There had been questions when they came back from their vacation, many about Jamaica itself but of course a lot of their friends had family had asked about their personal time; while they both omitted the more explicit details neither Love Heart nor Confidence could lie about having had sex. There had been chastisement from their elders and parents and congratulations from their peers but thankfully it didn’t seem to change their lives as much as they hoped/feared.
It was a particularly overcast Saturday morning on both sides of the portal as Love Heart made his way to Confidence’s house. He stopped a couple blocks from the portal on the Readington side and held out his hand, the chill making him expect rain, then continued on his way.
Tori was just leaving for his weekend job as Love Heart approached and he gave him the same glare he had ever since the vacation. “Hello, Love Heart,” he tried to pass Love Heart, only for the bear to detour and stand in front of the car.
“Tori, can we talk please?” he didn’t beg or plead, just a general request.
Tori groaned, “Alright, but I don’t want to be late.”
“Are you ever going to stop being mad at me? I’m not going to apologize to you for something that’s none of your business,” Love Heart folded his arms. He did want to try and get along with Tori but he wasn’t going to act like he did something so unforgiveable.
Tori leaned on his car for a moment and glared down at Love Heart for a moment, then sighed, “I’m not mad at you, I’m just not ready to lose my little sister.”
“Lose her?” Love Heart sounded surprised.
“Ever since you found her I’ve known she’ll just disappear someday, join the Care Bear Family for good, move out and I’d probably just have to pretend I never had a little sister,” he looked towards the portal then up at the sky, “I know she’s not really my sister but-”
“Stop!” Love Heart held up a hand, “Tori, I had a similar conversation with her before and we might have had this discussion ourselves too, I forgot, but Cassandra will never stop being your little sister.” He smiled, “You’re her family as much as we are, maybe more so. She loves you, your father and your mother,” he paused and when Tori didn’t say anything he continued, “But it’s more like most kids, she’s growing up and she’ll want to go out and be on her own.”
“Or with you.”
“You know what I mean,” Love Heart sighed, “just… remember she’ll always be your sister and she’ll always want you to be there for her. OK?”
“I’ll try to remember that, but alright,” Tori motioned for Love Heart to step aside and let him into the car, which the bear did. “I still have the big brother’s instinct to be ticked at you though,” Tori smirked.
Love Heart laughed, “I have a little sister too. I know how you feel.” He stepped back and watched Tori drive off before heading inside.
Confidence Heart was working on the sewing machine but still managed to hear the knock on the room door. “Come in!” she shouted as she finished the line of stitches then carefully pulled the black fabric free.
“Hi,” Love Heart shut the door behind him, “What’cha working on?”
“My prom dress, been up since six,” Confidence Heart finished what she was working on then carefully put the fabric away.
“I’m sure it’ll look great,” Love Heart approached Confidence as she stood up and gave her a kiss, “So what else did you have in mind today?”
Confidence smiled, “Well I was hoping we could go to the park, just spend some time outside on a nice… day…” her ears perked up and she suddenly bolted to the window, throwing open the curtain to see the rainstorm she had just heard, “Aww damnit!”
“That came out of nowhere,” Love Heart just stared out at the now gloomy day.
“So much for that,” Confidence sighed and leaned on the windowsill, “I need a break from this project and now…”
“Want to come visit Brave Heart then?” Love Heart had pulled out his heartphone, “We could just spend the day relaxing, playing games or watching movies.”
Confidence gave a half-hearted smile, “Yeah, that sounds alright.”
There was only one umbrella available which Confidence carried as they headed towards the portal. Love Heart held on to her side as they walked in silence, save for the rattling of the rain.
Love Heart leaned his head on Confidence’s shoulder, “Thank you.”
Confidence smiled, “You’re welcome… for what?”
“Everything,” Love Heart put an arm around her waist, “Helping me with the Clow Cards, the battle costume, not jumping to conclusions with Gift Bear. I love you, Confidence Heart Fennec.”
Confidence blushed, “Yeah, and thank you for everything too, the presents, the Halloween costume, letting me come along on your magical adventures,” she kissed the top of his head, “and coming to see mom with me. I love you too, Love Heart Bear.”
Love Heart lifted his head from Confidence’s shoulder, “Want to get married?”
Confidence stopped and turned to Love Heart, “Really?”
