The guards inside the portal said nothing to Renegade and Nova as they stepped through to Care-a-Lot. Renegade wanted to say something but the guards just looked through him and Nova just snorted at the guards as she followed Renegade. In the past two years Nova’s horn had finally grown in, though her coat was still silver and she had put on a fair amount of muscle, making her look different from her very slender and still frail looking teacher, Aurora. Renegade hadn’t changed much physically, though like Nova he had grown larger and put on some muscle, though comparatively less than Nova.
Word had spread fast after Frosty accidentally told Red Snout that Renegade was Fauna’s half-brother. It didn’t take long to figure out who Renegade’s parents were and once everyone knew, he became a pariah in the falls. Renegade was harassed, bullied and even outright assaulted until Fauna stepped in and threatened dire consequences for anyone who hurt her brother. Renegade wasn’t sure if that was better or worse because after that the Pegasus just started ignoring him, looking through him as if he weren’t even there; Fauna and Blue’s influence could keep Renegade safe from physical harm but they couldn’t force anyone to acknowledge his existence, let alone interact with him. The only residents of the falls who didn’t shun him were: Fauna; Blue Timberwolf, the Kingsire and Fauna’s husband who mostly spoke to him after Fauna insisted and agreed it wasn’t his fault; Frosty Whitewolf, who felt immensely guilty after accidentally causing Renegade to be an outcast (he wouldn’t stop apologizing to Renegade no matter how many times Renegade forgave him); Thunder Greywolf, one of Fauna’s closest friends who was sympathetic to his situation; White Fang and Aurora, who had more-or-less become his surrogate parents at this point; and Nova, his best friend. Because of this Renegade and Nova had taken to visiting the Kingdom of Caring on a regular basis, whenever they weren’t taking magic lessons from White Fang and Aurora.
Renegade stepped onto the clouds and took a deep breath. “Alright, here goes.” An aura of purple energy surrounded Renegade as his body began to shift. A moment later, Renegade was standing there in his human form. Now at a pre-teen age wearing a yellow t-shirt and black jeans with black shoes. Renegade breathed a sigh of relief, “I did it.”
Nova grinned, “Alright. My turn!” Nova’s horn glowed with a white aura that surrounded her. There was a flash of light and Nova was standing there in human form. Nova was a young pale-skinned teenage human girl with short silver hair and a dark eight pointed star on her forehead wearing a white tank-top, shorts but no shoes. The two of them took human form in the Kingdom of Caring purely because it was more convenient than trying to wander around as two growing equines.
Nova stretched a bit to get used to her new form, “There we go. Hmm?” Nova spotted Noble Heart and True Heart jogging across the clouds towards Take Care’s office.
Renegade watched as they entered Take Care’s office, “What’s going on?”
“Let’s go find out!” Nova took off towards the clinic which forced Renegade to run to keep up with her.
True Heart burst through the door into the waiting room, desperation plastered on her face, “Where’s Love Heart?! Is he alright?!” Noble Heart entered a moment later, breathing heavily but not panting.
Take Care gave True Heart and annoyed look, “Love Heart’s recovering from some magical surgery, curtesy of Defender Bear. Wish took Defender home before he could pass out and I had five patients to deal with.”
True Heart was suddenly in Take Care’s face, her eyes quivering as she did so. “Please let me see him!”
“What’s going on in here?” Nova and Renegade entered the waiting room, looking at the assembly.
Take Care actually growled was about to object until Noble Heart came up and put a hand on Take Care’s shoulder. “Please, Take Care, we have to see that he’s still alive.”
Take Care sighed and stepped aside to let Noble Heart and True Heart pass, “Just get dressed in sterile surgery gear first.” Once they were inside, Take Care turned to the waiting room, her momentary calm dispelled by the commotion as the Hugs, Tugs, Connie, Hope and Chance tried to explain everything that had happened that day to Nova and Renegade, all talking over one-another.
“HEY!” Take Care’s shout instantly silenced everyone, “My clinic is not a conference hall! Anyone who isn’t a patient and doesn’t live here needs to leave, now!” she pointed at the exit door. Everyone gulped then bolted, almost tripping over each other as they scrambled out the door.
Take Care sighed and leaned back against the wall as Get Well put a hand on her shoulder, “Everything alright mom?”
“Just stressed, Get Well.” Take Care looked back at the door and saw that Independent Bear was about to leave, having waited for the stampede to finish before he stood up. “Where are you going?”
Indy paused, his hand on the doorknob, “You said we had to leave.”
“Not you, not until I’m certain you’re still alright.” Take Care walked over to Indy, took hold of his shoulders and turned him back to the exam room, “besides you don’t know you’re way around here, just get some rest and we’ll sort this all out later.”
Indy smiled, “OK. Thank you.”
Truth Bear looked up from the book he was reading as Take Care entered the exam room with Indy. “What happened out there?” he asked.
“Too many visitors during an emergency,” Take Care helped Indy up onto an exam table, where he lay down, “How’s Flash Heart?”
Truth cocked an eyebrow, “Who? Oh the yellow one. He fell asleep a while ago,” he nodded to where the yellow bear lay, snoring softly.
“I should give him a check up just to be safe.” Take Care grabbed a stethoscope off the wall and moved to check Flash Heart’s heart rate and breathing.
Indy turned his head to watch Take Care work. “Will he live?”
Take Care looked up for a moment, “He should be fine, better than most would be after cracking their head on a rock. I’ll need to wait and see how well he recovers but he’s better than Love Heart and Confidence Heart were when they came in.”
“That’s good.” Indy lay his head back on the pillow and let out a sigh. Take Care turned back to Flash Heart.
