A/N: For this chapter, I'm just going to assume that the Cars universe has the same food as us (I'm not making them be human beings, they are still cars but with human things). Also, I might add some rooms to the Cozy Cone Motel just to fit the story line. Just an FYI.

Cold Confessions (Part 1)

Cruz

It was a beautiful morning in Radiator Springs. It was still and tranquil in the town as the sun began to rise. The alarm was buzzing loudly as Cruz sprang out of bed. She pounded the button to stop the cone shaped clock and scrambled to brush her teeth and inflate her tires. Before she left to start her day, she stopped in front of a mirror and flashed a big smile.

"Today's the day Cruz! The day to finally get back to training!" she said to her reflection as she sped out of her cone.

Lightning

"Good morning Stickers!" Sally said as she caught a glimpse of an exhausted McQueen.

"Mornin' Sal. Something smells good!" he said as he made his way over to the stove where Sally was making breakfast.

"Yeah, this is Cruz's first breakfast since she's been home. I wanted to make it special ya' know?" she said as she gave him a kiss on his front bumper.

"Well if you made it, it's sure to be more than special," he said as he returned the kiss on her side.

"Nice try but your corny quips won't make me move any faster. You still have to wait till everything is ready."

"But I'm starving!" Lightning groaned.

"Sorry sweetie, you can't rush perfection," she said with a grin.

"I guess not," he said with a pout.

"Don't worry, it will be ready in a few minutes. So, what's been going on with you? Looks like you're thinking really hard about something," she said turning from the stove and gazing at his disassociated face.

"Huh? Oh, I just can't get over what Cruz said to me yesterday."

"Well aren't you going to tell me what she said?"

"Okay, I could be wrong but this is what I heard."

"Uh huh..."

"She called me... dad," Lightning said as he stared at Sally.

Sally gave him a blank expression.

"What?" he said in confusion. He definitely imagined his girlfriend having a different reaction to this news.

"Are you sure she called you that?" Sally said with a smirk on her face.

"That's what I heard."

"Did you ask her about it?"

"Yeah and all she did was drive away," he said as he looked down at the floor.

"I think that's all the proof you need. Don't worry about it, this means that you're doing something right," Sally said as she rested her tire on his side.

Suddenly, the timer started to ring. "Oooh! Food's ready," Sally said as she dashed back over to the stove.

Finally!

Sally came back to the dining table and began to set up the plates and dish sets.

"Need some help?" Lightning asked, seeing her struggle to put some of the dishes on the table.

"Yeah that would be nice," she said as they both continued to place the food on the table.

The table was finally set and the food was piping hot. Lightning's mouth began to water as he stared at all the eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and pancakes that were on the table. When Sally went back into the kitchen to get the drinks, he tried to sneak a piece of bacon with his front tire. He kept glancing over at the kitchen door to see when Sally would come back. Little beads of sweat formed on his windshield as he inched his tire closer to the bacon. Just when he was about to reach for it, he felt a hard slap on his tire.

"Ow!" he screamed as he glared at an angry Sally.

"You know better Stickers, we have to wait for Cruz," Sally said as she rested the pitcher of orange juice on the table.

"What's taking her so long?"

Cruz

It's as if she heard Lightning's complaint. As soon as he said that, Cruz zoomed into the dining room.

"So...sorry...I'm late. Was... trying to get some... flowers from Fillmore for the...table," she said, trying to catch her breath.

She placed the crumpled, yellow flowers (with dirt still on them at the roots) into the empty vase on the table. Everyone grimaced at the sight of the withered flowers.

Aww man. Some centerpiece I found.

"I'm sorry. I was in a rush," Cruz said with a sheepish smile.

"That's alright. It's better than the ones Stickers found the other day, with bees flying around them," Sally said as she glared at Lightning.

"What? It was short notice! Anyway, she's here so let's eat!" Lightning said as he attempted to grab the plate of bacon.

"Excuse me, but we have to say grace first," Sally said as Lightning put the plate back down on the table.

"Can I say grace?" Cruz asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Sally said.

"Um, thank you Lord for this food and I pray that it would be great. Amen."

"AMEN!" Lightning yelled as he grabbed the plate of bacon again.

Cruz quickly piled her plate with every piece of food that was on the table. She then shoved all the food from her plate into her mouth like a ravenous wolf that didn't eat for weeks. Both Lightning and Sally looked at her in shock. They each exchanged worried looks as they witnessed Cruz's savage eating habits.

"Cruz hun, you need to slow down!" Sally warned.

