Chapter 12: Magi to the Rescue
"HA! YA!" Zoey swung a large wooden two-handed sword at Aqua who blocked it with a shorter wooden sword. The two of them had taken up learning how to swordfight, having carved their swords over the course of months out of tree branches using their teeth and claws.
"HIYA!" Zoey swung hard and knocked Aqua's sword out of his hand. Aqua stumbled and fell on his butt while Zoey rested her sword on the ground, leaning on it and grinning, "I win again."
Aqua smiled and moved to stand, until Zoey grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, "You're good."
"Thanks," Zoey gave him a kiss then sighed, "so much better than magic training."
"You'll get it some day," Aqua hugged her, "Want to come for a swim?"
"Not today, I just need to rest," Zoey carefully pulled away then went to their bed, a soft pile of moss and leaves on the ground nearby. She sighed as she sat down and tried to conjure her magic again, struggling for a full minute but barely getting a wisp of darkness out. Aqua watched her for a moment then headed for the shore.
Aqua Bear loved to swim. He hadn't had much of a chance to swim for fun before his capture but now he did whenever he could find the time. Instead of wading into the water from the beach he would dive off the nearby two-meter high cliff and into the deeper water. It wasn't too far from the beach and he could easily swim there if the water got too rough.
Another thing he loved was the dolphins. They would come to him every day when he called them in the water, just like today as he swam away from the island but not too close to the barrier.
As he swam through his normal warm up, Aqua saw the splashes and heard the clicking that signaled the arrival of the dolphins. Over the past couple years Aqua had grown a strong connection with the dolphins, learning to communicate on his own and even being adopted by the same trio that rescued them as a brother. Every day he could he would be out there, learning to swim and improving his control over the water. One of the dolphins swam right up to him and let him stroke his head.
"Thanks for coming." Aqua said.
"We will always be near to you, Aqua Bear," the dolphin spoke to his mind, "You are the first land creature we have trusted in years."
"So how is your mate, Zoey?" another asked.
Aqua blushed. He and Zoey had been real mates ever since they arrived on the island, it was no secret but Aqua always felt a bit sheepish whenever the dolphins brought it up, "She's still struggling with magic, but she's a stronger fighter than I am."
"Enough talk! Swim with us!" the third dolphin dove under Aqua then jumped up over him from the other side while spinning in mid air.
Aqua laughed with joy then took a deep breath and dove after them. He pushed the water around him to speed his swimming as he dove under and around his friends, all four of them surfacing for air every couple minutes.
Eventually, they stopped to rest and floated on the surface. Aqua was giggling like a cub as he turned to face them. "That was fun."
"Yes it was," One of the dolphins said. "We hope you never lose the heart of a child you have beating inside you."
"You exhibit a kindness rare in sentient creatures," another said, "Despite the pain and hardship you've been through you still have a pure heart."
"And we'd like to share something with you, a pact with us. We can feel the great potential in you and we can bring it out, if you'll let us," the third said.
Aqua's eyes widened, "Really? You'd do that for me?"
"Yes," the first said to him as it floated in front of him. "Dive under the water with us."
Aqua took another deep breath and dove beneath the surface. He floated just under the surface with the sun rippling through the water above him as the dolphins dove alongside him. They began to swim, forming a ring around him. At first Aqua tried to watch them but then felt an overwhelming calm wash through him. Even as he held his breath he felt something pouring into him: energy, light, something intangible yet warm. His tummy lit up, glowing bright and almost blinding him as he shut his eyes against the brightness.
Suddenly he felt a shock as the energy stopped and he let his breath go in a sudden burst. Instinctually, he tried to breathe in and in the same instant started to panic… until he realized he was breathing normally despite being underwater.
"What's happening? What?" Aqua grabbed his throat then blinked, "I can talk underwater?"
"And more. Just relax, Aqua Bear, and breathe," One of the dolphins swam up to him.
Aqua took the advice and breathed in. He could feel the water flowing into and out of him as naturally as air and his panic vanished, "This feels…I feel great!"
"And look, a symbol of our pact," the dolphin nudged its nose against Aqua's stomach and he looked down. On his tummy there was a symbol of a blue dolphin jumping through a flaming hoop.
"I didn't think it would look like that," one of the dolphins commented.
"Regardless, you can feel it, can't you?" the third asked, "We've awakened our power within you along with the power you already had."
Aqua could feel the energy flowing inside him and he took off through the water. Now he wasn't just pushing himself along with the water, the water was flowing with him as he sped off, outstripping the dolphins in speed until he shot to the surface and launched himself three meters above the water, laughing all the while, before splashing down amongst his friends.
"This is incredible!" he shouted, loving how he could talk underwater, "Thank you!"
The dolphins swam around him, having just caught up to his speedy swim, "Just never lose that child-like enthusiasm, stay kind and pure of heart and be mindful of the barrier, you almost jumped out of it."
"I will," Aqua stroked his friends' heads.
"Why don't you bring your mate to meet us?" One dolphin asked, "We want to meet her properly."