“Alright, he should be fine for now, Truth?” Truth Bear looked up from his book again, “Keep an eye on these two and let me know if they get up again.”
“OK,” Truth Bear nodded. Take Care left the exam room.
Indy stirred once again. Truth set his book down and stood up, walking over to the silver bear’s bedside, “Still awake?”
“Hard to sleep when you’ve been on the run so long.” Indy muttered.
“I’ve been meaning to ask: where’s your sword?” Truth asked, “You didn’t bring it back after you got up.”
Indy opened one eye, “Oh that. It must have just disappeared.”
Truth Bear blinked, “What?”
“I conjured it with my tummy symbol but I guess it just ran out.” Indy closed his eye again, “Talk later sleep now.”
Truth nodded then went back to his seat to read his book again.
OoOoO
True Heart and Noble Heart, wearing surgery clean masks, smocks and gloves, stood over Love Heart Bear where he lay on the operating table with the only sound being the heart monitors hooked up to him and Confidence Heart. True Heart stroked Love Heart’s head then looked down at his still glowing tummy symbol. “It’s really him.”
“Love Heart Bear,” Noble Heart touched Love Heart’s tummy symbol.
OoOoO
“Alright, so what is going on here?” Nova had stopped everyone from scattering as soon as they left the clinic.
Both Nova and Renegade took a step back as Hugs, Tugs, Connie, Hope and Chance started talking over one another again. “Whoa!” Renegade held up his hands, “Just one please!” After a moment of discussion, Hope volunteered to tell the whole story they had heard from Wish Bear.
“That’s a sad story, but he’s back now at least,” Nova smiled at the thought then turned to Renegade, “Hey Ren, something wrong?”
Renegade had a hand on his chin as he digested in the information. “Who is his mother?”
Hope blinked, “What?”
“Who is Love Heart’s mother?” Renegade repeated, “You never mentioned her.”
“That is a good point. Who is she?” Germaine asked.
Nova’s eye’s narrowed, “If anyone knows it’s True Heart and Noble Heart. I gotta go ask them!” Nova was about to turn and take off when Renegade put a hand on her shoulder.
“Let’s not annoy Take Care any more today. We’ll ask them later.”
Nova huffed and folded her arms, “Fine… So now what?”
“Simple, we tell everyone in the Kingdom of Caring what happened, they’ll be thrilled,” Chance suggested.
“I don’t know…” Germaine bit her lower lip.
“You do that if you want, I’m gonna go see Grumpy.” Alex turned and waved the group off as he walked away.
“I think I’m going to go visit Bright Heart, bye,” Germaine waved as she too walked away.
“So it’s just the seven of us then, that’s fine by me,” Tugs grinned.
“So let’s split up and tell everyone. Gosh won’t they be excited,” Hugs clapped her hands together.
“So, let’s stop talking and get moving!” Nova pumped her fists then took off towards Care-a-Lot.
OoOoO
Word spread like wildfire and before too long the entire Kingdom of Caring was abuzz with news of Love Heart’s sudden return, along with the arrival of three new family members. Less talked about but still brought up was the subject of Dusk Heart, the monster that had nearly killed the four of them, and what kind of threat he posed. Despite his revelry, Brave Heart was one of the few who was giving the threat serious thought.
“Ah can’t help but worry about this, Ah mean what if he finds a way up here? What are we supposed to do about him?” Brave Heart was sitting with Tenderheart in the Hall of Heart’s office, a smaller room set aside for the six leaders of the Care Bear Family to discuss serious events before they had a large meeting to inform everyone.
Tenderheart nodded, “It’s a serious concern, but for now all we can do it wait for Love Heart and his new friends to recover so they can tell us more.”
Brave Heart scrunched up his face for a moment, then lit up, “Let’s ask Defender and Truth!”
Tenderheart stared at Brave Heart se he continued, “they fought him, they should know at least somethin’ about Dusk Heart.”
“That’s… actually a good idea,” Tenderheart stood up then froze when he saw Brave Heart glaring at him.
“Honestly, Tenderheart, Ah get why everyone else treats me like I’m some sort of special needs student because of a few exaggerated incidents but Ah thought you knew me better than that.” Brave Heart stood up and marched out of the room.
Tenderheart sighed then hurried to catch up with Brave Heart, “Sorry.”
“OK, just try not to do it again, aright?” Brave Heart turned to look at Tenderheart as he caught up with him.
“Alright. So how are things going with Harmony Bear?” Tenderheart did his best to change the subject.
“Things aren’t going at all.” Brave Heart hung his head, “Ah tried but nothing clicked, just like with Proud Heart. Ah I had a crush of both of them for years but now… Ah guess I should feel alright that they didn’t hook up with anyone right after our farces of relationships ended.”
Tenderheart put a hand on Brave Heart’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, you’ll find someone eventually.”
Brave Heart chuckled, “Ah supposed Ah should just keep trying. So what about you and Love-a-Lot?” Brave Heart grinned when he saw Tenderheart blush.
“There going well… I think…” Tenderheart took a deep breath, “I think I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“Really?!” Brave Heart’s shout made Tenderheart jump. Brave Heart grinned and clapped Tenderheart on the back, “Well good luck there, Tenderheart.”
“Thanks, Brave Heart.”
OoOoO
Defender and Wish were sitting on Defender’s couch when they heard the knock at the front door. Defender was about to stand but Wish put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, then stood up and answered the door.
“Oh, hello Tenderheart, Brave Heart. Did you need something?”
Tenderheart nodded, “Yes, Wish, we need to talk to Defender.”
“Can we come in?” Brave Heart asked.
Wish looked over her shoulder to Defender, who nodded. “Alright, just don’t stay too long,” Wish opened the door for them then went back to the couch.
