[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme slowed down just a little when she heard Muroki complain. "They will like you! I know they will!" She called behind her. "Now come on!" She bolted towards her parents, not really waiting for Muroki.

---

Moto was walking with his wife towards the den where he knew Lina and Umeme lived. He learned about all the latest troubles, and was rather anxious to check on his two daughters. It was a long time since he had last seen them, and was rather surprised to hear someone to call out for them.

Looking around, Moto saw a lioness running towards him, with another lion trailing behind her. He smiled when he recognized the lioness as non other but Umeme. "Umeme!" He called out, and gratefully shared a reunion nuzzle with her when Umeme got to him.

Umeme smiled as she ran over to her parents, giving both of them a nuzzle. "Hey mom, hey dad," she said, "what are you two doing here? You don't normally go here." Behind her, she was able to just barely see Muroki half heartedly approaching them, and wished that he wouldn't be so nervous. "It's great to see you two again," she told her parents, "I really missed you."

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili who was with her mate Moto heading to check on their daughters also heard someone calling for them, and the voice sounded rather familiar. Looking in that direction about the same time as Moto did, she saw that it was their daughter Umeme, as if with perfect timing. "Umeme!" she said, smiling and returning her daughter's nuzzle. "We're so happy to see you too, we came because we heard of all the trouble that's been going on lately... Is your sister alright?" she smiled once more when she saw Umeme nod. Just then, she remembered the way Umeme slightly looked behind her and she noticed Muroki who was still some distance away. She didn't recognize him as a lion from the pride, and therefor had no idea who he was.

Muroki followed Umeme, his pace only becoming slower and slower the closer he was getting to Umeme and her parents. The worst and probably most exaggerated possibilities were now going through his head; like having Umeme's parents completely dislike him and disapproving him from ever seeing her again, or something which included the entire planet blowing up. He couldn't delay the inevitable forever though, and after a few more moments he was standing face to face with his parents-in-law. "Uh... Hello..." he was finding it even harder to speak than the time when he first met Umeme.

Fadhili looked at the lion in front of her, who she had never seen before in her life and who was looking rather nervous. She was about to ask him to introduce himself, but before she could even ask the lion looked down at his own paw with apprehension. Instead, Fadhili looked at her daughter, who seemed like she knew this lion. "Umeme, mind introducing your friend to us?" she asked, wondering who Muroki was and whether he really was just her friend, as it wasn't very common to see two grown lions of the opposite gender who were just friends simply 'hanging around'.

[DGFone]

Umeme took a deep breath. "Mom, dad, this is Muroki," she said, "and well, he's a bit more than just a friend..." Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw that Muroki was looking extremely nervous. Gently, she pressed one of her paws against his. "Come on, get a grip on yourself." she whispered. She looked at her parents again. "Mom, dad, we've known each other for a long time now," she explained, "and we decided to become mates."

Moto's eyes widened in surprise, and he briefly looked over at Fadhili to see her reaction before settling back on Muroki and Umeme. "Mates?" He repeated. This was the last thing he expected to hear from one of his daughters the moment he met her again. He looked over Muroki. The younger lion looked well enough, and apart from the clear nervousness, Moto didn't see anything that caused him to doubt Muroki. "Are you really sure?" He asked his daughter.

Umeme nodded. "Dad, I trust him," she said, "and I think you should to."

Moto smiled a little. "I didn't say I doubted him, darling." He looked at Muroki again. "Well... Muroki... seeing as Umeme clearly likes you, and I know that she won't rush such decisions..." He hesitated, and then his smile broadened. "Welcome to the family."

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili was kind of speechless when Umeme said that the lion in front of them was their mate. It took her a few moments for what she heard to fully sink in, and when Moto welcomed Muroki into the family she smiled. "Oh this is just wonderful!" she said, walking over to her daughter and pulling her into a tight hug, "And to think that we were only gone for a few months!" next to Umeme Muroki was looking far less nervous after what Moto said, but he naturally still had some apprehension in him. Walking over to her son-in-law with an ever bigger smile, Fadhili gripped one of Muroki's paws in her own paws and began shaking it up and down in a welcoming manner, yet she was so excited that she might have gave Muroki the feeling that his leg might come off. "I'm am more than happy to welcome you into our family!"

The greatest relief in Muroki's entire life was probably the moment when Umeme's father welcomed him into their family, thus eliminating all of Muroki's anxieties about this meeting. Umeme's mother seemed ten times as pleased with this and, before he could gather himself enough to politely thank Umeme's father, she was already done hugging her daughter and was right next to him shaking one of his paws rather quickly. He couldn't help but feel happy at how happy his mother-in-law was about this. "Thank you ma'am, really... It means a lot to have your acceptance..." he looked at Umeme's father, who he naturally was the most apprehensive to meet. "Yours too sir..." Fadhili then was finally done shaking his paw and was back next to her daughter hugging her once more.

[DGFone]

Moto just shrugged when Muroki thanked him. "Thank Umeme. I don't really know you yet, do I? But I trust her, and though her, I guess that I can trust you." He let Muroki's paw drop back to the ground so that the lion can return to Umeme's side, which Muroki did right away.

Umeme quickly nuzzled her parent. "Thank you. This means so much to me, for you to accept him," she told them. She backed away just in time for Muroki to start hugging her again.

