Chapter 10: The Power of Caring
There were only two points left on the Caring Meter. If it went any lower, Care-a-lot would be gone forever. Hugs had reported that it was tipping towards the first point, but something was keeping it from going any lower. Sophie had a feeling that it was her.
The sky was beginning to glow with sunset. It seemed as if there were more clouds in the sky, too. The air around Care-a-lot was filled with anticipation. A battle was approaching. On the evil radar, Tenderheart spotted that powerful dark forces surrounded them. They had looked over the book again for helpful information. When used all together, Sophie's weapons were very powerful.
The meeting was now over, and everyone was preparing for the upcoming battle against No Heart and his army. They had a plan, now they just needed some time to get it ready. The Care Bears were going around the Hall of Hearts and putting up a protective force field of caring energy. Cheer Bear used a powerful contraption that Bright Heart made to put in some extra caring power so the Hall of Hearts would stay protected even while everyone was in battle.
"Tenderheart!" Share rushed into the heart-shaped table room from the rainbow rescue beam room.
"What is it, Share?" Tenderheart asked.
"No Heart and his army are getting closer by the minute." she said, with sweat running down her forehead, "We don't have as much time as we thought."
"How soon will they be here?" True Heart asked.
"In ten minutes." she replied with a gulp.
It was time to get ready. Sophie was incredibly nervous. April and Nolan gave her a hug for support.
Tenderheart rushed to his office and used the speakers to make an announcement for everyone to hear.
"Attention Care Bears. There is only ten minutes to get ready for the battle. Remember that the power of caring is in all of your hearts!"
The Care Bears quickly finished putting up the glowing force field. Sophie wasn't sure if it would make much of a difference if the Care Bears lost, since Care-a-lot would shatter and break into a million irreplaceable pieces. Wish Bear had told her earlier about the time that Care-a-lot was almost destroyed.
She wasn't going to let that happen.
A few moments later, the Care Bear Cousins landed on the Rainbow Rescue Beam. Sophie, April, Nolan, Wish and Funshine greeted the Cousins and told them the plan of action.
"It's so dark and cold outside." said Gentle Heart.
"There's evil clouds in the sky, and lightning." Treat Heart added, shivering.
"This is getting bad." Wish said.
Sophie held Wish Bear's hand.
All the Care Bear Family and Sophie's friends gathered in the living room. They all chatted nervously. Would they be enough to save Care-a-lot? That was the question on everyone's minds. Sophie knew that she had to say something to lift every bear's spirits.
She stood up high on the couch and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
"Can I have every bear's attention please? Care-a-lot's darkest moment is approaching. But I am the protector of Care-a-lot, and I care about Care-a-lot so much. No matter how much evil there is in the world, there are still those who care. If there is only one person left on earth who cares, Care-a-lot will live on. Evil will not win today!"
The Care Bear family and Sophie's friends all cheered.
Then alarms blared from the ships outside, alerting everyone that Care-a-lot was under attack.
"Oh no! They're here!" Share Bear said, looking out the window at the darkening and stormy sky.
Ships were zooming around outside.
"Grams, Cubs, stay inside and keep the force field going. Don't let any enemies inside." Sophie said, and they nodded, "Every bear, let's save Care-a-lot together!"
Thunder shook the ground. Together everyone went outside. Care-a-lot was falling apart. Though it was a sad sight, Sophie knew there was light at the tunnel. There was hope for Care-a-lot, because light always shone brighter in the darkness.
Everyone stood in a line with Sophie in the middle, and April on her left and Nolan on her right. The Care Bears were on Sophie's left, and the Care Bear Cousins were on her left, in rainbow color order.
The army of darkness and evil was right in front of them. There was no order. They all seemed to be glowing with dark power. Then, Emily, Tanya, Vera, Shreeky, and Beastly stepped forward into the front center of the army. Emily and her friends were wearing all black, but it seemed as if their neon streaks were still glowing. Sophie noticed that Emily and her sidekicks had an amulet that looked similar to No Heart's.
The air bristled with anger. The ground below them was shaking, and the clouds were beginning to turn dark. The rainbows were falling apart and the color was leaking out of them.
Everyone knew to keep an eye out for No Heart, but also that they had to get to Emily, Tanya, and Vera first.
Sophie looked to her friends and they nodded. They were all in this together.
