FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: I came to a decision recently that will affect the story going forwards. You don't have to go back and re-read anything if you don't want to but I've changed the design of the Care Bears Family members in this story. From now on their whole front will be white from the top of their chests down to their tummies and their symbols will be in the center of their chests instead of on their tummies and will be called chest symbols. Also adult Care Bears are now taller, about 4-5 feet tall on average instead of around 3 feet tall, about halfway between the height they've been shown in the cartoons and the average height of an adult human; I will explain how this works with the show canon later. I have edited previous chapters to reflect this and went ahead and replaced the text in all those chapters before I posted this one. I hope this doesn't drive you away but I feel I must create my own stamp in this AU and create a version of the Care Bear Family that is more than just the nelvana/dic, AiCAL and WtCAL worlds, even if I use the framework of Nelvana/Dic as a jumping off point.

Chapter 9: Life Lessons

"Hey look, it's the pretty sailor scout!"

Cassandra froze in the middle of the school hallway. Stuart's call had caused everyone present to freeze in place.

"What's the matter? Ashamed of what I saw you wearing last night?" Stuart approached Cassandra as she turned slowly around. But instead of fear or shock, he was met with a look of fierce determination and rage.

"Why should I be? What's wrong with dressing like Sailor Jupiter? Because it's too girly? Says who? And why the hell should I even take what you say seriously? You're just an overdeveloped meat-head who can't throw an opponent to save his life!" With each phrase Cassandra took a step towards Stuart.

"Oh yeah, so..." Stuart speech faltered faltered as Cassandra continued.

"What are you going to do about it? Fight me?" Cassandra smirked and folded her arms, "you can't even take me when we're playing by the rules. In a real fight I'd kick your ass without even trying." Cassandra touched her chin with a finger for a moment, then smiled, "Hell I might as well quit the wrestling team at this point so I don't have to deal with jerks like you."

"WHAT?!" the shout came from several of her team mates who were watching the exchange.

Cassandra looked at them, then rolled her eyes, "All right, I'll stick around until the tournament in spring, but after that I'm done. Keep your sports shit out of my life OK? Good!" She turned and marched away to class.

Stuart was baffled and shook his head. He grit his teeth and charged at Cassandra. Cassandra could hear someone softly crying on a rooftop, the clumsy charge didn't even merit her full attention. She sidestepped at the last moment and Stuart stumbled, then fell flat on his face. Cassandra waked past him without a second glance.

As she reached her classroom door she paused for a moment, "Hey, I know what I should be called now."

OoOoO

"So what do you want your name to be?" Love Heart stood in front of Cassandra, who was stripped down to her undergarments in front of him.

Cassandra smirked, "Confidence Heart Fennec. So give me my symbol!"

Love Heart smiled, "Alright, here goes." Love Heart unzipped the front of his black hoodie, his chest symbol glowed and he fired off a beam of light at Cassandra. The beam whirled around her several times before settling on her chest and forming a blue ribbon with a heart shaped button.

Cassandra touched her new chest symbol just confirm that it was real then jumped and whooped! "Alright!" she gave Love Heart a big hug which almost lifted him off the floor.

"Any time." Love Heart chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

OoOoO

"Hey. Wake up Love Heart." Terrence stepped over Love Heart as he headed for the upstairs bathroom. Love Heart groaned and tried to cover his ears from the sounds of Terrence's alarm clock, but finally gave up and pulled himself out of the sleeping bag on the floor.

"All I want is a comfy bed to sleep in," Love Heart yawned and stretched as he stood up, then shivered, why was it so cold? Love Heart trudged over to the window and pulled the curtains open.

White. The whole world was white. Covered in a fresh blanket of still falling snow.

"Big brother!" Love Heart's shock was broken as Sweet Heart came charging into the room he and Terrence shared, "Did you see it? All the snow!" Sweet Heart hovered up at Love Heart's eye level and held onto the window ledge.

Love Heart smiled and nodded, "Yeah I mean wow?"

"Haven't you two ever seen snow before?" Terrence sat with his sister at the breakfast table as Love Heart and Sweet Heart stared out the front window.

Love Heart shook his head, "Not this calm before. We usually just slept through winter."

Confidence Heart stared at Love Heart, "How could you sleep that long?"