Brave Heart took a seat next to Defender on the couch while Tenderheart remained standing while facing the three of them.
“Is this about our battle earlier today?” Defender asked.
Brave Heart nodded, “Yup. We need to know everything about Dusk Heart and what happened down there.”
Defender nodded then closed his eyes, thinking.
“Please, Phoenix, we need to know if Dusk Heart poses a serious threat and if we need to be worried about him,” Tenderheart was trembling slightly, despite his attempts to maintain his composure.
Defender opened his eyes and looked from Brave Heart to Tenderheart before he spoke. “It’s the shadow dragon.”
“What?” Brave Heart gave Defender a confused look.
“Remember the void that appeared right before Truth joined the Care Bear Family?” Defender asked.
“I can’t forget that, I can never forget that,” Wish put an arm around Defender’s shoulder.
“That’s right, Ah remember you said something callin’ itself the ‘Shadow Dragon’ used Shade and No-Heart to get into our world so he could eat it, and then you blew it up.” Brave Heart chuckled at the memory, “Guess he was all bark and no bite.”
Defender shook his head, “Far from it. A small part of itself survived our encounter and took control of a human’s body. That’s Dusk Heart. I don’t think he’s as powerful as he was before but he is very resilient.”
“Why don’t ya just go all pillar of light on him again? It worked the first time,” Brave Heart brightened up.
Phoenix shook his head, “I’ve tried but I can’t seem to access that type of light magic unless I’m extremely mad, or otherwise emotional, and even when I can it always drains me of all my strength. Besides I managed to use a smaller version of that kind of energy on him during the fight and it didn’t seem to do any lasting damage.”
Tenderheart hummed momentarily, “That’s troubling. What happened to him?”
“One of our new family members hit him with a blast of light that knocked him away. I doubt it finished him off but at least he didn’t follow us,” Defender’s eyes were drooping as he spoke.
“Ah see… wait a blast of light?” Brave Heart blinked then stared at Defender, mouth open.
“Our new family members can use magic. Didn’t you hear?” Defender raised his head to look at Brave Heart.
Brave Heart sighed, “No, the kids are just runnin’ around yellin’ about the new family members and getting’ everyone up in arms and excited to see them.”
“And with True Heart and Noble Heart visiting Love Heart it’s up to Brave Heart and me to try and make sense of everything, and fill out the reports for future reference,” Tenderheart put a hand on his forehead.
Defender nodded, “I don’t know much about their abilities, you should ask them when they’re up and around again. Is that everything?”
“That’s all, we just need to finish up this stuff back at the hall,” Brave Heart stood up, “Sorry to bother you two, just get some rest and we’ll see ya later.”
“Take care both of you,” Tenderheart said as he and Brave Heart left.
Defender let out a yawn he’d been suppressing ever since the leaders walked in and forced himself to his feet. Wish caught him before he could fall over, “Phoenix?”
“I just need some sleep, Wish, that’s all,” Defender smiled at her.
OoOoO
Once the report had been made on the incident, Tenderheart and Brave Heart had the impossible task of trying to restore order in the Kingdom of Caring. The first thing they did was to visit Take Care to get an update on the situation and any requests she had. After several members of the family tried to visit Take Care’s patients the two leaders were quick to call a meeting at the Hall of Hearts, with only the founders not in attendance.
“ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!” Without even being prompted, Brave Heart took advantage of his voice to quiet down the assembly, who had been creating a cacophony of conversation in the hall until this point.
“Alright then, now that we’re all here and quiet, Take Care has a lot to tell you, so listen!” Brave Heart nodded to Take Care and sat down.
“Wow, who knew Brave Heart had that in him?” Tugs whispered to Connie.
“You think you know someone,” Connie and Tugs snickered until Take Care started talking.
“Alright, I know you’ve all been hearing rumors from our younger generation,” she glared in the direction of Hugs, Tugs, Connie, Hope, Chance, Nova and Renegade (who all averted their gaze from her own), “but let me clear some things up. Earlier today Wish Bear spotted four lost family members being pursued and attacked by a being called Dusk Heart. After Defender Bear and Truth Bear intervened we were able to rescue all of them and bring them to my clinic where they remain after receiving treatment. They are going to remain under observation at my clinic until they have recovered; the ones named Independent Bear and Flash Heart Bear should be released within the next couple days but the other two, Love Heart Bear and Confidence Heart Fennec, are going to be under long term observation to make sure they fully recover. Until further notice any visits to them will be made only with my permission,” Take Care’s eyes narrowed, “Do not go to Noble Heart, True Heart or Grams Bear to get permission over my head, do you all understand?”
A chorus of yeses echoed from the family and Take Care turned the meeting over to Tenderheart. “Thank you Take Care. Now I know you’re all excited about Love Heart returning home, and believe me I am too, but for now please follow Take Care’s orders. There is a more pressing concern we have to deal with: we have a new enemy. The being that calls himself Dusk Heart is the remains of the shadow dragon that Defender Bear defeated some time ago, attached to a human body and now after us, apparently for revenge. We don’t know his current whereabouts or his full powers but he did try to kill Defender and Truth as soon as they saw him so we can only assume that he will do the same to anyone else. Until further notice all caring missions must be handled in teams of at least two, even if it’s just a single child who needs help.”
“Alright then, are there any other questions?” Brave Heart asked.
Nova raised her hand, “I have one: Who’s Love Heart’s mom.”
“Huh?” Brave Heart blinked.
“What do you mean?” Tenderheart asked.
“Who’s Love Heart mom?” Nova repeated, “Wish told us that this other founder of yours, Sage Heart, was Love Heart’s actual dad so who’s his mom?”
