"Je—Jean-Luc?" Bluey asked, still in wonder if he was really standing before her, "Is that... Is that really you?"

"Yes, Bluey," Jean-Luc replied with a deep smile, "It's me! Jean-Luc!"

Both of them were elated. They couldn't believe the other had remembered the other after such a long time.

Bluey stood up and ran towards him to give him a hug. "Jean-Luc! I can't believe it's really you!" she exclaimed, almost in tears, "It's been so long!"

Jean-Luc hugged her back. "I know," he said, "Way too long!"

For a moment, the two of them just stood there in a fond embrace with both their tails wagging in joy.

In the distance, Muffin was still worried for her book. "Bluey!" she called out, heading towards them, "Bluey!"

As much as Bluey wanted to remain in a state of just her and Jean-Luc, Muffin's voice brought her back into reality of the campgrounds.

"Bluey," Muffin said, stepping down the ledge towards them, "I don't want you to get one of my favorite books dirty." She then noticed Jean-Luc with Bluey. "Who's that?" she asked.

"Muffin, this is Jean-Luc," Bluey introduced, "He's a friend of mine from years back."

"Well, how come I've never met him before?" Muffin interrogated. She couldn't remember Jean-Luc from back then.

Bluey glanced at Jean-Luc. "Well, it's because I haven't seen him since we first met," she explained, "It's only now that he's returned in my life again."

Muffin was still very skeptical about the whole situation. "How can you two be friends if this is only your second time meeting him?" she questioned, "You haven't even seen him or talked to him all these years!"

Bluey chuckled sheepishly. "Well, yeah," she said, still glancing over at Jean-Luc, who also was chuckling at such a scenario. It was twelve years ago after all. "But he and I can catch up and be even more real friends, right, Muffin?" Bluey suggested.

"I guess," Muffin grumbled. She didn't like being one-upped in conversation. She merely walked up to Bluey and grabbed her book back. "Just please keep my books inside the caravan," she requested, changing the subject.

"Okay, Muffin," Bluey chuckled as her cousin walked off back to the caravan.

Again, Jean-Luc and Bluey were to themselves.

"I still can't believe you're here, Jean-Luc," Bluey said in amazement, facing him.

Jean-Luc smiled. "I can't either," he said, looking back at her with a smile. She grinned back.

"Come on," Bluey said, "I want you to meet everyone else. They must know you're here too!"

"Okay, sure" Jean-Luc agreed as Bluey tagged him along by the hand back to the caravan. The two of them ran.

"Mum! Dad!" Bluey called out, "Guess who's back here in Australia!"

Chilli was the first to notice the two of them. "Oh! It's, um, John Luke," she said, mistaking his name.

"No, Mum, it's 'Jean-Luc'," Bluey corrected with a giggle, wagging her tail.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jean-Luc," Chilli apologized, "What can I say? It's been ages, yeah?"

"It's okay," Jean-Luc said, "I know it's been a long time since I last saw Bluey. Twelve years!"

"Wow," Chilli commented in surprise, "And you can speak English now too, huh?"

"Yeah," Jean-Luc blushed, scratching the back of his head, "I've actually been studying really hard the past few years. I'm still a little off in some words, and I sometimes switch between my English and French. I just completed my mid-term exam in school for it, so I'm still learning."

"Ah, well, you could've fooled me," Chilli complimented, "You sound like a native speaker to me."

"Thank you," Jean-Luc said.

Bandit comes walking in, carrying some of tonight's firewood. At first, he didn't notice the two youngsters, but they still remember him from when they were much younger.

Bluey couldn't help but giggle from the memory. "Look, Jean-Luc, it's our old wild pig," she whispered over to him.

Jean-Luc softly chuckled. "Yeah," he nodded, forming boar tusks with his fingers, "Nôtre sanglier."

As Bandit put down the wood, he then noticed them. He, too, remembers their little hunting game from back then. "Ah!" he exclaimed, raising his arms, "The hunters are back to finish the job!" He then started to run from them, albeit not very far.

"Don't worry, Dad," Bluey laughed, "We're not out to hunt you. Well... Not today, at least."

Bandit then stopped running, panting rather heavily. "Okay, good," he panted, trying to catch his breath, "'Cause I think I'm starting to lose my stamina with all these games. Not as young as I used to be, kiddo." He sat down on a nearby stump to regain himself, which didn't take too long.

"I guess you remember Jean-Luc then," Bluey guessed.

"Yeah," Bandit said, standing back up from his makeshift seat, "Who could forget good ol' Jean-Luc?" With that, he playfully rubbed Jean-Luc on the head.

