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It is entirely too early.
Early, and cold, and Janis can't move.
She blinks awake, very slowly, and yelps quietly when her eyes focus on her wife sitting on top of her, beaming down at her with a smile as bright as the sun. The sun that isn't up yet.
"Good morning!" Cady chirps, like a little morning bird.
"Ngh." Janis bats vaguely in the direction of her wife, trying to get her off and go back to sleep.
Cady is displeased with this.
She leans down until her forehead and nose are pressed against Janis' and glares into her eyes. "I saaaaaid good morning."
"And I said ngh," Janis retaliates. Cady pouts. Janis gropes blindly for her phone on the nightstand and squints one eye at it to check the time. "Baby, it's 5:30."
"We have a flight to catch!"
"Our flight is at ten," Janis responds groggily. Cady nods eagerly. "At night."
"But we're going to Africa!" Cady whines.
Janis cracks a small smile. "I know we are! But that doesn't change the fact that our flight is in, like, fifteen hours."
"Sixteen and a half," Cady replies with a huff, flopping down and pressing her face into Janis' neck. Janis chuckles and wraps her arms around Cady's back to squeeze her even closer.
"Go back to bed, baby."
"I can't, I'm too excited," Cady replies, muffled against Janis' sleep-warmed skin. "I've been up for four hours."
"Then go make sure we have everything packed. Again," Janis responds with a grin.
Cady humphs. "Fiiiiiiine."
"And cheer up, it's our honeymoon," Janis concludes as Cady rolls off of her and goes to dig through their suitcases for the umpteenth time. Janis yawns and is back to sleep within minutes.
—————
Janis is woken again at a much more reasonable hour, and gets to spend a delightful hour snuggling with her wife in bed to wake up.
Cady also helps her make breakfast. Her idea of helping is sitting on the counter and supervising, and waltzing with Janis around the kitchen while their pancakes come dangerously close to burning. Her sweet smile and the warmth Janis feels looking into her blue eyes make the slightly overdone breakfast completely worth it.
Cady finally crashes around noon, so Janis tucks her in cozy with a blanket on the couch and does her own suitcase check. Clothes, toiletries, no fewer than four things to take photos with, portable chargers to keep their phones going in the middle of the Kenyan wilderness, and everything else they need that they won't be able to get there.
Janis does all the dishes and puts them away, sweeps and mops, makes their bed with clean sheets and puts the old ones in the dirty laundry. Ordinarily she'd set it going, but they are leaving soon and she doesn't want to leave Damian, who graciously agreed to apartment-sit for them (mostly for the free Netflix and food in their fridge) with laundry to worry about.
Cady somehow sleeps through her cleaning the entire apartment. Janis wonders about halfway through if she's just faking to get out of helping. Cady responds by almost rolling off the couch, narrowly saved by Janis catching her and gently pushing her back up.
Cady snuffles in her sleep and smushes her face into the cushion. Janis smiles at her wife and ever so gently kisses her hair before she continues her cleaning.
She wakes Cady up around four.
Cady, ironically, grumbles and tries to roll over to go back to her nap. Janis chuckles and crawls on the couch next to her, pressing her nose against her neck and gently tickling Cady's belly.
"Time to wake uuuuuup," she hums teasingly, tapping her fingertips against the bare skin where Cady's pajama top has ridden up just a bit.
Cady exhales heavily and fades it into a, "Hmm-mm."
"It is, though," Janis chuckles. Cady's only response is to pull gently on her hand until Janis is completely spooning her and has her pinned against the back of the couch. "Caddy."
"Wat."
"We're going to Africaaaaaa. We have to get to the airport in a few hours," Janis reminds gently, murmuring the words teasingly in Cady's ear. Cady's eyes snap open, and Janis giggles. "There's my girl."
Cady groans and somehow rolls over in the very small gap of couch she has available.
"What time is it?" she yawns against Janis' neck.
"About 4:15," Janis replies, gently scratching up and down Cady's spine.
"Mm."
Janis taps an index finger against her forehead. "Are you in there? What happened to the little crackhead that woke me up before the sun this morning?"
"She fell asleep," Cady grumbles, turning her head to dodge the pokes. Janis laughs and kisses her before she stands and drags Cady off the couch to her feet.
"Come on, sleepyhead. You can sleep on the plane," she says. Cady drags to a stand and blinks blearily for a moment, processing all the recent changes of the last few minutes.
"You cleaned?" she chuckles as she stretches and comes to cuddle into Janis' chest.
"Yeah. Damian just has to maintain it and we won't have to when we come home," Janis shrugs.
"Smart," Cady yawns. Janis squishes her, and they linger like that for a long moment.
And a little longer.
Aaaaand longer.
Cady's head gets heavier against her shoulder. Janis gently shakes her. "Caddy."
Cady snorts awake. "Hm?"
"Oh my god, you fell asleep standing up?!" Janis laughs. "Go take a shower and wake up, I'll make dinner. Don't know if I can trust you with knives."
Cady smiles sheepishly. "Not my fault you make a good bed."
"Yeah, yeah, Miss Narcolepsy," Janis snorts.
"That's Mrs. Narcolepsy now," Cady humphs as she heads off to their bathroom. Janis chuckles and rolls her eyes before she makes her way to the kitchen.
—————
Cady seems to be vibrating slightly the entire ride to the airport. Janis is a little worried, but figures she's just excited.
They get their bags checked fine, but TSA seems to take an issue with Cady's excitement and pulls her aside for an extra-pat down and scan for drug paraphernalia. Cady returns much more quiet and subdued, shyly standing next to her wife and staring at her shoes.
"You want a Cinnabon?" Janis murmurs, taking and squeezing Cady's hand. Cady smiles and starts shaking again, and Janis sighs lovingly as they start the trek across the airport to get their delicious cinnamon rolls.
