Gentle at Heart

by WretchedWords

COMPLETE. Gentle Heart lamb believes that she is different than the rest of her family, which leads to her making decisions that could either be very right or wrong. That is, with the help of someone she wouldn't have expected.

3. Lessons and Birthdays

A/N: Sorry this took so long to upload. My computer is incredibly stupid… it deleted the file for no apparent reason.

3. Lessons and Birthday Parties

Gentle Heart soon approached the looming storm clouds. Thunder boomed from within it, making it seem as though her entire cloud car was rattling from the force of it. The lamb tightened her grip on the steering wheel, swallowing. She was beginning to regret coming here… but it was too late to go back. She had to at least try to trust No Heart despite all of the things she had heard of him. Her mind wandered to something that she had heard happened to Grumpy Bear. He once had to protect Care-A lot while the rest of the family was on caring missions. While they were all gone, No Heart showed up and tried to trample them both, the first try in the form of a ram and the second a yak. She stared ahead. A yak was a huge animal compared to a Carebear.

Still, she pressed forward in her cloud car. Soon, the storm clouds were so close it was as though it was a wall. Lightning streaked within the clouds, creating an illuminating flash and was soon followed by an enormous crash of thunder. She let go of the steering wheel momentarily to cover her ears. How could No Heart and Beastly stand something so loud? She reopened her eyes to see the nose of the cloud car moving into the clouds. She instantly placed her paws back unto the steering wheel so she wouldn't loose control. Soon, her cloud car was entirely swallowed into the clouds, including her. Gentle Heart felt her fur rise, there was so much static electricity within the clouds. As if to agree, lightning flashed dangerously close by. Gentle Heart swallowed nervously. Now she would have to go to the castle… the storm clouds were so thick she would get lost in them if she wasn't to continue heading straight forward. The lamb looked at her paws on the steering wheel, inhaling deeply. "Don't get nervous… you can't get nervous right now. Be brave for once... you've gone far as it is."

Her words of self-encouragement seemed to have an affect, for she suddenly moved out of the threshold of clouds that parted the outside world from the castle. Cold air suddenly hit her, causing her shudder and grit her teeth. Once again she questioned herself how No Heart could stand such a place. She felt her fur stand up further on end, and swerved her cloud car to the left to avoid being hit by lightning. Heart pounding out of fear, she realized that even if she didn't want to now, she would have to land on the castle to not be struck by lightning. Gentle Heart looked up at the towering castle ahead of her and felt even more nervous than before. Just the appearance was enough to make anyone want to turn around. She had only been inside once when No Heart had kidnapped the cubs Hugs and Tugs. It was her job to stand by the entrance and make sure that Beastly didn't follow them inside. So she only had a glimpse of one room. Gentle Heart sized the castle. What was visible by eye were giant towers and spires, but she had been told that the castle was more like a glacier… the majority of the size was hidden beneath the clouds.

She steered the cloud car downward, eventually landing it on a stone space before an enormous set of doors. She parked, sitting in the cloud for a while, shivering and thinking to herself. She had promised to herself that she would go through and at least try this. But now she was having regrets, mainly out of fear. If No Heart truly had no intentions of harming her, than the shadows or Beastly may have other ideas. She finally hopped out of the cloud car. She needed to prove to herself she can at least do one thing similar to bravery.

The lamb walked to the large set of doors that had to be ten times her own height. She seemed very out of place as she laid a paw on the designs of the door frame. Shadows and Gargoyles twisted on the frame with either emotionless or hating expression. Gentle Heart inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. This was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Just as she was reaching for the door, there was a groan as it seemed to open on its own. She paused, her paw in the air and took an uncertain step backwards. It was like in all of those horror movies were a draft opens the door and the main character walks inside. Only the door would shut and lock right behind them. Gentle Heart waited a moment, reality coming to her. It was very windy around the castle and a draft could have opened it. Then her prediction was proved wrong as a familiar creature poked its head around the door. "Carebear!"

