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This story also very much ran away with me. It spans several days in the Kingdom of Caring, and actually I should have broken it up into two or more pieces. But ah well, this was how I originally wrote it, and to be quite honest, I'm not really feeling like doing a whole lot of extra editing work on them, save for fixing the formatting, heh.\n\nRoyalheart Tiger is © EB and used with permission\nFrolicheart Puma is © me (in fact it's my Care Bear Cousin alter ego)\nCunningheart Snowleopard is © me\nEasy Bear is © me\nSugar Bear is © me\nHeaven Bear is © me\n\nOf course, all the real Care Bears, Care Bear Cousins, the Kingdom of Caring, Care a Lot, the Forest of Feelings and everything related to them is not mine but © Those Characters From Cleveland; I just 'borrowed' them for some fun.\n\nAnd if you don't want to see your childhood raped, [b][i]don't read this![/i][/b]", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Here is another story in my Care Bear series, one that, for a change, mostly features the new characters my friend and me made up. This story also very much ran away with me. It spans several days in the Kingdom of Caring, and actually I should have broken it up into two or more pieces. But ah well, this was how I originally wrote it, and to be quite honest, I'm not really feeling like doing a whole lot of extra editing work on them, save for fixing the formatting, heh.

Royalheart Tiger is © EB and used with permission
Frolicheart Puma is © me (in fact it's my Care Bear Cousin alter ego)
Cunningheart Snowleopard is © me
Easy Bear is © me
Sugar Bear is © me
Heaven Bear is © me

Of course, all the real Care Bears, Care Bear Cousins, the Kingdom of Caring, Care a Lot, the Forest of Feelings and everything related to them is not mine but © Those Characters From Cleveland; I just 'borrowed' them for some fun.

