"Claire! Come down dear! I have a surprise for you!" Luna called from downstairs. Claire sleepily rubbed her eyes, and slowly walked down the stairs in her pyjamas.
"What is it Aunt Luna? It's 6:00 in the morning, et c'est samedi." Claire complained.
"Look what I made for you!" Luna sang as she pointed to floor. Claire stumbled over and looked down.
"Wh-What is it?" Claire asked. She blinked and looked closely at the large paper.
"A cheering sign! So you can cheer for Anika-chan today. See, it's perfect! Read it!" Luna laughed.
"'Go, Go, Gagner! Perdu pas!' It says. Aunt Luna, you know tout le monde ici don't know le Français." Claire read. She sighed as Luna gave her a surprised look.
"I keep forgetting we aren't in Montreal anymore. I'm still not used to being in Shinataka. Speaking of Montreal, your friend Angela called. You know, that one you used to play with as a little girl. Said she wanted to see how you are after so long." Luna said.
"Really? Angie called? After Anika's game I'll have to call her." Claire said as she walked back upstairs.
(OP-Futari wa Tomodachi! Futari wa Pretty Cure!)
"Ok! Line up! Today is our big competition! We can't lose for nothing! It's all for this! Remember all those practices? All that was for this game! We-" Anika started.
"Shut up already! You always drone on when it comes to big games." Rori interrupted.
"Fine. Go and do drills. Practice our technique, but the second you see a player from Saigo, you drop everything. Got it?" Anika said as she jogged away from the line.
"Yes Captain." The team said as they broke up and ran out into the field.
"Hey Claire! You're here! Didn't Luna say she was making you a sign?" Anika said as she ran up and hopped over the wall in front of the bench. Claire sat down laughing.
"She did, but it was all in French. You couldn't understand it unless you are fluent. I left it there. Even with her begging." Claire explained.
"She's funny. You're lucky to have someone like that. All I got are serious parents and a snobby sister." Anika said. Claire frowned.
"Anika, you are very fortunate to have your mother, father and sister with you. Regardless of how they act. They love you." Claire told her. Anika looked at her with a confused face.
"Anyways, good luck today. I know you can do it." Claire said as her smile returned.
"Yeah! We are going to beat them for sure!" Anika cheered.
"CAPTAIN! Come quick!" Emma called out urgently. Anika and Claire ran down to the field.
"What happened? Tell me!" Anika demanded.
"I…I was running with the ball, and I tripped. I twisted my foot." Ashley whispered.
"Let me see." Claire said as she bent down and felt Ashley's ankle.
"Does this hurt?" She asked as she gave it a small squeeze. Ashley nodded quickly.
"I think she sprained it. She can't play." Claire told Anika. She nodded.
"Captain! We can't play one player short." Lauren said.
"You are right. Maybe." Anika smiled evilly at Claire.
"What? Oh no. I can't!" Claire said as she realized what Anika meant.
"Of course! Please Claire. Please, please, please, please, please!" Anika whined.
"Fine. I guess, but I've never played before. I have watched your practices though, so I should be able to pick up your methods." Claire said as she thought.
"Ok then. Grab a uniform. ASAP! Come on let's go!" Anika commanded. Claire laughed as she ran over to the bench.
"Show time! Here comes the other team!" Anika called as the team stood straight in a line.
"Ok. This is a big game, and they are pretty impressive. So toughen up, and let's beat them good!" Anika yelled.
"Anika isn't very good at pep talks, but I can see the energy she puts into it…" Claire thought. She watched Anika walk back and forth and look each person up and down.
"Hey! You. Captain Hibani of the Shinzoo losers." A snarly voice called from behind Anika.
"Who do you think you are?" Anika said as she turned to face the tall team.
"I'm captain of the winning team. Migaka Mayu!" The girl laughed coldly.
"Oh yeah! Well-" Anika puffed up and started towards her. Claire grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"We don't need to argue." Claire said as she looked Anika in the eye.
"But… but! Aw… Whatever." Anika grumbled as she turned back to face the snobby girl.
"You better have train those girls good, because they're gonna need to be good just to watch us." Anika said to the Mayu in a low voice as she shook her hand.
"Ha!" Mayu said as she spun around and stomped off.
"I hate people like that. But it's good that I'm angry. I can focus better. Reform that line!" Anika demanded as she paced in front of the line of teammates once again.