Gentle Heart gained some distance between her and Beastly. She attempted to put on a courageous expression. "I'm here to see No Heart, Beastly."

The brown furry creature opened the doors fully, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm not stupid! What kind of Carebear wants to see him?"

Gentle Heart looked at the ground. "I do…"

"Nuh-uh! I'm not falling for your little head games," Beastly said and then it looked as thought a light bulb clicked in his eyes. "On the other hand… No Heart would be really proud if I caught a Carebear all on my own and brought it to the castle…"
She looked up to see him walking forward, hands outstretched as if he planned to jump and grab her any second. Gentle Heart inhaled deeply, concentrating all of her emotions to her tummy symbol to make a glow to ready a stare. That stopped Beastly in his tracks, and he stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Get that thing away from me! I don't want your nasty 'caring' emotions!"

"Then take me to No Heart," Gentle Heart commanded in the bravest voice she could muster.

Still, despite her hopes, this still didn't stop Beastly. He snickered. "What makes you think I'll do what you say? You're just Gentle Heart lamb of the Carebear family, the most scaredy-cat of them all! I'm not falling for your act."

Just Gentle Heart lamb? Her emotions all seemed to fall down, causing the prepared stare to also disappear. Did everyone really think of her as that? She stared down to the stones at her feet, a cold gust of air blowing past as Beastly cracked up into a fit of laughter. "Oh, I love being so bad… or hate it. Because bad is good to us…"

"Silence, Beastly."

The two both looked up in surprise to see No Heart. Gentle Heart blinked, looking around her. How did he just appear out of nowhere all of the sudden? Beastly looked at the Carebear cousins, grinned, and then ran up to No Heart, tugging on his purple robes anxiously. "I got one, boss! I brought a Carebear for you?"

"Oh?" No Heart asked, sounding surprisingly gentle before his eyes glowed in anger. "I am aware you are lying, idiot! Do you take me for stupid?"

Gentle Heart flattened her ears against her head, closing her eyes. This must be the famous anger she had heard so much about. She listened as Beastly stammered up an excuse. "Well… I was g-gonna bring her t-to you right when I s-s-saw her…"

"I believe she requested something," No Heart returned to his gentle tone, foreshadowing another fit of yelling. Beastly slowly shook his head 'no,' smiling weakly. No Heart suddenly grabbed Beastly by the scruff of his neck, holding him to eye-level for emphasis. "You do not make the decisions in my castle. If someone must see me, you take them to me. Do you understand, or must I repeat myself… though I do dislike wasting valuable magic on insolent creatures such as you?"

Beastly cowered under the annoyed gaze of No Heart. "I get it…"

"Then let us be," No Heart said, eyes returning to normal and dropping him. Though Beastly could have made a graceful landing, he still fell flat on his face as No Heart waved his hand, "Make yourself useful and go elsewhere."

Beastly saluted, suddenly assuming he was on his boss's good side. "Sure thing, No Heart!" With that said, he readied himself to run down the stairs, only to trip over his own feet and fall forward.

Gentle Heart gasped as Beastly tumbled down the stairs clumsily with an occasional 'ouch' when he hit his head. She looked up at No Heart, only to see him roll his eyes. "You mustn't waste your worry on him. He will be back… much bothersome than before."

Gentle Heart slowly looked up to meet his gaze. She suddenly seemed to notice their size difference, remaining silent. She could feel her own fear flicker through her eyes as No Heart raised an eyebrow. "You still fear me."

She looked back to the ground instantly. Of course she would fear him… she wasn't coming here to rid herself of the fear of someone who had been attempting to destroy she and her family for years. She was here to learn magic, and magic only, wasn't she? No Heart walked to the doors, his back to her as he spoke. "You must lose this fear if you wish to learn what I have promised you. That is, if you still desire to do so."

