Kiara cautiously led her son out into the sunshine.

She smiled proudly at him. It had been two years since the Pridelanders and the Outlanders had merged into one Pride. They had been good years, and everything had returned to normal.

Kovu was now the father of the young cub beside Kiara. His name was Tabani, and he was the image of Simba, only he had Kovu's eyes.

Tabani looked out over the Pridelands with wondering eyes, taking it all in.

"Whoa..." he breathed.

The Pridelands stretched out before him, looking green and beautiful. Silver streams wound across the landscape, making it shimmer in the sunlight.

"So Tabani, what do you think?" asked Kiara.

"It's awesome," he breathed quietly. The little cub was watching every movement on the plai below. A herd of impalas, a leopard stalking them, a crocodile slowly swimming toward an unsuspecting herd of wildebeest.

"Hey Mom, if I'm your heir, am I gonna inherit all this someday? And be king?"

Kiara laughed softly. "Yes, my little Prince, you will. And I'm sure you'll be a great king.

Tabani laughed and went inside.

Kiara followed him. It was about noon, and the whole Pride had been up for hours.

Tabani ran happily down into the cave, going through the tunnel system which led to the outside. He skidded to a quick halt in the dust, and then continued on without a care.

The young Prince was tripping along when he noticed another young cub, sitting alone in the grass.

Tabani went over to him, hoping to play. "Hey," he said. "Want to play?"

The other cub was smaller, with green eyes, and a red splotch on his left eye. It looked sort of like blood, but Tabani knew it was fur.

"You gonna make fun of me too? I just got away from those jerks," he said gruffly, gesturing toward a group of cubs laughing together. Tabani knew they came from high-ranking lines in the Pride.

"They were bullying you?" he asked, shocked.

He'd known those cubs his whole life, but they'd never been mean to him.

"No, I was just looking for someone to play with. But if you want to be alone, I understand," said Tabani.

"Wait! I didn't mean to come off as grouchy, I was just thinking you might make fun of my marking too," added the cub quickly.

Tabani turned around, glad that this wasn't a mean cub.

"My name's Kwami," the cub introduced himself. "Tabani," said the Prince.

Kwami bowed. Kwami looked a little scruffy, like he had been rolling in the dirt. "So, those guys giving you a hard time? Let's go get them!" suggested Tabani enthusiastically.

"No! That'll just make them more awful to me," protested Kwami.

"Kwami, I'm the Prince! I'll just pull rank and tell them to leave you alone."

"OK," said Kwami reluctantly.

Tabani marched purposelly over to the group of cubs. "Hey, why were you bullying Kwami?" he demanded. Kwami scraped the ground, looking embarassed.

The cubs looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"And who are you, little guy?" asked one with an air of superiority. "The Prince," answered Tabani.

The cubs looked shocked and caught off guard. "You Highness," gasped a young female with a distinct gray coat. "I'm Uzuri, and this is Aina, Mwanga, and Kutolewa." All four were beautiful young lionesses.

"Ok, good to know, but stop pushing Kwami around, it's mean. Got it?"

"Why should we leave that little freak alone?" asked Mwanga rudely. "Yeah, he's so weird! He gets all stiff sometimes and talks in a raspy voice. And his eyes glow," added Aina.

"What? Is that true?"asked Tabani, shocked.

"Yeah," chimed in Kutolewa. "It's really strange, he's a little freak."

Tabani looked at Kwami, who nodded. "It's all true," he muttered. Tabani wondered what this could mean.

"Just leave him be," he said to the girls. He and Kwami left the snickering group of girls and wandered off into the tall grass, not speaking.

"So why does that happen?" asked Tabani after a while.

Kwami looked both angry and tired at the same time. "I don't know," he said. "I can't help it, it's like sneezing. Anyone who's around me when I do it always stays away from me after they see me do it. That's why everyone thinks I'm so weird."

Tabani could understand thinking that was weird, but he couldn't imagine staying away from Kwami just for doing that.

Kwami seemed like a nice guy.

Tabani asked," Do you remember exactly what you say?"

"Yeah, sometimes,' answered Kwami. "I usually say something, and-hey, what's that?"

Kwami had spotted a small yellow bundle lying on the ground. "I don't know," said Tabani. "You want to check it out?"

"Why not?" said Kwami. They raced toward the object. When they reached it, it was a small yellow female cub, crying softly.

"Aww, it's ok, it's ok! Where did she come from?" wondered Tabani. "Where's her mom?" said Kwami, looking around. "Hey!" he yelled. "We found your baby! Is anyone there?"

There was nothing but the wind in the grass.

"Well, said Tabani. "Someone just left her here. Harsh. What should we do?"

"Well, obviously, we take her back to your parents, and they decide-"

"No way!" said Tabani. "I've got an idea. Why don't we raise her?" "ARE YOU NUTS?!" yelled Kwami at the top of his lungs.

"No, shh! Just hear me out: We'll feed her, and I'm learning how to hunt and defend myself. She'll be taught everything there is to know. And we'll be the ones to teach it to her, Kwami!"

Kwami looked thoughtful. He knew there were a million ways this could go wrong, but he also knew it would be fun to secretly raise this cub.

It would be a way of meeting with Tabani, too.

"Yeah, ok, but we have to name her. She can't just be Random Cub We Found. Hmmm..."

Both boys thought carefully. "Ummm,...what about Akwele?" suggested Tabani.

"Akwele, has a nice ring to it," mused Kwami. "Sure, that's a great name."

Tabani nodded. "OK, from now on, we will take care of you, Akwele."