Faith of the Heart

Part 3: Chapter 16
MOTHERLY LOVE

Written by DisneyFan-01
HTML Coding by Shadow20X6

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"Gene, we really need to hurry," Marina had her heart pounding in her throat.  "He's getting worse.  If we don't get him to a doctor soon, I don't think he'll make it."

"We're almost there," Genie nodded once.  "Less than a hundred miles to go.  The Mediterranean is straight ahead."

With her free hand, she took the radar, "We're sure to be in range by now."  She pushed a button and called, "Boys?  Uncle Luddy?  Marina, here.  Someone, please answer."

A few seconds later, Von Drake's face appeared on the screen, "Ah, Marina!  There you are!  What has happened?  Genie here has told us that you need a doctor.  Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, Uncle Luddy," she answered.  "Is a medical barge on its way?  We need a vet and we need one fast."

"A vet?" Von Drake cocked a brow.  "Well, I'm sure there'll be one on the barge.  But--Wait!  Why a vet?!  What's going on here?"

Before Marina or Genie could say anything, Donald grabbed the radar from Von Drake and yelled, "MARINA LARISSA SEADRIFT!!  WHERE THE DEVIL HAVE YOU BEEN?!  YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR TWO DAYS!!  YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR--!!"

Marina switched the radar off and set it down, "Get ready for that later, Gene."

"Are you kidding?!  My other half on the ship has been listening to this for hours and now once the two of us fuse back together, I'll have to hear it even more."

"Trust me, it can be hard at first, but you'll learn to ignore him," Marina rolled her eyes.  She looked down at the cub and whispered, "Hang on a little longer, Kopa.  We're almost there."

Genie leaned in toward her, "By the way. . . Larissa?"

She shrugged, "What?  That was my grandmother's name."



The moment the Argentum was close enough, Genie made the longboat disappear and reappear back in the hangar.  After tying it up and helping Marina down, Genie's duplicate flew down in the hangar dressed up in a doctor's outfit.

"Okay!  Who's hurt?!  Do I need to sterilize my hands?" he asked.

The other Genie put his hand on his shoulder, "I'll do the explanation, pal."  The two Genies fused together into one and he said, "That's the quickest way to explain something.  Boy, it feels good to be one again.  And the good news is the medical barge on its way."

"Perfect," Marina hurried by him.  "C'mon.  We've got a lot to tell the others now."

Genie stayed behind her as she quickly went up the stairs and down the hallway.  As soon as she was heading up the stairs to the maindeck, there was Donald at the top step jumping up and down.

"MARINA!!  DON'T YOU DARE PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT AGAIN WHEN I'M YELLING AT YOU!!"

Marina just walked right by him.  He kept on jumping and yelling.

"HEY!!  DON'T YOU IGNORE ME!!  MARINA LARISSA SEADRIFT!!  I'M TALKING TO YOU!!!"

Marina zipped around, "Well, Donald Fauntleroy Duck!  I'm not talking about it until the barge gets here!"

Genie tried not to laugh as he whispered to her, "Fauntleroy?"

"Hey!  There you are," Goofy came up from the crew's quarters with Chip and Dale on his shoulders and José and Panchito behind him.  He smiled, "Gawrsh.  Where have you been?"

"Si," said Panchito.  "We were worried about y--"  He stopped when he saw the bloody bundle in her arms.  "Marina!  What happened?"

Goofy hurried up to her, "Are you hurt?  Did you break your arm or somethin'?"

"Hurt?" Donald's tensed face eased up.  Then he finally noticed the bloody jacket.  "What's that?"

Dale pointed at the jacket, "Is. . . is that blood?"

"What happened?" Chip gasped.

"Marina!  Genie!" Jiminy called out as he came up from the quarters.  "What is the meaning of this?  We've been trying to contact you for a long time."

"We can explain later, Jiminy," Genie told him.  "Right now, we--"

"Ah, Marina!"

All heads turned to see Von Drake coming down from the bridge.

"Uncle Luddy," Marina smiled.  "It's so good to see you in the flesh and not on screen."

"It's vonderbul to see you too, mein liebchen," Von Drake took her hand.

"Tell me, please.  Is the medical barge close by?"

"Well, yes, mein liebchen, but. . ." he looked at the bundle.  "What has happened?  What is this?"

"I need a V.D.  We're running out of time.  Is there one on the barge?"

