A/N: New Chapter for the New Year! I hope you guys enjoy it, also the italics are the character's thoughts and the bold and the italic text indicates a flashback.

The Dilemma (Part 2)

Lightning

The sun glistened in the desert sky as the townies enjoyed their morning in Radiator Springs. While everyone gathered at Flo's to savor their quarts of oil, Cruz was nowhere to be found. She was parked behind the starting line at Willy's Butte, losing herself in a deep slumber. Her snoring echoed throughout the canyon while Lightning, Sheriff, Luigi, and Guido made their way to the track. They could hear Cruz's snores from a mile away. Lightning stopped abruptly, causing the others to pile up behind him.

"Did you guys hear that?" he asked, referring to the loud snoring.

"Yeah, it sounds like someone's got a busted carburetor or somethin'," Sheriff said as he grimaced at the sound.

"It sounds like snoring to me. Loud snoring at that," Lightning said as he drove closer to the edge of the canyon wall.

Sure enough, the gang came across a snoring Cruz at the starting line of the track. Lightning's eyes widened as he drove over to meet his drowsy mentee. He stared at her for a few seconds before gently nudging her fender with his tire.

"Hey Cruz, it's time to wake up," Lightning said in a sing-song tone as he continued to nudge her fender.

"Are you serious?! She's never gonna wake up with you cuddlin' her like that," Sheriff said as his mustache twitched. "Here, let me try," he said as he blew his horn.

The piercing sound of Sheriff's horn was enough to make the others jump in fear while Cruz woke up from her siesta.

"Ahh! What's going on?!" Cruz screamed as she frantically looked around at the group of cars before her.

"See?" Sheriff said with a wink.

"Cruz, are you okay?" Lightning asked in a gentle tone.

Cruz

She blinked slowly as she scanned the faces that were in front of her. Sheriff had the same stone cold, no-nonsense facial expression as always. Luigi and Guido kept staring at each other with confusion while Lightning stared at her with his gentle, blue eyes. She could see that his demeanor was overwhelmed with worry. With that, she stood firmly on her wheels attempting to mask her fatigue.

"I'm fine, Mr. McQueen. You guys were taking forever to get here so I decided to get some shut-eye," she said with a skittish smile.

Lightning eyed her suspiciously. He could see the weariness in her eyes. The treads on her tires were worn out, the dust from the track settled in her fenders, and the sound of her engine was fading out.

"Why don't you take the day off and get some rest?" he offered.

"What? No! I want to do some training. The race is in two days, Mr. McQueen. I can't afford to take a day off," she said as she begged for Lightning to give her another chance.

Lightning sighed. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. McQueen, I'm fine. If it makes you feel better, why don't you take a lap with me?"

Lightning gave her a modest smile. "Alright, let's do this," he said as they both lined up behind the starting point.

Luigi stood in front of them, waving his green flag with glee. Lightning's engine roared with the luscious sound of American V8 horsepower. Cruz's engine stammered as the sound dissolved into the air.

"On your mark...get set… uno for the money, due for the show, tre to get ready and quattro to… GO!" Luigi cheered.

Lightning took off from the starting line, leaving Cruz in the dust. She slowly made her way over the line and dozed off in the middle of the track. She started snoring loudly as her drowsiness took over.

Lightning

He was far ahead of Cruz. He entered into every turn with ease (given his years of experience on the track). He glanced at his left side to see if Cruz was driving alongside him. Once he realized that Cruz wasn't even close to his bumper, he hit the brakes and came to a full stop on the other end of the track. He surveyed the area, but there was no sign of Cruz. He eventually heard her snores, rolled his eyes, and made his way back to the starting line. He drove up next to Cruz and started to stare at her.

Sheriff drove over to the area. "Do you need me to-"

"Nope, I got it," Lightning said as he revved his engine.

"Ahh!" Cruz screamed as she woke up from her slumber.

"Cruz, what happened back there? I thought we were doing this lap together," he said in a flustered tone.

"Wait, didn't I cross the starting line?" Cruz asked with a yawn.

"Yeah you crossed the line but you didn't go any further than that," Lightning explained matter-of-factly.

