A/N: Ok, normally I'm reading and occasionally writing Huddy and Spuffy fics. However, I just rediscovered a love for Captain Planet from watching reruns on Boomerang. As I watched the Linka/Wheeler dynamic again, I realized I was shipping them before I even knew what shipping was! Then I read some of the amazing L/W fanfics here (and there are some fantastic ones that I am praying will be finished one day! Please, please!) and felt inspired to contribute. So here it is, my "Whinka" debut.

Remember, I only receive weird pleasure from talking about cartoon teenagers from the early 90s hooking up (is this some kind of disorder?) and no money. Let's keep everything at a "T" rating…who knows where this could go?

Chapter 1: Ch-ch-changes

Linka felt the sunlight as it began to warm her face and she opened her eyes. It was here, it was finally here. She smiled. Today would be one of the most important days of her life.

She stood and looked out the window, enjoying Hope Island's beautiful landscape and relishing the music of the birds who were greeting the new day.

"Linka!" She heard Gi shout before her door was pushed open to reveal her fellow Planeteer and best friend. "Linka, can you believe it? After all these years…today is the day." The Asian girl plopped down on the bed and looked up at the blonde. "And you're smiling?!" Gi looked at her friend incredulously. "Really Linka, I feel a bit like my heart is breaking and you're smiling like it's your birthday! Are you really ready to stop being a Planeteer?"

Linka looked down at her friend. It was true; today should be one of the saddest of her life. Today was the day that the old Planeteer team would be officially passing their rings on to the next generation of Planeteers. They had known this was coming. Gaia had gathered them over six months ago to let them know that they were being released as Planeteers so that they could go finish their educations and start making differences in their communities. The past six months had been spent training the new team on the finer points of being a Planeteer.

"Da, I know. Today is bittersweet. As much as I know we cannot be running around the world stopping eco-villians until we are eighty, I will miss this part of our lives. Being a Planeteer has changed my life and I am grateful for everything it has brought us. I do, though, agree with Gaia that we need to finish our educations and apply what we have learned here back in our countries. Also, the new team has been doing very well in their training and I know we leave our legacy in capable hands. But it is time for change and not all change is unwelcome. Some changes are worth waiting for." Linka's eyes shone as her smile brightened with her last statement.

Gi took careful notice of her friend. "Linka, what kind of changes are you talking about?" she asked in an interested, and slightly excited, voice.

"Ah, can you not guess?" Linka replied. "After today, we will no longer be teammates, no longer be…co-workers—"

"Are you trying to say you are ready to be rid of us?" Gi interjected with a smile.

"Bozhe moy! Of course not! You will always be my friends and I will miss our time—" Linka admonishes her friend before she realizes that Gi is kidding. Linka smiled. "But sometimes being co-workers gets in the way of friends becoming…more than friends."

"Does this have anything to do with a certain red-headed firebug who has been chasing you around for six years?"

Linka blushed. "Da." She looked at Gi for a long moment before asking, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Oh my! If it is about you two, I can definitely try!"

Linka took a deep breath and began, "Well, tonight I am planning on telling Wheeler that I love him."

"WHAT?!?" Gi's eyes got as big as saucers. She had been expecting Linka to confess to liking the Fire Planeteer, or confess to kissing him, or confess to scheduling a date with him, but she did not expect to hear Linka say that she LOVED him. "Have you two been seeing each other behind my back?! Because, while I will be upset that you never told me, I would still be excited that you two FINALLY got together! And great acting, by the way! All of us thought that you two had come to an agreement to be just friends once the flirting and the fighting cooled down a bit!"

It was true. After Linka's brief stay in Russia, Wheeler had cooled down his constant pick-up lines and had even stopped trying to make Linka jealous. The others had wondered what happened, but we were willing to let it go since the two were still getting along well and rarely fought.

"Nyet, we are not together…yet," Linka added at Gi's questioning gaze. "And Wheeler and I did come to an understanding. You remember when I thought I was leaving the Planeteers because my Grandmother was ill? Well, I was so distraught that I would be leaving all of you, and leaving Wheeler, that I kissed him! I don't know if I even knew my true feelings until that moment when I thought I would never see him again."

"But Linka, that was ages ago! Are you saying that after you kissed him, you did nothing about it?"

"No, after the kiss we came back and we talked. I told him that, while I did truly have feelings for him, I was not ready to be with him yet. Our work, it is too dangerous! I cannot fight villains and work with the team when I would constantly put his welfare above all others! It would not be practical. But I did tell him that I cared for him and that his friendship was my highest priority. He has been very respectful since then and we have gotten along well. And now, now that we will no longer be active Planeteers, there will not be the concerns of before and we can be together!" Linka stated, obviously pleased.

