Hop… hop… hop… HOP! D’ooh, I missed! … Hop… hop… hop… HOP! D’ooh, I missed again! … … Hop… hop… … HOP- Ouch! I sit up, rubbing my elbow where I bumped it on the rocks. One of my feathers came out. That hurt, but I’m not gonna cry. Besides, I got my prize. This little froggie is all mine now! He wiggles his little legs, trying to hop out of my hands, but I’m not gonna let him go! I need his help to defeat the evil wizard! “Where’d you go, young lady? We gotta get moving!” Uh oh. Daddy’s calling for me. But, the evil wizard hasn’t been defeated yet! Wait... maybe Daddy can help me defeat the wizard! I jump up to my feet and hop… hop… hop back home with my new friend. Daddy’s standing at the side of the driveway. He’s got his hands on his hips. He looks at my new friend. “And who exactly is this supposed to be?” I look down at the frog, then back up at Daddy. “His name is Cuthbert.” Daddy’s nose scrunches up. “Cuthbert? The hell… I mean, uhh, shouldn’t he have a more appropriate froggie name? Maybe ‘Mr. Ribbit’?” I shake my head. “No. Cuthbert.” Daddy shrugs. “I- whatever. It’s your frog. But we don’t have time to play with him right now, we have to get you washed up so we can go!” “But Daddy, I’ve gotta defeat the evil wizard! Cuthbert is gonna help me!” “That evil wizard will have to wait. Let’s…” He looks at my elbow. “What did you do to your arm, young lady?” “I fell trying to catch Cuthbert.” It stings a little bit. “Hmm… must have been that evil wizard casting a hex on you! Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. We’ll have to say goodbye to Cuthbert for now; you can play with him later.” I frown, but I guess I have to let him go. I bend over to put Cuthbert on the ground; he hops away just as soon as my fingers open up. “Bye bye, Cuthbert! We’ll get that evil wizard later!” Daddy takes my hand. “Atta girl. Let’s get you cleaned up so we can go.” He takes me inside and into the bathroom. I can reach the sink all by myself now, so I wash my hands, with soap and water! Daddy uses a cotton ball and some stinky water from a brown bottle to wipe my elbow. It stings when he wipes it, but I don’t cry. Big girls don’t cry. “Great job, sweetie. Let me put a little band-aid on your elbow and you’ll be all set, okay? Which one do you want, Ninja Turtles or My Little Pony?” “TURTLES!” Daddy smiles as he takes out the band-aid and puts it on my elbow. I love the Ninja Turtles, especially Donatello, he’s my favorite. “There, all fixed up! You’re a tough little girl, you know that?” “Yeah!” Daddy smiles at me. His smile always makes me smile. He’s the best daddy ever. “Okay, squirt. We gotta get rolling, your mom’s gonna have a conniption if we’re late.” “Have a compishun.” Daddy laughs. “No, no. A conniption. She’ll get all steamed up.” “All steamed up.” “That’s right. Ah, speaking of, there’s your beautiful mother now.” Mommy walks out of their bedroom. She has a very pretty dress on, but it’s real wide at the bottom because of her belly. “Honey, are you ready to go? Are you both ready? I really don’t want to be late for this.” I smile at Mommy. “Connip-shin.” She looks down at me, then at Daddy with a scrunched up snout. “Anon, what have you been saying to her?” Daddy shrugs at Mommy, trying to hold back a laugh. “I have no clue where she picks up these words.” Mommy groans and rolls her eyes before she leads us out to the car. Mommy loves me very much and she’s very nice, but sometimes she can get a little grumpy because of my little brother or sister she’s got inside of her. They’re supposed to be coming any day now; Mommy is usually very skinny but the baby made her tummy real big! They said I was a big baby, too, but I don’t remember that. I hope I have a little brother. I’d love to have a little sister, too, but I hope I have a little brother. I climb into the back seat of the car and buckle my seatbelt all by myself. Daddy opens the door for Mommy and helps her in; she smiles at him. I love Mommy’s smile, she’s the most beautiful mommy in the world. Daddy gets into the driver’s side, and after he checks on me to make sure I’m buckled in we start driving. Mommy looks back at me. “It’s about a 20 minute drive to the school. Do you want to watch