A/N: I am probably most like Sharra, or at least I want to be. At times I'm like her and then other times I incorporate qualities in her that I want in myself. So yeah, anyway, here's chapter 9, hope you like it, I"m off to bed now...lol, school sucks...

Chapter 9

She had been brave and confident up till then. Now her stomach had butterflies flying everywhere, and they seemed to be pushing at the very edge of her stomach, trying to free themselves. She licked her lips, wishing she could just go back to the safety of Ashka's tree. She didn't want to do this part. Her whole body shook as she sat in the shade of a boulder, watching.

From where Sharra lay she could see everything at the watering hole. Prince Katu and the whole gang of guys were all talking, she could only catch a little of what was being said. So far, she'd gathered that they were celebrating over Prince Katu being able to be the one to take the throne. They were playing Waterball and splashing and soaking each other.

Sharra swished her tail. Perhaps she should wait. She needed to talk to Mako, alone. This she knew, but doing so may be hard, especially now, since Sumayah knew she was back. Would the Princess go crying to her lover? Probably only to once more try and make him admit he loved her, Sharra thought, replaying Sumayah's words in her head. "Why won't he admit he loves me?"

The young lioness rose and slunk over to the watering hole, careful to stay hidden in the tall grasses, weaving her way around so that she was once more hidden in the shadows of the boulders. She wedged herself between two and from there watched. Now she could clearly hear them and see them as well. She felt water on her feet, and knew that water seeped in a little through the boulders.

She looked out and inspected them again. This time she paid close attention to what they looked like now. They had changed some.

All the lions had manes now, each of varying thickness and colors, but all had manes nonetheless. She looked at Mako the most, and felt a pang.

His dark grey brown coat was wonderfully shiny and healthy, the light sand colored socks with the brown spots hadn't changed much on his front legs. But he had grown in a thick, black mane that poufed just a little. She sighed.

"Man Katu, how are you gonna rule the kingdom without a mate? You really need to start looking." Junga teased, shouldering the Prince and shoving him into the water.

Katu surfaced and growled at Junga, glaring at him. "Nah, I mean, it'd be nice, but I wouldn't say I need a mate. But then again, tell that to my parents." They all laughed at that. "As far as mates go, Sumayah should take it, you know she'd have you as her King Mako." Katu said, shooting a friendly smirk Mako's way.

Mako splashed him. "Ain't no way, I learned that lesson a while ago." he replied, sticking his tongue out and pretending to gag.

That gesture made Sharra feel slightly better, but at the same time, she felt a few pangs of anger right along with it.

"Hey, I'm off to go practice hunting, any of you wanna join me?" Mako asked, ears tipping forward.

The gang shook their heads, and Ukando replied. "Nah, we're having too much fun, you shouldn't bail on us!" He fake-yelled.

Mako laughed. "Yeah well, the way I see it, if I have to be a rogue, I'll have to learn how to care for myself till I get a pride right?" the all rolled their eyes and gestured him on.

Shaking his head, Mako exited the watering hole, shook himself and then moved on.

In the small space the two boulders offered, Sharra turned and squeezed gracefully out. She followed along a safe distance behind Mako, some of the confidence returning. Or perhaps it was the anger. For some odd reason, anger made her confident.

She wondered how to go about it. Should she just follow along behind until she got enough courage to go for it? Or should she devise some weird scheme to confront him? She smiled. Hunt the hunter…

"Ashka I really don't know about this…" Memmai said, pacing. Ashka watched her in silent scrutiny. "I mean, I don't even know what she looks like, how will I know it's her?"

"Dat is exactly why you must go Memmai, and you will know if it is her. Your heart will tell you, as will your gut," Ashka said, chuckling. "Sharra is already dere, facing her past, it is time you faced yours. She'll be dere by de time you arrive, let her help you if you need it." Ashka said, offering a pleasant, encouraging smile.

"But she didn't want me!" Memmai near yelled. "She didn't care, she was going to kill me! Who says she still won't if she finds out?" the lioness cried out, tears straining to come forth.

Ashka sighed and laid a gentle arm around Memmai's shoulders. "Memmai, I have a feeling your mother will not kill you. She had de chance, I stole it away from her, and even if I hadn't, I doubt she would have went drough wit it. Have faith chil'. You'll see, now go home, where you belong."

Nerves of excitement prickled up and down Sharra's legs and along her spine. Hunting always gave her that exhilaration. Perhaps she got it from her mother. Whatever the case, she was pretty good at hunting. Now she crept forward, her belly almost on the ground. Not a sound was heard, the grasses barely whined as she slid through them.

Her target was directly in front of her, she could see his swishing tail, and knew he was totally unaware. She followed him further, speeding up, slowing down, not wanting to get too close. She was still trying to devise what to say, perhaps she didn't need words.

