Chapter Four: The Heart Of The Matter

The morning had come all too soon for Cera. As she bolted down her breakfast of tree stars, she hastily ran down the advice Tria had given her the night before in her head. 'Walk gracefully, talk softly, swing my tail, roll in flowers.' she thought to herself again and again. Cera had never felt so nervous and scared in her entire life, not even during the numerous times when she was being chased by Sharpteeth. As far as Cera was concerned, a Sharptooth attack was nothing compared to the trial that lay ahead, and she would have gladly traded situations in an instant.

Once she had eaten her tree stars, Cera made her way towards Bambo's nest, taking a quick detour along the path, in order to roll in the most fragrant flowers she could find.

As she made her way towards Bambo's nest, Cera's stomach growled, the tree stars within feeling like stones. 'Just my luck.' thought Cera. 'I'm so nervous, I'll probably wind up throwing up all over Bambo the second I open my mouth.'

In an attempt to prevent such an occurance, Cera decided to practise using her 'soft' voice. "Why, hello, Bambo..." she purred.

"Hi, Cera!" came a voice from behind her. "How's it going?"

Cera spun around in shock. There was Bambo, walking out of the bushes and smiling broadly.

"How'd you know I was there?" he asked. "What gave me away?"

"Uh... nothing." said Cera nervously. 'Come on, Cera!' she thought. 'It's now, or never!"

"Why, good morning, Bambo." she said, in the sultriest voice she could muster. "And how are you doing today?"

"Oh, I'm... great." said Bambo, a little confused. "And you?"

"All the better, now that you're here." Cera giggled coquettishly.

"Okay..." said Bambo. "Is there something wrong with your throat? Your voice sounds all funny."

A little disheartened by the failure of the 'soft' voice to attract Bambo, Cera decided to move on to the walk. She had seen lady Threehorns perform such a strutting movement to entice a mate several times, but had never imagined she would have to do it herself one day. Fortunately, the young Threehorn had been blessed with a good memory, and started replicating the walk as best she could, swaying her hips from side-to-side as she approached the object of her desire.

"Oh, you." said Cera, keeping up the 'soft' voice in hopes that it would actually start working. "I'm just fine, but it's sweet of you to ask. Thanks for the concern."

"That's okay." said Bambo, who was now feeling just as nervous as Cera was. "You wanna... go get some tree stars? I've got this huge stash, hidden away where no-one but me could ever find them!"

"No thanks, I just ate." smiled Cera, implementing the tail-swinging manoevure as she neared Bambo. "We girls have to watch our figures." She decided to walk right past Bambo, inches from his nose, so that he would definetely catch the scent of flowers coming off her. Unfortunately, she wasn't watching where her tail was swinging, and it slapped Bambo right in the face.

"Ow!" cried out Bambo. "What was that for?"

"Sorry! said Cera, breaking out of her 'soft voice' routine. "It was an accident!"

"Well, then that's o... ooo... ATCHOO!" Bambo suddenly started sneezing. "ATCHOO!" "ATCHOO!"

"What's wrong?" asked Cera.

"You're covered in flower dust, that's what's wrong!" replied Bambo, having noticed now that Cera was so close. "Flower dust makes me... ATCHOO! ...sneeze. Please, keep back... ATCHOO! ...Before I sneeze my snout off!"

Bitterly, Cera realised that all of her attempts to attract Bambo had failed miserably. Blinking back the tears, the heartbroken Threehorn turned around and left the scene, slowly at first, but quickly picking up into a run.

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Bambo, realising that something was amiss. "Cera? Cera?!" he called out, before giving chase. Cera, not wishing to be caught, ran even faster, but Bambo wasn't about to give up so easily.

Bambo finally caught up with Cera at the top of Green Peak, the highest hill in the Great Valley. Unable to run any further, she had simply collapsed on her stomach, and was crying softly into the grass.

"Cera?" Bambo asked tentatively. "What's wrong?"

"Go away." sniffed Cera.

"Please, tell me what's wrong." Bambo urged her. "Does it have something to do with how weird you were acting back there?"

Cera sighed, and stood up. Already feeling embarrassed beyond belief, she angrily decided that her humiliation may as well be total.

"You're right," she admitted. "I was acting like that because.... because I wanted you to like me." she finished quickly.

"I do like you." Bambo reassured her. "You're my friend, remember?"

"No, I mean like me like me." said Cera irritably.

"Oh." said Bambo, comprehension dawning on his face. "Well, you didn't have to go through all that trouble." he told her. "Because, well... I kinda already 'liked you liked you'."

"You did?!" asked Cera, completely surprised by this revelation.

"Yeah." said Bambo shyly. "From the first moment I saw those pretty eyes of yours."

"You really think they're pretty?" blushed Cera.

"Like a pair of green shiney stones." smiled Bambo.

"Wait." said Cera, slightly confused. "If you really do 'like me like me', then why did you get all weirded out back there?"

"Because I really don't like 'girly' girls." admitted Bambo.

"You don't?" smiled Cera.

"No." confirmed Bambo. "I like tough, rough-and-tumble girls, like you. When you beat me in that little tussle yesterday, I thought you were the coolest girl ever."

"Thanks." said Cera, blushing again. "But if you did 'like me like me', why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I didn't think you'd like me if I did." admitted Bambo. "I thought a tough girl like you would've hated it if a boy started talking all mushy and lovey-dovey to you."

"Wow." said Cera. "I guess we both messed up."

"Yeah." agreed Bambo. "Guess so."

The two young Threehorns looked deeply into each other's eyes, the green meeting the brown, for what seemed like an eternity.

"Well," smiled Cera. "Maybe I'm not that much of a tough girl..."

"And maybe a little girliness isn't so bad..." Bambo smiled back.

The two closed in on each other, and rubbed their snouts together, for what seemed like another eternity.

"So," said Bambo when they finally parted. "Can I still interest you in those tree stars?"

"Sure." said Cera. "All that running built up quite an appetite!" she joked.

"Well, I know how you girls like to 'watch your figures'. Bambo joked back. "ATCHOO!" he suddenly sneezed again.

"Maybe we should stop at the watering hole first." offered Cera. "So I can wash this flower dust off."

"Please," agreed Bambo. "Or I might just sneeze our tree stars away!"

The Threehorn couple laughed together as they went down the hill. Cera's laughter was easily the most mirthful, as it carried within it all the joy, relief, and happiness Cera was feeling. It was the single greatest moment in the young Threehorn's life, knowing that Bambo felt the same way towards her that she did towards him. Not even the coming-in of her new horns, which just yesterday had filled her with such pride, could compare to this.

The young Threehorn had made a major step down the path to adulthood. It was a path that Bambo now joined her on, the two being together for many seasons to come.

The End

(The Land Before Time series, and it's characters, are the properties of Amblin Universal. Bambo is my creation, although I did take the name from what Cera was originally to be called, before the creators decided that she was to be a girl.)