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Chapter 11: Trials of the Heart

"So, you're pregnant?" Sage Heart Bear and Life Heart Unicorn were standing in their room. Sage Heart had his arms folded and was glaring at his wife.

"Maybe," Life Heart touched her index fingers together, "I mean I could be."

"Do you want to be? Do you want to have another child?" Sage Heart leaned forwards and Life Heart averted her gaze from his.

"Um, yes."

Sage Heart groaned, squinted and put a hand to his forehead, "And you didn't even think about asking me?"

"Well... I was scared," Life Heart held her hands together and lowered them down to in front of her stomach.

Sage Heart looked back up at her, "Scared about what? That I would say no?"

"Yes!" Life Heart had turned to look him in the eyes.

"What?" Sage Heart just stared back at her, one of his fists clenched as he started to seethe, "You didn't ask because you were scared I'd say no?!"

"Yes I was!" Life Heart raised her arms, "I was scared you would say no because we were talking about how little time we have together with Love Heart and Sweet Heart around. Would you have said no?"

"No! I mean yes! I mean..." Sage Heart took a deep breath to calm down, "I wouldn't have said no if you asked if we could have another child."

"Oh... well..." Life Heart twiddled her fingers together, "Do you mean it?"

Sage Heart nodded, "Yes."

"Then... why are you mad?" Life Hear stepped forwards and took Sage Heart's hand.

Sage Heart raised her hand and gave it a small kiss, "Because you didn't ask."

"But it's my body," Life Heart withdrew her hand from his and turned away from him.

Sage Heart stepped up behind Life Heart and put his arms around her, "I know, but it's our family. If you want to have another child I'd like that but please, trust me and just ask."

Life Heart started to cry, wiping some tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry I just... You were right that we wouldn't have any time for ourselves if we have another child."

"We can make time," Sage Heart gave Life Heart a kiss, "Besides I loved raising Love Heart and Sweet Heart, and this time we can try raising them in the city."

Life Heart giggled, "Yes, we can. If I'm pregnant."

"If?" Sage Heart leaned over her shoulder.

"Well... I don't know if I'm pregnant yet. I just think I might be after Valentine's Day. I haven't had morning sickness, but Sweet Heart didn't give me any so... I don't know." Life Heart turned her head to face Sage Heart.

Sage Heart smiled, "Well we can always keep trying. After all, trying is one of the fun parts."

Life Heart giggled, "Yes, it is," she and Sage Heart kissed.

OoOoO

Confidence Heart was only wearing a top and pyjama pants as she skipped downstairs and poured herself a bowl of corn flakes, after which she plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV.

"Good morning Squirt," Terrence looked up from his morning newspaper, still wearing his housecoat.

"Not squirt anymore," Confidence looked over her shoulder, "as of today I'm an adult."

Terrence smirked, "An adult on paper, you're still a squirt to me."

Confidence Heart growled but turned back to the anime that was playing on TV. Confidence felt her mind wandering, unable to focus on the show in front of her as she slowly ate her cereal. By the time she finished, Love Heart had come downstairs to join her, wearing only a pair of pyjama shorts.

"Good morning, Confidence," Love Heart took a seat next to Confidence on the couch, "What's on TV?"

"Huh?" Confidence looked up at the TV, "Dragon Ball Z Kai."

Love Heart turned to Confidence with a look of concern, "Is something wrong?"

Confidence Heart opened her mouth and then shut it again. She took a deep breath before she spoke, "Yes, there is." Confidence put a hand on her chest, right over her chest symbol, before she continued, "Remember when you told me you loved me, back before Christmas?"

Love Heart felt a chill run down his spine, "Yes."

Confidence took another deep breath, "When you said you loved me after I just said I liked you, I panicked because I wasn't sure how you could feel that way so fast. I had to get outside to I could process what you told me and when you came outside... I said I loved you because I was afraid I'd break your heart if I didn't say otherwise."

Love Heart just stared at her, "W-what?"

Confidence chuckled half-heartedly, "Heheh, one time I stopped being confident heh. You're fun to hang out with and to show you all the stuff you missed out on growing up in a cave. You know, I think I might have fallen for you, for real." Confidence turned her head, only to see a shocked and slightly angry look on Love Heart's face.

"What did you think I would do if you just stuck with liking me until you were sure?" Love Heart asked.

"Well... uhhh, I don't know," Confidence grinned nervously.

"I don't know either." Love Heart stood up. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Hey! I made one mistake and I think I do love you now." Confidence Heart stood up too.

