[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

It took all of Umeme's effort not to grin as Muroki left the den, trying not to make much noise as he did so. Not knowing how much time he would actually spend near the area, she remained inside for what felt like forever, waiting just a bit longer to make sure that he was truly gone before she would make her move. The last thing she needed was to stumble across him.

Nearly going mad from waiting, eventually she couldn't take it anymore and took her time getting up, stretching her tense muscles. Cautiously exiting the den, Umeme was relieved to not see Muroki in the area, and just to make sure, as stealthily as she could, she ran off from the area.

Taking a rather circular route to Hatari's waterhole, Umeme didn't really know what exactly she wanted to find out from the lion. But she also knew that she needed answers, and so she kept going forwards until she came to the now familiar waterhole. Taking in a breath, she scanned the area for Hatari, but didn't see him. Did he flee? There was only one way to find out.

Speaking loudly, Umeme hoped that there would only be one lion to hear her. "Hatari, if you can hear me, come out! I need to talk to you." At the back of her mind, she felt like she was making a big mistake that she might not even live to regret, but at the same time, she needed to know what was going on. Plus, she saw how Hatari had reacted yesterday. A member of the underworld or not, his eyes betrayed his sincerity when he said that he didn't hurt others anymore. Unless she was imagining things, Umeme hoped that this sincerity was real, and that it will keep her safe.

---

Where did Lina find all this energy from all of the sudden? Delano was still blinking away his shock at how quickly she had left the den when he noticed that he was alone, and still sitting on the ground. "Lina, wait up!" Groaning at having to run this early in the morning, he chased after her. Clearly she was quite eager to tell the news.

And for that matter, so was he. Delano wanted to tell Muroki how he had succeeded, but he was certainly not quite as eager as Lina was. As he strained himself to keep up with her, he told himself that while he will need to run more with Muroki, Lina would have to stay behind.

[TheWhistlerify]

Because he was still sore from falling off that tree, Hatari ended up spending the night inside his den. Even though it could get pretty cold outside in the middle of the night, especially when sleeping up high on a branch, Hatari always preferred to play it safe. He was already awake, having not been able to get that much sleep to begin with because of yesterday's events. He'd pretty much lost the only 2 friends he's ever had, and what made him feel even worse about it was the knowledge that he didn't deserve to have even one friend.

His ears perked up when he heard Umeme call to him from outside the den. What was she doing there? He'd expected somebody else to come for him so that the pride could trial him for his actions, but he definitely hadn't expected Umeme to come back. Perhaps Umeme had led the guards to him? Yes, that was probably the case. Hatari became anxious at the thought of Muroki being there as well. He knew he just wouldn't be able to stand there and see the first lion who has ever been kind to him look at him with hatred.

The lion slowly got up, earning himself a few protests from his back, and walked outside. He was naturally surprised to see that Umeme was there on her own. Hasn't she told anybody about him? And more importantly, if so, why was she taking such a huge risk by coming back to him alone? "Umeme? Why are you back here on your own?" he asked in a tone of honest curiosity, standing at the entrance of the den and keeping his distance from her. He hoped that the fact that he was noticeably limping slightly would be enough to make her not worry about the possibility of him attacking her.

---------------

Muroki silently walked in the direction of the den belonging to his parents-in-law, enjoying the quiet and the fresh morning air. These moments often reminded him of just how happy he was that the whole matter with the underworld was already behind him. He slowly walked up a hill, which was why he could not see Lina and Delano, who were running in his direction, until all three of them arrived at the top.

Letting out a yelp of surprise, he jumped aside right in time before Lina would have otherwise ran directly into him. Delano, who appeared to have strayed behind a little, saw him soon enough in order to stop before anything unpleasant happened. "Sheesh, you two!" he said, chuckling. "What gives?" From the look of excitement on Lina's face he pretty much knew the answer, but he figured he might as well give her the pleasure of breaking the news to him.

"We're married!" exclaimed the lioness, unable to stop herself from getting straight to the point as she gave her brother-in-law a thank-you-for-encouraging-him hug.

