All characters in this story belong to Machungwa63 and Kovukono, and are not to be used without the permission of the writers.

oOo

I Shouldn't Love You

"What are you looking at Tanzia?" Azimo asked her mate.

"Those lions by that rock over there, there's a den built into it that has been unoccupied for over three years and now someone's decided to move into it."

"But I thought that place belonged to us now? It's a part of our lands."

"Exactly. I thought I could trust Lingwa when he agreed on that truce, turns out I was wrong."

"How do you know it's him?" Azimo asked, trying to make sure that Tanzia was not going to lose it again.

"How can it not be him? Why would someone want to live there unless they were planning an attack? Haven't you ever been to that den Azimo? It's a dump!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad," Azimo replied.

oOo

"Jabari, this place is a dump!" Kifaa's voice was barely recognizable as she wrinkled her nose to keep out the smell.

"It is now, but if we just sort a few things out this place will be as clean as a hyena-gutted carcass."

Kifaa rolled her eyes at the imagery. "That will take forever! I thought we only had eight days left."

"We do. Come on, let's get started." Jabari walked over to the side of the den where a big branch had fallen off of a tree just outside the den, and had then came through the roof. He began slicing off some of the smaller branches off of it with his claw, knowing it would be lighter to carry out that way and that he could patch the roof up with some mud later.

He looked back over at Kifaa who hadn't moved, "Well aren't you going to help?" She didn't reply. "Come on, just think of your motivation. You came to me because you wanted to help me get back with Weusi right? This is the only way." Still Kifaa remained rooted to the spot. Jabari stopped slicing and looked up at her. "That is why you came, right?"

"Half of it is, yes." She knew it would have to come out sooner or later.

"Well what's the other half?"

Kifaa sighed. "Well, honestly, I just wanted Weusi to get better." She bit her lip; she'd been holding it back for two long days. It had to come out now. "Your daughter was distraught about her."

"You mean after she left?" Kifaa nodded. "Well that's a good goal to bear in mind; we can all fit in here perfectly once we've got this place sorted out. Trust me, Weusi loved this den, I complained that it was too big."

"Jabari . . . I don't know how to tell you this, but . . . but . . ."

"Well come on out with it then!"

"Aushi's gone Jabari, she's dead!"

Jabari stood for a while with his mouth slightly open as he stared at the weeping Kifaa in disbelief. "How did she die?" he asked in barely a whisper.

"You don't want to know," said Kifaa through her tears.

"How did she die, Kifaa?"

Kifaa knew Jabari well enough now to know that if he asked the same question twice, he demanded a better answer. "Suicide," she managed to get out before she burst into a pool of tears.

Though Jabari was still in disbelief himself, he went over to Kifaa and put a paw around her. "You were right, you know, Kifaa."

She sniffed, "About what?"

"I didn't want to know."

Kifaa didn't know why, but she let out a small laugh, then looked up into Jabari's eyes, "You're getting better Jabari, you really are."

oOo

Takasa stared down at his bride. Weusi lay still on her back on the floor of their den, still asleep. Takasa smiled. He wanted to make this work for the both of them. She had jumped at the idea of marriage so eagerly. All he had done was mention the idea as a passing joke, and the next day he had found himself before the shaman.

He loved her, there was no doubt about that. Even when she had been with Jabari. He would have given anything to trade places with Jabari. Maybe Jabari had been right, maybe he had been up to something. He never thought he had, but maybe, just maybe, he'd been a little more polite to Weusi.

Yet she was different now. There always seemed to be an urgency about her, a need to move with him. She denied it when he asked her about it. Maybe it was in his head. He just couldn't shake the notion that she needed to keep him close, keep him near to her, just to keep herself happy.

Or it could be that she just loves me. Takasa smiled.

He kissed her gently on the cheek and nuzzled her. She sleepily opened her eyes and smiled up at him. She took a forepaw and wrapped it around the back of his head, bringing his head down close. She kissed him passionately. "Now," she whispered quietly.

"This early?"

"I love you, Takasa." She rolled over and kissed him again.

"I love you, too."

"Come on," she said. "I want you."

Takasa grinned. "How Jabari handled you, I'll never know."

Takasa could see the flame in Weusi's eyes falter for a moment. What he saw scared him. It was almost panic. It was gone in a moment. "Jabari's gone." She stood up and kissed him, putting a foreleg over his body. "I want it all gone. I want you, Takasa."

