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Chapter 4: Growing Up

*Clack!* *Thwap!* *Whack!*

The sound of wood striking wood reverberated throughout the island. Eight-year-old Love Heart Bear stood shakily on his feet, breathing heavily and holding a wooden sword at the ready in both his hands. He faced his father, Sage Heart Bear, who held a similar sword in his right hand with a more relaxed posture.

"Don't swing so wildly," Sage Heart said as Love Heart charged and swung at him, striking at Sage Heart, who stepped back and deflected his blow. "Choose your attacks more carefully or you'll just exhaust yourself."

"OK... how about this!" Love Heart let go of his sword with his left hand, his tummy symbol glowed and a second identical wooden sword appeared in his left hand. He stumbled slightly under the extra weight but regained his stance, grinning at his father.

Sage Heart squinted one eye at Love Heart, "I don't think you should try that just yet."

"Just watch me dad!" Love Heart charged forwards and swung with his right sword, which Sage Heart deflected, narrowly dodging Love Heart's slower sweep at his legs with the left sword. Love Heart darted back to avoid a counter-swipe from Sage Heart's sword then charged, crossing his arms and swing both outwards and upwards. Sage Heart sidestepped Love Heart's haymaker of a swing and carefully tapped the back of Love Heart's head with his own wooden sword. Caught off-balance, Love Heart hopped forwards on one foot, then face-planted into the dirt.

"Ow..."

"You overextended," Sage Heart let his sword dissipate and offered a hand to help his son stand, which Love Heart accepted as his own swords vanished. "If you throw heavy attacks like that you leave yourself open too much."

"OK..." Love Heart stared down and scuffed the ground with his foot.

"Hey, don't get discouraged," Sage Heart knelt down on one knee and lifted Love Heart's chin up with his hand. "You're getting better. Create your swords again." Love Heart nodded and conjured his wooden swords again. Sage Heart stepped back, "Show me how you swing them." Sage Heart's symbol glowed and he conjured a large stake wrapped with straw, stuck in the ground in front of Love Heart. Love Heart took several swipes at the target and winced slightly, nearly dropping both swords.

Sage Heart smiled, "You're still making that same mistake, here." He knelt and took Love Heart's right hand into his own. "You need to take the strain off your arm. Use more of your wrist, that's where the power and control comes from, like this." He carefully moved Love Heart's hand to show him the motions, "and grip the sword a bit tighter, there you go. Try it one more time then we can stop for the day."

"OK, here goes." Love Heart closed his eyes and took a deep breath before taking more swings at the target, this time he managed to put a dent in the straw without letting his swords go. He smiled and turned to his father, "How's that."

Sage Heart nodded, "Much better. That's enough for today." He let the target dissipate as Love Heart did the same for his swords "Now then, let's see what mom has in store for you today." Love Heart's face lit up and he started to run towards home, only to slow down as he felt a stitch in his side.

"Owowowowowow!" he sucked in air through his teeth and almost doubled over, holding his side.

Sage Heart chuckled and helped his son stand up, "Put your arms up and walk with your head held back, don't run and breathe slowly."

"OK." Love Heart did as he was told, wincing slightly as he walked back to their home.

Life Heart Unicorn sat out in front of their cave home, eating from a pile of fruit she had close at hand with her free hand resting on her swollen middle. She smiled at the approach of her son and mate then shook her head when she saw Love Heart walking with his hands behind his head, which was tilted upwards. "Overexerted yourself again?"

Sage Heart laughed, "He's enthusiastic, I'll give him that."

"Do be careful, Love Heart," Life Heart chided.

"I will, mom," Love Heart lowered his head, finally feeling the stitch pass.

"Then sit and eat, both of you." Life Heart patted the ground next to her, "You can't learn on an empty stomach."

Love Heart nodded and grabbed an apple off the pile before he sat down to eat with his parents. As they ate, he watched Life Heart, his eyes drifting towards her swollen tummy. "How much longer?" he asked.

"Less than a month, hopefully," Life Heart said as she ran her hand across her tummy. "I can't wait to meet her."

"You're sure it's a girl?" Sage Heart asked. Life Heart nodded before she popped a strawberry into her mouth.

