Caesar

It was about three weeks after Caesar had sent Rocket, Blue Eyes, Orion and the human trio off on their quest to find a new home, both for the apes and for Malcolm and his family.

The Ape King was currently sleeping in his nest, the even sound of the rushing waterfall not far from his sleeping area and fatigue from a day filled with a leader's duties having lulled him into his restful state. And the best part was that this time, he hadn't had to spend several long hours simply staring at the cave ceiling above him as he waited for his mind to go blank.

It had been hard to fall asleep for him ever since Cornelia died but now, when Blue Eyes was gone as well, it was damn near impossible for the Ape King to find rest unless he had made sure to thoroughly tire himself throughout the day, both in body and in mind. If he managed to do that, Caesar knew he would simply be too exhausted to ponder and worry well into the wee hours of early morning and, as a result, be much better equipped to deal with whatever needed to be done the next day.

Tonight was such a night.

Tonight, he had managed to fall asleep in almost the same instant he had laid down onto the soft animal furs in his nest, his mind fading into that blissful, dark void of sleep as Cornelius had snuggled up against his broad chest.

He had wrapped his long arm around the small ape child, finding comfort in the fact that he, at least, was still there for Caesar to hold. It was one of the very few solaces the king had nowadays.

Which only made it that much more disturbing for Caesar to wake up a few hours later, in the middle of the night, to discover that Cornelius was nowhere to be found.

The thing that had first alerted him to the fact that something was wrong had been the coldness slowly creeping across his chest as he slept. It had pulled him into a groggy, half-awake state, though it had been the lack of a small, warm body within his arms which had finally managed to clear the fog of sleep from his mind and have him bolt upright in in the nest, his eyes darting across the torch-lit cave in search for his offspring.

He gibbered and hooted lowly in his throat, calling for his son as his keen eyes went over every rocky crevice around his nest and panic slowly began to rise within his chest. It felt like an icy palm creeping across his heart until it held it in a suffocating, iron-clad grip, almost having the king hyperventilate as anxiety overtook him. After several minutes of Caesar's increasingly desperate calls for his son going unanswered, the Ape King's mouth pressed into a thin, trembling line as realisation finally dawned on him. Cornelius wasn't answering… He wasn't in the cave…

He was gone.

The Ape King rose from the nest and hurried towards one of the usual posts of his Gorilla Guard to alert them of their young Prince's disappearance. They usually took rounds patrolling the caves and the surrounding areas while others had stationary posts in strategically important places around the colony, one of the latter being right outside the large main cave, just beyond the rushing waterfall that hid it.

Tonight, it was Timber, a silverback almost as large as Luca, who was at this post, a stoic expression on his face as he stared out into the night. When he saw the Ape King approaching him with hurried steps and barely-contained panic in his otherwise severe stare, the gorilla male immediately straightened, and a concerned frown appeared on his face as he noticed his king's state of worry.

"Call the other guards." Caesar ordered, his voice tainted with urgency. "Cornelius is missing."

Timber's green eyes widened at this, and he immediately nodded and went off to find Luca, the commander of the Gorilla Guard, so that they could gather and search for the young ape child. Any ape, even if they didn't have offspring of their own, knew how serious it was when someone as young as Cornelius was nowhere to be found – especially in the middle of the cold, dark night.

And seeing as this was Caesar's son, it didn't take long for every single member of the Gorilla Guard they had to spare to start searching the colony for the missing prince.

Caesar just hoped he was still in the colony itself and hadn't ventured out into the forest…


Lydia

Lydia had briefly considered breaking protocol and let the dogs sleep in the nest with her that night. It felt incredibly empty and cold without Orion since he had left, and tonight had been no exception, making her long for at least having someone to be by her side, if for nothing else than to ease her lonely mind and help her to a restful sleep.

At this point she almost believed anyone would do, even the dogs.

