[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Despite knowing that both Umeme and Muroki were right there with him, Delano still nodded, feeling rather ashamed for doing so. Muroki pulled him in closer again, and he gratefully returned the gesture, crying quietly into his brother's fur. "I can't take it anymore, Muroki! I hate it!" Already, he was starting to feel himself start to lose control again. If it wasn't for the fact that Muroki was holding him tightly, Delano might have ran off again. Instead, he shook violently within Muroki's embrace, even Umeme had to help in restraining him when he did try to escape. "Let me go! Muroki, let me go!"

Soon, his shaking weakened and shortly after that, he finally stopped. Breathing hard from the energy of trying to break out, he stared at Muroki, his eyes wide with fear and shame. He backed away slowly until he hit a wall, where he cowered into a tight ball, wanting to disappear.

---

Desta grinned as she walked over to the waterhole with Kato. The way he was acting differently again was telling her that something special was coming up, but she couldn't quite figure out what. So when he told her that he had something to tell her, he breath caught in her throat.

Stopping by the water's edge, she turned to face Kato almost muzzle to muzzle. She smiled at him, trying to make him less nervous, which was something that he was making a poor effort of hiding. "What is it Kato?" she asked softly, "what do you want to tell me?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki's ears dropped flat against his head when, against his expectations, Delano nodded his head in an affirmative. He was about to try to explain to him that there was no need for him to fear, especially when he wasn't alone, when his brother actually tried to break free of his hold. Since he had to keep Delano not only from running off but also from moving too much and hurting his injured paws, Muroki had no choice but to use more force than usual. "It's okay..." he said softly, turning his tight hold into a soft embrace once Delano had calmed down.

~~~

Kato was nervous, of course, but he found reassurance in Desta's smile and tone. While it didn't get rid of his apprehension entirely, it certainly helped. Smiling greatfully at the young lioness, the prince decided to start from the beginning. "It's about what happened in the gorge..." Remembering her initial reaction to being told of the events, he knew she most likely wouldn't want the subject to be mentioned again. However he wasn't going to talk directly about that, and his guilt because of Muroki's injury was something he hasn't told her about.

"Because Muroki got hurt saving my life I'd spent a few days feeling guilty about it..." he admitted, remembering how his mood had been the reason he and Desta didn't get to hang out too much. "I kept thinking that, if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have almost died... So one day when he came to visit he asked me what was wrong, and I told him. He kept insisting that he'd helped me because he wanted to and that he would have done it again if he could..."

"That didn't change the ract that me being in the gorge got him hurt... So in order to make me see it from his perspective, Muroki asked me a question. He wanted to know if I would have done the same thing if I were in his position and... if you were in mine..." he paused, taking in a deep breath. This was he difficult part. "My answer was yes... It made me realize just how much I care about you, Desta..." The prince wrapped his forelegs around her, gently pulling her in close to him. "I love you..."

[DGFone]

Delano wanted more than anything in the world to be able to believe Muroki's words, but he simply couldn't get himself to. "It's not..." he whimpered, "how can it be okay when I can't even sleep properly anymore?" He groaned in despair. "If... if I don't get better soon, I just... I don't know what I'll do..." he said hesitantly, "...I can't say that I won't try to kill myself." Delano froze as soon as he said this, his face turning into one of pure horror. His eyes darted between Muroki and Umeme as his breathing quickened. Before they can stop him, he broke out of Muroki's embrace and ran out the den, collapsing outside from the pain in his paws.

---

Hearing Kato recall the incident at the gorge brought a frown upon Desta. Why did he come here just to tell her about it? He knew that she hated hearing about it, so what was going on? So when the prince finally said at the end what he wanted to, it took her by complete surprise, taking several moments for Desta to come to her senses.

She immediately returned the hug, squealing in delight. "Oh, Kato!" She nuzzled him again, purring in happiness. "I love you too! Thank you!" Without meaning to, she had pushed him onto his back as she continued to embrace the young lion, never in the world expecting him to share something like this with her, at least not this soon. "I love you, Kato," she repeated quietly, "more than anything in the world."

[TheWhistlerify]

The main reason Muroki and Umeme had failed in stopping Delano from running out again was because they were both absolutely shocked by what he had just said to them. Muroki hated thinking about it that way, but he was actually glad that his brother's paws were hurt to a degree that prevented him from running away, making it impossible for him to sneak off without anybody noticing. "Don't speak nonsense, Delano." Muroki said, walking over to his brother. "You've seen how Lina's starting to have a harder time coping with this. Don't do this to her."

