It was a bright, sunny afternoon up in the magical land of Care-a-Lot and all throughout the kingdom, the Care Bears were enjoying a well deserved day off. With no one on earth being in need of a Care Bear at the moment , everyone was taking the time to relax and unwind, even Tenderheart.
Today, the de facto leader of the Care Bears found himself walking down the rainbow streets of Care-a-Lot, on his way to visit Young-at-Heart Bear to share a tasty treat. Young-at-Heart had been a recent surprise addition to the Care Bears family. He was a Care Bear who had somehow fallen down to earth long ago and had been living there until recently. Discovered by Tenderheart during a caring mission, the bear was swiftly brought back up to Care-a-Lot to meet with his own kind and given an offer to live there with them.
It had been a difficult adjustment period for Young and everyone else. The bear had been somewhat abrasive, unused to kindness or caring, and was prone to bursts of anger. But still, the Care Bears were nothing if not persistent and over time were able to break through Young-at-Heart’s walls and reach the troubled bear. It had been Tenderheart who had managed it in the end. Unlike the other bears like Funshine or Cheer, who could be a bit persistent with their attempts at friendship and thus overwhelm Young-at-Heart, Tenderheart gave the bear space. He did his best to respect his boundaries, offered an ear to listen to whenever Young needed it and never faltered whenever the bear would snap at him.
Slowly, Young-at-Heart began to open up to Tenderheart, and soon to the rest of the Care Bears. He began to actively seek them out to hang with and even went along on the occasional Caring Mission. And then one day during one such mission, when none of the other bears could quite figure out how to help, Young-at-Heart stepped in and resolved the problem. In doing so, he earned his Belly Badge and with it, his name, becoming an official member of the Care Bear family.
Tenderheart smiled to himself, remembering the joy on the purple bear’s face when it happened. He knew the bear had been feeling like the odd one out, being the only bear without a Belly Badge, so he was glad his friend wouldn’t need to worry about that anymore.
Cresting the top of the hill he had been climbing, Tenderheart spotted Young-at-Heart’s home, snapping him out of his reminiscing. His tummy grumbled as the building came into view, already imagining the delicious treats he would soon get to enjoy. Young had taken a surprising interest in baking recently and had extended an open invitation to Tenderheart to come over and try some of the treats he baked whenever he had wanted. Tenderheart took him up on his offer and had been stopping by to visit during his free time ever since.
Tenderheart hurried down the road and soon reached the front of the house. It was fairly standard as far as the homes over in Care-a-Lot were. Two stories tall and made of enchanted wood and clouds, surrounded by a white picket fence to form a nice grassy yard out front. Tenderheart stepped past the fenced gate and walked up to the door, raising his paw and knocking lightly on it.
“Young-at-Heart! It’s Tenderheart!,“ The bear called out. Most of the bears in Care-a-Lot kept their doors unlocked and in fact some even left them wide open. Young, however, preferred his privacy and despite also leaving his door unlocked, asked that anyone visiting knock first before coming in.
Tenderheart stood at the door for a couple of minutes, patiently waiting for his friend to let him in. When the bear failed to show after a short while, Tenderheart knocked again,
“Hello? Young? I’m here for our bake and meet!” The bear called out once again and once again received no answer. He found it quite odd, as the bear had been the one to invite Tenderheart over just last week, insisting he had a new recipe he wanted him to try.
Tenderheart frowned lightly to himself, wondering perhaps if something had happened.
‘Maybe he forgot or fell asleep?’ He thought, moving away from the door to peer through the heart shaped windows. Inside the home, the living room was dark and Young-at-Heart was nowhere to be seen. It certainly looked like nobody was home.
For a moment, Tenderheart considered leaving and coming back another time. After all, his friend enjoyed his privacy and he wouldn’t want to intrude on the chance he really did just fall asleep. However, Young had never missed a bake and meet. The bear insisted they were a sort of apology for being so rude to Tenderheart when he first got to Care-a-Lot and made it a point to always let Tenderheart know when he had to reschedule.
Worry began to grow in Tenderheart’s gut. Perhaps the bear had come down with something and was too sick to move? Whatever the case, he wouldn’t find out standing out there. Sending a mental apology to Young, Tenderheart pushed open the front door and invited himself in.