"Will you still have time for me when she's born?" Love Heart asked.

"We'll try, but even you were a lot of work when you were a baby. It won't be forever though, I promise," Sage Heart patted Love Heart's back. "Please try not to get jealous."

"I'll try, dad," Love Heart said half-heartedly before he went back to his lunch.

OoOoO

"Beastly, step aside right now!" Shrieky tapped her foot impatiently, hands on her hips, and glaring at the brown pig-thing blocking her path down the stairs.

"B-b-but Shrieky, No-Heart said no one but him and me are allowed to go down there." Beastly protested.

Shrieky's purple hair seemed to flare as she bared her teeth, "You can go down there but I can't?! That makes me wanna-"

Beastly waved his hands frantically as Shrieky drew in a breath. "N-n-no, Shrieky don't-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Shrieky's high pitched wail sent Beastly flying away from the entrance to the stairs.

"Now then, I'm sure Uncle No-Heart will want me to help with whatever he has down there." Shrieky snickered as she descended into the basement.

Beastly picked himself off, shook his head to clear the ringing from his ears, then dashed off shouting: "No-Heart! No-Heart!"

No-Heart was seated on his throne, currently in the form of a crocodile because of Shrieky's shriek. He glowered at Beastly as he darted into the room, babbling at him. "Shrieky went down into the golem's room. I tried to stop her but-"

"She what?!" No-Heart mustered his magical might and changed back to his normal form. Beastly dove out of the way as he literally stormed past him, lightning cracking with every step he took.

Shrieky just stood, staring at the patchwork care-golem that sat before he. It stared up at her with its dull eyes. Shrieky made a face, "Eeurg! What happened to you, did those Care Bears have some sort of accident and send you here to get fixed?" It said nothing but continued to stare at her. Shrieky stomped her foot, "Did the Care Bears send you to mess up Uncle No-Heart's plans?" Again, no answer. "Alright then, I'll just dispose of you for Uncle No-Heart." She cackled and pulled out her purple, gem-topped, magic hand mirror. "Magic mirror ma-"

"SHRIEKY!" Shrieky stumbled and dropped her mirror, which promptly cracked as it hit the floor. She scrambled to pick it up as No-Heart appeared at the base of the steps. He glared down at her and for the first time in her life, Shrieky felt as though she had done something wrong. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE!?" he demanded.

"I was disposing of this Care Bear that-" No-Heart cut her off.

"That is a project of mine that must never, be disturbed. You are not to interfere with it, ever! Do I make myself clear, Shrieky." As he spoke, No-Heart lowered his face closer and closer to Shrieky who wilted under his stare. She tried to speak but her throat was dry so she just nodded.

"Very well. Now leave!" No-Heart pointed back to the stairwell and Shrieky ran. No-Heart turned back to the Golem. "As long as I have been brought down here, you need more practise. Stand!" No-Heart whipped lightning at the golem even as it did as it was directed. This time, the golem conjured a ball of fire and launched it at the target painted on the wall.

OoOoO

"Oh!" Life Heart jumped and put a hand on her tummy, "She kicked!"

Love Heart finished a plum and spat the pit out. "Can I feel, mom?" he asked.

Life Heart smiled, "Of course."

Love Heart scooted over to Life Heart and touched her belly, right on her tummy symbol. It took a moment but he felt a kick from within. Love Heart just stared, speechless as he felt.

"You'll meet her soon, but for now we should get back to your lessons." Life Heart said.

"OK," Love Heart sighed and sat back.

"Now show me your mana creation," Life Heart said.

Love Heart nodded then raised his hands in front of him, palms facing inwards. He scrunched up his face then exhaled as what appeared to be multicolored sparkly smoke and dust appeared between his palms.

Life Heart smiled, "Very good. Wait Love Heart what are you doing?"

Love Heart grit his teeth and poured more of his energy out from his hands, and yellow sparks of electricity started to jump between his hands. Love Heart screwed up his face and bared his teeth, his muscles tensing as sustained arcs of yellow lightning danced between his fingers.

"Seems he's jumped ahead," Sage Heart smirked.

Love Heart panted as he kept the arcs stable. "How'd I do."

