[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

While Lina's father was grinning at Lina, true, he was also grinning at ho right next to them, Muroki and Umeme were also busy nuzzling each other, seemingly forgetting about everyone else around them. "Well, whatever happens, you know your mother and I will love to know what will happen," he said, "and Lina, do tell us if you will decide to move with him. When we heard what happened to the gorge, and Laini told us that Muroki and Umeme had moved out, we were so worried because we didn't know where to find them."

Speaking of Umeme and Muroki, Lina's mother joined her father as well, winking at him and motioning with a nod at the pair. "Yeah, I know," he whispered to her, "they really go well together." A part of him wondered if Lina and Delano would have been doing the same thing if Delano were awake, but he didn't feel like waking the lion up. Besides, perhaps it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Muroki and Umeme, just to make sure that things won't get out of hand.

[TheWhistlerify]

Despite the teasing look her father was still giving her, Lina nodded in consent. She would obviously make sure to let her parents know once she and Delano decided to move into their own den as well as inform them of the location. Now that she was thinking about it, she should probably make sure to remind Umeme to tell their parents where her and Muroki's new den was. Realizing that now was her chance to stop being the center of attention, she slowly lay down next to Delano and rested her head in his mane.

Joining her mate, Fadhili couldn't help but chuckle at the way Umeme and Muroki had forgotten that they weren't surrounded by other lions. "If it weren't for his injured shoulder I would start worrying that they were getting a little too comfortable." she said quietly, unable to help herself. "I still remember when we were like that..." she added, resting her head on her mate's shoulder. True, she and Moto were still as affectionate and intimate with each other, but watching the young couple reminded her of when they were their age.

[DGFone]

Lina's and Umeme's father laughed out loud at his mate's comment. "That's exactly what I was thinking," he muttered quietly, hoping that neither of his daughters had heard. Luckily, it seemed that they didn't. "Well, how about you say that we retire for the night somewhere close by where we can still keep an eye on them?" He grinned at his mate. "Just in case."

Not really caring if they responded, he bid both Umeme and Lina a good night before moving off with his mate to a far side of the cave where they can also go to sleep in relative comfort. Well, as long as Umeme and Muroki didn't get any funny ideas...

((now would be a good time to skip ahead))

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili also laughed a little as she discovered that her mate was thinking the exact same thing as she was. Teasing minds think alike, it seemed. If there was one thing more amusing than teasing her daughters then it was teasing her daughters when Mato joined in as well. "Sounds good to me." she said with a chuckle, bidding her daughters a good night as well before following him to another side of the den.

While Lina did hear her parents laugh she did not hear what they said to each other and didn't think much of it. Luckily. "Good night dad, good night mom." she said with a smile before returning her attention to Delano. Sighing with relief that he was finally sleeping peacefully, she placed her head down next to his and fell asleep as well.

(( You can skip to a few days ahead now ))

[DGFone]

Delano was sleeping peacefully when he felt a soft poking at his side. He groaned in annoyance and rolled to his other side, but the poking persisted. "Leave me alone," he complained, "I want to sleep..." He heard giggling coming the source of the prodding, but he really did not want to wake up. While a lot of the pain from his wounds was gone, it was largely replaced by quite the immobilizing soreness, not to mention that any activity that was above a "very easy" scale of things to do would still tend to drop him to the ground in agonizing pain. Why can't she leave him alone to rest some more?

Nope, the prodding continued. Opening his eyes in annoyance, sure enough, there was Lina staring down at him. "Lina," he grumbled, "let me sleep longer!" He closed his eyes again and placed a paw over them to make a point that he wasn't going to get up. However, she was insisting on making a point that he would.

Perhaps because Kato had walked into the den.

[TheWhistlerify]

Knowing that it was time to wake up, Lina began to nudge Delano awake. His complaining was just too funny and she couldn't help but giggle because, ironically enough, now all he wanted to do was to sleep! "You can go back to sleep later." she said with a smile, removing his paw with her nose before licking him across his muzzle. That was enough to get him to open his eyes. "Come on. We're going home today, remember?" she asked, unable to conceal her excitement.

Next to Umeme, Muroki had also woken up. It was great to know that he could get up and walk around a little on his own now, but he definitely couldn''t run yet and having sombody support him still helped a lot. "Morning..." he said, giving Umeme a lick on the cheek. Being mostly in one place was much less of a pain with her almost constantly by his side. "Ready to go back to your parents's den?" While this was like an important milestone, he really wanted to get better enough to be able to take care of himself, and then he and Umeme would be able to move back to their own den.

"Hey guys!" Muroki couldn't help but chuckle. He'd recognize Kato's voice anywhere.

"Didn't you promise your entire day to Desta?" asked Muroki, looking at the prince with a grin.