Stepping inside, he found the place to be quite dark, illuminated only by the afternoon sunlight coming in through the windows. The living room was sparsely furnished, with only a couch and bookshelf off to one side and a boxy television set opposite to them. Tenderheart made his way through the space, eyes darting about for signs of Young-at-Heart.
He passed through the kitchen, finding it empty and devoid of the usual sights and smells of Bake and Meet day. This only served to worry the bear more and he swiftly moved on to the rest of the house.
It was as he was approaching the stairs to the second floor that he heard it. A loud thump followed by a muffled curse. Relief and disapproval flooded through Tenderheart all at once. Young-at-Heart was the only bear who truly cursed in Care-a-Lot, much to Tenderheart’s chagrin. Even Grumpy kept things PG, despite knowing more than his fair share of naughty words.
Still, if he wasn’t asleep or sick as a dog, then why had he not been baking? He’d seemed so excited to try out his new recipe too, so what had kept him? Worry now replaced with curiosity, Tenderheart began to slowly ascend the stairs, stepping up onto the home’s second floor.
At the top of the stairs, he saw that the door to Young-at-Heart’s room was slightly ajar, light pouring out from the crack and illuminating the hallway. Tenderheart’s ear twitched in irritation as a few more muttered curses drifted out through the crack. Slowly, he approached the door and peeked inside.
Unlike the rest of his home, Young-at-Heart's room actually appeared lived in l as he had begun moving his things in from his home on earth. Old, beaten furniture shoved against the side wall to be organized later, pikes of clothes and unsprung fairylights haphazardly strewn about, and even a well cared for guitar propped up against a bookshelf.
But Tenderheart paid no mind to any of this, his attention firmly on Young-at-Heart Bear as he rubbed his arm, wincing in pain. The bear sat on the floor by the foot of the bed, one foot tangled slightly in one of the fairy light strings. He grumbled to himself, removing his foot from the tangle and pulling himself back onto his feet, revealing his lower half to Tenderheart in the process.
Tenderheart’s eyes widened, as around Young-at-Heart’s waist was a large adult sized disposable diaper. It was lopsided, appearing to be poorly taped on, and incredibly thick. So much so, it gave Young a pronounced waddle as he toddled towards his bed, still rubbing his arm.
A part of Tenderheart wondered why Young-at-Heart was wearing such a babyish piece of clothing or even where he got it. However, any questions were put aside by worry as his friend continued wincing, still rubbing his arm. He must've banged it up pretty bad when he tripped.
Tnederheart softly pushes the door open and calls out. "Young-at-Heart? Are you okay?"
Young-at-Heart jumps and turns in place towards Tenderheart, wobbling as the momentum and his poofy padding nearly send him tumbling back down to the ground. He makes a perfect impression of a deer in the headlights, face a mixture of horror, embarrassment, and worry etched onto it. In an instant, a furious blush spreads across his entire face, practically dying his fur red.
Then, with a speed that would make Swift Heart jealous, the bear lunges for his bed, grabbing his blanket and quickly wrapping himself in it in an attempt to cover himself.
"T-tenderheart! I-uh, I was-, that is-, uh…," Young-at-Heart tries his best to explain himself, but can barely stammer out a word through his mortification. Eventually, he gives up and simply stands silently, waiting for Tenderheart to speak and kick him out of Care-a-Lot. He swallows through a lump in his throat, feeling his eyes beginning to burn as he fights back humiliated tears.
He knew this would happen! He finally had something he was tentatively starting to consider home, with friends, a family even! And now he’s gone and thrown it all away indulging in some dumb cubby feelings! No doubt any minute now Tenderheart would angrily yell at him about how much of a freak he was. A weirdo for liking… those things. He’d tell him it was a mistake to have brought him up to Care-a-Lot and send him right back down to earth and the cold, lonely cave where bears like him belong. A part of him was shouting that Tenderheart would never do that. That he was the nicest, sweetes, most caring bear Young had ever met, who had never once raised his voice against him. That voice, however, was drowned out by Young-at-Heart’s own shame and the loud pounding of his heart.
He hunched his shoulders, doing his best to disappear into his blankets as Tenderheart started to walk closer. As he drew near, Young closed his eyes, bracing himself for whatever Tenderheart threw at him.