And if you don't want to see your childhood raped, don't read this!", "writing": "It was a very beautiful day in... The Forest of Feelings (ha! Betcha you didn't see that one coming). The smiling yellow sun, which of course as always shone down brightly on Care a Lot, let its warm friendly rays of light also caress the Forest of Feelings. It made the water of the Rainbow River sparkle brightly. It made flowers open up and turn their heads to the smiling sun, it made birds start happily chirping. In one of the newer cloud cottages, Royalheart Tiger opened the windows of his bedroom and leaned out, smiling at the lovely weather.\n \"Hmmm, look at that sun,\" he hummed happily. \"It's so great to live here; the weather's always nice.\"\n\nAfter some time of leaning out of his window and smiling at the sun, Royalheart went back in. Leaving the window open, he stepped out of his bedroom and went downstairs. He even left the front door of his cloud cottage open as he stepped outside and started on a leisurely stroll around the Forest of Feelings. Passing Brightheart's cloud cottage, he saw the purple racoon busy in his garden, sticking a strange sort of spout into the ground and checking something. Royalheart stepped up to the gate and leaned on the hedge, looking with interest at what Brightheart was doing. He had no idea what it was, though.\n \"Hey, Brightheart?\" he therefore said after a while. \"That looks interesting. What are you doing exactly?\"\nBrightheart looked up.\n \"Oh, hi Royalheart,\" he said with a smile. \"I was testing the acidity and the nutrition-level of the soil. With those measurements, I can calculate exactly how much water and feeding I need to give to my flowers to get the best result.\"\n \"Sounds scientific,\" Royalheart remarked with a smile. \"But don't the flowers always look their best around here?\"\n \"It can't hurt to give them all the help they can get,\" Brightheart said.\n \"I guess that won't hurt, no,\" Royalheart agreed. \"But it's just, you know, I thought, in a place as loving as this, flowers will always look beautiful, no matter what you do to them.\"\nBrightheart grinned a bit.\n \"You have obviously not yet seen Noheart putting a nasty spell on this forest. He's done that before, you know, and you can believe me, you are lucky to not have seen what that made the flowers look like.\"\nRoyalheart also grinned.\n \"Okay, a point for you, Brightheart. Hey, maybe you can help me? Tenderheart gave me this, but quite frankly, I don't know what it is, nor how to operate it.\"\nFrom somewhere deep inside his fur, Royalheart produced something looking like a heart-shaped calculator. Brightheart rose up from his kneeling position and stepped up to the hedge, looking at the thing.\n \"That's a portable Care Alert, Royalheart,\" he smiled. \"See, in Care a Lot we have the Caring Meter, which alerts us if there's trouble somewhere on Earth, and our help is needed. But we can't always pinpoint where the trouble is. Sometimes, the only indication we get is, say, somewhere in Maryland. Now, Maryland is very large. That's what these portable Care Alerts are for. You go to Maryland, land somewhere at the state border, and then you use this as a sort of compass, a tracking-device. They give a signal, look, like this...\" Brightheart pushed a few buttons on Royalheart's Care Alert, making a sort of grid light up on the screen, with a small red heart-shaped light blinking in it, \"...and the signal faints or intensifies when you get farther away or closer to the source of the trouble. You can call a map onto the screen, and you can have it mapping out a route to the trouble for you, like this, see.\" Brightheart pushed a few buttons on Royalheart's Care Alert again, making the screen produce a map, and a lighting white line on the map, heading nowhere. \"You see that this now doesn't really work very well, but that's just because there's no trouble in Maryland at the moment.\"\n \"Right, right,\" Royalheart nodded, having followed Brightheart's explanation with interest. \"Well, that's handy indeed. Thanks for the explanation, Brightheart.\"\n \"No problem,\" the purple racoon smiled.\n\nPutting the portable Care Alert back deep inside his cobalt blue fur somewhere, Royalheart shook Brightheart's paw and left the purple racoon to his gardening-chores, continuing on his stroll through the Forest of Feelings himself again. He hummed a tune to himself while sauntering about, but halfway down the Rainbow River he stopped and looked up in surprise at Brightheart's workshop a few yards furtheron. The doors of it were standing open, and the sound of clanking tools came from inside. But... that couldn't be? Brightheart was busy in his garden, Royalheart had seen that just a few minutes ago. So how could there be... Deciding to simply go look and find out, Royalheart walked over to Brightheart's workshop. He frowned a little again when he also heard music coming from the wide-open doors of Brightheart's workshop. \"[i]Help I'm stepping into the twilight zone. Place is a mad-house, feels like being cloned. My beacon's been moved, under moon and star. Where am I to go now that I've gone too far. Soon you'll come to know, when the bullet hits the bone...[/i]\" That, uhm... was not generally the kind of music one would be hearing in the Forest of Feelings. Getting really curious now, Royalheart quickly walked the last few steps to Brightheart's workshop. For a moment, he grinned when he noticed a pair of long blue ears between the twigs and leaves of a bush quite near the workshop. The ears were trembling a bit, and strange gasps of ecstacy were coming from the bush. Looking harder, Royalheart could also make out a blue bunny-face deep inside the bush, which was intently staring into the workshop, contorted with lust. Royalheart grinned again and looked into the workshop through the wide-open doors himself. An even wider smile broke through on his face. Of course, it all made sense.\n\nIn the middle of Brightheart's workshop was standing a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2400, bright orange from the roof down to the chrome trim over the side, and white from there further down. The paint was so incredibly high-gloss that the car sparkled like a diamond even inside the workshop. In the white part, over the doors, was a large picture of a tiger stepping up to you. The car was standing with its front wheels on supports, the hood of it was open, and a pair of beige-orange legs were sticking out from under it, between the supports the front wheels were on. A small part of a white tummy was just visible between the front white-wall tyres, a white tummy with on it an image of a heart-buddy getting sweetly hugged by a star-buddy. Royalheart grinned a little at softly muttered remarks coming from under the car, together with the sound of clanking tools. He stepped up close to the car, bent over the engine-compartment and tried to look through the engine.\n \"Hello Frolicheart.\"\nA face became slightly visible along the radiator.\n \"Royalheart? That you?\" sounded a male voice from under the car.\n \"That me, Frolicheart,\" Royalheart said with a small grin. \"So what you do there?\"\nA merry grunt came from under the car.\n \"Me, trying to fix car. Brightheart, he lent me workshop to work on car. You, have satisfied curiosity now?\"\nRoyalheart grinned again.\n \"Why don't you get out from under there for a moment, Frolicheart? Talks more easily.\"\n \"Just a sec.\"\n\nFrom under the car came some clanking sounds again. A few moments later the beige-orange legs moved, and Frolicheart Puma crawled out from under the car. Royalheart grinned a little again. The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin's paws were very dirty with oil and rusty grease, and he had apparently wiped his head with those dirty paws a couple of times, since big black smears were over his face too. When Frolicheart had gotten up, he put the spanner he was holding down on the workbench and took a cloth to wipe his paws a bit, meanwhile turning down the volume of the cloud-o-blaster standing on the workbench.\n \"Came by for a visit, Royalheart?\" he asked the cobalt blue tiger with a smile.\n \"Not really,\" Royalheart said. \"I was just taking a walk, and I was surprised to hear sounds coming from in here, since I just spoke with Brightheart in his garden a minute ago.\"\n \"Yeah well, like I said, he lent me his workshop to do some work on my car,\" Frolicheart said, also wiping his face a bit with the cloth.\nNot that it helped though, he only managed to rub the oily smears even more over his face. Royalheart hid a grin behind a paw and looked at the opened hood of the vintage Chevrolet.\n \"So what's wrong with it? Doesn't it run anymore or something?\"\n \"Doesn't run?\" Frolicheart said with a grin. \"Hah! It runs like a dream, man! Took her down to the dragstrip a couple of days ago, and clocked the fastest time yet! Nine point twelve seconds on the quarter-mile! A record time for this baby!\"\n \"Congratulations, I guess,\" Royalheart said with a chuckle. \"So you race that car? Gee, you're really a weird Care Bear Cousin, Frolicheart. For all I know, we're just supposed to help the people on Earth with their problems.\"\n \"Suuure, but that doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun down there every now and then, does it?\" Frolicheart said. \"And I mean, be honest...\" He pointed a paw at the vintage Chevrolet with a loving smile. \"That one looks so much better than a Cloudsmobile, am I right or not?\"\n \"It's, uh...\" Royalheart slowly stepped around the car, then looked at Frolicheart with a smile. \"Well, the only word that comes to my mind is; groovy.\"\n \"Accurate,\" Frolicheart nodded with a grin. \"Quite accurate a description, Royalheart.\"\n \"Yeah well, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that,\" Royalheart said. \"Have you noticed, uh...\"\nHe nodded at the bush just outside the workshop, the bush in which he had seen the pair of long blue ears. Frolicheart looked in that direction for a moment, then turned back to Royalheart with a grin.\n \"Swiftheart? Yeah, she's been sitting in that bush fingering herself over the looks of my car for three days now. I just pretend I don't know she's sitting there.\" He grinned a bit wider. \"Wouldn't wanna spoil her fun.\"\nRoyalheart laughed and gave Frolicheart a pat on the shoulder.\n \"Well, I'm getting back to my walk, Frolicheart. Good luck with your car.\"\n \"Sure, have a nice day,\" Frolicheart smiled. Just before Royalheart stepped out of the workshop, he placed a paw on the cobalt blue tiger's shoulder. \"And if you run into Cunningheart, don't hide your feelings, pal.\"\nRoyalheart stopped dead, and he very slowly turned back around to face Frolicheart.\n \"How... do you..?\"\nFrolicheart smiled.\n \"I know the signs, Royalheart. I haven't been a guy who bottled things up all my kithood to not know the signs. I can quite clearly tell you love that girl, but are hesitant somehow to tell her.\" He shook his head with a smile. \"Don't do that to yourself, my friend. It's not healthy to bottle things up, believe me.\"\n \"I know, I know...\" Royalheart said with a soft sigh, looking at the ground. \"It's just...\" He looked up at Frolicheart again. \"I don't know if she feels the same way about me, Frolicheart, and that's what holds me back. What if I offend her when I tell her how I feel?\"\n \"If she gets offended by you outing your feelings, then she's not very much of a Care Bear Cousin,\" Frolicheart said.\n \"Don't say that!\" Royalheart reacted a tad too harshly. \"How could you say that!\"\nFrolicheart smiled.\n \"Don't lose your fur, I only mean that no-one of us should ever be offended by someone else outing his or her feelings. I mean, that's our whole job, isn't it? Listening to others outing their feelings and helping them with solving troubles they might be having with their feelings?\" He chuckled softly. \"Think about it, really. Some future the Care Bear Family would be in for if we start getting offended by others voicing their feelings, right?\"\n \"Yeah, okay, you're right,\" Royalheart said, already smiling again. \"I'll think about it, Frolicheart. Thanks for your advice, anyway.\"\n \"Any time, pal,\" Frolicheart smiled. \"And as I said, have a nice day.\"\n\nRoyalheart nodded with a smile and stepped out of Brightheart's workshop, while Frolicheart turned back to his car. While walking further along the Rainbow River, Royalheart chuckled to himself when he heard two sounds quickly following up, the first being Frolicheart firing up the engine of his vintage Chevrolet, the second being a long lustful moan of orgastic pleasure coming from the bush with the long blue ears at that. Of course Royalheart, as everyone else, knew Swiftheart well enough to know the blue bunny had a passion for fast things, but getting off over the sound of a car's engine? That was slightly weird, to put it mildly.\n\nGrinning softly to himself, Royalheart continued on his stroll, following the Rainbow River upstream. That was just the most beautiful route to take in the Forest of Feelings. Along the Rainbow River, the surroundings were the prettiest. The trees were lush, the bushes were always covered in flowers of the most beautiful colors, and the foliage was open enough to see the colorful birds singing in the trees and the squirrels lovingly chasing each other or cuddling on the branches. When Royalheart reached the open spot with the fen where the waterfall of the Rainbow River tumbled down in, he looked around him and then sat down on the grass, leaning against a tree. This was still, by far, the most beautiful spot in the Forest of Feelings. The soft green grass, the colorful flowers, the sparkling water in the fen, and the myriads of rainbows being struck from the mist of the waterfall by the sun, it was just too lovely for words.\n\nSitting quietly, Royalheart let his eyes wander over the surroundings, taking in each lovely detail. A soft purr escaped his throat as he sat there, the warm sun caressing his fur. He could just sit like that for hours, enjoying the stillness of the forest, the only sounds around him being the sounds of nature. But he looked around when his ears picked up a rustle in the bushes he thought didn't belong there with the other sounds. Scanning the surroundings with his eyes, Royalheart thought he noticed flashes of white fur between the shrubs here and there. He thought quickly. Someone with white fur? That could only be either Sugar Bear, or... Royalheart's heart did a little leap of joy, while at the same time a cold finger of uncertainty tickled his brains. Those flashes of white could also be Cunningheart Snowleopard. Or could it be even something else which was rustling through those bushes? However, as far as Royalheart knew, besides the Care Bear Cousins no other creatures lived in the Forest of Feelings but birds, a couple of squirrels and bunnies. And those squirrels and bunnies all had brown fur. So then...\n\nIt had to be either Cunningheart or Sugar Bear he was now seeing flashes of. Strange flutters of doubt pulled the cobalt blue tiger in two different directions. From the one side, he really hoped it was Cunningheart he was seeing, but from the other side he hoped it was not. All the beautiful, fluid sentences he prepared in his mind, all the fluid verses of how beautiful she was and how much he loved her he wanted to sing her, they all just came out as strange gibberish each time he actually was face to face with the pretty spotted feline. For reasons the cobalt blue tiger could not explain, Cunningheart's presence left him a tongue-tied, flustered, stuttering fool, not knowing how to string his words together.\n\nAnd even apart from that strange radiation from Cunningheart that rendered him unable to express himself, there was another reason that held Royalheart back. The reason he had already explained to Frolicheart Puma back in Brightheart Racoon's workshop. As much as he loved Cunningheart, as much as he helplessly drowned in the warm pool of her wonderful personality, troops of anxious uncertainty kept marching into his aching heart about the hope of his feelings being returned. After all, Cunningheart had lived for so long with Sugar Bear, before they were reunited with the Care Bear Family. And so much signs had been seen about the two of them being close, very close, closer than friends. Royalheart couldn't really tell whether they were in love with each other, but he did know they were closer than normal friends were. So would there ever be a chance Cunningheart would return the feelings of love he, Royalheart, felt for her? As long as he could not be certain about that, Royalheart shied back from letting his own feelings be known to the pretty spotted snowpuss. There was just too much of a chance of him getting unintentionally hurt, or Cunningheart getting unintentionally offended. Even though Frolicheart Puma's advice still sounded in his head, Royalheart was hesitant to let Cunningheart know how he felt about her, since there was just...\n \"Hey, hello there!\" Royalheart's musings were interrupted by a cheerful voice. \"My, you seemed to be very far away in your mind.\"\n\nRoyalheart looked around. His heart did another leap of joy, while at the same time being tugged at by a pang of uncertainty. There she was. Sunlight reflecting off glossy white fur and bouncing from sparkling green eyes in flashes of emerald, Cunningheart Snowleopard was standing in Royalheart's full view, smiling at him. Stricken with her sudden appearance and speaking up, and grabbed by the beauty of her lithe, slender body, her dense, glossy fur and sparkling eyes, all Royalheart could do was staring at her. Cunningheart's smile deepened, her tail swinging languidly as she leaned sideways against a tree, the movement catching Royalheart in an almost hypnotic trance.\n \"Aren't you going to say anything at all?\"\nRoyalheart snapped out of his trance, feeling as if the deep red stripes in his cobalt blue fur were shining brightly red with the flush he knew was on his face under his deep dark blue fur.\n \"Uh... I'm... uhm... it's... uhm... hi... hi Cunningheart,\" he stuttered.\nInwardly he scowled at himself. Why did this have to happen every time she was near? Why did the mere presence of the grey-rosetted white feline turn him into a love-sick, uncertain, shy teenager? At the blue tiger's stuttering, Cunningheart outed a soft purring giggle, and she stepped up to him, easing down in the grass next to him with a fluid, agile move.\n \"So what were you thinking so deeply about?\" she asked, turning her face to the sun and squeezing her eyes.\nRoyalheart forced himself not to stare at her, in case she would look up and catch him at it. Instead he directed his look at his fingers, which he twined into and out of each other repeatedly.\n \"Uhmmm...\"\nCunningheart outed another purring giggle, closing her eyes completely while folding her arms behind her head.\n \"Was it something private, that you're hesitant to tell me? Well, that's okay. Keep it to yourself then. I'm not so much of a snoop, I was just interested.\"\nRoyalheart looked up with almost a startle.\n \"Oh, but... I would never... I would never accuse you of being a snoop, never ever,\" he stuttered.\nCunningheart rolled her head to the side a bit and opened her eyes again, sending Royalheart a warm smile.\n \"I know that,\" she smiled. \"It was just an expression, don't think too much of it.\"\n\nShe closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun again, still smiling. Royalheart also smiled a bit and directed his look straight ahead, to the waterfall and all the little rainbows struck from the mist by the sun. He kept stealing sideways glances at the grey-rosetted white feline next to him though, admiring, as each time she was near, her infinite beauty, the wonderful pattern of the grey rosettes in her white fur. Cunningheart was the only one apart from him, Royalheart, who had a patterned fur. Okay, and so Trueheart Bear and Nobleheart Horse had the rainbow-colored hair on their heads and the rainbow-colored tails, Brightheart Racoon had that dark purple mask and rings around his tail and Frolicheart Puma had those black stripes under his eyes and the white spots on the backs of his ears, but no other bear or cousin had a pattern of either spots or stripes or anything over the entire body. Only Royalheart and Cunningheart had that. It was one of the many reasons the cobalt blue tiger loved the white snowleopard so much.\n\nSitting there in silence as they did, Royalheart felt himself slowly settling down, coming at ease with the presence of Cunningheart right next to him. It felt so silly why he couldn't speak to her in a normal, adult way. I mean, it wasn't like she would bite him, was it? And after all, they were family, in a way. They were both Care Bear Cousins, and they even were both felines. And Royalheart could have normal conversation with Braveheart and Frolicheart and Proudheart, so why not with Cunningheart? He looked aside of him again, to the pretty grey-rosetted white feline enjoying the sun with her eyes closed, softly churring under her breath.\n \"The... weather's sure nice around here, isn't it?\" he said.\n \"Hmmm, yeah, sure is,\" Cunningheart smiled, not opening her eyes. \"I love it here, with all the sun and all. Down there in Greenland, where Sugar and I have lived for a long time, was nothing but snow and ice. Sun too, mind, but not as wonderfully warm as here.\"\nRoyalheart nodded, a small smile curling his lips.\n \"I love it here too. I mean, even when it's raining, the weather's still nice.\"\n \"Yeah, it is,\" Cunningheart agreed smiling, her eyes still closed. \"The rain down here is wonderful to walk through. Like soft, summery drizzles.\" She opened her eyes and looked at Royalheart. \"Still, I've heard that there's a snowey and icey place around here somewhere.\"\n \"Professor Coldheart's lair, yes,\" Royalheart said. \"I've heard about that too.\"\nCunningheart closed her eyes with a smile again.\n \"I wouldn't mind looking it up sometime, if I start missing snow and ice too much.\"\n \"No!\" Royalheart said, startled. \"You mustn't do that! It's dangerous! Coldheart's an enemy!\"\nA soft giggle rippled Cunningheart's features, setting her long whiskers atwitch.\n \"It's sweet of you to worry, dear, but I can look after myself. I'm not the chosen one to teach people how to stand up for themselves for nothing, y'know.\"\n \"I... know you are, and I don't doubt you can look after yourself, but... I would just... I would hate to see something bad happening to you,\" Royalheart said softly.\nCunningheart softly giggled again.\n \"You're a real sweetie, Royalheart.\" She rose up and stretched, and pressed a soft kiss upside Royalheart's head. \"It's nice to know there's someone worrying about me besides Sugar.\" She stretched again. \"Well, don't know what your plans were, but I'm heading home. I'm getting hungry. See you around, dear.\"\n\nShe calmly walked away, leaving Royalheart in bemused silence. The kiss she had given him had taken him by complete surprise, and the things she had said had ignited a flame of hope in his heart. Could there... be a chance after all that she might return his feelings of love? Or... or did she use those pet-names on everyone else as well? Again, doubts and uncertainty ruined the pleasant feelings Royalheart had experienced at Cunningheart pressing that kiss upside his head. Oh man, finally it had seemed as if there was a chance she might return his feelings of love, and again doubtful thoughts made him so unsure of what to think of it. Royalheart kept thinking deeply, until at last his thoughts ran around in circles inside his head, and with a sigh he just rose up from the grass and headed home himself. Walking past Brightheart's workshop, he noticed Swiftheart wasn't squatting in the bush anymore, which seemed logical since the doors of the workshop were now closed. However, when Royalheart walked down the rainbow path leading into Care a Lot, he suddenly noticed the orange and white vintage Chevrolet parked deep between the trees somewhere, and a sharper look told the cobalt blue tiger the car was slightly rocking too. Royalheart couldn't help but grinning softly. Seemed like Frolicheart and Swiftheart had gotten to a sweet agreement.\n\nSoftly shaking his head with a grin, Royalheart walked down the rainbow path into Care a Lot. Before going home, he wanted to have a word with Easy Bear. She was the Care Bear teaching people, amongst other things, how easy it is to show someone you have special feelings for that someone, and maybe she could help him with that too. And whatever was left of Royalheart's slight blues over his uncertainty concerning Cunningheart was whisked away with a merry laugh when the cobalt blue tiger passed Heaven Bear's cloud cottage. Heaven's Cloudsmobile was parked on the driveway, and when Royalheart walked past it he noticed a sticker on the rear bumper of it, reading: \"when this cloud is a-rocking, don't come a-knocking\". Not even wanting to know where Heaven had found a bumper-sticker with that text, Royalheart walked on to Easy Bear's cloud cottage, chuckling to himself merrily. Man, that sticker should actually have been on the rear bumper of Frolicheart's vintage Chevrolet, seeing as that car had been rocking.\n\nStill grinning to himself a bit, Royalheart knocked on the door of Easy Bear's cloud cottage. A few moments later the pastel green Care Bear opened the door, and she smiled at Royalheart.\n \"Hey, hello there, Royalheart. Visiting?\"\n \"Not really, Easy,\" Royalheart said. \"I actually have a problem, and I was hoping you could help me.\"\n \"Oh! Well, come on in, and we'll talk.\"\nRoyalheart followed Easy Bear inside, and near the door to the livingroom Easy looked around.\n \"I was just microwaving dinner, d'you want some too? We can have a bite while we talk.\"\n \"Sure, thanks,\" Royalheart smiled. \"I haven't had dinner myself yet.\"\n \"Go on inside then and make yourself comfy, I'll be there in a jiffy,\" Easy Bear said with a smile.\n\nRoyalheart nodded and stepped into the livingroom, while Easy Bear went on to the kitchen. In the livingroom Royalheart looked around him a bit while sinking down on a couch. Easy's cloud cottage was nicely furnished. One thing that right away attracted attention was the number of rugs lying on the floor. It seemed the pastel green bear had a thing for rugs. Furthermore it was just simple furniture, and a lot of flowering plants, plus a few really big green plants in big tubs. On a cloud coffee table a few magazines were lying, and Royalheart picked up one. It was a lady's magazine, but Royalheart leafed through it a bit anyway. When he put it back on the cloud coffee table, he frowned a little again. Placing the magazine on the table with the others made some of the magazines slide off each other a bit, and that revealed the cover of a magazine that had been lying almost on the bottom of the pile. And Royalheart couldn't help frowning over that magazine. PlayBear? Royalheart wondered what Easy was doing with that kind of a magazine in her cloud cottage, but he looked up when Easy Bear came into the livingroom, carrying two plates. She sank down on the couch next to Royalheart with a smile and handed him one of the plates.\n \"There you go, I hope you like macaroni and cheese?\"\n \"Yeah, it's good,\" Royalheart smiled.\nFor a while he and Easy Bear ate in silence. After some time, Easy put her plate down on the cloud coffee table and sat back on the couch.\n \"Now then, what is the problem you came to ask my help for, Royalheart?\"\nRoyalheart also put down his plate and sighed a bit.\n \"It's Cunningheart,\" he said. \"I'm in love with her, but I don't know how to tell her.\"\n \"Well, that's an easy one,\" Easy Bear said with a soft giggle. \"You do it as follows. Repeat after me, Royalheart; I, love, you.\"\nRoyalheart smiled weakly.\n \"That's not quite what I meant, Easy. I can think of the most beautiful things I want to say to her. Beautiful, fluid sentences of how much I'm in love with her. It's just that when I actually see her, then I don't know what to say anymore, and all I can do is stutter like a fool.\"\nEasy Bear nodded, running a paw over her nose and mouth.\n \"Mmm, yeah, that's a little more complex, alright. So what's the exact cause of that, Royalheart? Can you tell me why it is you get tongue-tied when you're face to face with Cunningheart?\"\nRoyalheart sighed.\n \"Not exactly, I'm afraid. It's just... everything about her. When I see her, I just... I get grabbed by something strange, and I don't know how to string my words together anymore.\"\nEasy Bear nodded again, thoughtfully.\n \"And if you close your eyes, so you don't look straight at her, won't that help to say those three words?\"\n \"Hmhm,\" Royalheart smirked. \"That might help, but I sure don't wanna do it that way, Easy. I want to be able to look her in the eyes and tell her how I feel. Only... Well, I think I'm afraid to.\"\n \"Ah, look, but now we're getting somewhere,\" Easy Bear smiled. \"Can you tell me the reason why you are afraid to tell Cunningheart how you feel about her?\"\n \"Yes, that I can explain,\" Royalheart said. \"It's her history. And my uncertainty.\"\n \"Explain me, please.\"\n \"What I mean is; I don't know if she feels the same about me as I do for her.\"\n \"Well, you can't find out that unless you tell her how you feel.\"\n \"I know, but... Well, then we get to her history. Before she was reunited with the Care Bear Family, she and Sugar have been living together somewhere up north for a very very long time. And the way they behave around each other, even still now... it shows they're still so very close.\"\nEasy Bear nodded again.\n \"That's true, I noticed that too.\" She looked at Royalheart. \"Do you think they might be in love with each other?\"\n \"Do you?\" Royalheart rebounded the question.\nEasy Bear thought for a while, wrinkling her brow.\n \"Gee, I don't know... I mean, if you look at Wish and Love-a-Lot, or if you look at Laugh-a-Lot and Bedtime, or Share and Funshine, you can clearly tell all of them are really in love with each other. Sugar and Cunningheart don't show it that obvious as those others I just now mentioned. Hmmm, tricky one indeed, Royalheart, tricky one indeed.\"\n\nShe started thinking deeply again, meanwhile silently finishing the last of her dinner. Every now and then she hummed to herself between bites, or she slowly nodded her head. Royalheart also cleaned his plate, keeping a hopeful look on Easy Bear. Finally, Easy looked up again.\n \"Royalheart, can you have a normal, friendly conversation with Cunningheart?\"\n \"Well... I did manage to talk about the weather with her for a bit this afternoon eventually, but...\"\n \"Okay, so that's not an option then,\" Easy Bear said. \"But can you talk to Sugar Bear in a normal, mature way?\"\n \"Sugar? Well yeah, talking with her isn't a problem.\"\n \"Then I'm advising you to go have a talk with Sugar sometime soon, Royalheart. Try to find out from her if she and Cunningheart are in love with each other.\"\n \"And... then?\"\n \"Aw come on, the next step is easy, isn't it?\" Easy Bear smiled. \"If Sugar can tell you she and Cunningheart are or are not in love with each other, then you can proceed from there on. The hardest part will be if Sugar says she and Cunningheart indeed are in love with each other. Then you'll have to find a way to live with that. But if Sugar says they aren't, then that should have taken away a large part of your uncertainty, and that'll help you to out your feelings for Cunningheart, to her.\"\n \"I see,\" Royalheart said, nodding slowly. \"Yes, I think that is the best thing to do for me. Thanks, Easy.\"\n \"No problem,\" Easy Bear smiled. \"Always happy to help.\"\n \"Well, thanks anyway,\" Royalheart said with a smile. \"And thanks for the dinner too. Should I help you with the dishes?\"\n \"No, don't bother, I have a dishwasher. So much easier,\" Easy Bear said with a giggle.\n \"Oh, alright,\" Royalheart said. \"Well, then I think I'd better be going again. It's a rather long walk back to my house. Thank you very much for the advice again, Easy.\"\n \"And again, you're very welcome,\" Easy Bear smiled. \"Lemme know how it worked out, okay?\"\n\nShe saw Royalheart out, carrying the two empty plates along with her. At the door Royalheart again thanked the pastel green Care Bear, and then he headed back to the Forest of Feelings. A wide grin spread across his face when he walked down the rainbow path leading from Care a Lot to the Forest of Feelings and vice versa, and saw the orange and white Chevrolet still parked deep between the trees, and even still rocking.\n\nBack at his cloud cottage, Royalheart sank down in the rocking chair standing on the porch, deciding to do a little rocking of his own. And besides, sitting there in that chair on the porch of his cloud cottage, with around him the quiet sounds of nature settling down for the night, always helped him a great deal when he had to do some serious thinking, and he had some serious thinking to do now. He needed to think of a way on how to best get in touch with Sugar Bear, and he had to think of a way on how exactly to tackle the matter of asking her about the relationship she and Cunningheart had. While the sun slowly set, and while the Forest of Feelings slowly got darker and darker and ever more silent, Royalheart just sat there rocking and thinking. Finally, he thought he had found a good way to solve his troubles, and he went to bed.\n\nThe next day, the sun beamed her warm golden rays into Royalheart's bedroom through the window that was still standing wide open. Royalheart slowly awoke. A small blue bird sitting on the windowsill twittered away the last of the cobalt blue tiger's sleep. Yawning, Royalheart rubbed his eyes, and then he looked at the little blue bird on his bedroom windowsill with a smile. The cobalt blue feline Care Bear Cousin was not superstitious, but nonetheless he saw that little blue bird sitting there singing a joyful tune on the sill of his bedroom window as a good sign. The day was looking promising.\n\nAfter having a little breakfast, Royalheart stepped out of his cloud cottage and started walking to Care a Lot. At the rainbow path leading there, Royalheart laughed heartedly when he saw the orange and white vintage Chevrolet was still parked between the trees, although it wasn't rocking anymore. Not resisting his curiosity this time, Royalheart stepped up to the car, wiped the dew off one of the rear side windows and peeked in. He laughed again. On the backseat were Frolicheart Puma and Swiftheart Rabbit, fast asleep, blissful and satisfied expressions on their faces, holding each other in a sweet embrace, and obviously still sexually entwined in each other. Shaking his head merrily and chuckling to himself, Royalheart walked away from the car and went further down the rainbow path, into Care a Lot.\n\nAs he walked into Care a Lot, he thought again of the plan he had devised. For as far as he knew, Sugar Bear now also lived in a cloud cottage in Care a Lot, while Cunningheart lived in one in the Forest of Feelings, so he had decided to simply go visit Sugar. He knew he would be able to get a private talk with her that way. Okay, so maybe that was very simple a plan, but the simple plans most often work out better than the complex ones. When the dark blue tiger neared Sugar Bear's cloud cottage, he smiled again. Sugar's cloud cottage also had a large porch, like his own, and on one side of that porch was a large swinging chair, hanging from two chains made of little hearts from the roof of the porch. And the white Care Bear was sitting on the chair, reading a book. She looked up however when a movement caught her eye, and she smiled when she saw that movement was Royalheart stepping up to the porch of her cloud cottage.\n \"Good morning, Royalheart.\"\n \"Morning, Sugar,\" Royalheart said. \"Can I have a talk with you?\"\n \"Yeah, sure,\" Sugar smiled. She put down her book and patted one of the fluffy pillows on the swinging chair with a paw. \"Want to have a seat?\"\n \"Thank you.\"\nRoyalheart stepped onto the porch and sat down next to Sugar Bear on the swinging chair.\n \"Now then, what can I do you for?\" Sugar smiled.\n \"I would very much like to talk with you, Sugar,\" Royalheart said. \"About something quite private.\"\n \"Well well? Sounds serious.\" Sugar shifted a bit on the swinging chair, taking on a somewhat more sideways position, so she could look Royalheart in the face. \"So what's it about, Royalheart?\"\n \"It's about...\" For a moment Royalheart hesitated, but then he got it out anyway. \"You and Cunningheart.\"\n \"Ah?\" Sugar said. \"And what about us?\"\n \"Well, what I would like to know, Sugar, are you... are you two in love?\"\nSugar Bear looked a little surprised, but quite soon smiled her special sweet smile at the cobalt blue tiger.\n \"Frankly? I do believe Cunningheart is a bit with you, big guy. As for myself, I am...\"\n \"No, I meant, you two, with each other?\" Royalheart said, apparently not having completely understood what Sugar had said, or not picking up on it.\n \"We in love with each other?\" Sugar said, a little surprised again. \"Well, of course, we have lived together for a very long time, back in Greenland, before we were brought here, where we belong. And in that time, yeah well, we had a thing for each other, but that was more because there was no-one else around to give us some sweet loving. And of course we have a very special bond because of that. But in love? Hmm, well, not like for instance Love-a-Lot is with Wish, or Funshine is with Share. We love each other very much, sure, but it's not like we can't live without each other. I mean, Cunningheart lives in the Forest of Feelings now, and I live here, and that goes well.\"\n\nRoyalheart nodded, thoughtfully, and smiling a bit. This certainly was good news for him. Sugar also smiled, her special ultra-sweet, honey-dripping smile, having done some quiet figuring. She turned to Royalheart and placed a paw on his shoulder.\n \"You have a thing for Cunny, don't you, big boy?\"\nRoyalheart looked up in a way as if he had been woken up out of some sort of mild trance.\n \"Hm?\" He seemed to comprehend what Sugar Bear had said, and he blushed slightly. \"Well, yes, I kinda do.\"\n \"I thought so,\" Sugar smiled. \"It shows.\"\n \"Does it?\" Royalheart said, avoiding Sugar's look.\nSugar giggled a bit.\n \"Yes Royalheart, it does. One can tell by the way you look at her. Your eyes almost turn into hearts when you look at her.\"\nRoyalheart blushed a bit again, and he mumbled something. Sugar giggled a bit again and gave him a soft pat on his shoulder.\n \"Hey, don't be ashamed, falling in love is purely natural. So, but is there anything else you'd want to talk with me about?\"\n \"Uh... no, this was the only thing, actually,\" Royalheart said.\n \"Okay, well, then I hope I have been able to help you with my answer,\" Sugar said with a smile. She picked up her book again. \"Uh, would you mind if I...\"\n \"Oh, no, of course not,\" Royalheart said, rising up from the swinging chair. \"As a matter of fact, I still have some things to do myself. I still have to figure out how to precisely work that portable Care Alert, for instance.\" He started walking to the few steps leading up to the porch of Sugar's cloud cottage. \"Anyway, thanks a lot for having had this talk with me, Sugar. A pleasant day to you.\"\n \"Thank you, Royalheart, and the same to you,\" Sugar Bear smiled, opening her book.\n\nRoyalheart waved at the white bear and stepped off the porch, starting on a calm walk back to the Forest of Feelings. With a smile he noticed the vintage orange and white Chevrolet now finally was gone from the place where it had been parked between the trees all night when he walked down the rainbow path. Feeling the sun gaining strength and hearing the birds happily chirping in the trees, the dark blue tiger started whistling a cheerful tune while walking. Not noticing where he was going, and not really minding for all that, he walked through the Forest of Feelings calmly, feeling happy and relaxed. Only now, in the serene stillness of the Forest of Feelings, did he realize what Sugar Bear had told him at one point in their conversation, when he had asked if she and Cunningheart were in love. The white Care Bear had said that Cunningheart seemed to have a thing for him, Royalheart. He felt his heart glowing warmly when thinking about that.\n\nAgain, as the previous day, the dark blue tiger's attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of tools in use coming from Brightheart's workshop, and again, Royalheart let his curiosity lead him to the wide-open doors of the building at the shore of the Rainbow River. And again, a large smile spread over his face when he again found the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin Frolicheart Puma busy in Brightheart's workshop, this time working on a 1970 Oldsmobile F85 Cutlass S fastback. This car wasn't by far as beautiful as the orange and white Chevrolet Bel Air though. It was painted in a simple blue color, the only extraordinary feature being a picture of a white winged cat in a leaping stance on both doors, with a large number 88 on its flank. Royalheart leaned against the doorjamb and looked at the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin working on the car for some time in silence, this time with a live-album from the Blues Brothers sounding from the cloud-o-blaster standing on the workbench. Since Frolicheart seemed to be too busy working on the car to notice anything else around him, Royalheart stepped into the workshop after a while.\n \"Good morning, Frolicheart,\" he said with a smile. \"You're quite busy again, I see?\"\nFrolicheart looked up and smiled at Royalheart.\n \"Hi Royalheart. Yes, I have a lot of work to do on this baby, and she has to be ready by the day after tomorrow.\"\n \"Why the rush?\" Royalheart asked, leaning against the workbench.\nFrolicheart wiped his paws on an old cloth.\n \"Well, I'm driving her in a vintage vehicle race on the Laguna Seca track the day after tomorrow. But she's thrown a piston in her last race, so I have to fix her up first.\"\nRoyalheart grinned a bit.\n \"I'm sorry, but I have to say again that I think you're a really weird Care Bear Cousin, Frolicheart. We teach people to care and be happy and get along with each other, we don't compete against them in car races or anything.\"\n \"Well, I do,\" Frolicheart said with a grin. \"And believe me, Royalheart, that creates certain bonds too. Especially with those hot rods like my Chevy. You should really attend one of the meetings sometimes. Those people are like one big happy family, admiring each other's cars and skills and all, and sharing experiences and tricks and advice. It's great.\"\n \"I take your word for it,\" Royalheart chuckled.\n \"You should,\" Frolicheart said with a grin. \"And you should really come with me to a meeting sometime. By the way...\" he added, studying Royalheart's face. \"...is it me, or do you seem extraordinarily happy today?\"\n \"Well, I am very happy,\" Royalheart smiled. \"I just now had a talk with Sugar Bear, and when I asked her if she and Cunningheart were in love, she said she thought Cunningheart was a bit with me.\"\n \"All right!\" Frolicheart said, jovially smacking Royalheart on the shoulder with a paw. \"That sounds like very good news, my man!\"\n \"It does, it does indeed,\" Royalheart nodded happily. He suddenly got a very good idea. \"Hey, Frolicheart?\"\n \"Yes?\" the beige-orange puma said, already bending over the engine of his Oldsmobile again.\n \"That race you mentioned, right? Where you are in?\"\n \"Yes, what about it?\"\n \"Could you get me two tickets for it?\"\nFrolicheart rose up from his bent-over position and turned to Royalheart slowly, somewhat surprised.\n \"What? Yeah, sure, but why? You just now said...\"\n \"I know, but I thought of something,\" Royalheart said with a smile. \"I've noticed that Cunningheart likes classic cars too, and I thought to take her to that race where you are in.\"\n \"Ah-haaa!\" Frolicheart said, grinning broadly. \"Yes, I understand you, my friend! Well, stop by here tomorrow, and I'll have two tickets waiting for you! Cat's meow!\"\n \"Which is even higher than a Cub Scouts' Honor,\" Royalheart grinned. \"Thank you very much, Frolicheart.\"\n \"No problem, my man,\" the beige-orange puma said with a smile. \"Heck, I'll even throw in a little surprise for you.\"\n \"Really?\" Royalheart chuckled. \"Are we going to get VIP tickets? Pitlane access?\"\n \"Haha, I just now said it's a surprise, buddy,\" Frolicheart grinned. \"Surely you don't think I'm gonna tell you?\"\n \"No, of course not, that would spoil the surprise,\" Royalheart said with a small grin. He shook Frolicheart's paw. \"Well, thanks in advance anyway, Frolicheart. You'll see me showing up here tomorrow then.\"\n \"Right, right,\" Frolicheart smiled. \"Tomorrow then, Royalheart. See ya.\"\n \"Alright,\" Royalheart smiled.\n\nBefore he left Brightheart's workshop, he took a cloth from the workbench and wiped his paw, since shaking Frolicheart's paw had left him with some oil-stains on his paw. Not that it showed that much on his dark blue fur, but after all he was a feline; very clean and hygienic. Come to that, it even was a bit of a surprise for him that Frolicheart didn't seem to mind at all getting so dirty.\n\nWalking through the Forest of Feelings again, Royalheart reflected with a smile on how things were seeming to go his way now. He had found out now that Cunningheart Snowleopard and Sugar Bear weren't bonded together, he had even found out the pretty grey-rosetted white feline was quite likely to return the feelings of love he felt for her, and he now even had arranged for a date for them, a date with a special surprise on the side. The only thing the dark blue tiger still had to do was actually asking Cunningheart to go on the date with him. And that was where the anxious doubts hit him again. Heavens, imagine... imagine she said no? Imagine she didn't want to go? Imagine... Aw man, Royalheart could kick himself for letting those anxieties ruin his pleasant feelings.\n\nOn an open spot in the forest, near the shore of the Rainbow River, Royalheart sank down in the grass and stared out over the river, while he let his thoughts roam. Why did he do this to himself? He was so secure of himself in everything else, why couldn't he be in this? He could solve any problem with ease, why couldn't he with this? He was... about to be surprised again.\n \"Hey, that's two times in a row, cousin! Third time means you have to buy me a treat, y'know!\"\nRoyalheart looked around him. Was that..? It was Cunningheart, smiling at him from somewhere further upstream on the shore of the Rainbow River. She stepped over to him and sat down next to him.\n \"It seems you really like to take hikes in the forest, don't it?\" she smiled.\n \"Uh... yeah... yeah, I do,\" Royalheart said. \"I... I really like the stillness of the forest.\"\n \"Hmmm yeah, it's wonderful,\" Cunningheart said with a smile, closing her eyes and letting her face be caressed by the sun. \"I really love it too. It's so calm and peaceful in here.\"\n \"It is,\" Royalheart nodded. He searched for something more to say. \"So...\" Sheesh, what should he start to talk about? Hm, Frolicheart and his cars seemed neutral enough. \"So, I heard you like old cars, right?\"\n \"Oh yeah,\" Cunningheart smiled, her eyes still closed. \"Classics are great. There was so much more imagination in the fifties and sixties. Nowadays, all those cars from Earth have gone through the same wind-tunnel. They all look alike.\"\n \"Have you... seen Frolicheart's cars yet?\" Royalheart asked. \"He was working on one yesterday, and just now I found him working on another one.\"\n \"I've seen that Chevrolet of his, the orange and white Bel Air,\" Cunningheart nodded smiling. \"Wow, that's really a beautiful car. And that tiger on the sides is so funky!\"\n \"Yeah, he was working on that one yesterday,\" Royalheart said. \"It is beautiful, but I don't really understand why he wants to get so many old cars up to the Kingdom of Caring. I mean, we have a good supply of Cloudsmobiles here, don't we?\"\n \"It's the radiation, the character of a classic automobile,\" Cunningheart smiled, still not opening her eyes. \"Those Cloudsmobiles are as magic as our Cousin Calls, or our bear-cousins' Stares. But a classic car from Earth, those have something. It's like you can feel the craftsmanship, the love that's been put into them when they were built.\" Cunningheart opened her eyes and sent Royalheart a sweet smile. \"And of course, the reason for dear Frolicheart to bring cars like that to our magical Kingdom of Caring is because here those cars are ultimately preserved.\"\n \"Hm, I guess they would be, if Frolicheart wouldn't go down to Earth with them and race with them every so often,\" Royalheart said, with a small skeptical smirk.\nCunningheart let out a merry rippling purred giggle while closing her eyes again.\n \"A point for you, Royalheart.\" She drew a sigh. \"Hmm, but I do like those races, though. I've been along with Frolicheart to the Salt Lake City dragstrip sometimes, when there was an event. You should see the spirit down there! Hundreds of people, bonded together by the love and passion for fast classic automobiles. It's really great. Of course everyone tries to clock the fastest time, but it really isn't so much competition as more having good fun.\"\n \"He said something like that,\" Royalheart nodded. He thought he'd better ask now. \"Hey, Cunningheart? He, uhm... he's going to get me two tickets for the race he's in the day after tomorrow. Would you... would you like to come with me? Please?\"\nCunningheart looked up happily.\n \"Would I like to? Oh Royalheart, I'd [i]love[/i] to!\" She bent over to the dark blue tiger and kissed him. \"Oh, thank you so much!\"\n \"You're... you're welcome,\" Royalheart said, kinda struck by Cunningheart's kiss. \"I'm, uh... I'm to pick up those tickets tomorrow, so, uh... I'll come to see you after that to let you know how we're going to go there, alright?\"\n \"Yes,\" Cunningheart said with a purr, sinking back down in the grass. \"That's good, I'll wait for that. Thank you so much again, Royalheart. You're a real sweetie.\"\n\nShe sank down even more, leaning against Royalheart's flank, purring under her breath with her eyes closed again. The cobalt blue tiger looked at it silently, feeling warmth and happiness spreading through his body. He slowly moved one of his arms, maneuvering it so that it came to lie around Cunningheart's shoulders. The grey-rosetted white snowpuss sighed again and snuggled up a bit against Royalheart's flank, purring softly. An even warmer feeling of happiness spread through Royalheart's body at that, and he folded his arm a bit tighter around Cunningheart's shoulders, holding her. Imperceptibly, the fingers of his free paw started tracing a few of the grey rosettes in Cunningheart's white fur. Cunningheart stirred a bit, her purr deepening.\n \"Cunningheart?\" Royalheart said softly. \"I...\"\nHis voice wavered. Inwardly, the cobalt blue tiger kicked himself. Yeesh, it was so simple! Why couldn't he say it? Cunningheart opened her eyes and rolled her head a little, looking up at Royalheart.\n \"Mmmyes?\"\n \"I, uhm... I'm... very happy you want to go to that race with me,\" Royalheart said.\n \"I'm very happy you invited me,\" Cunningheart purred. \"I've only been to that dragstrip a couple of times, I'd love to see a real race.\" She looked up again. \"Where is it, anyway?\"\n \"The...\" Royalheart thought for a while, trying to remember. \"The... Laguna Seca track. I don't know exactly where that is, though.\"\n \"Out on the coast somewhere,\" Cunningheart said, closing her eyes again. \"But that's about all I can tell you. I believe it's in or close to Daytona Beach in Florida, but I'm not sure.\" She suddenly opened her eyes again and raised her head. \"Sheesh, Frolicheart's gonna race on that track? I've seen it on TV sometimes. That's a rotten track to drive! All kinds of hairpins and U-bends, and loose sand on both sides.\"\nRoyalheart shrugged.\n \"If you say so...\"\nCunningheart sank back down against Royalheart's flank with a smile.\n \"Yeh well, I do believe he's got the capacity to race on that track.\" She looked up with only her eyes. \"Do you know which car he's gonna drive?\"\n \"Uhmm... A very fast-looking blue one with a white cat with wings on the doors,\" Royalheart said. \"Don't ask me what brand it is, though, I wouldn't know that.\"\nCunningheart nodded with a smile.\n \"I bet it's fast, yeh.\" She suddenly looked up again. \"Hey, you said he was working on it in Brightheart's workshop now?\"\n \"Yes, he said the car had thrown a piston in the last race he drove it in, so he had a lot of work on it.\"\nCunningheart jumped up happily.\n \"I'm gonna have a look! I'm so curious!\" She started running, but looked back and waved at Royalheart merrily. \"See you tomorrow, Royalheart! And thanks again!\"\n\nBefore Royalheart managed an \"uh... you're welcome\", Cunningheart had already disappeared between the trees. The cobalt blue tiger kept looking in the direction Cunningheart had disappeared into for a while, but then he drew a sigh and sank down on the grass on his back, closing his eyes and placing a paw over his face. Darn, he had been so close this time! He had almost told the grey-rosetted white snowleopard he loved her. And again his anxiety had messed it up! And why? Why? The situation had been perfect. She was lying cuddled up against him! Purring! And still... still he hadn't been able to say it! Darn, darn, darn!\n\nFor quite a while Royalheart stayed in his flat-out position, with his paw over his face. Oh man, why did it have to be this hard? Now he knew there was a very good chance Cunningheart might return his feelings of love, and still he couldn't bring himself to telling her he loved her! While the sun started slowly setting, Royalheart took his paw off his face and slowly rose up into a sitting position. He mentally made a decision. Tomorrow he would go pick up the tickets Frolicheart promised him, and the day after that, when he was at that race with Cunningheart, he would tell her he loved her. No matter what! Even if all the cars would drive straight into the audience, he would tell her! He had to put an end to his suffering. So even if he had to force it out of himself, but he would tell her!\n\nHaving made that decision, Royalheart scrambled up completely and started walking back to his cloud cottage. When passing Brightheart's workshop, he stopped for a moment at still hearing the sound of tools in use coming from it, and this time a John Denver-tune instead of the Blues Brothers. Royalheart looked into the workshop, and saw Frolicheart still working on the blue Oldsmobile, bending deeply over the engine. Cunningheart wasn't there, though. Royalheart smiled a bit, and he was just about to walk on when a quite unusual outcry made him look around in surprise. It was coming from Frolicheart.\n \"OW, shit, shit, dammit, shit!\"\nRoyalheart stepped into the workshop, seeing Frolicheart rising up from his bent-over position holding his left wrist with his right paw, looking obviously pissed.\n \"Now now, that's not the kind of language someone would expect from a Care Bear Cousin, Frolicheart,\" the cobalt blue tiger said with a smile. \"Are you alright?\"\nFrolicheart looked around, smiling a bit when he saw Royalheart standing there.\n \"No, I know, but it's the kind of language you expect someone to say in the heat of the moment. For instance when that someone hurts himself badly.\"\n \"Did you hurt yourself?\" Royalheart asked.\n \"Yeh I did,\" Frolicheart said with a grimace.\n\nHe stepped over to the workbench, took a cloth and wiped his paws a bit. Then he stepped over to a first aid-kit (Brightheart was genius enough to have one of those at the ready in his workshop) and took out a small bottle of iodine and a roll of band-aids. Royalheart also stepped up to him, seeing the beige-orange feline was sporting a rather nasty gash on his left paw, just under his wrist.\n \"Need some help, Frolicheart?\" he asked.\n \"Yeh, pour some of this on there if you will,\" Frolicheart said, handing Royalheart the bottle of iodine and holding out his left paw.\nRoyalheart twisted the cap off the bottle of iodine and poured a generous amount onto the gash in Frolicheart's paw. The beige-orange Care Bear Cousin squeezed his eyes and clenched his teeth.\n \"Ngngjngrrr!\" he growled between his teeth. Drawing a deep breath, he opened his eyes again and looked at Royalheart. \"Sheesh, why does that stuff has to sting like that? Man! Anyway, if you could also give me a hand with these, Royalheart, I'd be most grateful.\"\nHe gave Royalheart the roll of band-aids. Royalheart cut off a large piece and stuck it on Frolicheart's paw, over the gash. While putting the rest back into the first aid-kit, he looked at Frolicheart wiping his forehead with his right paw.\n \"So what did you do anyway, Frolicheart?\"\n \"Just a stupid movement of pulling back, cutting my paw on a sharp edge of the air intake manifold,\" Frolicheart said, drawing a deep breath. He looked around and smiled at Royalheart. \"It's not so bad, though. Thanks for the help.\" He grinned. \"So, your girlfriend stopped by here some time ago, by the way.\"\nRoyalheart nodded.\n \"We met in the forest, and we talked a bit. I told her you were gonna get me two tickets to that race you're in, and I asked her if she wanted to come. She really liked that, and she also really wanted to see the car you were working on.\"\n \"Yeh, that showed,\" Frolicheart chuckled. \"She was all over it. She even had trouble keeping herself from drooling.\"\n \"Really?\" Royalheart said, a tad surprised.\n \"Oh yeh,\" Frolicheart grinned. \"And that makes me believe she's really really gonna like the surprise I have for you when you come to pick up those tickets tomorrow, my friend. She'll love you to pieces for that one.\"\n \"Really?\" Royalheart said again. \"Sheesh, now you've gotten me curious.\"\n \"Practise patience, my friend,\" Frolicheart smiled. \"Tomorrow you'll find out what I mean.\"\n \"You know what, then I'm now going home, have something to eat, and go to sleep,\" Royalheart said with a chuckle. \"All the faster it'll be tomorrow.\"\n \"Very wise,\" Frolicheart grinned. \"If you have a minute, I'll come along with you. If my concentration now is so slackened that I cut myself on the air intake manifold while working on the pistons, then I'd better call it a day and continue tomorrow. Otherwise, who knows, next thing I might end up bolting my fingers onto the exhaust headers or something.\"\nRoyalheart laughed.\n \"Sure, I'll wait a while.\"\n\nHe sat down on the workbench while Frolicheart started cleaning up. He did a last thing in the engine of his blue Oldsmobile, then closed the hood of that and put all the tools away. At a wash-stand in a corner of the workshop (Brightheart had really thought of everything) he washed his paws and his face a bit. When he was reasonably cleaned up, Frolicheart stepped out of the workshop together with Royalheart and closed and locked the doors. Then he led the way for the cobalt blue tiger to a bright white car, that apart from the color looked nothing at all like a Cloudsmobile. It was a 1972 Mercury Cougar XR-7 convertible, with the top down, and Frolicheart pointed at it with a grin.\n \"Want me to drop you off at your place, Royalheart?\"\n \"Uh... yes, sure, thanks,\" Royalheart said, eyeing the car with surprise.\nHe got in, and while Frolicheart also got in and started the engine, Royalheart looked, with a little surprise again, at the stick-shift.\n \"This one has a manual transmission?\"\n \"Yeh, and that's an option that only was installed along with a more powerful engine,\" Frolicheart said. \"All of these cars with the regular engine in them had an automatic transmission.\" He shifted the car into first and pulled away. \"I've been lucky to find one with the manual. Not many of these Cougars got that option. People in America rather chose the automatic transmission. But I prefer the manual one, it gives you more chance to drive a little more sporty.\" He revved the engine with a grin. \"Would you like a demonstration?\"\nRoyalheart grabbed the top of the passenger-side door with a startle at Frolicheart revving the car's engine.\n \"If it's all the same to you, rather not,\" he said.\n \"Oh, okay, fine,\" Frolicheart grinned.\nHe drove to Royalheart's cloud cottage calmly, and when they arrived there he pulled up to the gate and stopped the car, turning in the seat to look at Royalheart.\n \"Right, here you are,\" he said with a smile. \"Like I said, when you stop by Brightheart's workshop tomorrow, I'll have two tickets to the race ready for you, plus a nice surprise.\"\n \"Thanks a lot,\" Royalheart said, getting out of the car. \"And thanks for dropping me off too, Frolicheart. I'll see you tomorrow then.\"\n \"Alright, see you,\" Frolicheart smiled.\n\nWhile Royalheart stepped up to his cloud cottage, he pulled away, and the cobalt blue tiger shook his head with a chuckle when he heard Frolicheart revving the engine of the white Mercury again, obviously pulling away with plenty of speed. Inside his cloud cottage, Royalheart fixed himself some dinner, and he ate it outside on his porch, sitting in his rocking chair. After some time he went to bed, and just before he went to sleep he once more resolved to tell Cunningheart how much he loved her when they were at that race together, no matter what.\n\nThe next morning, the cobalt blue tiger was again awoken by a small bird sitting on the sill of his bedroom window, chirping cheerfully. Yawning, Royalheart sat up in his bed, blinked a couple of times at the sunlight pouring into his room, and smiled at the little red bird. After breakfast, he sat on his rocking chair for a while, puttering around with his portable Care Alert, learning exactly how it worked. It wasn't too hard, most of the functions explained themselves, and the ones that didn't were easy enough to comprehend. When he was done with his portable Care Alert, Royalheart stood up from his rocking chair and started walking into the Forest of Feelings. His curiosity about the surprise Frolicheart had promised him drove him to Brightheart's workshop in a quick pace. On his way there, Royalheart ran into Swiftheart, who was doing a bit of jogging.\n \"Good morning, Swiftheart!\" he called out to the blue bunny merrily.\nSwiftheart slowed down a bit, and when she saw Royalheart she stopped in her tracks and looked straight at him.\n \"Oohh, I'm so jealous of you!\" she exclaimed.\n \"And... why is that exactly?\" Royalheart said slightly surprised.\n \"I saw you yesterday!\" Swiftheart said, pointing a finger at Royalheart's nose. \"I saw you riding along with Frolicheart in that hot white car of his! Oh, I'm so jealous!\"\n \"Why should you be?\" Royalheart said with a sly grin. \"If my memory doesn't fail me, you have been riding along with him in that orange and white car of his a couple of days ago.\" He pointed a finger back at Swiftheart's bunny-nose with a wider grin. \"And if I'm not totally wrong, you've done a lot more riding with Frolicheart in that car than just 'along', haven't you?\"\n \"You saw that?!\" Swiftheart said. She giggled a bit. \"Ohh, you saw that! You spied on me!\"\n \"So?\" Royalheart chuckled. \"That's nothing new to you, is it? I catch you spying at others all the time, my dear little bunny-cousin. I caught you spying on Frolicheart when he was working on that orange and white car, for instance.\"\n \"Mh yeah, did that have a wonderful result!\" Swiftheart chortled. \"Hey, are you going to see Frolicheart now?\"\n \"Yes, he has something for me which I'm gonna pick up now,\" Royalheart said.\n \"I'll walk with you!\" Swiftheart said briskly. \"I hear he's working on another car now, and I wanna see it!\"\n \"Yeah, I actually was a bit surprised when I noticed you were missing at Brightheart's workshop yesterday,\" Royalheart grinned. \"Well, alright, walk along with me, Swiftheart.\"\n\nTogether, the two Care Bear Cousins walked through the Forest of Feelings, heading for Brightheart's workshop. Upon arriving there, Royalheart wasn't surprised to see the bright white Mercury Cougar convertible standing there with the top down, but he was a little surprised when he saw another convertible standing close by it. That one was bright red, and it had a rather strange nose. Like with the blue Oldsmobile Frolicheart had been working on, this bright red convertible had the hood tapering into a sharp point right in the middle, and the broad chrome rim around the entire grille plus over that point, splitting the grille into two separate pieces with two headlights each, acted as the front bumper. Swiftheart's breath deepened considerably when she saw that car, and she slowly stepped up to it.\n \"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow,\" she gasped softly, stepping around the bright red convertible and looking at it from all sides. \"Oh wow, just lookit that. A real '68 Pontiac Firebird convertible. And look at the state it's in! It looks brand new!\"\nJust as she started on another round around the car, Frolicheart stepped out of the workshop, grinning.\n \"I thought I heard bunny-gasps coming from here somewhere. Hello Royalheart, Swiftheart. Like the car, Swifty?\"\n \"It's so awesome,\" Swiftheart breathed, not taking her eyes off the Firebird. \"It's so hot! I love it!\"\n \"It's nice, isn't it?\" Frolicheart chuckled. He stepped up to Royalheart and gave the cobalt blue tiger two small papers and a set of keys. \"Here you are, Royalheart. Two tickets for the race tomorrow, and those keys are to the Firebird. You can use that one to drive yourself and Cunningheart to the race tomorrow.\"\n \"What??\" Royalheart and Swiftheart said at the same time, Royalheart out of surprise, Swiftheart out of jealousy.\n \"Yeh, that's the surprise I mentioned yesterday, my friend,\" Frolicheart smiled at Royalheart. \"Cunningheart stopped by here, as I told you, and we talked about classic cars a bit. She mentioned her absolute top favorite is the convertible 1968 Pontiac Firebird, so I figured, since I have one, I'll lend you that one to drive your girlfriend to the race tomorrow.\"\n \"Wow, thanks so much!\" Royalheart said happily, shaking Frolicheart's paw. \"She'll be so happy!\"\n \"That's what I thought,\" Frolicheart said with a grin. \"You're welcome.\"\nSwiftheart was looking at the two felines pouting, her eyes round and wide.\n \"What? What? You're going to Frolicheart's race tomorrow, Royalheart? In that?\" she said, nodding at the Firebird. \"Oohh, now I'm even more jealous! I wanna go too!\" She started hopping up and down. \"Can I come too? Can I come too? I wanna come too! Can I come too?\"\n \"Not with Cunningheart and me, you can't,\" Royalheart said. \"I'm sorry, bunny-cousin, but I had something special planned for the two of us, and I can't use you with that.\"\n \"Nowww!\" Swiftheart whined. \"I wanna come too, Royalheart! I wanna see that race! I wanna see all those hot cars! I wanna come too! Please let me come along with you?\"\n \"Sorry Swiftheart, but no,\" Royalheart said.\n \"You can come along with me, Swifty,\" Frolicheart grinned. \"I get to bring a guest.\"\n \"Oh goodie!\" Swiftheart cheered. She hopped up to Frolicheart and jumped into his arms, hugging and kissing him. \"Thank you so much, Frolicheart! Thank you so so much!\"\n \"Yeh yeh, you're welcome,\" Frolicheart said with a grin, putting Swiftheart back down on the ground. He turned to Royalheart again. \"One thing, my friend. When you leave the car on the parking lot, please do think to close the windows and put the top up, okay?\"\n \"Sure, I'll think about that,\" Royalheart said happily. \"Gosh, this is great, Frolicheart. I don't know how to thank you.\"\n \"Help me hoping I'll finish first in that race tomorrow, that's good enough,\" Frolicheart chuckled.\n \"I bet you'll finish first!\" Swiftheart cooed, cuddling up against Frolicheart from aside. \"With time to spare! You'll leave all those others miles and miles behind you!\"\n \"That'll be an accomplishment, the Laguna Seca track only is a little over two miles long,\" Frolicheart grinned, softly stroking Swiftheart's long ears with a paw. \"But thanks for the confidence anyway, Swifty.\"\n \"And you once again thanks so so much for this, Frolicheart,\" Royalheart said.\n \"You're very welcome,\" Frolicheart smiled. \"Now, why don't you stop by your girlfriend's and show off a bit? As I understood, you were to tell her today about just how you were going to come to my race tomorrow, right?\"\n \"That's right, yes,\" Royalheart nodded.\nHe got into the bright red Firebird convertible and started the engine. Swiftheart outed an ecstatic moan at the rumble of the engine, and Frolicheart leaned on the edge of the driver's side door with a grin.\n \"Another little thing, my friend,\" he grinned just before Royalheart pulled away. \"I would like to see the car returned to me without any damage, okay? I don't mind stains on the seats, but no tears in the upholstery please, okay? That's a crime to fix, you see.\"\nIt took a little while before Royalheart actually understood what Frolicheart meant, but Swiftheart had right away read between the lines, and she started giggling loudly. The blue bunny's loud giggles seemed to help the meaning of Frolicheart's words dawn in Royalheart's head, and he blushed a bit, but still managed a smile.\n \"I'll, uh... I'll make sure we're very careful with your car, Frolicheart,\" he said.\n \"Good,\" Frolicheart grinned, rising up. \"I appreciate that. Now, if you stop by the pit lane tomorrow, I'm quite sure we'll be seeing each other again then. Those tickets give you access to the visitors area of the pit lane, and I'll be looking out for you.\" He turned around, putting an arm around Swiftheart's shoulders. \"Alright, bunny-cousin, wanna give me a hand with the work on my race car?\"\n \"Would I?!\" Swiftheart squealed joyfully.\nShe bounded into the workshop ahead of Frolicheart. The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin looked at it with another merry grin, and he turned around to wave at Royalheart, who also grinned a bit.\n \"See you tomorrow then, Royalheart.\"\n \"Yes, we'll be sure to look for you,\" Royalheart smiled. \"And once again, thank you very much, Frolicheart.\"\n \"No problem, just happy I could help you out,\" Frolicheart smiled.\n\nHe turned around again and stepped into the workshop, and Royalheart carefully pulled away in the bright red Pontiac Firebird convertible. He had to get used a bit to the manual transmission also this car had (after all, the Cloudsmobiles all just had a GO-button, push that and they were off), but quite soon he managed to get the hang of working the stick-shift, and he calmly drove towards Cunningheart's cloud cottage. The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard was sitting on a big swinging chair on the porch of her cloud cottage, reading a book, but she looked up when she heard the car approaching. And she even jumped up when she got a good look at the car.\n \"Oh wow, Royalheart!\" she cried out, running up to the bright red Firebird. \"What a lovely car! A '68 Pontiac Firebird convertible! My favorite! I didn't know you had one of those?\"\n \"I don't, Frolicheart lent me this one,\" Royalheart said with a smile. \"For us to go to the race with tomorrow.\"\n \"Wow, terrific!\" Cunningheart said happily. \"I so love this model! The 1968 Chevy Camaros looked almost exactly the same and sold better, but I really dig that split-grille design of these Pontiacs!\"\n \"Yes, well,\" Royalheart said, getting out of the car. \"I just now picked up the tickets from Frolicheart. They say the race begins at eleven o'clock, so how about I pick you up here at, say, nine-thirty? Then we'll have plenty of time to get to that race-track.\"\n \"Sure, sure, sounds perfect!\" Cunningheart said.\n \"Okay, well, it's... it's a date, then?\" Royalheart said.\n \"Oh yes, sure, of course!\" Cunningheart said happily.\n \"Right, well, alright then,\" Royalheart said. He looked a tad lost for a moment. \"Well, then I guess I, uh... head on off home then, and... I'll see you tomorrow.\"\n \"Oh! No, no no no, please, do stay here a bit!\" Cunningheart smiled. \"C'mon, come sit with me for a while!\"\n\nShe took Royalheart by a paw and pulled him towards the porch of her cloud cottage. Setting him down on the swinging chair, she eased down on that herself beside him, smiling a bit at the cobalt blue tiger's surprised expression. She could tell, just and about, what kind of emotions were battling each other inside Royalheart's mind. She knew he more or less had special feelings for her, although she didn't yet know how deep they were. She did know, however, that she shouldn't be rushing things. So after having sat down next to Royalheart on the swinging chair, she just sent him a smile and eased back, letting the cobalt blue tiger be a bit first, to let him get at ease again. Each time, Cunningheart had noticed that whenever Royalheart was in her presence, he got hesitant to open up, so she just gave him a little time to get back at ease before engaging him in conversation.\n\nIt did help for the dark blue tiger. He still got kinda overwhelmed by Cunningheart's presence close by him, but her calm manners did help him to relax and at least talk to her in a normal way.\n \"So, uhm...\" he started after some time. \"Do you think Frolicheart will win in that race tomorrow?\"\nCunningheart nodded with a smile.\n \"I've been looking at the car he's going to drive, and I reckon he has a very fair chance with that one. That Olds of his just really goes! You should see the engine he slugged into it!\"\n \"You're really into that car-stuff, aren't you?\" Royalheart said.\nCunningheart nodded again.\n \"Mm-hm. I just love classics!\" She looked at Royalheart with a smile. \"I have to say though that Frolicheart taking me along to a meeting every now and then did help to make it grow. At first, I just liked classic cars for the way they look, but those meetings really got me enthusiastic for the whole thing around them; the modifying, the racing, everything.\" She folded her arms behind her head and leaned back again. \"Have you never been with him to one of those meetings?\"\n \"No,\" Royalheart said. \"He did offer to take me along sometime, though.\"\n \"Do it!\" Cunningheart said. \"You should definitely do it! It's just so... indescribable, once you've tasted the atmosphere.\"\n \"I... think I might do it one time,\" Royalheart nodded slowly.\n \"Yeah, you really should,\" Cunningheart smiled. \"Honestly, you don't know what you're missing when you don't.\"\n\nRoyalheart nodded again, thoughtfully, silently. For a while, both felines sat quietly, Cunningheart enjoying the sun, Royalheart musing on different thoughts. As he thought about it, he was getting more used to being close to Cunningheart. It started to seem more natural. It was like his barrier of shyness was slowly crumbling away. After all, he now knew that Cunningheart and Sugar Bear were not in love with each other, and he knew that there was a fair chance Cunningheart would return the feelings of love he felt for her. He looked aside him. Cunningheart had closed her eyes again, enjoying the sunlight playing on her face with a smile. Royalheart smiled softly too.\n \"Hey, Cunningheart?\"\n \"Hmm?\"\n \"I, uh... I really really like you,\" Royalheart said carefully.\nCunningheart's smile deepened.\n \"Same here.\" She opened her eyes and looked down her body. \"Sheesh, my tummy starts growling. I had no idea it's time to eat already.\" She looked aside at Royalheart with a smile. \"Wanna come inside and join me for lunch?\"\n \"That... sounds wonderful,\" Royalheart said. \"I'd like that very much.\"\n \"Okay, c'mon then,\" Cunningheart smiled.\n\nShe rose up from the swinging chair and stepped into her cloud cottage through the opened front door. Royalheart followed her, a bit slowly. But as he stepped into Cunningheart's cloud cottage, he shook his head sharply and told himself to grow up once and for all inwardly. Stop being such a shy wussy! You're a mature tiger, aren't you?! Act it! He looked up when Cunningheart addressed him.\n \"Do you wanna wait in the living room until I'm done fixing lunch, or would you care to help me perhaps?\"\n \"I'll help you,\" Royalheart said with a smile. \"I'm rather good with preparing food, if I may say so myself.\"\n \"Oh really?\" Cunningheart smiled. She opened the door to her kitchen and made an inviting gesture. \"Well then, step inside and amaze me.\"\nRoyalheart also smiled and followed Cunningheart into her kitchen. He saw a pan standing on the stove, and he lifted the lid and sniffed the content of the pan.\n \"Hmm, smells nice. What's this?\"\n \"Some chicken soup left over from yesterday,\" Cunningheart said with a smile, opening the fridge and looking in. \"You can heat some of that in the microwave if you want some.\" She bent over and reached into the fridge. \"Personally, I prefer fried eggs on ham for lunch.\"\nRoyalheart also stepped over to the refrigerator and looked in.\n \"Fried eggs are good,\" he said with a smile. \"I do like... yeesh!\" Royalheart almost drew back at the sight of at least fifteen small pots and pans standing on all shelves of the fridge. \"What is all that?\"\nCunningheart giggled a bit.\n \"Just some left-overs. You know, I never do seem to be able to decide whether to throw them out or warm them up to eat them.\"\nRoyalheart carefully lifted the lid of one of the many pots and pans, and drew back his head again, making a face.\n \"Well, that decision should easily be made for you when you open these,\" he smirked. \"I wouldn't feed some of this stuff to even my worst enemies.\"\nCunningheart laughed heartedly.\n \"You're right, maybe they have been sitting in my fridge for too long. I'll throw them out right now. Thanks for the good advice, Royalheart.\"\n\nShe started taking out all the pots and pans and stacked them all on top of each other. Maneuvering carefully, she started walking to the door leading to the back garden with the enormously high pile of pots and pans. As she opened the door, she looked around with a giggle.\n \"You don't have to wait for me with making some lunch for yourself, Royalheart. This is probably going to take some time.\"\nRoyalheart grinned a little.\n \"Just make sure you duck when you step through the door, or those things will be all over you.\"\n\nCunningheart giggled again and stepped through the door, indeed bending over a bit so the high pile of pots and pans didn't hit the top of the door-frame. While she disappeared around a corner, Royalheart softly chuckled to himself and looked into the fridge again, actually finding some things that were still edible. As he took some things out, he once more chuckled to himself over the situation. Yeesh, for a feline, he sure hadn't expected Cunningheart to be so sloppy with food. Heh, but maybe she was just trying to keep the left-overs in her fridge so long that they would eventually try to escape so she could hunt them down and pounce on them. Royalheart laughed shortly when that thought crossed his mind.\n\nWith an armful of things he walked back to the counter, put all the things down and started preparing some lunch. He turned on the fire under the pan with chicken soup, started frying a couple of eggs and buttered a few slices of bread. Just as he was adding slices of bacon to the eggs, Cunningheart returned in the kitchen with all the pots and pans. She dumped them in the sink with a deafeningly loud clatter while sniffing appreciatively.\n \"Hmmm, smells really good, Royalheart,\" she smiled, turning on the faucet. \"I'll just wash these a bit, so don't mind me.\"\n\nRoyalheart just sent her a sideways smile, keeping his attention to what he was doing at the stove. But every now and then he stole a quick sideways glance at Cunningheart standing right next to him at the kitchen counter, washing up all the pots and pans. He again felt a nice feeling of warmth spreading to him, and that wasn't because he was standing so close to the stove. At one moment, he reached over the counter to pick up a spatula, just as Cunningheart reached over the counter for a bottle of washing-up liquid. For a brief moment, their paws touched. A warm flutter of tingles shot through Royalheart at the gentle touch, and Cunningheart smiled, softly squeezing his paw before taking the bottle of washing-up liquid. To hide his blush, Royalheart quickly took the spatula and turned to the pan with the eggs.\n \"Uh... do you like your eggs double-fried or sunny side up?\" he asked.\n \"I prefer sunny side up,\" Cunningheart smiled, slamming a washing-up brush through the pots and pans, making water and foam splatter everywhere.\n \"Alright.\"\n\nRoyalheart just lifted the eggs a bit so they wouldn't stick to the pan, and then he turned to the other pan, in which the chicken soup was slowly coming to the boil. He stirred it with the same spatula absent-mindedly, wondering in his mind what he should think of the soft squeeze Cunningheart had given his paw just now. She was now washing up the pots and pans humming a tune to herself merrily, seemingly not paying any attention to Royalheart. It made a little doubtful confusal creep into Royalheart's heart again. The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard seemed to be as fickle as a breeze, giving off signs of affection to Royalheart one moment and totally ignoring him the other. Royalheart really didn't know wthat to think of it. So he just turned his attention to his cooking again, just in time turning the fire down under the pan with the soup since it was threatening to boil over. The eggs were ready too, so he took two plates, put the buttered slices of bread on the plates and lifted the eggs from the pan with the spatula, putting them on the slices of bread. In a cabinet he found soup bowls, and there was a ladle in a drawer, so he also filled two bowls with the chicken soup.\n \"Well, lunch is ready,\" he said, with a small smile.\nCunningheart looked up from the pile of pots and pans with a smile.\n \"Good, I'm really hungry now.\"\n\nShe dug up knives and forks and spoons from another drawer, and carried the two plates to the livingroom, while Royalheart followed her with the bowls of soup. He set them down on the coffee table and sat down next to Cunningheart on the sofa. She handed him one of the plates, took a remote and switched on the stereo. Royalheart almost dropped his plate with a startle when the loudspeakers jumped up with a roar, blasting Queen music through the room at an insanely high volume. Cunningheart giggled while working the remote.\n \"Oops, sorry. The thing's still set from last night.\" She pressed a few buttons on the remote, silencing Freddy Mercury and replacing Brian Adams' screaming guitar for some gentle, melodic Bill Evans jazz. \"There, that's much better for a nice lunch atmosphere.\"\n \"Agreed,\" Royalheart said, managing a smile.\nThey started eating. Cunningheart licked her lips and purred appreciatively after a few bites of the fried eggs.\n \"Hmmrrr, these are really good, Royalheart. You know your business around a kitchen.\"\n\nRoyalheart just smiled a bit, not really knowing what to say. So the two felines just finished their lunch in silence. After lunch Royalheart helped Cunningheart with the dishes (the pots and pans which had held all the left-overs needed to soak a good deal before they could be cleaned), and after that they spent some time on the swinging chair on the porch again, in content silence. More and more Royalheart found he was really getting used to being right next to Cunningheart all the time, and he actually felt quite at ease sitting on the swinging chair with her. He really believed now he would soon be able to tell her his feelings without any problems. Still, he decided to wait until the next day, when they were at that race together.\n\nAfter some time, Cunningheart drew a sigh and leaned over on her side a bit, sinking down against Royalheart's flank. Automatically, without thinking about it, Royalheart laid his arm over Cunningheart's shoulders. Cunningheart drew another sigh and closed her eyes, snuggling into Royalheart's cobalt blue fur a bit. A tidal wave of warmth and happiness flooded Royalheart's body, and he let his head sink sideways a bit, resting it on top of Cunningheart's head, his dark blue heart-shaped nose softly pressed against one of her ears.\n \"I love you,\" he murmured under his breath.\n \"Hmmmmm,\" was Cunningheart's quietly purred reply.\n\nThey sat in silence again after that. Royalheart wasn't sure whether or not Cunningheart had actually understood what he had said, but he didn't care either. Just the feeling of her lying cuddled up against his flank, the rate of her breathing softly pressing her flank against his in a soft, regular, gentle caress was enough for him now. This moment just was too perfect.\n\nWith his head resting on top of Cunningheart's, Royalheart looked out over her front garden, seeing the flowers slowly moving in the breeze, the butterflies and bees dancing among the flowers, the birds flying by. He felt as content as he had ever felt, the feeling of Cunningheart lying against him, her soft fur under his arm, giving him a feeling of utter happiness he hadn't ever felt before. This moment could just last forever, for as far as he was concerned. Time lost all meaning. There was nothing anymore but this moment, this feeling of bliss.\n\nOf course, even in the Kingdom of Caring, a perfect moment has to end sometime to keep it perfect, and slowly the comprehension of time returned in Royalheart's mind. He rose up a bit, causing Cunningheart to stir, sigh, and also sit up. He smiled at her.\n \"Much as I enjoy sitting here with you, Cunningheart, but I'd better go home now,\" he said. \"I still have a few things to do.\"\n \"Mmm, alright,\" Cunningheart smiled. \"I'll see you tomorrow at nine-thirty then, I guess?\"\n \"Absolutely,\" Royalheart said with a smile. Before he even realized it, he bent over a bit and pressed a kiss upside Cunningheart's head, between her ears. \"See you tomorrow.\"\n \"Right,\" Cunningheart purred with a smile. She softly ran a paw over the side of Royalheart's face. \"I'll be waiting for you.\"\n\nRoyalheart nodded, and he rose up from the swinging chair. He waved at Cunningheart while walking through her front garden, and she merrily waved after him when he pulled away in the bright red Pontiac Firebird Frolicheart Puma had lent him. Driving home, Royalheart reflected on all the things that had happened in Cunningheart's cloud cottage and on the swinging chair. It most certainly looked promising for him. He had told Cunningheart he really really liked her, and she had answered she felt the same. They'd lunched together, and she had enjoyed his cooking. They had spent some wonderful time on the swinging chair, close up against each other, and he had even already said he loved her, to which she had replied with a purr, which by itself already was a very good sign. Yes, as he thought about it, things were certainly looking up for the cobalt blue tiger.\n\nAt his cloud cottage, Royalheart parked the Firebird right behind his Cloudsmobile, closed the car's windows and put the top up, and he went inside. After fixing some dinner, he sat on his rocking chair on the porch to eat it, and he again thought back on everything that had happened at Cunningheart's cloud cottage. A smile decorated his face all the way through dinner, and for a long time after when he just sat on the rocking chair to look at the Forest of Feelings slowly settling down for the night.\n\nThe next morning, at half past nine sharp, Royalheart pulled to a stop in front of Cunningheart's cloud cottage in the red Pontiac Firebird. The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard was indeed already waiting for him, and she waved at him merrily while stepping up to the car. Royalheart had put the top down again, and Cunningheart hopped onto the passenger's seat over the edge of the right door.\n \"Morning, Royalheart.\"\n \"Good morning, Cunningheart. Well then, shall we go?\"\n \"A very good idea.\"\n\nRoyalheart drove them through the Forest of Feelings, heading for the rainbow path leading into and out of the Kingdom of Caring. There he found Frolicheart had apparently put a little Care Bear Cousin magic into his cars, or at least in this one, since the Firebird reacted every bit like a Cloudsmobile. Driving through the sky calmly, Royalheart steered the Firebird down to Earth, landing on a road that led directly to the Laguna Seca race track. As they got closer, they noticed a whole lot of other cars driving towards it, and both felines were slightly surprised to see nobody looked up at a white snowleopard with grey rosettes and a dark blue tiger with bright red stripes, both with a colorful symbol on their white tummies, mingling with the traffic in a classic Pontiac Firebird convertible.\n\nOn the parking lot, Royalheart made sure he closed the windows and the soft-top of the Firebird, like Frolicheart had asked him to, before walking to the entrance of the race track with Cunningheart. When they were inside they looked around them a bit, at the large grandstands, the snack- and soft-drink vendors, and the hundreds and hundreds of people. Royalheart had to admit to himself that the atmosphere indeed was terrific, and he thought he would indeed enjoy himself. Making their way to the pit lane, and getting access to the visitors area after showing their tickets, both of them looked up when a cheerful voice rang out.\n \"Heeeyy, Royalheart, Cunningheart! You're well on time! Good to see you!\"\n\nBoth felines looked around, and both smiled deeply. It was Frolicheart Puma calling out to them, and he was dressed in a bright blue overall printed with several symbols, and his own tummy symbol on the front. Next to him was Swiftheart Rabbit, obviously happied out of her little furry mind, and she was also wearing a similar sort of overall, even though it was slightly too large for her. Royalheart and Cunningheart waved at Frolicheart and stepped up to him.\n \"It's good to see you too, Frolicheart,\" Royalheart said. \"Once again, thank you for all of this.\"\n \"Really, it is my pleasure,\" Frolicheart smiled. \"And here's another bit of advice.\" He pointed at the large grandstands opposite the pit lane. \"When the race begins, find yourself a place on that stand over there, on the outer corner, and all the way on the top seats. You have the best view from there, both over the starting grid as over the first two curves. And those usually are the most spectacular in the first two or three laps.\"\n \"We will,\" Royalheart smiled.\n \"At what position do you start, Frolicheart?\" Cunningheart asked. \"So that we know just and about at what part of the grid to look for your car?\"\nFrolicheart grinned.\n \"Keep your eyes on the front part. I had a rather lousy qualifying; I'm starting from third position.\"\n \"That's what you call lousy?\" Royalheart said with surprise.\n \"Considering I usually start from pole position, yes, that's what I call lousy,\" Frolicheart said with a grin.\nCunningheart and Swiftheart giggled, and Royalheart also grinned a bit. Frolicheart looked around for a moment when his name was called out, then turned back to Royalheart and Cunningheart again.\n \"Well, I gotta go now. I hope you have a good time.\" He nudged Royalheart's shoulder with his grinning. \"And remember what I said, huh pal? Be careful with my car. Stains on the seats are alright, but no rips in the upholstery please.\"\n\nBefore Royalheart could reply, Frolicheart turned around and walked to the pit boxes, accompanied by Swiftheart. Looking aside at Cunningheart for a moment, Royalheart felt a faint blush on his face, but he managed to bring up a smile for Cunningheart.\n \"Well, I reckon we'd better find ourselves a seat on that stand, right?\"\n \"Yeh, we'd better indeed,\" Cunningheart said with a giggle.\n\nHolding paws, the two felines made their way through the crowd, heading for the large grandstand opposite the pit lane Frolicheart had indicated. Climbing all the way to the topmost rows of seats, they found themselves a nice place to sit, having a view of the starting grid and the first two curves, and they also could see a bit of the last curve, on the other side of the starting grid. That really looked like a very mean curve. It was a U-bend so tight it more looked like a 'V' than a 'U'. That would promise some spectacles alright.\n\nRoyalheart and Cunningheart turned their looks to the starting grid. Cars were already being rolled onto it, and after some time they saw the clear blue Oldsmobile with the white winged cat on the side also being rolled onto the grid by two mechanics. Frolicheart was walking alongside it, looking at the grandstand, and he waved merrily when he caught sight of Royalheart and Cunningheart. They merrily waved back. A voice over a loudspeaker gave information on the cars and their drivers. It was a wide variety of classic cars, but apart from two 1957 Chevrolet Bel Airs and two 1958 Ford Thunderbirds, it were all sixties or seventies muscle-cars. Mechanics did some last check-ups on the cars while the drivers were getting into them.\n\nWhen the last drivers had gotten into their cars and the last mechanics had left the grid, the well-known phrase \"racers, start your engines\" sounded over the loudspeakers. The air was filled with twenty-four powerful engines being fired up and revving. On an overhead post at the start/finishline was a board with six lights in them; two red next to each other, two red under that, and two green under those. The first two red lights lit up. The cars' engines were revved. The second two red lights lit up. The revving of engines increased. The two green lights lit up, and the cars all spurted forward.\n\nRoyalheart and Cunningheart could see Frolicheart had a wonderful start. His clear blue Oldsmobile spurted right past the white '68 Ford Mustang on position two, taking the second position. And the two felines also saw that Frolicheart had been right about the first and second curve being the most spectacular at the beginning of the race. The first curve was a U-bend too, and with twenty-four cars diving into it at once, that provided some sensational action. Brake-lights flashed on and off like disco-lamps when all twenty-four cars tried to take that curve as fast as possible while trying to avoid hitting the others. The first few cars were already coming out of the U-bend, and both Royalheart and Cunningheart cheered with admiration when they saw the clear blue Oldsmobile with the white winged cat on it diving into the second curve in a very daring manner, cutting across the red and white curbstones with squealing tyres, sprinting past the green Chevrolet Camaro which was in first position on the inside. Taking the lead position that way, the blue Oldsmobile took off, already drawing a gap between it and the cars behind it. Having lost sight of the blue Olds when it had rounded the curve, Royalheart and Cunningheart turned their looks to the nasty sharp U-bend at the other end of the starting grid, waiting for the blue Olds to appear there. They didn't pay any attention to the booming voice over the loudspeakers which gave commentary on what was going on with all twenty-four cars, they just kept staring at the other end of the starting grid. A little over a minute later, they saw the blue Oldsmobile approaching the nasty sharp U-bend really fast. Royalheart gasped a bit and Cunningheart cried out \"wow!\" when right before the U-bend the blue Oldsmobile suddenly spun around with a jolt, indicating Frolicheart had most probably yanked the steering wheel and the hand-brake at the same time. The rear of the Olds swung around, and smoke came from the tyres when the accelerator was apparently stamped to the floor. With the sharply pointed nose pointing in the right direction, the blue Olds sped forward again, tearing across the starting grid.\n \"Wow, did you see that!\" Cunningheart exclaimed enthusiastically, grabbing Royalheart by a shoulder. \"He really threw that car around that mean curve! Wow, can he drive!\"\n \"I'm impressed,\" Royalheart admitted.\n\nThey looked at the bright blue Olds screeching through the first U-bend again, sliding a bit through the sand. About every minute, after it had gotten out of sight behind the second curve, it appeared at the very nasty sharp U-bend on the other side of the starting grid again, being flung around that curve with force. And each time Cunningheart and Royalheart cheered and waved wildly at the blue Olds zooming across the starting grid after that. Five laps into the race, it had already drawn a gap of forty-seven seconds, according to the commentator. At the end of the sixth lap, the blue Olds dived into the pit lane, getting new tyres and a full tank of gas.\n \"Gosh Royalheart, this is all so great!\" Cunningheart said happily. \"I'm so glad you invited me!\"\n \"Yes, well...\" Royalheart said. \"I just... I happen to...\" He inwardly scolded himself again. Sheesh, just say it, dolt! \"I love you, Cunningheart. I very very much love you.\"\nCunningheart looked at the cobalt blue tiger with a very deep smile.\n \"Really?\"\nRoyalheart nodded.\n \"I've had a crush on you for a very long time already,\" he said softly. \"I'm really very much in love with you.\"\n \"I know that,\" Cunningheart smiled sweetly. \"I've been wondering when you would find the guts to tell me.\" She hugged Royalheart tightly. \"I'm very happy you finally told me. I love you too, Royalheart. I really do.\"\n \"You do?\" Royalheart said softly, almost in a whisper. \"You mean that?\"\n \"Yes, I mean it,\" Cunningheart smiled.\n\nShe pulled Royalheart even closer, pressed her lips on his and kissed him deeply. The cobalt blue tiger felt Cunningheart's soft, warm tongue slipping into his mouth to play with his, and at the moment Cunningheart's tongue found his and curled around it, Royalheart drew a deep, happy sigh, closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around Cunningheart's body and answered her kiss. Oblivious to the crowd around them, they held their kiss for a long time, their tongues lovingly dancing with each other. They didn't even notice Frolicheart coming out of the pit lane again and re-taking the lead in the race with almost a full minute advantage. It wasn't until the blue Oldsmobile had entered its eighth lap Cunningheart and Royalheart broke apart. They looked at each other with twinkles of love in their eyes, smiling deeply.\n \"This... this is just the most perfect day in all my life,\" Royalheart said happily. \"I love you so, Cunningheart.\"\nAs an answer, the pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard embraced Royalheart, pulled him close and kissed him again.\n \"I love you too, Royalheart, I really really do,\" she purred. \"And I'm so glad you finally told me you do. You make me so very happy.\"\n \"Well, after all, that's what being a Care Bear Cousin is all about, isn't it?\" Royalheart smiled.\n\nCunningheart laughed cheerily and hugged Royalheart again. Holding each other sweetly, they watched the ending of the race. It only was ten laps long, and Frolicheart in his clear blue Oldsmobile was just zooming across the start/finishline, into his tenth and final lap with almost half a lap advance on the rest of the cars. Just and about a minute later the clear blue car appeared again on the end of the starting grid, at that very mean U-bend, again being thrown around it forcefully and zooming across the starting grid. Now not only Cunningheart and Royalheart applauded and cheered and waved wildly, but the entire audience did. Having crossed the start/finishline, the clear blue Oldsmobile slowed down considerably, and it made one final lap calmly, going into the pit lane at the end of that calm, slow lap.\n\nRoyalheart and Cunningheart climbed down the grandstand and made their way through the crowd to the visitors area of the pit lane, finding Frolicheart being cuddled to death by a very over-enthusiastic Swiftheart. The two felines were stopped when they wanted to run up to the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin, but since Frolicheart had spotted them and called out to join him, they were allowed to get into that part of the pit lane anyway. Both of them enthusiastically congratulated Frolicheart on his victory.\n \"Oh wow Frolicheart, can you drive!!\" Cunningheart exclaimed. \"That way you threw that car around those mean corners! Beautiful!\"\n \"Well done, Frolicheart,\" Royalheart said a lot calmer. \"Very well done. Congratulations.\"\n \"Thanks, and the same to you,\" Frolicheart said with a grin.\n \"Same to... Uh... why?\" Royalheart said.\n \"For finally coming out of your closet, and having had success with it,\" Frolicheart grinned.\n \"You... can tell?\" Royalheart said.\n \"Uh-huh,\" Frolicheart said with a chuckle. His name was being called out again. \"Well, love to stay and chat, but I have to go now. It's time for the prize-givings. Don't know if I catch you after that; I usually have a little party with my crew afterwards, so... In any way, my friend...\" He patted Royalheart on the shoulder with a grin. \"Once again congratulations to you too, and please keep my request in mind, alright? No damage to the seats of my car please.\"\n \"We'll keep that in mind, Frolicheart,\" Cunningheart said with a giggle. \"I wouldn't wanna damage the seats of such a lovely car as that Firebird anyway.\"\n \"Good, that certainly reassures me,\" Frolicheart grinned. He looked around when his name was being called out again. \"Yeh yeh, in a minute!\" He turned back to Royalheart and Cunningheart. \"Well, see you around, I guess. Bring the car back any time you like, Royalheart. You can either bring it to Brightheart's workshop, or to my house, okay? I really have to go now.\"\n \"Sure, go on ahead,\" Royalheart said with a smile. \"We'll catch you later, back up in the Forest of Feelings.\"\n\nHe and Frolicheart shook paws, and accompanied by Swiftheart, the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin walked to the pit boxes. Royalheart and Cunningheart got out of the pit lane again and went back to the grandstand, on the way there stopping by a hot-dog vendor where Royalheart treated Cunningheart to a real Vienna hot-dog, with everything. They made it back to their high seats on the grandstand in time to see the prize-giving, with Frolicheart accepting a cup Champ Bear could have been jealous of. Royalheart and Cunningheart stayed for a little while longer, but as the race track didn't offer very much more things to their interest, eventually they left and walked back to the parking lot.\n\nRoyalheart opened the doors of the Pontiac Firebird, and Cunningheart put the soft-top down again, since the weather still was unbelievably nice and sunny. It took a while before Royalheart had managed to get off the parking lot and onto the road where they had landed that morning, since a lot more people had decided to call it a day and head on home. But once out of the heaviest traffic, Royalheart could make a bit better time. Despite himself being infected a bit by the events he had witnessed, he started pushing down the accelerator once he was on the deserted country road, making the Firebird pick up a lot of speed. Cunningheart leaned on the edge of the passenger's side door, eyes closed, ears flat against her head and a big smile on her face, while the wind ruffled her fur and whiskers. Through the rumble of the engine, Royalheart could pick up a soft purr coming from Cunningheart, and his face also was decorated with a smile at that. Only when signs at the side of the road indicated another town coming up, Royalheart got the Firebird airborne and headed back to the Kingdom of Caring, keeping the speed of the Firebird close to the three-digit numbers however. He only slowed down when the Firebird was on the rainbow path leading into the Kingdom of Caring. Since the sun was still high up in the sky, Royalheart looked aside at Cunningheart for a moment.\n \"So, uh... what would you like to do? Should I drop you off at your place, or...\"\n \"Keep driving,\" Cunningheart purred, not opening her eyes. \"I don't mind where you go to, but just keep on driving for a while. I'm really enjoying the ride.\"\n \"Okay,\" Royalheart smiled. \"To be quite honest, I like driving this car better than driving a Cloudsmobile. It in any way sure has a lot more pepper in it.\"\n \"Yeah,\" Cunningheart nodded. \"It sure does. And the engine sounds better.\"\n \"Hmmm, I dunno, I kinda like that soft whinny of a Cloudsmobile's engine,\" Royalheart smiled.\n \"Well, I prefer to hear the power a car keeps in store,\" Cunningheart purred.\n\nRoyalheart nodded a bit, smiling, and he just kept on driving around the Forest of Feelings. However, somewhere at the outskirts of the Forest of Feelings, halfway up a small hill that looked out onto Care a Lot, he found that there was another thing to the Firebird which was quite different from a Cloudsmobile. Slowly, the engine started hiccuping, sputtering, and the car lost speed. Right on top of the little hill, the car stopped completely. Cunningheart opened her eyes and looked around her, smiling deeply at the view.\n \"Good idea to stop here, Royalheart,\" she smiled. \"The view here is magnificent.\"\n \"Well, uh... I didn't exactly do it on purpose,\" Royalheart said, scratching the top of his head. \"The car stopped by itself. I don't know why.\"\n \"Hmmm.\" Cunningheart leaned over towards Royalheart and looked at the dashboard. And she started laughing. \"Not much experience with driving cars from Earth, have you, Royalheart? Check out that one gauge over there in the dash.\"\n\nRoyalheart looked at the gauge Cunningheart pointed at. It was a round gauge, with a half-circle of white lines in it. On one end of that half-circle was an 'E', and on the other end was an 'F'. There also was a red needle in the gauge, and that was pointing at the 'E'. Royalheart scratched the top of his head again.\n \"Yeah, so what does that gauge indicate?\"\nCunningheart laughed even cheerier.\n \"That's the fuel-gauge, my friend, and when the needle is pointing to the E, it means the tank is empty. And that means the car won't go another inch anymore until you refill the tank.\"\n \"Fuel-gauge...\" Royalheart muttered. \"Sheesh, that's something a Cloudsmobile doesn't have, but I could have guessed a car from Earth would have something like that.\" He looked at Cunningheart, with a small smile. \"Well, if what you said is true, then it seems to me we're kind of stranded here right now.\"\n \"Mmh yeah, but as I said, at least the view is magnificent,\" Cunningheart purred with a smile, looking ahead of her at the open landscape and the fluffy clouds of Care a Lot. \"I don't mind staying here for a while.\"\n \"We don't even have much of a choice,\" Royalheart said with a smile. \"The only option we have is walking back home. This car won't take us anywhere anymore. For one thing, I don't know what kind of fuel this car needs, and for another I don't know where Frolicheart keeps the fuel for his cars.\"\n \"Well, let's just enjoy the view for a while then, hm?\" Cunningheart purred, sinking down against Royalheart's flank.\n \"That sounds alright,\" Royalheart smiled.\n\nHe eased back in the driver's seat and put an arm around Cunningheart's shoulders. She sighed happily and wrapped her arms around Royalheart's body, resting her head on his chest, purring softly. Looking through the windshield, they saw the small cottages on the fluffy clouds of Care a Lot in the distance, the colorfully glittering rainbows, and the smiling yellow sun very slowly sinking down behind the clouds. Its rays lent beautiful colors of gold and ochre to the fluffy Care a Lot clouds, and as the time passed the colors changed to deep fiery orange, scarlet and magenta.\n \"Isn't that beautiful,\" Cunningheart churred, dreamily looking at the setting sun and the colorful Care a Lot clouds.\n \"Yeah, it sure is,\" Royalheart murmured, keeping his eyes a little more downward, more enjoying the golden shimmer the setting sun lent Cunningheart's fur.\n \"I sure had to laugh over what Frolicheart asked you, to please be careful not to rip the upholstery of this car's seats,\" Cunningheart purred with a giggle.\nRoyalheart for a moment was struck by Cunningheart's very sudden change of topic, but he smiled quite soon.\n \"He told me tears in the upholstery are a crime to fix. And I can imagine he wants us to be careful with his car. I mean, if you see how much work and how much love he puts into them.\"\n \"Yeah, he's a fanatic,\" Cunningheart purred smiling. She rolled her head a bit so she could look Royalheart in the face. \"And he sure does know what kind of pleasure you can have with, and in, a car.\"\nRoyalheart nodded.\n \"The way he zoomed over that racing track today showed me how much he likes to get everything out of a car that's possibly in it. You can tell he likes to search for the limits, and to push them back each time.\" A sudden grin came upon Royalheart's face. \"And when I found him working on that orange and white car of his, some time later I also found that he and Swiftheart had come up with another very fun thing to do in it.\"\n \"Mmh yeah, he's a traditionalist in that,\" Cunningheart softly giggled. \"He once told me that it is the car that mostly helps young or new lovers to get close. A first time for young or new lovers as good as always is on the backseat of a car.\" She rose up a little, bringing her face close to Royalheart's and whispering into his ear. \"Wanna be a traditionalist too, Royalheart?\"\n \"What... You mean..?\" Royalheart said.\nCunningheart nodded with a sultry smile.\n \"After all, we are new lovers, and we're marooned with our car on a very romantic spot.\" She softly giggled again. \"And I sure don't want a nice tradition to die out.\"\n \"So... You're saying... You'd like to... go to the backseat with me?\" Royalheart said.\n \"Yes I do,\" Cunningheart whispered smiling. \"Wouldn't you?\"\n \"I... I very much would,\" Royalheart said softly. \"I so love you, and I've always dreamed of...\"\nHe wavered. Cunningheart smiled sultrily again, and she bent over to the dashboard.\n \"Let's just see here...\" She rummaged in the glove-compartment, digging out a few cassette-tapes and looking at the covers. \"Hmmm yes, this'll do just nicely.\"\n\nShe took a cassette out of one of the little boxes and pushed it into the car's cassette-deck. After switching on the radio, two loudspeakers in the dashboard and four in the doors poured calm Carpenter-ballads through the car. Putting the other cassettes back in the glove-compartment, Cunningheart softly ran a paw along Royalheart's face and kissed him.\n \"Now, wanna come to the backseat with me?\"\n \"There isn't a thing I'd want more,\" Royalheart said softly.\n\nBoth felines crawled between the two front seats to the Firebird's backseat. Laying themselves down across the backseat, their lips locked onto each other, and while Karen J. Carpenter sang \"touch me when we're dancing, I want to feel you when I'm falling in love\", the red-striped dark blue tiger and the grey-rosetted white snowleopard lost themselves in a deep, loving, passionate kiss. When they broke apart, both of them were purring.\n \"Love me, Royalheart,\" Cunningheart purred. \"Caress me.\"\n\nRoyalheart didn't need to be asked. The sweet, loving kiss had drowned the very last of his uncertain shyness. It was replaced now with the security that Cunningheart was his, for now and forever, to have and to hold, to love and... well, not exactly to protect, she was perfectly capable of that herself.\n\nHe slowly rolled over to his side, in the movement rolling Cunningheart to her back. Slowly, his soft paws started reconnoitering her speckled body which trembled with purrs. Silently, Royalheart marveled at how the yellow cat's eyes in Cunningheart's rather dark tummy symbol seemed to glow as he drew his fingers over it. And again, as he had done on a few prior occasions, he started tracing the grey rosettes in Cunningheart's white fur, finding now that her tummy really was the very only part of her body that didn't have any of them. Even the best part of Cunningheart's body, the part that Royalheart for so long had wanted to explore, her soft, fluffy feline pussy, had tiny lightgrey rosettes in the soft white fur on the delicate lips. The moment Royalheart let his fingers trace the lines of those small rosettes, Cunningheart's purrs deepened, and she closed her eyes while spreading her legs a bit. Her tail dangled over the edge of the backseat, the end of it slowly swinging back and forth in ecstacy as Royalheart continued with his gentle explore of his feline lover's lithe, slender body.\n \"O... o... oh!\" Cunningheart gasped softly when Royalheart tenderly touched the red heart on her left hip. \"Oh Royalheart, that... that feels so good. Please touch me, feel me, caress me. Please... mh! Mh! Yeah!\"\n\nRoyalheart's fingers had slowly slid down from the red heart on Cunningheart's left hip to her thigh, and from there gently to her loins. Again the cobalt blue tiger started running a finger along the tiny grey rosettes on Cunningheart's fuzzy white pussy, every now and then picking up a small droplet of warm, milky cum slowly leaking from between her soft, swollen pussy-lips. The white feline Care Bear Cousin's grey-rosetted tail started twitching harder, and the yellow cat's eyes in her black tummy symbol started sparkling more brightly. Even the grey rim around the black heart and the grey tail Cunningheart's tummy symbol had seemed to sparkle with a mysterious glow. It was almost as if she was preparing to launch a Cousin Call.\n\nDelighting in Cunningheart's ecstatic reactions, Royalheart slowly became a little more audacious, and he let his fingers eagerly wander over all of Cunningheart's fluffy white pussy, slipping them between the soft, swollen lips every now and then. Cunningheart's purrs deepened ever further, steadily becoming shorter and harder, and her tail twitched in short shocks. She slowly curled her tail upwards between Royalheart's legs, the tip gently tickling his erected dick. Royalheart softly moaned under his breath, Cunningheart's teasingly tickling tail giving him a hard time to keep his concentration up. He twirled his own tail into Cunningheart's, his fingers now firmly rubbing and caressing the white snowleopard's warm, swollen pussy, quickly leading her to the vivacious peaks of a stormy orgasm.\n\nLegs flailing and paws firmly grabbing the backseat's upholstery first but very quickly Royalheart's cobalt blue fur then, Cunningheart shocked all over her body and outed soft, short growls of lust when Royalheart's fingers drove her into a flaming hot climax. Her grey-rosetted white pussy cramped hard around the dark blue tiger's fingers, and her warm, milky juices found their way along Royalheart's fingers to his wrist, and from there along the length of his arm, eventually slowly dripping onto the Firebird's backseat. With his tail still twirled into Cunningheart's, Royalheart slowly withdrew his fingers from the white feline Care Bear Cousin's cramping, slippery pussy and stuck them in his mouth, savoring the sweet, rich taste of Cunningheart's sex-cream.\n\nWhile enjoyingly licking clean his fingers, Royalheart looked down on Cunningheart, seeing her open her eyes and sending him a warm, sweet, satisfied smile. She was still gasping deeply, and Royalheart felt her tail doing arduous attempts to disentangle itself from his so it could return to its teasing tickling. Smiling himself, Royalheart freed Cunningheart's tail, which right away curled back up between his legs and slid over his stiff dark blue dick again. Drawing a deep, lustful breath, Royalheart slowly sank down on the backseat and wrapped his arms around Cunningheart's shoulders, making his own tail caress her warm, slippery white pussy. Folding her arms tightly around Royalheart's body, Cunningheart pulled the cobalt blue tiger close and pressed her mouth on his, smothering both her own and his lustful gasps in a deep, passionate kiss while their tails continued to caress each other's sex. Cunningheart's supple tail was like a snake; slithering around Royalheart's dick, rubbing and caressing it in ways fingers would never be able to. Royalheart's flexible tail also was doing justice to feline ways, sliding over Cunningheart's puffy white pussy expertly, the tip sometimes slipping between the swollen, slippery lips and drawing an ecstatic moan from Cunningheart. Before too long, both feline Care Bear Cousins were shocking and shuddering in each other's arms, their respective tails having managed to caress both of them over the boundaries of lust and desire, making them both break down in a trembling, moaning orgasm.\n\nWhen they had caught their breaths, Royalheart opened his eyes and smiled down at Cunningheart, pressing a soft kiss on her grey heart-shaped nose.\n \"Wow, I never thought you would be able to get me off with your tail,\" he smiled.\n \"That's the fun of being feline,\" Cunningheart said with a giggle. \"You can use the long tail for so much more than just keeping balance.\" She softly kissed Royalheart back. \"And you were using it quite masterfully too, if I may say so.\"\n\nShe wrapped her arms around Royalheart again and rolled over on the Firebird's backseat, placing herself in the top position. Then she pulled Royalheart up a bit, making him lean with his back against the side of the car, so he was more or less sitting. She cuddled up on the cobalt blue tiger's lap, folded her arms around his shoulders and started kissing him again. Royalheart answered her kiss happily, letting his paws slowly wander over Cunningheart's shoulders and back, and softly down along her flanks. He smiled a bit in the kiss when he let Cunningheart's speckled tail slide through his paws, and felt it being slightly wet, the fur a bit peaky and tufty. He tried wiping it a bit clean while kissing, and Cunningheart started wriggling and softly moaning in the kiss at Royalheart's paws playing with her tail.\n\nThe pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard's paws slowly left Royalheart's shoulders, sliding down over his red-striped dark blue fur and gripping his hips. Wriggling harder, meanwhile not breaking the contact between their lips and tongues, Cunningheart positioned her legs on both sides of Royalheart's lap and started mashing her tummy against his. Royalheart groaned softly in the kiss when he felt the warm, swollen, slippery lips of Cunningheart's white feline pussy rub up against his hard dark blue dick. He let one of his own paws slide from Cunningheart's flank, over her tummy and in between their bodies. Finding his dick, Royalheart took it and guided it to the warm, slimy opening between the puffy white lips of Cunningheart's longing, slippery pussy.\n\nCunningheart moaned with desire in the kiss she still held on, and she mashed her tummy even harder up against Royalheart's. Her tingling white pussy eagerly sucked in Royalheart's dick, drawing a lustful groan from the cobalt blue tiger, which died in the passionate kiss. Holding one paw on the back of Royalheart's head so she could maintain the contact between their lips and tongues, Cunningheart gripped the cobalt blue feline Care Bear Cousin's hips even harder with her other paw, bucking her hips so her tummy pressed up against his with short shocks. Her eager, slippery white pussy slid back and forth over Royalheart's stiff dark blue dick, making the dark blue tiger also buck his hips while holding Cunningheart's in a firm grip with both paws.\n\nTaking her one paw off Royalheart's hips, Cunningheart placed both of her paws on Royalheart's shoulders, pulling him as close as she could and doubling the intensity of the kiss. Her tongue kept seeking his, kept twirling around it, licking it, playing with it. All lustful groans and gasps of both felines died in the incredibly passionate, hot kiss, the only sounds audible being the heavy puffs of breath through their dilated nostrils, and the soft slurping of Cunningheart's slippery white pussy over Royalheart's hard dark blue dick. The hot white snowleopard's warm, milky cum slowly trickled down along it, forming stains in Royalheart's lap, and eventually on the Firebird's backseat, between his legs. Eventually, Cunningheart broke off the incredible hot, passionate kiss when she threw her head in her neck and let out a roar of lust at a thundering orgasm soaring through her speckled body. Her fluffy white pussy cramped hard around Royalheart's dick and released a warm flow of sticky Care Bear Cousin-cum, which leaked down along Royalheart's dick onto his fuzzy blue balls, and between his legs onto the Firebird's backseat.\n\nStill slowly rocking and mashing her tummy up against Royalheart's, Cunningheart slowly relaxed and sagged a bit on the dark blue tiger's lap, her head slumping over his shoulder. When she was totally relaxed, Royalheart gently took her by the hips and turned her around so her back faced him, while his stiff dark blue dick remained deep inside her hot, slippery white pussy. The moment Cunningheart had turned around on his lap completely, Royalheart started gently pushing her over forwards, meanwhile rising up a bit himself too, pulling his legs under his body. Cunningheart understood Royalheart's intention, and with a delighted and anticipating moan she leaned over forwards, placing her paws on the Firebird's backseat and rising up on her knees. Royalheart also did, and he put his paws on Royalheart's back while twirling his tail into hers again. Very slowly, he started moving back and forth, sliding his hard blue dick deep inside Cunningheart's slippery, slopping white pussy, then back until he almost popped out of her, and then very slowly back in deeply.\n\nCunningheart crooned and purred with ecstacy under Royalheart's slow moves, and the cobalt blue tiger groaned under his breath with lust too. Keeping his pace slow, he put a little more force into his thrusts, reaching for the deepest depths of Cunningheart's hot, fluffy white Care Bear Cousin-pussy. The force of his thrusts slowly pushed Cunningheart over more and more, until the grey-rosetted white snowpuss lost balance and slid onto her side on the Firebird's backseat. Royalheart followed Cunningheart's movement, holding one paw around her body and lifting her left leg with his other paw. Cunningheart firmly gripped the metal side of the car to prevent her claws from digging into the backseat's upholstery when a new orgasm roared through her body, filling her with blasts of sparkling flames which slowly waved through her, until they washed out of her hot, cramping white pussy in slimy streams.\n\nFinding her fuzzy, burning pussy wetter and slipperier at every move, Royalheart started speeding up his tempo. A terrific climax was building inside his body, and he pressed himself up against Cunningheart's back as hard as he could, stretching his legs while still holding up Cunningheart's left leg with one paw. As the orgasm started boiling in his cobalt blue balls, Royalheart sped up even more, thrusting deep into Cunningheart with short growls of lust. The grey-rosetted white snowpuss outed deep squeals of love and lust, gripping the side of the car firmly with her eyes squeezed tightly while counter-thrusting to Royalheart's moves hard. Not being able to hold himself back for very much longer, Royalheart sped up his tempo once more, bracing himself against the side of the car with his feet so he could put even more force behind his thrusts.\n\nAfter a few moments, the stillness of the landscape was torn apart by a loud, deep, two-voiced roar of lust and desire when both Royalheart and Cunningheart reached a stunning orgasm simultaneously. Royalheart thrusted himself deeply into Cunningheart's cramping, flowing white pussy while Cunningheart pushed herself against the cobalt blue tiger's body hard, making their bodies slam into each other with a thump. Their roar of love and lust echoed through the air and slowly flowed down the hill, slowly dissolving into a gasped purr as both felines collapsed over each other on the backseat of the bright red Pontiac Firebird convertible.\n\nFor quite a while, they just lay there gasping and purring, eyes closed, while the warm, sticky cum leaking from Cunningheart's slippery white pussy slowly ran down Royalheart's cobalt blue dick and steadily trickled onto the Firebird's floor from the backseat. Neither of the two felines stirred, neither spoke a word, for they were too busy first catching their breaths. When finally they managed, Cunningheart rolled over to her other side, facing Royalheart, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her grey heart-shaped nose against his cobalt blue one.\n \"Ohh my stars, Royalheart,\" she purred. \"You are terrific. I love you.\"\n \"I love you,\" Royalheart purred. \"I love you with all my heart, more than life itself. I love you, Cunningheart.\"\n\nIn answer, Cunningheart pressed her lips on Royalheart's and slipped her soft, warm tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply. The kiss told Royalheart everything he wanted to know. Cunningheart, the infinitely pretty, grey-rosetted white snowleopard, was his, was totally his, for ever and ever. Cunningheart's kiss spoke of a bond so strong nothing would be able to tear it apart anymore, not for ever in the vast infinity of time. The realization of that made Royalheart glow all over his body with a warm feeling of utter happiness. He couldn't be any happier.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "It was a very beautiful day in... The Forest of Feelings (ha! Betcha you didn't see that one coming). The smiling yellow sun, which of course as always shone down brightly on Care a Lot, let its warm friendly rays of light also caress the Forest of Feelings. It made the water of the Rainbow River sparkle brightly. It made flowers open up and turn their heads to the smiling sun, it made birds start happily chirping. In one of the newer cloud cottages, Royalheart Tiger opened the windows of his bedroom and leaned out, smiling at the lovely weather.
     "Hmmm, look at that sun," he hummed happily. "It's so great to live here; the weather's always nice."