"She's not here yet, and I wanted to see you before you left." said the younger lion, walking over to Muroki and hugging him. The pale young adult happily returned the gesture. "Will you be alright?"

"Of course we will."

[DGFone]

Groaning in annoyance, Delano relented and got himself off the ground. "You know I can barely move, Lina," he said in mock hurt, "why the rush?" He knew that Lina was very excited to move back to her parent's den. After all, while it was very nice of the queen and king to allow them to remain in the royal den to recover, at the end of the day, it was not their home.

Yawning loudly, he watched as Kato hugged his brother. For some reason, Delano felt a pang of jealousy. When they had first met the prince, Muroki had gone out of his way to make Delano talk. It worked, and it even seemed to place the prince on the path of quite the friendship with Delano... and then he had to go and blow it all up in his face by losing his temper. Inside, he wondered if the prince had forgiven him for that or not. But there was no mistaking that the only lion or lioness apart from his parents that could tear Kato away from Muroki was Desta.

But on the other hand, Kasi seemed to enjoy spending time with Delano a lot more than with Muroki, so in a way that made up some of the loneliness. Perhaps it was because of how much Umeme and Muroki would just stay there and do nothing more than ogle at each other... So perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to move back. Kasi was closer.

By Muroki's side, Umeme was also quite eager to move. "Yeah, I'm ready. First the old home, then after a bit of time, back to the new one!" She really couldn't wait until she and Muroki would be able to return to their new den. After all, they only got to spend what was it? A night or two before being forcefully removed from there by outside forces. It was about time they finally made that den their home proper.

However, she knew just how close Muroki and Kato had gotten recently, so she let them talk to each other. Why hog Muroki all to herself when Kato knew that as soon as Desta would arrive, she would steal him for the rest of the day?

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki briefly looked at Umeme with a smile. "Yeah," he said excitedly, "the new one also means I'll be fully independent again." He really couldn't wait for that to happen. "Then we can finally start using it as our home!" he shot his mate a wink before turning his attention back to Kato, who had by then already ended the hug. "Anything special planned for today?" he asked, grinning at the grin.

"Not as far as I'm concerned." said the younger lion with a sheepish smile. "But who knows, perhaps Desta has any ideas..."

Muroki was about to say something else when he saw Kato briefly glance in Lina and Delano's direction. Chuckling, he nudged the prince forward. "Go on."

Lina meanwhile smiled at her mate, sensing his fake annoyance. "Not everything needs an actual reason, does it?" she asked, grinning. "How about because I said so?" Giggling, she licked him on his muzzle once again. Delano has had not even a single nightmare in the past few days, which was another reason why Lina was so happy. Going back home was just another step back to living normal lives. Before she could say anything else, however, she heard Kato behind her.

"Hey... Uh... I just thought I'd see you off..." said the prince, smiling a little nervously. Because Delano was no longer waking up screaming and losing control over himself, the younger male was no longer scared to go near him. However, he was a little hesitant because he found the situation to be a little awkward. "Um... Are you feeling better now?"

[DGFone]

Umeme quickly caught on to what Muroki was talknig about and blushed furiously. "Not so fast, Muroki," she replied, "first you need to get better." Just as Kato was about to walk off, she added to the prince, "we'll see you later, Kato! Feel free to stop by and visit whenever you feel like it."

Delano was quite surprised to find that Kato was talknig to him. He was already half expecting that the price avoided him on principle. "Yeah, I'm better now," he said with a smile, "thanks, Kato." He was able to sense the prince's nervousness, so he slowly reached out and shook his paw. It took Kato a few moments to realize what was happening, but he took Delano's paw and shook it as well, smiling. Delano grinned back at the prince. "I guess you'll be chasing after Desta now," he teased, "or are you going to stick with Muroki until she finds you?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled at Umeme's reaction. She was just too cute whenever she was embarrassed, and he couldn't help himself. "I know, I know." he said with an amused smile, walking over to his mate. There was nothing bad with an occassional flirt, was there? "You're really cute when you're looking away so that nobody will see you blush..." Knowing just how seriously she was taking his recovery, he nuzzled her reassuringly. "Remember what I promised you?" he asked. "No hunting, no running, no nothing until I have your permission." Joking around was good and all, but he wanted to make sure she knew that he had no intention of doing anything he shouldn't be doing until he got better. "Don't worry."

Since he was obviously finding the situation to be a little awkward, it took Kato a few seconds to realize what was going on when Delano shook his paw. However, to Lina's relief and delight, the prince happily returned the gesture. "She was supposed to be here already." he said with a smile as he ended the paw-shake. "So I think I'll wait here a little longer and then go look for her if she doesn't arrive. You know," he chuckled sheepishly, "to make sure nothing happened."