They arrived with plenty of time to spare, so they sit by their gate and wait as their 'meal' digests. Cady hugs Janis' arm and peeks over her shoulder as she scrolls through memes, snorting quietly at the few gems they encounter and absentmindedly trailing her fingers up and down Janis' arm.
She quite literally leaps out of her seat when that falsely polite voice announces their flight boarding, startling Janis out of her own. They both head towards the gate, and Cady does yet another frantic last-minute check of their boarding passes and passports and tickets and everything else that could potentially have an error they somehow missed the first twelve times they checked.
They make it through unscathed, and Cady plops eagerly into her seat by the window. Janis tucks into the middle after getting everything they need out of their carry-ons and shoving them into the overhead storage.
Cady scrolls through the movies offered while they wait for everyone else to board. "Ooh, they have The Lion King!"
"You get to see the real thing in a few hours, you really wanna watch it again?" Janis chuckles, leaning to rest her head on Cady's shoulder. Cady nods eagerly. "Of course you do."
She plugs in the earbuds they brought and keeps one side for herself. Cady links their hands together and rests her cheek against Janis' head as they settle in to watch together.
They actually make it through almost the entire thing before the flight attendant gives the safety spiel. Cady watches intently even though she knows everything. Janis looks at her oddly, so she explains, "I just don't want them to think nobody's listening. He's doing a good job."
Janis rolls her eyes fondly, but she does pay a little more attention, too.
After that, the light comes on and they fasten their seatbelts for takeoff. Cady offers Janis some gum to help her ears with the pressure, and they start chewing in sync. Cady stares out the window the entire time, until all they can see is the dark sky and darker clouds for miles and miles around them.
"Are you excited?" Janis murmurs.
"Noooo," Cady replies sarcastically, turning back to look at her and pulling down the shade. Janis knows she'll be practically glued to it once she can actually see out. "Are you?"
"Nah," Janis teases. "Yeah, I am. It'll be cool getting to see where you came from."
"You're gonna love it," Cady says confidently.
"I know I will," Janis replies. "I love you."
"I love you too," Cady hums contently, nuzzling into her wife for a long, long flight.
——
They have a brief layover in England. Not long enough to do anything, but just long enough to get cursed out by an irate citizen with an accent that has them both biting their lips to hold back a laugh. They board their next flight that'll take them directly to their destination and fall asleep to Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Janis startles awake when the pilot comes over the intercom system and announces they'll be landing soon. Cady is already awake and back to her shaky excited self. Janis smiles as she buckles herself back in and takes Cady's hand for the landing. Cady squeezes her hand, but doesn't look away from the window. Janis leans in and hooks her chin over her shoulder so she can see too, as the Kenyan landscape looms in the distance and the airport gets closer and closer.
"Welcome home," she murmurs, gently kissing beneath Cady's ear.
—————
They're already exhausted as they hail a cab from the airport and slug their way into their hotel, immediately collapsing onto the bed. They had planned to... test it, but the bed seems absolutely perfect for what it's actually designed for. The pillows are perfectly firm, the sheets are soft and warm.
"How did you do North Shore three days after that?" Janis grumbles sleepily. Cady squints one eye at her and grunts.
"I have no idea." She wriggles closer and cuddles into Janis. "This hotel is nice, though."
"Yeah, it is," Janis says. She'd never admit it, but she's actually more excited about sleeping in a tent on the wilderness reserve. Getting that little slice of what life was like for Cady when she was younger. "Is it weird to be back?"
"I don't know yet," Cady says. It's been almost ten years since she moved to America. This is the first time she's set foot on Kenyan soil since she was sixteen years old. "It kind of feels like a dream, still."
"I get that," Janis says, nuzzling in close to Cady's face and blinking at her from mere inches away.
"I'm nervous," Cady admits. Janis blinks in shock.
"About what?"
"What if nobody recognizes me?" Cady asks quietly.
"Babe, you look exactly the same as you did when you moved here, everyone will recognize you," Janis chuckles.
"The animals might not," Cady mumbles, brushing her fingertips against Janis' sternum.
"Then you'll just have to reintroduce yourself."
Cady smiles at that, and Janis smiles back. As much as they both want to stretch their legs and explore, they settle deeper into bed, into each other, and drift off for some much needed sleep.
————-
It takes a little while, but they both wake up the next morning feeling much more rested and ready to handle a day. They have three days to spend in the city, and four on Cady's wildlife reserve.
They try to treat themselves gently and take plenty of opportunities to rest or do more casual activities, knowing they're going to be beyond exhausted after jam-packed days chasing animals around and taking in the sights on the savanna.
They tour a coffee factory (and Janis is delighted getting a special bag to take home), and visit an elephant orphanage that actually turns out to be paired with the reserve. Once the elephants are old enough to survive in the wild, they're sent off to join one of the herds there. They go hiking in the Ngong hills and visit a nearby lake, and take a tour of the city.
They spend their last night in the city in a nearby Maasai village. Cady is reunited with some of her actual human friends from her childhood, and helps them introduce Janis to all the new foods and songs and dances and other cultural aspects Janis is being wonderfully plunged into for the first time.
"The women build all the houses," she explains as they take a quiet walk around. "They're called enkajijk."
"Wow," Janis says, looking around at all of them.
"Aren't they amazing? It's just branches and... mud and cow dung, basically, but they're so sturdy even though they're designed to be temporary. And they can have rooms, and the design of them helps a lot with the various climates," Cady continues. Janis just nods. She's never been able to make a sculpture out of clay, let alone a whole house. "I think they said we'd be in this one for the night."
Cady points to one on the outskirts of the very small village, and they make their way inside.
"It's definitely dark," Janis chuckles. There's only a few small holes in the walls for ventilation that allow some light to come through.
"Your eyes adjust," Cady says with a giggle. "Or we can use flashlights."
