Starcross

Part 4

10 years later

. . .

sunflwrs4ma: Sariiiiii

sunflwrs4ma: I don't understaaaaaand

sunflwrs4ma: our apartment was so tiny

sunflwrs4ma: why is there so much stuff?!?!

urHighnessSari: dunno. never had to move b4

sunflwrs4ma: Good for you.

sunflwrs4ma: at this rate we'll move again when i'm 20

urHighnessSari: or you'd be moving out

sunflwrs4ma: exactly!

[OllieOops07 has signed in at 6:49 PM]

sunflwrs4ma: I liked being in the apartments, don't get me wrong, but it'll be good with Aunt Amee too.

OllieOops07: Wait?! You're moving?!!! When were u going to tell me?!?!

urHighnessSari: where have u been the last few days?

urHighnessSari: its all CB rants about now

urHighnessSari: and its only Tuesday!

urHighnessSari: besides, you don't even live near us. Why would you care if she moves?

sunflwrs4ma: don't be rude Sari. Geez, who got into your cereal this morning?

sunflwrs4ma: also oliver, we're just moving a neighborhood over. Nothing special. Since I'm in a private school, my classes aren't going to change. Same old classmates telling me that gingers have no soul and all that.

OllieOops07: You have one of the sweetest souls ever CB.

urHighnessSari: remind me to beat up Axl for you later, I heard him talking trash last Friday.

urHighnessSari: freaking hypocrite

. . .

"Oopsy, why are you still up?"

The Care Bear jumped a good foot in the air at hearing True Heart's voice. He looked up at her with a look of accusation and shame. It didn't stop True Heart from moving closer to see what Oopsy was doing on his care-tablet.

"Talking to her again?" True Heart calmly inquired, tilting her head with curiosity.

"Yes..." the younger Care Bear agreed as he hung his head. "It's the only way we can talk now. She doesn't even know it's me..."

"Oopsy..." True Heart sighed, despite putting a reassuring hand on his back. Whatever the older bear was going to say, it went unsaid in favor of, "Finish up your conversations for the night. Noble Heart wants to take you somewhere special tomorrow morning."

'Probably doing something he thinks will help me finally earn my Belly Badge, I bet. As if it will work. Never does.' Oopsy darkly thought. But to True Heart he said, "Thanks True."

The older Care Bear gave him a worn smile and a quick, motherly peck on his head before leaving. Oopsy let out a sigh as he looked back down at his friends' conversation. Now they were talking about her birthday- which was going to take place sometime after they had moved in with her aunt. He still didn't know what he was going to get her. But he just couldn't believe it; Claire was going to be 16 this year.

Oopsy was sure that at this point, everything about her had changed. For him, the only thing average about his stature was his height- everything else only reminded him of how different he was. In silhouette, Oopsy was smaller that the other Care Bears and Cousins. He had never earned his belly badge either- a trademark postdated by the time they got out of diapers, if not earlier. Oopsy's clumsy nature hadn't ceased in the past few years either (although Noble Heart and True Heart had helped him understand and work with this fault) and they didn't seem to let up at all.

Then he would wonder if Claire had changed since he last saw her. Did she still have her freckles? Was her hair even redder now, or had it lightened up? Did she smile? Did she laugh? Oh please, all forces of Care-a-lot, please let Claire smile and laugh on a daily basis now. Oopsy would have loved to see her, but a few weeks after Tenderheart had given the two the charms, Claire lost hers. It wasn't intentional, Oopsy was sure of that much. The Bennetts had moved to a small apartment, and Claire's charm had been lost during the move. Due to the nature of their charms, Oopsy knew exactly where Claire's charm was, but did nothing to move it or give it to her. A part of him said that it was because she had to find it, the other part of him dictated that he was just anxious about seeing her again.

Either way, he was scared.

Oopsy took another look at the chat. Sari had apparently left the conversation, but Claire was still online. Good. He liked chatting with her alone.

. . .

OllieOops07: hey, i've gtg. Let me know if you find anything interesting during the move?

sunflwrs4ma: sure? I dunno what we'd find, but if anything weird comes up i'll let you know.

OllieOops07: if it helps: little loose things like rings and necklaces and keychains and charms and such.

sunflwrs4ma: oh yeah. I can totes help with that! I'll even send pics through Pickr.

OllieOops07: thnx CB.

[OllieOops07 has signed out at 7:16 PM]

. . .

Claire reclined a little at seeing her online friend leave the chat. What a weird request, but he had always been like that. At this point, Claire figured that if he was a stalker, he would have hunted her down and kidnapped her by now.

The teen turned to her father and stifled out a short laugh. All of their stuff had been packed into boxes or to the new house already, but they still had the apartment for a few more days, so the two of them were actively sitting on the floor in what used to be the living room. Her father was hunched over his laptop computer in the center of the room, an old comforter was thrown over his shoulders as he continued his work with a small scowl. Apparently, he had heard her because he looked up soon after.

"What's so funny wallflower?" he asked, his scowl going away with a slightly softer expression.

"You look like a freaking turtle hunched over like that." Claire told him, not skipping a beat. "I'm not helping you when you're fifty and need a back brace because of your awful posture."

"Speak for yourself!" her father playfully huffed right back. "You've been sitting in that corner all evening, typing on that tablet at the speed of light. Don't come crying to me when you get early arthritis."

"Sure Pops." Claire humored with a small roll of her eyes. "Whatever you say."

"Wait until Amelia hears your sass," her father chuckled, "She'll harass me for raising a mini Rashel."

After saying this, Matthew paused. As if speaking a thought, he softly said, "Claire... you do know Aunt Amee was your mother's twin?"

It took a moment, but a soft "Yeah." answered him.

"I just want you to know, Aunt Amee has wanted to see you after your mother's funeral, but you were just so traumatized by everything..." her father then said, almost rambling. "She's changed her appearance quite a bit so you won't be distressed seeing her now. But... if you do... we can always move somewhere else. Or.. or she could."

"I'm shoving Aunt Amee out of her own house." Claire objected. "And I'm sure as heck not packing all our junk back up ever, ever again!"

That earned a chuckle out of her father. Good. The mood had gotten too serious for her taste.

"Daddy," Claire then told her father, "I don't even remember Mom anymore. Even if Aunt Amee really is Mom's twin, I don't think it would faze me anymore. It's not like she's actually Mom, you know? I'll be fine. Honest."

Matthew didn't look very sure at this, and he even started to get up to walk over to Claire. He placed a hand under her chin and kissed her forehead. When he pulled away, he mumbled something in a sad, lonely voice;

"You really are your mother's child..."