Chapter 11

Push Restart

Upendo ran out of his den at first dawn and into the meadow. There he searched for those beautiful flowers that always grew. He spotted one and gently took it in his teeth, plucking it from the ground. It was a purple-lavender color, with the brightest green stem. Its middle was a beautiful gold. Upendo trotted carefully back home and stationed himself in front of the king's den. He waited and waited until, at last, Maisha emerged from the rock den. Upendo set the flower down lightly in front of her.

"It's for you," Upendo murmured. Maisha's face lit up and she smiled. She looked down at the flower and admired its beauty.

"Thank you so much," she replied. "Its so beautiful." Upendo had a reply on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to win Maisha back, and fast. That would mean ultra-courting mode for him.

"Yet it can't compare to your beauty, Maisha," he said poetically. Maisha blushed and thanked him again. Upendo just nodded with a smile on his face and spoke again. "Do you want to go to the watering hole with me?"

Maisha replied,"Well... I guess I could go for a drink..."

Upendo grinned. "Great! Let's go." Maisha stopped him before he could bound off. "Wait! Can you put the flower behind my ear?" Upendo nodded again and picked up the flower he drew closer and closer to Maisha until he could feel her increasing body heat. Her face was flushing again. He paused for a minute to let her get used to him so close before securing the flower in the space behind her ear.

"There..." he whispered. Then he slowly and reluctantly pulled away from her. He could hear her let out her breath, which she had been holding in ever since he moved to place the flower. Upendo took a step back to admire her beauty. He even voiced his thoughts. He wasn't going to hold anything in, because he wanted to win Maisha back speedily. If letting her know everything about him helped that cause, he would go for it.

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(Maisha's POV)

"You look absolutely amazing," he said lovingly. Maisha blushed for the third time that day and didn't say anything. Instead she looked at the ground and stared at her paws, which were beginning to look very interesting. Upendo commented on how nice her fur was looking, and Maisha's paws grew ever more interesting. They were at the watering hole now, and instead of doing nothing and looking stupid, Maisha took a sip of water. It was cold and relieving, but it didn't cool down her heated face.

Upendo sure was being blunt. Its like he couldn't hold in his thoughts to save his life! she thought. But I guess it is working. Maisha turned back to Upendo and looked into his emotion-filled blue eyes. Somewhere in there was remnants of their past, memories, everything. Could they win all that back? Maisha hoped so.

They looked deep into each other's eyes, and without saying a single word, started to play. They rolled and splashed in the water, just like they used to. Once, when Upendo had her pinned down, he leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"This is what we used to have. It looks like we want it back so badly, it didn't even take us a day."

Later that same day, while looking over the lands, Maisha realized what Upendo had meant. They both wanted their old relationship back, so much that they didn't even need to do much courting at all. Now they were together again, back to normal, and nothing could pull them apart.

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(Karibu's POV)

Today Karibu had seen what Upendo had done with Maisha, and he decided he wanted to do the same thing with Nzuri. He ran to the meadow and picked any flower; they were all the same to him. The one he did end up with was white with a yellow center. It had a dark green stem that was kind of leafy. Karibu ran back to the dens and searched for Nzuri. He found her sun bathing on a large, flat rock. He walked up to her slowly, and gently called her name.

"Nzuri?" Nzuri lifted her head and squinted at Karibu. When she realized who it was she let her head fall back down and groaned.

"What do you want, Karibu? 'Cause I'm sick and tired of you trying to apologize all the time," she said. Karibu grew nervous. What if she rejects him?

"I didn't come to apologize again, I just came to... give you this," he said quietly. Then he picked the flower off the ground and stretched out his neck to offer it to her. Nzuri looked surprised, and she picked herself up from the rock and took the flower directly from his mouth. Their lips touched and Karibu shivered with longing. Would Nzuri ever come back to him?

"I want to start over with you, Nzuri!" he blurted. He might as well continue now. "Just look at Maisha and Upendo! They did it! So can we! I love you, Nzuri."

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Nzuri couldn't speak. She was so overwhelmed by everything, Karibu, the flower. Yet she was so happy, and she just couldn't resist him. She had to admit it; she loved him too.

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Note:

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! I was gone for SOOOO long! this totally isn't a legit chapter, but its all I can do for now. I'm working on my other story, Candy Locks and the Three Boys, or, as I call it, ClatTB. Please read+review! :3