Chapter 16 – Setting up the final missions.
Tenderheart was waiting when Thief’s group returned.
	“Tenderheart, where are Brave Heart and Playful Heart?”
	“That’s what I’d like to know, Thief. Cheer got Share and Lotsa to start looking with her.” Tenderheart leaned back as footsteps was heard coming up. Cheer and Share led Brave Heart and Playful up, both looking empty as Lotsa walked behind them.
	“Oh no…Lotsa, did they?!” Swift rushed over to Brave and Playful. 
	“It must have been after breakfast. During lunch we all spread out and I didn’t see either of them during that time.” Lotsa frowned as Thief walked over.
	“Hey…Brave Heart, Playful…Hey we got your badges…why not put them to your tummy?”
	“…Not worth it.” Brave Heart sounded empty, Mend and Thief looked at each other with expressions of worry.
	“Nothing’s fun now…We’re all just…lonely.” Playful’s tone made Swift, Bright, and Lotsa really alarmed. Two sets of footsteps were heard scampering up quickly as Hugs and Tugs ran into the room, followed by a worn out Noble Heart. 
	“Brave Heart…Playful…Oh my two boys…” Noble’s frown worried everyone immensely. 
	“Dad, what can we do? They’re not even interested in their badges!” Cheer looked at Noble Heart, eyes deep with concern and pleading.
	“Hugs, Tugs, think you two can handle this?” The twins nodded to Noble and walked over.
	“Brave…You were going to show us how to not be scared of anything…Please, come back to us…” Hugs took a hold of Brave’s paw.
	“Playful…You were going to show us fun games…You promised we’d play tons of games and have tons of laughs…Please…” Tugs held Playful’s paw. The twins then put Brave and Playful’s free paws together and put their free hand on top.
	“Hugs…Tugs…Brave…I’m supposed to be…Brave…” Brave slowly sounded less monotone, as if he was breaking the boundary and returning. 
	“Games…Fun and laughs…I did…I promised…” Playful’s voice seemed to match Brave. Hugs and Tugs held up their badges to them. 
	“Please, hold them to your bellies? For us?”
	“Please, you guys are family and we miss you…” 
Brave and Playful looked at one another, and took their badges and did as the twins asked, their colors returning as their vitaliaty reignited. 
	“How could I forget to be brave against this monotone? That’s not how I work!” Brave Heart smiled back as Playful jumped around the room laughing.
	“I forgot how much fun it can be to just let go. Sorry we worried you all!” Noble hugged both of them, sighing in relief.
	“I’m so glad you boys are back. Never worry me like that again.” Brave and Playful hugged Noble back as Wonderheart came up with Grams. 
	“Wonderheart, come here please.” Thief beckoned her over, she rushed over as quickly as possible.
	“What is it, Thief?”
	“Give this to your uncle.” Thief handed her Tenderheart’s badge.
	“You…You saved it?”
	“Not me, thank Swift Heart for that. They did the saving. I just had to save them right after since Void was being a nasty bad guy.” Thief chuckled as Swift was joining with Bright and Lotsa over their family members returning from the edge. 
	“Thank you…You really did mean it when you said no one left behind…”
	“Yeah, there’s only eight more left. Mend’s planning it out right now.” Thief and Wonderheart looked over at Mend going over their list on the whiteboard. Wonderheart smiled and hugged Thief before heading over to Tenderheart.
	“Uncle Tenderheart?”
	“Hm? Yes princess?”
	“For you. From Swift and Thief.” Wonderheart held Tenderheart’s badge up to him.
	“Ah…Right, Swift saved it and Thief saved them and this. Did Thief tell you to bring it to me?”
	“Hehe…Maybe, maybe—Eep!” Wonderheart was pulled into a big hug, the belly badge touching Tenderheart’s tummy reigniting his color. He continued to hold Wonderheart close and kissed her forehead.
	“I really did get a great niece with you. I love you, Princess.” Wonderheart smiled before hugging Tenderheart back.
	“I love YOU uncle Tenderheart!” Thief smiled at the scene and walked over to Mend Heart. 
	“So, how’s the planning going, bud?” 
	“hm…I got everything planned now. Everyone, can you make sure Love-a-lot, Togetherness, Laugh-a-lot, Wish, True, Watchful, Loyal Heart, and Gentle Heart are at the Hall of Hearts for dinner? We’ll need everyone currently in Care-A-Lot tonight.”
	“Sure thing, Mend. Let’s go everyone.” Cheer led everyone but Thief, Mend, Tenderheart and Wonderheart. Tenderheart was typing on the computer and his eyes lit up.