“Young? Is your arm okay? I heard you fall and it sounded like it hurt…”
Young-at-Heart opened his eyes, glancing at Tenderheart. He didn’t look angry, or disgusted, or like he wanted nothing to do with Young. No, instead he looked worried, glancing at Young’s arm and looking at him in the same way he’s always looked at him. With kindness and patience. He was standing a little ways away from Young too. The way he did whenever Young was feeling at his worst and like he needed to take it out on the world. He was giving him space, not approaching unless Young let him, respecting his boundaries, and letting Young know he was there if he needed him.
Slowly, the worry in Young’s gut began to uncoil, though the shame remained. He blinked away tears rapidly, looking briefly away from Tenderheart to wipe away what few slipped through without him noticing. Judging by the worried little whine the bear made, he did. Young coughed a few times to clear his throat, then looked back to Tenderheart and replied.
“Uh- Y-yeah. Um, it’s fine. Just stings a little ‘s all.”
He shuffled in place a little, flexing the arm and wincing lightly at what would no doubt be a bruise the next day. If he wasn’t already as red as Amigo Bear, Young was sure he would’ve blushed as he recalled how he fell in the first place. He’d been putting on his… diaper… and feeling giddy after managing to do so. So giddy in fact, that he’d done a little dance, wiggling his bottom around and feeling exceedingly cubby. Then he’d tripped and let out some decidedly not cubby swear words.
Tenderheart frowned lightly, worried look diminishing slightly, but not going away. The bear raised an arm and gently held it out to Young-at-Heart.
“Is it okay if I have a look, Young?,” Tenderheart asked softly, eyes filled with nothing but kindness. Young looked apprehensively at the paw, then back to Tenderheart. He knew what Tenderheart was really asking. He hadn’t brought up Young’s babyish undergarments yet and was asking for his permission to talk about it. There was no judgment in his eyes, just patience and understanding. Now that he’d had some time to calm down, Young knew Tenderheart would drop it if he said no, that he’d respect his wishes not to talk about it no matter how curious he may be. And he wanted to say no. To let Tenderheart leave, then dump the package of padding in the corner and the babyish stuff next to it and then never speak of this incident again.
But at the same time… Tenderheart had never once treated him poorly. Never intentionally done anything to make him feel bad and had always shown him nothing but love and kindness. And so even though his heart hammered in his chest at the thought of actually addressing the padding around his waist, Young-at-Heart chose to put his faith in Tenderheart.
“Uh, sure. You can, uh, look.” He raised his arm, letting the blanket fall just a little and exposing his crinkly pants. With his blush returning with a vengeance, Young held the arm out to Tenderheart, an open invitation to come closer.
Tenderheart internally sighed in relief and moved closer, gently taking Young’s arm and giving it a once over. The bear had been worried Young would push him away and default back to his angry, defensive state. He was proud of how far his friend had come, to where he was willing to trust him with this part of himself.
Young hissed lightly when Tenderheart pressed down on the forming bruise, earning a soft “Sorry,” from the bear. After what seemed like an eternity but was more like less than a minute, Tenderheart seemed satisfied with his inspection. However, instead of letting go of his arm like Young had expected, Tenderheard raised the bruise to his muzzle and gave it a soft kiss.
“There we go. A kiss to make it better~,” The bear said softly, smiling at Young.
Young-at-Heart felt tingly warm butterflies in his tummy as he took back his arm. At this rate, he was certain his face would end up red forever…
“Now…” Tenderheart began, moving to sit down on the bed and patting the spot next to him.”How’s about we take a seat. Then we can talk about it, If you want?” He spoke softly, his tone warm and full of kindness. Young gulped and nodded, taking a seat next to Tenderheart with his blanket still wrapped slightly around him. He winced as he felt and heard his padding crinkle loudly.
“So…” The diapered bear began, after a moment of silence. He glanced towards Tenderheart, waiting for him to say something. However, the bear simply looked at him patiently, nodding at Young to go on, letting him go at his own pace. Young-at-Heart took a deep breath and continued.
“So… I like… cubby stuff…” And so Young-at-Heart told Tenderheart the whole story. How after earning his belly badge by helping an older brother remember how it felt to be young so he could reconnect with his younger sibling, he began to experiment. It started with things like comic books and action figures, things he’d already liked but had never really gotten to indulge in before. Slowly, over time, the things he tried got younger, more babyish. He moved from action figures to race cars, to playsets and coloring books. He got stuffies and building blocks and cute, soft clothes to wear when no one was looking. He shamefully admitted to nicking more than a few things from convenience stores down on earth, earning himself a stern, yet kind scolding from Tenderheart and a promise not to do it again.
