"Tomorrow?" Kavie asked. She looked more than a little surprised at Ruth. Ann had heard Ruth as well, and both were unsure if she were joking.
"Yes, I think tomorrow will be as good a day as any." said Ruth. Her content expression didn't ease Ann or Kavie, who looked at each other then back at her.
"But, Ruth, isn't this a pretty big thing to be springing on everyone out of the blue?" Ann said.
"The entire colony has known that I have wanted to retire for some time. So, as I said, it's as good a time as any."
Kavie couldn't understand how she could be so calm about this. Ruth could have waited as long as she lived if she wanted, but she decided to do it sooner rather than later. Tomorrow would be her very last day as the leader of the colony...was it not as huge an event to her as it was to Kavie?
Ann tried to speak again as they followed Ruth back from the edge of their territory, but Kavie beat her to it.
"Grandma, I respect your decision but...are you sure you're ready? Are you certain that I'm ready?"
Her grandmother walked on a little ways, stopped, then after a moment of thought, simply said, "Yes." determinedly.
She could have elaborated more, but Kavie understood. If this was going to be her final decision she made for the colony, she wanted to have absolutely no doubts. Nothing they said was going to change Ruth's mind. This was one of those things that Kavie hoped she would be able to do when she took over.
Having no choice but to accept Ruth's words, the three females fell silent. It was lucky that Kavie's new mate soon came along to find her, it was the most tense silence the three had ever experienced together.
"Um, Kavie? Can I talk to you?" Leo asked warily. He looked from his mate to Ruth to his mother. All seemed fine with them, but he was picking up a sad uneasiness between them.
"Sure." Kavie answered with a searching look at him. "Is there anything wrong?"
That was a hard question to answer in present company. Leo didn't want to say anything in front of Ann and risk worrying her further, and he was not yet sure if this was a big enough thing to tell Ruth about.
"Not...entirely." he managed to say grasping her paw, trying to lead her away. As he and Kavie were leaving Ann spoke.
"Leo, aren't you going to say hello to your mother?"
Leo stopped and turned around. "Sorry, Hi Mom." he said as politely as he could. He was in a bit of a hurry to get Kavie alone, but he hadn't seen his mother in a few days, so he understood why she wanted some acknowledgement. Plus it was polite, and for good measure he added. "Hi Mrs. Ruth."
Ruth managed to get a short greeting in before Leo was pulling Kavie away. Kavie shrugged as she looked back at her grandmother and Ann.
The two elder females were left watching the pair quickly move away.
"Well, that was a bit rude of him." Ann said. She tried not to sound annoyed, but apologetic towards Ruth.
"He could have spent a little more time with us, or something." Ann was grasping for a reason to try and teach him something. It was becoming clearer every time she saw him that what Mel had said was true, Leo was an adult. Not just an adult, but one with a mate. However quick his entrance or greetings, he did have every right to pull Kavie away to speak with her.
"Ruth?" she asked. Ruth was easing into that pensive look she sometimes had. It was becoming more frequent, since before Kavie's and Leo's small mate ceremony. Ann hoped it wasn't what she thought. This was Ruth. A strong, fair leader even in her aging years...and yet Ann sadly recalled the same pensive expressions Tanya would get just before she went.
Ruth sighed, then smiled at Ann. "It's alright. Let the two have their time together. We have much to discuss about tomorrow."
Being pulled away so hurriedly by Leo was probably not what Kavie really needed at this time. Kavie knew she should have stayed with her grandmother and Ann to make sure she knew all that would happen tomorrow.
Tomorrow...she couldn't bring herself to think of it. It was more nerve-racking to think about than any other day in her memory. She knew what was expected of her, she knew all about being the leader of an entire colony. It was the fact that, just one sunset and sunrise away, all the issues of the colony would be on her shoulders that made it so surreal. All its problems would be hers as well.
This is why, even though it wasn't what she needed, she was grateful that Leo had taken her away. The pressure that Kavie was feeling could be lessened, or at least postponed, by some romantic alone-time with her mate.
Too bad that wasn't what he had in mind at this time.
Leo started to take her towards the sentry rock, but seemed to think better of it, and soon Kavie was following him into the cover of the tall, golden grass.
He didn't really know how to start. How do you begin telling your mate something like this? That some meerkat has been organizing others together to discredit her. That they would probably march up to Ruth tomorrow and demand that she be replaced, ruining her dreams. It was pretty much his fault this was happening anyway, he thought. Most of those meerkats rallying around that female one only disliked Kavie because of him – Because she had chosen him.
