T'was the night before the morning he'd leave for home. Home didn't seem to be the right word for Dylan anymore, but what else could he call it? A home was a place where you belong, and right now that wasn't where he was most welcome. Home was where he was right now, in the herd, right next to Diego who was sleeping on his side soundly with his arm wrapped around his waist.

Dylan couldn't sleep. The questions on his mind bounced back and forth leaving him in a pendulum of worries and fears. Dylan slowly lifted Diego's paw off of him, as to not wake him up. He got up as silently as he could and stole through the forest undetected. A walk was always what he needed. It felt like his legs wanted to pace back and forth repeatedly and his response was to take a little stretch.

The saber-tooth tiger always felt comfort under the frigid delicate snow. Dylan ruminated deeply, thinking if he really made the right decision. He could always go back and stay permanently with Diego, he wouldn't mind as long as it was Diego he was with. And with his brother taking care of him, things might work out fine. But… what would Diego do? This herd means a lot to him, and he wasn't sure if Diego wouldn't be as reluctant as to agreeing to that proposition. He had to be sensitive to what Diego wanted. He could never count on him to always go with whatever he wants. He was a still different person just like he was, and doing so would make him just like the rest of the world who wants people to stay normal. He could never be so selfish. But he still wanted to feel normal. He didn't know why exactly, but being a part of something small still felt the same way of being a part of something huge. And he can't pick to stay at both ends.

Ultimately, he has the make the decision whether he liked it or not, and delaying to choice might even make things worse.

Dylan knocked his head on a tree in his lamenting. What was he so worried about? Of course he wants to stay with the herd. Of course he wants to stay with Diego. Why would he ever go back there in the first place? And who knows, his brother might even end up the same way as his almost-late father did and throw him again. Why ever be a part of something you don't belong.

But his brother made all the difference. He loved his brother dearly, and it would pain him to never seem him again. He was still the older brother that beat up the other kids that bullied him, the same brother who stood with him in that meteor shower, and the same brother who helped every time he tripped.

And then there was Diego. His mate. The only other tiger he could ever be with. The tiger that took him in although reluctant at first, the same tiger he spent each and every one of the most special moments he ever had with, the same tiger that would hold his paw and never let go whenever he gets scared, the same tiger that would love him the way he did. Was he together with Diego just because he was the only gay tiger? No, he was together with him because he wanted to. Because he loved him for who he was, and Diego loved him he same way.

He knew, because while he thought about it, the same tiger jumped on him out of nowhere. Diego restrained him to the ground, Dylan met his gaze, startled by the sudden event.

"Trying to get away from me again?" Diego grinned.

"Doesn't look like I'm seeing someone else am I?" asked Dylan.

"Are you?" he said, "I don't buy the whole 'just taking a walk' thing right now"

Dylan sighed, before pushing Diego to get back up. "Just… kind of nervous… I guess. It's been almost two years since I've been gone, and going back seems like suicide"

"But you still want to go through with it, don't you?" asked Diego as Dylan clambered on his feet.

"I do," Dylan answered, "But I'm scared"

"Hey now, don't forget" said Diego, placing his paw on top of his, "I'll always be by your side, wherever you go."

Dylan smiled, reassured and a bit more confident about everything. Dylan nuzzled Diego.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Definitely" Dylan replied.

Maybe walking in solitude wasn't the best idea. Things always went better when there was someone along. As the two began to walk back to the herd, Diego suddenly hopped towards Dylan, pushing him to the ground and pinning him down.

"You know, the herd probably doesn't know we're gone," Diego whispered as the two tigers gazed each other's eyes. "So, let me try getting you even less nervous" Dylan was about to say something else when Diego suddenly plunged his lips towards him with a kiss. Why would he ever want more, when this was already everything he could ever need?

"You never cease to surprise me" Dylan complimented.

"I never cease to surprise you" Diego said while Dylan made a little chuckle before kissing him back. The two tasted each other's lips tenderly. Their soft fur touching each other's, rubbing in a hot yet gentle caress. Dylan enjoyed the contact as much as Diego did. He could tell from his erection throbbing hard against his. The touch of his hard appendage got him all the more excited. Diego pushed his tongue into his mouth, wrapping it around his in a pleasurable sensation. Although they had long large canines, it wasn't hard to do it at all. Not one bit.

Dylan enjoyed the taste of Diego's tongue rolling around his. He actually wished it could go deeper. He rolled his tongue around with his, and they both began to make muffled sounds of delight. Wrapping and rolling them continuously around aroused them even more. Whenever Diego would pull back, Dylan would push forward not wanting the kiss to end. Diego would of course simply push his tongue back in, but the time finally came when Diego had to pull back entirely, leaving a string of saliva dangling from each other's mouth.

