Maurice

The anxious hoots coming from the edge of the colony's boundaries was the first thing which alerted Maurice to the fact that something out of the ordinary had happened that afternoon. It wasn't the usual, low hum of sounds that normally accompanied an individual's return to the apes' home, and besides, Caesar and his fighting apes had already come back an hour prior.

The only ones still out in the forest were Lydia and Ivy, who had yet to return from their hunt.

And it seemed to Maurice that the Ape King had been slightly agitated when he had come home to find the woman gone. In fact, whenever she wasn't in his immediate vicinity, Maurice's old friend looked to be searching for her, his green-and-golden eyes sweeping his surroundings every now and then, only resting when they finally landed on Lydia.

And then there was the look he would sometimes regard her with.

Maurice had seen that look many times before in his life, on apes young and old alike, and immediately recognised it for what it was. After all, the Ape King himself had regarded his late wife with the exact same look in his eyes in the not-too-distant past.

He hadn't deigned to mention it to Caesar, however, believing it to be a private matter of the Ape King. Besides, his old friend had seemed both happier and calmer as of late, despite everything, and in fact, Lydia had too.

The two of them had been through so much that the orangutan honestly thought that they deserved some happiness to light up their lives. To love and be loved in return once more.

They seemed to be quite capable of keeping it a secret too, which was why Maurice hadn't made any mentions about it to either of his friends. It was a private matter, after all, and he didn't want to pry.

He had always been more of an observer, anyway. Watching and learning, but not wanting to solve problems that hadn't even arisen to begin with. From what he could tell, nobody even seemed to spare the pair's subtle, lingering glances a second thought, so for now, Maurice deemed it unnecessary for him to make his opinion on the matter known to the Ape King.

That is, until he had seen his friend's face as Lydia and Ivy had come into view from beneath the colony's stone arch, covered in blood and with three guns slung across their shoulders.

He knew at once that something had gone terribly wrong on their hunt.

And he also knew that Caesar would have a hard time keeping his customary, stern façade in place. It was obvious by the way his face contorted into an expression of alarm and worry. By how his eyes immediately landed on the woman and grew soft with relief before he hauled himself onto his feet.

Some apes quickly came forward to relieve the two of the bounty from their hunt, while a member from the Gorilla Guard came forth to take the guns. Lydia was carrying two of them, one slung around each shoulder, while Ivy only carried one. Neither looked like they felt comfortable holding the deadly human weapons and seemed only too happy to be rid of them.

Ivy remained close to Lydia, her emerald eyes darting to her ever so often, as if to check if she was alright. The fine, silvery fur on her forearms were, much like Lydia's skin, coated in blood, which looked disturbingly wrong on such a small, kind female, no matter how fierce and spirited Maurice knew she could be.

Caesar was quick to stride towards the pair with hurried steps. Honestly, Maurice almost thought the chimp would go down on all fours and run towards them, judging by the urgency in his gait. It was like he was struggling to keep up a dignified display when all he wanted to do was rush over and make sure no one was injured.

Even so, it was the young female chimp's mother, Juniper, who got to the pair first, her worried hoots getting progressively louder as she got closer to her daughter. Unlike the Ape King, she had no need for keeping up pretences and rushed over on all fours until she was finally near enough to throw her arms desperately around Ivy.

The older female chimp looked more upset than her daughter, even without knowing what had happened yet.

Mothers will be mothers, Maurice silently concluded as his attention returned to his leader, who had now reached Lydia, standing in front of her as if he was unsure of what came next.

It didn't escape the elder orangutan's notice how the Ape King subtly began to reach out for her hand, though he caught himself before anyone could take notice.

Anyone but Maurice, that is.

Soon, Ivy's father, Shale, as well as the entire Royal Ape Council had come over to welcome the duo home, as well as listen to their report on what had happened. Most of the colony had also gathered in the immediate vicinity, curious and alarmed all at once by the pair's gruesome appearance.

