It just occurred to me now, reading through all of the old chapters, that things don't appear write on then how I really write them. On the site, you cannot tell when I separate paragraphs or I switch to a scene. Also, words that I italicize are beginning to switch. Sorry for these things, but I have no idea how to fix them. I'm now separating scenes using a '+' so that may help things out some.

7. Beastly

The saying 'time flies when you're having fun' seemed to be truthful this week. Gentle Heart lamb sure was having a good time. Earlier in the week Wish Bear had personally come to Gentle Heart saying that Cassidy now had a fairly large group of friends thanks to Gentle Heart's mission, which the turquoise bear had seen through her star-o-scope. She herself even thought she had perfected the magic that No Heart had shown her… when it once took a minute at most to make the colored light appear, it now only took seconds. Gentle had found in the book No Heart had given her that the magic was titled 'drawing the truth,' seemingly based on obvious details. She had exhausted herself practicing it so much and her arms didn't get sore anymore she was so used to holding them up so long. The lamb had yet to visit No Heart again, and planned to do it within the week. She could only dream of what she would be taught of next.

"I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I am," Playful Heart weakly smiled, wincing as he sat down at his respectful place at the Hall of Hearts table.

True Heart simply sighed and she walked to her own seat, past Gentle Heart. The lamb watched as she took her seat, Noble Heart pulling it out for her. Only yesterday had she been scared out of her wits by Playful Heart. While volunteering to clean the gutters of the castle of caring with Champ Bear (they're the only ones that would probably be confident enough to do it), he decided to perform a stunt by hanging off of a window decoration, calling Cheer Bear's name to get her attention. Luckily, she had seen him, and it was her rainbow from her tummy symbol that saved him from hitting the ground, though it did manage to bruise his flanks a bit. Everyone helping replant flowers in the garden below, including Gentle Heart, thought he would be really hurt. With that scare over, it was the time to call forth a Care Bear and Cousin meeting.

By now, the Hall of Hearts was full of the Carebears and cousins. The attention of everyone was soon focused on True Heart and Noble Heart. True Heart stood and cleared her throat. "Carebears and cousins, everyone knows that the Carebear annual ball is soon arriving…"

Gentle Heart had almost forgot! Every year within the month of may, the Carebear family had began to celebrate a 'ball.' At first it was only a joke that gave the family to celebrate a second Halloween, and where funny costumes but have the theme of a masquerade ball. Then, it was only streamers as decorations, but somehow, things began to evolve into much more formal costumes and more complicated decorations. So it wasn't long until what was once a Halloween party soon changed into a masquerade ball. She was surprised she had forgotten… the family always acted like high school students waiting for their prom. The Hall of Hearts roared with the sound of everyone suddenly talking to each other, asking what their suggestions of a theme would be.

Noble Heart also stood, raising his paws for silence. "I know, it's exciting, but let's calm down for a moment."
"Right," True Heart nodded, "Now is the time that we begin to plan ahead for the ball. Before blurting your answer, we'll be passing this hat around with blank pieces of paper. A pen will go around later… once you get these, write your suggestion for a theme. We'll be passing around the hat again where you can put in your paper. We'll do the drawing in a few minutes."

She produced a hat with blank strips of paper, and soon a pen began to circulate through the room with it. The room once again came alive with the voices of everyone talking at once. At the cousin's side of the table, Proud Heart leaned over. "I think it should be a fairy tale theme."

"That'd be fun," she answered softly, thinking of her own idea. She had probably thought of it a few times within the past while, but never really took tremendous notice or thought to it.

Soon the paper was at her, and she still had no idea of what to do. This would only be the fourth year of the ball actually being considered one, and not just a Halloween attempt. The other previous two were 'Black Tie Affair' (mainly to see how awkward the guys would be wearing tuxedos…), Rhapsody in Green, which was a garden theme, and the last, which was her favorite was called 'A Night under the Stars.' The Hall of Hearts table had been cleared away, leaving the entire floor open aside from the refreshment table. Those who had done decorations somehow managed to make the entire ceiling covered with stars, and they even managed to glow. There were only a few lights in the room, but they were all blue and cast a blue-green tint to everything… even though most of it could have been accomplished with the work of everyone and their tummy symbols, it was amazing in her eyes. They even used a smoke machine so everyone would have to walk through a layer of fog at their ankles.