Janis shrugs and looks around at what little she can see. "It's kind of peaceful all dark and stuff."
"Isn't it? It's normally a bit warmer, but nobody's been cooking in here today so there's no fire," Cady says. "Can you see well enough to find your bed?"
Cady had explained before they left Nairobi that they would have to be extra careful about doing anything here, both out of regard for their safety and simply to respect the culture and beliefs of the tribespeople. Janis might not agree with them, but she was perfectly fine to pretend this is just a friendly vacation for one night. Cady was extra apologetic about the fact they'd be sleeping in separate beds. Janis just thinks it'll be nice having a short break before spending four nights crammed together in a tent.
Janis carefully kicks around to hunt for it. She tries not to disturb anything. "Ow. Is that it?"
Cady laughs and looks over. "Yeah. Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Janis chuckles. She sprawls out as much as she can on the bed. "Hm. It's nice."
"They are remarkably comfortable," Cady agrees with a chuckle. Janis listens to her wife move around in the dark, probably changing into her pajamas and hunting down the other bed. She jumps a little when she sees her face looming over her in the darkness. Cady smiles. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Janis chuckles. "Sneaky."
Cady giggles and leans a little closer. She sneaks a sweet, chaste kiss once she finds her way to Janis' lips and quietly says, "Goodnight. I love you."
"I love you too," Janis murmurs back. Cady gives her one more peck before making her way back to her own bed.
Janis watches her wife lie there and breathe for a long moment, pretending she's close enough to touch and cuddle. She's comforted knowing she can do that all she wants again tomorrow, and drifts off to sleep herself.
—————-
If Janis thought Cady was excited at the airport, this is a whole other level. Cady doesn't stop moving the entire drive to the wildlife reserve, pointing out things out the windows and proclaiming her excitement roughly every thirty seconds.
Janis smiles and distracts her with taking pictures, but she's similarly excited to see her wife's childhood home. They both watch out the windows as the city fades away, away, away. The air gets clearer, the grass gets taller, the road eventually fades away completely.
Cady happily hops out of the car when they're finally on the reservation and looks around with a wide smile. Janis hops down after her and grabs their stuff from the back. "Is it how you remember it?"
"Exactly," Cady says, taking her bag with that beautiful smile still on her face. "I forgot what it smelled like."
Janis takes a deep breath. The air is fresh, here. She can tell they'll have a clear view of the stars tonight. There's also a distinct note of earth, and something... animal. All in all, a not unpleasant smell.
They start hiking off to find someone around. It's quite a large place with not many employees and volunteers working, so it takes a good while. Cady's happy regardless, pointing out the little things she remembers from her time spent on this far corner of the reservation.
Eventually they hear an accented, "Cady Heron, is that yourself?!"
Cady whirls around and gasps when she sees the speaker. "Jaali!"
Janis smiles as she rushes up to the man for a hug.
"Jay, this is Jaali, he was my parents' research assistant when we lived here. And he took over the whole thing when we left," Cady says with a smile. Janis reaches a hand for him to shake. He takes it with a smile and a firm grip. "Jaali, this is Janis. My wife."
"Ah, you got yourself a good one, Cady," Jaali says with a grin. Cady smiles proudly.
"Thanks," she says. "I think so too."
"You want to give your mke the tour around?" Jaali asks, looking at Cady. Cady nods eagerly. Jaali gestures to his Jeep, so Cady and Janis toss their stuff in the back and climb aboard.
There's not much room left for the three of them, so Janis winds up with Cady in her lap as they hurtle through the savanna. Cady points out trees and rocks and watering holes, some of which have since gone dry. She tells little stories to go along with each.
"That's where I broke my leg chasing a bird, and that's where I fell out of a tree and had to get stitches, and that's where-"
"Do any of these stories end with you not in the hospital?" Janis chuckles.
"That is where she stole her parents' tranquilizer gun and almost got the lot of us maimed by a lion. That one ended with her stuck in the tent for a month," Jaali says. Cady whacks him with an indignant scoff.
"That was one time. And I was only five," she humphs.
"And that's why we all have straps for our guns now," Jaali chortles. "Speaking of which, I need to check on this pride."
Janis is a bit concerned as both Cady and Jaali hop out of the Jeep.
She's more concerned when she hears a loud roar, followed by several quieter ones and the loud stomping of feet. Cady whirls around to see, and Janis leaps into the Jeep for protection when she sees the large lion charging at them.
"Cady!"
Cady doesn't move. The lion leaps.
Janis screams and ducks, thinking she's about to witness her wife being torn to shreds. This was meant to be their honeymoon!
"Janis," Jaali says. "Are you alright?"
Hesitantly, Janis peeks up, fully expecting to see her wife's mangled corpse on the ground. Instead, she sees her tiny wife laughing in delight and rolling around on the ground with a huge lion. "Wh-"
"Lions do not roar before they kill. If he wanted you dead, we would never know."
"That's reassuring," Janis mutters under her breath.
Jaali laughs. "The ones around here know we are here only for their aid. It is very rare one tries to harm us. Usually only when the cubs are born and someone gets too close."
That is actually reassuring. "He's not trying to kill her?"
"No. He is playing," Jaali chuckles. "He was just much smaller last time."
Janis watches as the lion sits back and paws at Cady's prone form for some attention. Cady laughs happily and ruffles the lion's mane between her hands. She smushes him a little to get a closer look, having been upside-down for most of their previous interactions. "No way! This is Kazi?!"
"Sure is," Jaali replies with a grin. Cady squeals and tackles the lion in a massive hug.
"Oh, my boy! You've gotten so big, my handsome little man!" she coos. The lion roars contentedly and bats at her again with a remarkably gentle paw. "Jay, c'mere."