"Weusi—" He was cut off as she nuzzled him.

"I want your cubs, Takasa. I just want to stay here with you."

"It's a little early to think about cubs, isn't—"

"I'll have your cubs, Takasa." She smiled down at him, serene in her happiness. "Just me and you and some cubs. We can be perfect."

"Sounds like you've got it all planned out."

Once again, her eyes faltered. She kissed him enthusiastically, pressing her body as close as she could. Takasa gave in to her passion, giving her what she desired. She lay back after it was over, staring at the ceiling. She could feel an emptiness. She nuzzled Takasa.

"It'll be perfect again," she whispered.

oOo

"Tanzia, for Aiheu's sake, don't do this!" Tanzia was just about to walk out of their den to go and let the lions go. Tanzia stopped and looked back at his mate who was standing up and eager to stop him.

"Why not Azimo?"

"How do you even know that it is someone from Lingwa's pride? If they were going to attack us they would've done it last night, or you would think they'd have done a better job at hiding themselves."

"Azimo, you can never be sure."

"Exactly, so why are you sending in half of the pride as an army to . . ."

"When did I say I was sending them in as an army?"

"Well you are sending in half of the pride. You said you only saw two yesterday."

"You can never be—"

"I can never be sure, right, I know, got it. But you know, you said that to me last time when you thought there was a clan of hyenas roaming the place. You stopped us from hunting for four days to lead them into a trap, and we find out that it was just one hyena that was so weak he had been thrown out of his clan. My mom almost starved!"

"Well what do you think I should do?" Tanzia almost shouted back at her.

Taken aback, Azimo just shrugged her shoulders and said, "send maybe, just like five of them out."

"They won't be too happy about that . . ."

Azimo sighed. "Tanzia," she said in her best pleading voice that she could put on.

Tanzia looked at his mate who looked straight back at him in the eyes. "Alright then, twenty."

"Five."

"Twenty-five?"

"No, Tanzia, five."

"Fifteen."

"Five."

"Fourteen."

"Tanzia!"

"Okay, ten."

"F . . ." Azimo stopped; she knew it was best not to get too deep into an argument with her mate. "Fine."

"Ten?"

"Sure, go ahead, ten."

"Male or female?"

"We don't have ten males."

"But I have three brothers."

"Sure, send them out then."

Tanzia smiled and turned back around to go. "As you insist Azimo." Tanzia walked off.

"Gods, why did I ever marry him?"

oOo

"Jabari, may I ask you something?" Kifaa asked as she pushed some loose dirt on the floor out into the open with her paw.

"Go ahead."

"If in seven days Weusi and you are not back together, what are you going to do?"

"Weusi and I will be back together in seven days, Kifaa."

"I thought you said that . . ."

"Forget about what I said!" Jabari had stopped working and was glaring right at Kifaa, "We will be back together Kifaa, in seven days, Weusi and I."

Jabari started to get back to work. After a few seconds, Kifaa did also. Once she thought she'd given Jabari enough time to calm down, she asked him again.

"But, you know, if not?"

Jabari peeled off another clump off moss off from the wall. "Then I'm afraid you'll have to lose your virginity."

Jabari was expecting a wild remark or shout or protest or something to come back from Kifaa, but none ever came.

Instead, she just said quietly, "too late."

Jabari looked back at her bewildered. "What do you mean? I thought you'd . . ."

"I was raped Jabari, okay? Leave it!" Jabari put the moss down and continued to look at her slightly shocked. "Why do you think Issa and I never liked males?"

"You—your sister was raped too?"

"No, that's an even worse story. I don't really want to talk about it right now."

Jabari looked down at the ground. He had never really thought that anything like that had ever had happened to her. She seemed like such a nonchalant character that was just trying to help him out, he'd never really thought that she may have had concerns of her own.

Jabari put it in the back of his mind though and looked back up at the roof; they still had work to do. "Hey, Kifaa? Are you any good with spiders?"

"Depends, why?"

"I think I just disturbed a nest when I pulled this piece of moss off."

Kifaa walked over. He sure had disturbed a nest of now scattering spiders. They weren't too big, although there were quite a lot of them.

"Let them scatter. Come on Jabari, help me over in this corner."

Jabari followed her over. "What are you doing?"

"Just sweeping the dust off the floor, I had a hard time last night trying to find somewhere good to sleep in here, figured this would help."

Jabari watched her for a few moments trying to see where she was sweeping it all to. He truly believed that there were bigger jobs to be done. But, there was a purpose to what she was doing; he had to give it that.

