From tears and pain, deep love you'll gain by Fritti < Submission

Keywords male 1170529, female 1060773, cat 209814, horse 58902, bear 48042, fight 5581, parody 4628, lamb 3934, puma 3684, fanfiction 2925, care bears 1144, carebear 758, carebearcousin 340, breakup 100, making up 21

It was a beautiful day in the Kingdom of Caring. Even in the Forest of Feelings, which had been badly damaged by a tidal wave Noheart had released upon it, things more or less looked like they always did. The only changes were some bushes and trees missing, and a couple of cloud cottages had been washed away by the flood as well. But the Cousins who lived in those cottages had been housed by some of the other Cousins, until their homes would be rebuilt again. One of those Cousins was Proudheart Cat, who was now living together with her best friend and lover, Frolicheart Puma. The friendly beige-orange puma was working hard on rebuilding Proudheart's home. At cleaning up the mess that the water had left, he had found what was left of Proudheart's Cloudsmobile. The cloudly vehicle was so very squashed by the debris that it was unsalvagable, so Frolicheart decided to give his true love a new car, one that fitted her more. From his collection of classic cars, he chose the orange 1970 Mercedes 280 SL convertible to give to the orange kitty, and Proudheart was really happy with it indeed. That car was just purrrfect! She loved the beige-orange puma even more for it.

However, lately she found that Frolicheart seemed to be a bit absent-minded. For some reason or other, his usual cheerfulness seemed to have waned. At first, Proudheart contributed this to the fact that all the work in the Forest of Feelings, which really should be taken care of before everything else, kept the beige-orange puma from taking his classic cars to Earth and racing with them. After all, he really enjoyed that, and not being able to do it for a while now might just have made him a bit blue. But when asked, Frolicheart said that he didn't mind so much he couldn't go down to Earth to race. Proudheart asked him if it was the loss of his incredibly rare Boss 429 Mustang then that made him sad, but he answered that it wasn't that either. Although having fallen apart, the Mustang still was complete, and the beige-orange puma had gotten the assurance from both Swiftheart and Cunningheart that they would again help him with rebuilding it. So that wasn't really the issue either. However, what it was, he didn't say. He somehow couldn't bring himself to telling Proudheart the reason why he was a bit silent and absent-minded lately. The orange kitty didn't press, she knew of Frolicheart's basically introvert nature, and it really seemed like he had fallen back into that again. So she just gave him the time he needed to work things out for himself, to shape up mentally and become ready to tell her whatever it was that was bothering him by himself.

One day, after a hard day's work on the rebuilding of Proudheart's cloud cottage, Frolicheart came home to his own, finding the orange kitty just coming out of the kitchen with dinner. She had heard him coming home, and she had been doing some cooking. The two felines ate in silence, and after dinner they washed up the dishes and put them away. After that, Frolicheart walked over to the front door and opened it, heading outside.
     "Arrre you going out, Frrrolichearrt?" Proudheart asked.
     "Yeh," the beige-orange puma said.
     "Wherrreto?" Proudheart asked, just out of interest.
Frolicheart sighed softly.
     "Nowhere in particular, just gonna take a walk for a bit. I... need some fresh air."
     "Oh. Okay."

Proudheart stood in the door-opening, looking after the beige-orange puma walking away into the Forest of Feelings. She softly shook her head. The boy really seemed to be in conflict with something, and she really wanted to help him, but as long as he didn't tell her what it was that bothered him, she wouldn't be able to help him. When Frolicheart disappeared between the trees, Proudheart shook her head again, went inside and closed the door behind her.

Frolicheart meanwhile walked down the rainbow path slowly, his head a bit bent down, his long tail dragging behind him. His head was filled with sad thoughts. He thought of all the things that had happened between him and Swiftheart before the flood had come. Sure, it had been great, but... Proudheart was his true love, his one and only, and he so felt like he had cheated on her with all the making out he had done with the blue bunny. And cheated badly too. Okay, sure, so he had enjoyed his times with Swiftheart, but somehow it just didn't feel right. And... he was a bit afraid to tell Proudheart about it. He knew the orange kitty so well, and he was quite certain that there was too big of a chance she would become angry. For one thing, she would never believe that the relationship he underheld with Swiftheart was based purely on "the mutual passion for fast cars". That wouldn't go down with her, especially not if she found out just how wild he and the blue bunny had been together. But the problem Frolicheart now faced because of that was becoming so big it threatened to overpower him. He really didn't know what to do. Should he tell Proudheart? Or not? Or... lie about it? Well, that definitely wasn't an option. That would be the stupidest thing to do. And with the way news traveled in the Kingdom of Caring, Proudheart would find out sooner or later about him and Swiftheart anyway. So... what to do then? He really should tell her, but how?