something on my tablet?” I nod. “Yeah! Yeah!” She smiles as she takes her tablet out of her bag. “Okay, what do you want to watch?” “Robocop!” Mommy stops smiling. “... Seriously? Why don’t I find you a nice cartoon instead?” “Robocop!” Mommy looks at Daddy. He is holding back a laugh again. “Anon, what are you letting her watch?!” Daddy shrugs. “Who am I to deny our daughter kino cinematic experiences?” “But these movies are so bloody and violent! And… old! Stuff from the 80s, seriously?” Mommy turns back to me again. “Sweetie, is there anything else you want to watch?” I scrunch my snout as I think. “... Terminator 2.” Mommy hangs her head. “... Fine. Terminator 2.” She taps on the tablet to bring the movie up, narrowing her eyes at Daddy as she hands the tablet back to me. I think she might have a connip-shin at Daddy later. I hit the play button on the tablet, swinging my legs as the movie starts. Arnold Sh… Shw… I can’t say that last name. Arnold is cool. Hasta la vista, baby. Daddy glances over at Mommy. “I still cannot believe that he’s actually attending our church. When I saw him walk in, I instantly went into ‘fight’ mode.” Mommy giggles. “Oh, I watched you, honey. You were very brave darting between your pregnant wife and that menacing handshake he extended you.” “How was I supposed to know he was a changed man?! The last time I saw him was over six years ago when I literally broke his beak in half! I coulda killed the-” Daddy glances over his shoulder, noticing that I’m looking at him. “... Erm… it was a long time ago, sweetie. Ignore what I said.” I smile at Daddy. “Hasta la vista, baby!” He smiles back at me before he keeps talking to Mommy. “I mean… he apologized for everything. I just… I’m not sure.” Mommy shrugs. “God can change people. He seemed very genuine and very apologetic. You should give him a chance, Anon. After all, we are supposed to forgive one another.” Daddy nods. “... You’re right. I’ll talk to him more next week. Let’s hold off on inviting him over for a cookout, though.” This makes Mommy giggle. They must be talking about that pterodactyl man at church today. He had a crooked beak, but he wasn’t scary. He was really nice to Mommy and Daddy. I guess they used to not be friends. I hope they can be friends again. Mommy and Daddy are very nice, I want them to have lots of friends. “Okay, we’re just about there. May I have my tablet back?” Mommy holds her hand towards me. I nod and hand her the tablet which she turns off and puts back in her bag. They let me play with the tablet sometimes but they don’t let me use it all the time. Some other kids at school are playing with their phones or tablets all the time, and they’re hard to talk to. I wanna play with the other kids. We park the car and all get out. I haven’t been to this place before. The building is great big! It’s got a big set of stairs going up to the front, and above the doors it says “Volcano High.” Oh, it’s a big kids school. “Mommy, why are we here? You and Daddy don’t go to school anymore.” Mommy smiles at me. “You’re right, we don’t. We’re here for something called a ‘reunion’. It’s been ten years since your dad and I graduated.” “Graderated.” She smiles at me again. “Graduated. It means we finished school and got to be adults!” My eyes get wide. “I wanna be an adult!” Daddy bends down and scoops me into his arms to carry me up the steps. “Don’t rush towards that, young lady. You enjoy being a little girl for as long as you can.” He holds out his other hand and takes Mommy’s hand in his as they slowly walk up the stairs. Mommy has to take the steps a little slower and use the handrail. We get to the front door and Daddy holds it open for Mommy. Some other adults are here, saying hello to one another. There’s lots of smiling and laughing. Everyone seems real happy. We go up to a table with a great big man standing behind it. He’s huge! Way bigger than Daddy, but he’s a human like Daddy. He also has black hair with a little gray in it. Daddy doesn’t have any hair on top of his head. He also wears glasses. Daddy doesn’t wear glasses. “Anon. Lucy. Wonderful to see the two of you again.” He has a real deep voice. Daddy shakes his hand. “Great to see you again, Principal