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Kai sat outside the hunter's shack with a plank of wood in one paw and his dagger in the other. He sat cross-legged next to Fang and began whittling the way Rowan taught him when he was Jack's age.
Kai looked around the entire marsh. Once he was absolutely certain Fang was the only one who could hear him, he started singing. "Oh, simple thing. Where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on. So tell me when you're gonna let me in. I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin."
Kai sighed sadly. He remembered the days when he whittled little toys for Tano. The younger lynx kept every single one, and sometimes, Kai even caught him playing with them, though he kept those heart warming moments to himself.
What was supposed to be a new shingle for their roof turned into a statue of him and Tano hugging. This was definitely a keeper.
---
Tano smiled as he opened his eyes. Kai's voice was the best thing to wake up to.
The summer sun shone brightly in the sky as Zoe and Tano enjoyed a picnic in the marsh.
"Zoe?" Tano asked.
"Yes?"
Tano took a deep breath to mentally prepare himself before asking a question that had been on his mind since he'd known the truth about her. "Do you miss your old life? I mean, being a noble sounds amazing."
A wild butterloaf bluggy approached. Zoe gently picked the little one up, feeding it a sprig of ginger. She pet the animal as she spoke. "The life of a noble was no life at all, my dear. I much prefer the life I'm building in Grimshire, the one I'm building with you."
The tiny bluggy melted like an ice cream cone on a summer day and its ears turned downward.
Tano awwed, both at his girlfriend's statement and the now sleeping bluggy in her lap.
Moving at a glacial pace to prevent waking it, Zoe stood up, cradling the little bluggy. According to Tano, the longer ears meant it was a female, and Zoe decided to name her Sunflower.
As soon as Zoe and Tano approached the farm buildings, her emberwool alpheep wrapped her in a tender hug. Zoe immediately realized why her favourite winter coat back in the capital was made of emberwool-hugging Spirit was like embracing a furnace.
The moment Zoe set Sunflower down, Bonnie, her frostberry bluggy, carried her inside the bluggy hutch on her back.
Zoe smiled. "That moment was more precious than all of my jewelry combined."
It was at that moment Tano knew-Zoe was the one.
Kai was sharpening his dagger when Tano returned to the marsh. "I don't give a fuck if Zolana is a noble. She better be treating you right, or I'll be adding lynx meat to the root cellar."
Tano damn near jumped out of his fur.