~~~

Those few moments during which Desta stared at him with that surprised look on her face felt like forever to Kato. He definitely hadn't expected her to react that happily to his news and was taken by surprise when she squealed in delight and embraced him, sending both of them down to the ground. Regaining his senses, the young prince smiled warmly as he realized just how happy he made her, not to mention that her returning his feelings felt amazing as well.

Holding the young lioness even closer as she continued to lie there with him, Kato slowly leaned foreward and licked her forehead. "You have no idea how happy you've just made me..." he said softly, his voice a purr. "I'm the luckiest lion in the world."

[DGFone]

Clutching his paws close to his chest in pain, Delano struggled to orientate himself towards Muroki. "You can't tell me what to do!" he shouted back, trying to crawl away as fast as he could. In the back of his mind, he knew that Muroki was correct, and that he was making a big mistake. But as Muroki approached ever closer, Delano whimpered in fear as the lion got closer. "Stay back!" he shouted, trying to back away, but immobilized by his wounded paws. Unable to run away, he grew even more afraid.

When Sanders was almost on top of him, Delano swung a paw at the lion's face, claws extended. The contact sent a shockwave of pain through his foreleg, but to his relief, the lion let out a roar of pain and backed away. Breathing hard, Delano struggled to get up. When he finally got to his feet, a familiar looking lioness was next to Sanders, examining the claw marks in concern...

Delano's eyes widened in horror as he let out an anguished yell. It wasn't Sanders who he had hit, but Muroki. Turning around, he tried to run, only to trip over his wounded paws on his first step and falling over painfully. Screaming in pain, he remained where he fell.

As soon as she saw Delano hit her mate, Umeme rushed over to Muroki's side. To her relief, the cuts were superficial at worst, and wouldn't cause any lasting damage. "You're going to be fine. You won't even get any scars," she told Muroki, but her voice shook with uncertainty. "We need to help Delano... Find a way to restrain him." She doubted that Delano meant to hit Muroki, but even an accidental hit could cause serious damage, and they were lucky that Muroki got away with only the thinnest of cuts. She looked nervously at her brother in law, who lay on the ground next to them, in more pain than even Muroki.

---

Desta blushed as Kato licked her. "Then I must be the luckiest lioness in the world," she relied in turn, "I didn't expect this from you. It's really a great surprise." She allowed him to roll over onto his stomach as she lay down next to him, both of them basking in each other's presence, illuminated by the late day sun as it penetrated the cover of the trees above them.

"Did your new friends show you this place?" she asked quietly, not wanting to ruin the moment with too much noise. "It really is beautiful. Hard to find too. Do your parents even know of this place?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Realizing that his brother wasn't going to stop squirming around, Muroki knew that he had to restrain him again before he ended up doing further damage to his paws (more than he already has up until that point, that is). He definitely wasn't expecting Delano to claw at his face. The first thought that passed through his mind was that he was lucky it was his face and not his shoulder. With that wound still healing, Delano's accidental swing could have easily torn it fresh open again.