Spears.” The big man looks past his glasses at Daddy with a frown. “Er… Jon.” Mister Jon smiles. “That’s better. Lucy, you’re looking radiant!” Mommy giggles. “I look like I’m about to pop, and I am. I need to find a chair, ASAP.” Mister Jon chuckles. “Well, let me get you your name tags. Here you go, Anon. Here’s yours, Lucy…” He hands stickers with names on them to Mommy and Daddy. He then looks at me. “And that means this one is for you. Here you go, little one.” His huge hand holds a little sticker with my name on it towards me. I take it. “Thank you!” “And she’s so polite, too!” He gives a great big smile to Mommy and Daddy. “I’m so happy for both of you that everything worked out. She’s a lovely little girl, and now you’ve got another on the way! Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?” Mommy smiles and shakes her head. “We’re keeping it a surprise for when the day arrives. Which better be soon.” She shakes the big man’s hand again, as does Daddy. I smile at him and wave before I pull the sticker with my name on it from its back and stick it onto the front of my dress. We go through another door to a big gym with lots of tables and chairs set up in it. There’s long tables with lots of snacks and drinks on them, and some music is playing, too. There’s lots of people here I don’t recognize, but- OH! “UNCLE NASER!” Daddy sets me down and I run over to Uncle Naser. He gives me a great big smile and picks me up in a big hug. “Hey there, girl! How are you doing?! Ooof, you’re getting so big, I can hardly pick you up anymore!” I giggle. “I’m not big!” He pretends like his back is hurting. “Then explain- ohhh, my back! You’re so heavy! Owowow!” “You’re silly, Uncle Naser!” He gives me a big smile and keeps holding me while he talks to Mommy and Daddy. “So, how are my favorite brother-in-law and most beautiful sister doing today?” He glances down at Mommy’s belly. “You gonna start charging them rent or what?” Mommy swats at Uncle Naser’s arm. “They’ll come out when they’re ready to! Oh, but I do want to thank you for the advice. You were right, I wasn’t getting enough water. It really helped a lot.” Uncle Naser shrugs. “That was just average advice for a pregnant lady. But you already know most of what you’ve gotta do. This is your second time around the block, after all.” Uncle Naser is a special doctor who works with mommies and daddies who are human and dinosaur. Most of my friends have two dinosaur parents, and some have two human parents. Not many have a human daddy and a dinosaur mommy. Sometimes the other kids tease me about my parents and how I look a little different than a normal pterodactyl girl, but Mommy and Daddy made me happy when they told me how beautiful and special I am to them. Mommy cried a lot when I told her the other kids said that, but I didn’t want her to cry. I didn’t cry. I know my eyes look a little different and my beak is a little shorter, but I wouldn’t want any other mommy and daddy in the whole world. Daddy scoops me out of Uncle Naser’s arms. “Do you wanna go play with the other kids for a bit? I see Patty and… well, all of Rosa’s brood over there!” “Yeah!” Daddy sets me down and I run over to the other kids. Before I get to them, though, I see a group of older kids sitting at one of the tables. One of them is on his cell phone… a tyrannosaurus boy. He shakes some of the hair that hangs over his eyes out of his eyes as he notices me. “... ‘Sup?” I walk up to him with a big smile. “Your eyes are like mine!” He blinks and scrunches his snout. “Uhh…” He leans closer to look at my eyes. “... Yeah, I guess they’re similar.” “Wow! Do you have a dinosaur mommy and a human daddy too?!” He smiles. