A Long-Awaited Reunion

The Next Day…

The bright morning sun shone down on the Great Valley. Its rays gave warmth to everything down below.

Just like on any normal days, all the dinosaurs were wandering around the Valley. Either foraging their favorite plants to eat, watching their children run and play across the grassy fields, or talking to others about the day.

It was no different in a certain part of the Valley.

Aylene and Derek faced each other in a sparring match. The two of them each had a long stick in their hands, and they were using them like swords.

Ever since Aylene had discovered Fierce Loyalty, she and her brother had decided to practice swordplay with each other. Although neither one of them had ever had a sword lesson in their life, they did some research when they were back in the human world to figure out how to teach themselves the art of swordsmanship. They made it a point to practice as regularly with each other as they could.

While their skills would be considered amateurish by professional standards, for a dinosaur like Littlefoot, who had never seen a sword match in his life, it was always a wonder to see.

Littlefoot and Elaine stood side-by-side as they watched the Carter siblings practice their skills. For Littlefoot, he was captivated by the display of talent that his human friends could do with just two sticks. They didn't swing them around wildly, they used them with precision and intention. Both Aylene and Derek looked both graceful and fierce in the eyes of the young long-neck.

For Elaine, she smiled with pride. What she was seeing was her grandchildren coming into their own. They weren't the same grandchildren that she had seen last summer. Aylene wasn't a shy and insecure girl who moped about her differences, she was a confident and adventurous teenager who was ready to take on two worlds. Derek wasn't as sarcastic and skeptical as he used to be, he was more outgoing and open-minded to whatever wonders came his way.

And the two siblings had finally reconciled with each other, and were sharing this world together. This world had definitely been a positive influence on both of them.

Finally, after a good strike from both brother and sister, the two sticks struck each other to form an X shape. Aylene and Derek paused for a moment to catch their breath before lowering their makeshift weapons. The two of them stood tall and looked straight at each other.

"Okay, time for a break." Derek said, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"Sure." Aylene nodded. "Good match."

"Great job, you guys." Littlefoot ran over to his friends. "You look like you're getting better."

"Well, practice does make perfect." Aylene grinned. "Besides, this is really fun."

"Ditto to that." Derek replied. "I've always wanted to learn how to wield a sword. I just haven't had a good excuse up until now."

"Well, I think the two of you are doing wonderfully." Elaine complimented. "You certainly have come a long way, haven't you?"

"That's all thanks to you." Derek said. "If you hadn't give Sis that Time Stone, we wouldn't have been able to come to this world in the first place."

"I'm glad you enjoy this place. I knew Aylene would, but I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure about you. Of course, I see I was wrong to make that assumption. I'm sorry, Derek."

"Ah, don't worry about it." Derek waved his hand in a cool manner. "I don't blame ya. I'll admit, I was kind of against this place for a while. But just one adventure here was enough."

Elaine giggled. She was pleased to hear Derek say that.

"Well," Aylene interjected, stretching her arms, "now that that's done, what do you say we go and round up the rest of the Gang? We can show Grandma around the Valley."

"Yes, I'd like that." Elaine smiled. "It'll be interesting to see how the Valley's changed since I was here."

"Sounds like fun." Littlefoot said excitedly. "Let's go."

The three humans gathered up their belongings and got ready to head out. However, it was at that moment that they heard heavy footsteps approaching. They weren't as heavy a sauropod's, but they weren't exactly light either.

Everyone turned their heads in the direction the foot tremors were coming from.

What they saw was an adult grey Triceratops was walking up towards them.

"Topps?" Derek said, confused. "What's he doing here?"

Littlefoot and Aylene both stared and watched the elder Triceratops approach them. As they expected, the look on his face was one of annoyance. There was also an air of confrontation about him, which made them brace themselves for whatever storm he was about to throw at them.

Topps stopped in front of the small group and looked down at all four of them. He was looking particularly at Littlefoot and Aylene.