Aqua smiled, "Sure! Just wait here." He swam back to the island. Feeling daring, Aqua dove deeper then shot up and out of the water and launched himself up and onto the top of the cliff. He wobbled a bit on his feet and looked down at the new symbol on his tummy. A thought struck him, "Fire? Maybe I should try that," he held his hands up and took a deep breath, a moment later a small red and blue flame lit in the palm of his hands. He grinned, "Dolphin Fire!" he shot the small fireball into the sky where it evaporated a moment later. He'd need to practise that.
"Whoa, Aqua, what was that?!" Zoey approached her mate with a huge grin on her face, "that was cool, wait what's that on your tummy?"
Aqua smiled at her, "It's from the dolphins, they made a pact with me." He took Zoey's hand, "Com'on, they want to meet you."
Zoey resisted being pulled along. "Really? I mean…" She hesitated.
Aqua turned back to her, "Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time."
Zoey nodded, "OK," she let herself be led to the beach.
Once at the water they slowly waded in towards the fins they saw on the surface some distance away until the water was deep enough to let them swim. Aqua led Zoey into the deeper water with Zoey struggling to stay afloat.
Once they were among the dolphins, Aqua pulled Zoey in close, "Don't worry, I won't let you drown." Then he pulled them both underwater.
Zoey panicked as the water closed in on her without the chance for a proper breath, until Aqua kissed her. Despite herself, Zoey leaned into the kiss and a moment later the panic vanished. She forgot for a moment that she was underwater and spoke, "Aqua that… what?" She grabbed at her throat.
"As long as you're with me, you will never fear the water," Aqua said. He held her hand as they turned to face the dolphins. Zoey tried to hide behind Aqua, finally getting a full view of the creatures that Aqua had befriended.
"Don't worry, Zoey, we won't hurt you," one of the dolphins said.
"What? How?" She struggled to find the right words through her astonishment.
"Through me," Aqua gently coaxed her out into full view.
"You are Aqua's mate, I don't think he could have chosen finer," the dolphin swam up and brushed up against her. Zoey bristled for a moment then relaxed when she saw Aqua's calm expression.
"They're friends, don't worry," Aqua said.
"OK," Zoey reached out and touched one of the dolphins as it came close to her. She felt calmer.
"See?" the dolphin said, "We won't hurt you."
"OK, I just… I'm not use to being underwater," Zoey said.
"Would you like to ride me then?" The dolphin asked.
"Maybe…" Zoey hesitated.
"Don't worry, I'll be with you the whole time," Aqua promised.
Zoey smiled, "OK." She let go of Aqua's hand and let the dolphin swim under her. A moment later she was on the surface, riding the dolphin's back while it's two companions and Aqua swam alongside her. They knew she was nervous and let her adjust as they swam her around the island.
Once they returned to near the beach, Zoey slid off the dolphin's back and into Aqua's arms. One kiss later and she was back to breathing underwater. She stroked one of the dolphins with her free hand, "Thank you." She felt a tingle as she passed a hand over the dolphin's nose and shuddered, "What was that?"
"This," the dolphin opened its mouth showing them a pink crystal about the size of a golf ball. "I used this to help form the pact with Aqua." It looked at the two bears, "He said you're struggling with magic, Zoey, perhaps it can help you with your magic."
Zoey just stared at the crystal for a moment.
"Go on, take it," Aqua urged.
"OK," Zoey reached out with her free hand and took the crystal. It felt oddly warm and she held it to her chest. As the dolphins surfaced for air, Zoey suddenly felt a rush of energy up through her arm and into her mind. Knots of tension relaxed and bundles of stressed nerves came undone as her eyes felt opened and her tummy began to glow, a scattering of small red hearts appeared all across her tummy. "I get it now, I feel so relaxed but," she grinned at Aqua, "Energized!" She pulled him into a kiss while they were still underwater.
The three dolphins turned and swam away, leaving the two lovers alone.
OoOoO
Redemptionheart sat alone on the island, squeezing oranges in her hands and letting the juice fill three cups that were really beakers they had stolen from Illyana's medical supplies. She looked up and around to make sure Aqua and Zoey weren't around then retrieved a box marked GHB that was buried in the bottom of the medical bag they'd stolen along with the supplies. She took two small vials of the contents and poured them into two of the drinks, mixing them until they looked the same, and carefully setting her own drink aside so she wouldn't mistake them for hers.
"Just wait for tonight," she giggled to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a screech from nearby. Redemption tensed for a moment until she saw that it was just an eagle perched on one of the nearby trees. She started at the bird as it flapped its wings one time and got a devious grin on her face. She kept her eyes on the eagle as she stood up. It swiveled its head to look at her for a moment then turned to search the area around it, paying her no mind. Perfect!
Redemption walked right up the edge of the trees branches so she could still see the eagle then reached out both her hands. The eagle shrieked in surprise as invisible hands grabbed it around the body then began tugging at its wings. It struggled to get free for a moment before a long feather from each wing was yanked free. Redemption released her telekinetic hold on the bird and it flew away, searching for the thing that had grabbed it, ignoring the multicolored bear as she pulled the feathers into her hand. "Thank you," she whispered then waited for the bird to fly off. While Aqua and Zoey were still away, Redemption walked over to where her own bed lay and hid the feathers under a hollow rock where she also hid the paintbrushes she had found during their escape. She twiddled one of the feathers in between her fingers before stashing them in her hiding place, "I'm going to have so much fun with these."
