"She's waking up!" Someone shouted gleefully. Gentle Heart's mind felt like it was crawling through molasses. Who were these figures gathering around her? After a moment the names came: Tenderheart Bear and Bright Heart Raccoon.
"Gentle Heart! Are you okay?"
"Are you all right?"
"I'm…I'm fine...Thank you." She said, her mouth dry and her voice weak. "Where?" Bright Heart knew what she was asking.
"The others have gone to take care of that mirror, one and for all." Tenderheart nodded in agreement.
"That's good." Gentle Heart said wearily. "Tell them…thank you…"
"Why not tell them yourself?" Tenderheart asked. "They ought to be back soon and…Gentle Heart?"
The exhausted lamb had laid her head back on her pillow and fallen fast asleep. Bright Heart raised one finger to his lips and gently shushed Tenderheart.
"She needs her rest. It's been days since she had any sleep, any real sleep at least." He whispered in a soft voice.
"Right." Tenderheart agreed in a similar tone as they headed for the door, deciding to let her sleep in peace. "But are you sure she'll be all right?"
Bright Heart turned his head back to look at Gentle Heart. Seeing the contented smile on her sleeping face, Bright Heart felt compelled to smile too.
"Something tells me she'll be just fine."
No Heart was not prone to smiling. Even if he were, now would not have been the time for him to do so.
He was flung out of the mirror that he had used to enter Gentle Heart's dreams. Battered and weak he lay on the cold stone floor, panting for breath. How could his plan have gone so wrong? How could that bit of green fluff hurt him so?
"Something told me I'd find you here." No Heart looked up to see a most unwelcome sight: Noble Heart Horse standing inside his innermost sanctum, flanked by the Care Bear Cousins (sans Gentle Heart and Bright Heart) and several Care Bears.
"You-" No Heart said as he started to rise to his feet. However, two dozen glowing tummy symbols convinced him to stay put. Weak as he was, he knew he couldn't conjure up so much as a spark of magic.
"You've lost No Heart. Again." Noble Heart told him. "This time though, you didn't just attack us or send your lackeys to cause mischief. You cruelly and maliciously assaulted one of our family members in a manner that, even for you, is appalling. I wont permit you to do it again. Care Bears…Care Bear Cousins…"
"STARE!" The Care Bears shouted.
"CALL!" The Cousins said a hair's breath after them. No Heart flinched as he thought that he had finally pushed them to the point where they would actually try to destroy him. The Stares and Calls passed over No Heart and struck the mirror. Like his sword it vibrated, then exploded, sending glass shards everywhere.
Noble Heart walked over to No Heart's bookshelf. It contained much of his most potent and powerful sorcery and wizardry. "Are these what you used to hurt Gentle Heart?" Noble Heart demanded of the weakened No Heart as he pointed at the books.
"…Yes." He hissed, not seeing where this was heading. At Noble Heart's nod the assembled Care Bears and Cousins did to the bookshelf and its contents what they did to the mirror.
"Next time." Noble Heart warned the stunned sorcerer. "We wont be so careful with our aim. So I suggest that you make sure there isn't a next time." With that, Noble Heart turned on his heel and left followed by his companions, leaving No Heart alone once more.
"Uh boss?" No Heart turned his attention back to the door.
"Beastly." No Heart growled.
"Is something wrong?" Beastly asked stupidly. With a growing shout of wrath No Heart launched himself to his feet, his fingertips crackling with magic.
"BEASTLY!"
"Gottagobye!" The furry lump said hurriedly as he ran out the door, No Heart close behind him.
"Wow, Noble Heart." Grumpy said in a mixture of awe and surprise as they drove their Cloud Cars back to the Kingdom of Caring. "I've never seen you so upset before."
"I suppose not." Noble Heart conceded with a weary sigh, the fierce intensity his displayed in confronting No Heart fallen by the wayside. "But when you see someone you've raised since they were small tortured and tormented the way Gentle Heart was…" He shook his head. "If you aren't upset by something like that, then there's cause to worry."
