Tobu slowly opened his eyes to see Shisa standing over him in concern.

"Shi.......Shisa......" He said weakly.

"Are you all right?" She asked.

Tobu tried to stand,but Nex's attacks really did A number on him. "I'll be fine."

"That's good." She smiled. "But,i'm so confused."

"About what?"

"I thought Nex liked you. Why did he attack you like that?"

"Uh..........well.........." Tobu sighed. "Okay...........here's the reason why he attacked."

He made his way to the river,so that Shisa couldn't see his face.

"Nex only attacked me because.........." He gulped. "He...........found out...........I was...........im ub be dyu."

"What?"

"He found out I was.........i lukciv u."

"I can't understand you,Tobu."

He gritted his teeth. "HE FOUND OUT I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU!!"

Shisa gasped.

Tobu exhaled and turned to face her. "I love you,Shisa."

She was practically speechless. "T....Tobu........I....."

"You don't have to say anything. I understand." He sighed. "When Nex overheard me talking to myself about how I was going to tell you,he said to me he wouldn't allow A mutt like me to be your mate."

"Nex said that?"

Tobu nodded. "He said that if you ever fell in love with A male,you'll eventually suffer heartbreak and he didn't want you to go through that."

Shisa shook her head. "I don't get it. Nex said he wouldn't be overprotective of me."

"I guess his love for you as A brother caused him to go nuts. It's strange."

"Yeah........"

Tobu realized something. "Speaking of Nex,where is he?"

Shisa pointed to Nex's dead body,lying on the tree where she killed him.

Tobu opened his mouth,horrified,and turned to her. "Shisa............you didn't..........."

She nodded. "I did."

"But..........why?"

She stood silent for A moment and turned to Nex's body. "I did it to set him free."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since parent's died,he's always had the responsibility of looking out for me. He's looked out for me for so long,I think his duty as A brother took over his mind and caused him to be mentally psychotic."

She turned in Tobu's direction and held her head down. "Plus............."

"Plus?" Tobu thought.

"I did it.............because..........I love you too."

Tobu gasped. "Wha?"

"To be honest,when I first met you.............I thought you were kind of cute." She blushed. "And........when I saw how helpful and kind you were...........my feelings started to grow."

Tobu looked down at his feet. "Well,actually,............it was you that caused me to be nice,Shisa."

She was kind of confused.

"You see,before I met you,I was A hardcore kind of guy that didn't care about anyone,but myself." He turned to the river. "I stole food from other animals,I insulted them for no good reason,and many other stuff like that." He turned to her. "But,when I met you...........all of that went away because I could only focus on you."

Shisa felt really happy at that moment. She walked over to Tobu and licked the side of his face. Tobu smiled and brushed his muzzle against her fur.

They nuzzled each other. Tobu whispered to her,"Thanks for making me A better wolf."

She whispered to him. "Thank you for giving me someone to care for."

____________________________

Being the new couple they were,they decided to find theirselves A den of their own,which was A cave about 30 miles from Shisa's old one.

Inside,Shisa was tending to Tobu's wounds.

"Ouch! Not so hard." Tobu said as she brushed A leaf against his injuries.

"If I don't do it hard,the medicine it has won't take effect. Now hold still."

Tobu tried hold in his pain,but the leaf felt like spikes rubbing against his fur.

"Hey,Tobu?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you. Why were you so disgusted when we met?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know. When I started telling you about my past and you tried to walk away because you didn't want to hear anymore."

"Oh...........Well,I guess I can tell you............"

Shisa put the leaf away and sat next to him,waiting to listen.

____________________________

"You see,when I was pup,I was always so energetic and fun to be with. My parents loved me to death and always took care of me. But,when I grew older,I started to feel that I didn't need them telling me what to do anymore,so I started disobeying them until I could make my own rules."

"One day,I heard my dad talking to my mom,saying that he wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. My mother disagreed with this and begged him to let me stay. He agreed,but only until I was old enough to be on my own. Ever since I heard that talk,I disobeyed even more because I knew they didn't like it. It was like there was something inside of me that enjoyed seeing their hatred."

"When the day came when I was 2 years old,my father kicked me out. My mother tried to get me to stay,but my dad was too relieved about me leaving to let her do anything. I was glad to get out of there because now I could follow my own rules and do whatever I wanted without anybody telling me otherwise. But,at the same time,I felt A little sad."

_______________________________

"Oh my gosh." Shisa said,sadly. "That must've felt terrible."

"Nah. It wasn't that bad. I was glad to be away." Tobu frowned. "But,still.............to this day,I hate my father. Even though I know i'm the one at fault,something inside me still despises him! That's why I felt disgusted when you were talking about how you and your family shared A close bond with one another."

"I didn't realize." Shisa said. "I'm really sorry,Tobu. I didn't mean to cause you to relive that."

"Hey,it's all right." He rubbed his head against her cheek. "That's all in the past now. My future is with you."

"Oh,Tobu........" She said,lovingly. The moment was ruined when she scraped the leaf against his fur. "Now keep still. We have A long way to go before these injuries can heal."

"Ow!" Tobu yelled. "Why do you have to be so sneaky like that?"

"It's one of my talents." She smiled.