Janis hesitates, but Cady waves her over again. Janis can't believe what she's doing when she goes to crouch next to her wife in front of a creature that could kill them both with one swipe of those huge paws. "Uh... hey bud."
Kazi lies down with his head in his paws. Cady copies him. "Lie down."
"Why?" Janis asks, but she's not about to do otherwise.
"You can't let him think you're human. But you can't be a threat, either. You have to make him think you're... a weird lion, too. Mirroring him makes him think this was your idea."
"Okay," Janis replies, keeping a firm eye on the lion.
"Don't touch his face, either. They're not used to it as a species, he'll think you're going for his eyes and lash out," Cady continues quietly.
She takes Janis' hand and slowly inches it along the ground closer to his nose, which Janis isn't the most comfortable with. The lion snuffles curiously at their intertwined fingers.
"But you're really just a big ol' softie, huh boy?" Cady coos. "This is my mate. What do you think?"
Janis tries not to scream when he licks their hands. "Holy shit, ow."
"Yeah, sorry. They're like cat tongues times a thousand," Cady chuckles.
"Yeesh," Janis replies, wiping her hand off on her jacket. "Hey, man. You're pretty cute."
"Isn't he? He was still a cub when I moved. He and his sisters were my last litter I saw," Cady says.
"She was always his favorite. Never let the rest of us near him," Jaali says, watching them with a fond smile.
"He did so!" Cady scoffs.
Jaali shakes his head. "Never like you. But who else was around to play with him?"
Janis smiles at the mental image of her wife as a child, running through the beautiful savanna around them with a lion cub at her heels. That's some Disney movie shit.
"He became quite ill when you left," Jaali continues gently. Cady snaps her head up.
"He did?" she asks quietly. Jaali nods sadly.
"We found him to the northeast about a week after you moved. He would not move, or eat. Alamini had to stay with him for a month. He was very depressed."
"Oh, buddy," Cady coos sadly, pressing her face against the lion's. "My poor guy. I never wanted to leave you. I just had to go find a new savanna for a while. And I found my own pride."
Kazi growls contentedly. Cady smiles.
"Yeah, I like her too."
Janis chuckles. Cady turns to look at her. "What do you think?"
"Every instinct in me is yelling very loud, but he's great," Janis replies. Cady laughs. Kazi gets up and goes sprinting away top speed.
Cady pouts. "Where'd he go?"
"I think he'll be back," Jaali says with a knowing grin.
Janis is less afraid this time when he comes running back. Cady gasps when she sees the little cub dangling from his mouth. He drops it at their feet and nudges her closer with his large paw, getting an indignant yeowl in response from the tiny cub.
"Zizi, is this your baby?! I can't believe you have cubs, my big boy! Look at her," Cady coos. She treats the baby like she would a human, and waits for papa's okay to interact. He nudges the cub closer again, so Cady extends a hand for her to sniff.
"That's Farashuu," Jaali replies. "Runt of the latest litter."
"Dang, kiddo, you're the runt?!" Cady laughs. "Farashuu. So cute."
"What does that mean?" Janis asks quietly, hesitantly extending a hand to the cub and keeping a firm eye on Kazi. He seems to recognize her role as his favorite human's mate and sits contentedly to watch.
"Butterfly," Cady replies with a small smile. Janis smiles too.
"Now there's two of you," she replies, kissing Cady's neck. Cady giggles.
"Very true. I think it suits her better, though," Cady replies. Janis shakes her head.
"Nah. You're both cute," she replies. Cady grins at her. It quickly turns into a wince as Farashuu chomps down on her hand.
"Ouch, baby," she giggles, gently wrestling her hand back and nursing the sore tiny tooth marks dented into her skin. Kazi smushes the cub into the ground with a single muffled thump in retaliation for her insolence, leaving Farashuu wriggling under her dad's enormous paw. "Zizi, easy, bud, don't crush her! It's okay, see?"
Kazi lifts his hand and lets his cub run away. Cady smiles and pets him gently.
"He lets you pet him?" Janis asks. Cady nods.
"I was a touchy kid, so he got used to it as a cub before he could hurt me. But I was always the only one. My dad tried once and he nearly bit his hand off."
Janis sits on hers so there's no chance of that. "Cool."
"Jaali, where are Cleo and Nalea? Can we go see them?" Cady asks as she strokes through Kazi's mane. Janis looks to Jaali too. Jaali doesn't look back, his gaze firmly on the dusty soil beneath his feet.
"They... they are gone, Cady, I am sorry," he says quietly. Cady's hand pauses.
"What? Wh-what do you mean, gone?" she asks frantically. "Jaali?"
"There was a virus outbreak about four years after you left. We did everything we could," Jaali explains gently. "But they both succumbed. I could not bear to let nature take its course with their bodies. The men and I buried them together about a mile west of the watering hole."
Janis takes Cady's hand and gives it a squeeze. Cady sobs quietly and scrambles to her feet. "Take me. Please."
Jaali nods. Janis stands and follows them both to the Jeep. Cady slowly climbs into the back, and Janis slides in next to her as Jaali turns the engine over. Cady leans into her and breaks down sobbing against her shoulder. Janis pulls her wife into her lap and buries her nose in her hair.
"I'm so sorry, baby," she murmurs, gently rubbing Cady's back.
Cady doesn't respond, she just cries into Janis' neck the entire drive. Janis is perfectly okay with how sweaty they're both getting and how uncomfortable it is being jostled around with her wife's weight in her lap. They promised for better or for worse. Time to make good.
——
Cady's calmed down just a little by the time they make it. Janis climbs out first, and Cady's hand shakes as she takes it to help her down. She looks just like she did when Janis met her in high school, small and hunched in on herself.
"Are you sure you want to see?" Janis murmurs, pausing Cady in her tracks and cupping her face in her hands. Cady sniffles, and some fresh tears brim in her eyes. Janis swipes them away when they spill over onto her rosy cheeks and kisses her forehead.