Having ended up at the rainbow path that led directly into Care a Lot, Frolicheart looked up and ahead of him. And an idea hit him. Seeking advice was the thing to do. Or at least it seemed like the most logical thing to do. And he knew plenty of bears who could help him on this particular difficult subject. Easy Bear came to mind, with her caring mission of showing people how to say to someone how they felt about that someone. Trueheart Bear certainly was a very good option, with her high regards of always being truthful. But somehow, Frolicheart thought it would be best to talk to Secret Bear. If there was anyone knowing about whether or not to keep things a secret, it was that bear. There was only one little problem about it; how was he going to communicate with the silent golden-orange bear? Frolicheart shrugged. He would find a way. Before all, he wanted to clear this matter up, to get this gnawing guilt off his chest, and he would do anything it took. Also when it meant talking to a Care Bear he couldn't understand. So the beige-orange puma walked into Care a Lot and headed for the cloud cottage where Secret Bear lived. On the driveway he halted for a moment, doubtfully, but then he shrugged, sighed again and knocked on the door. A moment later Secret opened the door. She gestured a slightly surprised "Hi" when she saw Frolicheart standing there.
     "Hello Secret," Frolicheart said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The golden-orange Care Bear looked a bit surprised and scratched the top of her head for a moment, but then she stepped a bit aside and made an inviting gesture inwards. Frolicheart stepped into Secret's cloud cottage, and the two of them walked to the living room. Secret waved a paw at the sofa and two chairs standing there, and Frolicheart sank down in one of the chairs. Secret looked at him and cupped one paw, bringing it to her lips as if taking a sip from a glass. Frolicheart smiled weakly.
     "A glass of milk if you have any, please. Thanks."
Secret nodded and disappeared through the living room door. A few moments later she returned, holding two glasses, of which she handed one to Frolicheart. He accepted it and took a sip, while Secret sat down on the sofa. She took a sip from her glass too, then looked at Frolicheart and waved a paw, prompting the beige-orange puma with a gesture of "sooo..?". Frolicheart managed another weak smile.
     "I'm having a real big problem, Secret," he said softly.
The golden-orange bear nodded and waved her paw again, motioning "go on". Frolicheart drew a sigh.
     "I don't know if you've heard about the things that went on between me and Swiftheart?"
Secret shook her head, looking surprised. She held the fingers of both paws spread at both her cheeks, indicating whiskers, then pointed a finger at Frolicheart, and then placed both her paws on her chest, on top of each other, over her heart. Frolicheart smiled weakly again when realizing that he actually understood what Secret meant.
     "Yes, that's right. Proudheart is my great love. That's what I meant with my problem, Secret."
The golden-orange bear nodded understandingly, shuffled to the edge of the sofa so she was sitting a bit closer to the chair where Frolicheart was sitting in, and held a paw behind an ear, indicating "I'm listening". Frolicheart sighed again.
     "The point is this, Secret," he said softly, looking down into the glass of milk he held in both his paws. "I really like Swiftheart, and I think her passion for fast cars is something wonderful, since she's about the only one in the Kingdom of Caring who shares that passion with me. And she's such a sexual little creature too, something I can also really appreciate. Before all this... trouble with Noheart, which caused that flood in the Forest of Feelings, we've been having sex quite a few times, and..."

He stopped. Secret looked at him with wide round eyes. She licked a finger, pointed it at Frolicheart, then held it over her nose and looked at it cross-eyed, and then tapped her forehead with it frowning, in her way of saying "have you gone star-crossed mad?". The beige-orange puma looked up for a moment, then sighed again.
     "Yeh, you're right, I guess. I must have been out of my mind." He looked up and set both his eyes straight upon Secret Bear's face. "But I really feel so terrible about it, Secret. I really really do."

The golden-orange Care Bear looked back at Frolicheart in silence for quite a while. Then a soft smile slid over her face. She pointed a finger at her chest, then at one of her eyes, then back at Frolicheart, and then she held one paw up in the air while placing her other flat on her chest. The beige-orange puma almost couldn't believe that he understood Secret told him either "I see you mean it", or "I see you speak the truth". But in any way he understood her, and a shadow of a smile swept over his face again.
     "I do mean it, Secret, from the bottom of my heart. I feel so horrible for having done what I have done. I cheated on Proudheart, I betrayed her trust and her love for me." He ran a finger over his orange heart-shaped nose, looking down again. "Stars, I'm such a sleaze. I don't know how I could have ever done that to her." He looked up again. "But I also don't know what to do now, Secret."
Secret shrugged a bit. She opened and closed her paw a couple of times, then held up two fingers, then held the fingers of both paws spread at both her cheeks again. Frolicheart looked at it, the meaning of Secret's charades slowly dawning in him.
     "Speak to Proudheart, you mean?"
Secret nodded her head firmly and pointed a finger straight at Frolicheart's face, gesturing "yes, you got it!". Frolicheart emptied his glass of milk, put it on the coffee table and leaned over a bit towards Secret.
     "How? How am I going to find a way to tell her about this?"
The golden-orange bear ran a paw over her muzzle while closing her eyes, thinking for a moment. Then she looked at Frolicheart again, with a smile, and she again opened and closed her paw a few times, then held up two fingers, then placed one paw flat on her chest while holding her other straight up in the air, and finally she placed both paws on her chest, on top of each other, over her heart. Frolicheart spoke slowly, making sure he understood what Secret tried to tell him.
     "Speak... two... truth... heart." He looked up. "You mean I should go have a talk with Trueheart about this?"
Secret nodded while pointing a finger straight at Frolicheart's face again, with a smile. The beige-orange puma also smiled a bit.
     "Well, I had thought about that already, but I thought I'd better first talk to you, since I've been keeping this a secret. But if you also advice me to have a talk with Trueheart, I think I'd better go do that then."
Secret Bear nodded again. She pointed a finger at Frolicheart, then swung her arm around and pointed that same finger at the living room door. Frolicheart nodded slowly and rose up from the chair.
     "Yes, I should be doing that right now. Thanks for the advice, Secret."
The golden-orange Care Bear stood up from the sofa with a smile, spreading both arms and then tapping the top of her left wrist with a finger from her right paw, gesturing "any time". She escorted the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin to the front door of her cloud cottage and saw him out, gesturing "good luck" at him before he left. Frolicheart smiled a bit again.
     "Thanks, Secret. Goodbye."