"For No Heart and evil!" Emily said.
"For Care-a-lot!" Sophie challenged back.
The battle had begun.
Caring and evil charged at each other, yelling. Everyone was lightning-fast. Sophie and Emily were the heart of the battle. Emily delivered the first blow, but Sophie dodged it. Then Sophie blasted Emily with a beam of caring. Emily avoided the hit, too.
To either side of Sophie, Nolan was battling Tanya, and April was battling Vera – using their caring necklaces.
Sophie and Emily hit at each other a few times and blocked or missed their target. Sophie used a spin attack, but Emily jumped over it and tried to shoot Sophie in the air. Sophie's heart was racing. Sophie tried aiming for Emily's pendant.
"Give up, Sophie! You'll never win." Emily laughed.
Sophie could only feel sorry for her old best friend. How she longed for a best friend again.
Emily shot at her again, and Sophie blocked it with her shield.
Then Sophie swiped Emily's pendant and slammed her shield down on it, breaking it.
"No!" Emily shouted, "I'll get you for that!"
Sophie dodged every one of Emily's attacks, and for a few moves she didn't fire back.
"Why aren't you fighting me? Are you scared?"
"No. I care about you, Emily. I don't want to hurt you." her caring necklace flickered with light as more caring energy was stored inside.
They chaotically danced around each other, with Emily trying to make harder and harder blows against Sophie. Sophie pushed back with equal force.
"You already did hurt me! Or unless you forgot about how you teased me? Because I didn't!" she shouted.
Sophie dropped her weapons, but not her crown.
Emily then saw that Sophie was weakened, and punched Sophie across the face three times in a row, alternating her fists. Even though Sophie tried to block, Emily took out her anger on Sophie. She screamed for all the pain that was inside her. Sophie felt every bit of it. The pain was blinding. Yet Sophie refused to give up, refused to stop caring about her. Just before Emily was about to throw another blow, Sophie found it within her heart that now was a good time to say sorry. Better late than never… Sophie put up her arms in hope to protect her face.
"Please wait! I'm so sorry, Emily. It was wrong for me to hurt your feelings and tease you. I'm sorry… please forgive me. I don't want to fight you."
Emily was in mid punch when she stopped. She was confused. The chaotic battle continued to rage on around them as they were at a standstill. Nolan and April were struggling to get Tanya and Vera's pendants.
Emily could hardly believe what Sophie had just said.
"You mean that? With all your heart? You're not lying?"
"I mean it with all my heart. I'm not lying." Sophie said, "I want to be best friends again. I care about you."
Emily lowered her fist. She studied Sophie quizzically.
Then she took off her evil bracelet, and stomped on it. She looked up to Sophie.
"Apology accepted. Then I guess I should say sorry, too."
Sophie nodded, hopeful. All she wanted was a sorry. Sophie held out her hand as an act of peace and forgiveness.
"I'm sorry I hurt you, Sophie. I shouldn't have done that. It seems like we're both guilty of hurting each other's feelings."
Sophie nodded. Emily took Sophie's hand. When she did, Sophie's caring necklace was filled with so much caring energy that a flare of pastel rainbow light lit up a bubble around Emily and Sophie. It was the start of a new friendship between them.
Even with the light fading, the battle did not. Sophie looked to Emily for help.
"I'll help you stop No Heart." Emily said confidently.
"Thank you."
Then Emily intervened with Tanya and Vera.
"Stop fighting! We're changing sides. Sophie and I said sorry and now we're friends again."
"What?" screeched Tanya, who was in the midst of battle with Nolan. Nolan instantly stopped, and so did April.
Sophie picked up her staff and shield, and prepared to fight.
"There's no time to explain more. Let's stop No Heart from destroying Care-a-lot!" Emily said, raising her fist.
Since Emily knew where No Heart was, Sophie decided that she would trust Emily to bring her to No Heart. That would be their next step, and they could hopefully win the battle now that Emily, Tanya, and Vera were on the caring side.
Tanya and Vera looked at each other, confused, but nodded anyway, deciding that they were more loyal to Emily than they were to No Heart.
Meanwhile, the Care Bears and Cousins were struggling against the Evil Bears, who were not in any way shape or form, their friends. They had no intention of stopping until every last Care Bear was defeated. True Heart, Noble Heart, Tenderheart, and Brave Heart were fighting some incredibly strong opponents with their Care Bear Stares, but it seemed that they were not going to win.