"I thought I was hungry!" Lightning said as he continued to stare at Cruz.

"Honey there's plenty more where that came from. I knew that you could use some good food after the stuff they were feeding you at the hospital. I made more than enough," Sally said.

"That's alright Ms. Sally. I wanted to hurry and eat so I could start training," Cruz said as she shoved more eggs into her mouth.

"Training?" Sally asked, giving Cruz a confused look.

"Yup. I want to get a head start. The new season starts next week."

Sally looked over at Lightning with a stern stare. He continued to eat even though an awkward silence fell over all of them.

"Okay... this is kind of awkward, but I gotta go. See you at the track Mr. McQueen, don't take too long!" Cruz said as she drove out of the Cozy Cone Motel.

Lightning

Both Sally and Lightning waited till Cruz was completely gone. They waited until they heard the door close behind her. Sally turned to Lightning and gave him a death glare.

Don't give me that look Sal. Please stop staring at me like that.

The silence continued to rest between them. They both shared intense stares with each other until Lightning broke the silence:

"Look, I know what you're going to say. I just didn't think it was the right time to tell her."

"Well it's now or never. Now would be the best time. She already thinks that she's racing for the season and you and I both know that she's not," Sally said in a serious tone.

Lightning sighed. "That's just it, I don't know how to tell her. You saw how excited she was, I just can't-"

"Alright. Here is where you need to put your tires down. She called you a dad, so now you have to start acting like one. You need to get down to that track and stop her from taking anymore laps."

"Sal, you know she won't listen to me."

"Wow. You've gotten soft on me Stickers. Yes Cruz will be upset, but she'll get over it. Don't be afraid of her. You definitely have a soft spot for her and she knows it too. Don't let her use that to her advantage. You need to start showing her some tough love. If you need me to come with you, I will be there."

"No Sal that's okay. You're right, I just don't want to add anymore stress on her. She's been through enough."

"Which is why you need to get some extra octane in your system and go tell her that she can't race in the next season. It's for her own well being. She needs to get better so she could actually race to her full potential. You need to let her know that, remind her of who she is and why she needs to rest up and get well."

Lightning swooned at Sally's words. Even though she was being stern with him, he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was to have such a strong, sassy, and smart woman in his life.

"Alright Sal, I'll tell her," he said with a warm smile.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am to be with such an amazing woman like you."

"Yes you are very lucky and don't you ever forget that," she said as she kissed Lightning again. "Now hurry up and go, she probably took three laps already!" Sally said as Lightning sped out of the room.

Cruz

She was back behind the starting line at Willie's Butte. Surprisingly, she didn't take the initiative in doing a few laps before Lightning arrived. She was terrified. Yesterday's lap was successful, but what if this lap wasn't as great as her last? What if yesterday's lap was a stroke of luck? What if she has a repeated incident today? All these questions and more were pressing in her mind. She finally decided to take a deep breath and just ease into the drive.

"Alright Cruz, here we go. Fluffy clouds, banana babes, and all that good stuff. You got this," she said to herself as she revved her engine. "Ready...set..."

"Cruz!" her mentor yelled as he made his way over to her. He drifted and stopped right in front of her on the track.

"There you are! I was starting to think that you weren't gonna show up!" she said with a big smile.

"Are you crazy?" Lightning asked as he tried to catch his breath.

"What do you mean? I'm ready to start training so I could get back to racing, and I can't start if you don't move out the way."

"Look Cruz, I'm not moving."

"Oh come on Mr. McQueen don't be ridiculous."

"No I mean it. You just got out of the hospital!"

"That's what you said yesterday and I turned out fine! Just one more lap."

"No! No more laps."

"But Mr. McQueen, how can I race if you won't let me train?"

Lightning sighed again. His face dropped and he didn't even try to make eye contact with Cruz.

Why does he have that look on his face? Am I not going to race? Nah! Mr. McQueen would never do that. Would he? There's only one way to find out:

"I am racing aren't I?" Cruz asked in a shaky tone.

Lightning didn't answer.

"Mr. McQueen, am I racing or not?" she asked again.

Lightning

I knew it. Look at her, I didn't even say anything yet and her smile is already disappearing! Maybe Sally's right, maybe I do have a soft spot for Cruz. Come on Lightning, snap out of it! You need to quit being soft and show her some tough love.

He took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy. He loved that sweet yellow car to death and making her upset after everything she went through was the last thing that he wanted to do.

"Cruz, I know that this is something that you don't want to hear, but you have to understand that this is for your own good."