Secret waved after Frolicheart, then turned around and stepped into her cloud cottage again, closing the door behind her. Frolicheart walked further into Care a Lot, heading for Trueheart's cloud cottage. It was quite a walk, since Trueheart lived at the outer border of Care a Lot, on a cloudly hill from where her cloud cottage overlooked all of Care a Lot. On his way there the beige-orange puma passed several of the other cloud cottages and the Hall of Hearts, and also the Caring Meter. Out of habit, he glanced at it, seeing the heart-shaped needle standing slightly right-off-center instead of pointing straight up. For a moment he frowned, but suddenly he knew what it meant. The needle drooping counter-clockwise meant trouble on Earth, but the needle drooping clockwise mostly meant a problem with one of the members of the Care Bear Family. So the needle of the Caring Meter now standing a bit past twelve o'clock, to the right, that meant him. Heaving yet another sigh, Frolicheart walked on until he reached the cloudly hill where Trueheart's cloud cottage stood on top of. He climbed the hill, stepped up to the front door and knocked on it. A moment later Trueheart Bear opened the door.
     "Hey, hello Frolicheart," she said, a bit surprised. "You here? Is something wrong?"
     "Yes, Trueheart," the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin said. "Can I talk to you?"
     "Sure, come on in," Trueheart said.
She led the way to the living room for Frolicheart and motioned him to sit down.
     "Do you want something to drink, Frolicheart?" she asked.
     "No, thank you," Frolicheart said. "I just had a glass of milk at Secret's."
     "Oh, alright," Trueheart said. She sat down in a chair and looked at the beige-orange puma. "So what's the matter, Frolicheart? You seem to be down. Are things not going well in the Forest of Feelings? Trouble with rebuilding the ruined houses or something?"
     "No, there's no problems there," Frolicheart said. "Everything's going quite well. I've already got a whole new frame set up for Proudheart's cottage, ready to get paneled."
     "That's nice," Trueheart said with a smile. "You're going real fast then, I heard that for instance Brightheart's cottage is still completely in shambles."
     "Brightheart and Swiftheart are helping Loyalheart repairing the damage to his house first, they haven't even started yet on their own," Frolicheart said. He looked up at Trueheart. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about, Trueheart."
     "Then tell me what you do want to talk about," the yellow bear smiled.
     "My unforgivable behaviour towards Proudheart," Frolicheart said with a sigh.
     "Your... what?" Trueheart said, baffled. She leaned over a bit and looked at the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin seriously. "Frolicheart, what have you done?"
     "I cheated on her."
Trueheart sat back up with a shock, her eyes wide.
     "What?!?" She leaned towards Frolicheart again. "How exactly do you mean that, Frolicheart?"
The beige-orange puma sighed.
     "I don't suppose you've heard about it yet, but before all this trouble with Noheart, I've been very close with Swiftheart. She often came to look me up because I was working on my cars, and... well, we had sex on several occasions."
Trueheart gasped.
     "You what?? Oh Frolicheart, how... how could you??"
Frolicheart sighed and hung his head.
     "I know, I know. I can't believe I did that either, and even enjoying it so much. I mean, she even taught me a few new..." He shook his head sharply. "Well, never mind. But the point is, I feel terrible about it, Trueheart, and I don't know what to do anymore."
Trueheart drew a deep breath, held it for a couple of seconds, then let it slowly escape.
     "Does... Proudheart know?" she asked softly.
Frolicheart shook his head.
     "Not yet. Or at least I don't think so." He sighed again. "I haven't told her yet, anyway."
     "You... haven't..." Trueheart gasped. "Oh stars Frolicheart, that's even worse!"
     "I know it is, but... I don't know how to tell her, Trueheart. I've been breaking my head over it, but I can't figure out how to best tell her."
Trueheart shook her head.
     "Oh Frolicheart, really, this is something you should not think about! You should simply tell her! Fair and square!"
     "Yes, but..." Frolicheart looked up at the yellow bear. "What if she gets mad at me?"
Trueheart frowned slightly.
     "She sure has every right to!" she said, a tad harshly.
     "I know, but I don't want her to get mad at me," Frolicheart said softly, hanging his head again.
     "Then you shouldn't have cheated on her in the first place!" Trueheart said, her voice still rather short.
Frolicheart hung his head even further.
     "I know..." he said, his voice now a mere trembling whisper. "I'm such a jerk. But..." He raised his head and looked back at Trueheart, tears pearling in the corners of his eyes. "Oh Trueheart, please help me!" he burst out. "It's killing me! It's so killing me! I want to do anything it takes to clear this up, but I don't know what to do, Trueheart! Please help me!"

