One by one, the ducks staggered to their feet.
Scrooge opened his mouth, but no words formed. Everything was still. The sky had returned to its normal shade of blue. For a moment, it felt like the world had stopped.
"That put everything I have ever done to shame..." Launchpad said finally breaking the silence.
'Everyone turned to look at him like he had grown a third eye. He shrugged.
Suddenly, there was a rustle as a hand burst from the wreckage. They turned their gazes towards the crash as another hand emerged. They watched in disbelief as the hands pushed some pieces aside and the back of a head was revealed. Not much about this pilot could be deduced by the torso up because it was veiled with long ivory hair. Without warning, the woman turned her head a bit and violently spat a glob of black goo onto the pavement, wiping her mouth with her with sort of satisfaction. She put her hand on the edge of the wreck for leverage and pushed herself up, lifting her right leg. As soon as she put weight on her foot, she crumpled, writhing in pain and sliding down the broken ship to the ground. She grasped her calf close to her body. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" cried a rich and bold, yet sweet voice.
The entire clan watched the scene play out motionless, speechless. Donald had covered his mouth with his hands, completely unaware of the tears streaming down his face. Scrooge had fallen to his knees in disbelief. The boys were holding each others hands, subconsciously squeezing as hard as they could. The woman suddenly became aware of their presence and lifted her head. Her mouth opened, but she said nothing. She tried to get up but fell back to the ground. Donald reached out his hand longingly; taking a single step. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Scrooge was clutching his chest, taking quick, heavy breaths.
No one knew what to do.
No one knew what to say.
No one stirred.
Louie was the first one to make a move, pushing past the rest and running to hug the woman. He nearly knocked the breath out of her; but, she accepted, a bit confused
"Della?" Donald breathed.
The woman nodded with a smile, tears running down her own face as well. In an instant it seemed like the other two boys had joined Louie, followed quickly by Donald. Launchpad, Mrs. Beakley, and her granddaughter just watched in silence. Scrooge got up and walked to Della slowly. He stroked her cheek and wiped away a tear. As he broke down and wept, he fell to his knees once more. Only this time into the heeping, sobbing mess of a group hug. "I thought I'd lost you forever."
"Don?" She said, socking him in the arm.
"Yeah?"
"You can call me Dumbella now. I think I deserve it."
"No. You're here and that's all that matters,"
They sat for a while, crying and laughing and hugging. "Hey, I'm glad to see ya, kiddos, but you're sitting on my broken leg,"
"Oh, oh, sorry "
They moved back a little. Donald looked down to assess her damage, his gaze falling not on her broken right leg, but the left one. It wasn't there. "What happened!?" He shrieked.
"Oh, yeah, that... it's a long story. But Hey! I don't wanna worry about that now! These must be my boys! My beautiful baby boys!"
She laid a hand on Dewey's cheek. He took a shuddering breath, resting his head against her hard and putting his to it. "Hi mom,"
"Oh, oh! Lemme guess! Lemme guess!" Della exclaimed looking excitedly at Scrooge and Donald.
"Huey," she said to Dewey.
"Dewey," She pointed at Louie.
"And Louie!" She hugged Huey.
"Not even close," Louie replied nuzzling deeper into the hug.
"I'm Huey," he corrected, and the other boys followed respectably.
"I'm sorry I didn't get to be there for you," She kissed each one on the head. "But I promise, as long I live, I will never leave you boys again."
Scrooge had pulled away from the hug and was staring wistfully at the sky. "Uncle Scrooge…" Della asked, "is everything alright?"
"Hm? Yeah… yes… it's just…" he looked down, dumbfounded, "I did everything I could to bring you home. I nearly bankrupt myself sending people looking for you, and yet… it's been ten years Della… I only blamed myself for it all. It haunted my nightmares that I could let something like that happen to me you. How did you survive?"
"Woah, woah. Calm down, it wasn't your fault…"
"Ahem," Donald interrupted, "yeah but... I may have blamed him, taken the boys, and given him the cold shoulder for years…" he smiled apologetically.
She raised an eyebrow. She wasn't that surprised, though, this was the Duck family, afterall. "Oh, don't worry," Huey butted in, "they made up."
"We made them," Louie snorted.
"Well… not long after the storm, I crash landed on the moon…"
"The moon!? I was told that there were no signs of life."
"I'll get to that. I crashed and my leg got stuck under the rubble, so…" she gestured to her hastily made prosthetic, which had come off upon her arrival and was lying a few feet away. "
She told them about Gyro's terrible gum, his stupid engine, and the moonmite. She told them how she fought it, but found out it was just looking for metal to feed its baby. She told them how she met the moon soldiers and used their gold to repair the spear and fuel the engine.
Scrooge and Donald exchanged glances.
"Well," Donald said finally, "we oughta get you to a hospital."
"I'll drive!" Mrs. Beakley perked up, "She's already hurt. We shouldn't risk, you know…" She pointed her thumb at Launchpad who was oblivious.
"Alright lass," Scrooge lifted her by the armpits. "Donald, get her leg, make sure it stays straight. Boys, go get her… other one." They raced each other to pick it up first, nearly knocking into one another. Dewey got to it in the end.
"So," Della said, being carried to the car, "who has baby pictures?"
Hey it's me again! If you're reading this I want to thank you personally for doing so. Congratulations, you just read my very first fanfiction! Also, as it would turn out, on the 10 (May 2019) there's will be an episode titled The Golden Spear, so that'll probably render this completely right or completely wrong. Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed!
Post note: damn I did not expect that. Oh boy...