Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to The Mighty Ducks. I only wish I had thought of them first…

Italics indicate character thought.

"You did what?" Adam's reaction to the whole phone issue was not exactly what Charlie had hoped for. "Geez, Charlie. That's really…" He hopped up to sit on the boards of the ice rink and grimaced apologetically. "…creepy."

Charlie ran a hand over his disheveled hair before shoving his palms into his jeans to keep them warm. He skated in small circles. "I know, man, but…what the hell was I supposed to say?" His voice raised several levels on the last word, betraying his frustration. He looked over his shoulder to where four or five actors were making their way onto the ice and frowned, hoping they hadn't heard. Adam coughed to get his attention and he looked back at his friend.

"Um well, you could have said 'I love you,' 'I hate you,' 'I still obsess over you,'" Adam raised his hands, dumbfounded. "'No hablo ingles,' but Jesus, you should have said something!" Adam's voice also rose and Charlie noticed the young man playing him in the movie was looking in their direction. He smiled, gave a quick wave, and skated over to shove Adam in the chest.

"Banks. Shhh. God." He signed, his shoulders slumping. "You don't think I didn't want to say something? It's just…where do I start?"

Adam smiled sadly in a rare moment of sensitivity. "You start with the most important thing." His eyes shifted and he pointed across the ice to where someone was calling Charlie's name.

Charlie looked solemn for a minute and then skated backwards towards the director and the cameras. "That's good advice, Adam. I think I'll take it."

"Hey lady, are you okay?" The boy hitched his book bag higher on his shoulder and stared up at Beau. She looked down, regarding him with candor.

"I'm no lady. But yeah, I'm good. Thanks. Just a little nervous." Beau was standing, her head bowed, trying not to hit it on the overhead compartment as she waited to exit the plane. Her fingers were stiff from wringing them over the past several hours and while her muscles were screaming 'let me off this contraption' her mind was wishing she was already on her way back to Minnesota. At least if she was headed home she wouldn't be getting ready to face the culmination of two years of sadness and worry. Would he be there?

"Ahem." The boy cleared his throat, sitting on his knees in his seat, and Beau looked at him closer. He was probably twelveish. Too old to be a little boy, but not quite old enough to be a teenager. His dark black hair was long and unruly, curling around his ears and the collar of his shirt. The shirt, Beau was pleased to notice, was a Pennington Wolfpack shirt. He had slung his neon orange backpack on two shoulders now and a well broken in skate-board was trapped between it and his back. He was looking up at her with crystal clear blue eyes and a crooked grin. He looked ornery as hell and reminded Beau a great deal of Charlie. She smiled down at him as he tried to get her attention again.

"Yes, sir?"

He grinned at being called sir and then blushed briefly. "You look really familiar." He reddened more deeply but kept his eyes on hers.

Beau frowned and pointed at his shirt. "You're a Wolfpack fan, huh?"

He nodded, tugging at the material. "Yeah, man. I'm going to go to school there."

Beau nodded appreciatively. "What are you going to study?"

He reached back behind him and flipped the top of his skateboard. "Engineering. I want to design skateboards. My mom and dad say that's a pipe-dream, whatever that is, but someone has to do it, right?"

She nodded again. "That's right. Someone does have to do it. Might as well be you." She bent down conspiratorially and lowered her voice to a whisper. "And not to say that your mom and dad are wrong, but don't let people tell you you won't ever do something. That's what people say about girls playing hockey and I did that for years and years, so what did they know, right?"

His eyes grew wide and he unabashedly looked her up and down. "You played hockey?" He looked disbelieving. "Like pee wee?"

Now it was Beau's turn to grin. She stood up tall and squared her shoulders. "Well yeah, but I also played at your school there. I'm a senior at Pennington State. I started on the hockey team for the past two years and played all four."

"No. Way." He said it in awe. "Like, the boys team?"

She laughed, putting a hand on the top of his head. "No, like the varsity team. Boys and girls allowed."

She saw realization dawn in his eyes and knew what the next question would be. He thought hard for a second and then yanked his book bag off, his skateboard falling noisily to the floor. He dug through it quickly, tossing things onto the seat until he finally stilled, finding what he had been looking for. He stood back up to his full height, holding a small tattered book before his chest like a shield. He was studying the back and then looked up to Beau's face. "This is you." When she only smiled and nodded he repeated. "You wrote the Mighty Ducks books?"