The yellow bear softened, seeing, sensing, the puma's anguish was genuine. She stood up from her chair, stepped up to Frolicheart and put a paw on his shoulder.
     "Frolicheart, listen to me," she said in a soft, soothing voice. "I know this is hard, but the only advice I can give you is to tell Proudheart what you've done. That's really the only sensible thing to do. I know how the relation between the two of you is, and I know Proudheart too. If you tell her everything honestly, she will get mad at you first, but she will forgive you, Frolicheart. I know how much she loves you too, and once she has calmed down again, she will understand how hard it has been for you to tell her, but she will appreciate you told her everything honestly, and she will forgive you."
Frolicheart looked up at the yellow bear's face, rubbing the back of a paw along his eyes.
     "Do you really think so?"
     "Positive," Trueheart smiled. "Like I said, she will get mad at first. And that is a purely logical reaction. After all, you have done something terrible to her. But she will really forgive you, my boy. Trust me."
     "I do trust you," Frolicheart said softly. "Of course I trust you. But... I'm so afraid, Trueheart. I'm afraid over Proudheart's reaction to when I tell her. I'm afraid over..." He drew a trembling sigh. "...how much it'll hurt her."
Trueheart softly shook her head.
     "I won't say that you shouldn't be. Because you should. If I would be soothing to you, Frolicheart, I would say you don't have to worry, that everything will turn out just fine. But I'm gonna be honest to you, even though I know how hard it'll be. And in honesty, Frolicheart, I have to tell you that first, you had this coming, and second, that you only have yourself to blame for it. You have started this, you have created this problem, now you'll have to solve it too. And because of the magnitude of the problem, I'm afraid that won't go without both Proudheart and you getting hurt. But the strength of a true love-couple, Frolicheart, lies in the fact that they can even overcome that kind of problems, and I do believe you and Proudheart are a true love-couple. I have seen the two of you together. And..." The yellow bear smiled and put a paw on Frolicheart's shoulder again. "There is no other option for you than to tell your love what you did, and thus hurting her, no matter how bad that makes you feel. But that'll be one heck of a lesson for you to make sure it'll never ever happen again in the future, hm?"
     "You bet," the beige-orange puma sighed. He looked up. "When should I..?"
     "Right now, Frolicheart," Trueheart said. "You are to go home now, and right away tell Proudheart everything. Don't hold it off. Something tells me you've already done that for way too long a time. So go home, and tell her."
Frolicheart drew another very deep sigh and looked up at Trueheart again, rubbing the back of his paw along his eyes. Slowly he nodded.
     "Yes, you're right. I should."

He stood up and walked out of the living room. Trueheart saw him out and looked after him for some time as he slowly descended the cloudly hill, head bowed down and tail dragging. For a moment she had considered dropping Frolicheart off at his cloud cottage herself, to be sure he would go there right away, but she knew she didn't need to. She know he would go straight home anyway. But she did shake her head over what the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin had told her. She really couldn't believe that he would have done something like that. However, she could somewhat understand that the things the beige-orange puma had done must have happened like in the heat of the moment, even if it had happened multiple times. After all, Trueheart herself remembered the times when she... oh well, never mind. She shook her head and went back inside. She did feel sorry for Frolicheart, but as she had more or less said; it was his own fault. And if she ever wanted for her Care Bears and her Care Bear Cousins to make it alright, she had to be strict. She couldn't keep on helping them with everything. She could give them advice, sure, but she couldn't continue solving all their troubles for them.

In the mean time, Frolicheart walked back through Care a Lot, ignoring all the bears whom he met, who greeted him, and who then looked after him with surprise since he just walked on in silence. After quite some time, because he walked rather slowly, the beige-orange puma reached the Forest of Feelings, and some more time later he was back at his cloud cottage again. Proudheart was sitting in a comfy garden chair on the porch, reading something, but she looked up when Frolicheart stepped onto the porch, and she smiled.
     "My, you surrre took yourr time, Frrrolichearrt. Wherrre have you been?"
     "Here and there," the puma sighed. "Come inside with me, Proudheart? I need to tell you something."
     "Surrre," Proudheart said with a smile.

She rose up from the garden chair and followed the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin into his cloud cottage. In the living room, she sank down on the sofa, looking at Frolicheart having sunken down in a chair, resting his head in his paws. Proudheart felt a bit of worry rising inside her. Her lover seemed to be feeling even worse than he had already been doing for the last few days. So she rose up from the sofa, sat down on an armrest of the chair Frolicheart was sitting in and placed a paw on his leg.
     "What is it, sweethearrrt?" she asked softly.
Frolicheart sighed very deeply, not looking up.
     "I have a confession to make, Proudheart," he said softly. "A bad one."
     "You have..?" Proudheart said. She bent over a bit, putting her paw on Frolicheart's shoulder this time. "What is it?"
     "I..." Frolicheart sighed. His head drooped even further. "I have..." For a moment he looked up, then cast his eyes down again. "Oh Proudheart, I'm so sorry, but I... I have cheated on you. I've been unfaithful to you."
The orange kitty drew back a little.
     "You have... what?" she whispered.
Frolicheart nodded slowly, still only looking down at his lap.
     "I'm so sorry, Proudheart. I should have told you way sooner. I shouldn't even have done it, but... but it's happened, and I'm so, so sorry. I... Before all this trouble, when I was busy with my Chevrolet, when I was preparing for that race I was in, after that race, I have... made out with Swiftheart. Every time she came to look me up when I was working on one of my cars, when we got back here after my race, we... we had sex with each other."
Proudheart jumped up from the chair, looking at Frolicheart with wide eyes and her mouth hanging a bit open, gasping.
     "You... You..."
Frolicheart slowly rose up from the chair, taking an uncertain step towards Proudheart.
     "Please, pussycat," he pleaded. "I have been kicking myself over it. I have beaten myself up over it. I have hated myself over it. And I know I shouldn't have done it, or at least told you sooner. But I just... I couldn't..." He took another step in Proudheart's direction. "Please forgive me, Proudheart," he added in a trembling whisper.
He reached out with a paw. Proudheart backed away a bit, and before even realizing it, she lashed out with a paw and gave Frolicheart a hard slap across the face.
     "Don't!!" she yelled. "Stay away frrrom me!!" She clenched both paws into fists, so hard her muscles trembled. "Oh, how... how... could you!! I thought you... I thought we..."
     "Proudheart, please," Frolicheart whispered, reaching out again. "Please just..."
Proudheart raised a paw again, her eyes glittering.
     "Don't touchchch me!" he hissed. "I... I just... Oh, if it wasn't forr the fact I have no place to go, I would storrrm out of herrre rright now! But I... I..." Tears suddenly sprung from her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, but I so need to be not with you rrright now!"

