Title: Learning To Hunt

Chapter: Section 6

Fandom: The Tribe

Author: PinkTribeChick

Summary: Sometimes, love is just right under your nose . . .

Extended Summary: An alternate-universe Series 4 romance story, from the point of view of Pride, Jack, and an original female character.

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Jack-Original Female Fiction Character, Pride-Original Female Fiction Character, Jack-Ellie, and Bray-Amber, with a few mentions of other pairings.

Author's Notes: Massive thanks to Ariannya and Whit for their thoughts and proofreading on various sections over the years! Enjoy, and please review! Feedback is much appreciated!

Disclaimer: All characters, situations, and song lyrics remain the property of their respective owners. Any original characters are sole property of me, PinkTribeChick.

Learning To Hunt

Section 6

"Here, Samuel," Liliana said, feeding Samuel his bottle. Jack stood a bit farther down on the lake shore, filling up the water jugs one by one and placing them back in the wheelbarrow. Liliana watched him as he worked, beads of sweat forming on his brow from lifting the heavy jugs full of water into the barrow. In the bright light of the midday sun, he was even better looking than she'd originally thought. His brightly colored orange hair stuck up all over the place with brown roots peeking through. He was several inches taller than she was, and he was well-built with muscular arms. Who in their right mind would ever leave someone like him? Liliana thought. He's incredible. Bright, funny, very cute. Whoever this Ellie is, she's an idiot.

Liliana's mind drifted as she continued to watch Jack. She felt bad about not having been able to spend time with Pride. He was her best friend, possibly her most loyal friend, and she had blown him off to come to the lake with Jack. But it had been worth it. She was there with Jack. There was nothing wrong with doing what she wanted, and she knew that.

She bit her lower lip gently as she thought. Pride's reaction had been so weird. Liliana had been interested in guys before, and it had never bothered him. Why should it? Pride had Amber. Pride could be a little overprotective at times, but not about that kind of thing, not about Liliana's love-life. Something about Jack must really have bothered Pride, so maybe some of what he had said had validity to it. But Jack didn't seem like he could be mean enough to ever intentionally, or unintentionally, hurt her. Pride was just being paranoid, she decided.

Samuel finished his bottle and fell asleep in Liliana's arms. She laid him down on the blanket they were sitting on, covering him with his jacket. Standing up, she dusted off the back of her dress and walked over to Jack.

"Do you need any help?" she asked. "Samuel's asleep now, so if you need a hand . . ." Jack heaved another full jug into the wheelbarrow, grunting slightly. Then he stood up straight, wiping his brow off, and looked at Liliana.

"Actually, I'm done. That was the last jug," he replied, out of breath. "But thanks."

"Well, would you like something to eat, then?" she offered. He nodded, and she led him over to where the blanket was laid out. Jack grabbed a bottle of water as he sat down, gulping it down thirstily. Liliana handed him a sandwich, then grabbed one for herself as they sat there, a breeze sweeping through the trees that surrounded them.

"So . . . ," Jack began shyly. He picked at the crust of the bread, not daring to look her in the eye.

"Yeah . . . ," she responded, trailing off. She was just as nervous as he was, if not more so.

"I don't normally open up that easily to people I don't know, like I did last night . . . just so you know . . ." His voice dropped in embarrassment, as he scolded himself for making such a stupid remark. He was better at making conversation than that.

"Neither do I," she responded quietly. Jack struggled to think of something to say. He thought back to their conversation from the night before.

"So . . . um . . . do you have any idea of what that missing piece of you might be?" he asked. He took a bite out of his sandwich and chewed it slowly.

"What?" she responded, confused.

"Well, you said last night that you felt like a piece of you was missing. Do you know what that piece might be?" he explained.

"My heart, my dreams . . . I don't know," she said sarcastically, smiling a bit. "I wish I knew. It would make things so much easier. I know what it is, but I can't remember exactly." Jack looked at her in puzzlement, his brown eyes narrowing as he smiled through his confusion. "I mean . . . well . . . have you ever had really good dream, but when you wake up, you can't remember anything about it except that it was a good dream?"

"Yeah. I hate those kinds of dreams. They drive me nuts, because I'll spend the rest of the day trying to remember what happened," he replied in an annoyed voice. Liliana laughed, smiling at him.

"Well, that's kind of how I feel about my missing piece. It's there in my brain somewhere, I know what it is, I just can't remember it. Does that make sense?" she clarified. He nodded.

"I wish I was at that point. I'm just figuring out that something inside me is missing. I feel as though I'm climbing a mountain, just grasping for foot and hand holds along the way, searching for something that I can't see and going along a path with seemingly no end. I'm ready to just feel whole again," he said. He sighed, finishing off his sandwich.

"Which could take days, weeks, months, even years," she responded. "Look at me. It's been over a year, and here I am still stuck at a stalemate."