"Oh sorry, Mr. McQueen. Can we try again?" she asked as she gave another long yawn.

Is she serious? That's it! Something has to be done about this.

Suddenly, Lightning's face lit up as if he was having an epiphany. "You know, I think you could use some new tires," he said with a grin.

Cruz stretched out her axles to examine each of her front tires. She had to admit that they did look very tattered. She could see all the dust and grime that was stuck between her treads.

"I guess you're right," she sighed in defeat.

"Okay then, meet me at Luigi's and we'll get you some tires. This one's on me," Lightning said with a wink as he and the others drove back to the town.

Cruz

After a few minutes of struggling to get up the canyon wall and into the town, Cruz finally made it to Luigi's tire shop (or casa della tires). Lightning, Luigi, and Guido were in the shop waiting for her to arrive.

"Ay signorina, what-a took you so long?" Luigi asked as he gave Cruz a worried look.

"Uh, I was coming, I just-" a loud, lengthy yawn interrupted her explanation.

The trio stared at her in bewilderment. They could see that Cruz was desperately trying to battle her fatigue. Her eyes were blinking rapidly as she fought to stay awake.

"Uh Cruz, why don't you come over here so you can get your tires," Lightning said as he helped Cruz get to the tire changing area.

When she approached the tire changing platform, Luigi pressed the button which brought her up from the floor. Guido quickly removed all four of her tires. She patiently waited for him to put on her new set of tires, but everyone remained stationary.

"Uh, Mr. McQueen, do I get to choose my new tires or are you going to choose them for me?" Cruz asked as she cocked a brow at the trio.

Lightning, Luigi, and Guido just stared at each other in silence.

What's going on here?

"No, Cruz," Lightning finally said.

Cruz gave him a confused look. "Um, do you mean 'no' as in you're not choosing my tires or-"

"Cruz, you're not getting any tires. I just said that to get you in here," he said in a tender tone.

"What?"

"Cruz, you need to get some rest. You're going burn yourself out if you don't take it easy."

Cruz's eyes widened. "So you're going to leave me here?" she asked as she finally realized what was going on.

"Just until you get some sleep," Lightning said with a meager smile.

"I am well-rested!" Cruz protested as she yawned again.

Lightning narrowed his eyes at her. "I mean it Cruz, you need to go to sleep," he said in a stern tone.

"Mr. McQueen, can I please have my tires back? I promise I'll go to sleep after I finish training."

Lightning chuckled quietly to himself. "Cruz, you fell asleep during the training session."

"But the race is in two days and-"

"Up, bup, bup! I don't want to hear anything about the race. Right now, I need you to clear your mind and get some sleep."

"But-"

"Bye Cruz, I'll be back in a few," Lightning said with a wink as he turned to leave the shop.

Cruz's mouth flew open when she heard his snarky remark. "Not funny, Mr. McQueen!" she yelled as Lightning continued to laugh.

Luigi and Guido followed behind Lightning.

"Hey! Where are you guys going? Can you help me get down from here?" Cruz begged.

"Non si puo 'fare (No can do)," Guido said as he crossed his forks.

"Sorry, signorina, boss' orders," Luigi said with a frown.

"Hey, I'm your boss too!" Cruz whined.

"But he was the boss first, bye bye," Luigi said as he and Guido left the shop.

Cruz sighed in defeat. She knew that there was no way out of this situation. The drowsiness weighed heavily on her body. Her eyes began to close as she kept blinking to stay awake.

Come on, Cruz. You have to fight this. Just try to stay awake.

Her efforts were futile. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, the fatigue won the battle. She finally surrendered and fell into a deep sleep.

A few hours later…

Cruz opened her eyes slowly. She was back in her cone with her tires on. The garage door was open, letting in a cool, summer breeze. Cruz closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief once she felt the air flow over her hood.

"Oh, you're awake," a familiar voice said.

Cruz's eyes shot open as she saw her mentor drive up to the entrance of her cone.

"Hi, Mr. McQueen," she whispered.

"How do you feel now?"

