(A/N: Yay update! Thanks for reading, you guys! 3)

Nuka stayed away from Pride Rock for several days after their fight. If he could keep his arrogant head down, less trouble could brew between the brothers; the less they crossed paths the better. A voice similar in tone to Vitani's played in the back of Kovu's mind. You don't have to turn on Nuka every time he shows up. It would be hard not to when their older brother had such a fat mouth.

And if he needs to be reminded of his place, then so be it.

Unfortunately Nuka's absence came to an end only too soon. One afternoon, while Kovu and the lionesses were eating at their buffalo kill, Vitani appeared and conversationally announced that Batzail had given birth. Vitani added quietly that the other two cubs in the litter had died within a day. Kovu rolled his eyes. He would not lose sleep and his heart would not twist over the loss of his brother's cubs.

"They've got a son and he seems healthy."

Almost immediately, the other lionesses perked up and cooed happily, telling Vitani to pass on their condolences. Kovu raised a brow. Judging by Vitani's dazed expression she also hadn't expected anyone but herself to care about Nuka's children. A slow, pleasant smile crept up on her muzzle as the congratulatory chatter continued. Batzail, after all, was the first to give birth in the Pride Lands.

Kovu set his mouth in a hard line. He silenced a snotty exclamation and a growl from deep inside himself. Nuka got his wish I guess.

"Do we get to see this son?" Zira asked. She raised her head from her meal and regarded Vitani neutrally.

"Not sure… Not for a while. She's protective. The usual for a mother," Vitani replied, "but I doubt they'd turn away visitors. They're pretty pleased with themselves."

Zira continued to eat, aloof, not adding much else to the surrounding conversation. At first. Kovu looked harder. Horrified, he could see the interest build up in her eyes like a flood moving over dry, thirsty dirt. A smile. A dozen thoughts looked like they were buzzing behind her ruby red eyes. He also saw a spark of pride or righteousness… either proved a sore sight to see and a chill went up his neck.

"Batzail has brought new life to our pride in our new home. Perhaps proper congratulations are in order." She nodded to a couple lionesses. "Take them food. No mother goes hungry." Standing up, Zira gestured to Suki. "Come with me," she barked tersely.

Suki's eyes widened and she looked at Kovu.

Where his mother was going with his queen was unclear. Were they going to visit Batzail? He looked away and dug his teeth into the kill in front of him, feeling irritated. When his mother talked to Suki it was never good. The pair left together with Suki trailing behind Zira, but they didn't head in the direction of Nuka's den. Kovu waited until they were well away before abruptly leaving the kill.

He knew then what his mother was going to say to Suki. He pinned his ears to his head. There was no way of knowing yet if what he felt in his gut was right or not, but he felt sure. Guilt burned behind his ears as he pictured the scolding his queen would receive… and none of it was her fault. She'd tried.

Maybe I should have sucked it up and done my duty as king. It was insulting that Nuka had had a cub before him—and a son! His face flushed with anger and he narrowed his eyes. He'd disappointed himself.

Feeling unbearably self-conscious, he went to his and Suki's cave, stayed there for the rest of the day, and waited for her. He was worried and was thinking about going to look for her when she appeared at the mouth of their den that evening, her head lowered and her shoulders slack. It was nearly dark and it wasn't until she came closer that he saw her squinted left eye and puffy lid.

He stiffened and growled softly as she shuffled towards him.

"It didn't really hurt," Suki whispered. She stopped in front of him a few lengths away, her head down. She looked up at him with doe eyes.

His body was alive with anger. Someone had harmed his queen. "What did Mother say?"

"That I'm no queen. That I've failed you." She sniffed softly. "I lied that we've been trying, so she thinks it's… that I can't…"

Kovu looked at his paws, his anger buckling inward slightly. Of course, he hadn't touched Suki. Not even once. That's why she wasn't pregnant. "You've done more for me than I have for you," he muttered.

After a moment she nodded.

With a little more feeling, he added, "This… wasn't your fault."

"I want to be a good queen to you."