Bluey giggled as she watched Jean-Luc's hair get all scruffed up by Bandit. She knew better than anyone how unforgetable Jean-Luc was. She then had an idea. "Mum? Dad?" she asked, "Is it okay if I spend some time with Jean-Luc instead of going to the campfire tonight?"

Jean-Luc blushed heavily. Was Bluey implimenting that the two of them would be alone together that evening? Would that count as a date? He didn't know. Maybe.

"Please?" Bluey begged, trying to do her classic puppy-eyed look on her parents. Chilli looked as if she wouldn't mind. However, Bandit was wide-eyed in surprise from the request. He wasn't as keen on the idea as much as Chilli was.

"Of course," Chilli permitted before Bandit could get a chance to explain why he wasn't that agreeable to letting his teenage daughter be alone with a teenage boy at night. She was more lenient, but Bandit decided to simply let it go. No use arguing with her, especially if the end result would turn out the same anyway.

"Alright," Bandit hesitantly agreed, "But stay close enough to the caravan. Do I make myself clear, Bluey?"

"We will!" Bluey said excitedly, wagging her tail.

Jean-Luc was wagging his tail too. He was excited to spend time to catch up with Bluey. "Come on, Bluey," he said, "Let's see if my parents will let me spend time with you too!" He knew they would allow it, but he still didn't want to let them worry that he would still be out in the dark.

"Okay," Bluey said, and the two of them ran over to Jean-Luc's side of the camping grounds.

Jean-Luc's parents weren't as fluent in English as much as he was, so he had to ask them in their native tongue of French. The discussion about it wasn't that long.

"Did they say it was okay?" Bluey asked hopefully.

"Oui," Jean-Luc slipped, quickly correcting himself, "Yes, I can!"

Both their tails wagged heavily at the notion that they could spend the time together. They wanted to make this time count on getting to know each other and not miss out like when they were young kids.

The rest of the day, the two of them were inseperable. They swam in the creek, splashing each other, and took a quick hike through a short trail, all while talking about their lives during the years they were away from each other. At the end of the day, they decided to sit atop a hill where they could watch the sunset together. It simply was the perfect day.

The two of them sat close to each other.

Jean-Luc looked over at Bluey, feeling his heart beat. What was this feeling? Was Bluey experiencing the same? What if she wasn't? Could he live with that? So many questions!

Bluey looked back at Jean-Luc, causing them both to blush. The same thoughts raced through her mind. Only, she knew that Jean-Luc was still just visiting, so she decided to ask the one question she's been scared of the answer.

"So... How long will you be staying here in Australia, Jean-Luc?" she asked him, still fearful of a short answer.

"I... I actually don't know for sure," Jean-Luc replied, "In the past, we only stayed for about a week, then we had to go back to Montréal."

"Oh," Bluey said sadly. A week was much too short, especially since she felt that there was so much to say. She wasn't willing to have another twelve years go by without him.

Jean-Luc noticed her disappointment and tried to think of something to hopefully cheer her up. "Um," he uttered, "But since I found you, maybe I can talk to my parents into letting us stay longer." However, he knew that there was no guarantee on that as he still had to return in time for school. Deep in his mind, he was fearful that he had just made things worse of a promise that may or may not come to fruition.

Bluey knew that too, but the mere suggestion was enough to make her smile at least. "At least he wants to spend more time with me," she thought, "I just wish moments like this would just last forever."

"I'd really enjoy that," Bluey said, subconsciously placing her head on Jean-Luc's shoulder.

"I would too, Bluey," Jean-Luc agreed, laying his head against hers.

As the sun set down in the horizon, stars quickly began to twinkle one by one throughout the sky. Soon, the entire sky was flooded with them. The sight amazed the two of them. Both of them looked at each other, admiring each other in the growing starlight.

"Jean-Luc, I..." Bluey said, pausing before continuing. She still hesitated on wanting to admit these new feelings to him.

"What is it, Bluey?" Jean-Luc asked, wondering if everything was okay.

Bluey tried to think of something to cover herself. "I... I think we should start walking back," she improvised, slightly sad in her tone for what she had just suggested. The last thing she wanted was to be even slightly away from Jean-Luc again.

"Okay, Bluey," Jean-Luc said, also upset in his tone. He didn't want to be away from Bluey either, but he knew that they couldn't stay together forever, let alone all night.

They both stood up and began walking back towards the campgrounds.

Jean-Luc shyly grabbed Bluey's hand. They walked the rest of the way hand-in-hand.

