Ch.8: Seeking A Chance
"Uh oh," thought Guido, suddenly feeling like he did something wrong as he landed next to his friends, and saw the longnecks glares. "What have I done?"
"Long time no see brother" spoke Bigtail " How is your herd?"
"You have no right to ask" said Grandpa " Why are you here Bigtail?"
"For my daughter of course" said Bigtail, looking towards the kids " Megumi come, it's time to go home."
"We don't have a home!" said Megumi " And even if we did, I don't want to go with you!"
"Megumi, please I…," started Bigtail, but was stopped when Grandpa put himself in between him and the children.
"Littlefoot" said Grandpa " go on with the others. Bigtail and I have to talk."
"Yes Grandpa," said Littlefoot, and started leading the others away.
"You have no right to keep her from me" said Bigtail, pushing Grandpa out of the way " Megumi wait! I'm sorry! Give me a second chance at being a father! Please?"
Megumi looked back a little to see the desperation in her father's eyes, but kept on walking straight on with her friends, afraid of the conflicting emotions that tornadoed in the air.
Bigtail's neck slumped down with sadness as Megumi continued to walk out of sight, leaving a gaping hole in his heart behind.
"I'm sorry Bigtail" said Grandpa, walking away almost smiling " but Megumi has made her choice."
And with that said, Grandpa left Bigtail standing there, alone.
Meanwhile, after Littlefoot's group walked quite a distance away and finally stopped to rest, Megumi's confused, angry eyes immediately glared towards Guido.
"Why did you bring my father here?!" Megumi demanded.
"Hey I just bumped into him" said Guido " I didn't know he was your dad."
"I don't want to see him again" muttered Megumi, and then said to the others " I'm going back to the herd. We'll play tomorrow okay?"
"Uh sure" said Littlefoot confused " anytime you want."
With a nod Megumi slumped and stalked away, leaving her friends behind. Once Megumi was out of sight, Cera focused her gaze on Guido.
"What's wrong with you?!" she yelled.
"Cera, hey, that no fair!" defended Petrie, flying to stand by Guido.
"Yeah Cera " said Littlefoot " I mean how was Guido supposed to know anyway? Even we have never seen Bigtail before."
"Maybe" said Cera " but you just don't upset a new friend like that!"
"Or an old one either," stated Littlefoot, causing the threehorn to humble herself and look apologetically towards Guido.
"I thought you didn't like Megumi Cera?" said Ducky.
"Well I do now" said Cera " I was wrong to be suspicious of her, but her dad is a different story. I doubt he really came to apologize. Jerks don't turn scales that easy."
"Maybe not" said Littlefoot " but his words sounded almost sincere. Maybe Bigtail has changed for the better. But I guess, we'll just have to wait."
Later that night, Megumi was resting with her eyes open, on the outside edge of the nomadic herd, when a soft downdraft from up above alerted her to another dinosaur's presence. Taking a look up, a faint smile crossed Megumi's face when she recognized Guido.
"Megumi I…," started Guido as he landed, but Megumi didn't let him finish.
"I'm sorry too" said Megumi " It's just that to see my dad here, after all this time, has given me little hope for change."
"Yeah, but maybe he has" said Guido " he sure sounded sorry."
"Even if he was I still can't forgive him" Megumi sighed " Oh Guido. What am I going to do?"
"I don't know" said Guido, taking a seat beside the longneck " I always wondered about my own mom and dad. Wondering what it would have been like to be raised in a family instead of being the only one of my kind."
"Maybe you're not alone though" said Megumi " maybe there are others like you out there."
"Heh heh" laughed Guido " it sounds great when you put it that way. I promise though, that if I ever do find them someday, I'll love them dearly no matter what, with whoever they turn out to be."
"Love" thought Megumi to herself, looking away from Guido " Mom said the same thing. Maybe I can forgive dad. Maybe, just maybe."
Meanwhile, resting in a lonely part of the Great Valley, a large, black longneck looked upward towards the stars. A depressed sigh escaped his lips, as his eyes took in their warm glow.
"Ashanti" mumbled Bigtail to himself " how can I make her believe I've changed?"
The stars glowed but the provided no answer, and the Bigtail's lost love didn't shatter the silence. Weary from lack of sleep, Bigtail finally lay his head down against the warm grass, closed his eyes, and drifted off into slumber.
Thoughts of tomorrow swirled through the longneck's head as he dreamed. Maybe then, Megumi would forgive him. Maybe, just maybe.