"Tairei and Kashikoi, defense. Yamato, goalie. Mizutama and I will take the front and the rest of you make yourselves useful in between that. GO!" Anika ordered as she pointed to each person and spot. They each nodded quickly and ran off.
As Claire ran out to the middle of the field, she faced a girl running next to her.
"Is Anika always like this during a game?" Claire asked. She nodded.
"Worse if we lose." She told Claire as she stopped and stood still.
Claire laughed, but the girl, Lauren, didn't.
"Wow. She must be serious. What a captain." Claire whispered to herself as Anika jogged up to a few meters away.
"It'll be okay Claire. No big deal. Just focus and aim for the net." Anika whispered to Claire as three girls came up close and looked at them with a smile on their faces.
"A weak little girl like that ain't gonna win you anything." Mayu said as she flicked her hand at Claire. Anika's eyes narrowed. Claire just stood blankly with a frown.
"Claire! Come out here!" A young girl called out as she looked around.
"I don't want to go to Japan… Michelle… Please tell Mama and Papa to let me stay here!" A small voice cried from under a desk, thick with tears.
"Claire… You know they won't change their minds. Think about what it'll be like living with Aunt Luna." The girl laughed.
"But people will make fun of me! I'll be the only different one because I'm French…" The small voice said. The girl bent down and pushed a chair out of the way. She looked straight at a smaller girl who was curled up under a desk.
"Michelle! Go away! You don't get it!" The littler girl cried as she turned away from the older one.
"Claire… No one will pick on you. Even if they do, don't think about it like being ashamed. Think about it like being better, special." The older girl smiled.
"You don't know anything!" The littler girl whined.
"I do. I'm going away to school in Toronto, and there are a lot of different people there. I'm scared too. Most of them speak only English, so I'm terrified about if I speak French to them." The older girl said. The younger one looked up with a hopeful look.
"Will they really think I'm special?" She asked hesitantly as she crawled out from under the desk.
"Of course! And you're a smart kid too. That's awesome!" The older one said as she smiled at the little girl.
"Thanks Michelle! I'll miss you when I'm with Auntie Luna." She said as she hugged the older girl.
Claire blinked and refocused on the three girls smirking at her.
"I'm special. I'm not weak." Claire repeated in her mind.
"Ok. Time to start." The referee said as she blew her whistle and dropped the ball, running away quickly.
Anika kicked for the ball, but Mayu snatched it out, leaving her to stumble as Mayu whipped past her.
"Rori! Emma! Block 'em!" Anika called out as she ran forward.
"I can do this." Claire whispered to herself as she ran forward, past Anika and most of the other players. As Mayu went to kick the ball into the net, Claire swiped under her and spun the ball around. Mayu fell on her face. Claire kicked the ball to Anika, who bounced it and dashed up the field. She shot for the net, and it was about to go in as a silhouette formed in front of the net. The black faded to reveal Muzu. He caught the ball in his hand and popped. He smiled as Anika and Claire watched the players look up.
A dark cloud formed above, and rocks started falling from it.
"ROCKS? Seriously?" Anika whined. Claire rolled her eyes and grabbed Anika's arm. She dragged her off to the side without any eyes following.
"Muzu is a…serious pain." Anika said as she rephrased her sentence. She grabbed the Heart Charm out of her pocket. Claire did the same.
"Pretty Cure Miracle Eclipse!"
"The flaming heart of the sun, Cure Blaze!" said Anika.
"The shining heart of the moon, Cure Star!" said Claire.
"Together we are Pretty Cure!" they both said.
"With the power of light," said Cure Blaze.
"And the shine of our hearts," said Cure Star.
"We will restore the power of hope!" they both finished.
"Let's go Muzu! Nobody drops rocks on my game!" Cure Blaze laughed as she and Cure Star ran across the field.
"So you show yourselves. This is the end for one of us, and that one is you." Muzu said as he charged like an angry bull.
"Hey! In case you don't know, we are in JA-freaking-PAN! Not Spain! Stop with the bull." Cure Blaze said as Muzu charged.
"That's it. Star, try to deal with the rocks, I'll deal with this dude." Cure Blaze said as Cure Star nodded hesitantly and walked away.
