Chapter 34: Discussing the Future
Turning, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ruby and Chomper noticed that Tricia was bounding over to them, her eyes alive with excitement. "That was one amazing fight!" she said, grinning broadly. "I saw everything! You guys were awesome, you really showed that sharptooth! And thanks for rescuing us! Come on, you've got to tell the grownups about this! They're amazed!"
The kids looked sadly at each other, before Cera walked over to her half-sister, bent down to her, and softly told her, "Tricia…I'm afraid we can't come back."
"No!" Tricia gasped, her eyes wide with horror. "Cera, you have to come back!" Tricia cried, her eyes overflowing with tears. "You're my big sis! I've missed you so much already! And…I've always looked up to you! You can't go sis, you just can't!"
Cera sighed sadly, and wrapped her leg around Tricia's shaking body and gave her a big hug. "I'm sorry, Tricia…we don't want to leave the Great Valley either. It's just that we'd never be accepted here anymore."
"And who says you wouldn't?" came a familiar voice. From the path that led to the Great Valley, the kids noticed that Grandpa Longneck was coming up to talk to them. Accompanying him were Grandma Longneck, Topps, Tria, Mama Swimmer, Mama Flyer, Ali, Bron, and Shorty. All of whom were now watching Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper and Ruby and were surrounding them from all sides. The kids looked nervously at each other, knowing that they were completely surrounded.
Looking at each other in horror, they began to look for a way to escape, but before they could make a move, Grandma Longneck asked, "Please children, before you make any rash choices, you should listen to what we have to say."
Seeing that there was no way to escape, the kids stayed put and sat down, desperately wondering how they were going to get out of this. Ali, meanwhile, stretched her neck and placed some healing flowers in front of them as they began to plan together about how to break away.
"You can eat," Grandma Longneck told them gently. "They'll help you feel better." The kids looked at each other, and not seeing how it could hurt to eat, leaned forward and began to eat the healing flowers, feeling many of the injuries they had accumulated from their fights begin to fade away.
Grandpa Longneck then asked them, "Now, why do you feel that you won't be accepted in the Great Valley anymore? After all, you just saved all of our lives by defeating Redclaw and all of those fast biters, not to mention the lives of all of those babies you saved from the eggstealers."
"Yeah, if anything, you've proven to us that you all are really heroic!" Mama Swimmer piped up encouragingly.
The kids looked at each other in silence, not knowing where to start. The parents looked expectantly at them as Chomper moved forward and cleared his throat. "Mr. Longneck…it's partly because of me. You see, I can't trust myself to be with you guys anymore. I'm not able to live off stinging buzzers anymore, and now the only consistent food source that I could eat here would be...you guys," he gulped. "I can't trust myself not to be a threat anymore, so I have to live away from the Great Valley to keep you safe."
"But Chomper," Mama Swimmer told him. "We trust you completely. We saw you in the fight down there, and you really helped us against those eggstealers and fast biters. Not only that, but we also saw that you did a great job with fighting Redclaw up there."
"What's more," Mama Flyer added, "You had nothing to do with the scheme, and you were unfairly accused and scorned by us. But despite how we mistreated you, you remained loyal to us, coming back here and helping to defend the Great Valley from our attackers. We're sorry for everything, Chomper, for you're a part of our Great Valley family and we want you to know that."
Chomper smiled weakly. "Thanks," he sighed. "But still…you can't ignore what I did. I walked up to Mia, and I almost bit her neck..."
"Yeah," came another voice. Turning back, everyone saw that Cam and Mia were walking over to them, leading the search party back to the Great Valley, all of whom smiled at Chomper apologetically, feeling terrible for what they had done. Mia then walked up to Chomper and sighed, "Chomper…you were supposed to get close to my neck. The only reason that you got as close as you did was that one of those eggstealers baited you with fresh meat while you were asleep. Of course you'd follow the meat if your mind is asleep and only your starving body is awake! If it were me, I would've gone for the food too. This is not your fault, Chomper, it's mine. I'm to blame for all of this. If only I didn't trust those eggstealers…"
Mia and Cam looked sadly to the grownups, and began to cry. "We're really sorry," Cam gasped.
"If only I didn't open my big mouth to that eggthief," Mia sighed.
