AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest; glad you enjoyed the chapter :)

Chapter 84: The Problems Persist.

""There's another reason, Tussock. You love me, come out with it."

Tussock sighed again. "Yes. Ever since I first saw you, I've been admiring you. You're calm, kind, and caring.""

-Hunter Stag, The Tale of the Black Rabbit

After Bigwig had left, Hazel did not move. The captain of owsla had suggested that he disturb his mate so he could get out of the burrow, but he could not bring himself to do that. She had had a hard time, and deserved to have some rest. He closed his eyes again, appreciating the peacefulness, when suddenly...

-"MOTHER IS HERE!"

Hazel opened his eyes just in time to see Mallow pounce on him. Snowdrop and Gilia followed soon afterwards.

-"It's so great to see you again, we missed you! Where were you over the past few days?"

-"It's nice to see you, children, but please don't talk so loud," Hazel said. "She needs to rest."

-"Father, we're not loud, we're just happy to see you two again!"

-"Yeah! We just want to have fun."

-"Oh her fur is so soft..."

-"And don't forget the ears!"

The three kittens were running and jumping over the couple, and didn't hesitate to slide down their ears or dig through their fur. Primrose slowly opened her eyes; Gilia almost stepped in one of them.

-"Aren't they wonderful?" she said softly.

-"Wonderful," Hazel replied, not entirely convinced; he loved his kittens, but he was worried that they might unintentionally hurt their mother. His fears were confirmed moments later.

-"What's that on your tail, mother?"

-"It looks like a leaf."

-"I know that, but what's it doing there?"

-"I don't know."

-"I guess in that case I can just chew it..."

-"Children NO! Whatever you do, don't touch her tail!"

-"Hazel, why are you so nervous?" Primrose asked.

-"Don't you realize what they're doing?" Hazel was kicking his hind legs in an attempt at breaking free from her grip to escort the kittens away.

-"Weeeee! This is fun, father!" Snowdrop shouted; she was clinging to one of Hazel's hind legs. "Don't stop, keep going!"

At that moment, Fiver arrived at the entrance of the burrow, and stared in shock at the scene that was unfolding inside.

-"Fiver!" Hazel shouted. "Help!"

-"I'll be right back."

-"Fiver, no! Don't leave us like this!"

-"Hazel, I really don't know why you're acting like this," Primrose said. "They're not doing anything wrong."

-"I'm just trying to protect you."

-"From what?"

-"Your tail is still wounded."

-"They wouldn't hurt me."

-"Accidents happen."

-"Junior owsla, attention!" came the voice of Pipkin, from just outside the burrow; Fiver was standing next to him.

-"Aw, Pipkin," Gilia complained, "why do you always interrupt us when we're with mother and father? You're getting as bad as Bigwig!"

-"It's time for training," Pipkin said.

-"Please, can we skip training just this once?"

-"I can't allow it. Discipline is important."

-"Please?" all three kittens begged.

-"Sorry, but no. You have to participate every day, and today is no exception. Think of it this way: the sooner training is finished, the sooner you can come back here."

The three kittens sighed, and followed Pipkin out of the burrow to go outside. Hazel turned his head towards Fiver.

-"You might have saved her life. Thank you."

-"It's Pipkin who did the hard part. Anyway, there's something I've been wanting to ask you. Is this a bad time?"

-"No, it's all right, I'm available whenever you need me."

-"What I want to ask is..."

Fiver fell in an awkward silence.

-"You can tell me anything, Fiver," Hazel said.

-"Thanks Hazel. I'm just trying to think of the best way to say this...how did you and Primrose become mates? I mean, I know it happened on the way to Redstone, but could you tell me more?"

-"There's not much to say, honestly. I...this is going to sound ridiculous, but I just said that I loved her. That's it. We became mates soon afterwards."

-"I see. Can you describe the 'afterwards'"?

Woundwort's patrol was in the middle of the wilderness. The rabbits were spread over a great distance, and he was unable to keep an eye on all of them.

