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The low class lions must hate him for this, the white lion thought miserably. He kept fobbing off the cubs on them, trying to get time to himself. Admittedly, they weren't nearly as small and helpless as they had been when Iei had first brought them to the pride. But they were still cubs and by the God they were certainly his with all the trouble they managed to get into even at such a tender age.

Trouble. Bah. That's what Kivuli should have named him and no mistake. Oh yes, Yareha knew his name meant Moon Dust, but that didn't mean he hadn't earned the name Trouble ten times over and more. Often times he wondered how he'd messed up his life so badly.

Well, he meant to fix it. In part. Or as much as he could. He'd been giving Laelia some space, hoping that once she calmed down she'd come back to him. But...she hadn't. She'd had her cubs and Mazin was claiming to be the father and even acting the part. Which was good for the cubs, regardless of whether Mazin was their biological father or not. But...

But Yareha still loved Laelia. And still wanted her for a mate. If, of course, she would still have him. Maybe distance wasn't the answer. Or maybe (hopefully) she'd cooled down. Hopefully, she wouldn't have forgotten the flame that had burned between them.

Yes, he knew he was an idiot and he'd be a fool not to acknowledge how badly he'd screwed up. But he couldn't give up. Not yet. Not without at least trying to win her back.

The white lion paused outside the lioness' den. "Laelia?" he called in softly. "Can we talk?"

Latitare was in the air once again, having been banished from Yareha's immediate vicinity by the threat of violence. Not that he really thought the lion would follow through on his threats, but he could understand that he wanted at least the appearance of privacy for this...social call.

Still, the eagle circled lower than was his usual wont. Two nexi of disturbances in the pride, there was no way the spy wasn't going to hear what was going on and report back on it!

His heart quivered in fear at Laelia's tone of voice and Yareha fought back panic. He wanted to turn away, say it was nothing, anything to keep her from being mad at him. But if he left now, he knew he'd lose her forever which would negate his entire purpose in being here.

"I...want to talk," he told her, visibly steeling himself against her displeasure. "About you. And me. And...us." He was terrified inside, though trying his best not to show it. He'd never done anything like this in his life. Yes he'd shouted (some) of his opinions about the pride at the top of his lungs and yes he'd had an incredibly public argument with his sister and yes he'd been pretty damn forward with Laelia when they were together but none of those things had ever touched him so deeply.

"Please," he begged her. "Please hear me out." He was tempted to go on, saying that she could tell him to go away and never come back if she wasn't happy when this was over, but he didn't want to risk that yet.

By the god, the way she knew him, she could rip into him so badly that he might just flee the pride on his own. The white lion sincerely hoped Laelia wouldn't be that cruel.

It looked like the lioness was still hostile towards Yareha. Probably for the best. He hated to be the one to say it, but Latitare knew how seditious the white lion's thoughts could be. The fact that Laelia had paired up with him shortly after his very public disgrace boded ill for her own opinions...though he hadn't actually heard what they were. So she was cleverer than Yareha but really, that wasn't saying much.

Well, this was better than he'd feared. She was willing to hear him out. He couldn't have asked for any more and, indeed, this was all he'd asked for. So far. The white lion took a deep breath before looking up again and meeting Laelia's eyes.

"I wanted to say, first and foremost, that I am so so sorry. You didn't deserve any of what happened. I never expected..." he paused, wondering how to phrase it without offending her. "I never expected my past to come back and haunt me like that. And it was rude of me to not even warn you that there had been others." Ouch, potential misstep there! He had to salvage that fast and hurried on.

"It doesn't matter that there were others because there has never been any lioness I would look at twice other than you. Ever. Iei might have been something, but that was before I met you and afterwards, trust me, we both agreed that what was past was past and there was no future together."

Yareha paused, out of breath for the moment, blue eyes pleading with purple to listen and to really hear what he was saying.

Well, this was most intriguing. He'd known Yareha still harbored feelings for Laelia, but the fact that this loose cannon was SO very set on her still came as a surprise to the eagle. Especially given how many rogue lionesses he'd talked to lately - well, it was interesting. That was all.

He could feel his heart clench in an almost physical jolt of pain right through his chest. Too late? He couldn't be too late...could he? Well, it had taken him such a long time to even get the courage up for this...but he'd wanted to give her space, damnit! Trying to be courteous!

