A/N: I hope I'm not boring you, but this is another set up chapter so that in the upcoming chapter, we can plunge right into the fight that we all know is coming. Hope that you like this chapter (I think you will for a reason that will make itself know in this chapter). Enjoy.

Chapter 25: Operation Rhino Charge Part Three

Part III: Stolen Moments

Uru and the others in the troupe (except Ahadi) were all resting quietly in a ring, making small talk and simply enjoying a moment of peace, a luxury which had been unavailable to them for the past few months. Uru leaned against Dameii's soft mane as she dozed in and out, occasionally listening to the conversations the males around her were having, at least until one of the male's questions caught her attention.

"What about you Dameii? Have you ever done it?"

Dameii seemed just as surprised by the question as Uru was,

"Have I ever done what Leopard Claw?" he addressed the younger male.

"Oh, c'mon! You know what I mean!" Leopard Claw retorted.

Dameii, who by now had caught the male's meaning replied,

"Dude, what kind of question is that?"

"Stop avoiding it, either you have or you haven't!"

Uru, still confused as to what the males were talking about and why Dameii seemed so embarrassed, interrupted.

"What are you guys talking about?" she said.

All the males in the circle looked at her and then back at one another before they all began to howl in laughter.

"Well, we wouldn't expect little miss innocent to know about this kind of thing now would we?!" one of them said.

"Hey Princess, haven't you ever heard of the birds and the bees?" another yelled.

Uru, who by now had caught onto their meaning was instantly blushing with embarrassment. Especially considering she was surrounded by a group of males, many of whom were now giving her suggestive glances.

"C'mon guys, is this really any way to treat a lady?" Dameii said.

Most of the males ignored Dameii and continued teasing Uru,

"How many lions have you been with princess?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, it's always the ones who act all innocent that are the real killers!" another hooted.

Uru, who could take a reasonable amount of teasing from her male companions, was now feeling quite insulted, not to mention extremely uncomfortable. But before she could speak up to defend herself, Leopard Claw made a playful jab at her side and retorted,

"Hey Princess, you know, I would be more than willing to educate you on such matter."

Uru blushed even more and Dameii let out a small growl. The other males however, howled with laughter until a furious roar shook the air.

"Enough of this! Don't you fools have anything better to worry about besides your adolescent urges?!

Since you all seem to have so much energy, you will now patrol the entire area. No stone is to be left unturned. And if you see anything suspicions, you will report immediately back to me. MOVE OUT!"

None of the young lions had seen Ahadi's approach, but the dark-maned lion had arrived in time to hear most of their conversation.

Normally, it would've only annoyed him that they had been wasting energy cutting up, but when he saw Uru's embarrassed face shrinking from the insults the males were hurling at her, his anger had boiled over.

"Night Hunter, you will remain where you are, I have an important matter to discuss with you. Lieutenant, please make sure that the troops are doing their duty, now is certainly not the time for fun and games."

Upon hearing Ahadi's explosion, the other males had wasted no time in making themselves scarce.

Dameii stood and reluctantly left Uru's side, while swallowing back a bitter pang of jealousy. While he was glad that Ahadi had silenced the males, he couldn't help but be a bit jealous that it had been his brother, not him, to defend Uru's respectability. Turning his mind to his duties, he gave Uru a nuzzle, instinctively making sure that Ahadi saw his display of affection, and headed off to oversee the troops.

Uru, by now, had regained her composure and stood as Ahadi began to address her.

"Are you alright?" the large male inquired.

The question caught Uru a bit off guard. Sure, she knew that Ahadi had always looked out for her and the others from a distance, but he never really stooped down to her level, much less ask about her well being.

"Uh, I'm fine. Thank you."

Ahadi, whose mind had now proceeded to refocus on important mission plans, began to brief her on the upcoming mission.

"Flame Thrower (Tamalei) has a small unit of spies set up near the Rat Hole. They should be arriving in the next few hours. And when they arrive, the force will begin moving into an attack position. Because you are the best on the stealth team, you will be in command of a small unit of troops whose responsibility is to make sure our main body of troops are not cut off from an escape route. And you will be responsible for directing injured lions and liberated prisoners to safety behind our lines.

You should also know that everything depends on this mission; if we succeed, Flame Thrower will be sent word to move the main army into this area so that we can continue to push south into the Northern Hills and Kilimanjaro Prides' kingdoms."

Uru knew that, subtle though it was, Ahadi had praised her abilities by giving her a command position. Even if it was a duty that would keep her out of the main fighting, she knew that somewhere along the line she had proven herself to him, Ahadi didn't give you a commanding position unless he trusted you.