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. My mom’s over there-” He points to the other side of the room. I see a great big tyrannosaurus woman with long, pretty blonde hair talking to some other grown-ups. “... and my dad is in the front. He gave you that.” He jabs at the sticker with my name on it. “Cool! My mommy and daddy are over there!” I point behind me. Another dinosaur I don’t know with bright pink hair, a pink snout and a pink tail is talking to them. That dinosaur is very pink! I don’t know if my dad likes all that pink, though… he looks kind of annoyed to be talking to that dinosaur. “My… mommy is the pterodactyl, and my daddy is the human!” “Well, that’s really cool. You’re just like me, then.” He gives me another smile. He’s a really nice boy. I’d ask if he wants to play with us but teenagers usually don’t wanna play with us. I wave goodbye and run over to my friends. “Auntie Trish! Uncle Reed!” Auntie Trish and Uncle Reed are watching over my friends on the other side of the big room. They smile and wave at me as I run up to them and give them a great big hug. “Heeeey, there’s my favorite little munchkin!” Uncle Reed rustles my hair. I swat at his hand and shake my hair back into place. He’s silly and he always smells like vape smoke. “Did you come to play with Patty and the others?” Auntie Trish kneels down next to me. She’s holding her new baby, Jarod. He’s still very young and he’s sleeping now. I hope I have a little brother, too! “Yeah!” “Alright, go on! They’re playing kickball over there. Just be careful with the younger kids, okay?” “Okay!” I run over to the corner of the gym where I see Patty and Hector and Amelia and Isabella all playing. They’re all older than me but they’re all really nice to me! I love getting to see them and play with them! Aunt Rosa’s other kids are here, too, but they’re all younger than me. There’s Manuela, and Luis, and Fernando! Antonio is too young to play with us, though. There’s other kids here too that I don’t know, but I get right into the game of kickball and kick that red rubber ball really good! I’m not sure where the goal is but I’m gonna win this game! Patty runs besides me, laughing and smiling as we pass the ball back and forth to each other. I love Patty, she’s my best friend. She’s two years older than me but she’s always really nice to me and loves playing with me. She’s really smart, too. I hope she’ll be my friend forever. I give the ball a really good kick and it bounces off the wall right back to me! I turn to see if Mommy and Daddy saw my kick, but they’re still on the other side of the room. Now they’re talking to another dinosaur I don’t know. It’s a lady dinosaur with short blonde hair and a long tail. She’s kind of orange colored. She’s… Oh no. Mommy looks sad. They both look sad. I gotta go make Mommy feel better. “Are you still playing?” Patty taps my arm, but I run over to Mommy. Her and the orange dinosaur lady hug before I get there. When I get there, Mommy is crying. The orange dinosaur lady hugged Daddy too, and she walked away. “Are you okay, Mommy? Don’t cry.” Mommy scoops me up into her arms, smiling at me as she wipes her tears away. “I’m okay, sweetie. She was… that was an old friend. We were just talking. Mommy’s okay.” I hug Mommy as tight as I can. My wings don’t reach as far as hers yet, they’re still growing, but I do my best to hug her with them, too. She gives me a kiss and hugs me back. “Thank you, sweetie. You’re a very good girl.” I hug her again. “I love you, Mommy. I don’t want you to be sad.” She gives me a great big smile. She’s not crying anymore. “I am the happiest mommy in the world. You are my little blessing.” I see Aunt Stella and Uncle Bill come through the door next. I wave to them from over Mommy’s shoulder; she turns to look at them but that turns me around so I can’t see them! I wiggle to be put down, and Mommy sets me down so I can go give them a hug. Aunt Stella has a round belly now, too. It’s not as big as Mommy’s; she told me it will still be a few months before her baby comes. It’s also her first baby! I’ll get to have a new friend, though they will be a little younger than me. Maybe Aunt Stella’s baby and my little brother or sister will be best friends like me and Patty! Uncle Bill gives me a hug, too. He’s a human, just like Daddy but he has more hair than Daddy. One time, Daddy told me that Uncle Bill used to be bigger than he is now. Daddy said that Uncle Bill “got his shit together.” I don’t know if Daddy wanted me to hear him say that. I said it back to him and his ears got reeeeal red. He told me not to say that word again until I’m older. I promised that I wouldn’t and Daddy gave me ice cream for being a good girl! Mommy asks me to go play with the