Life Heart's eyes were wide and she had a hand over her heart, "But please don't scare me like that. I didn't think you would select an element so quickly." She smiled, "But I am proud of you. How long can you keep that up?"

"A few minutes, I think," Love Heart was already panting as he kept the electrical arcs dancing in his hand.

"Well you can stop for now," Life Heart reached out a hand and touched her son's arm. "Don't tire yourself out yet."

Love Heart nodded and let the lightning dissipate. "Now what?" he asked.

"Now you can practise magic."

Love Heart groaned.

"Now now, Love Heart, you need to practise," Life Heart chided.

"Yeah..." Love Heart sat back, crossing his legs.

"Now focus on the spell I taught you," Life Heart instructed, "And this time try to pour it into the area around you."

Love Heart stared at the ground and set his jaw. He grunted as he recited the spell words under his breath and in his head, and the eight-pointed star on his forehead lit up. Love Heart strained, forcing the magic out until a small sparkly bubble surrounded him and he stopped, causing the bubble to collapsed.

"It's alright, keep trying," Life Heart said.

"But it's hard," Love Heart whined.

"I know," Life Heart stood up with a visible effort and waddled over to Love Heart, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But keep trying. Don't force it, let it flow naturally."

Love Heart tried, for over an hour he just sat there and tired to let the magic pour out. Finally, thankfully, he managed to create a small shimmering bubble of magic surrounding him.

"There you go, good job." Life Heart patted Love Heart on his back, having taken a seat next to him as he practised. "Now look at this stone and try to lift it with your magic," she placed a pebble in front of Love Heart.

Love Heart squinted at the pebble and pointed his right pointer finger at it, trying t imagine it lifting off the ground. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he watched the pebble slowly rise off the ground, bit by bit until it hovered level with his eyes. "Wow..."

"It's basic magic but you're making good progress. Try to keep it hovering for a few minutes then we can stop for the day," Life Heart said.

"OK," Love Heart's gaze was still fixed on the stone. He tried again with a small leaf that had fallen nearby, raising it slowly up to the same height as the pebble.

Sage Heart watched Love Heart's practise curiously for a moment, then he walked over to Life Heart and helped her to stand. "So he's using lightning?" he asked, keeping his voice low to avoid disturbing Love Heart's practise.

"Air actually. Electricity is an aspect of air," Life Heart replied. "But I don't think he should have tried forming an element this early." She motioned for Sage Heart to follow her way from Love Heart, leaving him to concentrate on creating a pencil sized object that looked like it was made of brittle plastic.

"I learned how in less than a year," Sage Heart replied. He waved his hand and moved a large rock over for them to sit on. "And I'm just fine." He smiled and helped Life Heart sit down.

"But... he's our son. What if he gets hurt or..." Life Heart's voice caught in her throat.

"There there," Sage Heart rubbed her back, "He's more resilient than that."

"But, I..." Life Heart stammered a bit.

"Want a hoof rub?" Sage Heart offered. Life Heart nodded. Sage Heart stood up and circled around to Life Heart's hooves. Life Heart sighed and felt herself relax as Sage Heart rubbed his hands over her sole.

"Thank you, Sage Heart, for everything." She felt herself melting as he applied more pressure to a particularly tense part of her leg.

"My pleasure."

OoOoO

Love Heart felt sick, and not like the time he played out in the snow too long three years ago and ended up lying in the cave for two weeks with a high fever. His mom had gone into labor and while he at first wanted to stay and help he swiftly regretted that decision and had run off to deposit his breakfast onto the beach shore. Now he sat on the sand, thankfully out of earshot of the cave, and stared at the ocean as the sun began to move west.

He wanted to visit the town alone. He'd tried to swim across once when he was younger and would have drowned if his mother hadn't sensed he was in danger and used her magic to pull him out of the water. Love Heart sighed and began to draw patterns in the sand with his finger. After a couple minutes of doodling he lay back and stared up at the sky. It was a calm day with barely a cloud in the sky; it would have been peaceful if he didn't know what was going on back home.