All around was the quiet murmur of subdued hoots, chuffs and gibbers, creating a sea of noises all around until Caesar, at last, decided to lift his hand in a request for silence from his apes.

It was quiet within seconds and, despite the seriousness of the situation, Maurice couldn't help but wish that he could command such silence from his young, often rambunctious ape students.

"What happened?" The Ape King demanded gruffly and with a hint of urgency as he eyed the blood on Lydia's hands and arms, a severe frown on his face. One far more pronounced than what was customary for the chimp.

Then, he reconnected his gaze with the woman's, waiting, quite impatiently as far as Maurice could tell, for an explanation.

The elder orangutan couldn't help but rumble worriedly once she voiced her reply, shocking as it was.

"We came across a small group of soldiers. Three of them." Lydia spoke clinically, though she wore a tired expression on her face as she said it.

Beside Maurice, Caesar did a sharp inhale of air at Lydia's words and the orangutan thought he saw a flash of panic in his old friend's eyes as they once again travelled down to her hands, her fine, pale skin stained a gruesome red.

"And this blood… it is-?"

"Not ours." Lydia was quick to say reassuringly before the Ape King could finish his question. "We were on the way back when the dogs started to act up, and I ordered them and Ivy to hide when I heard someone talking in the distance."

Looking at the two canines, it was clear that they had joined in the fight as well at some point. Their muzzles were stained the same grotesque reddish-brown colour as Ivy's fur, though it was more noticeable on Blaze due to the dog's lighter colour. Despite everything, they were both wagging their tails as if nothing was amiss.

"And you did not hide?" Caesar pressed, his tone suddenly hard. Demanding, even.

Maurice gave a gentle, appeasing rumble, though it didn't seem to do much good for Caesar's agitated state of mind.

Don't focus too much on Lydia in the presence of others, the red-haired ape wanted to say, though he knew there was no way he could without giving it all away. He could only hope that Caesar would behave himself. Keep his personal emotions contained so long as there were others to bear witness.

Lydia sighed heavily.

"I didn't have time to worry about that. I was just about to figure out something for myself when they appeared."

"You were caught by them alone?!" Came Caesar's voice once again, now more a growl than anything else.

At that, Lydia's face, which previously held a look of utter exhaustion, suddenly shifted into an annoyed frown, her eyes narrowing at the ape in front of her.

"First of all, I wasn't alone. Ivy was hiding in a tree nearby, waiting to shoot on my signal." She argued, and everyone's eyes briefly turned to the young ape female, who looked uncharacteristically bashful all of a sudden. "Second of all, I wasn't caught. I just-"

"They grabbed you. Lydia." Ivy suddenly piped up, looking at the woman with a pout. "They grabbed you. And hit you. And they would have… They said they would…" She didn't manage to finish her sentence, but Maurice could very well imagine what exactly it was the silvery chimp was trying to convey.

He imagined the rest of the colony could as well.

And evidently, so could Caesar, whose hackles seemed to rise just a fraction further with every word Ivy said, his gaze hard and his mouth set in a thin line as he returned his attention to Lydia.

"They hit you." He said, his words a mere statement rather than a question at this point. There was a dangerous edge to it, though. A subtle growl within the Ape King's words.

Maurice barely managed to keep from warning his old friend this time. To tell him to redirect his focus before anyone got suspicious.

He knew Caesar was concerned about both Lydia and Ivy's safety, as well as that of the colony as a whole. If these humans had managed to happen upon Lydia and Ivy, it meant they had been on the apes' hunting grounds, having somehow bypassed the defences the fighting apes had set up.

It was much too close for comfort.

"Once." Lydia nodded in confirmation. Then, she spread her hands out, gesturing to her bloodied appearance. "But evidently, I got back at them for that, didn't I?"

"So, they are dead." Another non-question from the Ape King, though luckily, this one wasn't solely directed at Lydia and her well-being.