"Don't give up!" True Heart encouraged everyone as they struggled.
Wish Bear was throwing Star Buddies at the enemy, and Funshine was blinding them with his bright sunlight from his symbol. Cheer was using her lasso like a cowgirl, and picking up enemies left and right and flinging them great distances away from the battle.
A powerful wave of darkness rippled through the Evil Bears and they grew stronger. Several Evil Bears took down True Heart, Noble Heart, Tenderheart, and Brave Heart.
Share Bear saw this happening.
"No!" She screamed, and rushed to help them. She whacked Evil Bears with two huge lollipops, and skidded on the clouds to True Heart and Noble Heart and the others. Quickly, she picked them up one by one and brought them inside the Hall of Hearts.
"What is it, Share Bear?"
"They're hurt! Can you please try and heal them?" Share asked with tears in her voice.
"Don't worry, they're in good paws." Grams nodded, "Stay safe out there."
Share rushed outside and back into the battle.
Sophie and Emily were working their way through the Evil Bears and trying to find No Heart when they ran right into Beastly and Shreeky who sprung up from making some booby traps.
"Ah! Emily, what are you doing?" Shreeky yelled.
"I'm on the Care Bears side now." Emily said, swiping her arm out in front of her, "I'm done being evil. I'm done being a bully. From now on, I'm going to show the world just how much I care!"
Sophie gasped at Emily's words. It seemed as if there was a light glowing around her now.
"Ew, then get away from us!" Shrieky said, trying to blast them with her mirror.
"Can I shoot them with my blaster, Shrieky?"
"You don't have to ask!" she yelled.
They blasted away, jumping all around Sophie, Emily, Tanya, Valerie, April and Nolan. Shreeky's mirror hit Tanya but it didn't do her a lot of damage. Shreeky was outraged.
"Why doesn't this stupid thing work?" Shreeky screamed, about to throw a temper tantrum.
"Get their weapons and destroy them!" Nolan said above the clamor of battle.
While Shreeky was distracted, Sophie made a dive for Shreeky's mirror. At the last second, Shreeky pulled the mirror up and out of Sophie's reach. Emily then went for Beastly's blaster, but he was proving to be more difficult than expected.
Sophie's heart was pounding. She tried to grab Shreeky's mirror again but only tripped over someone's foot. As she did, Shreeky lost grip of her mirror and it went flying through the air. April caught Shreeky's mirror.
"I got it!" she cheered.
There was a broken piece of rainbow lying on the clouds, so she quickly picked it up and slam the pointy part of the glass into the mirror multiple times.
"No! Stop! Not my mirror!" Shreeky cried desperately as Sophie held her down on the clouds.
"Keep breaking it, April!"
"You'll have seven years of bad luck, you dolt!" Shreeky reminded them.
"I think you'll be the one with seven years of bad luck!" April said, delivering the final hit, and shattering the mirror into a million shards.
Shreeky gave her terrible shriek when it was broken. A piece scraped Shreeky's skin, which only made her yell louder. Everyone covered her ears, even the Evil Bears.
Then Nolan swiped Beastly's blaster while Shreeky was yelling. Nolan's ears rang painfully, but it would be worth it since now he had Beastly's blaster.
"How dare you!" she growled after she was done shrieking, which seemed like she never would stop.
"Hey, my blaster! Give that back!" Beastly demanded.
But Nolan slammed it down onto he clouds, and stomped on it as hard as he could. It crumbled within a few stomps.
Now that Shreeky and Beastly were defenseless, they had a chance of finding No Heart.
Quickly Tanya and Valerie tied up Shreeky and Beastly even though it was kind of pointless because the Evil Bears could untie them. However the Evil Bears were incredibly busy with the battle, so it was very unlikely they would notice Shreeky and Beastly. It would save them some time to go find No Heart, hopefully.
It had gotten a lot darker since the battle began. Sophie's hairs were standing on their end's. A chill whispered through the air, teasing her braids. The sky was filled with scary storm clouds, and even though there was no rain, there were bright flashes of lightning.
As Emily and Sophie kept running, they bumped into enemy Bears along the way, and had to strike them down. Though how was Emily going to fight if she didn't have a weapon, like Sophie did? Sophie knew she had to do something to help her new friend.
