[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano felt shattered when Lina retreated away from him. He could only watch as she lay down facing away from him. He slowly approached her, feeling nervous and scared. He saw that she was covering her head under haw paws, so he lay down as close as he thought she would allow him. Even then, she visible shied away from him.

"Lina," Delano whispered, "I- I'm sorry. I really am. Please..." He didn't like how she was facing away from him. It was making him feel like a monster. "Lina, please look at me." He was begging by now, and praying that she would listen.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina continued saying nothing to him for a few more moments before lowering her paws from her head, looking rather startled when she noticed Delano in the corner of her eye. She just stared at him for a few moments, the tears still in her eyes, before slowly crawling over to him and burying her head in his mane, weeping into it. That moment in which he yelled at her like that was so scary. She wanted to forget it and she hoped such a thing will never, ever happen again.

[DGFone]

Delano gratefully wrapped a paw around Lina, hugging her tightly to him. He could feel her shaking against his body, and it made him feel bad knowing that he was the reason why she was crying. "I'm so sorry, Lina," he repeated softly, "I'm..." But this time Delano didn't finish.

He let her rest against him, and after a while, he began to feel Lina's tremors fade as she calmed down. "Lina," he began to say after a while, when he felt like it might be a good idea, "when I was away, I realized that I should have told you something," he smiled slightly at her. "I wanted to tell you, that I... that I love you."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina accepted the hug, closing her eyes and cuddling a bit closer to Delano, trying to calm herself down. It took her a good minute or two to do so but she continued lying close to Delano even after that was out of the way, crawling even closer so that they were snuggled to each other from shoulder to hip. She looked at him and waited for him to say what he wanted to say, smilling and nuzzling him gently as he did. "I love you to." she said, really glad that she managed to put this whole incident behind her.

[DGFone]

Delano smiled brightly for the first time since he came back. Finally, he felt like was truly back after hearing Lina's words. He continued to hug her tightly, this time feeling her gentle breathing instead of shaking. "Told you I'll be back," he said, "and this time, I won't leave again." He rubbed his head against hers. "You mean too much to me."

At the back of his mind, he was still worried about Gakuru. But that lion, while crazy and evil, was no fool. He would have to wait low for the time being, something that Delano was grateful for.

"You know," Delano suddenly announced, "we can go back to the den now." He grinned at the resulting groans. "But I think it will be better if we stayed here for tonight." He brought his nose to Lina's. "Together, me and you, under the stars. How does that sound like?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina smiled at the idea of sleeping under the stars with Delano. She remembered Umeme telling her about that one night where she did the same with Muroki, but Lina never got a chance to spend a night outside with Delano before. "You and me... I'd love that." she said softly, rubbing her nose against Delano's with a smile. Everybody else seemed to like the idea of staying there at least for tonight, especially Muroki and Umeme. Compared to this place, the den seemed like something completely useless.

Muroki was planning to ask Umeme about staying there for the night, but when Delano suggested going back to the den, the frowns and groans from everyone including Umeme kind of already told him that she wouldn't mind staying there at all. "Would you like to go look at the stars?" he asked with a smile. Right now the trees around the waterhole were hiding the sky, so they'll have to walk some distance away from the waterhole and from everybody else in order to get a good view. Also, then they'll be alone and maybe then he'll get himself to ask her what he really wanted to.

[DGFone]

Delano smiled, and got up from the ground. "Follow me," he told Lina, and lead her away from the tree cover. With Lina next to him, he sat down at a patch of bear ground with her where they could look up at the stars above them. "The stars look much better than the thing I quickly scratched up for you," he said, grinning, "makes me wish that I could grab a star and bring it down for you."

Umeme smiled, having just seen Delano and Lina walk away, most likely to do the same. "I would love to," she answered. She was also able to tell that Muroki was hiding something more as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina smiled and followed Delano, sitting down next to him once there were no more trees to hide the stars. "Just so you know I was very happy to see that star." she said, even though she knew that Delano was right. "Well, grabbing a star isn't really possible, but it's the meaning that matters." she said, licking his cheek once before resting her head on his shoulder, looking up at the stars.

Muroki smiled, walking with Umeme in a different direction. They also sat down once the stars were fully visible. "Remember the first night we did this?" he asked, smiling at the memory. "It's really a night I'll never forget." he added, placing a paw around her shoulder and holding her close.

[DGFone]

Delano grinned foolishly when he felt Lina lick him. "I thought you would like a star," he said. He felt Lina rest her head against his shoulder, and he in turn leaned his head against hers. "It's so great to be back here with you," he told her, "for the first night in a long time, I don't have to watch my back constantly... It's very liberating to be with you."

Umeme's thoughts wandered as she sat next to Muroki. But then she remembered something. "Hey, Muroki? Remember how you kept trying to ask me something?" She grinned, feeling her hopes rise, "So what was it that you wanted to ask?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina smiled, "Well, you don't have to watch your back anymore and I don't have to look around every 5 seconds and hope to see you there." she said, pleased to say it in the past tense. "You know, missing you so much only showed me that I love you even more than I thought..." she said with a happy sigh, rubbing her head against Delano and then returning it to it's place on Delano's shoulder.

Muroki felt himself grow nervous as Umeme mentioned the way he kept trying to ask her his question. He was planning to get to that, but later tonight. Now however, he had no choice but to rush himself to it. "Well, it's just that, uh..." he began nervously playing with his own paws and staring down at them. "We... we've been together for a few months already and you know that I love you more than myself... I... I was wondering..." he forced himself to look stare into her eyes. It was now or never. "Umeme will you be my mate?"