After some time of leaning out of his window and smiling at the sun, Royalheart went back in. Leaving the window open, he stepped out of his bedroom and went downstairs. He even left the front door of his cloud cottage open as he stepped outside and started on a leisurely stroll around the Forest of Feelings. Passing Brightheart's cloud cottage, he saw the purple racoon busy in his garden, sticking a strange sort of spout into the ground and checking something. Royalheart stepped up to the gate and leaned on the hedge, looking with interest at what Brightheart was doing. He had no idea what it was, though.
     "Hey, Brightheart?" he therefore said after a while. "That looks interesting. What are you doing exactly?"
Brightheart looked up.
     "Oh, hi Royalheart," he said with a smile. "I was testing the acidity and the nutrition-level of the soil. With those measurements, I can calculate exactly how much water and feeding I need to give to my flowers to get the best result."
     "Sounds scientific," Royalheart remarked with a smile. "But don't the flowers always look their best around here?"
     "It can't hurt to give them all the help they can get," Brightheart said.
     "I guess that won't hurt, no," Royalheart agreed. "But it's just, you know, I thought, in a place as loving as this, flowers will always look beautiful, no matter what you do to them."
Brightheart grinned a bit.
     "You have obviously not yet seen Noheart putting a nasty spell on this forest. He's done that before, you know, and you can believe me, you are lucky to not have seen what that made the flowers look like."
Royalheart also grinned.
     "Okay, a point for you, Brightheart. Hey, maybe you can help me? Tenderheart gave me this, but quite frankly, I don't know what it is, nor how to operate it."
From somewhere deep inside his fur, Royalheart produced something looking like a heart-shaped calculator. Brightheart rose up from his kneeling position and stepped up to the hedge, looking at the thing.
     "That's a portable Care Alert, Royalheart," he smiled. "See, in Care a Lot we have the Caring Meter, which alerts us if there's trouble somewhere on Earth, and our help is needed. But we can't always pinpoint where the trouble is. Sometimes, the only indication we get is, say, somewhere in Maryland. Now, Maryland is very large. That's what these portable Care Alerts are for. You go to Maryland, land somewhere at the state border, and then you use this as a sort of compass, a tracking-device. They give a signal, look, like this..." Brightheart pushed a few buttons on Royalheart's Care Alert, making a sort of grid light up on the screen, with a small red heart-shaped light blinking in it, "...and the signal faints or intensifies when you get farther away or closer to the source of the trouble. You can call a map onto the screen, and you can have it mapping out a route to the trouble for you, like this, see." Brightheart pushed a few buttons on Royalheart's Care Alert again, making the screen produce a map, and a lighting white line on the map, heading nowhere. "You see that this now doesn't really work very well, but that's just because there's no trouble in Maryland at the moment."
     "Right, right," Royalheart nodded, having followed Brightheart's explanation with interest. "Well, that's handy indeed. Thanks for the explanation, Brightheart."
     "No problem," the purple racoon smiled.

