Sunrise

"Please, take me to see the sunrise!"

Little Ua was going to be the death of him. That much, Cuore was certain of. But when the adorable little orange and white cub came bouncing up to him, he always gave her his full attention. It was rare that she got so excited, normally being such a quiet and calm cub, so he always enjoyed seeing what invoked such a reaction in her to break through her mature attitude.

"The sunrise?" He said with amusement, tilting his head as his tail curled around his paws. "Why?"

"Tenga says that it's pretty," she explained, still bouncing on her paws, "and since you're so smart, you must know all about it. So you can answer any questions I have when we go."

She said it in such a matter-of-fact manner, as if it was already decided. And yet, even before she'd given her explanation, he'd known there was no way he wasn't going to take her to go see it. To have the cub he basically considered his niece express interest in seeing something he adored so much was unexpected but exciting, and now he was incredibly eager to satiate the young cub's curiosity.

The fact that she also chose to consider him to be smart enough to answer all her questions certainly didn't hurt her case either. She reminded him so much of himself as a young cub, looking up at his mother (just the thought of her made his heart twinge with pain or guilt, or perhaps both) and asking her about why the sunrise occurred. By the rose, he hoped that she would never go through the pain that he did following that time. He just wanted to see her curiosity get nursed and her skills honed.

And yet, even now he knew she was hurting too. How could she not be, as an orphaned cub when she was so little? Her sister, Jino, might be aggressive and angry, but Ua, in all her maturity and patience and intelligence, would see beyond it to the deeper questions. Cuore could see already how protective Ua was of her sister, despite Jino being the one that was the fighter, but where Jino would want to know why, Ua would most likely actually succeed.

"I'll take you tomorrow morning," he promised, desperate to ignore the sad trail his thoughts had decided to follow, and Ua squealed her thanks before scurrying off, no doubt eager to tell Tenga that he'd said yes.