"Just step on it, hard!" Tiifu said extending her tail under Zuri's ready paw.

Zuri looked hesitant.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" she asked, rolling her eyes,

Tiifu nodded.

"Rafiki said that the love potion will ONLY work if we have lioness tears" she said eagerly, "We have the volcanic ash, now we need the tears. So step on my tail and make it hurt!"

Zuri shrugged.

"Ok…" she said quietly as she stomped her paw down on Tiifu's tail.

Tiifu's eyes widened.

"OWWW!" She screamed as she quickly jumped away from Zuri.

Zuri giggled.

"Sorry not sorry." she said winking at her, "You told me to do it! Did it work?"

Tiifu raised her paw to her face and felt around her eyes for tear drops.

"Great, it didn't work." she said annoyedly, "Now we have no lioness tears, and my tail hurts."

Zuri sighed.

"Look, Tiifu." she said bluntly, "Kion is in love with Fuli. He has made that abundantly clear to both of us, and the fact that you're still chasing after him like some sort of desperate idiot just really pisses me off. Can you seriously not even control yourself enough to respect that he'll never love you?"

Tiifu stared at Zuri blankly, and her eyes began to water.

"How could you say that? Y-you're so mean!" she said as tears poured down her face.

Zuri smiled back at her.

"You're welcome" she said through an annoyed sigh, "Look, you're crying. Now we've got the lioness tears. Remember?"

Tiifu's face lit up, and she quickly wiped the tears from her face and preserved a small amount in the little container that Rafiki had supplied them with.

"Perfect! Thank you Zuri!" she said happily, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Zuri sighed.

"You've got that right." she scoffed.

Tiifu ignored her and quickly combined the contents of the volcanic ash container with the lioness tears. She carefully took one claw and mixed them together until she'd created a mushy, grey substance. Zuri looked over Tiifu's shoulder.

"How's it going?" she asked, sarcastically.

Tiifu continued to mix the grey mush.

"Rafiki said it's supposed to turn crystal clear after a while," she said determinedly, "like water."

Zuri's ears perked up.

"And exactly how long do you have to mix it before that happens?" she asked curiously.

Tiifu thought for a moment.

"I think Rafiki said it would take about half an hour." she said shrugging.

Zuri's eyes bugged out.

"Half an hour?!" she yelled, "I am not waiting half an hour while you mix this stupid love potion."

Tiifu sighed and shook her head.

"Fine." she said nonchalantly, "I'll come and find you when it's finished."

Zuri slowly began to walk away.

"Alright…" she said hesitantly, "But just come find me as soon as it's ready!"

Tiifu nodded and watched Zuri walk away.

"I will…" she said, giggling to herself, "Right after I have my fun with Kion."

Tiifu spent the next half hour mixing her love potion to perfection. Much to her pleasure, after she'd completed mixing, the love potion turned a sparkling clear color. Smiling, she grabbed a piece of nearby fruit that she knew to be one of Kion's favorites and carefully poured the clear potion onto it.

"Splendid…" she said, smirking to herself, "Now, I've just got to find Kion…"

Tiifu picked up the now love-potion contaminated fruit in her mouth. She had been assured by Rafiki that the potion would have no affect on her. Hastily, she trotted off through the forest in search of Kion. However, finding him was proving to be more difficult than she'd expected. She'd never been all that great of a tracker, and considering how big the Pridelands were, she knew it could take her hours to find him.

The first place Tiifu looked for Kion was at Pride Rock. She searched in and around the royal family's cave, and eventually expanded her search to the Lion Guard lair. She couldn't find him anywhere. She did, however, spot Zazu idly sitting at the pinnacle of Pride Rock. Tiifu smiled as she approached him.

"Hey Zazu!" she said innocently, "Would you happen to know where Kion is?"

Zazu turned to her with a blank expression on his face.

"Prince Kion left earlier this afternoon to have lunch with Fuli in that forested area over there." he said in a regal sounding voice as he motioned in Kion's general direction, "The rest of the royal family went to visit Timon and-"

"Thanks Zazu!" Tiifu said interrupting him as she quickly left Pride Rock and headed off into the forest.

"You're welcome!" Zazu called to her.

Tiifu began to pick up speed as she entered the forest. Her peppy trot turned into a full on run as her desperation to reach Kion grew. She began to think about all the fun she was going to have with him once he was under her spell. In fact, she got so caught up in her daydream that she hadn't been watching where she was going, and consequently crashed right into Kion.

"Ouch!" Tiifu exclaimed as she fell to the ground, the fruit falling from her mouth and rolling a few feet away.

Her head was spinning and her vision went blurry. Eventually, once her sight came back into focus, she saw Kion standing over her with a friendly paw extended.

"Let me help you up." he said kindly.

Tiifu was feeling quite flustered, but grabbed hold of Kion's paw and allowed him to help her to her feet.

"Hey Kion…" she said in a slightly dazed sounding voice, "What are you up to?"

Kion blinked rapidly and stared at her.

"Uhh… I just finished lunch with Fuli." he explained, "Are you hurt?"

Tiifu brushed herself off.

"What? Oh no I'm fine." she blurted out, "I'm so sorry for crashing into you."

Kion gave a cute little giggle that made Tiifu's heart skip a beat.

"Hakuna Matata." he said happily as he began to walk away, "It's no big deal. I'll see ya later!"

Tiifu's eyes widened.

"Wait!" she said frantically searching for the potion-contaminated fruit on the ground, "I- I have something for you."

Kion raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he said curiously, "What is it?"

Tiifu continued to search the forest floor for the fruit, brushing leaves aside with her paws.

"I- I dropped it when I bumped into you…" she said, clearly embarrassed, "I'm sorry."

Kion shrugged.

"It's no problem, really" he said sincerely as he continued to walk away, "Well, I really gotta go, but I'll see you around."

Tiifu's heart began to pound as Kion walked away. She had him all to herself, she couldn't let her plan fail now. Desperately, she continued to search the ground for the lost fruit. Eventually, she spotted it lying at the base of a tree. As quickly as she could, she grabbed it in her mouth and bolted off in Kion's direction.

"Hold up!" she called out in a muffled voice due to the large fruit in her mouth, "I got it!"

She dropped the fruit at Kion's feet and began panting to catch her breath. Kion looked down at the fruit, skeptically.

"What's the for?" he asked, cautiously.

Tiifu smiled at him and motioned down at the fruit with her paw.

"I brought you your favorite fruit." she said, putting on her sweetest voice, "It's a gift."

Kion blushed and took a few steps back from the fruit.

"Uhh, thanks Tiifu," he said, trying to sound polite, "but I just ate a whole lunch with Fuli so… I'm not all that hungry."

Tiifu giggled.

"Aww come on…" she said, pushing the fruit closer to him, "Just take one bite. I went to all this trouble to get it just for you."

Kion shook his head.

"No thanks…" he said beginning to feel pressured, "I'm really not hungry."

Tiifu was starting to get annoyed.

"Well, at least take it with you for later." she said in a slightly agitated tone.

Kion sighed and picked up the large fruit with his mouth. Tiifu began to grin seductively.

"That's a good boy…" she said through a sexy purr, "That's all I needed you to do…"

Kion looked at her confused. The potion-covered fruit in his mouth was already beginning to mix with his saliva, and by the time he realized what was happening… it was too late.

To be continued...