Magic of Care-a-lot strikes back!

Disclaimer: I do not own: Slayers, Care Bears, Little House on the Prairie, Yugioh, Dragon Quest VIII, etc… on goes the "Where's Waldo?" game of crossovers I always play with my stories! Seriously…no harm intended.

Episode 2: Welcome back to Carealot! Oi vai…

A swirl of silver light enveloped him and when he opened his eyes again there was nothing but clouds and bright rainbows as far as the eye could see. He looked down and found himself surrounded by several colorful and fluffy little beings.

"Hello Zelgadis! Welcome back to Carealot! Where's Amelia?" Funshine Bear greeted cheerfully. Zel smirked and greeted the little bears amicably.

"She's the reason I'm here! I need to talk to True Heart and Noble Heart and if possible the entire Care family. It's an emergency!" Zel intoned seriously. Quickly the bears and their cousins rallied to gather as Funshine directed Zelgadis to the Hall of Hearts.

"You know the caring meter dropped a point but we couldn't figure out why! I wonder if it has anything to do with Amelia." Funshine speculated as he and Zel entered the Hall. Zel greeted True Heart and Noble Heart with a quick hug and waited for all the bears to arrive. As the bears and their cousins took their places around the heart-shaped table Zel explained the situation and as he explained the caring meter continued to drop causing the bears some alarm.

"We have to help Amelia!" Tender Heart exclaimed.

"…and it looks like it'll be a job for all of us!" Brave heart lion agreed. The family all expressed their concern for Amelia and quickly it was decided that they would all go back with Zelgadis. This was the part that was going to be difficult. Transporting Amelia every now and then wasn't really hard but all of them at the same time was going to be very different.

'No! It's no different! Only different in your mind!' lectured Brau.

'Free yourself of limitations…You must unlearn what you have learned!' added Golem with conviction. As an image of an unhappy Amelia forcing herself to smile and listen to morons like Charmles popped into Zel's mind his resolve hardened. He would not let anyone ruin her birthday!

"Ok here we go! Everyone hold hands…" he instructed as he took hold of True heart and Noble heart's hands. Everyone crowded around him including Grams bear and Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs. A swirl of silver light surrounded them all and when he opened his eyes he was back in the hallway in front of his room. A very surprised Seto looked around in confusion…

"Uh sir…" Seto began uncertainly as he took in the sight of the unusual Care Family. Zel held up his hand to stop him taking a moment to catch his breath. He then instructed him to go ahead and make sure the band stopped playing when he and the Care family arrived. Seto hurried ahead of them as Zel reached down to scoop up Baby Hugs and Baby Tugs.

"Alright everyone follow me!" Zel called out as everyone cheered…

To say that Amelia was unhappy was a severe understatement. Prince Gaston had gone on and on forever in a most arrogant and conceited manner about his hunting trophies and managed to step on everybody's toes with his ridiculously over blown self infatuation to the point were even Gourry was ready to pound him into dust! Occasionally she would look up to see if Mr. Zelgadis had arrived he was the one person she was most anxious to see but because of her current situation though she was afraid that Zelgadis would be offended at being the only one of her friends left out and not come at all.

"Enough's enough Amelia you have to let me fireball the next idiot!" Lina growled angrily. Gourry wrapped a comforting arm around his petit and easily angered wife. Lina relaxed just a little. Amelia sighed 'if it were only that simple!' she thought. Again she craned her neck to see if Zelgadis had arrived but she was starting to give up. A maid had said she seen him arrive but the guards had taken him to his room. That had been almost an hour ago and Zelgadis was still nowhere to be seen.

"It's no use…" she said softly signaling with a gesture to her handmaiden that she wanted a break from the "interviews". The young woman nodded and quickly moved to comply. Lina and Martina stepped away from their husbands and walked towards the throne in an attempt to cheer her up which seemed an impossible task since even Phil looked a bit despondent…

"Don't worry Amelia…Zelgadis will come…" Lina said softly.

