Part seven of my summer story, Failte Baile, is here for you! I do hope you enjoy this story series, and if you have questions about the way Tyra and Ciaran Campbell [Zeb's aunt and uncle] speak, feel free to message me about it! I tried to keep the dialect as close to redneck Scottish as possible, while still explaining what it meant. I don't know if I did a very good job, though. Either way, enjoy!

Please leave a review, and thank you for reading!


Part Seven - Save the Date

Méngméng hummed as she packed up a load of nails in a metal pail and sent it up the ladder. "Nails incoming!" she called up to the three males that were working hard on finishing the roof.

The first day after removing all the broken shingles had been spent cleaning up said shingles and pieces of wood. The second day had been sizing and cutting the wood for the rafters. The third was starting on putting the rafters in place, and the fourth was starting on the re-shingling.

It was now day six of working on the thankfully small roof, and while one half of the roof was covered and finished, the other half had not been worked on.

Méngméng and Tyra had been making sandwiches for the boys, and tending to the horses, chicken coops, and anything else that usually fell on the men.

As soon as Méngméng had sent up the nails, she ventured back to the barn to help Tyra muck out the stalls. Grabbing a pitchfork, Méngméng started on the stall next to the red she-bear. "Who woulda thought that a princess would be mucking out stalls?" She laughed and grinned playfully. "Not that I mind. The horses are beautiful, and I like to help take care of them. Plus, I like listening to your stories while we work."

Tyra smiled and looked over at her. "Wud ye like tae 'ere a new one?" she asked slowly, enunciating her words better.

"Would I ever!"

There once was a bear by the name of Angus that came from a land unknown. He claimed that when he entered a new country, he shed his skin and his old name for a new one to fit the setting. He traveled with a human named Boyd who claimed the same as his friend.

Seeing both a human and a bear traveling together at that time and age was not unusual. Most assumed that the bear was his slave, as Angus was much smaller than this mighty human, only about the size of a nine-year-old cub. Bears thought this strange that a cub would be traveling with a human, but humans thought it was smart to train a bear from that age.

Angus and Boyd stayed in the Highlands, traveling from village to village, farm to farm, studying and watching. Neither offered a helping hand, nor spoke many words. They simply wrote on parchment what was being done.

When it came time for the Highland Games, Boyd signed Angus up for several of the heavy competitions. Bears and humans scoffed and laughed at this. What could a child accomplish? How could a child lift a long caber and toss it? How could a child throw the mighty hammer?

When it came Angus' time for the caber, an official gave him only a four foot log. Angus shook his head and returned it, pointing to one of the large ones. The official was dubious, but brought one over and laid it at his feet.

Angus carefully picked up the caber and began to balance it in his two paws, though it was three times his height. At first, he failed, and all laughed. However, the next time he tried, it balanced perfectly in his paws. He gave the caber a toss, and it landed at a perfect ninety degree angle on the wider end.

Spectators were in awe, and Boyd gave no emotional response other than a nod.

Angus moved onto the next event, and had the same repeat as with the previous official. Same with the next event, and the next.

However, at the end of the day, when it was time to present the awards, neither Angus nor Boyd could be found. They had slipped away together and shed their skin, walking away from the country to find a new one.

Méngméng blinked several times. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Tyra thought for a moment. "Hell if I know."

The she-panda snorted and started laughing. "That was the strangest story I've ever heard!"

Tyra smiled, finishing up with her stall. "Indeed it is. Ah cannae mind whaur ah heard it, though. Mibbie at a pub? Thir's likelie hings missing fae it, bit och weel. Ah tried."

"You sure did, and at least it passed the time. I quite enjoyed it. It makes you think about things. Like, why did they only watch? Why were they there? How could a child get perfect scores at the games?"

The red bear shrugged. "Shall we gang check oan oor wee laddies? Mak' sure thay haven't destroyed th' hoose yit?"

