Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Mighty Ducks, Disney does. Everybody knows that. I'm just borrowing them, ok? So, don't go getting mad and trying to sue me, because you won't get much from me, I can tell you that right now. Be a big waste of time really. (Oh man, I sound like some telemarketing machine, don't I?)

Authors Note: This is my first Mighty Ducks fanfiction, so please be gentle. But I DO want some kind of feedback, so send me some reviews. They are read and appreciated you know. Anyway, I hope you like my story...

Chapter 7-Apology

It wasn't long before Wildwing soon reached the hatchery. Finding a stool, he pushed it under the window outside the room, and peered in.

'Ducklings, ducklings, everywhere!' was all Wing could think of as he looked in. Everywhere he looked, there were bins with baby ducks in them. And each one looked exactly like the next one! There was no way to tell them apart.

"I'm never gonna' find Dive in all this!" exclaimed the five-year-old, "I gotta' get in there!"

So, he wheeled the stool over to the door. Finding it unlocked, he turned the handle.

"There must have been at least 50 babies in that hatchery! And since I was too little to see into the bins that held each one, I knew I wasn't going to be able to find Dive just by trying to look at each baby individually. Besides, they all looked alike anyway! However, I soon discovered that each bin had the last name of each baby on it.

'Perfect,' I thought, 'Now all I have to do is just find the one with Flashblade on it.'

"Topwing, Melbill, McMartin, McBeak, Flockbill, Featherflame, hey wait!" screamed Wildwing. He had been relentlessly searching from one baby to another, trying to find Nosedive. "Flashblade's supposed to be right here in between Flockbill and Featherflame, I think. If so, then where if he?"

Wildwing looked between the gap in the row of bins, hoping against hope that a bin that contained his younger sibling was there. Sure enough, there was. Wheeling the stool over, Wing climbed up and looked through the glass at the little duck inside.

Now if Wing hadn't seen his little brother many times before, he would not have recognized the duckling behind the glass at all. There were wires all over him and an oxygen mask over his beak. With the exception of one small lock of blonde hair that stuck out, his entire head was bandaged, while just about every vital life sign in his small body was being monitored on computer screens and charts.

"Dive, come on Dive, wake up," Wing said as he tapped on the glass, "You got to wake up lil' bro'. You're all right. I mean, what am I spose' to do without you? You can't leave me here all alone. You don't know how much I was lookin' forward to havin' a little brother. One I could teach how to skate and play with. One I could show how to play hockey and share secrets within the middle of the night when mom and dad are sleeping. I'm really sorry Dive. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to have a little bit of fun. I'm so sorry. Please don't die on me, Dive. You can't die, you just can't! Especially since it would be all my fault."

As Wing sat there, staring down at his brother, tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"Oh Dive, what am I gonna' do? I can't go on without you. Babies aren't spose' to die, they're spose' to grow up and get bigger. And that's just what you're gonna' do Dive. You're gonna' get through this and then we'll be the best of brothers again. You'll see. Please be ok little brother. Please be ok."

Wildwing felt helpless. He couldn't do anything. His one and only sibling was dying in front of him and he couldn't do anything to stop it. The only thing Wing could do was cry.

"Oh Nosedive," sobbed Wing.

Not knowing what else to do, he laid his head in his own arms and began to let it all out. For a time, all that could be heard in the hatchery was the muffled sobs of one five-year-old duck.

In fact, Wing was so absorbed in his own sadness that he failed to notice the quiet stirring of the duckling behind the glass.

Ever so softly, Nosedive opened his eyes. After blinking a few times, he began to look around. It was then that he saw his brother crying above him. Now Nosedive may only have been a week old, but the sight of his heartbroken brother told him that something was wrong. Slowly, he was able to reach his tiny hand up until he was almost touching the glass. And then, he hiccupped.

The hiccup was so soft, that Wildwing almost didn't hear it in the mist of his crying. But a little voice in the back of his mind told him he had.

'Well, it couldn't hurt to take just a look,' he thought. So he did. And what he saw almost made his heart jump right out of his chest.

There lay Nosedive, eyes open and everything, staring up at him, with one tiny hand reaching towards him.

"Nosedive," whispered Wildwing.

He couldn't believe it. Just a second age, he wasn't sure if Dive was even alive and now here he was staring right at him.

It was then that Wing noticed just how hard his brother was trying to reach him. He was stretching his short arm out as far as he could, with his little hand spread out.

"Ah Dive," said Wing. He began to copy his brother, stretching his own hand out. The two came closer and closer until...

"We touched. Well not exactly. I mean, technically there was still glass in between us, but I swear, I don't think it really mattered. Our hands sat there, right up against each other, and I knew, just then, that we had connected. I had this feeling inside of me, one I never had had before. It was strange, like a rush of emotions flooding my body. But it didn't hurt or anything. It felt good. In fact, I remember it being one of the best feelings I've ever had."

"What do you think it was?" asked Nosedive.

"Love," said Grin, "It was pure love for one's family. In this case, it was Wildwing's love for his younger brother."

"You know Grin, I think you're right," remarked Tanya.

"You know, they say love can produce miracles," Duke stated.

"Well, that's a saying I sure could have used back then," said Wildwing.

"What do mean Wing?" Dive asked, "Did something else happen?"

"I'm afraid so, baby bro'. Something bad..."