Welcome back everyone, but especially me! I've had a crazy six months; moved into a new home, got a new job (twice), caught COVID again, and then had a death in the family, which was mostly shocking for me. How have you guys been? Enjoy the chapter!

The loss of the Sword of Plun-Darr and the freed cats occupied everyone's thoughts. Everyone's thoughts except Lion-O's, that was. He thought about it, of course. He recognised that the stakes were higher than ever, they had more to lose and every battle against Mumm-Ra was going to be that much more dangerous.

It was just… there was something, someone, else that dominated his thoughts.

Leopara.

They hadn't had the chance to talk about their kiss yet, nor what it meant for them. Other things had to come before that- freeing the cat slaves and keeping them safe. But now…

Now, Lion-O waited with baited breath for her to awaken. Out of all of them, Leopara had crashed the hardest. She had barely managed to bathe and then stagger to the bunk room before sleep claimed her; as soon as she had crumpled on her bed, that was that. She slept through the rest of the night and morning. It was approaching midday now and he still hadn't seen her.

He leaned back against the tree with a frown. Should he go check on her?

The twang of Pumyra's sling caught his attention for a moment. He watched her inspect the wrist-mounted bow and then begin to tinker with it some more. Beyond her, across from the hasty campfire they had prepared, Tygra and Cheetara were huddled close, speaking together in low tones. From their expressions, Lion-O guessed it wasn't a good conversation.

Probably discussing what we'll do, now that Mumm-Ra has the Sword of Plun-Darr and we have the cat slaves to worry about. Lion-O thought morosely. He knew he should join them, ask them for their thoughts, but… maybe later. Try as he might, his worry about what would happen now that Mumm-Ra had the sword looped back around to concern over Leopara; he had been so relieved to see her emerge from the mines again, but his chest tightened with anxiety when he remembered the blood that caked her fur and the evidence of injuries her torn and tattered dress had betrayed.

They'd had some close calls before. He'd even died.

But… the idea of Leopara getting into that alone- well, not entirely alone, but without him- didn't sit well with him.

How couldn't he worry about it? About her?

Everything else had to wait.

No sooner than Lion-O pushed off from the tree, mustering his conviction to go and check on her, did the doors of the Thundertank swish open. At the top of the ramp, wincing and shielding her eyes from the brilliant sunlight that dappled the forest floor through the thin canopy above, was Leopara.

She looked… Well, she looked beautiful as always, what with her long brown hair tied up and elegantly braided and the flowing shape of her dress accentuating her movement. She also looked disoriented and exhausted.

Affection and relief swelled in his chest.

As she walked down the ramp, Leopara looked around. Their eyes met; his chest fluttered with joy. He took a step forward, "Leo-" abruptly, she swiveled on her heel and began walking away, into the woods. The trees seemed to swallow her up. "-para?" Snowmeow paused at the base of the ramp, watching her go before looking at Lion-O with the same look of confusion that he felt. Weird. …well, there's nothing for it. "Wait, Leopara!" Lion-O called out, running after her.

He caught up with Leopara quickly enough. "Leopara!" he called again.

This time, she jerked to a stop and looked behind her. With a blink, the glassy look in her eyes faded into recognition. "Lion-O?" Her gaze drifted to Snowmeow. "Snowmeow."

"Are you alright?"

Leopara looked away for a moment, looking at the trees around her and then up at the clear blue sky above. Then, she looked at him again. "Sorry, I was just… lost in thought."

A brief frown settled on Lion-O's expression. It seemed like more than that… He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should ask, before smiling wistfully. Who hadn't been lost in thought today?

Instead, he crossed the small distance between them and gestured ahead. "I was going to ask you on a walk anyways~"

Leopara smiled. "I'd love to, Lion-O."

Snowmeow chuffed behind them.

"And you too, Snowmeow." they said in unison. They met each other's gaze with a grin, and then a chuckle. The large felyne bounded after them as they turned and began to stroll through the trees.

The forest was not as dense or tightly knit as the briar woods, and the roots didn't dominate the forest floor nearly as much as the ancient trees of the Magi Oar. It made walking together quite easy.

"So… how did you sleep?" Lion-O asked.

Leopara hummed in thought. "I had strange dreams and… I still feel exhausted but not… physically."