He was trying to find a way to tell her all of this, when he noticed that something was off with her. She was trying to hide it, yet...
She seemed happy to be with him, but then he thought back to what he had felt when he had approached the three to get her. They had obviously been talking about something very important.
Before he could ask her about it, she asked him. "Leo, are you sure there's nothing wrong?"
Apparently she was thinking the same thing about him. Leo would have explained right then, but he couldn't help feeling that what she was thinking about was even more important. So he decided to avoid the question for now. "I was going to ask you the same thing."
She gave a quiet laugh that sounded more like a sigh. She sat down in the shade of the grass and Leo copied her. He then met her eyes. The fact that it took her so long to answer basically told him before she spoke.
"Grandma's stepping down tomorrow. Then I will officially be matriarch."
He knew right then he couldn't tell her. She was so nervous about this. He knew she wanted him to help her calm her worries. She had helped him so many times on those nights when he worried about his place in his family and the colony. This was his chance to do the same for her.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her. "You'll do great." he assured her. He didn't care if he sounded corny at this moment. Whatever those others had in their plans for tomorrow, he wouldn't let them spoil Kavie's day. Their problem was really with him, not her. He would try and talk to them if he could. He didn't know how, but he would try.
When the sun rose the next morning, many of the meerkats rose with it as usual. Most of them were expecting a perfectly normal day, but the rest knew better. The rising of the sun seemed to mean something different to them. To Kavie, it meant the taking on of the great responsibility she knew was approaching. To Molly, it signaled the day that she just might be able to change the life of this colony in her favor. Finally, to Max, it didn't seem to mean anything at all, because he was still asleep.
"Max, I mean it. Get up now! Don't make me bring your father in here." Ann scolded her son as she stood over him. She was just about to slap him. This wasn't like him at all, and it worried her as much as it annoyed her.
She turned away and left to find Mel in the burrow they shared.
"Is he up yet?" he asked her.
"No." she answered exasperatedly. "This is getting ridiculous. Usually he's up before we are. What could be so different about today?"
With a look from Mel, she remembered. She had talked about it with Mel and Max last night. Max had barely said anything, but that's just how he was lately. "Oh. He's going to have to see Leo today."
Max had been very successful in avoiding his younger brother ever since their fight. Any time his parents would mention him, Max wouldn't speak until the subject changed. He had even been finding excuses to not go up to the surface, so as to make sure he never ran into him. Today, however, the whole colony would need to be up there for Ruth's announcement, and as part of Ann's family Max would have to be almost right next to them; within clear sight of Leo.
"I'll give it a try, Ann. You should be with Ruth right now." Mel said to his mate. She sighed but smiled as she hugged him and left.
Mel entered his son's burrow room. It seemed bigger now that there was only one nest of grass. He saw Max sitting on it.
"Good, you're awake." Mel said very casually.
Max looked determined. What he had in his mind was not going to change, not even if his father forced him. "Dad..."he began.
"Now Max, before you say anything, I'm not going to make you do anything." He then changed his tone so it did not sound like he was talking down to Max. "I'm also not going to try and guilt you into getting up and coming with us...but, you know, it is a very important day, for everybody. Plus your mother wants you to be there."
Max had not been looking at Mel, but when he did sneak a glance Mel caught it, and answered the question Max had been thinking.
"You don't have to talk to Leo." Mel told him. "You know our feelings about this fight you two are having. It's stupid, it's childish, but you don't seem to be willing to talk about it. I hope you know that your brother is still your family, no matter what you may be feeling towards him. If something ever happened to your mother and I, he would be all you had left."
He saw Max roll his eyes. "And no, this is not guilting you. It's the truth. I know that you know all of this, so that's why you won't have to talk to Leo. But I do want you to come. For your mom."
Max raised an eyebrow and Mel chuckled. "Ok, that last part was a little bit guilting."
"What I mean is..." the male meerkat looked around the cramped burrow before lowering his voice. His friend had to lean in to hear him. "How do we know that if we march up there today, that Ruth will even listen to us?"
"She will. She'll have to. We've got about half the colony here it seems. You know she has to do what's in our best interest." said his friend.
"I guess." The first then lowered his voice even more, cupping his paw so his friend could hear. "But...doesn't Molly seem a bit...I mean, how do we know she has our best interests in mind?"
"Kind of late to be having second thoughts, Brush. I will admit she seems a little...scary. But I don't think she's half as scary as us having to fight off predators. Remember, that's what's going to happen if we don't do this."
