellow eagles in danger…, and my own daughter," She looked down at Debbie, who was frowning in concern, "Even my stupid plans make my niece lose the most important thing in her life. I already saw myself in her at that time. I realized, everything I did didn't make a difference. I was a fool. Can you guys ever forgive me?"
The Mondejar family glanced at one another, trying to think what each other were thinking about it. Most of them had their glares turn to frown with their faces relaxed. They knew what Zeta did was wrong, but she's still their family, and they were willing to forgive her.
Salome sighed, and admitted, "Well, you've been away from us for a while, and we didn't teach you enough values, it was also our fault."
"Yeah, you didn't know any better. We should've taught you what we learn about the values of your fellow birds... and pigs," Anunciacion added.
"Oh, you know we can forgive you. We always do. You're family, after all," Dam said.
"You know, it's fine. Classic Aunt Zeta," Lye added.
"Yeah, of course," Kendee nodded.
"Of course. Bring it in," Quake declared as the whole Mondejar family, which included Aggie, and the Eagle Family, gathered around for a hug.
"I'm sure you've learned something," Encar giggled.
"No," Dolores spoke from behind the group-hugged family as she didn't join the hug at all, and took a step forward without erasing the glare off her face, "Not this time."
"What? But I really am sorry. We hugged and everything," Zeta said.
"I just have the memory of the time when you built that superweapon of ice balls with molten lava, and fired them at those innocent birds and pigs because you wanted to have an easy way to solve your cold problems!" The nun scowled with her hands on her hips.
"I said I was sorry."
"You made foolish decisions without thinking about the consequences or the people you would hurt!"
"I wonder who I got that from," Zeta muttered while looking away.
All birds, pigs, eagles, and humans gasped loudly at what Zeta just said. This made Dolores recall her past mistakes before she became a nun, and it's hard for her to let those mistakes go.
Mighty Eagle didn't get that part until he saw the look on Dolores' face, making him realize that Zeta was mentioning that the nun made mistakes before, and that's where his wife get those things from since Zeta was raised in the Mondejar family, and has been witnessing Dolores making mistakes and bad decisions, "Ooh," Mighty Eagle finally understood as he didn't want to question that anymore.
"See here, young lady!" Bernadette shouted, wanting to scold Zeta for being disrespectful, but Dolores raised her hand, wanting to scold Zeta herself.
"Your little scheme and inventions to get what you desire almost cost the lives of others, including your own daughter and niece. This all stops now. You are grounded!" The nun announced, which shocked Zeta as she looked back at her adoptive older sister, "No plans, no inventions, and your… whatever your business you're running right now is done! Understand?"
"Am I too old to be grounded?" The purple eagle reminded that she's already old enough to be grounded.
"Not as long as I'm around, and I'm still in charge of you," the 2nd oldest sister of the family explained.
"Look, let me make things right, okay? Let me fix this. Let me clean up my mess. I can prove it," Zeta pleaded, then turned to everyone, "Bernadette? Aggie? Everyone? Come on."
But no one dared to help her, they were too afraid of Dolores. She was a nun, a follower and instrument of God that Aggie and her family believed in, and no one dared to fight her.
"Go back to your house! This Thanksgiving lunch is cancelled!" Dolores shouted loudly, she wanted everyone to hear her voice that loud, wanting the others to understand how she felt that her youngest adoptive was almost a murderer.
Zeta just made a glare as she walked off, muttering "Stupid perfect scheme," and she flew off towards her home.
While the others were watching Dolores exhaled in relief. She has never been angry like this before. She realized all of her anger and hurt out of her chest, and knelt down on the ground, "That was hard."
Aggie placed a hand on her aunt's hand, "Well, it always is, but a little tough love now will make them better people later."
"You think?" The nun asked her niece.
"It worked on you, didn't it?" Aggie winked at her, making Dolores smile back.
Suddenly, Galileo cleared his throat, which caught everyone's attention, "So, my daughter became a murderer, how did this happen?"
The birds, pigs, Aggie, and Leslie were silenced as they knew it's gonna be a long explanation
"Uh… can we just eat before we explain everything?" Leslie grinned as he wanted to eat, and not discussing anything bloody in front of the food on the table.
So, I hope you guys like my Thanksgiving chapter. Sorry this is short, but I wanna move on from this story soon.
Here, Red learned a mind-sharing spell, but he didn't share anything at all to Aggie when he casted the spell. Now, Red's memories, and even Zeta since she was accidentally casted by a spell to have her memories copied about her superweapon and her plans to take over both Bird Island and Piggy Island, were shared with the Mondejar Family, Aggie's maternal extended family. The memories Red and Zeta had never shared was when they encountered Aggie's evil ancestor, both Red and Aggie's dream, and where Red accidentally stabbed Aggie.
The scene where Dolores scolded Zeta was a reference from Ducktales reboot, Timephoon.
I don't want to continue the chapter where Aggie explained to her parents and extended family about her murdering spree since it was a waste of time, so it was left unseen.
Santiago Mondejar, Matthew Lucas, Bomb, Garry, Courtney, and other characters appeared in this chapter, but has no lines.
So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! See you then on before Christmas! Please review.
