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Chapter 30: Free Love in the Kingdom of Caring

Love Heart sat on a bench along one of the roads in the Kingdom of Caring and stared at his hands. His dull green fur having brightened up to a bright lime green during his time in the Kingdom of Caring.

"Hey Love Heart, what are you thinking about?"

Love Heart looked up to see Brave Heart Lion standing next to the bench, a tawny orange Care Lion whose chest symbol was a red heart that wore a royal crown on one side. "This place, I..."

"You've been here for a week," Brave Heart swung around to sit next to Love Heart, "So tell me, how does it all feel?"

Love Heart hummed for a moment, then sat back, "There's a lot to say. I mean just being here feels like I've woken up from a nightmare I didn't know I was having. I thought the grove I used to live in was magic rich but this place..." Love Heart took a deep breath as though he were drinking in the air like a rich wine, "It just feels so different, so energizing." Love Heart stood up and held up his hands as lightning coursed across his body then the jumped forwards and shot his right hand forwards which sent a massive bolt of lightning off into the sky.

"Whoa!" Brave Heart recoiled on the bench.

Love Heart chuckled, "Sorry, but that would have been draining if I was still on Earth," he sat back down on the bench, "Mom said this is what it felt like when magic was common on earth. I can see it too, everyone's just become more colourful now."

"I can see that," Brave Heart chuckled, "All of you just lit up since you came here. Sorry we're taking so long with the houses, didn't expect almost a dozen new members all at once."

"It's fine, we can manage in the Hall of Hearts for now," Love Heart said.

"Anger Heart's really thrown himself into helping build his own house. Didn't think I'd meet anyone that young so good at building," Brave Heart turned his head to face Love Heart, "So what do you think of everything else up here."

Love Heart sighed, "I won't lie: it's an assault on the eyeballs but I'm getting used to it. Even Confidence thinks things are too colorful up here, but everyone's really nice...maybe too nice..."

"Oh?" Brave Heart tilted his head to one side, "Something wrong with that?"

Love Heart coughed once then spoke, "I wouldn't say 'wrong' but it's...different." Love Heart stared at the ground, "When I was growing up it was just mom and dad who loved each other, then I saw Confidence's parents happy together and a lot more couples down there. I mean...how does it even work up here?"

Brave Heart smiled, "Simple, we don't overthink it because we don't need to overthink it. We all love each other and we let ourselves express that love however we want with whoever we want as long as everyone involved agrees to it. We'd never force anyone to do anything they didn't want to."

"Still..." Love Heart sat up, "I'm going to need time to adjust or to decide if I even want to do this, and I have no idea how the others feel."

"Well I'll tell you then, I feel great!" Crafty Heart Coyote's voice startled both of them. She had appeared between Love Heart and Brave, leaning over the back of the beach, folding her arms and letting her breasts hang over the backrest. She grinned, "I feel more like myself than ever!"

Brave Heart turned to face her and laughed, "Happy to hear it. You said you used to be human, right Crafty?"

Crafty stood up and walked around to the front of the bench, "I did, but I don't want to talk about that right now," she looked Brave Heart up and down and growled softly, "You look good, Brave Heart Lion."

Brave Heart chuckled and stood up, flexing his arms at his sides, "Like what you see?"

Crafty squeezed Brave Heart's bicep, "Definitely. Do you like what you see?" She spun once in place then folded her arms under her breasts, "Don't worry, you can touch."

Brave Heart grinned and took her hand, "I do like it. Have you grown in the last week?"

Crafty giggled then pulled on his arm and spun until she had her back pressed up against the lion's chest; the top of her head coming to rest just under his chin, "I have," she contracted her shoulders, squeezing her breasts together, "I bumped up a couple sizes. Do you like it."

"I do," Brave Heart leaned his head forwards. "I can see you're a fan of free love."

"I am, though I don't have any real experience," Crafty blushed slightly but it faded after a moment.

"Really? Someone pretty like you, or were you just not interested?" Brave Heart asked.

Crafty sighed, then turned her head to look sidelong at him, "I don't want to kill the mood, Brave Heart. Maybe I'll tell you after you show me how free love works," she growled seductively.

