Chapter 17: A Future Together
Littlefoot and Cera continued to sit closely to each other at the edge of the cave, putting their front feet together, snuggling against each other's warm, comforting bodies, sighing and smiling affectionately, and lovingly staring into each other's eyes. Time gently drifted along and the bright circle slowly started to set, but Littlefoot and Cera hardly noticed, for they were deeply absorbed with each other, finally enjoying their magical moments that they have dreamed of for a long time. They only broke apart from each other when they heard a couple of familiar voices behind them. Turning, Littlefoot and Cera saw that Ducky, Petrie and Spike were hurrying into the cave, and Ducky was carrying a huge leaf that sunk with the weight of being filled to the brim with tree stars.
"Hey! Littlefoot! Cera! We got a whole bunch of treestars for dinner, we did, yep yep yep!" Ducky exclaimed brightly.
"Thanks guys!" Littlefoot exclaimed cheerily.
"Me think you two really happy," Petrie noticed, smiling at Littlefoot and Cera.
"Oh yes yes yes, I think you are happy too!" Ducky exclaimed.
"We are," Littlefoot told Ducky and Petrie happily, and he and Cera looked each other, smiled brightly and at once, they both exclaimed, "We're in love with each other!"
Ducky and Petrie gasped, and then they smiled at each other and looked back at Littlefoot and Cera in amazement. "Wow… me thought we the only ones!" Petrie gasped in disbelief.
"Guess you're wrong then!" Cera smiled happily. Then to everyone's amazement, after just a little bit of effort, she managed to push herself off the ground and stand up again, and then she managed to walk comfortably for a few steps.
Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie and Spike gasped as Cera smiled and to their shock, she managed to walk outside and over to a grassy clearing a little ways away, moving her recovering foot from side to side, delighted to be able to use it again. Hurriedly, everyone ran outside to join Cera. Ducky excitedly told her, "Cera, you seem to be doing much, much better! I will take a look to see how your injury is doing, I will." She then put down her carrying leaf, walked over to Cera, bent down and untied her bandage. As Ducky removed Cera's bandage, she gasped in delight. Cera's foot looked almost completely normal, with only a faint trace of red showing where she had been bitten.
"Cera, you look much, much better now!" Ducky exclaimed. "Your injury is almost gone!" With Ducky's announcement, everyone cheered.
"I feel better too!" Cera told them energetically, stretching her legs and walking with increased comfort. "Come on, let's have dinner!"
Ducky nodded happily and she brought the carrying leaf over as everyone else sat down. She then laid the leaf out in front of them, causing everyone to gasp as a huge pile of treestars came into view. As everyone looked down at the pile of treestars that Ducky, Petrie and Spike had collected, they all remembered how hungry they were. None of them had the chance to relax and have a full meal since their final dinner in the Great Valley over a day ago. And adding to their hunger, the treestars sat invitingly on top of the large leaf, shimmering in the evening light and almost asking to be eaten.
"These are nice, fresh tree stars, they have sky water on them! I eated a couple and they taste very, very good, they do," Ducky exclaimed, rubbing her stomach as it began to rumble. Spike couldn't stand the temptation of the treestars anymore, and with gusto he stretched out his head and grabbed a huge mouthful of treestars. He looked very silly as he ate, for his cheeks bulged with all of the treestars that he had stuffed in his mouth. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie happily laughed as Spike's eyes bulged and his mouth began to make silly expressions as he happily digested the treestars, feeling very happy that he was making his friends laugh.
"Looks like Spike's telling us it's time to eat!" Ducky giggled, and everyone else leaned forward and dove in. Upon eating the treestars, everyone realized that Ducky was right about their taste. The tree stars were so delicious that only a little bit later, the huge pile of treestars was all gone, for everyone couldn't help but to quickly gorge on the luscious green food. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie all ate so much that Spike didn't manage to get his usually much larger portion. "Spike is okay," Ducky explained to Littlefoot and Cera after they finished the food as they noticed that Spike still looked a little hungry. "He had plenty of treestars on the trip to get them, he did."
But while the treestars tasted delicious and everyone's hunger was finally satisfied, those reasons alone weren't the reason why this dinner felt especially wonderful. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie were all thinking delightedly about how their secret crushes that they'd been holding onto had finally blossomed into romantic relationships, and they smiled as they all relived the joyous moments when they realized that their feelings were shared by their lover. The start of their new relationships, coupled with Cera recovering from her injury, the great-tasting treestars, and the relaxing atmosphere of the hillside put everyone in a very good mood.
"Mmm…those were the yummiest treestars I've ever tasted!" Littlefoot exclaimed happily as everyone else nodded vigorously. Then he turned to Ducky, Petrie and Spike and added, "Thanks for finding them guys!"
Ducky smiled, "You're welcome!" Then she turned to Spike and told him, "Spike, you can have the big leaf, you can!"
Spike nodded excitedly, and Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie smiled and relaxed as they watched Spike joyfully eat the large leaf that had carried all the tree stars. Spike licked his lips happily as he finished, before he yawned, toppled over, and fell asleep, making loud, happy sleep rumbles.
Nightfall quickly fell over them, and Spike, full between his earlier snacks, dinner, and the carrying leaf for dessert, was all filled up and remained sound asleep. But Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie were all wide awake, sitting together on the hill with Spike sleeping by their side, and marveling at the twinkling, shiny stars in the great night sky while glowing buzzers peacefully glided around them.
"Well, I guess we're all on the same log now," Littlefoot smiled as he and Cera rubbed their heads against each other, closing their eyes in delight.
"I still cannot believe that you two are also in love!" Ducky exclaimed happily as she and Petrie hugged each other.
"Neither can I…and on top of it all, with a longneck!" Cera jokingly teased as Littlefoot, Petrie, and Ducky laughed along with her. Soon afterward though, Petrie sighed sadly and he looked at the ground.
"What's wrong Petrie?" Littlefoot asked him in concern.
"Me still worried. The grownups will be very, very mad at us!" Petrie replied.
"Don't worry Petrie, I think your mom will be fine if you give her time to get used to it. Same with your mom Ducky," Littlefoot told Petrie and Ducky comfortingly. Then he sighed, looked at the ground sadly, and told Cera, "But I don't know if your dad would ever accept me though."
"So what if he doesn't?" Cera told Littlefoot firmly. "Don't feel bad, Littlefoot, it's not your fault. My dad has always been an old grump, and he's just so stubborn! He even tried to take our family away from the Great Valley just to get me away from you. And your grandparents aren't much better, Littlefoot."
"Why?" Littlefoot asked, taken aback, and he stared at Cera worriedly.
"I overheard them talking about marrying you off to another longneck," Cera told him. "They were even talking about Mia and Cam."
Littlefoot frowned thoughtfully, and then he remembered how excited his grandparents were whenever Ali came to talk to him, or how well they seemed to tolerate Mia and Cam. "They can't do that," Littlefoot gasped desperately. "They can't take me away from you, Cera!"
"Well, we won't let them!" Cera exclaimed, stomping her foot determinedly. "If the grownups won't tolerate our love, then we won't be going back!"
"Petrie like that idea!" Petrie replied excitedly. "We just live right here in special place!"
"I like it too," Ducky piped up. "And so will Spike. There is lots of green food for him here, yep yep yep!"
"Then it's settled!" Cera declared. "Once we save Chomper and Ruby from the grownups…"
"And if the grownups won't accept our love for each other, we'll all live…" Littlefoot continued.
"Together!" everyone cheered in unison.
And bathed in the bright light of the night circle, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie each rubbed against their lover affectionately, smiling contentedly and staring off at the great night sky as they hopefully dreamed of their futures together.