"Yes." Came the woman's curt answer, though she did nothing to elaborate on how exactly the soldiers had met their end.

Perhaps that was a good thing, as neither Juniper nor Tinker looked like they would be able to endure such details. Besides, the appearance of both Lydia and Ivy was more than enough to tell everyone that it had been a violent encounter indeed.

At least the Ape King seemed to be satisfied with that little piece of information, as he gave a single nod at the human woman in front of him.

Then, thankfully, before Caesar could interrogate further (and let his protectiveness get the better of him), Luca stepped forward, concern clear in his green gaze.

"Where did you encounter them? Exactly?" The large silverback asked with a serious frown on his dark features, imposing as ever, even if he didn't really mean to be.

It couldn't be helped, Maurice supposed. As the commander of the Gorilla Guard, he was in charge of security around the colony. If humans were close, he had to know about it.

"West of here, a few hundred yards from the stream that runs down through the cliffs from further north. That's where we went to hunt today."

Everyone was shocked by this knowledge, including the orangutan himself.

It wasn't all that far from the colony. About two and a half hours of trekking, if one didn't take to the trees like the apes.

Caesar turned to Spear, one of his most trusted fighting apes and the one mainly in charge of the colony's defensive lines around the forest.

"How could they have come this close?" He asked expectantly,

Before Spear could even lift his hands to sign, someone else from the crowd hooted anxiously as they stepped forward and a quiet murmur once again went through the colony, like ripples in otherwise calm waters.

It was Cedar who had stepped forward, a grim, foreboding look on her face as she signed.

"It must be Red! He must have told them where we are! How to get past!"

Another ripple went through the crowd, everyone looking at each other in fear and alarm as Cedar revealed her theory.

Tinker, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes at her old adversary, an unimpressed look on her face.

"Or maybe that's what you want us to believe? To cause unrest, perhaps?" She challenged daringly, her mistrust towards every word Cedar had signed clear in her hard, green gaze.

"Are you suggesting I had something to do with this?!" Cedar signed back with a hiss. Her face bore an expression of pure indignation, as if she couldn't quite believe Tinker would make such an accusation.

"No. What I am suggesting is that you might be taking advantage of this by causing unnecessary panic." Tinker countered, her mouth set into a thin line as she regarded the other female chimp.

Oh dear, Maurice thought as a heavy sigh left him. Here we go again.

It was no secret that the two nurtured a passionate dislike for each other, and while Maurice could easily believe that Cedar might want to take advantage of a situation like this, he really hadn't expected Tinker to vent her suspicion so openly.

Luckily, Lydia quickly ended the escalating fight between the two females when she cleared her voice rather loudly and raised her hand in much the same manner the Ape King did when asking for silence from the crowd.

Maurice was quite surprised that everyone just went along with it, quieting down almost the same instant the woman's hand was raised into the air. He couldn't quite decide if it was because Lydia was now a member of the Royal Ape Council and thus commanded respect, or if was simply her bloodied, intimidating appearance which compelled the colony's members to pay attention to her.

Either way, Lydia seemed too exhausted to even take notice of it. She just looked like she wanted this over with as quickly as possible, so she could get cleaned up and rest – something Maurice honestly couldn't blame her for. She looked quite wrecked as it was.

"I don't think Red, or anyone else for that matter, has told the soldiers anything. The ones we met were quite obviously lost and before they came into view, one of them spoke about how his companion was trying to get recognition from the Colonel for being the one to find our home." Lydia spoke calmly, not sparing Cedar a single glance, choosing instead to direct her gaze at Caesar, Spear and Luca interchangeably.

The three apes nodded in unison at the information Lydia provided.

"That doesn't explain why they were so few. Soldiers usually move in larger groups." Spear pointed out with a calculating frown. He had fought the soldiers for a long time now and had learned much about their ways of organising themselves. If he was puzzled by something like this, then it was more than enough of a reason to be worried.