Méngméng nodded, leaning her pitchfork against the wall. She was just about to leave the barn when she felt Tyra's paw on her arm. She turned and looked at her. "What?"

"Whit urr ye daein' wi' Alec? Whit does a princess waant wi' mah laddie? Mah nephew? Alec wid ne'er hae hae slept wi' a cub. He's a guid laddie. How dae we ken ye aren't lying?"

Méngméng was confused about the sudden 180 of Tyra's attitude towards her. Hadn't they just been on friendly terms a few minutes ago?! However, when she looked into Tyra's eyes, she knew that the older bear meant well. Maybe they had actually been surprised at the news of Zeb's son. "Why would I lie about our beautiful child? What Alec and I did was poorly timed, but I do not regret my actions. In fact, I believe it was meant to happen, as Fēnglì will one day rule by my side and take over. This means I can retire sooner and be with Alec."

"Ah dae nae waant Alec tae be kent as a pedophile. Fowk wull brand him as sic, 'n' ah dae nae waant him goosed."

"Goosed?"

"Ru-Ruined."

"Oh. I would never willingly ruin his reputation, Tyra. I love him with all my heart and soul. I would never betray him. We will figure something out about Fēnglì. I will not deny my son." She frowned a moment, thinking on how Fēnglì did not know she was his mother, but decided not to voice this information. "We will be a whole family soon, once my divorce goes through, which should be any day, Lì Měng tells me."

"Divorced? Yer merrit?! A Bond breaker?!" Tyra's ears flattened, and her lips curled into a snarl.

"What? No! Lì Měng and I were married, but we never consummated the marriage! He is gay. We were forced into an arranged marriage!" Méngméng hurriedly explained.

Tyra looked her in the eyes, still growling for a little bit, and finally stopped. "Howfur lang wis this marriage?"

"About ten years."

"And ye ne'er bedded?"

"Never."

The faintly striped graying red bear studied her, looking for the lie in her eyes. Upon not finding one, she gave a small nod. "Ah trust ye, bit if ye hurt mah laddie, ah wull ne'er forgive ye. Ah do nawt care if ye'r a princess. Ah wull whoop yer bahookie."

"Bahookie?" Méngméng blinked a few times, only getting it when Tyra pointed at the panda's butt. "Oh. Well then. It'd be nice to meet someone that I didn't have to hold back against." She laughed a little. "I would take your whooping gladly if I cause him pain. Also, the term 'bahookie', I must use that."

"Gud." Tyra let go of her arm, and walked out of the barn, heading back over to the males, who were starting to make progress on the final side of the roof. While they had no shingles laid yet, they had just finished putting the last of the boards in for the base, and were covering them with roofing material.

"They may be finished by tomorrow," Méngméng mentioned, looking over the project. "Or the next day. Personally, I preferred to look out at the stars." She sighed and shook her head.

Tyra smiled at her and gave a slight shake of her head, for she knew that the boys had specifically put a sunroof in over the loft. She had been watching Méngméng's interactions with Zeb, and today's questioning had confirmed what Tyra believed. That Méngméng really and truly was in love with the fiddler. Watching the way she twirled her hair, gave him a hug and a kiss, and didn't bother with the fancy stuff, simply wearing jeans and a t-shirt, cemented the deal. When one is truly in love, they do not have to try very hard to impress those they love. They do not have to impress or intimidate. They simply must wear what is comfortable, and do what is needed to be done.

'Méngméng may be a princess,' Tyra thought, 'but she is not just a pretty face. She knows what she's doing, and knows how to be proper, yet do the hard work needed of her. However, I don't know if she would ever be a good mother. Only time will tell, and that's only if she is able to become pregnant. From what she said at the table, it no longer seems possible. And if Alec cannot have any children, then the Seillean bloodline ends with him, unless this Fēnglì marries and has children. But if no sons are born, the clan cannot continue, and this proud clan must continue. After all, Alec is now the leader, though he himself does not know this. Perhaps it is time for Ciaran and myself to tell him the truth about his parentage and inheritance. I will talk to him this evening on our late-night ride.'

