Return to the Valley

Two Days Later…

On a nice sunny Thursday in March, Aylene and Ken were enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate at a local coffee shop. The lighting of the place was very warm and rustic. The smell of coffee hung in the air and seemed to leak into every piece of furniture in the room. There was a very faint sound of piano music that was being played on a stereo player behind the counter.

Aylene and Ken were both at a table in a corner of the shop, sitting across from each other. Ken was dressed in a black T-shirt with a grey sweater over it. He also had on a pair jeans and grey sneakers. Around his neck was a blue stone on a metal neck chain.

Aylene was wearing a blue T-shirt with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath it, a pair of blue jeans, and dark green tennis shoes. Around her neck was a stone that was almost like Ken's, only hers was green.

The backpacks down at their feet were proof enough that the two had just gotten out of school.

Since the coffee shop was full of people, and all of them were exchanging conversations with each other, it was quite easy to have a conversation about something secret. Which was exactly what Aylene and Ken were having at the moment.

"So the Great Valley's green again?" Ken asked after taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Yeah," Aylene nodded, "the herd just got back two days ago."

"Well, that's good. How are the others holding up?"

"You mean Littlefoot and the others?" Aylene questioned. "They're fine. Much better now that we've made it back to the Valley. Although, along the way, we met up with a small herd of Triceratops. They got two little youngsters that seemed to have taken a liking to Cera, much to her annoyance."

"Heh, I bet." Ken snickered. "You know their names?"

"I think it's Dina and Dana." Aylene answered. "Anyway, their herd is staying in the Valley for a while, and they asked if Cera could watch out for the twins. Poor Cera. Those twins follow her around and call her "Auntie Cera". They got so much energy though. Honestly, I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Cera now."

"Ah, she's a tough three-horn." Ken said nonchalantly. "She can handle it."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, how's Ali doing?"

"She's okay." Ken replied. "We're still migrating around as usual. Although now I'm really starting to consider making a map. It's so easy to lose track of where you are in that world."

"Tell me about it." Aylene groaned. "Too bad neither of us are cartographers."

"Yeah, you really have to go by memory in that world." Ken stated, swirling his drink around a bit. "My grandpa was going to make a map during one of his visits, but unfortunately, his Time Stone stopped working and he couldn't go back for some reason."

Aylene cast her gaze downward and stared sadly at the cup in her hand.

"Yeah, same with my grandma," she murmured. "I think I told you before that she and her dinosaur friend were planning to defeat Sharptooth for good, but for some reason, she couldn't return."

There was a small pause between the two friends. Then, Ken made a kind of thoughtful moan and brought a hand to his chin. Aylene looked up at him and saw he had a very pensive look on his face.

"What's wrong, Ken?" she asked.

"I was just thinking." Ken answered. "Given from what you've told me; it seems that both our Time Stones stopped working at the same time. And they skipped a whole generation with our parents."

"Yeah, so?"

"Think about it, why would that happen?" Ken questioned.

"Well, Grandma told me that she thinks it's because of age." Aylene explained. "Like, the Stone didn't except her because she was too old or something."

"Hmm, sounds like a good idea in theory," Ken said slowly, "but unless I'm mistaken, my grandfather's older than your grandmother. Yet he was still able to use it until it stopped working. If age really was the issue, then he would've stopped going a long time ago. Based on that, I don't think the Time Stones are selective about someone based on age. From what I've experience, it's just an object that reacts to the will of its holder."

Aylene paused. She then brought her hand up to the green stone around her neck and curled her fingers around it.

"You think something else prevented the Stone from working?" she said.

"Possibly." Ken shrugged. "I mean, there's so much about it that we don't know."

"But if that's the case then…"

Aylene's voice trailed off and a hopeful thought jumped into her mind.

"Ken, do you think my grandma could still return to the Land Before Time?"

Ken blinked at that question. He saw the expression on Aylene's face, and immediately knew that she was hoping for a good answer.

"Well, I guess so," he said slowly. "But you'd have to try it out."

"Okay, then." Aylene grinned. "But if that's going to happen, then I gotta call my grandma. She and Grandpa are coming for the weekend. I gotta make sure she comes with everything she needs."


Friday Afternoon…

Aylene and her older brother, Derek, walked home together after school. As they approached their house, they saw their grandparent's car parked in their driveway. The two siblings entered their house and quickly saw their grandmother, who was sitting on the couch reading a book. The moment Elaine saw her grandchildren, she put the book down and got up to hug them.

