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Chapter 4: Determined Departure

Time passed as the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins grew up, as did their teenage guardians, Take Care Bear and Independent Bear. It wasn't long before things with Dark Heart came to a head. True Heart, Noble Heart, Grams Bear, Sage Heart and Life Heart took off after what they thoughts was Dark Heart. Sadly, even with Take Care and Indy looking after them, Dark Heart began to capture the members of the Care Bear Family with the help of a girl named Christy. Tenderheart, despite warnings from his guardians, launched a rescue mission with the remaining ten members of the family only to be captured.

Thankfully, Indy and Take Care caught on before anything too serious could happen and broke the Care Bears and Cousins out of their cages. Dark Heart was taken aback but held his own against the assembled family until his attacks nearly killed Christy, who had saved his life earlier. With help from the Care Bears, Dark Heart cast off the darkness to save her life and become human.

Noble Heart had managed to pull some strings over the years and found a high school willing to allow Take Care to Self study from Care a Lot. Take Care had managed to pass high school in two years, with honors. But college and medical school were proving harder. No one was interested in a Care Bear who happened to be a near genius and wanted to become a doctor.

This changed after Dark Heart was defeated. Christy's parents, in an fortunate twist of fate, were both doctors. Her father was on the board of a medical school in Arizona. They'd pulled strings, raised a fuss, and threatened to stop financially supporting the school with donations if they didn't give Take Care a chance. Money talks. So Take Care was in. Take Care would have preferred to have earned her way in with her brains... but she was desperate. She'd prove to them all she deserved to be there. She had to get in there first.

Now, she was leaving next week. It had happened so quickly once Christy's parents had gotten involved. It would be years before Take Care would return to the family. Rather than coming home for holidays and summers, she planned to attend school year round to finish faster.

For now, she couldn't stop studying. She grabbed her backpack full of books and headed out the back door of her small home. She found a tree in the edge of the forest which would offer plenty of shade and pulled out a stack of books - biology and anatomy, literature, pharmaceutical drugs, algebra, chemistry and physical science. The stack felt massive and she immediately began working and reading.

Indy had kept up his training as well, though his was far less gruelling he was no less dedicated to it. Taking a break for the day, he decided to stop by Take Care's house in the Forest of Feelings to see how she was doing. He found her surrounded by her study books, her nose lodged deep within on. He paused when he was a couple meters away, not wanting to disturb her.

She worked on the algebra first - wishing she had Bright Heart's help because he was actually better at all types of math than she was. But she knew she was going to have to figure it out so she didn't call him. She simply worked as hard as she could until she felt a bit burned out with it. Then she switched to physical science and did the same, then to biology, then to anatomy. Honestly, she wasn't worried about literature; that would come easy for her. Hours later, her stomach began to growl... but she couldn't quit... not now. When it growled for the third time, she realized she was going to at least have to take a break and grab a little food. It was getting hard to focus. She closed the book and looked up

She spotted him. It looked as though he was about to turn around.

"Indy? What brings you by? How's training going?"

Indy turned back, "Training's going fine, and I came by to see you and see how you're doing." He turned to the pile of book, "Are you alright?"

"Studying...." she sighed feeling slightly overwhelmed at the moment. "But I have to take a break. I don't really want to nor do I have time to stop, but I kinda forgot to eat lunch. My stomach has kindly decided to remind me of that fact."

She wasn't sure if he'd heard the news or not. She figured he probably hadn't. "Christy's parents were able to pull some strings and get me into school. These are some of the books I'll be needing."

Indy nodded, then gave a small smile, "I'll make you lunch. Any requests?"

"Seriously... what would I do without my best friend?" Anything he made turned out well, unlike her own cooking. "Surprise me," she smiled, picking up the anatomy book as he walked closer.

"Leave it to me," Indy patted her shoulder then turned to enter her house. He knew exactly what she needed: grilled cheese with a bit of butter on the bread was a favorite comfort food of hers when she felt stressed, even if that wouldn't be enough to satisfy her hunger. To make sure she got enough he made tomato soup with milk and added a pile of cooked carrots to the two plates he fixed up.

"Food's ready," he spoke from the back door of her house to where she was still studying.

She finished the paragraph she was on, before marking her place and putting the book down.

Indy reappeared at the door, wondering if she'd been so absorbed in the textbook that she hasn't heard him. It wouldn't have been the first time. "It's going to get cold..." he chuckled.

"Sorry. I'm coming..." she answered.

He ducked back inside. She joined him shortly and met him at the table. He hadn't sat down yet. He was still waiting on her.

"You know me well... it looks great. Thanks Indy...."

"Always happy to help," he only sat down when Take did and they dug in. As they ate a hundred thoughts passed through Indy's mind, chief among them was if she had to leave so soon. Take Care had been so busy with her studies and Indy not wanting to disturb her that he hadn't brought up the idea that he was afraid of her leaving, since she was the only other Care Bear of his age. But that was selfish, she wanted this more than anything; to pursue her career as a doctor was Take Care's dream and Indy wasn't going to stand in the way of that, even though it meant he wouldn't see or likely every hear from her for years.

"Is it good?" was the only question he could manage in-between mouthfuls.

"Delicious." She answered. She'd devoured half the grilled cheese sandwich almost as quickly as she'd sat down, but she'd paced her self a bit after that.