She looked up to see him holding one of the massive doors open. She looked at him, somewhat confused. Why was he letting her make her own choice instead of forcing her to do something like all of the stories she had heard would predict? Once again, he seemed to read to read her mind. "I am letting you make your own choice. That way, you can either realize your mistakes… or choices that lead to an opposite path."

Gentle Heart tried to think as clearly as she could. She had already made up her mind before… but it wouldn't hurt to think it over just one more time. No Heart patiently waited as she ran over all of the thoughts that she had been thinking for the past two days. In her head, Gentle Heart could almost feel herself nodding. She can't quit now. She just had to after going this far, it was her turn to do something brave in the family. She walked forward and into the door, barely saying above a whisper 'thanks' to No Heart for holding the door open. It was almost as if she could feel him smile as he followed. Gentle Heart looked around the massive room she was in. It was blank, not a single feature in the room aside from another set of doors on the other side. Floating on either side by gargoyle statues were shadows, their red eyes following her as she walked forward. No Heart waved his hand, causing them to float away as he continued to walk. "It would take ages for you to reach where I plan to take you. Stop for a moment."

Gentle Heart found herself feeling relieved that she didn't have to pass by the shadows. For some odd reason, she was always more afraid of them than the others in her family though she didn't have a good reason or explanation to be. She forced herself to look away from the shadows lingering beside the doorway and statues to turn and jump. Where No Heart had just stood was a rather large, purple wolf with red eyes. "We must not waste any time. Hold on tightly."

With that said and before Gentle Heart could even respond, No Heart jumped forward and ducked down, scooping her unto his back with his neck. With a gasp, Gentle Heart instinctively grabbed his fur to keep from falling off, not having the time to even expect that. The lamb blinked. It was apparent he didn't plan to hurt her… but what now? To answer her question, No Heart looked back at her. "As I have said before, hold on. You wouldn't want to fall off."

Gentle Heart nodded slowly, tightening her grip on his fur. At the moment, it felt like she was loaded with even more thoughts than before, them mainly being on wondering why No Heart was being so nice to someone he has hated for so long. No Heart suddenly lunged forward, catching her off guard. She managed to stay on her shoulders, and repositioned herself so she wouldn't fall. The door on the other room side had opened on its own, and they had run through it very quickly. It was hard getting a glimpse around for No Heart passed by everything so quickly. Gentle Heart cleared her throat, finally ready to say the first complete sentence around him. "Why are you being so nice?"

No Heart continued to look forward, bounding down hallways and corridors she didn't even take note of. "Do you wish for me not to be?"

"No!" She answered quickly, then cleared her throat, "But… you've hated me for so long. Why are you being nice now?"
They turned a sharp corner, almost causing her to fall off before she caught herself. No Heart then answered her question, "Not all things are realized at once. Did you ever wonder why of all Carebears, you were the least affected by me?"

"You mean you were trying destroy everyone in family… except me?" Gentle Heart slowly asked, now able to find an explanation as to why she always was living on the safe side of things when compared to other family members meeting No Heart.

"Exactly," He replied, "You're far too unique for me to cause any harm to."

Gentle Heart stayed silent. She knew she shouldn't be… but she found herself taking that as a compliment. She wasn't supposed to be anymore special or unique from the rest of her family. But then again… everyone else had always been much more special than she. It could be a good thing that she was the one different from the others for a change, right? She looked around at the many rooms and hallways they passed by as No Heart ran forward as if running on a supply on non-ending energy. It seemed as though his castle truly was a maze. She could get hopelessly lost in it if she ever was to go looking through it alone. Though she didn't get a very full look at anything on account of the speed they were moving at, she also noted that it wasn't as horrible as some others made the castle out to be. She was expecting cobwebs everywhere and giant holes missing in stone walls, but it was actually fairly clean despite the fact that it would take an eternity to clean. That must be one of the other jobs that Beastly had to do. Another question that she had been thinking of constantly finally popped into her mouth before she caught herself from saying it. "Why are you teaching me magic?"

