[Fin] A Perfect Fit ((Aeris and Xantir))

[Nisshou H]

Xantir trotted through the tall grasses his face stoic as ever though his eyes held a new warmth. It was the warmth that had been about him for a good month now ever since Aeris and him had come together. It was strange, he had never imagined love finding one such as him but he wasn't complaining. He was happier then he could remember and his move only improved as the small cat riding on his back retold tales from their past so long ago.

"You know...things got different after you left Xanny." The tiny black lioness said. She weighed barely 45 pounds and was the runt of her litter but she had found a friend with the other misfit, Xantir. "Those humans got kinda scared that more of the new blood would start taking after you, break out you know? They didn't get stricter or nothin but they started keeping a fair distance when they didn't need to get close. It's funny right Xanny? Xanny?" She blinked and whacked at his head til he payed attention. "Where are we going Xanny?"

"To visit a very special mare." He said with a small smile before focusing once again on the ground leaving the cat to ramble on again.  

[Lorako]

Happiness, it was the word which always come in Aeris mind for a month. After the bad luck she got with one stallion she finally found someone who could accept her like she was. They were mate and maybe they will have a family later. She didn't want to rush things, it was just from now, she couldn't imagine her life without him.

The raccoon was looking at the mare with amusement, his childish friend was so happy it make him smile. "Aeris, do you know when Xantir will come again ?"

She smiled hearing his name. "I don't know exactly, but i think today. He said he will bring someone to introduce him/her to me."  

[Nisshou H]

Xantir had never quite remembered the walk to Aeris being so long. Perhaps it was the nonstop yammer from Amal. She was pleasant enough to have along but sometimes silence was as good as chatter. It was a lesson the feline was yet to learn. With a sigh her worked on tuning his familiar out but as he did he lost track of where he was.

"So she's special yeah? How so? Is she like...your aunt or somethin'? Is she like your best friend." As she spoke she ran scenarios in her head and suddenly she gasped and giggled. "Is she like your special someone?" She only laughed harder when he didn't answer unaware he was ignoring her. "She is and she's probably got babies with you and everything and hey!" She blinked seeing a mare not twenty feet from them wearing, from the looks of it, a pink pouch. "Is that her?"

Xantir tuned back in on the word babies. He turned his head abruptly to deny that he had children but the words caught in his throat as he saw what had caught her eye. "Aeris."  

[Lorako]

The mare was speaking with her friend about who can be the person Xantir will bring with him. "Maybe it's a friend of him ? Someone from his teepee, i remember one time he spoke about a mare living with him, maybe it's her." She smiled, always happy to meet new friend, but she was maybe a little jealous if it was a girl.

The little racoon tried to figure out who it can be too. "Maybe it's his friend, like me ?" and he figured out right, but he didn't know it for the moment. He looked arround to see if Xantir will arrive soon.
And then he saw someone a little far from them. "Aeris look"

Aeris turned her head in the direction Reno showed her. She saw the form of Xantir and something much smaller and black. The pink come on her check, it matched her clothes. "Xantir"  

[Nisshou H]

Excitement coursed through his veins as he became sure that the presence was his love. "Hold on, Amal." He said without giving the little cat time to think before he bolted off. He cantered toward her steadily and by the sharp piercing feeling in his back he knew that Amal was still with him. Every step towards her brought more joy to his eyes and heart and even a little flew to his face a smile now gracing it. He slowed just in time to keep from running into her and circled slightly to rub against her neck with his own. "I've missed you, Aerith." The words felt so natural now when they once would have felt foreign on his tongue.

Amal felt sick after that little ride so she carefully retracted her claws from Xantir's now slightly bloody back and leapt down. She took a few steps away from the love birds and flopped into the grass to wait until they remembered she existed. "I was so right." She said with a satisfied smirk letting her eyes wander over the pair. They froze when a creature about the size of her caught them. "A raccoon?" She asked herself standing. "What do you want?" She asked narrowing her eyes, no one would interrupt this for her Xanny.  

[Lorako]

The mare heart started to beat faster when she was clearly sure it was her mate. She saw him running towards her, it made her smiled. They were not far from each other for that long but it was like a year.
She nuzzled him softly with a deep smile. "I missed you too Xantir." Now the time was perfect. "So, tell me, who is the one you want to introduce me ?" She didn't saw the little cat first, her eyes only on Xantir

The little raccoon looked at the two lovers amusing, he remembered when he first met Xantir, it was not so lovey dovey. Then he saw the little black cat who was with Xantir, he guessed then he was right.
He looked at her with attention. "I don't want anything. I was here from the start. I'm Reno, i'm his friend" he said looking back at Aeris. "You're ?"  

[Nisshou H]

Amal settled down learning that he meant her friend no harm. Plopping herself back on the ground she smiled closing her eyes and cocked her head to the side. "I'm Amal, I came on the big lug over there." She flicked her tail pointedly towards Xantir figuring he couldn't hear her in his state.

Xantir pulled away from his pink clothed mate still not seeing straight through his happy cloud. "Friend?" He asked feeling a bit dazed still. "Oh friend! Aeris meet Amal!" He turned his head to his back trying to find his little lioness but all that remained were a few tiny spots of blood-stained fur. "Amal?" The worry spread into his eyes and he looked about panicked. Not five seconds later he spotted her sitting about with a smile. "There she is. Aeris, this is Amal, I used to live with her when I was younger."  

[Lorako]

The little raccoon smiled, she was friendly it seemed. "Nice to meet you Amal." Then the two soquili finally reacted they were here too.