Tyra smiled and continued walking back to the others, making sure they had what was needed, before heading inside to start supper.

.~*~.

"Your aunt tested me today," Méngméng stated as she and Zeb climbed into bed together. It had been about an hour since Tyra and Ciaran had left for their late night date on horseback – taking Kashyyyk and Thain as Merida was getting too far along with her pregnancy to be ridden. Ted, Zeb, and Méngméng had cleaned up around the house, washed the dishes, and made the kitchen spotless before turning in for the night.

"Tested you?" Zeb eyed her with confusion. What did she mean?

"She was seeing if I really loved you. I guess I passed the test, considering she didn't throw me out."

"Yeah, but... How? Why did she test you? What for?"

"I believe that she thought I wasn't good enough for you, or that I just wanted you for your body. That I was merely toying with you. I mean, she was partially right about the body part. You do have such a nice body. Much better than my own. But there's so much more to it. To you. I love you more than life itself. In fact... if it wasn't for you and Fēnglì, I would have killed myself years ago. I won't lie about it. Lì Měng managed to make it so that I could see my son. He knew the truth, and he knew I was in love with someone else." Méngméng smiled softly. "I loved him for that. He never pushed himself on me, despite the pressure for an heir. In fact, he's been thinking about adopting an orphan. Not a baby, but a child who has known poverty and the value of hard work."

Zeb listened to her, a small smile on his face as he thought about a future together. Side by side forever. "That sounds great. I hope he and his partner find happiness together."

Méngméng smiled. "He wished the same for me and you when I told him that I found you again."

"You still speak to him?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Méngméng looked at him oddly. "I'm still married to him until, I believe, the end of this month. You aren't jealous, are you?"

"Of what? The fact that someone is already married to the girl I love? No, totally not jealous," he muttered.

"A forced marriage, Alec, remember," she murmured, snuggling against his chest. "But I still loved him more as a brother than a lover. But he can never replace you. No one can, Alec. Don't worry about it anymore, please. I won't go back to him. Never would. He's happy now, and so am I, though the first few weeks after we decided to officially divorce and I moved out, I felt so lonely and horrible. Then I remembered you, that you were still around. I remembered reading that your band had gotten back together. I thought I might try to go back to you." A purr left her as she traced his face with a claw. "And I found you again."

"And rightfully hit me," he laughed, kissing her nose.

Her nose twitched and she giggled. "I love you, Alec. So, so much."

"And I love you. Nothin' will take me from you. Which is why tomorrow, I want to go on a proper date. Where would you like to go? Restaurant? Picnic? Movie? Ride?"

"Can we climb trees?"

"Climb... trees? That's not very romantic." He looked at her in surprise. "Don't you want something romantic?"

She started to laugh. "Since when have we been romantic? We're more fun than romantic. More physical than anything, though we haven't done anything. I'd rather have fun, and climbing trees is fun."

"I see." Zeb frowned a little. He wasn't the best at climbing and didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of her. "Are you sure you don't want to do a picnic or anything?"

The silver panda paused. It didn't sound like he was interested in climbing trees. "Yeah, I guess so." She sighed softly and turned away from him, pulling the blanket close.

Zeb closed his eyes unhappily. He'd screwed up. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't comfortable climbing up trees, or much of anything. He'd rather be on the ground than climbing on things that could fall over. Then again, ladders did that and he'd climb those. What was it about trees that made him nervous? With a soft sigh, he turned away from her and faced the wall, drifting off to sleep, wondering what to do.

.~*~.

Méngméng sighed softly as she watched the men work on the roof. It had been a few days since her and Zeb's talk about a date. Since then, she and Tyra worked on chores, Zeb, Ciaran, and Ted worked on the roof during the day, and at night Zeb and Ciaran trained for the games, Tyra joining in as well, though she was doing different competitions to them.