She was worried about leaving him. They'd been friends for years. The times they'd spent together in the forest were some of her favorite memories. The times they'd spent teaming up to watch the cubs had taught them both responsibility and teamwork. They'd always each even more independent but being as they were the only ones of similar age, they had a bit of a bond and a strong friendship.

And she... was about to leave that. For the next few years, they probably wouldn't see each other at all. Things were going to change in a huge way.

At the same time, she needed to do this for the family... for the entire Care Bear family and for herself. They'd been incredibly lucky that none of them had become seriously hurt or ill, but that could change in the blink of an eye. Especially now that more of them were taking on missions around humans. It worried her.

"I honestly don't know what I'll do without you and your cooking while I'm gone." She answered further, not sure what else to say. Goodbyes would be coming much faster than she wanted them to.

"From what I've heard, you'll be eating microwave dinners most days," Indy wasn't sure how to even make a joke out of it.

"If I don't forget to eat..." she only half-joked.

"I'll miss you." He almost smacked himself for saying that.

"I'll miss you too," she admitted. "But... I need to do this and our family needs this too. You have your ways of protecting. This is mine."

Indy nodded, "I know, and I know you'll do great." He paused for a moment, "How long till you leave?"

"Next Thursday..." she answered.

"Not even a week..." Indy stared at his food. They finished the meal in silence and Indy started to gather up the dishes, "I'll clean up."

"I'll help...." she answered. "You wash I'll dry?"

"Don't you want to go back to studying?" He asked.

"Dishes won't take that long," Take Care answered.

"Alright." Indy carried the dishes over to the sink and began to fill it up. "So how long will you be at school?"

Take Care shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. However long it takes, less than usual since I'm not taking any extended breaks."

"Oh..." Indy had hoped for a more concrete answer but he just had to accept that. Finally, with the dishes done, Take Care went back to her studies. Indy lingered for a few more minutes before he headed out of the Forest back to his home. He wasn't in the mood for more training today.

Thursday came before they knew it. She'd packed everything she thought she would need, including all the textbooks in the back and trunk of the cloud car. Much to her chagrin, the family had thrown a going away party the night before... so today's goodbyes were reserved for those closest to her.

She'd already visited Bright Heart and Gentle Heart... though she was the most worried about how Gentle Heart would handle it as they'd been as close as any two sisters could be.

Now, it was just her and Noble Heart.

"Think about it, when you come back here your dream will have come true. You'll be a doctor." He smiled.

"If I don't crash and burn and fail..." her nerves were getting the best of her.

"You won't, Take Care.... you won't. But even if it doesn't work out, I'll still love you."

She smiled, "Thanks Noble Heart... but I think you're kind of required to."

Now that it was here, she was starting to get nervous. She'd never been so far from home for so long, and she'd never been around humans much. This was going to be an adjustment and with no one in the family she'd grown so close to, there to support her. But... she'd come to the forest all alone and she'd survived all those years.... surely she could handle earth.

She looked out the window as Indy approached.

"Back in a bit..." she told Noble Heart. "Then I guess we'll go." He had planned to ride down with her and help her get situated though he wasn't even sure how much she would need or want him there.

"Hey Indy..." she called as she met him in the front yard.

Indy stopped, "Hi Take Care." Indy did his best to smile but gave up after a moment. "So are you ready for this?"

"Yes..." but she paused for several seconds before continuing. "I think so.... I don't know." She sat down on the edge of the porch.

Indy sat down next to her, "You're scared." It was a statement not a question. "I don't know if it can compare, but when Life Heart and Sage Heart started training me, I was scared too."

"You wondered if you could do it? If you'd be good enough?" She asked. It wasn't really a question. She knew the answer because she was feeling the same right now. "I mean... this is what I want more than anything. Why am I letting it scare me now?"

"Because up until now it was just 'something that was going to happen' but now it's here." Indy twiddled his fingers in his lap, "As for me, I did wonder those things but... I was scared because it was the first time someone ever told me my powers were a good thing. Humans were scared of me, chased me and called me a monster... Sorry I'm getting off topic." He turned to Take Care, "I guess what I'm saying is that it will never be as bad as you think. And even if it is, I know you can do it. You're smart, smarter than anyone here, except maybe Bright Heart." They both chuckled, "And... I know you can handle any kind of stress thrown at you."

"Thank you. That means more to me than you know." Without even really thinking about it she hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you. Don't find too many other best friends while I'm gone. Ok?"

Indy hugged her back, "I don't think I could find another best friend if I tried. I'm going to miss you too."

She let go of him. "You easily could. You're a good guy. Thanks for always being here and encouraging me and letting me be me. I know I'm not always the easiest to put up with." She looked at her watch, a gift from Noble Heart. She sighed again, but this time felt a little more determined at least. "I've gotta go. I'll be late if I don't leave soon."

Indy let her go and stood up with her. "OK. Good Luck, Take Care." He watched her as she headed for the cloud car.

Noble Heart came out of the house with keys in hand. Take Care turned back for one last hug from Indy. She couldn't quite resist. After all, it was going to have to do her several years.

Then she climbed in the cloud car with Noble Heart and the two headed for earth.

Independent Bear watched the cloud car fly away until it disappeared, then sighed and walked away. He had been at the going away party the last night but hadn't spoken to Take Care directly, at least not until he could talk to her one-on-one. He still felt her last hug. He'd wait for her to return and when she returned... they would both be adults and finished their training.