She ran out of the living room, slamming the door behind her very loudly. Frolicheart looked at the closed door defeatedly, a few silent tears running down his face and mixing with the blood Proudheart had drawn when she had hit him. He fell down in the chair, drew a deep, trembling sigh, then crossed his arms on the armrest, lay his head on his arms and broke down in tears too. Eventually, he cried himself to sleep.

Late the next morning, he woke up again. For a while, he sat in the chair silently, feeling even worse than he had all the times when he still lived in the Rocky Mountains and the other pumas picked on him added together. Then he drew a sigh, rose up and shuffled to the kitchen. Just as he entered the hallway, he saw Proudheart, who was coming down the stairs with a cloud suitcase.
     "Proudheart?" he whispered. "What... Where are you going?"
     "I'm going away," the kitty grumbled. "I called Gentlehearrrt, and she's going to let me stay overrr with herr."
     "What?! No!" Frolicheart yelped. He quickly stepped up to Proudheart and took her free paw. "Oh, please don't do that, Proudheart! Please! Please stay here and let us talk this over! Please don't go!"
Proudheart yanked herself free from Frolicheart's grip fiercely.
     "Let go of me!" she growled. "We have nothing to talk about forrr now! I'm going, and that's it!"
She marched over to the front door with large steps and yanked it open. Frolicheart quickly followed her.
     "Proudheart, please!" he whimpered. "I'm begging you, don't go!"
The orange kitty turned her back to him with a huff.
     "Good bye."

She stepped off the porch, down the driveway, and left. She didn't even take the orange Mercedes, but the Cloudsmobile that had been standing in Frolicheart's front yard unused for ever. The beige-orange puma looked after the very quickly disappearing Cloudsmobile with tears streaming down his face, stinging sharply in the bloody scratches left on his face by Proudheart's claws the previous evening.
     "Oh... no..." he choked, sinking down against the porch rail. He started banging his head against one of the poles supporting the porch roof. "Oh you jerk! You bastard! You son-of-a..!"

He collapsed against the porch rail in tears, lying curled up on the porch floor in fetal position, his whole body shocking badly with heart-rending sobs. He was found like that a while later by Nobleheart Horse. The purple horse had been notified by Trueheart Bear over what had happened, and he had decided to stop by Frolicheart's cloud cottage to see how things were going.
     "Oh my," he whispered softly when he saw Frolicheart lying there. He quickly stepped onto the porch, bent over the shocking puma and shook him. "Frolicheart. Frolicheart. Hey, Frolicheart. Please talk to me."
The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin looked up, tears flowing down his face, together with some blood from the place where he had banged his head against the pole. He flung his arms around Nobleheart's neck and buried his face in the horse's fluffy purple fur, wailing out his grief.
     "I lost her! I lost heeerr!"

Nobleheart sighed and shook his head a bit, folding his arms around Frolicheart's shoulders and holding him like a father would a son. For a long time, the two Care Bear Cousins sat like that in silence, save for Frolicheart's loud mournful wails.

In the meantime, Proudheart stopped the Cloudsmobile in front of Gentleheart's cloud cottage with squealing tyres, jumped out and grabbed her cloud suitcase. The mintgreen lamb was waiting for her at the front door, which she held open for the orange kitty. Proudheart stepped through it with large steps.
     "I... made the spa-a-are room in order fo-o-or you, Proudheart," Gentleheart said softly.
     "Great," Proudheart grunted.

She stomped up the stairs. Gentleheart looked after her with a sigh, shook her head and went to the living room, sitting down in a chair. When after over an hour Proudheart still hadn't come back downstairs, the mintgreen lamb rose up again and walked up the stairs herself. At the door to the spare room she raised a paw to knock, but halted. For a moment she wondered if she should. Then she shrugged, and knocked on the door. No response. Gentleheart knocked again. Still no response. Gentleheart tried a third time.
     "Proudhea-ea-eart?"
But still, no response. The mintgreen Care Bear Cousin stood indecisive for a few moments, but then she opened the door a bit and looked through the crack. Proudheart had flung herself onto the bed face-down, and she was crying badly. Gentleheart stepped into the room, sat down on the edge of the bed and put a paw on Proudheart's shocking shoulder.
     "Proudheart? Wha-a-at is i-i-it, now?" she asked softly.
     "How could he do that to meee!" the kitty cried. "How could he betrray me like that! I thought he loved meee!"
     "Bu-u-ut he does, Proudhea-ea-eart," Gentleheart said softly.
     "Then why did he betrrray me like thaaat!" Proudheart wailed.
     "We all ha-a-ave our mome-e-ents of weakness," Gentleheart whispered.