Murmuring starting spreading through the assembly, questions passing back and forth between everyone. Tenderheart, Brave Heart and Take Care all shared glances, a mixture of confusion and questioning.
“Ya know, Ah never really thought about it.”
“I thought it was strange we knew he was Sage Heart’s son but never who his mom was.”
“That was before I was a doctor so I don’t have any sort of records about him.” Take Care folded her arms, “Despite that, I need to get back to my clinic.” She stood up and headed for the exit to the Hall of Hearts. Get Well decided to remain behind to talk with Hugs. Nova and Renegade decided to follow Take Care back to her clinic.
About half way to the clinic, Take Care stopped and turned around, “Did you want something?”
“I’d like to visit these newcomers before I go home, please?” Nova tried giving puppy dog eyes to Take Care.
“I want to meet them too, if I can please,” Renegade asked.
Take Care sighed, “Alright, but only because you brought up a good point I need to talk to Noble Heart and True Heart about. Com’on,” she motioned for them to follow her.
OoOoO
Noble Heart and True Heart were in the waiting room when Take Care, Nova and Renegade entered.
“Oh, hello. How was the meeting?” Take Care asked.
“It went well, hopefully I won’t have to chase off too many visitors. I’m just letting Nova and Renegade see Love Heart and Confidence before they go home then I need to talk to both of you about something.” Something in Take Care’s voice made a chill run down both founder’s spines and they just nodded while Take Care got sterilized surgery robes, masks and hair caps for all three of them before they entered the OR.
Renegade and Nova were just curious about the newcomers and didn’t plan to stay long, until Nova got a look at Love Heart. She saw the dark green eight-pointed star on Love Heart’s forehead.
Renegade was about to leave, when he noticed that Nova was still staring at Love Heart. “Nova, are you alright?”
“That birthmark,” she whispered.
Take Care walked over to Nova, “I noticed that birthmark on his forehead. Do you know something about it?”
Nova looked up at Take Care, then pulled the hair cap back to reveal the same birthmark on the skin of her forehead. “It’s a unicorn star, it’s under our horns and stays on our foreheads if we change form.”
Renegade stared at Nova, “What are you saying, Nova?”
“He’s a unicorn!”
Take Care sighed, “I don’t think that’s the case, but I’d like you two to leave now. You can pay a short visit to Independent Bear and Flash Heart in the exam room but please let these two rest.”
A minute later, Take Care sat behind her desk with a fresh file open that she was filling out for Love Heart. “Alright, I need you two to tell me: who is Love Heart’s mother? I know Sage Heart is his father but everyone wants to know who his mother is.”
Noble Heart and True Heart exchanged a brief glance, then True Heart spoke. “Her name was Life Heart Unicorn.”
“AHA! I knew he was a unicorn!” Nova grinned from near the front door, only to receive a glare from Take Care that sent her and Renegade out the door.
Take Care turned back to the founders, setting down her pen after she wrote the name of Love Heart’s mother in his file, “What happened to her and why didn’t you tell anyone about her before now?”
“It’s a very sad story, and one we don’t like to remember,” True Heart’s hand went to cover her eyes as she was crying. “Life Heart was with us before we started our journey, when Sage Heart and I were growing up with mom in the forest. One day, Sage Heart wandered off and found her. Life Heart was a unicorn transformed into one of us by the Great Wishing Star. She was scared and confused and so we took her in. It wasn’t long before my brother and her fell in love and… then Love Heart was born.”
Noble Heart rubbed his wife’s back and took over for her, “I met them right after that and all five of us, six if you include baby Love Heart, set out to gather the rest of the infant Care Bear Family,” Noble Heart chuckled, “but we’ve told you all that story before. Anyway, Life Heart was with us when we first came to the Kingdom of Caring and she was even with us when John and Dawn first came to visit. We all worked together to take care of the Care Bear Cubs, and then we had to separate.
“This is where things are different than what we’ve always told you. We decided to split up because No-Heart found the castle. He was after Life Heart because she was a unicorn and after she used her magic to chase him off we decided to split up the cubs because he knew where we were, but Life Heart was too scared to leave and she, Love Heart and Sage Heart kept living in the Castle, she was even there for our wedding.”
“Wait.” Take Care held up a hand, “I was there, I was looking after Love Heart, so why don’t I remember her?”
True Heart managed to speak again, “She became a bit of a recluse after that and avoided contact with anyone except the four of us. I don’t think she ever stuck around long enough for anyone to get to know her, the wedding was the last time she was around any of us and you all knew her for so little time that I guess you just forgot her.”
Noble Heart sighed and wiped some tears from his eyes, “The rest of the story goes back to how the Bears and Cousins forgot about each other. The real story is that when Life Heart left the castle she was leaving a protective shell she created and No-Heart kidnapped her and Love Heart so the three of us, True Heart, Sage Heart and myself, went to save them. No-Heart used his power to do something to Life Heart,” Noble Heart put a hand to his forehead.
True Heart sucked in a shuddering breath, “She-she saved us and she made us forget.” True Heart started sobbing but did her best to continue, “S-sage Heart and L-Love H-Hea-art were gone and s-she’s his pr-prisoner for s-s-so lohohohoooong!”
Noble Heart was having trouble keeping it together but he rubbed True Heart’s back as she broke down, “We think she erased our memories so we wouldn’t try to save her and put ourselves in dangers. I’m sorry, we don’t like to remember this.”
Take Care couldn’t help but start tearing up as she listened to the two of them and wiped some tears from her eyes, “That’s fine, thank you for telling me. Are you going to tell everyone else?”
Noble Heart and True Heart nodded.