"Hey, Grandma." Derek smiled as he and Elaine shared an embrace.

"Oh, it's great to see you Derek." Elaine said.

She then let Derek go and Aylene came crashing into her arms.

"Grandma!" Aylene exclaimed with delight. "Did you get my message?!"

"Yes, I did." Elaine answered. "But I still don't quite understand why wanted me to bring my archery equipment."

Aylene let Elaine go and took off her backpack, setting it on the couch.

"That's the surprise," she smiled. "But first, are Mom and Dad in the house?"

"No, they went with Richard to get some groceries." Elaine explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Because we're going to take a trip." Aylene replied, her smile getting bigger. "We're taking you back to the Land Before Time."

"W-What?!" Elaine stuttered. Her eyes widened with surprise.

"Yeah, it was Aylene's idea." Derek said. "The two of us were going to go back soon anyway, so we thought you should come along for the ride."

"Please, Grandma." Aylene pleaded. "I want you to meet my friends. We can show you the Valley and everything. C'mon, it'll be fun."

"I…I…" Elaine hesitated. She wasn't expecting this at all.

Suddenly, a horrible feeling snuck into her thoughts. Ever since the Time Stone stopped working for her, she had convinced herself that she was never going to go back to that special world. It hurt enough just to know that, but she didn't know if she could handle the pain of trying and to only end up failing in the attempt.

"C'mon, Grandma." Derek encouraged. "Let's just give it a try. It might just work."

Elaine took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Finally, she released her breath and nodded.

"Okay, I'll go with you. I just hope it works."

"Great!" Aylene cheered, clapping her hands. "Now let's get ready to go!"

With that, the three split up and headed to their rooms to change. Aylene closed the door to her room and eagerly changed into a green sleeveless shirt, a pair black gym shorts, and navy blue hiking sandals. She also tied her auburn hair in a side ponytail and let it hang over her right shoulder. Once she was dressed, she pulled out her archery equipment out from under bed. She strapped her quiver around her waist and put her bow over her shoulder. She then collected her blue backpack and headed out to fill it with essentials like a beach towel, some bandages and medicine, bottles of water, and a few food spices.

Around the time she had finished packing her bag, Derek and Elaine were also ready to head out. In a few seconds, they all met up in Aylene's room.

Derek was dressed in a dark red sleeveless, black gym shorts, and dark grey hiking sandals. His large archery bow was slung over his left shoulder, and a quiver of arrows was strapped around his waist. Around his wrists was a pair of black sweatbands, and on his back was a dusky-colored backpack.

Elaine was in a grey t-shirt that had the sleeves torn off, sand-colored shorts, and hiking boots. She had her archery bow slung over her left shoulder as well as a quiver of arrows tied around her waist. On her back was a dark blue backpack.

It had been so long since Elaine had dressed in this fashion. The last time she dressed like this was when she tried to open a portal to her special world. Ever since then, she hadn't really put this outfit on. At the same time, she couldn't bring herself to part with it. Even if she didn't wear it, she seemed to bring it with her whenever she went on a long trip. It just had a sentimental value she couldn't get rid of.

And for being over forty-five years old, it was still in good condition.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Aylene asked.

"Yep." Derek winked.

"I'm ready." Elaine said, sounding just a little nervous.

"Then let's go."

After closing the door to her room, Aylene walked to the center and took a deep breath to clear her mind.

"Portal Open!" she commanded.

Instantly, the Time Stone around her neck created a portal right in front of her, Derek, and Elaine.

Aylene then reached out and took Derek and Elaine's hands in each of hers. The moment of truth was here. Would Elaine pass through the portal with Aylene and Derek or not? There was only way to find out.

Aylene took the lead and walked forward, pulling the other two behind her. As Elaine got closer to the portal, she closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for something to happen. A second later, she felt a light breeze suddenly sweep around her, and her feet hit solid earth and grass. Warm rays of light shone down on her, and a familiar smell of wildflowers and fresh air reached her nose.

Elaine slowly opened her eyes. What she saw made her almost forget to breathe.

All around her was a familiar sight.

The Great Valley. She was really in the Great Valley.

She turned around quickly and watched as the portal behind her slowly shrunk before disappearing altogether. It didn't keep her behind the barrier after all. It let her pass through.

"See?" Aylene smiled happily. "I told you it would work. Welcome back to the Great Valley, Grandma!"

Elaine stared where she was, her mouth opened. Her heart fluttered inside her chest, and a wonderful feeling spread throughout her body.