Proudheart didn't reply, and Gentleheart knew it wouldn't matter what she said next. She wouldn't get through to the orange kitty anyway. So she just sat on the edge of the bed in silence, softly rubbing Proudheart's shoulders with her ultra-soft paws. It lasted an hour, an hour and a half, before Proudheart calmed down enough to stop crying. She slowly rolled over a bit, wiping her wet face with her face, sniffing hard. Gentleheart still softly rubbed her shoulders.
     "Feeling bette-e-er now?" she asked softly.

Proudheart shook her head, still sniffing deeply and running her paws over her eyes. She tried to say something, but her lips trembled too badly for that, and she started crying again. Gentleheart folded her arms around the kitty's shoulders and held her close, softly running her paws over Proudheart's shoulders and back.

On the other side of the Forest of Feelings, Nobleheart had finally managed to calm Frolicheart down a bit, and he softly dabbed the bleeding spot on the puma's forehead while Frolicheart wiped his eyes with his paws. When the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin could breathe a bit nomally again, Nobleheart sat him down on the steps of the porch and sat down next to him, holding one of the puma's paws in both his own.
     "Are you feeling better, boy?" he asked in a soft voice.
     "No," Frolicheart whimpered. "I've been such a jack-ass, and now... now I've lost the love of my life."
     "You haven't lost her, Frolicheart," Nobleheart said softly. "The love between you two is pure and true. You haven't lost her."
Frolicheart shook his head sadly.
     "I do have lost her. She left me."
     "She just needs to blow off some steam, boy," Nobleheart soothed the beige-orange puma. "She'll come back."
Frolicheart shook his head again, wiping at new tears welling up in his eyes.
     "I don't believe it. You haven't seen how furious she was."
     "That was just a natural and logical reaction to the shock you gave her, Frolicheart," Nobleheart said. "When she has calmed down, she'll see reason, and she'll come back to talk everything over with you. Believe me."
The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin looked at the purple horse for a while in silence, drawing deep, trembling breaths.
     "Do you... do you... really... think so?" he whispered.
Nobleheart smiled.
     "I really think so, Frolicheart." He put a paw on the puma's shoulder. "Now, come on inside, drink something and pull yourself together."

Keeping his paw on Frolicheart's shoulder, Nobleheart led the beige-orange puma into his cloud cottage and to the kitchen. There he filled a glass with some water and handed it to Frolicheart. The puma sank down on a kitchen chair, taking a small sip from the glass.
     "How could I ever do that to her?" he mumbled. "What was I thinking? Why have I been so infinitely stupid?"
Nobleheart leaned on the table, softly patting Frolicheart's shoulder.
     "There's no use in breaking your head over that now anymore, boy," he said gently. "It's happened, and you can't turn it back. That's something which is even impossible in the Kingdom of Caring. You should do better to think on how to set things straight now."
Frolicheart shook his head sadly.
     "I wouldn't know how. I've told her how sorry I am. I told her how bad I feel about it. I begged her to forgive me. I begged her to stay and talk it over. And... and that all didn't help."
     "There is always a way, Frolicheart," Nobleheart said with a soft smile. "Here's a bit of advice for you. Try to stop thinking about it for now. Give Proudheart some time to process everything. When the time is right, she will come back to you to talk. And with the beautiful love there is between you, I have no doubt everything will work out for the both of you."
     "I hope so," Frolicheart sighed, shaking his head. "Stars, do I hope so."
Nobleheart smiled again. He pulled up another chair and sat down next to Frolicheart, taking a clean cloth to dab the last blood off the puma's face.

In Gentleheart Lamb's cloud cottage, Proudheart had again calmed down enough to stop crying. Gentleheart was still softly rubbing her shoulders, and she softly ran a paw along Proudheart's face with a gentle smile while the kitty wiped the last tears from her eyes.
     "Are you oka-a-ay now?" the mintgreen Care Bear Cousin asked softly.
     "I'm... I'm feeling... a little better," Proudheart said, drawing trembling breaths. "Thank you."
     "You're welco-o-ome," Gentleheart smiled. "Now, you don't ha-a-ave to tell me what ha-a-appened, because I've heard tha-a-at. But I would like to a-a-ask you what you are goi-i-ing to do now, swee-ee-eetie."
Proudheart shook her head sniffling.
     "I... I don't know."
     "You weren't thinki-i-ing of going ba-a-ack?" the mintgreen lamb asked.
Proudheart shook her head again.
     "I... I don't want to see him for a while. He... hurt me so bad."
     "I understand tha-a-at," Gentleheart said softly. "And it's alri-i-ight. But I do think he's hurting even wo-o-orse himself now, Proudheart."
The orange kitty sniffed hard.
     "Serves him right."
Gentleheart folded her arms around Proudheart again and held the kitty close, softly stroking her ears and the back of her head.
     "Now now," she soothed softly. "You know you don't mean tha-a-at. You are a-a-angry and confused now, but deep do-o-own inside, you know you feel ba-a-ad for him too."
     "I don't know," Proudheart shook her head in Gentleheart's ultra-soft, mintgreen fur. "I don't know if I can ever look at him again."
     "Yes you ca-a-an," Gentleheart said with a soft smile. "I ha-a-ave seen you two together. I know wha-a-at kind of love there is betwee-ee-een you two. That is the ki-i-ind of love Share and Funshine ha-a-ave, the kind that Love-a-Lot and Wish ha-a-ave. It's true Kingdom of Ca-a-aring love." She put her paws on Proudheart's shoulders and held the kitty an arm's length away from her, looking straight into Proudheart's eyes. "Take a deep brea-ea-eath, Proudheart. Good. Ta-a-ake another one. Now look deep insi-i-ide your heart, and tell me honestly; do you love him?"

