A/N:Teddi 8347-I made a mistake with Uzuri. It's really Nzuri and Malka will tell Mheetu soon. When he thinks it's the right time.

CSIMentalistTLK lover-Thank goodness but Zira will get hers.

Disgraceful Prince

Mheetu stretched out lazily on the grass, his eyelids half-closed and his fur feeling nice and warm. Next to him, Nzuri lay, snoring quietly, and on his other side was Skye. The breeze waved the grass gently, making Mheetu's fur ruffle faintly. He shifted slightly, too lazy to do more than move his paws. Kishindo and Kito were a few paces away, on their backs gazing up at the slow-moving clouds. Jeshi, Tanabi, Kopa and Khairi too, was here, curled up to the right of Nzuri and looking quite sleepy. Months had passed since the incident with the pale tan lioness. Mheetu was fully healed, and could no longer be called a cub. His mane was beginning to sprout, ginger brown fur trailing over his head. He was rather proud of it. Although Kishindo was older and had thicker growing mane, Mheetu was just excited to be finally joining the other males in the stage of mane growth. Jeshi's mane was almost full. Still, Mheetu was no adult. His head didn't even reach his mother's shoulder yet, even Kishindo's barely rose over it. He was happy where he was though. Unlike many cubs, he enjoyed his childhood and didn't want it to end.

"Thank the Kings it's not super hot today." Skye said softly, shifting around to face Mheetu.

"Oh yeah! It's so nice today." Mheetu agreed, flipping around as well, arguing with his lazy muscles to move.

He yawned widely, growling out his breath, and shook his head. He had a tendency to do that. It was satisfactory to feel the tuft of mane flop around.

"Hey Nzuri, wanna come to the river with me?" Jeshi's voice distracted Mheetu.

He glanced over to his other side, where Nzuri was lying on her stomach. She was gazing up at Jeshi, who it seemed had gotten up and came over.

"Er, not right now. Mheetu said he would play Pounce with me." The peach lioness replied, looking a bit guilty.

Jeshi's expression changed from hopeful to embarrassed and sad, and he glanced at Mheetu with a hint of anger.

"Oh. Alright." Jeshi responded in a monotone, then padded away.

He continued walking through the grass, until Mheetu couldn't see him from where he lay on the ground.

"Oops." Nzuri commented, looking a bit upset. She gazed over to Mheetu. "I hope I didn't really hurt him."

Mheetu gave her a gentle nudge. "He'll be fine." He assured his friend. "Well, wanna do said Pounce now?" He asked her, smiling.

She hesitated momentarily, gazing after Jeshi, then returned the happy look, shaking her head and jumping to her paws in a swift movement. Her excitable spirit had returned.

"Yeah! Come on, over here." Nzuri trotted through the savannah, tail waving.

"Ok. See ya, Skye." Mheetu flicked his tail against the pale light brown cub as he passed.

She blinked at him, sitting up as if she wanted to follow, but made no other moves.

~O~

"Ok...I'll be the Pouncer first." Nzuri called as Mheetu reached her.

He rolled his eyes."Of course. But whatever." Mheetu said, padding past her, deeper into the tall grass.

He kept moving, keeping a distance away. That was the game. Don't let your opponent Pounce you- touch you at all. You win if you were able to reach Scatter-Stones without being Pounced, the biggest pile of rocks in Mountain Pride territory. The Pouncer could win by Pouncing only. Mheetu glanced over his shoulder, but didn't see Nzuri. She had obviously gone straight into a hiding technique. He felt a twinge of adrenaline, and sprang forwards. He would pull a flat-out run to the destination. He began to sprint, legs flying out as he breezed through the long grass. Scatter-Stones was a mere speckle of grey in the distance. He kept his ears pricked up, in case he could hear Nzuri. He doubted that, over the thunder of his paws.

"Gotcha!" Nzuri roared, darting out in front of Mheetu.

He skidded to a halt, paws pummeling the ground in his attempt to stop, eyes wide with surprise. Nzuri reached him, sending him sliding as she pinned him to the ground.

Mheetu panted, gazing up at her. "Woah! That was good!" He exclaimed, grinning.

She smirked, tail swishing, and bent her head down to lick his cheek."Thanks." She mewed, and hopped lightly off as if nothing whatsoever had happened.

But Mheetu felt like it did. She had never done that before. He rubbed his reddening cheeks subconsciously, staring after her.

"Hey! Mheetu! Nzuri!"