Maybe she could just knock him flat, take the wind from him and let him see who had pinned him, then leave. But that wouldn't work, he'd seek her out, follow her, demanding to know what was going on. She narrowed her eyes. Maybe it could work. Only one way to find out…

Now she circled, as he crouched down into hunting mode. She went around his targeted herd, making sure to stay well hidden in the grasses. Sharra moved with him, step for step, almost mirroring him. A chill raced through her body as the adrenaline began pumping.

She saw his muscles tense, he was getting ready for the kill. Smiling she moved in, faster and faster until she saw him burst forward. She sprang to meet him, colliding with him in mid-air, then using her weight to throw them both backwards. Toppling over and over each other her heart raced, muscles tingling and on the edge.

Finally they landed, Sharra on top of him, teeth bared in his face. She growled low and deep in her throat, then looked down on him with a look of pure ice. The look on his face was priceless. He was utterly shocked. "Sh-Sharra?" He muttered.

She frowned and glared at him as she got up and began walking away. "Sharra, wait!" He called after her as he rose, and as she had planned, he began following after her.

She quickened her step.

"What was that about? And where did you come from? We thought you were gone," he started. At this point, Sharra whirled around to face him, stopping him dead in his tracks, his face only inches from hers.

"Thought, and you never checked did you? No one ever looked, no one ever cared. Oh look, the white one is gone, now we can live happily ever after. She could have a broken leg or something, hey she might even be dead, even better. At least she's gone, right Mako? After all, the game ended a long time ago." She spat, then turned and started walking again.

"Wait! It wasn't like that," he started again.

"Oh really, what was it like? Look, I got rid of her, now I can have Sumayah." She growled.

Mako's face twisted into a sad expression. "No, you don't understand alright. That's not how it happened."

"You're right, she told you to get rid of me. Is that supposed to be better? Supposed to soften the blow? Guess what, it didn't. You wanted her all along, well guess what, you should have just taken her, you didn't owe me anything, and you still don't." Sharra growled, feeling the tears she had tried so hard to keep away springing upward.

"Yes I do," Mako called as Sharra once more walked away. She stopped, then turned her head to look back at him. "I owe you an apology Sharra. I owe you my life. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here today."

"Yeah, glad you noticed. But you still don't owe me anything, I saved your life only because I wasn't going to watch you die."

"I'm not finished." Mako said, fighting back his own tears. "I was wrong for what I did, and I've regretted it since that day. But you don't know what it's like."

"No, you're right, I don't, and I don't plan to," Sharra retorted, walking off again.

Mako continued, knowing she would stop again, "I thought I really liked Sumayah, I thought she was the one for me. And at first, it was just a game, I was fine going along with it. But the more time that passed, the more I began to like you. And," he paused, biting his lip to fight back his emotions. "you know Sumayah, she hates you. I thought everything would be ok, even if I did go through with it. I didn't know it would hurt so much."

Having stood there, not facing him, Sharra had listened. Now she whirled on him. "Hurt? Hurt? How do you know anything about hurt? Do you have any idea what you did to me?" She yelled, her tears spilling over and dripping down her cheeks. "I almost died because of you!"

He was still biting his lip, having the same pained expression on his face. "It hurt me too, alright? I never should have done it, but I was young, I was stupid, and I learned from that mistake. I hate myself because of what I did, and everyday I wondered what happened. But if I left to find you, I wouldn't be allowed to return, and I wasn't ready to leave Pride rock just yet." He wiped his paw over his face and looked up at her. "And what about you? Why did you come back?"

Sharra growled. "Why should I tell you? What does it matter?" she asked, but ended up spilling anyway. "I needed closure, I needed to know why. Well, looks like I found out." She looked up toward Pride rock. "Now that I have, I'm going home." She turned.

"Wait Sharra, don't go." Mako pleaded. "Let me make it up to you somehow. Please."

She pondered for a moment. "Why should I?"

He gulped, hard. "Be-because I, I," he shook his head and then blurted, "Because I love you Sharra!" Her head whipped around. "I've loved you since that day you rescued me. None of the others would have dared it. Not even Sumayah. And yet you, who no one ever cared about just dived in. It didn't make any sense. And then we became friends and with every time we spent together I loved you even more. Please don't go Sharra. I can't bear losing my best friend again."

All the cubs sat in shock, hanging onto Ashka's words. "So what happened next?" Tiburi shouted.

Ashka held a hand to his ear and sighed. "You'll find out, I need a break, and you all need to get up and stretch."

"Aww!" They whined.

"Now now, do as I say, go on." Ashka said, moving his hands in an effort to get them moving. Reluctantly they did as he said.

"When do we find out what happens next?" Tiburi whined.

"After you move around a bit."

A/N: Hehe, had to leave you with a cliffy, sorry.