"Looks like we're stuck at stalemate together," Jack said, grinning at her, his browning eyes lighting up. Liliana felt right then like he could see into her thoughts just by looking in her eyes. It made her feel more vulnerable than usual, and she didn't like that. She blushed and looked away.

"I wish I could talk to Pride about this stuff the way I can talk to you about it. When I try to talk to him, I can never seem to say it in a way that he understands," she said. "He just ends up asking a lot of questions."

"Well, maybe he does understand, and he's just trying to understand better," he suggested.

"Yeah, and pigs fly," she responded with a laugh. "Pride is so sure of his own path, of who he is. There's no way he could even begin to comprehend how I feel. Besides, he's too wrapped up in Amber to ever notice." Her voice wavered as she was on the brink of tears, and Jack knew that Pride and Amber agitated her. He hated seeing her upset, so he quickly tried to cheer her up.

"Ooo . . . someone sounds jealous," Jack teased, raising his eyebrows up and down and grinning cheekily.

"I'm not jealous!" she snapped, looking at him venomously. Jack's eyes widened in shock. Liliana blushed again and looked down at her lap. "I mean . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fly off the handle like that."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have said that, though," Jack said. "But I was only joking, you know."

"It's just that . . . I'm not jealous of Amber and Pride's relationship. I just get tired of being ignored sometimes by him for a girl that pays very little attention to him or his feelings," she explained. "And then when he has the nerve to get irritated when I do make plans, and he wants to spend time with me . . . It's frustrating. He can act like such a little kid sometimes."

"Sounds a bit like what I did to my best friend Dal when Ellie and I got together," he observed, staring off at the shimmering water of the lake.

"Dal?" Liliana raised an eyebrow questioningly. Jack's brow furrowed and an angry expression washed over his face. He picked up a rock nearby and threw it at the lake. It skipped a few times before sinking.

"He was my best friend. Amber's too. He died shortly after the Chosen took over the city," he answered. "I was such a jerk to him. I ignored him at times and even accused him of liking Ellie and trying to steal her away from me. And I never really apologized for it. I wish I had. Too late now." Liliana smiled at him sympathetically.

"Hey," Liliana said, reaching out and touching his hand. Jack jumped at her touch, a zing running up and down the length of his arm. "I'm sure, wherever he is, Dal knows that you're sorry, and he's forgiven you. Don't fret about it." She noticed how startled Jack looked by her hand on top of his. She took her hand away. "Um . . . sorry."

"No, it's okay," he said in a high-pitched voice. "You don't have to move your hand." He grabbed her hand again and held it. Liliana gave him an odd look, then looked over at Samuel.

"We're going to have to head back soon. He's so fast asleep, I almost hate to move him. He hasn't been sleeping much lately," she said.

"He can take a nap when we get back, can't he?" Jack inquired.

"Yeah, I guess. But I was planning on taking him to see Pride. To make up for not being able to spend time with him today," she said.

"Alright. We'll let him sleep for a bit more, then, okay?" Jack said, squeezing her hand. He scooted a little closer to her. "Listen, I was thinking . . ."

"Yeah?" she said. He could smell her scent as she leaned toward him. It was a citrus smell, like oranges and spice, and reminded him a bit of the way the kitchen back home smelled, when his mother was cooking. It was overwhelming, the sudden surge of feelings he felt for the girl, even though he hardly knew her. He could feel the blood rising to his cheeks, and he struggled to regain his composure.

"Well, I was thinking . . . you and I are sort of in the same boat . . . so maybe we could lean on each other for support. You know?" Jack proposed. Liliana cocked her head to the side while she thought about it for a moment, her hair brushing Jack's cheek.

"Alright. Sounds like a good idea to me. I need someone who understands what I'm going through, and so do you," she said cheerily. Jack was trying to fight off the urge to kiss her, but it was useless.

"Liliana?" he said. She turned her head to look at him, and their noses touched.

"Yeah?" she responded softly, not budging. Jack cupped his hands around her chin and moved to kiss her.

"Wah!" Samuel suddenly woke up screaming. Jack and Liliana quickly pulled apart. Liliana scooted over to Samuel and picked him up, quieting his cries. Jack sighed inwardly in frustration. Maybe some other time, if ever.

"I guess we might as well head back now," Jack said, a defeated expression on his face.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea," Liliana replied. "Can you pack the blanket and everything up while I get him quieted down?"

"No problem," Jack said, standing up. Liliana stood up and walked around with Samuel in her arms while Jack re-packed everything. He helped her get Samuel into the baby harness, then grabbed the wheelbarrow, and they left.

Please review? Pretty please? I'm dying here . . . reviews are love. So gimme your thoughts, for the love of all that is holy! And thanks for reading!