Lydia, however, was quick to dispel his concerns, as well as those of everyone else, with her next words.

"It just so happens that one of them was enough of an idiot to explain that to me." She spoke plainly as she folded her bloodied arms across her chest. "He said they had split from their group because they thought it'd be easier to get past our outposts like that – which was obviously correct to assume, since they managed to get this far. Still, I'd say they were nothing more than a couple of glory-seekers. They had no idea where to even begin looking for us once they got past our defences."

Beside the aging orangutan, Caesar nodded seriously, eyes hard and lips still set in a thin line. It was obvious that the information Lydia had given didn't sit well with him, but at least they could take heart in the fact that their position didn't seem to have been revealed just yet.

It was a little glimmer of light in an otherwise dark and foreboding situation, Maurice thought.

He gave a deep rumble to gain his leader's attention.

"Perhaps we should spread our forces thinner? Other soldiers might get the same idea, after all." The red-haired ape signed with soft movements, trying not to aggravate Caesar's already agitated state of mind. It was clear their leader was stressed, his patience stretched thin.

But it couldn't be helped, the orangutan reasoned with himself. Something had to be done, lest the incident should repeat itself – and this time with a tragic outcome for the apes.

"If we spread out much more, we won't be able to hold our line of defence. The humans will break through." Spear argued worriedly, biting his lip.

"But if we do nothing, our hunters won't be safe anymore. Other soldiers could slip past unnoticed!" Luca interjected then.

It continued like that for a while, and Maurice's head was beginning to swim with all of this arguing back and forth. It was a dire topic, no doubt, but the way this was going, they might not even talk about it at all, as nothing would come of it.

"I suggest we send out some scouts. Some of the females not out hunting." Lydia spoke up, then. "They wouldn't have to engage in any fights but could hide in the trees and go to warn the fighting apes if they discover a breach. That way, you don't have to spread everyone out all the time."

Caesar seemed to consider this very carefully as the murmur from before returned tenfold.

The chimp drew in a deep breath, almost as if steeling himself and at first, Maurice thought the Ape King would completely reject the suggestion. Like he had done back when the woman had first suggested training the females in archery. But it would seem that Lydia's words about the scouting females not having to actually fight managed to tip the scales for their disgruntled leader.

"Will you arrange this?" He spoke gruffly, almost seeming like he didn't really like asking her of this and Maurice realised then that this had been the main reason for Caesar's initial hesitance.

Lydia nodded, dutiful as ever, before she grimaced slightly and took a brief look down at her messed-up attire.

"Just let me get this cleaned off and I'll get right to it." She spoke, though Maurice could easily tell that the woman was in no condition to make any such arrangements right now, exhausted as she quite obviously was.

And apparently, so could Caesar, who pursed his lips and held a hand up before Lydia could even take one step past him.

"No." The Ape King's gravelly voice sounded, leaving no room for argument. "Rest and we will make plans tomorrow before everyone leave. We are done for today. All of us."

Lydia merely nodded in resignation and, after offering Ivy a gentle, reassuring pat on her shoulder and an apologetic look to the young female's parents, walked off towards her own cave, presumably to find a clean change of clothes.

The crowd quickly dispersed after that, each going back to their own tasks, though with a much more subdued bustle than before the human and young chimp had returned with the unsettling news.

Maurice, though impressed with Lydia's tenacity and dutifulness towards the colony, couldn't help but feel that the woman seemed strangely… detached, somehow. Like she was walking through a fog, her mind elsewhere entirely while she struggled to give everyone the impression that she was just fine.

It was a behaviour he had witnessed in her before.

And the orangutan had a sneaking suspicion that what had happened today had a whole lot to do with the reoccurrence of this behaviour. At the very least, he suspected that it might have forced her to recall some rather unpleasant memories, if the near-haunted look in her eyes was anything to go by.