"I really am glad you're back, Jean-Luc," Bluey told him, her eyes subtly glancing at him.

"Me too, Bluey," Jean-Luc said, looking at her warmly.

"And I wish you could just stay here forever," Bluey added.

Jean-Luc nodded in agreement. "I wish I could too," he said, "That would be the best thing ever!"

"Especially if it's with you," they both thought, too timid to say it aloud to each other.

It wasn't too long before they reached Bluey's camp.

Everyone greeted their return.

"So this is the great Jean-Luc we've been hearing about, yeah?" Trixie teased.

"Yeah," Bluey said, "He's back here now for a visit to Australia."

"Well, I hope you had a lot of fun this evening," Trixie continued.

"Oh, we did, Aunt Trixie," Bluey said, smiling as she turned her sights to Jean-Luc.

"I hope not too much fun," Bandit remarked.

"Bandit!" Chilli quietly reprimanded.

"Of course they had fun, Dad," Bingo said. She was more innocent about the idea of what two late teenagers that might like each other could possibly do alone. She walked over to Bluey and Jean-Luc. "Here you go," she said to them, handing over a couple flower crowns, "Socks and I made these waxflower crowns earlier."

"Aww!" Bluey cooed as she and Jean-Luc accepted the crowns, "Thanks, Bingo! They're so cute!" She placed the flower crown upon her head.

"Thank you," Jean-Luc also thanked, placing his crown on his head.

"Now you two can get married and be king and queen," Bingo teased with a playful giggle.

"What?" both of them exclaimed with heavy blushes.

"But they can't get married yet, Bingo," Muffin informed, "They haven't even kissed yet!" Muffin turned her attention to Bluey. "Have you?" she asked curiously.

"N-no, not yet!" Bluey stammered bashfully.

Bluey hadn't thought of it before, but the thought of kissing Jean-Luc made her heart flutter. Jean-Luc had the same thoughts about her. All he could do was hide a coy smile and stiffle a small giggle as his face grew redder from it.

"Well, thanks for walking me back, Jean-Luc," Bluey said, giving him a hug, "Do tell me you'll still be here tomorrow."

Jean-Luc hugged her back. "I will, Bluey," he said with a smile, "I did just come here today. We'll still be here another few days at least."

Both their tails wagged as the two remained in a brief tighter embrace. They then looked at each other before Jean-Luc began to walk back to his campsite, looking back and giving a wave. Bluey waved back, sighing contently from the day.

"Is it okay if I be excused for the rest of the night?" she asked, "I want to write in my diary about today."

"Sure, honey," Chilli granted in a sweet tone.

"Thanks!" Bluey said. With that, she headed back into her tent. She opened up her diary and began writing in it.

Hello my dear, sweet Diary,

Today has to be the best day of my life!

After all these years, I've finally met up with Jean-Luc! Can you believe it? I'm so excited that he's here again!

We actually spent the whole day, well, most of it, catching up. And going to the creek and a hike. It was so much fun! Then we watched the sunset on a hill.

Bluey hugged her diary and let out a passionate sigh before continuing. There was something that she wanted to write to reflect on.

Between you and me, Diary, I actually feel different around Jean-Luc. We are friends and all, but it just feels... deeper? I really don't know. My stomach's all butterflies and my heart beats all fast whenever we like, hold hands and stuff. And I kinda like it.

I wonder if he's getting the same sorta feelings too. And if he is, I wonder what that'd mean for both of us. Like, does this mean we'll be together forever?

Bluey thought for a moment on that before concluding.

TBH, I hope so. We'll just have to wait and see.

OOOXXX

Bluey

She then took out the little drawing of her and Jean-Luc from the back crease and took a look at it. Just like being around Jean-Luc, she couldn't help but have that flood of emotions take control over her. She gave the picture a hug before returning it to its treasured place. Bluey gently closed her diary and cuddled with it as she drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning, Bluey was the first to wake up among everyone in the site. She simply couldn't wait to spend another day with Jean-Luc. Since everyone was still asleep, she decided to leave a written note and leave it inside her parents' tent. She then ran over to where Jean-Luc and his family were staying.

Jean-Luc was also an early riser and was just about to go over to Bluey. They actually met each other halfway. He actually had some good news to share with Bluey and he couldn't wait to tell her.

"Bluey!" he said as they met up, "Do you remember yesterday when I told you I'd talk to my mom and dad about staying longer?"

"Yeah!" Bluey excitedly responded, wagging her tail in hopes for some good news.

