Hello, everybody! I wrote this story, in which Lighting's daughter, Kira McQueen's Cars OC, Kira, wants to race with her father but he is unable to due to feeling a little bit under the weather because of an older injury he got from the wreck, for Kira, who was wanting me to write a story with Kira, and she gave me permission to do it. I hope you enjoy the story!
"You're father was one of the greatest racers ever was," River Scott said, beaming down at Kira McQueen with pride.
Kira suppressed a moan, remembering just in time that she wasn't by herself.
She was in Flo's Super 8 Café, surrounded by Flo and three racing legends, including Louise Nash, River Scott and Junior 'Midnight' Moon. The trio of old, renowned Piston Cup racers were in town for the weekend only, having stopped by on their way from Smokey's Automobile Service to check out Lightning McQueen's home town. Kira had heard they were at Flo's and had stopped by to see them, in the hopes of meeting her hero, Louise Nash.
It hadn't been the first time she had heard somebody talking about how great of a racer her father had been, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. She had been hearing it all her life, how great he was. She was actually getting pretty tired of hearing it, actually. What was so great about her father, anyway? Everybody said he was great, but she had never seen him race, not once in whole entire life. As far as she knew, he hadn't raced in years, according to her mother. From what little information she could get out of her, he was getting too old, but she suspected there was something else behind his reasoning not to race. She would've liked to have seen him race just one time, and race against him, if he would ever allow it, just to see if he was really as great as all of the rest of the automobile life in Radiator Springs claimed him to be.
"He was the fastest thing on four wheels," Louise said, smiling at her.
Being an aspiring, young racer herself, Kira looked up to Louise, her being the First Lady In Racing with three Piston Cups to her name, having won three in a row against the late, great Doc Hudson, her father's own former trainer and mentor, and she had even been at the infamous race in which Doc had crashed. As everybody knew, however, it hadn't been an easy road for Louise. She had to steal her own number in order to race, because she hadn't been allowed to, reminding her of the way her father always refused to let her race, which irritated her to no end.
Junior scrolled his eyes to the ceiling, his gaze distant and wistful. "He was so fast, he could soar through the sky, like an eagle" he said, and looked back down at Kari, chuckling.
Kira felt embarrassed, feeling her fenders getting hot. "Uh, I'm sorry, but I really got to go," she said, backing up slowly toward the door. "I just remembered there was something my mom wanted me to do that I forgot."
Louise nodded her hood in understanding. "That's okay, honey," she said. "We perfectly understand."
Kira couldn't get out of there fast enough, but she tried not to make it look like she wasn't in any hurry to leave, thinking it would be a little rude and make the others thinks she didn't want to be around them. When she got to the door, she pushed it opened with her fender, and rolled outside.
Kira closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the warm, summer air.
It was a beautiful day, Kira thought, a perfect day go racing with her father.
Only problem was, she didn't know where her father could be.
She hadn't seen him all day, and she was starting to get a little worried. This wasn't like her father. He usually got up early in the morning to go eat breakfast at Flo's V8 cafe, but he hadn't been there when Kira had arrived.
Hoping her mother would have some knowledge regarding her father's whereabouts, Kari made her way to the Cozy Cone Hotel, the little business her mother had been running for years, even before she had met her father and Kari herself had been born.
"Hey, Mom," Kira said, rolling into the cone where her mother held her office.
Her mother looked up from the paper work she had been studying furiously when Kira had rolled in. "What is it, honey?" she said, raising a questioning eyelid at her. "Make it as a quick as you can, because Mommy's pretty busy."
Kira sighed, feeling, all of a sudden, very lonely.
It seemed like her parents stayed busy, and never had any time for her anymore. "Have you seen Dad?" she asked, looking around the room as if she might find him there and knowing she wouldn't, taking in all of the clutter made up of swaying stacks of paper towering dangerously toward the ceiling, being in real risk of falling over.
Her mother hadn't been lying. She had been pretty busy, and would be pretty busy for awhile, by the looks of things.
Her mother was looking down at the paper, having reverted her gaze back to her notebook when Kira hadn't been looking. "Check Doc's garage," she said, not looking up from the paper this time. "He's been feeling a little under the weather lately, and he's being hanging out there a lot for the past couple of days."
Kira's fear for her father grew, threatening to overwhelm her. "Is he okay?" she asked.
When her mother looked back up this time, her gaze was stern, her eyelids narrowed. "It's nothing but old age, honey, and there's no cure for that," she said, her gaze flickering back to the paper. "You're still young, yet, enjoy it while you can." She urged her out the door, motioning her to leave with an absentminded shake of her tire. "Now, go outside and play."