Love Heart groaned and sat up, "How long does this take?" he asked. He shook his head, not really wanting to know the answer. He stood up and created two wooden swords with his tummy symbol. He swung them a couple times to loosen up his joints, then took a ready stance and began his sword practise. He didn't care for targets right now so he just swung at the air: right, left, crossed swords, up, down. Love Heart planted his feet and practised the way he swung his swords, using his wrists as Sage Heart had taught him. Arcs of lightning started to dance along his arms as he energized the energy travelling through his body, leaving small arcs of yellow lightning in his wake as he continued his practise.

As the sun began to set Love Heart tired of his practise. He dismissed the wooden swords and headed towards home. He slowed his pace as he left the beach. Unsure if he should hurry home or take his time he wandered somewhat aimlessly in the general direction of home, stopping to grab peaches from his favorite tree once his stomach started demanding food.

A loud scream caused Love Heart to jump and nearly swallow a pit, though he spat it out in time. "What the-" another scream cut him off, then silence. Love Heart shuddered and went back to his meal. Finally, as the night began to close in around him, Love Heart headed straight for home.

The outside of the cave was illuminated by several glowing mores of light. "Love Heart." Life Heart Unicorn's voice drew Love Heart's attention to where she sat. Sage Heart knelt next to Life Heart, who was holding her newborn in her arms. Love Heart approached cautiously to get a look at the child.

She looked like a pink horse with a dark pink eight-pointed star on her forehead, much like Love Heart's. On her tummy there was a picture of a heart-shaped wrapped piece of white and red striped candy, and on her back were two tiny wings.

"Wings?" Love Heart whispered and carefully reached out to gently stroke the feathers with one finger.

"Her name is Sweet Heart Pegasus," Life Heart whispered.

Love Heart looked up at his mother, then to the horn on her head. "Why is she...?

"It's just one of those things that magic does, even I don't know." Life Heart chuckled.

Sage Heart put a finger to his lips, "Shhhhhh, let them rest. They had a rough day."

Love Heart nodded, stood up, yawned and headed into the cave.

Sage Heart watched him go then turned back to Life Heart, "Want any help?"

"Just to bed, I'll be fine after that," Life Heart said.

Sage Heart nodded then created a small disk of stone under her and carefully slid her into the cave. Love Heart was already asleep under his blanket, another Christmas present from Miranda. Life Heart handed little Sweet Heart to Sage Heart and then rolled under the covers. Sage Heart Carefully slipped under the covers and positioned the sleeping Sweet Heart between the two of them, her head on the pillow they had received a couple years ago.

OoOoO

Love Heart Bear was awakened by Sweet Heart Pegasus' crying. He squinched his eyes shut and covered his ears with his hands, trying to go back to sleep. He could hear his parents trying to calm the child down.

Finally, Love Heart gave up on trying to sleep in the cave. He stood up, grabbed his blanket and pillow and dragged them out of the cave, mumbling nonsense under his breath and creating a small ball of light to lead the way using a simple spell Life Heart had taught him. Love Heart trekked for about five minutes before he was satisfied with the distance he put between himself and his baby sister's crying. He dropped the pillow against the trunk of a tree and shook out the blanket to get rid of the dirt it had picked up along the way. He dropped his blanket on the ground below the pillow, lay down on top of it and rolled it around himself before he finally fell asleep.

This time it was the sun that awoke Love Heart and he just pulled the side of his pillow up over his face to block out the sun. Love Heart eventually gave up, pulled the pillow off his face and unwrapped himself from his blanket. After folding his blanket, he headed for home, stopping only for a quick breakfast.

It had calmed down at the cave. Sage Heart was bathing Sweet Heart in their bathing pool as Love Heart approached. Upon seeing her big brother, Sweet Heart Pegasus giggled and reached her arms out towards Love Heart.

Sage Heart turned to see his approaching son, "Good morning. I trust you slept well."

"I did," Love Heart said. "How's mom?"

"Sleeping, right Sweet Heart?" Sage Heart asked. Sweet Heart giggled and splashed in the pool. Love Heart nodded and headed in, dropping his blanket and pillow in his usual sleeping spot. He glanced over at Life Heart, who was sleeping away under her blanket.

Love Heart sighed and headed back outside. "Hey dad, go get some sleep. I can watch Sweet Heart."