Love Heart nodded, “I don’t have a ring yet or a plan but, someday would you-”
“Yes!” Confidence dropped the umbrella and grabbed Love Heart in a tight hug and kissed him hard on the lips, her ears folding back even as they were getting soaked. Love Heart was stunned for a moment but kissed and hugged her back until Confidence broke away with a sultry grin on her face, “Catch me!” and took off into the Forest of Feelings.
Love Heart laughed and grabbed the umbrella before he took off after her, nearly slipping and tripping a few times while Confidence practically parkoured around the trees and roots but never getting so far away that Love Heart couldn’t catch up.
Confidence stopped at a tree and spun around and spread her arms wide to catch Love Heart in a tight hug as he crashed into her and they started making out almost immediately. Confidence Heart didn’t mind the bark grinding into her back even if she might have some scrapes there later.
“Am I interrupting?”
Both broke off their aggressive make out and turned to see Harmony Bear in a bright yellow raincoat. They were sweaty and soaked from the rain but neither were embarrassed.
“Kind of,” Love Heart relaxed which let Confidence’s feet touch the ground again.
“Yeah, you just interrupted a hot rain make out,” Confidence stuck out her tongue at Harmony.
“Oh well, don’t let me interrupt you,” Harmony smirked.
“Nah, the moment’s gone,” Confidence carefully pushed Love Heart back and picked up the umbrella then dumped the water out.
“Then let’s get along this way,” Harmony all but sang and skipped ahead, leading the couple to Brave Heart’s home.
Brave Heart Lion lived in a cave, something he’d found when he was a cub and eventually built a house inside so there wouldn’t be sediment dripping into his rooms and stalactites and stalagmites forming over time. It was otherwise rather plain in décor, Brave Heart not having the inclination to decorate much.
Brave Heart was setting out a board game when the three arrived and he was at Harmony’s side as soon as her raincoat was off, “Hello my muse.”
“Hello my king,” Harmony kissed him and motioned over her shoulder towards the bathroom. Love Heart and Confidence got the hint and moved to dry off while leaving the other couple alone.
By the time they dried off, Brave Heart and Harmony were already seated at the table where the game was set up. “Settlers of Catan, ready to play?” Brave Heart motioned to the other two seats.
“Never played before,” Confidence turned to Love Heart they took their seats on the couch, “Have you?”
“A few times,” Love Heart took the game pieces he was offered, “You’ll learn fast.”
“Alright, let’s start!” Confidence threw her fist up as the game began.
It took until almost lunch time for the game to end with Harmony taking the victory.
Confidence groused at her hand full of grain cards before returning them to the box, “Ugg, I can’t get my head around this!”
“It just takes practice,” Brave Heart assured her as he packed up the box, “Anyone want grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch?”
“Sounds good.” Love Heart got up to help but Harmony held up a hand, “You’re our guests, just let us make it.”
“Alright, mind if we invite more people over after lunch?” Love Heart had already pulled out his heartphone.
“Go ahead,” Brave Heart called from the kitchen.
“I’m gonna text Bright and Gentle Heart then,” Confidence pulled out her own heartphone, “How ‘bout you?”
“Loyal Heart, I think he needs a break from his training,” Love Heart called him instead of texting, “Loyal, want to come over to Brave Heart’s for games and maybe movies after lunch? Great, see you later.”
“Bright and Gentle are coming over,” Confidence put her heartphone away, “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Anytime,” Love Heart scooted closer so they could kiss, then started making out.
Loyal Heart, Bright Heart and Gentle Heart arrived after lunch as Harmony chose another game to play called 7 Wonders.
The game passed mostly in silence (other than instructions) until near the end of the first round when Gentle Heart spoke.
“Not many caring missions today.”
Bright Heart looked up from the two cards in his hand, “Not many, I think we’re having some long-term positive effects on kids now.”
Brave Heart grinned, “Like Adam, helped me get over my fear of the dark too. I decided to look him up before school started, he’s doing better.”
“And yet you still have a night light,” Harmony carefully elbowed Brave Heart, who blushed, as she selected the card to play and passed the last card to Loyal Heart.
As the last of the cards were played and round points were counted the all started reminiscing about past caring missions.
“A little girl named Savana, was nervous about singing for her school play until I tutored her.” Harmony sighed, “She’s in high school now, didn’t join choir though but she’s doing better than she was back then.”