Kira lowered her gaze, staring gloomly down at her hood. "Yes, Mom," she said, turning to head back out the door. "Thank you."
She sped out of the cone, leaving the hotel far behind, tears streaming down her windshield by the time she got halfway down the road her father had paved for the Radiator Springs gang so long ago. She felt so worthless and useless, as if nobody wanted her or cared how she felt.
"What's botherin' ya', Kira, gal?"
Kira jumped up, swerving around, toward the voice. She hadn't heard Mater approaching, but there he was, coming up behind her. She knew it had been Mater before she had even turned around, though, Mater being the only one who called her Kira gal. "Oh, hello, Mater," she said, gasping for breath. "I didn't see you there!" She was totally surprised to see him. "What's up?"
Mater shrugged. "Ya just look like ya got a bug stuck on ya' windshield or somethin" he said.
Kira sniffed. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, and blinked back the tears, hoping Mater didn't see them. "I was just looking for Dad, and I went to Mom to ask her where he was, and it was like she didn't have any time for me."
Mater starred ahead of her, toward the direction in which she had came, back to the Cozy Cone.
"You're Mother's right, Kira gal," he said. "She's a pretty busy gal, what with that business she's got and all."
"Yeah, I know," Kira said, sighing. "I just wish she had more time for me, is all."
Mater nodded his hood up and down. "I get what ya' sayin', Kira gal," he said, his southern accent thicker than ever. "I get what ya sayin'."
"Have you seen Dad?" Kira asked, hoping to get a second opinion, even if it happened to be Mater's, who might've not exactly had the most reliable opinion in the world. "Mom said he was at the garage."
Mater's relaxed expression grew thoughtful.
"And she might be right, at that," he said, uncertainty in his eyes. "I haven't seen him all day, either, and I was startin' to get a little worried about him myself, to tell ya the truth, but if he's anywhere, he is there, Kari gal."
"Thanks Mater," Kira said, truly grateful for his advice. "You've been a big help."
Mater started to pass her, flashing his always welcoming, trademark, buck-toothed grin at her as he went. "It was no problem, at all, Kira gal," he said, beginning to drive on down the road.
"No problem at all."
Kira watched him leave, shaking her hood, but smiled. Some things never changed, and Mater was one of them.
Kira found Doc's old garage not long afterwards.
The old, run-down building had stood in Radiator Springs for years, but it was starting to fall in. She crept in, watching where she drove, fearing a floorboard would fall in with her at any moment. "Hello, Dad?" she asked, searching around the old place for her father.
She heard a dry cough. "Kari, is that you?"
Kira recognized her father's voice. "Yes, Dad," she said, finally spotting him in a corner toward the back of the shed. "Are you all right?"
Her father grimaced. "I can't lie to you Kira, I've had better days," he said, breathing hard. "What do you want?"
Kira was fuming. "I wanted to race you," she said, letting out all of her frustration and anger, heaping as much of it as she could on her father. "Everybody is always talking about how great you are, but I have never seen you race my whole entire life."
Her father's grill sagged, and he suddenly looked very old, older than she had ever seen him. "I'm sorry, Kari, but I can't," he said, gasping for breath, his voice a strangled wheeze. "One of my tires is acting up."
Kira snorted. "Yeah, I bet that's just an excuse," she said, alarmed, but trying to conceal her fear.
"You wouldn't let me race anyway." She was going to let her father have it, with all she had, no matter how bad he felt. "You never did want me to race, because you don't think I can."
"Go on, get out of here and leave me alone," her father said, still struggling get his breath back. "Get your mother to tell you a little story about a wreck I had. Then you'll see why I don't want you to race."
All of Kira's confidence went out the window.
Her father had wrecked? Nobody had told her this, not even her family or friends. Why hadn't anyone ever told her? Hadn't she deserved the right to know, the great Lightning McQueen being her own father and everything? Apparently not.
Feeling as if she had been lied to all of her life, and betrayed by everybody she knew, Kira revved up her engine and sped out of the garage.
"Kira, wait-"
She hadn't even heard her father's weak cry of protest.
"Mom, why didn't you tell me Dad wrecked!"
Her mother jumped, startled by Kari's sudden outburst. "What are you talking about?" she asked, rolling out from behind the desk in order to drive up to her.
