Chapter One: Dinner and a Newbie

It was a beautiful but cold winter's night high up in the white clouds of Care-a-Lot. This is where a group of animals called the Care Bear Family lives, plays, and watches the people of Earth to make sure everyone gets along. It was nearing Christmas, a time of great love and caring anyway, so naturally business was rather slow as far as the Care Bears were concerned. However, this didn't mean they weren't taking full advantage of the free time. Every once in awhile, one or two of them would dart from building to building, holding wrapping paper or some sort of hidden package, hoping to spend as little time as possible exposed not only to the cold, but to prying eyes. Most were in the Hall of Hearts, attempting to enjoy dinner while enduring another one of Tenderheart Bear's never-ending caring mission seminars. Everyone had something going on, even a certain bear and rabbit, who simply sought the warmth of each other's company.

"Dinner is served, Lady Swift Heart."

Grumpy Bear entered the room with as much pompousness as he could muster, holding both his nose and a huge bowl of food high in the air.

Swift Heart Rabbit stared at her fiancé, pleasantly shocked at how well he shined up. "A full tuxedo, too? I'm beginning to think getting snowed out of our date on Earth wasn't such a bad thing." She stifled a giggle as he fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable in the outfit.

"I don't know how humans do it." Grumpy grumbled. I borrowed this from Stellar Heart, and it's every bit as itchy as he said it is!

"Well, don't think I'm not grateful to him." Replied Swift Heart, kissing her beau. "Or to you, 'Grumpykins.'"

Grumpy swooned. He still got that first kiss euphoria whenever Swift Heart so much as gave him a peck on the cheek.

"So, um, ahem, milady," Said Grumpy, struggling to return to the waiter routine in spite of his flushed face, "have you decided on your entertainment for the evening?

"Indeed I have." While Grumpy spooned their dinner into bowls on the coffee table, Swift Heart pulled a video from her bag. "It's romance night in the Grumpy-Swift Heart house. And don't you give me that puppy-dog pout, you said any movie I wanted!"

While Grumpy put the video in the player, Swift Heart stared thoughtfully at her fiancé. She thought about how lucky she was to have seen through Grumpy's perpetually bad mood and found the thoughtful, loving bear underneath. More and more, the others were noticing how much more pleasant he was when she was around.

"Hello? Swift Heart? Sweetie? Care-a-Lot to Swift Heart!"

"Hmm? What?" Swift Heart snapped back to reality.

"I'd give anything to know what you were thinking about. I think that's the first time anyone's made goo-goo eyes like that at little ol' me."

Swift Heart was quick to reply. "I was thinking about what my uncle the White Rabbit said when he described how you look in the morning." She said in a deadpan tone. "Now get over here, smarty-pants!

"Right away, Bosslady!" Grumpy held the remote to his brow in a mock salute. After Grumpy settled down on the couch, Swift Heart snuggled up next to him and grabbed the remote. As she was pointing it though, an eruption of sound that would have put a car alarm to shame came from a tiny heart-shaped device on top of the television. Startled, Swift Heart dropped the remote, wondering if she had somehow turned on some hidden police siren.

"Don't worry," Grumpy said, trying desperately to hide his laughter. "It's only a mini-caring meter Bright Heart and I've been working on. Now for the next part. 3…2…1…Bingo!"

At "Bingo", the phone rang, as if on cue.

"Clever." Muttered Swift Heart, her heart still pounding, and her neck fur still standing straight up.

Grumpy picked up the phone, still smiling to the less-than-amused Swift Heart. "Grumpy here…Bedtime Bear, unless No-Heart has taken over the Hall of Hearts, can't it wait? Swift Heart and I were just about to have—What? No kidding? Well, I guess that's different. No, I guess she won't mind. Bye." Putting down the receiver, he turned toward his fiancé, who now had a look of disappointment and confusion on her face. "I'm sorry, Swift Heart," he grumbled, holding and kissing her before heading for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Grumpy was still grumbling as he approached the runway. "That bear must have the worst timing in all of Care-a-Lot. And why did he insist that Swift Heart couldn't come?"

His answer came in the form of a blue dog sitting ramrod straight in the driver's seat of a nearby cloud car.

"Greetings, Grumpy! How did the 'pout' work on Swift Heart?"

"She saw right through it, Loyal Heart." Grumpy sighed. Why him and not Swift Heart?

