AUTHOR'S NOTE Sorry for the delay! I have again developed a minor writer's block on this story. I guess the only real note is that the "Basic" that Luke speaks of is what they call English in the Star Wars Universe. It's technically called Imperial Basic.
DISCLAIMER Don't own them. Man, I really get tired of writing these disclaimers.
It was an hour or so before the Care Bear family had recovered enough to discuss their ordeal. Cheer Bear walked tiredly into the Hall of Hearts for another Care Bear Conference. 'All we've been doing is have meetings,' she thought. Her usual cheeriness had not returned since Luke's experiment.
Luke stood up in front of the group. "I'm sorry to all of you for how hard that was."
"Hmph!" grunted Grumpy Bear
Luke was visibly upset by the toll his journey had taken on everyone. But he continued. "While I was…gone, I learned several things. The crystal that brought me here is the manifestation of dead Sith Lords. The Emperor is part of it, as is a long dead Sith Lord I've read about called Darth Maul. There was a third presence I saw, a large red – "
"Darkheart," Tenderheart interrupted quietly. "It was Darkheart."
The other Care Bears nodded. Luke was surprised. "You saw all that?"
True Heart and Noble Heart, who had joined their power after the investigation of the crystal, paled. "Darkheart?" True Heart asked.
"Darkheart has returned?" Noble Heart remembered painfully what had happened in their last battle against Darkheart.
"He's not returned," Luke assured them. "He is a part of the crystal that sent me here. After he was defeated, his essence must have fled there."
The Family was silent, trying to deal with the fact that their dead enemy wasn't so dead. Luke was trying to find a nice, considerate way to ask for help locating Leia. Finally, True Heart spoke.
"We must journey to the Great Wishing Star. He gave us our power. He will surely know how we can defeat Darkheart again."
"But now Darkheart is joined with those two from Luke's world!" Grumpy Bear was so kind to point out. "What if we're not strong enough to face him?"
Luke held up a hand to get their attention again. "I have faced Emperor Palpitine and defeated him once, but there is still one more entity trapped in the crystal."
"Then who else will help us?" Gentle Heart Lamb asked softly.
"My sister Leia. I found out that she's here on Earth. If we can find her, she will help us, I know it." Luke knew he was begging, but he had to make sure his twin sister was okay.
Tenderheart nodded immediately. "Wish Bear, see if you can find her using the telescope. Get a cloud car ready and bring Luke down to Earth to bring her back." Wish Bear nodded and quickly left the Hall of Hearts.
Braveheart stood up. "Bright Heart, go with them." The raccoon nodded and followed Wish Bear.
True Heart and Noble Heart sadly watched their children. Luke's experiment had taken a lot out of them. It would take a very long time for them to fully recover. The quicker Luke got home, the better.
~~~~~
Leia felt dry. She'd cried out practically all the water in her body, or it felt like it. An emptiness settled over her and she barely noticed that the sun was approaching the horizon and she'd sat by the tree for hours.
A soft putter echoed down from the sky. It sounded like a soft tapping on air. Leia was convinced that she was hearing things. The noise stopped and she knew she was going crazy.
"Leia!"
She turned her head and saw Luke running toward her through the trees. Not caring if she was hallucinating or not, she jumped to her feet and ran to her brother. "Luke!" she sobbed as she flung herself into his arms.
He stroked her hair. "Shh! I'm here, we're safe."
She couldn't be happier to see her brother. But when blinking her newest tears away, Leia saw two very strange looking creatures over his shoulder. "Luke? Who…?"
He released her and saw her staring at Wish Bear and Bright Heart. "Don't worry. They're friends." Seeing her thoroughly confused look, he grinned. "Just think of them as multicolored Ewoks who speak Basic and use the Force."
"Okay…" Leia nodded uncertainly. "Oh! The Force! Luke, I can't feel the Force!"
"Neither can I, except through the Care Bears here," he said, motioning to Wish Bear.
"Luke," Bright Heart interrupted. "We have to return to Care-a-Lot. True Heart and Noble Heart must bring you before the Great Wishing Star!"
'Care-a-Lot?' Leia asked herself. 'Great Wishing Star?! Oh boy.'
"All right Bright Heart." The two humans followed Wish Bear and Bright Heart back to the cloud car. Leia couldn't believe her eyes.
"I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming!" she muttered. "Luke, there is no way you can travel by cloud ship!"
"Actually, they're cloud cars," he corrected, wearing an irritating boyish grin. He ducked her annoyed swat. "Don't worry about it. It is quite safe for where we're going."