With every new toy he got and played with he found himself feeling cubbier and giddier. He smiled more, found himself able to hang out with friends for longer before needing to ‘recharge’, so to speak, and the world just seemed brighter somehow. Then just a few days ago, he took the next big step. He’d been wanting to try diapers for some time, seeing them as the ultimate symbol of babyishness and curious as to what they’d feel like.
“… and so, during another store run, I managed to snag a pack large enough to fit me-” Young winced at Tenderheart’s stern look and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head- “and I’d been waiting for a day off to try them. I guess I was so excited about it that I forgot about our Bake and Meet…” He looked shamefully down at his paws, feeling awful about forgetting about their usual meetings.
Tenderheart smiled softly in understanding, reaching over to give Young-at-Heart a one armed side hug and patting him consolingly.
“Hey now, it’s alright! You were excited about something that makes you happy, so I don’t mind.” Tenderheart said happily, smiling at Young. The bear blinked in surprise, looking at his friend.
“You… you don’t think its weird, o-or gross or something? That I’m wearing… I mean, that I like, uh…” His blush, which had faded during his explanation, returned with a vengeance. Tenderheart simply smiled at Young, shaking his head.
“That you like diapers and cubby stuff?” He said, making Young briefly flinch, before nodding shyly. “I don’t mind at all, Young-at-Heart. It’s something that makes you happy, so it’s something that makes me happy! Besides, I think it’s cute~” He reached out with his free paw and booped Young’s nose softly, making a flurry of little butterflies flutter about the padded bear’s tummy.
“Y-you do?” He squeaked out, hiding his face in his blanket. Between the boop and the compliments and how Tenderheart was holding him so softly, Young-at-Heart was having a hard time feeling anything but absolutely cubby at the moment.
“Of course!” Tenderheart replied. “Why, just look at little Hugs and Tugs. They’re adorable and always running around padded.”
“B-but I’m, uh, an adult?” Young’s response came out sounding more like a question than a statement. Tenderheart raised a brow at him. “So?”
“W-well, uh, aren’t adults not supposed to…” The bear trailed off, shuffling his blanket around and not quite sure where he was going. Tenderheart removed his arm from around Young’s shoulder, making the bear immediately miss its presence. “Not supposed to what? Wear diapers? Like cubby stuff or getting treated like cubs? Be cute or adorable or anything like that?”
Young blushed at Tenderheart’s words and nodded softly. Tenderheart smiled softly at Young and lifted a paw to start petting the cubby bear’s headfur. He leaned into it, letting out a sigh and subconsciously relaxing his shoulders.
“Oh Young-at-Heart, it’s okay to like those sort of things. They make you happy and they’re not hurting anyone. I promise not a single bear or cousin here will ever make fun of you for it. You know that, right?” He spoke softly, moving his paw downwards to gently rub circles into Young’s back. Young nodded softly, eyes closed in pure bliss and head feeling positively fuzzy.
“Yeah… I, I know. At least, a part of me knew…” He said shyly.” But I guess… I dunno, it’s one thing to know you guys wouldn’t do that and another to know… Y’know?”
Tenderheart snorted lightly, smiling wryly at Young. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Sometimes our fears can get the best of us, even though we know better. So… How about I show you just how little you need to worry.” Saying this, Tenderheart rose from the bed, earning him a sad whine from the bear turned putty sitting next to him. “Whaddya mean, Tenderheart?” Young pouted softly at the lack of back rubs and looked curiously at his friend.
Tenderheart chuckled softly, moving over to the corner of the room and the stuff piled there/ He’d seen it when he’d come in but hadn’t given it a closer look, focused more on comforting his friend. Now, he could get a decent look at it. It was a pile of babyish, from stuffies to blocks, to a couple of blankets, among other things. There was even a baby bottle that looked suspiciously like one of the old ones they had back at the Care-a-Lot nursery. Hmm, he’d have to have a proper talk with Young-at-Heart later about his sticky fingers. And in the center of it all was an open pack of disposable diapers made for large cubs, one already missing from the packaging.
