A/N: Hey guys, I'd just like to send a few shoutouts to some of the readers who've been giving me some really great feedback the past couple of chapters! Chu10, queenlioness..., kora22, Zero Unit RGB, Emerald dreamer96, yeti1995, and Black Cat. Thank you guys so much for your awesomeness, and to all my other readers, thanks for your love and encouragement as well. Well, we saw Uru get a little fiery in the last chapter. And yeah, Ahadi is kinda a jerk, but he's been used to harshness for most of his life. But enough of my yapping and let the story tell itself lol! Song lyrics are bold, song is Truly, Madly, Deeply. I went with Savage Garden version.

Chapter 20: Swimming Lessons

Uru's amber eyes fluttered open to a small beam of golden sunlight filling the entrance of the small den that she'd fallen asleep in. She gave a small yawn as the sound of happy, chirping little birds floated to her ears and the scent of the jungle filled her nostrils, awakening her appetite. For the first time in a long while, Uru felt refreshed, energetic, and maybe even a little happy. But her happiness quickly faded as a familiar voice cut through her daydream.

"Well, good morning sunshine."

Uru jumped to her feet when Ahadi's sarcastic tone hit her ear, and gave a gasp of surprise when she saw the large lion laying in the back of the den.

Ahadi wore an amused expression as he watched the lioness's shock. As he rose to his feet however, Uru quickly gathered her bearings.

"Wha-What are you doing here?" she asked in a harsh tone.

"I think I'm the one who should be asking you that, considering it's my cave that you fell asleep in." he answered with a chuckle.

"Oh." came Uru's weak reply.

She watched as the golden lion came toward her from the back of the cave, his emerald eyes glowing in starch contrast to the dark shadows.

"Hey, Princess, I think you're drooling." Ahadi said with a smirk.

Uru quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment,

"I-I'm sure I don't know what you mean." she said.

"I'm sure." Ahadi said as he approached the exit of the cave.

But before either of the lions could say more, Dameii came trotting up to the small den.

"Uru! There you are! I've been looking for you all over the place. I was starting to get worried." Dameii said.

"Don't worry brother, your little princess here is perfectly fine, seeing as though that she's taken up residence in my cave." Ahadi said.

Dameii looked curiously between the pair before Uru found her voice.

"I'm sorry to have worried you Dameii. I was making my way back, but it was late and I couldn't find my way, so I simply took shelter in what I thought was an empty cave. I didn't realize it belonged to anyone." the last part she said while giving a pointed look in Ahadi's direction.

Dameii suspicious look died as he said cheerfully,

"Well, I've got some free time before I have to begin my duties. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me."

"Yeah, of course!" Uru said, happy to be able to escape the awkward situation that she'd found herself in.

"Cool! Well, catch later big bro!" Dameii said while he and Uru cheerfully set off into the jungle.

Ahadi rolled his eyes at the pair. He could already tell that his younger brother was head over heels for the amber-eyed lioness. He, Ahadi, on the other hand, found the princess to be most annoying. And she seemed exceptionally talented at pushing his buttons. Still, he couldn't quite shake the image burned into his mind from last night...

(Flashback)

It had been a long day for him. Finding out that Kambili's forces were about to make a run on the Pridelands was stressful enough, but knowing that his own forces were painfully unprepared to make any counter strike rattled him.

Kambili's rapid move was something Ahadi hadn't anticipated. And with Kambili's army outnumbering his ten to one, Ahadi couldn't afford not having the element of surprise.

And then there had been the argument with the Pridelander princess. At first, he'd found it amusing that she had insisted on being allowed to join the elite force. But it annoyed him that she'd thought she could manipulate him by batting her little doe eyes in his direction. And then, of all things, she'd tried to pin him. He knew that he had scared her when he held her to the ground, but, despite the fear he could feel trembling in her body, her eyes refused to lose their defiant fire, even when he threatened her in a low growl.

Sighing, the golden lion walked into his cave, hoping to be able to get a small amount of rest before he began the brutal training of the new recruits.

But something stirring in the corner of the cave caught his attention. Looking closer, he discovered that it was the princess and she was fast asleep. He studied her features for a moment. Even he couldn't deny that she was breathtakingly beautiful. The pale moonlight that spilled into the cave illuminated her rich chocolate coat, cloaking her in a silvery blanket.

She was so young and innocent, even when she was awake, a aura of delicacy enveloped itself around her. But he knew that there was a fire inside of her, though he doubted she realized it. He knew that underneath all of her innocence and naivety there was a creature capable of doing whatever it took to protect what and who she loved. Though he would never admit, he admired her dedication to her family and her courage. Maybe he could find a useful place in his army for her after all. Still, though he knew that she was capable of facing reality, a part of him would do anything to keep her from losing her innocence and delicacy, something he never saw in any of the lions he trained. In the things that they had seen, there was no room for either of those qualities, only hardness.