For a while, Proudheart looked right back into Gentleheart's soft green eyes. Then she cast her eyes down and looked at the mintgreen satin bedsheet underneath her, and then she even closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened them again and looked up at Gentleheart. She slowly nodded. The mintgreen Care Bear Cousin smiled and softly ran a paw along Proudheart's face again.
     "Then you should give him a second cha-a-ance, sweetie."
     "Maybe... maybe I..." Proudheart whispered.
Gentleheart pressed a soft kiss on the kitty's forehead, gently lay her down on the bed and covered her with the mintgreen satin sheet.
     "Ssssshhh," she hushed softly. "Ha-a-ave some sleep now. Tomorrow there's a new da-a-ay, with new chances and new possibilities. You'll work things out, I-I-I'm sure."

Proudheart drew a deep breath, burying her face in the soft heart-shaped pillow to stop herself from breaking out in tears again. With a smile, Gentleheart softly stroked the orange kitty's ears again, and then left the room. She went down the stairs and sat down on her sofa, sighing softly. Sheesh, what a situation. And that in the Kingdom of Caring. Who would have ever thought that?

At the same time on the other side of the Forest of Feelings, Nobleheart had also steered Frolicheart to his bedroom and put him in bed with the advice to sleep over it a night. After all, matters clear up in your mind at a good night's sleep, and you see things clearly in the morning again. The purple horse also promised to stay the night in Frolicheart's cloud cottage, so that the beige-orange puma wouldn't be alone. Having sat at Frolicheart's bedside for a while first, Nobleheart went downstairs when the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin was asleep, sank down in a chair and took the evening-edition of the Care a Lot Courier, which was also delivered in the Forest of Feelings. He calmly read, but every now and then he went back upstairs to check. Frolicheart stirred and mumbled in his sleep, but at least he slept. Finally, Nobleheart stayed upstairs in Frolicheart's bedroom, sitting in a comfortable recliner so he could sleep a bit too, quite certain that he would wake up whenever that would prove to be necessary. In her cloud cottage, Gentleheart also sat watch at Proudheart's bedside, keeping a gentle eye on the orange kitty while she slept restlessly.

==/=/==

The next morning, a small red bird sitting on the windowsill twittered Gentleheart awake. The mintgreen Care Bear Cousin yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and then she looked at the bed. Proudheart was still in there, still asleep, tossing and turning a bit and outing quiet mewls under her breath. With a gentle smile, Gentleheart rose up from her chair, stepped over to the bed and softly shook the orange kitty.
     "Proudheart. Proudheart. Wa-a-ake up, sweetie. Proudheart."

No response, the orange feline Care Bear Cousin remained asleep. Gentleheart smiled a bit again, bent over to press a soft kiss on Proudheart's forehead, and then she left the bedroom, going downstairs. After a small breakfast, she went outside, got into her Cloudsmobile and drove to the other side of the Forest of Feelings. At Frolicheart's cloud cottage she stopped, got out, walked to the door and knocked on it. Nobleheart opened the door, and he smiled a bit when he saw Gentleheart.
     "Hello Gentleheart."
     "Hello Noblehea-ea-eart," the mintgreen Care Bear Cousin said with a smile. "How's Frolicheart doi-i-ing?"
     "Quite frankly?" the purple horse said, with a soft sigh. "Terrible. He's been tossing and turning all night, and he's even quite literally been beating himself up over what he did."
     "How so-o-o?" Gentleheart asked.
     "When I came here yesterday, I found him lying on the porch, crying," Nobleheart said. "And he was bleeding. I don't know exactly what he did, but it left a wound on his forehead."
     "Oh dea-ea-ear," Gentleheart said softly, holding a paw over her mouth. "But... is he oka-a-ay now?"
     "Well, he's a bit better," Nobleheart said. "At least he slept through the night."
Gentleheart nodded slowly.
     "Proudheart's just the sa-a-ame. When she arrived at my-y-y place yesterday she was very mad, but some time later I found her crying her hea-ea-eart out. And she didn't ha-a-ave a very calm night either." The mintgreen Care Bear Cousin shook her head a bit. "We've got to ge-e-et them back together, Nobleheart."
Nobleheart nodded and was just about to reply when Frolicheart's voice sounded from somewhere behind him, quite flatly.
     "Who's at the door?"
     "It's Gentleheart," Nobleheart said across his shoulder.
The next moment Frolicheart was at the door, taking the mintgreen lamb by an arm with both paws.
     "How's Proudheart doing?" he asked, his voice trembling. "Is she okay? Is she still mad at me?"
     "She's overwrought, can you bla-a-ame her?" Gentleheart said. "But I don't think she's still ma-a-ad at you."
     "She's... she's..." Frolicheart gasped. "Really? Oh... oh, please... please tell me she's coming back, Gentleheart. Please!"
Gentleheart shrugged a bit apologetically.
     "She didn't wa-a-ant to yesterday, but I ha-a-aven't spoken to her this morning yet. She wa-a-as still asleep." She freed her arm from the beige-orange puma's grasp and put a paw on his shoulder. "I'm going ba-a-ack in a minute to talk to her. Is there anything you wa-a-ant me to tell her?"
     "Tell her... tell her..." Frolicheart breathed, close to tears again. He drew a deep breath. "Tell her I need her. Tell her I love her. Tell her that if... if she doesn't want to come back to me, I'll... I'll leave the Kingdom of Caring."
     "What?" Nobleheart said with a gasp.
Frolicheart ignored the purple horse, keeping his pleading eyes on Gentleheart.
     "Please tell her that, Gentleheart," he whispered. "Please tell her that I can't live without her, that I'll do anything to get her back, and that I'll go away from here if she doesn't want to come back to me. Please tell her that."
     "I... I will, Frolicheart," Gentleheart said softly, startled too by the beige-orange puma's proclamation. "I'll tell her tha-a-at."
She softly squeezed Frolicheart's shoulder, then turned around and left. Nobleheart now softly put a paw on the puma's shoulder.
     "You didn't mean that... did you?" he said softly.
Frolicheart looked at the purple horse, new tears pearling in the corners of his eyes. He nodded.
     "I did mean it, Nobleheart," he said in a trembling voice.
     "But... you can't do that," Nobleheart said. "You're one of the family. You belong here. I mean... where would you go to?"
     "Back to the Rockies," Frolicheart said softly. "And it would be for the best too, Nobleheart. If Proudheart doesn't want to come back to me, how... how could I... ever look her in the eyes again? Life would become unbearable here for me, knowing she's so close by, and..." He sighed. "Things would just become too difficult. So... it would be better if I left, when..."