"We learned of the real reason why you did this from the eggstealers," Grandma Longneck told them kindly. "We know that all you really wanted to do was to protect everyone from danger. But you know, if you just asked any of the children, they would have told you all you needed to know about Chomper and none of this would've ever happened."
"You're right…we shouldn't have tried to deceive you, we were just being stupid," Cam sighed.
"You may have made a bad choice," Grandpa Longneck told them. "But your heart was in the right place, and Shorty tells us that you two did a great job of fighting the eggstealers once you realized their intentions, so you have our forgiveness. But if something like this happens again, remember your mistakes here and make sure you don't jump to conclusions too quickly."
Cam and Mia smiled weakly, before they walked back to rejoin their herd. Then Grandma Longneck said, "I think that there is someone else here we need to forgive."
Everyone looked expectantly at her, not knowing who she was about to thank. Then she explained, "If it hadn't been for Pterano, we would've not known about Mia's leaf as soon as we did."
"And don't forget that he came to warn us about the attack even though we didn't listen," Mama Swimmer added.
"And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have my baby with me right now," Mr. Clubtail continued, smiling at his daughter playing with his feet. "So…where are our other children?"
"They are in a cave in the back, yep yep yep," Ducky explained happily.
Then Mr. Clubtail placed his baby on his back and the four clubtails walked up to Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike and smiled at them. Mrs. Clubtail sighed, "We are really sorry for blaming you with our eggs' disappearance. We were just scared and caught up in the hysteria. And I'm sure everyone else feels the same way too," and the whole search party nodded apologetically.
Mr. Clubtail added, "You kids have done a great job. Even though none of us believed you, you kept right on going and did what you knew was right," and the rest of the search party murmured in agreement.
"Thank you," Littlefoot told them gently, as Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike nodded with him.
"Please accept all of our humblest apologies," Mrs. Clubtail's sister told them, and the search party nodded as the kids smiled back at them.
"So, back to you Pterano…" Mama Flyer told him, giving him a gentle hug. "If I recall correctly, your punishment is over. So how would you like to return to the Great Valley?"
"I'd like to," Pterano explained sadly. "But…I still feel terrible about what I did to Mrs. Threehorn and the herd…"
"Well," Mr. Threehorn growled. "There's no point denying that I despised you for a while. And I will never fully forget that night when I saw my first wife and most of my children for the last time. But you've matured since then, and I respect that. You've proven your worth with everything you've done just now, and I'm sure that you would not do what you did before again. So…I welcome you to come back."
Pterano bowed, "Thank you Mr. Threehorn. You made me feel better about myself. And I promise, I'll be a different flyer than when I was before." And the other parents nodded, accepting Pterano's return.
Then everyone turned to face Chomper. "So Chomper, back to your food problem," Grandpa Longneck began. "Did you eat while you were out?"
Chomper nodded before saying, "I ate eggstealers. But there can't be many of them left now, not after the battle and all."
"True," Grandpa Longneck told him thoughtfully. "But…there are other ways to be a sharptooth and not hurt anybody here."
Chomper looked at Grandpa Longneck bewilderedly, but Grandma Longneck smiled down at him. "That's right," she said gently. "Not many sharpteeth have followed these other paths, but few of them have the compassion, courage, and love that you have that allows you to overcome your instincts, Chomper."
"You put up quite a fight against that Redclaw," Topps said admiringly. "If you could put up such a good fight against the toughest sharptooth of all, I reckon that you can take on the other sharpteeth that want to attack the Great Valley. There are plenty of fast biters that have their eyes on the Great Valley, and probably some bigger sharpteeth are looking at us too, and that's not to mention that there will always be eggstealers on the prowl. But you've proven you're tough already, and you still have got some growing to do. So I think…you could make an excellent guard for us."
"Really?" Chomper asked, his eyes brightening excitedly.
Topps nodded. Grandpa Longneck then said, "Another way for you to get food is for you to scavenge in the Mysterious Beyond. While it may not be the most pleasant idea in the world, you won't have to kill anybody and at the same time you would satisfy your hunger and you won't be hungry in the Great Valley again."
Chomper nodded, pondering both ideas. But suddenly, everyone paused. They had completely forgotten through all of the commotion that Mama and Papa Sharptooth were still lying on the ground. But everyone remembered and gasped as the two sharpteeth got up. Concernedly, the two of them walked up to Chomper. Instantly, everyone noticed how they staggered while they walked, for Redclaw's bites left, deep permanent injuries on their legs. They looked at the other Great Valley dinosaurs, growled softly and nodded friendlily, and Chomper smiled. "They're my mom and dad. They just promised that they won't eat anyone here."