"Well I don't know if I do. I need to shower and go for a walk." Love Heart stormed off up the stairs.

Confidence tried to follow him, only for Terrence to block her path. "You should let him cool off, and clean up your milk trail."

Confidence blinked, "What?"

Terrence pointed behind her and she turned to see the small trail of milk droplets from the empty bowl now held sideways in her left hand. "Just get some paper towels and clean it before anyone else gets up."

As she was cleaning Confidence Heard the shower running upstairs and as soon as she was finish she headed upstairs to wait for Love Heart to finish. Love Heart stepped out of the bathroom with his now damp shorts back on his legs.

"Excuse me," Love Heart just blew past Confidence back to his and Terrence's shared room.

"Wait a minute!" Confidence tried to grab Love Heart but he slammed the door in her face. Confidence just stood there for a minute, then sighed and headed to the bathroom.

After getting dressed, Love Heart slipped past the bathroom while Confidence was still busy, upon hearing the toilet flush he tensed for a moment, until he heard the shower start. He headed downstairs and shoveled some cereal down his throat before deciding to go for a walk. He had a lot to think about.

"Where's Love Heart?" Confidence scanned the main floor as she stepped downstairs.

"He went out, didn't say where." Terrence was still at the dining table. Terrence took a big drink of coffee as he watched Confidence hurriedly grab for her shoes. "Do you know where he is?"

Confidence paused, one shoe on and the other about to be laced up. "No, but if I leave now I should be able to find him."

"Or, here's an idea, you could wait for him to cool off and think things over instead of charging at him without thinking, like you did when you said you loved him." Terrence refilled his coffee mug.

"But he's being ridiculous, I said-"

"You told him you lied to him and then said you didn't, at best you confused him and at worst you made him mad." Terrence took a drink from his filled mug, "Then again he decided to tell you he was in love after only one real date and he decided to run off instead of talk to you about this. As far as I can see you were both idiots."

"Hey!" Confidence glared at her brother.

"Well you were. Let him be and think about what you want to tell him when he comes home. In the meantime, why don't you just relax and enjoy yourself birthday girl." Terrence walked over to Confidence and ruffled her hair before he headed upstairs.

Confidence glared at his back and straightened her hair, but she had to concede that he had a point, "Alright fine!" She all but tore her shoes off her feet and trudged over to the couch where she slumped down. The TV was still on but was past the shows she liked to watch. Confidence sighed and turned the TV off before she headed up to the attic to retrieve one of her old favorite anime DVDs to watch.

OoOoO

"Happy birthday!" Sweet Heart glided down the stairs and plopped down next to Confidence Heart on the couch, "What'cha watching?"

"Sailor Moon Super," Confidence turned her head sideways to look at Sweet Heart for a moment then back to the TV.

Confidence Heart Fennec's birthday was rather low-key. With no school friends to invite over and nothing she really wanted to do, other than lie around the house all day and watch her favorite season of Sailor Moon, the day passed with relative ease. Every now and then Confidence looked up to see if Love Heart was around and gave a sad sigh when she saw he wasn't there.

By 5:00pm, Love Heart still hadn't come home and everyone was starting to get worried, despite this they still went ahead with Confidence's birthday supper: homemade pizza and Caesar salad.

Right as they sat down for supper they heard the front door open. "Sorry I was gone so long."

"Love Heart!" Confidence was out of her chair and at the front door in an instant, not even giving Love Heart a chance to undo his shoes before she hugged him. Love Heart returned the hug almost immediately and held it for a full minute.

"Happy birthday, Confidence," Love Heart said. "I got you something."

"Oh?" Confidence released him and Love Heart handed her a DVD box.

"Sorry I took so long but I wasn't sure what you'd like."

"Tenchi Universe," Confidence looked at the DVD cover, then lowered it and chuckled, "I never really got into this franchise."

"Sorry... I don't know much about anime." Love Heart scuffed his feat awkwardly.

"That's alright, thank you." Confidence shuffled awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I should have been honest about how I felt from the start."

Love Heart averted his gaze from her for a moment, "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have run off..."

"Alright, if you two are done having your little make-up party there is food here," Terrence called from the table. Confidence stuck out her tongue at her brother but tossed the DVD box on the couch and pulled Love Heart over to sit down for supper.

OoOoO

"How does just one of Mihoshi's hairs make the robot into a clone of her?" Love Heart was trying to piece together what he was watching on screen.

Confidence shrugged, "I don't question it, HAHA! On man!" Confidence cracked up as the robot in question started chasing the main characters around, shooting lasers out of an emblem over her chest. Love Heart couldn't help but laugh as well and leaned up against Confidence. Confidence smiled and leaned back against him.