He scratched his scalp, "I suppose there is one.  There usually is.  But, Marina, what's going on here?"

She asked, "Gene, could you make a table for the doctor please?"

"You've got it," Genie waved his hand over the deck and made a table appear.

"Thanks, Gene," Marina set the bundle down.  "Now, everyone, I don't care if you object to this, but he needs our help."  She unwrapped the jacket to reveal the bleeding cub named Kopa.

Goofy pouted, "Aww, the poor kitty cat."

Donald kept him from petting the cub, "Kitty cat!?  That's a lion!"

"A big kitty cat," said Goofy.

"Oh, my goodness!" Jiminy hopped up to the table.  "The poor thing.  What happened?"

"We don't know," Marina shook her head once.  "He was attacked by something.  Maybe another lion, but we found him with an adult lioness and rescued them from a raging river.  The. . . the lioness didn't make it.  She begged us to take care of her cub."

Chip and Dale climbed up until they were at Jiminy's side.  The two of them were frozen and speechless from what they were seeing.

"Dios mio," whispered Panchito.

"Poor fellow," José agreed.

"LASS!!!"

Everyone turned around to find Silver marching his way down from his stateroom.  With his cyborg eye glowing red and a ferocious scowl on his face, he stomped up to the gang and leered at Marina.

"And just where the blazes have you been?!" he growled.  "You think I'm runnin' some sort of cruise ship here where you get as much shore leave as you want?  If you think that I have to put up with all of this senselessness, then perhaps the two of you would enjoy the rest of this voyage locked up in the brig!"

Marina just looked away from him with a lowered brow as Genie stepped between them and saluted, "It was all my fault as much as hers, Skipper.  I'm the one who talked her into it.  If there's one who is to be punished, it's me, Sir.  I'll peel potatoes, I'll scrub the decks on my hands and knees, I'll scrape the barnacles off the hull of the ship.  Anything you say, I'll do it."

"Anything?" Silver raised his brow.

"Aye, aye, Sir," Genie held out his chest.

"Good," Silver smirked for a second and then sneered at him.  "Then you may start by being so kind to step aside and don't interrupt me again!"

As the red light from Silver's cyborg eye shined on Genie's blue skin, the magical spirit gulped loudly and obeyed the captain.  Once Marina was in his view again, Silver stepped closer to her and glared her down.  She didn't dare look into the redness of his eye.  She stubbornly looked away with a short grunt and crossed arms.

"I was expecting this from you, Captain," she mumbled.

"Now you listen here, Lass," Silver spoke in a threatening tone.  "I'm all for you wanting to be an explorer, but leaving this ship when we are to work on repairs is one step too far!  One more slip up like this and you'll be thrown into the brig and dropped off back at your Magic Kingdom.  Anything more, then you can just find yourself--"

"Save it, Captain," Marina snapped at him.  "You can go and ask me if I care at the moment.  As of now, there's something far too important I have to attend to."  She turned to have Silver see the cub on the table.  "We have to help this cub.  He needs a vet fast or he'll die."

Silver's glare faded away when he saw the injured cub.  His cyborg eye changed from red back to yellow.

"God Almighty.  It's a lion," he said.  "What happened?"

"I don't know," Marina answered.  "Genie and I saved him."

Von Drake adjusted his glasses, "Meine güte.  This poor thing looks like it was torn up by a something of sharp teeth and claws.  You're right.  It was probably done by another lion."

Marina nodded, "It's all possible.  Whatever it was, it wasn't fair for him.  He was obviously overpowered and outnumbered.  The lioness tried to protect him, but. . ."

Silver stepped closer to the table moving Von Drake aside.  He stared at the cub scanning it back and forth with his eye.

"Silver?" asked Chip.  "What do you see?"

"It's not good," Silver shook his head slowly.  "Its heart rate is dropping by the minute and its breathing is getting too short."  He looked at Marina, "Lass. . . this cub is suffering badly.  I'm afraid. . . it's not going to make it."

"Then I'm going to make it stop suffering somehow," Marina held in her breath for a moment.  "I want to help it."

"I will," he placed his metal hand firmly on her shoulder and had her step away from the table.  "I'll make the pain stop."

"Captain?" Marina had butterflies in her stomach.

"Lads. . ." he glanced at all of the boys around him.  "I think it's best if all of ye look away.  You're not going to enjoy this one bit."  He scooped up Jiminy and the chipmunks and handed them to Goofy.

