[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

The next morning, when Umeme woke up, she could feel that Muroki was still next to her. She opened her eyes and saw that he was already awake, and looking at her. She blushed slightly and smiled. "Good morning," she said softy. Even without the warmth of a den, she felt great, having been kept warm by his body sharing warmth with hers. "Ready to make the big announcement?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki woke up before Umeme did and like in his habit lay there and looked at her until she woke up. This time it was slightly different though; he wasn't looking at a lioness who he loved anymore, he was looking at a lioness who he loved and who was also his mate now. He couldn't help but smile when Umeme woke up, revealing her beautiful eyes to him once more as she did. "Good morning." he said, giving her a loving 'good morning' nuzzle. "Yes, I'm ready." he expected himself to be a bit more nervous about telling everyone but he wasn't. The more difficult part, asking Umeme to be his mate, was already behind him. What the others would say, he probably wouldn't care if they didn't like it, and he couldn't see a reason for them to not be happy for him and Umeme.

[DGFone]

Smiling, Umeme got up with Muroki. She eagerly lead him towards Lina and Delano, but stopped when she found them. Both Delano and Lina were still asleep, with Delano wrapping Lina with his paws. "Hey, look at them," she whispered to Muroki, "Lina looks so much happier now that he's back."

As much as Umeme wanted to tell Lina and Delano about her and Muroki, she didn't want to wake them up. "Want to go down to the water while we wait?" She asked him.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki was just as eager to tell everyone, especially to his own brother and Lina. Now that he was thinking about it, Lina was his new sister-in-law now that he and Umeme were mates. He smiled upon seeing the two sleeping closely to each other. "Yeah alright, I could use some water." he wandered whether Lina and Delano were considering the possibility of becoming mates too any time soon, but of course that he wasn't going to ask it nor was he going to rush either of them. It was obviously no business which he should be sticking his nose into.

[DGFone]

Umeme lead Muroki away from the other two sleeping lions towards the edge of the waterhole. She bent down to drink, and for a while, was content to take in water with her eyes closed, enjoying the cooling sensation of the water. But when she opened her eyes, she froze. "Hey, Muroki, look," she said softly, but didn't dare to move. For she was looking at her reflection, which was merging with Muroki's, creating the illusion that there was only one lion instead of two. And she didn't want him to move and brake it. "We're together. Like one."

Delano woke up almost immediately as though he was on a timer. He opened his eyes, and smiled when he saw Lina next to him. He was so used to waking up next to lion that he didn't know, that seeing Lina next to him was slightly unjarring at first, but a pleasant surprise never the less. he slowly took his paw off Lina and brought it closer to his body, but other than that, he didn't move. "Hey," he whispered, "Lina, wake up..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki also bent over to drink, and kind of froze still in his place when Umeme told him to look at something. Only after a few moments he realized that what Umeme was talking about was right in front of him, for he didn't imagine it to be his reflection that Umeme found so interesting. After another moment, he noticed how his reflection blended with Umeme's and smiled. "Wow, we are one." he said, smilling. Maybe this was an agreement from above or something. Not that Muroki felt unsure that he loved Umeme enough in order to be her mate.

Lina, upon hearing Delano whispering in her ear, slowly opened her eyes. A smile crept onto her muzzle as she felt Delano was still cuddled up against her. It was really nice to have him there with her when she woke up, especially after he was away for such a long time. "Hey..." she said, shuffling slightly closer to him and giving him a loving nuzzle which was followed by a short yawn. She wouldn't be able to describe how much did it mean for her to finally have Delano back.

[DGFone]

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Umeme asked. She carefully reached out at the water, but when her paw touched the surface, it rippled, distorting their image into incoherent shapes. Frowning, Umeme quickly put her paw back on dry ground and let the water settle down again. She smiled again when the water settled enough to reshape their reflection and leaned against Muroki, completing the illusion into reality.

Delano allowed Lina to move closer to him, and once again wrapped a paw around her. He nuzzled her back, enjoying the contact. "You can't imagine how great it is to wake up next to you, after all this time..." He chuckled slightly, "...Well, maybe you do." As he said this, Delano remembered how it was to wake up alone, and the memories caused a surge of loneliness to sweep over him. Delano hugged Lina tightly, trying to to relax in her presence. It would take him a while to get used to being around her again, but he didn't mind. In fact, he couldn't wait for when he would accept being with Lina as normal again.

[TheWhistlerify]

The smile on Muroki muzzle disappeared when Umeme caused the image to distort, only for it to come back when the image returned and for the smile to grow bigger when Umeme leaned against him. He held his head closely to her and gently rubbed it against her so to not disturb the illusion again, not too much at least. "It is amazing." he said, looking at her in the corner of his eye with a smile. "Not as amazing as you are, but it's still something I don't see everyday." he said, grinning at her.

Lina smiled once more when Delano wrapped his paw around her again. Now that he was back and the underworld was gone she was feeling a lot better, and with him right next to her she felt safe. "I do. Having you back means so much to me." she said softly, holding the paw Delano wrapped around her with one of her own paws, purring as she did. Now that Delano was finally back, she didn't want to ever be apart from him again, and hopefully they would never end up away from each other like last time.

[DGFone]

Umeme found it funny how Muroki was rubbing his head in a way as to not destroy the image reflecting off the water. But she decided that, as good as the image was, it was in the end only an image, and she let herself get lost in Muroki's mane. After a while of nuzzling, she finally moved her head to where she could see Muroki's face. When she did look at him, however, she felt like there was some invisible force overtook her. Leaning forward, Umeme gave Muroki a long, loving lick.

Delano smiled slightly as he breathed into Lina's fur, taking in her scent with each deep breath. "You're amazing, Lina. And I'm so glad that we can spend all the time we want together again without worries..." Slowly, he began to feel his loneliness fade as he hugged her. "I don't know what I'll do without you..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled when Umeme nuzzled him even though it caused the illusion of them being a single being to disappear. It wasn't the first time Umeme licked him, yet when she did he found himself unable to do nothing but stare into her beautiful gem-like eyes. There was just something about this moment that made Muroki feel just like Umeme did, as if some strange and unknown force was taking over him. Before Umeme could even finish that one lick he was already returning it, continuing to stare into her eyes as he did.

Lina smiled and purred at the way she could feel Delano breathing into her fur. Even though she was cuddled up against him and even though he was holding her, his breathing was kind of another indication that he was still there. "I'm more than glad that we're together again..." she said, letting out a happy sigh as she continued resting close to the lion she loved more than anything else in the world. "I don't want to be apart from you, never again..." she said, closing her eyes and relaxing.