Chapter Two

Mystery

At the tree of life the morning after. Shuri and the mysterious Tiger Stari talked all night. So when Raya woke up with Binga right beside her mom to find Shuri talking to a stranger it caught both of them off guard.

"Morning Aunt Shuri. Who- Who is this." Binga said a bit scared of the tiger.

"Oh Binga, Raya this is Stari. He is from a land far away from here, he is trying to find a home." Shuri said.

"You must be the Queen." Stari said bowing.

"No, no. I'm not the Queen. The royal family are actually away at the moment." Raya said.

"Oh, well I was only passing through. I'm sorry to intrude. Thank you Shuri for being so kind." Stari said getting up to walk away.

"Wait, I never said you couldn't stay. And any friend of my sister's is a friend of mine." Raya said.

"Hey, there's my two favorite girls in the world. Oh who is this." Baylio said walking up to hug Raya, seeing Stari out of the corner of his eye.

"My name is Stari." Stari replied.

"He seems kind. And him and Shuri have been talking all night it seems." Raya said wondering why Shuri was so kind to him.

"Well the more the merrier. Um Stari could you help me hunt. I'm letting the ladies rest for the day." Baylio said.

"Yeah that would be fun. I've never hunted with anyone before." Stari said.

"Well I've never hunted with a tiger, oh and our friend Fuli will be joining us." Baylio said.

"Is she a lioness too?" Stari asked.

"Nope not a lion big guy." Fuli said walking up to Baylio and Stari with Haraka and Doa right by her side.

"Oh wow I've never met cheetahs before. Three of them wow." Stari said.

"Stari this is Fuli, and her cubs Haraka and Doa." Baylio said.

"Pleasure to meet you all." Stari said.

"Pleasure is all ours. Um, Baylio I hate to change plans, but me and the kids were going to hunt by ourselves today." Fuli said.

"Oh of course. I'm sure me and Stari can handle it." Baylio said.

"Great. Mom also promised to race me, once and for all." Haraka said.

"Good luck, I've seen Fuli run. Your mom is as fast as they come." Baylio said.

Meanwhile at pride rock, in the guest den. Kion and Rani laid on their backs staring at the ceiling.

"Wow I forgot how good that feels." Kion said.

"Yeah, me too. I know I missed it, but dang that was really nice hun." Rani said licking his face.

"Good morning Mom. Are you both okay?" Maisha asked.

"Oh good morning Maisha. Yeah we are really good." Rani said looking passionately at Kion.

"Maisha, tell your brothers and sister to come here." Kion said rolling over to stand up.

"We're right here actually." Kishindo said peeking around the corner.

"I owe you four an apology. I haven't been the dad you four deserve. And nothing warrants my behavior towards you. And especially not towards your mother. I know I've messed up and I promise all four of you to be better." Kion said.

"We're just tired of seeing you and mom fight." Muhasi said.

"Well that isn't just on your father either. I could've told him how I was feeling sooner. But I'm sorry that you all had to hear and see us fight. I love your father more then I love life itself, just like I love you four." Rani said.

"You five mean everything to me. And I wouldn't be the lion I am without all of you. So how about this, starting now, I don't care what I'm doing. If any of you need me. Then come to me." Kion said.

"Thanks Dad. I'm glad your back." Muhasi said hugging him.

A little while later Rani was walking around Pride rock and heard crying. She knew it wasn't her cubs. But she couldn't help but check it out. It was Vitani who was laying down in her and Kopa's den.

"Vitani? What's wrong?" Rani asked rushing to her.

"Oh Rani. Um. Nothing I'm fine." Vitani said trying to compose herself.

"Vitani? What's wrong?" Rani asked again, with the level of compassion that only Rani can speak with.

"I want a cub Rani. And I don't know why I can't get pregnant. Me and Kopa had a fight this morning, it's not like I am making it so I can't get pregnant. I just don't know what to do." Vitani said falling apart burying her face in Rani's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Tani." Rani said standing there letting her cry.

At Hakuna Matata falls. Kion, Kovu, Simba, Nala, and all the teenagers were there. The teens were all diving off the waterfall. As the adults just watched on and laughed.

"These daredevils." Kovu said with a chuckle.