"What do you mean, Silver?" asked Dale.  "Can you help it?"

As Genie, Goofy, and the Caballeros stepped back and looked away, Von Drake took Marina by the hand and pulled her away with a look of guilt in his eyes.

"Captain?" Marina's voice tensed up.  "What are you going to do?  Are you going to help it?"

While the boys looked away sadly, Goofy held his hand over the view of Jiminy and the chipmunks.

Von Drake said, "This might be for the best, Marina.  He's right.  The poor thing is suffering and could die from it."

"Wha--?" Marina's eyes filled up with tears.

Genie swallowed and told her, "He'll make the suffering stop.  I know you made a promise, but. .  I guess he's right.  If we got here faster or to a vet sooner, maybe we could've saved it."

Silver looked down upon the bleeding cub.  He listened to the poor thing whimper in pain for a moment and really couldn't take it.  He whispered, "Sorry, li'l fella, but there's nothing else to do.  It'll be quick and the pain will stop fast."  He placed one hand on the cub's shoulders, the other on its head.

Less than a second before he twitched his wrists, the side of a blade slapped upon his knuckles like a ruler in the hand of a disciplinary teacher.  He quickly followed the blade to find it was Marina's sword in her grip.  Once he saw her with a look of fury in her eyes, she lifted the blade to have the sharp tip just inches from his face.  He took his hands off the cub and stepped away from the table with his hands up.

"What the devil is this?" he frowned.

"Get away from him," she growled at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Marina!" Jiminy came up from behind Goofy's hand.  "Have you lost your mind?  Put that sword down!"

"No," she answered in a low voice.  "I will not.  And I will not let him die like that."

"Lass," Silver's eye turned from yellow to orange.  "The cub will prob'ly die anyway from all the suffering an' pain."

"He's not dead yet for a reason, Captain," Marina forced him to step further away.  "He's strong enough to survive an attack of teeth and claws, and then he survived drowning.  If he wants to give up his life, his heart would've stopped beating before he fell into the rapids.  He's strong enough to live through this.  And I will see to that!  I promised the lioness Sarabi that I will protect him.  I will especially protect him from the likes of you."

Von Drake wanted to stop her but hesitated at the sight of her sword and the look in her eyes.  "Marina!  Stop this kooky nonsense.  Put the sword down.  The medical barge is still on its way.  Maybe something can be done after all."

But Marina's eyes didn't leave Silver's face, "How can you be so heartless to just kill him like that?  If he's going to die, then I'm still going to try all I can to save him.  No matter what, I'm not going to let you nor anything else make him die like that."  She gritted her teeth, "You can even threaten me all you want, but your words don't frighten me anymore than they used to.  I can never forget how you glared me down my first day on this ship.  That doesn't bother me anymore because now I have the guts enough to tell you everything I wanted to say to you that very day."

"Marina!" Jiminy called.  "Don't be a fool!"

"No," Marina sternly held her hand up in Jiminy's direction as a gesture that she didn't want to listen to him.  "I've held my tongue for a long time about this, Jiminy, and enough is enough.  You, John Silver, are the biggest jerk I have ever met in my life!  And after what you almost did right now. . . I swear, if you come anywhere near this cub again. . . you'll regret it."

With his eye now turning red, Silver lowered his arms, "You've got a lot of nerve to be doing this, Lass." He lifted his cyborg arm back up and took a hold of the blade, "But you don't have the heart enough to make me regret."

"Torch."

The sword lit up in flames like it was doused in alcohol and was burning up.  That made Silver release the blade immediately and take another step back to rid the flames off his metal hand.  Then he looked back at Marina in fury.

"Why you little wretch!" he roared.

"Listen to me, Captain," Marina stood strong.  "I don't want to start a mutiny.  I have no use with that.  I'm not taking over your ship or your position.  I just want you to stay away from this cub.  And if you wish to do anything to me. . . that you will regret.  If you as much as touch me, you'll find out that there are more things for pirates like you to fear other than Execution Dock.  You forget:  I am the daughter of Lord High Chancellor Darren Seadrift.  If he finds that anything has happened to me, the entire Royal Navy will hunt you down.  And don't even forget about the fact that all of us are personal friends to Mickey Mouse.  With the magic he holds within himself, I hate to think of what could happen."  She lowered her sword and huffed, "You just remember that the next time you wish to threaten me or any of my friends here.  You don't have to worry about a mutiny.  Just worry about what your sentence might be."