"Deal. Shall we return to my cave?" Brave Heart put his left arm around the small of her back and gestured towards the forest with his free arm.

Crafty giggled as they started to walk, "You live in a cave?"

Brave Heart chuckled, "I have a house inside of it. You won't have to lie on stone."

"I see," Crafty leaned on Brave Heart, "So speaking about free love do you have any favorites?"

"Proud Heart Cat, Harmony Bear and Gentle Heart Lamb. Maybe you too once I show you the ropes." Brave Heart said. He reached around her front and fondled one of her breasts, "I think you're as big as Cheer now."

Crafty giggled, "Thanks, and we'll see," Crafty teased.

Love Heart just sat in stunned silence as the two disappeared into the Forest of Feelings. Once they were gone he stood up, "At least she's happy. I'm gonna need more time to adjust."

OoOoO

Confidence Heart had found the gym in Care-a-Lot and was going through the paces of a Karate warm-up routine in her white gi and black belt with her hair wound up into a braided bun until she was done. Her hair and fur were still sandy in color but had brightened up to dry sand as opposed to the "wet sand" color she had before. She jabbed at the air, kicked and panted as she came to a stop, one fist extended towards the ground.

"Not bad, sports fan."

Confidence Heart turned towards the voice to see Champ Bear, a golden yellow bear wearing a red sports headband and red letter jacket and whose chest symbol was a yellow trophy with a red heart in the center.

"How long were you watching?" Confidence asked as she stepped towards the weight machines.

"Just a couple minutes, we wanted to see what you were up to. Karate?" the voice came from Cheer Bear, a pink care bear with a rainbow for a chest symbol who had her medium length hair done up in a ponytail and wore an unbuttoned yellow blouse.

Confidence nodded set the bench press to 100 kilograms and lay down. "Yeah, I'm just happy there's a full gym up here." She grunted as she pushed up.

Champ walked over and whistled, "Damn, that's good, almost as good as my record."

Confidence stopped for a moment, "What's yours?"

"115 kilograms, but that's nothing compared to Lotsa Heart. He can do 200 easy but he never pushes himself so we don't know what his real limit is."

"Yeeeesh!" Confidence let out her breath as she pushed up on the press again. "Gotta try and catch up."

"Mind if we work out with you?" Cheer asked.

"Free gym, knock yourself out." Confidence replied.

Champ laughed, "Hopefully it won't be that bad."

It was three hours later that they finally finished and headed for the change room and showers. "Co-ed, not surprised," Confidence commented as she stripped off her gi.

"Why wouldn't it be, sport's fan?" Champ had already hung up his jacket and grabbed a towel from the supply.

"You're asking someone who suffered through four years of high school," Confidence undid both hair ties and let her hair fall free down to the middle of her back.

Cheer gawked, "Holy cow! Your hair I..."

"What?" Confidence turned to see Cheer huffing; her hair was also down but only to her shoulders.

"How is your hair so long! How do you keep it so nice and...?" Cheer seemed stuck for words.

"I had to learn a lot about hair care, excuse me." Confidence grabbed her bag of shower supplies and headed into the showers and left Cheer and Champ alone in the change room.

Champ put his hands on Cheer's shoulders from behind, "Are you OK, Cheer?"

"No I'm not," Cheer stamped her foot, "I mean first that coyote, Crafty Heart, shows up and catches up to me and Love-a-Lot," she cupped her large breasts for emphasis, "And now I finally get a good look at Confidence and her hair is just so long and healthy and..." she ran her hand though her hair, "How does she do that? I have to keep cutting it when I get split ends!"

"Why don't you go and ask her?" Champ leaned forwards, his hands drifting down her sides, "I mean haven't you been saying you wish you had a girl friend who was into the same things you were. Maybe you can share hair care tips."

"Maybe..." Cheer idly played with the ends of her hair.

"Give her a chance, same with Crafty. Don't get jealous over stuff, it's not an attack on you." Champ gave her sides a squeeze.

"OK, saaaay," Cheer turned her head to give Champ a questioning look, "You're not just saying that because you find her attractive are you?"

