Well, the time has come for another chapter! I'd like EVERYBODY who reads this chapter to REVIEW. It makes an author's day, and it will only improve the story. Well, I think I have done enough blabbing, so without any further ado, here is the next chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Well, we are about to enter the Pridelands. Border is almost here."

At the sound of Gaudium's voice Illya looked up to see Pride Rock looming in the distance. The gleaming yellow disc known as the sun was nestled high in the sky, and all of the many different species of animals were gathering towards the base of the rock.

"Guess we are just in time for the presentation. It's a swarm all around us."

Gaudium nodded slowly in agreement. "Yup. Told you that we were leaving at just the right moment." His expression then became much more somber. "It's only a matter of time until somebody recognizes me."

Illya nuzzled her mate affectionately. "Hey, don't worry about it. I've got your back Gaudi, everything is going to be fine."

Gaudium shook his head, and chuckled lightly. "Will you stop calling me Gaudi?"

Illya pretended to think about the notion. "Well, let's see…no."

Gaudium rolled his eyes before chuckling once again. "What would I do without you?"

"Well, if I could take a guess, I'd say you'd be lying motionless in the bottom of a riverbed being devoured by greedy scavengers."

Gaudium shuddered. "That is something I would much rather not think about."

As he finished the statement, Mufasa, the king of the Pridelands, climbed to the top of Pride Rock in order to overlook the kingdom that he ruled. Gaudium looked upon his brother in awe, and then turned to Illya, and he began to whisper softly to her.

"He looks just like our father, with the red mane and all. Hopefully he kept his former personality, and most of all, I hope he rules a better kingdom than my asshole of a daddy."

Illya nodded slowly in agreement. Gaudium scanned the area around him. He saw one cheetah looking directly at him, and he then whispered to another cheetah, which then whispered to a hippo.

Gaudium gulped in anticipation at what was about to happen. Illya took notice as well, and she wrapped an arm around Gaudium's neck in a comforting gesture.

Loud murmurs began to surround the maneless lion and his mate, as recognition began to spread about. In the midst of the large crowd, a zebra shouted up towards Mufasa, who was growing more and more concerned about the tension suddenly growing in the crowd.

"Your majesty! The Kingslayer is in the Pridelands!"

Mufasa looked down in alarm, and the animals moved off to the side to make Gaudium and Illya clearly visible to the king. Mufasa snarled once he confirmed the lion was indeed Gaudium.

"SCELUS, IF YOU'VE COME TO FIGHT, HAVE THE DECENCY TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE PRESENTATION OF MY SON; YOUR OWN NEPHEW! NOW WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Gaudium shuddered in response, and began to slowly back away, an action that surprised everybody in the crowd. Mufasa growled at his brother's indecision, and he began to shout again.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?"

Suddenly gaining massive amounts of courage, Gaudium sighed, and walked up to face his brother. "No, I have not. There are three reasons why I have come here, and one of them is to watch the presentation of my nephew. There is no need to make a production out of all of this, but I would like to speak to you in a civilized manner once the ceremony is over."

Mufasa narrowed his amber colored eyes. "Fine, but I do not trust you."

Gaudium nodded. "As you shouldn't, but what you should be doing, is continuing the damn ceremony."

Not long after those words were spoken, Sarabi came out holding their little prince in her arms. Rafiki advanced up the rock, slowly, I might add, and took the little cub from her arms. He held it for the entire kingdom to see, and a thunderous cheer emerged from the crowd.

Gaudium made his first genuine smile in a long time, his little nephew very much reminding the former killer of what he himself looked like as a little cub.

After the presentation, Gaudium and Illya were resting under the shade of a large palm tree, neither of them speaking that many words. It wasn't a horrendously long amount of time until Mufasa walked up to them, with Sarabi by his side, a heavily concerned expression on her face.

"Scelus. You had said that you wanted to talk to me, correct?"

Several flashbacks nestled their way into Gaudium's mind, causing the young lion to place his paws over his eyes and grimace. The former killer then began to whisper softly.

"Don't call me by that name…Please don't call me by that name!"