Everyone nodded in understanding, before Mama and Papa Sharptooth turned to face Chomper.
"So Chomper," Mama Sharptooth told him. "Am I understanding that you're not eating well?"
"Yes," Chomper answered. "But I've sworn off eating all leaf-eater meat! I haven't eaten any in years and I won't start now!"
To Chomper's surprise, Mama and Papa Sharptooth smiled. "Neither have we," Papa Sharptooth explained.
"What?" Chomper asked bewilderedly.
Mama Sharptooth nodded. "You've wondered where we've been for all of these years? We've remained trapped on the Mysterious Island."
Chomper gasped, and Papa Sharptooth explained, "You know why we sent you with Ruby in the first place? You wonder why Elsie brought Ruby here and took you and her back? Because the land bridge we took to go to the island had been destroyed, and we didn't want you to grow up stranded on a desolate island. Time passed, and thanks to the confinements of the island, it was easy to hunt down everything left. In fact, we were so good at hunting that we…quickly killed all other life on the island."
"So…why didn't you starve?" Chomper asked.
"Well, we were worried about that for a while," Mama Sharptooth explained. "But that all changed one day when we were on the beach, looking for a way back to land. It was then when we found an odd creature washed up on the beach. It was long and narrow, had fins on its sides and a really big one on its back, and had a mouth that was filled to the brim with enormous, very sharp teeth."
Chomper looked at his parents puzzledly, before Papa Sharptooth explained, "We never saw a creature like this before, but we were starving and had no choice but to try it out. The taste started out kind of strange to us, but we knew we had to eat it to survive."
"The one thing we could say about it was that it was very filling," Mama Sharptooth explained. "We then looked for more of these swimming sharpteeth, and quickly figured out that they could be found in the big water around us. It was then that we realized we finally found our food source."
Papa Sharptooth continued, "With practice, we've gotten good at catching the swimming sharpteeth in the big water, and then eating them. And with time, the taste grew on us, so much so that when we finally made it to the mainland, we missed that taste. We now like eating swimming sharpteeth like nothing else, and the large herds of leafeaters don't stimulate us anymore like they used to."
"Besides, we can't hunt on land anymore," Mama Sharptooth explained. "Redclaw delivered serious bites to our legs, and thanks to our age, there is no way for us to recover and we've become crippled. We are in no condition to stalk herds of dinosaurs anymore without facing certain death. But in the water, we don't need to run, we could just lean forward and grab the swimming sharpteeth as they pass. So Chomper…we've turned from land sharpteeth to big water sharpteeth. And there's a huge area of big water right nearby the Great Valley that is filled with swimming sharpteeth to eat. There's a cave right there where we have settled, for we've missed you a lot and we want to spend time with you again. We would really like it if you came and lived with us, and because our cave is so near to the Great Valley, you can go there as much as you like. Once we show you how to hunt and you get used to the taste, you can eat to your hearts' content with delicious food and you won't have to worry about hurting anyone ever again."
Chomper nodded, and hugged his parents, and said, "Thanks Mom…Dad…" and Mama and Papa Sharptooth licked him gently.
Then Chomper turned to the others and explained everything that Mama and Papa Sharptooth said.
"See Chomper?" Grandpa Longneck told him gently when he finished. "There are plenty of ways for you to satisfy your diet without being a threat to any of us. The only reason why you were a possible threat to us before was that you were starving yourself, and anyone can lose control of themselves if they are starving. But once you eat regularly and comfortably, you won't lose control of your hunger, and so you won't ever be a threat to us again."
Chomper smiled happily, but then he looked down and sighed. "I still can't go back… because my friends can't go back."
The parents looked at each other with a nervous expression, and at once, the other parents worriedly looked at Topps, who looked out at the kids with a blank expression on his face. The parents were silent for a while before Grandma Longneck finally asked, "Well Chomper…why can't they come back?"
Chomper sighed, and looked at Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie, all of whom looked very nervous. Then he said, "I think you better let them explain."
With their hearts filled with dread, Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie looked at each other nervously and slowly walked up to their parents, knowing that the time to tell their parents had come.