No Heart slowed to walk to climb up a steep stairwell as to not fall backwards and crush her. "Because you are the only one capable of learning and understanding it, I believe."

She drooped her ears, not liking having to constantly ask him questions. But she just wanted to get them off of her mind. "Well, you told me that… but what made you actually want to teach someone to begin with?"
No Heart finally passed the stairs and began to walk quickly, soon breaking into another run as he spoke in a low tone. "Reasons that I must not tell you… but I assure it, they have no relation to that of harming you, your family or anything involving harm."

She nodded, but still found that oddly suspicious. She decided to be quiet as No Heart continued to run forward. A moment later, he abruptly stopped, nearly sending her flying off of his back if she didn't have a hold on his fur. No Heart titled his shoulders so she would slide off gently, and returned to his original form in a veil of heavy purple fog. Gentle Heart looked around her, not fully aware of where she was. She stood at the end of a long corridor with stone walls with a long, blood red carpet leading from one side to another where another set of stairs appeared. "Where are we?"
"Outside of where you shall perform much of her magic," No Heart replied, and she turned around to see another set of doors. She shivered though she wasn't entirely cold as No Heart once again opened the door for her. "After you."

Gentle Heart walked past him, eyes on the ground before she looked up when there was a brilliant flash, soon followed by a roll of thunder. She jumped though it wasn't as loud as the ones compared to outside. She heard the door behind her creak to a shut and No Heart walk to her side as she surveyed the room in awe. It was enormous! It had to be in one of the towers or spires, for the room was circular. The ceiling wasn't visible, disappearing in shadow, nor could the bottom be seen. At least one third of the room was a stone floor, transforming into a thin set of steps that held up a balcony above bottom. Lightning flashed from the bottom shadows, even their light not strong enough to illuminate it, and she could only assume that it led to the clouds that supported the castle. Sitting on the balcony was a cauldron along with a table. On the stone floor she stood on was another longer table with several things sitting upon it and a door led elsewhere. She heard the shuffle of No Heart's robes as he walked forward, a smirk showing in his eyes. "Impressive?"

"Yes…" she bleated softly.

No Heart turned to face her. "Since you shall be spending much time in here, I might as well tell you what everything is."

She just nodded, very curious as to what everything was. No Heart pointed a clawed finger at the pit. "As you might have assumed, the pit leads to the very bottom of the castle and into the clouds. I advise not getting too close… the lightning will not hurt you, but it wouldn't be a very enjoyable fall. When you need ingredients for what I am to teach you, you shall find them within that closet," he made a gesture to the door next to the longest table, "And I have everything you would need for that. Come."

He walked forward to the thin, very fragile-appearing stairs. Gentle Heart swallowed, following him. It looked as though they could break, causing both it and the balcony to fall. Still, she closed her eyes and climbed up the stairs hurriedly until she touched even stone. On the balcony, she opened her eyes. She was farther out from the rest of the room than she thought, and looked nervously down. She wouldn't doubt that it was possible the balcony could easily break off from the stairs. No Heart saw her looking nervously at the wiry stairs. "The balcony will not break from the stairs. It's supported by magic."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and watched as No Heart lifted a hand. A book from the longer table floated into his grasp, and he opened it with a bored expression. "We must not waste any time."

Gentle Heart watched in silence as he flipped through the pages casually, finally finding what he had searched for. He slammed it down on the table much harder than necessary. "Shall we begin?"

Gentle Heart flinched from the loud noise, and then nodded. No Heart once again raised his hand, and instead of the book rising from the table like last time, Gentle Heart felt her feet leave the stone balcony. The lamb shuddered, immediately thinking that he was going to move her over the side of the balcony and let her fall. She instinctively shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the fall. There wasn't anything she could do… one Carebear stare alone just wouldn't be enough to even make him flinch. So she was very surprised when she felt herself sit on something only a moment later. She opened her eyes to see that she wasn't falling into the pit, but rather simply sitting on the table. She blushed… all No Heart was doing was letting her have a better view of the book. She found herself feeling very embarrassed by this somehow and only looked at the book, not paying attention to what was fully on the page.