Mufasa began to sport a puzzled expression on his face. "Then what in the living hell do you want me to call you? Kingslayer? Murderer? Shetani?"

Gaudium's grimace got deeper, and he began to silently sob before speaking again. "Well, simply being called Gaudium would be…preferable."

Sarabi narrowed her eyes. "You seem different. What are you planning? I will NOT let you hurt this family!"

Gaudium snarled in response. "I'm not planning anything! For years, I roamed the Savannah under a name different than my own, killing anything that moved. The guilt…it's all consuming. There were several times where I nearly ended my own pathetic existence. I just want my life back…"

Gaudium collapsed on to the ground and began to sob loudly.

For the first time, Illya spoke up, her eyes narrowed in a silent, protective anger. "He is telling the truth. I would know. My father was a king, and one of the first he killed, and I came later seeking my revenge. Gaudium didn't kill me, and I didn't kill him. No, I resolved to help him instead. Look at me now! I married the guy that slit my dad's throat."

Mufasa sighed. "I see the sincerity in both of you. Gaudium, you had mentioned that you had two other reasons for being here besides watching the presentation. What are they?"

Gaudium sighed, his sobbing having finally ended. "The first is that my mate and I would like to join your pride once again."

"Permission granted."

Sarabi stared up at Mufasa in shock. "Mufasa, what are you thinking? They might-"

"Silence Sarabi! I think that I have made my decision." He once again focused his eyes on to Gaudium. "What is the other reason?"

Several tears began to trickle down Gaudium's face. "The second reason is…well…I wanted to apologize to our mother. Hurting her is what I regret most…more than any of the murders I've committed"

Mufasa nodded. "I never have seen someone so consumed with guilt. She is in the main den. Brother, you are more than welcome to speak to her." Mufasa then smiled and put a paw around Gaudium's shoulder.

"It is really good to have you back! Especially since Taka went wacko!"

Gaudium began to snicker. "I think he was wacko the day he was born. What happened now?"

Mufasa sighed and rolled his eyes in complete and total annoyance. "Well, he insists on being called Scar, due to an incident with a water buffalo, and he rarely interacts with the pride. He wasn't even at the presentation!"

Gaudium rolled his eyes. "Freaking dumbass." He then stood up and stretched. "Well, I think I'm due for a conversation with my mother. I'll see all of you later!"

It was not a long walk to the den, and Gaudium got there in a relatively short amount of time. Uru was resting in a corner, staring intently at the newcomer.

Gaudium sighed, and then approached, tears beginning to form in his sapphire blue eyes. "Hello Mother."

A single tear trickled down Uru's cheek. "Scelus, no matter what you say to me, how much you hurt me, or what crimes you commit, you will always be my little Gaudium, my little joy. I'm assuming that you've killed your own brother…"

The maneless lion lay down next to his mother, and he placed his head on top of his paws. "I didn't, and Scelus is something that I want to put in the past, something I'd much rather bury deep into my sub consciousness." He sighed, and then spoke again. "I know this will not atone for any of my words or actions, I know for a fact that I will NEVER even come close to forgiving myself for hurting you, but I figure that it's a start. I'm sorry Mom, for everything I said, for everything that I have done, and most of all, for abandoning and wounding you."

Uru looked at her son in absolute shock. "Gaudium?"

The maneless lion chuckled. "Yeah, Mom, I'm back and better than ever. Well, I'm better as long as you take out the depressed and suicidal aspects of my personality."

After nuzzling her son deeply, Uru's expression began to grow very perplexed. "What changed you?"

"Love, Mom. It was love. Come on! You just have to meet my mate! Boy, we have quite the tale to tell you! And some of it ain't exactly all that pretty…"

Uru sighed, stood up, and followed her son out of the den and in the direction of the large tree that Gaudium had previously left.

Well, that is all that I am going to write for now! I will try to have the next chapter posted whenever I have the time to write it. PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO KINDLY LEAVE ME A REVIEW! Well, I think that I have babbled far too much, aountil next time, I am signing out! Bye, and thanks for reading!