other kids again, so I do. I give Aunt Rosa and Uncle Ramón a hug before I go; they’re at a table nearby Mommy and Daddy, and Aunt Rosa has little Antonio in her arms. He’s so cute! I wanna have a baby of my own, but Mommy says I can only have the dolls right now. When I’m all grown up and I get married I can have a baby of my own! I don’t know who I want to marry, though. Boys are usually gross. I go back to play with the other kids some more. After a little while, Mommy and Daddy help me get some snacks from the tables. I have some crackers and some cheese and a little bit of meat, plus they have juice. Patty can’t eat the meat or else she’ll get a tummy ache. She still has a little bit sometimes. Her tail’s a lot different than a triceratops tail, too. I think it’s really cool. After I eat, I get to play with the other kids some more. Now Daddy has come over to watch us while Auntie Trish and Uncle Reed go talk to the other adults. He’s sitting in a chair by the side of where we’re playing. I run over to him. “Daddy, what was that orange dinosaur lady saying to you and Mommy?” His face gets real serious for a second before he smiles at me. He picks me up and sets me on his lap. “She… she’s someone we used to know in high school. She was a friend of ours a lot of years ago. We… hadn’t talked to her in a long time.” I pull on the bottom of my dress. It’s got wrinkles in it. “Why not?” “It’s… complicated. Adult life can be complicated sometimes.” “Why was Mommy crying?” Daddy lets out a long breath. “Naomi… that lady that was talking to us… she apologized to Mommy, and Mommy apologized to Naomi. They felt bad about how things were left off back when we were younger.” I look up at Daddy; he looks sad. “Sometimes things don’t go right with your friends. Sometimes it’s your fault, and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes you can fix things with them… and sometimes you can’t. But what’s important is forgiveness. You always need to be able to forgive each other.” I remember a story they told us in Sunday School about a daddy forgiving his son. His son ran away and didn’t come back for a long time, but one day he did come back. He lost all his money, and all his toys, and he knew his daddy would be very angry with him, but instead his daddy forgave him and threw him a big party. I was confused by the story at first; I didn’t know why the daddy would be happy that his son lost all his money and toys. But the teacher said the daddy was happy that his son was home. So happy that he didn’t care about the things he lost, he only cared about his son that he loved. I nod at Daddy. “Then I’ll go forgive Naomi, too!” I start to get down, but Daddy picks me back up and laughs. “No, no, sweetie. You don’t have to forgive Naomi. We already talked it out with her. Plus, this was a long time ago, before you were even born. But thank you for being so sweet.” He gives me a great big hug before looking into my eyes. He thinks hard about something. “... In a weird, roundabout way… I don’t know if any of this would have happened without her.” I cock my head, but Daddy just smiles at me. “Don’t worry about it. Your ol’ dad’s just thinking out loud.” I smile back at Daddy but my eyes start to get really heavy. I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. “Alright, pumpkin. Time for us to go. Say goodbye to your friends.” I rub my eyes with my hands. I fell asleep. I wanted to keep playing. I hop down from Daddy’s lap and say goodbye to the other kids. I wish I could play more, but we have to go home. Patty comes over and gives me a great big hug. I’ll get to play with her again soon, and Hector and Amelia and Isabella too. I love all my friends. I hope we always get to be friends until we’re mommies and daddies too. Daddy picks me up and carries me with him towards Mommy. He takes her hand and we all leave the way we came in, going down the big staircase in front of the school. The moon is out now. We get to the car and Daddy puts me in the back seat. He helps buckle my seatbelt. I can do it myself but I’m still sleepy. He helps Mommy into the front seat again and goes around to the other front seat. When he gets in and turns on the car, he looks at Mommy and