"I'm fine." he said quietly to his mate, once again walking over to his brother. This time Delano had his back turned on him (having tried to run away) so restraining him without him seeing it coming wasn't a problem. "Lie still." he said in a stern and yet caring voice, although the annoyance was slightly noticeable in it. "You'll just hurt your paws even more."

~~~

Kato smiled, looking at Desta with loving eyes. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." he said, once again feeling good that he was able to make her happy like that. He rolled onto his stomach and lay down beside her, their sides pressed against each other. "Yes, they showed it to me." As much as he'd have liked to continue to stare into Desta's eyes he took a look around, once again fascinated by how magnificent the place they were at looked. "I haven't the faintest idea." His parents were the king and the queen, yes, but he doubted they knew about every nook and hill in the kingdom.

[DGFone]

Delano lay where he fell, crying quietly. "I thought you were Sanders," he said when he heard Muroki walk over, trying to explain his attack. "I thought you were him, and..." he shuddered, for the event was very similar to many of his nightmares. If he hadn't recognized Muroki quickly after that, he might have savagely attacked his own brother out of defense, hurting both of them severely. "I didn't want him to get close!" Delano cried out, startling even himself, "I didn't know it was you!" He couldn't explain how we saw Muroki as Sanders, which scared him all the more.

He didn't move, this time listening to Muroki. Not only did his paws hut a lot again, he was too shaken up from accidently clawing Muroki to try and do anything else.

Umeme heard what Delano said, tilting her head in confusion. She gently nudged Muroki to get his attention before she set him aside where they can still see Delano, but he couldn't hear them. "Muroki, go easy on him," she said gently, giving her mate a lick where he was hit. "Lina doesn't need to see you two fighting. It'll put even more stress on her." She leaned over and nuzzled him until he started to purr in happiness. "Come one. Let's get him inside."

Even though she knew that Muroki was still likely a little angry at his brother, she would allow him to restrain Delano. Muroki probably knew how to do it better than her anyways. She stayed out of the way and let Muroki approach her brother in law, who still hadn't moved.

---

For some reason, Desta giggled at the thought of Kato not knowing if his parents were aware of such a place. "Seems like a too special of a place to just miss," she explained when the prince threw her a curious look. "But if not many don't know about it, I don't mind at all." She reached out with a paw and lay it over Kato. While she was rather content to just be here with him, there was still one last thing she wanted to know.

"So Kato, when you asked me to come here, you were really nervous..." she giggled again, "what made you ask me then? You didn't look like you really wanted to." She licked him across the cheek. If anything, she found his nervousness back in the den rather cute.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki didn't think that Delano had intentionally struck him, so there wasn't really a need for his brother to explain himself. He walked aside with Umeme, feeling rather ashamed that she ended up getting the impression that he might end up arguing with his brother. He hadn't mean for it to sound that way. "I know." he said, purring as she licked the cuts on his face and nuzzled him, feeling the little anger he did have fade away. Nodding in agreement, he walked over to Delano. "Can you walk back inside?" he asked, wondering whether it would be better for him to just carry his brother instead.

~~~

Kato smiled somewhat sheepishly when Desta licked him on the cheek. It wasn't a surprise that she'd noticed how nervous he'd been back inside his parents' den. "No, I did want to ask you... I honestly did." he said, "But like you said, I was really nervous. Do you remember that lioness who kept looking at us?" he felt his cheeks turn a little red. "She kind of dared me to not chicken out the next time I saw you..." The prince then held one of her paws between his own paws, nuzzling her as he did. "I'm glad she did, though..."

[DGFone]

Delano tried to get up, but the pain in his paws proved to much, and he collapsed back on the ground. "Just leave me here," he muttered quietly, without even looking at Muroki. "there's no point. I'm- I'm done. I can't go on anymore." He lowered his head to the ground, closing his eyes. While he felt like he wanted to die now, he was also quite frightened by the thought, and just thinking about it caused him to shiver and whimper uncontrollably.

---

Desta did remember the lioness. That explains the funny looks. "Remind me to thank her than," she said when Kato finished telling her the story. "Would you have done it? If she didn't dare you, would you have asked?" Knowing Kato, he would have found a way to back out of asking. However, Desta didn't mind knowing that. They way they hung out together was quite spontaneous, and they rarely planned on going anywhere together specifically.

But where they were now, they would need to start arranging more times to be here. With Kato's lessons and all, that might prove a problem sometimes.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki had to roll his eyes at what his brother was saying. This time he could allow himself to because Delano wasn't looking. "What did I just tell you about talking nonsense?" he asked, gently nudging his brother's muzzle with his nose. Rolling his eyes was the only thing he could do to calm himself down from the way Delano was talking. "Alright, come on." Without waiting for permission, he placed Delano on his back by picking him from the scruff of his neck.

~~~

Kato would have preferred to not admit that he wouldn't have asked Desta hadn't Umeme perssured him into it, but he would never lie to her. "I probably would have taken a longer time to ask you, but I think so. Eventually..." he chuckled sheepishly, playfully flicking his tail so that it rested on top of hers. "But the sooner the better, right?" Of course the prince enjoyed Desta's company a lot. He has ever since they were cubs. This only intensified when they started regarding each other in a romantic way, but now that he knew that they loved each other... He felt a lot closer to her.

"We should definitely come back here again soon." Kato said with a sigh of content, bringing Desta's paw over and giving it a gentle and affectionate lick. "This is so nice..."