The past months had been absolute torture for Luna with all of her deeply buried memories of pain and terror rushing back to her. It was difficult for her to attempt to reconcile with her past after having tried so hard to forget everything that happened and losing her very identity. It had been a hallow and empty existence, but there had been no internal suffering. There were days when she was thankful that Aru had found her and woken her back up from her self imposed darkness, and then there were days when she cursed him for bringing everything horrible back to the forefront of her mind where she couldn't escape it. There were days when Luna would experience panic attacks and nights when her dreams would turn dark and take over her mind. It was a difficult time for Luna, but as the days past she was gradually coming to terms with her memories.
Initially, she was scornful toward Aru for reinserting himself into her life, but now she knew that if their situations had been reversed that she would have tried to do that same for him. She needed to be saved, she knew that now. There was no way that she could have pulled herself away from that dark place of comforting nothingness. If she was nothing, then she could feel nothing, and she would have wasted away at that rate. Luna felt like her heart was unfreezing itself and pumping blood through her cold body again. She felt like she was coming alive again after ages of numbness. The dark lioness wasn't joyful in the least, the difference now was that she could simply feel.
Aru couldn't help but to continuously glance at Lunaria from the corner of his eye every few minutes. Ever since he'd found her, her behavior had been erratic and unpredictable. He could never quite tell based on her outward appearance if she was having a particularly bad day. Luna's healing process had been the focus of all of his attention as of late. Finding her had been a dream come true, and Aru was going to do whatever he could to keep her safe and help her heal. Aru had completely stopped searching for any other surviving members of his birth home, figuring that Luna needed him more than the ghosts of his past.
Realistically, he had known that there probably were no other survivors, but his mission had been what kept him from allowing the darkness to devour him as it did to Luna. He was always able to put the needs of others before his own heart. It was a trait that was both detrimental and beneficial to him in various ways. In this case, it helped him to maintain sanity in the wake of complete destruction when all he wanted to do was fall apart under the weight of his despair. He was holding on to Luna in much the same way that she was holding on to him. They were each other's support.
"Hey Luna," Aru started with a low soothing voice, readying himself to say what he was about to, "What do you think about joining another pride?" He watched her closely to gauge her reaction to his words. He was unsure if he was bringing something like this up too soon, but he'd been thinking for a while now that it might be a good idea to look into.
Lunaria stopped walking at looked at Arutemisu with surprise and angst in her eyes when she heard his words. The idea of finding a new pride had never crossed Luna's mind since she was still so hurt from the loss of her old one. She always assumed that she would drift in the rogue lands for the rest of her life. A new pride sounded like giving up on memory of her destroyed one, which didn't sit well with the lioness.
"A new pride? But what about our beautiful home? Are we just supposed to forget about everyone?," Luna responded, feeling uncertain about the possibility of committing to a new way of life with strangers that were not her family. Luna was still very much in mourning for her home and the lives that were lost there, and the idea of finding a new home simply sounded like a replacement to her.
"Of course not Luna, just hear me out okay?," Aru responded quickly to alleviate any budding fears Luna might have been feeling. "First off, I have no idea where we are going or where we are going to keep getting food from. Also, we're kind of exposed out here all the time and we're lucky that we haven't run into any more trouble than we already have. If we can find a decent pride to live in, then we wouldn't have to worry about hunting all the time and we would be safe around others. Living in a new pride doesn't mean that we have to forget where we came from and all of those that we loved. Their memory will always live on in our hearts. We're not giving them up, but our home is gone and now we have to figure out a way to continue to live the rest of our lives."
Aru said all of this as gently as he could so that Luna could digest his words. If he was honest, the stress of keeping them both alive as well as holding on to the pain in his own heart were starting to get to him. The white lion wanted to be able to relax, but he couldn't as long as Luna was with him and they were out in the middle of nowhere. "Tell you what, let's just try it, and if you really don't like it, we can leave alright?"
Luna listened closely to what Aru had to say about finding a new place for them to live. Ultimately, she couldn't really argue with his logic. Besides, since the lioness was still largely depressed, it had been Aru who had taken charge of their well being as they traveling. Looking closely at him, Luna felt a spark of sympathy. He was hurt and tired just like she was, but he put on a brave face for her sake and he did whatever he could to take care of her. Sighing heavily, she decided to try out living in a new pride despite how alien the idea seemed to her.
"Alright Aru, we'll start searching for a new pride, but if I don't like it then we're not staying for more than a week."
Aru smiled brightly at Luna and her willingness to work with him. He was excited to begin their search, the thought of being able to be stationary was enough to keep him going for a while longer. "Anything you wish Luna."