Zeb was excited for one competition, which was a fiddling competition. He had even tried to convince Méngméng to enter with him, but she refused to, stating that it was his to do, and she'd rather watch. That had put a bit of a damper on his mood, but he was cheerful nonetheless. As the days went on and his training intensified, he found himself being able to do more and more every day. His body became stronger. Arms more powerful.

His fiddling increased, too, with Ciaran and Tyra's help, as they were both avid fiddlers. Even Ted was impressed with the new sounds coming from his bandmate. The only one who stayed fairly quiet on the subject was Méngméng, who felt rather disappointed in herself for not joining in on the fun.

Ted walked out of the bathroom after his shower, still toweling himself off since the Campbells did not own a fur dryer. He went to his suitcase, picking out a shirt to wear, and glanced out the window, where he found Ciaran, Tyra, and Zeb training some more.

Tyra was practicing what appeared to be a dance, while Ciaran and Zeb were working with a heavy stone for an event called a Stone Put, which was like a shot put. A few days before, they had worked on a hammer throw, and a few days before that, a weight throw. Ciaran and Tyra both worked on the Sheaf Toss, which was a bundle of straw weighing about twenty pounds [for the men] and ten pounds [for the women]. However, since they were both bears, the weights were increased to about forty pounds for male bears, and thirty for she-bears. They liked to alternate every few days, trying to get well rounded. Both were very strong bears, and were trying to get their sole-surviving nephew to be like them in that aspect, as he was – until properly married to Méngméng – the sole survivor of Clan Seillean, since Tyra was a Campbell due to her marriage to Ciaran.

Méngméng enjoyed the show, of course, watching Zeb's muscles ripple, while Ted was intimidated by it.

As Ted finished toweling himself off, he wandered onto the front porch, where he found Méngméng sitting in a rocking chair watching the group. The usual smile on her face was gone, causing the older bear to immediately realize something was wrong.

Instead of saying anything, however, the guitarist sat down on the other chair and looked over at the group training before the house. "He's getting stronger. His accent's getting a bit thicker, too. I already hear him reverting back to some words he used to use. It's fairly entertaining when he realizes what he's doing. Have you noticed?"

Méngméng didn't respond, lost in thought.

The black bear frowned a bit. "Did you two fight? I haven't heard you talking late at night for a while." He thought for sure she'd call him out on eavesdropping, but again she said nothing. "Jade'll be back in a few days. Just in time for the Games. She said Fred's coming, too. That, and she rented a private jet for our journey back home, too. Gonna have champagne and be sophisticated."

Once more, she didn't respond, her gaze distant.

"Jade's pregnant with four."

"That's nice."

Ted groaned. "Okay, she's not pregnant. I was joking. What's going on with you? Why so quiet?" When she didn't respond again, he was about to ask another random question when she finally responded.

"Am I romantic? Or am I childish for wanting to do things other than a movie? A romantic ride through the forest? I wanted to climb trees. I thought it might be fun. We used to have a lot of fun, ya know?"

"I do remember that, yes. You both used to have a lot of fun together. Playing, singing, telling corny jokes. You enjoyed each other's company, and you found yourselves falling in love at an improper time." Ted shook his head. "But if you hadn't, you wouldn't have your son, Fēnglì. I am curious about him."

"Someday soon I will be able to bring him to the States. Fùqīn is very protective of him, as he is an heir to the throne, and possibly the only one that I will ever have." Méngméng frowned and looked down. "It doesn't matter. Someday, he'll realize that perhaps I'm not worth his time," she murmured.

"Now you stop that. Not worth his time? What are you on about?"

"I just... There are days when I just feel so worthless. Unworthy of anything. Days when I just want to..." She rubbed her lower arms unhappily, feeling the fresh bandages she had put on them after clawing them up. She had waited until Zeb had left to work on the roof to do anything to herself. She had just felt so down and lonely that day. "I... I think I should just leave. I've been thinking about it for a few days, actually."