"You used a lot of magic last night." Lion-O said. Something Cheetara said about the mountain collapsing atop of them still bothered him. About Leopara's barrier and the Sword of Plun-Darr. He pushed the thought to the side. "Magic is a mental discipline, isn't it?"

Leopara rubbed her arm. He could hear her claws catch and snag, briefly, on the fraying fabric of her gloves. "Yeah, I guess so. I really used everything I had and more that I didn't…"

Lion-O reached out to place his hand over hers. She was still scratching at her forearm, but at his touch her hand stilled and her gaze leapt from the forest floor to meet his.

"I'm just glad you made it out safe."

Leopara stared at him for several moments before offering him a soft smile. He could only imagine what she was thinking of. "Me too. I mean… I'm glad you made it out safe too." Lion-O tried not to frown at the distraction heavy in her voice. What was she thinking about? He wished she would tell him, instead of bottling it up.

… he'd learned the hard way that it didn't turn out well.

Lion-O was so caught up in his pondering he didn't notice she'd started walking again until the heavy, muscular shoulder of Snowmeow bumped into him. He dropped his hand to rest on his coarse blue fur. "What do you think, Snowmeow?" he asked quietly.

"Rrow."

Lion-O hummed. "I think you might be right. A flower would be perfect right about now…"

Thankfully, Leopara seemed too preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't seem to hear Lion-O musing aloud despite her usually sharp hearing. Lion-O swept his gaze over the forest floor. The path was mostly dirt, with scraggly grass lining it; a lot of beasts must have grazed while passing through. His eyes drifted upwards and finally landed on a bulbous, hot pink bloom. Was it the prettiest flower he had ever seen?

No.

But in that moment? Yes.

"Do you think we need firewood…?" Lion-O tore his eyes from his prize to glance at Leopara. She was crouched down with her back to him, apparently inspecting a stick. Perfect. he thought. She won't notice when I pick the flower, and then I just have to wait for the perfect mom- "Lion-O?" Leopara stood, pivoting to look back at him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he scrambled for something to say- you're beautiful, "-I think I heard Tygra say something about that."

She hummed, looking at the twig in her hands. "Well, I guess we should gather some while we walk. Maybe Snowmeow," she reached out to pet his cheek, "-wouldn't mind if we loaded some wood on his saddle~?"

"Mrrow."

Leopara chuckled and turned back to the patch of twigs she'd found. Once she was crouched down, with Snowmeow crowding close to her, Lion-O snapped his attention back to the pink flower. It was growing from a fallen log that had since been hollowed out and grown moss on its bark, and nestled at the base of another tree. He couldn't help but sneak a glance at Leopara as he approached the flower. She had moved on, further into the woods in her search for suitable firewood. Snowmeow trailed after her with a bundle of twigs protruding from his mouth.

He almost stopped in his tracks to ponder that, but shook his head and lunged the last few steps to his prize. With a quick swipe, he snatched it by the long, green stem and plucked it from the log. He hurried just as quickly to hide it behind his back.

"I think that's all around here… did you find more over there?" Leopara asked, turning around no sooner than Lion-O had the flower tucked behind him. His heart pounded and a nervous grin stretched across his lips.

He rubbed the back of his head and let loose a chuckle. "Haha, no, nothing good over here."

For a moment, he forgot Leopara could sense emotions. He remembered the instant her eyebrow raised. "Huh… okay. Well, this should be good enough for now-"

As she drew near, Lion-O thrust out his hand, shoving the flower towards her as nervous sweat beaded on the back of his neck. "HerethisisforyouIhopeyoulikeit."

"Oh." Leopara said. She began shuffling her armload of branches and twigs to free a hand to grab it, looking more surprised than anything. "Thank y-"

No sooner than she grasped the stem, the bulbous bloom convulsed and spouted a stream of purple… well, he hesitated to call it 'water,' but it was spat at Leopara in a stream not unlike the many fountains of Thundera. She shrieked and gasped in shock, dropping the firewood and stumbling backwards as her hands flew up to cover her face. She exclaimed something, but Lion-O was in too much shock to comprehend her words.

One heartbeat. Two.

Leopara was still clutching her face, but reality crashed into Lion-O. "It's in my eyes!"