"Good grief, she hugs like her mother!" thought Muroki as he found himself having a little trouble breathing. Some things ran in the family, he figured. When Lina let him go he looked at his brother with a smile. "Told you there was nothing to worry about." he said. "Congratulations, both of you."

"I have to tell Umeme!" said Lina with excitement. "Where is she??"

"Well, she was still sleeping in our den when I left, but-" before Muroki could finish his sentence Lina bolted off, leaving him and his brother behind.

[DGFone]

Umeme did notice the slight limp that Hatari walked over to the entrance of the den with, but she couldn't come to feel sorry for the lion. Not yet. "I came here alone," she said, "because I need to know who exactly you are. Did Muroki and I make a mistake in considering you as a friend? Because after yesterday, I really had my doubts. To think..." She started to feel anger rising up in her, created by a feeling of betrayal as she was voicing out exactly what a lion she considered as a friend had done. "...To think what you tried to do to Lina! I care for her, you know. More than about you. So I came here to give you one final chance to redeem yourself. Yesterday you said you don't hurt others anymore. Is that true? Or was it just to cover your hide?"

In her anger, she didn't even notice that her claws came out, ready to tear into Hatari. Out of defense? Or anger? Umeme glared at the lion, feeling quite pleased to see a spark of fear in his eyes. "You better start talknig right now, and tell me everything!"

---

Delano slowed to a stop when they almost ran into Muroki, grateful for the respite. He sure felt out of shape after having to chase Lina, and could only stand there and try to regain his breath without laughing when Lina gave a death hug to Muroki. And yet he was afraid of her mother... And there she goes off sprinting again.

He did not even try to keep up with her this time. "She can run off," he told Muroki, "I'll catch up later." His breathing was slowly returning to normal, but it did not mean that he was eager to run off again. "So yeah, I did propose to her last night," he said, "almost got scared off again, but I did it."

He chuckled a little. "I don't know how you did it with Umeme, but for me, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life... But I'm glad I did." He smiled, remembering the events. He spoke again, very dreamily. "You should have seen her face... she was so happy. It was almost like she was beginning to lose hope in me, and I proved her wrong."

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari found himself slightly confused at first. Hasn't Umeme told Muroki about him yet? Surely Muroki wouldn't have wanted her to come back to him, especially on her own. So did that mean that he didn't know yet? His train of thought was interrupted when he noticed the rage in Umeme's body language (not to mentioned the unsheathed claws). He had no intention of attacking her, even in self defense, something which placed him in a rather troublesome situation.

"I wasn't lying." he said, sitting down where he was. "I don't do these things anymore." He could tell that she didn't believe him, but it wasn't like he had any practical way to prove himself. That is, until he suddenly thought about yesterday. "Yesterday." he blurted out all of a sudden, causing the lioness in front of him to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "I could barely move after falling off the tree. If I'd allowed Lina to fall she would have been in the same position, leaving only you and me..."

He shook his head as he realized that these calculations were something he couldn't prevent his mind from doing anymore. With a sigh he lay down, looking up at the lioness. "When Muroki found me I was up at my usual spot. He simply wondered into the area without seeing me. I was the one who saw him first." he paused for a short moment. "Just think that I could have simply leaped onto his back from where I was and pin him down if I wanted to. It would have been over right then and there."

"I've taken lives.." he continued, ignoring the horrified look Umeme was giving him in light of his recap of first meeting her mate, his voice becoming a little unstable as he stared down at the ground in front of him. "Then I got worse. I got clever..." he shook his head again, "I even manipulated another into taking his own..." He brought a paw to his forehead as he felt himself begin to choke up. "It would have been better if they'd executed me instead of exiling me after what I'd tried to do to Lina..."

Another silence followed and eventually Hatari spoke again, sounding like he had managed to calm himself down a little. "It all just disappears when we die, doesn't it?" he looked up at Umeme again. "Everything we are, everything we could ever be, gone, in a moment, like... Like a tiny little flame caught out in the rain..." he could once again feel himself getting choked up. "Muroki, the happy future that awaits the two of you... It can all be taken away from you in an instant by some idiot who thinks he can go around doing whatever he likes!" All of a sudden he felt completely enraged and, in his frenzy, rose to his paws and punched the tree behind him, actually making a hole in its bunk. He then plopped himself back onto the ground and broke into tears.