Ted frowned. What she was saying, and how she was acting reminded him of himself from years ago. Distant, emotionless, days of feeling absolutely worthless, and Zeb had told him about how she would hurt herself from time to time. "Méngméng, have you ever seen a doctor about your depression?"

"Depression? I'm not..." Her ears lowered.

"Bullshit. I'm not stupid. You're like I used to be, only I've been told this sort of thing has been going on for many years. Decades, even. And judging by the way you were just rubbing your arms, I believe I am safe to assume that you've been clawing yourself again. I can see the tufts of fur under your claws. I won't tell Zeb, Méngméng, that you've been hurting yourself as long as you get some help."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't need to answer to you, Theodore Bedderhead," she growled warningly. "If I want to hurt myself to feel better, then I have every right to. I don't need you judging me! Everyone is always judging me! Think they know me better than I know myself!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's not what I was doin' at all! I was tryin' to help!"

"I don't need your help! I don't want your help! I just want to be left alone!" She got up to leave.

Ted immediately grabbed her arm, gripping it tightly. "You are the lover of my best friend whom I view as a younger brother. If you're not going to take care of yourself, you will hurt him, and I will not allow that to happen again."

Méngméng's eyes narrowed at his paw on her arm and she snarled and gripped that paw with her free one and twisted it backwards. "Do not touch me! Do not ever touch me! I will not hesitate to break you!"

Ted's eyes widened with fear. What the hell had come over her?! He let out a bark of pain and pulled away from her. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're psychotic!"

The silver panda bit her lip and backed down. "I... I'm sorry..." She stepped back from him, eyes wide. Why had she done that? She glanced back at the others, who had stopped training and were looking over at them. "I... Leave me be." She walked inside and up to the loft. She needed to pack and leave. Her mind was starting to slip into darkness. Ted was right. She was just going to hurt Zeb.

"Méngméng, wait!" Ted attempted, but it was too late. She was beyond hearing. "Damn it." Hurriedly, he climbed down from the porch and walked towards Zeb, who was already hurrying over.

"What happened?" Zeb questioned, stopping in front of him.

"I, well..." Ted told him what had gone on, about Méngméng's depression, and about her hurting herself again. About wanting to leave.

Zeb groaned and sighed. "This is my fault... I should have just taken her on that date."

"Date?"

"She wanted to go climb trees."

"Is that what she was going on about? Being childish? You realize your girlfriend is screwed up in the head, right?"

"Don't talk about her like that! She may have problems, but she's not screwed up."

"Yes, she is. She needs help, Zeb. You know that. She's unstable. Maybe all she needs is a good lay to get rid of those pesky emotions. I know it works wonders with Jade and me."

Zeb's fist connected with his jaw in seconds. "Don't you DARE say that again! There is a reason why we haven't done anything, and it's none of your business!"

"Gah! What the hell?!" Ted gasped, backing away in shock. "I was just trying to give a suggestion! Geez, I'm sorry!"

"Just don't, all right? She's scared, I'm scared. We don't want history to repeat itself. She asked to wait, to stop, so I did. I won't get physical with her until she asks me to."

"And if she never does? That's not exactly a healthy relationship, Zeb."

"It's not a healthy relationship if we don't bed each other? Are you serious? Do you know how sexist that sounds? Rapist culture. That sounds like an unhealthy relationship if what is required is bedding each other. I've lost some respect for you, Ted."

"What? No, that's not what I meant! Damn it. I'm getting mixed up. It didn't come out the way I meant it to. I wasn't trying to sound as horrible as it came out, Zeb. Believe me." Ted groaned and shook his head. "What I meant is that this fear that seems to be going on between you two is not healthy. The fear to be intimate is not healthy. The fear of history repeating is not healthy. You two need to work this out before things happen. Before this fear becomes permanent," he explained, hoping Zeb wouldn't hit him again.