Cady gulps and gives a shaky nod. "I need to."
Janis nods as well and keeps a tight hold of Cady's hand as they slowly approach the massive stone being used as a grave marker. Cady falls to her knees as soon as they make it and rests her head against the cool, smooth stone, just as she did with Kazi.
"Hey, girls," she whispers, her voice wavering around a thick lump in her throat.
Janis squeezes her hand.
"I'm back," Cady continues softly. "Just... just like I promised."
Cady stops speaking for a while after that. Janis doesn't say anything either. She just sits with her wife, watching as Cady's tears fall and stain the stone.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here," Cady sobs quietly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to comfort you. I'm sorry. I'm-I'm sorry you thought I left. I'm sorry I couldn't ex-explain it to you."
Janis gathers Cady into her arms again as Cady breaks down. Cady sobs into her shoulder, and Janis lets a few of her own tears slip out and into Cady's hair. "They understood, baby. You know they did. They know you. They know you wouldn't have left them forever."
"But I did," Cady hiccups. "They must've-must've been so afraid, Janis. They can always tell when it's... it's their time."
"They weren't alone," Janis reminds her gently. "And don't lions have, like, super good memories? I'm sure they thought of you all the time. And they had Jaali and everyone here to help them through."
"They did not suffer," Jaali says with tears in his eyes. "That I can promise you, Cady. I regret it to this day, but they went peacefully."
Cady nods and seems to take some solace in this fact. "J-Jaali, is it alright if Janis and I stay here for a while?"
Jaali nods. He tosses her a canteen of water, a gun (thankfully with the safety on), and a walkie-talkie. Cady gathers them all with a fond grin. "Of course. Radio me if you need anything."
"Thanks, Jaali," Cady says quietly. Jaali salutes and revs the Jeep to life, puttering off across the savanna to attend to his other duties.
"You okay?" Janis asks, gently stroking Cady's cheek. Cady nods.
"You're right, they weren't alone," she sniffles. "And... they knew I loved them. And they didn't suffer."
Cady runs her hands through the tall, dry grass growing around the grave, and this time, she smiles.
"You would've loved them, Jay."
"I'm sure I would," Janis responds. Cady climbs off her lap and sits on the ground. Janis takes the opportunity to stretch before she lounges against the boulder. Cady sprawls on the ground and rests her head in Janis' lap, staring up at the clouds passing across the clear blue sky above them. "Tell me about them?"
Cady shifts a bit to smile at her. Janis gently strokes her jaw and smiles back as she launches into story after story. "One time Nalea broke into my tent when she was a baby-"
Janis closes her eyes and listens to her wife's lilting voice as she tells each and every one of her favorite stories. The wind rustles in the grass and there's bugs and birds chirping everywhere, but all Janis can hear is Cady speaking. Her voice grows progressively less watery and more steady, and Janis laughs along with her to a few of the stories.
"And she actually went and got help when I couldn't get back out!"
"Regular Lassie," Janis chuckles. "They sound great."
"They were," Cady agrees quietly, resting a hand on the ground her friends are sleeping beneath. "They were the best friends I could've asked for. Except you. And Damian. And-"
"I'm glad," Janis interrupts before her wife can list everyone she's ever been even acquaintances with.
Cady giggles. Janis smiles back, glad her wife is back to her usual upbeat self. There's the better. "...Thanks for coming with me."
"On our honeymoon? No problem," Janis snorts. Cady rolls her eyes and sits up, brushing her red curls away from her eyes.
"You know what I mean," she huffs, leaning to rest her head on Janis' shoulder this time. Janis rests her head against Cady's and takes her hand. "This was kind of a downer on our honeymoon, you know."
"For better or for worse," Janis murmurs, tracing the veins on the inside of Cady's arms with a feather-light touch. "I'm here for you. We still have a bunch of fun stuff planned."
Cady tilts her head closer into Janis' neck. "I love you. I'll be here for you too. Especially if we ever have a second honeymoon and find out your childhood friends passed away."
Janis laughs. "Let's just hope this is a one-off, hm?"
"Definitely," Cady giggles. "Are you sure you're okay with being here?"
"Yeah, of course. You're grieving-"
"No, I mean... here," Cady says sheepishly.
"What, Kenya?" Janis asks, turning to look at her wife in confusion. Cady nods, fiddling with Janis' fingers. She misses seeing their rings, but they left them in Damian's care at home so they wouldn't get lost or stolen or otherwise ruined. "Of course I am, I love it here. Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's our honeymoon," Cady reminds her yet again. "But we can't exactly... celebrate."
Ah. Janis does have to admit that Kenya isn't exactly conducive to... traditional honeymoon activities. Legally and physically. "Peanut, listen, I'm here with you. We're in one of the most gorgeous countries on Earth, and we're alone together. That's all I wanted from our honeymoon. And now I get to see where my wife grew up and the place that shaped her into the woman I love."
She feels Cady smile against her shoulder.
"And we have a really nice apartment to go back to for all the other stuff."
"Janis!" Cady gasps.
"What? You brought it up. Ow!" Janis says, laughing as Cady whacks her arm and tackles her to the ground. Janis winds her arms around her and squishes her down to stop the attack. Cady wriggles futilely for a minute before she gives up and rests her head on Janis' chest.
"I should radio Jaali. I'm hungry," she says. Janis laughs and fiddles with the ends of her hair.
"Me too," she says.
"And tomorrow we get to see the elephants!" Cady says eagerly.
"Can't wait, Peanut."
——
Jaali picks them up from their spot after Cady says her goodbyes and kisses the gravestone. They drive to the research base, and Cady introduces her wife to everyone left over from her time there. Janis quietly eats her fire-cooked rice and chicken while Cady gets to know all the new people and hear all the stories she missed while she was in the US.
