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Knowing the way without hesitation, without pause and completely sure of himself, Bambi walked along the lane that ran through inside the forest. The scrub brushed the little fur on his legs and the small branches of the lower trees tangled in his ears and tail—but nothing was going to stop him. His steps weren’t going to waver.
Not even the memory of what happened before with his friend Flower was going to make him hesitate now. The only thing that happened when remembering the moment was that Bambi felt the warmth on his cheeks increase, just like the rhythm of his already crazy heart. But nothing else. He would never run away. The thought never once crossed his mind, and that was enough.
The change from the fine ground to a sprawling undergrowth under his hooves showed Bambi that he had already reached the end of the lane.
Bambi’s footsteps, this time, stopped. With his heart trembling in excitement, with the bunch of flowers freshly picked and gently held between his teeth, Bambi couldn’t help but recall what happened.
His kindest confession. His sincerest revelation. His purest love.
The field of flowers was immense; but not immense in size, but in the abundance of plants, despite being so small, despite living together so close to each other. It was a secluded place, sheltered between a space acquired by the trunks of the dogwoods, surrounded by ferns and colored by different species that nature could give, give and keep giving in spring.
And it was spring — far from over, but close enough to the summer heat. It amazed Bambi that both seasons were so close, as if he could really feel them through his senses, surrounding him whole.
The sun’s rays filtered like ghostly lights through the leaves of the trees, being faint, but not fleeting. They left points of reflections dancing across the place. The flowers caressed each other as if they were hugging and kissing the beautiful season, the sun, the light, the vegetation, life itself. Their stems brushed lovingly, caring for each other, grateful for the gentle breeze.
There, in that wonderful field, Bambi had met Flower. He was a very affable, relaxed skunk and one of his best friends. In the middle of that small sheltered landscape, Flower and Bambi found themselves in an enveloping calm.
Flower had been smelling the flowers, pulling them together and separating them. In the most part, he just enjoyed them, as he always used to do. Bambi had simply been content to watch everything, sitting next to Flower. His ears turned at the constant and different sounds within reach of him, distracted by the singing of the birds and the fluttering of the butterflies.
But the flowers were too pretty to look away from them for too long. They wanted attention. They were asking for Bambi’s attention, and Bambi could… could take some, for —
The great leap of a grasshopper from a flower to his snout caused Bambi’s trail of thoughts to drop to zero in a matter of seconds. He wrinkled his nose, but the grasshopper was still there, staring at him. Bambi looked at him too; his green figure was sharper in Bambi’s eyes, and the field of flowers faded in the background, blurred, behind him.
And suddenly the grasshopper jumped off and the field cleared. Bambi’s initial thoughts did too. He felt his cheeks gradually burn at the thought. Maybe it was the sun’s fault.
“Hey, Flower.” Bambi tilted his head curiously, shifting a bit in place. The clovers caressed the sides of his hooves as he pulled them against the fur of his belly. They tickled him. Flower hummed, indicating that he was listening. Bambi continued, a little nervous, “How… how do you know which flower is the best for each animal? How do you know what their type of flower is?”
Bambi had asked him because, of all his friends, Flower was the best one for him to get a good answer from him.
Flower turned his small body towards Bambi, wagging his tail down twice. He stroked one of the petals of a daisy.
“Why do you ask?” Flower asked in his usual silky voice, blinking lazily. Bambi noted the exact moment Flower's delicate features softened even more as he realized the why of Bambi's question. “Oh. Oh Bambi. Do you want to give flowers to someone special? Is that?”
Said out loud, so out of Bambi’s thoughts, he felt himself burning. He didn’t want to blame the sun this time.
Bambi shifted again, lowering his ears and lifting them back up. He wasn’t a coward, he wasn’t going to flee from Flower’s curiosity, but it was the first time that he was going to confess his purest love. The first times were always embarrassing, hesitant, full of emotion but finally shining with an unshakable happiness. Bambi never thought that he could feel all of that at once.
“It’s not… Um, it’s not exactly Feline.” Bambi mused, biting back a shy smile.
