Jeanette's POV

The next day, while the Great Prince was out doing duties in the forest, I was spending a little time with Bambi and Thumper. While a butterfly emerged from its cocoon, Thumper and I decided to help Bambi practice with big jumps again. "Come on!" Thumper encouraged Bambi, "You jumped further than this yesterday!"

"You can do it, Bambi!" I added with a smile.

"I… don't know," Bambi said nervously.

"You're not afraid, are ya?" Thumper asked.

"Thumper, be nice!" I reprimanded him.

"Guess you're afraid!" Thumper teased the fawn, "You cannot jump! Nya-nya-nya-nya-nya!"

"Thumper, knock it off!" I glared at the rabbit, "Having Ronno bully us is enough!"

"Oh, come on, Jeanette!" Thumper whined, "I'm just having fun!"

Bambi, meanwhile, walked back on his rock, ran, and then jumped well over me and Thumper!

Thumper and I looked over and saw Bambi land a few feet away from us. "That was awesome!" I praised Bambi as I smiled and clapped my paws.

"Whoa!" Bambi said.

"You did it!" Thumper exclaimed with a grin.

"I'll do it again!" Bambi said as he ran for the rock again, "And this time, I'll put it out further!"

As we kept on playing, I looked over towards the trees and got a glimpse of the Great Prince. My mind became full of mixed feelings; I was happy that he had helped me out in tough times when I was still getting used to being a fox, but I also remembered that he was very stern when he needed to be. But then, I saw Friend Owl fly towards him, so I just shrugged my feelings away and kept playing with Thumper and Bambi.

Great Prince's POV

As I watched my son play with his friends, Friend Owl flew over to a tree branch and hooted, "Good morning, sir!"

I cleared my throat and replied, "Morning, Owl."

Friend Owl smiled at me and said, "Just thought I'd let you know that the search is off to a flying start! Oh, guess well, no pun intended! It's just that with flying…"

I looked at him in a funny way, but then the owl cleared his throat and said, "Yes, well, I've met with several does already who would make excellent mothers…"

As Friend Owl spoke, I couldn't help but keep glancing over at my son and his friends. Was I really ready to give Bambi up yet?

"Unless you've changed your mind?" Friend Owl finished.

"No, I have not," I said to him sternly before walking away. The owl just nervously chuckled.

I then approached the area where Bambi had climbed a big rock and called the Thumper and Jeanette, "Watch this! Watch this!" He then jumped off the rock, and landed on top of the rabbit and the fox! "Did I make it?" Bambi asked, "Did I make it?"

Jeanette muffled under his belly, "Yep."

"Yep, you sure did!" Thumper added.

I looked down at them and asked with surprise, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Oh, uh, hi," Jeanette nervously waved to me.

"I'm practicing my jumps!" Bambi said with pride as he stood up.

"Yeah, see?" Thumper added.

Uninterested, I simply responded, "I see." Then, I walked on; I had a tough dilemma to make: should I keep rearing Bambi up as my own, or should I send him to another doe? And what was to become of Jeanette the fox? I thought continuously about those questions as I walked away from Bambi and his friends.

Bambi's POV

I watched my father walk away with a funny look. He didn't sound interested when Thumper and I told him what I was doing. "I don't get it," I said to Thumper and Jeanette, "Yesterday he really liked it."

"Hmmm," said Jeanette, "Maybe he has other things to worry about? After all, he IS the Great Prince of the Forest. But he's following my advice?" She thought for a few moments before shaking her head. "Oh, who am I fooling?" Jeanette asked as she put her paw over her muzzle, "What kind of advice from a gir- I mean, fox is worthy to a prince, anyway?"

"What's a gir?" I asked the fox.

"What's he doing, anyway?" Thumper asked as he looked at my father.

We looked over at my father standing on a hill, looking around. "I dunno," I said, "But he sure does an awful lot of it!"

"Why don't you ask him?" Thumper asked.

"Uh, he looks busy!" I said nervously, not really wanting to interrupt whatever my father was doing.

"But it could be a good opportunity to try," Jeanette suggested with a smile.

"I better not," I said.

"Dads like it when you ask them questions!" Thumper insisted, "Lots and lots of questions!"

"That is true," Jeanette added.

"Really?" I asked.

"Go on!" Thumper said to me, "Jeanette and I are right behind ya!"

I looked at Jeanette, who gave me a smile. I hopped up the hill, while the fox stayed followed me.

When we reached my father, Jeanette and I looked to see if Thumper was behind us. He was behind us, alright – way behind us, giving a wave. Jeanette frowned and muttered to herself, "Thumper!"

I looked over to my father and stammered with a nervous chuckle, "Um, uh… uh, what are you doing?"

"Observing," my father answered before looking away.

"Oh… observing," I said as I also started to "observe". "What's observing?" I asked.

"Oh, well, it's… it's… it's difficult to explain," my father sighed.

"It's a fancy word for looking around to see if anything happens," Jeanette whispered to me.

"Oh," I said with disappointment.

My father looked at me and said, "You have to look, listen, and smell all at the same time."

"Oh, I-I can do that!" I said as I prepared my senses, "Look, listen, smell!" I tried using my eyes, ears, and nose all at the same time, but Jeanette and my father gave me funny looks.

"I think you have to be an octopus to do that!" Jeanette said, "An octopus is an eight-armed water animal that does crazy things with its senses."

"Hmmm," my father said before looking up with dignity, "Try to feel the forest around you."

I tried following his example, while Jeanette watched to the side of the rock my father and I were standing on.

I did my best as keeping my father's position, but I said with a muffled muzzle, "I don't feel anything!"

Jeanette softly giggled while my father said to me with his eyes closed, "Does are playing in the meadow."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I feel it in my hooves," my father said, "If there was danger, they'd know to stop, and I'd run to them."

"I wonder if this has to do with telepathy?" Jeanette wondered out loud.

"But wouldn't you be scared?" I asked my father.

"Perhaps," he said, "But I would still run to them."

"See, Bambi?" Jeanette softly told me, "Your father is brave when he NEEDS to be. Being brave means, you are ready to face danger at just the right time."

My father looked down at the fox and smiled at her before he said to me, "She's right, Bambi. A prince may be afraid, but he can't let fear stop him from acting."

"Wow!" I gasped, "You and Jeanette know EVERYTHING!"

"Oh, well, not everything, per se," Jeanette shrugged with a grin.

My father chuckled said, "Same with me. Not everything." He turned serious again and said as he walked away, "Well, the forest is waiting."

I lowered my head and walked away, while Jeanette stayed where she was and sighed.

"Well, are you coming?" my father asked as he turned to look at me.

I turned to him and smiled, "Oh, uh, sure!"

"That's the spirit!" Jeanette grinned as she and I ran to my father.

As Jeanette and I ran to catch up with my fahter, Thumper hopped to the rock where we all stood, and looked down at us with a smile. But soon, we all heard some young female voices call out, "BIG BROTHER!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Thumper groaned with annoyance before hopping away to be with his sisters.

Jeanette giggled and said, "Come on, Thumper! Have fun with those girls!"