Chapter 5: Ducky's Desire

After talking to his grandparents, Littlefoot decided to look for his friends, wanting to talk to them about his day. He soon found Cera, Spike, and Ducky lying down on a hill overlooking a watering hole, with plenty of flowers surrounding them. Littlefoot instantly noticed that Ducky was looking concerned and that Cera was whispering into her ear with a knowing expression on her face. Littlefoot knew that Cera often acted as a big sister to Ducky, and he figured they were discussing one of Ducky's concerns. As Cera continued to whisper into Ducky's ear, Ducky looked over and saw Littlefoot coming. "Hi Littlefoot!" Ducky exclaimed. "Come and join us!"

Littlefoot nodded cheerfully, and he sat next to Cera, who happily smiled at him as she moved her tail over to make room for him, and together, they all looked up at the setting bright circle.

"How are you, Littlefoot?" Cera asked brightly as she rested her head against him.

"I'm doing okay, Cera," Littlefoot replied gently, breathing relaxedly and smiling as he looked at the sky above. He felt a moment of contentment before he noticed that Ducky was still looking concerned.

"Is something bothering you Ducky?" Littlefoot asked.

"Oh, no no no," Ducky told Littlefoot brightly, but Littlefoot noticed she looked away as she answered. He could tell that Ducky didn't want to talk about what was bothering her, so Littlefoot decided to put it to rest.

Cera then quickly stepped in and asked, "So where've you been, Littlefoot?"

"Well…" Littlefoot sighed, and then, he remembered his troubles from earlier. "I went with Ruby to a cave…where we saw Chomper."

"You saw Chomper?" Cera exclaimed, astonished. "Where's he been?"

"I have been missing him, yep yep yep!" Ducky added. "How is he doing?"

"He's hiding in a cave…and he…he's not doing well. He needs… well, bigger food," Littlefoot replied sadly.

Cera and Ducky turned and looked nervously at each other, and Spike stopped eating in alarm. Cera quickly got up and shouted, "We shouldn't have taken him in! I knew this would happen! He's a sharptooth!"

"It would not be good if he eats us, oh no no no!" Ducky cried, also standing up, shaking her head.

"Don't worry guys, he won't be eating us," Littlefoot responded reassuringly as Spike stood up, looking worriedly at Littlefoot.

"Oh sure, maybe he won't today," Cera replied skeptically as she paced. "But when he…"

"Cera, Ducky, Spike, listen!" Littlefoot shouted exasperatedly, and the three of them looked at Littlefoot. Littlefoot cleared his throat and tried again, saying, "Chomper won't be eating us because… he's starving himself!"

Cera's, Ducky's, and Spike's expressions softened as they slowly sat back down. "Poor Chomper… this is not good, it is not," Ducky sighed.

"But how can we help him?" Cera asked concernedly. "We can't force him to eat… and even if he'll eat, we can't go find dinner for him."

"Oh no no no," Ducky sighed sadly. "We would get into lots of trouble with sharpteeth… I do not like sharpteeth, oh no no no."

"Yeah… but we have to do something," Littlefoot answered determinedly. Littlefoot, Cera, and Ducky sat deep in thought, trying to come up with a way to help Chomper. But even though they thought and thought, nobody could come up with anything.

Then, Littlefoot, remembering Petrie's situation, decided to ask Ducky a question. "Hey Ducky… what do you think of well, members of different species falling in love with each other?"

"Littlefoot, are you kidding?" Cera asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "No one has ever been in love with someone outside of their own kind!"

"I know…I'm just curious," Littlefoot told Cera, being careful to avoid mentioning Petrie's feelings. Then he looked at Ducky and asked, "Well…what do you think of it, Ducky?"

Ducky looked curiously at Littlefoot, before answering, "Different species? Falling in love? I have not heard of that before either, no, no, no," Ducky explained, while looking down at her toes.

"But what do you think of it?" Littlefoot asked persistently.

"Well… I guess it would be okay," Ducky answered thoughtfully. "But why are you asking, Littlefoot?"

"Just…wondering," Littlefoot said evasively, remembering his promise not to tell Ducky anything.

Cera kept looking at him in that puzzled way before asking, "What do you think of those silly longnecks?"

"They're okay, I guess…" Littlefoot told Cera. "But honestly, they're getting on my nerves. They don't even know me, and they're flirting with me nonstop."

"If they're annoying you, just tell them how you feel," Cera told Littlefoot firmly. "That's what I would do."

"I can't do that," Littlefoot replied. "They're my grandparents' guests, and they're part of Ali's herd. They'd think I'm being rude, and I know Ali and my grandparents would be disappointed with me if I was rude to them."