"Yeah, it's like he's a bear or something," Terrence rolled his eyes as he dug into a bowl of cereal.

"I slept too," Sweet Heart turned to look at the two.

"Well I'm not sleeping any more today." Love Heart walked over to the counter to make toast. "No work till Monday either."

"Let's go ice skating." Confidence Heart finished wolfing down her breakfast, "I just need to get you some skates are we're good to go." She looked over to Sweet Heart who was staring back at her.

"Can I come?" Sweet Heart had walked over to the table and grabbed a bowl of cereal.

"Sorry, your hooves won't fit in skates," Terrence took a drink of coffee.

"Aww..." Sweet Heart pouted.

"Why don't you take her sledding?" Confidence Heart smirked and took her dishes to the sink.

"Because I have plans," Terrence finished off his coffee.

"Going to meet up with James?" Confidence Heart returned to stand next to the table.

"Yup." Terrence stood up and took his dishes to the sink.

OoOoO

"Who's James?" Love Heart asked as he got into the passenger seat of Adrian's car.

"My brother's boyfriend." Confidence Heart tossed her skated into the back seat then climbed into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Boyfriend? But he's a boy, or a man..." Love Heart tried to process what he had just heard.

"It's a different world, guys can be with guys and girls can be with girls, and some can be with anyone in between." Confidence checked over her shoulder and backed out of the driveway.

"In-between?"

Confidence Heart sighed as she pulled into the street, "Don't ask, I barely understand it myself."

"Hmm..."

OoOoO

"Why is it so cold in here?" Despite his winter clothing, Love Heart shivered as he stepped inside the rink, his new black figure skates tightened around his feet.

"Gotta keep the rink cold," Confidence Heart opened the door and carefully stepped onto the ice rink. She skated out a short distance and turned around, "Com'on, it's safe."

Love Heart wobbled on his skates, making a clack with each tiny step of the blades on the concrete, until he reached the gate and grabbed the wall to steady himself. Love Heart took a deep breath as he stepped over the barrier onto the ice. Once he thought he was stable he put his second foot on the ice then let go of the wall and his legs immediately split apart as his feet slid in opposite directions.

"OWOWOWOWOW!" Love Heart tried to regain his balance only to slip and fall flat on his back, sliding a short distance away.

Confidence Heart giggled and skated over to where Love Heart lay, spread eagled, on the ice. "It takes some getting use to." She offered a hand to Love Heart, which he accepted to help him stand again.

Love Heart was still wobbly on his skates as Confidence Heart took his hands. "Follow my lead. Move your feet in a V shaped, one at a time. Go slow until your comfortable." Love Heart nodded as he followed Confidence's instructions, his feet still wobbling as he tried not to slip.

Once Love Heart felt a bit safer on his feet he looked up at Confidence Heart, who was skating backwards effortlessly, "Why are you so good at this? I thought you hated sports."

Confidence Heart groaned, "I don't hate doing things like this, just being on a team or showing off in front of a bunch of people who are so impressed that a girl is good at the boy's sports." Love Heart didn't notice her let go of his hands as she continued.

"They why are you still on the wrestling team?" Love Heart asked.

Confidence Heart sighed, "Because I don't feel like just abandoning this thing right before it's over. I feel like I have to see it through to the end. At least practise is over until spring."

"Oh..." Love Heart averted his gaze for a moment, then turned back to see her looking off to her side. "Why did you start learning karate?"

Confidence cocked an eyebrow, "I thought I told you that. It was because kids were picking on me for looking like this and I started fighting them. Mom and dad said I could either be punished or learn martial arts to have an outlet for my frustration, so I chose martial arts."

"Do you even like it?"

Confidence snapped her head back to look at Love Heart, "Of course! Martial arts is cool, it's like being a character from shonen anime." She had a goofy grin on her face and a far away look in her eyes.

"Like Dragon Ball?" Love Heart asked.

"Yep!"

Love Heart chuckled, then looked down and noticed for the first time that Confidence Heart wasn't holding his hands. "What the? WHOA!" Love Heart looked up in time to see the edge of the rink racing up to meet him. He smacked into the wall, slipped and fell on his back. "ow..."

Confidence Heart skated over Love Heart with a concerned look on her face. "Are you OK!?"

