"I can't believe that Evelyn didn't want us going with her this morning!" Tamaki cried as he threw himself on the table and wailed.

"It would be the first time she gets to see her parents together." Haruhi intervened. "I thought it would be best that she got to meet with them without us."

"But we were left here, against our will!" Tamaki cried again.

"If you have nothing better to do, then update you journal." Kyoya looked up to the group. "Because I'm sure none of you have been keeping up with it at all. Well, besides Mori anyways."

"Yeah, who's gonna read them all?" The twins asked together.

"They're going in your portfolio. That way, when other companies want to sign on with your company, they will at least be able to see what kind of other connections they have."

Mori glanced down at his watch and sighed for the second time in the last minute. Large brown eyes peered up at the tall guy, questioning.

"What's wrong Mori-chan?" Honey asked.

"Nothing." He replied as he stood.

They had been working on the last bits of the gala, making sure everything was in order. Now all that was left was clothing for them, and making sure that Evelyn was ready to be presented with her family.

"I'm going to check on the lions." He announced to the room.

"Suit yourself." Kyoya didn't even bother looking up from his iPad as he continued to finalize everything. "We just need to make sure everything is done by the time Evelyn and her parents get here."

Mori nodded and continued on his way to the rest of the compound. He knew he would find Robin somewhere in all that mess. Sure enough, he found her in a pen, taking pictures of turtles and tortoises while chatting happily to them. Hannah ignored the woman as she fed them, making sure each got their right amount.

"Takashi, this is a surprise." Robin spoke without glancing over her shoulder to him.

Mori was stunned, in the least that she had even picked up his presence before he could say anything. Hannah looked up, however and grinned.

"Come in, if you dare. These are monstrous beasts that'll eat your face off." She warned him.

She earned a shy smile from Mori as he crouched down next to Robin to study the small turtle that suddenly took interest in her. Smiling, Robin put her camera away and offered the small turtle a finger to investigate.

"Will you drive me to the Lions Den?" He asked after a moment of silence.

Robin didn't look away as she slowly touched the turtle's small heard.

"I guess I can. Have you guys already finished the preparations for the gala already?"

"Mostly. I'm not needed there."

"Sure. It'll be a while before Evelyn and Mjomba get back anyways." The woman stood up and stretched her legs out. "Thanks for being my model Hannah; I'm sure this will look good when it gets to the magazine."

Hannah's face instantly turned red as she looked away from Robin.

"You didn't say anything about a magazine! You said it was a newsletter!"

Robin shrugged.

"Magazine, newsletter, same difference. These pictures are going to National Geographic. Hopefully it will be enough to promote our doings here and we'll get some more supporters."

Hannah ignored the older woman now, and was focused on feeding the smaller animals.

"Okay, we're off! Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into at the den."

Evelyn fidgeted where she was standing, but watched diligently for the plane that should be arriving soon. However, she had more than one reason to fidget. One; her parents were returning, together, and it would be the first time in a month or two that she would see them. Two; she was impatient to see what kind of progress the Host Club made while she was gone and three; there was still an awkward air about Mjomba and herself that she couldn't quiet pin, but she felt that it was still connected with yesterday's fight.

"The plane is late." She huffed out as she checked her phone for the hundredth time in the last five minutes.

"You know how planes usually are Bititi." Mjomba sighed as he crossed his arms and leaned against the jeep. "However, it is going a lot better than I thought. I was certain those volunteers were going to come with us."

Evelyn's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she remembered that morning's event. They almost made it clear of the conservation until Tamaki and the twins caused a scene by nearly jumping in the car with her and Mjomba.

"There we are."

Mjomba's deep voice brought her out of thinking and her attention instantly went to the sky. Sure enough, the small plane was already descending towards the landing strip. Excitement gripped her chest, and she almost ran out to the plane. However, she waited next to Mjomba.

"I bet you're glad dad's back. Maybe he can fix what I've messed up." She thought bitterly as his words replayed in her head.

As soon as the plane touched down and the assistants were out to collect the plane and its passengers, Evelyn made for her parents.

Her mother stepped into the cabin first and took a deep breath in. Hazel orbs tried to take in everything at once, but she was more than happy to discover that everything was the way she had left it. The tall woman's hair was falling around her shoulders, and with every turn she made, the beads in her hair clicked together. Corrin Richards almost giggled in pure joy, she was happy to be home.

"Evelyn, I can't even begin to tell you how much we appreciate you taking care of everything while we were gone." Corrin began as she went straight to her room.

Her father, Kevin, stepped in behind his wife with the luggage trailing behind him. He grunted with the heavy weight, and was finally relieved to drop it on the floor. His brown eyes searched the room as well and was happy to return. Stretching his tanned arms he grabbed some bags and dropped them off in the bedroom.

"How was your trip?" Evelyn asked as she plopped down on a sofa and watched her parents carefully.

"Eventful." Kevin answered. "We got a lot done."

"We got a lot more sponsors too that'll be attending the gala and they are interested in seeing the conservation when it is fully open to the public." Corrin chatted excitedly as she began to rummage through her bags. "How was my replacement?"

"The vet did okay. Nothing died while you were gone and nothing got serious. I think he's just glad that you're back so he can leave."

"Well that's good. I'm ready to get back to working with the animals again. You know, I prefer animal patients over the humans. They don't complain much."

"However," Kevin stopped as he sat down in the recliner across from Evelyn. She quickly noted the change in his attitude and knew where the conversation was going. "I heard we've been slightly delayed."

"Mjomba?" Evelyn asked.