(End of Flashback)

No, he had better things to do than sit around and think about the young princess. He had troops to give orders to, plans to create, and recruits to train. And none of those involved the image of Uru which seemed to be burned into his mind.

"So, are you hungry?" Dameii asked.

"Yes!" Uru said.

"Alright, follow me!"

I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish, I'll be your fantasy. I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, be everything that you need...

Dameii led Uru over to a lagoon. The water was a clear, crystal blue, and she could see the sparkling, jeweled scales of the fish that swam in large numbers about the crystalline water.

"Breakfast is served!" Dameii said.

Uru watched as the blue-eyed lion slid his body into the cool waters.

"Watch this." he said with a cheeky grin.

Uru couldn't help but laugh as she watched him dive underneath the surface. After a few moments, he re-emerged, his mouth full of water and their breakfast.

But when Dameii pulled himself out of the pool and opened his mouth to put their breakfast on the ground, instead of a fish, a large stick fell out.

Looking at Dameii, with his brown mane plastered to his body and a goofy look of confusion and embarrassment written across his face, Uru couldn't help but erupt into a loud explosion of giggles.

"Oh, so that's funny to you!" Dameii said, mock indignation in his voice.

"Well, let's see how funny you think this is!"

Dameii moved to throw the small lioness into the shallow water, but when Uru realized what he was doing, she immediately panicked.

"No, Dameii, please don't."

Dameii, noticing that fear in her eyes and the way she was clinging to his wet mane, immediately backed off.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I, I'm afraid of water." she admitted.

Dameii thought for a moment and then replied.

"Hey, it's ok. We all have our fears. But you know what?"

"What?" she asked.

"It always helps to face and conquer them."

"No, Dameii, I can't." she said.

"I think you can Roo." he said.

He then went and slid back into the cool water. Stretching out his paw to her, he gave a smile and asked.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do Dameii, but..." she trailed off.

"C'mon Roo, I promise I will be right beside you the whole time. And it's a lot of fun once you get the hang of it"

"Promise?" Uru asked with uncertainty in her voice.

"Promise." Dameii replied.

With a nervous gulp, Uru slid her dark body into the water.

I'll love you more with every breath, truly, madly, deeply do...

Closing her eyes, she felt the cold water hit first her feet, legs, back, and then it stopped at her upper chest.

"Hey Roo, you can open your eyes now." Dameii said.

Slowly, she opened them. She realized that she could stand.

Suddenly, she felt something tickling her foot. Looking down, she saw a school of small red fish nibbling on her toes. Giggling, she began to wade through the water and allowed the cool waves to soothe her.

But to her surprise, she felt herself slip into deeper water where her feet couldn't touch. Before she could panic though, she felt one of Dameii's paw slid under midsection, supporting her. And whether it was from the suddenly cooler temperature of the water or from the sensation of Dameii's touch, Uru released a gasp.

"Just relax. I got you." Dameii said in a reassuring tone.

"Ok, now I want you to kick your legs back and forth." he instructed.

Uru nodded her head and began to move her legs as he had told her to do.

"Alright, I'm going to let you go now. Just keep kicking." Dameii said.

Uru's heart began to pound as she felt his paw let go of her. Expecting to feel the burning water fill her nostrils at any moment, Uru braced herself. But then to her surprise, she found that she was still above the water. SHE WAS SWIMMING!

I will be strong, I will faithful. Cause I'm counting on a new beginning, a reason for living, a deeper meaning, yeah.

"Dameii, I- I'm swimming!" she said excitedly.

Dameii always knew that Uru was beautiful, but he had never seen her truly smile. The amount of pure joy that lightened up her features made Dameii's heart soar. He had never, and knew he would never, see anything more beautiful than Uru's smile.

Becoming braver, Uru began to paddle around the pool, laughing as she went. Dameii happily followed.

"Dameii, this, this is amazing!" she said in ecstasy.

"Yes, you are." Dameii quietly whispered so that only his ears would hear the words.

I wanna stand with you on a mountain, I wanna bathe with you in the sea, I wanna lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me.

After the two had spent several hours swimming, Dameii had taught Uru how to fish. As it turned out, she was quite good at it. And now the two were resting in the shade of the trees enjoying the small breakfast they had caught.

"Tamalei told me the only thing you guys ever eat is fish because the other prey animals are poisoned with moonweed. Why are the fish not?" Uru asked.