"So you're both here," he grumbled.

"Yeah," Aylene said slowly, "is there something wrong?"

"Tell me, have any of you seen Cera today?" Topps asked, his tone demanding.

"No, we haven't seen her." Littlefoot shook his head. "Why? Is she missing?"

"Ugh," Topps groaned in frustration, "I woke up this morning and she was gone. She was supposed to be watching the twins today."

"Well, maybe she and the twins are playing somewhere?" Derek suggested.

It was then that the sound of feet running across the grass caught Derek's attention. He looked down at Topps's feet and saw the twin three-horns run towards him. They were like little puppies who were eager to play. They came to a stop at Derek's feet and looked up at him with big, innocent eyes.

"Cerrie gone gone." Dinah said.

"Dana, Dinah look high and low." Dana followed.

"No find Cerrie."

"I see." Aylene said. "So Cera's really gone missing."

She then looked up at Topps.

"But why'd you come here?"

Topps glared at Aylene.

"Because when my daughter goes missing, you and Littlefoot are usually the reason for it."

"Hey!" Aylene snapped indignantly.

"Heh, he got you on that one, Sis." Derek snickered.

Aylene shot an annoyed expression at her older brother, while Littlefoot looked away guiltily. He hated to admit it, but Topps kind of had a point. Their past adventures were enough to condemn them in that regard.

Elaine then stepped forward.

"Excuse me," she said to Topps. "I don't believe we've met. Are you Cera's father?"

Topps turned his attention to the woman.

"And you are?" he asked gruffly.

"I'm Aylene and Derek's grandmother." Elaine answered calmly. "My name is Elaine. Now if I understand the situation correctly, Cera is missing, but my granddaughter and her friend are still here."

Topps just looked at Elaine as she continued.

"I assume you came to check to see if they were still here because if they weren't, that would mean Cera has gone on a mission with them. Well, as you can see, they both are right here, and we haven't seen your daughter since last night at the campfire. Given the facts, I'd say she's still somewhere in the Valley."

"Yeah, I gathered that." Topps grumbled with annoyance. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to look for her. Look after the twins while I do."

"Hey, wait!" Derek started to protest.

But before the boy could go any further with his objection, Topps had already stormed away, leaving the Triceratops twins in the care of the young long-neck and humans.

"Wow," Aylene said, surprised, "you handled him really well, Grandma."

"It's just a matter of knowing how to talk at the right time." Elaine sighed. "Anyway, what do you want to do now?"

"Look for Cera, of course." Littlefoot said. "If she's missing, then we've got to try and find her."

"Right." Aylene nodded. "Let's start by rounding up the others. If they haven't seen Cera, then we'll meet up at the clubhouse and come up with a plan from there."

"Sounds good to me." Derek replied. "Let's go."

The boy then looked down at the twins.

"You two better come with us," he said. "Either we keep an eye on you, or get Topps angry. And I don't want to have to deal with him when he's mad."

"Uh-huh, no!" Dinah and Dana said in unison, shaking their heads.

With that matter settled, the small group set out.


The sun was approaching noontime Littlefoot, Aylene, and the other members of the Gang gathered together outside of their clubhouse, which was a small trench behind a tangle of tree roots.

"So none of us have seen Cera since yesterday." Aylene said.

"Where do you think she could be?" Ducky asked. "Do you think she's hiding from us?"

"Me no know." Petrie shrugged.

"I don't think she has any reason to hide from us." Littlefoot said. "She only does that when she's mad at us. And I can't think of anything that we might have done that would make her mad."

"That aside," Derek interjected, "she's still missing, and we've got to find her. I think our best bets are to search all of the hiding places we can think of in the Valley." Derek turned Aylene. "I take you guys know where those are."

"Yeah," Aylene nodded, "but we just waste time if we look together. We should split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

"Good idea." Elaine said. "I suggest we split into two teams."

"I'll go with Ducky, Spike, and Petrie." Derek offered. "And I can take Dinah and Dana with me if that's okay."