Without a second thought he dropped the flower and crossed the last couple of steps to Leopara, stepping over the litter of branches and twigs. Snowmeow grunted and Lion-O heard more dull, thud thuds as the branch and twigs in his mouth dropped to the ground.

"Leopara?" Lion-O grabbed her hands. "Look at me, let me take a look." he said, trying to project some amount of gentleness, like he remembered his nannies doing when he would fall as a cub.

With hiccup, she moved her hands away from her face.

"Oh."

Lion-O did not know what else to say. Frankly, he was speechless; it was all he could do not to wheeze at the sight.

"H-how bad is… is it?" Leopara asked.

"Oh, well… you can hardly notice." Lion-O said. "Just a little swelling…"

For a second time in a short span of time, he forgot Leopara could sense emotions and was, basically, a lie detector. By some miracle, she must have been too upset to sense that "Just a little swelling," was a big, fat lie. Her face was massively swollen, like she'd been attacked by a hive of hornets but less lumpy. Her cheeks, in particular, were so pronounced her eyes had been reduced to such small slits that he could barely make out the color of her golden irises. It was comical to look at, but the memory of angering Leopara in the Swordsman's Town stifled any sensible chuckle he might have had if it happened to, say, Tygra.

"I'm… sure it's nothing a little bit of healing can't fix." he added after a moment of thought.

Leopara sniffled and, without warning, careened into his chest. Her head knocked, lightly, into his cuirass before resting against it.

"Um… Leopara?" She was crying…? Maybe? He couldn't tell, but at least she wasn't bottling it in, he suppo-

"I don't have any." Leopara croaked out. "Magic. I don't have any."

"Oh." Oh. "Well… it's really not that bad. I doubt anyone will notice. Your eyes will probably stop stinging… soon."

Oh no.

Oh this wasn't good.

Everyone was absolutely going to notice. Why did these things happen when he tried to be nice?

Lion-O wrapped his arms around her properly and let her rest- maybe cry?- for several moments. Snowmeow's breath puffed against his face as he leaned in to nuzzle and sniff Leopara. Eventually, he wrinkled his nose and walked away. Lion-O didn't blame him; now that the shock was wearing off, he was starting to notice how unpleasant the liquid that the flower had sprayed smelt.

It wasn't bad! Just… slightly unpleasant.

Hopefully she won't be able to smell it… Lion-O repressed a sigh.

Eventually, Leopara pulled away, rubbing the back of her wrist against her tear-stained and swollen face. "We should get back to the others..." she mumbled. She crouched down to begin picking up the firewood scattered on the ground.

"Let me." He put his hand on her shoulder. "It's the least I can do."

She nodded and stood with what few sticks she had in her arms and offered them to him. She walked away a few steps, picking at her gloves. At a glance, there was bark snagged on the frayed and pilling fabric. Lion-O turned his attention tot the scattered firewood and repressed another sigh.

He wasn't going to live this one down, was he?

Real smooth, Lion-O. he thought to himself.

Although it was a futile effort, and he knew that it was, Lion-O silently pleaded to the Great Sky Cat and all the gods that no one would remark upon Leopara's swollen face. Every time he glanced at her, he cringed inside from how puffy and swollen it was. She looked kind of cute, he would admit, but he knew she wasn't going to be happy.

Of course, his dear brother, Tygra, was not the Great Sky Cat nor the gods, and thus could not hear the mantra cycling in Lion-O's mind. Please let no one say anything. Show me mercy. Even if he could hear him, Lion-O somehow doubted his brother would have taken heed of his plea.

As soon as they entered the clearing and drew close, the words, "What happened to your face?" tumbled gracelessly out of his mouth.

Lion-O laughed nervously as Leopara shot him a sharp look through her squinted eyes. "Come on, it's not that bad."

Cheetara frowned and shared a look with Tygra. Then, they fixed equally skeptical expressions on Lion-O. A bead of cold, nervous sweat dripped down the back of his neck. He could feel Leopara's squinted gaze boring into him.

"Lion-O…"

This time, Lion-O looked directly into his brother's eyes and pleaded aloud, "It isn't that bad, right?"

Without hesitation, his brother replied, "It looks pretty bad, Lion-O."