"Um… are you gonna write anything?" Loyal Heart asked.

She jumped, nodding. "Yes. Sorry."

She scribbled down Mardi Gras hurriedly, then passed on the pen. She wasn't very fond of the theme herself, but couldn't think of much. She waited as everyone else wrote down their ideas and soon the hat was passed around again for the second time. She was hoping that her own idea wouldn't be pulled out. Based off of what she knew about Mardi Gras on Earth, it didn't seem like a fitting theme for the Carebears. When the hat reached the drawers, True Heart handed the bag to Noble Heart. Everyone watched anxiously as the purple horse stirred the contents in the hat around, careful as mixing them. He finally raised his paw, ready to pull out a theme. The entire family leaned forward in their seats, hoping to catch a glance of what might be on the paw. Then he finally put his paw in the hat, fishing around for a paper with his eyes closed. Finally, he retrieved one. He smiled, whispering something to True Heart, Tender Heart and Brave Heart. They all seemed to like the idea.

True Heart stood. "Do we have any volunteers for setting up and planning the ball?"

The usual volunteers raised their paws. They were always Share Bear, Harmony Bear, Champ Bear, Loyal Heart, and the famous duo consisting of Love-A-Lot bear and Proud Heart cat. They were always able to make everything look alright for celebrations, and you could rely on the two boys in the group for finishing any task. With them chosen, True Heart smiled. "Alright. You're all free to go, except the volunteers. We have a lot to discuss!"

Those who were excused all stood and left the room, whispering to each other what they thought might be picked, though it was near impossible to truly tell. Gentle Heart looked at the heart-shaped clock before leaving, seeing that it was nearing eight o' clock. She had planned to go visit someone at ten, when a lot of Carebears would be asleep, ready to wake early. She would have better chances visiting at night then in the morning… something she was sure would work much better.

The castle hallways were near completely dark. No matter how hard she strained her eyes, Gentle Heart could barely catch any glimpses of light. Lightning would light up the castle for momentary seconds every so often, but it wasn't enough. The lamb attempted to shut the massive doors behind her as she stood inside of No Heart's castle. She had never been inside when it was night out. Still, she wouldn't be stopped just because it was dark. She closed her eyes, concentrating. Her tummy symbol glowed a soft pink in response, lighting a few feet around her. It was good enough. She began walking forward in the massive room surrounding her. A pair of shadows floated by, completely ignoring her as she slowly walked. She was sure No Heart would still be around… it's not like he would just leave or anything.

She finally reached the other set of doors, tummy symbol still glowing and she opened it. Maybe if she was lucky she would just happen to meet No Heart of Beastly walking through. But much to her dismay, she spent at least ten minutes wandering around, trying to remember just where No Heart had taken her to when he was in the form of a wolf. The lamb, small compared to all that was around her and the sheer size of the castle, was hopelessly lost. She probably couldn't even turn back if she wanted to now. She groaned, sitting down on a windowsill, trying to remember where she might be. She was in a hallway with many doors on the both sides, but she had been down so many before with the same pattern. Was it possible that she was just walking in circles this entire time?

Her ears perked as she suddenly heard something walking down one of the hallways that the one she was in led to. It sounded like scraping. She made her tummy symbol grow brighter, bright enough to see down the hallway. A familiar short figure only a bit taller than her raised a hand to block the light. "Hey, turn that thing off!"

"Beastly," Gentle Heart said to herself and did lower the brightness of her tummy symbol.

Beastly grumpily kept walking, the claws on his feet making a scraping noise as they hit the stone ground. Gentle Heart watched as he walked right past her, murmuring to himself, something about things being unfair. She blinked. "Um. Beastly… can you take me to No Heart? Please?"