she looks at him. They hold hands with each other and smile. They always smile at me like that, too. I know how much they love me when they smile at me like that, and I know they love each other, too. I close my eyes again, and then open them again and we’re home. I’m still sleepy. I did too good at kickball, it took up all my energy. The door opens and Daddy scoops me out of the back seat and carries me into our house. He brings me into my bedroom and tucks me into bed. Mommy is there, too. She leans down next to me and kisses me. “Good night, sweetheart. We both love you very much.” “Mommy…?” “Yes, Amber?” “... Can you sing me my song?” It’s hard to keep my eyes open, but I see Daddy and Mommy smile at each other. They both sit on the side of my bed and hold hands while Mommy runs her fingers across my hair. She smiles at me. You are my special little girl I love you, dear, you are my world Don’t cry; we’ll never be apart You’re the brilliant Amber of my life The shining light within my heart And even if the night is dark And even if you feel alone Don’t be afraid because I will always love you My sweet Amber You are my special little girl I love you, dear, you are my world Don’t cry; we’ll never be apart You’re the brilliant Amber of my life The shining light within my heart https://soundcloud.com/starmansuper1/her-song [POST-NOTES] And that’s Bonds. What an exciting, challenging and emotional journey this has been. If you had asked me six months ago if I could write a fanfiction novel based on a parody video game about anthropomorphic dinosaurs, I’d have laughed. Today, I’ve achieved a milestone in my life. I’ve written a fuckin’ book. Hell yeah. I want to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who helped me arrive at the end of this road. Truly, I would not have been able to get here without the support of so many people. You guys made this happen, not me. I’m an author that’s only as good as his audience, so thank you to all of you for reading. Special thanks to: Pokemonpie - you commented on a silly review post I left on the Snoot Game subreddit asking me to join the Snoot Club Discord server, and asking me to try my hand at fanfiction. If it hadn’t been for your suggestion and encouragement, Bonds would have never happened. Drecka - you proofread the ever-loving crap out of so many of my chapters, including the most pivotal and important parts of the story. You pushed for me to improve my writing, and you made nothing but excellent suggestions. I owe you big time. SomeStuff - you also proofread my early work, helping me knock the dust off my stale writing and strive for something more than “average”. Valeri - aside from constant encouragement, you helped immensely by offering me some of your medical knowledge, helping to increase the realism and credibility of some of this work’s most pivotal moments. Thóin - your assistance with the Spanish-speaking segments of Bonds was immensely helpful, giving life to Rosa and her family that Google Translate could never achieve. Doc. Chump, PhD - you motivated me in the early days of my writing and offered excellent feedback. My guitar teacher, Haden - you helped me improve the song I wrote for chapter 23 by suggesting the bridge. My guitar playing has a long way to go, but your lessons have helped me improve immensely. Ryanon Ryker - your artistic skills gave chapter 23’s song a beautiful cover, and your dedication to the next project I have you working on is stupendous. SnakeDr, Avid Amber Enjoyer, Heretic, Deegahdo, Bruh, BuffPuff, Canastus, Lowkeyloki, Lumin0x and everyone else from the Snoot Club Discord who offered kind words and constant encouragement. You guys really helped keep me motivated and writing. Everyone who offered kind words in the comments section here on AO3. Thank you all for reading and for giving a first-time author like me a chance. Cavemanon - you made Snoot Game. Without it, there wouldn’t be Bonds. As for what’s next, I have a few special projects in the works. I will probably write more Snoot Game content, and I also have some ideas for other writing. Additionally, there will be a few other Bonds-related surprises in the future. I love you all. Thank you for everything.