Feels Like Morning In Your Eyes

(April 2nd, open to Lady & Tramp. Same time as the sunrise/Here Comes the Sun)

Slender golden legs carried the female across the camp grounds. She had taken to brisk walks in the morning. She still had something to ponder. She knew she didn't belong among the heroes, she knew it. But she could never return to Marie or Dixie or any of her friends. She had Berlioz which was good. Her Mama, her papa. Scamp. Everyone. But...but if she didn't belong with the army, what was the point of even being there? She wanted desperately to go home. Maybe that's what she needed. A sign it was time to go home.

And that sign started to peek its way over the hills.

Her little fluffy ears raised as a gasp caught in her throat. Was that...no...no way...

The SUN.

With a squeal, the female bounded towards the Dear tent. Lady would be sleeping inside, she thought. She had a plan as soon as she saw those little twinkling rays. "Mama! Mama! Wake up!" She yelped, "Come with me! C'mon! Yah gotta see this!!!"

    Lady lay comfortably on her pillow, her face buried in it's cushions, ears tucked in around her muzzle. One paw stuck over the end of the pillow, hanging limply in midair, and her back slowly rose and fell as she slumbered. She was a soft and silent sleeper, with nary a whisper of breath and she snoozed. The tent was warm, a lantern burning away in one corner and the coal powered dish heater humming away in the other. One of her ears stirred as the excited voice of the young cocker spaniel called from outside. Slowly the spaniel rose her head, eyes still closed, before letting out a wide yawn in a dainty sort of fashion. Her inner clock had been long ago set by life in the Dear residence, and her morning routine would see her wake up at the same hour every day. Even Sundays. But life in the encampment had changed that. Add to it her stint and Zira's pet, and one would find a very messed up pup in regards to sleeping.

    “Tramp...it's your turn to see what is wrong with the pups.” She absentmindedly whimpered. Her mind cast to some long ago morning in Jim Dear's kitchen. She stood to her legs, and made one great spin atop the pillow, kneading the cloth with her paws as if preparing to plop back down and return to her slumber.

    “Momma, Momma, wake up! Come with me! C'mon! Yah gotta see this!!!”

    Her eyes fluttered open, and her mind was tossed from the fog of sleep into the here and now. It wasn't Jim Dear's kitchen. It was morning on the Pridelands, and the youngest of her three daughters was now calling to her attention. As she hopped off the pillow, she allowed one good stretch of first one back leg, and then the other. There was a slight sense of urgency to her movements as she scurried. She had not seen Danielle since she made the deal with Shang for the pup's release.

    Padding over to the tent flap, Lady brushed it open with her muzzle. Suddenly eyes wide at the sight before her. Brilliant gold and orange hues bled like fire in the east over the Pridelands and beyond the encampment. The first slither of the sun peeked over the skyline in a radiant, white form. Gradually it raised, a defined circle in a vibrant backdrop. But it was the young dog who stood silhouetted in the sun's rays that called her attention. She found her heart fluttering at the sight of Danielle, seemingly excited about the sudden arrival of the sun. A warm smile split Lady's soft muzzle as her brown eyes lay upon the doofy girl.

    “Oh Dani,” The graceful spaniel exclaimed as she passed under the flap of the tent, her head craning to see the sliver of orange as the sun began to rise. “My...it's beautiful."

There she was. Danielle had always been a fan of her mother's gentle beauty. Collette had that, even Annette. But she and Scamp were the rough and tumble mutty mixes and would never share that gentle dainty morning fluff look that their mother had.

She smiled as her Mom came towards the tent flap and saw the peaking up of the sun. Her little nub of a tail batted back and forth rapidly, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she bounced up and down. Danielle placed her small paws on her mother's side before pulling down and bowing in front of her. Such a playful little thing. The spark was finally back in her eyes. She grinned. "C'mon, Mama! Let's go up one of the hills and watch the sunrise!"

It was a memory she liked. Lady had gotten the girls and Scamp up early when they were very small. The Dears were still asleep and so was Tramp. Lady took them to the landing of the step...the stained glass window. Danielle remembered how Scamp fell asleep again, Annette and Colette drifting after him. But she saw what their mother wanted her to see. The beautiful colors of the sun rise.

"Why do you think it's back now?" She asked, tilting her head towards Lady. She didn't want to dwell on her Mother's stint as Zira's pet, her own stint as a prisoner of the hero. Just a nice walk to a hill to watch the sun rise...just a brief glimpse of normalcy.