"You know, I always wondered what it would be like if I'd ever meet the lion that I loved. It would be an experience, fill an empty hole you know. I guess it is something I'm missing in life . . ."

"You're really trying to seduce me, aren't you?"

Kifaa glared back at him and immediately Jabari wish he'd took it back. He'd gotten on so well with Kifaa and she'd helped him quite a lot, he didn't want her to walk out on him too.

"Sorry."

Kifaa sighed. "Get on then."

"What?"

"Come on, Jabari, I want to see what it's like." She jumped over and pushed Jabari over until her was lying flat on the floor on his back with her standing on top of him. "Let's do it!"

"Kifaa, now really . . ." Jabari kept stammering, she was undoing everything that she'd taught him over the last few days and now Jabari wasn't too sure that he should be going this way.

Kifaa stepped off of Jabari and lay down on the ground next to him. "Come on Jabari, I'm desperate."

Jabari didn't need any more persuading. He rolled over and slowly started to do what he thought and almost hoped that he would never get to do, but he was enjoying it. Well, he was for now anyway.

"Is there anybody in there?"

"Let me check."

Jabari stopped and opened his eyes, looking over at the entrance.

"Jabari? Why'd you stop?" Kifaa looked over too and gasped.

There they were; the three males and seven females that Tanzia had sent out. It was obvious to all of them what they had been doing, even to those who hadn't been able to see them in the corner straight away, as Jabari was still on top of Kifaa.

"Um . . . hi," one of the lions at the front said, trying to break the awkward situation.

Jabari just nodded back.

"Um . . . you two wouldn't happen to know a lion by the name of Lingwa would you?"

Kifaa shook her head. Jabari replied, "No, no, never heard of him," quietly.

"Alright," he finished. An awkward silence followed which was broken by the sound of two of the females giggling at the back.

"Well, we best be off now," the lion at the front said, "bye."

"Alright, bye," Jabari replied in the same low voice.

As soon as they were out of eyesight he got off of her.

Kifaa remained on her spot on the ground. "That was so embarrassing," she finally said.

Jabari looked back down at her. "It was an experience though, wasn't it?" Kifaa smiled a little. "It's probably for the better that we didn't . . . you know. Come on, let's finish fixing this place up."

oOo

Weusi woke up. There she was, lying on the ground in the comfort of her and Takasa's den. She couldn't see Takasa at first but she wasn't worried. It wasn't the first time; he was probably out lapping up some water or maybe even hunting.

The more she thought about it the more both ideas actually started to appeal to her. She got up in hopes of going outside and filling herself up. However, she hadn't even broken out into the daylight yet when she saw Takasa standing just outside of their den, staring off into the distance.

Weusi came up to the side and nuzzled her mate.

"Morning, love," Takasa said as he nuzzled her back.

"Morning. What you doing up so early?"

"I—I was just wondering whether we should move."

"Move?" Weusi asked surprised. "Why?"

"Well, there's a pride of lions that lives just over there, I've never really worried about them that much but now that I have you with me, you know, I don't want to get both of us into trouble."

"Really? How big is their pride?"

"Fairly big. If they wanted to attack us we wouldn't stand a chance, and I've ticked them off a few times before when I've gone out hunting. It's probably only just a matter of time."

"You're starting to scare me now Takasa."

Takasa smiled. "So you're with me on that we should move then?"

"Definitely."

"Today?"

"Sure."

"Wanna have a drink or something before we leave?"

"Yeah. You're sure you can't sort things out with that lion?"

"Doubt it." Takasa got up and started to make his way towards the waterhole with Weusi. "Lingwa's not the negotiating type."

oOo

"Nymphos?" repeated Tanzia.

"Well who else would be—you know—right in the middle of the afternoon."

"Yes, totally shameless," said Tanzia. "Now skipping over the sex which has been discussed for the past five minutes—what do you think they're up to?"

"Well, I don't think they're Lingwa's," said Usiku, Tanzia's brother. "Least, I've never seen the male over here."

"Ooh," said a lioness, "he could have taken one of Lingwa's lionesses, and now they're on a romantic honeymoon—"

"Enough sex!" said Tanzia. He sighed. "Look, why don't I just go over there myself?"

"By yourself?" asked Azimo. "There're two of them!"