Putting the portable Care Alert back deep inside his cobalt blue fur somewhere, Royalheart shook Brightheart's paw and left the purple racoon to his gardening-chores, continuing on his stroll through the Forest of Feelings himself again. He hummed a tune to himself while sauntering about, but halfway down the Rainbow River he stopped and looked up in surprise at Brightheart's workshop a few yards furtheron. The doors of it were standing open, and the sound of clanking tools came from inside. But... that couldn't be? Brightheart was busy in his garden, Royalheart had seen that just a few minutes ago. So how could there be... Deciding to simply go look and find out, Royalheart walked over to Brightheart's workshop. He frowned a little again when he also heard music coming from the wide-open doors of Brightheart's workshop. "Help I'm stepping into the twilight zone. Place is a mad-house, feels like being cloned. My beacon's been moved, under moon and star. Where am I to go now that I've gone too far. Soon you'll come to know, when the bullet hits the bone..." That, uhm... was not generally the kind of music one would be hearing in the Forest of Feelings. Getting really curious now, Royalheart quickly walked the last few steps to Brightheart's workshop. For a moment, he grinned when he noticed a pair of long blue ears between the twigs and leaves of a bush quite near the workshop. The ears were trembling a bit, and strange gasps of ecstacy were coming from the bush. Looking harder, Royalheart could also make out a blue bunny-face deep inside the bush, which was intently staring into the workshop, contorted with lust. Royalheart grinned again and looked into the workshop through the wide-open doors himself. An even wider smile broke through on his face. Of course, it all made sense.