"That's what she says will happen." Brush tilted his head towards the entrance of the large underground room, where Molly and her mate were seated. "I'm just not sure anymore."
Brush's companion looked at him warily. Possibly trying to make out if he meant what he said. He was actually looking a little nervous. That was not very good talk to be saying in the midst of this group. Even now he could see a meerkat that had been just behind him whispering to Molly. He was startled when the meerkat pointed towards them, his eyes met Molly's.
"Um, Brush? If you're thinking about leaving, now would be an excellent time."
Brush turned to him. "Huh? Why?"
His friend did not have a chance to tell Brush though, because at that time Molly's voice rang through the crowd. She was elevated above the mass of meerkats by Lee, who was strenuously holding her up.
"Hello everyone! It's good to see such an impressive turnout." She then began to wobble as Lee tried to balance himself. "Whoa! Lee! Hold me steady or don't hold me at all!"
"Augh...that's an option?" Lee managed to grunt while still trying to keep her up.
Molly scoffed and looked downward at him. "Um, No." Then she addressed the group again. "Anyway, I am sure that some of you are wondering why it has to come to this. Some of you may even be thinking of backing out. Well, not to sound too dark or dramatic, but you have gone too far down the hole to come back up. You're...we're all in this together, now. If you doubt what we are doing this for just remember. Just remember what we all know may...will happen if we allow Ruth's granddaughter to lead us."
There were a few "yeah"s and "right"s, one of them strained from below Molly.
Molly looked happy with the result of her words. She gracefully jumped down off of Lee and Lee tumbled and fell down with his nose flat against the ground.
"We will start to head up momentarily." she said to the mushed meerkats. As she turned she dropped her smile as she headed determinedly out the entrance, with Lee following her.
It was then that Brush's friend noticed that Brush was no longer beside him.
It didn't take long for word to go around that all the meerkats had to assemble at the sentry rock for an important message from Ruth, once Ann had begun telling everyone that is. She had waited until almost midday to spread the word.
Once she had returned to Ruth's side she nodded. "Well, no turning back now, I suppose, huh?"
Ruth smiled without saying anything. They both watched as meerkats began to arrive, including Kavie, Leo, and Laita.
Leo climbed onto the rock and then helped the two females up. Kavie looked better, more determined. She didn't feel it completely, but she looked it.
They were all here. All that was to be done now was to wait for the rest of the colony. It seemed to be taking an awfully long time to get everyone to come up, even when Mel came followed by a very displeased Max. The sun was well-passed its halfway point and the five of them still waited.
The group around the rock had grown since they had come up, but it was not the full number of meerkats. Not at all.
"That can't be more than half of everyone." Ruth said as they gazed over the crowd. "Ann, when did you begin telling everyone?"
Ann looked a little guilty. "Well, I waited a tad longer than you asked. I'm sorry, Ruth. I wanted to give Kavie and you some more time."
Ruth would have looked annoyed, but she understood Ann's reason. Plus there was a group of meerkats that had been waiting for almost as long as they had. They didn't deserve to be made to sit out in the sun like this for nothing.
"We're going to have to make due with who is here now." she said.
Ruth got to her feet. Most of the meerkats below them were lying on the ground. Some of them noticed her right away and sat up or stood, some it took a little longer to come out of their prolonged stupor.
"Hello everyone." she addressed them the same way she always had only slightly more formal than usual, probably because she had to project her voice. "I do realize that not everyone is here yet, but I believe I have kept you all here long enough."
As if that were her cue, Kavie came to stand beside Ruth. She placed a paw on Kavie's shoulder.
"As you all know, I have been your leader for quite some time, longer than some of you have even been alive. Since that is the case, probably none of you remember our last matriarch, the ever-vigilant Sandy. The meerkat who taught me everything I know. I still remember the day she announced her successor. That day changed my life forever, and even if you don't remember her, I think that her decision has changed yours as well." she paused, then looked at Kavie. The emotion of the moment was finally showing on her face. She resumed after a sigh and a blinking back of tears.
"Now it is time for me to see the other side of that day. I will be formally stepping down and today my dear granddaughter, Kavie, will step up."
Even though the crowd was smaller than normal, and even though they were tired, they applauded for her just as excitedly as any. Or maybe it was just Kavie's imagination. Even as she grew older she'd never be able to tell.
It was only when the clapping died down and they could have a proper look around that they noticed two meerkats who definitely should have been there.
