"What on earth is she doing?" The question came from a certain blonde headed King as the Host Club watched Evelyn in the Lion pen. Mori wore a displeased frown on his face as he answered.

"'Trying a different tactic'."

"A different tactic?" Hikaru echoed. "Is that what they call it these days?"

"Yeah," his twin chimed in. "It looks like she's in a painful position. I don't know how she could be crouched for so long."

"It looks like she's having a staring contest with it." Haruhi commented dryly.

"That's what it is." Honey commented as he climbed up on Mori's shoulders to get a better look from the observatory deck.

Evelyn had requested that the wild lioness be introduced to the pride, in case it would calm her down. Making sure to leave the lioness alone for a few days, Evelyn gave her time to adjust to the new setting and the other lions. The other lions were quick to accept her into the pride, but Nala was the most begrudging of them all. Mori had witnessed her fury as the two lioness shared claws and angry glares, but the loner was the first to back down.

"Has Eve-chan named her already?"

"Hoshi." Haruhi answered them all. "She told me earlier this morning.

"Men!" Tamaki butted in and addressed the group. "If we don't get Evelyn out of there now, we'll never see her for the gala!"

"I'm certainly not going in there." Kyoya was the first to speak.

"Yeah Boss." Hikaru spoke up. "If we learned anything at this place, it's to not get in the way of Evelyn and her projects."

"Or the lions."

A cuss word brought the Host Club back to the looking into the pen. Evelyn was currently on her butt, once again, but this time, Nala stood between Hoshi and Evelyn. Both of the lionesses had their ears pinned back and the growling contest began.

A soft sigh escaped Mori's lips as he shook his head when Evelyn stood back up and turned her attention to Nala. The teen was quickly scolding both of the proud females with a lecture that was not understood. But one thing was clear, Nala was making sure Hoshi knew who to not mess with. After finishing her lecture, Evelyn turned on her heels and walked away from the pair, slightly angry but her face was a bit calmer than normal. The Host Club decided it was best to approach her then.

Mori climbed down the steps of the deck first and met Evelyn as she exited the pen.

"I don't know if Hoshi will attack me anymore, but Nala certainly had words with her."

"That was dangerous!" Tamaki exclaimed as he jumped to hug Evelyn into a tight embrace. "You could have been eaten!"

"You're smothering her Dono!" The twins cried as they jumped to Evelyn's aid. "You're gonna kill her!"

"Yes, we can't have her dying of all nights tonight." Kyoya reminded them all. "She needs to make her presentation at the gala tonight."

Evelyn made a face as she stepped out of Tamaki's reaching distance and stood behind Haruhi.

"Well, I guess that means we need to head back and get ready. It'll start in a few hours, and my parents won't be happy that I was working today."

Kaoru draped an arm around Haruhi and pulled her out of Evelyn's way.

"You ladies need to be getting ready already. Hair and makeup will take such a long time!"

Evelyn made a face and pulled Haruhi out of the evil twin's grasp.

"It shouldn't take that long, should it?"

"Well, not only that, but the army showed up today." Kyoya's news startled Evelyn. "Oh, and your parents left to pick up your Uncle Clark."

Evelyn's face fell as the name left Kyoya's lips.

"Thank you for informing me." She said. "Is there any chance Fatima and Haki are still around or have they already left?"

"Still around the last time I checked." Honey answered as he climbed back on top of Mori's shoulders. Usa-chan sat on Mori's head. The image of the pink bunny ruined the moment, but Evelyn kept thinking about everything that happened.

"That's a lot. Is Mjomba still around, or did he go with my parents?"

"He went in town early." Haruhi answered. "He said something about making sure the gala was fully ready for tomorrow. I think your parents said he was staying the night at the hotel even."

Evelyn nodded.

"Good. I'm going to go see Fatima and her brother before they leave. Are you guys planning on coming with me, or you going to stick around here?"

"We're going back!" The twins and Tamaki cried out. "Don't leave us here to be eaten!"

The girl raised an amused eyebrow and shook her head at the three of them.

"You guys are crazy. Come on Haruhi, we should just leave them."

Haruhi glanced over to the hysterical trio and shrugged.

"Sure, let's go."

"Please don't leave us!"

"I'm not."

But their words reminded Evelyn of the dates. After the gala, the Host Club would return to Japan, and back to their schools. The thought of her newly found friends leaving set her heart a little bit heavy. She would miss them; that much was real.

Corrin looked over to her husband nervously from the back seat and then to the back of the head of her brother in law. A frown sat on the woman's face as she glared holes into the back of Clark Richard's head, wishing he didn't feel like he had to come. She had the upmost confidence in her husband and Evelyn to keep everything in order. Hell, he wasn't even going to come until he heard that sons of some of the most prestigious families from Japan were at their 'lowly' conservation.

"Corrin, how is your job holding out?"

The woman looked up into the rearview mirror and met the hard brown eyes of her brother in law. She managed to perfect a smile and answered him.

"Fine. The National Geographic loves hearing about my exploits in Africa. They just dig in deeper when I share my experiences and near encounters with the rebellion and lost tribes that we somehow manage to lose over the years."

She sat back in her seat with a satisfied smirk and found herself looking out the window.

"I don't know why you even bother with such meaningless work. You either brother. Both of you could be safely in England, working secure jobs." He remarked haughtily.

"History is important Clark." Corrin was quick to scold him. "You learn the past so you won't repeat the same mistakes."

She got a bemused look from her husband, but he was quick to replace it.

"Besides, my family loves it out here. Especially Evelyn. She has a knack of running the place on her own."

"Ah! My niece. And how is she? Still in school I hope."

Corrin made a face again at the back of his head, but the silence answered the question.

"She chose to drop out." Kevin answered the question.

"What? She must immediately return to school!"

"She wanted the year off to help the conservation. We let her make the decision. She's only eighteen."

"Will she go to college then?"

"Only when she's ready." Corrin answered. "Now just isn't the right time. She needs to finish high school first anyways."

"There's still time to enroll her." Clark offered. "There are many schools that would open their doors for a Richards."

"As we've said before." Corrin cut him off. "It's her decision. Not ours."

A/N: Yay! Another chapter! And it didn't take me all month or two to get it up! Spring break is next week, and that's when I'll work best. So, expect a chapter next week. It will also be the chapter that gets to the more dramatic part soon anyways. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Love,

Jazzy