She leaned down, as if sharing another secret. "I write the Mighty Ducks book. I just so happen to have a new one saved on this computer right here."

It was all she had to say to break his awe. He bounced in place once. "No freaking way. Like it's right there? In that bag? You have no idea. Every kid at my school reads these. I've read them all like five times." He stopped for a breath. "Man, this is so cool."

The line in the plane finally started moving and Beau scooted back into her seat to help the boy, Devin she found out, get everything back in his bag. As they did that and then made their way into the terminal he bombarded her with questions, requests for autographs, and detailed discussions about the books. He was her biggest fan, he assured her, completely ignoring the flight attendant that was charged with escorting him to his father, whom he was visiting for two weeks.

They got to the baggage claim area and Devin gave his father a cursory hello before breathlessly telling him who Beau was. She stood by and smiled, shaking the man's hand and assuring him that his son had not only not been a nuisance, but had actually been a welcome distraction from her rampant desire to get the heck off of the plane. As they were saying their good-byes, Beau smiled down at the boy.

"So look, biggest fan of mine, if it's okay with your dad I'd love to take your address and any time there is a new book getting ready to be released, I'll send you an advanced copy."

His eyes were huge. Bigger than huge, Beau thought, and it made her laugh. The kid was actually speechless. She looked to his father for confirmation. He seemed surprised.

"You'd do that? Just for any fan?"

She shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't say that Devin, here, is just any fan. He made the end of my flight much more enjoyable and what you don't know is that today is proving to be a…hard day in my life. He's made it much easier." She winked down at the boy whose mouth was still agape. "Plus, he's a Pennington fan, and it just doesn't get much cooler than that."

Their flight had come in nearly a half and hour early and it took nearly all of that extra time to unboard the aircraft and get their luggage. Beau waved one final time at Devin and his father as they disappeared out a set of sliding doors. She looked down at her watch. Two fifty-five. Heaving a large sigh she tucked a stray choppy bang behind her ear and drug her suitcase over to stand near a wall. He'll be here. Deep breaths, Beau.

She tried to relax, leaning back against the wall, but she was much too nervous for that. For the fiftieth time in the past three minutes she flipped open a mirror and checked her hair, her make-up, her clothes. She had spent hours in front of the mirror deciding just what to wear before finally realizing that it wasn't about how she looked. It was about how Charlie felt. Everything now was about what was going on in his mind.

Her wide brown eyes scanned the crowd. She felt very alone and after what seemed like an eternity, checked her watch again. She knew it had been too long. If he planned to be there, he would have been there on time. Her heart stopped when she realized the minute hand was on the three. Three fifteen. He should have been here by now. Her heart stopped. She was sure that it had. A lump was rising up in her throat and Beau felt the breath stop and stick in her lungs, tasting putrid in her mouth. She gasped, trying hard to bring in fresh air. As she did, she felt everything inside of her just drain at the realization that Charlie wasn't coming.

Sinking to the floor, her back against the wall, Beau dropped her forehead to her knees and let the tears seep out onto her jeans.

Johnny: Sorry if I'm straining your patience nerve! I totally understand. I'm not a very patient person myself. Now do you REALLY want to strangle Charlie?

Joank: Yeah, guys are idiots. He's 0-2 now with poor Beau.

SugarStace: Always so flattering. Thanks!

Hockey-girl90: Nothing to admire here. Just comes from writing way too many hours of way too many days. Thanks you so much, though!

Cc: Thanks! I've fallen in love with Cole a bit myself. And I would be lying if I didn't admit that I also wished they were real!

BellaLou: My favorite reviewer! Yeah, I'd say "emotionally unprepared" describes Charlie quite well. How's school going? Oh, and sorry I didn't heed your threat!

Duckfluff: Well, it's landed and not quite the ending of a chapter that you were hoping for, huh? Never fear. It's not done yet! Thanks for being such a faithful reader and reviewer!

antiIrony: Thanks for all the Yay's! Yeah, two years is forever. Don't you feel so sad for them?