A few weeks later, Nikki was testing out her brand new power suit under the supervision of her papa. 

She let out a long howl, showing off the wolf power disk her mama had given her. It was the only disk she had because her mama said that she'd have to learn about more animals if she wanted more disks. Nikki could barrow from her parents and uncle though. 

"Good howl, Nikki. Now lets see how fast you can run," her papa said from next to her. 

She nodded and the pair took off through the rough terrain, becoming a blur of yellow and green as they raced to the Trotuga.

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Martin sat high in a tree. He was the swimming brother but he didn't feel much like going any where near the water. 

'It was all my fault,' he thought, ' if I had realized I had pulled Nikki under sooner or talked to her right after it happened, she won't be scared of the water now.'

He smacked his fist against the tree trunk as tears ran down his cheeks. 

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"Where's Uncle Martin?" Nikki asked at the dinner table. 

Her dad grunted and her mom looked away. 

"What is wrong with you two?" Aunt Koki suddenly snapped, standing up and sending her chair falling to the ground. 

"My idiot brother nearly drown my daughter! That's what wrong!" Nikki's dad snapped back, jumping to his feet. 

"She's okay now!" Her aunt yelled back. 

Jimmy tried to pull Nikki away from the table but she shook her head no. 

"You think she's okay?! She is terrified of water, Koki! She won't go anywhere near the bathroom unless me or Chris go in there with her!" her mom yelled.

Nikki felt tears prick her eyes. Why were her parents being so mean to Uncle Martin. It was mostly her fault. She was the one who broke the rule about going too close to the edge. 

She took off running, grabbing her creature power suit and her dad's disk collection and headed outside. She also took a purple feather from the creature souvenir box.  

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Martin put his head in his hands. He could hear his girlfriend, brother, and Aviva yelling about what had happened. 

"Uncle Martin?" 

Martin looked around for Nikki but all he saw was a purple martin that was yellow. 

"I'm right here," Nikki said, waving a wing at him. He blinked and remembered that she had her own creature power suit. 

"Nikki! How did you get a purple martin disk? And why aren't you inside? I'm sure my brother doesn't want you anywhere near me," Martin looked away. 

"Well, I don't care. Papa and Mama are wrong about that," Nikki said, deactivating her suit. 

"What makes you say that? I pulled you into the water and then I didn't check afterwards to see if you were okay."

"I was the one standing too close to the edge. I probably would have just fallen in and drowned in you hadn't grabbed me."

"You almost drowned."

"Yeah, Uncle Martin, almost drowned. I'm still here," to prove her point, Nikki stood on the branch and spread her arms wide.

"Nikki! Be careful! Your parents will kill me if you got hurt again when I was watching you."

"Mama calls me monkey for a reason."

"You are defiantly my brother's kid," Martin laughed, rumpling Nikki's long brown hair. 

"And I'm still your niece, so no matter how long it takes, I'm going to get over my fear," she said.

"I wish you luck, kiddo ," Martin said. 

"Uncle Martin, will you help me get over my fear?"

Martin froze, staring at Nikki. How could this little girl, who every right to be scared of him and want nothing to do with him, be here comforting him?

"Yes," Martin said, pulling his niece into a bear hug.

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"Um, Martin? Bro?" Chris asked tapping on his brother's bedroom door. 

"Yeah," he answered. 

"I wanted to say-"

Martin threw the door open and hugged his brother. 

"I already forgave you," the blonde said. 

The brunette relaxed and hugged his older brother back.