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His pale, lithe figure moved like a ghost through the shadows of the night, the dark spots on his pelt breaking up the sheer white and giving him an even more haunting look.

It was unusual for him to be travelling at night, but after the sun had set on the day he had gotten the most powerful urge to do just that, like an itch that just had to be scratched. So here he walked in the dark, further from home than he would normally have wandered in the night, but something kept urging his paws forward. He didn't know what this urge was, but he followed it nonetheless.

He saw her there, basking in the moonlight, and stopped for a second just to look at her. He recognised her on the instant, though she was bigger than he remembered, as he was himself, fast reaching adult size, helped by the fact that he was lankier and taller than most cheetahs to start with. Her name, too, had stayed with him, because he thought it was impolite to forget the name of an acquaintance on the off-chance that he might meet them again, and anyone who knew Akia even vaguely knew he was never impolite.

"Hello, again," he said softly into the still night air, still standing where he had stopped a few feet away from her. He wondered just what sort of greeting he would get in return, if any. He not only remembered her name, but her attitude as well. She was such a beautiful cheetah; he thought it a terrible shame that her personality had failed to match it when they'd spoken before.

Both of the young male's eyebrows climbed up his forehead in understandable surprise. First, she had greeted him civilly, when he had quite expected she'd say something snappish and again tell him to leave. But most shocking of all was the fact that she had smiled. If he hadn't seen it for himself, he'd never have believed it. Though it had vanished as quickly as its miraculous appearance had happened, it had still been there. He dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, her attitude to the world and everything in it had improved, even if only a little.

Recovering and fixing his patented kind, unassuming smile on his face, he stepped forward again on elegant paws. "It's been a long time. How have you been?" He wondered just how long this would last, her not being mean to him, but he would never drop his civillity, not for anything. He never had during the first meeting, and right from the very first word she'd been a vile little thing.

No snapping at him? No snide remarks to his innocent question? My, she had changed since he'd seen her last as a cub. He himself hadn't, definitely not. He was as nice as he could be; the only way for him to change would be to head in the other direction, and he was simply too nice to contemplate such a thing. No, there would most likely never be any large changes to his personality. He would always be nice, no matter what, it seemed.

"I've been very well. Thank you for asking." And he meant it. He would never run out of nice words for those who were not truly cruel, but he did appreciate getting some back occasionally. "Been doing anything of interest you wouldn't mind sharing since we last saw each other?" He was curious as to what inspired the change in her, but he wouldn't ask outright. Perhaps she'd give him clues without realising it.

He was never one to pry, and so when she offered no information to him, he let it go with just a nod. It wasn't in his character to try and force the knowledge out of her, and besides, if she stayed as agreeable to talk as this, maybe it'd come eventually. He was still mightily curious as to the sudden change in her and felt something that she had done since they met may have just sparked it, but alas, he was not to know yet. The suspense would silently kill him.

At her question, he turned his head to look back in the direction he had come. "I live about an hour or so's travel that way. It's just me and my mother, now that my brothers have grown old enough to leave." He turned to look back at her, head tilted slightly. "And you? Do you live somewhere near here?"

He remembered, in their last meeting, she had mentioned something about not getting on with her family - or a member of two of it, at least. So, reconciliation with family was not the reason for her change of attitude. One reason crossed off in what could be a long process of elimination. "Are you sure that's what you want so soon? I think the idea of complete independance is somewhat daunting, personally."

He had to smile at her trying to atone for the rather uncaring way of phrasing the question the first time around. It's not that the question offended or hurt him and he appreciated her trying to make amends. It's that the old Uhayawani would not have cared how the question sounded, and this Uhayawani did. It was pleasing to Akia.

"It's all right," he said placidly, letting himself sit. "I've never known my father, and I've never asked my mother about him. If there was anything good tied to his memory, my mother would have told me of him long ago. So, I do not ask. I don't want to bring painful memories back to her for the sake of satisfying my curiosity. I get along perfectly well without him in my life." He smiled then, a smile truly born of love and affection as he thought of Zakiya. "Besides, my mother gives me enough love and care for two parents and more. She's always been that way."

He nodded, almost in agreement, to her words. It was not his place to argue with her about her own family life. He didn't know what it was like; maybe it was too stifling. He couldn't compare his loving mother with parents he'd never met. So, he didn't. He moved on to a topic that might be a tad safer. "Brothers and sister? How many siblings do you have?"

"I have to say you're right, there," he replied, again nodding, this time most definitely in agreement with her about this, his tail flicking behind him. "Not about your father, perhaps, because I don't know him, but definitely mine. If he wouldn't stay with my mother, chances are he wouldn't stay with me, and so I see no need for him in my life. Me and my mother get on perfectly fine without him."

If he'd known what she was thinking, about the clinginess of her siblings, he'd have had to laugh. He was in the same situation... except he would be the clingy one. He was the younger, and he had followed his older brothers around like a lost puppy when he was a cub. "I have two older brothers. I'm the one who looks up to them, not the other way around."

As she turned to leave, he had looked disappointed. He knew there was no point in trying to get her to stay, though. She would leave when she wanted, or she would drive him away, as she did last time. He had been about to move away, too, when she asked him that question. It was odd, yes, but it was furthering their conversation, and she was the one seeking more information. A definite improvement from last time.

He smiled, and shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Not really, no. I suppose I look more like my father. The white and green were most definitely his. My mother is all dark purples. My spots I have gained from her, and my dark purple toes. Also, this," he continued, holding out one of his front paws to better demonstrate the "ballerina slipper" marking that curled around his left leg. "I got this from her, although hers are purple, and she has two on her back legs, not just the one on the front leg."

After finishing his short speech, he tilted his head at her. "Is there... any particular reason you were curious about that?" He asked it gently, as though he thought it might be a touchy subject somehow. He could just never tell what might be taken in what way with her.