"Wait, where are Uncle Lee and Aunt Molly?" Kavie asked, still scanning the group. The other four on the rock thought this was very odd too.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen them all day." said Ann. "Have you, Mrs. Ruth?"
"No, I haven't."
Laita and Leo shook their heads. Neither had seen them. Laita because she was with Kavie all day, and Leo because admittedly...he didn't remember what they looked like.
Just when they were all beginning to look for the missing family members, they felt a soft trembling under their feet. At first they thought a tunnel had collapsed, but the rumble was moving. It continued past the rock and the meerkats to the farthest hole, where out came what could only be called an army of meerkats. And heading them all was none other than...
"Molly!" cried Ruth. All of the meerkats that had been above ground looked on in astonishment.
Molly, followed by the rest of her mob, approached the rock. She bounded up, unaided, onto the sentry rock.
"Oh, didja miss me?" she said with much sarcasm.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ruth asked, still shocked.
Molly faked a cringe at this question. "oooh, now that is a bit of a long story. Where exactly should I begin?"
Something finally clicked in Leo's brain. "Wait. Molly?...Molly!" he mumbled before practically jumping in between Molly and the rest on the rock. "You were the one spreading all those rumors."
She clapped her paws and pointed at him. "Ok, that's a good place to start." she said. "Yes I did spread them. Although Leo, I wouldn't exactly call them 'rumors'. Isn't it true that you have been fighting off hyenas?"
If anyone wasn't paying attention, it was definitely not the case anymore. Leo could feel the eyes of every single meerkat staring at him curiously. The only thing he could think to do at this point was to just tell the truth, and hope that it didn't blow up in his face.
"Yes, but I've only done it once."
"Leo..." he heard Kavie say behind him. He felt so guilty at that moment for not telling her, but if anything bad was going to happen they would still be looking only at him.
Molly scoffed at Kavie. "As if you didn't know about it."
"She didn't." Leo said.
Molly didn't look convinced. "Uh huh, and I suppose you are going to tell us that she isn't going to make her first act as matriarch to have all of the sentries jump out in front of predators and let themselves be eaten like you do."
"No she isn't, and that's not what I've been doing! That's idiotic!"
"What about the rhino dung?" they heard a meerkat call from way in the back of the crowd. All the meerkats on the rock looked out towards him.
"Um...actually I made that one up." said another meerkat not to far from the first, his paw in the air nervously. "I kinda made that one up to cover up something I'd done...well; everybody was saying stuff about you! I just wanted to fit in."
There was an awkward pause, and Molly turned back to Leo. "Anyway...how do we know that what you're saying isn't all a bunch of lies?"
"Because it isn't." Kavie had stepped beside Leo. It didn't matter that Leo hadn't told her about any of this, he probably had a reason and they'd discuss it later.
"How would you know?" Molly continued with her unconvinced tone. "Apparently you didn't know about this, which is something I find very suspicious."
"He's been lying to you Kavie!" yelled yet another meerkat in the crowd. The group below was becoming restless. "You can't trust him!"
"I trust him" said Ruth. "I trust him and Kavie's judgment, and that should be enough for all of you."
"Oh, but we've been doubting your judgment for a while now, Ruth." Molly said. Ruth looked questioning, but Molly didn't need to speak anymore, the other meerkats were doing that for her.
"You can't choose Kavie! She'll let Leo do whatever he wants!" said another voice.
"He's got her right where he wants her!" chimed in another.
"Ya can't trust him! Ya can't trust anybody in his family!"
Molly smirked at Ruth. She looked pleased with the effect she had created. That is, until some of the meerkats began to talk back to the others.
"And what is so wrong with his family?" One argued at another that had been shouting.
"His family is Buzz's family!"
"Yeah, that guy was a nitwit! If you ask me, the termite doesn't stray far from the mound!"
"Don't insult the Fearless Buzz! He was ahead of his time!"
"The point is, Ruth," Molly said, she had grown bored with listening to them all. The argument went on behind her. "That none of us will accept your granddaughter as matriarch. We demand that you select a different successor."
"Don't tell me, it's gonna be you, right?" Mel said, he had to yell to be heard over the shouting of the crowd.
"Why, yes, actually." Molly said with fake cheeriness.
"And what exactly are you going to do about it if I refuse?" Ruth said, with all the composure she could muster.
Leo wasn't sure what happened first. Whether it was when he saw something inside Molly snap and she lunged at Ruth, or if it was when the verbal fight below them somehow transformed into a full-out physical brawl. He had no idea how it had all escaladed, but it was now out of control.