"I wonder why Blaze always takes the bigger thing on herself." Cure Star thought. She leaped into the air and knocked some rocks out of the field.
"What the heck is going on here? What's happening here?" Mayu asked from the middle of the field. She looked up to see a giant rock fall in her direction. Cure Star noticed and jumped over her, hitting the rock straight on. She fell to the ground with the cracked crumbs of the rock.
"Oh my god!" Mayu said as she looked at Cure Star. She stood up slowly and brushed herself.
"How could you take a hit like that?" Mayu asked as she stared wide mouthed at Cure Star.
"Hmm? You're welcome by the way." Cure Star said as she went to return to Cure Blaze. She paused and turned back to Mayu.
"See? I'm not weak." She said as she left a confused girl in the middle of the field.
"You are no match for me with your petty flames!" Muzu yelled as he slammed Cure Blaze onto the ground.
"Then how about a little star power?" Cure Star laughed as she jumped over top of Muzu.
"Power of the moon! Heart of Shine! Heart Moonlight!" Cure Star yelled as the heart of quintessence flew from her hands and wrapped around Muzu. He growled and broke free.
"Don't you get it? You are no match for the Dark Reign. We are much stronger than you. Just give up already. Make my life easier." Muzu told the two.
"Why would we do that? No matter how weak we may be, we aren't just going to stand aside while you destroy everything." Cure Star shook her head.
"What pointlessness." Muzu snorted.
"If you don't understand that, then you really are stupid." Cure Star said as she held out her hand to Cure Blaze. She smiled.
Cure Blaze slapped her hand against Cure Star's and winked.
"This is it." They said together.
"Heart of the Sun, Flame!" said Cure Blaze as she drew half a heart with her free hand.
"Heart of the Moon, Shine!" said Cure Star as she drew the other half of the heart with her free hand.
"The heart of the sun," said Cure Blaze.
"And the heart of the moon," said Cure Star.
"Will eclipse the darkness!" they both said, freeing their hands, and pulling those arms back.
"Pretty Cure Heart Eclipse!" they yelled, pushing their arms out toward the heart.
The heart exploded with light and wrapped around and around Muzu. He struggled but couldn't fight it as the red and blue lights enveloped him. He yelled angrily as the light tightened and disappeared. In his place was a yellow crystal. Cure Star bent and picked it up.
"I guess that's the end of Muzu the idiot." Cure Blaze said as she looked at the Yellow Rainbow Heart.
"Yeah, but I don't think it's the end of the Dark Reign." Cure Star said as they untransformed and player started to return to the field.
"Ok, although we had a little interruption, we are still going to do this right." Anika said as she spoke from the middle of a circle.
"Same places. Go!" She called out as she ran backwards out to the middle of the field.
The referee dropped the ball in the middle of Anika and Mayu, and blew her whistle. She jogged out again, and Anika pulled the ball out from under Mayu. She motioned for three of her teammates and Claire to follow her up the field.
"I'm going to get it this time!" Anika said as she ran up and kicked the ball towards the net. Out of nowhere, Mayu appeared and knocked it away with her head. It flew in Claire's direction, and she knew what she had to do.
Claire ran forward through the players. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Like Michelle taught me." Claire said to herself as she pressed down on her hands and flung her feet in the direction of the soccer ball. It smacked against her foot and spun around instantly. It shot across the field, and straight for the net, right above the goalie's head.
"Goal!" Anika shouted excitedly as the ball bounced off the back of the net and rolled out under the goalie's feet.
The referee blew her whistle and the two teams gathered. Everyone on the Shinzoo team surrounded Claire and swarmed her over to the sidelines.
"Never would have guessed you could do something like that Mizutama."
"Wow! That was awesome!"
"You'd be great on the team!"
"Great job Claire! You're smart and fast."
Claire nodded and smiled and squeezed her way out of the crowd.
"Ma belle Claire! C'est bon!" A familiar voice cheered as Claire looked away from the team.
"Aunt Luna? Why're you here?" Claire asked as Luna hugged her.
"When you left without the sign, I assumed you forgot it. So I decided to come and bring it to you. I watched the end of the game. I love what you did. Did Michelle teach you that?" Luna asked as Claire grabbed her clothes.
"She did. When she was practicing gymnastics once." Claire nodded as she walked off with her aunt.
(ED- Zutto, Zutto Ne?)