She had managed to hold firm on her principles, however, and they had stayed outside the nest while the human woman herself did her best to ignore her own, rambling thoughts as she had pulled the animal skin-blanket further up to cover her body.

And sleep had found her, in the end, though it had only been after much tossing and turning, and what felt like hours staring at the flickering flame of the torch still burning in its fixture on the wall. Lydia had found that it was easier for her to fall asleep now that she was by herself if she kept it lit, and besides, the flame provided the barest of warmth as it burned – something she needed now that Orion was no longer there to give off body heat as he slept.

She had had to adapt to his absence and while that hadn't been easy, Lydia herself thought she was doing rather well thus far. At least she had stopped getting all teary-eyed at the sight of the empty nest before bedtime – that had to count for something.

She groaned lowly, however, as she was pulled from sleep a few hours later by something tugging at her arm and pushing against her chest, her brows furrowing as she groggily began to awake.

At first, she had thought it might be Blaze who had tried to nudge her arm so that he could crawl underneath it and snuggle up to her while she slept. He had done so before in the past three weeks, and Lydia figured it must be his attempt to comfort her when her sleep was restless. She had been quick to send him back out of the nest as soon as she had wakened to discover it, though, reasoning with herself that she would have to get used to sleeping by herself sooner or later.

A frown marred her features and her bleary eyes began to open once she realised that, whatever it was currently snuggling up to her in her nest, it was most definitely not Blaze. Or Storm, for that matter.

No, this creature, for it was a living being, Lydia's sleep-addled mind was able to decipher, was much too small for it to be any of her canine companions. It was covered in fur, she could feel it tickle against the skin of her arms and sternum, and it felt rather sinewy underneath its pelt – though not to the point that it felt uncomfortable to have the creature near.

Rather… it felt quite familiar…

For a brief moment, before Lydia had completely come to her senses, she thought she had somehow gone back in time and that it was little Orion who was snuggled up in her arms. It felt exactly like it had all those years ago… only… the creature in her arms felt way smaller than Orion had ever been whilst in Lydia's care…

The fog of sleep soon cleared from her mind, however, and Lydia's deep, blue eyes opened completely, if blearily against to the light of the still-lit torch.

When they had finally adjusted somewhat to the flickering light, she was able to look down at the small bundle snuggled to her chest and was surprised to discover that it was indeed an ape child whose little body was pressed against her chest – not Orion, as her half-awake mind had originally concluded – but the tiny Ape Prince.

"Cornelius…?" She spoke out loud, her voice thick with sleep but still gentle as she reached up to stroke his back with her hand.

The only indication the ape child gave that he had heard her was to press his little face further against Lydia's sternum and reach up to grab hold of the low-riding collar of her tank top, clenching it firmly within his little hand.

The human woman gave a low sigh of mild exasperation. It was cute, alright, no doubt about that, but if Cornelius was here, it meant that Caesar would most likely wake up and go nuts once he realised his son was missing – Lydia would have done the same, had their roles been reversed, after all.

So, it would seem that I have to get my ass out of bed… great, Lydia thought tiredly, moving gently into a sitting position with one arm still wrapped around little Cornelius. It was difficult getting up with him like this, and he made sure to give a whine of protest once he was completely awake again, looking up at Lydia with big green-and-golden eyes, strikingly similar to his father's.

"We have to get you back to your father before he throws a fit, little guy." Lydia tried to reason with the child, knowing full well that he wasn't old enough to understand exactly what she was saying.

All Cornelius did was babble sweetly in reply and affectionately press his cheek to her collarbone, making Lydia's heart ache with tender emotions for the little ape in her arms.

She got up from the nest and clumsily pulled on some deerskin pants with one hand, the other still holding Cornelius to her chest as she struggled with her clothes. Then, she walked out into the network of caves that made up the colony, and soon realised that Caesar was probably already very much aware that Cornelius was gone – if the cacophony of concerned hoots and frantic pants echoing through the caves were anything to go by.