"Maaaaybe?" Champ chuckled, "What's wrong with that. I mean don't you have a thing for Bright Heart after he tried so hard to impress you during that sports day, and Grumpy Bear after you spent all that time to cheer him up."

Cheer blushed and giggled, "OK you have a point," she gave him a kiss, "Just make sure she's into you too."

Confidence was scrubbing her hair down with her own bottle of shampoo when Cheer walked up next to her. Now that she could see what Confidence was doing she could only stare for a moment. "I see how you keep it so long. Want some help, Confidence?"

"I'd like some, thanks," Confidence let her hair fall back into its natural resting place, "Con you put the conditioner in while I clean up, please?"

"Of course," Cheer whistled when she saw the conditioner and shampoo bottles Confidence had brought in, which were large enough to have a pump nozzle instead of just squeezed. "I'm impressed," she said as she pumped out a large glob on conditioner and carefully rubbed it into Confidence's hair, "You do this every day?"

"I have to, unless I want to start wearing it shorter." Confidence finished scrubbing her body down, "Are you done?"

"Almost...there!" Cheer stepped back.

"Thanks. Want any help with your hair?" Confidence turned around.

"Sure, if you use your shampoo on me," Cheer turned her back to Confidence Heart. Confidence rolled her eyes but squirted some shampoo out and started massaging it into Cheer's hair.

"I've never done this for someone else before." Confidence looked up to see Champ walk over to a shower stall, "This still feels weird to me."

"What, the co-ed locker room?" Cheer asked, keeping her head still as Confidence worked.

"That and all of this, but it's still easier than dealing with high school. I guess that was part of the problem though..." Confidence sighed, "OK, I'm done."

"Thanks." Cheer turned back to face Confidence as she washed the conditioner out of her hair and set about washing it again. "You know you don't have to be nervous about things up here. We're all pretty open about...well most everything," Cheer giggled.

Confidence wiped the shampoo off her face and blinked as Cheer closed the distance between them, "What do you mean?"

"Well... Champ was watching you pretty intently when he could out there, I think he likes you, I might like you too," Cheer had walked up close and leaned forwards, pressing her breasts up against Confidence's.

"I see. I'll need to think about that." Confidence stepped back then grabbed her shower supplies and hurried back to the changing room.

"Real subtle Cheer," Champ rolled his eyes but smiled as he approached.

"What? Either I scared her off or she's going to consider it. Either way I think it's a win," Cheer gave Champ a kiss.

Champ kissed back, "So are you into her?"

Cheer scratched her chin, then moved to rinse out her hair, "Maaaaybe. I think I'll share some hair care tips with her before I decide."

Confidence was dried and out side moments later, her Gi and shower supplies tucked into the gym bag Grams has sewed for her. "Yeesh, they weren't kidding about 'free love'. I need to lie down." She headed for the Hall of Hearts, "Still, they're both pretty strong." She shook her head but smiled.

OoOoO

Anger Heart sat down on the ground, gulping down a bottle of ginger ale as he looked at the framework of the house he was working on in the Forest of Feelings, the colorful forest adjacent to the more urban Care-a-Lot. His fur had brightened up considerably to a fiery red with a bright white tip to his tail.

Guidance Heart dropped down next to him and smiled, "So far so good. How much longer until it's finished?" Her own fur's had changed to a deep ultramarine blue and a bright sky blue.

"Three more weeks at least, and that's before we start getting furniture." Anger Heart sighed and chugged the last of his drink.

"It's alright," Guidance put a hand on his shoulder, "The Hall of Hearts isn't that bad."

"Yeah well I'd rather have my own place too." Defiant Heart sat down a short distance away from them. His own fur had gone through the least change, though one could describe his fur as crystal white and jet black now.

Anger Heart sighed, "You don't have to help, Defiant."

"Well I want to and you didn't say no." Defiant Heart said.

Guidance Heart looked at Defiant Heart for a moment, then looked away, "We still haven't forgiven you."

"I don't expect you to. I'm doing this because I want to," Defiant Heart snapped, then turned to look at the framework. "Everyone up here's nice at least. I mean, this whole free love thing is a nice idea but I don't know how to feel about it yet."

