A/N: Hello again! Just a quick note to clear up any confusion: All the words that are in italics are the thought streams of the characters. If there is a paragraph in italics then that is Cruz's diary entry. Hope that helps!

Shift Your Focus

Lightning

He was stunned to hear that Cruz thought she was a failure in his eyes. Sure he was disappointed that she lost the championship, but that didn't mean he was disappointed in who she was. He fought back some of his own tears.

"Cruz, you-"

Just as he was about to finish that statement, Mater busted the door down with a mountain of balloons following behind him. He struggled to get the balloons into the room because most of them got stuck in the doorway. Oh Mater! Lightning went over and grabbed one of Mater's front tires. They each pulled and pushed until both Mater and Lightning got buried under the massive spread of balloons on the floor.

Cruz

She was extremely confused as she saw the chaotic balloon mess in front of her hospital bed. She giggled uncontrollably at Lightning's frantic screaming as he struggled to rise out of the ocean of balloons. Mater immediately popped up out of the balloon pit and yelled, "Hey Cruz!" She just shook her body and laughed so hard.

"I see you're in a good mood. I got all these here balloons for ya', I hope I made ya' feel better!" Mater said as he popped some of the balloons on his way over to Cruz. McQueen finally got out of the crazy mess. He was gasping for air since he was under there for so long.

"Mater! Did you have to buy so many?" Lightning said as he spit some deflated balloons out of his mouth.

"Well shew, of course I did silly. I really want Cruz to get better! Heck we all do!" he said with a big grin.

"Awww thank you Mater I love them!" she said with a smile.

Her heart has never felt this warm. After she won the race in Florida, Lightning and the rest of the Radiator Springs townies just took her under their wing. Sally made her have her own Cozy Cone. Ramone gave her that new Dinoco paint job. Sarge and Fillmore kept her up to date with new training techniques and organic fuel. Guido and Luigi were the best pit crew a girl could ask for. Lizzy told her endless stories about her days with Stanley and even gave her some relationship advice. Mater was always a blast and is very fun to hang out with. The legends always came to visit. Flo even made a drink in her honor: the Crushin' Cruz Colada! With all the love she received from the townies, the greatest gift she ever got from Radiator Springs was the chance to have Lightning McQueen as her mentor and crew chief! She looked up to him for years and now she finally had her dream come true. The last thing that she wanted was for Lightning to move on to another rookie if she kept on losing.

It's almost as if Lightning read her mind, he calmly told Mater to give them some time alone.

"Sure thing buddy!" Mater said as he rushed out the room.

"POP! POP! POP!" went most of the balloons as Mater ran over them. They almost sounded like fireworks popping off into the air.

"Woops! Sorry bout that." Mater said as he left the room and closed the door.

Cruz and Lightning chuckled as they looked at all the balloons on the floor.

Lightning looked at Cruz with a serious face. She knew that he heard what she said earlier and wanted to talk about it.

"Wow. These balloons are so amazing! I mean look at all the colors!" she said, trying to stall the conversation.

"Cruz-"

"I mean just look at how many popped! All of that and they still look awesome!"

"Cruz."

"Seriously, I think he paid a lot of money for them. Just look at the-"

"Cruz!" he yelled.

That's it Cruz. There's no turning back now. Just kiss your crew chief goodbye.

Lightning

He didn't like this side of Cruz. She hasn't been this vulnerable since she told him about her racing dreams. Why was she so afraid to tell him how she felt now? Did he not make it clear to her that he was very proud to be her coach? He always knew that he had a hard time showing his emotions, so he made sure to tell her before and after every race that he was proud of her no matter what happens on the track. Did I not say it enough? Was I too hard on her during our last training session? Where did I go wrong? There was only one way to find out. He took a deep breath and began to ask her the million dollar question.

"Cruz, what did you just say?"

She looked confused. Oh great I lost her.

"Well I said Mater must've paid a lot of money for those-"

"No, no, no, I mean before Mater came in."

She looked down and moved her tires across the bed. He knew that she was nervous, but the truth had to come out.

"I said that I-I-"

She was choking on her tears. Water began to form in his own eyes. Come on Lightning, you can't let her see you cry.

"It's okay Cruz, just let it out," he said as he put his tire on her side.

She finally burst: "I'M AN EMBARRASSMENT TO YOU! There I said it," she said as she wiped her tears.

What?! Is that how I made her feel?

Choking on his own tears, he cleared his throat and asked, "Cruz what makes you think that?"

"Remember Willie's Butte the other day?" she asked as more tears came.

How could he forget. They were running laps around Willie's Butte preparing for the Dinoco 400 (the race that she later lost to Jackson). All the townspeople came out to support them as they were training. They had already done five laps. Lightning was ready to cross the finish line for the last time, when Cruz decided to take another lap. He stopped after he crossed the finish line at the end of the fifth lap, but Cruz kept going. He was trying to warn her that she was going too fast and would hurt herself if she didn't stop, but she couldn't hear him.

Cruz

Her mind flashed back to that day. She sped away from McQueen just to show him that she had what it took to defend her title as champion. She was a bit exhausted from doing five laps on that large desert terrain, but she wanted to go the extra mile just to make Lightning proud. He's gonna be so impressed when I cross that finish line! As she made the turn on that steep cliff, she caught a glimpse of Lightning's worried face. Everyone was cheering, encouraging her to finish the lap, but he didn't. He doesn't think I can make it. He doesn't believe in me. She stared at him for too long.

Lightning

His engine raced with fear. She was drifting a little too high on that turn near the cliff's edge. Come on Cruz, you can do it! Just don't fall off. The worry was all over his face. They both made direct eye contact and then she spun out of control. He saw her spin off of the road and into the huge patch of cacti. Her scream filled the air as everyone rushed over to make sure that she was okay. Of course, Lightning was the first one there.

Cruz

The spikes of the cacti had little to no effect on her. Her engine was so hot that it began to smoke. She wiggled violently around in the cactus patch, trying to get out of it. Her engine was revving up in the worst way. She began to pant heavily as her wheels moved faster and faster.

"Cruz hang on! We're gonna get some help!" Lightning said.

His voice was fading from her memory. The world got so blurry that it started to spin. She blacked out. She stayed in the hospital for weeks after that incident. She didn't get a chance to train for the Dinoco 400. Lightning urged her not to go, but she wanted to go anyway. She wanted to show Lightning that she had what it took to beat Jackson again. She didn't even give herself enough time to recover from her panic attack. She did the race in a weak state, causing her to lose to Jackson in the last lap. When the reporters crowded around her, screaming their questions and harsh comments, all her fears came to life.

Lightning

He saw her being attacked by the press. The camera's flashes were blinding her and the questions were confusing her. Without hesitation, he rushed in to save his girl from further harm.

"That's it guys, no more questions!" he snapped as he dragged Cruz away by the tire.

It was too late. The heavy breathing came back. He didn't even feel her tire slipping out of his. All he was concerned about was getting her to Mack so they can drive away from the nonsense. It was no use, she didn't make it. She panted rapidly and she passed out again on the field in the outskirts of the track.