A/N: In this story the reality is that the "storm" never happened, but dire circumstances still put Danny and Alice's lives at risk.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wild At Heart or any of the characters. This story is for pure enjoyment only.

The sunrise, splashing its brilliant colors in the African sky, was one of the most beautiful Alice had ever seen. Everything felt so perfect in the glorious morning sunshine. The vibrant colors of yellow-gold, orange, and red seemed like a Vincent van Gogh masterpiece painted against the dark blue sky.

It was only last night that Alice stood by one of the animal pens admiring the newest guest to Leopard's Den, an African Wild Dog, sometimes called the Painted Dog. The strange looking creature was on the endangered species list so having it here at the park made it very special for both her and Danny.

Suddenly, Alice felt someone walking toward her and before she knew it Danny had joined her, standing shyly beside her.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Danny had asked.

"Yes," Alice responded curtly.

Next, Danny did something Alice had never expected. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Look," Danny said. "I don't have a clue as to why you're always angry with me, but I have something to say to you. I'm not very good at these things, but here goes. Alice, I've fallen in love with you."

Alice's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. Danny misunderstood her reaction and took it to mean maybe he had done the wrong thing by telling her his feelings for her.

"I'm sorry," Danny said and quickly removed his hands from her shoulders. "I guess I shouldn't have told you."

"No, no! It's just, Danny….I can't believe you're telling me this," Alice said as tears welled up in her eyes. "Because I feel the same way about you!"

Danny was confused. "You do? Is that why you've been so angry with me?"

"Yes, no, of course not, it's just that Vanessa and…"

Before Alice could say another word, Danny took her in his arms and kissed her.

"Vanessa means nothing to me. You understand that don't you? It's you I want."

Alice couldn't believe what she was hearing. Danny was in love with her? Danny wanted her? Was she dreaming?

But it hadn't been a dream. And now, in the beautiful heavenly display of color, the memory of Danny's words made Alice's heart jump for joy. She smiled and took a deep breath of air, which was heavily scented with the fragrance of native flowers and African dust. Taking in the beauty of her surroundings for another moment, Alice then stepped inside to join the others for an early breakfast.

"Good morning," Danny said cheerfully as Alice stepped into the kitchen.

"Morning," Alice said happily as she sat across the table from him.

Dupe, Georgina, Nonsa and Evan were already seated and had already started eating their breakfast.

"Sorry, Alice, we should have waited for you. How rude of us," Georgina said.

"No, it's not rude. I've been up for hours so why should I have to wait for other people to have my breakfast, eh?" Dupe asked gruffly.

"Come on, Dupe," Danny said. "You're grumpy this morning."

"I'm not grumpy. I just have important things to do, important places to go, and important people to see," Dupe said smiling.

"Yeah, right," Danny said jokingly.

"Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses, Dupe. I was just enjoying the beautiful sunrise," Alice said.

Danny glanced at Alice and caught her eye. They smiled at each other sheepishly. Danny looked down quickly so as not to arouse anyone's suspicions over their feelings for each other. They had decided last night it was best to keep their feelings for each other a secret for the time being. It certainly hadn't been easy for either of them to do. But, the look between the two lovebirds did not escape Dupe's watchful eye and he chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Evan asked.

"Hmmm, what? Oh, it's nothing." Dupe said.

"I was thinking," Danny said nervously to Alice. "I was thinking maybe you would like to go check the waterholes with me this morning. It might take all morning so we should, maybe take a lunch...or something...so in case we don't make it back in time for lunch...ahh...what do you think?" Danny said, stumbling over his words.

"You mean like a picnic," Dupe added innocently.

"No, not a picnic!" Danny responded quickly. "Just, you know, something to eat, in case, you know, we don't make it back in time for lunch."

Georgina looked at Danny and then at Alice and wondered what was up between them.

"Sure, that's sounds like a good idea," Alice said smiling.

Danny's face lit up. "Good, good...I'll just get the jeep ready and meet you in, say, half an hour?"

"Okay," Alice said.

"Aren't you going to finish your breakfast?" Nomsa asked Danny as he got up to leave.

"Thanks, Nomsa, I've had enough. Okay, I'll just go...and...get the jeep ready," Danny said nervously and left the room. Dupe smiled and shook his head.

"What's up with him?" Evan asked no one in particular.

"Never you mind," Dupe said firmly.

As Danny drove the jeep he glanced over at Alice who seemed deep in thought.

"Penny for your thoughts," Danny said. "I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't too obvious was I?"

"No, no. I don't think so."

"What were you thinking about just now?" Danny asked.

Alice smiled. "I was just thinking about the sunrise I saw this morning. It was so beautiful, and...

"And?" Danny prodded.

"And, it was perfect. It made me think of us."

"Really? And, that's a good thing right?" Danny asked.

Alice chuckled. "Yes, it's a very good thing," Alice said as she leaned over and kissed Danny on the cheek.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the first waterhole. Danny parked the jeep at the top of the hill, climbed out of the vehicle and grabbed the rifle. Alice joined Danny and held his hand as they walked down the steep hill toward the waterhole.

Suddenly, they heard a strange sound coming from behind them. As they turned to look the jeep made its way past them, crashed into a large rock, and rolled over several times down the near vertical hill before landing with its wheels spinning in the air.

Danny and Alice ran to the crashed jeep. "No, no, no!" Danny shouted as he checked out the damage to the jeep. "This is bad! This is really bad!"

"Can we roll it over?" Alice asked.

"Not unless I'm Superman and you're Superwoman," Danny answered. "I can't believe this!"

"What could have happened? Did you put the emergency brake on?" Alice asked.

"Of course I did," Danny said firmly, but then a troubled look crossed his face. "Well, I think I did."

"What are we going to do now?"

"There's no way I can get to the radio, probably smashed to pieces anyway. Dupe's not going to be happy about this. Alice, this is your fault you know."

"My fault?" Alice asked incredulously?

"Yes, if you weren't so beautiful and hadn't distracted me..."

"Distracted you?" Alice asked and playfully punched him in the arm.

"It looks like we have a long walk ahead of us," Danny said as he rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"We'll need water."

"Let's check the hillside and see if anything fell out of the jeep as it rolled," Danny suggested.

They searched the slope and found a bottle of water, a flashlight and part of the emergency kit.

"This is better than nothing, I guess," Danny said. "We'll just have to hurry back before nightfall."

"Well, look at the bright side, this is going to give us plenty of time to get to know each other," Alice said with a playful smile on her face.

Danny took her in his arms and kissed her. "This would be romantic if it wasn't so serious."

"I know. We better get walking then," Alice suggested.

Danny kissed her again, took her hand and led the way back to Leopard's Den.

To be continued...