Same Time Tomorrow

Blaque stared up at the night sky and leaned on Akiro. Her eyes lit up in love, and Akiro’s body relaxed at Blaque’s touch. He howled, Blaque not too far behind him. Blaque nestled up even closer to him and closed her eyes.

Akiro crouched low in the tall grass and resisted the urge to growl. His eyes narrowed in anger.

“That’s all I have! I promise! Here. I can prove it. Take my bag.” Akiro shook, and his claws were digging into the ground. He watched as his daughter threw her bag at the feet of the large black-furred male. She was cowering in fear, and Akiro could hear her small whine.

“Shut up. That whining isn’t getting you anywhere.” The male’s eyes pierced her; she obeyed him. Akiro was just about to jump out from the weeds when he heard a soft rustle behind him. He quickly turned around and saw a female with white fur. Her eyes were a fierce grey that he recognized right away.

“Blaque?”

“Akiro?” The second that he said her name, he was one hundred percent sure that it was her. Of course, it had been twenty-something years, but he still knew it was her. Blaque was just about to say something when they were interrupted.

“Who’s there? Show yourself, or she gets hurt!” The deep, gruff voice snapped Akiro out of his trance, and he remembered why he was there in the first place. He jumped out of the grass and onto the robber. Akiro swiped at the male and got a clean cut on his cheek. He immediately reacted by attempting to swipe at Akiro’s neck, but Akiro smoothly rolled away. The next minute consisted of Akiro cutting and injuring the male, and the robber trying to get back at Akiro, but Akiro escaping. It ended with the crook lying on the ground, blood seeping from multiple places.

“Dad!” Akiro’s daughter rushed to him and hugged him. When she released him, she still had a questioning look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Day?” He knew that she was still scared, but Akiro could tell that wasn’t the subject of her wondering.

“Nothing. I was just wondering who that female is over there?” Dayva gestured to Blaque, who was sitting and watching intently a couple of feet away.

“Oh! I didn’t get the chance to introduce you. Dayva, this is Blaque. Blaque, this is Dayva. Blaque and I dated in high school, and a little bit during college.” Akiro didn’t realize until a couple of seconds after he said it that the last bit of information was unneeded.

“So this was your mate before Mom. It’s nice to meet you, Blaque.” Dayva purposely tried to embarrass her dad, and she could tell that it worked. She walked over to Blaque and shook her paw.

“You, too, Dayva.” Blaque smiled at Dayva, and Dayva smiled back. Blaque knew that it was going to be awkward, but you fake it until you make it, right?

“So, where do you live?” Dayva went back to her Dad and sat down next to him.

“About twenty-five miles away from here east.” Nodding, Dayva nudged her Dad with her shoulder. Akiro got the message.

“Are you the one who just took over Old Man Paxel’s cave? I heard that from our messenger boy that comes to our territory once a week. He said that Paxel barely put up a fight.” Blaque blushed and nodded.

“Yeah, but people have made it sound a lot worse than it was. I simply asked Paxel if I could take over his cave so that way he didn’t have to deal with such a large place. He immediately agreed, and now he’s in a smaller cave near the market. I didn’t harm him in any way.” Dayva could tell that there was some awkwardness in between her dad and Blaque, so she decided to let them work it out themselves.

“I’m going to head back home. And don’t rush. I know how to avoid more males like that now.” Akiro opened his mouth to protest but snapped it shut when Dayva shook her head.

“See you at home then.” There was a slight sense of restraint in his voice, but Dayva ignored it and walked off. Now it was just Akiro and Blaque left.

“So...You have any kids?” Akiro bounced from two paws to the others. He was panting from his nervousness.

“Nope. And I don’t have a mate, either. Well, I did once, but he left me for that Priscilla, the one that was at our graduation. And yes, she’s just as extravagant as she was back then.” Blaque couldn’t help but laugh to herself at how Priscilla showed herself in public (she wore paw coverings that she covered in sparkly rocks and anything else she wore was sparkly as well).

“Yeah, she really was the crazy one back then.” Akiro started laughing along with Blaque, and soon both of them were in fits of laughter.

“Anyways-obviously-you have a daughter, but is her mom your mate?” Blaque walked around in a circle and plopped down on the ground, Akiro following suit.

