I HAVE CARS I HAVE CARS I HAVE CARS! OMG It's so awesome. Mater and the Ghostlight, if you've seen it, remember when Fillmore's putting away his fuel? My god, his face made me burst out laughing. X-D So, anyway, it's STORY TIME! Woo!

What else was he supposed to say? It did explain a hell of a lot. And he was happy because of that. Elle didn't leave him, he…

What did he do?

I died, she thought, he kept telling himself.

But wasn't it his own fault?

He didn't mean that it was his fault that he crashed; it was those other cars way back then, not him. Sure, he was in bad shape that day, but again, it wasn't his fault he crashed.

He was, in fact the one who left her.

I was such an idiot, I just assumed she left. As confused as he was, he was figuring out the answers to the questions that should've been answered over fifty years ago.

"Doc, you know, it's all Dina's fault. If weren't for that bi-"

"It's not her fault," he tried to assure the racecar. "It was mine."

Lightning froze. "What? It wasn't your fault, Doc. She, she convinced her that you were dead!"

"But I didn't come back."

"Didn't come back to what? Tell her you were still alive or something?"

Doc looked back down.

Finally, now Lightning got it. Again, he froze, but not exactly in shock. It was more in worry for Doc right now. Everything was starting to fall into place.

Sort of.

Not everything would ever fall into place. But for now, this much was good.

----------

"Yes, Lightning, I'm sure I'm gonna be okay. They aren't that bad."

"It's not them I'm worried about, it's you."

"Well, don't. I swear to god I'm going to be absolutely fine. For all we know, I could be better by the time you come back to Radiator Springs. Then we can celebrate your win and all that fun stuff."

"And then…"

"Yes, we'll get married. I know. Don't worry about me, babe. I love you."

"First time you've called me that."

"I thought you liked it when I randomly get sexy."

Lightning couldn't deny this. Whenever she showed her tattoo, something always went through Lightning's head. Something the tiniest bit dirty, that wouldn't be mentioned at this time, due to the fact this fan fiction would go up a rating. Even though he had to admit, that was his nature for any girl, but for Sally… it just blew his mind, to say the least. "…yeah…"

"Ha ha, you're so cute." Sally could tell that the second she said that, he would go blabbling on about how racecars are not cute. They can be hott, not cute. She never listened, though. It was something that she always teased him about, and she would probably never stop.

Even though it was just over a phone, Lightning, for the umpteenth time in his life, blushed about this. His face was getting hotter, and he mumbled "Sally, racecars aren't cute."

"HA! I knew you would say that!"

"I always say that, don't I?"

"I've heard it about five times this month. One time I didn't even say you were cute, and you just randomly started talking about that."

Lightning chuckled to himself. "Well, again, I hope they don't kill you."

"For god's sake, they won't! Alright?"

"I love you."

Sally's stomach fluttered with joy hearing that, and she smiled. "I love you. Bye."

"Bye."

Sally went back to her TV, making sure Lightning was driving as if the race was that day. It would, after all, help them in the future.

"Sally Carrera, right?" It was a male doctor, who seemed no less of a voice that she recognized. It might've been the doctor who tested on her before, but it didn't sound like it…

"Yeah, that's me."

"I see you haven't painted over that tattoo I gave you, what, two years ago?"

Sally's eyes shifted over to the ground, and they got wider and wider. It couldn't be. Not the person she was thinking of, not the guy who actually gave her the tattoo… "Jason?" Sally hesitated with this word. She hadn't spoken to him in about two years, not to mention that she didn't want to talk to him at all.

"I see you remember me, baby."

"Shut up," she said in disgust. He knew she was with Lightning, which was probably why he even thought twice about their relationship. "I'm not your baby."

"I'd think you'd want to be it, though. You know I still love you."

Jason was doing too much, and she wanted it to just stop. "You know I can't do this! I'm in love with somebody else, and he wouldn't leave me to save his life!"

"I left because you left me!"

"Are you saying you would rather have me DEAD? Because if I hadn't ran, I wouldn't be here!"

"That's leaving me to save your life! Did you not love me enough?"

Jason had gotten Sally into a little problem here. She did actually leave him to save her life, and maybe it was because of something she wanted to deny before, but that was okay. "Yeah. I didn't love you enough. That's it, isn't it?"

"You're kidding, right? I mean, seriously, I though you really would come back."