"Yes, yes!" Dinah exclaimed happily.

"We go go!" Dana leapt up and down.

"Find Cerrie!"

Everyone chuckled and laughed that the energy of the twin three-horns.

"I think they like you, Derek." Elaine smiled.

Derek gave a small grin and shrugged his shoulders.

"Then I guess Littlefoot, Grandma, and I will be a team." Aylene said. "Now let's get moving. Knowing Cera, she could be just about anywhere."

With that, the two teams left the clubhouse and set out on their missions. Derek and his team went to search near the watering hole. While he, Ducky, Spike, Dinah and Dana searched on the ground in all the nooks and crannies they could think of, Petrie flew up into the sky in the hopes of seeing Cera from a bird's-eye-view. When they came across other dinosaurs, they would ask them about their friend's whereabouts. Unfortunately, the answer they got every time was that Cera had not been seen.

Still, that wasn't enough to make them downhearted. They were going to find Cera, that much they knew was certain.

Meanwhile, Aylene, Littlefoot, and Elaine went to look for Cera at the edge of a small forest. They looked in clumps of bushes, behind trees, and inside caves that were large enough to contain an adolescent Triceratops. They were all so focused on trying to find their friend that they didn't realize they were getting close and closer to the Great Wall.

Eventually, their search led them up a tall slope on the side of a cliff. It was about as high as a sauropod was tall.

"How are you doing, Grandma?" Aylene asked as they trudged up the incline.

"I'm alright, Aylene." Elaine replied, letting out a deep breath. "Although, I'll admit, I'm not as young as I once was."

"Well then, we should take a break."

"Good idea." Littlefoot agreed. "I think we could all use a break."

The small group of three got to the top of hill and stopped. They were all too tired and distracted to notice how close they were to the edge of cliff that stuck out over a gulley below. They also were unaware of the fact that the terrain wasn't very stable.

"Man, Cera picked a really good hiding place this time." Aylene groaned.

"You can say that again." Littlefoot sighed. "Or she just might be avoiding us. I just wish I knew what we did to make her mad."

"I don't think it was anything we did." Elaine said thoughtfully. "Or rather, not anything you two or your friends did."

"What do you mean?" Aylene asked.

"I'm starting to think Cera's avoiding the twins."

Both Littlefoot and Aylene blinked. Their silence prompted Elaine in explaining her theory.

"I could see Cera had become annoyed when they showed up during the storytelling. And from what Aylene had told me prior to coming here, I take it she's not used to taking care of younger kids."

"I did kind of notice that she was rather annoyed when they were around." Aylene commented. "I guess it doesn't help that they want to follow her wherever she goes now."

"Well, that's little kids for you." Elaine said. "They just want to follow someone around if they see them as a role model."

"Kind of like "hanging out with the cool kids" scenario. I get it."

"I've seen it myself, too." Elaine smirked at Aylene. "I remember when you and Derek were younger. You wanted to follow your brother around everywhere because you thought he was the coolest person in the world."

Aylene frowned. Littlefoot looked at his human friend and gave a small laugh.

"I don't remember that very much." Aylene admitted, shaking her head slowly.

"Well, you were very young, so I guess you wouldn't remember much." Elaine shrugged. "Still, point is that Dinah and Dana look up to Cera because she's older than them, and they most likely see her as a role model."

"And she's avoiding them because she thinks of them as a nuisance." Littlefoot said, giving a small look of disappointment.

"Hmm." Aylene groaned. "Then we better find her. We gotta give her a talking-to about taking responsibility."

"I don't think she's gonna be too happy about that." Elaine said. "Even I know that Cera doesn't like being lectured."

"You can that again." Littlefoot grinned nervously. "Still, if it's to help her, then as her friends, we need to-AUGH!"

Much to Littlefoot's terrified shock, the ground underneath him suddenly gave out from under him. Before he could even guess what was happening, he found himself falling straight down towards the rocky ground below.

