The Tale's Willow

Tarzan and the Emerald 3

A/N: I just wanna dedicate this to Foustastic!

Six months had passed since Avi disappeared into the jungle. His parents hadn't given up hope, Home Free hadn't given up hope, but everyone else had. 'He's dead already, why waste your time and resources anymore?' people would say. It always angered Austin and Chance to hear comments like that. Every time they had a break, Home Free were back in the country organizing another search party.

Six months had gone by and there was still no sign of the man. It was like he'd disappeared off the face of the earth. Tim couldn't bring himself to admit there was a possibility his friend was dead. He had to stay strong. For himself, for his friend, for his band, and for the two loves of his life. Their accommodations weren't the absolute best, they weren't the Oak Ridge Boys after all, but they were in a decent hotel.

Austin was curled up in the middle of the bed sniffling. Adam was standing at the window just looking out. Rob and Chance were sitting in the only two chairs in the room while Tim was just standing in the middle of the room trying to figure out what the hell to do next. All their efforts up to that point had been in vain.

"Could we hire someone to trek into the rainforest?" Rob pondered as he stroked his beard.

"Maybe. But who knows how far they'd actually go." Tim replied with a sigh.

"He can't be dead!" Austin cried, hugging a pillow to him.

"Guys, it's been six months. I love the kid to death, but maybe y'all should think about..." Luke started out.

"NO! We are not giving up on him!" Austin shouted.

"Ok! Ok!" Luke threw his hands up in defeat, "I'll make sure we can get back here every few months. Ok?"

"There has to be something we can do!" Chance slammed his hand on the table.

"Pray." Nate said from the window.

"You're not giving up, too, are you?" Tim raised his eyebrow.

"No, I'm not. But it couldn't hurt to pray for him. Maybe God will answer our prayers to keep Avi safe." Nate turned his head to look at his friend.

"Fair enough. What else can we do? Something a little more...proactive." Tim asked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Avi didn't have a clue as to how long he'd been out in the jungle. There were things he missed. Like running water and actual toilets. He did like the relative peace and tranquility of living out there. Then there was his beautiful real-life Tarzan. Over the past six months, he'd begun teaching the blond to speak English. He could make short sentences which was amazing to Avi.

The brunette was conflicted. He definitely loved Tarzan. He enjoyed the life they had built together. But he was missing his family and friends. The blond could tell that his lover was depressed. Tarzan didn't know what to do until Avi began talking about his family and his home. More than once he had heard the brunette cry at night. This was the only life he'd ever known but Avi had grown up...in the world.

Tarzan had to make a decision. Lead his lover back to society where he would be happy or keep him there and be miserable. If he led Avi back to society, he wasn't sure he'd be happy. Staying here he knew he was happy. It was a painful decision. He didn't know what was out there. He couldn't survive anywhere but in the jungle. It came down to Avi's happiness or his own.