A/N: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. I was surprised that so many of you reviewed so quickly, especially since it has been forever since I last updated. But seeing your positive response to chapter 2 reminded me of how blessed I am to have such dedicated readers, so thank you. As you all know, I often use songs throughout my stories, the song used in this chapter is called The Messenger, the artist, Linkin Park. I do strongly recommend this song, it is beautiful; however I own no rights to it. Enjoy.

Chapter 3: Love Keeps Us Kind

As most of the pride was beginning to feed, Holly watched the figures of Mohatu and Uru dissolve into the evening sky. She smiled to herself, believing that perhaps tonight, the two would finally begin to heal.

(When you feel alone, cut out from this cruel world, your instincts telling you to run)

Uru walked close to her father. Being this near to him gave her a sense of security. While she enjoyed spending time with her grandfather and Holly, she never felt as safe with them as she did with her father. If he would allow her, she would follow him across the kingdom while he went about his patrols and rounds, but he insisted that she was safer near Pride Rock, and remembering what had happened to her mother, she didn't argue.

"Daddy. Thanks for saving me." she softly whispered.

Mohatu looked down at the small cub and smiled,

"I'm just glad your alright Roo. Promise me that you'll be more careful, I can't lose you too."

"I promise."

Mohatu stopped and looked around,

"Well this looks like a good spot."

"Uh, a good spot for what?" Uru asked confused.

"A good spot for this!"

Mohatu then reached out and caught his little daughter and playfully flipped her on the ground, then began to tickle her as she howled with laughter.

"Daddy!" she protested as she attempted to squirm away. She finally managed to get out of his grasp and began batting at his paw.

"Serves you right for giving me such a scare." Mohatu joked.

"I'm gonna get you!" Uru shouted and instantly pounced at her father, who, as he laughed, willingly fell to the ground. The two laughed and giggled as they wrestled about. Out of breath, Uru looked up when her eye caught something shoot across the sky.

"Daddy, look!" she squealed.

Mohatu turned his eyes to the nighttime canvas and saw a brilliant display of shooting stars flash across the sky.

"Quick Roo, make a wish!" he said.

Uru thought for a moment, then turned and faced her father, his smile faded as a small tear fell down her cheek.

"I-I wish mommy was here..." she said softly.

(Listen to your heart, those angel voices, they'll sing to you they'll be your guide back home...)

Mohatu looked at her closely for a moment, taking deep breaths and trying to swallow the lump rising in his throat.

"I know. So do I." he replied gently pulling her close into his front paws.

"But you know what Roo, even though we can't see her, she is still with us."

"You mean like in the stars, with Grandma Auru and Grandma Aza?" she asked.

Mohatu nodded his head,

"But she is also right here." he said pointing his paw gently to her chest.

"She will always be apart of you, no matter where you are. And we will see her again someday... someday soon."

"Daddy; mommy told me I was named after Grandma Auru. What was she like?" Uru asked.

Mohatu thought for a moment,

"Well, she had beautiful brown fur, just like yours. And her eyes were as blue as the sky on a bright sunny day. She was very kind, caring, and a wise queen. She was also a skilled hunter."

"Wow, I wish I could have met her. Do you think I'll be a good hunter like she and mommy were?" Uru asked.

"There is no doubt in my mind that you will be the greatest huntress ever." he told her, giving her a warm nuzzle.

Uru smiled for a moment, then settled into her father's front paws as he began to relate tales of his cubhood adventures with her.

(When life leaves us blind, loves keeps us kind, it keeps us kind...)

Whoa, you have a sister! Where is she? How come I never met her!" Uru asked excitedly.

Mohatu let out a sad sigh,

"She-she died, a long time before you were born."

"Oh, I'm sorry Daddy." Uru said, her head dropping to the ground.

She just couldn't understand why it seemed everyone in her family had died. She didn't see how her father could take it, after losing his mom, dad, sister, and wife. Then a horrible thought occurred to her, he had said that they would be seeing mommy soon. Did that mean he was going to..?

"Daddy, you're not going to die sooo...are you?"