“I remember Patty, and how we convinced her dad’s boss to let him see her dance,” Gentle Heart looked away, “Noble Heart was mad that we used the Call to influence him though.”
“Yeah, we’re not supposed to use it to force feelings on people,” Bright Heart nodded, “I wish we could have tried it on Jill so she wouldn’t have kept telling people lies. She’s doing better now at least.”
Confidence smiled, “My first mission was with Champ, helping a boy called Joseph who was nervous about playing football. Champ gave him tips but I helped him be ready to actually to play on the field. He’s still playing too.”
“My best caring mission is sitting next to me,” Love Heart gave Confidence Heart a kiss on the cheek which made her giggle, “but I guess for me it’s this kid who had a problem with trading card games, Stevan, I eventually got him to learn to ask for help making his decks since he had trouble making a working one but played a lot better with his friend’s decks. He stopped playing last year but he’s mostly doing better.”
“For me it was a kid named Daniel,” Loyal Heart stared at the cards he was slowly shuffling for the next round, his downcast tone made everyone quiet down as he spoke while dealing out the cards. “He was a bully, not a huge one but he antagonized anyone around him until I spoke to him. He didn’t listen to me at first but after a couple hours he was willing to talk. The problem was that his parents were always too busy working to spend any time with him.”
Brave Heart rolled his eyes, “Because his personal time with them was more important than paying for rent and food.”
Loyal Heart shook his head, “No, not that tired bad kid’s movie cliché, they literally never spent any time with him. They would leave for work before he got up, leave him to feed himself and never got home until late enough that he was probably asleep. They bought him all the stuff he needed to live but they were never around so he was alone all the time. They didn’t even hire a sitter for him anymore.”
“Oh my stars!” Gentle Heart covered her mouth from shock.
Loyal Heart nodded, “Yeah. I was able to talk Daniel out of his bullying stuff but he said he still couldn’t make friends because he was scared, but whenever I asked why he just said it was none of my business.” He brightened up a bit as he continued, “I had to go back every day for a week and spent time with him and he was doing better, he actually laughed and smiled a bit by the end. But I couldn’t just stick with him, other kids needed my help so I eventually convinced him to talk to his parents, no matter how hard it was. He didn’t like that but he agreed so I left him as best I could.” Loyal Heart sighed sadly as he finished dealing. No one picked up their cards.
“What happened?” Love Heart asked.
Loyal Heart took a deep breath, “He ran away. I checked back a week later and he was gone. The police were looking for him and his parents seemed worried but they couldn’t find him. I tried to help too but I couldn’t find anything.” Loyal Heart wiped his eyes where he was tearing up slightly, “Noble Heart said it wasn’t my fault but I still think I could have done something more…”
Gentle Heart reached over to scratch Loyal Heart behind his ear, “It’s alright. We’re here for you.”
Loyal Heart smiled, “Thanks, Gentle.” He shook his head to politely get her to stop then picked up his cards, “Let’s finish the game.”
After the game finished, they settled in to watch a couple movies. The storm still hadn’t let up so they opted for a sleepover, Brave Heart pulling out the couch into a hide a bed for Gentle Heart and Bright Heart a sleeping bag for Love Heart and Confidence while Loyal Heart was alright just sleeping on and under a thick blanket, curled up into himself.
OoOoO
The rain continued all day and into the evening as the overcast clouds never seemed to run dry.
Eriol stared out the window from his armchair with a grim look on his face, his large sun staff in his hand. “It is as I feared.”
“You mean she is behind this?” though Spinel’s voice was level both Ruby and Eriol caught the undertone of worry.
Eriol nodded, “Yes. With the Clow Cards being changed into Heart Cards Clow Reed’s magic is fading from the world and so the seal on her prison is weakening, even with the reinforcement the Care Bears added years ago.”
“So, are you going to do something about it?” Ruby asked.
“Not for now,” Eriol shook his head and sealed his staff into they key, “Love Heart dealt with the last situation admirably despite the danger and transformed one of the four elements. I will take action only if lives are in danger, but I fear I will have to take action before this ends.”
OoOoO
Love Heart stood just outside the door to Brave Heart’s house and inside the cave. He stared at the still ongoing rainstorm and the small puddle that was flooding into the entrance.
“I should have realized this was magic sooner,” Love Heart gripped his hands into fists, “I feel like an idiot!”