A nod was the response she received and knew that it probably wasn't good. "We've been having a hard time getting along recently."

Corrin made her way into the living room and sat down next to Evelyn on the sofa.

"Well, what we really wanted to tell you was this; we're proud you fought to keep those refugees here."

She breathed out in relief and leaned into her mother's embrace.

"I don't like the way I had to do it though." She spoke gently. "I hate fighting Mjomba. It made me feel like I started it."

Her parents exchanged looks.

"You and Mjomba fought?" Her dad asked.

Shrugging, Evelyn closed her eyes and sighed.

"It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"What was said?"

Evelyn sat up and pulled her legs up close to her chest.

"Nothing bad. We just had an argument about the people we're keeping here. He doesn't like the fact that they had been here longer than normal. I notified the military, but I've not heard back from them."

"We'll take care of it later." Kevin decided as he leaned back into the recliner. "But first, what is the news on the gala?"

"Good! Do you want to see the preparations we've made?"

"We?"

"Yeah. Remember that group of high school students that came at the beginning of summer? They specialize in organizing events like this. They helped a lot."

There was a knocking on the door that interrupted Evelyn before she could continue on the story.

"I'll get it." The teen volunteered as she got up off the sofa. She was almost at the door when it opened before she could grab it. To her surprise, Mori and Robin were standing there.

"Hey guys." Evelyn greeted them.

"We need you at the Lion's Den. Something's happened." Even though that was probably the most that Evelyn heard from Mori, it didn't quiet register to her.

Instantly her mind went to all negative thoughts, which she could only assume that was what happened from the grave looks she was getting.

"I'm on my way. Mori come with me."

And like that, she rushed off to the nearest vehicle she could get her hands on.

"Put some pressure here." Corrin demanded.

Evelyn followed her mother's instructions and immediately put her hands over the gushing wound. She didn't grimace or flinch as she felt the blood trickling through her fingers, but instead applied more pressure to stop the oozing blood.

The lion on the steel table was wheezing and groaning, but fully knocked out. His large mane was matted with blood and his breath was getting shallow.

"Takashi, please get some towels from the storage and iodine." Corrin immediately instructed as she made sure her gloves were on.

"What are we looking at here?" Kevin asked as he stood by, watching the operation that was about to take place.

"A failed hunting attempt dear. Whoever shot this lion didn't know what they were doing, thought they wouldn't catch it when it ran off, or just didn't bother looking."

"Or the hunter was killed by the lion." Evelyn spoke gently, but they all knew it was another option. "Is it possible to save it?"

Corrin remained quiet while she studied the tools set out before her and picked the right one out. Mori returned quickly with a stack of hand towels and held them out to Corrin.

"Evelyn, I need you to remove your hand when I tell you. After I grab the bullet, I want you to reapply the pressure, but this time with a towel. Mori, you'll help her, okay?"

"Yeah."

Corrin took a deep breath in and let out a long sigh.

"Okay, Evelyn, go."

Evelyn was quick to remove her hands from the wound. At the same time she moved her hands, her mother moved in with the tweezers and dug in the lion's side for the bullet. She found it in no time and retreated while Mori shoved a towel over the wound and Evelyn placed her hands back on the lion.

"Good job kids. Keep your hands there until I'm ready to stich the beast back up."

The two teens worked with Corrin efficiently, following her directions while she worked on treating the wound, and applying stitches.

"Where did you guys find him at?" She asked Mori as they stepped back and let Corrin finish with the help of her husband.

"On the way up here. He was lying in the road like that. Robin made a call and someone came to pick him up while we went to get you."

Sighing, Evelyn looked down at her hands, and felt her stomach lurch when she realized what was still staining them.

"Here."

Mori grabbed her wrists and lead her out of the room. Confused as to where she was going, she just let him lead her down the hallway, away from the operating room. It wasn't long before Mori found the girl's bathroom and led her into the sink. He turned on warm water and stuck her hands under the faucet.

"Right. Thanks."

He nodded his head and leaned against the sink, waiting on her to finish washing her hands.

"You were pretty calm Takashi."

"Thanks. You too."

She smiled faintly and nodded her head.

"I have to be. If I panicked, the situation would have turned out differently and that lion probably wouldn't have made it."

"You care a lot about the animals here."

"They care when you care. I know they're just animals, but they can definitely tell when someone loves them. I would die for my lions more than anything."

"They would die for you too."

Evelyn smiled at the compliment.

"Well, we will never test their loyalty. They're safe here, and that one will be treated just the same as the rest. I will begin working with him as soon as he makes a full recovery. Let's get out of the bathroom though. Especially since it's the ladies restroom too."

The realization dawned on Mori and he was a little bit quicker to leave than Evelyn.

"We have something else to worry about too." She muttered angrily. "There's someone who dares to hunt on our land."

"You don't think it was an accident." Mori asked. She shook her head fervently. The two of them came to the same conclusion. "I don't either."

A/N: I really hope Mori isn't too OOC, but this is a fun challenge to write him in. Anyways, I am going to try to update weekly, every Friday anyways. College is keeping me busy enough, but I have a lot of free time now! Who would have thought? It's like whoever created the schedule didn't think that all the required classes weren't far apart, but now, I have four hours between some of my classes. I get homework done fast! :D Gotta love college. Anyways, done with my talking, I'm off to Imaginative Writing 1! Thanks to my lovely reviewers: anonymous, ScreenSaver2, and Rose Thourn! I really appreciate your feedback! Well, until next time!

Love,

Moi!