"Grandma, Grandpa, Mr. Threehorn, Mrs. Threehorn, Ms. Swimmer, Ms. Flyer," Littlefoot said politely, looking at each one of them with his bright, passionate eyes. "For a long time now, we have been really close to our friends. But we recently realized that we also have…other feelings involved in our friendships."
"We've all had these feelings for a long time," Cera told them, her eyes gleaming just as passionately as Littlefoot's. "But we've kept these feelings secret because we thought that we could never satisfy them."
"But on our trip, we realized, that…our feelings are mutual," Ducky added, her eyes also glinting with that same passion. "We all feel connected, for we all have that same warm, happy feeling inside, we do."
"And me and friends know that there no way we be happy if we can't follow our hearts," Petrie said with that same passionate glimmer in his eyes. "Our feelings will never die and we know we feel this way forever."
"So, I guess what we're trying to say is," Littlefoot nervously began, but before he could say another word, Spike rushed forward to join them. He gently nudged Cera over to Littlefoot and Ducky over to Petrie. Then he walked in front of his friends and stared at the parents determinedly, and then abruptly, he opened his mouth, and to everyone's shock, words began to pour out of his mouth.
"Ducky with Petrie…Littlefoot with Cera…friends in love…I want friends happy," Spike said in a slow, clear voice as he gave the parents a firm look directly into their eyes.
The parents gasped, and looked down to find that Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie were all nodding. The parents looked into Littlefoot's, Cera's, Ducky's, and Petrie's eyes to find that a blazing, heartfelt passion was inside all of their eyes, as they looked at their parents firmly. "You all are sure about the way you feel, right?" Grandpa Longneck asked them, and Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie nodded. Grandpa Longneck sighed, before saying, "Well then…I will gladly offer my support for your relationships!"
Littlefoot and Cera and Ducky and Petrie looked at each other, hardly daring to believe their ears. Grandma Longneck continued, "I don't see why you shouldn't be able to marry anyone you love. Now that I've thought about it, it really doesn't matter to me that you are of different species, for we have been able to live together so peacefully that together we're really a herd of our own. And knowing how close you all are to each other already, I'm sure your relationships are very heartfelt and will give you all a wonderful future."
Nodding in disbelief, the kids gasped as Tria nodded along in agreement. "As long as you follow your hearts, you can be sure that you are on the right path in life. If you deeply care about someone in a special way that you don't feel for anyone else, you should be together with that special someone no matter what might get in your way. And knowing how passionate you guys are, I'm sure that you will be great lovers who will support each other through thick and thin."
"I think I can speak for all of us in saying that what we want most for you in a lover is someone who would make you happy," Mama Swimmer told them. Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, Tria, Mama Swimmer, and Mama Flyer all quickly nodded, but Topps remained still, oddly quiet as he looked to be stuck in deep thought. "It doesn't matter to me at all about species and it never will. Just look at how well Spike fit in our family, Ducky. If I can raise a child of a different species, I am sure that you can each have lifelong, unforgettable relationships with your lover, no matter what species they are."
"I agree," Mama Flyer added. "Just by watching you guys, I can tell that you are deeply connected with your lover. And you should know that as long as you remain happy with your lover, we will be happy too."
Then, there was a long silence. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie, looked at each other, hardly daring to believe that they had the support of nearly all of their parents. But then they looked at each other nervously, knowing that the most rigid parent of all still had not spoken yet. They knew that if Topps came out against their relationships, he would do anything to try and stop them from being together, and that they could not truly be happy living in the Great Valley under his constant, angry disapproval.
In a matter of seconds, the whole crowd was watching Topps, from the kids to the other parents to all of the other Great Valley dinosaurs. Topps looked out at the crowd expressionlessly, his eyes very difficult to read. Everyone waited with baited breath as Topps closed his eyes and began to think. A fierce internal battle had resumed in his head, flaring ever since he saw Littlefoot bravely fighting by Cera's side as they fought against the eggstealers and fast biters. He thought about how it completely went against the values he was raised on for a threehorn, let alone his daughter, to marry a longneck, and worried that there was no way such an unprecedented relationship could work out in the end. But as he thought that, he looked out at Littlefoot and Cera, standing side by side as they have done for all of those years, looking deeply into each other's eyes, just as he had done when he fell in love himself…
Then, at last, Topps opened his eyes. A breathtaking silence filled the cliff as he took a few steps forward and looked directly at Littlefoot and Cera. He remained silent for a few more seconds, before he cleared his throat, and in a stern voice, he said, "I want to make sure that my daughter finds a good husband in a threehorn."
