Brook flinched as she tightened her hold to the roots of a tree. She managed to get it at the last minute. It hurt worse as she had been carrying the infant in her arm, trying to not let him slip. She heard white noises as she felt a sharp pain on her leg where the roots grabbed her.

She knew that living in the jungle is dangerous. She knew that and she risked it to stay with the man she loves. Now she knows that it won't take long for the tree she's holding to collapse and kill her and the infant.

Brook wanted to do many things in her life. Hell, she also wanted to see Miss Jane again with Professor. But that's never going to happen.

"..ook!"

She gasped as she could have sworn she had heard something midst in the storm.

"Brook!"

Her eyes snapped open as she shakily looked up. Tarzan frowned climbing cautiously down the roots for her. She flinched as she heard the roots groan under their weight.

"Stop...stop!" she whispered. "It won't hold us much longer."

Tarzan looked down at the branch and she was correct about that, but he won't give up on her. He crouched slowly against the root and reached out an arm.

Brook teared up looking down at the infant. She slowly carried it towards Tarzan. He was a few inches from reaching it. The infant looked down at the girl and crawled over her arm to reach his leader.

Brook gasped as the infant jumped to his arms, making her hold the roots with both her arms. Tarzan disappeared from view and came back a few moments later and climbed down again to get her.

"Tarzan..." she whimpered.

"I'm here. Give me your hand."

She shakily nodded and slowly reached out her hand to him. She heard the root groan again and was about to bring her arm back but stopped as she stared into his desperate eyes. She gritted her teeth and reached further to his fingertips.

Tarzan crawled a little closer and managed to grab her fingers. She smiled in relief as he nodded to her. He frowned as her eyes widened behind him. He didn't need to see what was going on. He pulled her fingers to grab onto her wrist.

"Let go," he spoke.

She hesitated and let go. The momentum made her fall back a little, making her yelp as he pulled her to his arms. He dodged the tree coming at them, taking the tree Brook was holding onto. Tarzan carried her and ran further away from the disaster.

Being far from the disaster, he slowly lowered the girl to his lap. He took notice that the rain started to slow down.

Brook trembled in his arms as he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her to his chest. She was shivering from the cold.

Tarzan hoots as the infant ran towards them and started sniffing the girl. Brook opened her eyes and caringly rubbed her hand on his head. It leaned into her touch and crawled onto her lap, to conserve the little warmth she has gathered.

She coughed, turning to Tarzan, "Where are we going to go?"

Tarzan frowned. He originally wanted to go to his family but it's not a great idea. They needed to find shelter and fast. He looked through the rain and around them.

He tightened his hold on the girl as she sneezed. He stood up, with the girl and infant in his arms, and looked around. There were a few remaining trees around, and he's not sure if it would be safe to be on one if lightning can strike it.

He stopped as he suddenly found himself being familiar with these parts of the jungle. He narrowed his eyes to the tallest tree not too far from them. Looking down at his beloved, he rubbed his nose on her forehead. She shivered at the cold touch and leaned closer to his warmth.

"Hold on, Flame. I know where we can take shelter."

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Walking up the treehouse, Tarzan would constantly look down at his Flame as he neared the door. He never thought he would come back to this place after the last time he discovered what he really was.

He lowered the girl to the floor as he went inside to check if there were any predators. Fortunately, there weren't any and carried the girl and the infant back inside.

The inside was covered in branches, most of the stuff was broken. Just the way he remembered. He looked back in the room and found a blue blanket. Dusting off the blanket, he wrapped it around them as he walked back to the door and barricade it with anything heavy.

Brook sneezed, dizzily looking around. She frowned as she took in the place. It wasn't a cave or in the middle of the forest. In fact, it was a house. There were some windows shattered. Furniture was broken or fallen to the wooden floor. The whole room was covered in plants.

It was falling apart.

She squinted through the darkness to find two rooms not far from them. She lowered the sleeping infant into a crib. The plants over the years grew and hugged everything in sight.

She looked around, wandering herself toward Tarzan who stopped what he was doing and stare at her in silence.

She lightly gasped as she saw blood spots on the floor. There were also paw prints smudged on the floor next to her. She stopped when she saw glass on the floor and picked up the frame.

The flash of lightning shined through the windows for a moment for her to get a glimpse of a man, a woman, and a baby.

She gasped seeing the resemblance in the baby with someone she knew. She hesitantly brought the picture in front of Tarzan and sighed as she finally realized it.

"It was your home, wasn't it?" she whispered.

Tarzan nodded, walking to her and looking down at the picture.

"Sabor killed them. Kala found me," he spoke.

Brook cupped his jaw, making him turn to her. "I'm sorry, for what happened. I know that these people were wonderful and are proud of the kind of person you have become."

He leaned into her touch, grabbed her other hand, and placed it on his chest. "You are my home."

She softly smiled at him. "And you are mine."

Tarzan stopped as he felt warm moisture in her hand and lowered it to see a cut on her palm. He gasped looking at her.

"The roots I held on had splinters on it. Thankfully, they were too stiff to stick on my skin," she explained.

Tarzan looked around and sighed in relief to see the rainwater pooling into a large wooden bowl. He gently dragged her to it and used ripped wool to clean the wound and the mud on her.

She blushed slightly, "You don't have to do that."

"I care for mate always," he smiled at her. She smiled back, turning to the infant that was comfortably sleeping on the crib.

"It has been a long day, we should rest," she whispered. He nodded, cleaning off the last mud on her face, arms, and legs. Wrapping around the wound with the now clean wool, he carried her to the other room.

She chuckled as she saw a makeshift bed, large for the both of them. Tarzan dragged the crib into the room where he can see the infant and lay down with his Flame.

As he lay, she turned to his side and laid her head on his chest. Placing her arm on his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist and slept.

This was the first time in a while, they were able to sleep in with the company in their arms.

Published: March 7, 2022

Word Count: 1340