The sun slowly drifts to set as she fills them in on her parents, and her parents' work, and what her schooling was like, and all her new human friends she's made over the almost ten years she's been there. Janis smiles as she tells them about the wedding and shows them pictures. Everyone coos over the photos of them together and hems and haws over the ones of them in their pretty outfits.
"We should probably turn in, we're still kind of recovering from the jet lag and everything," she says when she notices Janis stifle a yawn. "Goodnight, everybody."
"Goodnight," everyone choruses. Janis waves and follows Cady to their tent, still just in earshot of the main base but separate enough for them to have plenty of privacy. Janis changes into the special lightweight linen pajamas Cady bought. At home she usually just wears a big shirt, but it's important to wear pants in the wilderness.
Cady got matching ones and changes into her own set. They clink their canteens together in lieu of fancy champagne they'd get in a hotel somewhere traditional and giggle at each other, drunk only on love.
Cady teaches Janis how to brush her teeth and wash her face without running water, and then winds her arms around her waist.
"Look up," Cady whispers, resting her head against her shoulder and shifting her eyes up to the sky. Janis follows suit and looks at the thousands of twinkling stars above them.
"It's beautiful," she whispers back.
"Look closer," Cady continues. "Do you notice anything?"
Janis squints a little, tilting her head to see what she means. Her eyes scan the entire sky, and eventually land on the full moon shining above them. "The moon's upside-down?"
"It all is," Cady giggles gently. "Well, technically, you are. But look. That's Orion. The whole thing is upside-down, see?"
"Huh," Janis replies with a chuckle, tilting her head the other way. "That must've been weird for you."
"It was a very apt metaphor at the time," Cady agrees with a laugh. She looks up at it with a delicate consideration before a gentle smile spreads across her face. "I dreamed for years about showing this to you."
"Really?" Janis replies. Cady turns to her and wraps her arms tighter around her waist, smiling up at her. Janis loops hers around her shoulders and fiddles with Cady's hair.
Cady nods. "Longer than I think you'd... think."
Janis chuckles. "How long, then?"
"It kind of started when we met," Cady explains quietly, looking at Janis' lips instead of her eyes. "I've never had a friend as good as you and Damian were, so I knew I wanted to share it with both of you at some point. And then when we were fighting, I just... I spent hours just sitting in my yard staring at that fucking upside-down sky and crying wishing I could take it all back. I wanted my person back. I wanted my home back."
Janis smiles sadly and shifts her hand to hold Cady's cheek, gently stroking her thumb across the arc of Cady's cheekbone. "You got it."
"I got you," Cady grins, finally looking Janis in the eye. Janis pulls her a little closer and leans in, so close their noses brush.
"Yeah you did," she whispers. Cady leans up and gently brushes her soft lips against Janis'. Janis happily kisses her back, still partly in disbelief that this gorgeous girl is her wife now.
"I love you," Cady murmurs, pressing her forehead against Janis'. Janis smiles.
"I love you too."
Eventually, they get tired and lie down to go to sleep, poking their heads out of their tent so they can keep looking at the sky.
And that's how they fall asleep. Tangled up in their love, beneath the light of an upside-down sky.
—————
They shifted inside their tent at some point in the night, and Janis wakes sprawled across her wife like an octopus. Cady's hands rest protectively on her back, and her chest rises and falls in a steady, soft rhythm.
Janis gives herself time to wake up in her wife's gentle hold, listening to the ever-present creatures singing their song outside. She doesn't think the bugs or the birds went quiet at any point in the night, but it was strangely soothing once she got used to it. Like an everlasting lullaby.
"Mmmmmorning," Cady grumbles when she finally wakes up, lifting her hands off Janis' back to stretch. Janis grins and kisses her cheek, making Cady smile in the middle of a yawn. "You messed me up, now I have to start over."
Janis laughs as she yawns again to get a proper one in, and kisses her again as soon as it's done. "Better?"
"Much," Cady grins. She sits up and gives Janis her own kiss before she unzips their tent and they head to get ready for the day.
———
"Come on, come on, come on!" Cady says, eagerly lugging Janis behind her to the Jeep. Jaali has some work to attend to, so they're on their own to explore today. Janis sneaks more than a few pictures of Cady running through the savanna with her hair blowing behind her.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," she chuckles. They both climb in and buckle up before Cady starts heading them to where the main elephant herd was most recently spotted.
"I have a surprise for you," Cady says with a precious smile as they putter through the wilderness. Janis looks at her wife, half excited and half very, very concerned.
"Oh?"
Cady nods, her smile growing. "You'll like it."
"Okay," Janis mutters. Cady looks at her with a pout.
"You don't trust me?"
Janis looks back at her. "There's like, at least seventeen things in my line of sight alone that could kill me out here and you know how all of it works."
Cady laughs. "You really think I'd feed you to the lions so soon after we got married?"
"Far as I'm aware it might be for the insurance," Janis grumbles. Cady laughs again and takes her hand to kiss the back of her palm.
"If the elephants squash you that's your own fault. I would never encourage anything," she says, not comforting Janis in the slightest.
"Do they squash people often?"
"Not so far."
"Oh, goodie."
Cady smiles and continues driving with that mischievous glint in her eyes. Janis does trust her wife, but the elephants are a different story.
"We're here!" Cady says, screeching to a halt and undoing her seatbelt. Janis does the same and hops out as a figure comes running over to them.
"Cady!"
"Janis, this is Durah," Cady says, gesturing to the woman. "Durah, this is Janis."
Janis shakes Durah's hand and looks between her and her wife. Durah has a matching criminal look on her face, and Janis is getting more scared by the second. "Very nice to meet you, Janis."
"You too," Janis says with a nod. "What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing," Cady hums. "Where are they?"