“Yeah. She is three years younger than us, though. Do you remember Jett? The troublemaker?” Blaque nodded. “Well, it’s his little sister, Cynthia. Everyone calls her Cindy, though. We also have a second child, who is a year old now. His name is Coy. Hey, it’s getting late. Do you want to come over for dinner?” Akiro could tell that Blaque was leaning towards going back to her cave, so he was surprised by her answer.

“Sure. Where do you guys live?” Blaque got up from the ground even though it was comfortable and stretched her legs. Akiro was slower in getting up, mostly from the shock that Blaque agreed.

“It’s hard to explain. Just follow me.”

---

Akiro gestured for Blaque to go inside, and once she did, Akiro followed. He was welcomed home by Dayva laying out dinner, and Cynthia tickling Coy.

“Hey, Cindy. As long as it’s okay with you, Blaque here is going to join us for dinner. She’s my friend from high school. She lives in Old Man Paxel’s old cave, about forty miles away from here.” Akiro motioned for Blaque to go farther into the cave, and she agreed by walking over to Cynthia and shaking her paw.

“It’s so lovely to meet you, Blaque. Akiro has told us some funny stories about you.” Cynthia smiled, and Blaque smiled back.

“He has, has he?” Blaque glanced at Akiro, who was talking to Dayva while blushing. Cynthia laughed.

“Well, take a seat anywhere. There’s some rabbit, some squirrel, and then just a little bit of herbs. We don’t eat it much, but Dayva has liked it lately. How ‘bout you? Do you eat plants and stuff?” By the way that Cynthia talked, Blaque could tell that she was very laid-back, the complete opposite of Akiro (from what Blaque could remember).

“Nah, I only eat meat. No offense to you, Dayva. I just prefer the taste of meat over plants.” Dayva looked up from her conversation with Akiro and at Blaque.

“Oh, I don’t mind. Though most others are starting to eat it, I don’t feel offended by the ones that don’t, including you.” Blaque nodded and walked over to the food laid out; the rest of them close behind her. She picked up a piece of squirrel and took a large bite out of it.

“This is amazing. I’m guessing you didn’t catch it, Akiro.” Blaque winked at Cynthia, and they all laughed, except for Akiro himself.

“Actually, I did.” Akiro took a rabbit leg and stuck the whole thing in his mouth. Blaque immediately realized that Akiro was giving her the cold shoulder, even if she didn’t know why.

As they all ate the dinner, Blaque small-talked with everyone, learning more about then. When finished, everyone went over to the opposite side of the cave and went outside. Blaque and Dayva laughed at how Coy wouldn’t leave Cynthia alone, even though Cynthia kept pushing him off.

“So, where exactly are we heading?” Blaque trotted up next to Dayva.

“The most beautiful place ever.” With no details to follow, Dayva ran up to Coy and shoved him off of Cynthia.

“Stay off of Mom, you nimrod.” Coy nipped at Dayva playfully, and she growled back. As they kept on walking, Dayva and Coy kept on messing with each other.

---

“This is it.” Dayva kept on walking as Blaque stopped in her tracks. Laid out in front of her was what looked like a fantasy. It was a beach, but nothing like the ones that she had seen before. The waves softly crashed on the sand, and the sand itself was as white as Blaque’s fur. The sky was just starting to set, and it cast a golden glow over everything.

“Wow. This is beautiful.” The family was already at the edge of the sand, almost in the water. Blaque was still hanging back and taking it all in. But in seconds, she was rushing forward and splashing in the water. She could hear her companions laughing at her, but she ignored them.

“The water feels so good! Get in here, guys!” Coy came running in after her, and he splashed her. He tried to tackle her, but she fought back, and he was swimming away while laughing. Next came Dayva, splashing and tackling Coy as well. Cynthia came running in not too long after Dayva, and soon everyone was splashing. Akiro stayed sitting on the sand.

“Come in here, Aki! It amazing!” Cynthia turned towards him after pushing Coy off of her.

“No, thanks. I am perfectly fine up here.” Blaque rolled her eyes and ran out of the water, up onto the sand. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him into the water, despite his reluctance.

“Blaque! This is-lovely.” Akiro sunk deeper into the water, and the rest of the group laughed at him. Soon enough, he was splashing along with the rest of them.

“Same time tomorrow?”

"Same time tomorrow."