In the middle of Brightheart's workshop was standing a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 2400, bright orange from the roof down to the chrome trim over the side, and white from there further down. The paint was so incredibly high-gloss that the car sparkled like a diamond even inside the workshop. In the white part, over the doors, was a large picture of a tiger stepping up to you. The car was standing with its front wheels on supports, the hood of it was open, and a pair of beige-orange legs were sticking out from under it, between the supports the front wheels were on. A small part of a white tummy was just visible between the front white-wall tyres, a white tummy with on it an image of a heart-buddy getting sweetly hugged by a star-buddy. Royalheart grinned a little at softly muttered remarks coming from under the car, together with the sound of clanking tools. He stepped up close to the car, bent over the engine-compartment and tried to look through the engine.
     "Hello Frolicheart."
A face became slightly visible along the radiator.
     "Royalheart? That you?" sounded a male voice from under the car.
     "That me, Frolicheart," Royalheart said with a small grin. "So what you do there?"
A merry grunt came from under the car.
     "Me, trying to fix car. Brightheart, he lent me workshop to work on car. You, have satisfied curiosity now?"
Royalheart grinned again.
     "Why don't you get out from under there for a moment, Frolicheart? Talks more easily."
     "Just a sec."

From under the car came some clanking sounds again. A few moments later the beige-orange legs moved, and Frolicheart Puma crawled out from under the car. Royalheart grinned a little again. The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin's paws were very dirty with oil and rusty grease, and he had apparently wiped his head with those dirty paws a couple of times, since big black smears were over his face too. When Frolicheart had gotten up, he put the spanner he was holding down on the workbench and took a cloth to wipe his paws a bit, meanwhile turning down the volume of the cloud-o-blaster standing on the workbench.
     "Came by for a visit, Royalheart?" he asked the cobalt blue tiger with a smile.
     "Not really," Royalheart said. "I was just taking a walk, and I was surprised to hear sounds coming from in here, since I just spoke with Brightheart in his garden a minute ago."
     "Yeah well, like I said, he lent me his workshop to do some work on my car," Frolicheart said, also wiping his face a bit with the cloth.
Not that it helped though, he only managed to rub the oily smears even more over his face. Royalheart hid a grin behind a paw and looked at the opened hood of the vintage Chevrolet.
     "So what's wrong with it? Doesn't it run anymore or something?"
     "Doesn't run?" Frolicheart said with a grin. "Hah! It runs like a dream, man! Took her down to the dragstrip a couple of days ago, and clocked the fastest time yet! Nine point twelve seconds on the quarter-mile! A record time for this baby!"
     "Congratulations, I guess," Royalheart said with a chuckle. "So you race that car? Gee, you're really a weird Care Bear Cousin, Frolicheart. For all I know, we're just supposed to help the people on Earth with their problems."
     "Suuure, but that doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun down there every now and then, does it?" Frolicheart said. "And I mean, be honest..." He pointed a paw at the vintage Chevrolet with a loving smile. "That one looks so much better than a Cloudsmobile, am I right or not?"
     "It's, uh..." Royalheart slowly stepped around the car, then looked at Frolicheart with a smile. "Well, the only word that comes to my mind is; groovy."
     "Accurate," Frolicheart nodded with a grin. "Quite accurate a description, Royalheart."
     "Yeah well, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that," Royalheart said. "Have you noticed, uh..."
He nodded at the bush just outside the workshop, the bush in which he had seen the pair of long blue ears. Frolicheart looked in that direction for a moment, then turned back to Royalheart with a grin.
     "Swiftheart? Yeah, she's been sitting in that bush fingering herself over the looks of my car for three days now. I just pretend I don't know she's sitting there." He grinned a bit wider. "Wouldn't wanna spoil her fun."
Royalheart laughed and gave Frolicheart a pat on the shoulder.
     "Well, I'm getting back to my walk, Frolicheart. Good luck with your car."
     "Sure, have a nice day," Frolicheart smiled. Just before Royalheart stepped out of the workshop, he placed a paw on the cobalt blue tiger's shoulder. "And if you run into Cunningheart, don't hide your feelings, pal."
Royalheart stopped dead, and he very slowly turned back around to face Frolicheart.
     "How... do you..?"
Frolicheart smiled.
     "I know the signs, Royalheart. I haven't been a guy who bottled things up all my kithood to not know the signs. I can quite clearly tell you love that girl, but are hesitant somehow to tell her." He shook his head with a smile. "Don't do that to yourself, my friend. It's not healthy to bottle things up, believe me."
     "I know, I know..." Royalheart said with a soft sigh, looking at the ground. "It's just..." He looked up at Frolicheart again. "I don't know if she feels the same way about me, Frolicheart, and that's what holds me back. What if I offend her when I tell her how I feel?"
     "If she gets offended by you outing your feelings, then she's not very much of a Care Bear Cousin," Frolicheart said.
     "Don't say that!" Royalheart reacted a tad too harshly. "How could you say that!"
Frolicheart smiled.
     "Don't lose your fur, I only mean that no-one of us should ever be offended by someone else outing his or her feelings. I mean, that's our whole job, isn't it? Listening to others outing their feelings and helping them with solving troubles they might be having with their feelings?" He chuckled softly. "Think about it, really. Some future the Care Bear Family would be in for if we start getting offended by others voicing their feelings, right?"
     "Yeah, okay, you're right," Royalheart said, already smiling again. "I'll think about it, Frolicheart. Thanks for your advice, anyway."
     "Any time, pal," Frolicheart smiled. "And as I said, have a nice day."

Royalheart nodded with a smile and stepped out of Brightheart's workshop, while Frolicheart turned back to his car. While walking further along the Rainbow River, Royalheart chuckled to himself when he heard two sounds quickly following up, the first being Frolicheart firing up the engine of his vintage Chevrolet, the second being a long lustful moan of orgastic pleasure coming from the bush with the long blue ears at that. Of course Royalheart, as everyone else, knew Swiftheart well enough to know the blue bunny had a passion for fast things, but getting off over the sound of a car's engine? That was slightly weird, to put it mildly.

Grinning softly to himself, Royalheart continued on his stroll, following the Rainbow River upstream. That was just the most beautiful route to take in the Forest of Feelings. Along the Rainbow River, the surroundings were the prettiest. The trees were lush, the bushes were always covered in flowers of the most beautiful colors, and the foliage was open enough to see the colorful birds singing in the trees and the squirrels lovingly chasing each other or cuddling on the branches. When Royalheart reached the open spot with the fen where the waterfall of the Rainbow River tumbled down in, he looked around him and then sat down on the grass, leaning against a tree. This was still, by far, the most beautiful spot in the Forest of Feelings. The soft green grass, the colorful flowers, the sparkling water in the fen, and the myriads of rainbows being struck from the mist of the waterfall by the sun, it was just too lovely for words.

Sitting quietly, Royalheart let his eyes wander over the surroundings, taking in each lovely detail. A soft purr escaped his throat as he sat there, the warm sun caressing his fur. He could just sit like that for hours, enjoying the stillness of the forest, the only sounds around him being the sounds of nature. But he looked around when his ears picked up a rustle in the bushes he thought didn't belong there with the other sounds. Scanning the surroundings with his eyes, Royalheart thought he noticed flashes of white fur between the shrubs here and there. He thought quickly. Someone with white fur? That could only be either Sugar Bear, or... Royalheart's heart did a little leap of joy, while at the same time a cold finger of uncertainty tickled his brains. Those flashes of white could also be Cunningheart Snowleopard. Or could it be even something else which was rustling through those bushes? However, as far as Royalheart knew, besides the Care Bear Cousins no other creatures lived in the Forest of Feelings but birds, a couple of squirrels and bunnies. And those squirrels and bunnies all had brown fur. So then...

It had to be either Cunningheart or Sugar Bear he was now seeing flashes of. Strange flutters of doubt pulled the cobalt blue tiger in two different directions. From the one side, he really hoped it was Cunningheart he was seeing, but from the other side he hoped it was not. All the beautiful, fluid sentences he prepared in his mind, all the fluid verses of how beautiful she was and how much he loved her he wanted to sing her, they all just came out as strange gibberish each time he actually was face to face with the pretty spotted feline. For reasons the cobalt blue tiger could not explain, Cunningheart's presence left him a tongue-tied, flustered, stuttering fool, not knowing how to string his words together.

And even apart from that strange radiation from Cunningheart that rendered him unable to express himself, there was another reason that held Royalheart back. The reason he had already explained to Frolicheart Puma back in Brightheart Racoon's workshop. As much as he loved Cunningheart, as much as he helplessly drowned in the warm pool of her wonderful personality, troops of anxious uncertainty kept marching into his aching heart about the hope of his feelings being returned. After all, Cunningheart had lived for so long with Sugar Bear, before they were reunited with the Care Bear Family. And so much signs had been seen about the two of them being close, very close, closer than friends. Royalheart couldn't really tell whether they were in love with each other, but he did know they were closer than normal friends were. So would there ever be a chance Cunningheart would return the feelings of love he, Royalheart, felt for her? As long as he could not be certain about that, Royalheart shied back from letting his own feelings be known to the pretty spotted snowpuss. There was just too much of a chance of him getting unintentionally hurt, or Cunningheart getting unintentionally offended. Even though Frolicheart Puma's advice still sounded in his head, Royalheart was hesitant to let Cunningheart know how he felt about her, since there was just...
     "Hey, hello there!" Royalheart's musings were interrupted by a cheerful voice. "My, you seemed to be very far away in your mind."

Royalheart looked around. His heart did another leap of joy, while at the same time being tugged at by a pang of uncertainty. There she was. Sunlight reflecting off glossy white fur and bouncing from sparkling green eyes in flashes of emerald, Cunningheart Snowleopard was standing in Royalheart's full view, smiling at him. Stricken with her sudden appearance and speaking up, and grabbed by the beauty of her lithe, slender body, her dense, glossy fur and sparkling eyes, all Royalheart could do was staring at her. Cunningheart's smile deepened, her tail swinging languidly as she leaned sideways against a tree, the movement catching Royalheart in an almost hypnotic trance.
     "Aren't you going to say anything at all?"
Royalheart snapped out of his trance, feeling as if the deep red stripes in his cobalt blue fur were shining brightly red with the flush he knew was on his face under his deep dark blue fur.
     "Uh... I'm... uhm... it's... uhm... hi... hi Cunningheart," he stuttered.
Inwardly he scowled at himself. Why did this have to happen every time she was near? Why did the mere presence of the grey-rosetted white feline turn him into a love-sick, uncertain, shy teenager? At the blue tiger's stuttering, Cunningheart outed a soft purring giggle, and she stepped up to him, easing down in the grass next to him with a fluid, agile move.
     "So what were you thinking so deeply about?" she asked, turning her face to the sun and squeezing her eyes.
Royalheart forced himself not to stare at her, in case she would look up and catch him at it. Instead he directed his look at his fingers, which he twined into and out of each other repeatedly.
     "Uhmmm..."
Cunningheart outed another purring giggle, closing her eyes completely while folding her arms behind her head.
     "Was it something private, that you're hesitant to tell me? Well, that's okay. Keep it to yourself then. I'm not so much of a snoop, I was just interested."
Royalheart looked up with almost a startle.
     "Oh, but... I would never... I would never accuse you of being a snoop, never ever," he stuttered.
Cunningheart rolled her head to the side a bit and opened her eyes again, sending Royalheart a warm smile.
     "I know that," she smiled. "It was just an expression, don't think too much of it."

She closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun again, still smiling. Royalheart also smiled a bit and directed his look straight ahead, to the waterfall and all the little rainbows struck from the mist by the sun. He kept stealing sideways glances at the grey-rosetted white feline next to him though, admiring, as each time she was near, her infinite beauty, the wonderful pattern of the grey rosettes in her white fur. Cunningheart was the only one apart from him, Royalheart, who had a patterned fur. Okay, and so Trueheart Bear and Nobleheart Horse had the rainbow-colored hair on their heads and the rainbow-colored tails, Brightheart Racoon had that dark purple mask and rings around his tail and Frolicheart Puma had those black stripes under his eyes and the white spots on the backs of his ears, but no other bear or cousin had a pattern of either spots or stripes or anything over the entire body. Only Royalheart and Cunningheart had that. It was one of the many reasons the cobalt blue tiger loved the white snowleopard so much.

Sitting there in silence as they did, Royalheart felt himself slowly settling down, coming at ease with the presence of Cunningheart right next to him. It felt so silly why he couldn't speak to her in a normal, adult way. I mean, it wasn't like she would bite him, was it? And after all, they were family, in a way. They were both Care Bear Cousins, and they even were both felines. And Royalheart could have normal conversation with Braveheart and Frolicheart and Proudheart, so why not with Cunningheart? He looked aside of him again, to the pretty grey-rosetted white feline enjoying the sun with her eyes closed, softly churring under her breath.
     "The... weather's sure nice around here, isn't it?" he said.
     "Hmmm, yeah, sure is," Cunningheart smiled, not opening her eyes. "I love it here, with all the sun and all. Down there in Greenland, where Sugar and I have lived for a long time, was nothing but snow and ice. Sun too, mind, but not as wonderfully warm as here."
Royalheart nodded, a small smile curling his lips.
     "I love it here too. I mean, even when it's raining, the weather's still nice."
     "Yeah, it is," Cunningheart agreed smiling, her eyes still closed. "The rain down here is wonderful to walk through. Like soft, summery drizzles." She opened her eyes and looked at Royalheart. "Still, I've heard that there's a snowey and icey place around here somewhere."
     "Professor Coldheart's lair, yes," Royalheart said. "I've heard about that too."
Cunningheart closed her eyes with a smile again.
     "I wouldn't mind looking it up sometime, if I start missing snow and ice too much."
     "No!" Royalheart said, startled. "You mustn't do that! It's dangerous! Coldheart's an enemy!"
A soft giggle rippled Cunningheart's features, setting her long whiskers atwitch.
     "It's sweet of you to worry, dear, but I can look after myself. I'm not the chosen one to teach people how to stand up for themselves for nothing, y'know."
     "I... know you are, and I don't doubt you can look after yourself, but... I would just... I would hate to see something bad happening to you," Royalheart said softly.
Cunningheart softly giggled again.
     "You're a real sweetie, Royalheart." She rose up and stretched, and pressed a soft kiss upside Royalheart's head. "It's nice to know there's someone worrying about me besides Sugar." She stretched again. "Well, don't know what your plans were, but I'm heading home. I'm getting hungry. See you around, dear."

She calmly walked away, leaving Royalheart in bemused silence. The kiss she had given him had taken him by complete surprise, and the things she had said had ignited a flame of hope in his heart. Could there... be a chance after all that she might return his feelings of love? Or... or did she use those pet-names on everyone else as well? Again, doubts and uncertainty ruined the pleasant feelings Royalheart had experienced at Cunningheart pressing that kiss upside his head. Oh man, finally it had seemed as if there was a chance she might return his feelings of love, and again doubtful thoughts made him so unsure of what to think of it. Royalheart kept thinking deeply, until at last his thoughts ran around in circles inside his head, and with a sigh he just rose up from the grass and headed home himself. Walking past Brightheart's workshop, he noticed Swiftheart wasn't squatting in the bush anymore, which seemed logical since the doors of the workshop were now closed. However, when Royalheart walked down the rainbow path leading into Care a Lot, he suddenly noticed the orange and white vintage Chevrolet parked deep between the trees somewhere, and a sharper look told the cobalt blue tiger the car was slightly rocking too. Royalheart couldn't help but grinning softly. Seemed like Frolicheart and Swiftheart had gotten to a sweet agreement.

Softly shaking his head with a grin, Royalheart walked down the rainbow path into Care a Lot. Before going home, he wanted to have a word with Easy Bear. She was the Care Bear teaching people, amongst other things, how easy it is to show someone you have special feelings for that someone, and maybe she could help him with that too. And whatever was left of Royalheart's slight blues over his uncertainty concerning Cunningheart was whisked away with a merry laugh when the cobalt blue tiger passed Heaven Bear's cloud cottage. Heaven's Cloudsmobile was parked on the driveway, and when Royalheart walked past it he noticed a sticker on the rear bumper of it, reading: "when this cloud is a-rocking, don't come a-knocking". Not even wanting to know where Heaven had found a bumper-sticker with that text, Royalheart walked on to Easy Bear's cloud cottage, chuckling to himself merrily. Man, that sticker should actually have been on the rear bumper of Frolicheart's vintage Chevrolet, seeing as that car had been rocking.

Still grinning to himself a bit, Royalheart knocked on the door of Easy Bear's cloud cottage. A few moments later the pastel green Care Bear opened the door, and she smiled at Royalheart.
     "Hey, hello there, Royalheart. Visiting?"
     "Not really, Easy," Royalheart said. "I actually have a problem, and I was hoping you could help me."
     "Oh! Well, come on in, and we'll talk."
Royalheart followed Easy Bear inside, and near the door to the livingroom Easy looked around.
     "I was just microwaving dinner, d'you want some too? We can have a bite while we talk."
     "Sure, thanks," Royalheart smiled. "I haven't had dinner myself yet."
     "Go on inside then and make yourself comfy, I'll be there in a jiffy," Easy Bear said with a smile.

Royalheart nodded and stepped into the livingroom, while Easy Bear went on to the kitchen. In the livingroom Royalheart looked around him a bit while sinking down on a couch. Easy's cloud cottage was nicely furnished. One thing that right away attracted attention was the number of rugs lying on the floor. It seemed the pastel green bear had a thing for rugs. Furthermore it was just simple furniture, and a lot of flowering plants, plus a few really big green plants in big tubs. On a cloud coffee table a few magazines were lying, and Royalheart picked up one. It was a lady's magazine, but Royalheart leafed through it a bit anyway. When he put it back on the cloud coffee table, he frowned a little again. Placing the magazine on the table with the others made some of the magazines slide off each other a bit, and that revealed the cover of a magazine that had been lying almost on the bottom of the pile. And Royalheart couldn't help frowning over that magazine. PlayBear? Royalheart wondered what Easy was doing with that kind of a magazine in her cloud cottage, but he looked up when Easy Bear came into the livingroom, carrying two plates. She sank down on the couch next to Royalheart with a smile and handed him one of the plates.
     "There you go, I hope you like macaroni and cheese?"
     "Yeah, it's good," Royalheart smiled.
For a while he and Easy Bear ate in silence. After some time, Easy put her plate down on the cloud coffee table and sat back on the couch.
     "Now then, what is the problem you came to ask my help for, Royalheart?"
Royalheart also put down his plate and sighed a bit.
     "It's Cunningheart," he said. "I'm in love with her, but I don't know how to tell her."
     "Well, that's an easy one," Easy Bear said with a soft giggle. "You do it as follows. Repeat after me, Royalheart; I, love, you."
Royalheart smiled weakly.
     "That's not quite what I meant, Easy. I can think of the most beautiful things I want to say to her. Beautiful, fluid sentences of how much I'm in love with her. It's just that when I actually see her, then I don't know what to say anymore, and all I can do is stutter like a fool."
Easy Bear nodded, running a paw over her nose and mouth.
     "Mmm, yeah, that's a little more complex, alright. So what's the exact cause of that, Royalheart? Can you tell me why it is you get tongue-tied when you're face to face with Cunningheart?"
Royalheart sighed.
     "Not exactly, I'm afraid. It's just... everything about her. When I see her, I just... I get grabbed by something strange, and I don't know how to string my words together anymore."
Easy Bear nodded again, thoughtfully.
     "And if you close your eyes, so you don't look straight at her, won't that help to say those three words?"
     "Hmhm," Royalheart smirked. "That might help, but I sure don't wanna do it that way, Easy. I want to be able to look her in the eyes and tell her how I feel. Only... Well, I think I'm afraid to."
     "Ah, look, but now we're getting somewhere," Easy Bear smiled. "Can you tell me the reason why you are afraid to tell Cunningheart how you feel about her?"
     "Yes, that I can explain," Royalheart said. "It's her history. And my uncertainty."
     "Explain me, please."
     "What I mean is; I don't know if she feels the same about me as I do for her."
     "Well, you can't find out that unless you tell her how you feel."
     "I know, but... Well, then we get to her history. Before she was reunited with the Care Bear Family, she and Sugar have been living together somewhere up north for a very very long time. And the way they behave around each other, even still now... it shows they're still so very close."
Easy Bear nodded again.
     "That's true, I noticed that too." She looked at Royalheart. "Do you think they might be in love with each other?"
     "Do you?" Royalheart rebounded the question.
Easy Bear thought for a while, wrinkling her brow.
     "Gee, I don't know... I mean, if you look at Wish and Love-a-Lot, or if you look at Laugh-a-Lot and Bedtime, or Share and Funshine, you can clearly tell all of them are really in love with each other. Sugar and Cunningheart don't show it that obvious as those others I just now mentioned. Hmmm, tricky one indeed, Royalheart, tricky one indeed."