Cera opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a voice called out, "Littlefoot!"

"Oh, it's Ali! Got to go… see you soon!" Littlefoot explained, remembering his promise to talk to Ali again, and he ran off. Cera frowned at Littlefoot as he walked over to Ali, who had tinges of pink on her cheeks and was smiling sweetly at him.

"He could've at least waited to hear what I had to say," Cera snarled as Ali greeted Littlefoot by rubbing him on the neck.

"But Cera, Littlefoot did not want to make Ali mad," Ducky told her. "And maybe he did not know you wanted to say something."

"Well, he still shouldn't have just left us like that…talk about being rude," Cera told Ducky stubbornly, and she began to watch Littlefoot's and Ali's forms in the distance walking away towards the setting bright circle.

"Cera?" Ducky asked.

"What?" Cera spat out distractedly, not turning to look at her.

"Have you talked to Petrie today?" Ducky asked.

Cera replied, "Uh…yeah, this morning I think. I was talking with him and Littlefoot while you were out with Spike."

"Ah, okay," Ducky told Cera with a note of crestfallenness in her voice.

Then Cera finally turned to look at Ducky, and gently asked her, "Ducky, do you wanna finish our talk? I was kind of left hanging…I don't even know who you were talking about."

Ducky blushed, looked away from Cera and sighed, "No thanks Cera..."

Just then, Mama Swimmer called out, "Ducky! Spike! Time to come home now!"

"Coming Mama!" Ducky replied back, before she looked back at Cera, who was lying down on top of a nearby rock, resting her head on her front feet. Ducky instantly noticed that Cera's eyes were a little teary and that she was wearing a glum expression. "Well, bye Cera," Ducky told her.

"Bye," Cera sighed listlessly. Ducky began to follow her mother, with Spike tagging along by her side. She then looked back at Cera, who had turned again to face the setting bright circle and was lying on the rock and swatting her tail against it sadly. "Cera is not happy, oh no no no," Ducky told Spike. Spike nodded sadly in agreement.

Then, Ducky sighed, "I am not feeling that happy myself, oh no no no…"

Spike looked concernedly at her, but before Ducky could say another word, the two of them arrived at their home. Ducky and Spike's siblings were chatting to each other happily and frolicking playfully nearby. They did not seem to notice Ducky or Spike at all as they continued to giggle and play with each other. Mama Swimmer had stopped by some tall grasses and was waiting for Ducky and Spike.

"Here Ducky, Spike, come take a bath," Mama Swimmer suggested as they approached, pulling aside the tall grasses and revealing their family's small pond, which was brightly lit by the twilight moon. "The water's nice and cool."

"Thanks Mama," Ducky answered unenthusiastically, and she slowly entered the pond, with Spike sitting by her side at the pond's edge, watching her sadly.

"Is anything wrong Ducky?" Mama Swimmer asked.

"No, not really… I just am kind of blue tonight," Ducky told her mother.

"Well, just sit in the water and let your troubles wash away," Mama Swimmer suggested, and then she yawned. "Good night, Ducky."

"Good night Mama," Ducky sighed. Mama Swimmer then walked off to watch the other children, leaving Ducky and Spike alone together. Ducky sat in the pond for a while, mildly enjoying the cool water tickle her body. But she still was not happy, and as she looked at her sad reflection, she knew she couldn't follow her mother's advice and she began to think about how she was feeling again.

"Spike, I miss Petrie…maybe Cera's right on how I feel," Ducky told him sadly. Spike looked perplexedly at Ducky, while Ducky stretched her body out in the water and looked at the stars. "But why is he not talking to me? He has hardly talked to me at all recently. But he is talking to Littlefoot and Cera just like normal. I wonder why, and I do not like it, oh no no no. I do not know…am I doing anything wrong, Spike?"

Spike, who was eating a swamp stick, shrugged as he looked at Ducky.

"I am sorry to bother you Spike," Ducky told him gently. "Just…you are my brother, and I do not feel comfortable with talking to anyone else that I feel this way towards him."

She then looked at Spike, smiled at him, and told him, "Thanks for listening Spike. You are a good listener. I am glad to have a nice brother like you, I am." Then she shut her eyes, smiled, reached out, and hugged Spike tightly, who hugged her back. Spike's tummy then growled. "Oh, you are hungry Spike, you are. Go ahead and have some treestars," Ducky yawned. Ducky then stared up at the stars, and told herself, "I will talk to Petrie soon…yep yep yep". With that thought, Ducky smiled to herself, curled up in her pond, and she fell into a comfortable slumber.