Sage Heart raised an eyebrow at his son, then turned back to Sweet Heart. "I don't think so, Love Heart. She's barely two months old and she needs constant supervision, and you can't feed her."

Love Heart opened his mouth to protest, then stopped, shrugged, and headed off. "I'm gonna go practise then," he said.

Love Heart found himself on the other end of the island before he conjured several posts wrapped in straw. He stuck them all over the grassy are then conjured his wooden swords. "Here I go!" He took his ready stance before attacking the targets with his swords. Weaving in between them, striking and dodging imagined attacks. He shot out a thin bolt of yellow lightning from his finger at one of the posts, not enough to set it on fire but enough to leave a scorch mark. He continued, making yellow electricity dance along his sword blades as he attacked the targets yet again. Love Heart only stopped for lunch, finding a plum tree and some carrots to take his meal from. He dispersed the targets and his swords and took his time to eat before heading back home.

When Love Heart arrived back at the cave he found Life Heart seated out front, nursing Sweet Heart while having her own lunch from a gathered pile of fruit and vegetables. She looked up at Love Heart and smiled, "Good morning, Love Heart. Sleep well."

"I did, did you?" Love Heart sat down across from his mother.

"Not as much as I would have liked, but enough," Life Heart admitted.

Love Heart watched as Sweet Heart finished her meal and Life Heart burped her over her shoulder. "I can help if you want to get some rest, mom," Love Heart offered.

Life Heart looked down at Sweet Heart, now sleeping in her arms, then back up at Love Heart, her brow narrowed with worry. "I... don't know. She needs constant supervision and you never know what she'll need at a moment's notice, and you can't feed her."

Love Heart sighed, "Dad said the same thing."

"I agree with him, Love Heart." Life Heart smiled, "When she gets a bit older I'll be happy to let you watch her."

OoOoO

Sage Heart Bear stood in front of his son, arms folded. "All right, Love Heart, show me what you can do.

Love Heart Bear, now 12 years old, nodded and held his hands forwards, finger spread. He took a deep breath, his tummy symbol glowed and glowing beams of light began to take form in his hands. Love Heart opened his eyes and closed his fingers around the light and a pair of steel swords formed with his hands closed around the hilts.

Sage Heart whistled and Love Heart grinned. They were longswords with bronze-colored hilts shaped like open flowers and a small clear crystal embedded in each pommel. Love Heart stumbled a bit. "Heavy."

"Yes they are, but you need to get used to the weight." Sage Hearts symbol glowed and he conjured his own sword, a longsword with a simple brass-colored cross-hilt and no adornments.

Love Heart teetered on his legs for a moment before he darter forwards and took a clumsy swing at Sage Heart, which he easily deflected. "Remember the basics, Love Heart, use more of your wrists and keep a stronger grip." Love Heart and whipped one of his swords up at Sage Heart who jumped back only managing to block a sideways swipe from Love Heart.

Love Heart overextended his next swing and Sage Heart sidestepped and tapped him on the shoulder with the flat of his sword. Love Heart recovered and rounded on Sage Heart, stepping back with his sword raised to defend himself. "Too aggressive, right?" Love Heart asked.

Sage Heart smiled, "You're learning, just be careful how you swing. These are real swords."

Love Heart nodded then resumed his assault. He swung both swords sideways at his father, then jumped back when he blocked and turned into a counterattack swinging downwards. Love Heart was on the defensive as Sage Heart struck back and caught his sword in Love Heart's crossed swords. Love Heart struggled under the added pressure from Sage Heart's sword but managed to force the sword upwards, making Sage Heart stumble back.

Love Heart panted, dropped to his left knee and planted his right sword in the ground, point down. "I'm...done," he said.

Sage Heart dispersed his sword and stepped forwards to offer a hand to his son. "Tired already?" Love Heart nodded. "You'll get used to it if you keep practicing. Just be sure to put them away before..." Sage Heart blinked and couldn't react in time before Love Heart accidentally pressed the sword, blade first, onto his foot.

Love Heart cried out in pain as the blade made contact and he kicked the sword away before he started hopping around on his good foot, shouting in both pain and anger.

"Love Heart! Calm down! Let me see what you've done," Sage Heart dashed over to and caught Love Heart in mid jump. "Please be alright," he whispered.