"Well actually, not even all of the fish are safe to eat. To weaken us, Kambili has moonweed regularly poured into the rivers, thus most of the prey animals and fish have it in their system, making it unsafe to eat. So, the only water and fish that are safe, are the ones in pools and lagoons like this one."

"But how does he manage to pour it into all of the streams and rivers around here?" Uru asked.

"C'mon. I'll show you." Dameii said.

Dameii and Uru emerged from the leafy jungle and arrived at the foot of one of the mountains Uru had first seen when she'd arrived in Jewel Valley.

"It's a bit of a rough walk up, but the view is worth it." Dameii said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Uru said with a laugh as she bounded up the steep path.

By the time they reached the ledge that Dameii wanted to show her, both of them were out of breath, but neither could stop smiling.

"Ok, Roo, close your eyes. No peeking!" Dameii instructed.

"I'm won't. Promise." Uru said.

She allowed Dameii to lead her forward while she kept her eyes closed.

"Ok, you can open them."

"Oh Dameii, it's beautiful." she said.

Below her, she could see almost the entire forest of Jewel Valley. The massive green canopy looked like a patch of moss from the altitude that they stood at. She could see large waterfalls spilling into the the huge river that ran from the top of the highest mountain to the jungle valley. Uru also noticed that Jewel Valley was indeed just that, a valley, for surrounded on all sides were massive mountains that reached up to the sky.

"Kambili's main base is right there." Dameii pointed to a large mountain.

The mountain was so tall in fact, that Uru couldn't see the top as it was obscurred by gray clouds.

"And that waterfall is how he poisons the water in the valley." Dameii said.

"But if he wants you all dead, why doesn't he just send troops into the jungle?" Uru asked.

"Well you see, that's just the thing. He knows that we've been in the area before, but he doesn't realize that we've been camped out under his nose this entire time." Dameii said.

"But how could he not know?" Uru asked.

"Sala, our mother, devised a very clever code operation. So that if any of our troops or lions were captured, Kambili wouldn't be able to identify lions and places, as everything was given a certain code name. We all have one and every troop that joins is given one as well. So are locations we discover, both ours and the enemies'." Dameii replied.

"So, Jewel Valley is just a code name?" Uru asked.

"Yep."

"Cool, so what's your code name?" Uru asked.

Haha, well, it's ah- Squirrel Feathers." he said.

"Wow, really? Who came up with that?" she asked smiling.

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

"C'mon, tell me !"

"Alright, but it happened when I was a cub, probably about five, six months old, and I had found a strange feather one day...

(Flashback)

"Tam, Hadi, look what I found!" a young Dameii said bounding up to a pair of young lions.

The female gave a smile,

"Say Dameii, whatcha' got there?" she asked.

"It's a feather." Dameii said.

"Cool. What kind of bird is it from?" she asked.

"A squirrel bird." Dameii said.

"A squirrel bird? What is that?" Tamalei asked with a chuckle.

"Don't you know Tam? Hadi said you were in love with one." the cub replied.

"Oh he did, did he?" the lioness turned her eyes on the young male sitting beside her.

"Oopps." Ahadi said with a cheeky grin.

"Hadi said that even a squirrel bird wouldn't kiss you." Dameii continued.

"Ok, Dameii, I think that's enough." Ahadi said trying to silence the cub.

"And he also said that you snore like a hundred year old rhino." Dameii finished.

"Well, let's just see what he'll say now!"

Tamalei then pounced on her twin, rolling him onto the ground and the two continued on in a mock fight.

"Give it to him, Tam!" Dameii cheered.

"Hey, thought you were on my side!" Ahadi said.

"Oh yeah! Get her Hadi."

(End of Flashback)

"And it just kinda stuck from there." Dameii said.

"That's so cute! You guys sound like you're very close." Uru said.

"Yeah, we are. Or we were at least." Dameii replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Ahadi kinda disappeared for a while after our mother died. When he came back, it was like, he was a different lion. Don't get me wrong, I still love him, he's my brother after all, but, we've just never been as close as we were before."

"I'm sorry." Uru said.

"Yeah. Look, I know you're still upset about the whole argument thing, but he really is a good guy. He just has a lot on his shoulders, Ahadi cherishes life, that's why he wouldn't let you join, he cares, even if it seems like he doesn't." Dameii said.

"I suppose you're right." Uru said.

Looking up at the noon sun, Dameii said,

"I guess we should be heading back now."

Dameii had left to tend to his duties when they arrived back at the camp, leaving Uru to her own device. So, finding nothing better to do, she decided to see if she could find Tamalei.

The older lioness was carefully briefing some of the new lionesses on the new codes for some recently discovered enemy bases. When she finished, she smiled happily at Uru.