A voice was calling, and Mheetu shook away his puzzled thoughts and glanced back. Jeshi was galloping towards them, his expression defensive.

"What?" Mheetu asked, hastily wiping away the fading wetness of Nzuri's lick. He flicked his tail, shaking the dust from his creamy brown coat.

"What were you doing with her?" Jeshi demanded, as Nzuri padded questioningly over.

Her ears pinned back as she heard the young lion's tone.

"Nothing. We were just playing!" Mheetu answered quickly, frustrated with Jeshi's protectiveness over Nzuri. He wasn't quite sure why the light brown teenager was so annoyed with him. Why was he suddenly so caring about Nzuri, and on guard when others were around?

"You didn't invite me!" Jeshi growled, tail tip twitching.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" Mheetu's voice dripped sarcasm. His eyes narrowed, angry for a reason he didn't even know.

"Why can't you let Nzuri spend time with who she wants to?"

"She wanted to come with me!"

"How do you know?" Jeshi hissed, sinking dark claws into the soil.

"Why are you so defensive?" Mheetu countered, beginning to pace. His tail swung back and forth, his fur bristling on his back.

"I'm not def-" Jeshi started, but was cut off as Nzuri spoke up.

"Jeshi, I'm sorry." Nzuri butted in, padding between the two bickering males.

She gave him a soft nuzzle on his shoulder, looking sincerely apologetic. "But don't be mean to Mheetu. We were just having fun."

She soothed, giving him a stern yet kind look. Mheetu stared at her. When had she grown soft? Jeshi's angry look faded, and he looked down at Nzuri in front of him.

"Oh...sorry." He appeared slightly bewildered too at Nzuri's sudden change. He gave Mheetu a scornful look over Nzuri's head, making the younger lion wince and step back, confused.

"Race you to the river!" Nzuri bounded around Jeshi, flicking him with her tail.

The young lion blinked, and spun around to follow her. Nzuri cast a friendly glance to Mheetu, making him relax slightly. He watched the two speed away, utterly lost by whatever had just happened. With a sigh, he began to pad towards the cave.

~O~

"Hey Brother, what's got you down?" Kishindo padded over to Mheetu, expression playfully concerned.

The sun was staring to set now, and Mheetu was feeling tired.

"Mehh..." Mheetu mumbled, staring at the ground as he walked. He kicked lightly at a rock.

"Are you ok?" Kishindo tried again, but sounded actually worried this time.

"Yeah." Mheetu sighed. He halted, gazing up at cave.

"Hmm...alright." Kishindo frowned, but gave up. "Hey, food!" He exclaimed, trotting past the bushes into the clearing surrounded the cave. Mheetu sniffed, inhaling the tantalizing scent of freshly-killed impala.

"Mheetu!" Skye came scampering over, her face shining with delight as she reached him.

Mheetu felt his spirits lift slightly, and a faint smile formed on his muzzle as his friend collided with him.

"Hey there." He purred, looking up at her joyful expression. She rolled off of him, smiling with evident glee. "What's got you so happy?" He teased lightly, shaking off the dust as he rose to his paws.

She blushed faintly, and darted over to the crowd of Malka, Nabii and all the others in the center. They were gathered around the carcass of the caught impala. All the lions were munching on the kill, grumbling and pushing as they tore off meat. Kishindo padded up as Mheetu and Skye reached it, followed momentarily by Kito.

"Where are Jeshi and Nzuri?" Shinda asked to Mheetu, who was beside her.

"I think they are at the river." He replied, feeling a twinge of annoyance for some reason.

"Ah...well, they'll miss the fresh meat." She commented, tearing away at the impala's leg.

She didn't seem to be too stressed over it though-a faint sparkle of amusement glinted in her eyes. Mheetu tilted his head as he chewed, puzzled. He finished quickly, moving away as the adults finished their feeding. Exhaustion was making him tremble, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his spot.

"Sleepy?" Skye slided over to him, her pelt brushing his.

"Yeah." Mheetu yawned. The two reached where Malka and Nabii usually slept. "'Night, Skye." Mheetu nuzzled her ear.

She returned the gesture, smiling faintly before slipping away into the evening light. Mheetu gazed after her, wondering why he did so. He flopped down on the grass in the cave, eyes barely staying open. He heard pawsteps, but it was only Kishindo and Kito coming over. They muttered words that Mheetu didn't bother to listen to, and Kito darted off. Kishindo came towards Mheetu, settling down near him. Mheetu yawned again, closing his eyes fully and letting out a sigh before falling into slumber.