OoOoO
Zoey grinned as she and Aqua stepped onto the beach. "That was great!" she swung around and pulled him into a hug, the pink crystal still held in her left hand.
Aqua giggled, "Thank you." They leaned in and kissed.
They stayed lip locked for a minute until Aqua felt a small lurch then separated to see that they were hovering half-a-meter off the ground.
Zoey smiled, "It feels so easy now."
"There you go," Aqua gave her a kiss then his stomach growled, "Let's get something to eat."
"OK." Zoey lowered them back to the ground and they headed up into the interior of the island.
Redemptionheart smiled when she saw her two friend returning from their swim, hand-in-hand and still soaking wet, "Have a good swim?" she asked.
"More than good." Zoey dropped the gem off next to her bed then grabbed some fruit off a nearby tree, Aqua doing the same.
"How about some orange juice?" Redemption pointed to the two beakers she'd left for them taking a drink from her own.
"Looks tasty," Aqua picked up the two beakers and handed one to Zoey, who downed it in one gulp. Redemption gave a small smile as Aqua drank his own down, then noticed the pictures on both of their stomachs.
"Where did you get those?" she pointed at their bellies.
Aqua finished his drink then looked down, "The dolphins gave them to us."
"Yeah, using this," Zoey held the pink crystal forwards.
Redemption stood up and stared at the crystal, "Can I try?" she asked.
"Of course," Zoey held it out to Redemption who picked it up in both hands.
Nothing happened. Redemption pouted, "Com'on, work."
"Maybe it's out of magic," Aqua said, prodding the crystal, "it feels… inert."
Redemption sighed and passed the rock back to them, feeling a bit let down.
"Don't worry, maybe we just have to wait for it to fill back up," Zoey suggested.
"Maybe…" Redemption sounded unconvinced as they sat down to eat.
Redemption watched the two of them eating for almost half an hour until she saw Aqua yawn after he finished eating some more food. "So tired," he mumbled as the sun started going down.
Zoey stretched and yawned, "Yeah, let's go to bed," she leaned on Aqua as the two of them all but stumbled towards their bed and lay down.
Redemption had a big grin on her face as she watched her friends lying down to sleep. She waited a while, until the sun was down and the bright light of the full moon was in the sky.
"I've been waiting for this night," Redemption giggled then went to the hollow rock by her bed. When she returned, Aqua and Zoey were both lying on their backs, completely unconscious. Under the light of the full moon, Redemption lay down at their feet with the paintbrushes and eagle feathers at her side.
Redemption reached out and began tickling Aqua's feet with her fingers. "Coochie-coochie coo!" she whispered as she tickled.
Aqua's feet twitched and he began to giggle, "Heeheeheehee."
"Not so sensitive, what about you Zoey?" Redemption reached over and tickled the pink bear's feet as well. Zoey twitched more violently, even kicking slightly on reflex, but only smiled, no laughing yet.
"Oh looks like you need something stronger," Redemption grinned a she picked up the paintbrushes and began rubbing them along Zoey's feet. This got the reaction she was hoping for.
"Ehehehehahahahahahahahaha!" Zoey laughed and squirmed on reflex but remained unconscious. Redemption kept scrubbing at her feet with one brush before she exchanged the other for one of the eagle feathers, which she began flicking across Aqua's feet.
Aqua responded almost immediately, "Ahahahahahahheheeeheeheeheheeheehee!" he didn't squirm as much as Zoey.
Redemption couldn't help but giggle, "Heeheehee, you two have such cute laughs. Tickle tickle tickle!" She swapped the tools in each hand, rubbing the tip of the stiff eagle feather into the sole of Zoey's foot.
"EEEEEhahahahahahhahaa!" Zoey tried to pull her foot out of reach but Redemption just reached out to continue to tickling.
"Haahahahahahaahaaaaaa!" Aqua took a deep breath then laughed louder and harder, "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"So you're more sensitive? Let's see how you like this," She stopped tickling Zoey for a moment and flicked the feather across Aqua's other foot while continuing with the brush.
"EEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" Aqua squirmed as his whole body shook with laughter. Redemption kept it up for a full minute before switching back to Zoey, scrubbing harder.
"AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zoey stopped squirming but shook with laughter. Neither of them woke up despite the noise and stimulation. Redemption rubbed the eagle feather between each of her toes which made her toes wiggle, a couple times catching the feather as they scrunched up, but Redemption just tickled at the bottoms of her toes with the paintbrush and she let go.
Redemption turned to Aqua and paused before she started tickling him again, "Oooh, I see you're excited about this." She picked up both feathers and began tickling his toes, dancing over the tips of his toes and sawing in between them as they wiggled almost nonstop while he laughed.
"EEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" He tried to cross his feet in front of each other and scrunch up to stop Redemption's assault.
"I think I found your sweet spot," Redemption giggled. She set down one of the feathers and grabbed at one of his feet, tickle-squeezing one of his toes. Aqua giggled and his foot unscrunched, and Redemption attacked in between his toes with the feather.
"EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAAHHAHAAAHAHAHAAA!" Aqua was squirming and almost kicking as he tried to pull his foot out of range.
"Nuh-uh, coochie coochie coo!" Redemption giggled as she pulled his foot back and mercilessly tickled in between his toes.
"EEEEEHEEEEHEEHEEHEHEHEEHEEHEEEHHEE!" Aqua tried to cross his feet again but Redemption just switched to his other foot, starting the laughter again, "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"You're really excited about this," Redemption giggled, then switched back to Zoey and grabbed her big toe, squeezing it and running her brush between her toes.
Zoey wiggled frantically to try and stop it. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She scrunched up her feet, but Redemption just tickled her harder with her brushes, enjoying the sound of her friends' laughter.
This continued for over an hour until Redemption started to feel sleepy. She gathered up her tools and snuck back to her bed. "Heeheehee, I can't wait to do this again tomorrow," she giggled to herself before she hid her tools and lay down, giggling to herself.
Before she could fall asleep she heard noise from nearby, recognizing it as Aqua and Zoey waking up. "Didn't think I made them that excited, heeheehee!" She ignored the noise and fell asleep.
OoOoO
They had lost track of how long they had been on the island. It was sheltered from the outside world, provided them with food and even the winters were mild enough that all they had to do was huddle up at night to sleep. For all it mattered they could have stayed there forever.
Aqua yawned and snuggled up to Zoey on their bed of moss in the early hours of the morning. Zoey smiled and kissed Aqua, "Good morning, Aqua."
"Morning Zoey," Aqua's hand drifted lower to rub across Zoey's slightly swollen tummy, "How do you feel?"
Zoey giggled, "Hungry, as always."
"What do you want?" Aqua asked.
"Hmm…" Zoey had to think for a moment, "Fish, lots of fish."
"Alright," Aqua gave her a kiss then got up, "I love you."
"I love you too," Zoey watched Aqua turn and head for the beach then rolled over. She lay there for another minute before she finally got up and stretched her back, pushing her belly forwards.
"Feeling better now?" Redemption had gotten up, bringing over an armful of fruit.
"My feet are starting to hurt," Zoey took some fruit from Redemption and dug in, "And eating for two is getting annoying."
"It'll be worth it. Maybe I could give your feet a massage," Redemption offered.
"Massage?" Zoey gave her an incredulous look with her mouth still full of food.
"Rub your feet to make them less sore," Redemption sat down and dropped the fruit on the ground where it was easy to get to.
"I'd love that," Zoey carefully lowered herself to the ground, hand resting on her small baby bump.
Redemption was the first to notice the change in Zoey over the last couple weeks and with what little medical training she remembered had figured out the truth: Zoey was pregnant. Redemption wondered if this was because of her periodic night-time tickling sessions which always left the two hot and bothered by the time she finished, either way she had stopped using the GHB once she knew, not even on Aqua for fear his laughter would wake Zoey up and force a lot of awkward questions.
Now she had a different tactic. She grabbed Zoey's outstretched right foot and began to massage it, which made Zoey sigh happily as she felt the soreness being rubbed out. Redemption smiled and switched between her feet, rubbing until she felt most of the tension ease out and Zoey's feet relaxed.
"There, feel better?" Redemption asked with a mischievous grin.
"Yes, so much better," Lonesome leaned back on her arms.
"So how about this?" Redemption grabbed the side of her foot and poked her sole in the middle, tickling with her finger.
"EEE! Stop heeheeheeheehee!" Zoey tried to squirm away but Redemption had too tight a grip on her foot.
"Nope, you need this, Zoey," Redemption giggled as she squeezed Zoey's toes and tickled in-between them.
"STOP! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zoey scrunched up and wiggled her toes to try and get free.
"OK," Redemption let got of her foot and Zoey pulled it back, only to have Redmeption grab her other foot and start tickling.
"No faihaihaihair!" Zoey laughed and started squirming again.
"I stopped with one foot, now for the other, heeheehee!" Redemption giggled as she tickled Zoey's other foot, tickling between her wiggling toes.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zoey couldn't reach down to stop her and was eventually forced to lie down under the multicolored bear's assault.
OoOoO
Aqua dove off the cliff and hit the water in one smooth motion. It only took him a second to spot a school of fish nearby and dive after then, managing to catch one in his teeth. He stopped for a moment to form a bubble of compressed water around the fish, keeping it locked in place then pulling it behind him as he chased the rest of them, catching two more in his hands and showing them into the bubble as well.
Aqua was so lost in the exhilaration of the hunt, he didn't even notice when he accidentally swam outside the barrier underwater, his count of fish up to over a dozen by now. Finally, he surfaced and lifted the bubble of water the fish were swimming around in above the water, like an aquarium made entirely of water. He grinned, "Twenty should be enough for the four of us." He held the bubble above the water as he swam back to the island.
A fat man on a nearby boat had ben scanning the area with binoculars, then stopped when he saw the blue bear surface nearby, and swim towards the island before vanishing into thin air. He dug out his phone and dialed, "Illyana, it's Big Joe. I found one of the bears that escaped…"
OoOoO
Love Heart and Confidence Heart had moved the coffee table to the side of their living room and now sat where it had been facing each other with their legs crossed and their eyes closed. Miracle Heart wandered into the living room with Shimmeringstar following her, giggling as he swatted at her four tails.