He heard the screaming and saw all the meerkats biting and clawing at each other. He saw everyone on the rock rush to try and get Molly off of Ruth. He joined them and helped his father as the females jumped down to try and stop the fighting on the ground.
Kavie had no idea how this had all happened either. She and Ann and Laita ran around trying to get some of them to stop. Nothing was working. She had never realized how much buried hostility this colony had with itself.
Just when she thought she couldn't do anything and that she should try and get back to the sentry rock, she saw a female meerkat looking wildly around, the most terrified thing Kavie had ever seen. Once she jumped over someone and kicked off another, she made her way to the female. Once she was closer she realized why she was so afraid. She had brought her pup up from her den.
The pup couldn't have been more that a few days old. This had been a very unlucky time to bring her little one up. The mother had apparently been trying desperately to get out of here and back to the safety of the tunnels. Kavie put her arm around her and steered her towards the tunnels. They had to be quick but careful. Kavie tried to say something to her but the female couldn't hear her.
They had dodged so many punches, and sprinted through countless tiny battles, and they had almost made it. The closest tunnel, though obscured slightly, was in sight. Kavie was now practically pushing the mother meerkat through the hostel crowd. They were finally right beside the tunnel, and the mother stopped to catch her breath. Kavie was motioning for her to go down, she could rest down there but she wouldn't listen.
Unfortunately this pause would cost. Suddenly a meerkat far bigger and far heavier than the mother slammed into her. Instinctively she clutched her pup to her, which caused her to fall directly onto it.
It was one of those moments when one's brain knows what has just happened, but the body is frozen and unable to do anything.
Kavie watched the mother lift herself up and quickly scoop up the pup that was no longer moving. She watched as she listened frantically for a heartbeat. The only thing that Kavie managed to do was begin to cry at the exact moment the mother did.
Kavie was so focused on the mother, trying to find some way to soothe her that she didn't see what was happening up on the rock.
Ruth had broken free from Molly's rage, Leo and Mel had pried her off and were holding her forcefully against the tree.
With Molly detained, she stood tall, though she was badly scratched up. She didn't even need to call for silence. The mass of biting and yowling and clawing slowly began to realize that she was up there, and one by one they all grew silent, all of them anxious to hear what she would say.
Once all was still and quiet, the only thing that could be heard was the crying of the mother as she wept for her lifeless pup. Kavie would have made sure she entered the tunnels, but she felt it would be much kinder not to leave her alone, so she guided her up to the sentry rock.
When she had begun to calm down Kavie left her with Laita and Ann and went to stand beside her grandmother.
Ruth was the angriest that Kavie had ever seen. When she spoke again Kavie wasn't surprised that her voice matched her face.
"What in the world was that!?" She was screaming at the entire colony. No one said a word; even the mother had gone quiet. No one else had ever seen her like this either.
She turned to Molly still being held by the males and regarded her with as much disgust as if she were a fresh pile of Rhino dung.
When she spoke again, she was quieter, but no less angry. "Molly, you knew I was not going to choose you."
"But why!?" said Molly, struggling in vain with her captors. "Tell me that!"
"Because I was afraid you might do something like this. Is this really the way you would want to lead? Lee told me about your past. I never said anything because I was willing to let you have a fresh start. Apparently he and I saw something in you that simply wasn't there."
He paused when she saw her son slowly pull himself up onto the rock. He was bleeding badly from his leg and needed help from Ann to stand.
"Lee loves you dearly, but you have completely ignored that. I see now that you have only been using him to get to me. For your own gain. I can only imagine what you would do to this colony."
Molly finally broke away from Mel and Leo stood eye to eye with Ruth, glaring into the old meerkat's face.
"Well, I guess we'll never know what I'd do, now will we?"
The crowd was still silent, all watching Ruth and Molly. The air seemed to be so charged that no one dared to even move.
"You are exiled."
"Right." said Molly plainly. She seemed to have been waiting for this. "Fine." Then the smirk she had worn so much today reemerged on her face as she turned toward the crowd.
"But I urge anyone who still agrees with me, anyone who believes the truth about old Buzz and his family, anyone who doesn't want to live in a colony run by the mate of and unstable radical, then I urge you to leave as well. Let's see 'em run a colony when the colony has all gone." She then turned from Ruth completely, hopped down off the rock, and began walking away.
"Come, Lee." she said casually to Lee without looking back.