Leaning down, the orange bear grabbed a changing mat, along with another diaper and some powder, piling them onto his arms. Turning around, he smiles softly at Young-at-Heart, who is staring at him in confusion.
“What I mean is… let me take care of you, Young-at-Heart.”
Young stood up in surprise, eyes widening and blanket falling off him in the process. “W-what?!” He squeaked, looking at Tenderheart like the bear had grown a second head. The butterflies in his tummy multiplied exponentially at the idea of being taken care of and by Tenderheart of all bears! The very fact that his friend had even suggested it had Young-at-Heart some embarrassed that he wanted to curl up in his blankets and just disappear.
“W-hy would you- I mean, how-” Young took a deep breath and let it out- ”...you don’t have to…,” He protested weakly. Young wanted it, he really, really did. But at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to agree, to accept Tenderhearts offer wholeheartedly. The small part of him that was still terribly ashamed of his cubby desires wouldn’t let him. Tenderheart smiled softly in response, walking closer. “No, I don’t,” Tenderheart began, making Young’s shoulders slump slightly in disappointment," But I want to.” Young perked, ears waggling a little, much to Tenderheart’s amusement.
“You're my friend, Young-at-Heart. I want you to feel comfortable around me, to know that I accept you as you are, cubby stuff and all. So please, let me help you?” Tenderheart stopped next to Young, looking at him with nothing but kindness and acceptance in his eyes. He was so earnest in wanting to help Young feel safe, feel comfortable and loved. How could he say no?
“...Okay,” Young said softly, bringing his paws together to rub them nervously and looking away. Tenderheart beamed and bumped his elbow against Young’s in lieu of a hug. “Wonderful! Thank you for trusting me with this, Young-at-Heart.” Young nodded shyly, still unable to fully look at Tenderheart as his friend leaned down to set down his supplies. After a moment, he heard Tenderheart call out to him again.
“There! Lie down here for me, okay Young?”
Confused, Young looked back to Tenderheart to see he had set up a changing mat on the floor, placing a fresh diaper and a bottle of powder beside it. The bear’s face was practically burning as he looked between the mat and Tenderheart’s patient expression. He had seen the bear grab that stuff, of course, but he hadn’t thought he would…
“B-but I’m already…” Young began to speak, only to be gently shushed by Tenderheart. “I know, little bear-” Oh that was so not fair. Young covered his face.- “but I wanted to show you I’m okay with all of this stuff. I figured we could start here.” Gently, Tenderheart reached out and grabbed Young-at-Heart’s paw, guiding him down to the mat and laying him down. Young covered his face with a free paw the whole time.
“Besides,” Tenderheart continued with a teasing tone, “ it looks to me like you could use some help with those tapes anyways~” Tenderheart emphasized the point by reaching down and tugging lightly at the poorly applied tapes on Young’s diapers, making the bear let out an embarrassed whine.
With a caring smile, Tenderheart placed a paw on Young’s tummy, right on top of his belly badge, and began to rub it softly. “Just relax, okay Young? Let me take care of everything.” Positively melting from Tenderheart’s affection and feeling his heart hammering in his chest, Young nodded. He kept his paws firmly on his face, unable to look his friend in the eyes out of sheer embarrassment.
Tenderheart began to hum to himself as he reached for the tapes on Young-at-Heart’s diaper. In one swift motion, he ripped them off, unfolding Young’s poofy padding. The bear could hardly believe this was happening. His friend was changing his diapers like he was a real cub. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine the day would go this way when he’d planned on padding up for the first time. Yet here he was, laying on a changing mat and waiting for Tenderheart to diaper him up like a baby, listening to the bear hum a nursery rhyme and feeling cubbier by the second.
“Can you raise up for me, buddy?” Tenderheart said sweetly, patting the side of Young’s bottom, right on his heart mark. Young whined lightly but complied, allowing Tenderheart to slip the previous diaper out from under the bear and quickly replace it with a new one. “Thank you, little bear~” Tenderheart booped Young’s nose, making the bear squeak.
“And now for the powder, so we can have your tushie smelling as sweet as you!~” With a teasing tone, Tenderheart grabbed the baby powder, unaware of just how much he was pushing Young’s buttons. The bear applied a liberal amount of the sweet smelling powder all over Young’s lower half, making sure to cover every inch of his diaper area. Once that was done, he lifted up the front of the padding and gently taped it up.