He didn't finish, his voice getting choked by tears again. Nobleheart shook his head a bit and softly led Frolicheart back inside his cloud cottage. On the other side of the Forest of Feelings, Gentleheart arrived at hers, and when she went inside  she found Proudheart in the living room. The kitty was a bit tousled up, her normally so well-groomed fur a bit tangled and tufted, and her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
     "You've been to him, haven't you?" she whispered when Gentleheart entered the living room.
The mintgreen Care Bear Cousin sat down next to Proudheart on the sofa and put a paw on the kitty's leg, softly nodding. Proudheart rubbed the back of a paw along her eyes and drew a deep breath.
     "How... how was he?"
Gentleheart sighed a bit.
     "Not good, I'm afra-a-aid. In fact, he's even worse a wre-e-eck as that car he saved us with." She put both her paws on Proudheart's leg now and looked straight at the orange kitty. "He may ha-a-ave hurt you, Proudheart, but you hurt him very ba-a-ad too with leaving him. He's been hurting himself over it."
     "What... do you mean?" Proudheart asked softly.
     "Nobleheart is with him, a-a-and he said that he found Frolicheart on the porch yesterday, bleeding from his hea-ea-ead. So he ha-a-as been beating himself somehow."
Proudheart sadly shook her head.
     "Oh no." She looked back at Gentleheart. "Have you... talked to him?" The mintgreen Care Bear Cousin nodded. "And... what did he... what did he say?"
Gentleheart sighed a bit.
     "He asked me to tell you tha-a-at he loves you and tha-a-at he needs you." She looked Proudheart straight in the eyes and put a paw on her shoulder. "He also asked me to tell you tha-a-at if you don't want to come ba-a-ack to him, he'll leave the Kingdom of Caring."
     "What?! No!" Proudheart jumped up. "He can't! I love him! He can't go away!"
Gentleheart smiled a bit and took Proudheart's paw in both her own.
     "Then go tell him, sweetie," she said in a soft voice.
     "Yes!"

Proudheart was already out of the living room, out of Gentleheart's cloud cottage, inside the Cloudsmobile. She sped it through the Forest of Feelings, stopping at the beige-orange puma's cloud cottage with squealing tyres. She jumped out and ran to the front door.
     "Frrrolichearrt! Don't go away! Frrolicheaaarrrt!"
The front door flew open, and the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin ran out, tears flowing down his face.
     "Proudheart! I'm so sorry! I love you! I so love you!"
They fell into each others arms, holding each other tightly, crying.
     "Oh Frrolichearrrt, I can't let you go!" Proudheart cried. "I love you!"
     "I'm so sorry, pussycat!" Frolicheart sobbed. "I should have never done what I did! I'm so sorry! I so love you! I can't live without you!"
     "I'm sorrry too!" Proudheart wailed. "Please don't go away, Frrrolichearrt. Please don't leave. I love you. Please stay."
     "I can't tell you enough how sorry I am, Proudheart," Frolicheart said, trying to swallow his sobs. "I don't deserve your love."
     "Yes you do," the orange kitty sobbed. "I can't stand to lose you eitherrr." She looked up at Frolicheart with her eyes glistening with tears. "Please don't everrr leave me."

She softly pressed her lips on Frolicheart's and kissed him. The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin wrapped his arms around Proudheart and held her dearly, answering her kiss. Silently, Nobleheart stepped past the two felines and removed himself with a smile, leaving them to themselves. For a very long time, the two feline Care Bear Cousins stood there in the middle of the driveway, holding each other dearly while trying to push back their last sobs. Then, finally, they looked at each other, managed a smile for the other, and went inside...

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