"Hmm, doesn't look like you don't want to do this" Diego smirked, eyeing down the appendage of his mate.

"Whoever said I didn't like doing this?" Dylan said.

"For starters, you never seem to jump on me at all, and it's always been me who has to make the first move" Diego explained.

"That's because I can never catch you off guard," Dylan replied. "And you're always jumping on me"

"Well… that's true" Diego said.

"And most of all, you're always so eager about it. Don't you get conscious about all the sounds we make and stuff? Things that other animals can hear?" Dylan continued.

"Let's see who makes all those sounds in the first place" said Diego before licking the length of Dylan's pink appendage. Dylan moaned almost loudly from the sudden onset of pleasure, holding back a second after he had already done it.

"W-wha –uhnnn – what are you doing?" muttered Dylan as Diego continued to fondle with his member. He playfully licked the tip the most, as it made Dylan quiver the most. Dylan was lying as straight as possible on his back, his hind legs left hanging in the air. Diego licked it numerously as his own erection was throbbing hard. This was the first time Diego ever did something like this, and to be honest, even after becoming Dylan's mate, he'd never expected doing this at all.

And only a few moments he had started, Dylan's body began to spasm. One last lick finally did the trick as an eruption of ecstasy flushed out, causing him to moan in the flash of the moment. His juice spewed all over his belly.

"H-hey… not –unf– fair," Dylan grunted, taking half-breaths as he spoke.

"Well that was fun wasn't it?" said Diego as he licked bits of his hot seed from his fur.

"I… guess…" Dylan admitted.

"Well, don't worry, the night isn't over yet," Diego grinned.

Under the basking moonlight, surrounded by the shadows of trees, nothing that can disturb them, the two made love one more time before the day arrived.


"Well, in any case, take care of yourselves," said Manny to the two tigers in the early morn.

"We will," Diego replied.

"Be back as soon as possible" said Sid.

"We'll really miss you," said Peaches.

"Hope you two suddenly take side trips on the way there," said Eddie as Crash made 'kissing' sounds with his lips.

"Maybe one or two?" Diego joked.

"NO side trips," Dylan replied.

"Awww," Diego said disappointingly.

"Don't worry," said Dylan. "It'll take maybe two to three days to get there. So in the mean time at night, we could..."

"Okay!" Ellie interrupted. "I think you two love bugs should get going now."

Diego and Dylan looked at each other. "Yeah, we should probably start heading out" Diego said. The two began to walk in the opposite direction before Dylan tumbled from his first few steps. Diego managed to catch him with his hip while they walked side-by-side. "You okay?" he asked.

"Just… a bit winded out from last night," Dylan answered.

"We never really did get that much rest last night, didn't we?" Diego said.

"And I have a good guess we might not be able to for the next few," Dylan replied as the two raised a grin, knowing what exactly he had in mind.

The two finally picked up the pace and started traveling. The herd a few miles behind them. The snow crunching delicately as Dylan always enjoyed, and enjoyed it all the more with Diego beside him. He remembered it like this almost two years ago, only back then he used to walk alone.

Back then…

To be honest, Dylan wondered how far he got here. From a pack outcast to the mate of tiger who lived with a herd. He reminisced all the years he had lived throughout his life in the pack. Old 'friends' he would encounter once again. A few more uncles and aunts. He even wondered if his brother had finally gotten along with that girl he always talked about. Dylan could remember exactly how he defined her eyes as they sparkled by moonlight, dazzling him as he was lost in her gaze. Dylan could finally tell that what his brother felt was love, knowing the experience nearly enough to know.

What more had that came to mind for him was how exactly it ended up this. How did ever become gay? It seems as though he had already had that 'sensational' feeling every time he saw a guy. It never was the same when it came to girls. He could vaguely remember awkward conversations of his brother encouraging him to talk to that cute girl they saw by the trees, acting like his wingman only to realize that he was never interested in girls.

"You okay?" asked Diego, who seemed to have noticed Dylan spacing out in thin air.

"Oh, y-yeah I'm fine," Dylan replied.

Aaaah… and how nostalgic for him to be over thinking about things once again.


A/N: Update! Please review! Yeah, there's somewhat like a sex scene here, but I really meant it just to enhance the story, not to focus on the sex itself. :3 And this sequel is sort of explaining like how Dylan got from then to where he was at the beginning of the first story, and is trying to emphasize the relationship of Dylan and his brother, Adam, which is good as I reread the first story and there seemed to be a lot of holes that I needed to fill. Though I never really sorted this all out before I started writing it