And Max gives Arizona some heartfelt advice about brotherhood...

Chapter 7: Max's Advice

Back at Mako's house

Max went upstairs to go to bed and thought he would go and talk to Arizona for a while and he knocked on his door and Arizona said, "Come in."

When Max opened the door, he sees only Arizona's feet on the edge of the bed and he said, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." Arizona replied.

Max walked over to Arizona's bed and sat down beside him and he said, "I sorta overheard everything you and Musaki talked about while I was training with Kiba."

Arizona didn't really know what to say or do after Max mentioned it and he wasn't sure how he would react and he sat up beside his brother and he asked, "How much did you actually hear?"

"All of it." Max replied.

Arizona exhaled sharply and he looked at his brother in the eye and said, "I didn't want you to get the wrong idea that I'm afraid that you'll replace me for Kiba."

"Ari...I could never like Kiba better than you. Why is this bothering you so much?" asked Max.

"Ever since you and Kiba got to know each other better, you guys have this big brother/little brother thing between the both of you. Often times, I feel left out, like I don't matter to you anymore." Arizona stated.

Max could see where this was going and he said, "There's nothing to be jealous about. You think just because I like being around Kiba more, the brotherhood between us will stop?"

"Yeah." Arizona replied.

"That's not true. You mean a lot to me, Arizona. There's a lot of things I can do with you that I could never do with Kiba and you know that." Max replied.

Arizona nodded his head at that and he said, "I guess you're right. Me and Kiba are really tight and I don't want my petty jealousy get in the way with that."

Max nodded his head and said, "It's like what Akashi says; jealousy is another term for fear."

Arizona chuckled softly at that and said, "That Akashi...always so wise. He still owes me for doing all of Po's laundry."

Max chuckled softly at that and he said, "No matter what happens, you're still my wolf brother and you'll always be my wolf brother."

That made Arizona feel better and he hugs Max tightly and said, "And you'll always be my tiger brother."

Max purrs softly as he hugged Arizona tightly and he said, "I love you, bro."

"I love you too." Arizona replied.

After they let go, he looks up at Arizona and replied, "You feel better now?"

"Yep. Thanks."

Max nods his head and he walks out of the room and said, "Good night, Arizona."

"Good night, Max. See ya in the morning." Arizona replied.

As soon as Max left the room, Arizona lets out a relieved sigh, knowing that the brotherhood will continue to grow stronger and stronger as they grow up and he took off his shirt and laid down on his bed, smiling with the knowledge that there's no better brother he could stick with than Max.

And that is really awesome! Stick around for more!