"I love you, for real," Confidence said.

"For real?" Love Heart turned his head to face her.

"Really," Confidence turned to face him. "I panicked before but now, spending all this time with you, hanging out, dating, and trying to learn magic, I really love you."

Love Heart smiled and gave Confidence a brief kiss, "I love you too. Sorry I overreacted."

"Sorry I lied," Confidence kissed him back. Love Heart turned and they embraced and kissed again.

As the episode ended, Confidence checked the clock, "Yeesh, almost midnight. At least we didn't wake anyone up."

Love Heart yawned. "I'd better head to bed then, good night Confidence." He stood up and headed for the stairs. As he heard the TV shut off behind him, Love Heart heard Confidence running up the stairs. He felt her hand grab his arm and he turned to face her.

Confidence was giving him a sultry hooded eye glare, what some would call bedroom eye. "Please, come with me tonight," she whispered.

Love Heart blinked and blushed. "I- I- I-."

Confidence smiled and drew closer to Love Heart, pulling him into a strong hug as she pressed her lips against his. Love Heart responded in kind, he couldn't help but notice that Confidence was just as tall as he was (without counting her ears), or that she was moving to kiss his neck.

Love Heart sighed and carefully pushed Confidence away. "I'm sorry, but not now."

"What?" Confidence's eyes shot open.

"What if someone finds us in the morning?" Love Heart turned away, "But thanks for the offer."

Confidence sighed, "yeah... I guess. Good night." Confidence gave Love Heart a quick kiss then went back to her room. Love Heart smiled then went to the room he shared with Terrence.

OoOoO

Confidence sat facing Love Heart in her backyard, her hands facing each other and her eyes closed. She grit her teeth and chased the light deep within her. It kept eluding her, darting just out of reach each time. She sighed and relaxed her muscles, "I still can't do it..."

"You're getting better," Love Heart reached over and touched her shoulder.

"How can you even tell?" Confidence sighed and her head drooped, "It feels like I'm constipated and can't force it out."

Love Heart grimaced slightly at her words, then sighed. "Well then... I guess we need some roughage."

Confidence and Love Heart snickered. "Alright, so what do I do? Relax and let the magic flow through me, like the force?"

Love Heart stared at her then it hit him, "Oh you mean like from Star Wars? No you can't just let it come to you, magic takes real effort to learn. But maybe you're just pushing in the wrong way, hmm..." Love Heart held a hand to his chin for a moment, "It's hard to say what worked for me exactly, but I do know that as soon as you figure out exactly what to do and grab a hold of that spark for the first time it becomes a lot easier."

Confidence nodded, "OK, let me try it again. I need to focus on reach the magic alone," Confidence set her hands apart again and closed her eyes. This time she was determined not to give up until she got it. She started chasing the light again, but this time she reached out for it specifically. It was still hard, she had to force herself each step forwards but this time she cut through all the fog around her and beelined straight for the light. She reached for it, farther, and farther, and... she got it!

Confidence opened her eyes and she saw it, the faint shimmering cloud between her hands. "Wow..." she whispered.

"You did it!" Love Heart clapped his hands on Confidence's shoulders.

"I know, but... this feels so strange and..." Confidence yawned as her cloud of mana dispersed.

Love Heart helped her to her feet, "It takes a lot out of you the first time. But you just need to work at it and you'll get better."

Confidence nodded as she leaned up against Love Heart, "OK," She gave him a small kiss on the cheek as they headed back inside the house.

OoOoO

"Com'on, why can't I go in?" Love Heart stood in front of a teenage girl with pigtails wearing orange and yellow reflective vest.

The girl barred his way, "I'm sorry, but only students are allowed on the campus." She had repeated the phrase about six times now. Love Heart glared at her and she gave him a smug grin.

"Just let him by," Confidence Heart seemed to materialize behind the girl and grabbed her shoulder, making her go rigid.

"But, Cassandra, the rules say-"

Confidence forcefully turned her around and gave her a death glare, "I say: he's my boyfriend and he came to watch me practise so let him through."

"You can't date-"

"I'm 18, I'm an adult, I can date whoever I want," Confidence leaned in close and pressed her nose against her face, "got it!" She nodded and stepped aside to let Love Heart pass.

Love Heart looked back over his shoulder as he followed Confidence to the gym, "A little rough on her weren't you?"

Confidence snorted, "Please, that bitch throws her 'authority' around all the time. I've been looking for an excuse to rip into her for a while now. Besides," She smirked, "If you're willing to show up and watch me suffer I shouldn't let her stop you."

