11.

Gentle Heart had a rude awakening of ice down her back. Popping her eyes open, she sat up and blinked. Where was she? It was when she saw the grinning faces of Friend Bear and Share Bear, she remembered. Blinking once more, she grabbed the ice cube that had slid down her back. "Um. Thanks?"

"You're the last one to wake up," Share Bear explained, "So it was tradition to use the ice!"

Gentle Heart swung her legs over the side of the couch she had spent the night in. Rubbing her eyes, she saw that everyone else had left the room aside from she, Friend Bear and Share. The had spent the night at the house of Treat Heart pig, along with all of the other girls in the Kingdom of Caring. Then she remembered what the day was. Or rather, what would be taking place at night.

Friend Bear grabbed Gentle Heart's paw. "C'mon! If you still want breakfast, that is."

She was pulled into the kitchen. An enormous stack of pancakes was in the middle of the table, and there were Care Bears and Cousins everywhere. The table, the counter, the floor, standing, sitting or laying. The mountain of pancakes was decreasing at a steady rate. Whoever said girls can't eat was wrong. Everyone turned to face the three who had just entered the room. At all of the attention on her, Gentle Heart slightly blushed.

"So you've finally woken up, Gentle Heart?" Swift Heart grinned.

The lamb weakly smiled. "I just about had to."

Then the rabbit cousin took note that the pancakes were beginning to disappear. She smacked the paw of Wish Bear. "Save some for the early riser! Pigs!"

"Thanks," Treat Heart giggled and managed to snatch a pancake.

Swift Heart rolled her eyes. "You might as well get your breakfast before these guys get rid of them all. Then they'll resort to cannibalism."

Gentle Heart smiled when Cheer Bear, who sat on the counter reached behind her for a plate. It was a going to be a good day. The pink bear handed the plate to her. She hopefully looked at her. "You're coming to my house, right? To get ready for the ball?"

"Yeah," Gentle Heart nodded.

Cheer Bear smiled. "Okay! You better hurry up or you won't have much of a breakfast…"

x

It was four o' clock, another four hours until the ball. Gentle Heart drove her cloud car through the clear skies, flying to her home in the Forest of Feelings. It was going to be a perfect night for the ball. After spending time at Treat Heart's house, she somehow was pulled into Care-A lot to help at the Hall of Hearts. Of course, she didn't decorate anything. She had spent time in the kitchens, making the food for the ball. It was after the third time Birthday Bear tried to sneak a peek into the actual room where the ball would take place, Noble Heart just locked the door to it. No one minded. And now Gentle Heart was going to get her dress. With that accomplished, it would then be her job to go to Cheer Bear's house. Gentle Heart decided not to question why she was going so early.

It was when she arrived that she realized why. Almost every girl in the Kingdom of Caring was there… the only exceptions were those who were setting up the Hall of Hearts. Gentle Heart slung her dress over her shoulder, hopping out of the cloud car and shutting the door. Walking up the cloudy ground to Cheer Bear's house, she could hear all of the voices already. She rose a hand to knock on the door, but it swung open anyway. Cheer Bear stood there with an enormous grin planted on her face. "Gentle Heart! What took you so long?"

The lamb blinked. "I thought I was on time…"

"Which is why you're late," Cheer Bear answered, "You should've come here earlier… we were playing truth or dare."

Gentle Heart weakly smiled as she was pulled inside. She was thankful she missed it… some of the dares she had gotten before were embarrassing. Cheer Bear sat Gentle down in the chair. "I'm just now starting with helping everyone… I've never seen anyone so clueless on how to tie a dress!"

"Okay," Gentle Heart replied. She herself was confused when it came to tying the strings on her dress… she had no idea which ones went where.

Cheer Bear dashed off, grabbing Wish Bear in the process to begin her work. Gentle Heart looked over to see Proud Heart cat, who was carefully picking off all of the fur on her dress. She looked up from her work. "Hello, Gentle Heart. Who are you being for the ball?"

"Um. A queen," she answered and quickly added, "Bright Heart thought of it."

The cat purred. "No surprise. Just about everyone went to him for ideas. Have you talked to Playful Heart today?"

Gentle Heart nodded again. "For a while in the Hall of Hearts," she answered, then attempted to change the subject, "What about you? As in, who you're being for the ball."

"A princess," she answered with a smile, "And I'm going with Brave Heart."