“You’re not,” Loyal Heart put a hand on his shoulder and opened the locket on his neck to reveal Yue’s face in the mirror.
“Indeed, I didn’t sense anything until this morning either.”
“No need to worry, let’s get out there and stop this thing!” Confidence pumped her fist.
Love Heart smiled, “Right, let’s go,” he held up the key.
"Key of the Heart With Powers Burning Bright Reveal the Staff And Shine Your Light Release!"
Love Heart grabbed the staff and whirled it in a single circle around himself as he recited a new spell, ending with the staff raised high over his head.
“Bonds of Love and Life Help me now to end this strife!”
There was a flash of blue light and enveloped Love Heart for a moment then faded revealing his new battle costume and the Heart Book at his side.
Confidence eyes shone, “Wow! You transformed!”
Love Heart rolled his shoulders a bit to let the costume settle into place better, “I just teleported it on to me, first time from this far away,” he touched the book, “The Jump’s still at home, we’ll meet it and Keroberos on the way.” He ran out into the rain with Confidence and Loyal Heart right behind him.
“Good luck!” Harmony Bear called from the door before shutting it.
The clouds squelched underfoot as the three exited the Forest of Feelings.
Love Heart pointed to the portal gate, “The source is somewhere in Readington. Look!” he pointed the staff to where The Jump and Keroberos were bouncing and flying towards them.
“Thanks for the warning!” The Jump sounded irritable, “I was winning!”
“There’s more important things to worry about,” Keroberos berated The Jump as it bounded into Love Heart, the wings forming on his feet. “I sensed the magical energy coming from the city as well.”
“Good, let’s get it!” Confidence grabbed Loyal Heart’s hand and all but dragged him into a jump, deftly landing on Keroberos’ back, Loyal Heart was surprised at how easy it felt, not noticing a trail of glowing white feathers stream from his back and disintegrating as Keroberos took off.
Love Heart darted through the portal and found himself ankle deep in water, the storm drains unable to keep up with the massive rain. He jumped up to the nearest roof and scanned the area. “I’ve never seen a rainstorm this heavy without wind,” he turned to see Keroberos landing nearby, “I can’t sense where the source is, could be anywhere in the clouds.”
“I can’t locate it either,” Keroberos looked up at the clouds.
“Hold it,” Confidence’s ears twitched, “I hear something over that way,” she turned and pointed, “sounds like Syaoran.”
“Let’s go!” Love Heart jumped to the next roof and Keroberos too off flying after him while Confidence Heart and Loyal Heart clung to his back.
"King of gods gods command god, Appear from all directions, Gold, Wood, Fire, Earth, Thunder. The new command: Soft Thunder Spinning Thunder."
Syaoran’s Rashinban lit up and a blue beam of light fired off at an angle into the sky. He turned his head almost expectedly as Love Heart landed next him followed by Keroberos and his passengers.
“It feels like another Clow Card,” Syaoran turned back to look where the beam was flying.
Love Heart nodded, “Yeah. Is that where it is?” he followed the beam with his eyes.
“Let’s go then!” Confidence shouted, pumping her fist towards where the light terminated. Keroberos flew off towards the light while Syaoran just ran after them, splashing through the water on the streets.
The Rashinban lead them right to the center of the park, which was partly flooded. All of them looked up at the clouds, covering their eyes from the downpour.
“It’s gotta be up there,” Loyal Heart stepped off Keroberos, grimacing slightly as his feet sank halfway to his knees.
“Then that’s where we’ll strike!” Love Heart held up his staff, "Autumn, heed my call! Wind Squall!" a cyclone of wind blasted out from the head of the staff up at the sky, tearing a small hole in the clouds that slowly sealed up. “Keep up a barrage until we find the source!” Love Heart whirled his staff again, "Summer, heed my call! Lightning Bolt!" A blue bolt of lightning fired up at the sky and pierced another hole I the cloud.
“Let’s go, Keroberos!” Confidence grabbed onto his neck plate as the guardian beast took off into the sky. Keroberos breathed a blast of fire and pierced another hole near the first.
Syaoran pulled out an ofuda and struck it with the flat of his blade "Obey the command! Thunder Emperor, Come Forth!" Another blast of lightning put a hole in the clouds.
Loyal Heart watched as more blasts rent the clouds, then clutched the locket, “Yue, please lend me your strength.”