Kira scoffed. "Oh, please, don't try and act like you don't know," she said, taking all of her anger out on her mother. "You know good and well what I'm talking about."
"Don't you take that kind of tone with me, missy," her mother said, shaking a scolding tire at her. "Did your father tell you?"
Kira took slow, deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "Yes," she said, once she felt as if she had gotten control of herself once more. "He told me all about it."
Her mother moaned. "Oh, I was dreading this day," she said, her tires sagging. "I really was."
"So why didn't you tell me?" Kira asked, bound and determined to get the answer out of her mother one way or another. "You didn't think I could handle it, or something?"
"No, Kira, it wasn't that," her mother said, sounding defeated, and Kari felt a little bad for being so hard on her, but she was really wanting answers and she was going to do anything she could to get them! "We just…we just kept it from you because we didn't want to discourage you from racing."
Kira couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But Dad discourages me from racing all the time!" she exclaimed, feeling what little hope she might've gained dwindling. "Haven't you noticed?"
Kira couldn't help but feel a little relieved when her mother actually smiled. "Yes, but that's just you're father being a little overprotective," she said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "He thinks your two young."
"But I'm fifteen!" Kira protested, growing even more frustrated. "What's he going to do, wait until I'm as old and crazy as Lizzie and I can't even drive?"
Her mother glared at her, her anger plain to see, but Kira could tell she was trying not to laugh.
"Don't be so disrespectful to your elders Kari, that's rude," she said, but her smile was growing wider. "And you are too young, Kari, that one I do agree with your father on. You're not even supposed to be allowed to race until you're eighteen."
"I know, but it's so unfair," Kira said, stomping her tire on the ground. "I want to race now."
"Don't worry, you'll get your chance," her mother said, the love and pride she obviously had in her daughter for being so free-willed and independent showing on her grill. "You just got to be patient."
"I don't have any patience," Kira said, not ashamed to admit it.
Her mother snorted, shaking her hood. "Yeah, I know," she said, but still smiling. "That's something else you get from your father."
Kira grinned back, unable to stay mad at her mother for long. "So, tell me about the wreck," she said, and settled down, preparing to make herself comfortable. "Don't worry, I can handle it."
"Well, there's not much to it to tell, really," her mother said. "It was a wreck, and your father had already been racing for some time, and he was getting older. All of his other friends had already been forced to retire, and were replaced by younger, next Gen racers. It was only a matter of time before the same thing happened to him."
Kira felt a newfound sympathy for her father.
"He must've been pretty scared," she said, seeing her father in a new light.
"He was," her mother said, but for whatever reason, chose to say nothing more on the subject.
Kira had never thought her father would be afraid of anything. "Was he racing against Storm?" she asked, intrigued. "The one Cruz raced against?"
Everybody had told her about Cruz and how she had Storm in her first race, after Lightning had given her a chance to compete and giving her the opportunity to fulfill her dream of being a racer. This much she did know.
"That's the one," her mother said, nodding.
"You're father was very determined to beat Storm, as determined as you are now, and he forced himself too hard during one race trying to pass Storm and his tire blew." Darkness fell across her grill. "He just flipped over and over…until he just…stopped…on the grass…"
The temperature seemed to drop in the room, and Kira suddenly felt very cold. "I bet you were pretty scared, too, then, huh?" she asked, her voice lowering to a whisper.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Her mother closed her eyes, and Kira knew she was trying hard not to cry. "Very," she said, and when she opened her eyes again, tears were running down her windshield. "It was hard…seeing your father…like that." Her voice was trembling. "I thought I had lost him."
Kira didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Mom," she said, stammering for words. "I didn't know…"
"Don't be, it's not your fault," her mother said, blinking the rest of the tears away. "It's ours for not telling you sooner, and for that, Kari, I apologize."
"Don't worry, Mom, you don't have to," Kira said, and smiled to reassure her. "I'm not mad anymore."
"That's good," her mother said, looking a little relieved. "You know I love you, right?"
"Yes, Mom, and I love you, too," Kira said, feeling herself getting embarrassed for the second time that day.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to hang out with you much these pass few days, but just give me time to finish filling out all of these papers, then you and I will have a little girls day out," her mother said, her expression hopeful. "How's that?"
"That would be great, Mom" Kira said, and everything was all right between them once again.
Louise, Junior, and River left the next day, and Kari, her family, and the rest of the Radiator springs gang had been there to see them off. Her father had even been able to drag himself out of the garage just in time to tell them bye.
"How's the tire doing there, old man?" River asked, and glanced over at Lightning, wearing a look of concern across his grill.