Durah sticks her fingers in the corners of her mouth and whistles. Nothing happens for a moment.
"What-"
"Just wait," Cady whispers in response to Janis' confusion. Janis does, and slowly she hears... thunder? No, feet.
A quiet trumpeting gives it away, and soon a whole herd of elephants comes trotting into view. Big ones, little... well, littler ones, loud ones, quiet ones. Janis really starts to question things when they don't stop running, but they stop just before trampling them.
"And these are our elephants!" Cady says eagerly, carefully approaching the foremost one. It seems to be considering her, and Cady squeals as it wraps its trunk around her waist and pulls her close. "Aww, hi!"
Janis smiles and takes another picture of her wife cuddling a massive elephant.
"This is Adira," Durah says with a chuckle.
"It is?!" Cady asks in shock, pulling back slightly, as if that grants her a better view of the massive creature towering over her. "Oh, it is! Hi, sweet girl!"
Another one comes up, somehow without Janis' notice, and snuffles at her elbow. Janis brushes it away at first, but it quickly returns. Janis shrieks when she turns and sees a massive elephant standing over her.
"Sorry. That's Chennai, he's very social," Durah says with a laugh. "He's just trying to say hello."
"Uh... hi," Janis says, gently patting the elephant's trunk. "Nice to meet you, man."
Chennai continues poking and sniffing at her. Janis squeaks and winces as he plants his trunk directly on her cheek, almost like a kiss.
"Hey dude, I'm married," she says, carefully pushing him away. Chennai moves to the top of her head and plucks her sun hat off. "Hey!"
Before Janis can do anything, he moves it to his mouth and eats the whole hat in one bite.
"Uh."
"What happened?" Cady asks, turning around from her large cuddle session. She notices Janis' hat is suddenly not there and says, "Oh."
"That won't like, kill him, will it?" Janis asks in worry.
"Nah, he'll be okay. Stinker, Chennai. Hats aren't food, silly boy," Cady chides.
Impishly, Chennai pulls Janis' hat back from wherever he had hidden it and smushes it back onto her head. Janis laughs as he returns it and trumpets teasingly as it falls over her eyes. "Oh, I like you. Prankster, eh?"
"Chennai," Durah says in exasperation. "We talked about this."
"Chennai, I thought we had something special. You do this to all the girls?" Janis gasps, feigning hurt. She laughs as the elephant tries to stick his trunk up her nose in apology. "Handsy. I'm flattered."
"Are you ready for your surprise?" Cady asks, hugging Janis' arm and reaching her other hand to pat Chennai's trunk.
"Am I?"
"You get to paint with one!" Cady says, covering her mouth like she didn't mean to say it out loud. Or at least that loud. "Surprise!"
"With... an elephant?" Janis clarifies.
Cady nods eagerly. "Isn't it cool?!"
"So cool," Janis agrees, leaning in for a kiss absentmindedly. Cady returns it, but whirls around quickly to see Durah's reaction with a frightened gasp.
"Gross," is all she says with a fond smile, and Cady sighs in relief. "This way, I have everything set up by this tree here."
They take a slow hike over to a threadbare tree with six easels set up in what little shade it can provide. Cady points to a group of giraffes across the plains as an explanation for the lack of leaves, so far away Janis can just barely spot them. She chuckles and nods.
"Chennai seems to have taken a liking to you, Janis, would you like to keep him as your buddy?" Durah asks as she sets up the paints for them to use.
"Yeah, sure," Janis nods, patting Chennai's large head. He trumpets happily and grips his paintbrush in his trunk when Durah offers it to him. Cady gets to stay with Adira, and Durah calls one named Diamond out from the herd to work with her.
Janis looks around for some inspiration, and smiles as she lays eyes on her personified muse. Cady laughs as Adira wraps her trunk around her like another hug and leans her head against it while she starts painting the mountain in the background.
Janis pencils out where she wants everything to be. The tree, the mountain, the elephants, her wife. Wife. She can't hold back a smile as she traces Cady's one errant curl, her arm outstretched to paint, the content smile of belonging on her face.
Not much is said while they paint. Casual conversation, a few stomps or bleats from the elephants, and the natural song of Kenya is all that's heard for the most part. Janis doesn't have the materials or time to do what she's ordinarily capable of, but she gets the base colors down and some basic shadows and highlights.
Chennai stamps and trumpets proudly when he finishes his painting, and Janis steps over to see. She blinks in shock at what she finds on the canvas. "Wow."
She had been expecting simple squiggles and blobs of various colors, but she's shocked to actually find an understandable picture. It's honestly better than what some of her more beginner students have produced. A green tree with the leaves in the proper place, blobby and unshaded, but still definitely understandable as a tree. And next to it is a clearly painted elephant, pictured from behind. Janis imagines this is probably what he sees most of the day traveling with his herd. A grey blob with a tail standing under his tree.
"Nice job, man," Janis congratulates, patting the elephant's side. Cady smiles seeing her so easily enjoying herself amongst her childhood friends.
Adira painted what looks to be a lovely bouquet of flowers in a vase, and Diamond's is a little more abstract. Durah does this almost every day, so hers is a basic, rough sketch of the landscape she can continue to work on later. Cady did her damndest to paint the landscape too, but she's about on par with Chennai's skill. Janis still gives her a proud squeeze and asks if they get to take them home.
"Yes, and your elephants' too," Durah replies with a smile. Cady almost melts when she sees Janis painted her, and holds it close to her chest the entire drive back to camp.
"I love you," she murmurs as they cozy up together in their tent last night, tracing Janis' face in the darkness.
"I love you too," Janis whispers back. Cady tucks into her and they drift off to sleep tangled together.
—————
"Good morning!" Cady chirps, oddly reminiscent of the way she woke Janis up on their travel day. The sun is at least up this time, so Janis is more okay with her wife sitting on her and hovering over her face.