Yareha could feel his eyes growing full and he tried to blink back the tears.

"Too late...to say that I love you?"

Well, good. Not that he was really excited to see Yareha looking so miserable, but it was good that Laelia should move on. Hopefully it would make the white lion see sense and stop trying to change the status quo in the pride. He'd grown up with it, so why did he fight it so?

He'd never thought she would see it like that. Abandonment? He...he supposed it made sense. The thought had never once crossed his mind though. But even though he wanted to run and hide, if he did that now, it was over. Completely. He wasn't going to give up. Not yet.

"I know I hurt you," he admitted. "I never wanted to. You were so mad...I wanted to give you space. I..." the white lion paused, taking a deep breath. "I was afraid, okay? Afraid that if I showed my face before you were ready, that you'd...do something drastic."

Yareha looked away, embarrassed.

"I am so sorry," he told her again. "And I won't ask for your forgiveness, because I don't deserve it."

Latitare made a mental note to never get on that lioness' bad side. There was one who was quite good at holding a grudge, in his humble opinion, and it looked like Yareha had dug himself a hole too deep to climb out of. A shame, but that was life.

"I don't know," he replied dumbly. "I just don't know." He knew that there were other paths could have - should have! - taken in this life. But he had absolutely no idea how he could have done anything differently.

Had he been better than this? He'd felt less...obligated, sure, before the kids. But he didn't think he'd changed that much...had he? This whole situtation hurt in a way the white lion wasn't accustomed to feeling pain, or at least, hadn't been before.

"You can hurt me more - and you have! - than any wound or injury I've ever gotten in my life," he retorted at last, temper starting to wear through the sorrow. "And I let you do it, I'm still letting you do it!" It still hurt, but damnit, couldn't she see that he was trying? He didn't do this! He'd been perfectly happy to love 'em and leave 'em until Laelia came along and now look at him! Tearing himself into pieces just to win her back!

He was tempted to say it was some sort of higher class attitude, since she was a rank above him. But...Mazin was a rank below Yareha, and she'd shown him a clear preference. Which rankled even more since the white lion would be perfectly happy to see his cousin with Selene who was even now with Fuu and apparently just fine with that.

But this wasn't the time or place to bring that up. He couldn't let himself be distracted by his favorite hot topics.

Should he interfere? The bird wondered as he watched. This whole meeting had had no hope from the beginning and now it seemed to be going straight downhill. He could save Yareha from further problems today...but it wouldn't win him any points with either lion.

Probably best to stay aloft for now.

He was tempted, so very tempted, to tell her to shove her 'go away' and to just listen to him. But he didn't want to be that kind of guy. Still, this was the hardest thing he'd ever done and for her to just reject him like this, so calmly, augh, it just burned him up!

Yareha looked the lioness up and down, irritation written in every line of his body. When he finally spoke, his voice was steady and quiet, icily calm.

"Is that what you really want me to do, Laelia? Because if that's so, you will never see me again. And your cubs won't know their cousins, or however they're really related to each other. Got it?"

Oh he had his doubts about her kids' paternity. He didn't think they were his, but there was no doubt that they were blood kin of some kind. It just didn't seem like a situation Mazin would have gotten himself into. He simply hadn't wanted to make it an issue.

He'd had some naive hopes that his kids and Laelia's would be friends, spend time with each other. But damn if he was going to let his own offspring anywhere near now! They deserved better than her.

Oho, this was an interesting turn of events. Latitare wondered what had snapped inside Yareha as he banked and lost some altitude. Suddenly, the white lion on the ground had gone from the center of his own pathetic story to a dangerous radical. The eagle had missed the transition, but he couldn't possibly miss the result.

The white lion gave the lioness one last appraising look. He sniffed, lip curled in disdain, and turned to leave without another word.

It hurt, but damnit, he wasn't going to get caught like that ever again. Better, he decided, to have a good time with rogues who left after a single night. They, at least, left no claws in his heart.

For a moment there, the eagle's heart had been pounding, and he'd feared that Yareha would attack Laelia. He wasn't certain that this was much better. Latitare wanted to talk to the white lion, but had the feeling that now wasn't the best time. So he'd continue to follow and watch, and hope that this was the end of the stress for the day.