"Use my staff!" she said, tossing it to her.
"What? Are you serious? I don't even know how to use it!"
"You'll figure it out!" Sophie called as she used her pendant to blast enemies away. The Evil Bears screamed when she let out a burst of caring at them and the shock made them fly backwards.
Emily used the staff like a golf club and a baseball bat. She was inexperienced with it, unlike Sophie who had some practice.
Once a group of enemies were out of the way, they heard a roar of evil laughter, and knew that had to be No Heart. Out of the sea of Evil Bears, Sophie spotted Wish, Cheer, and Funshine heading for No Heart as well and were a lot closer and ready to fight.
"There he is!"
It was as if No Heart had appeared out of nowhere, but now he was a few paces in front of them. Sophie gulped. What was she going to do?
"Get his pendant!" Wish reminded her. She nodded.
Now the hard part was actually getting it.
"Whatever you plan on doing, I will ruin it!" No Heart yelled.
"Oh, so you'll destroy your pendant for us? Thanks!" Sophie shouted back.
No Heart threw a blast of purple evil magic at her, but she used her shield to protect herself.
"You think you're really funny, don't you, little caring brat?" No Heart said, powering up with more magic.
The Care Bears distracted him with attacks. More cousins came to join Wish, Cheer, and Funshine Bear. Thunder roared louder in the sky. The Evil Bears grabbed at Sophie's ankles to try and make her trip but she just jumped over them. Emily held off the enemy for Sophie while she ran at No Heart as quickly as she could.
Then just as Sophie thought she saw a clear chance to get No Heart's necklace as he was raising his arms up in the air for more magic power, Shreeky came and flew right into her, knocking her to the ground as she was in mid-jump.
"Hey!" Sophie panted.
Then Shreeky used apart of her broken mirror and swiped it across Sophie's cheek out of anger. She screamed as blood warmed her face, and lifted her hand up to her cheek to try and stop it. The pain stung. She looked in horror at her hand that was covered in blood.
"That's for tying me up!"
"And for me!" Beastly yelled, but Shreeky didn't care about him, since all her focus was on Sophie.
"Sophie! Are you okay?" Wish Bear yelled, as she battled Evil Bears to get them out of her way.
She shook her head. Wish Bear quickly wished for her wound to be closed and cleaned. In a flash it was better, like Shreeky hadn't hurt her at all. The blood from her hand was gone, too.
Shreeky then was attacked by Swift Heart, who spun her around in a circle and made her loose her balance. She fell face first on the clouds.
"Now, Sophie!" Wish said.
Sophie nodded, and staggered up. Then she ran to No Heart as he was distracted. He saw her coming out of the corner of his eye, and blasted a bolt of evil at her.
She used her staff this time and hit it away. He tried again, and hit her shoulder. Sophie yelled out in pain and collapsed to her knees as the evil struck her and started to spread in her skin. No Heart laughed victoriously, but his victory was short lived. The Care Cousins attacked him with Cousin Calls. Then she grabbed her caring pendant and held it for a moment. The evil went away and she got up again.
The Cousins and Wish Bear were fully attacking No Heart now. The other Care Bears were back at the Hall of Hearts attacking or defending the Caring Meter.
Sophie jumped up and now that she was close enough to No Heart, she ripped the pendant from his neck and somersaulted down to the clouds again, and landed in a superhero pose.
"Hey No Heart!" she said, "Thanks for the pendant!"
"What? No! You're no match for me! I am No Heart!" No Heart wailed, now that the Care Cousins actually had a chance to use their Calls and actually give him some damage.
"Good job, Sophie!" Cheer Bear called out.
However, No Heart wasn't done yet. Sophie threw the amulet up in the air as if she were serving in tennis, and then with one strong swipe of her staff, she cracked the pendant in half and sent it flying.
"Now we have a chance against No Heart!" Funshine said.
Yet No Heart summoned more Evil Bear reinforcements by using magic. The Care Bears were quickly swarmed. Sophie gasped as her friends struggled. Nolan, April, Tanya, Vera and Emily struggled to keep the enemy away, too. It was like they were in a sea of darkness.
"No!" she whimpered. They were so close, and yet No Heart seemed so much stronger. She doubted if she could really save Care-a-lot…
"What were you saying? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my reinforcements demolishing you!" No Heart laughed.