"It hurts..." Love Heart whimpered as he reluctantly let go of his foot.

Sage Heart prepared for the worst as he reached down, only to find Love Heart's foot intact, if a little tender when he touched it. "You're fine, at least as far as I can see."

"But it hurts," Love Heart said. Then he looked down at his foot, and flexed his toes, wincing slightly. "I'm alright?"

"So it would seem. Hmm..." Sage Heart let Love Heart sit, rubbing his foot, before he recreated his own sword. He walked out of Love Heart's field of view, checked to make sure he wasn't looking just in case, then carefully pierced his left forearm. The pain was very real and he had to bite his lip to stop from crying out in pain as the sword cleanly pierced into him. But when he pulled out there was nothing: no blood, no hole, just pain. "It seems our weapons are only as lethal as they need to be," he mused. He looked back over at Love Heart.

"Huh?" Love Heart had turned to see what Sage Heart was doing.

"Our weapons can't cause any real damage, unless, perhaps, we want them to. I don't want to test it further and we should still be careful, but at least we have some safeguards built into our abilities," Sage Heart commented as he dispersed his sword. He rubbed where he had tested his sword point, "It's still very painful."

"I noticed." Love Heart finally managed to stand. He looked over to where his swords still lay and fired a white beam of light from his tummy symbol at them, dispersing them back into nothing. "I'm good now and I could go for some peaches."

Sage Heart laughed, "Me too. Let's take a quick detour before we head home."

As they approached their home a high pitched voice made Love Heart jump.

"Big Brother!" Sweet Heart Pegasus came dashing across the clearing, jumping and flapping her wings to fly right into Love Heart's waiting arms.

"Sweet Heart!" Love Heart gave his little sister a big hug, "You're getting bigger every day."

"And flyin'!" Sweet Heart giggled and fluttered her wings. "I bet I can fly to the moon!"

"Not quite yet, but you'll get there," Love Heart chuckled and set her down.

"She's quite the bundle of energy," Life Heart said as she approached the rest of her family. "Welcome back. How did your training go?"

"Very good," Sage Heart nodded. He took Life Heart's hand and kissed her. They left their children to play as they headed back to the cave.

"Worried?" Sage Heart asked.

Life Heart nodded. "I know he needs to learn, but I still don't like the idea of Love Heart using real weapons, even if he's careful."

Sage Heart sighed, "I know, I worry about him and Sweet Heart too." He smiled and put his arm around Life Heart's shoulder, "But don't worry too much, I'm there to look after him and he's not as fragile as he looks."

Life Heart nodded again, "I'll try, as long as you're here to help me through all this."

"I always have been," Sage Heart kissed her and Life Heart kissed back.

OoOoO

"This way, big brother!" Sweet Heart tore passed the trees, hopping every few steps and gliding short distances when she had space.

"Hey! Wait up!" Love Heart jogged after her. "Owowow!" he sucked in air through his teeth and held his side, still not fully recovered from his training earlier. He held his head back as he slowed his pace once Sweet Heart got out from the tree cover. He still had his head up as he walked onto the beach, breathing slowly and deliberately to help his pain ease up.

When Love Heart lowered his head he saw Sweet Heart hopping from one foot to the other on the sand and pointing excitedly at the mainland. "Look! Look! People are on the beach!" she cried, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Love Heart shaded his eyes and peered out across the water, "Looks like they're having fun."

"I'm going," Sweet Heart pumped her fists and stared out across the water.

"What?! No you can't go there on your own. You can't swim that far, _I_can't swim that far, neither can mom or dad," Love Heart shook his open palmed hands towards Sweet Heart.

Sweet Heart grinned and spread her now much bigger wings, "I can fly. Watch me!"

Love Heart was about to dive on Sweet Heart to hold her down, but hesitated, afraid he might hurt her. Sweet Heart dashed forwards and took off. Love Heart tried to chase her but only grabbed empty air when she took to the sky. Love Heart coughed some sand away from his mouth as he pushed himself up from where he lay and watched, eyes wide, as Sweet Heart flapped towards the opposing shore.