"Better, much better," she said with a weak smile.

"I hope you don't mind, I kept the door open so that I could check on you," Lightning explained as he saw Cruz exit through the open garage door.

"That's fine, Mr. McQueen. Thanks for the nap," she said, giving him a soft chuckle.

"You're welcome," he said with a warm smile.

Lightning

He could see that Cruz had a lot on her mind. She was in a daze. Although she just awoke from her slumber, he knew that she wanted to tell him something.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, referring to her blank expression.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," she said with a nervous smile.

"Come on, talk to me. Tell me what's on your mind."

Cruz sighed. "Remember that challenge I gave myself a few days ago, you know, the one where I had to drive around Willy's Butte in the opposite direction?"

"Yeah," Lightning said as he tried to follow along.

"Well, I was up for the past few nights, working on that stupid turn," Cruz said as she struggled to make eye contact with her mentor.

Lightning smiled. "I figured."

"So, you knew?"

"Cruz, I used to do the same thing when I was training with Doc."

Cruz looked up at him with anticipation. "You did?"

"We were training at Willy's Butte for the Dinoco Light 350 in Motor City. Doc and I were just finishing our twentieth lap, but I wanted to go around a few more times."

"Alright, hot rod, let's take a little break," Doc said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Come on, Doc, I think we can do a few more," Lightning said as he rushed over to the starting line.

"I like your enthusiasm, son, but there's nothing wrong with taking a break."

"Ah, breaks are for losers. Besides, I need all the practice I can get for that race coming up."

"Son, that race is in a few days-"

"I have to practice Doc, or else I'm going to lose!" Lightning yelled.

Doc shook his hood. "Whoa there, hot rod. You need to- how do you young kids say it- oh yeah, chill. You need to chill," he said in a stern tone.

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Chilling is for the dead," he mumbled to himself.

"I heard that!" Doc snapped.

"Sorry Doc, I just want to do a few more laps," Lightning said in a soft tone.

"Why are you doing this, hot rod? One little break won't kill ya'," Doc said as he drove over to Lightning at the starting line.

Lightning sighed. "I have to win this race. All I want to do is make you proud."

"In that moment, Doc realized that I was pushing myself just to gain his approval."

Cruz

She looked down at the ground, knowing that she was struggling with the same dilemma.

Lightning looked at her with compassion. "Cruz, Doc told me something that day which I should've told you a long time ago: you don't have to prove your worth to me by winning races. I know it's an exhilarating feeling when you cross the finish line and take home that trophy, but you have to remember that my view of you will never change. No matter how many times you win or lose, I will always be proud of you."

Deep down inside, Cruz knew that Lightning was telling the truth, but her insecurities overwhelmed her.

"But, don't you get disappointed when I lose? Just look at my number! I have the same number as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet! He holds the record for having the most wins in a single season, and you are the Fabulous Lightning McQueen! You're the seven-time Piston Cup champion. You guys created a legacy for me to uphold. Sometimes I feel like I just don't measure up," she said with a frown.

"Cruz, you shouldn't put that much pressure on yourself. I didn't give you Doc's number because I wanted you to continue some legacy, I gave you his number because I saw the potential in you. No one is perfect, Cruz, not even me. Do you know how many times I messed up on that second turn? I've fallen into cactus patches more times than I can count!"

Cruz laughed.

"I didn't win every race and I'm sure Doc had his moments of failure too. Cruz, I'm not asking you to be perfect, all I want is for you to do your best. If your best is second or third place, I want you to celebrate that. You're doing great, kiddo. You need to start giving yourself more credit."

Cruz pondered her mentor's words. Of course, she knew all of this, but knowing something and believing it are two different things.

"You're right, Mr. McQueen. Maybe I need to be more confident in myself," she said with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, we can work on that," Lightning said with a warm smile.

"Yeah, I guess we can." she beamed.

"Let's go over to Flo's and get you something to drink, you've earned it."

"Now, are we really going to get drinks or are you going to play another trick on me?" Cruz asked with a sly smile.

Lightning laughed. "Don't try me, Cruz," he said as they both burst into laughter.