"As I have said before," No Heart reminded her, "The thought of causing injury to you will not even cross my mind. You are my 'apprentice,' so to say, therefore it is your job to pay attention to what I tell you. And for that to be possible, it is my duty to make sure nothing keeps you from doing so. And that does involve ensuring you are not hurt by anyone or anything."

Gentle Heart raised her eyebrows. In other words, No Heart was basically protecting her from being hurt. She cleared her throat lightly. "So if I was to get hurt by someone-"

"It would not happen," No Heart interrupted, "If by some very odd reason it was to, the one who caused it will sincerely regret doing so. Having that clarified, you shall learn magic like you agreed to."

"Alright," Gentle Heart answered, feeling as though it was both a burden and somewhat of a fortune that No Heart was actually protecting her. But now, she was too curious of learning magic to think of anything else. What would she learn?

"I suppose you expect for me to teach you the magic you might have seen me perform or the images you see on that… electric box with wires thing," he began.

"A television?" Gentle Heart bleated.

"Whatever," No Heart growled, "I couldn't care less about your accursed technology. Anyway… you are going to learn things the right way. To perform magic, you first must have an understanding and a good grasp of it. Then, when that is complete, shall it be time for you to perform it."

He leaned against the table, folding his arms across his chest. "Might you have any idea how long magic has existed?"

Gentle Heart took a moment to think. She would say King Arthur, knowing that Merlin was a sorcerer, but that was just a character in a book. Therefore, she said her next guess. "When the Salem With Trials began?"

No Heart shuddered. "Heavens, no. All of that was merely false accusing. As for the answer, magic has existed as long as it could be recorded. Of course, nearly every century it was thought to be an entirely different thing as it changed."

"So… are you saying magic used to be different a long time ago than now?" Gentle Heart questioned.

"Very," No Heart answered, "Now, it has near completely died out. You should feel very special knowing what I am going to show you."

"I am," she answered softly.

"Good," No Heart responded, "Being a Carebear and having to know and understand emotions fairly well, you should be fine with magic, for it revolves all around emotion."

"Really?" Gentle Heart asked. How could No Heart practice magic if he could only feel anger, hate and evil?

No Heart nodded. "Exactly. You must be able to control them."

"Why does magic revolve around emotion?" Gentle Heart asked curiously.

The sorcerer merely shrugged. "Even I do not know the answer to that question. There is more about much that is less understood than actually known. For those who do fully know the meaning behind it, words cannot describe it, nor could it be put into ancient books such as these."

Gentle Heart looked at the thick book that was at her side. She found herself shudder though she had no reason to do so. Just at that moment, there was a loud bang as the doors leading into the room were thrown open. Both Gentle Heart and No Heart turned to see Beastly run into the room. He skidded to a halt in front of No Heart as the sorcerer raised an eyebrow. "What is it you want?"

Beastly finally caught his breath and explained. "Well, I went to Care-A lot just to see what BAD things I could do, because I know you like BAD thing. Or, you hate them because bad is good to us and-"

"I get the point!" No Heart snapped, "You have explained this to me much too many times. Now, what happened in Care-A lot that motivated you to come and bother me?"

Gentle Heart couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that Beastly was snooping around in Care-A lot. She probably would have been angered if it wasn't in her nature to always make things less dramatic than needed. Beastly cleared his throat, looking up at No Heart, nervousness showing in his eyes. "The Carebears were saying how they've been looking for her," Beastly pointed at Gentle Heart, "And they've looked both in all of the Kingdom of Caring."
No Heart growled, waving his hand to dismiss him. He turned to face Gentle Heart, eyes slightly glowing with frustration. "You must leave. They cannot suspect us of anything."

