A/n: just wanted to say thanks to my reviewers! Azdgari, The LionESS-232, and MonoHell- big hypothetical hugs all around!

Chapter 6

Jacky's POV

I watched as the two lions made their way over. Looking at Uma and Teso, I saw that they were subtly eyeing up the lion with the black mane.

"Who's that?" I asked, realizing that most of the indicators that indicated interest were the same throughout the animal kingdom; the self-conscious shifting, the peeks through the corners of the eyes. They were all the same.

"That's Kono." Uma giggled slightly. I'd pegged her for a slightly less flighty girl, but hey, hormones are the devils curse: they can change a personality within minutes.

I saw Teso grin and duck her head, trying to hide her own giggles.

Malia looked…greedy. She was eyeing Hodari like a haunch of zebra. Believe it or not, a zebra really sounded appetizing right then. This instinct made me pull an internal "ew" face, but I digress.

Craning my neck, I spotted Simba and Kovu dumping their prey at the base of pride rock, then lay in the sun next to it, soaking up the rays. From the opposite direction, the group of lionesses seemed to be heading back- they were about halfway here.

"Hello there," purred a deep voice. Turning, I saw this Kono character flop down besides me, a smirk slowly creeping over his face. "And what could your name be?"

"It could be any number of names from millions of names possible." I answered, smiling myself. "But it just happens to be Jacky. And are you Kono?" I asked, tilting my head, questioningly.

He grinned fully now, not just a half-smirk. "Well-informed, aren't you?"

I nodded and looked at Hodari. "Hey," I greeted him as he too lay down, in between Uma and me.

He smiled, and a cloud rolled out of the way of the sun.

"Warm!" I exclaimed, rolling onto my back, careful not to squish anyone. Feeling the sun warm my darkish fur quickly, I purred, sounding liking a helicopter.

As the others followed suit, Malia stood abruptly. "I'm going to eat," she said suddenly, but the haughtiness remained, although it was lessened from before. "Anyone with me?"

"Sure thing," replied Kono, scrambling to his feet.

"Anyone else up for it?" she asked once more, drilling Hodari with her eyes. The look was lost on him as he wriggled his feet, happy to be warm.

"Nuh-uh" I said lazily, feeling lethargic in the heat. As other noises answered, none of them 'yes', she stalked over to the zebra, and tore a bit out, Kono doing the same. I closed my eyes, and enjoyed the sun.

I didn't notice that the lionesses had returned until I felt a fuzzy ball of fur slam into my side. "Oomph!" I grunted, taken by surprise.

"Oops!" came a high-pitched voice, probably a girl cub's voice. Cracking my eyes open, I saw my suspicions were confirmed-it was a little girl cub that looked almost exactly like Nala. The only two differences that I could see were that she had Zira's color, and a white underbelly.

"Hpaya!" Hodari smiled happily at the youngster, apparently named Hpaya, when he could stop laughing at my misfortune to be a living equivalent of walls at ice rinks- when people can't stop, they just slam into them. The others still hadn't stopped laughing yet. Traitors. "This is Kovu's little sister," he explained to me.

"Sorry," she told me sheepishly, glancing up to see if I was mad. When I started laughing along with the others, she grinned happily. Turning to Hodari, she gave him a big hug, then started jumping on top of him. "Tell me what happened when you disappeared!" she yelled excitedly, nearly shrieking when he made a face, but agreed.

Somehow the other three cubs appeared out of thin air to gather as Hodari told his story. As he told the tale, I found myself listening closely, just as enthralled as the little ones. At the end, however I found my thought wandering, my mouth watering as I glanced toward the zebra.

"…And that's how I got back here." He finished with a smile.

I stood abruptly. "I'm sorry, but that zebra is calling my name, and I intend to answer. Care to join me?" I asked Hodari, as the cubs wandered back to their moms.

"Sure." He answered, apparently as hungry as I was. I hurried towards the final ribs left of zebra meat, everyone sated for breakfast. Hodari and I walked to them quickly, me keeping a protective eye on those ribs. If Kono couldn't wait until the huntresses came back with more meat, he was going to have to suck it up.

"Ha!" I exclaimed happily. "These our all ours! Everyone else has already eaten!" I was salivating a bit, and even though that's not graceful or ladylike at all, I hadn't eaten in two days. These ribs looked like a feast.

Hodari smiled evilly as he snagged the ribs in his mouth and proceeded to sprint away. No! My lovely meal! I narrowed my eyes as I sprinted after him. After I had chased him for a good 15 minutes, I grew tired, yelling, "Come back here you evil little--" my opinion on exactly what he was, and where he was headed if he didn't give me the food, was prevented from being voiced as he turned quickly in an attempt to throw me off. I sprung at him, and bowled him over, both of us laughing as I plucked the meat from his mouth.

"Mine." I mumbled though the mouth of zebra. Sitting down, now behind the rock, we tore the meat to pieces, and savored it. Cleaning my face, or trying to, I stood up. It was past noon now- I'd say about two-ish. As I went back to the front of Pride rock, Hodari and I met up with the little group we had already formed- Uma, Teso, Kono, and Malia. We whiled away the afternoon and evening, and when night came, everyone stood to stretch and start off to bed.

Simba hadn't noticed me yet, and Nala was content with grilling me tomorrow about where I'd come from. Everyone had gone to bed- I'd thought. As I tiredly entered the cave, I heard a voice behind me. "You. Jacky. Come here." The imperious voice of Malia cut into my tired stupor. I sighed, and turned.

"What?" I snapped, my temper short from the long day. Trust me, when you've just been turned into a lion, it's a long day.

Standing at the entrance to the cave, we faced off. Taking an aggressive step into my 'personal bubble', she snarled into my face. "I'm the one Simba and Nala choose to betroth Hodari to. Don't mess that up. He's mine. I'm the next Queen."

"Why don't you let him decide?" I asked coldly, taking a step towards her. I was built stockier than her, and I towered over her. She narrowed her eyes at me, and smiled maliciously. "Yes. Lets do just that" she whispered bitingly, and swept into the cave. I followed, curling up with my back to Hodari. When I woke up, our backs were pressed together and I felt safe.

A/n: No! Malia is moving in on Hodari! Oh dear… and we meet Kovu's little sister!