Her voice was very soft compared to the tone of Beastly's when he replied. "Like I care! Why would I want to help out my replacement?"

Not fully understanding, Gentle Heart didn't reply at first. How was she his replacement? "Replacement?"

"Yeah," Beastly placed his hands in his hips, "You must be really smart enough to be No Heart's assistant. It won't be long until I'm kicked out so there's room for you!"

The Care Bear cousin was surprised, usually used to Beastly saying things that make no sense at all. But now he must be so upset that he actually had a point in an argument. "No Heart wouldn't do that."

"Suuure, like you know him more than I do," Beastly snapped, "You'd better be lucky that he's on your side, or I'd do… um… something bad to you!"

Then a light seemed to flicker into his eyes, and he smiled deviously. "Yep… I can't do anything to you. Sure, I'll take you to No Heart!"

Gentle Heart didn't like the smile he had one bit. But still, she would have to follow him to No Heart or she'd be hopelessly lost once again. After all, No Heart did say it was his job to make sure she wasn't harmed, and knowing how much he despised Beastly, even Beastly would know how much trouble he would be in. Gentle Heart followed No Heart's assistant through the castle, both not saying anything. After time, she was really beginning to wonder just where Beastly was taking her. Then, luck finally seemed to make itself known.

Beastly turned a corner, and bumped right into something, falling backwards. No Heart growled, ignoring Beastly as he kept walking. "Be more careful of where you're going, fool!"

His assistant scrambled to his feet, standing straight. "You're Carebear is here, b-boss!"

"Then let us be," No Heart snapped, then turning his attention to Gentle Heart. "I see you have changed your mind about when is a good time to be here."

She nodded. "Yeah…"

"Follow me," No Heart said, walking past Beastly.

Gentle Heart followed, and her stomach churned when Beastly actually waved good bye to her in a very cheerful manner. She didn't like that at all, but didn't say anything. No Heart led her though the near black hallways. She was wasn't using her tummy symbol anymore, so she only knew where to go based off of the sound of footsteps of No Heart. She couldn't even know how he could just walk right through his castle without any signs of light aside from the thunder. Then she was taken to a room that she had never been in. She could tell that she wasn't in a hallways when she stepped in, then there was a sudden light as No Heart used magic to light several torches that looked as though they weren't used in ages… based off of his eyesight, he probably didn't even need them. The room was fairly large… and all around her were books. She herself loved reading, but she knew that they weren't books for entertainment. All of the walls of the room were covered in books on shelves… there had to be hundreds!

She craned her neck upwards to see the top of the shelves. There wasn't a single empty space within the shelves.

"You may also spend much time in this room," No Heart said, "You may use all books you see in here, aside from those on the third wall."

She looked at the third wall. The books didn't look any different from the others… but the contents must be different. Gentle Heart didn't ask what they were, but watched as No Heart lifted a hand and a book from the very top shelves of the first wall floated into it. Dust seemed to coat it. "This book contains potion ingredients and instructions. This book has no use to me, and you may soon see why… I give this to you for your own use."

He handed it to her, and she blew some of the dust off of it, and hugged it to her chest almost protectively. She had her own book of potions. Whispering, she said her thanks, actually managing to be greatly touched. "There is more," No Heart answered.

Curious, Gentle Heart looked up. What more was there? He held out his hand, and his amulet glowed as something appeared in it, dangling off of his finger. "If you are going to be a sorceress, you will need your own amulet."

He also handed it to her, and she couldn't say anything at first. Gentle Heart knew that he most likely made it to be useful rather than pretty, but she had own magic amulet. It was on a silver chain that was long enough to fit around her head without having to unhook anything, and the actual amulet was a sky blue gem without a base. No Heart probably didn't see it in the same way, but it was beautiful. The light of the torches caused the light that reflected on the stone to dance. She put it around her neck. "Thank you…"

No Heart gave a slight nod to indicate that he acknowledged her thanks, whether he truly did or not. "I must explain these items. Come…"

She followed him soon to the cauldron room once again, where she soon sat atop the table that was actually on sturdy ground and not the balcony. Much to her luck, the potion book he had given her to keep was much lighter than the previous one, and it wasn't too difficult walking with it. She set it to her side as No Heart motioned towards his amulet. "This amulet, along with the one that I have given, really aren't magical in any way until you actually use it. I'm aware that your family believes this is my source of power… but it isn't."