Just hearing that made Gentle Heart heavy with guilt. It suddenly occurred to her just how much she was going behind her family's back. But… he wasn't causing any harm for them. Then it would be okay, wouldn't it? No Heart simply instructed her to read as much as he could to save more 'lessons' from being interrupted by her family. Gentle Heart, having the strength she needed after much time, finally concentrated to create a cloud car. It hovered next to the balcony.

No Heart handed her the book. "Be careful. This book is very old and fragile."

She swayed under its weight before regaining her posture, cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment. She carefully placed it in the passengers seat and then hopped to the drivers seat. No Heart waved his hand, and the shutters that blocked a window on the other side of the room swung open. Seeing the little amount of light spill into the room, Gentle Heart thought of the light at the end of the tunnel. It was hard trying to imagine living in a castle so dark. As she buckled up, No Heart loomed above her, standing on the balcony. "Come back whenever you feel so."

Gentle Heart nodded, and began to steer the cloud car away. She didn't look behind her as she drove hurriedly to the windows, flying over the lightning pit. She sighed once outside and into the colder air. She really hoped that something bad in Care-A lot wasn't waiting for her.

"Gentle! Where have you been all morning?"

Grams Bear walked to her cloud car as she arrived in Care-A lot. Gentle Heart thought quickly and slammed the upper passengers seat unto the book before she could see it. The eldest of the Carebears leaned on the cloud car as the lamb cousin stammered up an excuse. "I was… on earth. Relaxing."

"Ah," Grams nodded, "That always calms you down. Well, I believe that a few people are looking for you in the Forest of Feelings."

"Okay," Gentle Heart said, "Then I better hurry… thanks for telling me."

Grams waved as Gentle Heart slammed her foot down on the accelerator. She needed to be very fast. She arrived at her home only a moment later, ran inside and placed the book on an armchair as gently as possible. Feeling very light-headed for some strange reason, the lamb bolted for the door, through it open and then ran right into something pink. She fell backwards with a cry, not expecting to hit anything and then looked up. Lotsa-Heart elephant reached his trunk down to her. "Are you alright?"

She took it, and he pulled her back on to her feet. Gentle Heart placed a paw on her head, vision spinning. "Yeah… it was my fault."

The elephant cousin cocked his head to the side. "Where've you been all morning? Everyone is looking for you. We need all the help we can get."

"I was on earth," she replied quickly, "What do you need help with?"

"True Heart's birthday. It's in three more days… I think. Um… wow. I hope I didn't just forget," Lotsa-Heart said to himself.

Gentle Heart once again felt a pang of guilt. She had forgotten all about the birthday. She didn't even have a present to give to True Heart. She sighed unintentionally. "Sure, I'll help. Why is it you need me specifically?"

"Everyone who probably isn't gonna have a caring mission today are gonna do a lot of work," Lotsa-Heart said, beginning to walk with her down the path from her house, "The party is gonna be by the lake. So True Heart can't know about it."

"Right," Gentle Heart said, somewhat feeling unwanted by the caring mission comment.

The two walked through the Forest of Feelings slowly, soon arriving at the lake. It's crystal blue water reflected the sun brightly, and it seemed to be the perfect spot for a party. Gentle Heart looked around at what had been done so far. String had been hung from tree to tree with multi-colored lights hanging from them. A few bears and cousins were setting up a large pink tent to put tables underneath in case of rain. Noble Heart walked over to the two. "Hi, guys. Where have you been, Gentle?"

"Earth," she answered, "What can I do?"

"Well, out here we're almost done for the day. It's too early to be setting up the bonfire pit and tables. Lotsa-Heart, you can help Treat Heart set up the tent. Gentle Heart, you can come with me."

"Sure," Gentle Heart said, somewhat expecting for him to say something related to her learning magic. Instead, he walked to the lake side and on the light purple rocks on one side to Cozy Heart's home. Gentle followed obediently.

"You can help some of the others in the kitchens," Noble Heart said, "You know how the Carebear family eats anything that fits in their mouth, so we'll need a lot of food."

