Chapter 23: A Three-Way Talk

Littlefoot said goodbye to his friends and the rainbow faces before he followed Bron out of the cave. The sky was dark and stormy and the wind was howling, but Bron seemed unperturbed. "Littlefoot, would you mind if we went in the cave next to ours?" he asked. "Just we're going to have to talk about a serious subject, and I don't think we can talk as well with the baby clubtails around. Don't worry, Shorty promised to keep a close eye on them."

"Okay," Littlefoot answered, and they walked into the cave after Bron's and Shorty's cave, which was relatively small but comfortable enough for the two longnecks to settle in.

"So Littlefoot," Bron told him as they sat down. "Time sure has gone by."

"Yeah, I guess it has," Littlefoot answered, not sure where Bron was going.

Bron then looked at Littlefoot and asked him, "So…I presume that if you manage to save the Great Valley from the eggstealers and convince everyone that Chomper is innocent, you'd want to return there?"

Littlefoot sighed, and shook his head. "Dad…even if that happens…I'm not sure if I can go back there."

Bron looked at Littlefoot thoughtfully, "That is very mature thinking for someone of your age," he said.

Littlefoot looked at Bron in surprise, confused with his reaction. Bron then sighed and told Littlefoot, "Littlefoot, I don't know if you've realized this, but your grandparents are getting old."

"I know," Littlefoot told him sadly. "They don't tell me because they don't want me to worry about them...but I can tell."

"So naturally…I'm concerned about your future. You must be thinking about which herd you would like to join once they cross over to the heavenly beyond. I don't want to push in any way, but well…how would you like to join my herd? Shorty and I have been missing you and we fondly remember the times when we met before. We would be delighted if you came along with us, and I'm sure you'll make plenty of great new friends in our herd."

"Well," Littlefoot hesitated. The idea of being with Bron and Shorty again sounded nice to him, but he had a question. "Would you allow my friends to come with me too?"

Bron smiled at Littlefoot, but did not answer. Littlefoot continued, "Me and my friends live for each other and we've always been together through thick and thin."

"That's right," came a voice from outside the cave entrance. Littlefoot and Bron looked out, and saw that Cera had been peering in from outside, listening in on their conversation. Littlefoot felt touched with Cera's presence, knowing that she was willing to overcome her fear of storms to check on him.

"Miss Threehorn," Bron told her sternly. "This was a conversation that was between Littlefoot and myself."

"Well, if it involves Littlefoot, it involves me too," Cera replied stubbornly, and she shuffled into the cave and sat next to Littlefoot. "Littlefoot has a special place in my heart, and if he's going somewhere, I'm gonna go with him."

Bron sighed. "I wouldn't mind if you came along, and I'm sure Shorty wouldn't either. But some of the other longnecks might not take kindly to having a threehorn in their herd, or a swimmer, flyer, or spiketail for that matter. It would…upset tradition, I hope you would understand."

"Well Dad," Littlefoot told him. "If that's the case, I'm sorry, but… I can't go along with you. As Cera said, if I'm involved, she's involved. We really care for each other, and we'll always be together."

"That's very nice," Bron told Littlefoot gently. "But you two are still kids and you don't fully understand how the world works. It's tradition for adults to go off and stay within their own kinds."

"That may be how things usually work," Littlefoot told Bron. "But we're not usual, and we never have been. Most kids prefer to stay within their own herd and befriend others only within their own species. But we don't care about species, for we all are friends with each other for who we are even if we are of different kinds."

"That's right," Cera told Bron. "And I know the problems of specieism better than anyone else. I've not only seen herd segregation, I was raised on it! My dad actively discouraged me from playing with anyone who was not a threehorn and told me all about how we threehorns were too good to be with anyone else. I believed him, and so I too looked down on everyone who wasn't a threehorn. But after getting to know Littlefoot, he showed me that…I was wrong, and now I know that if I stuck with my dad's advice, I wouldn't have the best friends I could ever find!"

Littlefoot smiled tenderly at Cera, touched with her comments, for it was so rare that she ever admitted that she was wrong. Bron smiled softly at them. "That's really great that you care about each other and your other friends like that," Bron told Littlefoot and Cera. "But you should also look further out into the future and consider what's best for both of you. Someday in the future, you might fall in love with the most wonderful dinosaur in the world that you can't even imagine of yet, and you and your lover will have the responsibilities of raising a family in your herd. Your spouses might not like that you would be going off to see your friends from other herds all the time instead of paying attention to them and your kids. It's a tough balancing act, I'll tell you. If you try to tell your spouse about how closely you feel toward your friends, they might never understand, and if they don't, it could lead to an unhappy relationship in the long run."

