Mle paced back and forth, running over the words he'd worked on. Was this right? Was it the right time? The right PLACE...? The white lion swallowed, pausing to look at the sky through the trees. The heavens glimmered with the light of dawn, meaning the sun would peek up soon. He glanced towards where his little patchwork family slept, before going to a secluded island near by. She'd come find him...
Stepping out into the early pre-dawn world, Xochiyotl stretched out, making sure her limbs were good and limber. As she looked around, she spotted a ghostly shape moving away through the water. Where was Mle off to so early...? She let out a smiling sigh, glanced at the sleeping cubs, then headed after him. After a while, she lost sight of him, and much of everything else, in an early-morning fog. Curse the winter sometimes...
With his pale coat, Mle had an advantage in the fog. Quiet as anything, he snuck his way around, hiding behind a tree. After a moment, orange eyes glanced out, as a patch of mist cleared around the dust-brown lioness. It was now or never, he supposed... "When the visions around you, bring tears to your eyes... And all that surrounds you, are secrets and lies..."
One ear twitched and swiveled around, listening to the singing. Singing... She knew that voice, if barely... It sounded different singing... She'd only really heard it speaking. Xochi smiled, turning towards the source, only to have it vanish with the singer. She went over to the spot, sniffing at it. Yes, he'd been here... But now where was he?
He wasn't giving up his location THAT easily! It felt emberassing enough to be singing when he didn't normally do so. But the lioness he'd met spoke with songs at times, so why not do so now? "I'll be your strength, I'll give you hope, keeping your faith when it's gone..." He crawled around another direction, hiding behind a rock. "The one you should call, was standing here all along..."
Turning another way, she tried to follow the singing, only to have it come from another direction. He'd been planning this... It made her smile all the more. But then, song had meaning... Xochi stopped, feeling the song. After a moment, she closed her eyes. "And I will take, you in my arms... And hold you right where you belong... 'Til the day my life is through, this I promise you..."
"This I promise your..." Mle smiled, finding a spot on a low-slung tree. "I've loved you forever, in lifetimes before... And I promised you never, would you hurt anymore..." He finally jumped down, standing behind her. "I give you my word, I give you my heart... This is a battle we've won... And with this vow, forever has now begun..."
Turning around, Xochi smiled at the white lion, a soft and gentle one. It was still joyous, but properly restrained. "Just close your eyes, each loving day, and know this feeling won't go away... No..." She stepped up to him, rubbing her cheek into his mane. "'Til the day my life is through, this I promise you..."
"This I promise you..." He stepped back, smiling, then vanished into the fog again. Once again, he used it to circle her, finding a new perch. "Over and over I fall, when I hear you call... Without you in my life, baby, I just wouldn't be living at all..." He couldn't imagine life without her, not now. Where would he be now, anyway? Having cubs with various lionesses.
Looking around, Xochi was confused, before she heard Mle's singing coming from another direction. She turned around, spotting him on a low-slung tree. She smiled, going over and joining him. She leaned on him, tail draping down off the tree. "And I will take, you in my arms, and hold you right where you belong..." She turned, burring her face in his mane. It was so nice feeling... "'Til the day my life is through... This I promise you..."
Turning, Mle licked Xochi's forhead, brushing back her mane tuft. After a moment, he rested his chin on her head, smiling and closing his eyes. "Just close your eyes, each loving day... And know this feeling won't go away..." He opened his eyes again, licking an ear, before settling back down. "Every word I say is true... This I promise you..."
A rumbling purr escaped Xochi, as she settled down with him. "Every word I say is true... This I promise you... I promise you..." As the sun rose, the mists eventually evaporated. Still they remained there, as the birds of the swamps woke up and began to sing their songs of dawn. Finally, she smiled into his mane. "I love you..."
