Enjoy!

"I'm gonna kill him!" Nagisa screamed. He tugged at the scarf around his neck and scratched at the cloth of the oceanic-eyed human. When he told Makoto not to make him do anything embarrassing to distract Issa so the other creatures could see the gorillas, Nagisa meant the "don't make me do anything embarrassing" part. Makoto could have at least given him the clothes of the bigger man.

"Really? I-I think you look quite nice in that, Nagisa," Rei said, his trunk dressed like the tiniest of the humans. Nagisa ceased his screaming and grinned, twirling the curls on his head.

"Oh, really? Because I just thought that maybe it was too small on my arms and-" A loud roar interrupted the gorilla, followed by the large silverback bursting through the trees and banging his chest. "Run!" Nagisa screamed, Rei's thudding footsteps following him. Issa chased after the two animals, his focus only on the flashing clothing.

From a distance, Makoto watched the silverback chase his friends farther away from their troop's current location. So far, the plan was working. He pulled on Haruka's arm in the opposite direction of the running gorilla and elephant. "Come on, this way." He began to take longer strides, which made it more difficult for the raven to follow the brunette. The shooter, the redhead, and the primatologists followed slightly. Rin tightened his grip on Sousuke's hand. When they all heard a twig snapping, several of them jumped and looked around for the source of the noise. Makoto let go of Haruka's hand and walked toward something on his left. Curious eyes followed as the ape-man crouched down and began to make monkey noises. Haruka slowly approached and saw a gorilla. He recognized her. It was the gorilla that had backed away from Haruka in fear.

And she was doing the same thing at that moment.

Haruka crouched down to Makoto's level and began to do something incredibly embarrassing: he made soft monkey noises. Aiichiro and Momotarou clapped and joined in with the two crouching men. Sousuke gaped and turned to face his finacé.

"What are they doing? They're going to scare away the gorilla away!" he hissed. Rin only shrugged. Sousuke groaned. "Get up, you four! Get up! Get... Don't get up." The stoic man had looked up and was the first witness to the greatest thing any of them had ever seen. There, in the trees, were dozens of gorillas watching them from above. Haruka gasped and stood up. After all this time, he could finally see the gorillas up close. He turned back to face the female gorilla and smiled. Although still chary, she took a step forward.

"Makoto, she's so beautiful," Haruka said, finally finding his voice. The brunette grinned.

"She's my mother," he said. Haruka stared at him, his eyes moving between Makoto and the gorilla. Somehow, it made sense in his head. There were loud, high-pitched screeches from behind Haruka. He turned back around to see a baby gorilla banging its chest, almost as a challenge for dominance. Grinning, the raven knelt down to be more level with the infant. The baby eventually fell into Haruka's lap, making a sheepish noise. Haruka chuckled.

"It's very nice to meet you too, little one."

Aiichiro and Momotarou were overwhelmed. It had been their lifelong dream to see gorillas in their natural habitat, where they lived in comfort. Cheering, the primatologists hugged each other and jumped up and down. When they let go of each other, they noticed several gorillas surrounded them. One was daring enough to approach the two humans and tugged at Momotarou's shorts.

Rin chuckled as a younger gorilla searched his hair for whatever bugs it thought would be there. "Sousuke, look! They're grooming me!" The stoic man gave him an absentminded smile, holding a map and a marker.

"Yes, that's nice. This is perfect," the shooter said to himself, crossing an area of the map with an "X". He grinned when he felt something pull at the rifle on his back. "Hey, give that back! That is not something to be played with!" he shouted at the gorilla that held the rifle, ducking when the primate swung it around.

"Makoto, this is amazing," Haruka said to the ape-man. He cradled one of the babies in his arms. "I wouldn't really mind accidentally missing the ship and be left here. I don't think I'd ever tire of such beauty." Suddenly, Makoto couldn't breathe and gasped in air. "Hey, think you could teach me?" The brunette shook his head.

"Teach you what?"

"Gorilla."

"Oh, alright. Let's start with this. Ooh ooh." Haruka smiled.

"Ooh ooh," he repeated.

"Ee eh."

"Ee eh."

"Ooooh."

"Oooh."

"Ooooh," Makoto said again. Just when Haruka was about to repeat him again, the brunette grabbed his face to shift his lips to pronounce the noises better. Haruka tried again but only broke out in soft giggles. Makoto's heart jumped. "Say it all together." Haruka cleared his throat.

"Ooh ooh ee eh ooooh." The baby gorillas howled and cheered. The one that was being cradled jumped onto Haruka's shoulders and banged his chest. "My goodness! What did I say?"

"'Haruka is staying with Makoto,'" the ape-man translated. He was confused when the raven frowned and put the baby gorilla back down to the ground. "What's wrong? Are you not going to stay?"

"Makoto, I didn't actually mean what I said. I was just- I have a home back in Japan and-" Before Haruka could continue to explain in broken sentences, there was a loud scream and trumpet that sounded a second before a gorilla and an elephant broke through the brush. "Are those my clothes? Is that why you needed them?" he asked out loud, recognizing his garments the gorilla was apparently wearing.

"Run!" Nagisa screamed at the others, even though only Makoto and the other gorillas understood. However, the others would understand what was the cause of the pandemonium when a large silverback came through the same area as the gorilla and elephant. He looked around in shock at the humans. When his eyes landed on Makoto and Haruka, his lips pulled back and revealed his fangs. He howled and beat his chest before charging. Before anyone could do as much as scream, Makoto jumped to his feet and tackled Issa with as much force as he could. In a moment of tussling, he had the silverback in a full nelson. He brought his hands together and held them in place against the gorilla's throat.

"Go! Now!" he shouted orders to the other humans, all in shock. Sousuke was the first to snap out of it and grabbed Rin's hand. Aiichiro and Momotarou got up from the dirt they had been sitting on and ran as well. The smallest of the two grabbed Haruka's hand and tried to pull him away in the direction of where they had come. At first, the raven resisted.

"Wait! Makoto!" he shouted back. He was worried about the ape-man. What would happen once he left with the others?

"Go!" Makoto growled, his hold tightening. Finally, Haruka obeyed and ran with the others. When he was out of sight, Makoto let go of Issa. The gorilla gasped for air, holding his throat as if to protect it. The realization of what he had just done crashed down on the brunette. He stared at his hands. He had just used them to harm the one who kept their troop safe. "Issa, I'm sorry, but I couldn't-" Makoto tried to apologize.

"You promised to protect this family and to stay away from those strangers. And you broke that promise," Issa interrupted the apology, his tone unlike anything he had ever used on Makoto. The ape-man stared at his hands an=gain and, before Kellan could approach him, he ran off. When he disappeared, the entire troop turned to face the dressed gorilla and elephant.

"Uh, we can explain," Nagisa started before Rei placed his trunk on his shoulder.

"Nagisa, I think it's time you stopped talking."

Kellan found her son hiding in his tree, the one he always went to whenever he was upset. He was surrounded by the vines, his hands gripping one of them. She followed his gaze to the moon.

"I am so confused," he finally spoke after several minutes of silence. Sighing, Kellan gently grabbed her son's hand.

"Come with me. There's something I need to show you." She paused before adding, "I should have shown you this a long time ago." Kellan squeezed Makoto's hand, knowing that what she was about to show him could possibly change everything about their relationship.

*screams from the abyss* Hope you enjoyed! Time to prepare for mess!