The fact that the sounds grew steadily louder and louder as they echoed through the entire cave system of the colony only served to confirm her suspicions further and sure enough, as she entered the main cave of the apes' home, several members of the Gorilla Guard were walking about, calling for the little prince.

And in the middle of all of this was Caesar, standing anxiously by his nest together with Luca, his kingly demeanour completely disrupted by worry and impatience.

"Ahem," Lydia cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her as she stood at the mouth of the cave network leading to her little hovel, gesturing with one hand to the ape child clinging to her chest. "I believe this is who you're all looking for."


Caesar

At the sound of Lydia's voice, Caesar's head whipped around so fast that he could swear he felt a resounding crack in his neck, but the relief that flooded him as he spotted the woman, and the furry creature in her arms, soon made him forget any pain that might have accompanied the sudden, harsh movement.

And there stood Lydia, her beautiful, blue eyes bleary and her loose hair all dishevelled, clad only in a sheer tank top and an untied pair of her deerskin pants – the latter probably put on hastily to appear somewhat decent, Caesar suspected.

And there, held to her chest, sat Cornelius, his little hands gripping her shirt tightly and his eyes darting curiously around the cave and all its occupants.

"Cornelius…!" Caesar breathed, hurrying over to the human woman, Luca trailing after him and signing his order to spread the word that the prince had been found.

Caesar reached the unexpected duo in no time and began cooing at his son and stroking his back comfortingly, even though the child didn't show any signs of distress whatsoever as a result of the separation – clearly, it had affected the Ape King more than it had the little prince.

Before he could even begin to ask where he had been and how Lydia had found him, the dark-haired woman began to speak, her voice husky from sleep.

"I woke up to discover that this little rascal had snuck into my part of the caves." She explained while gently rocking the child in her arms. "He had crawled under my arm to snuggle and hasn't let go since then."

Caesar listened intently, his eyes shifting between Lydia's face and his son, who seemed perfectly happy being held by the human woman.

So, he had simply snuck off to find Lydia?

Well, when Caesar really thought about it, it did make a lot of sense. Lydia was one of his primary caretakers, looking after the prince whenever she wasn't out hunting or overseeing the newly-started project of producing bows and arrows for the fighting apes. Brook, though she was Cornelius' wet nurse, also had her own child to care for and Tinker had taken over Cornelia's job when it came to the females' foraging expeditions.

These three females were the closest thing Cornelius had to a mother nowadays, and therefore, it made perfect sense that he would seek one of them out for some maternal love - really, Caesar should have thought of this before nearly jumping out of his skin with worry.

"I apologise, Lydia." The King spoke sincerely, still stroking his son's back gently. "I should have realised… I did not mean. For you to be woken. Like this."

He knew she had trouble sleeping, just like he did. They had talked about it recently, and looking at her now, Caesar felt very guilty for his son's misadventure having robbed her of precious rest. Her eyelids looked barely able to keep themselves open, and she sported dark rings around her blue orbs. Adding to that, Caesar could tell by the dishevelled state of her hair that she had been tossing and turning, and her posture was slouched ever so slightly as she stood before him.

But, being Lydia, she would never let herself be irritated by something like this, no matter how tired it made her.

"Don't worry about it, Caesar. I mean, it was kind of sweet – I just hope he doesn't make it a habit, going on nightly excursions like this." Lydia replied easily, a soft smirk stretching across her full lips.

The Ape King nodded severely at that. He really didn't hope that would be the case either – it was one thing sneaking off into other parts of the colony, but should Cornelius ever get lost and, say, venture beyond the boundaries of the caves, it could get very dangerous indeed.

Then, to Caesar's surprise – and slight embarrassment – Cornelius began to pull at the low collar of Lydia's top, revealing quite a bit of the bare, pale breast underneath before she managed to reach up and gently take hold of his wrist to stop the little prince.

