the only exception - kenny wu

21. bash brothers

bombay and jan stood side by side, and arabella grinned. "and just when you think they're about to break apart-"

"ducks fly together!" the team shouted, finishing his sentence. 

"and when the wind blows hard and the sky is black-" miss mackay started, looking at the team. 

"ducks fly together!"

"when the roosters are crowing and the cows are spinning circles in the pasture-"

everyone was a little confused at dwayne's country version of it, but they finished the sentence anyway. "ducks fly together!

"and when everyone says it can't be done, ducks fly together."

jan smiled. "now, new ducks and old ducks must unite under a new banner. and i thought perhaps, something like this."

he grabbed a box, and pulled out jerseys with a duck mask on them. arabella grinned, and slapped fulton's arm in excitement. she was going to be a duck again!

fulton got used to arabella slapping him, so he didn't say much about it. he just smiled at her excitement. 

when it was time to go back and play, the team walked out in their new jerseys, grinning proudly. however, arabella brought her old jersey out, and looked for the little girl in the stands. 

when she found her, she smiled at her. again, her mom was filming. arabella stopped, and handed the little girl her jersey over the boards. she took it and gasped, smiling at it. arabella turned to the mom, who was smiling at the interaction. "you probably have to wash it. but she seems like my biggest supporter right now, so i want her to have it."

her mom thanked her, and arabella said bye to the little girl before going back to the team. charlie nudged her, and looked up at the girl, who was cheering at owning her jersey. "you're going to miss that jersey, you know."

arabella shrugged. "she was a cutie. besides, ducks are better."

she grinned, and went back to the team, and started skating on the ice. everyone was cheering for the new team jerseys, and arabella couldn't help but grin.

when they went to the boards to get ready, their cheer wasn't team u.s.a, it was their old one. the team started quacking, like old times. arabella felt silly, but she knew she wouldn't get to experience this again, so she quacked. 

"goooooo ducks!"

everyone's spirits seemed higher, and when they broke apart, arabella heard the crowd singing. "we will, we will, quack you!"

she laughed with kenny about this, and the two looked up to the crowd. when the team was going to the faceoff, she saw goldberg dancing in the net, and she laughed. averman grabbed her shoulders, and the two started finishing the song. "buddy, you're a boy make a big noise playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday!"

they usually did karaoke at the rink whenever they played music, it was like a tradition of theirs. however, bombay told arabella to get on the ice, and she saw jesse at the faceoff. he pushed the iceland player, and the ducks now had the puck. they were passing it around. 

they went towards the iceland goal, and connie passed it to guy. guy moved around with it before passing it to arabella, and she scored top right corner. 

arabella was caught in a big hug, and she was smiling harder than ever. the ducks jerseys made everyone happier. arabella figured that even if they didn't win, this would be the best game she had ever played. 

when they got off the ice, a new line went on, and arabella watched as goldberg saved the puck, and averman took the puck. however, he lost it in front of the net, and iceland scored. 

she groaned a little, but knew that anything could happen. they were huddled up by the bench, watching charlie draw x's and o's on a whiteboard. 

"charlie, this isn't the nba," averman joked. 

charlie insisted it was the perfect play, so the team broke apart to try it out. when they did the play, adam took the puck, most of the team following him. dwayne took the puck, and shot it up in the air. adam watched it, then skated to get it. he got tripped, but he managed to shoot the puck in anyways. adam had scored, making the team go wild. everyone was cheering, and it was now 5-3. 

later in the game, luis had gotten the puck. he was skating faster than ever, and arabella was hoping he could stop. she grabbed onto kenny's arm, worried. she didn't realize, but kenny did. he smiled at her, then turned his attention back to luis. 

it was luis against the goalie, and he seemed to get pretty close without stopping. however, luis stopped! arabella gasped, and watched the iceland goalie get covered in ice. luis seemed to notice he didn't fall and cheered. "i stopped!"

"put it in, luis!" bombay yelled from the bench, reminding luis of where he was. in a second, luis stuffed the puck in the net. 

arabella cheered excitedly, and she turned her gaze from luis to kenny. she gave him a hig before kenny could process what was happening, and he returned it. 

when they pulled apart, they smiled and watched as the team hugged, cheering luis on. there was now two minutes left, and they needed two more goals if they wanted to win. 

arabella was on the ice, but saw coach talking to russ. she didn't know what was going on, but he skated onto the ice. arabella passed to him, but watched as three iceland players circled around him. the rest of the team was trying to stop the other iceland players from getting him, and that's when she saw fulton laying on an iceland guy. 

the whistle blew, and coach called a timeout. everyone skated to the bench, and bombay explained. iceland had no idea what was going to happen.