Nosedive's POV

At first it had looked like everything was gonna be great. Canard was alive, Mom was alive, and I had a little sister. But the minute I found out my father was dead, everything went down the crapper. How could my mom already be with someone else? It was just too much to handle. I had to go off into the woods and calm my nerves.

Of course, Mom, Frindel, and Wildwing weren't about to let that happen. Mom and Wildwing sent little Frindel to watch me.

"I looooove you," said Frindel, who landed on my shoulder. "As a friend," he added awkwardly, so I would know he wasn't trying to flirt. "Don't be mad at your mom. She didn't meeeean to fall in love with Dirk. It just happened. She rescued him and they fell in love."

"She's in love with him?"

"Yeah," Frindel sighed. "But she didn't want to be at first! She rescued him from a Yask and it just happened. They bonded through almost dying. That happens when people almost die sometimes."

Frindel's even more blunt than me. Not to mention awkward. Normally his way of wording things would elicit a few chuckles from me, but this time his bluntness was just morbid and unnecessary.

"Oh, come on," he said, "Your mom's hot. I can't blaaaame him."

"That's enough! Go!"

"Wildwing wants me to protect you."

"I think I can look out for myself, Frindel."

"But, but! We're friends! So how have you been, friend? Did you beat Dragaunus? Did you singlehandedly save the planet?"

"I've been ok, Dragaunus is missing, I'll explain it later."

"Now that I know the droooones are gone, I'm gonna start a BAND!"

"I have a band."

"Tell me about your band."

"Not in the mood. My dad's dead and my mom's disrespecting him. And I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, Wildwing's not happy about it either. He's just too nice to say anything about it."

"How do you know?"

"I know my brother."

"Hey," Frindel said, "At least she's alive."

"….yeah. You know what? I'm being a dick. I need to go back and see my mom. I guess I just didn't expect her to do something like that. That's all. She always was my role model."

It's true: my mom taught me you can be a short shit and still kick ass. She's one of the last ducks to believe in Drake DuCaine. And she's the reason I'm so dead set against ever having to use autotune. My mom loves music. She wouldn't let me sing along with the songs that came on unless I sounded perfect. Dad never could sing. She'd get so mad at him for loudly drowning out whatever song she was listening to by singing off key at the top of his lungs. So yeah, she made me a little bit of an elitist.

"Let's go let's go!" said Frindel.

"You lead the way." He pretty much had to. I could barely see. Luckily, he can make himself glow in the dark. It was kind of like following one of those will o' the wisps from human folklore.

I cursed myself the whole way back for being such a dick and pulled my mom, who was holding my new sister, into a big hug the moment we were back.

"I'm just glad you're alive," I said. "I'm gonna stop acting like a yask warkis and be there for you."

Mom sighed. "I understand why you're upset."

"Don't worry about it. Things could be a lot worse." She could be dead like my father. I pulled Dirk into a hug too. It wasn't his fault she chose him.

"I'm glad your tantrum's over," said Wilding. "We need to get Mom and the baby girl some place warm and safe."

I nodded. Frindel flew to Wildwing's shoulder and started bugging him. "So," he asked, "How are you doing? Have you been to other planets? Is Dragaunus missing? How about Canard? Are you still dating Canard? Is he OK? Have you seen any neat looking aliens? Have you missed me? Huh huh huh?"

I tried not to laugh and Wildwing shook his head.

Frindel continued, "Now that I know the war's over, we can get you and Nosedive and your mom a house, and I can make candy, and I can have my buddy Womble over, and we can make music and tell stories and have so much fun!"

"If so, I'll have to bring my girlfriend," I told him.

He gasped dramatically. "You have a girlfriend? Who is she? What's she look like? Is she cool? Is she preeeeeeeetty?"

"She is. She's a human, a person from a planet called Earth which is in a whole 'nother dimension. She's like a duck with no bill and no feathers. But she's got long dark hair and a mind-blowing body. You'd just have to see her to understand."

"You've been to other planets?" Mom asked.

"We have a lot to tell you. When we get back to the old store we'll fix you a hot drink and explain everything."

Back at the old store, Airstrike got a pillow and blanket for Mom. We all huddled close together on the floor to keep warm. They even had an extra baby blanket for the little one. Dirk stayed quiet, unsure if I was willing to accept him yet.

"Are you ready for an extremely long story?" asked Wildwing.

"Sure!" said Mom.

And so, Wildwing told her everything. He told her how Canard had found us and recruited us for the resistance, how he risked his life to save us, and how we've been stuck on Earth fighting Dragaunus, who is now mysteriously missing. She got to meet Duke, Grin, Tanya, and Mallory for the first time.

"We have a new teammate, too!" said Duke, although I wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Silverwing when we went back to Earth. He seems a little competitive with him at times.

"I want to hear more about Nosedive's exotic alien girlfriend," said Frindel. "Do you loooooooooove her, Nosedive?"

"…yes." I said. "I do."

"You just met her!" said Mallory. "You don't know if you love her yet!"

"I think I know myself better than you know me, Mallory."

"I'm just saying, you're too young. You're still maturing. It's seldom really love at your age."

"Oh, I see. Thanks for your insight Dr. Freud. I'm obviously too stupid to know my own heart and mind."

"Doctor who?"

"Not Dr. Who! Dr. Freud! You wouldn't like him. He thought women had penis envy."

"You will respect my son," said Mom sternly. "If he says he is in love, he is in love. Now be silent."

Mallory glared at her, but was smart enough not to say anything. Somehow my little tiny mother could intimidate just about anybody, even Mallory. After that, everyone agreed it was best to get some sleep. We could argue another day. Besides, soon we'd be seeing Canard!

Most of us slept in our blankets on the floor so that the children could have the beds. It wasn't comfortable, but it didn't take long for us to drift off.

Next thing we knew, Mallory's sister was singing joyfully, "Canaaaaaaard's here!" Wildwing bolted up instantly, but I gave myself some time to stretch and yawn. I watched Wildwing run to the door and greet Canard, whose arms were full of donations for the orphanage. The moment he saw Wildwing, he dropped the boxes on his feet and yelped in pain.

"Wildwing!"

"Canard!"

"WILDWING!"

"CANARD!"

They embraced each other tightly, Canard ignoring the pain in his toes.

"I thought you were gone," said Wing.

"I survived," said Canard. "I'm here. We'll never be apart again."

"I have so much to tell you…you have to come with us and see the planet we've been living on."

"I will, Wildwing. I will. I'm so glad you're safe."

Mallory watched with a scowl on her face. She knew she'd never have Wildwing now. As for me, I was glad he had his lover back. But seeing their mushy, lovey behavior just made me long for my own love back on Earth.