	“Mend, it’s working! I can contact the others!” Mend and Thief rushed over quickly. Tenderheart brought up some voice channels.
	“Tenderheart, Eres tu?” The video turned on.
	“Amigo Bear! Good to see you!”
	“Oh, It’s been a few days, Tenderheart!”
	“Hey Always There! Sorry, comms were down with stuff going on in Care-A-Lot.” Thief looked at all the names on screen. Amigo Bear, Always There, Be Me, Best Friend, Birthday, Calming Heart, Christmas Wishes, Destiny, Do-Your-Best, Dream Bright, Friend, Great Giving, Hopeful Heart, I Care, Sea Friend, Secret, Smart Heart, Spooky Sparkle, Trick-Or-Sweet, Unity, Surprise, along with Perfect and Polite Panda.
	“There’s so many…These all weren’t here when Void attacked?”
	“They weren’t, they were down on Earth working on care missions, Perfect and Polite live in the Valley however, but still…They avoided Void’s attack here.” Tenderheart leaned back in his chair. 
	“Tenderheart, don’t get so down on yourself. There’s power in numbers, we can all do this!”
	“Heh, you have a point, Unity. Be ready, tomorrow you’ll all be called up here. If everything goes right, we’ll be ready for the final plan.” Tenderheart smiled, as Mend walked over.
	“Listen, we have a plan to defeat Void Heart, we think he has a conscience still that we can activate. If everything goes well, tomorrow we’ll be able to beat him. Everyone understand?” Everyone replied with a yes, except Amigo who said Sí. They all signed off as Thief, Mend, and Tenderheart headed to the Hall of Hearts, with Tenderheart holding Wonderheart’s paw as they walked together. 
As the pair arrived, everyone else was sitting down and chatting with one another. The gang got their dinner and everyone went to their tables and began to eat and chat. Once everyone had eaten and were chatting, Mend walked up.
	“Hello everyone, we are approaching the end of this long mission. Given earlier both Brave Heart and Playful Heart were in monotone state, I have decided that our remaining eight monotone victims should stay with someone not inflicted. Love-a-lot, you’ll be staying with Tenderheart.” Tenderheart nearly choked on his drink, looking at Mend in bewilderment he thought of a counter.
	“While that’d be fine, Mend, who will watch Wonderheart tonight?”
	“Easy Tenderheart, Grumpy and I shall do that.” Grumpy immediately turned to Mend from his seat and groaned.
	“Oh why am I the only who always gets stuck with these jobs. Fine, but we’re staying at MY place. I’d rather not mess up Tenderheart’s place by accident.” Mend smiled a bit and gave a small wink to Wonderheart who giggled to herself.
	“Continuing on, Togetherness, you and Harmony will stick together.”
	“Works for me~ We’ll have a lot of fun, Togetherness!” Mend chuckled as the two started chatting to one another.
	“Gentle Heart, hmm…”
	“My place.” Swift spoke up from their seat next to Gentle and Cozy. 
	“Swift? You sure?”
	“Of course, Thief. Cozy Heart and Gentle Heart have always slept over at my place randomly. Besides, Gentle is the youngest of us cousins! She’s only 14! She’s my little sister.” Swift pulled Gentle close, making her bleet but blush a bit as she snuggled close to Swift.
	“Well, if they are both your closest friends, then I should get to know them as well. Mend, we got it covered.”
	“Glad to see it, Thief. Alright, Laugh-a-lot, you and Funshine.” Funshine immediately blushed, he did have a crush on Laugh-a-lot who was giggling in happiness, giving Funshine a bit of a seductive look.
	“We’ll have to have some laughs, Funshine”
	“Y-Yeah, tons of laughs.” Funshine tried to make a few jokes, which Laugh didn’t seem to get.
	“Proud Heart, you and Loyal Heart stick together…Like anyone would ask otherwise. Noble, you get what my idea is?”
	“Me and True Heart always stick together at home, since I was close to Monotone earlier I’ll make sure she doesn’t”
	“That’s my big strong hubby.” True kissed Noble’s cheek.
	“Bedtime, I leave Wish to you.”
	“Ok…*yawn* that’s fine. I’ll keep her safe in her sleep.” Bedtime nodded off a bit leaning against Wish who patted his head with a warm smile.
	“That leaves me, young one. What is your plan?” Watchful looked at Mend, a thoughtful look on his face.
	“I was hoping Grams and you could stick together, maybe chat over tea?”