“Roll over.” Young complied to Tenderheart’s request, moving on to his side and allowing the bear to thread his tail through the hole on the back of the diaper, adjusting the fit. And lastly, to finish up, grabbed a pair of cute green booties and plopped Young’s feet paws into them. “There! All done.” Tenderheart reached down to help Young up, pulling his friend onto his feet. The purple bear was blushing furiously. He wrung his paws and shuffled around, seeming to test the feel of the padding and curling his feet in his new booties.
“How’s it feel? Not too tight?,” Tenderheart asked. Young shook his head. “N-no, it’s, uh, fine. Better than mine at least…” Young muttered, chuckling to himself. They were more than fine. They were great! Soft and cozy and the powder smelled so sweet too. Though he was still horribly embarrassed about being changed by his friend, Young-at-Heart was feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
He looked up from his diapers. “Thank you, Tenderheart. For doing this. Y-you really didn’t have to…,” He said, smiling shyly.
Tenderheart returned the smile, placing a paw on Young’s shoulder. “Like I said, Young-at-Heart. I wantedto.” He raised his hand to ruffle Young’s hair once again, earning him an adorable giggle from the overgrown cub. “Now come on. We gotta head downstairs.”
Young titled his head, looking curiously at Tenderheart. Downstairs? Why did they need to go there? Seeing his expression, Tenderheart smiled and raised one of the supplies he’d grabbed from the pile, making Young’s eyes go wide and his blush double at the sight of the baby bottle in his paw.
“For your bottle, of course~” The bear said teasingly. He took hold of Young’s paw and led him down the stairs with a waddling gait.
In a few short minutes, Young-at-Heart found himself lying across Tenderheart’s lap on the living room couch. The sun had gone down some time ago, so it was only the desk lamp illuminating the somewhat barren room. Tenderheart, who had filled the bottle with milk and warmed it up, was now checking to make sure the temperature was alright, all the while balancing Young on his lap like the big baby cub he was.
“A-are you sure about this, Tenderheart? It’s not, uh, this isn’t too much?” Despite having just been changed by Tenderheart, Young still found himself putting up a token protest. Maybe it was a way to justify the embarrassment or to place the blame on Tenderheart for treating him like a big baby and not on himself for wanting to be treated as one. Regardless of his words or embarrassment though, it was clear Young-at-Heart was loving every moment of it.
Tenderheart huffed, smiling over at Young and booping him once again, earning him another little squeak. “I told you already, Young. I really don’t mind. Now, open wide for your baba, baby bear.” Done checking the temperature, Tenderheart lifted the bottle up to Young’s muzzle. The bear blushed brightly at the infantile term. He glanced between the bottle and Tenderheart in apprehension, still feeling just a little hesitant to just let go.
Seeing Tenderheart’s eyes though, full of kindness and love for his friend… Young-at-Heart took a breath, let it out, and opened his mouth. In a moment, he felt the nipple of the baby bottle enter his mouth and promptly began to suckle.
All at once, delicious warm milk flooded his mouth. It felt as if it was flooding through his whole body as a warm, fuzzy feeling began to spread throughout him. He fully relaxed, allowing his paws to rest on his tummy as he let Tenderheart take care of everything. Young snuggled up against his friend, feeling completely and utterly safe and cared for in his arms, all his worries slowly slipping away.
Tenderheart watched with a fond smile as Young-at-Heart finally allowed himself to relax and embrace himself. The big baby bear had gone completely limp in his arms and was now steadily nursing from the bottle with a shy smile. Bouncing his knee lightly, Tenderheart began to hum a gentle nursery rhyme as he gently rocked Young-at-Heart.
As he looked down at his perfectly content friend, Tenderheart couldn’t help but think of how he was when they first met. Distant, abrasive, slow to trust. The Young-at-Heart of back then would have never in a million years let Tenderheart do anything like this. But now? Tenderheart let out a soft giggle as Young nuzzled his face into his belly, eyes closing softly as he grew closer to dreamland.
Tenderheart was proud of how far his friend had come. And even though they may not have had their usual Bake and Meet, he wouldn’t trade this moment for the world.