Sweet Heart flew with a wobbly trajectory as she winged towards the shore. Love Heart was practically chewing his nails as he watched her rise and fly towards the shore. "Mom! Dad!" Love Heart shouted back over his shoulder then turned back to watch his sister. Sweet Heart was struggling to keep herself airborne. She panted as her wings burned, not used to flying for so long and with nowhere to land.

Love Heart watched in horror as Sweet Heart's wings gave out and before she even hit the water he charged towards and dove into the ocean. "Hold on Sweet Heart! I'm coming!" he shouted before his head submerged. Love Heart felt an undertow pulling at his legs, but paid it no mind as he momentarily surfaced his head to catch a glimpse of pink among the waves. At least Sweet Heart hadn't gone under.

Love Heart muscles were burning by the time he reached his sister. She lifted a hand up to catch his attention before she was pulled below the surface. Love Heart took a deep breath and dove under. The salt water stung his eyes but he forced them to stay open as he spotted a pink blur ahead. He pushed forwards until his hand closed around Sweet Heart's arm. Not wanting to risk anything, Love Heart focused and managed to create a bubble of air around each of their heads.

Sweet Heart coughed inside her bubble, "Love Heart?" she aske, blinking at the distorted images surrounding her.

"I'm here, Sweet Heart, hang on," Love Heart pulled her around to his back and Sweet Heart clung on for dear life.

Love Heart surfaced and tried to swim back to shore but found his legs caught in the undertow. Love Heart grit his teeth and concentrated, only to be jostled when a wave knocked him back. Thankfully the air bubbles around their heads held together and Sweet Heart's grip around his shoulders tightened. Love Heart took a deep breath and tried to cast the spell again. The star on his forehead lit up and an aura of magic surrounded the water around him. As soon as he felt the water around him stop pulling him away from shore he struck out back to the island, putting all his strength into his strokes as long as the magic held up.

He just barely made out the voices of his parents are he neared the shore and finally felt his feet scrape the bottom. He forced his burning legs to walk up until his feet were on grass, only to feel strong arms grab him before he could fall over.

"Love Heart! Sweet Heart! What happened?" Sage Heart asked as he helped Love Heart to sit carefully down and Life Heart managed to pry Sweet Heart off Love Heart's back.

Love Heart sat there, panting heavily for a minute before he managed to speak. "Sweet Heart...tried to...fly...to the beach...fell in...swam after..." Love Heart let out a massive breath and fell backwards, completely exhausted.

As soon as she realized she was in her mother's arms, Sweet Heart hugged her tightly and buried her face into Life Heart's fur. "Mommy, I was scared."

"What were you thinking, Sweet Heart?" Life Heart asked, tears flowing from her eyes.

"I..." Sweet Heart choked on her own words.

The four of them stayed on the grass near the beach for several minutes in silence. Sweet Heart finally got up the nerve to speak again and looked over at Love Heart, who still lay back now breathing normally.

"Thank you, big brother."

"You're welcome," Love Heart managed a smiled. "You need swimming lessons though."

"No!" Sweet Heart shook her head, "Not gonna swim ever!"

"Now now, Sweet Heart," Life Heart rocked her carefully in her arms. "You should learn to swim, so next time Love Heart doesn't have to save you."

"Am I in trouble?" Sweet Heart asked.

"Yes," Sage Heart spoke up, his voice firm. "But I think you've learned your lesson for now. Love Heart's right, you should learn how to swim."

Sweet Heart said nothing as Life Heart carried her back home.

Sage Heart sat down next to Love Heart, who finally regained enough breath to push himself up into a half-sitting position.

"I'm proud of you, you saved your sister's life," Sage Heart smiled at his son.

"Yeah..." Love Heart sighed, "If I'd stopped her from taking off then she wouldn't have needed saving."

Sage Heart nodded, "Maybe that would have been better, but I guess we can say she learned not to try that again. I just hope she's not put off of flying or swimming for the rest of her life."

Love Heart managed a smile, "I wasn't after the time I tried swimming over there."

Sage Heart couldn't help a small chuckled, "Very true." He stood up, "let's go home." He offered a hand down to Love Heart, who let his father help him stand before walking home, leaning on his father for support.