She turned her back on him and had her sword fade away from her hand.  As she returned to the cub, all of the boys around her were just stunned.  They couldn't move or speak.  That was until Von Drake cleared his throat and pointed out, "Errm. . . the medical barge is here, Marina."

Everyone glance up at the sky and saw a small vessel with red lights heading toward the Argentum.  Marina covered the cub back up with her jacket right as Silver spoke up.

"I'll make a deal wit' yeh, Lass."

She refused to turn and face him as she said, "I'll start it out, Captain, if I may.  If this cub lives, I'll apologize.  I will accept the punishment by slaving myself away on this ship.  I'll scrub the decks on my hands and knees all day and night."  She looked at him in the corner of her eye, "And I won't even give out a peep against it.  If I do. . . I'll spend the rest of the mission in the brig."

Silence came across the Argentum.  All that was heard was the beating of the Mediterranean against the hull and the medical barge as it was coming close enough to the ship.  Silver looked at the barge as two droids were preparing to tie up to the bow of the ship.  He looked back at Marina and said, "Even better, Lass. . . if that cub lives. . . then I too will apologize to yeh."

That made Marina turn her head to face him to find his cyborg eye was now orange.  His brow was still lowered, but he had a slight smirk.

He added on, "But don't think I'm not accepting your end of the bargain."

Marina just glared as she nodded as an acceptance.

"However. . ." Silver continued, "if the cub dies. . . then it means I was right and you made your threats to me for nothing.  You will have to face the consequences."

Her heart was thumping even though she was still standing there bravely.  She asked, "And what are the consequences?"

"We will see when the cub dies," he turned to head back for the bridge.

"IF the cub dies," Marina hissed.

He stopped in his tracks and looked back in the corner of his flesh eye, "If you say so, Lassie."

As he continued his way back up to the bridge, Marina let out all the air she had in her and nearly collapsed against the table.

"Marina," José spoke in a stunned tone.  "I've never seen you act like this before."

"This isn't like you at all," said Donald.  "What's gotten into you?"

Marina pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes tightly.  She nearly stammered, "I. . . I-I don't know.  I just did the first thing that came over me.  It's like there was a. . . a. . ."

"A lion in you," Genie finished her off.  "I think you've become a mother protecting her cub.  That was real motherly love."

"We'll have to discuss this later," said Von Drake.  "The droids are here."

Approaching the group quickly was a short robot that was mainly a box with long arms and legs.  The droid's face was a screen with two pixelated eyes on the top and the mouth was a flatline like an EKG.  While the droid spoke, the flatline gave off wavy lines from the tone of its robotic voice.

"I am M.D. 5270.  We are responding to an emergency call from a Professor Ludwig Von Drake."

"That is me," Von Drake stepped up.  "We needs a V.D. imidi-tally.  We have a badly injured lion cub here."

The M.D. turned around to the barge and called, "V.D. 2905!  We have a situation for you."

A smaller box hovered out of the barge through a porthole and zipped over to the M.D.'s side.  This box also had a face like an EKG but remained hovering when it saw the cub on the table.

The V.D. spoke, "Panthera Leo."  A pair of hands extended out of the droid's side.  He opened the cub's eye, "Unconscious at the moment.  Let's see. . . Multiple bites and claw marks."  A small camera-like object rose from the top of the V.D., "X-ray' reading. . ."  A red grid shone on the cub's body briefly and the V.D. continued, "Has a fracture to the front left ulna, the hind right upper tibia, in four ribs, and a dislocated mandible.  Bite marks are deep within the cervical vertebrae and scapula.  Multiple claw marks near the throat and the hind tibia."  The V.D. looked up at the group, "This was most likely done by another lion."

"We know of this," said Marina.  "Just please tell me that he can be saved."

The V.D. answered, "He's lost a lot of blood.  His heart rate is dropping and his breathing is getting short."

The gang looked up to the bridge at Silver because those were the same words he told them.  Marina looked away as she hoped that the V.D. wasn't going to say the same following words.  She whimpered, "Please. . . please tell me that he can live."

"I can act fast and stitch together all his wounds," the V.D. answered.  "That will stop the bleeding.  A few casts and slings will help with his fractures."

Marina started to feel frantic, "But will he live?!  Please tell me that he'll live after you patch him up!"