To her credit, she made a great show of at least appearing unaffected in front of Ivy, and her concern for the young ape had been more than just a little obvious.

But Maurice knew all too well that Lydia wasn't invincible. Far from it.

And he hoped Caesar, in his still irate state, would remember this too, when the two would meet up later in the night, as the orangutan was certain they would.

Otherwise, Maurice just might have to remind the Ape King himself.


Caesar

"I only say this because I care, Lydia." Caesar spoke, not able to keep just a hint of a plea out of his voice. "It is becoming too dangerous for you to go on these hunts."

The discussion had started almost the moment he had entered the cave down by the river.

"We both know I can't not hunt, Caesar. Food is getting scarcer as it is and the more apes we send to fight, the fewer we have here to help keep everyone fed." She answered resignedly, her hands lying limply in her lap. They were no longer covered in blood, though the image was still starkly clear in Caesar's mind.

What she said was true. Painfully so.

But he couldn't let what had happened today go. What they had done.

"They hit you." He repeated his words from when she had first come home with Ivy, an underlying, simmering anger still to his voice, right beneath the surface. He couldn't get over that fact. That they had grabbed her and hurt her. Had hurt his mate.

"And they would have done worse, would they not?"

He didn't need to ask her that. They had meant to do more than hit her. The way Ivy had hinted at it had told the Ape King that much. He knew what the adolescent female had meant the moment he had seen the look on her face – as well as the disgusted frown on Lydia's. They had intended to force themselves on her. To have their wicked way with his mate!

His!

Caesar went to her then, wrapping his long arms around her in a fierce embrace as he nuzzled his face into her dark, soft hair. He growled, low and possessive.

Who knows what else they would have done once they had had enough?

The Ape King gritted his teeth and drew a slow breath to keep his anger under control.

"Caesar…" Lydia spoke softly against his neck, to which he replied by squeezing her just a bit tighter. She sounded like she wanted to argue but had realised she couldn't, a tell-tale sign that something was still terribly wrong. Lydia never lost the will to push back.

The Ape King released the air inside his lungs in a slow, stuttering manner.

The way she had looked when she had first come into view after returning home was still embedded in his mind and Caesar felt his heart clench uncomfortably tight. He had been worried before then, when Luca had informed him that the woman and young chimp had yet to return. It was extremely rare that she returned after the Ape King himself came home from the forest and though he had tried to hide it from his troop, Caesar had worried. A lot.

And when he had finally seen her, blood covering her hands, tiny spatters of it dotting her pale face, which had held an exhausted, ominous-looking expression, fear had gripped him. Like an icy rod piercing his heart as a thousand scenarios had raced through his mind. A million reasons for her to return in this state, each one more horrifying than the last.

It had only gotten worse with every answer she and Ivy had provided to his questions.

At the time, Lydia had seemed completely dismissive of the fact that she might very well have been killed and he didn't know if it was because she had been trying to repress the experience or if it had been because she was more worried about Ivy's reaction to it all. Lydia had been very attentive of the young female ape with whom she had formed a very close bond over this past year and a half. It had always been a habit of hers to take care of others before she could stop to even think about herself.

But Lydia needed to take care of herself too. If she didn't… If she continued to disregard her own safety like this… If she continued to put everything and everyone else before herself, then…

"I cannot lose you." The Ape King stated firmly, squeezing his eyes shut as he buried his muzzle in her dark hair. "I cannot…!"

She leaned into his touch and released a trembling sigh, finally reaching her hands up to return the fierce embrace.

They sat like that for a very long time, arms locked tightly around each other, with Lydia's cheek against his hard chest and Caesar's chin resting atop her head.

It was the most peaceful he had felt all day. No worries, no horrifying surprises or war plans and, most importantly, no eyewitnesses forcing him to keep a respectable distance.

When he leaned back to look at her face once more, she wore a look he had only seen on her once or twice before in all the time they had known each other.

It was a haunted expression. Plagued, even.