"Fine. Usiku, you're with me. We'll go tomorrow."

oOo

Jabari stared out of the den, looking at the moon. Almost a full one. He could never remember how to tell if it was waxing or waning, though. It was a few days shy, either way. He tried to close his eyes and sleep. Six days tomorrow morning. He turned over and stared at Kifaa. Without thinking, her got up and lied next to her.

He wanted her, he knew that. She knew that. And that morning . . . if only there hadn't been that interruption. He could smell her scent. He pressed his muzzle to her pelt, smelling her. It had been so long since he had been with a lioness.

It was because of Weusi.

Do you really think she loves you anymore? But look at her. She's just as nice as Weusi.

She's not Weusi.

She could be. She looks like her. She feels like her, with that smooth, velvety coat. And she's so much better—

I'm still married.

Technicality. You know you want her. And she wants you. Go on, what's the harm? Yes, run your paw over her just like that. She's yours . . .

Jabari felt himself becoming more and more aroused as he gave attention to the lioness. He heard Kifaa purr and he let his actions become more aggressive. It didn't take long to let himself work up to where they had suddenly left off. The lioness had been haunting his mind all day and now, finally, here he was.

"Jabari?" Kifaa had woken up. "Jabari, what are you—Jabari, stop!"

"Hang on a sec, Kifaa—"

Kifaa squirmed out from underneath him and felt Jabari try to push her back down. She instinctively swiped out at him and heard his cry of pain as she caught his face with her claws. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she yelled.

All of Jabari's resolve had suddenly vanished. "Kifaa, I—uh—look, I can explain—"

"I thought you had changed, Jabari!" She turned and ran out of the den.

Jabari ran to the entrance of the den. "Kifaa, wait!" It was no use. He'd never be able to catch her.

What have I done?

Well, at least you had a good time.

I have got to stop listening to you.

oOo

Weusi stared at Takasa, the lion snoring next to her. If he had a bad quality, that was it. At first it had been annoying, but by now it was almost soothing. She left him as she walked out of the den to relieve herself.

When she was finished, she walked over to the water hole for a drink. As she lowered her head down to the water, she heard a strange sound. She froze, listening. It almost sounded like crying. She walked around the waterhole slowly, looking for its source and nearly stepped on it before she saw it. Weusi gasped. "Sis?"

Kifaa gasped. "W-Weusi! What are you doing here?"

"I live here now. Kifaa, what are you doing?"

"I—Weusi, it's awful, I got raped!" Kifaa blurted out, tears streaming down her face.

"No," whispered Weusi. She laid down next to Kifaa, putting a protective arm over her. "What happened?"

"He just—I was asleep and he just—Kifaa, I trusted him!"

"Who was it? Firiki?"

"No, I haven't seen Firiki in days. Weusi, I never wanted this to happen again!" Kifaa buried her head in Weusi's shoulder, sobbing.

"Who was it, Kifaa?"

"It—it was Jabari."

Weusi froze. "Who?"

"Weusi, I'm so sorry, it was Jabari, I didn't mean to, I swear—"

"It was who?!"

"Please don't be mad at me, Weusi."

"I'm not mad at you," said Weusi coldly. She pressed Kifaa tighter to her. "Shh. It'll be okay. Just let your big sister take care of everything."

oOo

It was morning by the time Jabari was able to fall asleep. He had spent the night drenched in guilt. It seemed like only five minutes had passed before he was woken up by a set of claws embedding themselves in his chest. He roared out and instinctively and blindly swiped at the intruder, missing completely. "Kifaa?"

"Jabari," she said coldly.

"Kifaa, please, you have to believe me, I'm so sorry, please, I swear it'll never happen again. Please, I just want a second chance."

"You're running up a pretty big list of second chances. First Weusi, then me—oh, and we can't forget your father . . ."

Jabari cringed. "I'm sorry. You have to believe me. I never meant to—"

"You raped me, Jabari."

"Kifaa, I'm sorry. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Please, you have to believe me."

Kifaa idly pawed at the ground for a few seconds before looking back up at Jabari. "I'm willing to give you one—one—more chance, if only because there has to be one good thing underneath all of that shit."

"Thank you—oh gods, thank you, Kifaa—"

"You're sleeping outside."

"Whatever you say."

"Now."

Jabari obediently walked outside and lied down. Kifaa lied down inside, staring at Jabari, before she finally fell asleep. Jabari smiled and closed his eyes.

oOo

"Who's that that lives over there again?" asked Weusi.

Takasa stretched and yawned. "Lingwa."

"What's he like?"

