Characters: Liuhe, Kimondo
Word Count: 1710

Everything was settling down in the Mwezi’Johari now, even after the announcements Kimondo made about some relatively minor changes- and some much needed recognition for a few of the heroes of the civil war. There were finally things other than his messed up family on Liuhe’s mind and after lengthy consideration, he decided it was time to approach the matter seriously. It could be easy if things were just a little.. different. So it wasn’t too much to expect it to be OK.. or so he told himself. This was the first step in what would be a complicated personal journey but at that moment, Liuhe was never more grateful that it was his best friend he had to talk to now.

It didn’t stop him from spending a few long minutes pacing a short distance away from the Royal Den. The only thing that pushed him forward was knowing someone would have seen him by now and being seen pacing nervously around here would only make things harder. So he took a breath and approached the den.

Liuhe had indeed been spotted. By Kimondo. She was waiting out of sight, wondering if she should try to scare him when he approached but recognizing quickly that this didn’t look like the appropriate time for joking around. They’d already had some pretty serious discussions about his mother and half-brother, she hoped something hadn’t happened between them again. Liuhe deserved some peace.

“Liuhe,” she called out, smiling at him, “Is everything OK?”

Despite the fact that Kimondo was not trying to scare him, Liuhe jumped when she called out. He immediately felt ridiculous. He didn’t need to be afraid of Kimondo, the worst thing she could do was say no and that wouldn’t really change much of anything. Not really.

It would be nice if she didn’t say no, though.

“Everything is fine,” he said, smiling sheepishly, “Sorry, I just had to psyche myself up first.”

“That’s unusual,” Kimondo answered. There was a time when Liuhe worried about nothing, now it seemed like that was all he did. She stepped out of the shadows and walked up to give him an affectionate shove.

“Well, I suppose you’re more intimidating now that you’re the Queen,” he suggested, shaking his head when she gave him a shove.

“Oh, come on,” Kimondo laughed, “I don’t know if I’ve ever been less intimidating. They don’t like when I want to go hunting, you know. Nobody does. I miss it.”

Liuhe smiled at her, looking her over from head to toe.

“That wasn’t a problem when I was a prince,” he said, “You’ve got to learn to appreciate the complete lack of responsibility.”

“Oh, I wish,” she chuckled.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, smiling sheepishly, “I suppose being Queen instead of just a Prince means you do have responsibility.”

Kimondo just shook her head at him, smiling.

“So it’s not as exciting as hunting, then?” he asked, “That’s too bad.”

“OK, OK,” Kimondo said, shaking herself off, “What brings you here tonight?”

A bit of light banter with a friend did a great deal to put him at ease. He’d almost forgotten that she was still just the same Kimondo who had always been his friend. He truly couldn’t imagine her reacting unfavourably toward him, even if she ultimately had to deny him. So it was time to get it all over with.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” he started, “I know it’s not as simple as--”

Wait.

Liuhe narrowed his eyes and took a step away from Kimondo, looking her over from head to foot once more and stopping to stare square at her middle. Kimondo went from looking concerned to looking sheepish in an instant, shifting the weight on her paws a bit and bracing herself.

“Are you pregnant?” Liuhe asked, incredulous.

“Oh, um,” Kimondo stammered, “You can tell?”

Liuhe stared at his friend. His Queen.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” he exclaimed, “Does nobody else know?”

Kimondo pawed idly at the ground, looking neither upset nor excited. If anything, she was evasive.

“If they’ve noticed, nobody has said anything yet,” she answered, “They probably aren’t sure, I mean.. I’m not married, after all.”

“Nobody has said anything yet?” Liuhe repeated, gaping, “Who’s the father?”

This was a question Kimondo had been mentally preparing herself for and she was glad the first person to confront her about this was Liuhe. He was significantly easier to talk to. She was dreading having to talk to Lailah or Caritas.. or her parents.. her first instinct had been to go to Hodari, she was sure her dear sister would be understanding.. but the answer to this question was complicated.

“An outsider,” she said finally, her voice firm, “He won’t be back, and even if he did come.. he’s not marriage material, never mind King material.”

Liuhe blinked, trying to make sense of what exactly she was saying and coming up with nothing favourable.