It was the same look she had worn when she had first explained how and why she had left her human colony. The memory still stood fresh in Caesar's mind, as if it had only been yesterday and not seven years ago that he had seen it for the first time.

He remembered that she had looked down at her hands that day and until now, Caesar hadn't spared that little detail any thought. It had been her expression he had been focused on at the time, in his search for answers.

Having seen her hands after the incident today, however, he now understood why.

It was the feeling of blood that lingered on them. It was attached to that memory like a tumour, reminding her that she had had to kill another person in order to survive. And though she might have held no compassion at all for the horrible people who had attacked her, she still felt awful for having had to do it in the first place.

Having someone die at your own hands, be it intentional or not, always left its mark. Caesar knew that all too well.

How many times must Roy have witnessed this look on her? Caesar thought. How many times must he have had to comfort her? Hold her like I am holding her right now?

It was then that he remembered something.

Something that Maurice had told him earlier that night, just before he gone down here to be with Lydia.


He had just dropped off a sleeping Cornelius at Tinker's cave, briefly thanking the wife of his second-in-command before leaving for their secret spot down by the river. He knew that Lydia would be there tonight. There was no way she would be sleeping soundly after a day like this.

It was then that the aging orangutan had found him, walking along one of the many cave corridors, and pulled him aside, a knowing look on his dark face.

"When you go see her, don't be too harsh on Lydia." He had said, and in that moment, Caesar had just known.

Known for certain that Maurice knew.

Knew about Lydia and him.

The chimp hadn't been all that surprised by it, really. He had suspected it for some time now, in fact. His orangutan advisor seemed to know everything there was to know – sometimes it even seemed like he knew Caesar's very thoughts.

Like in this moment.

"I thought you might have learned of it by now." The chimp had signed, keeping the conversation silent so that no one would overhear them talking. He had ignored his friend's advice at first. "I thought you would oppose it… Given how long you knew my wife."

The orangutan had shaken his large head at that, as if what Caesar had said seemed somewhat foolish to him.

"It's true that I knew Cornelia longer than you, Caesar." He had signed gently, with his customary, slow movements. "And that's why I am certain she would want nothing but happiness for you. Both of you."

Caesar had nodded at that, his lips forming a thin line before a heavy sigh left him. He knew in his heart that what the orangutan said was true. Cornelia wouldn't have wanted Caesar to spend his remaining years alone. That was just the kind of ape his wife had been, selfless and understanding.

But that didn't necessarily mean that Maurice would be forthcoming on this matter. In fact, Caesar had expected him to advise against it when he had first figured it out, given the… difficult topic of Caesar choosing a human rather than an ape. It was a taboo, after all. Something Lydia and Roy had had to keep to themselves for years, back when the ape had still been alive.

But the speech Caesar had expected to receive on the topic from his advisor had just never come.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you." The Ape King had signed back somewhat sheepishly, though he appreciated the honesty of his oldest friend. "I didn't mean to keep things from you."

"Who you take for a mate is hardly my business at all, my friend." Maurice had dismissed his apology quite swiftly, releasing an almost amused-sounding chuff.

"It seems to me that my actions are everyone's business…" The Ape King had sighed tiredly in response to that, shaking his head.

He hated having to hide it. To go through the day pretending Lydia was just another hunter to him. Just another member of the colony. Just another member of his Royal Ape Council – when in fact she had become so much more.

Maurice had rumbled sympathetically at Caesar's words, briefly laying a heavy, comforting hand on his shoulder before he had retracted it to sign once more.

"Which is why I would advise against revealing it to the colony just yet, but you seem to understand this well enough already."

The Ape King had nodded severely at these words.

"Better than most, I think." He had placed a tentative hand on top of the place where Koba had shot him a year and a half ago, where he knew a pale, neat scar now resided right underneath his dark pelt.

It was a sobering reminder of what could happen if his actions as a leader went too much against the wishes of any of his apes. If someone happened to find his relationship just too much of an affront to the apes Caesar was meant to lead.