"There is a possibility, but the chances are slim," the V.D. answered.

"Do everything you can," Marina plead.  "I don't want him to die.  Do what you can and I'll do what I can after."

"I promise to do my best, Ma'am," the V.D. nodded.




The minutes turned into an hour.  All Marina and the gang could do for the time was sit at a distance and wait.  Her heart rate went faster every time she heard the sound of the cub wailing in pain from the feel of the disinfectants the droid was placing on his wounds.  She wanted so much to hurry over and protect the cub, but she was held back at the knowledge that the droid was a vet and was helping the poor creature.

Von Drake placed a hand on Marina's shoulder once again and told her the same words as many times before, "Now, now, Marina.  The V.D. is doing a good job.  They always do.  It's all part of their hippo-cratic oath."

"I know," she nodded.  "I trust the V.D. on this.  I just. . . really need to think of a way to help the cub after all of this is over."

Goofy smiled, "Oh, we'll all pitch in on this, Marina.  We'll help you help him."

"Besides," said Chip.  "I'm sure the V.D. will tell us what to do to take care of this cub."

Jiminy cleared his throat, "Ahem.  Well, I think the best thing for this cub is to bring him to a zoo or something.  They can take the best of care for him.  They'll provide him food, shelter, and perhaps a surrogate mother for him."

"No, Jiminy," Marina shook her head.  "I'm not going to let him stay in a zoo where he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars or glass with thousands of eyes that are free just staring at him day by day while he looks back wondering what it's like to be out there."  She looked down at him, "Besides, I promised Sarabi that I would take care of him.  I'm not going to break that promise."  She sniffled and wiped away the moisture in her eyes.  "I'm sorry about snapping at you eariler, Jiminy.  I just didn't want to break my promise so fast because of Silver's actions.  I was following my own conscience on this one.  And I'm still following it.  I'm not giving the cub to a zoo."  She took in a deep breath, "I'm going to keep him myself and raise him to be a great protector. . ."  She looked at her oldest friends, ". . . just like us."

"Then. . ." said Dale, "We will definitely help you take care of him.  I just. . . hope he doesn't eat us first."

"Don't worry about a thing," Von Drake patted on Dale's head.  "He'll be a good lion.  Just like the one in 'Andy-clees and the Lion'."

"Hey!  I know that story!" Genie smiled.  "Marina told it to me."

Donald scratched his scalp under his hat, "But what bugs me is what could've done this to the cub.  Why would another lion attack it like that?"

"Sim," said José.  "I've never heard of such a thing like this happening."

Panchito rubbed the back of his neck, "Me neither.  I've heard of some animals killing each other for food and survival, but why would they just throw the cub and lioness in the river?"

Von Drake stood up and rubbed his chin to think, "I thinks the Duckburg library has a few books on the lifestyle of lions and other big kitty cats.  Maybe there can be a few expand-nations of it."

"Uncle Luddy," said Marina.  "I'd rather not read such things about that right now.  I'm not ready to know just yet."

"Well, then I'll just read it meself and tell it to you whenever you's ready," Von Drake smiled.  "I'll be heading back to my lab now."

Marina asked, "Where's the door to your lab?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot.  The door is the same door to the storage room next to the arty-fish-all gravity gener-a-tore, but don't expect it to work every time you knock on the door.  I has been trying to get the confounded thing working right for hours now, but all I can do is have it work on the other side.  Maybe I'll figure out what went wrong and fix it soon."

"Oh, don't worry too much about it, Professor," said Goofy.  "We'll still be communicating with you on the radars and you can come see us whenever you've got something new for us."

"Or if we need new repairs around the ship," said Genie.  "You really had a lot of great ideas on fixing the bridge and control panel."

"Ah, but I owe a lot of thanks to you, Genie," Von Drake winked.  "That was the quickest job I've had done on any of my inventions and repairs.  No doubt that most of these new gadgets and gears on the bridge are going to revolv-lotion-ice the way of all light ships everywhere.  Oh, wait 'til King Mickey and the Royal Navy hear about this!"

"Then we'll be seeing you again soon," said Marina.  "Oh!  Wait!  I almost forgot."  She reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded kerchief.  "Whenever you get the chance, do you think you can analyze this?  I think it's a piece Kopa's attacker."

"Kopa?"

Marina looked over at the V.D. and the cub.  She said, "That's the name of the cub.  The lioness, Sarabi, told me."  She sighed and handed the kerchief to him, "This is thus far the only clue we have."

