Julie and the Jungle Girl

A Chance To Belong

Kimi was allowed to recover from the shock of killing Leo for the next couple of days. Julie and Kaitan did their best to comfort and try to talk to her about the incident, but she wasn't in much of a mood to talk. Even Ginger, who, as a wild cat, came and went as she damn well pleased, crept into the treehouse to try and help her feel better. Alas, the cat's efforts were in vain, and just made Kimi shove her off her lap. The cat didn't appreciate that, but she was lucky the cat liked her, otherwise she was going to abandon her at the earliest sign of trouble.

She sat in Julie's nice armchair, staring at her knees and shaking hands. Her face was pale, and—oh, dear. Julie noticed her starting to retch. So she rushed to grab a trash can and got it next to the chair right as Kimi let out yet another liquid laugh.

"Hold on, I'll call the researchers," Julie said. "Maybe they'll have some valium."

"I don't wanna be drugged!" Kimi complained.

"I don't want to drug you up, either," said Julie. "I was just trying to make a suggestion."

Kimi groaned and pulled her knees up to her chin. The Jungle Girl sat on one of the armrests and held the Australian close to her. It was nothing romantic (SO GET THAT OUT OF YOUR HEAD), but just someone trying to comfort a friend. "Come on," Julie whispered. "It'll be okay. You'll be okay."

"I killed someone," she said for the fiftieth time.

Julie wasn't entirely sure if the girl was beyond recovery. There wasn't anything she could think of to say. But then Kimi continued.

"And he would've killed me."

Julie was surprised, and stared at the Australian. "What?"

"I could see it in his eyes," she said. "He hated me. And he wanted to kill me."

Julie leaned forward, her expression serious, but curious as well. "How do you know that?"

"The last thing I remember was my foster da' giving me the same look," said Kimi. It must've been pretty striking if she could remember something like that. "And I had to fight."

"Fight-or-flight," said Julie. "Adrenaline does crazy things."

"Have you killed people?"

Julie sighed, laid her head back, closed her eyes and winced. "Yes," she said. "I've never gotten used to it."

Kimi stared up at Julie, but also remembered the men she shot and stabbed over the past two days. She sighed again before leaning back against the seat. "Are you trying to justify your actions or something?" Julie asked.

Kimi shrugged and made a sound that was like "I dunno", shrugging to get the point across.

"Are you trying to explain it?"

"I dunno."

"So you think you'll be okay?"

This time, Kimi looked up to her and smiled. The smile was weak, but the look in her eyes carried the hope and determination Julie was looking for, which made Julie smile at her protégé. She weakly nodded her head, but it was enough to make Julie smile wider and pat the younger girl on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you," said Julie. "No matter what."

Kimi could not help but jump up and tackle Julie with a crushing hug. Julie hugged her back, whispering words of encouragement. When she saw Kaitan looking at them in envy, she motioned to her primal mate to come hither and join them. The Jungle Dude smiled and came over to envelope both protégés—one of which was his mate, of course—in a tight hug of his own. It was after 30 seconds that all three realized the cheesiness of this moment, though heartwarming, and broke apart in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.