“Alright then. I’ll let you know when they’re doing better, thank you.”
OoOoO
“So what’s your baby going to be?” Nova was back in her true unicorn form and was staring at Aurora’s pregnant belly where she lay in their igloo home.
“I don’t know,” Aurora looked down at her belly, “Fang and I just hope it’s healthy. We were surprised we could even have children.”
“Really, cause I met someone with a unicorn for a mom today.”
Aurora coughed at Nova’s casual delivery of the line, “I’m sorry, but what did you say.”
Nova continued, nonplussed, “He was a Care Bear named Love Heart, he had a unicorn star on his forehead and True Heart said his mom was called Life Heart Unicorn.”
“Oh-oh my, really?” Aurora was staring at her protégé, “did she say anything else?”
“No, sorry, why?” Nova was intrigued.
“I just… I didn’t think there were any more unicorns left,” Aurora started to get misty-eyed, “did she say where she was?”
“No, I had to leave before I found out. Do you want to go see him?”
Aurora thought for a moment, “Not today but maybe sometime soon. Why don’t you tell me everything you saw today?”
Nova beamed, “OK!”
OoOoO
It was early morning the following day when Love Heart finally woke up. Love Heart struggled but was unable to do anything. All Love Heart could feel was pain, from the tub in his throat, the needle in his arm and whatever was making hi chest hurt.
Thankfully, Take Care was making her hourly check in on him and noticed his eyes open. “I didn’t think you’d be awake this soon. I know you can’t move but can you blink?”
Love Heart blinked his eyes once in response.
Take Care nodded, “That’s good. Now I’m going to take the respirator out. This is going to hurt but just be patient and then I’d like to talk with you.”
Love Heart was thankful that he couldn’t move as the tube was pulled out of his throat or he would have flinched. He rasped as he was finally allowed to breathe on his own again, his throat was so dry.
“Wa-“ Love Heart gasped out. “Water.”
“Alright, just be patient.” Take Care left Love Heart’s field of view and returned a minute later with what looked like a turkey baster full of water. Love Heart opened his mouth like a baby bird as Take Care squirted the water into his mouth and let him swallow. It was pure heaven.
Once the baster was empty Love Heart finally regained his ability to speak. “Where am I?”
Take Care withdrew the baster and took it to the nearby sink, “You’re in my clinic at the Kingdom of Caring, though the way things are these days I might as well call it a hospital.”
“Kingdom of Caring? Are you sure?” Love Heart tried to sit up but found himself unable to muster the strength.
Take Care was back at his side in an instant, “Easy there, Love Heart, your body’s still healing. You won’t be able to get up for at least a couple weeks, if you’re lucky.”
Love Heart let her push him back down and he stared at the tiled ceiling. “Is this really the Kingdom of Caring?”
“Yes.”
Love Heart smiled, “I made it. I’m home…” Love Heart closed his eyes and sighed in relief, “Thank you miss…”
“No miss, just Take Care Bear. You’ll have to thank Defender Bear as well, it’s thanks to him that you’re not a quadriplegic.”
“Quadri-what?” Love Heart tried to make sense of the word, then let it go. “The others, Confidence, Indy, Flash, where are they?”
Take Care walked back to his side. “Independent Bear and Flash Heart Bear are still sleeping. They aren’t as badly hurt as you but they need a lot of rest. As for Confidence, she’s still unconscious after the surgery but she’ll be fine as long as she rests.”
Love Heart let out a sigh of relief then coughed. “Can I have some more water please?”
“Alright, just a moment.” Take Care refilled the baster and returned. Love Heart drank more greedily this time, emptying the baster twice before he was satisfied.
“Feeling better?” Take Care withdrew the baster.
“A bit, still hurts.”
“I’m not surprised. If you don’t mind I’d like to ask you something, but if you want to sleep a bit longer…”
Love Heart tried to shake his head, but stopped when he felt his head rubbing against the pillow, “I can answer.”
“Alright. Can you tell me why your tummy symbol is glowing? It’s been lit up since you arrived in the Kingdom of Caring and I can’t seem to get it to stop.” Take Care looked down to where the red glow still emanated from Love Heart’s tummy symbol.
Love Heart had to think for a moment before he answered, “It means there’s a Care Bear without a symbol nearby.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dad said my symbol glowed before we found Indy, and then right before I met Confidence and Flash my symbol started glowing again.”
“How did you get it to stop?” Take Care asked.
“I gave them their tummy symbols, then it stopped glowing.” Love Heart said.
“Thank you, that tells me everything I need to know.” Take Care walked the baster back to the sink and set about cleaning and disinfecting it, “Just lie there and get some rest. I’ll be back in a couple hours. Will you be alright?”
“I’ll live,” Love Heart managed a chuckle, “If you see anyone without a symbol let me know.”
“OK.” Take Care exited the OR where Love Heart and Confidence Heart were still resting and pulled off her sterile surgical gear before she headed to the kitchen.
Get Well was making pancakes and looked up from the frying pan when she heard Take Care enter. “How are they, mom?”
“Love Heart’s awake and I gave him some water, Confidence is still unconscious.” Take Care walked over to the phone, “Just moment, I need to call Alex and Germaine.”
OoOoO
Alex heard the phone ringing and tried to cover his head with his pillow. After about a minute of ringing he grabbed his pillow and hurled it at the phone, and missed.
Germaine rolled over and out of bed, “I’ll get it.” Germaine stumbled over to the phone and picked it up. “Hello?”
“Germaine, it’s Take Care Bear.”
“Oh, good morning Take Care. Is something wrong?”
“No, I just have some good news for you and Alex.”
“Oh, what kind of news?”