"Honestly it doesn't matter to me," Anger Heart tossed his bottle away into a recycling box that hat been brought nearby, "I love you, Guidance, and that's all that matters," he smiled at her.

"Thank you," Guidance Heart leaned up against Anger Heart.

"Welp I'm gonna go get lunch at the Hall of Hearts, see you in an hour." Defiant stood up and walked away from the build sight.

OoOoO

Sweet Heart's fur and feathers had brightened up to a soft shade of rose as she flew over Care-a-Lot. The air was so clear and clean and everything just felt right about being up her. The wind in her wings felt as if it was helping her fly, even though she wasn't directing it herself. She came to land near Care-a-Lot's playground, right in front of the twins Hugs and Tugs, the only other children in the Kingdom of Caring. Hugs was a ten-year-old Care Bear girl with pink fur and a chest symbol of a star emerging from a heart box while Tugs was a bright blue ten-year-old Care Bear boy with a diaper holding up a star for his chest symbol.

Sweet Heart waved to them, "Hi Hugs, hi Tugs." Though she had been there a week, this was the first time she had a chance to talk to them without any grown-ups around.

"Wow, you can really fly?" Tug jumped up and darted over to her.

"Yep!" Sweet Heart spread her wings for both of them to see.

"Goodie-goodie gosh," Hugs approached cautiously, "Can I touch them?"

"Sure, just don't pull on them." Sweet Heart said.

Hugs stroked Sweet Heart's right wing feathers, then gasped as one came off at her touch, "Oh no! I'm sorry I..."

"It's OK," Sweet Heart drew her hands through her left wing and pulled two more loose feathers out, "It's something called 'molting' I have to pull old feathers out every couple weeks or they get stuck. Here," she handed the two feathers to Tugs.

"Wow, thanks," Tugs said as he accepted the feathers.

"Can I keep this?" Hugs held up the feather she'd knocked loose.

"Sure. Can I play with you?" Sweet Heart asked as she folded her wings.

"OK, what do you want to play?" Tugs asked.

"Umm..." Sweet Heart was stuck for a moment, "Tag?"

"OK!" Tugs tapped her shoulder, "You're it!" he took off at a run.

"Hey!" Sweet Heart galloped after him. Hugs laughed and joined in.

OoOoO

Independent Bear stood near the Hall of Hearts, swinging his katana as he trained. He didn't pant with any exertion but finally came to a rest with his sword in front of him. In his time in the Kingdom of Caring Indy's fur had brightened up to shimmering silver. He let his katana dissipate as Defiant Heart approached him.

"Still training?" the badger stopped to face Indy.

"Yeah. Hard not to." Indy turned to face him.

"Want to join me for lunch?" Defiant jabbed his thumb towards the entrance to the Hall.

"Sure." Indy joined in step alongside Defiant Heart.

"Why are you training so much?" Defiant asked as they grabbed lunch trays from the head of the buffet.

"Shadow Magi," was Indy's only response.

Defiant shuddered, "Yeah, I remember that."

"No, you don't." Indy's reply was terse and serious, "you only had to deal with them once last week, and you had help. I was chased by those two, Shatter Heart and Blade Star, for months, never sure where it was safe to sleep or even stop. This is the first time I've been out in the open without having to keep looking over my shoulder. Take Care thinks I might be mildly agoraphobic."

"Oh...OK," Defiant was a bit too overwhelmed by Indy's words to really respond as they loaded up their trays with grille cheese sandwiches and a bowl of tomato soup each.

Both left the buffet and spotted Loyal Heart Dog, the one who had brought them to the Kingdom of Caring, sitting with Proud Heart Cat, an orange female Care Cat with a fluffy tail whose chest symbol was a three-pronged pink crown with a small red heart at the center.

"Thank you, Loyal Heart, I needed to hear that," Proud Heart gave Loyal Heart a kiss on the cheek and stood up as Indy and Defiant approached, "Excuse me," she politely stepped aside and strode off towards the kitchen with her empty tray.

Loyal Heart still had half a bowl of soup and a sandwich left when the bear and badger joined him. "Hello. Are you two adjusting?"

"I am, though mostly to the calm," Indy said.

