Pippi avoided them by staying in the ring of trees. Anna found him after a week. Pippi was sleeping, curled up under his blanket. Anna snuggled close, licking at Pippi's ears. The blue bear shifted, opening his eyes.

"What?" he asked blearily.

"Heya, Pippi Longstocking," Anna said softly.

"Anna? What are you doing here?"

"Finding you. Again."

"I don't want to be found."

"Too bad." Anna paused then jumped in. "Grumps, we don't hate you. None of us. You can't help that you're a Terror Child. Besides, you've got to be a Care Child. You've just got to."

"Why?" Pippi asked bitterly. "How?"

Pippi found his belly being rubbed. "This right here. Your belly badge. Only Children have belly badges. Even when you're all black, you still have a belly badge. Yeah, it looks different, but it's still there. You're a pure blooded Care Child if I've ever seen one."

Pippi whimpered then began to cry. He turned and buried his head in Anna's neck. Anna licked his cheek.

"It's okay, Pippi," Anna whispered.

"Yes, Pippi. It's alright."

Pippi shyly looked up to see Tommy, Annika, Holly, Peter, and Chris standing there. They looked so compassionate, so…caring. He shivered and hid his face again. Anna pulled him to sit up and he was suddenly surrounded by warmth. He cried harder as they sent their rainbows around him to comfort him and hold him tight. He finally cried himself out several minutes later. The rainbows retracted and Tommy patted Pippi's shoulder.

"Feel better?"

Pippi nodded tiredly. "Yeah. Thanks. But…I don't understand."

"Anna was speaking for all of us," Tommy said. "We don't hate you. We love you. So you were born a Terror Child. So what? You're our Pippi, not that Storm child they mentioned."

Pippi smiled. "Thanks. That…helps. I've hated what I am for so long, and I was sure you would, too. That you don't makes me feel…happy."

"Whoa, Pippi Longstocking feeling happy?" Holly asked teasingly.

"Eh, it happens," Pippi said with a grin.

They embraced him. When they pulled away, Pippi yawned. "I haven't been sleeping well," he muttered.

"How about you come to my house?" Anna asked. "You can sleep all you want."

"That sounds nice," Pippi said.

"And tomorrow, how would you like a huge meal? You can't have been eating very well out here," Peter said disapprovingly.

"That sounds better."

"Good. Ten sharp then."

"Come on, Grumps. Let's get you to bed," Anna said, pulling him to his feet.

Pippi stored his blanket then led the way out. Anna grabbed his paw and pulled him along after they'd said goodbye to the others. When they got to Anna's, the child released his paw, but Pippi grabbed it again. He traced the line of bumps along the back of the paw.

"I never got to apologize to you. I practiced saying it a million times, but you never came back."

"You honestly scared me, Grumps. I had never felt such pain before. But it's alright. I'm fine now," Anna assured him.

Pippi looked up and licked the scars slowly, purposefully. Anna understood. He smiled and led Pippi to the hammock.

"Here ya go. I'm going to catch some Z's, too."

"Thanks. For everything."

"No problem."

With that, they descended into dreamland.