"Well," Jean-Luc started, wagging his tail as well, "I talked with them last night when I got back, and since we did manage to find each other, they agreed to letting us have a longer vacation here in Australia!"

"Oh, Jean-Luc!" Bluey exclaimed, leaping into his arms to give him a tight hug, "That's wonderful news!"

"Yeah!" Jean-Luc agreed, hugging her back, "They said that since school starts in two weeks, we could stay a little longer than just a week. Even spend Christmas here!"

Bluey gasped. "This is going to be the best Christmas ever!" she said happily giving Jean-Luc a sweet smile. To have her long-lost friend spend the holiday with her was the best gift she could ever get right now. Nothing would be better. Seeing Bluey's smile made Jean-Luc smile in return. He was glad that he'd made his friend incredibly happy.

"Come on!" Bluey said, tugging Jean-Luc's hand for him to follow her, "Let's go tell my family the wonderful news!"

"Okay," Jean-Luc nodded as he began to follow her back to her camp.

Back at Bluey's grounds, the family was just starting to get up from their tents. Stripe and Trixie were getting the food out for breakfast. Bluey ran into Trixie first.

"Aunt Trixie," Bluey called out, "Have you seen Mum or Dad?"

"Yeah," she answered, "They just headed out by the creek to wash the sleep out of their faces." She pointed towards the creek's direction.

"Okay, thanks!" Bluey said as she and Jean-Luc ran to the creek, "By the way, Aunt Trixie, Jean-Luc is staying longer!"

"Good to hear!" Trixie responded, giving them a wave as the two disappeared through the brush.

At the creek, Bandit and Chilli were just about done washing their faces.

"Ah," Bandit sighed contently, ready to face the day, as Chilli handed him a hand towel, "That feels so much better!"

"Mum! Dad!" Bluey called out as she and Jean-Luc stepped down towards them.

"Oh, good morning, darl," Chilli greeted, "I see you found your old mate this morning after all."

"Yeah," Bluey said, "And he just told me some great news this morning when we met."

"Oh?" Chilli asked curiously, "And what's that?"

Bluey looked over at Jean-Luc to allow him to say the good news. "Go ahead, Jean-Luc," Bluey permitted, "You can tell them."

"Last night, my parents said that since Bluey and I found each other again after all these years, we could stay a bit longer!" Jean-Luc declared with a smile. Both his and Bluey's tail were wagging from hearing that news again.

"Aww, how wonderful!" Chilli cooed sweetly.

Bandit was both excited and cautious for his daughter. It was simply a father thing. "Yeah, that's wonderful, Bluey," he said, trying to go along with it and be happy for Bluey.

Bluey giggled as she shyly looked over at Jean-Luc. "So what do you want to do today, Jean-Luc?" she asked him.

Jean-Luc thought for a moment. Really anything would suit him just fine, as long as the two of them could spend time together. "How about a hike to explore a bit?" he suggested.

"Great idea!" Bluey gasped excitedly, "I can also show you this cavern we went to the other day! Muffin didn't care much at all about it, but maybe you will?" She had hopeful eyes that he would be willing to at least go see the cavern and not be too frightened by it.

"Sure," Jean-Luc chuckled, "Maybe we'll even see some scary bats!" He playfully used his fingers as fangs.

Bluey laughed. "Fruit bats aren't scary, Jean-Luc," she informed, "They're cute!"

Jean-Luc smiled.

"Come on," Bluey said, leading the way, "Let's go!" Jean-Luc followed close behind.

Bandit and Chilli watched them leave. Chilli was smiling at how cute the two of them were, but Bandit was more watchful.

"Don't go too far in!" he advised them.

"I think they'll be just fine, love," Chilli reassured, giving Bandit a kiss on his cheek. She knew that he was only looking out for Bluey, but she also had trust in their daughter.

Meanwhile, Bluey and Jean-Luc were hiking up to the cavern.

"So, Jean-Luc, what's it like in Montreal?" Bluey asked curiously, "Is it different than here in Australia?"

"Yes," Jean-Luc replied, "It's not as hot and we have lots of different animals there."

"Do you have fruit bats?" Bluey asked, "They're my favorite."

"Uh..." Jean-Luc stammered with a pregnant pause. He didn't want to upset her, but he didn't want to simply lie to her about it. "No, we don't," he sadly said.

"Oh," Bluey softly said in disappointment.

"But we do have bats!" Jean-Luc clarified, trying to make it up to her, "Just... Not ones that eat fruit."

"What do they eat then?" Bluey asked in wonderment. She didn't know that different bats ate different things.