"Mom, Dad, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Meditating," Love Heart answered without opening his eyes.
"Why?" Shimmers poked his head out from behind his sister,
"Daddy's trying to reach out father with his tummy symbol power, so I'm showing him how to relax." Confidence smiled even though her eyes were closed.
"Tummy symbol power?" Shimmers looked up at Mira.
"Dad's symbol can find lost Care Bears, that's how he found Soaring Heart and Mounty Heart," Mira looked back at Shimmers.
"The moose and eagle?" Shimmers cocked his head to one side. Mira smiled and nodded.
"I'm trying to reach out as far as I can to find other lost Care Bears," Love Heart took a deep breath and exhaled. Mira and Shimmers watched their parents for a few minutes, until Love Heart's tummy symbol started to glow red.
Love Heart's eyes shot open, "I have one he's… crap!" Love Heat swore as his tummy symbol faded, "I had him for a moment, now he's gone."
Confidence Heart jumped to her feet, "So what do we do?" She helped Love Heart to stand.
"We go and find them, but first I need some help." He turned to his children, who were both staring at him, "Mira, watch Shimmers while we're gone," then they left.
Mira just stood there, her tails flicking back and forth as she processed what had just happened. She winced slightly then looked behind her to see Shimmers playing with her tails, swatting at them and giggling as the tried to catch them. Mira grinned and began flicking her tails faster. "Wanna play?" she asked.
"I am!" Shimmers giggled and grabbed one of her tails.
"Then let's play!" Mira concentrated and managed to take better control to her tails, using the three Shimmers hadn't grabbed and flicking them across his body.
"EEEE! Stop that tickles! Heeheeheehee!" Shimmers let go of his sisters' fourth tail as her fuzzy fox tails easily brushed across him, tickling his sensitive areas under his arms.
"Oh does it?" Mira smirked and began tickling him harder with all four of her tails.
"NOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shimmers fell on his back as Mira tickled him mercilessly with her tails, now focusing on his feet's paw pads. Shimmers was squirming too much to even try and crawl away.
"I didn't think you were this ticklish," Mira teased.
"STOHOHOHOP! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAHAHAHAHAN'T EEEHEEHEEHEEE!" Shimmers shuddered and stopped laughing for a moment.
Mira stopped tickling her little brother and sniffed, making a disgusted face. "Alright," she turned around and helped Shimmers up, then lifted him off the ground, "You need a change."
"Aww," Shimmers pouted as Mira carried him to the bathroom and laid him down on the fold out changing table, "That was fun."
"Then I'll do it again, once we finish here." Mira mentally gagged as she changed his diaper, tossing it in the sealed laundry bucket.
"Why do you have four tails?" Shimmers asked as Mira cleaned him up, Shimmers having learned not to squirm while being changed if he didn't want it to take longer.
"I'm a fox, we grow tails when we learn more magic, it's called being a Kitsune." Mira dusted his bottom with talcum powder and tied a fresh cloth diaper around his bottom, remembering to tie the sides tight like their parents had said so Shimmers couldn't undo them. "There, all done."
"Yay!" Shimmers sat up then jumped off the changing table.
Mira exited the bathroom with Shimmers right on her tails, leading him towards the living room. Shimmers giggled excitedly as he chased after her tails again. He tried to grab one once she stopped in the middle of the living room but it flicked out of reach while another tickled under his armpit.
"EEE! Stop it!" Shimmers giggled as he grabbed at the offending purple tail. He grabbed it but felt another tickling under his arm and across his face. "AHAHAHAHA!" Shimmers couldn't stay upright and fell backwards, exposing his feet to Miracle Heart's tails which tickled mercilessly at his pads. "HEEHEEHEEHEEHEE NOOOO HAHAHAHAHA!" Shimmer squirmed and flailed but didn't try to get away as Mira's tails tickled all over his body.
Mira smirked, "You gotta enjoy this if you're just lying there."
OoOoO
Love Heart made a beeline for the Great Fox where it was still parked in the Kingdom of Caring in the empty field of clouds between the old Caring Castle and the rest of the Kingdom of Caring.
Soulful Heart Fox and Tenderheart Bear were walking down the ramp from their daily psionic training when Love Heart and Confidence Heart ran up.
"Is Fara there, I need to talk to her," Love Heart wasn't even out of breath.
"We just finished our training but she wanted to spend time with Fox," Tenderheart saw the worried look on Love Heart's face, "What's wrong?"
"I found another lost Care Bear, but I lost track of them and I can't remember where I sensed them," Love Heart pointed to his forehead, "I saw brief picture in my mind but I can't hang onto it and I need someone psychic to help me track them down."
"I can help." All three of them turned to Soulful Heart.
"Really?" Confidence Heart sounded skeptical but hopeful.
"I've been focusing on clairsentience and clairvoyance," Soulful stepped towards Love Heart.
Love Heart nodded and extended a hand forwards, "Alright. Thank you."
