The Country Bears: The Girl Behind the Bears

Heart to Heart

Mari POV

I wasn't sure how long I was out, but I awoke to a voice calling me. 

"Mari. We're here."

"Huh?" I groaned as I opened my eyes. I heard a chuckle as well as felt it as I realized I was lying on someone's chest. Bright and clashing colors attacked my vision as I recognized Tennessee's sweater. 'Oh, yeah, I forgot I fell asleep on him.' I groaned again and lifted my head, rubbing my eyes to clear them. "Where's here?" My groggy question got another chuckle from the brown bear.

"We're stopping at a motel for the night. But we're at grocery store to get some snacks first." I looked out the window to see that it was early afternoon, I must have been asleep for a while. "I was gonna wake you sooner, but I didn't want to disturb you."

"Sorry for falling asleep on you. I'll get up and move, it's probably not very comfortable." I tried to get up when he stopped me.

"No, no, it's fine. I don't mind at all." He chuckled. "In fact, it kinda reminded me of the old days."  He said with a smile. "Any time you got tired on a road trip, you'd crawl onto one of our laps and sleep. None of us ever had the heart to wake you up." I smiled at those memories too. 

"Yeah, but I'm not a kid anymore, nor am I that small anymore." I giggled.

"I know, but you'll always be that same little girl to us." As he said that, he had a sad look in his eyes. "Mari, I'm so sorry. The others are too. The way we all just up and left, even though we all knew how much it upset you. I'm so sorry!" Tennessee wailed. I could feel tears prick my eyes as well, I never meant to make them feel guilty about leaving, I was just so sad to see my family split up. I wrapped my arms around his neck, his cries muffling as he buried his face in my shoulder. I could feel my shirt getting wet from his tears, but I didn't care. I let my tears fall as well. 

For a while, the two of us just sat there. Our cries had subsided, but we stayed in that same position. 

"Hey, Ten?"

"Yeah?"

"I really missed you. All of you. All these years without you guys, not knowing where you all were or if I would ever see any of you again. I was scared that I would never see yall all in the same place together. But, I never lost hope that one day, maybe, we could be one big family again. Despite the circumstances, I'm just so happy that I get to see you all again."

Third POV

Tennessee was speechless after hearing how she felt. To hear that she still had faith in them even after they just up and left, hardly having the time to even keep in touch with her. The guilt had been eating at him for years, it had for all of them. Well, at least for him, Zeb, and Fred at least. Henry had told him that Ted had stopped writing to her long ago and ignored every letter she sent and every call she tried. It had made them all so angry that Ted would do something like that to her, but then again, none of them had heard from Ted since they had broke up.

The girl and the bear stayed in their hug until they heard bus door open, signaling that the others were back. They had both lifted their heads to greet everyone, but Mari stayed on Tennessee's lap, seeing as he had barely loosened his hold on her. 

The others were surprised to see their tear stained faces, but didn't question it as they figured the two must have had a heart to heart about what happened ten years ago. Fred and Zeb got the message when Mari smiled at them and pulled them into a group hug, laughing as they almost tipped over in the chair. 

Roadie smiled as he watched in the rear mirror. This was happiest he had seen his daughter in a long time. Henry smiled as well, remembering all the times he would find the girl crying in the Hall or looking sadly at old memorabilia of the band. To see her spirits lift so much was a beautiful sight for him. 

They soon arrived at a motel. Roadie chose to stay on the bus, but rejected Mari's offer to stay as well.

"I'll be fine, kiddo. Besides, you've been sleeping on a creaky old couch for the last few nights, a good nights sleep on a real bed will be much better for you."

"You sure, dad?"

"I'm sure, now go catch up with them." He handed Mari her bag and kissed her forehead. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Night, dad." She hugged him and jumped off the bus and followed the guys into the room they got. It was quite spacious, even with four grown bears inside. 

"Dibs on first shower!" She giggled and ran into the bathroom, not wanting to deal with all the fur that would be left behind if she went last. She quickly washed up and changed into her pjs.

She dried her hair with a towel and pulled it into a bun to keep it off her neck. She pulled her hoodie on and zipped it up just above her belly button. When she walked out, the guys were all watching a cartoon on the tv. She plopped on the bed behind Henry, she looked around and noticed Beary wasn't there.

"Where'd Beary go?" She asked. 

"Said he had to make a call." Fred answered, his eyes glued to the tv. It looked like an old cartoon. She laughed when she saw it was a cartoon of the Country Bears. As the show continued, she laughed at how bad it was. The story was cheesy, the characters didn't even sound like the guys, and the whole thing was just terrible. After the episode finished, Zeb was the only one to speak.

"That was bad." 

"Beyond bad." Mari laughed, making the others chuckle as well. A few minutes later, Beary returned and he seemed excited. 

"Tennessee! Tennessee!" He huffed as he ran inside. "Remember when you said you'd do anything to find Trixie? To get her back?"

Tennessee just looked at the cub, confused. 

"Well, guess what?" Tennessee's face changed from confused to shocked at he caught on to what Beary was saying. Beary told them about the sign that he had seen, saying that Trixie was here, at there motel.

Mari was happy too, especially for Tennessee. 

"Well, what are waiting for? I gotta go talk to her!" As he tried to get up, Mari stopped him. "What are you doing, Mari?" He asked. 

"Wait here for a sec." She said and ran out of the room to the bus. The bears stared after her, wondering what she was up to. After startling her dad and digging through some old stuff, Mari finally found what she was looking for. She draped the clothing over her shoulder and ran back to the room. The bears laughed when they saw what she had. 

She had managed to find the old leather vest that Tennessee used to wear back in the day, and it looked as good as new. The vest looked huge on the girl, her size still very small compared to the bears. She took off the vest and handed it to Tennessee.

"You don't really think I was gonna let you go wearing that sweater, do you?" She smirked as Tennessee took the vest from her and smiled. The vest looked like had been well taken care of, it was clean and smelled fresh. "I had a feeling you might need again one day." Mari grabbed his paw and hauled him up, pushing him towards the bathroom. 

"Now who's in a rush?" Tennessee laughed as she pushed him.

Mari rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah. Just get changed already. You're woman awaits you." Tennessee just laughed as he closed the bathroom door. He emerged a few minutes later, ugly sweater gone and looking like his old self.  

"Well, how do I look?" He asked. Mari smiled and hugged him. She pulled back and adjusted the vest slightly.

"You look great. Now, go get her!" She giggled and pushed him out the door. The sight made her happy, and it told her that they just got another bear back in the band.