"I see. I'd hardly call lunch time calm." Loyal Heart dipped his sandwich in the soup bowl and bit into the red soaked corner.

"It's calm for me." Indy replied as he did the same with his food.

Defiant Heart watched Loyal Heart who had turned to watch Proud Heart as she sashayed past, her head held high and her tail swishing back and forth but never dragging on the ground. Loyal Heart sighed contentedly and his shoulders sagged.

"Is she one of your favorites?" Defiant asked, with a smirk.

Loyal Heart sighed, "I am in love with Proud Heart. She is a fair lady, sophisticated and charming but I fear that my love will go forever unfulfilled."

"Why? I thought you guys were all about 'free love' up here," Defiant made quote symbols with his fingers.

"We are, but I am an outlier." Loyal Heart turned face the two, "I am Loyal Heart Dog, and by my nature I am loyal, I would not wish to make her one of my 'favorites', indeed if I could she would be the only for me. However therein lies my problem."

"I think I can guess," Indy said.

"If your guess is that I expect the same loyalty from her, then you would be correct. If I were to choose to be with her I would wish to marry her and for us to be only for each other, but that is selfish of me. I know for a fact she embraces the free love we practise and that Brave Heart, Bright Heart, Swift Heart, Love-a-Lot and our friend Perfect down in the valley are her favorite partners. I could be part of that list if only I asked, I doubt she would turn me down and she always comes to me for advice but I do not want that. I am torn between my desire to be with her and my own feelings on the matter, I would never force her to abandon something she enjoys for my own sake, even if it has left me the only virgin adult in the Kingdom of Caring, before you arrived, and I sense that soon I shall return to being the sole virgin up here." Loyal Heart sighed sadly and dug half-heartedly into his food.

Indy and Defiant just stared at the blue dog, idly stirring his soup with the last half of his sandwich as he stared as his red reflection in the surface.

"Do you think he knows he starts talking flowery when he's talking about Proud Heart?" Defiant Heart whispered sideways to Indy.

"I'm not sure if it just happens or he's doing it on purpose," Indy replied.

Loyal Heart was too lost in his own thoughts to hear them.

Nearby, Hidden Heart Wolf quietly slipped into the cafeteria from the back of the Hall of Hearts and towards the buffet. Her own fur had brightened up to what could be called a soft smoky grey that seemed to shine, but not quite silver like Independent Bear's. She filled a bowl of soup, drank it in a single gulp, then grabbed six sandwiches and literally wolfed them down before she beat a hasty retreat back to her room. No one noticed her come and go except for Gentle Heart Lamb, a female sea green Care Sheep whose chest symbol was a heart shaped throw pillow.

"Excuse me, I think someone needs my help," Gentle Heart stood up from the table where she had been sitting with some of her friends and hurried after Hidden Heart.

Hidden Heart slammed her temporary bedroom door shut and sat down hard on her bed. She placed a hand on her chest until her breathing calmed down, only to jump to her feet as she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Hidden Heart? It's Gentle Heart Lamb. May I come in?"

Hidden Heart nodded, then realized Gentle couldn't see her and spoke, "Yes, if you want."

Gentle Heart pushed the door open slowly and stepped in. Hidden Heart was still tense as the lamb approached her, "You haven't been out of the Hall since your welcome party last week. Is everything alright?"

"I just..." Hidden rubbed her left hand, "I don't like being around a lot of people, everyone staring at me and...I'm worried they're all afraid of me." She turned away from Gentle Heart to stare at her bed, "Shouldn't you be scared of me? You're a sheep and I'm a big scary wolf."

Gentle Heart noted that despite her shyness, Hidden Heart was actually one of the tallest members of the Care Bear Family, easily standing more than a head taller than Gentle Heart herself, in fact she was about as tall as Brave Heart Lion. She carefully stepped around Hidden Heart to her right side, "You're big, but you're not scary." She carefully brushed the hair out of Hidden's right eye, "No one's scared of you, we just want to get to know you."

Hidden carefully pushed Gentle Heart's hand away but turned to face her, the hair drooping to cover her eyes again. "Are you sure...I mean..."