"I've had worse." Love Heart blushed and just lay on the ice and stared up at the ceiling.

Relieved that he wasn't hurt, Confidence Heart smirked and offered a hand to him. "Com'on get up. Unless you want to lie there all day."

"Alright," Love Heart sighed and took her hand and she pulled him back to a standing position.

Now that he was standing, Love Heart glared daggers at Confidence Heart, "Why did you let go!?"

Confidence Heart wasn't cowed at all, "Because you had the hang of it."

"Then why did I fall down?!"

"Because you were thinking."

"I was... what? WHOA!" Love Heart nearly fell down only for Confidence to catch him again.

"It's muscle memory, and the centipede's dilemma." Seeing the confused look on Love Heart's face, Confidence continued, "Your legs were getting used to the motions I showed you so you didn't have to look at what you were doing, then when you looked down you panicked and started trying to control your natural movements so you lost it."

Love Heart nodded, "I think I get it... it's like magic."

"What?"

Love Heart pulled open the top of his mitten, showing that there were fingerless gloves underneath the large mitt. "Magic is hard to explain, and if I think about it I don't think I can tell you the exact way it works, mom probably can though, but I know how to do it." Sparks of blue lightning danced between his exposed fingers, "but now I know it so well I can create lightning, small lights, or even control the wind without thinking beyond what I want to do."

"Exactly!" Confidence Heart was grinning, "You have to teach me that."

Love Heart blinked as he stopped the lightning and covered his fingers again, "What?"

"Magic! I want to learn magic. Please teach me!" Confidence Heart was practically begging as she grabbed Love Heart's hands again.

Love Heart opened his mouth, preparing to say she should ask Life Heart then stopped. He saw the look in her eyes, the fierce determination and desire to learn. He smiled, "Alright, after I stop falling down."

"Deal! Now let's get back to your lesson before too many people get here." Confidence Heart nodded towards the entrance where they saw a family of four, two parents and two young children, step onto the rink.

OoOoO

Two hours of skating later and the rink had become crowded, with all the people going in one large clockwise movement. Love Heart at least had the basics down so they left as they found the forced cyclical movement annoying. They sat in a sub shop eating lunch, both had ordered foot long subs with pepperoni, ham, salami, cheese (mozzarella for Confidence Cheddar for Love Heart), lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, spinach and cucumbers.

Confidence swallowed her mouthful of sandwich and sighed contentedly, "Alright, so where do we start magic practice?"

Love Heart blinked, sandwich half-way to his open mouth, "Where? Well anywhere works. First I have to teach you how to conjure mana and that can take weeks, then it could be years before you can do anything substantial."

Confidence Heart's eyes narrowed and glinted, "I'll do it by the time I graduate."

Love Heart gaped at her, then took another bite of his sandwich. He finally swallowed, "By July? It took me over a year before I could even create any amount of electricity."

Confidence grinned, "Then I guess I'll just have to show you." She went back to eating her sandwich.

They sat in silence for almost five minutes before Love Heart spoke again. "Want to get started?"

"Right here, now?" Confidence Heart asked.

Love Heart nodded, "Sure. First you need to learn how to conjure mana." Love Heart set his hands on the table palms facing one another. Confidence mimicked his motion as he continued. "I need to show you something." Love Heart took a deep breath and took hold of Confidence Heart's hands as the star on his forehead lit up. Confidence Heart felt a tingle go up her arms then the whole room became laced in dozens of tiny blue strings.

"What are those?"

"Aether strings," Love Heart looked up, "Hmm, they're weaker than the ones back home." He looked back at Confidence who was staring at the strings, "These carry magic around the world, from nexus points and ley lines down to aether strings." He let go of her hands and the aether strings faded from view, "Now close your eyes and reach down to see if you can find a spark inside you, it might take a while but once you find it try to bring it out.

Confidence Heart nodded and closed her eyes, trying to feel for that spark Love Heart was talking about. It was faint but she could feel something deep inside of her. She strained and tried to reach for it but... it was just...out...of...reach!

After a minute of trying, Confidence was panting and she opened her eyes. "I could feel it, but I can't reach it."

Love Heart smiled, "That's OK. You know what you're looking for, that's what counts."

Confidence giggled and blushed, "Thanks. I'm gonna keep trying."