"I know." He lay down and patted his paw on the spot next to him. When she came to lie next to him, he gently tipped her chin up with a paw and looked at her eye. The injury wasn't bad, but it refreshed his anger again. His mother had dared to lay a paw on Suki without a second thought. Suki didn't look him in the eye until he said, "Mother won't do this again."

Suki looked doubtful, but she nodded anyway.

Kovu rested a foreleg over her back and moved closer to embrace her. She moved closer, too, and started to lick his face. Without thinking, he pulled away.

I don't deserve someone like you, came a fleeting thought out of nowhere.

He whispered, "Not tonight… I want you to rest."

Disappointment filled her eyes, and frustration pinched her mouth. Her voice was sharp. "Kovu—"

"In the morning," he blurted. "Promise. Not when we're both upset." Rolling on his back, he pulled her closer and nuzzled her head, hoping to calm her down as she lay on his chest. He rested his chin between her ears, waiting. When after a few moments she let out a sigh and her muscles relaxed, he breathed a sigh of relief as he stared out the den entrance. It felt strange to show Suki affection.

"I just want to make you happy, Kovu." Suki said this often, but this time her words stabbed like claws.

"I know…" He waited with baited breath for more, but she settled in, and her breathing turned even as she drifted off without him.


The sun was bright and the breeze was cool for once, but Kiara struggled to enjoy it. A heavy lump rested in her throat and stomach. Ramik was taking the news of his brothers' evictions hard. Ramik had hardly talked to Kiara since Tojo had told him to throw his brothers out, but she was more concerned that he was talking to nobody else, either. He usually talked to everyone, even if it took him a couple days to make his rounds. The night before, he'd snuggled against her like a lonely cub. He didn't say anything, however, and it hadn't felt like the right moment to ask him how he was dealing with the situation. The other lionesses were tense, too, and Tojo was grumpier than usual. He'd snapped at nearly everyone in the pride and many planned on giving the king the cold shoulder in return for his bad temper.

She was both thankful for being spared hours of pointless, reckless musing and was also irritated when Tojo found her alone and told her he wanted to talk.

"Yes, King Tojo?" She replied with mild dread, noticing how tense he seemed and how his eyes looked harder than normal. I'm sure I'm about to do all the listening and he'll do all the talking.

She waited for him to sit down, but the big lion remained standing. He was good at looming, that was for sure. "You're aware of my disagreement with Ramik," Tojo began. "I can't seem to convince him to encourage his brothers to leave, as I have. And I'm sure it has something to do with you and your family."

Kiara stared. Anger crept up. Was Tojo accusing her of conspiring with Ramik to keep the brothers together? Well, that is a little bit true… just not directly true. She opened her mouth.

Tojo lifted his chin and continued unfalteringly like a charging buffalo, without giving her a chance to defend herself. "This is my kingdom. I created it when I had nothing, when I had no father of my own to show me the way. Even when I'm gone, I don't want my sons to fight over what I created. I want someone to keep the lionesses and their young cubs—my cubs—within it safe. I don't want my sons to turn on each other when they could have their own prides. I've seen the future, and I would like what I worked for to not be in vain."

"I know better than anyone what it's like for a brother to kill out of jealousy," Kiara replied coolly. She paused a beat as a surprising, impulsive reply built up in her mouth. "I don't disagree with you..."

Tojo squinted his eyes, studying her face. "…But you don't agree with me?"

Both sides frustrated her, and it frustrated her own self that she couldn't make up her mind. I should be able to pick a side, and I know what side that should be. "I don't think demonizing your own sons is how you're going to get your way," she replied. "More lions might mean a stronger pride—"

"…but more voices can weaken it. If you were in my position, the protector of a pride I am very soon to pass on, you'd feel as I do, Princess." Tojo's harsh voice told her his temper was churning below the surface of his otherwise flat demeanor. She wondered how many hours of the day he spent thinking about how malicious his sons could be. What kinds of nightmares he might have that were inspiring his fear.

She could never proclaim that she had as much strength as a full-grown male on her own, or that she had as much responsibility as he did, because she wasn't Tojo. Kiara sighed. Keeping her voice level, she tried to reason with the king. "No, but the best way to make someone take an interest in disliking you is to start by saying their hearts and minds are dishonest, and that they're out of get everyone. Nobody likes to be told they're someone they're not.