"That's a good idea. What about Brave Heart?" Gentle Heart questioned, then realized what she asked. Of course she knew what Brave Heart would be.

"A king," Proud Heart replied, "But I'm sure you were expecting that…"

"Actually, yes," Gentle Heart laughed.

Cheer Bear walked into the room. "NEXT!"

Everyone flinched when she shouted, and before anyone could react, the pink bear snatched an unsuspecting Swift Heart. The blue rabbit squirmed. "I don't need help! And I don't need your makeup, either!"

Gentle Heart giggled along with everyone else, yet she also knew it wouldn't be long until Cheer Bear took her.

When that time came, Cheer Bear pulled Gentle Heart away from the couch. The lamb passed by several others who were in their dresses. One of the many was Swift Heart, who was fanning herself and tugging at her dress collar at the same time. "Cheer, is it supposed to be this hot in one of these things?"

"Yes," Cheer answered, not taking a break from pulling Gentle Heart, "But that doesn't matter. You're looks are more important than health!"

Gentle Heart just blinked, deciding not to think too much on what Cheer had just said. She finally arrived in Cheer Bear's bedroom. The walls were the same color as Cheer Bear's fur, and it was wide and spacious. The first thing Gentle Heart noticed was the full-body mirror and dresser, with hundreds of different makeup utensils sitting on it. Cheer Bear smiled, rubbing her paws together. "Okay. Which first? Hair, makeup or your dress?"

Gentle Heart, sitting on the end of the bed, didn't answer. Now she understood why she came so early. But, she was near the last person of all, and it was now only three hours to the ball. Cheer Bear shrugged. "I'm guessing the dress. I'll help you with the strings and everything when you're done."

She turned around and hummed a little tune. Gentle Heart assumed this meant she was going to change into her dress. Grabbing it, she pulled it on and almost tripped on the loose fabric around her feet. She regained her footing. "Um. Okay…"

"Good!" Cheer Bear walked to the lamb. "Turn around."

Gentle Heart did so, and then felt Cheer Bear grabbed the strings of her dress and pull hard. She coughed when the dress was tightened. "Is it supposed to suffocate you?"

"Yep," the pink bear answered cheerfully, "But you'll get used to it in a few minutes."

The lamb could finally understand just why Swift Heart wasn't too fond of these things. After what felt like hours, the strings were tightened. Cheer Bear turned Gentle around to face the full-length mirror. "Okay!"

Gentle Heart blinked at herself. She almost looked thinner from the strings being tightened so much, but she assumed it was her imagination. She smiled at Cheer. "Thanks."

The pink bear smiled back. "Your welcome! You're necklace goes perfect with your dress, too! Okay. Now how about we move on to hair?"

She lifted a brush and began attacking it. It was several painful tugs of a hairbrush and ten bottles of hairspray later this task was accomplished. Cheer Bear took a step back to admire her work. Gentle Heart coughed on the fumes of the hairspray, attempting to wave it from her face. She looked to Cheer, who was rubbing her chin. "It looks like something is missing… I think I have just the right thing, but I need to find it."

When she went to her closet, Gentle Heart looked at her reflection. It was true what Cheer had said earlier. Her necklace did match her white dress. She stared at the reflection of her amulet. Then it started moving. With a blink, she held it in her own paw and looked down. The blue coloring of the gem almost looked like it was moving. It had never done that before. She stared a bit longer, confused. The spell I set on it must be starting to work, she thought to herself, so the caring meter won't go off. It's nothing bad.

Cheer Bear finally shut the door to her closet with a smile. "Found it! It's a bit smaller than I thought, but it's just the perfect thing for your costume."

She pranced to Gentle Heart. The lamb could feel something light be placed on her head, and looked to the mirror to see what is was. A white tiara sat on her head, sparkling in the light. She smiled. "It's so pretty… ow!"

Something poked her in the side of the face, and she raised a paw to touch it. Cheer Bear grabbed her paw. "Don't rub it!"

Gentle Heart blinked, looking at what was in Cheer's paw. Eyeliner. "Huh?"

"I gave you a beauty mark," Cheer sheepishly smiled, "I thought it would fit a queen."

Gentle Heart looked at her reflection. A dot of eyeliner was just below her cheek, making a fake beauty mark. Surprisingly, it looked realistic. "Um. Thanks?"

