"Finally," breathed Churry as she took a step forward and flanked around her friend. "It was so obvious that he was into you, Sarabi. He must've finally finally summoned his courage."
Pikra rushed over to her daughter and touched her nose to hers. "I'm so happy for you, little one! You deserve to be happy," she exclaimed.
Sarabi shifted in embarrassment at all of the pride rushing at her at once. She took a step back and collided with Arvarni and Sourown. Her breath seemed to quicken as everyone in the pride seemed to rush to congratulate her and coral her in. She struggled to pull away with her fur standing on end in discomfort.
Mufasa padded over to them with authority. The rest of the lionesses shied away from her while Mufasa leaned forward. "It's alright," he breathed. "Don't look like you're going to disappear."
Sarabi opened her mouth to argue, but Mufasa was quicker. "Come with me," Mufasa urged as he made his way toward the edge of Pride Rock. He was about to leap down when Sarabi rushed in front of him.
"What are you doing," she pressed.
"I'm taking you somewhere to get away from the gossip and prying ears. I guess cubs aren't the biggest news that they care about today," Mufasa answered with a snort of amusement.
Sarabi peered up at the sky and saw the sun's amber glow start to tamper off to a dusty yellow mixed with purple and orange hues. "It's almost dusk. It'll be dark soon."
"Then we have to be quick about it. I promise that it's not far. Just a little secret place that my mother showed me. I think that you'll like it," he whispered as he started down the rockface without waiting for Sarabi to follow.
Sarabi turned to look at the rest of the pride before she took off after her mate. Mufasa was still sluggish thanks to his residual head injury, but Sarabi wasn't moving with that much confidence either. She dragged her paws after Mufasa as the headed to the base of Pride Rock. Mufasa waited for her before he intertwined his tail with hers, something that he had seen his mother and father do all the time.
"I know that you're going to like this a lot more than being bombarded by questions," Mufasa pointed out as he leaned over to lick her between the ears.
Sarabi continued to blush in embarrassment. "I'm sorry about that. I just don't like all that attention and-"
"And nothing. You don't have to explain it to me. I understand. You're my mate and my best friend. It's okay that it makes you uncomfortable and I'm not going to put you in a situation that you are uncomfortable with," Mufasa panted as he struggled forward.
Sarabi continued next to her mate and tried to recall exactly where they were going. She kept her muzzle shut as she struggled to keep up as dusk settled all around them.
Eventually, Mufasa brought them to a small patch of undergrowth. He halted and flicked a paw toward it. "After you," he offered.
"Uh."
"Alright, I'll go first," offered Mufasa as he plunged forward without another thought.
Sarabi groaned as she followed. She hadn't made it far when a vine caught around her throat. She let out a hard gag with her eyes starting to water. "Mufasa!"
The lion turned sharply upon hearing his name. His eyes glittered in amusement before he jogged over to the still struggling Sarabi. "Relax, Sarabi. I'll help. Just stop struggling so much," replied Mufasa as he sunk his teeth into the vine and easily broke in. Sarabi stumbled forward and shook out her fur. "See, you're alright?"
"I really don't think that I'm going to like anything down here if it's so difficult to get to," complained Sarabi as she made a face in disgust at the thought of continuing forward.
Mufasa flicked his paw lightly against her shoulder. "Just follow me and stay close. I'll make sure that no more vines jump out at you."
"Very funny," hissed Sarabi hotly.
Mufasa twitched his whiskers as he headed forward. His paws rested firmly against the ground as he crept forward hopefully. Sarabi was right behind him until they came to a slightly more spread out area. There they could walk right beside each other with their fur brushing comfortingly against each other. Sarabi narrowed her eyes to adjust to the budding darkness around them.
"What is that," asked Sarabi as she lifted her paw to a strange moon looking thing on the ground. "Is that the moon?"
"Sort of. It's a reflection of the moon on the pool of water. It'll look much better when it's completely dark out. Right now dusk is still reflected," replied Mufasa as he padded to the edge of the pool. He arched his neck and started to lap at the cool water.
Sarabi lowered down beside him and did the same. The two of them continued to lap at it before Sarabi suddenly felt herself flying through the air. She let out a yelp as her body splashed against the surface. She gasped as she rightened herself. She shook out her fur and rose to her paws slowly when she realized that it was only underbelly deep. She shook out her soggy fur before she looked over to Mufasa in shock. "Crocodile heart," she exclaimed.
Mufasa snorted in amusement. He suddenly leaped in beside her, sprinkling Sarabi with even more droplets of water. "That better if I'm in here too, or am I still a crocodile heart," she asked in amusement as he leaned forward and brushed his muzzle against hers.
She drew back and shivered as the water ran down her back. "Oh, you're still a crocodile heart, but I guess I'm stuck with you," she pointed out as she leaned forward and touched his forehead against hers.
The two of them stood there for a while before both of them started to shiver. "I think that it's about time we go back," Mufasa whispered in her ear.
Sarabi drew back and shook her head. "I suppose we don't have to. I think that they can manage for a night without us and we could just call it a night here," Mufasa confessed. "After all, what could possibly happen between now and tomorrow morning?"