Moto let out a small chuckle when Muroki hugged Lina. The older lion leaned a little towards Fadhili. "Looks like our Umeme really did find the one for her," he whispered, "I have to say, this is much more than I expected out of our visit." He then straightened himself up. "What do you all think of finding Lina?" He asked. Moto then moved close to Umeme again. "How is Lina, by the way? Where can we find her?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili smiled in her mate's direction, looking at her daughter and son-in-law in the corner of her eye. "I told you she will." she whispered back, happy to know that Umeme really did find the one for her and that they were both appearing to love each other very much. With all the excitement at what she just found out she almost forgot about Lina, but was quickly reminded when Moto asked about looking for her.

Muroki was still experiencing that one feel of huge relief at the fact that Umeme's parents accepted him. He hugged Umeme as she returned to his side, feeling happier than ever before. The way he knew Lina and Delano, who could hardly move away from each other, they were probably both still by the waterhole where he and Umeme last saw them. "We last saw her a few minutes ago. If she's not where she was then she will most likely be at the den." he said, knowing that the bigger chance of finding Lina was by the waterhole. "We can take you to her." by 'we', he was referring to him and Umeme. He was really delighted at the fact that she was his mate now.

[DGFone]

Umeme giggled. "Then let's go!" She knew that Lina would love to meet their parents again. Together, the four of them began walking back to the waterhole, with Umeme and Muroki leading the way. As they walked, they talked with each other, catching up on each other's lives.

"So what made you two decided to come and visit us?" Umeme asked. "Normally you wait until after the first rains to visit." She also wanted Muroki to comfortably adjust to her parents, and while he did seem much less nervous than before, Umeme still wanted him to just watch and listen for now.

They neared the waterhole, and Umeme smiled, moving forwards a bit faster. "Come on, they might be here!"

Moto frowned. "They?" He asked. "Who's this they? Did Lina also find someone?"

Umeme paused, realizing what she blurted out. "Oh, yeah, she did," she finally answered, "the two of them should be together around here somewhere."

---

Delano heard talking coming in from afar, and even though he didn't really want to, he looked up and saw Muroki and Umeme walking towards the waterhole... with two other lions he couldn't recognize. His curiosity wanted to know who the two strangers were, but he didn't feel like explaining why he left Lina for today yet, so Delano quietly got up and slipped into the grass, where he won't be found.

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili smiled at her daughter when she asked why did they come and visit all of a sudden. "Well, we heard of all the trouble that went on and we wanted to make sure that you and your sister were alright." she couldn't help herself from becoming even more excited as Umeme accidentally blurted out that Lina had also found someone, and of course that she was already eager to meet him too. Not seeing Delano on the way because he simply hid himself elsewhere, they carried on walking until they arrived at the waterhole.

Lina was there, busy gently playing with some flowers with her paws while humming something to herself. It was obvious that she was deep in her own thoughts, but she didn't seem to be upset in any way. Still, Muroki was surprised to not find Delano there with her. Fadhili rushed over to her and by the time Lina finally realized somebody was there her mother had already taken hold of her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Lina! I'm so happy to see you!" Lina was in too much of a shock in seeing her parents all of a sudden that she couldn't say a word.

[DGFone]

Moto rushed over with his mate to Lina, and hugged her tightly as soon as Fadhili was done. "It's good to see you again, Lina," he said, smiling, "we already met up with your sister, and now with you. How have you been?" He again brought Lina into a deep hug.

Umeme gladly took the opportunity of Moto and Fadhili rushing towards Lina to sit back and chat with Muroki. "So what do you think of them?" She asked, smiling. "They weren't too bad? Right?" She nuzzled him, breathing in his scent. "There's no reason to be nervous. Try to warm up to mom and dad. Then they will in turn warm up to you."

She gave Muroki a quick but firm hug before moving over to Lina. "Hey, where's Delano?" She asked her sister. "Wasn't he with you?" She looked around, hoping to spot Muroki's brother, but didn't see him.

Moto allowed Lina some freedom by sitting back next to Fadhili, but was also just as interested as his mate about Lina's love. "Well, seeing as he isn't here right now, can you tell us about him?" He suggested. "Umeme already told us how she and Morocky are going to be mates," he said, not realizing that he mispronounced Muroki's name, "how is it with you?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but smile, especially when Umeme nuzzled him. He couldn't help enjoying the warmth they shared through their fur whenever they came in contact. "I never said they will be bad..." he admitted sheepishly, "I was just worried that they might not like me..." he wouldn't have been able to bear having Umeme's parents disapprove of them being together, but luckily that didn't happen. Instead of thinking about that, he followed Umeme over to where the others were.

Lina finally regained her ability to speak, but only after her father finally let her go and actually allowed her to get some air. "Well, Delano was here, but he-" she started, quickly improvising something. "-went on a run around the borders..." she didn't want to worry everybody by telling them of what truly happen, there was no reason to upset anyone. She then noticed that he mispronounced his new son-in-law's name, which caused Muroki who was behind him to blankly blink a few times. "Muroki dad... That's his name..." Lina said, chuckling.

Her father will probably need some more time to get used to the whole fact that one of his daughters had a mate now, unlike her mother who seemed absolutely delighted. "Well, as for me and Delano... We're not mates yet..." it made sense since Muroki and Umeme had spent much more time together compared to her and Delano. Also Lina, like Delano, was not feeling ready for that yet. Maybe Delano going on his own will give them both some time to think things over and calm down.