Love Heart looked around, seeing that the few other patrons were staring at the two of them, "Maybe somewhere less public."

"Alright, let's go." Confidence grabbed their trays and dumped the garbage out before they headed for the car.

OoOoO

When they got home Sweet Heart begged them to take her sledding so Love Heart conceded and took her out. There was a hill within walking distance but Sweet Heart didn't want to go alone.

Confidence Heart was feeling more drained than normal after her attempt at magic training so she decided to pull up an old game on the still set up game console in the living room. She turned when she heard the front door open and Terrence walked in.

Confidence Heart paused her game, "So, brother, how was your date?"

"Just fine, how was your date?" Terrence smirked as he took off his winter clothes.

Confidence Heart blushed and bared her teeth, ready to shoot back a loud retort, then stopped. Confidence Heart's blush remained but she smiled, "It was nice."

"Don't deny it, you two... wait what?" Terrence stopped halfway to the kitchen.

Confidence leaned back on the couch, "It was nice. I taught Love Heart how to skate, but he fell on his ass a couple times."

Terrence walked over to the couch and leaned over the back to look at his sister. "Cassandra. Do you like him?"

Confidence Heart put her hands behind her head and looked over at Terrence. "As more than a friend?" She had to think about it hard for a moment. "Yes, I do."

Terrence stood up, "OK then. Just be sure."

Confidence Heart got up on her knees and leaned over the back of the couch. "What? No decries for vengeance for the guy going out with your little sister?"

"This isn't TV. Besides if he steps out of line you'll kick his ass just fine on your own," Terrence opened the fridge, "I doubt there'd be anything left for me after you got through with him."

"Probably." Confidence Heart smiled then turned back to her game.

OoOoO

Love Heart was tired, sweaty and soaked. After skating lessons with Confidence Heart and two more hours spent going up and sledding down the local hill with his little he was completely drained. At first he didn't really understand how Sweet Heart could find the act of sliding down a hill on a sled so fun until he tried it himself, then he understood completely. Love Heart was still exhilarated when he and Sweet Heart returned home, both of them grinning from ear-to-ear as they stripped off their soaked winter clothes.

A few minutes later Love Heart and Sweet Heart had changed into clean, dry sweaters and were sitting on the couch with mugs of hot chocolate with their parents. Before Love Heart had come home Sarah and Adrian had got up and took their children out for lunch; Sage Heart and Life Heart had opted to remain home until their children returned and just to eat at home. Sweet Heart almost scalded her tongue on her first sip which prompted Life Heart to blow on it to cool it down for her.

Love Heart was cradling his mug and staring at his brown reflection in the surface of the liquid. Seeing his son's face, Sage Heart put a hand on Love Heart's shoulder, "Love Heart, is something wrong?" Sage Heart had a concerned look on his face.

Love Heart snapped his gaze to Sage Heart, "Huh? Oh sorry just thinking about Confidence Heart."

"Why are you thinking about Confidence Heart?" Sweet Heart asked.

Love Heart turned back to his mug as a blush crept onto his face. "Because I like her."

"Huh?" Sweet Heart cocked her head to one side, "I like her too, why does that matter."

Life Heart placed a hand on Sweet Heart's shoulder, "Sweet Heart, what your brother means is that he likes her the same way your father and I like each other."

This did nothing to sort out the confusing thoughts in Sweet Heart's head, "So they're gonna get married and sleep together?"

Love Heart's blush became luminescent, "Maybe..." He turned back to Sage Heart, "Dad, how do I tell her?"

Sage Heart chuckled, "Heheh, sorry son but I can't help you there."

"Living together on an isolated island made things different for your father and I," Life Heart said before she took a deep drink of her hot chocolate. "But I do have some advice based on what I used to see humans do. Try giving her a gift of some kind, flowers seem to be the standard choice, and take her out to dinner somewhere. Then just tell her how you feel and what you like about her."

"OK." Love Heart was still unsure but it was somewhere to start at least. "How about tonight?"

"Don't rush it, Love Heart. Take some time and plan it out," Sage Heart said.

Love Heart nodded then took a drink of his now cooled hot chocolate.

