Okay, so in the summer of 2017, I had decided to write some simple DuckyxPetrie love story, titled "Secret Love," and it was met with great reception on here. It became my FanFiction highlight of a year in which I went through so many family struggles, such as my stepfather's near-fatal injury, my grandmother's loss to cancer, and having to move because our old landlord turned evil. Thankfully, those hard times are well past me now, and the last year and a half have shown great improvements.

Anyways, since "Secret Love" was my first "successful" LBT story here, and because I remembered so little about the series at the time, I knew that at some point I'd think about writing it again after I joined the Gang of Five forum, because now that I look at it, there are many things that could have been done differently. So, this new version you'll be seeing here will be drastically different from my 2017 version. There will be differences in the storyline, and there will be some other changes here and there. My friend, TimeLordMaster108 also requested that I include references to my previous prompt entries, so perhaps you could consider certain stories like, "Waters Rise, Illness Flies" and "A Broken Family" to be some sort of prelude to what you'll see here.

Fittingly enough, since it's the first of February, and this month's prompt obviously involves romance to coincide with Valentine's Day, I will be entering this as my entry for the February prompt on the Gang of Five, even though it will contain many chapters. The original story had 30 chapters, so I thought that perhaps I could post a new chapter once every two days all the way up to the prompt's due date at the end of March, and it should be finished just in time by then. This will by far be my longest prompt entry to date, and I don't know if I'll ever make one this long again.

I initially didn't want to post this here, since there already is a much-liked version here, but I decided to read through the guidelines at the last minute and realized that it was mandatory to post a prompt entry on this site, so yeah, I suppose you will get quite a surprise.

Finally, I'll just let it out that I am a proud DuckyxPetrie shipper, so to anyone who isn't a DuckyxPetrie shipper and happens to come across this story, I at least hope you'll find the story itself enjoyable as it progresses over time, as I am aware that some of whom I've come to know on the Gang of Five forum are not shippers of these two adorable characters.

SECRET LOVE

PROLOGUE

Are we really meant to be?

"Are we really meant to be?"

Those were the only words she could picture herself saying as she stared down at the river on a starry night in the Great Valley.

Whenever a certain subject came into her mind, all her usual feelings of playfulness would be replaced by those of a friendship she shared with someone very special to her.

For about two years now, ever since this green Swimmer had the adventure of a lifetime that earned her four great friends and a wondrous new home, there was still something she felt uncertain about. She had a great home, a wonderful family, and now had not four, but six special friends whom she could play with every day. The moment she thought about her friends, one friend in particular, would take over her thoughts …

Ducky stared down at her moonlit reflection in the river as she allowed all her thoughts to be consumed by her best friend. To her, this "best friend" felt more than just a "best friend." From the moment they first met, she thought he was an adorable sight, even for a Swimmer like her …

Littlefoot and Ducky were walking through a somewhat barren forest, intending to find this legendary … "Great Valley," but they had barely even walked a few steps before there came the sounds of their stomachs growling with hunger.

"My stomach is talking," giggled Ducky.

"Mine, too," replied Littlefoot as he curiously looked up at a tree, "I wonder what this tastes like?"

However, as Littlefoot began to pull on the tree with his mouth, they heard what sounded like yelling coming from within the tree.

Ducky gasped as she heard the yelling. Although nobody had ever said anything about talking trees, she couldn't help but wonder if this tree was capable of doing such a thing.

"The tree is talking," she said.

"No, it isn't," replied Littlefoot, trying desperately to pull off anything from the tree.

"You should not eat talking trees. Nope, nope, nope," said Ducky.

Littlefoot ignored her again, but a second later, a small creature came sliding down the tree the Longneck was pulling on, screaming as it slid towards the two hatchlings. The tiny creature landed right on Littlefoot's nose, and the Longneck looked in shock and screamed in horror. As he released the tree from his mouth, the plant swung around and tossed the creature into the sky, screaming. Ducky took cover underneath Littlefoot just as the small creature went crashing right through the ground.

Ducky quickly recomposed herself and approached the hole that had been left on the ground by the small creature's fall. When she looked inside, she was very surprised to see that the creature was a young Flyer, appearing to be so frightened and confused.

"Who are you? Huh?" she asked the Flyer.

"M-m-my name Petrie," the Flyer stuttered.

Ducky couldn't help but giggle as she brought her head back up and allowed Petrie to crawl his way up.

"Petrie, huh?" chuckled Ducky, "Funny name."

"I-I-I flied?" said Petrie.

"No. You falled," answered Ducky.

"I falled?" whimpered Petrie in frustration as he threw himself onto the ground.

"You cannot fly?" asked a confused Ducky as an odd thought struck her. If Petrie couldn't fly, then how could he have managed to make his way up a tree? "But how did you get way up there?"

"I climb," answered Petrie, jumping and putting on a midair pose that Ducky thought was rather adorable.

"Hmm," was all the Swimmer could say.

"But you are a Flyer, not a faller," said Littlefoot.

"Hard thing to fly," said Petrie, and he made another attempt at flying by flapping his wings, but he remained in the air for only about a second before he came right back down with a thud.

"I guess it is," agreed Littlefoot, "We can't do it."

"Nope," added Ducky, "We cannot do that alright."

Ducky sniffled as she thought about that warm memory of when she first met that young Flyer. It was hardly any time at all after their first meeting that she began to think of Petrie as an adorable Flyer. There were many things about Petrie that Ducky thought was adorable; his smile, his cute-sounding voice, and his somewhat nervous personality. In the many adventures that followed, Petrie had even come to enjoy her presence just as much as she would enjoy his, and whenever she was down, he was, more often than not, the first one to come to her. This inspired her to do the same for him when he was down.

