The time had finally come. Ahadi and Uru were stepping down, Taka and Sarabi would claim the throne.
It had been only such a short time to the parents that they found their lost son, but it was decided that Taka have his birthright when his and Sarabi's cub came. Mufasa watched as his brother and Sarabi were marked with the royal markings of the Throne.
Haki and Sarafina watched with happiness as they nuzzled, having just gotten the news Sarafina was pregnant with Haki's cub.
After Taka and Sarabi roared, Haki asked if Rafiki could marry him and Sarafina. Taka agreed wholeheartedly that it should happen if Haki was to be a father.
By the end of the day, everyone was pleased on the events. The brand new King and Queen were happy and couldn't wait to meet their heir. Ahadi kept up his Kingly lessons with Taka just in case he got lost along the way of ruling.
Sarabi and Sarafina happily chatted on terms of names. Sarafina had picked out the name of Nala in case she had a girl, while Haki wanted Mheetu in case she had a boy. The new Queen confessed she and Taka hadn't thought of names for the cub.
"Taka, can we talk?" Sarabi asked as her mate came into the den after another lesson.
"Certainly." Taka purred as he lead her out of the den, ignoring his brother who walked past. "What did you want to talk about?"
Sarabi nuzzled into his mane. "Names for our cub."
Taka smiled brightly. "Oh, yes! I have thought of a name in case we have a boy!"
Sarabi chuckled as she could already guess. "Let me see... Ni?"
Taka was silent before grinning. "You know me so well, but what about you?"
Sarabi thought for a moment before chuckling softly as her tail flicked. "I always liked the name Simba for a boy but for a girl, I'd like to name her after my mother; Athena."
Taka nodded. "Done, since we have two boy names, I'll even it out. For a girl, I like the name; Kia."
"Deal." Sarabi purred. "I was thinking about the whole betrothed thing..."
Taka shook his head as he licked his mate's cheek. "They won't be if Sarafina has a girl and we have a boy or vice versa. They can find their own love on their own. Like we did."
Sarabi couldn't help the purr that escaped from her throat. "Thank you, Taka."
The King couldn't help but smiled happily as he licked her cheek once more before lowering himself down and nuzzled the bump. He couldn't wait to meet the little one.
*TP & TR*
Mufasa sighed heavily as he watched his best friend and brother with their mates. He couldn't believe how he lost Sarabi to a brother who was thought long to be dead. But he was happy that Sarabi was happy with whom she chose out of the two of them. But the fact she was pregnant still was shocking to him.
He was about to marry while she was pregnant with another lion's cubs!
But he couldn't long over her anymore and shook his head. He was going to be an uncle, and he should be happy over the fact. Despite what he might've felt for Sarabi, he was going to be a good uncle to unborn niece or nephew, no matter what, he'd be there for the cubs.
"Hey."
Mufasa jumped at the sound of Naanda's voice and wiped his head around. "Naanda, you scared me!"
Naanda chuckled at the prince and rolled her orange eyes. "My bad, I was looking for you actually."
Mufasa arched an eyebrow at his sister-in-law. "Oh?"
Naanda nodded as she looked away from him. "I'm going to be leaving the Pridelands." Mufasa's eyes widened at her words. "I have found someone in the Grasslands."
The golden prince nodded as he sucked in a sharp breath. "I'll miss you. Does everyone else know about this?"
"Yes." Naanda nodded, getting to her paws. "I told them a little bit ago."
Mufasa sighed heavily. "Goodbye, Naanda."
The lioness smirked. "However there is this one lioness who's been dying to meet you."
The golden prince's ears perked. "Uh? Me?" he asked in awe. "What's her name?"
"Hmm? Oh, Akia."
Mufasa quickly got to his paws with a charming smile on his face. "Just let me go tell my parents and the Pride, I'll be right with you soon!"
The lioness couldn't help but chuckle as the prince dashed off. It was really Ahadi and Uru's idea for this, and they had no doubt Mufasa would love to meet Princess Akia after so long of only ever meeting as cubs.
Mufasa would be dying to re meet his old friend again.
*TP & TR*
Time went by since Mufasa and Naanda left the Pridelands to the Grasslands. Of course Taka was disappointed his brother was leaving but understood as he saw how happy his brother was at the thought of re-meeting the cubhood friend.
Soon enough, it was time for Sarabi to give birth to the new heir of the Pridelands and nervousness swept through Taka. He sat outside of the den with his father and Haki at his side while Uru, Sarafina, and Rafiki were inside helping the Queen with the birthing process.
"Nervous, are we?"
Taka looked over at his father and nodded. "Of course I am!"
Ahadi nuzzled his son. "I was like this too."
The King couldn't help but smile softly as he looked at the den. "How long does this take?" he softly asked himself. "I want to be there with her."
Ahadi sighed. "It'll be over soon enough."
It felt like hours before Rafiki came out and nodded his head. Taka didn't need to hear anymore as he bolted inside the den to see his cub. Ahadi chuckled at his son's eagerness and followed suit. He walked into the den and nuzzled his mate who greeted him happily, smiling with happiness over the fact they were now grandparents.
Taka couldn't help but feel surprise when he saw three bundles in his mate's arms. Triplets? He sucked in a sharp breath as he smiled widely, and he could admit he was a tad scared about raising three cubs at once.
The first one of the triplets was a golden furred one, seemingly getting the color from Ahadi, and everything else Taka could clearly see was from Sarabi. The cub's paws and underbelly were beige. The little one's tail-tip was reddish.
The second cub held golden fur but with brown mixed in. The underbelly and paws were a light creamy color, almost looking like beige as well, the cub took after its father in terms of nose but it was pink instead of black. The cub's tail-tip was brown.
The last cub looked like Taka in every way. The same rich brown fur and pale-orange color, but they were darkened than Taka. The same pointed black nose with the tail-tip being a dark brown, almost looking like it could be black later on.
"I admit, this is a surprise." Taka whispered out, kissing Sarabi's forehead. "What are the genders?"
"All boys." Sarabi explained. "However, I was so wrapped up that I have no clue on who's the oldest cub."
Taka shrugged it off. "We can decide that later." he chuckled. "For now, let's name our sons!" he looked down at the golden cub and smiled. "Simba for the golden one."
"Ni for the golden-brown one." Sarabi smiled softly at her mate's expression. "What about the brown one? What should we name him?"
"Kovu." Taka stated.
Sarabi could only purr in reply.