SATURDAY

Tino was out walking when he turned towards us. The background became gray.

"Oh hi, thought that since I'll be lonely for a while I'd better head for a place where it would be nice to be alone." Tino smiled. "So I'm heading to the old hangout. You know, the one I couldn't convince my friends to return to due to their rottenly poor memory of the place... Sorry, still a little sore by that. Oh well, maybe I can talk them into letting me lead them to the place as a birthday present next year..."

The background regained it's color, and Tino continued walking. Lor, who had decided to get some basketball practice in, noticed Tino walking. Since his back was turned towards her, plus the fact that he was a block away, Tino didn't notice Lor in return.

"Where is he going?" Lor asked herself.

For reasons unknown to her, she followed him without making her presence known.

Tino was so lost in his memories of the fun he and his friends had at the old hangout that he didn't even become suspicious of someone following him. So, Lor was able to continue following him without getting caught...even when they started on the trail that led to the old hangout.

"Wait a minute, I remember this trail." Lor thought. "This is the trail that was supposed to lead to that old place Tino claimed we used to hang out at. Why is he...wait, could the place be real after all? Or is he just pulling a trick on me?"

When they got within ten feet of the place Lor stopped as Tino continued until he disappeared behind the rocky wall. After a few minutes, Lor took a breath and continued following Tino. Then, to her shock, she saw the old hangout! Lor dropped her mouth open, and suddenly memories of playing there with her friends filled her mind. Lor then felt bad for not believing Tino, as well as for forgetting one of the best spots the four of them ever visited. After a few minutes, she saw Tino lying in the grass nearby.

"Tino!" She called.

Tino shot up, startled, and turned around.

"Lor!" He gasped. "Were you following me this whole time?"

"Yeah, I was wondering where you were going. Tino I'm so sorry, I should've believed you about this place."

"Aw it's okay, I'm just glad you're here now." Tino smiled.

Lor went closer and sat down near him, putting her arms around her legs.

"I can't believe I forgot about this place...it used to be my favorite place in all of Bahia Bay." Lor rested her chin on her arms.

"Yeah, mine too." Tino continued smiling. "Say, you remember the animal friends you made? You always seemed to get along better with animals than with humans...not counting friends I mean."

"I'm starting to remember...especially this fawn I became close with. I think the poor thing lost his parents but fortunately was cared for by the rest of the herd." Lor now started to smile. "Let's see...I think I called him Sport, since I was really starting to get into sports at the time. Beforehand I was unsure due to my brothers playing sports so often...I always wanted to be different from them."

"Yeah, that's why you don't tackle anyone when you're not playing football." Tino chuckled.

Lor chuckled too.

"Yeah, Sport, I remember him too. He trusted you a lot, and I think even trusted me a little. He was always wary around Tish and Carver though." Tino remembered.

"Yeah, well, I think Tish's glasses scared him and Carver was always a little...what's the word?"

"Show-offish?"

"Yeah." Lor nodded. "I'm glad he's started to mellow."

"Me too."

"I wonder what happened to Sport?"

"Oh I'm sure he's still around somewhere...very few humans ever come here if any."

"True."

A.N. I made Lor animal/nature friendly due to the fact that she used to be very insensitive with humans. I didn't want her to come across as entirely compassionless so I gave her a redeeming quality.

Tino then saw something past Lor, over to where the woods were located.

"In fact...I think he's right there." Tino became wide-eyed.

Lor turned and saw what Tino saw: a great stag. She dropped her mouth open, even more so when the stag slowly approached them. Lor and Tino didn't get up or move closer, they didn't want to scare him off. Eventually the stag was close enough to Lor for her to touch him. She looked into his eyes.

"Sport?" She said, not ready to believe it.

The stag nuzzled her! She suddenly hugged him.

"Sport it is you!" Lor said happily. "I'm sorry for being away so long, I just got caught up in so many things that I actually forgot about this place."

She eventually let go, and the stag turned to Tino. He didn't nuzzle him, but he did bow a little so that Tino could pet his muzzle.

"Wow, I guess elephants aren't the only animals that never forget." Tino remarked.

"Or that dogs are the only animals who know loyalty." Lor added. "Say, remember that very timid fawn that I convinced Sport to become friends with? I wonder what happened to him?"

Sport then turned around. Tino and Lor followed his gaze and saw a timid doe and two fawns standing at the edge of the woods. Sport made a sound, and the fawns raced to catch up to him. The doe still stayed at the edge of the woods, but gave in and followed the fawns when Sport made another sound. She seemed familiar too.

"Uh, I think you mean 'her'." Tino corrected awkwardly.

"Wha-" Lor was stunned. "You mean that fawn was a female and I ended up getting her and Sport together as-"

"Apparently so."

The two fawns greeted Tino and Lor happily, but the doe was still wary. Sport gently nudged her closer, allowing Lor to pet her. The doe relaxed, but still stayed near Sport.

"I think you have three more deer to name." Tino said.

"Yeah...I think I'll name the doe Violet and the two fawns Nick and Chip. They look just like their father did when he was a fawn."

"Good names." Tino smiled approvingly.

He and Lor slowly got up, now knowing that Sport wasn't scared of them. Violet backed away a little, but Sport and Nick and Chip stayed. After Lor and Tino were standing Nick and Chip rubbed themselves against Lor and Tino. Sport just stayed still.

Suddenly, he got closer to Tino and gently butted him closer to Lor! The sudden movement cause Tino to almost knock Lor over, but he managed to recover and catch her with an arm before she fell. This resulted in the two of them staring at each other for a few moments, blushing. They then realized that they were still in that awkward position and quickly straightened up.

"Uh, sorry Lor..." Tino was still blushing.

"No it's okay, it was Sport's fault." Lor cut in. "Sport why did you do that?"

Sport only tried gently nudging Tino closer to Lor.

"Uh, why is he...?" Tino asked, confused.

"Beats me..."

Tino had to move closer to Lor since Sport's antlers were kinda hurting his legs. When Tino and Lor were close enough for their legs to be touching, Sport stopped nudging Tino.

"It's like he wants us to stay close together." Tino realized.

"Yeah...oh no." Lor blushed again.

"What?"

"I think Sport is trying to repay me for setting him up with his wife."

"Wha-oh." Tino got it, and blushed again.

"Oh Sport, it's sweet that you're that grateful to me, but romance isn't that simple with humans." Lor said gently. "Humans, for one thing, don't always end up with their best friend."

Sport looked disappointed, and maybe a little annoyed.

"Don't worry Sport, someday I will find someone and then I can introduce him to you and your family." Lor smiled. "You can have more friends that way."

A growling noise was heard.

"Shoot...forgot to pack a lunch." Tino said, embarrassed.

"Me too...let's get some pizza."

"Good idea."

"Bye Sport, we'll see you later." Lor waved as she and Tino left. "Bye Violet, bye Nick, bye Chip!"

Sport watched them leave, still looking disappointed and annoyed.

"You wanted them to end up together dear?" Violet asked him in deer language.

"Of course! If they could only see it..." Sport sighed.

"They're meant to be?" Violet guessed.

"Yes, those two were always close, even back when they were little." Sport explained. "Oh well, humans can be hard to reason with. I remember back when Lor was little she climbed a tree despite my trying to stop her. She fell, poor thing, but fortunately didn't fall far enough to be badly hurt."

"It's amazing how you can understand them." Nick said.

"It's thanks to Lor, she used to talk to me so often that I learned how to understand humans through her." Sport smiled. "Well, maybe I can convince them next time they visit."

"I hope so, it's thanks to Lor that we're together." Violet nuzzled Sport. "Say, I have an idea!"