Hello, hello, my dear readers! I cannot express my apologies enough for not writing anything in months! I have been hospitalized for nearly a month and then recovering and doing school work for the remaining time. Again, I apologize greatly for not writing a new chapter! I hope you enjoy this one, though!

The summer days were beginning to grow cooler and cooler. During the day, it was a comfortable 75 degrees, and at night, the temperatures dropped to about 60 degrees, allowing the circus animals to snuggle up in their soft, new blankets. This particular morning, however, it was raining heavily.

The circus animals rubbed sleep from their eyes as they opened the sliding doors on their train cars. It was raining far too hard to do anything today without fearing for their safety.

"What are we going to do today?" Alex asked, half yawning, half growling.

"Ve have performance in five days. Ve must do something," Vitaly stated. Gia jumped from the train car and stood in the rain.

"He is right. We must practice in the rain." With a flick of her spotted tail, she ran towards the circus equipment that had already been set up days before.

Sighing, the rest of the circus animals followed their friend to their equipment.

A few minutes later, Alex and Gia stood on either side of the trapieze, the bar in their paws.

"Are you ready?" Gia called out, preparing to jump.

"Gia, I don't think-" he started.

"Go!" the jaguar shouted, cutting the lion off and jumping off of the platform. Alex did the same and began to fly towards the other feline.

All was going well so far. As the two felines let go of their bar, they did a series of mid-air flips. When they reached out to grab the next bar, however, their already soaked paws slipped from the bar, sending them plummeting to the net. They landed with a grunt and stared at each other.

"I told y'all this wouldn't be a good idea!" shouted Marty from the cannons, which wouldn't light due to the water. Gia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"I guess we go back to the train," Gloria offered. Melman nodded and they began to walk back to their section of the train. Everybody else began to follow suit, happy to get out of the violent rain and into the warmth of their train. Alex hopped up into their train car and reached a paw down to help Gia up. She annoyedly grabbed it and then went to sit on her bed. Alex looked back at her with a slight chuckle.

"Awh, c'mon. Don't be like that. It's just one day! We needed a break anyway!"

"We need all the practice we can get. Besides, what are we going to do all day?"

Alex thought for a moment. He had a bright idea that would allow them to do something and let him learn more about her. "What if we just get to know each other a bit more?"

Gia's eyebrows went up. Really? Get to know each other? She sighed. "I suppose. There is nothing else to do." Alex smiled and walked over to his own bed, sitting in it.

"Do you want me to go first?" At her nod, Alex began telling his beautiful, exotic friend about his life.

"Well, you know I'm from a zoo, but that wasn't where I was born," he began. Gia's eyes lit up for a second, but went back to normal the next.

"It's true! I was born on the plains of Africa. My dad was the king of our pride. He would always try and teach me to be a vicious lion, but I was more into dancing," he said with a slight chuckle. Gia smiled and imagined the little, dancing cub.

"Until one day," he continued, "I was luered out of my protected land by poachers." Gia gasped.

"They stuffed me in a box and started to drive away. I cried for my dad over and over until he finally heard me and started chasing the car. I kept screaming for him to catch up. He finally had my box in his paws, but the hunters shot him in the ear. My box fell off of the car and into a river. I was floating away from where my dad was running."

"Alex," Gia started, a sympathetic look written all over her face.

"It's okay. Years later, we flew to Africa from an island we were stuck on and I saw him again. I was banished from the pride when I lost a battle to this giant lion. After that, we swam to Monte Carlo and then crashed our plane in the train park. That's when we met you," he finished.

"Wow," Gia said when he finished talking. "You have been through a lot. I am sorry we treated you so harshly when we met."

"It's no big deal. We're all friends now, so everything is good! Your turn." He gestured to her. She sighed and began her story.

"I suppose you would have found out eventually, so I will tell you. I was born in Italy," she started.

"In the jungle? Are there jungles in Italy?" Alex asked suddenly.

"Well, no," she replied, her voice getting more quiet.

"Then...," the lion began, trying to figure out what the catch was.

"I was born in a zoo," the jaguar stated. She bowed her head in shame and closed her eyes. "My mother had always made me forget my dreams of doing something different. I wanted to share my talents with the world; to entertain people with them. She told me to stop filling my head with such stupid thoughts. When I left the zoo, she disapproved and told me that I was not her daughter. I met the circus soon after. They rescued me from hunger and dehydration. I owe my life to them."

By the time she had finished her story, Gia had tears filling up in her beautiful, ember-coloured eyes. Alex felt his heart break. He scooted over and gathered the now sobbing exotic beauty in his arms, stroking her fur.

"It's alright, Gia. You've got people who love you here. We're your family now and we all approve and love what you're doing," he whispered in a sincere tone. She looked up, tears still shining in her eyes and smiled.

"There's that beautiful smile!" Alex shouted, happy that the jaguar was no longer crying. She smiled brighter and nuzzled her nose against his cheek.

"I do not know where I would be without you, Alex," she whispered. And with that, the two felines fell asleep with the new knowledge of each other's existence, curled up in each other's arms. They wouldn't be cold tonight.

I think it was pretty good for something I made up on the spot. I apologize if you think it was a bit short. I was going to upload this earlier, but I slept for a great amount of time and spent the rest of my time outside, for it was so lovely today! Thank you all for the get well reviews and messages! I hope you enjoy the rest! Please feel free to stop by my inbox and say hello!

-Elettra.