OoOoO

"There you go, Sweetie, keep at it." Life Heart held Sweet Heart's arms as she kicked in the shallow water just off shore of their home. Sweetie lifted her head up to take a breath then put her face down as she kept kicking.

Love Heart and Sage Heart were sparring on the shore. Love Heart panted under the weight of his steel swords but kept going. Sage Heart found himself hard-pressed to keep up with his son, barely blocking some of his swings and his own counters being deflected by his son's swords. Love Heart finally saw his chance and turned his father's sword aside with his left and leveled his right sword at Sage Heart's chest.

"Match!" Love Heart panted, grinning as he lowered his sword.

Sage Heart smiled and dispersed his sword, "You've come a long way, son."

Love Heart kept grinning as he dispersed his own sword, "Thanks dad." He looked out at where Sweet Heart was swimming. "Two years of practise and she's still struggling."

"She's doing better than I expected," Sage Heart said as he sat down on the sand, "It took a year to even get her to go near the water."

"Yeah..." Love Heart nodded. He stepped away from Sage Heart and took a deep breath. Sage Heart watched as Love Heart gathered up his energy and electrified his arms, shooting out a bolt of blue lightning into the sky. But the electricity didn't go away, instead Love Heart generated more and surrounded his body with it. The lightning danced across his fur and became dimmer and dimmer until it vanished, yet Love Heart kept up his motions and his fur stood on end.

"Love Heart, what are you doing?" Sage Heart asked, eyebrow raised.

"Creating a mild electric field," Love Heart replied. "It takes too long to call up lightning so I'm trying to make it faster. If I can keep this field up, then I should be able to generate lightning a lot faster. Like this!" Love Heart shot off two more blasts of lightning in quick succession before he relaxed. "I gotta learn to keep it up without focusing so hard."

"Not a bad idea, just don't push yourself too hard," Sage Heart cautioned.

"I won't." Love Heart exhaled and let his field vanish then sat down with his father.

Sweet Heart finally had enough and got her mother to pull her into shore. She stumbled across the sand, panting as she strove to reach the grass.

"You're doing very well, Sweet Heart. Keep trying and you'll be swimming safely in no time," Life Heart said.

"Want me to dry you two off?" Love Heart asked.

"Yes please!" Sweet Heart shouted, spreading her soaked wings. Love Heart smiled and sent a blast of wind at Sweet Heart and Life Heart. A minute later they were dry though their fur stood on end. Sweet Heart shook her wings and whooped before collapsing on the grass next to Love Heart, wings spread underneath her.

"Feel better?" Sage Heart asked.

"Yes," Sweet Heart grinned. "Want to see my new tricks?"

"Where does she get that energy?" Life Heart asked.

"Same place I get mine," Love Heart replied. "Com'on, Sweet Heart, show us what you can do."

"OK!" Sweet Heart sat up and held out her hands. She screwed up her face and scrunched her eyes shut as she focused energy through her hands. Slowly a small clump of earth formed followed by a ball of water, a small flame, and a condensed orb of air. Sweet Heart opened her eyes and smiled. "I did it!" as she shouted, the flame went out, the air dispersed and the rock and water fell to the ground. "Oops."

"Four at once?" Life Heart's eyes went wide.

"I couldn't decide, so I just did them all," Sweet Heart beamed at her mother.

"Well... that's admirable but it will make things harder for you," Life Heart cautioned.

"I can do it!" Sweet Heart pumped her fists, "Can you show me magic too mom?" she asked.

"I can, if you think you're ready." Life Heart seemed hesitant until Sage Heart stood up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She'll be fine. Love Heart excelled when you stopped worrying so much," Sage Heart gave her shoulder a rub. "and we'll be here if she needs help."

Life Heart exhaled some tension and nodded, "Alright. We can start tomorrow. You need to rest Sweet Heart," she added before her daughter could protest.

Sweet Heart folded her arms and pouted, puffing out her cheeks. "Fine..."

OoOoO

"At long last, after twenty years of work, it's ready." No-Heart stood over his care-golem which was covered in even more scars than when he had sewn it together. "Now at long last I will destroy the Care Bears hiding on that island. Come!" he motioned for the golem to approach him. Once it was within arm's reach, No-Heart created a tornado around both of them and they flew away.