Mohatu looked at the little cub sadly. It was so unfair that she had been exposed to such trauma and sadness when she was so young. He knew that a large part of her innocence had been stolen, a part that she would never be able to get back. She was scared of losing more of the ones she loved. He couldn't tell her that he didn't know if he would die soon or not, for no one knows when their time is up, it would only scare her even more. So he answered her question as truthfully as he could,

"I don't think I will be leaving for a long time yet."

This seemed enough to satisfy her, for she snuggled into his mane, and continued to watch the blazing sky.

"No, we will wait. Now is not the moment to strike. Tell the hyena to continue training his troops and inciting unrest in the Pridelands. I also want you to head east and deal with this Sala and her rebellious group. They are mostly young and untrained troops, with a small legion, you should be able to swiftly deal with them. Tell the commander to attack the mountain prides; he is to kill the old, young, and weak, and then bring me the strongest adolescents and young adults. Make sure he doesn't attack more than a moon's distance from the Pridelands. I don't want King Mohatu catching wind of any of this. You remember what happened last time..." a dark lion ordered.

The adolescent lion nodded his head in understanding and turned to follow out his orders.

Another lion, this one an adult approached the leader,

"Commander. You are supposed to be awaiting your orders." the dark maned lion said.

"Sir, I hope I am not over stepping my bounds, but are you sure you wish to involve hyenas in your plan. They are undisciplined, stupid beasts. I'm sure we can train enough lions to carry out the plan successfully."

"Commander, I can assure you that I have weighed the flaws of the lowly creatures, and I am confident that their alliance will be a great asset to us."

"But sir, they are known to not honor alliances, their word means nothing." the Commander said.

"Ah, but you see Commander, it is not their word that I rely on. The hyenas and I have one thing in common, we both want Mohatu and his family dead. That my friend, is why I know they will do their part. Now, I want you to return to your post and receive your orders, we will discuss our next step once you have returned."

"Yes sir. You know Kambili, despite there being no blood relation, you are much more like Rondo than Sinjun ever was."

(When you've suffered enough, and your spirit is breaking, you're growing desperate from the fight. Remember your loved, and you always will be, this melody will bring you right back home...)

Mohatu smiled down at the sleeping cub. After the meteor shower had subsided, they both had remembered that they had skipped the evening meal. So he had managed to catch a small antelope that satisified both of their rumbling stomachs, and after eating, Uru had slipped off into sleep. Mohatu smiled to himself when thought of how Jolina used to make fun of him for his lack of hunting skills, but none-the-less, she had done her best teaching the clumsy male her most basic tricks, and he seemed to have been able to get by with them. Oh how he wish she was here beside him, Uru's questions had cut him deep, as he too, had spent many nights questioning why so many loved ones had been taken from him. And in those moments of doubt he held onto something his own mother had once told him, "Anything and everything happens for a reason, sometimes for the better, sometime for the worse. And there are two kinds of creatures in this world, those who give up and run, and then those who stand and fight. Be the one who fights, no matter how hard life is." Those simple words had helped carry him through his darkest hours. And, of course, Mohatu had Uru, and she was what kept him sane, he would stand and fight for her, his love for his child kept him from slipping over the edge, it kept him kind.

(When life leaves us blind, love keeps us kind...)

A/N: Thank you for reading! Hope you thought the song fit and liked the plot twist. I wonder how Kambili survived and what is he planning?! As far as the song goes, I have truly learned this past year, with my grandfather being terminally ill and watching my mother lose yet another family member, that love does keep us from slipping over the edge and lashing out against pain, and that true strength is not the will to survive, but the will to love.

Thanks again for reading and please let me know what you think.

As for the quiz thing I did last chapter, it is to remind reader's of small character and plot details. I'm only going to do it every other chapter, so below are the answers for the first set of questions featured in the last chapter.

Quiz Answers:

Shasha is the daughter of Kanya and Strawberry; Chanti is the daughter is Illanga and Izogie

Mohatu's eyes are blue, like his mother's

Uru was named after Mohatu's mother, Auru

Sala's eyes are emerald green

The name Pridelands came from Jolina's cubhood stories