Sally took a deep breath and sighed. Jason was clueless, and she was finally seeing that. She was glad she'd left him in the end, and it was official. She didn't love him anymore. And god, did it feel good. "No. I would never come back."

----------

That phone call gave Lightning an extra urge to get out there and practice. "You're so cute," she'd said. He laughed to himself. Racecars aren't cute, they were hot. If a racecar was cute, than Sally was cute, and she was far from it.

Well, actually…

Sally was cute, in her way. She of course, was hot, but he never told her that to her face since the day he met her. It was kind of funny, actually…

"Kid, you racing, or what?"

Lightning turned around to see Doc standing at the door that separated him from the racetrack. It was weird how Doc was always there to interrupt something, good or bad, or maybe something that didn't even had a feeling, not until he arrived, at least. "Yeah, I'm racing, I was just talking to Sally."

"You really love her, don't you."

"And that's a surprise to you?" Lightning smirked to himself. "Since when are you so clueless? I mean, she's everything to me, and oddly enough, you still act like I'm still that kid I was a year ago!" Lightning just had to let out so much anger he had from Doc that had been held in him for about a year. "You're acting as if I don't really wanna marry, when the truth is, she's the reason I'm who I am! The reason you're even here, the reason you even know Elle still loves you! Sally is my LIFE, Doc!"

Shocked? That was an understatement. He was amazed by the kid's words. "How'd you get so smart?" he wanted to ask, but he didn't. He just stayed quiet. "Come on, you gotta practice, Lightning."

Lightning sighed. Had he just made that speech for nothing? "Fine," he mumbled, and nudged open the door to the racetrack.

----------

Lightning was rounding his last lap, heading for the finish line. He could smell the victory already. Not that you can actually smell victory, though.

"Alright, McQueen, pretend it's the Piston," said Doc into the headphones. He was still a little shaken by Lightning's little speech, so he didn't say much to him, but somehow, Lightning had gotten this far, being in first. Even though it was just practice, Doc knew he was right. If Lightning was gonna win that Cup, he was going to have to pretend it was now. He watched Lightning surge ahead, and finally, a football field away from the finish line.

But then he worried. If this was the real deal, he would be getting married. Or would he? He just couldn't think straight.

And then he slipped and crashed into the wall, cringing. If this was real, he would loose all chances of getting married. All chances.

Car after car passed him, and he finally moved across the finish line, in about fifth place. In this world, fifth place was last. And everybody knew that.

"That's enough practice for today," Doc said. He knew Lightning wasn't exactly at his best, and he didn't want to push the kid.

"Doc, I don't know if I can do this," said Lightning, a little light-headed. Nobody was as blinded by his emotions as him on that racetrack.

"Sure you can do it. The whole town has faith in you."

Lightning sighed as he slowed down and drove into his pit stop. "You sure?"

"The whole town and your fans."

With that, the former rookie smiled. He was happy that he just might be able to do this.

"BOO!"

"AH!" Lightning jumped and turned around to see somebody he never expected to see in a long time. He was shocked for a bit, but he quickly got back together. "Becky!"

"Ha ha," said the silver 2001 Corvette 1. "I knew my baby brother would miss me."

"Why the hell would I miss you?"

"Omigod, Lightning just said the h word…" the racecar's sister taunted.

"Shut up…" he said mockingly.

"Hey, I don't give a crap if you tell me to shut up or not. You're lucky you even have me."

"Why would I be lucky to have you?"

"Silly Lightning," Becky continued. "If it weren't for us, you'd just be gettin out of that foster home two years ago."

Lightning eyes went wide. Nobody knew about that, not even Sally. He leaned close to his sister. "Look, it's not my fault I'm adopted," he whispered. "And nobody knows."

Becky backed away from him and smiled. "Wait until I tell that little girlfriend of yours."

"NO!"

"She's gonna have to find out eventually."

"How do you even know about my girlfriend?"

"As if you haven't been in every single magazine with that tow-truck. They mentioned that you'd said that some Sally girl was your boo."

"Who says boo anymore?"

"I just did to scare you."

"Besides that!"

"Who cares? Lightning, my cute little baby brother," Becky teased. "If you don't tell her, I will. End of story."

So, Sally official DOESN'T love Jason, Lightning's adopted, I love writing this story! He he, I love freaking you guys out.

I've been listening to Aly & AJ a LOT. Gah ha, random, yes:-p

If you believe in magic, go and give a review, whether if you like it or not, I'm not letting you choose. ;-)