Littlefoot and Cera looked uneasily at each other. Then, nervously but resolutely, Littlefoot looked at his father passionately and said, "Dad, I… I won't be falling in love with anyone in the future."

"Neither will I," Cera told Bron firmly, looking at Bron with that same passion.

"How do you know that?" Bron asked Littlefoot and Cera skeptically. "You two are awfully young to be making decisions like that."

Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other again, and at that moment, they knew they had to tell Bron. "We know because…Littlefoot and I love each other," Cera told him.

Bron gasped in shock and he looked at Littlefoot incredulously, who nodded. "I've loved Cera for as long as I can remember. I didn't even realize it most of the time, since I care about all of my friends so much but… I've always had special feelings for her. I've been having sleep stories of her for ages now, and I love everything about her with all my heart." Cera's eyes couldn't help but to well up with tears as Littlefoot looked passionately at his father.

Bron nodded with Littlefoot in understanding, yet he looked at Littlefoot with great concern. "Littlefoot," Bron began, "I want to respect your feelings, but…she's a threehorn!"

"So?" Cera asked. "Just because we're different doesn't mean that we can't love each other! It's been the same for me as with Littlefoot. I've had sleep stories about him all the time, and whenever he's with me, I always feel warm and happy inside…we feel like we're…part of each other!"

Littlefoot smiled softly at Cera, touched with her words, and then looked at Bron and told him, "Dad…Cera and I have been part of each other's lives ever since we took our first journey to the Great Valley together. Sure, we've had our ups and downs, and we've fought a lot, but no matter how much we've argued, we've always really cared about each other. We've been best of friends for so many years now, yet we feel an even greater bond between us. We've felt like this for a long time now, and…we know that…our lives wouldn't be the same without each other, and… we want to be together forever."

Bron saw how bright and passionate Littlefoot's eyes were, and his heart couldn't help but to melt, for he knew exactly how Littlefoot was feeling. He sighed, reminiscing about the time when he fell in love himself, and recalling those passionate emotions he felt whenever he and his wife were together. Bron stood there, deep in thought, for many seconds. Then he took a deep breath, sighed, and looked down at Cera. "Miss Threehorn…"

"Call me Cera," Cera told him gently. "Try to see me for who I am and not what I am."

"Okay, Cera…" Bron said. Then he looked seriously at her and asked, "Are you absolutely sure that you want to go through with this? Keep in mind that many threehorns, including from what I've heard your dad, might try to expel you from your herd, and you and Littlefoot could become outcasts from all of society forever."

"Yes, Bron," Cera told him, looking at him seriously. "I know our love might not be accepted," Cera admitted. "But our feelings for each other are so strong that we'd be willing to face anything as long as we can be together."

Bron nodded slowly, before asking, "Cera, you must promise me something. You must be sure that your feelings for Littlefoot are those that you won't ever have for anyone else. Do you promise that no matter what might happen in your future, no matter how many handsome threehorns you might run into, that your heart will still belong only to Littlefoot? Think about this carefully, for I do not want my son to have his heart broken because he fell into a reckless relationship. So please Cera, may I ask, are you truly in love with him?"

Cera looked thoughtfully into Bron's eyes, and he saw that her eyes were just as passionate and bright as Littlefoot's. "Littlefoot and I…really care about each other," Cera told him gently but firmly. "We've always cared for each other in a very special way, and I know that no matter what else might happen, one thing will always be certain, that Littlefoot and I will always remain in each other's hearts."

Bron sighed, and paused for a long time, looking at Littlefoot and Cera seriously. At last, his stern look turned into a slight smile, "Well… Littlefoot, Cera… I underestimated you two." He cleared his throat, and a tear fell from his eye as he smiled, "You two remind me of me and Patty," Bron smiled, clarifying, "Your mom, Littlefoot…" Then he cleared his throat, and smiled, "You two have shown me that you are completely committed to each other… I can tell that you two have really deep feelings for each other, and I know that…you two should follow your hearts and spend the rest of your lives together."

Littlefoot and Cera looked delightedly at each other, hardly able to comprehend what Bron had just said. Then Littlefoot happily rubbed his neck against Bron's and told him gently, "Thanks Dad…"

Bron nodded, and then he looked down at Cera and gave her a warm smile. "I just want to let you know that I am so happy that… Littlefoot has found such wonderful love in you, and I am honored to have you as my future daughter-in-law."

Cera nodded, and she smiled gently at Bron. "Thank you Bron…"

Bron nodded, and then he told them, "I wish you both the best in your relationship," and with that, he walked out, leaving Littlefoot and Cera together in the cave, looking into each other's eyes and happily snuggling against each other, knowing that they had finally convinced one of the grownups to support their love for each other.