Edie would always find a way to coax a smirk from Kato at her antics. She was a little spitfire for sure. The smirk however was short lived at the way her whole body stiffened and her features wiped clear of her determined playful fighting and was replaced with something far different and new. He was taken aback by Edie pulling away from him; this wasn't the cranky whining trying to pull away from him that had started the morning. For a moment he could only stare in confusion as Edie quite literally lost it. He had never before seen a panic attack so was at a loss on what he was supposed to do though the clear panic on Edie's face called Kato to do something.

Kato could only crouch down in front of her and try to remind her to breathe. Perhaps she had thought she wasn't doing it right before she hadn't moved him? He tilted her head and questioned her in his attempt to figure out the cause. Her response caused his brows to furrow, "Scared?" But he needn't press for further information as the words tumbled from Edie's lips. Kato hadn't meant for her to feel like she was to practice full force on him. For that he felt sorry, to have made her feel that way, to scare her so much. However, it was beyond just simply hurting him. It was losing him...in every sense. As Kato looked back at Edie, he saw in her eyes that same frantic desperate pleading that he himself had had whispering those same words to his wife as she slipped away in his arms. It caused every muscle in the man's body to tense.

It took a moment for Kato to move again but when he did he slowly pressed closer to Edie, wrapping his arms around her reassuringly as he guided them to lay on the earth. He was quiet and stiff, something that was unusual for him around her, his gaze fixing on the sky above that was lightening from the rising sun peeking over the forest treetop. Finally, he spoke in an even tone, "Many, many years ago the Sun and the Moon lived together on the earth. Water was their best friend and they often came to see him. But water never went to see the Sun and the Moon in their house. "Why don't you come to see us?" the Sun once asked him. "I have too many friends," Water answered, "they will come with me. I'm afraid there will be no place for them in your house." "But I shall build a new big house," the Sun said. And the Sun built a very big house and then asked Water to come to him. Water came with all the fish and water animals. "May I come in with all my people?" Water asked. "Yes, come in," the Sun said. Very soon Water in the house was knee-deep for the Sun. Then in a minute Water was up to the Sun's head and came higher and higher with all the fish and water animals. At last Water was so high in the house that the Sun and the Moon went on to the roof and sat there. But soon Water came up on to the roof. What could the Sun and the Moon do? Where could they sit? And they went up to the sky. They liked the place and began to live there."

It was calming for the man to fall back on a fairytale of his childhood, using it as a way to distract Edie from her panic and soothe her breathing once more. Only once Kato had finished his tale did he turn his head to look at Edie, "Life is a cycle, you have to be strong to earn your place in it but also strong to accept the losses in it. Africa is my home....my heart. But, I...I don't think I'm strong enough to accept more loss though." This wasn't exactly where Kato thought their morning was headed, laying in the grass with his arms wrapped around Edie, having a version of that talk. His past wasn't something he spoke about; even his herd members back home avoided the very subject. "I need you to be strong. I need you to be careful. I need that because there are things in this world that can take you that you can't see or fight back at." With the utmost care Kato tucked a lock of Edie's hair behind her ear before grazing his thumb gently across her bottom lip. "I can't lose you too, Little Dove."