"No problem," Cheer answered, "But you're done! You're pretty enough… you don't need make up."

Gentle Heart slightly blushed at her comment, and then was lightly pushed from the door. "Remember! If you need anything during the ball, you come to me!"

Before she could reply, Cheer Bear screamed 'next' again right in her ear. Gentle Heart winced at the loud noise, covering her ears. Do us a favor and shut your moth, the lamb thought. Realizing what she had said, she blinked. Where had that come from? She felt something touch her arm, and looked up to see no other than Love-A-Lot Bear. She looked stunning in her dress, which was also white. The magenta bear smiled. "We're gonna meet the guys. Are you coming with us?"

"Who is we?" Gentle Heart blinked.

Love-A-Lot almost looked surprised at first, but then answered nicely, "Proud Heart, Treat Heart, Wish Bear and I. You too, hopefully."

Gentle Heart nodded. "Sure. How much longer until the ball?"

Love-A-Lot scratched her chin. "Um. Two and a half hours now, I think. Maybe less."

"I'll go," Gentle Heart agreed and followed her outside to the waiting cloud car.

Treat Heart sat at the driver's seat and giggled. "Now we can see how much trouble they're having getting ready."

With that said, she slammed her foot on the accelerator, causing the cloud car to leap into the air. Gentle Heart, along with everyone else, fell over in their seats. However, she was the only one who wasn't laughing. She silently glared at Treat Heart, and then stared out the side of the cloud car. They were high in the sky in a matter of seconds as they drove to the Forest of Feelings.

A crow landed on the side of the cloud car, right near Gentle Heart. She recognized this crow easily, and looked to her friends. No one had noticed. The purple crow blinked at her. "I suppose tonight you shall see if your spell has worked or not."

"I guess," Gentle Heart replied to No Heart.

He ruffled his deep purple feathers. "This must've involved quite some planning. I'm surprised. I always thought your family was too stupid for that."

"They aren't stupid," Gentle Heart harshly whispered, then shut her mouth, it occurring to her that she had just snapped at No Heart.

However, he hardly seemed offended. The bird just rose his eyebrows, smiling in amusement. "Oh my. You seem to be quite the cranky Care Bear. My apologies."

Then he flapped off with a caw. The caw had caught the attention of the others. Wish Bear blinked. "Was that a crow?"

When Gentle Heart nodded silently, the turquoise bear shrugged. "I didn't know there were crows in Care-A lot. Or since we're here, the Forest of Feelings."

Treat Heart landed the cloud car on the soft grass of the Forest of Feelings. They were just outside a cave. It was where Brave Heart lived. Gentle Heart carefully stepped out of the cloud car, trying not to walk on her white dress. There wasn't a door to Brave Heart's home. He liked the feeling of the wilderness instead. Treat Heart hopped to the entrance. "Knock, knock!"

"Uh… come in!"

Gentle Heart exchanged glances with the others. Then they stepped inside. Brave Heart was scurrying around his cave, a handful of night lights in his paws. Seeing them come in, he hid them behind his back. "Um. Hi! You look pretty…"
"We know you have night lights, Brave Heart," Wish Bear laughed, "Don't worry about it."

The someone else hopped over from the other side of the cave with a laugh. "Yeah, don't worry! Playful Heart is here to protect you from the monsters!"

Brave Heart blinked. "Playful, don't you have something better to do? Like talk to your sweetheart?"

Everyone giggled at this comment. The monkey cousin folded his arms across his chest and walked over to Gentle Heart without a word. He had a big smile on his face. "Wow, Gentle! You look great!"

She blushed. "Thanks. You do, too."

Playful Heart squirmed. "These pants are too tight."

He wore a loose white shirt that was long at the sleeves, and brown pants that also looked scratchy. Not only did he look like an average Joe from the Renaissance, it was obvious that he was wearing clothes meant for humans. He swished his tail back and forth. "Ready for the ball? Only an hour away…"

"An hour?" Gentle Heart asked. She must have spent more time with Cheer Bear than she had thought. "I thought we still had another one."

He shook his head. "Nope. It'll be fun!"

Gentle Heart opened her mouth to answer, but then her collar bone almost felt like it burned. She rose a paw to rub the place, but only felt her amulet. The burning went away. "We'll need luck for it to be fun."

Playful laughed. "Yeah, Good Luck will be there."