"Hello," she grumbles sleepily. Cady pouts. Janis rolls her eyes. "Good morning."
Cady smiles. "Get ready! Jaali says he has a surprise for us today!"
Janis stares at the top of their tent with a fond, exasperated smile. She wriggles out from under the sleeping bag they're using as a blanket and follows her wife into the light of the sun.
Cady insists she get dressed as fast as possible, so Janis is still half asleep as they sit in the backseat of Jaali's Jeep, rattling through the savanna to whatever he and Cady have planned. She would ordinarily rest her head on Cady's shoulder and try her damndest to squeeze in a little cat nap, but she learned quickly that that's a fast track to a potential concussion and shoulder injury, which neither of them need just yet. Or ever, ideally.
"Jaali, where are we going?" Cady calls over the noise of the engine and the tires roving over the rough earth.
"Back to some old friends!" Jaali calls. Cady brushes her hair out of her eyes as the wind whips it every which way. "Not much further."
"Jesus!" Janis yelps as he suddenly slams on the brakes. She hadn't thought he meant that soon.
"We are here," Jaali says, climbing out of the car and helping Cady down. Janis has a handle on it now and gets out on her own, only stumbling and almost faceplanting once. "Janis, could you tell me your last name, please?"
"Me? Oh, uh... Sarkisian. Sarkisian-Heron, now," Janis stutters.
"That is what I thought. This way," Jaali says, beckoning them towards a large rock. They all crouch behind it, and Jaali hands both Cady and Janis a pair of binoculars. "When Cady introduced you I thought your name sounded familiar, but I could not put my finger on why. I checked our records yesterday, and you two have adopted one of these lions."
"Oh, Janis, that's right! My Christmas present," Cady squeals, hugging Janis' arm.
"...We don't have to take it home, do we?" Janis asks in concern.
Jaali laughs. "No, no, but I figured you would like to see her."
"Can we take her home, though?" Cady asks, peering eagerly through her binoculars.
"If you can figure out a way to get a lion onto an airplane and through American customs, and have a safe habitat for her, be my guest."
"Cads. No. We live in a one bedroom apartment, no lions," Janis says.
Cady pouts. "Fiiiiine. Which one is she, Jaali?"
"I believe... ah, just there by the rock," he says, pointing a ways in the distance. Cady and Janis both look and laugh as they see her basking in the bright sunlight on her back, belly up and paws in the air.
"Aww," Cady coos happily. "It's Cadnis, Jay."
"She's cute," Janis chuckles.
"Sleeps like you."
"Hey!"
Jaali laughs. "She is Karoo's granddaughter, Cady."
"She is?" Cady gasps. "Oh my god, how perfect."
"Karoo?" Janis asks, pulling her binoculars down for a moment to look at her wife.
"Karoo was part of the first litter that was born when I moved here," Cady replies with a smile. "He was the first lion I ever really bonded with. He kind of... set everything in motion for me."
Janis smiles and leans in to kiss her wife. Cady kisses her back and stays close to her side as they both lift their binoculars back up to peer at their lion. She's still very young, not even a year old, but she's much bigger than the fluffy little thing Janis 'adopted' online for Cady's Christmas gift.
"I didn't think you guys knew when people adopt them," Janis says absentmindedly.
"We do. We are isolated, but not that much. Someone from HQ comes out once a month to drop off supplies, and they will bring us any information relating to that," Jaali explains. "We like to tell the lions who is supporting their lifestyles."
"Cute," Janis chuckles. Cady leans her head against her shoulder, binoculars still firmly against her eyes.
They wind up sitting there all morning, until the pride moves to different hunting grounds and they lose sight of her. Cady sighs sadly, but still seems content with how the morning went. She cheers up when she gets to show Janis the giraffes, and they get to feed lettuce to a few.
"Good day?" Janis asks quietly as Cady tucks into her to go to sleep that night.
Cady nods peacefully against her chest. "It's nice being home."
"It is," Janis agrees quietly.
"I'm glad I finally get to share it with you," Cady continues softly. Janis kisses her forehead.
"I am too," she whispers. "I love you."
"I love you," Cady murmurs back, wriggling in closer and drifting off to sleep.
—————
Though they both loathe the idea, the end of their trip does come. They got to see old friends and new, make a lifetime's worth of memories, and take enough photos to fill at least six scrapbooks and photo albums.
"Do not stay away so long this time, eh?" Jaali says as he gives Cady a tight hug goodbye. Cady squeezes him tight and nods, smiling in spite of the tears tracking down her face.
"Definitely."
Jaali tips her chin up and smiles in a warm, fatherly sort of way. "You can call us anytime, now, you know. Keep in touch, Cady Heron."
"I will. Promise," Cady says with a nod.
Jaali turns to Janis. "Janis. Lovely to have met you."
"You too, Jaali. Thank you for everything," Janis replies. She reaches to shake his hand, but Jaali uses it to pull her into her own hug. Janis returns it and pats him on the back.
"Take care of each other," he says, squeezing both their hands. "Kwaheri."
"Kwaheri," Cady and Janis echo at the same time, waving as they climb into their ride back to the city.
—-
This time, Cady is much more subdued as they walk through the airport. Janis pulls her into a gentle hug. "You okay?"
Cady leans into her and nods. "Sad."
"We'll be back," Janis says quietly.
"I know," Cady sighs. "My heart still lives here. It's hard to think about leaving. But my head lives in America and really misses air conditioning and being able to kiss you in public."
Janis laughs. "Well, we'll have that in a while. And we get to go through all the memories and make our honeymoon albums."
"Once we've recovered from the jet lag," Cady reminds her. Janis groans.
"God, don't remind me," she sighs.
A voice over the speakers announces their flight. Janis gently releases her wife.
"You ready?"
Cady nods and takes her hand. "Let's go home."