    Lady couldn't help but glow at the sight of her daughter's playfullness. She had gotten to the point now where her size was such that when she placed her paw upon her mother's shoulders, Lady felt herself be pushed back slightly with a small bit of force. Nothing painful or rough, just a bit more then she was expecting. She lowered her head and gave the younger cocker a quick nuzzle with the bottom of her chin.

    “Oh that sounds just lovely!” She chirped. “I bet we could get a real wonderful view from one of the hills near the rock.”

    Like Danielle, Lady too was reliving the memory when she dragged her pups up to the landing to watch the sun rise from the stained glass window. A sight which she herself remembered from her own puppy-hood. Trusty had once told her that the sunrise was a gift, and the long months without it's presence had only confirmed that. But it was a duel gift, for the return fo the sun paled in Lady's mind to the return of her wayward daughter. While she wasn't oblivious to Dani's problems, and she knew that Dani could not miss the great big scar marking the older spaniel like a treasure map, all that mattered to her was that her daughter was alive and alongside her.

    She gracefully trotted alongside the doofy doggie. Allowing Dani to lead the way. The sun's rays felt good that chilly April morning, and Lady could feel the very tips of her fur bristling under the feeling of warmth as the sliver of light began to blossom into a great red blot on the horizon.

    “I'm not sure,” She tilted her head slightly, mouth cocked. “But I think it has to do with love.”

    She cast her gaze around the landscape, seeing beyond the decrepit tents and shelters of the encampment. She could only guess at the real reason for the darkness, and thus the reason the sun had returned. But if there was a reason, she felt it could be found in the souls who, like her and her mate, were working only towards the good of their loved ones rather then power or greed.

    “Yes, I think it has to do with love. Love and hope. No matter how evil this world has become, no matter how the war spreads, there is still love in our hearts and hope in our minds. As long as there is such, the sun will continue to rise.”

Nothing felt better to Danielle at the moment. Really the only thing that could improve it was anyone else in her family's presence. But, as she held her head way up high, a doofy grin plastered on her face, she couldn't help but imagine this sunlight was shining over her new life. Shining bright. Shining wonderfully. Shining with purpose.

“But I think it has to do with love.”

That could be it...she pondered the thought. Love had grown in the pridelands. Her mother's sacrifice...perhaps that was part of it?
“Yes, I think it has to do with love. Love and hope. No matter how evil this world has become, no matter how the war spreads, there is still love in our hearts and hope in our minds. As long as there is such, the sun will continue to rise.”

"Mom, d'you think maybe YOU had something to do with it?" She pointed at her scar. "I mean...look at what you sacrificed. All of the stuff you went through just to save me and stuff...don'tcha think maybe...this sunrise could be just special because of you?"

    Lady held a paw up to the great X that ran right across her heart. It was a nasty badge, and it's location made it impossible to miss for anyone who was looking strait at the spaniel. One day, it might vanish into the fur of her chest. Just like the scars of this war may way day vanish from the landscape that it inflected. But for now, it was prominent and foreboding.

    She gently lowered her head and pressed her nose into the back of Danielle's head. Closing her eyes she drew the underside of her chin across the crown of the younger dog's head in a loving nuzzle. She didn't care about the scar, or the sacrifice she had made to bring her pup home. She would do it again, and again, for all of them. All that mattered was that her baby was home. She would suffer a thousand scars, deal with the likes of Zira and worse...all for her family. All of them, born from her womb or not. She had been put to the test many a time. From the first months of the war when she contemplated slamming a train into a cathedral just because of the threat of something happening to Angel, to living without any memory of her family but trusting in her love, to the most recent of trials as the pet of a tyrannical leader. The trials that left her punished with the offending tare across her chest.

    "Me, on my own? No." She beamed, chocolaty brown eyes seemingly full of wisdom. "If we had any effect on this, then it was all of us together. Our family has suffered so much because of this conflict. The fact we are even together is in itself because of love. Not just mine, but the love of your father as well. Without him...I don't know what we would have done. There is also your sisters. They made great sacrifices of their own. Your brother too is finding his way. Even Mr. Cash had a hand. Somehow we all survived."

    She turned her head to look at the rising sun. The rays catching her fur and causing a soft honey glow to surround her, highlighting the curves of her canine body. She felt that he words were true. Their little family was like the sun itself. No matter how dark or cold the night had become. No matter how long it covered the earth. They would still rise.

"No, my darling. The sun rose because of us. Because of me, and you."