"I'm sorry..." he said, weeping. "I'm so sorry..."

---------------

Muroki couldn't help but chuckle as Lina sprinted off. "I hope Umeme's either not enjoying her sleep too much or that she's already awake..." he said jokingly, beginning to walk after Lina with his brother. It's not like the two of them had any reason to rush themselves by running after her. "I'm glad you managed to gather up the courage." Since they both loved each other so much, there really hadn't been any reason to postpone the proposal any further. "I don't remember exactly what I felt right before proposing to Umeme, but... You could say I was more determined than worried."

Meanwhile Lina arrived at her sister's new den, and was surprised to not see here anywhere. Muroki had said that she was still asleep (last time he'd checked) and considering the location where she and Delano came across him, not that much time could have passed since he'd left the den. For a moment Lina became worried that Umeme has gone back to where Hatari was, but she immediately dismissed the thought. Surely Umeme wouldn't do something as dangerous as that without at least telling her first.

[DGFone]

Hatari's outburst left Umeme stunned. She could clearly see now that the lion did regret his actions, but she still wasn't sure about how to feel about it. When he collapsed on the ground crying, she didn't know whether to go over and comfort him, or to run away and try to forget about him. In her indecision, she remained rotted to the spot.

The longer she remained there, the more she felt like she had to say something. "Hatari..." he looked up at her suddenly when she spoke. "I want to believe that you became a better lion, and I can even see that you are. But after what you tried to do to Lina? I don't know if she'll be able to forgive you."

There was another piece of information that Umeme had found out about only yesterday that she felt needed telling. "And even Muroki... Hatari, you... you killed his parents. I won't be able to keep that information from him forever, and I don't know how he will react when he does." She looked around nervously. "I guess what I am saying is that I don't know if we can remain as friends. I wish we could, but I just don't know..."

---

No matter how much he wanted to sit down and relax, Delano couldn't just remain out here in the middle of nowhere, so with Muroki in tow, they followed her tracks to the new den. They came there to find Lina alone without Umeme. "Guess Umeme had left somewhere," Delano said, and ran the rest of the way to Lina. "No one home? She might be out hunting or something you know. Guess you'll have to wait to spread the news."

He grinned and lay down on the ground and grinned at her. "And after this chase you forced me into, I would really like to relax, so how about you join me?" He wondered if Muroki would like to stay with them, or go of in search of Umeme instead. Not knowing that anything was wrong, Delano didn't even think that something could have happened that might cause Umeme to disappear for a long time.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari couldn't help a small smile from appearing on his face as Umeme said that she could see that he's become a better lion, even if she did sound like she still had her doubts. "I appreciate it... Like... a lot..." he couldn't help but sigh when Umeme mentioned what he'd tried to do to Lina. "I seriously don't think anybody I've hurt will ever forgive me... I wouldn't blame her if she doesn't... In all honesty, I doubt even I will ever forgive myself..."

But that was when Umeme spilled the small piece of information that changed his entire composure. "I-" he looked up at her, an expression of shock on his face. "What?" He stared at her for another moment before looking down at the ground again. Why Muroki out of all the lions out there? "No... But... How could you know something like that?" he asked all of a sudden in a somewhat hopeful tone. How could Umeme know that he specifically was involved in that specific case? Maybe she was mistaken?

And yet, as he saw the way she looked at him, he knew that she was quite confident in what she was saying. "I... I just... don't believe this..." He was silent for what seemed like eternity. "Are you sure about this?" when she nodded he felt like his entire world has been shattered to pieces. "Why? Why him? He was the first lion that has been kind to me in a long time, you know..." he said, feeling all choked up again. "I know you probably don't trust everything I say, but... He's the kindest lion I've ever met..."

Letting out a sigh, the lion stood up and slowly limped over to the waterhole, staring at his reflection. "I really appreciate that you wish we could remain friends... It means the whole world to me, I don't deserve a friend like you or Muroki... I also know that, seeing how I'm not going anywhere, he has every right to know who I am." He was silent for a short moment. "I don't think I'll be able to handle seeing him look at me the way you just did a few moments ago, but... I deserve it."