Her father rolled the tire in question, trying it out. "It's doing much better, I think," he said, settling it back down on the ground with a wince. "It's not bothering me as bad as it was, anyway."
"That's good to hear," River said, relief washing over his grill. "I was beginning to worry about you."
Louise started up her engine. "Well, I guess we better head on out," she said. "I would like to get an early start before it gets too late."
"Thanks for the autograph, Miss. Louise," Kira said. Louise had given her an autograph yesterday when they had been at Flo's.
"Why, you're welcome very much, Miss. Kira," Louise said, with a bow. "I was happy to help out."
Kira smiled at her.
"We enjoyed our time here, but I guess it is time to leave," Junior said, looking anxiously up at the morning sun, which was just peeking above the nearby mountains in the distances. "It's a long drive, and we need to get back to Smokey's old place before it get's too dark."
"Yeah…" River said, trailing off into silence.
With one, last farewell to the rest of the Radiator Springs gang, the three racing legends left the town for good.
"Bye!" the whole, entire Radiator Springs gang shouted after them in unison, waving their mirrors and tires at them.
Once they were gone, Lightning turned to Kira
"Kira, I've got something I need to tell you I should've told you a long time ago, something an old friend told me once," he said, giving her a sad smile.
"What?" Kira asked, curious now.
"A Piston Cup's just an empty cup," her father said, laughing at the puzzled expression she knew she must've been wearing.
Kira was more confused now than ever. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, giving her father a blank look.
"Come, follow me, and I show you," Lightning said, indicating the town by tilting his fender back toward Radiator Springs.
Kira pretended not to think about it, trying to lead her father on, but, deep down, she was really curious about what he was trying to tell her. "Oh, all right," she said, and followed him.
Kira was surprised when her father led her back to the garage. "What are we doing back here?" she asked, staring up at the gloomy, old garage with dismay. The last place she wanted to be was this unpleasant abode.
Her father drove up to the garage, pushing the door open with his grill. "Come in, and I'll show you," he said, moving inside, but slowly, and the growing fear she had felt for him earlier retuned full force. What if her father was too old to race? What then? Who was she going to have to race with? She knew her mother wouldn't, not being a racer, and she knew Cruz wouldn't be able to because she was always away racing her own races. She wouldn't have anybody to race if something happened to father, and the thought scared her.
"You see those?" her father asked, his eyes going to a row of cups sitting across a shelf off to the side of the room.
Kira's eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open, taking in the glorious sight of the Piston Pups with pure wonder in her gaze. "Wow!" she exclaimed, knowing her eyes must've been popping out of her windshield. "Whose trophies are those?" She was unable to contain her excitement. "Yours?"
"No, not mine," her father said, sadness in his voice. "Docs."
Going up to the shelf, he hit the bottom of it with one of his tires, knocking one of the cups off of it. "Look inside," he said, pushing the cup to Kari. "See how empty it is?"
Kira peered into the cup. Her father was right. It was empty. There was no gold in it or anything. She looked back up at her father, unable to hide her disappointment.
"See, it's just an empty cup, like I said," her father said, looking up at her. "It might look nice, but in the end, that's all it is, an empty cup." Kari thought he sounded tired. "Greatness doesn't come from a cup alone, or how many races you win. It comes from the journey, all of the races you race, even the ones you lose. That's what a Piston Cup is just an empty cup means, Kari."
"Who taught you that?" Kira asked, thinking she had a pretty good idea. "Doc?"
"Yeah, and I should've taught it to you long before now," her father said. "Maybe you wouldn't be so hard-headed stubborn."
Kira grinned at him. "Mom said I got it from you," she said, her voice teasing.
Her fathed snorted. "She would," he said, scowling.
"Look, I'm sorry I got mad at you Dad, for you not wanting me to race," Kira said, feeling the need to apologize to her father for the rotten way she had been treating him. "You're right, I'm too young."
"Your mother told you that, too?" Lightning asked, looking annoyed.
Kira gave him a sheepish look. "Yes," she said, slyly.
"I can always tell when you've been talking to her," her father said, rolling his eyes. "It sounded like something she would say."
"She told me about the wreck, too," Kira said, deciding it was best to tell him. "I asked her, and I'm so sorry, Dad, I had no idea…"
"It wasn't you're fault, just something else we should've told you sooner," her father said. "Just remember, a Piston Cup is just an empty cup, and you'll be all right."
For some reason, Kira had a feeling he was right.
The End