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At The Beginning
Richard Marx & Donna Lewis
We were strangers starting out on a journey
Nyre sat in the Ready Room, her laptop opened before her.
She moved the mouse icon to click on a folder, immediately a picture
she was so fond of came onto the screen. A picture of the two
teams she would gladly put her own life on the line for.
First, STROBE. Drake
Krysta
Hacker
Marri and
Mel
Ace and Dee. Then the Ducks; Grin, Tanya, Duke, Mal,
Dive
Wing. And the latest addition: Castel.
It's been so short a time
and yet we've become a family.
One big family. She smiled and trailed an index finger on Wildwing's
picture. You an I
we were strangers
so different
and yet
in some ways
so alike.
She leaned back on the chair and shut her eyes. Remembering.
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
(Taken from Allies: Part 4 - Unity)
"It is useless to run human!" Nyre heard Wraith's voice
boom. She ducked behind some crates and breathed. This guy doesn't
give up. She ran to a different location and had her arm singed
by a fireball. "Surrender now child!"
Ouch. She touched the burn and grimaced. "Never you old
bag of bones!" She called back and shot a puck. He vanished
for a moment and then reappeared as the puck passed. She glanced
around and caught sight of a steel ladder leading to the higher
portion of the warehouse. If I could just
GO!
Nyre broke into a run and quickly climbed the ladder. When she
was near to the top, Wraith suddenly appeared and pulled his scaly
hand back, creating a fireball. "Farewell you wretched human."
He sneered.
"Nyre!" She heard someone scream and a blast went off.
Wraith disappeared, but the ball of fire didn't, forcing Nyre
to let go. She screamed as she felt herself fall.
"*Nyre!!!*" Dee cried out.
"NO!" That was Drake.
"*Do something!*"
So this is it. Nyre closed her eyes, everything seemed to slow
down. If only I could've
Wildwing. I wish
.
"Got you." A male voice came to her ears. The impact
never came and Nyre found herself wrapped in someone's arms.
"Thank the stars
." She was pulled closer into
the person's arms. "I thought. No. I had to make it."
Nyre pulled back and gazed into familiar eyes. Wildwing's eyes.
"I couldn't let you die like that. You okay Angel?"
She nodded and he let her stand on her own two feet. "Thank
you." She managed to get out.
"NYRE!" another person hugged her tight. Lavender eyes
were brimmed with tears. "Thank the Lord you're okay."
Dee began to sob. Nyre hugged her back and whispered soft, comforting
words.
"She's okay."
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you
She smiled and logged off and exited the room. She made her way to the rink and stood at the top of the stairs, watching as her teammates and friends her family played a friendly game of hockey. Her eyes rested on the goalie on the far left. He anticipated the player coming in for the shot. She smiled as he easily caught the puck.
No one told me I was going to find you
(An ordinary day, the group is at the Anaheim Park)
Wildwing pulled off the mask and smiled at his friends. Castel,
Dee and Tanya were playing around with the frisbee against Hacker,
Ace and Nosedive. Drake and Mal were by the fountain, teaching
Castel to get her kite airborne. He smiled and shook his head
as it rose high in the air, then crashed to the ground. Castel
let out an exasperated sigh and picked it up.
A slight movement caught his eye and he turned his attention to
a tiny girl wearing a long, pale blue sundress. Here expression
was serene, a tiny smile on her lips as she watched her own daughter.
She crossed her arms over her chest, letting her ebony hair blow
with the breeze, and turned her head in his direction. She smiled
shyly and dropped her gaze and looked away.
The drake smiled to himself and shook his head lightly. Nyre.
It's amazing how things worked out between us.
Unexpected, what you did to my heart
(Taken from Sheilded Gaze: You and I)
He stood on the pavement, hands in his pockets. The rain began
to slowly pour above him. With one hand, he pulled his raincoat
tighter. This was one of those nights. He couldn't sleep
his thoughts were bothering him again. A recent mission had nearly
cost him more than just one teammate. His own brother and the
youngest STROBE, Dee.
A hand slid into his. Shocked, he turned around and saw Nyre
smiling weakly up at him. "I saw you leave. I wanted to
wait back at the Pond
but you were taking too long."
She looked away, "I was worried." She added, glancing
back up to him.
"I'm okay." He smiled and placed a hand on her cheek
and bent down, giving her a light kiss on her lips. She stared
back up at him in disbelief. Suddenly she blushed a deep crimson
and he laughed softly, taking her umbrella and pulling her close.
"Thank you
for being so wonderful Angel."
"You don't have to thank
"
"Yes, I do. And I think I owe you more than just a thank
you." She looked up at him with question. He leaned down
and whispered three words that brought tears to her eyes. "I
love you
."
When I lost hope you were there to remind me
This is the start
(A scene from Search in Limbo)
"We'll never pull this off." Wildwing whispered, looking
from left to right.
"We *will*." A firm voice said behind him. "We'll
find her
." Nyre smiled up at him and placed a gentle
hand on his cheek. "*Don't* give up on me Wing. We *will*
find Castel."
And life is a road and I want keep to going
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you
We were strangers on a crazy adventure
(Set sometime after Shielded Gaze, in a press conference)
"I have a question for Wildwing!" Wing glanced to his
teammates and then nodded to the reporter. "Isn't it strange
to have a relationship of a person of a different species?"
Silence.
Several pairs of eyes turned to Wing expectantly. Nyre looked
away, suddenly uncomfortable. Wildwing squeezed her hand and
gave her a smile. "Actually, I don't think our relationship
is any of your business," Mallory and Nosedive exchanged
glances. Grin was well
no comment. Duke and Drake cast
looks at each other and the rest of the team simply watched, quiet.