She started thinking deeply again, meanwhile silently finishing the last of her dinner. Every now and then she hummed to herself between bites, or she slowly nodded her head. Royalheart also cleaned his plate, keeping a hopeful look on Easy Bear. Finally, Easy looked up again.
     "Royalheart, can you have a normal, friendly conversation with Cunningheart?"
     "Well... I did manage to talk about the weather with her for a bit this afternoon eventually, but..."
     "Okay, so that's not an option then," Easy Bear said. "But can you talk to Sugar Bear in a normal, mature way?"
     "Sugar? Well yeah, talking with her isn't a problem."
     "Then I'm advising you to go have a talk with Sugar sometime soon, Royalheart. Try to find out from her if she and Cunningheart are in love with each other."
     "And... then?"
     "Aw come on, the next step is easy, isn't it?" Easy Bear smiled. "If Sugar can tell you she and Cunningheart are or are not in love with each other, then you can proceed from there on. The hardest part will be if Sugar says she and Cunningheart indeed are in love with each other. Then you'll have to find a way to live with that. But if Sugar says they aren't, then that should have taken away a large part of your uncertainty, and that'll help you to out your feelings for Cunningheart, to her."
     "I see," Royalheart said, nodding slowly. "Yes, I think that is the best thing to do for me. Thanks, Easy."
     "No problem," Easy Bear smiled. "Always happy to help."
     "Well, thanks anyway," Royalheart said with a smile. "And thanks for the dinner too. Should I help you with the dishes?"
     "No, don't bother, I have a dishwasher. So much easier," Easy Bear said with a giggle.
     "Oh, alright," Royalheart said. "Well, then I think I'd better be going again. It's a rather long walk back to my house. Thank you very much for the advice again, Easy."
     "And again, you're very welcome," Easy Bear smiled. "Lemme know how it worked out, okay?"

She saw Royalheart out, carrying the two empty plates along with her. At the door Royalheart again thanked the pastel green Care Bear, and then he headed back to the Forest of Feelings. A wide grin spread across his face when he walked down the rainbow path leading from Care a Lot to the Forest of Feelings and vice versa, and saw the orange and white Chevrolet still parked deep between the trees, and even still rocking.

Back at his cloud cottage, Royalheart sank down in the rocking chair standing on the porch, deciding to do a little rocking of his own. And besides, sitting there in that chair on the porch of his cloud cottage, with around him the quiet sounds of nature settling down for the night, always helped him a great deal when he had to do some serious thinking, and he had some serious thinking to do now. He needed to think of a way on how to best get in touch with Sugar Bear, and he had to think of a way on how exactly to tackle the matter of asking her about the relationship she and Cunningheart had. While the sun slowly set, and while the Forest of Feelings slowly got darker and darker and ever more silent, Royalheart just sat there rocking and thinking. Finally, he thought he had found a good way to solve his troubles, and he went to bed.

The next day, the sun beamed her warm golden rays into Royalheart's bedroom through the window that was still standing wide open. Royalheart slowly awoke. A small blue bird sitting on the windowsill twittered away the last of the cobalt blue tiger's sleep. Yawning, Royalheart rubbed his eyes, and then he looked at the little blue bird on his bedroom windowsill with a smile. The cobalt blue feline Care Bear Cousin was not superstitious, but nonetheless he saw that little blue bird sitting there singing a joyful tune on the sill of his bedroom window as a good sign. The day was looking promising.

After having a little breakfast, Royalheart stepped out of his cloud cottage and started walking to Care a Lot. At the rainbow path leading there, Royalheart laughed heartedly when he saw the orange and white vintage Chevrolet was still parked between the trees, although it wasn't rocking anymore. Not resisting his curiosity this time, Royalheart stepped up to the car, wiped the dew off one of the rear side windows and peeked in. He laughed again. On the backseat were Frolicheart Puma and Swiftheart Rabbit, fast asleep, blissful and satisfied expressions on their faces, holding each other in a sweet embrace, and obviously still sexually entwined in each other. Shaking his head merrily and chuckling to himself, Royalheart walked away from the car and went further down the rainbow path, into Care a Lot.

As he walked into Care a Lot, he thought again of the plan he had devised. For as far as he knew, Sugar Bear now also lived in a cloud cottage in Care a Lot, while Cunningheart lived in one in the Forest of Feelings, so he had decided to simply go visit Sugar. He knew he would be able to get a private talk with her that way. Okay, so maybe that was very simple a plan, but the simple plans most often work out better than the complex ones. When the dark blue tiger neared Sugar Bear's cloud cottage, he smiled again. Sugar's cloud cottage also had a large porch, like his own, and on one side of that porch was a large swinging chair, hanging from two chains made of little hearts from the roof of the porch. And the white Care Bear was sitting on the chair, reading a book. She looked up however when a movement caught her eye, and she smiled when she saw that movement was Royalheart stepping up to the porch of her cloud cottage.
     "Good morning, Royalheart."
     "Morning, Sugar," Royalheart said. "Can I have a talk with you?"
     "Yeah, sure," Sugar smiled. She put down her book and patted one of the fluffy pillows on the swinging chair with a paw. "Want to have a seat?"
     "Thank you."
Royalheart stepped onto the porch and sat down next to Sugar Bear on the swinging chair.
     "Now then, what can I do you for?" Sugar smiled.
     "I would very much like to talk with you, Sugar," Royalheart said. "About something quite private."
     "Well well? Sounds serious." Sugar shifted a bit on the swinging chair, taking on a somewhat more sideways position, so she could look Royalheart in the face. "So what's it about, Royalheart?"
     "It's about..." For a moment Royalheart hesitated, but then he got it out anyway. "You and Cunningheart."
     "Ah?" Sugar said. "And what about us?"
     "Well, what I would like to know, Sugar, are you... are you two in love?"
Sugar Bear looked a little surprised, but quite soon smiled her special sweet smile at the cobalt blue tiger.
     "Frankly? I do believe Cunningheart is a bit with you, big guy. As for myself, I am..."
     "No, I meant, you two, with each other?" Royalheart said, apparently not having completely understood what Sugar had said, or not picking up on it.
     "We in love with each other?" Sugar said, a little surprised again. "Well, of course, we have lived together for a very long time, back in Greenland, before we were brought here, where we belong. And in that time, yeah well, we had a thing for each other, but that was more because there was no-one else around to give us some sweet loving. And of course we have a very special bond because of that. But in love? Hmm, well, not like for instance Love-a-Lot is with Wish, or Funshine is with Share. We love each other very much, sure, but it's not like we can't live without each other. I mean, Cunningheart lives in the Forest of Feelings now, and I live here, and that goes well."

Royalheart nodded, thoughtfully, and smiling a bit. This certainly was good news for him. Sugar also smiled, her special ultra-sweet, honey-dripping smile, having done some quiet figuring. She turned to Royalheart and placed a paw on his shoulder.
     "You have a thing for Cunny, don't you, big boy?"
Royalheart looked up in a way as if he had been woken up out of some sort of mild trance.
     "Hm?" He seemed to comprehend what Sugar Bear had said, and he blushed slightly. "Well, yes, I kinda do."
     "I thought so," Sugar smiled. "It shows."
     "Does it?" Royalheart said, avoiding Sugar's look.
Sugar giggled a bit.
     "Yes Royalheart, it does. One can tell by the way you look at her. Your eyes almost turn into hearts when you look at her."
Royalheart blushed a bit again, and he mumbled something. Sugar giggled a bit again and gave him a soft pat on his shoulder.
     "Hey, don't be ashamed, falling in love is purely natural. So, but is there anything else you'd want to talk with me about?"
     "Uh... no, this was the only thing, actually," Royalheart said.
     "Okay, well, then I hope I have been able to help you with my answer," Sugar said with a smile. She picked up her book again. "Uh, would you mind if I..."
     "Oh, no, of course not," Royalheart said, rising up from the swinging chair. "As a matter of fact, I still have some things to do myself. I still have to figure out how to precisely work that portable Care Alert, for instance." He started walking to the few steps leading up to the porch of Sugar's cloud cottage. "Anyway, thanks a lot for having had this talk with me, Sugar. A pleasant day to you."
     "Thank you, Royalheart, and the same to you," Sugar Bear smiled, opening her book.

Royalheart waved at the white bear and stepped off the porch, starting on a calm walk back to the Forest of Feelings. With a smile he noticed the vintage orange and white Chevrolet now finally was gone from the place where it had been parked between the trees all night when he walked down the rainbow path. Feeling the sun gaining strength and hearing the birds happily chirping in the trees, the dark blue tiger started whistling a cheerful tune while walking. Not noticing where he was going, and not really minding for all that, he walked through the Forest of Feelings calmly, feeling happy and relaxed. Only now, in the serene stillness of the Forest of Feelings, did he realize what Sugar Bear had told him at one point in their conversation, when he had asked if she and Cunningheart were in love. The white Care Bear had said that Cunningheart seemed to have a thing for him, Royalheart. He felt his heart glowing warmly when thinking about that.

Again, as the previous day, the dark blue tiger's attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of tools in use coming from Brightheart's workshop, and again, Royalheart let his curiosity lead him to the wide-open doors of the building at the shore of the Rainbow River. And again, a large smile spread over his face when he again found the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin Frolicheart Puma busy in Brightheart's workshop, this time working on a 1970 Oldsmobile F85 Cutlass S fastback. This car wasn't by far as beautiful as the orange and white Chevrolet Bel Air though. It was painted in a simple blue color, the only extraordinary feature being a picture of a white winged cat in a leaping stance on both doors, with a large number 88 on its flank. Royalheart leaned against the doorjamb and looked at the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin working on the car for some time in silence, this time with a live-album from the Blues Brothers sounding from the cloud-o-blaster standing on the workbench. Since Frolicheart seemed to be too busy working on the car to notice anything else around him, Royalheart stepped into the workshop after a while.
     "Good morning, Frolicheart," he said with a smile. "You're quite busy again, I see?"
Frolicheart looked up and smiled at Royalheart.
     "Hi Royalheart. Yes, I have a lot of work to do on this baby, and she has to be ready by the day after tomorrow."
     "Why the rush?" Royalheart asked, leaning against the workbench.
Frolicheart wiped his paws on an old cloth.
     "Well, I'm driving her in a vintage vehicle race on the Laguna Seca track the day after tomorrow. But she's thrown a piston in her last race, so I have to fix her up first."
Royalheart grinned a bit.
     "I'm sorry, but I have to say again that I think you're a really weird Care Bear Cousin, Frolicheart. We teach people to care and be happy and get along with each other, we don't compete against them in car races or anything."
     "Well, I do," Frolicheart said with a grin. "And believe me, Royalheart, that creates certain bonds too. Especially with those hot rods like my Chevy. You should really attend one of the meetings sometimes. Those people are like one big happy family, admiring each other's cars and skills and all, and sharing experiences and tricks and advice. It's great."
     "I take your word for it," Royalheart chuckled.
     "You should," Frolicheart said with a grin. "And you should really come with me to a meeting sometime. By the way..." he added, studying Royalheart's face. "...is it me, or do you seem extraordinarily happy today?"
     "Well, I am very happy," Royalheart smiled. "I just now had a talk with Sugar Bear, and when I asked her if she and Cunningheart were in love, she said she thought Cunningheart was a bit with me."
     "All right!" Frolicheart said, jovially smacking Royalheart on the shoulder with a paw. "That sounds like very good news, my man!"
     "It does, it does indeed," Royalheart nodded happily. He suddenly got a very good idea. "Hey, Frolicheart?"
     "Yes?" the beige-orange puma said, already bending over the engine of his Oldsmobile again.
     "That race you mentioned, right? Where you are in?"
     "Yes, what about it?"
     "Could you get me two tickets for it?"
Frolicheart rose up from his bent-over position and turned to Royalheart slowly, somewhat surprised.
     "What? Yeah, sure, but why? You just now said..."
     "I know, but I thought of something," Royalheart said with a smile. "I've noticed that Cunningheart likes classic cars too, and I thought to take her to that race where you are in."
     "Ah-haaa!" Frolicheart said, grinning broadly. "Yes, I understand you, my friend! Well, stop by here tomorrow, and I'll have two tickets waiting for you! Cat's meow!"
     "Which is even higher than a Cub Scouts' Honor," Royalheart grinned. "Thank you very much, Frolicheart."
     "No problem, my man," the beige-orange puma said with a smile. "Heck, I'll even throw in a little surprise for you."
     "Really?" Royalheart chuckled. "Are we going to get VIP tickets? Pitlane access?"
     "Haha, I just now said it's a surprise, buddy," Frolicheart grinned. "Surely you don't think I'm gonna tell you?"
     "No, of course not, that would spoil the surprise," Royalheart said with a small grin. He shook Frolicheart's paw. "Well, thanks in advance anyway, Frolicheart. You'll see me showing up here tomorrow then."
     "Right, right," Frolicheart smiled. "Tomorrow then, Royalheart. See ya."
     "Alright," Royalheart smiled.

Before he left Brightheart's workshop, he took a cloth from the workbench and wiped his paw, since shaking Frolicheart's paw had left him with some oil-stains on his paw. Not that it showed that much on his dark blue fur, but after all he was a feline; very clean and hygienic. Come to that, it even was a bit of a surprise for him that Frolicheart didn't seem to mind at all getting so dirty.

Walking through the Forest of Feelings again, Royalheart reflected with a smile on how things were seeming to go his way now. He had found out now that Cunningheart Snowleopard and Sugar Bear weren't bonded together, he had even found out the pretty grey-rosetted white feline was quite likely to return the feelings of love he felt for her, and he now even had arranged for a date for them, a date with a special surprise on the side. The only thing the dark blue tiger still had to do was actually asking Cunningheart to go on the date with him. And that was where the anxious doubts hit him again. Heavens, imagine... imagine she said no? Imagine she didn't want to go? Imagine... Aw man, Royalheart could kick himself for letting those anxieties ruin his pleasant feelings.

On an open spot in the forest, near the shore of the Rainbow River, Royalheart sank down in the grass and stared out over the river, while he let his thoughts roam. Why did he do this to himself? He was so secure of himself in everything else, why couldn't he be in this? He could solve any problem with ease, why couldn't he with this? He was... about to be surprised again.
     "Hey, that's two times in a row, cousin! Third time means you have to buy me a treat, y'know!"
Royalheart looked around him. Was that..? It was Cunningheart, smiling at him from somewhere further upstream on the shore of the Rainbow River. She stepped over to him and sat down next to him.
     "It seems you really like to take hikes in the forest, don't it?" she smiled.
     "Uh... yeah... yeah, I do," Royalheart said. "I... I really like the stillness of the forest."
     "Hmmm yeah, it's wonderful," Cunningheart said with a smile, closing her eyes and letting her face be caressed by the sun. "I really love it too. It's so calm and peaceful in here."
     "It is," Royalheart nodded. He searched for something more to say. "So..." Sheesh, what should he start to talk about? Hm, Frolicheart and his cars seemed neutral enough. "So, I heard you like old cars, right?"
     "Oh yeah," Cunningheart smiled, her eyes still closed. "Classics are great. There was so much more imagination in the fifties and sixties. Nowadays, all those cars from Earth have gone through the same wind-tunnel. They all look alike."
     "Have you... seen Frolicheart's cars yet?" Royalheart asked. "He was working on one yesterday, and just now I found him working on another one."
     "I've seen that Chevrolet of his, the orange and white Bel Air," Cunningheart nodded smiling. "Wow, that's really a beautiful car. And that tiger on the sides is so funky!"
     "Yeah, he was working on that one yesterday," Royalheart said. "It is beautiful, but I don't really understand why he wants to get so many old cars up to the Kingdom of Caring. I mean, we have a good supply of Cloudsmobiles here, don't we?"
     "It's the radiation, the character of a classic automobile," Cunningheart smiled, still not opening her eyes. "Those Cloudsmobiles are as magic as our Cousin Calls, or our bear-cousins' Stares. But a classic car from Earth, those have something. It's like you can feel the craftsmanship, the love that's been put into them when they were built." Cunningheart opened her eyes and sent Royalheart a sweet smile. "And of course, the reason for dear Frolicheart to bring cars like that to our magical Kingdom of Caring is because here those cars are ultimately preserved."
     "Hm, I guess they would be, if Frolicheart wouldn't go down to Earth with them and race with them every so often," Royalheart said, with a small skeptical smirk.
Cunningheart let out a merry rippling purred giggle while closing her eyes again.
     "A point for you, Royalheart." She drew a sigh. "Hmm, but I do like those races, though. I've been along with Frolicheart to the Salt Lake City dragstrip sometimes, when there was an event. You should see the spirit down there! Hundreds of people, bonded together by the love and passion for fast classic automobiles. It's really great. Of course everyone tries to clock the fastest time, but it really isn't so much competition as more having good fun."
     "He said something like that," Royalheart nodded. He thought he'd better ask now. "Hey, Cunningheart? He, uhm... he's going to get me two tickets for the race he's in the day after tomorrow. Would you... would you like to come with me? Please?"
Cunningheart looked up happily.
     "Would I like to? Oh Royalheart, I'd love to!" She bent over to the dark blue tiger and kissed him. "Oh, thank you so much!"
     "You're... you're welcome," Royalheart said, kinda struck by Cunningheart's kiss. "I'm, uh... I'm to pick up those tickets tomorrow, so, uh... I'll come to see you after that to let you know how we're going to go there, alright?"
     "Yes," Cunningheart said with a purr, sinking back down in the grass. "That's good, I'll wait for that. Thank you so much again, Royalheart. You're a real sweetie."

She sank down even more, leaning against Royalheart's flank, purring under her breath with her eyes closed again. The cobalt blue tiger looked at it silently, feeling warmth and happiness spreading through his body. He slowly moved one of his arms, maneuvering it so that it came to lie around Cunningheart's shoulders. The grey-rosetted white snowpuss sighed again and snuggled up a bit against Royalheart's flank, purring softly. An even warmer feeling of happiness spread through Royalheart's body at that, and he folded his arm a bit tighter around Cunningheart's shoulders, holding her. Imperceptibly, the fingers of his free paw started tracing a few of the grey rosettes in Cunningheart's white fur. Cunningheart stirred a bit, her purr deepening.
     "Cunningheart?" Royalheart said softly. "I..."
His voice wavered. Inwardly, the cobalt blue tiger kicked himself. Yeesh, it was so simple! Why couldn't he say it? Cunningheart opened her eyes and rolled her head a little, looking up at Royalheart.
     "Mmmyes?"
     "I, uhm... I'm... very happy you want to go to that race with me," Royalheart said.
     "I'm very happy you invited me," Cunningheart purred. "I've only been to that dragstrip a couple of times, I'd love to see a real race." She looked up again. "Where is it, anyway?"
     "The..." Royalheart thought for a while, trying to remember. "The... Laguna Seca track. I don't know exactly where that is, though."
     "Out on the coast somewhere," Cunningheart said, closing her eyes again. "But that's about all I can tell you. I believe it's in or close to Daytona Beach in Florida, but I'm not sure." She suddenly opened her eyes again and raised her head. "Sheesh, Frolicheart's gonna race on that track? I've seen it on TV sometimes. That's a rotten track to drive! All kinds of hairpins and U-bends, and loose sand on both sides."
Royalheart shrugged.
     "If you say so..."
Cunningheart sank back down against Royalheart's flank with a smile.
     "Yeh well, I do believe he's got the capacity to race on that track." She looked up with only her eyes. "Do you know which car he's gonna drive?"
     "Uhmm... A very fast-looking blue one with a white cat with wings on the doors," Royalheart said. "Don't ask me what brand it is, though, I wouldn't know that."
Cunningheart nodded with a smile.
     "I bet it's fast, yeh." She suddenly looked up again. "Hey, you said he was working on it in Brightheart's workshop now?"
     "Yes, he said the car had thrown a piston in the last race he drove it in, so he had a lot of work on it."
Cunningheart jumped up happily.
     "I'm gonna have a look! I'm so curious!" She started running, but looked back and waved at Royalheart merrily. "See you tomorrow, Royalheart! And thanks again!"

Before Royalheart managed an "uh... you're welcome", Cunningheart had already disappeared between the trees. The cobalt blue tiger kept looking in the direction Cunningheart had disappeared into for a while, but then he drew a sigh and sank down on the grass on his back, closing his eyes and placing a paw over his face. Darn, he had been so close this time! He had almost told the grey-rosetted white snowleopard he loved her. And again his anxiety had messed it up! And why? Why? The situation had been perfect. She was lying cuddled up against him! Purring! And still... still he hadn't been able to say it! Darn, darn, darn!

For quite a while Royalheart stayed in his flat-out position, with his paw over his face. Oh man, why did it have to be this hard? Now he knew there was a very good chance Cunningheart might return his feelings of love, and still he couldn't bring himself to telling her he loved her! While the sun started slowly setting, Royalheart took his paw off his face and slowly rose up into a sitting position. He mentally made a decision. Tomorrow he would go pick up the tickets Frolicheart promised him, and the day after that, when he was at that race with Cunningheart, he would tell her he loved her. No matter what! Even if all the cars would drive straight into the audience, he would tell her! He had to put an end to his suffering. So even if he had to force it out of himself, but he would tell her!

Having made that decision, Royalheart scrambled up completely and started walking back to his cloud cottage. When passing Brightheart's workshop, he stopped for a moment at still hearing the sound of tools in use coming from it, and this time a John Denver-tune instead of the Blues Brothers. Royalheart looked into the workshop, and saw Frolicheart still working on the blue Oldsmobile, bending deeply over the engine. Cunningheart wasn't there, though. Royalheart smiled a bit, and he was just about to walk on when a quite unusual outcry made him look around in surprise. It was coming from Frolicheart.
     "OW, shit, shit, dammit, shit!"
Royalheart stepped into the workshop, seeing Frolicheart rising up from his bent-over position holding his left wrist with his right paw, looking obviously pissed.
     "Now now, that's not the kind of language someone would expect from a Care Bear Cousin, Frolicheart," the cobalt blue tiger said with a smile. "Are you alright?"
Frolicheart looked around, smiling a bit when he saw Royalheart standing there.
     "No, I know, but it's the kind of language you expect someone to say in the heat of the moment. For instance when that someone hurts himself badly."
     "Did you hurt yourself?" Royalheart asked.
     "Yeh I did," Frolicheart said with a grimace.

He stepped over to the workbench, took a cloth and wiped his paws a bit. Then he stepped over to a first aid-kit (Brightheart was genius enough to have one of those at the ready in his workshop) and took out a small bottle of iodine and a roll of band-aids. Royalheart also stepped up to him, seeing the beige-orange feline was sporting a rather nasty gash on his left paw, just under his wrist.
     "Need some help, Frolicheart?" he asked.
     "Yeh, pour some of this on there if you will," Frolicheart said, handing Royalheart the bottle of iodine and holding out his left paw.
Royalheart twisted the cap off the bottle of iodine and poured a generous amount onto the gash in Frolicheart's paw. The beige-orange Care Bear Cousin squeezed his eyes and clenched his teeth.
     "Ngngjngrrr!" he growled between his teeth. Drawing a deep breath, he opened his eyes again and looked at Royalheart. "Sheesh, why does that stuff has to sting like that? Man! Anyway, if you could also give me a hand with these, Royalheart, I'd be most grateful."
He gave Royalheart the roll of band-aids. Royalheart cut off a large piece and stuck it on Frolicheart's paw, over the gash. While putting the rest back into the first aid-kit, he looked at Frolicheart wiping his forehead with his right paw.
     "So what did you do anyway, Frolicheart?"
     "Just a stupid movement of pulling back, cutting my paw on a sharp edge of the air intake manifold," Frolicheart said, drawing a deep breath. He looked around and smiled at Royalheart. "It's not so bad, though. Thanks for the help." He grinned. "So, your girlfriend stopped by here some time ago, by the way."
Royalheart nodded.
     "We met in the forest, and we talked a bit. I told her you were gonna get me two tickets to that race you're in, and I asked her if she wanted to come. She really liked that, and she also really wanted to see the car you were working on."
     "Yeh, that showed," Frolicheart chuckled. "She was all over it. She even had trouble keeping herself from drooling."
     "Really?" Royalheart said, a tad surprised.
     "Oh yeh," Frolicheart grinned. "And that makes me believe she's really really gonna like the surprise I have for you when you come to pick up those tickets tomorrow, my friend. She'll love you to pieces for that one."
     "Really?" Royalheart said again. "Sheesh, now you've gotten me curious."
     "Practise patience, my friend," Frolicheart smiled. "Tomorrow you'll find out what I mean."
     "You know what, then I'm now going home, have something to eat, and go to sleep," Royalheart said with a chuckle. "All the faster it'll be tomorrow."
     "Very wise," Frolicheart grinned. "If you have a minute, I'll come along with you. If my concentration now is so slackened that I cut myself on the air intake manifold while working on the pistons, then I'd better call it a day and continue tomorrow. Otherwise, who knows, next thing I might end up bolting my fingers onto the exhaust headers or something."
Royalheart laughed.
     "Sure, I'll wait a while."

He sat down on the workbench while Frolicheart started cleaning up. He did a last thing in the engine of his blue Oldsmobile, then closed the hood of that and put all the tools away. At a wash-stand in a corner of the workshop (Brightheart had really thought of everything) he washed his paws and his face a bit. When he was reasonably cleaned up, Frolicheart stepped out of the workshop together with Royalheart and closed and locked the doors. Then he led the way for the cobalt blue tiger to a bright white car, that apart from the color looked nothing at all like a Cloudsmobile. It was a 1972 Mercury Cougar XR-7 convertible, with the top down, and Frolicheart pointed at it with a grin.
     "Want me to drop you off at your place, Royalheart?"
     "Uh... yes, sure, thanks," Royalheart said, eyeing the car with surprise.
He got in, and while Frolicheart also got in and started the engine, Royalheart looked, with a little surprise again, at the stick-shift.
     "This one has a manual transmission?"
     "Yeh, and that's an option that only was installed along with a more powerful engine," Frolicheart said. "All of these cars with the regular engine in them had an automatic transmission." He shifted the car into first and pulled away. "I've been lucky to find one with the manual. Not many of these Cougars got that option. People in America rather chose the automatic transmission. But I prefer the manual one, it gives you more chance to drive a little more sporty." He revved the engine with a grin. "Would you like a demonstration?"
Royalheart grabbed the top of the passenger-side door with a startle at Frolicheart revving the car's engine.
     "If it's all the same to you, rather not," he said.
     "Oh, okay, fine," Frolicheart grinned.
He drove to Royalheart's cloud cottage calmly, and when they arrived there he pulled up to the gate and stopped the car, turning in the seat to look at Royalheart.
     "Right, here you are," he said with a smile. "Like I said, when you stop by Brightheart's workshop tomorrow, I'll have two tickets to the race ready for you, plus a nice surprise."
     "Thanks a lot," Royalheart said, getting out of the car. "And thanks for dropping me off too, Frolicheart. I'll see you tomorrow then."
     "Alright, see you," Frolicheart smiled.