“Not King material?” he asked, “But then- what- if--”

If the father of her cubs wasn’t good enough to be king, what made him good enough to sire her cubs?! The words were stuck in his brain but he couldn’t think of a nice way to say it without shouting far too loudly about what was clearly a secretive topic at the moment. Kimondo smiled at him as he stammered over making sense of her statement and cut in to help him out.

“Don’t worry, Liuhe,” she said, “I may have gotten carried away but it was my choice. And as for the father, well.. it’s complicated. It’s better left at that.”

The “gods” who sired cubs in the Mwezi’Johari.. it was a poorly kept secret, but she wasn’t sure how much Liuhe knew about that. His family was clear, his lineage without any question marks along the way.. her own family, though.. her mother’s father was supposedly a god. And Kamia’s father. It was why they had visions, how she already guessed that might be the case for her own cubs.

Liuhe picked up on two words: choice and complicated. The first was much easier to focus on.

“Were you trying to get pregnant?” he asked.

Kimondo shook her head.

“I got carried away,” she repeated, “But I’m not stupid, I knew what could happen. I didn’t plan this but I don’t regret it, either. It’s hard stepping into a role like this when you spend your whole life envisioning yourself as just a huntress. As everybody calms down and gets more comfortable, myself included.. I took advantage of what little freedom I could.”

“OK.”

It was an easy answer for a complicated situation. Were she not the queen, this whole conversation would have been very different and she easily reminded him of that. She wasn’t born into this lifestyle, she had a different perspective.. and Liuhe was among those who really thought they needed that. She was young, she didn’t have to feel any pressure to find a king or produce an heir.. but..

“What if they’re in the high class?” he asked suddenly, smiling and very nearly laughing.

“Then.. I guess our next ruler will be rogue-born,” Kimondo answered with a silly smile to match his, “Can you imagine?”

And then they were both laughing. Life was as complicated as ever, but at least this was a happy kind of complicated.

“Well, this makes me feel better about what I’m here for,” Liuhe said after catching his breath, “I’ll have to try much harder if I want to cause as much trouble as you do.”

Kimondo stuck her tongue out at him and then sighed heavily.

“OK, then,” she challenged, “Spit it out, then.”

“I’d like to get married,” he said.

Kimondo’s eyes widened but she stayed silent, waiting.. Liuhe, who was expecting more of a reaction, was slightly put out but pressed on when it was clear she was waiting for the answer to why this was such a big deal. This part was still, unfortunately, difficult. He hadn’t exactly introduced the object of his affection to anybody as such.

“To Hivyo.”

“Finally,” Kimondo said, laughing at the look she got from Liuhe, “I can’t believe you’ve waited this long to tell me.”

Liuhe stared, and then raised a brow at his unexpectedly perceptive friend.

“You knew?” he asked.

“You two haven’t exactly been discreet lately,” she answered, “And of course I’ve been paying attention. You’re my friend!”

“So.. does that mean it’s OK?” Liuhe asked hesitantly.

“Well, thankfully you’re not catching me off guard,” Kimondo said, taking on a more official tone but gesturing a little too dramatically to be taken seriously, “Of course it’s OK but it brings up a lot of complicated questions about marriage and blah blah blah, you two are lucky you’re both already in the high class.”

Immediately, it felt like a weight was lifted off of Liuhe’s shoulders and his smile was that much more sincere as Kimondo ended a short ramble with calling the two of them lucky. He agreed wholeheartedly. The fact that they were both already in the high class had been a point he’d planned to make if he had to argue. They obviously weren’t going to be producing any cubs so it didn’t really matter anyway .. but he had so desperately wanted to be allowed to be openly in a relationship, however complicated.

“We don’t need an actual ceremony or anything,” he said, “We’ll be happy knowing we don’t have to hide it or anything.”

Kimondo snorted in laughter.

“Oh no,” she said, “Just you wait, we’ll throw you two the biggest party this place has ever seen. Just imagine, all of your brothers and sisters, your mother.. coming together..”

She trailed off at the glare Liuhe shot her way.

“OK, fine,” she said, “You don’t have to keep any secrets and I won’t make you have a big, loud ceremony.. Lailah should probably weigh in, just in case you inspire any shier matches hiding out there in the population..”

It was something that would require discussion, but.. just like her situation, it didn’t have to be the kind of big deal they had grown so accustomed to.

“I’ll handle it,” she promised.

Fin!