"Real asshole. That's why we're leaving, remember?"

"You think we could stay here a little while longer?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, I was kind of getting used to it. Maybe we could work something out with him."

"Weusi, I told you, Lingwa doesn't talk. If he gets annoyed, he'll kill first and send flowers later."

"Just a few more days, Takasa. Will that really hurt that much?"

"Weusi—"

"A few more days."

Takasa smiled. "Fine." He kissed his mate on the cheek. "Although I may need a little more—persuasion."

Weusi shot him a look that should have struck him dead.

"Or . . . not." Takasa sighed. "I love you, you know that?"

"Yes," said Weusi. She kissed him. "So we'll stay here."

oOo

Weusi walked confidently into the den after the cheetah. It had taken a remarkably small amount of persuasion to convince the cheetah to give her an audience with the king. As Weusi looked around the den, she could see lionesses lying everywhere, most of them with varying colors of pelts. It meant two things: either this pride was naturally diverse, or most of them had come to the pride and had been "acquired."

From the docile looks of the lionesses, the second was most likely true.

Weusi was led through the lionesses lying on the ground, all of them staring as she passed. There were a few cubs that she could see, but none of them had a trace of mane fur. It seemed the barbaric practice of running off males was still active.

She was led into a somewhat private section of the den, the main part being unable to see what was happening inside. She found a large, well-built lion pleasing himself on a lioness, who appeared as if she wasn't enjoying it quite as much as he was. "You have a visitor, sire," said the cheetah.

It wasn't until the lion had finished that he turned to look at Weusi and the cheetah, smiling when he saw Weusi. He hit the lioness underneath him on the rump. "Out." The lioness limped out of the den, the cheetah following her. Weusi was suddenly aware of just how alone she was.

The lion licked his lips as he began to circle her. "So, what brings you here?"

"I came to ask you for a favor."

The lion chuckled, his full black mane shaking as he did so. "My 'favors' come at a price."

"I'm willing to pay," said Weusi. "Price isn't an object."

"Mm . . . then why don't we start?" asked the lion. He moved toward her.

Weusi put a paw on his muzzle. "I need you to kill someone."

The lion's eyes widened in surprise. He laughed out loud, the sound filling the den. "And what makes you think I'd be interested?"

"I've heard rumors," said Weusi, brushing up against him. It sickened her to use herself like this. If Takasa knew what she had come here to do—well, she didn't know what would happen. "Lingwa the Warrior. The Savior. The Hunter." Lingwa's chest swelled. "You'll love it."

"But why should I do it for you? You're not even a member of my pride."

"But he's a member of Tanzia's. Think about it. A chance to strike back at your enemy."

"I have my reasons for not attacking," said Lingwa guardedly. "As does Tanzia."

"Not anymore. Someone new just walked right in. A mercenary, asking for refuge from Tanzia. And what do you think Tanzia' condition was for opening his home?"

"He wouldn't dare attack," said Lingwa. "Not even with another male."

"He would with this one. I'm sure you know what rogues are like. But you've never met any as cruel as this one. Kill him, and you'll never have to worry about him."

"And why would such a nice girl want someone dead?"

"I have my reasons. And now you have yours. How about it?"

Lingwa barely had to think about it. "I'll do it," he said, leaning down to kiss Weusi.

Weusi pushed his muzzle away. "Do it first. Then you'll get your reward."

"And if I decide to have it now?"

Weusi laughed even though she was chilled to the bone by the look the lion gave her. "You'll have it as soon as you're finished. Besides, where would I run from the great Lingwa?" She turned and walked out of the den, head held high. It wasn't until she stopped next to a waterhole that she found she was shaking in fear.

What have I done?

oOo

Tanzia and Usiku had arrived at the den where Jabari and Kifaa had been residing in early in the morning. Jabari had been awoken from outside the cave to not only find them there, but also that Kifaa had disappeared.

Not that it bothered him any, he was still unsure about her and these two looked as if they meant business, and it was best for them he believed if he just rose up and took control of the situation.

At the beginning Jabari could tell they were trying to force the impression upon him that they were trying to be friendly, yet he wasn't sure that was the case. Quite frankly he just wanted them to get to the point.

"So who's that lioness you said lives here?" Usiku finally asked.

"Oh, her name's Kifaa. I'm not sure where she is right now but, well, it's a long story."

"So she's your mate?" Tanzia took over, standing by the side of his brother.

"Well, not yet at least."