To his surprise and relief, Zeb's ears lowered and he nodded in agreement. "I know we do, but I don't know what to do. I don't want to push her, Ted. Force her into things she's not ready for. She may think I'm not worthy of her, or that she's not worthy of me, and maybe... We just keep coming back to this. If I could just find some way to prove to her and myself that I am worthy, then I wouldn't worry so much." He pulled off his hat and ringed it a bit. "I know she says she loves me, but am I worthy of that love? I'm so unsure, Ted. It makes me wish that perhaps she wasn't a princess or anything, but then I feel bad about it, because I know she's going to do great. I just..."

"Want to prove your worth. I get it. I feel the same way. How did I ever become worthy of Jade? She's worth so much more than I am."

Zeb scowled and rolled his eyes. Trust Ted to turn a conversation about him and Méngméng to Ted and Jade. While Ted was talking, Zeb walked away towards the cottage, heading upstairs immediately.

He found Méngméng sitting down on the bed, trembling as she rested her claws on her arms, ready to rip through the bandages. Her hair flowed around her, ratty and tangled, as if she'd been fighting it. Her suitcase sat on the bed, but was unpacked. He could hear the soft sniffles echoing from her.

Zeb watched her, wondering what she'd do. He could see the thoughts going through her mind about wanting to hurt herself, but also the thoughts of not doing it. It made his decision clear. "Méngméng, pack some clothes. You and I are going on a small trip."

She jumped a little, turning to look at him. "Trip?" She covered up her arms. "Why?"

"You'll see. Just pack a few things. Nothing fancy, either." He grinned a little and grabbed a duffle bag and put a couple fresh shirts in it. He held open the bag for her. "Come on, honey."

Méngméng frowned and got up, sorting through her clothes in the dresser, picking out a few that would fit what he was talking about.

Zeb watched her and disappeared downstairs for a moment before returning and stuffing something in the bag before zipping it up. "Come on, let's go."

"Now? But it is almost dinner time!" She looked at him in confusion. "Is it not too late to go anywhere?"

"No. Now is the best time. Come on." He held out his paw to her, and after some hesitation, she took it.

.~*~.

Méngméng stretched out the next morning and blinked a few times as she sat up. When had they gotten out of the car? She turned her head and found herself next to Zeb, who was laying spread eagle and snoring loudly. She managed a smile at the sight and glanced around, eyes widening when she found herself surrounded by many trees.

She didn't even wait for Zeb to wake up. She went and did her business and immediately climbed a tree, digging her claws into the bark and hoisting herself up, feeling freer than she had in a long time. Paw after paw, foot after foot, she climbed until she reached the highest branch that could support her weight and let out a joyful scream. She could see so far, and the sky was clear. It was a beautiful morning, and gentle fog rolled over the grounds. If only Zeb could see this!

Meanwhile, on the ground, Zeb shot off the ground at the scream, looking around frantically. "Méngméng?!" he called, jumping up and searching around. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" Where had she gone?!

"Up here, Alec! Bring your camera!"

Zeb looked upwards, eyes widening when he spotted a bit of silver amongst the green. "Oh no. No, no, no. I am not going up there. Too high. No support. Nope. Nada."

"Alec!" she called again, not hearing him. "It's so beautiful!"

He didn't want to climb. Nope, not at all. He'd have to be drunk to do that. Then again... He reached into the duffle bag and pulled out the large bottle of alcoholic honey, popped open the cork, and took a big swig in order to gather up his courage. He then stood up, picked up his camera backpack and put it on, and started to climb, forcing himself to not look down but trust his instincts.

With each pull up, he found himself getting more and more nervous. "Méngméng, I... I don't know if I can do this."