Soulful took Love Heart's hand, winced slightly then closed his eyes. Love Heart could feel Soulful's mind touching him own. It lasted for just a moment before Soulful Heart broke the connection and dug his heartphone out of his tummy symbol. "I know where that was," he opened the GPS maps.
"How?" Love Heart was stunned.
"Psionic compass and GPS, of a sort, I can know where I am at any time." He pointed to a spot off the coast of Australia, "It's around there."
"Thank you!" Confidence Heart grabbed Love Heart's hand, "Let's go." They launched up and flew out over the side of the clouds, Love Heart pulling out his heartphone to text his parents as they did so.
Tenderheart turned to Soulful, "I'm impressed, Soulful."
"I'm learning fast, not sure where it'll take me," Soulful turned and headed home into the forest. He felt a small pain shoot through his tail but just walked onwards.
OoOoO
"The fish is here!" Aqua Bear approached where Zoey and Redemption were sitting and levitating the large sphere of water filled with swimming fish over to them.
Zoey was still feeling a bit sensitive but immediately grinned when she saw the fish swimming around. "Yes! Let's eat!" She reached into the sphere and pulled out a fish and bit into it while it was still moving.
Aqua couldn't help but smile at his mate's enthusiasm as he dropped the water away and left the fish to wiggle around on the grass, soaking the ground around them.
"I'd rather have them cooked," Redemption said as she began to build a campfire for them. This was something Aqua and Zoey had gotten used to: they didn't mind eating fish raw, it was how they ate before, but Redemptionheart was used to her meat being cooked.
Aqua just smiled and walked over to the campfire, "Dolphin fire," he shot a small blue and red fire onto the wood, which instantly lit on fire.
Zoey had eaten five of the twenty fish Aqua had brought back by the time the rest of the fish were cooking around the fire. Zoey grinned and sniffed at the cooking fish with her hand on her small baby bump. "Smells good," she was practically drooling.
Aqua poke one of the fish that was roasting on a stick, "They should be done." No sooner had the words left his mouth then Zoey grabbed one of the cooked fish and bit into it. Aqua couldn't help but chuckle as he and Redemption helped themselves to the rest of the fish. By the end, Zoey had eaten ten of the fish, half raw half cooked, while Aqua and Redemption each only had five.
Zoey sighed happily as she ate fruit and leaned backwards, "Thank you Aqua."
Aqua scooted over next to her and gave her a kiss once she had finished eating, "You're welcome." He let her lean up against her, closed his eyes and put his arm around. There wasn't anything else he wanted to do now that they were fed. A whoosh of air overhead made Aqua look up, seeing two spot up in the sky.
Confidence Heart gave her husband a funny look as they hovered over the island, "What's so special about this place?"
Love Heart stared down at the island as the unicorn star on his forehead started to glow. "Mom told me about these places: it's a unicorn grove, the same kind of place where she and dad were hiding for years. They protect the inhabitants from the outside in different ways, some just keep non-unicorns out and it feels like this one hides them from outside eyes." He turned to his wife, "Ready?"
"Always," Confidence Heart smirked and they flew down towards the island.
Aqua saw them as they started to descend and was up on his feet in an instant, "Zoey, Redemption, stay behind me!" he held his hands out and broadsword made of ice appeared in his right hand.
Love Heart and Confidence landed at the edge of the clearing, right at the top of the beach. Love Heart's tummy symbol was glowing bright red. "We've found them…" Love Heart trailed off as he turned to see Aqua standing as if ready to fight. Confidence tensed but they both stepped forwards.
Aqua watched the two strangers approach, ready to defend himself and his friends. His eyes widened as they came close, the green one was a bear like them but a fair bit taller and the other was a sandy… rabbit?
"Stay back!" Aqua shouted, "I won't let you hurt us!"
Love Heart stepped forwards, "Relax, we're not going to hurt you."
Aqua swung his ice sword at Love Heart, "Get back!"
"Hey, watch it!" Confidence Heart took up a fighting stance as wind kicked up around her.
"Don't try anything you freaky rabbit!" Zoey stepped out from behind Aqua, fist raised.
Confidence bristled, "I'm a fennec fox! Not a rabbit!" she took a step towards Zoey.
Aqua jumped into action and swung his free hand towards Confidence, a red and blue flaming sword appearing in his hand, "Stay away from her! Leave us alone! We don't need your help!"
Confidence jumped back. Love Heart bared his teeth and conjured a sword into his hand. "Don't swing that at her or me!" Love Heart and Aqua stared each other down for a moment then Love Heart sighed and dissipated his sword, "Fine, let's go. Stay here if you want," the turned and walked away. Confidence Heart looked at the trio for a moment, then turned to follow Love Heart.
Aqua had calmed down as he watched them go and immediately regretted his actions, especially since they had backed off instead of starting a fight. He let his fire and ice swords evaporate and called out, "Wait! Please don't go!" He started running after the two.
Love Heart and Confidence Heart turned around as Aqua met them. Love Heart was still fuming but upon seeing the desperate fear in Aqua's eyes, was reminded of Joaquin when they first met him. "We didn't leave Shimmers behind, even when he resisted his transformation."
