[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

"Alright, I'll teach you," Umeme said, smiling. "besides, I don't think that my parents know how to teach you as well as I do." She looked over at them, winking at them when they looked over at her.

Delano lead Lina slowly back to the den, but when they got within sight of the den, he lost all courage and stopped. As much as he needed to get to the den with Lina, he found himself unable to get himself to cover the last distance. All he was able to do was stand there frozen where he stood, and hope that someone would see them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled at that, failing to notice the wink Umeme shot in her parents' direction. "Great, looking forward to it." it's not that he was against spending time with her parents, it's just that out having them teach him how to dance would probably be the most embarrassing thing he has ever done.

Lina who was still way unfocused and not paying attention to anything could not even notice that they were right in front of the den now. She just kept walking, not even catching onto the sound of talking which usually came from the den at such a time. The only moment where she did realize where she was was when she was already inside, and the cause to this revelation was her bumping right into her father because she wasn't looking where she was going.

[DGFone]

Umeme let out a chuckle again. "Well, as long as you learn to like it, I'll win," she said. "And I know I will win."

Moto felt something bump into him roughly and he turned to look. "What? Oh, it's you, Lina." He smiled at her, but his smiled dropped when he saw her face. "What... happened?" He asked. It was also when he realized that Delano wasn't with her, and he quickly scanned around him for the lion. Moto spotted him a way's off, just standing there. "Delano, get over here!" Moto called out, using a commanding tone. He wasn't angry, he didn't have a reason to be, but clearly, something was wrong.

Delano heard his name being called, and he unsteadily walked forwards to the den. He didn't know what was lying in store for him, and he wasn't anxious to find out.

When Moto called out for Delano, Umeme quickly looked at her sister before deciding that whatever it was, they better not be around for it. "I think it will be better if we go inside," she whispered to Muroki. She quickly got up and ushered him inside the den.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki was about to ask what did Umeme mean by saying she will win, but before he got a chance Lina came in. Muroki stared at her in confusion as she walked forward until she walked directly into her father. It didn't take him too long to realize what something was no right, so he went ahead and followed Umeme outside. "What's with her?" he asked, just before Delano passed them without saying a word to either of him or Umeme, leaving Muroki even more confused.

Fadhili of course was also worried when she saw the look on her daughter's face. "Lina? What's the matter?" Delano then came inside, with Fadhili staring at him as he walked over, becoming more confused by the look on his face. Looking over to Lina, she saw how she was avoiding hers and Moto's gazes as well as Delano's, mostly Delano's. She decided to wait to hear what explanation did Delano have for this, and judging by his expression, it better be a good one.

[DGFone]

Umeme turned towards Muroki once they were in the den, worry plastered on her face. "I don't know," she whispered, "but it didn't look good. Do you think something happened to them?" She nervously settled herself down next to him, determined to wait until she will know what was wrong.

Moto looked over Lina and Delano, noticing how Lina was avoiding looking at all of them, and even more worryingly, was not sitting next to Delano like the night before. "Lina?" Moto asked quietly, "what happened? Why are the two of you like this?" When his daughter failed to answer, he turned to Delano. "Delano? Care to say anything?" Neither of them answered, and Moto let out a frustrated sigh. "You need to tell us what happened. If you got attacked, or..." He was about to add to it when Delano interrupted him.

"We weren't attacked..." Delano said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I... I shouted at her. I lost my temper at Lina and shouted at her." He fell quiet, unable to speak any longer.

Moto gave Fadhili a worried look before turning to the two younger lions. "Delano, why did you shout at her?" He asked. He made sure not to sound angry as to not scare them into silence. But Delano didn't answer, instead he just stared at the ground. Moto turned to his daughter, who had yet to say anything. "Lina? You need to tell us what happened. Why did Delano get angry with you?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't deny the fact that he too was also worried about how odd things were looking. He couldn't remember Lina or Delano ever arguing, it just made no sense for these two to get upset with each other. "I don't know." he said, lying down beside her and holding her close, hoping it would somewhat help her calm down.