"Whatever happens, I'll accept it... If he'd like to turn me in to face trial, for example, then so be it..." He closed his eyes and slowly lay down by the waterhole, trying to fight back the tears.

---------------

Muroki looked around the den, also a little surprised not to see Umeme there. He hoped she wasn't worried or anything. "Well that would explain why she's not here." he said with a chuckle, looking at his brother.

Lina seemed a little disappointed at being forced to wait to tell her sister the good news, but she knew it couldn't be helped. Reluctantly, she went ahead and lay down next next to Delano, hoping that her sister would return soon.

"I'm really glad she likes the den." continued Muroki, scanning the cave with a smile. "It's big enough for us to have you visit and it's not too crowded by other dens..."

The lion was about to say something else when a noise from outside the den caught his attention. It appeared that somebody was approaching the entrance. Thinking that it was Umeme, he walked towards the mouth of home, and was more than surprised to see Kato, the king's son. "Hiya!" exclaimed the teen lion with a smile. The odd thing was that it seemed like the young male had intentionally come there. Muroki's first thought was that maybe the prince had lost his way, but it certainly didn't look like it.

[DGFone]

Umeme felt bad when she informed Hatari this latest bit of information. It was as though the world itself could never run out of more bad news to throw at everyone. "Listen, Muroki might hate you, or he might not," she said, "he can listen to reason and will understand that you regret what you did. There just might be a chance that he will put it all behind him and start anew."

Hatari remained motionless next to the waterhole, not moving much. Umeme thought to talk some more, but she knew that the others would start to wonder where she is, as well as the fact that it will take time for her to come back. "I will need to leave now. I will talk to Muroki and Lina, and I will tell them about you... that you really do wish that you had never done all of that. They might accept you as a friend, they might not, but I will try."

She got up and walked away, stopping only to add, "but I know both of them really well. Neither of them are the type to hold a grudge. Not even one like this one." She would know. After all, she herself was here ready to forgive the lion who brought so much misery to her family. She knew in her heart that they would too. "I'll see you soon."

With a hesitant glance back at Hatari, she saw that he was now looking up at her, and she gave a small reassuring smile before running off back home.

----

Delano recognized that voice even from within the cave. He groaned slightly. "Oh no, it's the king's son," he muttered to Lina, "What's he doing here?" He knew that Muroki was quite pleased at having talked to royalty, but he himself would not have minded to forget about the whole thing and write if off as a one-off incident. With Muroki and Kato just outside the den, it didn't look like that was happening.

With a disappointing sigh, Delano glanced at Lina. "Guess we need to go out there and say hi too. Don't want to anger the king or anything." He wasn't sure how much the king knew about the entire fiasco and getting shoved in a dark hole, but Delano had a few suspicions that perhaps Kato wasn't here out of his own free will. Did the king send his son over to spy on them? Delano hoped not. Still, it would be rude to let his fears dictate how he acted next to Kato.

So he got up and exited the den to get acquainted with the king's son.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari had a hard time believing what he was hearing. Not the part where Umeme said she believed that Lina and Muroki might agree to forgive him and put it all behind them, but the part where she was actually forgiving him and even offering to make an effort in order for Muroki and Lina to do the same. He'd never thought anybody would do anything for him, let alone something like that! "I... I don't know what to say..." he said quietly, looking up at her. "Thank you..." Nevertheless, he was going to have to confront Muroki (quite soon, by the looks of it). Whatever the outcome would be, the conversation itself wasn't going to be very pleasant.

---------------

Lina raised an eyebrow in confusion when Delano mentioned that the unfamiliar voice from outside belonged to the king's son. "Really?" she blinked a few times, finding it odd that the prince was there. She was even more confused about Delano's tone and his choice of words. "What's the problem?" she asked, unable to figure out what could possibly get Delano to become upset by something like that. When he mentioned not wanting to anger the king she couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't overreact..."

When she followed him outside she saw that Muroki and the younger lion were already in the middle of a conversation. "What brings you to my..." Muroki turned around, not sure of what exactly to call his den. "humble home? he asked, still finding it a little weird to believe that he actually had a home of his own now.