"Psst. That's nothing. Timon and Pumbaa's jungle had one of the biggest waterfalls I've ever seen. I went off of it all the time." Simba said laughing thinking about all the times Timon would try to stop him.

"Yeah, hey Kion where is Maisha?" Nala asked noticing that there was someone missing from the group.

"I don't know. I'll go find her." Kion said.

Kion got up and sniffed her out. But he tracked her scent to behind a few bushes. He wondered why Maisha was hiding behind a bush.

"Maisha? Are you okay honey?" Kion asked.

"DAD!" Maisha exclaimed kind of shocked. As she rushed to come out from the bushes.

"Hey Maisha what's wrong? Are you okay." Kion said softly lifting her head with his nose as he noticed she held her head in shame.

"I don't know what's wrong with me Dad. Please don't be mad." Maisha said.

"Maisha, there is nothing that you could do that would make me love you any less. Come here you can talk to me. But if you don't want to I understand too." Kion said.

"Honestly dad. I would rather talk to mom about some of the things I'm feeling." Maisha said.

This made Kion realize what was up.

"Ah. I see. My little girl is growing up. Wow. Hey you want me to walk you back to Pride Rock so we can talk?" Kion asked.

"I don't know. Can we just forget about this dad. Besides I want to go push Kishindo off the falls." Maisha said with a giggle.

"For now I can. But I'll tell your mother that you need to talk. Cause listen Maisha, no matter what your feeling. Trust me if you talk to someone its much better then holding it inside." Kion said.

"I guess your right." Maisha said now looking him in the eyes.

"There's my beautiful girl. I look at you and think how the heck did I help create you." Kion said chuckling a bit.

Maisha hugged him, as Kion could tell she was afraid to talk to him.

Back at the tree of life. Bunga was watching from a distance as Haraka raced Fuli.

"Hey Bunga." Binga said laying next to him.

"Hey Binga." Bunga replied chuckling a bit.

"I know it's hard for you with my name isn't it?" Binga asked.

"No Binga. I love that you carry Binga's name. Your a lot like her. Smart, funny, and such a great animal to be around." Bunga said patting her on the head.

"Thanks Bunga. I wish I could've met her. My mom and dad talk to me about her a lot." Binga said.

"Well what do you want to know? Cause I knew her better then anyone." Bunga said.

The two sat there as Binga asked Bunga questions about his deceased mate. And while she asked him questions he couldn't help but smile.

Later at night at Pride Rock.

Kion had told Rani that Maisha needed to talk. And Rani told Kion about his brother and sister-in-law.

Kion waited for Kopa to come to pride rock from his nightly patrol. While Rani took a walk with Maisha. The other lions were inside laughing and talking with their grandparents and uncle and aunts.

"Hey Kopa. You okay big bro?" Kion asked.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" Kopa replied trying to blow him off.

"You know if I ever doubted you being my brother. That doubt just went away, cause that's how I would've sounded." Kion said.

"What are you talking about?" Kopa asked kind of annoyed.

"Rani told me that Vitani was crying because you two had a fight. And that your upset that she isn't getting pregnant." Kion said.

"And your trying to confront me cause your the end all be all when it comes to lions?" Kopa snipped.

"No I'm not. I'm trying to help my brother out. Cause I know what it's like to feel like you won't ever have cubs. Cause for the first few months of me and Rani being together I felt that way. But you making it her fault is wrong. Kopa it's just not happening right now. You've got to accept that." Kion said.

"NO Kion. You don't know the things I've been through. You grew up in royalty. I grew up in poverty. You grew up always knowing that your dad had your back. I grew up wondering if my "Father" would throw me out if I screwed up again. So I feel like I'm justified in my feelings. I love Vitani." Kopa said.

"Do you?" Kion asked sharply.

"Of course I do!" Kopa yelled back.

"Then prove it Kopa! Because right now, you have a funny way of showing it. Kopa I can't imagine how you grew up. And I'm sorry that we didn't know about you. But Kopa your here now, and you've got to ask yourself, if you never have cubs is Vitani enough for you?" Kion asked.

This stunned Kopa. Kion walked away leaving Kopa speechless.

|
Meanwhile Rani and Maisha walked around the pride lands, around where the Zebras and Giraffes grazed.