Then No Heart turned his attention back to her. He blasted evil magic at her and she struck them down with her staff. When he struck again with powerful magic, she used her shield and pushed back with all her might.
"Why aren't you fighting back?" He asked darkly, enjoying the spotlight as he threw another attack at her.
"I don't want to hurt you, No Heart."
"You must be joking!" he laughed.
She was bombarded with attacks, and dodged them as best as she could.
"I feel sorry for you. You want to make the whole world evil? You think that can actually happen? Well you're wrong! There are always going to be people who care."
"Those are just lies the Care Bears told you, little princess!" he sneered at her.
"If they are telling me lies, then why do I have this pendant? Why do I have so much caring potential?" she asked holding out her pendant that was shimmering with caring energy.
She blasted the daylights out of No Heart. He staggered backward, but this only made him furious.
"I thought you said you didn't want to hurt me. You're nothing but a liar!" he yowled, preparing another evil blast.
"I really don't. But that doesn't mean I won't do everything I can to stop you from hurting Care-a-lot or my friends!"
"You're really grinding my gears, princess." he spat.
Then Sophie jumped high into the air and shot No Heart with a burst of caring energy with her staff. She knew that the caring magic didn't have a lot of impact, but it could certainly feel like it to a villain since they were unfamiliar with caring.
Her burst of caring was stronger than she expected, and No Heart was prepared for it — which she didn't expect. He used both hands for the evil energy, and stepped forward and used a great force of his power to launch Sophie across the battlefield.
Sophie landed in the park on the soft clouds. She actually got stuck in the clouds because No Heart's throw was that strong. She panted and tried to catch her breath.
"Great. That didn't go how I wanted it to." she grumbled, trying to get herself out.
She used her staff to pull herself out of the clouds. She brushed the cotton clouds off her clothes and took in how far away from the battle she was. There were no Evil Bears where she was. All their focus was on the Hall of Hearts.
As she got to her feet again, a terrible pain filled her arms and legs. It startled her so much that she collapsed to her knees. She looked down in horror to find that her brown skin was turning black. The evil snaked up her skin like rivers. Already her fingers were totally black. It shot up her arms and to her shoulders. It was moving too fast. Sophie cried out in pain.
How was she going to defeat No Heart? She gulped nervously and spotted him on the battle field. Now that she was out of the way just for the moment, a few Care Bears were attacking him. Then, Sophie saw in the distance True Heart, Tenderheart, Noble Heart, and Brave Heart were coming out of the Hall of Hearts preparing for battle again.
"No! I will save Care-a-lot. I love it with all my heart." Sophie said, fighting the darkness inside.
The evil magic inside her started to recede, and it was like she was having an internal battle. She smiled and thought of happy things. But that wasn't enough. The evil magic struck back and started crawling up faster this time. It went up to her elbows with no hesitation. Her arms felt heavy. Carrying the shield of heart seemed like she was carrying pounds of gold.
"I love Care-a-lot. I have a caring heart." she said and boosted her caring energy enough so she could run back to the battle.
She plowed through the sea of Evil Bears, determined to get to No Heart. As she approached him, he spotted her too and only laughed at her. Then he paid her no attention as he battled Brave Heart, and Noble Heart.
"Sophie!" Tenderheart rushed over to her and saw the evil magic on her skin, "Oh no! You're hurt."
"It's okay. I can still fight No Heart."
He looked at her worriedly.
"I won't stop you then. Just follow your heart and remember how much the Care Bears care about you." Tenderheart touched Sophie's cheek, where the evil hadn't spread to yet.
Sophie nodded.
The evil was sneaking up her neck, and her feet and legs were covered in it. The magic was almost taking completely over her. But she wouldn't let it.
Then Sophie charged up her staff with a little help of her caring necklace. The staff was almost completely covered in a rainbow glow – she just had to wait a few more seconds for the whole thing to be glowing.
No Heart had gotten dangerously close to the Hall of Hearts now. Sophie knew that she had to use her staff soon.
Once the staff was completely glowing, Sophie shot the staff at him. It hit him and knocked him backwards. He flew over the Evil Bears, and landed yards away. But he got up and was somehow more charged up. He used his tornado form to get him closer to Sophie again.
