Chapter 13: Discoveries on the Beach

When they realized what they had just done, Petrie and Ducky quickly broke away and instantly, they began to blush feverishly, unable to resist taking glances at each other's faces. Petrie stuttered and shivered nervously as Ducky gave him a smile that grew bigger and bigger with each passing moment.

"Petrie! I always wanted to do that!" Ducky gasped, her bright blue eyes twinkling with delight.

"Be carried off by big water?" Petrie asked confusedly. "Me not want to do that again!"

"No Petrie," Ducky laughed. "I always wanted to kiss you!"

"Really?" Petrie gasped in disbelief, his eyes lighting up excitedly. "Me wanted to do that too!"

Ducky and Petrie smiled at each other in amazement, and then Ducky enthusiastically exclaimed, "I love you, Petrie!

"Me love you too Ducky," Petrie replied happily, and without another word, the two of them giggled lightheartedly, hugged each other tightly and launched themselves into their first conscious kiss.

Nearby on a hilly path that led to the beach, Littlefoot, Cera, and Spike were sitting behind a rocky wall and were peering around the corner, quietly watching Petrie and Ducky enjoying their special moments together under the light of the rising bright circle. Littlefoot smiled affectionately at Petrie and Ducky, for he knew that both of them had been dreaming for this moment. He also saw that Cera was smiling at them, though he noticed that she looked unusually deep in thought.

"They…finally did it," Littlefoot told Cera happily. Cera smiled and nodded along with him, still with that thoughtful look in her eyes.

"Should we give them a little more time to themselves?" Littlefoot asked Cera, but before she could answer, Spike had begun to charge right to them, and in a matter of seconds, he rubbed against Ducky with such enthusiasm that she toppled over to the ground.

"Woah! Hi Spike!" Ducky smiled as she moved to sit down on the sand. Spike then began to lick Ducky's face as she giggled cheerfully. Then Ducky turned and saw Littlefoot and Cera, who were both smiling as they ran down the hilly path.

"Ducky! Petrie! We found you!" Littlefoot cried out.

"Hi guys! Guess what? Petrie and I have fallen in love!" Ducky exclaimed.

"That's great news!" Littlefoot told them happily, as Cera nodded and smiled at them with that foggy expression still in her eyes.

"Littlefoot, Cera, we both secretly have loved each other for a long time, but until now we did not realize that…we both love each other!" Ducky cheered. Then she turned to Spike and added, "And thanks for the lift off, Spike! You helped us really fall in love, you did!" Spike then nodded happily in response and rubbed against Ducky again.

"I'm so happy for you two!" Littlefoot exclaimed.

"Me happy too, but me also worried… there still problem," Petrie said sadly, looking down at the sand. "Me know grownups not like this…"

"Oh no no no…we would be in big trouble. They would be really mad at us, they would," Ducky sighed, shaking her head.

"We not same kind," Petrie sighed worriedly. "We'd never get accepted for this."

"Well, what you are doesn't matter to me, I'm completely fine with your love," Littlefoot told Petrie and Ducky warmly.

"You are fine with it too Spike, I can tell," Ducky smiled while Spike licked her on the face. Then she turned to face Cera. "Cera….are you fine with it?"

"Oh, uh…" Cera began to smile. "Sure! I mean, uh, why not? I mean, uh, a threehorn wouldn't be interested, but, hey, it makes Dad mad, so I'm cool with that."

Everyone laughed with Cera's comment. Littlefoot, however, also could tell how uncomfortable Cera was with the subject.

"Well then, if everyone's okay with it," Littlefoot happily said, "Then at least you guys will always have us to trust and count on!"

"Still, I miss Mama…" Ducky sighed sadly.

"Yeah, Petrie miss Mama too," Petrie added.

"Well maybe," Littlefoot told them hopefully. "If you give your parents enough time, they might learn to accept your love for each other!"

"Maybe that happen," Petrie said hopefully.

"Oh, I hope you are right, I do!" Ducky exclaimed.

But then, all of a sudden, they heard a strange, eager noise. Looking toward the big water, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie saw that Spike was jumping up and down a little ways away from them, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Spike sees something, yep yep yep!" Ducky gasped. Everyone quickly ran towards Spike, who was waiting for them happily.

"Look at this!" Littlefoot gasped, looking at the ground. Everyone looked, and saw a long, peculiar trail of small, three-toed footprints. "These must be young sharptooth footprints!"

"Chomper must have been here!" Ducky gasped.

