"So, son," the Great Prince of the Forest said to his son, "care to venture further?"
"So," Bambi asked, "there's more than just this?" He looked up to his father, excited. His father nodded, leading Bambi through the beautiful scenery. Bambi was amazed by everything he saw. The trees grew taller and looked more vivid, the small stream that ran through sparkled in the gleaming sun light, the grass was greener than anywhere he had ever seen and the sky looked even more beautiful. "This place is amazing," he commented aloud, "how come I've never been here before?"
"Well," his father began to explain, "this place has always had special meaning to your mother and I, so we felt that if we didn't show others this place, it wouldn't be ruined. Plus, this area is well hidden. If Man ever came out and tried to attack your mother and I, and we were too far from the cave, we would come here."
"I think I understand what you mean," Bambi considered, admiring the scenery and smelling the sweet aroma of the flowers, "but still, this place is so cool. I would love to come back here someday."
"Well, let's leave that for another day," his father pointed his head in another direction, "for now, we've got more to see." His father led Bambi away from the flowers towards a bunch of berry patches. "Hungry?"
"A little," Bambi admitted, observing the wide variety of berries there were, "but I wouldn't know which ones to eat."
"Well, these berries are quite sweet," his father explained, prodding the patch of purple berries, "whereas these have a sour taste," he then prodded some red berries, "and the yellow ones are the juiciest. For now, I would try one of these blue ones."
Bambi, although cautious, took a bite from one of the blue berries. His eyes lit up as the taste of it ran down his throat. "This is delicious!" he cried as he devoured the rest of the berry. Suddenly, a thought hit him. "Dad, if nobody comes here, how do these plants keep alive?"
"Well, the weather is, for some reason, different here, so it keeps most plants alive, but I sometimes come to check up on the berry patches. That way, I can make sure that the plants keep growing, in case any nearby rocks cause damage."
"Rocks?" Bambi asked, tilting his head in confusion. "What rocks? I don't see any."
"I'll show you later," was the answer his father gave him, before leading him off somewhere else. For the rest of the morning, Bambi's father showed him the area, everything amazing the young Prince. Bambi had never seen such luscious, vibrant forest life ever. He loved this area and was thinking about coming back here in the future. After lunch, Bambi thought that he had seen the whole place, but his father had one last surprise for him.
The final place Bambi was shown was a more rocky area, where the stream met with a waterfall that formed on a cliff side, with a spring nearby and a fairly large cave built into the cliff. "This is a nice place to relax. Come, sit in the spring." The Great Prince walked up to the spring, wiping his hooves on the nearby rocks before getting into the spring. He sighed happily as he felt the warm water around him.
"Are you sure, dad?" Bambi asked, unsure if he should, in case the water would burn him. "I mean, this is special to you and mother, so I don't want to ruin this for you."
"Oh, come now, Bambi," his father replied, care free, "you aren't scared, are you?" This was all he needed to say, as Bambi always wanted to seem brave to his father, so not wanting to look like a coward, he wiped his hooves on rocks and getting in at the other side of the spring. As soon as he got in, his worries seemed to flow away as the water relaxed his body. His fake brave face became a relaxed one, sighing in pleasure. "See? No fuss at all. Just feel the water on your fur."
"Ahh," was all Bambi could say for a while, still settling in the water. "This is nice." They relaxed there for a little while, feeling in touch with nature. "This place is brilliant. I bet Faline would love it here." When both bucks had realized what Bambi had said, both his and his father's eyes shot open at what he had said.
"Bambi, what did you just say?" his father asked, looking his son in the eyes.
"I-I don't know," Bambi stuttered, wondering why he had said it, "I'm not sure what I said". A light blush could only just be seen on his cheeks as he looked at his reflection in the water.
"Son," his father got up, "did you just say 'I bet Faline would love it here'?" Bambi couldn't deny it, so instead, he hid his head in his legs, just above water level so he could still breathe. "I'll take that as a yes. So, son, you like this Faline, yes?"
"W-what?" Bambi shouted, practically shooting out of the spring as his blush grew. "What d-do you mean?"
"Bambi, you cannot hide it now," his father replied, approaching the young prince, "remember that a prince does not lie when the truth is known."
"B-but dad," Bambi uttered, taking a few steps back, nearly tripping on a pile of rocks behind him, "I don't k-know what you mean. She's my friend, yes. But what do you mean by 'like'?"
"Hmm," the Great Prince thought, trying to use an example that his son would be familiar with. "Have you ever heard Friend Owl use the term 'twitterpated'?" Bambi thought hard about this before nodding. "Well, it means that you, basically, want to spend more time with her because you find her... attractive."
Bambi, although he was still confused, was starting to get the picture. As he gained more understanding, however, his blush grew too. "I think I get what you mean," Bambi said, brushing his hind leg with his other hind leg as he looked down at his front hooves bashfully, "but at the same time, I don't."
"Well son, nobody truly understands it until they fully experience it. You don't have to worry about that just yet. When the time is right, you'll know it."
"I guess," Bambi shrugged, "thanks dad." He approached his father and brushed his head against his father's chest.
"No problem, son," his father laughed, "just be careful with those antlers." They laughed for a while, before Bambi backed off, showing his antlers as if to prepare to attack. The Great Prince realized what his son meant instantly and playfully fought Bambi with his antlers, pushing the young prince into the water.
"Oh, it's on now!" Bambi shouted as he emerged from the water. They fought like this for a while, just enjoying the day whilst they could.
That night
"Thank you for today, dad," Bambi said to his father as he lay down in the cave, "good night." With that, he was out like a light.
His father, on the other hand, couldn't sleep, so he walked out of the cave for a moment and looked up at the sky. "My dear," he said, hoping that someone could hear him from the heavens, "I hope you can hear me from up there. Because I have some great news. Bambi has found the one he loves. Much like how I fell in love with you all those years ago. I hope I am doing the best that I can with him. It has not been easy without you to help me." A tear rolled down his face and dropped onto a small flower. "I hope you know that I still love you and will watch over him as much as you would want me to. Goodnight, my dear." With that, he went back into the cave and lay down beside Bambi, falling asleep.
As he lay down, though, he accidentally woke Bambi up. The young prince, after he saw that it was his father that had made the noise, tried to get back to sleep, but couldn't. He was still thinking about what his father was talking to him about earlier. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he got it out of his mind, so he walked out of the cave, careful not to wake his father, and sat in front of the cave entrance.
'What did he mean?' he thought as he looked up at the night sky. 'I mean, how would I know if I truly liked her? He said that I find her attractive. Do I?' He thought about Faline deeply. 'She's been one of my best friends for years. I really enjoy the time we spend together. And I guess she is attractive. Maybe I do like her.' A blush and a smirk came onto Bambi's face. 'I wonder if she likes me.' This seemed to be all that he needed to put his mind at rest, as he soon felt tired again. With that, he re-entered the cave, laying down by his father and falling asleep with a smile on his face. As he slept, there was still just one thought on his mind-
'I guess she is kind of cute.'