"So she's your . . ."

"Listen, it's a long story, can you please just get to the point and tell me why you're here?"

"Certainly. Well, actually I was about to ask you the same question."

"Me? Why I'm here?"

"Yes."

"Well, well I used to live here, a long time ago."

"So you don't know Lingwa?"

"No."

Tanzia and Usiku exchanged glances.

"You do know you're on our lands, don't you?" Usiku asked.

"My lands," Tanzia interjected.

"Oh really? No, I didn't know that." Now Jabari could see where they were getting to, and he began to get desperate. "Please though, you've gotta let me stay here . . ."

"Why?"

"It's a long story. I . . . I can't tell you all of it, but you've gotta let me stay here!"

"No can do, I'm afraid. We . . ."

"Hey, Tanzia," Usiku whispered, "is that who I think it is?"

Jabari looked over at them with the rest of the others. "That's Kifaa."

"That's Lingwa."

Jabari turned back and realized they had both fixed their gazes upon him.

"You mean to say that Kifaa, the lioness that's living with you, knows Lingwa?" Tanzia was speaking quietly, but Jabari knew that this could be bound to change.

"Well, I guess she must, but I don't. I swear, I don't!" Jabari turned back to yell, "Kifaa!"

Kifaa looked back, saw Jabari, and ran off.

Lingwa was still standing there though. Jabari's call had attracted his attention, and he had spotted Tanzia and Usiku.

Lingwa started to approach them, Tanzia and Usiku started to growl and advance towards him likewise. Jabari took the opportunity to get out of the situation which could have only spelled trouble for him, and ran back into the cave.

Lingwa had been quite far away from them, and Jabari knew he hadn't got a hope of being able to hear what was going on from inside the cave.

But he needed to know what his fate was going to be, yet he didn't want to go back out as then they would see him again, and that would just further complicate things. Hopefully for him in their obvious hatred of each other the three lions outside would completely forget about him, and he would just have to wait out the storm for a little while in his cave.

"Kifaa," he asked as she walked in through the cave's opening, "what was all that about?"

"All what about?" she replied confused.

"Over there . . . with Lingwa?"

"Who's Lingwa?"

"Stop playing stupid with me Kifaa! Why were you talking to Lingwa? You're going to get us killed!"

"Jabari, I have no idea what you're going on about!"

"I saw you over there talking to that lion!"

"Jabari, honestly, I haven't . . ."

"Hey, Jabari!"

Tanzia and Usiku had appeared at the cave opening. They didn't look too pleased, but they were better off than what they had been before.

"Jabari, it's okay, it wasn't her who was talking to him, it was some other lioness, Weusi or something like that. See you around." Tanzia left.

"Huh, I guess he's gonna let you stay here," Usiku added before walking off.

"Jabari. What did that last lion mean by that?"

"What?"

"Going to let us stay here. I thought . . ."

"Kifaa, who cares about that? Didn't you hear Tanzia? That was Weusi I saw!"

"Yes Jabari, that's great and all but really . . ."

"Great? Great? Kifaa, that's excellent! Weusi's here, come on, we have to hurry up and find her! You should be happy too, this way you won't have to . . ." Kifaa glared at him. ". . . right. Come on Kifaa, let's go and find her. You can tell her how much I've changed and how nice I've been to you and . . ." Kifaa was happy for Jabari, no doubt about that, but slowly reality started to come back to her.

"Um . . . Jabari. Eh . . . oh gods, I don't know how to tell you this . . . um . . . you remember last night?"

Jabari sighed. "Come on Kifaa, that was one time."

"True, but that's not the point Jabari. When I ran off I found Weusi." She gave him a serious look.

"Oh? What did you tell her?"

Kifaa was starting to feel really uneasy. "Well, I told her . . ." She took a breath. "Jabari, you must understand that I was really upset . . ."

"What did you tell her Kifaa!?" Jabari demanded.

Kifaa looked down at the ground. "That you raped me," she said in her quietest voice.

They both remained silent, Kifaa looking down at her paws, knowing that Jabari was looking right at her, running through all the different things he could do to either punish her or otherwise take his stress out on her. She had to do something.

"Jabari, please . . ."

"I don't want to talk about it Kifaa."

She lifted her head back up. "Jabari . . ."

"Kifaa!" Jabari ran out the entrance hiding his face from her.

Kifaa watched him go out, and then lowered her head again facing the ground, watching as a teardrop splashed onto the rock floor below.