"And look over here!" Cera gasped. They looked a little ways away from them to find a helter-sceltered jumble of longneck tracks half-covered by the big water that went in the same direction as the sharptooth tracks.

"These are…longneck footprints!" Ducky gasped.

Suddenly, an unpleasant thought came to Littlefoot. He thought of the possibility that if they could see footprints right near the big water's edge, it was probably low tide when the footprints were made. And if that was the case, Littlefoot realized that there could have been other footprints made at the same time that would now be covered up by the big water. Gulping, Littlefoot realized that the whole search party could be following Chomper's trail. Littlefoot sighed, not wanting to imagine what could happen if that were true.

"Is anything wrong Littlefoot?" Ducky asked him gently.

Littlefoot sighed sadly, causing everyone else's expressions to soften in concern. "I'm afraid…the grownups might be following Chomper's tracks… they might have walked here during low tide…we wouldn't be able to see all of their tracks because the water would cover them up…and if the grownups have been following Chomper's trail…" he sighed, and then he couldn't help but to bend down sadly and cry.

"Littlefoot, stop worrying so much," said a gentle yet firm voice by his side, and he felt a familiar warm presence as Cera softly rubbed her cheek against his. "Don't give up yet, Littlefoot… you're just making a lot of assumptions that we don't have any proof of. I'm sure Chomper's fine, we just need to keep on going and I know we'll be able to find him."

"You're sure about that?" Littlefoot asked Cera.

"Well, yeah! I'm right about everything," Cera told Littlefoot smugly.

Littlefoot couldn't help but to smirk and replied, "No you're not."

Cera shot back, "I am too!", and gave Littlefoot a little shove.

Littlefoot, smiling, replied, "You are not!" and gave Cera a shove back.

"Am too!" Cera argued, giving him another shove and talking a bit faster.

"Are not!" Littlefoot said, also shoving her and talking a bit faster.

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Amtoo!"

"Amnot!"

"Mtoo!"

"Mnot!"

They continued on and on, shoving each other back and forth and playfully arguing nonstop, to the point where they were speaking indistinguishably over each other and were struggling not to laugh. Meanwhile, Ducky, Petrie and Spike couldn't help but to snicker at them.

"What's so funny!" Cera asked indignantly.

"Gotcha!" Littlefoot playfully gasped, taking advantage of Cera's moment off guard, gave her a shove that caused her to gasp and fall bellyfirst onto the ground.

Cera then got up and, playfully growled, "Oh no you don't!" and leaped at Littlefoot. Littlefoot tried bracing himself, but Cera's jump was too powerful and he felt himself pushed up into the air. Unfortunately for Cera, she leaped at Littlefoot with such vigor that she couldn't control where she was going and soon she began falling herself. Gasping together, they shrieked as they landed with an enormous splash as they landed in the big water, and then they looked at each other's soaking forms and joined Ducky, Petrie and Spike in laughing hysterically.

Littlefoot then smiled at Cera and told her, "Thanks Cera… I shouldn't give up so soon…"

"Yeah, do not give up yet," Ducky piped up. "Maybe the changing tides actually helped Chomper. Maybe they covered up Chomper's footprints while the grownups were looking for him. The grownups cannot see his tracks when the big water covers them up, and they would go looking in a different direction, they would."

Littlefoot smiled, and apart from sounding positive, that Cera's and Ducky's points made sense. "Thanks guys…I feel much better now."

"Aww, do not mention it," Ducky replied happily.

"Now, are we going to help Chomper or not?" Cera asked determinedly. "Let's get going!"

Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike continued to carefully follow the path of sharptooth footprints. They noticed that while the longneck footprints kept on going the same way as the sharptooth ones, they couldn't see any other footprints that would've been there if a whole herd was on the pursuit.

"Maybe the grownups splitted up," Ducky told Littlefoot brightly. "If only one longneck followed Chomper, he can get away easily, yep yep yep."

Littlefoot smiled with that thought, and appreciated Ducky's infectious optimism. "Thanks Ducky," Littlefoot began to tell her, but before he could say another word, Petrie flew in front of Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Spike, and he began to shiver intensely.

"Petrie think….that we in big trouble!" Petrie declared, his eyes bulging with fear.

"What is it, Petrie?" Littlefoot asked nervously as Cera, Ducky and Spike looked at him anxiously.

Petrie paused for a moment, chattering and shivering in anguish, before shouting, "Sss…shh…sharpteeth!"