Sorry it took so long to update, I've had other projects and actually lost interest in this for a while but I thought that you deserved an update so I sat down and decided to update today so I wrote this. It's not much but it's something, I'm a little worried that this is out of character a little, but usually when I worry it's for nothing, thankfully. Enjoy.
Chapter 8 – The Talk
When the Great Prince of the forest looked into his den he found his son curled up between the fallen leaves that were arranged to make sleeping in there more comfortable.
The stag took a deep breath before entering. He had to try to explain the situation to Bambi. He had to make him see that he only had his best interests at heart. And he was sure that in reality it would be much harder for him rather than for the fawn. A part of him wanted to shout at his son for behaving so disrespectfully towards him earlier but that would not solve anything.
He lay down next to his sleeping son. He nudged him gently with his snout a couple of times before he got any reaction.
Bambi woke up.
When the little fawn saw him he immediately turned his head away, determined to ignore him.
The Great Prince sighed. "Bambi please listen to me," he said gently. "Please hear me out".
There was no response. But the stag started explaining himself anyway, surely Bambi couldn't close his ears and not even he could go back to sleep that quickly.
"Bambi you need a mother," he started saying. "You need a doe to raise you. I am a Prince, I have my other responsibilities and I can not be there for you during the day, but a doe mother you will always have by your side".
"But I go with you on patrol now," said Bambi, "and you don't have to look out for me I'll probably have my antlers soon and I already know how to listen with my hooves and all that. I don't need another mother".
The Great Prince sighed once again. This was already proving to be more difficult than he had thought.
"Bambi do you miss her?" he suddenly asked. He didn't know where that question had come from but he sure had wondered many times.
"Mother?" Bambi asked. "I used to miss her all the time".
"Used to?" the stag asked in surprise.
"Well then I sort of realized that she was not coming back no matter how much I missed her so I started doing what you told me to. You said that a Prince leaves the past in the past so I did and I stopped thinking about her all the time".
The Great Prince looked at his son in awe. Had he been able to move on? It seemed like it.
It was frustrating. He still thought of her everyday, every hour. How come his son could so easily move on when he could not?
"Don't you miss her now?" he asked Bambi. A little afraid of the answer.
"Of course I do," Bambi said. "But I don't think about her that much, it's easier that way".
The Great Prince couldn't believe it. In some areas his son was even wiser than him. He had moved on and not let himself be haunted by the memory of his dead mother.
Why could he not do the same?
The stag cleared hi throat. He had to get back to the subject that they needed to discuss.
"Mena grew up with your mother," he told Bambi. "She knew her well and will take good care of you. I remember in my youth that they were so much alike that I suspected they were twins, being with Mena will be like having your mother back".
"I don't want anyone to replace mother," Bambi cried, "why can't I just stay with you?"
The stag sighed. "It is best for you that way".
"No it's not," Bambi said. "How would you know? You never asked what I wanted!"
The Great Prince realized that he would have to think quickly and carefully if he wanted to avoid another argument.
"Bambi I have an entire forest to protect I cannot look out for you at the same time".
"Is there no way for me to stay with you?" Bambi asked, his voice slowly getting thick. Seeing his son this sad hurt him more than he thought possible. He wanted so much to say yes but that would be lying, being raised by a doe was best for Bambi.
"No," he said and looked down at the hooves on his front legs.
Bambi looked down as well, heartbroken.
"I've already arranged for Mena to meet us later so that she can escort you to your new home," he told his son. "You'll see everything will be back to the way it was once".
Bambi didn't look convinced at all.
"Dad?"
The Great Prince looked directly at Bambi to show that he was listening.
"Will I be going far away?"
The Great Prince thought about it for a moment. It would take some time to go there, Mena lived in the other part of the forest.
"Not that far," he decided to answer. "I will still be able to visit you".
"What about my friends?" he asked.
The Prince lowered his head. It would indeed be difficult for little rabbits to travel to Mena's part of the forest but he couldn't really well tell Bambi that so he just looked up. "I don't know," he said.
"Can I go see them now?" his son asked, looking at him pleadingly with his mother's big amber eyes.
He nodded. "Go on, but make sure that you don't go play too far away from the den".
Bambi got up on his legs and ran out of the den to go find his friends.
His father sadly watched him disappear from view.
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