“I think Love Heart Bear can give you your tummy symbols.”
That got Germaine to wake up, “What?! Really?”
“It sounds like it. He said his tummy symbol glows when Care Bears without tummy symbols are nearby and that it stops when he gives symbols to them.”
Germaine was excitedly hopping from foot to foot, “Can we come over and get our symbols right now?!”
“What? Our symbols?” Alex sat up in bed and shook his head to try and clear the fog of sleep from his senses.
“Not yet,” Take Care pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, “Love Heart’s still recovering and I don’t want him using his tummy symbol just yet.”
“OK, thank you!” Germaine hung up the phone before Take Care could reply.
Take Care sighed and hung up the phone, “Well at least they know now.”
Get Well transferred the cooked pancakes onto a plate and set them on the table with the rest of breakfast, “Why didn’t you wait until Love Heart can give them their tummy symbols?”
Take Care sat down at the table and took a couple pancakes on to her plate, “Because I didn’t want them getting mad at me for holding information back from them. I’d rather deal with their enthusiasm mixed in with everyone else’s than have them blow up at me in a couple weeks.”
Get Well just nodded and starting eating.
Take Care was on her second serving when she heard a voice from the kitchen doorway. “Is there room for one more, ladies?”
Take Care and Get Well turned to see Flash Heart standing in the doorway, leaned up against the doorframe and giving a slight grin to them.
“You shouldn’t be up!” Get Well was first out of her seat and in front of Flash Heart in a moment, “Can you even stand on your own?”
Flash Heart chuckled, “I’m still dizzy but mostly I’m just hungry. Any pancakes left for me?”
Take Care stood up, “If you want you can have some but you need to lie down as soon as you’re done, alright?”
“Alright.” Flash Heart made his way over to the table and took a seat next to Get Well. “You should go see Indy, he’s up too.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
Take Care found Independent Bear sitting on his exam table. Thankful that at least one of her patients wasn’t running off as soon as he could stand, Take Care walked over to check him. “How are you feeling, Independent Bear?”
“Better. I’m hungry,” Indy placed a hand over his stomach.
Take Care smirked, “I’m not surprised. Flash Heart got up and headed straight for the kitchen. I guess we should head to the Hall of Hearts for breakfast, once Flash Heart’s done.”
“Sounds good. Thank you for everything, Take Care.” Indy slid off the table and stood on shaky legs.
Take Care turned and headed for the phone, “Well then, I should call a meeting. Hopefully this will hold people over until Love Heart and Confidence Heart are back on their feet.”
OoOoO
While Take Care Bear stayed behind to look after Love Heart Bear and Confidence Heart Fennec, Get Well Bear took Flash Heart Bear and Independent Bear to the introduction meeting at the Hall of Hearts. It was a relatively low-key meeting but everyone was still excited to meet the new family members.
Flash Heart had a plate loaded with scrambled eggs and bacon and he grinned at Love-a-Lot, who was keeping the buffet loaded. “Well you’re a pretty sight after running for so long. Thank you for breakfast miss.”
Love-a-Lot giggled, “Flatterer, but I have a boyfriend Flash Heart.”
“Ah well, maybe I’ll have better luck with the others,” Flash Heart winked to her as he looked for a seat. Indy just gave Flash an odd look as he quietly loaded up his own plate.
Even though they sat at a table alone, Flash and Indy quickly found themselves seated with Friend Bear, Secret Bear, Loyal Heart Dog, Proud Heart Cat and Harmony Bear. Flash Heart couldn’t help but grin as he ate. “Well I see we have guests. My name is Flash Heart Bear, and you lovely ladies are?”
Friend Bear giggled, “I’m Friend Bear and he’s Secret Bear,” she pointed to the orange bear with a heart shaped padlock for a tummy symbol, who just waved at him before going back to his food.
“Proud Heart Cat.”
“My name is Loyal Heart dog,” Loyal Heart gave him a lopsided half-glare.
“Do you fancy yourself a ladies’ man?” Harmony Bear asked as she gave him a smug look.
Flash Heart shrugged, “What can I say miss, the only girl I’ve really known was my sister so I’m a little starved for female attention.” He did his best to give a seductive look to Harmony, “and you are?”
“Harmony Bear, and work on your lines, or better yet get to know me first.” Harmony turned to Independent Bear who was shovelling food into his mouth. “What about you?”
Indy swallowed now that his plate was empty, “Independent Bear, excuse me.” Indy stood up, leaving his plate and tray behind then headed for the door.
“Not much of a talker is he?” Friend Bear watched Indy leave the hall.
Flash Heart shook his head, “Nope, never has been. So can you all introduce me around my dear, I’d love to meet everyone here.”
“Of course, once you finish eating and if you dial it back on the flirting,” Proud Heart said.
“If I must,” Flash Heart rolled his eyes but kept smiling.
“So I hear you can use magic,” Loyal Heart said, “Can you show us?”
Flash Heart looked up at the group, who were all staring at him with curiosity. “Alright, but not much.” Flash Heart held a hand up and a moment later a small ball of light appeared, floating above the palm of his hand.
There were a couple gasps and oohs from the onlookers before the light vanished. “Gotta eat though, I’ll show more later.” Flash Heart went back to his breakfast.
Indy kept walking once he left the Hall of Hearts, he needed to get away from all that noise and all those people. He knew they were only trying to be friendly but it was all too much for him. He headed into the nearby forest and kept going, going until everything in his head was silent and he found an isolated spot, a small clearing where four trees had fallen in a nearly perfect square. Indy took a seat on one of the log benches and sighed.
At last some peace.