“It is our strength,” Yue’s voice echoed in Loyal’s head and a moment later a bow of blueish-white energy appeared on his left arm. Loyal Heart gripped the energy bow in his hand and aimed up at the sky as he drew back, a glowing blue-white arrow appearing as he drew.
“Thank you,” Loyal Heart fired, a flurry of glowing white feather exploding from his back and the arrow’s trail as it flew, piercing a hole in the clouds.
As the barrage continued, Syaoran paused, “Too much rain,” he pulled out another ofuda and held it crossed with his sword, "Obey the command! Ice Flower, Come Forth!" there was a whirl of cold energy that spiraled out and upwards, everyone one else stood still for a moment as the rain turned to ice and the clouds overhead seem to freeze, the ice drops fell and the rain over the park ceased.
Confidence looked around in the sudden calm then heard something, she twisted her head around then pointed, “There and there!” she pointed to two spots in the clouds where she could see small spirals converging.
“Got the left!” Loyal Heart fired off another arrow right at the one he called, the arrow sticking in the clouds rather than parting them.
“I’ll take the right!” Syaoran pulled out another ofuda, "Obey the command! Fire God, Come Forth!" a blast of fire flew up at the clouds, striking the spot but not piercing as the cloud seemed to struggle against the blast.
Both spots shook and struggled against the projectiles before they fought them off and two nearly identical figures emerged, both small girls in poofy dresses riding on a separate cloud, one blue with a long double tipped jester’s cap and the other purple with what looked like rough cotton formed into a hat.
“Twins?” Confidence looked confused.
Both spirits looked down at the group, the smiled and they flew towards each other, the cloud spiraling out from them as rain began to pour out faster, eventually forming into a solid waterfall that began to spread outwards.
“They’ll flood the city!” Confidence Heart had to hold on tight as Keroberos flew out of the way.
“I won’t let them, time to draw off!” Love Heart pulled a card out of the Heart book even as the water began to rise up to his knees and flung it up as he spun his staff.
"Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall Ancient forces heed my call! Watery Card, discard your former might And draw new power from my light Heart Card!"
The staff’s wing’s spread and the heart spun as The Watery transformed and the spirit emerged, stretching itself in midair.
“Ahh, feels good to be out again!”
“Watery! Please hurry and suck up all the water from those… spirits!” Love Heart shouted as he felt the water reaching his waist.
“Yeesh, wannabees.” The Watery stretched its fingers then dove underwater. Almost immediately the water level started to recede. Love Heart wiped his forehead in relief as the water on the park ground finally fell away and The Watery emerged, draining the torrent from the clouds overhead into its body, to the shock of the two spirits overhead.
Love Heart didn’t waste any time and called out, “Clow Cards! I command you to return to your power confined, Clow Cards!” he thrust his staff up at the spirits as the heart in the ring spun and two card silhouettes formed. The twin spirits in the clouds seemed to gasp and tried to flee as their clouds were sucked in and away from them, then both spirits were sucked in and sealed in the cards.
The storm abated and the clouds parted as Love Heart grabbed the two new cards. The Watery and Keroberos and Confidence came down to see.
“The Rain and The Cloud card,” Love Heart looked at them, “Two more new… wait!” he felt the cards shudder in his hands. The Watery reached out to touch them, its face screwing up in pain, then shock and a moment later the cards dissolved into dust. “Two more that couldn’t survive.” He looked up at The Watery.
“They spoke to me before they died, they said ‘she set us free, she said destroying you would save us’ that’s it,” The Watery folded its arms.
“Who is she?” Confidence stepped off Keroberos.
“I don’t know, Yue?” Keroberos turned to Loyal, who opened the locket.
Yue stared out from inside, “I don’t know either, if there were others who created Clow Card-like entities then Clow Reed never spoke of them.”
“I guess that’s for another day,” Love Heart sighed, “At least we had a fun couple of days.”
“Yeah, then back to school tomorrow, hurray,” Confidence spun her finger in the air as they all set off back to their homes.
Eriol stood on a nearby building with Ruby and Spinel, fully garbed and his staff in hand. “My suspicions have been confirmed, she is behind this.”
“Then what should we do?” Spinel asked.
“Observe for now,” Eriol watched the group leaving, who were oblivious to his presence, “Love Heart has done better than I expected so I will let him deal with these challenges, but I will step in if lives are in danger. I just hope it does not come to that.”