Gentle Heart offered her hand to Hidden Heart, "I'm not much for people either but I can show you around if you like."

Hidden Heart smiled and took Gentle's hand, "OK, I'll try."

"That's all we ask," Gentle Heart smiled back, "The lunch crowd will be cleared out in a few minutes, if you want to wait."

"That would be nice." Hidden sat down on her bed, "So can you tell me more about this 'free love' idea you have up here?"

Gentle Heart smiled and sat down next to Hidden, "Of course. It's all about being able to love one another without being jealous," she giggled, "Actually I was the one who suggested it after Bright Heart showed me a book about such societies on Earth when I saw some of us getting jealous about attraction to each other," she shuffled her feet, "It took a while at first, some of us got mad, but eventually it all just slid into place. It took too much effort to be jealous and without any need to settle down we were all able to enjoy it. Maybe because no one was telling us we needed to pick just one mate to settle down with."

"It sounds nice," Hidden Heart leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, "I don't know if I could ask anyone though...I mean..."

"What if someone asked you?" Gentle Heart's hand creeped over to Hidden Heart's.

Hidden Heart blushed a deep crimson, "You're asking...I mean...you like..." she found it hard to form the words.

Gentle Heart was blushing as well, "Girls? Well I'm open to trying something, I've never been with another woman before, the other girls up here are very...assertive and they kinda scare me."

"Oh, I..." Hidden Heart gulped, "Do you want to...now I mean..."

"It would give us something to do while we wait for everyone to clear out," Gentle Heart smiled and walked her hand up to Hidden's shoulder, "If you don't want to I won't force you."

Hidden Heart carefully brushed aside the hair over her right eye and up behind her ear, "I'm willing to try if you're gentle."

Gentle Heart giggled then gave Hidden Heart a soft kiss on the cheek, "I promise I will, Gentle's my name after all."

OoOoO

While everyone else was taking lunch in the Hall of Hearts, Sage Heart Bear and Life Heart Unicorn had gone to Noble Heart and True Heart's house to eat with the other couple. Sage Heart's fur had become a bright iridescent blue while Life Heart's moss green fur had become softer and lighter but still maintained the same hue, somehow.

True Heart set down the cup of coffee she was drinking from, "So how far along are you, Life Heart?"

Life Heart patted her baby bump, which looked like she had when at full term with Love Heart or Sweet Heart, "Six months, and Take Care told me I'm having twins."

"That's wonderful!" Sage Heart put an arm around Life Heart and kissed her.

"The second birth in the entire Kingdom of Caring," Noble Heart smiled, then sighed, "I wish we knew why no one else can have children, even we tried again after Hugs and Tugs but nothing worked."

"Take Care said we were all healthy enough," True Heart shook her head, "we've adjusted at least, no one else seems to mind except us."

"Actually, after you told me about that I decided to see if there was a magical reason," Life Heart had already finished her meal, despite taking as much as the other three combined.

"Was there?" True Heart asked.

Life Heart nodded, "Yes. Someone placed a powerful curse on your family about ten years ago, a curse of infertility. It affects every member of our species except me," Life Heart placed a hand on her chest, "I'm a unicorn, even as a Care Animal I'm immune to curses, though my children are not."

"So we can never have children again?" Noble Heart's ears drooped.

Life Heart smiled and shook her head, "Not at all. The curse is powerful but I can remove it. However..." she paused.

Sage Heart looked to her, "Will it hurt anyone?"

"No...it's just. Once I remove the curse it will be removed for everyone. Everyone in the Care Bear Family will be able to have children, and I don't know if they want to." Life Heart took a deep breath before she continued, "I've see how everyone lives up here, how free they are with sex and relationships and I'm afraid that removing the curse will do more harm than good. Suddenly they won't be able to just be free with their lives anymore, have to be careful and might cause a baby boom no one up here is ready for."

"Then don't remove it just yet," Sage Heart said, "We can tell everyone about it and put it to a vote, or let everyone think about if they want it or not."

"That's sounds like the best option," True Heart nodded, "We can get everyone together tonight or tomorrow if you want."

"Thank you, yes tomorrow would be good," Life Heart nodded.