	“That sounds lovely, hopefully you don’t mind the twins, Watchful.”
	“Not at all, Grams. They may even like to hear a few stories we have.” The two elders smiled a bit thinking of different stories to tell. Mend sighed in relief, their idea was working. They cleared their throat as they pulled up a two mission long idea. 
	“Ok, so, given we have eight left I have two groups in mind. Cheer, Grumpy mentioned you ran the Silver Lining team?”
	“That’s correct! I lead with Grumpy, Good Luck, Funshine, and Share as my allies. Oh, and can’t forget Dibble.”
	“Dibble help!” Dibble did a small spin on the table before she nearly fell off, but right into Grumpy’s paws.
	“Careful Dibble, don’t want you to get hurt.” Grumpy gave a warm parental smile to Dibble.
	“Alright, in that case, I’d like you five to run the first mission tomorrow. I’d rather not be reckless but if you can get five badges then we’d be on track with my idea. As for the second group, Thief or Champ, one of you should go.”
	“I’ll go, Void Heart was ready to fight me today. He’s not going to give up. He’ll want a fight and will call out to me if anyone else goes. Sorry Champ, but I’d rather not get you caught up in Void Heart’s anger at me.”
	“You’re fine, Sports Fan, but for stars sake be careful…”
	“Yeah, especially after the last few attempts. I’d rather not screw up myself.” Thief rubbed his neck.
	“I’ll go too, Mend.” Brave Heart stood up. “I’ve gotten my badge back…I can’t cower anymore, I am Brave Heart, and I will be the brave one of the cousins.”
	“In that case, Brave Heart, I’ll also join.” Tenderheart stood up. “If I just sit back in the tower, how can I be of any help?” Mend was surprised, both Brave and Tenderheart had volunteered, but they needed Thief’s approval.
	“Alright, but you’ll need a weapon. Void Heart may not let us get badges easily.”
	“I know my way around a spear, and Tenderheart knows some paw-to-paw combat.” Thief smiled and nodded to Mend who wrote it down.
	“Alright everyone, we have tonight’s room assignments for the major areas, and we have tomorrow’s missions groups barring any slip ups.” Noble Heart started before Wonderheart raised her hand.
	“Noble Heart, Uncle Tenderheart was able to contact the others, when should we call them back?”
	“Good question, Wonderheart, and that’s also good news to hear. Once our second team sets out we’ll call the others back. We’ll need everyone to gather so we can discuss the final strike on Void Heart.”
	“With that said, let’s all get some rest everyone. No wild solo missions and no staying up late for those on tomorrow’s missions. Sleep tight everyone, love you all.” True Heart smiled as everyone broke off, the eight who were staying with others went to their partner, or in Gentle’s case, was pulled close to Swift’s side as Thief and Cozy waited until everyone cleared.
	“S-Swift…I’m not a toddler…” Gentle shyly started, stuttering a bit.
	“I know, Gentle, but I’d rather the four of us stick together first.”
	“It’ll be eassssy.” Cozy’s S came out as a small whistle sound. “Plussss, you have that bedtime problem…” Gentle covered her face in embarrassment.
	“Oh? I guess I need to know?” Thief tilted his head a bit, hand on his side.
	“Gentle’s had a bit of a bedwetting problem, it’s been isolated but she still has moments.”
	“I only wet the night after Void Heart attacked…We were all scared, it shouldn’t count. It’s not fair.”
	“Gentle, we’ve been over this. A dry week makes you wear night pants, two dry weeks in them and you can try a plastic mattress cover. If you’re good for a month, we’ll free you of restrictions. However, that was day six without an incident but that one moment…” Thief gently put a paw to Swift’s mouth.
	“Look, I won’t try to debate you on your rules, Swift. However, you all looked pretty shooken up after Void Heart’s attack. I think we should trust Gentle Heart with night pants. Look, how can you saw no to her adorable face?” Thief put his arm over Gentle’s shoulder while gesturing with his other paw, making a sad look with Gentle.
	“Ugh…Thief…you…”
	“He hasssss a point, Ssssswift.” Cozy wiggled her flipper a bit. Swift sighed.
	“Fine, I’ll fold. She can have night pants, but if she’s wet in the morning, it’s back to square one.” Swift lead their group, Gentle looked at Thief before they left.
	“Um…Thank you, Thief…”
	“Anything to help some friends and potential family.” Thief smiled as Gentle took his paw as they walked over to Swift and Cozy, all four interlocking arms as they walked to Swift’s.