"Of course, leibling!  I'll take a look at it as soon as I can," he took the kerchief and placed it in his pocket.  "Auf wiedersehen and take care of that cubby."

The gang watched Von Drake head for the door.  When he opened it, they could all partially see the inside of his laboratory.  He waved good-bye after he stepped inside and then closed the door.  Genie couldn't help but to fly over to the door and open it back up, but the lab was no longer there.  It was just the storage room.

"Wow, it really works!" Genie smiled as he opened and closed the door again and again.  "That was really cool.  Wish I thought of something like that."

"The Prof says he was inspired by Cap'n Flint's portal," Silver spoke leaning over the rail of the bridge.  "Some o' dis stuff he added onto the control panel reminds me a lot of somet'ing ol' Flint would've used in his time."

"Glad you like it, Skipper," Genie saluted.

The V.D. finally called out, "Complete!  The operation was a success!"

Marina was the first to stand up like she was sitting on a spring and hurried over to the maindeck.  The V.D. stood with the cub in his arms all wrapped up in a blanket.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"I have succeeded in closing up all of his wounds and putting casts upon his broken limbs," the V.D. answered.  "He is still very weak.  He'll remain that way for quite a while now.  But it is possible that his condition will remain critical."

"What can we do to help?"

"Keep him in a warm place and feed him plenty of milk.  We have the right kind of stuff for him in our barge.  He'll need a lot of calcium, protein, and vitamins to regain his strength and energy.  I can give you a medicine that will go into his milk.  Within a week or two, he might wake up.  Keep giving him the medicine until he feels the strength enough to move around.  It might take a few weeks for his bones to completely heal. . . unless he's as strong as we think.  As you humans put it, miracles could happen.  After all, it is miraculous that he is still alive in the first place and he does have a strong will to live.  You were at the right place at the right time, Ma'am."

He gently handed her the bundle.  Marina uncovered the cub's face to find all of its wounds now closed and wrapped up in gauze.  He had casts on his broken leg and she felt that he had one on his hind leg as well.  She could smell the disinfecting medicine and the scent of the fresh casts, but it was better than the smell of blood that used to be there.

"I can't thank you enough, Doctor," Marina held the cub close to her.  "I will. . . no, we will do all we can to help him live on."

"My duty and my pleasure, Ms. Seadrift," the V.D. saluted.  "I will be right back with the medicine and milk for you."  All of his limbs recoiled back into his box body and he hovered back to the barge.  

Marina turned to face her friends as they approached her to see the cub.

"Is he awake?" asked Goofy.

"No," she answered showing him to the boys.  "He might be resting for a long while to regain some strength.  It's like he's a newborn who's too weak too do things on his own."

"Ohh," Donald spoke with pity.  "Well, he'll be okay now.  He's in good hands."

"I feel the same way," said Jiminy.

Chip and Dale climbed up to Marina shoulders and looked at the cub.

Chip smiled, "I think he's going to be okay, too.  It's good to see that he's not bleeding anymore."

"Yeah," Dale hopped down to Marina's arm to get a closer look.  "So his name's Kopa, right?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded.  

"I think he's cute," said José.

"Me too," said Goofy.  "Hey, do you think it'll be all right if we call him 'Fluffy'?"

"I don't see why not," Marina chuckled.  

That was when the V.D. hovered back to the gang with a large satchel in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other.  He handed the large satchel to Goofy, who didn't realize how heavy the bag was until he had it in his hands and nearly dropped it.

"Gawrsh.  Heavy."

The V.D. explained, "That's the milk.  A special blend to make it most similar to lion's milk.  And here is the medicine."  He handed the bottle of pills to Marina, "Put two pills in one serving at a warm temperature.  They'll dissolve in the fluid and the cub won't know the difference.  The medicine provides a lot of vitamins and protein.  He'll regain his strength soon and don't forget to keep him warm."

"We won't forget," Marina shook her head.  "Thank you very much for all your help."

"Once again," the V.D. saluted.  "It was my duty and my pleasure."




After watching the medical barge part from the Argentum and take off to the sky, Marina turned around and asked, "Where should we start to feed him?"

"The galley of course," said Genie.  "No other place could be warmer.  Besides, we gotta heat up the milk."