"I was wondering if-"

"Desta's busy, isn't she?" asked Muroki, unable to help himself from grinning. Kato looked like a lion who wouldn't mind a little joke or a tease. "That is her name, right?"

"What? No!" said the prince in a defensive tone, not noticing his cheeks becoming red. Lina couldn't help but chuckle. The way the two of them were interacting with one another was rather cute, and even though she knew it wasn't true it almost looked like they've met more than just once before.

"If you say so..."

"Your aunt told me that you and your brother used to live far away from here!" said Kato, looking somewhat excited.

"Yes, we did." said Muroki with a soft smile. Something about the prince's enthusiasm reminded him of himself when he was his age (and younger). "Just the two of us and our parents."

"Can you tell me what it was like?" asked the prince, looking as if he genuinely meant his question. There was this sort of cubbish curiosity in his words. Muroki, finding the question rather odd, looked around at his brother for help. He didn't know what exactly could Kato mean by that, but maybe Delano would.

[DGFone]

Unknown to Umeme, but she wasn't the only one to pay Hatari a visit. She had left so that she can quickly hunt something down and either come back with a kill, or a story of a failed hunt, but at least so that she can say that she did something else without entirely lying to Muroki and the others.

This other lion was one that Hatari knew all to well. He saw Hatari lying down on the bank of the waterhole, somewhat amused to see that Hatari did not look to be in top shape. "Well, we meet again," he greeted, "I must say you found quite the home for yourself. Tell me, are you up for one more job?"

---

Taking a place near Muroki, Delano found it very un-amusing that the first thing Kato wanted to talk about was their life growing up with their parents.Be nice. He told himself that Kato was simply curious, and stopped himself from storming back inside the den. That isn't to say that he felt very glad when Muroki placed all the attention on him by having him be the one to answer this cub's question.

"It... was alright," he finally said, "not to different than living here. Except that we didn't have a king or any of that sort." Having said at least something, Delano now looked at Muroki to tell him that it was his turn to elaborate.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari looked at Umeme as the lioness took off, still quite amazed at the fact that she was willing to do all of that for him after everything he's done. He knew that he did not deserve it but maybe, just maybe, things would work out in the end. For some time after Umeme had left Hatari just lay there by the waterhole, deep in his own thoughts. The lion snapped back into reality when an all too familiar voice reached his ears. He looked in the direction of the speaker and wasn't too surprised to discover that the voice belonged to who he suspected it belonged to.

"Sanders..." said Hatari quietly, his voice somewhere between normal to a growl. He had always thought (and hoped) that he would never see the former leader of the underworld again now that it no longer existed. As was absolutely typical of him, he wasn't alone and had 2 other lions with him, and since Hatari's back was still quite sore simply telling Sanders to get lost wasn't an option. But then an idea came to him. It might no necessarily earn him anybody's forgiveness, but he could try to act as if he was on Sanders's side in order to help bring him to justice. "And what would that one more job be?" he asked, expressing a certain amount of interest in his tone.

****

"Wow, really?" asked Kato, looking surprisingly even more curious after what Delano had said.

"Um, yeah... said Muroki, looking quite confused that the young prince was finding the whole 'no king' part so appealing. "Just us and our folks..."

"Cool..."

"Why do you ask?" asked Muroki, unable to help his curiousity.

"Oh, I was just wondering..." replied the prince, staring down at the ground all of a sudden. By the looks of it, something was bothering the young lion.

"Is something wrong?" It was probably none of his concerns but, being himself, Muroki couldn't help but ask. Maybe he could help somehow.

"It's just..." Kato sighed. "I dunno... I don't think I'm going to be good enough to take over from my father when the time comes..."

"Is that it?" asked Muroki, getting a silent nod in response. "Oh come on... You can't know that..."

"But it's a lot of responsibility..."

"Have you tried talking to your father about this?"

The prince shook his head. "I don't want to disappoint him..."

"That's just silly! I used to talk to my dad about everything!"

"Really?" asked Kato, looking up at Muroki.

"Yeah!" said Muroki with a smile, looking at his brother. "Both of us did."