Lina said nothing at first, and tried to ignore the entire conversation until her father addressed her again. What was she going to explain exactly? She had no idea what was angering about her asking Delano not to joke about things that weren't funny at all. "I..." she started after a long while, trying to find out what to say, but coming up with nothing. "I don't know." she honestly didn't know what sent Delano's temper off like that.

[DGFone]

Umeme felt Muroki lie down next to her, and she buried her head in his mane, waiting for whatever news from the outside. For every moment that Lina and Delano stayed out, Umeme got more and more worried.

Moto was glad to hear Lina talk, but the lack of any proper answer was unnerving. He glanced at Fadhili, giving her a look that begged for her to help him without actually saying anything. He turned back to Lina and Delano. "Well, can you describe what happened?" He asked. If they didn't know what was their problem, he was hoping that they could at least figure it out. "Lina? Delano? Any one of you can start."

Delano let out a small whimper before talking. "We were running around together..." He wanted to talk more, but wasn't able to produce any noise, so he fell back into silence.

Moto frowned. He didn't know about Delano, but normally Lina was much more talkative. For her to be silent now, something really bad must have happened. "We need to know what happened. It's the only way we will be able to get things done."

The cold air swirled around them, and Moto shivered. They would have to go in soon ,and he hoped that they can finish this now instead of the next morning. He looked at his mate, signaling for her that now was a good time to speak up. Maybe she would be able to get one of them to talk.

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili looked from Lina to Delano a few times, realizing just by looking that neither of them wanted to speak about this, especially Lina. "Lina..." she said softly, holding her daughter close. Despite being an over-friendly lioness sometime, she could also bring herself to use a most soothing and calming tone which she always spoke in when Lina and Umeme were cubs. "Tell me what happened." Lina again seemed to hesitate, but after a few moments she went ahead and gave them a simple version of what happened. How Delano made that joke, how she told him that something like that wasn't something to be made fun of and how it caused him to lose his temper.

[DGFone]

Moto was rather surprised at what Lina said. Because from what he was seeing, he was expecting something much worse. His gaze moved from Lina to Delano, who visibly shrank back. "Delano..." Moto was not angry, and so didn't sound like it either, "do you have anything to add?"

Delano just shook his head silently. He was expecting some sort of backlash against him at any moment.

"Why did you make that joke? About running off again?" Moto asked.

Delano looked up at the older lion, his eyes fearful. "Because..." This time he had to speak, but Delano found it impossible to keep looking at Moto. "Because I kissed Lina," he whispered, averting his gaze back to the ground, "and I got scared."

Moto got up and moved himself in between Delano and Lina. He reached out and brought the two of them into a tight embrace, also causing Lina and Delano to be closer together. "What am I going to do with the two of you?" He asked, sounding slightly amused, "because from what I understand, all of this is from a simple misunderstanding."

He turned his head towards Lina, "Lina, I am sure that Delano didn't mean anything by joking like that. And as for you, Delano," Moto turned back to him, smiling slightly, "there really wasn't any reason to get angry at her for not laughing at your joke. It's perfectly alright to get nervous, especially after kissing her," both Lina and Delano turned red despite their low moods, "but try to control your emotions. You're big, and you're strong. Lina won't be able to handle mood swings from you."

Moto looked up at Fadhili, giving her a chance to add to anything if she wanted.

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili quietly listened as the two talked, having a harder time believing the more the conversation progressed. Was this what the whole fuss was about? Surely Lina had every right to become upset at such a mood swing on Delano's side, but how hard was it to realize that the whole thing was nothing but a misunderstanding. Another proof that this incident could and should be forgotten was the way Lina and Delano didn't seem to protest when Moto hugged them both at the same time and brought them closer to each other, and also the way their faces reddened when he mentioned their kiss.