"Then what's it for?" Gentle Heart asked. She had, in fact, been told that it was No Heart's source of power from Grumpy Bear as he was telling the family an encounter he had with No Heart. She wasn't told the full story, but it was something about the sorcerer turning to a bison and chasing him. That was the story she had always based her opinions of No Heart.

No Heart raised his palm, and the amulet floated into it. "From what you have read, and what I have told you, all magic takes time. Many have incantations or need certain motions to complete. By using an amulet, magic can be used much quicker. Though it isn't the true definition, you can use certain objects to 'store' magic for more convenience."

Gentle Heart looked at her blue amulet, not sure if she completely understood what he meant. But she wasn't the one to say that he was wrong about magic. Truthfully, she would rather actually learn how to perform magic than learn about it. But these things take time. Seeing how her expression wasn't too sure, No Heart once again began explaining the use of amulets more thoroughly. All amulets did was really let the wearer perform magic without having to go through all of the steps of doing so… after some time of repeating the same magic, the amulet would weaken and then the magic would have to be completely performed, and not just the final steps. It was much more easy to understand than she would have thought earlier. She then looked to her side to see the potions book, she pulled it unto her lap, opening to the inside cover. "Why don't you need this anymore?"

"I never had any use for it," No Heart replied in a tone that showed he wasn't very fond of the contents, "I would never use any of the magic, nor will I ever have any interest. You, however, might."

She strained her eyes, looking down the first page. She had to wipe a layer of dust off. He really didn't have any interest in it. She saw the table of contents. They were all potions… but they seemed positive and things that would have the same affects as caring crystals. It was no wonder No Heart wouldn't use it… if caring crystals hurt him, these potions probably would, too.

"Many of the ingredients can actually be found in your Forest of Feelings," No Heart added, "There isn't anything that can happen if the potions weren't able to work, unlike others."

She nodded, shutting the book carefully. It was odd… somehow it seemed as though the enemy of her family was being a bit more considerate than her own family. She quickly shook the thought away… her family cared for her and she knew it. It surprised her that she even thought of such a thing! Still, much to her surprise, it was kind of him to give her the two items, though they both only served as tools for learning magic. "Thanks…"

"Thanks is not needed," No Heart answered in a tone that Gentle Heart wasn't sure of. "You may leave, now. You have my permission to return whenever you desire, whether it is to actually learn or use the study."

Gentle Heart nodded, now feeling the affects of staying up late. Lately she had been waking up early, so she would need the rest. Just realizing this made her eyelids droop. She heard No Heart stating he would take her to her home, and didn't quite acknowledge it until he transformed to a lightning bolt, causing a blinding flash to light up the room. As the lightning, he struck at her, grabbing her in the process and speeding straight through the window of the cauldron room. It took seconds for her to arrive at her home, and she stood at the front door. She turned around, expecting to see No Heart, but was surprised that he had already left without her knowing. Shrugging it off, she turned around and entered her house.

"Those are pretty. What are they for?"

Gentle Heart sat in a field within the Forest of Feelings, gathering her ingredients. She looked up, surprised to hear someone's voice and looked behind her to see Friend Bear and Cozy Heart. She blinked, not expecting anyone to be outside on a day like this. The skies were overcast, clouds full of spring rains. She looked down at the flowers within her paws. "They're for… a potion."

"A potion?" Friend Bear smiled.

Gentle Heart nodded, also smiling sweetly. "Yep."

"Sounds like fun," Cozy Heart answered, not really understanding that the potion comment was true. "We're going to the lake. Everyone else is there… do you wanna to join us?"