OoOoO
Two weeks later, Take Care sat in the Hall of Hearts’ office with Tenderheart, Brave Heart, Noble Heart, True Heart and Grams Bear. Take Care was still going over the medical notes she had brought with her when Noble Heart spoke.
“Take Care, is everything alright? You said you had something to tell us about Love Heart and Confidence.”
“Are they alright, Take Care?” Grams put a hand on the doctor’s shoulder which seemed to snap her out of her trance.
Take Care shook her head then looked at the other five. “Yes, in fact they’re better.”
“How are they better?” Brave Heart asked.
“I mean they’ve both completely recovered from their injuries, even the fur over Confidence’s tummy symbol has regrown.”
This gave them all a shock. “But how?” Tenderheart asked, “I thought you said they’d need at least a month to fully heal if not more.”
“I did, and that’s what my diagnosis showed.” Take Care set her files down, “And I’ve been monitoring them every day but they have healed extremely fast and they’re back on their feet. In fact I plan to release them today if I can.”
“That’s wonderful news. Is that everything you had to tell us?” True Heart asked.
Take Care shook her head. “No, I also wanted to tell you more I found out about them over the last couple weeks, all four of them.” Take Care took out a file and pulled out some more notes, “First, excluding their more severe injuries they had several minor injuries I noted, even Flash Heart and Independent Bear: They all had minor cracks on some of their bones, stressed tendons, bruises, and minor malnutrition and dehydration. If what Independent Bear told us is true, that they’ve been on the run from Dusk Heart for four years, I’m not surprised. Those injuries have healed and once they start eating properly those problems will be sorted out. There’s more and it’s not based on their injuries.
“Their bodies are remarkably resilient: their bones and muscles are at least twice as dense as the rest of ours (if they weren’t those small cracks would have been breaks) and they heal at least three times faster than they should. This can’t just be because they’ve been forced to survive against insurmountable odds, these changes are at a base level. I’d need to do more tests to confirm that. Then there’s their innate affinity for magic.”
“What kind of affinity?” Noble Heart scooted sideways to try and take a look at Take Care’s notes.
“Love Heart’s been telling me a fair bit while he was recovering, that they were able to learn magic very quickly while a human boy they tried to teach struggled with even the basic concepts. It might just be a trait we all possess, I mean Defender and Truth Bear can use their magic rather effortlessly, but I haven’t had a chance to test that to any real degree.” Take Care sighed and set her reports down, “That and I don’t exactly have a metric to test just how well suited for magic someone is. But that’s not all,” Take Care took out two more sheet, “After Love Heart told me that he could probably give Alex and Germaine their tummy symbols I decided to bring them in for some tests, and Defender and Truth as well and… Alex and Germaine are the same as them.”
Before anyone could ask, Take Care continued, “Alex and Germaine have the same physical resilience as them: denser bones and muscles and I even kept track of some of the minor injuries they’ve received and they are healing at about the same accelerated rate as they did. Defender and Truth aren’t like them, however, they’re just like us, phoenix magic notwithstanding.”
“What does that mean?” Noble Heart took Alex’s sheet and read some of Take Care’s notes.
“Let’s not dwell on that for now. If they’re being released, then can we introduce them to everyone?” True Heart was almost lifting out of her chair as she waited for an answer.
Take Care nodded, “Yes, might as well get them introduced to everyone now that they’re better.”
“Alright, this’ll be bigger then when the pandas came back!” Brave Heart was up and out of the room an instant later. Take Care just rolled her eyes, gathered up her notes and headed back to the clinic to release her two patients.
OoOoO
Confidence Heart was on her feet doing stretches in the exam room when Take Care entered. Without pausing as she leaned sideways to stretch her arms she asked, “So can we go yet, Take Care?”
Take Care looked first to Confidence, then Love Heart who was just standing up from touching his toes. “Yes, as of today you two are officially released from my care.”
“Alright finally! Woo!” Confidence whooped and would have jumped if Take Care’s stern glare hadn’t stopped her.
“Thanks Take Care. So now what?” Love Heart asked.
Take Care lowered her notes, “You should head to the Hall of Hearts later. There’s going to be a party to celebrate your arrival. For now, Flash Heart and Independent Bear are waiting outside for you.”
“Alright, let’s go Love Heart,” Confidence gave Love Heart a quick kiss on the cheek and then darted out the door.
Love Heart waited for a moment then turned to Take Care. “Do you remember me, from when I was a cub?”
“Not much but I do remember babysitting you during Noble Heart and True Heart’s wedding,” Take Care said.
“So I did live here then,” Love Heart smiled, “I really am home.”
Take Care gave him a smile, “Yes you are, now go and see your family.” Love Heart nodded then headed after Confidence Heart.
Flash Heart and Indy were waiting outside and Flash Heart opened his arms for Confidence Heart as she burst out the front door of the clinic. “Hey sis!”
“Flash!” Confidence grabbed Flash Heart in a big hug as she ran up to him. “Man I feel so much better now that I’m not lying on a table.”
“Me too,” Flash Heart released her as Love Heart exited, “Hey bro, feeling better?”
“Much Better.” Love Heart walked over to Confidence, “I missed you,” Love Heart gave Confidence a hug from behind.
Confidence smiled and turned around in his arms and gave Love Heart a kiss. “I missed you too, at least being able to hold you.”
Once they separated, Independent Bear approached and gave them a smile, “I’m happy you’re alright.”
“You too Indy,” Love Heart and Indy clapped hands for a second, Confidence gave Indy a hug, “Well then now that we’re all back on our feet, why don’t we head over to the hall.”
“Sounds good,” Love Heart turned to Flash Heart as they started to walk, “So what’s it like up here, Flash?”
