Gone, But Not Alone (A KionxRani AU)

Danger Zone

"Danger."

"Danger?" Baliyo repeated, and Ekon nodded.

"Yes sir, I'm not quite sure what animal, but I believe it was a she. It may have been a skunk."

"Rani," Baliyo looked at Rani, "do you think that's-?"

"I think so," Rani stated.

Kion swapped his focus, back and forth, between the two. "Who do you think it is? I mean, not that I would know them, but-"

"Mama...Mama Binturong."

Rani looked at her love. "She seems to be the only source of danger here. She's really not hard to defend against, just super annoying."

"Thanks, Ekon," Baliyo said, "we'll make sure to keep extra alert."

"It's not a problem, consider it my return for Kion and Rani's here help."

At that moment, Nirmala and a mandrill walked inside, the mandrill carrying the remedy for Kion's paw.

"Alright, Kion!" Nirmala exclaimed as she entered the tree. "You are going to...Who are you?"

The question, proposed to Ekon, was answered by Surak. "His name's Ekon. He warned us of potential danger."

"You're more than welcomed to stay here, Ekon, if you'd like. Any unoccupied tree will do just fine," the King, Baliyo, offered.

Ekon looked grateful toward Baliyo and nodded his head. "Thank you very much, but I think Kion and Rani know my answer: I'm a lone wolf."

He soon after left the tree and left the lions to talk among themselves.

"He doesn't want any help?" Surak asked, wondering why Ekon would let help go untaken.

Rani looked toward her uncle. "He said it's just the way he knows. It is dangerous, though."

Rani, whether tired or just wanted to, leaned into Kion and cuddled herself into his fur. She glanced at her boyfriend with a look in her eyes and smile that read there was nowhere else she would rather be. Nope, definitely on purpose.

Looking back on his life, Kion concluded, by those two events, that was the time he realized what he wanted the future to hold for Rani and himself. But, it would still be a while before he proposed the idea to her.

"Okay, Nirmala, what do I gotta do to get my paw healed?" asked Kion.

"Well for starters, Rani's gotta get off."

Rani made a pouty face before sighing and pushing off of Kion. "Fine."

"Alright, next, get in a comfortable position."

Kion looked at Nirmala weirdly before finding a comfortable sitting position. "I'm comfortable."

"Now, put your hurt paw into this healing agent and relax."

Kion put his paw into the agent but immediately retracted it. "Holy cow! Why is it so hot?!"

"Oh yeah, I probably should've told you," Nirmala chuckled, "it only works with water from a hot spring."

Kion rolled his eyes, and Baliyo took this opportunity to voice his opinion. "Don't complain, Kion. You gotta look tough for your girl."

The smirk made Kion stare in Baliyo's soul, and not in a romantic way. Stare in a "I'm gonna get you back" way. Grudgingly, he stuck his paw into the agent. After the initial moment, it did start to feel nice on his paw.

"Okay, Rani, you can cuddle with Kion again," Nirmala laughed, not being able to get enough of the lovebirds.

Kion smiled; secretly, he was enjoying it, but he couldn't let his friends know. "Alright, alright, that's enough."

Rani had a special ability. No, she couldn't create tornadoes like Kion, nor could she summon great lions of the past. She could do something far greater.

One simple action, was all it took. The simple act of Rani's head going on Kion's shoulder was enough to drive his heart wild.

She didn't even have to be there; only her name had to be mentioned. In fact, her name didn't even have to be mentioned. His heart fluttered all the time, for Rani was constantly on his mind.

Despite his love of it (and her), he had to make the laughing stop, so Kion knew he must take matters into his own hands.

"What about you guys, huh? You dating anyone?"

The question didn't affect Baliyo, but for some reason unknown to Kion, Nirmala and Surak stopped.

He would voice his opinion on his suspicions if he hadn't almost fallen over. When he was able to save himself, he had to figure why. Certainly it wasn't his doing; how could he lose balance if he wasn't walking? He contemplated it being the wind for a moment before he felt lots of weight on his left side.

When he looked to his left, he noticed Rani had fallen asleep (or was at least no longer awake). His cheeks immediately turned crimson as he gulped.

He was caught in a trap. He didn't want to move; great golly, he did not want to move. The problem was that he had never been in this position before. The result: Kion sitting up very stiffly. He was too afraid of waking up Rani.

Eventually, Nirmala would ask Kion to remove his paw (from the agent), which was very difficult. Rani almost fell off of him, but Surak came to her rescue. She didn't even make a sound or flinch.

Surak gently laid Rani on the floor before bidding goodnight to his family and friends. Nirmala would soon do the same, leaving Kion, Baliyo, and a sleeping Rani.

"So..." were the words which escaped from Kion's lips. He hadn't a clue what he should do. He was granted sleeping permission in the Tree the night before, but did that also carry over for today?

He didn't want to push his luck with the King, much less his girlfriend's brother. If Baliyo didn't let him stay in the Tree, he could feign an injury; Nirmala said his paw should be healed by tomorrow, but it was actually starting to feel better (don't tell Baliyo that).

He looked over at his girlfriend's sister, who was chuckling. "Yes, Kion, you can sleep here. You really think you can't?"

Kion breathed a sigh of relief, which didn't last too long, for Baliyo said, "Just don't let me catch you too close."

With that, he laid down; Kion would soon follow. It had been a stressful day for some. It had been an adventurous day for others. One thing was going to be certain, however: it is going be a very dangerous morning. Early morning. Real early morning.

"They're back!!!"