Noble Heart walked inside, not knocking, for there were already many people in Cozy Heart's kitchen, including the penguin herself. They went inside, several family members greeting them. Looking around, Gentle Heart was that all who was there was Cozy Heart, Loyal Heart, Harmony Bear, Secret Bear and the cubs. Cozy Heart waved a flipper. "Use anything you can find in the kitchen. There's a list over there of all that has and is being made."

"Okay," Gentle Heart said.

She went to the list with a lead pencil laying next to it. Scanning down, she thought of what was left to make, wrote it down and set to work. She found a bowl to mix everything in and set all of her utensils down next to Noble Heart. The lamb took an egg, cracked it, and emptied the contents into the bowl. "What are you making, No Heart?"

"No Heart?" The horse cousin asked.

She shook her head. She was thinking too hard to be talking now. "Noble Heart, I mean," she replied, "Sorry. I don't know what was going through my head…"
The horse laughed. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, it's called 'five cup salad.' True Heart's favorite."
"I didn't know that," Gentle Heart said.

Noble Heart nodded, sighing. "Yep. You'd know, too, if you spent as much time with her that I do. Isn't it odd how on birthdays you always think of the priceless moments you have with someone?"

Gentle Heart nodded, beginning to pour flour into her bowl. Ask him now, she thought, just do it casually. She cleared her throat, eyes not leaving her ingredients. "Not to be rude… but I've been wondering. Are you and True Heart like a… couple?"

"Couple?" Noble Heart asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile.

She blushed, mixing the contents in the bowl. "Sorry. That was really rude of me."

"Of course it wasn't," Noble Heart answered, carefully slicing an apple and being sure that he wouldn't be jostled by anyone. "Do you think we are?"

The lamb didn't respond at first, acting very caught up in the mixture she was making, trying to find an answer. It was a bad thing to ask to begin with. "I… don't… know."

Noble Heart opened his mouth to respond, but then stopped. "Ouch!"

"What is it?" Gentle Heart asked, and looked over to see that Noble Heart, despite his careful cutting, managed to cut his thumb ever so slightly for a small drop of blood to land on the chopping block. Just that small drop was enough to make her stomach churn immensely, but she managed to keep herself from getting sick. Instead, she dashed away to get a wet paper towel. With that task completed, she wrapped Noble Heart's paw in it. "Are you alright?"

The horse cousin nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes. I should have been concentrating more. Well, I suppose I should go to Take Care Bear to get some antibiotics and a band-aid."

Gentle Heart watched him leave, and breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close call.

Gentle Heart's home was like many others within the Forest of Feelings. It had only one floor plus an attic, one fairly large bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen, leaving room and dining room. Gentle Heart's room had very light, sky blue walls with a white ceiling. At night, they looked like different shades of gray, but this night was different. Gentle Heart sat in her bed, propped up against her pillow with a powerful lamp to her side and the heavy book of magic in her lap. She rubbed her tired eyes. Though there wasn't much heavy physical activity within it, the day had been very tiring. Apparently True Heart was having her birthday party the day after tomorrow. She had dedicated nearly the entire next day to volunteering to set up the party. After all, she hardly ever went on caring missions lately. She took a sip of water in a glass she always had ready at her side, and then set it back down on the table. She had to stay awake. Though she really was going behind her family's back, she still promised to No Heart she would read what he told her to. She looked at the blank dark brown color of the book with no title at all, then carefully opened it.

Almost as soon as she started reading, she could feel a headache coming on. The writing was hand-written, small, and to make things even more difficult, in cursive and slanted. She rubbed her tired eyes. Don't quit, she told herself strongly, You can't break a promise.

Twenty minutes later, Gentle Heart still sat propped against the pillow. However, her eyes were closed and her chest rose up and down in rhythm that only can be achieved throughout sleep. The book of magic rested in her lap, also rising and falling in time with her own breathing.