Gentle Heart just blinked. That wasn't what she meant. Everyone else went off to wander with each other. But Playful pulled at the collar of his shirt. "It's too hot in here. Um. Wanna go outside?"

She shrugged. "Whatever."

Playful didn't reply at first, shutting his mouth. Then he just smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Gentle Heart didn't say anything, walking out of Brave Heart's cave with Playful Heart. She had said 'whatever,' not 'yes.' That was rude of him just to assume that. Gentle Heart kept her mouth shut as they walked out. The sky was still light, and birds flew above their heads, chirping happily. Playful Heart stretched, careful not to rip his new pants in the process. He shoved his paws into his pockets. "It's too bad I can't climb in the trees with all this on…"

"Sure," Gentle Heart answered quickly. Why was he always talking about himself? She fanned herself with her paw. She was feeling warm again.

Playful Heart noticed that she was fanning herself. "Is it too hot out here?"

"No, not at all. After all, you want to be out here, right?" she asked, eyes not leaving his.

His tail started to swish again… and obvious sign he was getting nervous. "Um. Gentle Heart? Are you feeling okay?"

She continued to fan herself. "This dress is suffocating me. Of course I'm not okay."

Now Playful Heart looked as though he had stopped his jaw from dropping. His tail swished faster. "Want me to loosen the strings?"

"I don't need help. You think I can't do it myself?" Gentle Heart asked. Her chest was burning again. So now he thinks I'm helpless. I can handle myself fine.

Playful Heart finally grabbed his tail and held it in his paws. "Are you sure? It won't trouble me at all. If it's for you…"

"You?" the lamb paused from fanning herself, and placed a paw over her amulet, where the burning was.

"No… not me. You're beginning to look sick. Do you need to sit down?" Playful Heart asked with concern.

"Yes," Gentle Heart finally answered, agreeing with him for the first time. She sat down on a nearby rock, inhaling deeply. A violet bird flew to her side, chirping brightly. She waved it off with her paw, not wanting to hear the chirping now. It flew off with a small confused chirp. She looked up to see a worried Playful Heart.

"Do you want me to get you some water?" he asked.

"Why do you keep talking about yourself?" Gentle Heart asked, still fanning herself, "Don't you care about me?"

"I care," Playful Heart replied in a quiet tone, clearly confused at why she was acting this way.

The lamb stopped fanning herself, closing her eyes. "You sure don't act like it. If you're going to be this way at the dance, it would just feel like I was going alone. So I think I should."

There was a long silence. Playful Heart dropped his tail, and it didn't swish for a change. He looked as though he hadn't heard correctly. "…What?"
Eyes still closed, Gentle Heart sighed. She could see that the purple bird was back in the corner of her eye, and she was thankful it wasn't chirping for a change. This was the only time it was quiet before. "It would be best if I didn't go with you to the ball. Or go out with you… if this is the way you're going to act."

She felt relieved when the burning on her chest stopped. She opened her eyes to see Playful Heart. He looked crushed… something she had never seen. Rather than following the Care Bear ways, she just looked at him, waiting for a reply. He swallowed. "Alright. If that's what you want…"

"It is," she stated flatly.

He stood still for a moment, and then without a word, turned and began walking inside to the cave. His tail dragged on the ground, and he looked pitiful. Gentle Heart could hear the bird fly off, only it cawed. She ignored this and just blinked at him. She felt much better now.

Playful Heart jumped a mile high when Brave Heart popped his head out from the cave. "Come on, lovebirds! Let's go!"

Gentle Heart, feeling much better, stood and walked to him. The lion cousin wrapped an arm around her, and the other around Playful. Brave Heart drew them in with a smile. "I bet you two are ready for a romantic slow dance, huh?"
Playful weakly smiled, though it didn't show in his eyes at all. "I think they're saving it for you and Proud Heart, though!"

"Speaking of me, I'll be needing this," Proud Heart said, walking over with the others. She took Brave Heart by the paw and walked with him to the cloud car.

Playful took one glance at Gentle Heart, then walked to the cloud car, tail still dragging on the ground. Gentle Heart looked as he walked. It was going to happen no matter what, Gentle Heart thought to herself, It's not my problem or anything I need to care about.

A/N: My apologies that was all so crammed together. Next chapter will be the end of the story… I'm desperate for reviews. So do so if you liked it. :\