Marina looked over at the bridge to the door to Silver's stateroom.  She clenched her teeth at the thought of being in the galley where the old cyborg spends most times, but that was nothing she could fix.  After realizing that she made a deal with him, she was now going to be stuck with him for a long time.

She nodded, "Okay.  The galley."




After warming up a bit of milk and mixing in the medicine, Genie handed it all to Marina in a baby bottle.

"This should do the trick," he told her.

All of the boys were sitting around the end table in the mess hall while Marina was sitting in the corner keeping the cub close to herself.  She took the bottle and swirled it around a little to see if the medicine was mixed in.  All she could see was the milk and felt that it was at just the right amount of heat.

"Okay, Kopa," she whispered.  "Drink this down and you'll get better."

She placed the nipple of the bottle up to the cub's lips, but he moaned and moved his head away.

"C'mon, sweetie," Marina begged.  "You've gotta drink this."

She tried to offer it again, but the cub moved away again.  She groaned and looked up at the boys, "It's not working."

Panchito took off his sombrero to scratch his scalp, "He's been through a whole lot.  He's probably still scared."

"He's surrounded by a lot of new scents and voices," said Jiminy.  "He needs to know that he's safe and will remain safe."

Marina tried one more time to get the cub to drink out of the bottle, but he once again moved away with a bit of a shiver.  Her heart thumped with worry as he just refused, but she felt that Jiminy was right.  Even though his eyes were closed, he was nervous about all the smells and  voices around him.  He knew he was no longer in the former safety of Sarabi.

"Poor little guy," Goofy sobbed.  "C'mon, Fluffy.  Ya gotta eat something.  You can trust Marina."

"You can trust us all," said Dale.  "We're all friends."

The cub moaned again but nuzzled against Marina's chest.  She sighed and was about to pull the bottle away, but then something came to mind.  She glance up at Donald and Goofy and started to remember a lot of things they use to tell her about when she was a baby herself.  Even though those were days she couldn't remember herself, the boys and especially Minnie always told her about it.  There were many times when Minnie would hold her just like her mother and sing to her.  It would calm her down with ease and let her know that there was nothing to cry about anymore.

For that, she took off her locket and set it down on the table next to Jiminy.  She asked him, "Would you do me a big favor, Jiminy?"

"Sure.  What is it?"

She opened the locket, "Sing that song for him.  I'll have my locket record it so, if it works, I can use it again the next time."

"Great idea, Marina," Chip smiled.  "Music always tames the beast."

"It could work," Jiminy sat near the edge of the table.  He cleared his throat as Marina pressed the small button.  A bit of light shone out of the locket upon Jiminy to scan him.  After Marina nodded, he took in a deep breath and started singing.

"When a star is born
They possess a gift or two
One of them is this
They have the power
To make a wish come true

When you wish upon a star
Make no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do"

While he was singing, the cub didn't seem so nervous anymore.  He parted his head from Marina's chest as he sniffed the bottle.  He squinted his eyes opened to look at it for a brief moment.  His jaws slowly opened and Marina gently set the nipple of the bottle against his lips.

"Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and see you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true!"

As he was singing the last course, the cub startling suckling at the bottle with his one good paw gripping the rim under Marina's fingers.  Seeing this made the boys around her grow smiles on their faces.  After Jiminy finished the last bit of the song, Dale went behind the locket and pressed the button again to stop the recording.

While the cub continued eating, Marina leaned in and kissed him on the head, "That's better, Kopa.  Everything's going to be okay now."

"Aww," Donald sighed.  "That's so cute."

Genie leaned on his fist and watched in admiration, "This is going to be the start of a lovely family relation."

 Marina stared down at the warm bundle in her arm with a proud smile.  She felt as if she was a real mother with a baby of her own.  Her heart felt much more relieved than she had hoped for.  She didn't want to leave that spot and put the cub down even for a minute.  A part of her promised that she was going to stay there until the cub was wide awake and feeling better.  

That was when movement caught the corner of her eye.  She looked behind her and the boys to find Silver standing on the stairs of the entrance to the mess hall.  A piece of her mind expected her to see him upset at the fact that the cub was going to live after all and he wasn't going to get the chance to snap its neck and get Marina thrown in the brig.  However, what she saw was something she least expected.  He was leaning against the side wall to the stairs with a smirk on his face.  Even though she spied a twinkle in his good eye, she didn't feel the nerve to forgive him one bit.  She turned away and stayed focus on the cub and his feeding.