"It's not suffering, I like watching you," Love Heart smiled and gave Confidence Heart a kiss.

Confidence stuck out her tongue, "Perv." Love Heart laughed and stepped onto the bleachers as Confidence joined her teammates on the floor for practise.

Love Heart watched as Confidence lined up against one of her teammates. After coming to her practices for a while, Love Heart was starting to pick up the basic rules of wrestling: two opponents faced each other on the mats and instead of striking one another they would grab each other and try to force the other to the ground, or throw them if they had the leverage and strength to do so, and each successful maneuver would award points, though he still didn't know how the points were scored throws seemed to give the most, and at 10 points the match was over, or if the time ran out the highest score was the winner.

Confidence had remarkable strength for her size, Love Heart watched her perform what was known as a grand-amplitude throw: throwing an opponent up and back onto the mat from a standing position (the highest scoring move in wrestling, worth 5 points).

His family had gone for medical testing a few times since they moved in with the Avalons and the doctors told them that their bodies were remarkably durable: with bone and muscle density at least twice that of humans of their size. There were more details but that was the important message Love Heart got from those visits: they were built to handle physical stress.

"Alright, Cassandra, take five." The coach ushered her off the mat. Cassandra grinned then skipped over to where Love Heart sat on the bleachers.

"Enjoy the show?" Confidence asked as she plopped down next to Love Heart, sweating and panting.

"Just watching you work and sweat." Love Heart sniffed and wrinkled his nose.

"Not a fan of the sweat?" Confidence leaned back in her seat.

Love Heart smiled, "Not the smell, but I like seeing you shimmer." Love Heart reached over and squeezed Confidence's strong arm muscles, "and seeing you use these."

"Oooh, you like those do you?" Confidence raised both her arms and flexed.

Love Heart smiled, "yes." Love Heart flexed his own right arm and Confidence reached over to feel his bicep.

"Not bad, but you could use some time on the benchpress." Confidence winked at him. "I'll let you into the weight room after practise."

"Sounds good."

"Cassandra, you're back up!" The coach called.

"Well, here I go," Confidence and Love Heart shared a quick kiss then she darted back out to the mats.

OoOoO

It was the start of May when the wrestling tournament was to be held, and Confidence made sure everyone knew. Her distaste for sports hadn't changed and she showed a mixture of aggravation at being forced to participate in the tournament and relief that this would be the last time she'd ever have to do this.

"Will you be here?" Confidence was leaning up against the wall as she spoke into her brother's cell phone.

"Sorry, dear, but we're stuck in rush hour traffic, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up soon." Sarah's voice came over the phone. "Can you ask Terrence to record everything we're not there for?"

Confidence sighed, "Alright, see ya later. Love you mom." Confidence hung up and handed the cell phone back to Terrence. "Mom says they're gonna be late and to record everything."

"Not surprised." Terrence took the phone back, "shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Yeah, yeah. Cheer for me." Confidence turned and headed for the locker room.

Terrence found Love Heart, Sage Heart, Life Heart and Sweet Heart seated in the bleachers near the sides of the ring. "Mom and dad are gonna be late so I have to record everything." He held up his phone sideways and switched to the video camera.

"That's too bad. I'd hope they were here to see this," Life Heart was watching the teams assemble with intent.

"Why are you so excited?" Sage Heart turned to look at his wife.

"I haven't seen wrestling as an event since the days of the Greek Empire. I miss the Olympics," Life Heart sighed wistfully.

"They still host the Olympics every two years. They alternate summer and winter," Terrence said, still focused on the wrestling teams.

"Really?" Life Heart sounded giddy.

"What are the Olympics?" Sweet Heart looked up at her parents.

"A huge sporting event where athletes from all over the Greece compete for the glory of the Olympian gods." Life Heart said.

"These days it's an international competition where athletes from all over the world compete for recognition," Terrence added. "They change the place every time and there are new sports. Ever heard of bobsledding?"

"No I haven't. What is it?" Life Heart averted her gaze from the ring.

"Four people run a large sled down a snow-lined trench then jump into the sled and compete for the fastest time. I'll show you some videos tonight." Terrence hit play on the video camera as the matches begun.

Love Heart found it hard to concentrate on the ring as the matches progressed and most of the time he felt like he was on the verge of falling asleep. Only when Confidence Heart was in a match did he wake up and cheer for her. Confidence Heart heard Love Heart cheering for her and smiled, pressing into each match more fiercely than she ever had. She may have hated showing off for the crowd, but not for Love Heart. She liked showing off for him.