"No thanks, but I will later," Gentle Heart answered. "I just gotta make this potion really fast. It won't take too long, I'm pretty sure."

"Alright," Friend Bear raised a paw as a goodbye as they walked away, "Feel free to experiment it on Brave Heart! I'm sure no one will mind!"

"I'll consider it. Bye!" Gentle Heart called after the two.

When they disappeared from her sight, she turned her attention back to what was in front of her. Luckily they didn't see the potions book right behind her, though it was alright they all of the other ingredients in a bag were seen. No Heart was right… all of the potion ingredients for the majority of the spell could be found right in her forest. They were mainly bright flowers, and the forest was full of different kinds. Everything was natural, and she wondered if No Heart used the same things for his uncaring potions. She looked back to the list of ingredients and read them aloud. "Handful of apple blossoms…"

She stood, setting the remainder of the recently picked flowers inside of her bag. The potion book must have been written a long time ago, because there weren't exact measurements for the ingredients. She had to compare a lot of things to how humans would find the ingredients… such as the one she must find now. Two of her handfuls would be equal to one human handful. It was fairly easy once she took the time to think about it. And now, her next task would be the last of the ingredients. She knew that the apple blossoms would be in Proud Heart's garden. She had all kinds of fruit-bearing trees in her garden. Soon, she arrived there and gained permission from Proud Heart to take the two handfuls. She set them carefully in the bag full of the others ingredients, thanked Proud Heart and soon was on her way back home.

Once inside, she excitedly entered her kitchen and carefully placed all of the ingredients out on her counter. She opened the potion book to the page titled 'blossom spell.' Based off of the description, it only had the title based off of how the potion had two main ingredients, both of them being two different fruit blossoms. The potion itself was to make another have a much more temporary, yet positive mood. She knew just who to give it to, also. And it was more of a favor for Grumpy Bear, anyway, not to use him as a guinea pig. Rereading the ingredients and the directions, she made sure for the hundredth time that everything was edible and wouldn't harm who was drinking the potion. Following directions, she selected some of the ingredients, went to the blender and set them and spring water she always had in her fridge together, mixing them. She hunted throughout the rest of her kitchen for the remainder of the ingredients.

Finally, she had all of the ingredients in front of her on the counter along with the blender full of the mixture. It didn't seem very edible at the time. Gentle Heart once again looked down the directions. So far she had done everything right, and mixed things together, adding in the right ingredients at the exact times just to be sure. Finally, within ten minutes, she had everything put together and it sat in the blender. She carefully poured it into an empty water bottle and stared. It really was odd how magic worked. What once looked like a syrupy-ooze now looked like completely clear water. She looked at the directions once again. Now to make everything complete, she would have to say the correct words. She cleared her throat, reading the incantations over. They all seemed to be a different language, though she wasn't sure what exactly it was. Hoping she wasn't mispronouncing anything, she did her best at saying them. Much to her surprise, she must have said the right thing, for the water seemed to flash a faint blue for a moment. Gentle Heart stared at the bottle for a long time, as if waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, so she grabbed the bottle and set in the fridge, smiling in success. "I'll be back for you later," she said as if it could hear her, then shut the door, remembering her promise to go to the lake with Friend Bear and Cozy Heart.

Gentle Heart arrived at the lake, surprised to see nearly all of her family there. Even though the water was normally cold at this time of the year, a few others aside from Cozy Heart were actually inside for a change. She walked down, slightly wishing she would have brought the potion, because sure enough, Grumpy Bear was also there, looking like his usual bitter self sitting to the side of the water, trying to be coaxed inside by Cozy Heart. She made her way down to the water edge. "Hi, Cozy Heart."

"Hey!" Cozy Heart greeted her, swimming over. "Wanna come in? The water's warm!"
"It's always warm to you," Gentle Heart smiled, experimentally poking her foot in. It was nearly freezing. She was surprised that anyone else aside from Cozy was even inside. "On second thought… I don't think I will."

"Aww, you're no fun. If you want to, those guys over there thought that they're clever by heating up the pool and using it as a hot tub," she said, using her flipper to point behind her.