"If my father hadn't been chased off by the hyenas," she continued, "and if maybe Scar had allowed him to live to adulthood, don't you think he would have tried to convince my father that you and Chumvi and all his other friends were out to get him?"

"That's only speculation," Tojo scoffed. But then he went quiet and seemed to think for a bit.

Kiara gave a tired but anxious smile. "See? Doesn't feel so good to be compared to Scar now does it? I think that's Ramik's point."

Tojo looked to the side and sat down. "Yes, but even the best of us can be tricked. Imagine if your father had honored his instincts and chased Kovu away. I would have chased that heathen away the second I saw him, no questions asked. I don't care that Kovu saved you. I don't care that he's not Zira himself, because she still raised him to adulthood. The one unfortunate thing about your father was that he did trust. A lot too much."

The words stung. Her father could have done away with Kovu from the start, too, and maybe her parents would be alive now. A second of weakness made Kiara's eyes prickle with tears, but she blinked them away rapidly. Her pride wouldn't be one of captives and she would be at home. "The Outsiders would've just tried harder."

Tojo gave a slight smirk. "I don't doubt that… but there's no point in speculating what has already happened when we can speculate on what is to come. To prepare."

She looked at her paws. She wished she knew the right path, so that she was ready for what lay ahead, rather than letting time drag her forward, kicking and biting, into the darkness.

Tojo sighed. "Sometimes Death can smile back at you even brighter than your truest friend ever could… and sometimes those with the best intentions leave themselves open to danger."

He then was quiet for a long time, looking out into the landscape. She felt like he was building up to saying something, and the waiting was unbearable and irritating. It was clear Tojo was thinking of his family. And Chumvi would help the young sons transition into their new lives. As she thought, she wondered if maybe part of growing up was learning when to be kind… and when to self-preserve…

"I want you to tell Ramik that his brothers are to go, and that is how it will be."

Snapped from her thoughts, Kiara's face flushed. How could she convince Ramik when he refused to listen to his own father? She'd touched a nerve already without meaning to when she hadn't leaped to agree with Ramik about the truth in Tojo's demands. She had no idea how upset if would make her future mate if she wouldn't side with him against Tojo.

"You can't be on his side, Kiara. At all," Tojo went on. His face hardened again, and she knew to say no in any way would be like trying to move a boulder. "This is still my pride, my land, and I have hosted you here out of my duty to your parents."

And if I support Ramik… I'm a threat… Kiara didn't ignore the feeling she was being bullied, but deep inside she was very afraid that Tojo was right. Again, she wished she could see into the future, and in that moment, Rafiki came to mind. As Tojo waited for her compliant response, his eyes boring into her, she had a clearer sense that she needed to speak with the shaman.

"I'll speak with Ramik," Kiara promised. "I'm also going to speak with Rafiki if I can." When Tojo looked confused about how speaking to Rafiki was relevant, she added, "I'd like to know if he's seen anything."

Tojo's eyes darkened, but not out of irritation towards her. "Talk to our shaman, Kiara, too," he urged. "Please. I've already talked with Tinni." He said nothing else, but looked sick to his stomach. He looked like he wanted to retch when he added, "Take Ramik with you. I told him to visit her but he still hasn't. You need to hear what she has to say."

"Okay…" Had Tinni said anything alarming to her king? She wished that Tojo had led with this news instead of trying to bully her, though he was king and he was to be obeyed, she supposed. An ominous chill ran through Kiara's whole body. Of course Tojo would seek counsel from his own shaman. The King's orders and hard personality had let her forget that he was still a rational ruler who wasn't above listening to others.

Tojo then said he was going back to the pride and asked if she wanted to walk with him. She was still enjoying her alone time, and now she had even more to think about.

Walking away, Tojo stopped for a moment, looked over his shoulder, and said in a more or less calm voice, "I don't hate my sons… I want the best for them. I'm trying to help each of them have a future, and it just so happens that Ramik is the first born, and that means he stays with the pride… and that he must sacrifice his relationships with his brothers."

Kiara arched her brows sadly. Tojo turned away and left her to figure out what ever that she could say to change Ramik's heart.