While Royalheart stepped up to his cloud cottage, he pulled away, and the cobalt blue tiger shook his head with a chuckle when he heard Frolicheart revving the engine of the white Mercury again, obviously pulling away with plenty of speed. Inside his cloud cottage, Royalheart fixed himself some dinner, and he ate it outside on his porch, sitting in his rocking chair. After some time he went to bed, and just before he went to sleep he once more resolved to tell Cunningheart how much he loved her when they were at that race together, no matter what.

The next morning, the cobalt blue tiger was again awoken by a small bird sitting on the sill of his bedroom window, chirping cheerfully. Yawning, Royalheart sat up in his bed, blinked a couple of times at the sunlight pouring into his room, and smiled at the little red bird. After breakfast, he sat on his rocking chair for a while, puttering around with his portable Care Alert, learning exactly how it worked. It wasn't too hard, most of the functions explained themselves, and the ones that didn't were easy enough to comprehend. When he was done with his portable Care Alert, Royalheart stood up from his rocking chair and started walking into the Forest of Feelings. His curiosity about the surprise Frolicheart had promised him drove him to Brightheart's workshop in a quick pace. On his way there, Royalheart ran into Swiftheart, who was doing a bit of jogging.
     "Good morning, Swiftheart!" he called out to the blue bunny merrily.
Swiftheart slowed down a bit, and when she saw Royalheart she stopped in her tracks and looked straight at him.
     "Oohh, I'm so jealous of you!" she exclaimed.
     "And... why is that exactly?" Royalheart said slightly surprised.
     "I saw you yesterday!" Swiftheart said, pointing a finger at Royalheart's nose. "I saw you riding along with Frolicheart in that hot white car of his! Oh, I'm so jealous!"
     "Why should you be?" Royalheart said with a sly grin. "If my memory doesn't fail me, you have been riding along with him in that orange and white car of his a couple of days ago." He pointed a finger back at Swiftheart's bunny-nose with a wider grin. "And if I'm not totally wrong, you've done a lot more riding with Frolicheart in that car than just 'along', haven't you?"
     "You saw that?!" Swiftheart said. She giggled a bit. "Ohh, you saw that! You spied on me!"
     "So?" Royalheart chuckled. "That's nothing new to you, is it? I catch you spying at others all the time, my dear little bunny-cousin. I caught you spying on Frolicheart when he was working on that orange and white car, for instance."
     "Mh yeah, did that have a wonderful result!" Swiftheart chortled. "Hey, are you going to see Frolicheart now?"
     "Yes, he has something for me which I'm gonna pick up now," Royalheart said.
     "I'll walk with you!" Swiftheart said briskly. "I hear he's working on another car now, and I wanna see it!"
     "Yeah, I actually was a bit surprised when I noticed you were missing at Brightheart's workshop yesterday," Royalheart grinned. "Well, alright, walk along with me, Swiftheart."

Together, the two Care Bear Cousins walked through the Forest of Feelings, heading for Brightheart's workshop. Upon arriving there, Royalheart wasn't surprised to see the bright white Mercury Cougar convertible standing there with the top down, but he was a little surprised when he saw another convertible standing close by it. That one was bright red, and it had a rather strange nose. Like with the blue Oldsmobile Frolicheart had been working on, this bright red convertible had the hood tapering into a sharp point right in the middle, and the broad chrome rim around the entire grille plus over that point, splitting the grille into two separate pieces with two headlights each, acted as the front bumper. Swiftheart's breath deepened considerably when she saw that car, and she slowly stepped up to it.
     "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow," she gasped softly, stepping around the bright red convertible and looking at it from all sides. "Oh wow, just lookit that. A real '68 Pontiac Firebird convertible. And look at the state it's in! It looks brand new!"
Just as she started on another round around the car, Frolicheart stepped out of the workshop, grinning.
     "I thought I heard bunny-gasps coming from here somewhere. Hello Royalheart, Swiftheart. Like the car, Swifty?"
     "It's so awesome," Swiftheart breathed, not taking her eyes off the Firebird. "It's so hot! I love it!"
     "It's nice, isn't it?" Frolicheart chuckled. He stepped up to Royalheart and gave the cobalt blue tiger two small papers and a set of keys. "Here you are, Royalheart. Two tickets for the race tomorrow, and those keys are to the Firebird. You can use that one to drive yourself and Cunningheart to the race tomorrow."
     "What??" Royalheart and Swiftheart said at the same time, Royalheart out of surprise, Swiftheart out of jealousy.
     "Yeh, that's the surprise I mentioned yesterday, my friend," Frolicheart smiled at Royalheart. "Cunningheart stopped by here, as I told you, and we talked about classic cars a bit. She mentioned her absolute top favorite is the convertible 1968 Pontiac Firebird, so I figured, since I have one, I'll lend you that one to drive your girlfriend to the race tomorrow."
     "Wow, thanks so much!" Royalheart said happily, shaking Frolicheart's paw. "She'll be so happy!"
     "That's what I thought," Frolicheart said with a grin. "You're welcome."
Swiftheart was looking at the two felines pouting, her eyes round and wide.
     "What? What? You're going to Frolicheart's race tomorrow, Royalheart? In that?" she said, nodding at the Firebird. "Oohh, now I'm even more jealous! I wanna go too!" She started hopping up and down. "Can I come too? Can I come too? I wanna come too! Can I come too?"
     "Not with Cunningheart and me, you can't," Royalheart said. "I'm sorry, bunny-cousin, but I had something special planned for the two of us, and I can't use you with that."
     "Nowww!" Swiftheart whined. "I wanna come too, Royalheart! I wanna see that race! I wanna see all those hot cars! I wanna come too! Please let me come along with you?"
     "Sorry Swiftheart, but no," Royalheart said.
     "You can come along with me, Swifty," Frolicheart grinned. "I get to bring a guest."
     "Oh goodie!" Swiftheart cheered. She hopped up to Frolicheart and jumped into his arms, hugging and kissing him. "Thank you so much, Frolicheart! Thank you so so much!"
     "Yeh yeh, you're welcome," Frolicheart said with a grin, putting Swiftheart back down on the ground. He turned to Royalheart again. "One thing, my friend. When you leave the car on the parking lot, please do think to close the windows and put the top up, okay?"
     "Sure, I'll think about that," Royalheart said happily. "Gosh, this is great, Frolicheart. I don't know how to thank you."
     "Help me hoping I'll finish first in that race tomorrow, that's good enough," Frolicheart chuckled.
     "I bet you'll finish first!" Swiftheart cooed, cuddling up against Frolicheart from aside. "With time to spare! You'll leave all those others miles and miles behind you!"
     "That'll be an accomplishment, the Laguna Seca track only is a little over two miles long," Frolicheart grinned, softly stroking Swiftheart's long ears with a paw. "But thanks for the confidence anyway, Swifty."
     "And you once again thanks so so much for this, Frolicheart," Royalheart said.
     "You're very welcome," Frolicheart smiled. "Now, why don't you stop by your girlfriend's and show off a bit? As I understood, you were to tell her today about just how you were going to come to my race tomorrow, right?"
     "That's right, yes," Royalheart nodded.
He got into the bright red Firebird convertible and started the engine. Swiftheart outed an ecstatic moan at the rumble of the engine, and Frolicheart leaned on the edge of the driver's side door with a grin.
     "Another little thing, my friend," he grinned just before Royalheart pulled away. "I would like to see the car returned to me without any damage, okay? I don't mind stains on the seats, but no tears in the upholstery please, okay? That's a crime to fix, you see."
It took a little while before Royalheart actually understood what Frolicheart meant, but Swiftheart had right away read between the lines, and she started giggling loudly. The blue bunny's loud giggles seemed to help the meaning of Frolicheart's words dawn in Royalheart's head, and he blushed a bit, but still managed a smile.
     "I'll, uh... I'll make sure we're very careful with your car, Frolicheart," he said.
     "Good," Frolicheart grinned, rising up. "I appreciate that. Now, if you stop by the pit lane tomorrow, I'm quite sure we'll be seeing each other again then. Those tickets give you access to the visitors area of the pit lane, and I'll be looking out for you." He turned around, putting an arm around Swiftheart's shoulders. "Alright, bunny-cousin, wanna give me a hand with the work on my race car?"
     "Would I?!" Swiftheart squealed joyfully.
She bounded into the workshop ahead of Frolicheart. The beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin looked at it with another merry grin, and he turned around to wave at Royalheart, who also grinned a bit.
     "See you tomorrow then, Royalheart."
     "Yes, we'll be sure to look for you," Royalheart smiled. "And once again, thank you very much, Frolicheart."
     "No problem, just happy I could help you out," Frolicheart smiled.

He turned around again and stepped into the workshop, and Royalheart carefully pulled away in the bright red Pontiac Firebird convertible. He had to get used a bit to the manual transmission also this car had (after all, the Cloudsmobiles all just had a GO-button, push that and they were off), but quite soon he managed to get the hang of working the stick-shift, and he calmly drove towards Cunningheart's cloud cottage. The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard was sitting on a big swinging chair on the porch of her cloud cottage, reading a book, but she looked up when she heard the car approaching. And she even jumped up when she got a good look at the car.
     "Oh wow, Royalheart!" she cried out, running up to the bright red Firebird. "What a lovely car! A '68 Pontiac Firebird convertible! My favorite! I didn't know you had one of those?"
     "I don't, Frolicheart lent me this one," Royalheart said with a smile. "For us to go to the race with tomorrow."
     "Wow, terrific!" Cunningheart said happily. "I so love this model! The 1968 Chevy Camaros looked almost exactly the same and sold better, but I really dig that split-grille design of these Pontiacs!"
     "Yes, well," Royalheart said, getting out of the car. "I just now picked up the tickets from Frolicheart. They say the race begins at eleven o'clock, so how about I pick you up here at, say, nine-thirty? Then we'll have plenty of time to get to that race-track."
     "Sure, sure, sounds perfect!" Cunningheart said.
     "Okay, well, it's... it's a date, then?" Royalheart said.
     "Oh yes, sure, of course!" Cunningheart said happily.
     "Right, well, alright then," Royalheart said. He looked a tad lost for a moment. "Well, then I guess I, uh... head on off home then, and... I'll see you tomorrow."
     "Oh! No, no no no, please, do stay here a bit!" Cunningheart smiled. "C'mon, come sit with me for a while!"

She took Royalheart by a paw and pulled him towards the porch of her cloud cottage. Setting him down on the swinging chair, she eased down on that herself beside him, smiling a bit at the cobalt blue tiger's surprised expression. She could tell, just and about, what kind of emotions were battling each other inside Royalheart's mind. She knew he more or less had special feelings for her, although she didn't yet know how deep they were. She did know, however, that she shouldn't be rushing things. So after having sat down next to Royalheart on the swinging chair, she just sent him a smile and eased back, letting the cobalt blue tiger be a bit first, to let him get at ease again. Each time, Cunningheart had noticed that whenever Royalheart was in her presence, he got hesitant to open up, so she just gave him a little time to get back at ease before engaging him in conversation.

It did help for the dark blue tiger. He still got kinda overwhelmed by Cunningheart's presence close by him, but her calm manners did help him to relax and at least talk to her in a normal way.
     "So, uhm..." he started after some time. "Do you think Frolicheart will win in that race tomorrow?"
Cunningheart nodded with a smile.
     "I've been looking at the car he's going to drive, and I reckon he has a very fair chance with that one. That Olds of his just really goes! You should see the engine he slugged into it!"
     "You're really into that car-stuff, aren't you?" Royalheart said.
Cunningheart nodded again.
     "Mm-hm. I just love classics!" She looked at Royalheart with a smile. "I have to say though that Frolicheart taking me along to a meeting every now and then did help to make it grow. At first, I just liked classic cars for the way they look, but those meetings really got me enthusiastic for the whole thing around them; the modifying, the racing, everything." She folded her arms behind her head and leaned back again. "Have you never been with him to one of those meetings?"
     "No," Royalheart said. "He did offer to take me along sometime, though."
     "Do it!" Cunningheart said. "You should definitely do it! It's just so... indescribable, once you've tasted the atmosphere."
     "I... think I might do it one time," Royalheart nodded slowly.
     "Yeah, you really should," Cunningheart smiled. "Honestly, you don't know what you're missing when you don't."

Royalheart nodded again, thoughtfully, silently. For a while, both felines sat quietly, Cunningheart enjoying the sun, Royalheart musing on different thoughts. As he thought about it, he was getting more used to being close to Cunningheart. It started to seem more natural. It was like his barrier of shyness was slowly crumbling away. After all, he now knew that Cunningheart and Sugar Bear were not in love with each other, and he knew that there was a fair chance Cunningheart would return the feelings of love he felt for her. He looked aside him. Cunningheart had closed her eyes again, enjoying the sunlight playing on her face with a smile. Royalheart smiled softly too.
     "Hey, Cunningheart?"
     "Hmm?"
     "I, uh... I really really like you," Royalheart said carefully.
Cunningheart's smile deepened.
     "Same here." She opened her eyes and looked down her body. "Sheesh, my tummy starts growling. I had no idea it's time to eat already." She looked aside at Royalheart with a smile. "Wanna come inside and join me for lunch?"
     "That... sounds wonderful," Royalheart said. "I'd like that very much."
     "Okay, c'mon then," Cunningheart smiled.

She rose up from the swinging chair and stepped into her cloud cottage through the opened front door. Royalheart followed her, a bit slowly. But as he stepped into Cunningheart's cloud cottage, he shook his head sharply and told himself to grow up once and for all inwardly. Stop being such a shy wussy! You're a mature tiger, aren't you?! Act it! He looked up when Cunningheart addressed him.
     "Do you wanna wait in the living room until I'm done fixing lunch, or would you care to help me perhaps?"
     "I'll help you," Royalheart said with a smile. "I'm rather good with preparing food, if I may say so myself."
     "Oh really?" Cunningheart smiled. She opened the door to her kitchen and made an inviting gesture. "Well then, step inside and amaze me."
Royalheart also smiled and followed Cunningheart into her kitchen. He saw a pan standing on the stove, and he lifted the lid and sniffed the content of the pan.
     "Hmm, smells nice. What's this?"
     "Some chicken soup left over from yesterday," Cunningheart said with a smile, opening the fridge and looking in. "You can heat some of that in the microwave if you want some." She bent over and reached into the fridge. "Personally, I prefer fried eggs on ham for lunch."
Royalheart also stepped over to the refrigerator and looked in.
     "Fried eggs are good," he said with a smile. "I do like... yeesh!" Royalheart almost drew back at the sight of at least fifteen small pots and pans standing on all shelves of the fridge. "What is all that?"
Cunningheart giggled a bit.
     "Just some left-overs. You know, I never do seem to be able to decide whether to throw them out or warm them up to eat them."
Royalheart carefully lifted the lid of one of the many pots and pans, and drew back his head again, making a face.
     "Well, that decision should easily be made for you when you open these," he smirked. "I wouldn't feed some of this stuff to even my worst enemies."
Cunningheart laughed heartedly.
     "You're right, maybe they have been sitting in my fridge for too long. I'll throw them out right now. Thanks for the good advice, Royalheart."

She started taking out all the pots and pans and stacked them all on top of each other. Maneuvering carefully, she started walking to the door leading to the back garden with the enormously high pile of pots and pans. As she opened the door, she looked around with a giggle.
     "You don't have to wait for me with making some lunch for yourself, Royalheart. This is probably going to take some time."
Royalheart grinned a little.
     "Just make sure you duck when you step through the door, or those things will be all over you."

Cunningheart giggled again and stepped through the door, indeed bending over a bit so the high pile of pots and pans didn't hit the top of the door-frame. While she disappeared around a corner, Royalheart softly chuckled to himself and looked into the fridge again, actually finding some things that were still edible. As he took some things out, he once more chuckled to himself over the situation. Yeesh, for a feline, he sure hadn't expected Cunningheart to be so sloppy with food. Heh, but maybe she was just trying to keep the left-overs in her fridge so long that they would eventually try to escape so she could hunt them down and pounce on them. Royalheart laughed shortly when that thought crossed his mind.

With an armful of things he walked back to the counter, put all the things down and started preparing some lunch. He turned on the fire under the pan with chicken soup, started frying a couple of eggs and buttered a few slices of bread. Just as he was adding slices of bacon to the eggs, Cunningheart returned in the kitchen with all the pots and pans. She dumped them in the sink with a deafeningly loud clatter while sniffing appreciatively.
     "Hmmm, smells really good, Royalheart," she smiled, turning on the faucet. "I'll just wash these a bit, so don't mind me."

Royalheart just sent her a sideways smile, keeping his attention to what he was doing at the stove. But every now and then he stole a quick sideways glance at Cunningheart standing right next to him at the kitchen counter, washing up all the pots and pans. He again felt a nice feeling of warmth spreading to him, and that wasn't because he was standing so close to the stove. At one moment, he reached over the counter to pick up a spatula, just as Cunningheart reached over the counter for a bottle of washing-up liquid. For a brief moment, their paws touched. A warm flutter of tingles shot through Royalheart at the gentle touch, and Cunningheart smiled, softly squeezing his paw before taking the bottle of washing-up liquid. To hide his blush, Royalheart quickly took the spatula and turned to the pan with the eggs.
     "Uh... do you like your eggs double-fried or sunny side up?" he asked.
     "I prefer sunny side up," Cunningheart smiled, slamming a washing-up brush through the pots and pans, making water and foam splatter everywhere.
     "Alright."

Royalheart just lifted the eggs a bit so they wouldn't stick to the pan, and then he turned to the other pan, in which the chicken soup was slowly coming to the boil. He stirred it with the same spatula absent-mindedly, wondering in his mind what he should think of the soft squeeze Cunningheart had given his paw just now. She was now washing up the pots and pans humming a tune to herself merrily, seemingly not paying any attention to Royalheart. It made a little doubtful confusal creep into Royalheart's heart again. The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard seemed to be as fickle as a breeze, giving off signs of affection to Royalheart one moment and totally ignoring him the other. Royalheart really didn't know wthat to think of it. So he just turned his attention to his cooking again, just in time turning the fire down under the pan with the soup since it was threatening to boil over. The eggs were ready too, so he took two plates, put the buttered slices of bread on the plates and lifted the eggs from the pan with the spatula, putting them on the slices of bread. In a cabinet he found soup bowls, and there was a ladle in a drawer, so he also filled two bowls with the chicken soup.
     "Well, lunch is ready," he said, with a small smile.
Cunningheart looked up from the pile of pots and pans with a smile.
     "Good, I'm really hungry now."

She dug up knives and forks and spoons from another drawer, and carried the two plates to the livingroom, while Royalheart followed her with the bowls of soup. He set them down on the coffee table and sat down next to Cunningheart on the sofa. She handed him one of the plates, took a remote and switched on the stereo. Royalheart almost dropped his plate with a startle when the loudspeakers jumped up with a roar, blasting Queen music through the room at an insanely high volume. Cunningheart giggled while working the remote.
     "Oops, sorry. The thing's still set from last night." She pressed a few buttons on the remote, silencing Freddy Mercury and replacing Brian Adams' screaming guitar for some gentle, melodic Bill Evans jazz. "There, that's much better for a nice lunch atmosphere."
     "Agreed," Royalheart said, managing a smile.
They started eating. Cunningheart licked her lips and purred appreciatively after a few bites of the fried eggs.
     "Hmmrrr, these are really good, Royalheart. You know your business around a kitchen."

Royalheart just smiled a bit, not really knowing what to say. So the two felines just finished their lunch in silence. After lunch Royalheart helped Cunningheart with the dishes (the pots and pans which had held all the left-overs needed to soak a good deal before they could be cleaned), and after that they spent some time on the swinging chair on the porch again, in content silence. More and more Royalheart found he was really getting used to being right next to Cunningheart all the time, and he actually felt quite at ease sitting on the swinging chair with her. He really believed now he would soon be able to tell her his feelings without any problems. Still, he decided to wait until the next day, when they were at that race together.

After some time, Cunningheart drew a sigh and leaned over on her side a bit, sinking down against Royalheart's flank. Automatically, without thinking about it, Royalheart laid his arm over Cunningheart's shoulders. Cunningheart drew another sigh and closed her eyes, snuggling into Royalheart's cobalt blue fur a bit. A tidal wave of warmth and happiness flooded Royalheart's body, and he let his head sink sideways a bit, resting it on top of Cunningheart's head, his dark blue heart-shaped nose softly pressed against one of her ears.
     "I love you," he murmured under his breath.
     "Hmmmmm," was Cunningheart's quietly purred reply.

They sat in silence again after that. Royalheart wasn't sure whether or not Cunningheart had actually understood what he had said, but he didn't care either. Just the feeling of her lying cuddled up against his flank, the rate of her breathing softly pressing her flank against his in a soft, regular, gentle caress was enough for him now. This moment just was too perfect.

With his head resting on top of Cunningheart's, Royalheart looked out over her front garden, seeing the flowers slowly moving in the breeze, the butterflies and bees dancing among the flowers, the birds flying by. He felt as content as he had ever felt, the feeling of Cunningheart lying against him, her soft fur under his arm, giving him a feeling of utter happiness he hadn't ever felt before. This moment could just last forever, for as far as he was concerned. Time lost all meaning. There was nothing anymore but this moment, this feeling of bliss.

Of course, even in the Kingdom of Caring, a perfect moment has to end sometime to keep it perfect, and slowly the comprehension of time returned in Royalheart's mind. He rose up a bit, causing Cunningheart to stir, sigh, and also sit up. He smiled at her.
     "Much as I enjoy sitting here with you, Cunningheart, but I'd better go home now," he said. "I still have a few things to do."
     "Mmm, alright," Cunningheart smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow at nine-thirty then, I guess?"
     "Absolutely," Royalheart said with a smile. Before he even realized it, he bent over a bit and pressed a kiss upside Cunningheart's head, between her ears. "See you tomorrow."
     "Right," Cunningheart purred with a smile. She softly ran a paw over the side of Royalheart's face. "I'll be waiting for you."

Royalheart nodded, and he rose up from the swinging chair. He waved at Cunningheart while walking through her front garden, and she merrily waved after him when he pulled away in the bright red Pontiac Firebird Frolicheart Puma had lent him. Driving home, Royalheart reflected on all the things that had happened in Cunningheart's cloud cottage and on the swinging chair. It most certainly looked promising for him. He had told Cunningheart he really really liked her, and she had answered she felt the same. They'd lunched together, and she had enjoyed his cooking. They had spent some wonderful time on the swinging chair, close up against each other, and he had even already said he loved her, to which she had replied with a purr, which by itself already was a very good sign. Yes, as he thought about it, things were certainly looking up for the cobalt blue tiger.

At his cloud cottage, Royalheart parked the Firebird right behind his Cloudsmobile, closed the car's windows and put the top up, and he went inside. After fixing some dinner, he sat on his rocking chair on the porch to eat it, and he again thought back on everything that had happened at Cunningheart's cloud cottage. A smile decorated his face all the way through dinner, and for a long time after when he just sat on the rocking chair to look at the Forest of Feelings slowly settling down for the night.

The next morning, at half past nine sharp, Royalheart pulled to a stop in front of Cunningheart's cloud cottage in the red Pontiac Firebird. The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard was indeed already waiting for him, and she waved at him merrily while stepping up to the car. Royalheart had put the top down again, and Cunningheart hopped onto the passenger's seat over the edge of the right door.
     "Morning, Royalheart."
     "Good morning, Cunningheart. Well then, shall we go?"
     "A very good idea."

Royalheart drove them through the Forest of Feelings, heading for the rainbow path leading into and out of the Kingdom of Caring. There he found Frolicheart had apparently put a little Care Bear Cousin magic into his cars, or at least in this one, since the Firebird reacted every bit like a Cloudsmobile. Driving through the sky calmly, Royalheart steered the Firebird down to Earth, landing on a road that led directly to the Laguna Seca race track. As they got closer, they noticed a whole lot of other cars driving towards it, and both felines were slightly surprised to see nobody looked up at a white snowleopard with grey rosettes and a dark blue tiger with bright red stripes, both with a colorful symbol on their white tummies, mingling with the traffic in a classic Pontiac Firebird convertible.

On the parking lot, Royalheart made sure he closed the windows and the soft-top of the Firebird, like Frolicheart had asked him to, before walking to the entrance of the race track with Cunningheart. When they were inside they looked around them a bit, at the large grandstands, the snack- and soft-drink vendors, and the hundreds and hundreds of people. Royalheart had to admit to himself that the atmosphere indeed was terrific, and he thought he would indeed enjoy himself. Making their way to the pit lane, and getting access to the visitors area after showing their tickets, both of them looked up when a cheerful voice rang out.
     "Heeeyy, Royalheart, Cunningheart! You're well on time! Good to see you!"

Both felines looked around, and both smiled deeply. It was Frolicheart Puma calling out to them, and he was dressed in a bright blue overall printed with several symbols, and his own tummy symbol on the front. Next to him was Swiftheart Rabbit, obviously happied out of her little furry mind, and she was also wearing a similar sort of overall, even though it was slightly too large for her. Royalheart and Cunningheart waved at Frolicheart and stepped up to him.
     "It's good to see you too, Frolicheart," Royalheart said. "Once again, thank you for all of this."
     "Really, it is my pleasure," Frolicheart smiled. "And here's another bit of advice." He pointed at the large grandstands opposite the pit lane. "When the race begins, find yourself a place on that stand over there, on the outer corner, and all the way on the top seats. You have the best view from there, both over the starting grid as over the first two curves. And those usually are the most spectacular in the first two or three laps."
     "We will," Royalheart smiled.
     "At what position do you start, Frolicheart?" Cunningheart asked. "So that we know just and about at what part of the grid to look for your car?"
Frolicheart grinned.
     "Keep your eyes on the front part. I had a rather lousy qualifying; I'm starting from third position."
     "That's what you call lousy?" Royalheart said with surprise.
     "Considering I usually start from pole position, yes, that's what I call lousy," Frolicheart said with a grin.
Cunningheart and Swiftheart giggled, and Royalheart also grinned a bit. Frolicheart looked around for a moment when his name was called out, then turned back to Royalheart and Cunningheart again.
     "Well, I gotta go now. I hope you have a good time." He nudged Royalheart's shoulder with his grinning. "And remember what I said, huh pal? Be careful with my car. Stains on the seats are alright, but no rips in the upholstery please."

Before Royalheart could reply, Frolicheart turned around and walked to the pit boxes, accompanied by Swiftheart. Looking aside at Cunningheart for a moment, Royalheart felt a faint blush on his face, but he managed to bring up a smile for Cunningheart.
     "Well, I reckon we'd better find ourselves a seat on that stand, right?"
     "Yeh, we'd better indeed," Cunningheart said with a giggle.

Holding paws, the two felines made their way through the crowd, heading for the large grandstand opposite the pit lane Frolicheart had indicated. Climbing all the way to the topmost rows of seats, they found themselves a nice place to sit, having a view of the starting grid and the first two curves, and they also could see a bit of the last curve, on the other side of the starting grid. That really looked like a very mean curve. It was a U-bend so tight it more looked like a 'V' than a 'U'. That would promise some spectacles alright.

Royalheart and Cunningheart turned their looks to the starting grid. Cars were already being rolled onto it, and after some time they saw the clear blue Oldsmobile with the white winged cat on the side also being rolled onto the grid by two mechanics. Frolicheart was walking alongside it, looking at the grandstand, and he waved merrily when he caught sight of Royalheart and Cunningheart. They merrily waved back. A voice over a loudspeaker gave information on the cars and their drivers. It was a wide variety of classic cars, but apart from two 1957 Chevrolet Bel Airs and two 1958 Ford Thunderbirds, it were all sixties or seventies muscle-cars. Mechanics did some last check-ups on the cars while the drivers were getting into them.