"Come on, Alec! Please! It's so beautiful, and I want to share it with you," Méngméng called, looking down at him. "Please, you'll make it, I promise." She sent him a smile, hoping to give him some motivation.

Zeb nodded and continued climbing, soon reaching the branches, which made the climbing that much easier. Finally, he made it to a branch opposite of her, his foot claws sunk into the bark, shaking a bit as he stood up, clinging to the trunk as he poked his head through the ceiling of leaves into the wide open sky, just in time to see the sun rising over the horizon.

"I... Wow..." Zeb was shocked at the scene before him.

"You should get your camera. I think you'd win an award for such a shot," she murmured, staring at the sunrise.

"I... Yeah, you're right." He carefully took off his bag and began to rummage around in it, pulling out his digital camera and setting it up. He set it upon her head, since it would be easier to take a longer exposure and he knew she could keep very, very still, and pressed the shutter. He ended up taking several photos as the sun rose and colors filled the slightly cloudy sky. It was simply stunning. He just wished he could get a decent picture of Méngméng staring at the sunrise, but she was too close and he didn't have such a lens to capture it.

"It's so beautiful. This is what it means to live, Alec. To be up high and free. Back in China, I used to climb as high as I could in trees, on buildings, even some rock climbing. My kung fu teacher would take me. At one point, we even planned a trip to Mt. Everest, but as it turned out, I couldn't take the altitude. It made me very ill. Lì Měng was my husband at the time of this, too. He loved to climb. In fact, he made it to the top of Mt. Everest in 1997 and left a framed photo of me and my favorite scarf at the top. Took a picture of leaving them up there, too. Remind me to show them to you sometime."

Zeb frowned, jealousy flaring up within him once more. "Please stop talking about him, Méngméng."

She blinked and turned back to him in surprise. "What?"

"Stop talking about him. I'm tired of hearing about him. I can't compare and I never will. I can't take a picture of you and your favorite scarf and leave it on top of the world. I can't be a mighty leader. I'm nothing more than a honeyaholic fiddler that bedded you twenty years ago and not since. Gave you a son that I have never met. A boy who was raised without a real father in his life, and I left you alone for so many years. I can't stand how big of a failure I am. I can't even keep you from hurting yourself."

Méngméng whimpered, staring at him. She hadn't realized how much she was hurting him with her words. "Alec, I... I didn't mean to upset you. I was just talking without thinking. I'm sorry... Lì Měng is like my brother, as I've said. He cares about me even more than my adopted siblings do. Well, more than Bǎo Bǎo and Méi. Gǎo Gǎo and Bái Yún. Older siblings dislike me, but the younger love me." She frowned a bit. "Gǎo Gǎo and Bái Yún are twins, but Fùqīn only loves Bái Yún, as Gǎo Gǎo has schizophrenia and lives in a ward." She lowered her gaze. "But my family bores you or upsets you."

"No... It's not that. While Lì Měng is gay, he was a romantic, Méngméng. Far more than I am. It hurts that I'll never be that way."

"What? What do you mean? You're romantic."

"But not like that, Mo Pearla. Probably the most romantic thing you and I ever did together was bedding each other," he muttered.

"Oh? Well then, I think we should try it again. Be as romantic as possible. Nothing is more romantic than being in a forest with the one you love."

Zeb blinked and looked at her in surprise. "Wait, you want to... You actually want to?"

She smiled and nodded. "We just won't tell anyone. None of their business, anyway."

"Indeed." He looked over at her and frowned. "So... Do we climb down or..."

"Alec, we're not going to do this in a tree! Of course we climb down, you dork!" She leaned towards him and gave him a gentle kiss.

He hurriedly stuffed his cameras back into his backpack and started the climb down with her following. While his climb was more difficult, she made it to the ground with ease and was getting into their duffle bag, pulling out the bottle of honey and taking a swig.

As soon as his feet touched the ground and he'd put his camera away, she pounced, and soon the woods were filled with the sweet sounds of love and laughter.