I don't own any canon characters.

"Sire," Zazu said, "There is a strange sight nearby."

"Really," Simba asked, "what is it?"

"I shall investigate immediately," Zazu said in reply.

"...ould I know where he is," one creature asked, apparently quite irritated, "it's not like we got decent directions."

"Maybe we should've asked those gazelle" said another.

"Oh yeah," said the first sarcastically, "like they'd've known where he was." Just at that moment, the group passed through a thinner patch of grass, revealing itself to be none other than Timon and Pumbaa.

"Worth a try," Pumbaa said, "surely?"

"You were looking for someone," Zazu asked, slightly edgy, "where are the cubs."

"Huh," Timon asked, looking around. "Oh, they're fine," he said when he spotted Zazu, "Nala's got 'em now."

"That's a relief," Zazu said, both glad that the cubs were in responsible care, and the fact that they weren't in the care of Timon and Pumbaa, who, despite their friendship with Simba, weren't responsible or reliable. "Did you want Simba," he asked.

"Yep," Timon replied, "he around here?"

"He is," Zazu replied, "follow me."

"Well," Simba asked, as Zazu appeared again, then timon and Pumbaa appeared, "guys, why are you here, where's Kiara?"

"Kiara," Timon said, acting as though, for a moment, He didn't know who Simba was talking about, "oh, she's fine, just fine."

"So why did you want to see me," Simba asked.

"Nala sent us," Pumbaa replied.

"Yeah," Timon said, "got a couple more cubs too."

"More cubs," Simba asked.

"Yep," Timon replied, "that runt, what was his name, Nuki?"

"Nuka," Simba replied.

"Yeah," Timon said, "anyway, got him and his little sister now too." He then gave Simba an odd look, and said, "you know buddy, if you're gonna keep adopting, you're gonna have to think about getting in some more helpers for the cubsitting.

"Wh..." Simba started to ask, figured it out, then replied, very slightly threateningly, "we're not, repeat not adopting those two."

"Okay," Timon said quickly, "so, uh, what d'we tell Nala?"

Simba looked around, for a moment, as if scanning the area, before replying, "take them to Pride Rock, I'll deal with them there, and keep them separate from the others."

"Sure thing," Timon said, then he and Pumbaa left.

"Are you entirely sure that's a wise course of action sire," Zazu asked.

"Zaz..." Simba started to reprimand his majordomo, then thought better of it. "No, I'm not entirely sure," he confessed, "but I think I made a mistake adopting Kovu, so I'm going to have to put it right."

"As you wish sire," Zazu said, unsure of what else to say.

"Darn it, where are they," Nala muttered under her breath. Nuka had awoken by now, which relieved her, she certainly didn't want to have to carry him anywhere, not when his pelt was worse than some of the hyenas had been so many years before. Casting her mind back though, it probably hadn't helped that he'd been allowed to associate with the scavengers so much. Scar hadn't done anything about it after he'd rejected the cub as an heir, and Zira, at least back then, hadn't known enough about cub-rearing, or was following Scar's lead too much, to care about it either.

Come to think of it, Zira hadn't been that bad really, and she'd had at least enough common sense to take the bite out of some of Scar's harsher declarations. And at least she'd learned how to effectively cub-rear by the end, even if both Kovu and Vitani were thinner than they really ought to be.

Further though was interrupted when Timon and Pumbaa returned with Simba's instruction. The journey had been a slow one, though it hadn't been entirely wasted in Nuka's case, as the cub was at least old enough to remember what the Pridelands had been like when Scar was king.

Once they'd arrived, Nala guided them up to a part of the rock that, though little used now, had been used so often during Scar's reign for lionesses seeking solace, that it was now called Solace. As she settled in to watch the cubs, she wondered how long Simba would be.

After several hours of waiting, Nala was getting quite annoyed, when there was a sound behind her. As she turned to look, she missed Nuka and Vitani expressions changing, but their audible gasps told her enough. "About time," she said, "where were you?"

"I know I'm late," Simba said, appearing with a lump of meat in his mouth, "the rhinos were in more of a mood than usual, and the giraffes were antagonising them, which made it even worse."

Nala didn't that was the entire answer, but didn't care to press right at the moment. "So what are we going to do about these two right at the moment," She asked.

"At the moment, it's time to eat, both for you," at this point, Simba shook his head a little, making the meat quiver a moment, "and for them."

"I hope you know what you're doing then," Nala said, giving him an odd look, but complying.

As soon as Nala was gone, Simba walked over to Nuka and Vitani, dropped the lump of meat, said, "eat well," and returned to where she had been watching the cubs from. After five minutes, during which time neither of the cubs touched the meat, he asked, "not hungry then?" A minute change in the cub's attitudes gave him a clue as to what was wrong. "Okay then," he said, "look at it this way, If I'd wanted you hurt or dead, it could have happened a hundred times before now, so why are you so worried now. This argument seemed to carry weight, as both cubs began to eat ravenously, but neither of their eyes ever left Simba if they could help it.

When the cubs had finished, Simba rose, walked over to them and said, "I can't imagine you'd come into the Pridelands on anything less than penalty of death, so why don't you enlighten me?" When this didn't produce any visible results, he thought about it, and asked, "why were you here in the Pridelands?"

Nuka appeared to try to answer, but didn't produce anything more than a variety of whines. After several seconds, Vitani plucked up the courage to blurt, "mum wants Kovu back."

"Does she now," Simba asked, "did she say anything else?" Again, the whines from Nuka, and again a pause.

"She said you, stole him," Vitani blurted finally.

"Just about what I expected," Simba muttered under his breath. Aloud, he said, "very well, come with me, get your brother, then get out of here." Nuka and Vitani followed Simba down to the main area, and off to the corner where Nala was keeping Kovu and Kiara slightly separate from the rest. "Kiara," he said, "I'm afraid Kovu has to go home now."

"Aw, but daddy..." Kiara protested.

"Kiara," Simba said, "I know this might be hard on you, but maybe you'll see each other later, okay?"

"'Kay," Kiara said, pouting slightly. Very gently, Nuka picked up Kovu by the scruff, then he and Vitani walked down Pride rock and into the Savannah.

"I hope I did the right thing," Simba muttered, just loud enough for Nala to hear, as the trio of cubs disappeared in the grass.