Grumpy paused in thought and then nodded. "Do you think No Heart will ever quit?"
"That, I can't answer. I do know one thing: he wont be troubling us for a good, long while."
Again, Grumpy could only nod in agreement.
Gentle Heart squinted her eyes as the daylight shone on her face. She yawned as she sat up in her bed, stretching her arms as she did so. She felt refreshed, happy, and more renewed than she had ever felt before. It was like being born again.
"Ah, you're awake I see." Gentle Heart turned to see Take Care Bear entering. "Feeling better I take it?"
"Much better!" Gentle Heart agreed. "How long was I asleep?"
"Oh let's see," Take Care said as she began counting on her fingers. "Four days, all told."
"Four DAYS!" Gentle Heart bleated incredulously.
"Yup. We were starting to think you'd beat Bedtime's record of a solid week of sleep. Come on get up and get showered." Gentle Heart nodded as she headed for her bathroom to shower. About ten minutes later she emerged, feeling even fresher than she did before. Take Care stood waiting for her, her foot tapping impatiently.
"Okay, now come on! Everyone's waiting."
"Waiting for what?" Gentle Heart asked as she climbed out of bed.
"Well for you of course!"
"For me?" She asked, her voice again full of incredulity.
"They can't start the party without you now can they?"
"Party?" Gentle Heart bleated nervously. "For me?" Being the center of attention had never appealed to Gentle Heart. Her shyness was innate to her personality it was much more like her to let others have the spotlight. Take Care laughed at her friend's response.
"Better believe it! They had it set up the moment they took care of No Heart's mirror. All that's left is to get you there and party!"
"I don't think-" Gentle Heart began, but Take Care simply grabbed her by the arm and started leading the reluctant lamb out the door.
"This'll be fun!" Take Care assured her. "You're the guest of honor after all. Everyone's going to want to congratulate you, toast you, heck, even dance with you!" Gentle Heart's face flushed a deep scarlet at the mere thought of all that attention being lavished on her.
"I really didn't do anything…"
"Gentle Heart, you faced down No Heart all by your lonesome and beat him! How many Care Bears can say the same?"
"But if it wasn't for Bright Heart…and Tenderheart…"
"Then thank them when you get there! They've been buzzing around your bed for days. I eventually had to shoo them out."
"Well…I suppose I really should thank them." Gentle Heart conceded. "And everyone else too…"
"Glad to hear it. Now hurry up." Take Care urged. "From what I've heard the food will be great and the company even better. I think Bright Heart's been meaning to dance with you."
"Really?" Gentle Heart asked.
"Really." Take Care confirmed. Gentle Heart didn't say anything more, though Take Care could not help but notice that Gentle Heart's pace had considerably quickened.
THE ENDA/N: Thank you everyone. This has been a real blast. This is the first Care Bears fic I started, though as you can see I've started and in some cases, finished others in the time it took me to finish this one. I would like to add parenthetically that I had already planned out most of this fic before having read Patient Heart's "A Midsummer Knight's Dream" (another great fic) which has a similar theme. I'm not sorry she wrote her story, as it's a great piece and worth reading again and again. I just had to make sure mine didn't end up coming off as too similar to hers.
Thanks to everyone who read and an extra thanks to everyone who reviewed, and a HUGE thanks to everyone who writes Care Bears fanfiction, which inspired me to try my hand at it. You guys are the best!
All I can say now is thanks again, and keep reading continuing Care Bear fics like "Into the Fog" and any news ones posted by my favorite authors who deserve to be mentioned again (sorry if you weren't included the first time around, an oversight on my part): Mariel, Sun Tzu, Patient Heart, WretchedWords, Phoenix Audobon, Mega-ManXO, Rock Raider, Fauna Greywolf, Take Care Bear, and others I've yet to read. I'd also like to thank my returning reviewers, and while I'm at it, my mother, the academy…Okay I'll stop. Thanks everyone!