Flower looked up at him fondly, a soft feeling that bordered on understanding.
“I used to think you had eyes for her, Bambi.” Flower said, wrapping his fluffy tail around his small body. Bambi’s heart murmured warmly, expectantly. “But these last two seasons, I realized — I knew you had been looking the other way.”
Bambi smiled, careful not to stomp on the larger clovers as he moved slightly.
“Well… it’s… a deer, like me.” Bambi murmured after a beat of silence, scraping the grass in a distracting way. He glanced down at his friend from time to time, feeling every bit of his heart bounce with embarrassed excitement. Talking about him, about that very special deer in his life, always put Bambi between nervous and excited, but above all happily in love. “He wouldn’t stop messing with me back then, he was always reluctant to everything I did. But now… things have changed. We know each other better. Sometimes he’s… annoying, but I love his stubbornness. He is he, after all.” Bambi chuckled softly, “It’s something—new. And I like it. I like it a lot.”
Bambi gazed at the field of flowers around him. He looked at the sunlight through the branches of the hazel trees, the vegetation hugging the bases of the trunks, life breathing everywhere. And Bambi thought — if love was like a seed, each approach like a stem, each moment like its leaves, and each affection like its soft petals… better to let that flower continue to bloom, right?
This was how he really felt.
Bambi sighed in such nostalgic happiness that it made him close his eyes, wanting to delve deeper and deeper into that feeling.
“I want what we have now to last. I really love him. I have realized that… I want to spend every moment of my life with him.” Bambi confessed, slowly blushing to the tips of his ears.
“Oh, Bambi.” Flower whispered, warmly affected by his words. He looked up with sparkling eyes, putting his little paw on Bambi’s leg. Flower squeezed his touch, smiling. “You really are in love. I’m so happy for you. For you two.”
Bambi smiled at his friend, wagging his tail. Flower blinked delightedly.
“I know what flowers you are looking for.” Flower caressed some dispersed poppies next to him, thinking and thinking about all his search options. Flower turned to Bambi, and Bambi could tell that the next thing he was going to say was going to make him feel extremely happy, nervous and embarrassed at the same time. Bambi doubted that he would stop feeling that way right now. “May I know who is that precious deer that has stolen your heart, Bambi?”
Bambi just smiled fondly.
It was orchids and roses, the flowers. Flower had managed to find them with a patience worthy of a best friend.
Bambi’s ears snapped forward as he heard decisive footsteps over the sprawling undergrowth, and his heart seemed to rise skyward as his eyes met Ronno’s across the distance. Ronno had left his home as soon as Bambi arrived, shaking his antlers so they wouldn’t get tangled in the twigs of the bushes, and as soon as Ronno smiled at him, Bambi’s smile broadened as much as the flowers between his teeth allowed.
They both approached without waiting any longer, trotting a little. Ronno’s eyes slid down to the flowers in Bambi’s mouth, and Bambi couldn’t help but blush.
“For you.” Bambi murmured, moving closer to Ronno.
Ronno smelled the flowers and, as a reflex, as something natural between them, they brought the sides of their snouts together in a lingering caress, sliding under their lower jaws gently. Bambi felt himself burning, once again, at the love he felt for Ronno.
Ronno moved away and caught one of Bambi’s ears between his teeth, urging him to follow.
“Ouch, Ronno.”
Ronno rolled his eyes, smirking. Bambi saw affection in that smirk, though. Ronno gave him a short lick on the ear.
“Better?” Ronno asked, raising an eyebrow.
Bambi’s heart melted. He nuzzled Ronno’s cheek in turn, smiling warmly, “Always.”
This was how he really felt. Bambi wanted them to keep getting to know each other every day of their lives, growing together every moment.
He wanted them to continue to bloom.
“It’s Ronno.” Bambi said quietly to Flower. His kindest confession. His sincerest revelation. His purest love.
If love was like a seed, each approach like a stem, each moment like its leaves, and each affection like its soft petals… better to let that flower continue to bloom, right?