Salem (c) me
LOC (c) starry-knight
A Dream of Tomorrow
"Salem! I will not have any cubs, not until this war is over and I will not argue any further about this." Caeli looked at her mate. His dark blue eyes looked deep into the purple eyes of his precious Caeli. He let out a sigh as he lifted himself from the place where he sat. He paced the space and tried to think.
"What if we don't get another chance? What if I don't come home one day? I would really love to have some cubs with you. Cubs of our own to love and teach before we go." He tried to smile at her but he was obviously troubled by her decision. She had not yet explained to him why she refuses to have cubs now but he has also not asked until now. "Why can't we have cubs now?"
"Because... because I would love them too much! What if I die like my parents. I don't want to leave you to raise them on your own. I don't want them to grow up without parents. I would love them too much to do that to them but I can't do that if I lose you either. I would hurt too much to raise them alone." Tears brimmed her eyes as she sat down and wrapped her wings around herself. Her purple form looked smaller then usual as she spoke her feeling out loud. Salem moved forward, snuggling in close and nuzzling her cheek. He wiped away the tear with his nose and took a deep breathe.
"But what if we never get a chance to have cubs at all? Isn't that just as painful?" he asked. He wanted cubs, he wanted to give Caeli her happy family but feared that something might go wrong before they got a chance. He wanted her happy and yet didn't want to fight with her.
"I'm more afraid of what will happen to them then what will happen to me. After this war we will have our happy family. I am sure of it! We will have a happy family and cubs and we can watch them play among the other cubs of the pride. We can be proud parents and a loving family." A grin crossed her face and as the tears rolled down her cheeks the pain of her thoughts was replaced with a dreamy look. Salem smiled as she did, imagining such a happy future. He could see the cubs, her smile, and the sitting sitting happily in front of their den, watching their little ones running around free and safe.
"Without war we will never have to worry about them losing their parents, us losing our children, and they can run safe and free without anything interfering in their cubhoods. I don't want them to grow up afraid, I want them to grow up happy and loved." Caeli could only imagine the peace beyond the war.
"That would be so nice. No more war, no more fighting, no more fear. We can let our cubs live our lives without worry." He paused. "I won't rush you. I can't wait for that day after the war."
"Neither can I." She closed her eyes and the image of cubs crossed her mind and she remembered all the times she stared out longingly at the cubs running happily around the pride. She was so excited to have cubs of her own, but she would wait for their sake.