"You're so blind and stupid, little child!" he laughed, pointing at her.
"Stop calling me little!" she was tired of him calling her names in general.
"Do you even know who's side your on?" he asked.
"Is this the game called are you smarter than a fifth grader?! I'm on the caring side!"
"It certainly doesn't look like it! Look at your skin."
"Huh — what?"
When she looked down at the darkness on her skin. It was seeping into the air. Yet it was still in her skin and hurting.
"You are giving me evil energy!" he laughed.
"I am not!" she growled.
"Tell me that after I use this old trick."
No Heart laughed manically and used a supersonic burst of evil energy that knocked everyone down all around him, including Sophie. Everyone screamed as the powerful magic rippled in the air.
Sophie was the only one who staggered up. She glanced around at the fallen battlefield. Yet Wish Bear sat up and rubbed her head. No Heart was laughing his head off and celebrating victory too soon.
"Ouch…" she whimpered.
"Wish Bear! Are you okay?"
"I think I have a headache." she shook her head, and shivered.
Sophie ran over to Wish Bear, who was cold. She quickly used the power of her caring necklace and touched it to Wish Bear's belly. She almost instantly perked up.
Then she went around to all of her friends and healed them. No Heart was busy trying to get his troops back up, since for some reason his magic had temporarily stopped working.
"Sophie! Your skin!" Wish gasped.
"I know…" she said, trembling, "I'll be fine. But I know how we can defeat No Heart."
She whispered in Wish Bear's ear. Wish nodded, and hugged Sophie quickly.
"Care Bears, Cousins, every bear! We are not alone in this fight! Everyone on earth that cares is cheering for us! Let's stand together as one and use all the power of caring to conquer No Heart!" Sophie shouted to rally her friends.
Everyone slowly got up, but they did. And they came over to Sophie. They were very worried about her skin. But she was more worried about Care-a-lot. Her human friends, Nolan, April, Tanya, Vera, and Emily came to her too. Sophie told everyone in whisper what their plan was.
"I hope it works." Love-a-lot said.
"Me too." said Grumpy Bear.
They formed one straight line going from side to side. The Care Bears were on the left, and the Cousins were on the right of Sophie. In between them, April was on Sophie's left, and Emily was on Sophie's right.
"Is everyone ready?" she asked.
"Yeah!" they all shouted just as a roar of thunder crashed through the sky.
Sophie turned to face No Heart, who was still laughing and having a good time. The Evil Bears were staggering up, clearly weak on their feet.
"Hey No Heart! I have a trick up my sleeve, too!" she shouted.
When he looked at Sophie, he was startled to see her in formation with her friends.
"What? No! Impossible! Caring will never win!" he wailed, realizing he was in deep trouble. Shreeky and Beastly clung to him knowing that something horrible was about to happen. And he clung to them too.
"3… 2… 1… Care Bears Stare! Care Cousin Call!" Sophie, her friends, and the Care Bear Family shouted together.
A light brighter than the sun shot out of Sophie and her friends. It was a colossal burst of caring energy, and it wiped out No Heart and his whole army in one try.
When the light faded, Sophie opened her eyes to see a different kind of Care-a-lot. It was still damaged from the battle, but the sky was lightening with the first rays of dawn. Shooting stars fell overhead in the gray sky. Sophie was still holding hands with everyone. As her friends soaked in the sight of Care-a-lot, they knew there was a lot of work to be done.
In a moment, everyone let go, but no one left the scene. They all gathered around Sophie and Emily.
Sophie knew just what she had to do. Friend Bear nodded at her. Sophie reached out her hands and smiled at Emily.
"Friends?" Sophie asked.
Emily took Sophie's hands in a friendly way and held them.
"More like best friends forever!" Emily said, and unexpectedly gave Sophie a heart-warming hug.
As they embraced each other, the caring in both of their hearts met and melted all the hatred they had felt towards each other. Tears of happiness fell from Sophie's eyes. A beautiful and gentle light glowed from their hearts and spilt all over Care-a-lot, restoring it.
They let go. Both Sophie and Emily had smiles on their faces. Sophie was glad to have a best friend again.
"Hey every bear! Look at the Caring Meter!" cheered Cheer Bear.
The Caring Meter was up to the twelfth point. Care-a-lot was saved, and all thanks to Sophie and Emily.