Confidence nodded, "We can't leave them behind, I mean look at them: they're just kids." She looked at Aqua then up to Zoey and Redemption as they approached, "Who didn't mean what they said."
"No, we didn't," Redemption said.
Love Heart nodded, "My name is Love Heart Bear and this is my wife, Confidence Heart Fennec," he was about to continue when he noticed that Zoey and Aqua already had tummy symbols, but Redemption didn't. "How did you get those symbols?" Love Heart asked.
"Like yours?" Aqua pointed back at Love Heart's own tummy symbol. "Dolphins gave them to us."
"Dolphins?" Confidence sounded confused, "Why don't you tell us your whole story?"
Love Heart and Confidence Heart sat down next to the fire as Aqua extinguished it and he, Zoey and Redemption told their story. It took a couple hours to get through everything and neither older Care Bears could resist shedding a few tears over the cruelty inflicted on the young trio.
"…and that's when you showed up," Aqua finished.
Love Heart rubbed his eyes but smiled, "I guess you don't have to worry. You can come live with us."
"Where's that?" Redemption asked.
"Up in the Kingdom of Caring, that's where all of our kinds live. We're called Care Bears."
"But you're not a bear," Zoey pointed up at Confidence's ears.
"There's more than bears up there, they're called the Care Bear Cousins, among other things, but that's…" Confidence Heart stood up, instantly alert, her ears twitching and swivelling.
"What?" Aqua asked.
"Shhh, I hear something," Confidence whispered. It was the soft crunch of sand, then a click.
"GET DOWN!" Confidence shouted.
Zoey and Redemption all dropped as the sound of gunfire was heard around them, with Aqua throwing up a wall of ice in front of them darts shooting out from the guns of the armed mercenaries as they ran up the beach into the clearing. Love Heart had his swords out in an instant and began deflecting the tranquilizer darts as they flew at them. Confidence formed her arm and shin guards and began jumping around to dodge and deflect them off her armor.
"We have to get them out of here!" Love Heart shouted. There were about a dozen men armed with tranquilizer pistols blocking the way to the beach, each taking shots in volleys to give the others a chance to reload.
"Get a cloud car ready! I'll hold them off!" Confidence shouted.
"I won't leave you behind!" Love Heart shouted back, even as he conjured a cloud car from his symbol, "Get in!" He shouted over his shoulder, still deflecting darts.
"What?! How?!" Redemption asked, still keeping her head down.
Love Heart bared his teeth, "Cover me, Confidence, I'm gonna try and push them back!"
"Right!" Confidence jumped in front of Love Heart as a small funnel of wind kicked up around her, blocking the latest volley of darts.
"We need to go for lethal shots!" One of the mercs said.
"No! Illyana will had our heads if-" He didn't get any farther as an electrical whirring noise filled the air. Love Heart stepped forwards with a blue orb of lightning in his hands that he hurled at he ground. All of the mercenaries screamed in pain as the orb enveloped them, paralysing them for the moment.
"Now! Move! What the?!" Love Heart paused for just a moment as he saw the wall of ice that Aqua had formed, which quickly melted once Love Heart had given the order. He shook it off as he and Confidence all but dragged the three into the cloud car, after Zoey managed to grab the pink crystal, and forcefully buckled them in. Love Heart was in the driver's seat and was about to take off when his lightning orb faded and the mercenaries managed to shake off the pain and continue the assault.
Confidence Heart shot off a small burst of air then charged right at them, which took them by surprise enough that they weren't sure where to aim, which gave Love Heart his opening to launch.
"What about Confidence?" Zoey asked, unable to look out as she was sat in the middle of the backseat.
"I'll go back for her once we're high enough," Love Heart said.
Aqua wasn't listening and he stretched his hand over the side, pointing right at the mercenaries, "Dolphin Fire!" a red a blue flame shot out and exploded right on top of the mercenaries, blowing them down and giving Confidence the opening to jump up and fly towards the cloud car.
"Thanks for the save, Aqua?" Confidence smirked as she flew up and into the passenger's seat.
"So you can fly. Is that magic too?" Aqua asked.
"Yep," Confidence winced slightly as she heard another shot from below, the bullet going wide, "Talk later, run now."
"Hold your fire!" Back down on the island, the mercenary leader waved for his men to stop. "Great, they can fly now."
"What do we do?" one of his men asked.
"We report back and hope we get to keep our heads." The leader turned and walked back down the beach to where the rowboat they'd used to come over from the ship had been moored.
OoOoO
Aqua and Redemption clung to the sides of the cloud car and Zoey clung to Aqua as the cloud car flew into the sky. "Where are we going!?"
"Into the sky!" Confidence Heart shouted with a grin, "Look there's the Kingdom of Caring!" she pointed to the bank of clouds ahead of them.
The three calmed considerably once they landed and Love Heart and Confidence helped them out of the car.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Caring," the voice came from Life Heart Unicorn, who stood nearby.
"Mom," Love Heart smiled, "Meet the three newest members of the Care Bear Family."
Aqua, Zoey and Redemption stared at Life Heart, Zoey being the first one to speak, "What are you?"
Life Heart smiled and stepped forwards, "My name is Life Heart Unicorn, I'm Love Heart's mother. Oh, what's this," She crouched in front of Aqua Bear, "Did you get that symbol from dolphins?"