Flash grinned, “It’s great. Everyone’s friendly at least. They keep asking questions about what we went through and… yeah I don’t want to talk about it.”
Love Heart sighed, “Guess I’ll have to tell them everything.”
“Sorry, bro,” Flash Heart hung his head slightly.
Love Heart put a hand on Flash Heart’s shoulder, “It’s fine. I’ll manage.”
OoOoO
Everyone was abuzz with excitement for the meet and greet at the Hall of Hearts. Love Heart Bear, Confidence Heart Fennec, Independent Bear and Flash Heart Bear were all seated at the head of the table with the founders and leaders of the Care Bear Family as the guests of Honor, with Love Heart seated between Indy and Confidence and Flash Heart next to Confidence.
“Alright everyone settle down! Settle down please!” True Heart called over the din. For once no further action was needed as everyone paid attention to what True Heart was going to say. “I know they’ve been here for two weeks now but they’ve been officially released from Take Care’s clinic so now is the time to officially reintroduce them. I know we’ve told you a lot about how we were separated, but there’s more to the story. Back when the Care Bear Family was formed there were three other members: my brother Sage Heart Bear, his wife Life Heart Unicorn, and their son Love Heart Bear.”
There was muttering in the crowd but True Heart continued, “No-Heart tried to abduct Life Heart while you were all still cubs and after that we had the Care Bears and Cousins separated. Shortly after Noble Heart and I were married, Life Heart and baby Love Heart were abducted by No-Heart. We tried to save them but… Life Heart was lost and Love Heart and Sage Heart vanished and Life Heart erased our memories so we wouldn’t try to save her from No-Heart…” True Heart put a hand to her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she was crying.”
Noble Heart put a hand on her shoulder and stood up to take over. “We never found out what happened to them and we never talked about it because it was too painful. It seems that none of you remember Life Heart. But now Love Heart has returned and with three new friends. Love Heart?” Noble Heart turned to face Love Heart and he stood up.
Love Heart felt somewhat ridiculous with the conical party hat on his head but he did his best to smile as he spoke. “Thank you, Noble Heart. I’m happy to be home, even if I don’t remember any of you.”
“Of course not, Little Brother Love Heart!” Cheer Bear called from the crowd.
Noble Heart chuckled as Love Heart blushed. “It’s funny you call him that, Cheer, since by time he’s actually older than a lot of you.”
Cheer blushed and sat back down, letting Love Heart continue. “Yeah… well dad told me I had to tell you guys a bunch of things when we met again.” Love Heart gestured to his friends sitting next to him, “This is Confidence Heart Fennec, Independent Bear and Flash Heart Bear and we are the Care Bear Magi. Our job is to protect the rest of you from people like Dark Heart… and Dusk Heart.” Love Heart rubbed the back of his head, “I guess we haven’t done a very good job of that.”
True Heart wiped the tears from her eyes, “It’s alright, Love Heart, it’s not your fault.” She saw Love Heart smile, then spoke again, “Where is Sage Heart?”
Love Heart froze for a moment as the memories came rushing back. Tears formed in his eyes, “He’s dead…”
An audible gasp resonated through the hall and Love Heart started to break down.
Independent Bear stood up and took over, though his voice quavered he managed to speak. “It was ten years ago. We were training with dad when he told us that we had to run, so we ran. After we ran for a while we heard some sort of explosion back where dad was, and then we saw him.”
“Who?” Noble Heart asked.
“A tall man wearing a long purple cloak with glowing red eyes,” Love Heart shivered and wiped tears from his eyes.
True Heart gasped “No-Heart!”
Love Heart nodded, “He said dad had ruined something and that he was gone. We tried to fight him but something was wrong with his amulet and he ran away. Right after that we left our old home and found Confidence Heart and Flash Heart and their parents adopted us.”
“So you’re Love Heart’s brother then?” Noble Heart turned to ask Independent Bear.
“Sage Heart adopted me, so yes,” Indy said.
True Heart looked over to Flash Heart and Confidence Heart. “What happened after that?”
Confidence Heart took over. “Well after that my mom and dad looked after us and our older brother Terrence. Love Heart started teaching us magic but Terrence couldn’t figure it out. He got mad and stormed off one day when he saw me and Love Heart kissing.”
“Oh my, so you two are a couple?” True Heart asked. Love Heart blushed but Confidence just grinned.
“Yep! But yeah he stormed off and then…”
“He came back different,” Flash Heart took a deep breath and continued, “He destroyed our home, killed our parents and… he became Dusk Heart.”
“Oh my goodness!” True Heart’s hands flew to her mouth, “So that monster is-”
“He’s not our brother!” Confidence Heart shouted, which made everyone jump.
Noble Heart was afraid the party’s mood would be soured and quickly diverted the conversation. “Well now, we do have one more thing to celebrate today. Alex, Germaine would you step forwards please?”
Alex and Germaine stood up and walked into the center of the room, both holding hands and quivering in anticipation. Noble Heart smiled and continued, “Love Heart Bear, if you will.”
Happy for the change of subject, Love Heart turned to face the fox and raccoon as his still glowing tummy symbol changed from red to white. A white emblem fired off from Love Heart’s tummy symbol and whirled around both Alex and Germaine. They held their breath as they felt the warmth settling over their tummies again, but this time it didn’t fade instead becoming warmer until it settled in them.
A cheer arose as they opened their eyes and saw, for the first time, their tummy symbols appear. Alex’s was a heart with a flame inside of it and Germaine’s was a heart shaped compass. Noble Heart smiled as Love Heart sat down and he said, “Let me finally welcome you to the Care Bear Family, Anger Heart Fox and Guidance Heart Raccoon.”