"Can I hide behind you?" Lee asked Mel, who shook his head. Lee then seemed to think better of hiding, and stood up as best he could, within full sight of Molly down on the ground.
"Um...no."
"What was that?" Molly said, turning around.
"M-Mom is right, you take me for granted. I...don't think you've ever loved me. I'm staying here with my family." Lee stood as strong as he'd ever looked in his life, and looked pretty surprised with himself.
Molly just exhaled angrily. She then turned back around and walked past the rock, through the tall grass, and was gone forever.
She did not seem to have fully left, however.
Her parting words seemed to have affected the colony more so than anything in living memory. It seemed that some of them really had agreed with her. She had played them well, she knew exactly what buttons to press, what old rivalries to bring up to get the meerkats on her side, and soon the colony's numbers dwindled as meerkats left in sympathy and protest.
It was a particularly bleak day when Leo witnessed his own mother preparing to leave as well.
"Ann, you're not serious." Mel asked his mate, following her out of their burrow and out into the overcast daylight.
"I'm sorry, Mel, but I am." she said. Their sons and Kavie had followed them out, and as she spotted them Ann lowered her voice.
"I just can't stay here."
"You're not saying you actually agree with Molly, are you?"
"No...well, not really. But Mel, she did have one right point, the one about Buzz. I love you...so much...but you have always been so blinded by hero-worship that you never saw your father for what he really was." she was starting to shake now, from anger or sadness Mel didn't know.
"Now Leo has your father up on that same cursed pedestal..."
Mel reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away. Tears welled in both meerkats' eyes.
"You have to see it from my side! I'm afraid for you, for both of you! What would happen to Leo if he had to fight those hyenas again? Yeah, I know you said you'd be there to help him, but what do you think would happen to you? You're not as young as you used to be! I just don't think I could handle it...to see you...either of you..." she sniffed, and gave a quick sigh to try and clear her voice of the sound of crying.
"If I don't leave now I never will."
"Ann, please." Mel softly begged, his voice now choked with trying to hold back his own tears.
But there was no stopping her. Ann said goodbye to her sons, and looked one last time into Mel's eyes. She then turned from her family and disappeared into the grass.
Mel watched her leave. He continued to watch the place where she had left, thinking that maybe, if he thought hard enough, he might will her back into the open, back to him.
Max and Leo went to their father as he collapsed to the ground. No one could tell if he was crying or simply lying there.
Kavie didn't know what to do. She hadn't known what to do for days. She spotted Laita emerging from a hole. Laita had seen her to, and walked up to her. There was something in her eyes that made Kavie feel even more hopeless.
"Oh, Laita, not you too." she said. "Half the colony's already gone, almost literally. You can't possibly agree with Molly!?"
Laita shook her head, looking as meek as ever. "No I don't. That's not why I'm leaving."
"But I need you, Laita. I can't possibly handle the colony on my own, not in the state it's in right now. I thought you could be my assistant like Ms. Ann was for Grandma. You can't leave!"
"I'm sorry, Kavie."
"But, why?"
Laita looked at her friend, summoned up her strength, and voiced something that seemed to have been on her mind for some time.
"Too many meerkats here know me as your quiet friend. I know it's not your fault, but I've really tried to show them who I am, I've tried as hard I could be open, and I just can't. I need to leave so that maybe I can be more that who I am now somewhere else. And also..." she broke off and they both watched Max and Leo comforting Mel for a while.
"Please understand."
"I understand." Kavie said. Then when she looked back at Laita, and then as she looked back at them she seemed to realize what the "also" was.
"I really do."
Laita turned back to her and Kavie continued. "But I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too." Laita said.
The two females hugged. Kavie did not cry. She truly understood Laita's reasons for leaving, though it didn't make her any less sad.
They turned once more to the males. "I'll say goodbye to them for you." Kavie said.
Then the best friends hugged again.
"We'll see each other again. said Kavie, trying to keep the emotion from her voice.
Laita nodded. With a final small smile she turned and walked through the grass as Ann had done.
Author's Notes: Not really much to say, except the ride is almost over. One more chapter and this fic is done!
I really hope that none of the emotion is overdone in this chapter. I was really afraid of putting a fight scene in a LK fic, it feels a tad cliche-ish, but it couldn't be avoided. That's where the characters wanted to go.
Also, the line from Ratatouille that I paraphrased in the last chapter was "change is nature Dad" Although I replaced Dad with Max, or at least I hope I did. :-)