Her facial expression was blank. Her smile left her face completely and her brown eyes dimmed in color. She was standing there, just waiting for him to tell her that she couldn't race for the next season. Lightning knew that she was waiting for the news so he wanted to break it to her gently.

"Cruz, you're not racing in the start of the season. I spoke to Tex the other day in person and asked if he could give you some time off to rest. He's allowing you to have 12 races off for the season and he's allowing you to come back later on. But for now, I'm not letting you race. It's too risky for your health."

Cruz

She continued to stare at him with a blank expression. He made that decision without me. To think he would at least tell me about something as important as this. I guess he doesn't think that I can make my own decisions.

"When did you talk to him about this?" she asked.

"Um the day that the doctor called and said that he wanted to release you."

"Oh. So, while I was in the hospital thinking about getting back to training, you went off on a long journey just to make a decision without even telling me anything?"

"Cruz that wasn't my intention and you know it. I just wanted to make sure that you were healthy."

She gave him a serious look. "Mr. McQueen, I know I can be stubborn. I know I can be a bit over dramatic at times. But there's one thing that I know I wouldn't do: and that's be unreasonable. Why didn't you just tell me that you were going to talk to Tex about my health? Why wouldn't you include me in something that important? Do I not have a say about my own life?"

"I didn't think that I needed your permission in order to do what's best for you. I'm your crew chief and I get to decide whether you race or not."

"Oh okay I get it now. You get the final say. So, since I can't train can I at least go take a drive?"

"Want me to come with you?"

"No. I think I'm fine by myself," she said as she drove away from the track.

A FEW HOURS LATER...

There was a lot of tension at the dinner table that evening. Lightning was chewing extra slowly while avoiding eye contact with Cruz and Sally. Cruz was just staring at her plate and picking at her food. Sally looked around at the two of them. She had never seen each of them so distant.

"So, how did everyone's day go? Mine was pretty busy. I had to sort files at the Cozy Cone and work on some cases but other than that my day was pretty good. What about you Cruz?" Sally asked.

"Huh? Oh my day was pretty okay. I got to take a drive out to Wheel Well and I enjoyed the view up there. What about you Mr. McQueen?" she asked, giving him a glare.

"I didn't really do much. I just hung out with Mater in tail light cavern and then we did some tractor tipping and that's about it," he said while he put more food in his mouth.

"It seems like everyone had a nice day. So, now that we got all that out of the way, can one of you tell me what happened between the two of you?" Sally said.

Cruz and Lightning stared at each other. None of them bothered to bring up the situation at Willie's Butte.

"Should I start calling names?" Sally asked with a grin.

"I'm just waiting until I have permission to speak since I can't make my own decisions anymore," Cruz said with a huff.

Lightning sighed in aggravation and rolled his eyes.

Lightning

You've got to be kidding me. Is she seriously doing this right now?

"Well, I for one don't see anything wrong with being concerned for your well being," he said as he chewed harder.

"And I don't see why you can't discuss my well being with me," Cruz said as she too began to chew harder.

"Oh I see, this about the racing decision with Tex am I right?" Sally asked.

"Yes Ms. Sally you are right. Apparently Mr. McQueen thought it was okay to go behind my back and make decisions for me."

"That is not true! I just wanted to make sure that you were okay!" he yelled.

"I understand that but you could've given me a heads up about it."

"Give me a break Cruz. You don't need to get all bent out of shape. I was just making sure that you weren't in harm's way."

"I can make my own choices for my future Mr. McQueen!"

"Oh, give the girl a few Piston Cups and she thinks that she can run her own life!" Lightning snapped.

"Lightning!" Sally exclaimed.

"Excuse me?! I can say the same thing about you: give the man a headset and he thinks he can control your entire life!" Cruz yelled back.

"Look Cruz I don't know what your problem is, but I've been in the racing business WAY longer than you have. I want to use my knowledge about the racing world to make sure that you stay on top. My goal is to invest the proper time and energy it takes to keep your legacy alive. I don't know if you see it that way, but I care about your racing career because I know that it's your dream. If you can't see that, then I must being doing a terrible job as your mentor."

The room got extremely quiet. You could hear the evening wind blowing through the trees.

"That's just it. You want to know what my problem is? I just want to make sure that I am worth the investment that you're putting in. I want to prove to you that I can take care of myself and not always rely on you to fix my problems. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. Thanks for the dinner Ms. Sally," Cruz said as she drove away from the table.

"Cruz-"

"Let her go. I think she needs to be alone for the night," Sally said as she stopped Lightning from going after Cruz.