"Heating it?" Gentle Heart asked.

"With their tummy symbols," Cozy Heart answered. "It takes out all the fun of being in water if you're just sitting there and not swimming, thought!"

"Sounds like it would feel good," Gentle Heart answered and said goodbye to Cozy Heart.

Even though her penguin friend didn't seem to fond of the idea, Gentle Heart walked over to the other side of the lake, where a group of her friends sat in one of the very small ponds next to the waterfall that gave the lake it's water. Only unlike the lake, their small pond of water actually steamed. Playful Heart looked up, lounging in the water. "Hey! Wanna join us?"

Gentle Heart didn't notice him before. She suddenly didn't feel so motivated to get inside anymore. But then she noticed everyone else staring at her with puppy-dog eyes. And to make matters worse, Loyal Heart was the champion at making those adorable eyes, and he just happened to be inside. She couldn't say no. She forced herself to smile. "Sure."

Since Care Bears and Cousins didn't need bathing suits, she didn't have to wait and carefully hopped inside. Surprisingly, it was a lot warmer than the other water. In fact, it was almost too warm for her, but soon grew accustomed to it. She sat where there was the last empty space left… right between Playful Heart and Love-A-Lot Bear. Not a good combination. Treat Heart was the first to notice the knew accessory Gentle Heart wore. "That's a pretty necklace! Where'd you get it?"
"I went on a caring mission, and a girl gave me this a present. She had one just like it… it's a friendship necklace," Gentle Heart responded, holding the blue amulet within her paw. This time, it couldn't hurt too much just to say a small little lie. She looked down at the water, feeling the temperature drop.

"You're turn," Loyal Heart said to Love-A-Lot.

The magenta bear made her tummy symbol glow, and a rainbow came from it, not only lighting the small pond but heating it. Soon, it was back to warm and more comfortable. Gentle Heart closed her eyes, sinking farther into the water. This was very comfy. Then she heard Love-A-Lot clear her throat. "So. Who's going with who to the Spring Ball?"

Gentle Heart didn't open her eyes, deciding to not say anything.

"We still have a few weeks," Loyal Heart answered, "We haven't even come up with a full idea on how the Hall of Hearts would be decorated."

"Is the theme good?" Share Bear asked.

Loyal Heart nodded. "I think everyone will like it."

Gentle Heart also never put thought into who she would go with. Partners to the ball were a boy and a girl type of thing, but everyone usually went as friends. She could already think who might be going with who, based off of all of the partners for the past three balls. Champ Bear and Cheer Bear always went together, Birthday Bear and Wish Bear did, and so did Lotsa-Heart and Treat Heart. They all went as friends. Gentle Heart herself had gone the first year with Bright Heart, the second with Funshine and the third with Playful Heart. The third year had been fun… maybe she could do it again. Realizing what she had thought, she only sunk further into the water. That would be too weird… knowing that Playful Heart liked her more than a friend. But it was hard not being able to like him how she used to. She had always spent a lot of time with him, and it was very fun then. But now, she knew that he saw her more than just a friend, and all of that time might have been him and his funny ways of flirting. They were still kind of cute, in a way, how he would come up with jokes just for her when she was feeling down. Catching herself again, she slid farther down, not even realizing that she would have her nose underwater.

She jumped, realizing this too late and coughed what small amount of water she had breathed in. It grew quiet as she coughed, and she tried to stop herself, but couldn't and instantly began to blush.

"Are you okay?" Playful Heart questioned, actually looking concerned that she only breathed in a bit of water.

"I'm… fine…" she said through fits of coughing, and then finally began to quiet down, much to her relief.

Gentle Heart sat back down, still blushing. She felt incredibly stupid for not even realizing her mouth and nose was that close to the water. Love-A-Lot grinned. "That was nice of you, Playful Heart. You seemed really worried."

He was about to open his mouth to say some joke and laugh it off, before Treat Heart cut in. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was more worried for others, after so many had worried for him! But the only thing that happened was his butt got bruised!"