The effect of Topps' words was immediate. Everyone gasped as Topps continued to stare sternly at Littlefoot and Cera, who looked at each other's eyes and saw that their feelings of horror were reflected there. Hurriedly, Littlefoot and Cera looked from side to side, trying to see a way in which they could escape, wondering if they could dare make a break for it.
"But when I say that," Topps called out, and everyone quieted down once as they silently watched him. Then Topps paused, and Littlefoot and Cera looked at each other again, their hearts rapidly beating with fear of what he was going to say next. Topps then took a deep breath and continued, "I mean that I want Cera to be with someone who has the heart of a threehorn. Someone who is brave and caring and completely loyal to her."
He then became silent once again, and he took a few steps closer to Littlefoot and Cera, who watched him as their hearts pounded like they never had before. Topps then stared at Littlefoot's bright, passionate eyes, examining them in a way he had never done with anyone else's. Then at last, he sighed, and while still staring at Littlefoot, he gently said, "And now I realize that you have just the heart I've always hoped for, Littlefoot."
Everyone gasped as Topps, still looking at Littlefoot, changed his stern expression to that of a soft, little smile, and then he rubbed his frill against Littlefoot, accepting Littlefoot as his son-in-law. Then with silence, Topps walked back to join the rest of the parents, all looking at him with the same shocked expression, before he took a couple of steps closer to Tria, who cried tears of joy as he smiled gently at her and nodded. Littlefoot and Cera looked into each other's eyes, hardly daring to believe their ears. They knew that they must've been in a blissful sleep story, and Littlefoot closed his eyes and gently kicked himself to see if he would wake up. But when he opened his eyes again, nothing had changed, for all of the parents were still looking out at them, each softly smiling. Still in disbelief, Littlefoot stuttered as he asked, "You mean…you really accept our relationships?"
All of the parents, even Topps, smiled and nodded at him. "Yes, we do, Littlefoot," Grandpa Longneck quietly told him. "And not only do we accept your relationships, but we are delighted with them, for we all know that each of you have fallen in love with someone who is just as wonderful as you are."
"So what are we waiting for?" Topps cheered, as everyone looked stunned at his sudden change of heart. "Let's begin to plan the weddings!"
And with that, the whole crowd began to erupt in a huge bout of cheering. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie each looked into their lover's eyes, hardly daring to believe what had just happened. Then it began to sink in. Slowly, it dawned upon them that everyone would appreciate their love, and they could all live in the Great Valley while still being open with their relationships. As they ran these thoughts over and over through their heads, they felt smiles that grew larger and larger creep across their faces, and they looked into their lover's eyes to find that they looked just as thrilled and overjoyed as they felt.
Then, Ducky and Petrie gleefully looked at each other and reached out to give each other a big, delighted hug, and as they did so, they felt tears of joy roll down their faces and gave each other kiss after kiss, grinning madly the whole time. At the same time, Littlefoot and Cera rubbed their cheeks together affectionately, still at a complete loss for words as they looked into each other's elated, overjoyed eyes, teary with happiness. Then they delightedly snuggled against each other and gave each other several long, passionate kisses as the crowd continued to cheer as it had never done before.
"Well, since we all know each other so well and we all want to see both weddings, why don't we throw a double wedding?" Mama Flyer suggested.
The crowd began to murmur excitedly as the kids looked out at the parents, still with shocked, joyous expressions on their faces. "Oh yes yes yes!" Ducky gasped happily. "I would love to have our wedding with Littlefoot and Cera's, I would!"
"Me like idea too!" Petrie exclaimed. "That way we make our special moments together!"
"Yeah, a double wedding would be a blast!" Cera cheered. "It'll give us even more reason to celebrate!"
Littlefoot smiled, and added, "I like that idea too! It will be a nice reminder for all of us of that we will all be friends forever!"
And everyone cheered as Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky and Petrie led the way to the Great Valley, with Spike, Chomper, Ruby, Ali and Shorty closely on their tails, followed by their parents and the rest of the Great Valley residents. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, and Petrie looked into their lover's eyes, knowing that they could happily live in the Great Valley with their lover by their side and upon realizing that, they knew that the dreams they have been yearning for have finally come true.