The white wolf stopped to catch her breath. He can't be dead, she thought. Her thoughts switched to the farmer. That human was different. I know he was. He wouldn't do that to us normally.

A battle raged in Nika's mind between the natural rage at watching her mate fall and her own natural need to forgive the human she had come to trust. She forced herself to remember the night when she alone came to that same old wooden fence for the first time, and had seen the human sitting on the front porch. Upon making eye contact, the human stood up. Nika's instinct had been to run, but she was more than surprised when he went inside and returned with a bowl of food, which he laid down in the grass several yards from the porch. She was even more surprised when she returned to the house with her pack, only to find several more bowls waiting for them. But her surprise was nothing to Kuma's, who had been less than happy about visiting "what was obviously a human trap". Now, as if fate were mocking her trust, the human had killed her mate, the one whom she had been trying so hard to convince that humans weren't all bad.

A shot rang out, and splinters flew from a nearby tree, snapping Nika out of her moment of mourning and self-pity. Instinct and adrenaline taking over, she broke into a sprint once again.

"You stay away from here, you filthy wolf!" she heard the human cry.

Even in a panic, the words still reached her heart, and broke it.

Finding the huge base of an uprooted tree, she hopped in the crater and hid in the shadows. She felt absolutely miserable. She had lost everything in one evening, and since she was hiding, she couldn't even howl to mourn the losses. Suddenly she remembered something her father had told her once, a bedtime story about a star she could sing to when the moon didn't want to help. She had kept track of that star all her life, and she knew exactly where it was tonight. Tonight, she had only one silent request.

Help me.

The star seemed to glow brighter for a second, then faded back to normal. As it did though, Nika herself started to glow. She could feel herself changing—her snout became shorter, her front paws became more like hands, and she wasn't her lean self anymore. I look like a stuffed animal! She thought. How on Earth is this gonna help me?

It was at that moment that a small white cloud descended from the sky. As if a small puffy white cloud moving in a downward spiral in the middle of a snowstorm wasn't weird enough, this one had pink wheels and headlights. And to top it all off, once it touched down, there were animals inside it! One looked like a bit like a wolf, except its ears drooped on either side of its head. The other was a bear, or at least a very small version of one, in a fancy black and white human costume.

"Get in!" The bear pleaded. Deciding that anything was better than getting shot at, she didn't protest as the bear rather harshly pulled her into the cloud. As the cloud ascended, she looked out over the forest. She could see the human following her tracks. As she watched him, she realized she felt no anger toward him. All she felt towards him was sorrow and pity. Her anger was reserved for the monsters that had changed him.

Whoever did this, I'll get them back for you, and my pack. I promise.

"Umm, thank you for rescuing me." Said Nika to the pair up front. Realizing what had just come out of her mouth, she covered her mouth in shock.

"Always a pleasure to help a member of the family." The bear replied. "And yes, you can speak the human's language now."

It was the floppy-eared wolf's turn to speak. "I'm Loyal Heart Dog, and my rather blunt friend here—he took one paw off the wheel to nudge him—is Grumpy Bear."

"Pleased to meet ya." Nika replied. Dog, hmm? So that's what floppy-eared wolves are called.

"So what's your name? I've never seen an all-white Cousin before."

"My name is Nika," She replied. "But why do you keep calling me your cousin?"

"Oh, I apologize, Nika," Grumpy began, "We'll get into the details once we're home, but here's the basic situation. That star you wished on tonight? That's the Great Wishing Star. It's what made me, Loyal Heart here, and all the other Care Bears and Cousins that you're about to meet. Looks like he chose you to be our newest cousin."

"Our job as Care Bears and Cousins is to help people to share their feelings, be happy, and pretty much get along with each other." Loyal Heart added. "It's the best job anyone could ask for. You'll see once we reach our home, Care-a-Lot. Oh, what do you know? We're here!"

Nika looked, but couldn't bring herself to trust her own eyes. Here in front of her, an entire human city sat on top of a cloud. Heart-shaped buildings were everywhere, and rainbows connected one cloud to another. All throughout, multicolored animals moved about. Blue ones. Green ones. Yellow ones. Now I know why seeing in color comes with the package.

As they landed, Nika could see that all the animals seemed to be herding toward the largest building. Loyal Heart, Grumpy and Nika followed the trail of animals to the massive front door, which of course was shaped like a giant heart.

Taking Nika's paw, Loyal Heart gestured toward the door.

"Welcome home, Nika." He said.