Near the back of the group, Blueberry was practising various fighting moves as he hopped. Vervain was nearby, looking at him. Why was he doing this? He had been training for most of the night, and he still kept going. At this rate, he would be exhausted by the time he would have to fight for real.

Vervain debated whether or not he should mention this. After a while, he decided to mention it; Woundwort would probably find a way to blame him if Blueberry was defeated in battle. As he hopped closer to Blueberry, however, the smaller rabbit jumped on top of him and inserted his hind legs inside Vervain's ears.

-"What are you doing?" the captain shouted, worried he would get his ears torn to bits.

-"You were going to attack me," Blueberry calmly replied, "so I had to attack first."

-"I won't attack you! I just wanted to give you a suggestion about training."

-"Fine..."

Blueberry hopped off Vervain, allowing him to get back up. The captain took several deep breaths, still highly nervous following this unexpected incident.

-"You have a nice style, Vervain," Blueberry said.

-"What do you mean by that?"

-"Well, not the whole 'shoving me down the pit' part, but the rest. You don't take any nonsense from anyone. I like your attitude."

Vervain was taken aback by this. Just what was Blueberry talking about? What was the point of these meaningless comments?

-"I certainly won't take any nonsense from YOU!" he snapped.

Before Blueberry could react, Vervain had kicked him across the face.

-"You lied to me, you said you weren't going to attack!" the kitten shouted, but Vervain had already run off. He quickly got back up and ran towards the rest of the group.

-"...and that's how it happened."

Fiver stared at Hazel.

-"That was...interesting," he said. "It's really not what I expected."

-"Why not?"

-"You know the old tales of El-ahrairah and Nur-rama, where the romance almost feels so unrealistically perfect? That's what it feels like."

-"It may not be so unrealistic after all, since I have experienced it."

-"You're right. Thanks Hazel, it's been very helpful."

With that, Fiver slowly hopped away from the burrow, until he heard Hazel's voice again:

-"Can I ask you just one thing before you go?"

-"Of course, Hazel."

-"Is it Vilthuril?"

Fiver stared at his brother with a look of shock.

-"How did you know? Did Hawkbit tell you?"

-"No, Hawkbit hasn't told me anything. But I've seen the way you act around her, and you asking me these questions confirms my suspicion that you're in love."

-"The way I act around her? I didn't realize I was acting in an unusual way."

-"Not realizing it is perfectly normal. I didn't fully realize it myself either, at first."

-"Oh what have I done, Hazel? What should I do now?"

He lied down next to his brother, on the opposite side of Primrose. Due to his position, Hazel could not see his brother, but he could feel him trembling.

-"What do you truly desire?" Hazel asked.

-"I want to be her mate. We would be lifelong companions, share all our adventures together, and have as many kittens as El-ahrairah."

-"In that case, just ask her. She seems like a nice doe; if you love her and she loves you, I'm sure you two will be very happy."

-"Are you sure?"

-"I am. Never mind what Hawkbit thinks: you should live your life the way you want, and not the way others expect you to."

-"Thank you so much Hazel! I'll go ask her now."

Fiver nuzzled Hazel's ears, and ran out of the burrow. The Chief was happy to see his little brother cheerful again.

Moments later, however, Fiver came back to the burrow with a worried look on his face.

-"How do I ask her?"

-"What do you mean?"

-"I can't just hop over to her and say 'Vilthuril my dear, I love you. Will you be my mate?' It's too sudden. It might scare her."

-"Fiver, that's almost exactly what I did. Just ask her, and I'm sure everything will turn out all right."

-"I guess I'll try that, then. Thanks for the advice Hazel."

-"Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions, about this or anything else."

-"I'll let you know, Hazel. And the same applies to you too."

With that, Fiver hopped out of the burrow, as Hazel reflected on the situation. For much of his childhood, until he and Fiver left Sandleford Warren, Hazel's main purpose in life had been to care for his brother. But Fiver wasn't a small, helpless creature anymore. He was a grown adult, who would soon be taking a mate. Time had gone by so fast...