Once Littlefoot hit it, that would be it.

"LITTLEFOOT!" Aylene screamed in terror when she saw him fall.

Elaine let out a startled shriek and ran to the edge of the cliff, Aylene was close behind. All the two humans could do was watch as Littlefoot plummeted to the ground below.

For a horrible moment, Aylene thought that was the end for her friend. Tears were already threatening to well up in her eyes at the thought of what was to come.

But at that moment, a miracle happened.

Out of the corner of Elaine's eye, she saw a big object move swiftly into the gulley. She snapped her head around and gasped.

Just before Littlefoot met the ground, something grabbed his tail. He yelped as he suddenly came to a stop in midair. He was held up for a second or two before the thing that had saved him slowly lowered him down to safety.

The moment his feet touched ground, Littlefoot let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh. Gee, thanks. For second I thought I was…"

Littlefoot's words fell back into his throat when he turned around to see who had saved him. What he saw made him gasp in amazement.

Standing above him, tall and strong, was an adult long-necked dinosaur. His skin was grey, almost like a thundercloud, and his eyes had a very ancient look to them.

His head was turned in such a way where Littlefoot could see a big scar across his face. It was just above his right eye, and it reached down to the middle of his longneck.

"W-Who are you?" Littlefoot stuttered, shocked.

"Name's Doc," the elder sauropod said. His voice was as gravelly as a bone bed.

Littlefoot's eyes widened when he heard that name. This couldn't be a coincidence.

"I-It's you!"

"Littlefoot, are you okay?!"

Littlefoot then looked up on the cliff he had just fallen from and saw Aylene looking down at him. Her blue eyes were big with worry. She wanted to know if her friend was alright or not.

"Aylene, Elaine!" Littlefoot called out. "I'm alright!"

When Littlefoot said the second name, the old long-neck jolted his head up, and his eyes widened noticeably. He turned towards the cliff and saw two female humans standing on the edge of it. His eyes locked on the one closest to him, which was Aylene.

Doc stared at the youngest one for a second. Very subtly, his face shifted to confusion. Aylene felt his gaze and looked up at him. She shrunk back went she met his eyes. Those eyes looked so ancient, but also so powerful. It felt like they were trying to see into her soul.

"Could it be?" Doc whispered to himself.

"Um, I…" Aylene said uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

"Doc…is it…really you?"

Aylene heard her grandmother speak and turned around.

Elaine was staring at Doc with huge eyes that were starting to brim with tears. She had gone pale, and her arms were raised in front of her torso simply out of reaction. She breathed slowly and softly.

Doc lifted his eyes away from Aylene and looked at Elaine. When he saw her, his eyes widened even more.

He stared at her like he was looking at a ghost.

"Elaine."

Silence fell upon everyone. It was like time had stopped all around them. For moment, no one could speak.

Elaine and Doc just stared at each other for a long time. Aylene looked back and forth nervously between her grandmother and the Diplodocus in front of her. She wasn't quite sure to make of all this.

This was Doc? This was her grandmother's dinosaur friend?

Finally, Elaine swallowed hard and walked towards Doc. Doc moved his head in closer. When Elaine reached the edge of the cliff, she stopped. Hesitantly, she reached her hand out. Doc let her place it on the tip of his snout. He looked her straight in the eye…

And a smile came across his face.

Tears of joy welled up Elaine's eyes.

"It's you alright," she said softly, smiling. "You always had a habit of showing up at the right time."

"Same to you." Doc replied. "Guess we're both still lucky, even after all these years."

Elaine then threw her arms around Doc's snout as far as they could go and embraced him with all the strength she had. The tears in her eyes began to fall, sliding down her face and dripping onto her friend. Doc simply closed his eyes and accepted the gesture.

Aylene smiled as she watched the scene.

Her grandmother was reunited with her long-lost friend. After all those years of wondering and worrying, they were finally together again.

They reunited at last.