Pumyra groaned from the exchange and stalked across the distance to insert herself between Lion-O and Leopara. She grasped Leopara's arm by the bicep. "Ugh. Come on, it's not going to go away by itself." They had exactly one moment to react with surprise before Pumyra pulled Leopara away, muttering something about "needing to wash it off," and, "it smells like a mephit sprayed you."

Snowmeow bent his head down and released the bundle of sticks with a clatter on the ground. Then, he picked his way over them and followed after Leopara.

"What did you do anyways?" Tygra asked as soon as they left earshot.

Lion-O's hackles rose. "What makes you think I did anything?" The defensiveness in his voice was blatant to even his own ears. Tygra raised his brow, clearly skeptical. Lion-O sighed and reached up to rub the back of his head. "I tried giving her a flower."

"A flower did that?" Cheetara asked.

Tygra chuckled. "Well, you know what they say. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

Lion-O frowned. "Maybe I should have." It really wasn't the prettiest flower he had seen. It was such a weird shape, so round and bulbous with its petals closed. In hindsight, the shape of the flower reminded him of the Ramlak, with that bulbous base tapering like a jug towards the top. If he'd judged it by its weird ugliness, Leopara probably wouldn't have been sprayed by it…

"Poor girl doesn't know what she's getting into with you." Tygra added with another amused chuckle and shake of his head, like he pitied her. Lion-O would be lying if he claimed his hackles didn't rise at the comment.

Cheetara put her hand on Tygra's shoulder. "Not everyone can find a Day Astrid," she reminded Tygra. To Lion-O, she asked, "Have you tried telling her how you feel?"

He rubbed the back of his neck again. His face flushed with warmth as he remembered their kiss days ago. Sure, the bars had been in the way and the circumstances hadn't been ideal, but her lips had been even softer than he'd imagined. "Not exactly," he admitted. "That's what the flower was for."

"And the flower did that to her? Oh, brother." Tygra's lips curled in a bemused grin.

Lion-O frowned at him. Before he could say anything, Cheetara spoke. "Sometimes, the simplest approach is the best."

He couldn't help but feel a little chastised, but he liked to think he had learned from his lessons and had grown to know she was coming from a place with his best interests at heart. "She just seemed… distracted and upset. I thought it would cheer her up." he admitted. The flower wasn't really to confess his feelings. It didn't feel right to try and confess everything he felt about her when she was clearly troubled.

"Losing the Sword of Plun-Darr is weighing heavily on all of us." Cheetara looked in the direction of the Thundertank, where Leopara had been led away to. "Leopara has always been… hard on herself."

There was a loaded sentence if Lion-O had ever heard one. Leopara had held herself responsible for his father's death and his death. Because she wasn't able to get Claudus to listen to him- could Jaga even reign his father in? If he could, it was because Jaga was his senior by a century or two- or heal him, because she wasn't able to catch Lion-O… Whiskers, she had considered herself his keeper in the Swordsman's Town and Dog City. In a move he thought was uncharacteristic of her, she had broken into The Pit to release him- the same thing he had gotten thrown into the cell for trying.

I'm a bad influence, aren't I? he wondered, not for the first time.

"No kidding."

Knowing that didn't mean he knew how to help her. She always seemed to know what to say, he just wished he had a bit of that right now.

"There you are," the deep bass voice of Panthro rumbled. He launched into what he had to say without further preamble. "We're two days out from Dog City."

"The sooner we meet up with WilyKit and Kat, the sooner we get back to searching for the next stone." Tygra said.

Lion-O nodded. He quietly pushed his love woes to the back of his mind and brought forward the quagmire of troubles as king. "We should move out before Mumm-Ra's forces have the chance to find us. Whenever you're ready, General."

Panthro's lips curled slightly with approval. "As you wish, My King."

Together, the four of them walked up the ramp of the Thundertank and prepared to leave. They had no idea what the rest of the day would bring.

Thank you everyone for reading, and a special thank you to Heart of the Demons, The Night Whisperer, Hestia28, Frankannestein, and AndrianaWarrior7 for all of your reviews! I am very grateful and cherish them all! I may not have met my 2022 New Years Resolution, but! We're in the last stretch! Four more episodes! My resolution for 2023 is to start Season 2! I actually have an outline for it :D Anyway, thank you all for being here for this journey and I look forward to continuing it with you all! Until next time! (It will be a surprise for all of us.)