Playful Heart frowned, sinking into the water. "It wasn't my fault…"

"Sure, it wasn't your fault that you decided to hang from a heart decoration and bust your tail falling from it," Loyal Heart chimed in.

Playful Heart grinned. "And I'd do again, too!"

"Sure you would," Love-A-Lot laughed, "The water's getting cold… it's you turn, Share."

The purple bear sat straight, and used her tummy symbol once again to heart up the water. It once again began to steam, and raised in temperature. Gentle Heart wondered why no one had thought of this before. It wouldn't be too much fun getting out of the water though, where the air would probably be cold. Then something caught her attention, and it was the last thing she would want to hear at the time.

"Oh, Carebears!"

Everyone looked up at once to see Beastly standing on a rock proudly, in a noble stance. He grinned as everyone just stared, not exactly knowing what he wanted. Beastly cleared his throat, pulling something out from behind his back. "Look what I found! And it was in your cousin friend's little house, too!"

With that, he started laughing almost maniacally. Gentle Heart gasped, seeing the water bottle in his hand that he held up for everyone to see. She knew instantly he had gone inside her house to get the potion! Her mind instantly remembered something he had said the previous night within the castle… "I can't do something to you." She clenched her paws into fists. He must think that he could get her family to hate her and turn against her, so he wouldn't have to get in trouble by No Heart!

"This, my Carebear friends, is a potion!" Beastly explained, sounding very proud of himself of his discovery, "And I have found it in your Forest of Feelings! Heh… you're gonna love this! One of your family members is going behind you back and-"

At this time, Gentle Heart nearly leaped out of the pond, shoving others aside in the process, jumped on the ground, and she fired a cousin call without even taking the time to ready herself. Not only did it knock her off her feet, but the call was strong enough to also send Beastly flying off his own. On the ground, her call faded away as Beastly fell from his rock platform and landed on his back. He put a hand to his head. "Ouch…"

Gentle Heart got to her knees slowly, looking all around where Beastly had fallen for where the bottle had fallen. Then she heard someone also leap out of the water much more smoothly than she had and looked to her right. Playful Heart knelt by her side. "Are you alright?"

Then she looked around seeing that nearly all of her family had witnessed her performing the call. And they all actually looked shock that such a call would come from her. She felt not only a blush begin to form on her face, but a pit of nervousness form in her stomach. "…My call slipped out. I didn't think of what I was doing…"

"It's okay," Playful Heart said, True Heart and Noble Heart also joining them as Brave Heart took on the job of removing Beastly from the Forest of Feelings.

Noble Heart nodded, agreeing with Playful Heart. "It happens to a lot of us, too. Don't worry, my calls just slip out when I'm worried for others, just like what you did."

"Do you think you should go to Take Care Bear?" True Heart asked, "You look a bit shaken up."

She shook her head, still searching for the bottle that Beastly had dropped. At least she was lucky her call had worked… Beastly probably would be too affected by the call to even think about telling Brave Heart about what Gentle Heart had done… she was very thankful for that. Playful Heart helped her to her feet, causing her to blush even more, and Cozy Heart popped out of the water, holding something in her flippers.

"Some potion this is!" she said, tossing it on the shore, "It's just water! That was pretty desperate of him to actually believe we'd think someone in our family would be messing around with potions!"

Treat Heart giggled. "The next thing you know, Grumpy Bear will be dressing up in purple robes and a hood and setting uncaring spells on Care-A lot!"

"Ha, ha," Grumpy Bear growled, rolling his eyes.

Gentle Heart looked nervously at the three, almost thinking they knew what she was doing. But she shook it off. It was jut coincidence that they choice Grumpy Bear… he always tended to be the joke. Playful Heart offered to walk her to her home, and though she tried to assure everyone that she was alright, True Heart and Noble Heart advised that it would be best that he did escort her. She did look pale, and she was shaking. But she wasn't ill in anyway. She had never felt so close to being caught doing something wrong… mainly because she never did do anything wrong.