"I promise to do my utmost to carry out my duties." Uru said.

"Good. Now you may tell Squirrel Feathers to bring the others back in." Ahadi said.

Uru turned to go find Dameii and the other troops, but before she did, she turned back around to the dark-maned lion.

"Thank you. And I don't mean for the promotion, I mean for sticking up for me."

Ahadi was a bit surprised at her words, it wasn't often that he received warm words from anyone besides his sister.

"Well, uh, you're welcome." he replied.

As she watched his somewhat awkward reply, Uru threw a beaming smile toward him and Ahadi couldn't help but return her warm smile.

"You know. He actually looks better that way." she thought to herself as she sauntered off.

Ahadi watched the young female trot away, and as he did so, the smile slowly melted from his face.

Even though she had come through many trials over the past several months, the princess had still retained her softness and delicacy.

He had expected her to have lost that by now, he thought she would've been hard and cold, yet she was youthful and sweet. Not to mention innocent, that was pretty obvious from her reaction to the males' insults.

Part of him was glad that she hadn't lost her delicate charm, yet it frightened him as well, for that same softness could lead to her destruction. That was part of the reason he had assigned her a commanding position in the spy unit. Yes, she had excelled in her abilities much more than he thought she could have. But he could not bare the thought of her getting hurt or worse...so he had given her a position that would satisfy her and keep her safe at the same time.

But why did he care so much for her? He had led many divisions, even armies, with plenty of female troops, and while he cared for their well being, he'd also understood that a troop was a troop, regardless of gender. So why did he feel differently about Uru?

Maybe it had something to do with Dameii; he knew his younger brother was in love with the princess. And from what he had observed, Uru seemed happy with Dameii too. So, maybe, for Dameii's sake he wanted to make sure she was safe.

Then again, why had he suppressed a growl when he saw Dameii affectionately nuzzle Uru a few moments before. And the look in his brother's eyes, as if he were letting Ahadi know that Uru was off limits.

No, he felt nothing for Uru beyond the general concern for any troop. He only wanted to look out for his younger brother.

Still deep down, Ahadi knew that this wasn't entirely true.

It was one of those lightless nights. One where the moon is hidden by a thick veil of dark clouds and the stars do not paint the black sky with their glittering display. Those nights when the wind whispers its most hidden secrets to those who can bear tis mournful tales and the air seems cold and lifeless, yet, somehow, full of a mysterious current. It was one of those nights in which, you know, something is about to happen.

The only thing Uru could hear besides the whistling wind was the steady breathing and occasional snoring of the lions around her. Despite the wind, she found plenty of warmth nestled into the thickness of Dameii's mane and the shelter his body offered. And despite the fact that she was exhausted, Uru found that she could not sleep. So, she contented herself in watching Dameii's steady breathing. It was deep and gentle. His warm breath tickled her nose and ears and she could hear his strong heartbeat as she pressed her face into the warmth of his body.

She loved him, it was as simple as that. Even in the tense situations that she had been living in for the past months, she found herself longing for his soothing presence anytime that he was absent from her side. She wanted to see his smile, she wanted to hear his laughter, she wanted to feel his nuzzles.

And yet, despite her desire to be with him, she felt that she and Dameii weren't as connected as they should be, and this was evident whenever she wanted to discuss a deep subject. He didn't seem annoyed when she went rambling off on some tangent, but whenever she asked for his opinion on something like that, he would simply shrug his shoulders and say that he agreed with her and never went into detail about how he felt. It annoyed her a bit, but Uru told herself that not everyone was odd enough to ponder philosophical topics like she did. She told herself to just be happy with Dameii and to be thankful for his companionship.

Rolling over, Uru gave a sigh, and finally admitted to herself that she wasn't going to be able to sleep, despite the fact that tomorrow would probably be the longest day of her life. So, carefully pulling herself up from Dameii, she quietly made her way over to where she knew the night guard would be, with the intention of relieving the lion keeping watch.

But as she approached the large boulder, Uru was surprised to see the large lion sitting on the flat surface of the rock was Ahadi.

"What are you doing awake this time of night." his deep voice asked without looking at her.

"Oh, well, I uh, I can't sleep." she admitted.

"Oh, and why not."

"I don't know. Just anxious I suppose."

"Mmhh."

"If you would like, I will take over as watch guard, if you want to catch some rest." she said after a moment.

"That won't be necessary, but thank you." Ahadi said.

"Well, may I join you?" she asked hesistantly, expecting him to say no.