"Zelgadis isn't petty like that…" Martina tried but they both knew how proud Zel was and were afraid that he'd balk at having to wait in line while all his friends got to be with Amelia. Amelia smiled sadly…

"I would understand though, if I were in his place I'd be pretty mad too…" she began softly. Just then she saw Capt. Kaiba rush into the ballroom and head straight for the orchestra pit. He whispered something to the maestro and the old man killed the music. Guards threw open the large doors at the opposite end of the ball room and poured into the room opening a direct path to the throne at the other end. Suddenly a pale yellow bear and a dark purple horse burst into the room and fired shafts of light from their bellies that turned into a shower of pink heart shaped bubbles and yellow daisies. Amelia was instantly on her feet as the care family began to sing…

Flying my colors! So that everyone can see isn't this a perfect way to introduce me! To say that I'm different I'm special it's true! Let the magic of my colors put its power on you! The Funshine Bear: "With the sun on my tummy and a smile on my face I'm ready for a party any time any place…"

Zel just smiled calmly with the Care babies still in his arms waving rainbow colored streamers as their elders sang introducing themselves and each other with their song. He marched right past all the so called princes and lords waiting around for their turn and headed straight for the throne where Amelia and the rest of his friends were waiting. He smirked in amusement at the shocked look on everyone's faces. He put the little ones down half way and let them run ahead to be hugged by an ecstatic Amelia. The guards were trying hard to keep a straight face as the "nobles" complained that he was cutting in line.

Here's Cheer Bear! "You can call Cheer Bear any time your sad I'll put in the pink and make you feel real glad!" "My name's Grumpy Bear I'm always feeling blue if its not one thing it's another oh what am I to do?" ...Do you like me? I like you! I like you! Do you like me? I like you! I like you! Do you like me? I like you! I like you! Does any body like me? Everybody likes you!

"Sorry I'm late! I hope you don't mind that I brought some friends!" Zel called to her casually as soon as she was within earshot. Amelia could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Zelgadis did not look angry and he'd even gone out of his way to rescue her from this horrible "party" by bringing her friends: the Care Bears and their Cousins! Calmly he walked up to the throne and bowed respectfully towards Phil who was laughing and waving cheerfully at him with the Care Babies already in his lap. Calmly he returned Lina's, Martina's, Zangalus' and Gourry's cheerful greetings as he approached behind the Care Family.

Flying my colors! So that everyone can see isn't this a perfect way to introduce me! To say that I'm different I'm special it's true! Let the magic of my colors put its power on you! Let the magic of my colors put its power on you!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIA!" they all yelled cheerfully. Amelia was so happy she looked like she was ready to burst! True Heart fired another burst of her magic that turned into a shower of heart shaped bubbles and Noble Heart did the same and his magic turned into another sprinkle of soft yellow daisies.

"Happy Birthday Amelia!" Zel echoed smiling calmly as he came within arms reach of Amelia and the rest of his friends who had crowded around her. Amelia was so happy she was speechless! She threw her arms around him and Zel wrapped his arms around her gently.

"Thank you!" she whispered fervently. "I'm so glad you came!" she added softly her arms wrapping around him as tightly as she could.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything," Zel replied calmly and she smiled up at him. She released him to greet the care family who were already busy introducing themselves to Prince Philionel and the rest of Amelia's friends. He walked up to Gourry and Zangalus and taking a drink from the tray a maid offered him he amicably chatted with the guys while Amelia continued the "interviews" with a nice buffer of overly cheerful care bears and care cousins to keep the "suitors" at a distance that agreed with Zelgadis.

"Smooth Zelgadis…Very smooth…For a guy who likes to be inconspicuous you sure know how to make an entrance!" Zangalus chuckled softly as prince-ling after prince-ling failed to capture Amelia's attention as she sang and danced with the Care Family occasionally glancing his way. Zel would just smile and continue talking amicably with his friends. Lina came over for a moment to congratulate him for not getting all huffy and completely ruining Amelia's birthday. Zel just shrugged it off and stayed right where he was ignoring the glares from the other men in the room because he was exceeding the allotted time.

"Really Zel…That was a good idea to bring them!" Gourry enthused as he watched Amelia sing and dance along with the little critters. Again Zel just shrugged calmly.

"When Capt. Kaiba told me what was going on I knew I had to do something to help," he replied evenly but Brau and Golem were doing a little happy chant inside his head for Zel's absolute victory…

Ok people be gentle now! This is a fairy tale and there are care bears involved! The word "Carealot" should've tipped you off that this was gonna be more cheesy than a double whopper! More fairy tale and sci-fi madness to come!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!