Ever since then, Ducky had secretly been developing these strange, unexplainable feelings for Petrie, but she was too afraid to mention it to him. She especially didn't want to tell anybody else in the Great Valley, because they feared that she and Petrie would become outcasts if anyone found out about these unexplainable feelings. She wasn't entirely sure how their families would react, although Cera's father would definitely forbid such a thing from happening, so he was the last one she wanted to approach. She wasn't even sure if her mother or father would be in favor of such an idea, even though they had willingly adopted Spike for Ducky's sake after they found that she really adored him as a brotherly figure.

Over the last two cold times since they came to the Great Valley, the Swimmer and Flyer had developed a very strong bond with each other. In fact, Ducky often spent more time with Petrie than anyone else, even her brother, Spike. Only time would tell if she and Petrie were meant to have such a special bond …

"Ducky!" she heard a familiar voice calling her name, "Time to come back to the nest and get some sleep!"

Quickly snapping out of her trance, the Swimmer came back to reality and stood up before heading in the direction of her mother's echo.

"Coming, Mama!" she replied as she found her mother next to a large rock, waiting for her.

"Are we really meant to be?" she thought to herself one more time before she joined her mother, and they started their walk back to their nest.

"We really meant to be?"

In front of a cave within a large rock not far from the river, a small brown Flyer was murmuring those same words as he sat on the ledge in front of his home. He stared down towards the beautiful view of the Great Valley that was dimly lit by the Night Circle. Every once in a while, throughout the last two years following his arrival in the Great Valley, he would find himself clouded with strange thoughts. They weren't about how happy his life was in the Great Valley, nor were they about his not-so-happy family life, or his friends, … unless, of course, if he counted one friend in particular.

Ducky was the only one whom Petrie could think about from time to time. Sure, they may have been best friends, and she would always be there whenever he was feeling down, and he did the same for her, but there was something about Ducky that Petrie felt was extra special.

Unlike Littlefoot, Cera, … or any of their other friends, for that matter, Ducky seemed to give Petrie a more warming presence whenever they were together, and it often made him wonder if she had special feelings for him. He also thought of her as extremely beautiful, and he loved it whenever he got to see her eyes glistening and sparkling. Of course, Ducky's famous catchphrase, "Yep, yep, yep!" would always put a smile on the little Flyer's face whenever they were playing together or just being happy.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. He was developing certain feelings for Ducky. It wasn't just because they were best friends. He didn't know how to explain these feelings, and he kept it all to himself because he was wary of how everyone would react to the idea of a Swimmer and Flyer being … "together."

Was it right for them to be together? Was it wrong just for one to have special feelings towards his or her special friend, regardless of what kind they were?

One thing was for certain, though; time would tell if they were meant for each other, and if that was the case, how would they be able to tell each other? More importantly, how would they be able to keep it a secret?

Petrie began to reflect on some of the past adventures he had with his friends, and how on some occasions he and Ducky would get close to each other for warmth and comfort.

He could vividly remember the heartbreak he felt when his own uncle betrayed him and kidnapped his precious friend. When he and his friends found Ducky the next day, he was so overjoyed to have her back by his side, but he couldn't imagine why his uncle had committed those heinous crimes. Ducky was the only one who was able to assure him that Pterano was really a good Flyer at heart, and Petrie was so grateful to Ducky for her reassurance that he was not truly a bad Flyer. For many days afterward, Petrie struggled to cope with his uncle's banishment, but Ducky always came to his side every day and comforted him to the point of treating him almost like family.

That, however, was only one out of many times Ducky would come to Petrie during his many emotional distresses, yet that one seemed to be the most memorable to him.

"Petrie?" a voice called right behind him, snapping him out of his flashbacks.

"Aah!" Petrie shouted as he jolted and looked back, only to find his mother motioning for him to come inside the cave, "Mama, why you always startle me when me think about things at night?"

"I'm sorry, dear," Mama Flyer apologized, "But it's time to come into the nest and get some shuteye."

Petrie sighed in disappointment. He couldn't possibly feel like sleeping right now when so much was on his mind, but, being a kid, he would have to get plenty of sleep every night.

"Okay, Mama," the little Flyer gave in.

"I understand you like to come out here and think about things every now and then, but you've got to get lots of sleep each and every night," said Mama Flyer as her son slowly walked into the cave.

"Me know, Mama," sighed Petrie, "Sometimes, me wish me could stay up longer."

"I know, dear," sympathized Mama Flyer, "Once you've reached the Time of Great Growing, you'll be able to stay up a little later."

Petrie sighed in defeat, and he lied down in the back of the nest, well away from any of his four sleeping siblings. He quickly grabbed his snuggling stick so that he could sleep comfortably. His mother lied down next to him and gently patted him a few times to provide enough warmth for him to close his eyes.

"I love you, dear," Mama Flyer said gently to her son.

"Me love you, too, Mama," replied Petrie just as he closed his eyes.

"Goodnight, Petrie."

"Goodnight, Mama."

As soon as he was sure his mother was fast asleep, Petrie opened his eyes for a few seconds as an image of Ducky appeared in his head. All he could think to himself as he settled down to sleep that night was …

"We really meant to be?"

So, it's become apparent that Ducky and Petrie are feeling these strange vibes, but what could this lead them to? What could they mean? How will they tell each other if it remains stuck on their minds? I'll be delving deeper into all of that when I post chapter 1, possibly on Sunday. Like I said, do expect chapters to come regularly over the next two months. So, until then, have a good day, and I'll be back soon! ;)