Confidence's performance was exceptional, her first two matches in the tournament (which was between 16 different schools) were flawless, won without taking a single point against her. The third match was more difficult, against another girl wrestler from the other school and she lost the first point.

"Keep going, Confidence! You can do it!" Love Heart shouted.

Terrence smiled over at Love Heart, then his phone started vibrating. Terrence grumbled but stopped the recording.

"Where are you going?" Sage Heart asked.

"Phone call. Tell me what I miss," Terrence said as he stood up and stepped out of the gym.

"Alright, whoever this is it better be good. I'm missing recording my kid sister's tournament for my parents."

"Mr. Terrence Avalon I presume?" The voice from the phone answered with a practised calm.

"Yes, that's me." Terrence rolled his eyes, "Get to the point."

As Terrence listened, his eyes turned from annoyed to somber. "What...?" He almost dropped his phone. "should I come? I see... Can it wait an hour? My sister's still finishing her tournament. Thanks, we'll be there later." Terrence hung up his phone and leaned against the wall. "Shit. Why...?"

Confidence managed to stand up after being forced down, the score was 8-6 against her. She lunged again, grappling against her opponent.

"You're out of your league, furry!" her opponent grunted. "I can beat anyone, that's why I'm the captain."

"No way!" Confidence focused all her strength into her legs and managed to lift her opponent off the ground, up and over, then slammed her down on the mat.

"Five points, match over 8-11!" the referee called.

Confidence grinned and swiped her forehead, "Ha! That was fun, you're good."

"Shut up..." the other girl grumbled and marched off the mat.

Confidence rolled her eyes and rejoined her teammates. Stuart was still smarting from the defeat he'd been handed but nevertheless they one the semifinals and now just had to wait for the last pair of teams to finish.

Terrence re-entered the gymnasium and took a seat next to the other Care Bears. He didn't pull out his phone to record.

"You missed it. Confidence did one of those huge throws and broke the tie her school had." Love Heart kept his eyes focused on his girlfriend and her team.

"Yeah, I knew she'd do it." Terrence's reply was hollow as he watched.

Only Sweet Heart seemed to notice. "Aren't you gonna record the rest?"

Terrence shook his head. "Not until she's the one wrestling again. Just watch the teams Sweet Heart."

Sweet Heart looked up at Terrence's eyes. He seemed so far away and she could almost feel his sorrow. She shivered slightly but turned back to watch the rest of the tournament.

Confidence Heart felt a bit cheated by the finals. Her last match had been a real struggle, she wished they had been the final match they had fought that night but instead she and the rest of her team breezed through their final matches without breaking... well without breaking any more of a sweat than they did already. Confidence took a seat after her match and grabbed her water bottle, draining it in one long gulp.

When it finally ended, Confidence stood up on the 1st place podium with the rest of her teammates. She ignored the death glares from the bronze medalists, the school from the semi-finals, as they received their gold medals, well... steel medals painted gold. Confidence looked out and smiled as she saw Love Heart cheering for her, and the rest of her new friend as well and Terrence... was just clapping politely.

Ever since Confidence Heart got her chest symbol the emotions of others had become much clearer to her. It wasn't that they acted any different but she could just...see it somehow and she couldn't ignore it.

Despite this, Confidence felt immense relief as she stepped off the podium. "And I'm finished! All done forever!" She literally jumped for joy and ran over to the bleachers. Love Heart hopped down and opened his arms, catching Confidence in a big hug and kissing her.

"Yay!" Sweet Heart jumped up and hovered for a moment before landing. She turned to Terrence, whose expression had become deadly serious.

Confidence let go of Love Heart and turned to Terrence. "Too bad mom and dad didn't make it. Did you get everything?"

Terrence winced as she spoke, then turned and slunk out of the gymnasium. Confidence, Love Heart, Sage Heart, Life Heart and Sweet Heart followed after him, with Confidence stepping forwards.

"What happened," Confidence felt an icy claw in her chest.

Terrence's hands were trembling, "It's mom and dad... they were in a car accident."

Everyone gasped. "What? Are they alright?" Confidence felt the claws closing around her heart.

Terrence's eyes misted over as he turned to face his sister, using the heel of his palm to wipe tears from his eyes. "They're dead."

"Wh-what?" Confidence felt her legs go weak.

Terrence's expression finally broke and he looked up at her, his eyes full of tears. "They're dead, Cassandra, they're dead."

The claws snatched her heart and Confidence fell to her knees and started crying.