When the last drivers had gotten into their cars and the last mechanics had left the grid, the well-known phrase "racers, start your engines" sounded over the loudspeakers. The air was filled with twenty-four powerful engines being fired up and revving. On an overhead post at the start/finishline was a board with six lights in them; two red next to each other, two red under that, and two green under those. The first two red lights lit up. The cars' engines were revved. The second two red lights lit up. The revving of engines increased. The two green lights lit up, and the cars all spurted forward.

Royalheart and Cunningheart could see Frolicheart had a wonderful start. His clear blue Oldsmobile spurted right past the white '68 Ford Mustang on position two, taking the second position. And the two felines also saw that Frolicheart had been right about the first and second curve being the most spectacular at the beginning of the race. The first curve was a U-bend too, and with twenty-four cars diving into it at once, that provided some sensational action. Brake-lights flashed on and off like disco-lamps when all twenty-four cars tried to take that curve as fast as possible while trying to avoid hitting the others. The first few cars were already coming out of the U-bend, and both Royalheart and Cunningheart cheered with admiration when they saw the clear blue Oldsmobile with the white winged cat on it diving into the second curve in a very daring manner, cutting across the red and white curbstones with squealing tyres, sprinting past the green Chevrolet Camaro which was in first position on the inside. Taking the lead position that way, the blue Oldsmobile took off, already drawing a gap between it and the cars behind it. Having lost sight of the blue Olds when it had rounded the curve, Royalheart and Cunningheart turned their looks to the nasty sharp U-bend at the other end of the starting grid, waiting for the blue Olds to appear there. They didn't pay any attention to the booming voice over the loudspeakers which gave commentary on what was going on with all twenty-four cars, they just kept staring at the other end of the starting grid. A little over a minute later, they saw the blue Oldsmobile approaching the nasty sharp U-bend really fast. Royalheart gasped a bit and Cunningheart cried out "wow!" when right before the U-bend the blue Oldsmobile suddenly spun around with a jolt, indicating Frolicheart had most probably yanked the steering wheel and the hand-brake at the same time. The rear of the Olds swung around, and smoke came from the tyres when the accelerator was apparently stamped to the floor. With the sharply pointed nose pointing in the right direction, the blue Olds sped forward again, tearing across the starting grid.
     "Wow, did you see that!" Cunningheart exclaimed enthusiastically, grabbing Royalheart by a shoulder. "He really threw that car around that mean curve! Wow, can he drive!"
     "I'm impressed," Royalheart admitted.

They looked at the bright blue Olds screeching through the first U-bend again, sliding a bit through the sand. About every minute, after it had gotten out of sight behind the second curve, it appeared at the very nasty sharp U-bend on the other side of the starting grid again, being flung around that curve with force. And each time Cunningheart and Royalheart cheered and waved wildly at the blue Olds zooming across the starting grid after that. Five laps into the race, it had already drawn a gap of forty-seven seconds, according to the commentator. At the end of the sixth lap, the blue Olds dived into the pit lane, getting new tyres and a full tank of gas.
     "Gosh Royalheart, this is all so great!" Cunningheart said happily. "I'm so glad you invited me!"
     "Yes, well..." Royalheart said. "I just... I happen to..." He inwardly scolded himself again. Sheesh, just say it, dolt! "I love you, Cunningheart. I very very much love you."
Cunningheart looked at the cobalt blue tiger with a very deep smile.
     "Really?"
Royalheart nodded.
     "I've had a crush on you for a very long time already," he said softly. "I'm really very much in love with you."
     "I know that," Cunningheart smiled sweetly. "I've been wondering when you would find the guts to tell me." She hugged Royalheart tightly. "I'm very happy you finally told me. I love you too, Royalheart. I really do."
     "You do?" Royalheart said softly, almost in a whisper. "You mean that?"
     "Yes, I mean it," Cunningheart smiled.

She pulled Royalheart even closer, pressed her lips on his and kissed him deeply. The cobalt blue tiger felt Cunningheart's soft, warm tongue slipping into his mouth to play with his, and at the moment Cunningheart's tongue found his and curled around it, Royalheart drew a deep, happy sigh, closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around Cunningheart's body and answered her kiss. Oblivious to the crowd around them, they held their kiss for a long time, their tongues lovingly dancing with each other. They didn't even notice Frolicheart coming out of the pit lane again and re-taking the lead in the race with almost a full minute advantage. It wasn't until the blue Oldsmobile had entered its eighth lap Cunningheart and Royalheart broke apart. They looked at each other with twinkles of love in their eyes, smiling deeply.
     "This... this is just the most perfect day in all my life," Royalheart said happily. "I love you so, Cunningheart."
As an answer, the pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard embraced Royalheart, pulled him close and kissed him again.
     "I love you too, Royalheart, I really really do," she purred. "And I'm so glad you finally told me you do. You make me so very happy."
     "Well, after all, that's what being a Care Bear Cousin is all about, isn't it?" Royalheart smiled.

Cunningheart laughed cheerily and hugged Royalheart again. Holding each other sweetly, they watched the ending of the race. It only was ten laps long, and Frolicheart in his clear blue Oldsmobile was just zooming across the start/finishline, into his tenth and final lap with almost half a lap advance on the rest of the cars. Just and about a minute later the clear blue car appeared again on the end of the starting grid, at that very mean U-bend, again being thrown around it forcefully and zooming across the starting grid. Now not only Cunningheart and Royalheart applauded and cheered and waved wildly, but the entire audience did. Having crossed the start/finishline, the clear blue Oldsmobile slowed down considerably, and it made one final lap calmly, going into the pit lane at the end of that calm, slow lap.

Royalheart and Cunningheart climbed down the grandstand and made their way through the crowd to the visitors area of the pit lane, finding Frolicheart being cuddled to death by a very over-enthusiastic Swiftheart. The two felines were stopped when they wanted to run up to the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin, but since Frolicheart had spotted them and called out to join him, they were allowed to get into that part of the pit lane anyway. Both of them enthusiastically congratulated Frolicheart on his victory.
     "Oh wow Frolicheart, can you drive!!" Cunningheart exclaimed. "That way you threw that car around those mean corners! Beautiful!"
     "Well done, Frolicheart," Royalheart said a lot calmer. "Very well done. Congratulations."
     "Thanks, and the same to you," Frolicheart said with a grin.
     "Same to... Uh... why?" Royalheart said.
     "For finally coming out of your closet, and having had success with it," Frolicheart grinned.
     "You... can tell?" Royalheart said.
     "Uh-huh," Frolicheart said with a chuckle. His name was being called out again. "Well, love to stay and chat, but I have to go now. It's time for the prize-givings. Don't know if I catch you after that; I usually have a little party with my crew afterwards, so... In any way, my friend..." He patted Royalheart on the shoulder with a grin. "Once again congratulations to you too, and please keep my request in mind, alright? No damage to the seats of my car please."
     "We'll keep that in mind, Frolicheart," Cunningheart said with a giggle. "I wouldn't wanna damage the seats of such a lovely car as that Firebird anyway."
     "Good, that certainly reassures me," Frolicheart grinned. He looked around when his name was being called out again. "Yeh yeh, in a minute!" He turned back to Royalheart and Cunningheart. "Well, see you around, I guess. Bring the car back any time you like, Royalheart. You can either bring it to Brightheart's workshop, or to my house, okay? I really have to go now."
     "Sure, go on ahead," Royalheart said with a smile. "We'll catch you later, back up in the Forest of Feelings."

He and Frolicheart shook paws, and accompanied by Swiftheart, the beige-orange feline Care Bear Cousin walked to the pit boxes. Royalheart and Cunningheart got out of the pit lane again and went back to the grandstand, on the way there stopping by a hot-dog vendor where Royalheart treated Cunningheart to a real Vienna hot-dog, with everything. They made it back to their high seats on the grandstand in time to see the prize-giving, with Frolicheart accepting a cup Champ Bear could have been jealous of. Royalheart and Cunningheart stayed for a little while longer, but as the race track didn't offer very much more things to their interest, eventually they left and walked back to the parking lot.

Royalheart opened the doors of the Pontiac Firebird, and Cunningheart put the soft-top down again, since the weather still was unbelievably nice and sunny. It took a while before Royalheart had managed to get off the parking lot and onto the road where they had landed that morning, since a lot more people had decided to call it a day and head on home. But once out of the heaviest traffic, Royalheart could make a bit better time. Despite himself being infected a bit by the events he had witnessed, he started pushing down the accelerator once he was on the deserted country road, making the Firebird pick up a lot of speed. Cunningheart leaned on the edge of the passenger's side door, eyes closed, ears flat against her head and a big smile on her face, while the wind ruffled her fur and whiskers. Through the rumble of the engine, Royalheart could pick up a soft purr coming from Cunningheart, and his face also was decorated with a smile at that. Only when signs at the side of the road indicated another town coming up, Royalheart got the Firebird airborne and headed back to the Kingdom of Caring, keeping the speed of the Firebird close to the three-digit numbers however. He only slowed down when the Firebird was on the rainbow path leading into the Kingdom of Caring. Since the sun was still high up in the sky, Royalheart looked aside at Cunningheart for a moment.
     "So, uh... what would you like to do? Should I drop you off at your place, or..."
     "Keep driving," Cunningheart purred, not opening her eyes. "I don't mind where you go to, but just keep on driving for a while. I'm really enjoying the ride."
     "Okay," Royalheart smiled. "To be quite honest, I like driving this car better than driving a Cloudsmobile. It in any way sure has a lot more pepper in it."
     "Yeah," Cunningheart nodded. "It sure does. And the engine sounds better."
     "Hmmm, I dunno, I kinda like that soft whinny of a Cloudsmobile's engine," Royalheart smiled.
     "Well, I prefer to hear the power a car keeps in store," Cunningheart purred.

Royalheart nodded a bit, smiling, and he just kept on driving around the Forest of Feelings. However, somewhere at the outskirts of the Forest of Feelings, halfway up a small hill that looked out onto Care a Lot, he found that there was another thing to the Firebird which was quite different from a Cloudsmobile. Slowly, the engine started hiccuping, sputtering, and the car lost speed. Right on top of the little hill, the car stopped completely. Cunningheart opened her eyes and looked around her, smiling deeply at the view.
     "Good idea to stop here, Royalheart," she smiled. "The view here is magnificent."
     "Well, uh... I didn't exactly do it on purpose," Royalheart said, scratching the top of his head. "The car stopped by itself. I don't know why."
     "Hmmm." Cunningheart leaned over towards Royalheart and looked at the dashboard. And she started laughing. "Not much experience with driving cars from Earth, have you, Royalheart? Check out that one gauge over there in the dash."

Royalheart looked at the gauge Cunningheart pointed at. It was a round gauge, with a half-circle of white lines in it. On one end of that half-circle was an 'E', and on the other end was an 'F'. There also was a red needle in the gauge, and that was pointing at the 'E'. Royalheart scratched the top of his head again.
     "Yeah, so what does that gauge indicate?"
Cunningheart laughed even cheerier.
     "That's the fuel-gauge, my friend, and when the needle is pointing to the E, it means the tank is empty. And that means the car won't go another inch anymore until you refill the tank."
     "Fuel-gauge..." Royalheart muttered. "Sheesh, that's something a Cloudsmobile doesn't have, but I could have guessed a car from Earth would have something like that." He looked at Cunningheart, with a small smile. "Well, if what you said is true, then it seems to me we're kind of stranded here right now."
     "Mmh yeah, but as I said, at least the view is magnificent," Cunningheart purred with a smile, looking ahead of her at the open landscape and the fluffy clouds of Care a Lot. "I don't mind staying here for a while."
     "We don't even have much of a choice," Royalheart said with a smile. "The only option we have is walking back home. This car won't take us anywhere anymore. For one thing, I don't know what kind of fuel this car needs, and for another I don't know where Frolicheart keeps the fuel for his cars."
     "Well, let's just enjoy the view for a while then, hm?" Cunningheart purred, sinking down against Royalheart's flank.
     "That sounds alright," Royalheart smiled.

He eased back in the driver's seat and put an arm around Cunningheart's shoulders. She sighed happily and wrapped her arms around Royalheart's body, resting her head on his chest, purring softly. Looking through the windshield, they saw the small cottages on the fluffy clouds of Care a Lot in the distance, the colorfully glittering rainbows, and the smiling yellow sun very slowly sinking down behind the clouds. Its rays lent beautiful colors of gold and ochre to the fluffy Care a Lot clouds, and as the time passed the colors changed to deep fiery orange, scarlet and magenta.
     "Isn't that beautiful," Cunningheart churred, dreamily looking at the setting sun and the colorful Care a Lot clouds.
     "Yeah, it sure is," Royalheart murmured, keeping his eyes a little more downward, more enjoying the golden shimmer the setting sun lent Cunningheart's fur.
     "I sure had to laugh over what Frolicheart asked you, to please be careful not to rip the upholstery of this car's seats," Cunningheart purred with a giggle.
Royalheart for a moment was struck by Cunningheart's very sudden change of topic, but he smiled quite soon.
     "He told me tears in the upholstery are a crime to fix. And I can imagine he wants us to be careful with his car. I mean, if you see how much work and how much love he puts into them."
     "Yeah, he's a fanatic," Cunningheart purred smiling. She rolled her head a bit so she could look Royalheart in the face. "And he sure does know what kind of pleasure you can have with, and in, a car."
Royalheart nodded.
     "The way he zoomed over that racing track today showed me how much he likes to get everything out of a car that's possibly in it. You can tell he likes to search for the limits, and to push them back each time." A sudden grin came upon Royalheart's face. "And when I found him working on that orange and white car of his, some time later I also found that he and Swiftheart had come up with another very fun thing to do in it."
     "Mmh yeah, he's a traditionalist in that," Cunningheart softly giggled. "He once told me that it is the car that mostly helps young or new lovers to get close. A first time for young or new lovers as good as always is on the backseat of a car." She rose up a little, bringing her face close to Royalheart's and whispering into his ear. "Wanna be a traditionalist too, Royalheart?"
     "What... You mean..?" Royalheart said.
Cunningheart nodded with a sultry smile.
     "After all, we are new lovers, and we're marooned with our car on a very romantic spot." She softly giggled again. "And I sure don't want a nice tradition to die out."
     "So... You're saying... You'd like to... go to the backseat with me?" Royalheart said.
     "Yes I do," Cunningheart whispered smiling. "Wouldn't you?"
     "I... I very much would," Royalheart said softly. "I so love you, and I've always dreamed of..."
He wavered. Cunningheart smiled sultrily again, and she bent over to the dashboard.
     "Let's just see here..." She rummaged in the glove-compartment, digging out a few cassette-tapes and looking at the covers. "Hmmm yes, this'll do just nicely."

She took a cassette out of one of the little boxes and pushed it into the car's cassette-deck. After switching on the radio, two loudspeakers in the dashboard and four in the doors poured calm Carpenter-ballads through the car. Putting the other cassettes back in the glove-compartment, Cunningheart softly ran a paw along Royalheart's face and kissed him.
     "Now, wanna come to the backseat with me?"
     "There isn't a thing I'd want more," Royalheart said softly.

Both felines crawled between the two front seats to the Firebird's backseat. Laying themselves down across the backseat, their lips locked onto each other, and while Karen J. Carpenter sang "touch me when we're dancing, I want to feel you when I'm falling in love", the red-striped dark blue tiger and the grey-rosetted white snowleopard lost themselves in a deep, loving, passionate kiss. When they broke apart, both of them were purring.
     "Love me, Royalheart," Cunningheart purred. "Caress me."

Royalheart didn't need to be asked. The sweet, loving kiss had drowned the very last of his uncertain shyness. It was replaced now with the security that Cunningheart was his, for now and forever, to have and to hold, to love and... well, not exactly to protect, she was perfectly capable of that herself.

He slowly rolled over to his side, in the movement rolling Cunningheart to her back. Slowly, his soft paws started reconnoitering her speckled body which trembled with purrs. Silently, Royalheart marveled at how the yellow cat's eyes in Cunningheart's rather dark tummy symbol seemed to glow as he drew his fingers over it. And again, as he had done on a few prior occasions, he started tracing the grey rosettes in Cunningheart's white fur, finding now that her tummy really was the very only part of her body that didn't have any of them. Even the best part of Cunningheart's body, the part that Royalheart for so long had wanted to explore, her soft, fluffy feline pussy, had tiny lightgrey rosettes in the soft white fur on the delicate lips. The moment Royalheart let his fingers trace the lines of those small rosettes, Cunningheart's purrs deepened, and she closed her eyes while spreading her legs a bit. Her tail dangled over the edge of the backseat, the end of it slowly swinging back and forth in ecstacy as Royalheart continued with his gentle explore of his feline lover's lithe, slender body.
     "O... o... oh!" Cunningheart gasped softly when Royalheart tenderly touched the red heart on her left hip. "Oh Royalheart, that... that feels so good. Please touch me, feel me, caress me. Please... mh! Mh! Yeah!"

Royalheart's fingers had slowly slid down from the red heart on Cunningheart's left hip to her thigh, and from there gently to her loins. Again the cobalt blue tiger started running a finger along the tiny grey rosettes on Cunningheart's fuzzy white pussy, every now and then picking up a small droplet of warm, milky cum slowly leaking from between her soft, swollen pussy-lips. The white feline Care Bear Cousin's grey-rosetted tail started twitching harder, and the yellow cat's eyes in her black tummy symbol started sparkling more brightly. Even the grey rim around the black heart and the grey tail Cunningheart's tummy symbol had seemed to sparkle with a mysterious glow. It was almost as if she was preparing to launch a Cousin Call.

Delighting in Cunningheart's ecstatic reactions, Royalheart slowly became a little more audacious, and he let his fingers eagerly wander over all of Cunningheart's fluffy white pussy, slipping them between the soft, swollen lips every now and then. Cunningheart's purrs deepened ever further, steadily becoming shorter and harder, and her tail twitched in short shocks. She slowly curled her tail upwards between Royalheart's legs, the tip gently tickling his erected dick. Royalheart softly moaned under his breath, Cunningheart's teasingly tickling tail giving him a hard time to keep his concentration up. He twirled his own tail into Cunningheart's, his fingers now firmly rubbing and caressing the white snowleopard's warm, swollen pussy, quickly leading her to the vivacious peaks of a stormy orgasm.

Legs flailing and paws firmly grabbing the backseat's upholstery first but very quickly Royalheart's cobalt blue fur then, Cunningheart shocked all over her body and outed soft, short growls of lust when Royalheart's fingers drove her into a flaming hot climax. Her grey-rosetted white pussy cramped hard around the dark blue tiger's fingers, and her warm, milky juices found their way along Royalheart's fingers to his wrist, and from there along the length of his arm, eventually slowly dripping onto the Firebird's backseat. With his tail still twirled into Cunningheart's, Royalheart slowly withdrew his fingers from the white feline Care Bear Cousin's cramping, slippery pussy and stuck them in his mouth, savoring the sweet, rich taste of Cunningheart's sex-cream.

While enjoyingly licking clean his fingers, Royalheart looked down on Cunningheart, seeing her open her eyes and sending him a warm, sweet, satisfied smile. She was still gasping deeply, and Royalheart felt her tail doing arduous attempts to disentangle itself from his so it could return to its teasing tickling. Smiling himself, Royalheart freed Cunningheart's tail, which right away curled back up between his legs and slid over his stiff dark blue dick again. Drawing a deep, lustful breath, Royalheart slowly sank down on the backseat and wrapped his arms around Cunningheart's shoulders, making his own tail caress her warm, slippery white pussy. Folding her arms tightly around Royalheart's body, Cunningheart pulled the cobalt blue tiger close and pressed her mouth on his, smothering both her own and his lustful gasps in a deep, passionate kiss while their tails continued to caress each other's sex. Cunningheart's supple tail was like a snake; slithering around Royalheart's dick, rubbing and caressing it in ways fingers would never be able to. Royalheart's flexible tail also was doing justice to feline ways, sliding over Cunningheart's puffy white pussy expertly, the tip sometimes slipping between the swollen, slippery lips and drawing an ecstatic moan from Cunningheart. Before too long, both feline Care Bear Cousins were shocking and shuddering in each other's arms, their respective tails having managed to caress both of them over the boundaries of lust and desire, making them both break down in a trembling, moaning orgasm.

When they had caught their breaths, Royalheart opened his eyes and smiled down at Cunningheart, pressing a soft kiss on her grey heart-shaped nose.
     "Wow, I never thought you would be able to get me off with your tail," he smiled.
     "That's the fun of being feline," Cunningheart said with a giggle. "You can use the long tail for so much more than just keeping balance." She softly kissed Royalheart back. "And you were using it quite masterfully too, if I may say so."

She wrapped her arms around Royalheart again and rolled over on the Firebird's backseat, placing herself in the top position. Then she pulled Royalheart up a bit, making him lean with his back against the side of the car, so he was more or less sitting. She cuddled up on the cobalt blue tiger's lap, folded her arms around his shoulders and started kissing him again. Royalheart answered her kiss happily, letting his paws slowly wander over Cunningheart's shoulders and back, and softly down along her flanks. He smiled a bit in the kiss when he let Cunningheart's speckled tail slide through his paws, and felt it being slightly wet, the fur a bit peaky and tufty. He tried wiping it a bit clean while kissing, and Cunningheart started wriggling and softly moaning in the kiss at Royalheart's paws playing with her tail.

The pretty grey-rosetted white snowleopard's paws slowly left Royalheart's shoulders, sliding down over his red-striped dark blue fur and gripping his hips. Wriggling harder, meanwhile not breaking the contact between their lips and tongues, Cunningheart positioned her legs on both sides of Royalheart's lap and started mashing her tummy against his. Royalheart groaned softly in the kiss when he felt the warm, swollen, slippery lips of Cunningheart's white feline pussy rub up against his hard dark blue dick. He let one of his own paws slide from Cunningheart's flank, over her tummy and in between their bodies. Finding his dick, Royalheart took it and guided it to the warm, slimy opening between the puffy white lips of Cunningheart's longing, slippery pussy.

Cunningheart moaned with desire in the kiss she still held on, and she mashed her tummy even harder up against Royalheart's. Her tingling white pussy eagerly sucked in Royalheart's dick, drawing a lustful groan from the cobalt blue tiger, which died in the passionate kiss. Holding one paw on the back of Royalheart's head so she could maintain the contact between their lips and tongues, Cunningheart gripped the cobalt blue feline Care Bear Cousin's hips even harder with her other paw, bucking her hips so her tummy pressed up against his with short shocks. Her eager, slippery white pussy slid back and forth over Royalheart's stiff dark blue dick, making the dark blue tiger also buck his hips while holding Cunningheart's in a firm grip with both paws.

Taking her one paw off Royalheart's hips, Cunningheart placed both of her paws on Royalheart's shoulders, pulling him as close as she could and doubling the intensity of the kiss. Her tongue kept seeking his, kept twirling around it, licking it, playing with it. All lustful groans and gasps of both felines died in the incredibly passionate, hot kiss, the only sounds audible being the heavy puffs of breath through their dilated nostrils, and the soft slurping of Cunningheart's slippery white pussy over Royalheart's hard dark blue dick. The hot white snowleopard's warm, milky cum slowly trickled down along it, forming stains in Royalheart's lap, and eventually on the Firebird's backseat, between his legs. Eventually, Cunningheart broke off the incredible hot, passionate kiss when she threw her head in her neck and let out a roar of lust at a thundering orgasm soaring through her speckled body. Her fluffy white pussy cramped hard around Royalheart's dick and released a warm flow of sticky Care Bear Cousin-cum, which leaked down along Royalheart's dick onto his fuzzy blue balls, and between his legs onto the Firebird's backseat.

Still slowly rocking and mashing her tummy up against Royalheart's, Cunningheart slowly relaxed and sagged a bit on the dark blue tiger's lap, her head slumping over his shoulder. When she was totally relaxed, Royalheart gently took her by the hips and turned her around so her back faced him, while his stiff dark blue dick remained deep inside her hot, slippery white pussy. The moment Cunningheart had turned around on his lap completely, Royalheart started gently pushing her over forwards, meanwhile rising up a bit himself too, pulling his legs under his body. Cunningheart understood Royalheart's intention, and with a delighted and anticipating moan she leaned over forwards, placing her paws on the Firebird's backseat and rising up on her knees. Royalheart also did, and he put his paws on Royalheart's back while twirling his tail into hers again. Very slowly, he started moving back and forth, sliding his hard blue dick deep inside Cunningheart's slippery, slopping white pussy, then back until he almost popped out of her, and then very slowly back in deeply.

Cunningheart crooned and purred with ecstacy under Royalheart's slow moves, and the cobalt blue tiger groaned under his breath with lust too. Keeping his pace slow, he put a little more force into his thrusts, reaching for the deepest depths of Cunningheart's hot, fluffy white Care Bear Cousin-pussy. The force of his thrusts slowly pushed Cunningheart over more and more, until the grey-rosetted white snowpuss lost balance and slid onto her side on the Firebird's backseat. Royalheart followed Cunningheart's movement, holding one paw around her body and lifting her left leg with his other paw. Cunningheart firmly gripped the metal side of the car to prevent her claws from digging into the backseat's upholstery when a new orgasm roared through her body, filling her with blasts of sparkling flames which slowly waved through her, until they washed out of her hot, cramping white pussy in slimy streams.

Finding her fuzzy, burning pussy wetter and slipperier at every move, Royalheart started speeding up his tempo. A terrific climax was building inside his body, and he pressed himself up against Cunningheart's back as hard as he could, stretching his legs while still holding up Cunningheart's left leg with one paw. As the orgasm started boiling in his cobalt blue balls, Royalheart sped up even more, thrusting deep into Cunningheart with short growls of lust. The grey-rosetted white snowpuss outed deep squeals of love and lust, gripping the side of the car firmly with her eyes squeezed tightly while counter-thrusting to Royalheart's moves hard. Not being able to hold himself back for very much longer, Royalheart sped up his tempo once more, bracing himself against the side of the car with his feet so he could put even more force behind his thrusts.

After a few moments, the stillness of the landscape was torn apart by a loud, deep, two-voiced roar of lust and desire when both Royalheart and Cunningheart reached a stunning orgasm simultaneously. Royalheart thrusted himself deeply into Cunningheart's cramping, flowing white pussy while Cunningheart pushed herself against the cobalt blue tiger's body hard, making their bodies slam into each other with a thump. Their roar of love and lust echoed through the air and slowly flowed down the hill, slowly dissolving into a gasped purr as both felines collapsed over each other on the backseat of the bright red Pontiac Firebird convertible.

For quite a while, they just lay there gasping and purring, eyes closed, while the warm, sticky cum leaking from Cunningheart's slippery white pussy slowly ran down Royalheart's cobalt blue dick and steadily trickled onto the Firebird's floor from the backseat. Neither of the two felines stirred, neither spoke a word, for they were too busy first catching their breaths. When finally they managed, Cunningheart rolled over to her other side, facing Royalheart, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her grey heart-shaped nose against his cobalt blue one.
     "Ohh my stars, Royalheart," she purred. "You are terrific. I love you."
     "I love you," Royalheart purred. "I love you with all my heart, more than life itself. I love you, Cunningheart."

In answer, Cunningheart pressed her lips on Royalheart's and slipped her soft, warm tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply. The kiss told Royalheart everything he wanted to know. Cunningheart, the infinitely pretty, grey-rosetted white snowleopard, was his, was totally his, for ever and ever. Cunningheart's kiss spoke of a bond so strong nothing would be able to tear it apart anymore, not for ever in the vast infinity of time. The realization of that made Royalheart glow all over his body with a warm feeling of utter happiness. He couldn't be any happier.", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Slow love, fast love", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "126" }