He did not need a second Koba right now. Not with this war going on with the soldiers.

"At least there is that." The wise, elder ape commented drily, once more patting the Ape King on his shoulder. "Now, I think I will go get some rest, my friend."

The brooding chimp nodded and signed a polite goodnight to the orangutan. Their conversation had been brief, true, but it had been on-point and straightforward, just as Caesar liked to keep his discussions.

He had begun walking towards the main cave, where his nest lies. From there, he would go through a smaller, adjacent tunnel that lead to the path down to their secret meeting place. But before the king had managed to take even one step, however, Maurice had rumbled once more, drawing Caesar's attention back to him. The chimp had looked over his shoulder with questioning eyes.

"And please remember what I said, Caesar." His advisor had signed, his small, green eyes drilling into the Ape King. "Lydia has had a trying day. There is no meaning in making it worse for her with hard words."

Caesar had narrowed his eyes slightly at that, not fully understanding why Maurice was so persistent on this particular matter. The king had planned to speak with Lydia about the incident today in detail, as well as his worries and her dismissive behaviour when it came to her own safety. He had even planned on telling her that he thought it was no longer safe for her to be hunting.

And he had intended to be quite blunt about it too. He had been scared today, and he felt that she needed to understand that.

But as was so often the case, his elderly orangutan advisor had made the brooding chimp think twice about his approach.

"She is a free, strong female. But you and I both know that even the strongest need someone they can be soft with, maybe even more so than others."

Maurice had disappeared into the caves after that, most likely making his way to his own nest and leaving Caesar to ponder on what he had said.


The orangutan's words echoed inside Caesar's head now, as he held his mate close to his chest.

Maurice was right.

It was quite easy to forget, due to her easy-going attitude and independent streak, that Lydia was just as prone to fear as anybody else was. She might hide it well most days, but she needed someone who she could show her emotions to. All of them – even the ones she tried to hide for the sake of others.

More than that, what Lydia needed was someone who could gently pry those feelings out of her and take them for what they were without judgement.

It was not something Caesar was too familiar with doing himself – hiding his emotions, that is. He might have had to restrain them at times, yes, but never hide or mask them.

His grip on her had eased somewhat, and he began stroking her back comfortingly as he continued to ponder.

He wanted to be that someone to her. Had thought he was being that someone when he had tried to convince her that hunting was too dangerous now. When he had called her out on her seemingly lacking sense of self-preservation and told her about how much it worried him.

But none of those things were what she needed to hear right now. Quite the contrary. Caesar was now pretty sure it had only served to make her feel worse about the whole ordeal.

He sighed, frustrated with himself.

He would still let her hunt, of course. The welfare of the Ape Colony demanded it, no matter his personal feelings on the matter. She was one of their best and besides, Caesar was pretty sure Lydia wouldn't thrive living solely within the confines of the colony itself.

"You did well today…" He spoke quietly, though with his deep, gravelly voice, it still sounded loud as the words reverberated against the cave walls. "What happened was bad… But you did a good thing, Lydia. You did what you had to do to come home."

She lifted head from his chest to look up at him, those deep, blue eyes staring wonderingly into his own green-and-golden ones. There were no tears to be found in them and yet, to Caesar, they were brimming with emotion all the same.

The Ape King reached up, laying one of his large, calloused hands against her cheek and pulling her forward to press his brow against the human woman's.

This, this right here, Caesar realized, was what Lydia had needed all along. No painful reminders or hard, reprimanding words.

No, what Lydia needed was, indeed, someone to be soft with. Someone to provide her with comfort, acceptance and love.

Someone to tell her that what she had done today wasn't wrong.

And the Ape King, to his surprise, realized then that it was what he needed too. More than anything else.

"Thank you, Caesar…" He heard Lydia's gentle whisper, ghosting across his lips. "Thank you…"