"Now there, mister, if you're hungry, it's Brook you want to talk to." Lydia chided as she eased Cornelius' hand free of her shirt's collar.

Caesar heard a surprised grunt behind him and, remembering Luca was still standing with them as well, shot a quick look back at the silverback, only to discover that he had politely averted his stare.

The king quickly dismissed the Gorilla Guard commander, seeing as there was really no reason for him to stay now that Cornelius had been found, and the huge ape signed a quick 'goodnight' at the two of them as he hurried back to his post.

"Sorry about that. As well." Caesar was quick to say once he turned back to Lydia, reaching out to receive his son as she untangled herself from the child completely and handed him to the Ape King.

The woman shrugged with indifference.

"Meh, Orion did the same thing when he was little, so it's not like I haven't dealt with it before. He stopped once he learned there was nothing to gain from it, though." Lydia replied, the corner of her lips quirking up into the barest hint of a smirk towards the end of her sentence.

"You might want to wake Brook and get him some food, though. I don't suppose he's going to settle down otherwise." She added, eyeing the ape child fondly as she did so.

"I will." Caesar agreed – she was right, after all.

"I think I'll go back and try to catch up on some sleep, then." She spoke with a sense of finality in her tone. "It has been quite an eventful night."

"It has… and sorr-"

"Enough with the apologies, Caesar." Lydia waved him off with a soft chuckle. "Save it for when you've actually done something that warrants an apology."

He had to smile at that. It was one of the things he appreciated very much in Lydia – her easy-going nature and straightforward attitude in situations such as this. He knew she didn't think it was a big deal and she was even able to see the funny aspect in all of this.

Perhaps Caesar would too, in the morning, when his mind wasn't addled by worry and lack of sleep. Right now, he was just glad that his son was safe and back in his arms.

"Right." He nodded at the human woman, a soft smile on his face. "Goodnight, Lydia. And thank you."

"Don't mention it. And goodnight to you too." She replied, moving her eyes down to rest on Cornelius immediately afterwards. "And you, you little rascal, stay with you father, alright?"

She reached forward and gently stroked the little prince's cheek and Cornelius gibbered happily at the attention and leaned playfully into the woman's touch before she slowly retracted her hand. Then, she raised her eyes again to meet with Caesar's, an underlying warmth present in her dark sapphire gaze as she spoke again.

"I'll see you two in the morning."

And with that, Lydia turned and went back the way she had come, down the cave corridor towards her little, private hovel.

Caesar stared after her until her silhouette completely melded into the darkness. Only when she had been swallowed up by the shadows did he notice Cornelius' impatient huffs as he, too, looked for the human woman.

It wouldn't be the last night that the Ape Prince would sneak off to snuggle up to Lydia. Sometimes he could be found with Tinker instead, but Caesar noted that he seemed to favour the human woman most nights when he was in need of maternal comfort. In the end, Caesar stopped worrying too much about it, only going to check exactly where his son had gone before returning to his own nest.

On those nights, if Lydia happened to wake up and discover that Cornelius was there, she would always get up and bring him back to his father, no matter the hour. But if the Ape Prince managed to not wake the human woman as he snuggled up to her, Caesar would simply let him stay and trust Lydia to bring him back in the morning instead.

He had a feeling she appreciated the closeness with the ape child, no matter how adamant she was on him learning to stay in his own nest. Caesar found it amusing all the same, not to mention it did give a slight, pleasant tug on his heartstrings whenever he saw how fond the two were of each other.

She makes for a good mother, the Ape King would often find himself thinking, just as often followed by the thought that she would make a good mate as well, though he quickly shoved that into the back of his mind with a slight pang of guilt stabbing at his heart.

It was still too soon for him.

But every time he went to check on them on those nights and saw Cornelius, safe and sound in Lydia's embrace, he became ever surer that it would happen, eventually.

It might not even be the next hundreds of nights to come, but it would happen.

Caesar knew that in his heart.