"The ones we have in Canada eat things like bugs," Jean-Luc explained.

"Oh," Bluey said, deep in thought of the information for a brief moment, "Well, that's cool too! I guess I like any kind of bats then."

Jean-Luc smiled. At least he didn't scare Bluey off with insect-eating bats. Most others he knew are disgusted by the fact of the animal. Bluey was the first he knew with a positive reaction to them.

"What else do you like?" Jean-Luc asked curiously. He wanted to know everything about her.

"A lot of things, really, I guess," Bluey answered as she tried to think of things on the top of her head, "I like eating ice cream... Reading books... Listening to music... Having some creamer in my tea... Oh! And pavlova, of course."

"Pavolva?" Jean-Luc asked.

"It's like a fancy cake with things like fruits and cream on top of it," Bluey explained, "It's a real ripper!"

"Maybe we could try it some time," Jean-Luc blurted out without thinking. He blushed heavily as if he'd just suggested a date idea to Bluey.

Bluey blushed as well. "Maybe," she said, trying to subtly brush away her blush, "I'd... I'd actually kinda like that."

Jean-Luc smiled. Maybe he didn't bomb it between them after all. "Maybe after the camping trip?" he suggested.

"Sure," Bluey said, "My family always makes a pavlova for Christmas, so we can have it then."

Jean-Luc was thinking more of them going out to a café to have some, but for now, this was the best he could get, and he settled for it. "Okay," he said, still delighted at the idea, "That sounds great!"

Before more could be said between them, they finally reached the cavern.

"There it is!" Bluey exclaimed, pointing at it.

"Cool!" Jean-Luc commented as they both ran up to its entrance.

The two of them peered deep inside it.

"Did you see any fruit bats when you were last here?" Jean-Luc asked.

"No," Bluey said, taking a seat. It was a good hour of a hike uphill to get to the cavern. "Either they were still out or none just live here," she added.

"Oh," Jean-Luc said, sitting next to Bluey, "I hope they're just still out. I'd like to see the bats."

"Yeah," Bluey said hopefully, "I'd really like to see them too."

The two sat there for a few moments. Bluey decided to doodle in the mud.

"Oh, yeah," she mentioned, "I also like to draw."

Jean-Luc began to draw with her. "Me too," he said, trying to doodle along with her, "I draw a lot!"

They drew themselves first. Then Bluey drew a hill below them. Jean-Luc drew a creek at the bottom. Then Bluey made the trees. Jean-Luc, the cavern. Then they both decided to have a bit of fun drawing a big scribble above them to represent the bats flying into the cave, giggling as they scrambled their arms around about until their fingers eventually bumped into each other. Their doodling had stopped, but their laughter continued.

"This was fun," Bluey chuckled, wishing that their drawing was on paper as a keepsake.

"Yeah," Jean-Luc agreed with a sigh, at first looking at the fun scribble, then at Bluey, "Fun."

Bluey looked back at Jean-Luc and the two of them locked eye contact for a moment, realizing how much they liked each other at that magical moment. Slowly, they moved in closer to each other...

SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

A whole swarm of bats came zooming right by them to enter their cavern home.

The experience caused the two dogs to stop. They stood up, jumping in laughter as the bats flew past them.

"They do live in here!" Bluey exclaimed, "Wait till I tell everyone about them!"

"I can't believe that just happened!" Jean-Luc panted in excitement as he looked into the cavern while the last remaining bats echoed their way inside it.

"Yeah," Bluey agreed, "That was great!"

The two of them stood as they watched the cavern from the entrance, eventually having the bats go silent on their perches to sleep for the day.

Bluey was torn on what to do. "I still want to explore the cavern and show you inside," she stated, "But I don't want to disturb the bats resting."

"Maybe we can go do something else?" Jean-Luc asked.

"Like what?" Bluey wondered.

Jean-Luc thought for a moment. "I have an idea," he said, "Let's go to our tree. I want to show you something."

"Okay," Bluey agreed, wagging her tail in curiosity of what Jean-Luc wanted to show her.

The two of them headed back down to the campgrounds and to the tree that they had planted all those years ago. It truly had grown in the past twelve years.

"So what was it that you wanted to show me, Jean-Luc?" Bluey asked curiously.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd want our names written on the tree," Jean-Luc suggested bashfully.

"Okay!" Bluey blushed, "That way, it'll always be our tree; a little something that's ours here."

Jean-Luc smiled and began to carve onto the tree's trunk with both of them looking at their initials in admiration afterwards.

JL

BH