Gi seemed a little skeptical. Linka's definition of the "understanding" that she and Wheeler had reached sounded more like a brush-off than a come-on. "So Wheeler has no idea what you want to tell him tonight?"

"Ah, I do not know if he has guessed my true feelings, but I would think that he too would be looking forward to the day when we can be more than just friends and co-workers. I do hope to make up for the long wait by surprising him."

"What are you planning on doing?"

"Well, instead of being dropped off back in Russia tonight, I have made arrangements to stay with Uncle Dmitri again in Washington, DC. I will tell Wheeler that I will be in the United States, but Uncle has just told me he will be very busy for the next few days. I will then suggest that Wheeler show me around his New York. I hope that during the course of the evening, an appropriate time to make my feelings known will happen," Linka gushed, pleased with her plan.

Gi didn't know what to do. On one hand, she knew that some part of Wheeler would always love Linka and maybe Linka's plan for tonight would work. Even if Wheeler had given up hope, perhaps Linka's confession would bring him back. On the other hand, what if Wheeler's feelings had lessened and he did only wish for friendship from Linka? Linka would be devastated.

"Well, what do you think?" Linka's question interrupted Gi's musings. "Will my plan shovel him off his feet?"

Gi had to smile. "Sweep, Linka. Sweep him off his feet. And yes, I think you have a good chance. But I would go talk to Wheeler soon if I were you. Remember, his father isn't well and he hasn't seen his family in a long time. I think you should solidify your plans with him as soon as possible."

"Da, this is true. I will talk to him after the ring exchange ceremony."

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Several hours later, the old and new Planeteers were gathered in the Crystal Chamber as Gaia presided over the ring exchange ceremony.

"Use this ring well and it will always be there for you. Treasure the gift you have been given and take pride in your responsibility as a steward of this planet," Linka told David, the new Wind Planeteer from Australia.

David smiled and, in his deep, accented voice answered, "I will."

The rest of the Planeteers followed suit. It was an emotional moment as the old generation stepped aside for the new, but all were smiling when the ceremony ended.

"Thank you for your service to the Earth as Planeteers," Gaia told the past team, "And thank you in advance for all the good you will do out in the world in the future. You have helped reshape humanity's mindsets in terms of protecting our planet and you have trained an excellent team to continue your work. Don't think that without your rings that you are powerless. You still have the same strengths that lead me to choose you as Planeteers and your prolonged time with your rings may leave you with new sensitivities to your elements. The power will always be yours."

"Everyone get your belongings and I will fly you out when you are ready," Graciella, the new Fire Planeteer from Spain told the group. "Not that I'm trying to rush you or anything!"

Wheeler laughed. "Sure you're not, Graci!" He teased his protégé. "I know you just can't wait to do barrel rolls in the Geo-Cruiser as soon as us old fogeys are gone!

The entire group laughed, except for Gi. Ma-Ti noticed her standing to the side of the group, absorbed in thought. He walked over to her.

"Gi, it will be so different to not all be here on Hope Island together, I will miss all of my friends."

Gi looked at Ma-Ti and smiled. "I agree, Ma-Ti, but what Gaia said about us going into the world is right. We've made a difference here and we will continue to make a difference wherever we are."

"I agree," Ma-Ti nodded. "But just now you seemed distressed and I thought…wait, you are not distressed by our leaving, you are worried about our friends…"

"Ma-Ti, I thought you had given Jin your ring! How are you reading my mind now?" Gi teased.

"I-I do not know," Ma-Ti was puzzled . "It was not as clear as it used to be, but I did pick up a sense of how you were feeling and why." He thought for a moment. "Oh! It must be part of the residual powers from our rings that Gaia mentioned."

"That makes sense. I've noticed that without my ring, I can still, I don't know, feel where water is. It's different but strangely comforting."

Kwame walked up, having overheard them. "I know what you mean. I have a sense of the Earth too. I can almost feel it shifting underneath me. It will be interesting to adapt these senses into our new lives. Speaking of our new lives, where are Linka and Wheeler? It is time for Graciella to fly us home."

"Oh…they may be a minute," Gi stated nervously.

"Gi, your anxiety is back, I can sense it again!" said Ma-Ti. "Why are you worried for Linka and Wheeler?"

Gi glanced around and then whispered, "Can you two keep a secret?"