Aqua blinked and stared at her, "Yes, how did you know?"
"I've seen something like it before," Life Heart reached out and touched Aqua's tummy symbol, a dolphin jumping through a ring of fire, "It was aeons ago that dolphins used to practise immortal magic, like my own and that of the Pegasus. They used to bestow this emblem to only the most worthy of their kind," she sighed, "Sadly their magic has waned to minimal in the recent centuries and almost no one can hear their voices anymore."
"They used this to give us our symbols," Zoey held up the pink crystal she had been carrying since they fled the island.
"Oh," Life Heart turned to Zoey, "May I see that please?" She saw Zoey withdraw the crystal defensively, "I promise I'll give it back."
"Ok," Zoey handed the crystal to Life Heart.
Life Heart held the crystal for a moment and gave it back to her, "It's inert now. I'm happy they finally found someone worthy to inherit their power, Aqua, as well as your mate and," she smiled as she looked down at Zoey's small baby bump, "Your child."
"Wait, you're pregnant?!" Love Heart's sudden shout made them all jump as he stared at Zoey.
"Yeah, I guess we forgot to mention that," Zoey laughed.
"Well we need to get you three to Take Care for a check up," Love Heart pointed to the large hospital near where they had landed.
"Is Take Care a doctor?" Redemption asked as they started towards the hospital.
"Yes, she is," Confidence said.
OoOoO
Take Care exited the exam room to see Love Heart and Confidence Heart still standing in the waiting room.
Love Heart didn't waste any time, "Take Care, can you tell me anything about them?" He kept his tone polite and level with visible effort.
Take Care folded her arms, "I can tell you the basic information, but anything else you'll have to ask them. They're Magi, that's for certain, and they're all about 15-years old." Take Care went to enter the new information into her computer system at the reception desk, "Redemption kept asking about all the tools I was using," she commented idly, "As for Zoey, she's about 15 weeks pregnant so she has about 25 weeks to go. I gave her more specific information but other than that they're all healthy."
"Isn't she a bit young to have a kid?" Confidence Heart asked.
"Only by modern human standards," Take Care didn't look up from her computer, "Humans used to have children at much younger ages without uproar compared to today, that and animals often have children at much younger ages, at least relative to humans, and from what I've been told they've essentially been wild animals until today, barring their capitivity." Take Care looked up at Love Heart and Confidence, "Zoey isn't in any danger or trouble, she's just going to be a young mother. Is there anything else."
Love Heart shook his head, "Nothing else, but I need to talk to them."
"Go ahead. Get Well's just giving Zoey an ultrasound," Take Care gestured to the door then went back to her computer.
"I'm gonna head home and see how the kids are doing," Confidence gave Love Heart a kiss then headed out the front door while Love Heart entered the exam room.
Zoey giggled as Get Well ran the paddle over her tummy and looked at the black and white image on the screen, "Is that my cub?"
Get Well smiled, "Yes, so far. Love Heart, is everything alright?"
Love Heart nodded, "I just have a couple questions for them, it won't take long." Love Heart turned to Redemption, as Aqua was standing by Zoey's side as she got her ultrasound reading. "Redemption, can you tell me more about your friend, Lily? The one who taught you magic."
"Not much more than we already told you," she had to look away from Zoey and Aqua and up at Love Heart, "But she had a star on her forehead like yours."
"What?" Love Heart reached up to touch his unicorn star.
"Is that special?" Redemption asked.
"It's a unicorn star, I only have it because my mother's a unicorn," Love Heart lowered his hand, "If she had one… how can she have one?" He shook his head. "But I do have something else to tell all of you. Joining the Care Bear Family means you get to pick a name that defines who you are," Love Heart noticed that he now had their full attention, "Confidence Heart used to be called Cassandra Avalon so you can pick a new name if you want."
"I'm still gonna be Aqua," Aqua Bear said.
Redemption shook her head, "I'll stay the same too, Redemptionheart Bear."
"Not me," Zoey smirked, "I think I want to be, Lonesomeheart Bear."
Love Heart smiled, "That's fine, now for you, Redemptionheart Bear, I need to give you your tummy symbol."
Redemption touched her pink tummy, "You mean I get one too?"
Love Heart nodded as his symbol glowed, "Just hold still." A moment later a white light shot out of Love Heart's tummy symbol. It flew around Redemptionheart for a moment then settled on her tummy and formed her symbol: two eagle feathers tickling a laughing star.
"It feels warm," Redemption touched her new tummy symbol.
"You'll be trained how to use them later, among other things" Love Heart was about to speak again when his tummy symbol started glowing red, "Another one?" he whispered, "Excuse me I have to go." He turned and made a hasty exit.
"We're done here," Get Well said, as she wiped the get off Lonesome's tummy, "I can get someone to give you a tour of the Kingdom of the Caring if you like."
"Yes!" Lonesome almost jumped off the exam table, only being slowed by Aqua Bear. "Do we have a house?"
"I think there's a couple spare from couples that moved in together, I'll have to ask Noble Heart," Get Well dug her heartphone out and dialed Noble Heart's number.