OoOoO

Love Heart had all week to plan his date with Confidence Heart, even with babysitting jobs he had to keep up with every day. It was Friday when Love Heart had arranged for the day off to pick up Confidence Heart from school. He stood outside the front door of Confidence's school as the bell rang. Dressed in winter clothing Love Heart didn't feel very... romantic? Was that the right term for this? Nevertheless, he wasn't going to back out now. At least his rattling nerves could be disguised as shivering from the cold.

The bell rang and a few minutes later the students started shuffling out. Even with her ears pulled under her coat's hood, Confidence Heart easily stuck out. Love Heart was about to call out to her when Confidence spotted him.

"Hey Love Heart!" Confidence waved as she darted towards him, stopping right in front of him. "Why are you here? Just to pick me up?"

Love Heart blushed and nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to take you out for supper."

Confidence Heart blinked then stared at Love Heart for a moment, until a jeering voice shattered the spell.

"Aww, is that your boyfriend?"

The voice was Stuart's, probably his lamest attempt to make her feel insecure. Confidence Heart whirled around, ducking to grab a handful of snow that she used her momentum to hurl right in his face.

"You're killing the moment!" Confidence Heart shouted, satisfied when she saw Stuart cleaning off the snow. "Sorry about that. Where did you have in mind?"

Love Heart was still smiling after watching her hurl the snow in Stuart's face. "Just a Japanese place I found called Wasabi, a few blocks that way," Love Heart pointed down the road to his left.

"Sounds good, let's go." Confidence Heart took Love Heart's hand and they walked off.

Stuart had finished cleaning off his face and was about to set off after the couple, only to be stopped by one of his friends, who shook his head and told him not to bother antagonizing them.

At the restaurant Love Heart Bear and Confidence Heart Fennec sat on barstools around a tall table with a bowl of stir fry and rice in front of them. While Confidence Heart was digging in, Love Heart was just poking at his food and wondering what he should say.

Confidence Heart swallowed her own mouthful, "Not hungry?"

"Huh? Oh sorry!" Love Heart started shoveling food into his mouth, then his eyes went wide as the spice hit his tongue and he tried swallowing water to cool his mouth.

Confidence Heart would have to have been blind to be miss the signs. She smiled. This wasn't going to be so bad.

When Love Heart finished coughing and regained his composure Confidence spoke up. "I like you Love Heart, a lot," she took one of his hands. Love Heart stared at her for a moment. Confidence was smiling. "I like how you're honest with your feelings and that you're willing to help out when other need it and how much you've helped me regain my own confidence, and this," Confidence Heart pulled down her collar far enough to show off her chest symbol.

Love Heart smiled, "You're so full of energy and life and confidence and you're the most interesting person I know. I love you Confidence Heart."

Confidence Heart stiffened, she hadn't been expecting that! Maybe a mutual attraction or something that let them be close but love? She panicked, grabbed her coat and darted from the restaurant (thankfully they had paid before they ate). Love Heart hesitated for a moment then chased after her, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair.

Confidence Heart stood in the falling snow and tried to sort out what she was feeling. Love? Did he really feel that way about her? Did she feel the same way? What did it even mean.

"Confidence!" Love Heart shouted before noticing she was standing only a few meters away. He walked over to her and reach out a hand for her, then stopped when he saw her tormented face. Love Heart looked down at his feet, "I'm sorry, just forget I said anything."

Confidence Heart looked up at Love Heart, her eyes misty, "I can't forget that, I can't forget what I just heard."

"You could, I mean we can still hang out without it being different," Love Heart was stumbling through an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Confidence Heart's gaze narrowed and she snapped "But it's all different now! I mean we can't just go back and act like it's all the same!" She turned away from him. "It's out and we'll feel different about everything."

Love Heart put a hand on Confidence's shoulder and walked around to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry... no I'm not sorry. I mean what I said I just..."

Confidence Heart looked up at him. Love Heart was on the verge of tears but he still stared right back at her.

Confidence Heart lunged forwards into a hug and gave Love Heart a big kiss on the lips. Love Heart was startled for a moment but then he wrapped his arms around Confidence and kissed her back.

"I love you," Confidence whispered. She pulled back to look into his eyes.

Love Heart did the same, "I love you too." They stood there amidst the falling snow, then kissed once more.

When they broke apart Love Heart chuckled, "Sorry I didn't get flowers."

"That's fine. It's too cold for them anyway." Confidence Heart took his hand and they headed for home.