"Hello Uru. I trust you had a good day?"

"Oh yes, it was absolutely wonderful. Dameii was showing me around." Uru said.

"Well, I've got a few more things to take care of before the day is over. Care to walk and talk?" Tamalei said.

"I would love to." Uru replied following the older lioness.

"Ahadi, I think that is probably the worst idea you've ever had." Dameii said.

"Look, this is what she wanted." Ahadi answered.

"SHE'LL BE KILLED!" Dameii exclaimed.

"Hey, this is war. She will be treated like every other soldier. Yes, death is one of the risks of combat. And don't think that just because she's your girlfriend that she'll be treated any differently." Ahadi snapped.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Dameii protested.

"Sure." Ahadi said with a sneer.

"Well, you can be the one to tell her everything. So that when she gets hurt, it'll be you that she hates!" Dameii yelled.

"Is that supposed to have any power over me? I really don't care how she feels about me!" Ahadi said.

"Look, I've made up my mind. Get over it." the older lion said before storming off.

And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky I'll make a wish, send it to heaven, then make you want to cry.

"So you never told me why you were so afraid of water." Dameii said as he and Uru lay in a secluded part of the valley, looking up into the clear night sky.

Uru gave a sigh, it had been a long time since she'd spoken about her mother, but she trusted Dameii, more than she had ever trusted anyone, except for her father.

And so, she told the young lion about how she had been pushed into the flood that her mother had released into the gorge. And she told him about the horrific nightmares she used to have about drowning.

Afterward Dameii only nodded his head.

"But hey, look at you. Now you've conquered your fear." he said.

Uru smiled at him,

"Thank you Dameii. For everything, this has been the best day I've had in a really long time. You're an amazing lion."

To his surprise, the young lioness moved her body closer to his and nuzzled his mane.

"I'm not as good as you think I am." he thought to himself.

The tears of joy for all the pleasure and the certainty, that we're surrounded by the highest powers in lonely hours, the tears devour you.

"Tamalei told me after your mother's death that you disappeared like Ahadi did. Where did you go?"

"Huh, oh, yeah, I just had some personal stuff to sort through, ya know. No big deal. I left after Ahadi had been gone a long while. When I came back, so had he, but he was so different, I guess maybe I was too. Actually, I was on my way home when I met you." Dameii said.

"You remember that day?" Uru asked.

"Of course, it was the second best day of my life."

"Well, what was the first?" Uru replied.

"Today." Dameii grinned.

There was a silent pause between the two. It had been a long time since Uru had stargazed. It used to be one of her favorite things to do. She remembered all the nights her father would tell her stories about his life, her mother, and the Great Kings.

"Do you believe in the Great Kings?" Uru asked.

"Of course, do you?"

"I've had my moments where I wasn't so sure, but Dameii, I have to believe that Someone is guiding me, that there's a reason for all of this, I have to..." she answered.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." he said.

And I wanna stand with you on a mountain, I wanna bathe with you in the sea, I wanna lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me.

"What's the most beautiful thing or place you've ever seen?" Uru asked.

"You first!" Dameii teased.

"Well, once when I was a cub, I was stargazing with my dad and all of a sudden shooting stars lit up the entire sky, it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." she said.

"Alright, your turn." Uru said, giving him a playful shove.

"Your smile." Dameii said.

Uru couldn't help but blush,

"Oh, you're only teasing me." she said.

"No, I'm dead serious Uru. Your smile, everything about you, is absolutely beautiful."

After they had talked and looked at the stars for a while longer, Dameii decided it was time for them to return. Walking her to a small den, Uru saw that Tamalei and a few of the other lionesses were the only inhabitants of the cave. Uru smiled, Dameii truly was a gentleman, making sure that she was in a den with only other females instead of sticking her in a cave with a bunch of lions.

"I thought you'd be most comfortable here." he began.

Unless you'd prefer to sleep in Ahadi's cave." the last part Dameii said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, no thanks, I'll pass." Uru replied.

Dameii laughed before giving her an affectionate nuzzle.

"Goodnight Roo. Sweet dreams." he whispered in her ear, instantly causing butterflies to rise in her stomach.

"Night' Dameii."

I wanna stand with you on a mountain, I wanna bathe with you in the sea, I wanna lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me.

A/N: Well, this chapter seemed VERY long when I was typing it. Funny how not a lot really happened. I hope you guys liked this, I promise more action is coming very soon. Just thought it was time for a lite chapter. Let me know what you think!

How do you think Ahadi feels about Uru at this moment? What do you think he and Dameii were arguing about?

What's going on with Dameii and Uru?!