Everywhere she looked, she saw the Great Valley in all it's splendor, just like she had all those years before. She was really here. She was really standing in the middle of a grassy field, breathing this world's fresh air, hearing the sounds of water rushing down waterfalls and into the rivers below, and feeling the rays of the sun shining down on her and the light embrace of the wind.

She was back.

She was back in her special world. After forty-five years, she was finally back.

Elaine couldn't prevent a warm smile from spreading across her face. Tears of joy began to fill her eyes, and she brought a hand up to wipe them away.

"You okay, Grandma?" Derek asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Elaine said softly. "Sorry, it's just a lot to take in right now."

"Hey, Aylene!"

Aylene perked up when she heard the sound of a young boy's voice call her name. She turned around quickly and smiled brightly when she saw a young brown Apatosaurus come running over the hill towards her.

"Hey, Littlefoot!" Aylene laughed and waved.

In a few seconds, Littlefoot met up with Aylene's group.

"Aylene, Derek!" he greeted. "It's great to see you again!"

"Great to see you too, Littlefoot." Derek grinned. "Where are the others?"

"I was on my way to their places." Littlefoot explained. "Grandpa is going to tell us stories tonight, and I wanted to ask if they wanted come and listen."

"Oh, that sounds awesome." Aylene said. "Let's go find the others. But first, I have someone I want you to meet."

Aylene then turned around, and it was only now that Littlefoot realized that there was another human behind her. He blinked and stared in surprise. He wasn't expecting to meet another human today. As Littlefoot looked at the new human, he cocked his head slightly when he noticed that she looked a lot like Aylene. The biggest difference, of course, was that this human showed to be significantly older than Aylene. The scatter of grey stands in her hair, along with a few wrinkles in her face, were enough to tell the young Apatosaurus what her age roughly was.

But even with those details, she still kind of looked like Aylene in many ways.

"Littlefoot," Aylene said, "meet my grandma. This is Elaine."

Elaine gracefully stepped forward.

"Grandma, this is my best friend, Littlefoot." Aylene finished.

"It's nice to meet you, Littlefoot." Elaine said, giving a small bow. "Aylene has told me all about you and your adventures."

"It's great to meet you." Littlefoot said, excited on meeting a new face. "Aylene's told me about you, too. Are you here for a visit?"

"You could say that." Elaine answered. "Aylene and Derek invited me. I couldn't really say no."

"Well it's great to have you here." Littlefoot replied. "Hey, you wanna come hear my grandpa tell us stories tonight? I think you'd like it."

"Well, I'd be honored." Elaine smiled. "It's been a long time since I've heard any stories from this world."

"Great," the young long-neck said joyfully. "C'mon, let's go find the others. I bet they'd like to meet you, Elaine."

"You guys go on ahead." Aylene said. "I need to get my sword. I'll meet up with you is a bit."

"Sure thing, Sis," Derek gave a playful salute. "Just don't take too long, okay?"

Aylene gave a sarcastic sneer. She knew Derek was only joking.

While Littlefoot, Derek, and Elaine headed in one direction, Aylene ran down an opposite path. About five minutes later, she came upon a clump of bushes on the outskirts of a dense forest. Aylene got down on her knees and pushed back the bramble. Lying on the ground underneath the bushes was a sword inside a scabbard. There was no mistaking that hilt with the T-Rex tooth on the end of the pommel.

It was her sword; Fierce Loyalty. The sword she had gotten and named on the Mysterious Island.

Aylene took the sword out from its hiding place and strapped it around her waist, the sheath resting on her left hip.

Now that she had the sword on, she felt like her ensemble was complete.

She grabbed the hilt with her right hand and drew the blade. It slid out of the scabbard with ease, and the blade glistened as the rays of the sunlight made contact with it. Aylene then held the sword out to admire the uniqueness that it possessed. The blade shined with an olive green meteorite stone, and cast her reflection right back at her.

"I can't wait to show Grandma this," she said to herself. "She's going to love it."

Aylene then put the sword away and set out to find her friends and family. The whole time she ran through the Great Valley, she couldn't wipe that smile off her face. She was just too excited for everything.

Her grandmother was in this world with her, she was meeting her friends, and she was going to have another adventure here. At that moment, Aylene couldn't think of anything better.

She couldn't wait for the next adventure. She had no doubt it was just around the corner. She didn't know what it was, or where it would lead her and her friends, but in her current state, she didn't care.

She was ready for an adventure. And this world was full of them. She just didn't know which one would be coming her way this time.