Ahadi looked down in surprise at the young female. He almost said no, but then he made a fatal mistake. He looked into her rich amber eyes, the eyes that melted away his cold resolve instantly.

"Of course." Ahadi almost slapped himself. What was with this lioness, what kind of power did she have over him? But Ahadi quickly told himself that it was his exhaustion and fatigue which clouded his judgement. And maybe, he thought, a bit of company wouldn't be so bad.

Uru gave a timid smile as she nimbly leaped up to the rock and settled herself next to the lion, keeping a modest distance between them of course.

For several moments, neither said a word, and surprisingly, the ensuing silence was not awkward. It was easy for them both to simply sit back and enjoy the quiet.

Uru soon found herself lost in her own mind as images of her family flashed across her memory.

Her father, Uru worried about him constantly. She knew that he'd never healed from her mother's death, and Uru didn't like to imagine how he was probably handling her disappearance. Nor did she wish to think about the horrors he and the others were going through under Kambili's tyranny.

Occasionally, Uru would dream that she was back home, safe and sound, in the den of Pride Rock. And she could hear her father's warm laugh and see all of the contented faces and feel the warm sun on her face.

That was what she was fighting for, for her home.

Maybe it was a fool's errand, fighting for the ways of the past, but Uru decided better to be a fool than a quitter.

As she thought back on all the happy times before she'd been kidnapped, she heard Ahadi speak, interrupting her thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Uh, oh, just my family."

"Oh."

"Actually, I was just thinking about my father, I miss him a lot. And I know he's worried sick, I just hope that he is alright. You know, with Kambili having taken over and everything."

"I hope so too."

Uru looked up at the large male, this was a side she'd never seen of him before.

"Actually, today is my birthday. I'm four years old now. A full grown lioness." Uru continued speaking more to herself than Ahadi.

"I'm sorry, sitting out here with me, waiting to make an attack on an enemy base probably isn't the best birthday present." Ahadi said.

Uru couldn't help but giggle,

"Well, the part about attacking an enemy base isn't so bad. Sitting with you on the other hand..." she teased.

Ahadi raised an eyebrow,

"Am I really that awful?"

"Well, if you want the truth, most of the time...yes."

To the lioness's surprise, while he didn't exactly laugh, she thought she detected a small chuckle come from the lion.

"I'm kidding. Contrary to popular belief, you're not that bad." Uru said.

"Thanks." Ahadi replied with a playful roll of his eyes.

After that, a few more moments passed before Uru spoke up,

"So, I guess tomorrow is the big day. Are you worried."

"Somewhat, but you are all well trained, the best of the best, and according to my sister's sources, this base isn't suspecting us. We should be fine." he said with confidence.

"Are you afraid?" Ahadi continued.

This time when he spoke, the lion paused from his tireless scanning of their surroundings and looked down to address her directly. Unlike what she would've thought, his flashing green eyes were even more brilliant against the blackness of the night. Feeling her breath catch, Uru finally breathed out,

"No."

Ahadi smiled before turning his attention back to the quiet forest.

Escaping from his glance Uru felt her body relax just as a strong gust of wind blew past her, causing her to begin visibly shivering.

Ahadi looked back at the quivering frame of the lioness, and perhaps it was a moment of weakness, for even he couldn't believe his next action. Slowly, he moved his body closer to her, just so that his mane and the tip of his chest were touching her body.

Uru was quite surprised by his move, but to both their astonishment, she didn't pull away. Instead she simply forced her pounding heart and tense body to relax into the radiating warmth. As he shifted his head to rest just above hers, Ahadi felt the need to justify his actions. Slowly leaning over, until his muzzle hovered just above her ear, he whispered,

"I can't give you anything more, but I can help keep you warm. Happy Birthday, Uru."

The deep, silky voice that he used to gently whisper into her ear, caused Uru to inwardly quiver, a subtle move that did not go undetected by Ahadi.

The two continued to gaze into the night in silence, neither aware that as the moments passed, their bodies were moving closer and closer together.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle was heard nearby causing both lions to snap to attention and quickly pull apart.

Out of the darkness came the figures of three lions. One of them Uru recognized as the spy who Dameii had spoken to back when they were being held captive by Kambili's colonel.

"Greetings Lightening Storm. We come with news to aid in your mission."

A/N: Well that's the end. I promise the next chapter is the one with all of the action. Black Cat the last part of this chapter was for you! Yes, even I am ready for the Ahadi/Uru interactions that are coming. Still, I wasn't planning on the last part, but like I've told you before, the stories have their own mind. And this just seemed right. Hope you liked!