Aeris blinked, searching for what made Xantir panicked. Then she saw the littler lioness on the ground next to Reno, they seemed to have already introduce themself. She sat on the ground to be at the same level as the littler one. "Nice to meet you Amal, i'm Aeris, and i think you already introduced with Reno." she smiled gently towards them.  

[Nisshou H]

Amal nodded and set her paw gently on Aeris' leg by way of greeting. She smiled the in the same manor she had with Reno. In reality she couldn't smile full with her eyes open, it was as though her mouth was tied to her eyes. "Nice to meet you too Aeris. So you're like Xanny's special friend right? Like you guys have babies and everything?" It was an innocent question to her, she didn't even know how one had babies.

Xantir had been listening to his black coated friend quite peacefully as he studied Aeris' own familiar. A raccoon that wore clothes. He had grown more accustomed to his fellow soquili wearing two-legger clothing after Dark had arrived but a familiar? He offered a small smile to raccoon as a greeting before turning back to watch the two girls. It seemed he had tuned in just in time to hear his little friend asking his mate if they had foals already. "Amal!" He said feeling mortified though it didn't show. He really couldn't believe her sometimes. "Aeris, I'm sorry, I don't think she understands."  

[Lorako]

The raccoon looked at Xantir and greeted him with a nod. They already met once but he was not sure the stallion remembered him. Then he heard Amal question and laughed amusing.

Aeris smiled back at the little one. She looked back at Xantir amusing and troubled by the question. "Well hum, i can say i'm his special friend, but we don't have babies, and i don't know about the everything." She laughed a little, she got the same question from Anshu and Thémis, so she understand the lioness couldn't know about it.

"Don't worry Xantir it's okay." Turning her head back to Amal. "Do you want to see babies Amal ?"  

[Nisshou H]

Xantir was still a little flustered but if Aeris was alright with the questions he couldn't really stop her from answering. Instead he lay down beside her simply watching the girls chat for now contented to just be near his mate.

Amal nodded fervently. "I wanna see Xanny and your babies! I'm sure they'd be pretty na dreally nice too." Giving the mare a chesire grin she looked over to Reno. "You wanna see them have babies too right?" With that she hopped to her feet and pranced over to Aeris before jumping on her shoulders. "Let's go look for your babies! They gotta be around somewhere." She nodded firmly not quite catching Xantir's rolling of the eyes.  

[Lorako]

Aeris listened to the lioness calmy. She sure apparently didn't really knew about where come babies. She took a looked at Xantir who sat near to her too and nuzzled him. Then Amal went on her shoulder.

"Amal, you see, babies can't be found arround like this. In general they are with their family. Xanny babies.." she smiled amusing by this nickname. ".. and mine are not yet in this world you see. So you will need to be patient."

Reno listened at the lioness amusing, he didn't really much about where come babies but he saw Hedwig when she was pregnant and the babies after it, so he had so guesses. "I do too" he replied. "But they don't have them yet."  

[Nisshou H]

"You mean they don't have babies yet?" Amal asked eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She looked from Aeris, Reno and Xantir before climbing down from Aeris' shoulders and up onto Xantir's back. "But aren't you guys in love? Haven't the gods blessed you yet? What's wrong with you two?!"

Xantir stood suddenly shaking the cat off. He stomped a foot just a few inches in front of where the cat landed watching as she flinched. He looked from Aeris back to his friend giving that cat a stern look. She didn't know any better, true, but that gave her no right to insult his mate. "There is nothing wrong with her." He said his tone a clear warning. Knowing that she would be quiet for a bit now he took advantage and bowed his head to meet her eye level. "Being in love does not mean you get foals immediately. I'm sure the gods will give us children when are are ready, right Aeris?" He cast a gentle smile at the two girls before returning to his previous laying position.

Amal was close to tears and she was already shaking in anger. She looked about hoping for someone to back her up. Xantir had never acted like that before. Normally he just joked around back or laughed quietly he never got all defensive like that.  

[Lorako]

Aeris felt sorry for the little lioness. She tried to nuzzle her after Xantir spoke with her, to confort her. "You know Amal, babies are such a wonderful things that they don't come always when we want." She smiled. "Like Xantir said, i'm sure we will have some when it will be possible. For the moment all our love was only for us and for you of course." she looked at Reno and Amal.

Reno didn't really know how to act. He wanted to protect Aeris but Xantir already took care of it. He wanted to go and confort Amal but he was not really good with this kind of things. So he just went and patted her softly.  

[Nisshou H]

Amal flinched as Aeris nuzzled her but relaxed once she learned that the mare wasn't trying to squish her. She had been so sure that with Xantir's influence everyone would be mad at her. Looking around she could tell it just wasn't so. She understood why Xantir had never returned home to her now. This place was perfect. There was no real violence anywhere it made her feel a little sick knowing how strange this place was though she didn't let it show. "Yeah sure..." She said not really meaning for it to come out as heartless as it sounded. "Good choice Xanny." She gave him a smile then turned her back on the pair and made a beeline for Reno. "I'm going home now, feeling a little sick, make sure they don't follow ok? I'm counting on you." With a quick flick of her tail she had vanished into the grass without another sign.

Xantir could only watch as his little friend struggled. He knew this would be hard on her with the little cat's weird views on family and what not. No one had explained to her how love worked or where kids came from all she had ever been able to grasp was that 'love' meant there were children. With a sigh he nuzzled Aeris gently to let her know she hadn't done anything wrong. "Don't worry...she'll be alright. She's strong like you."