Wildwing turned his attention to the tiny human beside him. "As
far as I'm concerned, I love Nyre
and it doesn't matter
if we're different."
Never dreaming how our dreams would come true
(Taken from Search In Limbo)
"Canard! Castel!" Nyre ran to her daughter, Wildwing
was stunned. There were the two people he thought he's lost
alive and well.
"Mom
" Castel was close to tears, "how'd you
find me?"
"Parental instinct?"
Canard walked over to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Wow," he smiled, "I'm speechless."
"Huh?" Wildwing cocked an eyebrow. Canard smiled and
laughed, "Castel told me the whole thing."
"Oh," Wing turned his attention to Nyre and Castel.
"Let's get out of here."
Now here we stand unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you
"Things are startin' to look bad Wing." Duke grimaced.
"We can do this guys." He gave each of teammates a nod.
"Let's rock Ducks!"
Nyre put down her visor and ran out into the fire with a loud
shout, "STROBE! Go!".
And life is a road and I want keep to going
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you
(In 'Farewell to Three')
"I propose a toast!" The two teams exchanged glances
as Wildwing raised his goblet, standing up. "For health
and happiness for all present. And also, for a wonderful life"
He smiled to Krysta and Malcolm, "to the bride and groom."
"I second that." Drake stood, motioning for Nyre to
do the same since she was the field captain.
"As do I." She smiled. Slowly the others raised their
glasses and smiled at each other.
"And even if, Mel and I will be well, a hundred miles from
here
we'll be sure to contact the Pond every once in awhile."
The twins raised their glasses and gave the others nods.
"We'll miss you." Tanya nodded and glanced to Krysta,
"And you."
"We'll always be here in spirit. Besides, Malcolm and I
plan to spend Christmas with you guys."
Nyre smiled and touched Wing's hand. The drake glanced to her
and smiled brushing his beak on her forehead. "A toast to
you Nyre." She blushed at his words. "And to you."
Knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
The three ducks and the human made their way up the mountain.
Canard watched Castel's back, as Wildwing did Nyre. "You
sure you two know where we're heading?" The tan, muscular
duck asked his best friend.
"Trust me pal."
"Almost there." Nyre pulled herself up and helped Castel
to get onto the flat surface and the two waited for the two boys.
They all stared at each other for a moment and then began to
laugh with relief.
Mother and daughter hugged each other, reunited, as did the two
best friends. "Gotta congratulate you Wing, buddy."
Canard turned his eyes to the two females. "You've got one
heck of a family. How are the others?"
"Fine Canard." Wing smiled.
"Good."
"This is so wonderful!" Nyre shouted to the sky. She
laughed and walked about a meter from the cliff edge. She smiled
and suddenly a strong wind blew, pushing her back a bit. She
gasped as the rocks beneath her began to give way.
"Wing! Drop Castel." Canard called.
"DAD!" Castel dropped to her knees with the older duck
as not to be caught by the wind as well. "Get Mom!"
"Nyre!"
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart
Nyre fell back, and felt her heart stop for a moment. She
shut her eyes. I don't want to die.
A hand gripped tightly on her wrist. "Got you!" Her
eyes flew open and Wing pulled her back into his arms. Together
they dropped to the ground and waited until the wind had ceased
blowing.
And life is a road and I want keep to going
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
The first things that Castel, Nyre and Wing got were hugs from
each of the members of the team, Canard got his share too when
the ducks finally noticed he was there. There were questions
and more, but Wing and Nyre took notice as they walked out of
the room together.
"Well we're back," Wing sighed. "And safe as can
be." Nyre hugged him and smiled softly.
"At least." She looked up at him. "You've got
Canard back now, does that mean you'll be leader no more?"
"Nope." He shook his head. "I spoke to him while
you were fussing over Cassy back in Limbo, he personally told
me he wanted me to stick with the job." He ran a hand through
her ebony locks. "Would you want it any other way?"
She raised an eyebrow, "And have someone else as my field
partner? No way!" She poked his ribs. "Why? You wanna
get rid of me?"
"Nope." He laughed and kissed her lightly. "I
love you."
"You too."
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you
"And the ducks win five to three!" Nyre jumped up
and down in her seat and hugged Dee. "Ducks win the Championships!"
The announcer blared from the speakers.
"Nyre!" Wing shouted and she ran into the ice and straight
into his arms.
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river I wanna keep going... on
Starting out on a journey
Two figures walked the streets of Anaheim late that night,
fingers entwined. The dim lights of the lamp posts cast shadows
about them. "It's been so long since you guys came here
to Earth, y'know."
"I know."
"You had the chance to return to Puckworld when the younger
Brotherhood came for Duke
Why didn't you go and leave with
them?" Nyre asked softly. He stayed quiet for a moment then
pulled her close. "Wing?"
"Leaving here would mean leaving you
if I know you,
you'd never leave this world to be elsewhere. Besides, we aren't
finished with Dragaunus. He's still out there, plotting and being
a major pain. I couldn't go knowing that he could hurt the one
person I love
and besides, Castel wouldn't let me, she'd
blow a fuse." Nyre laughed softly and hugged him back. "But
seriously angel
" he brushed some strands from her eyes,
"I wouldn't leave unless you agreed to go." And he let
his beak brushed her forehead. "Remember, I will always
love you."
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river I wanna keep flowing
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning
With you...
_________
End