A golden blade of grass tapped at Tanga's nose. She batted at it, and rolled over onto her back to play with it until it and several others had broken off in her teeth. She knew she was taking her frustration out on it, having been told to stay hidden in the tall grass while the hunting party had all the enjoyment, but she didn't care. It was just grass.

Told to stay with the cubs, Timon and Pumbaa unfaithfully watched the trio a few lengths away from behind their eyelids. Every so often Tanga could hear them wheeze in their sleep. She was tempted to disappear from their care. But... we're already in enough trouble. Better stay here and be bored... Uhhgg!

"If you two had listened to me, we'd probably be hun-"

"If you say that word, I'll make you eat this," Natin threatened moodily while he rolled a beetle between his paws. After it had its fill of harassment, it flew away.

"Daddy said he'd take us out as soon as we're done with our punishment," Tanga piped. "I just hope it's soon. He keeps saying he will... but then he doesn't."

"I don't know about you, but I had a good thing going. My mother was taking me out on a regular basis..."

"You were the one with the bright idea to go hunting," Asuma said, frowning.

"Nobody forced you into taking me up on my offer, Asuma."

"Why you..."

Tanga's ear flicked to the side, and she sat up to see over the grass. Growling and yowling, Asuma and Natin wrestled, stirring up dirt and waking Timon from his nap.

"Hey, keep it down, will ya?" he muttered. When he saw that they weren't going to listen, he rolled over and snuggled down deeper into Pumbaa's warm mane.

"Something's going on."

"Did they bring down a kill yet?" Natin asked Tanga. Asuma was pinned beneath him.

But Tanga didn't reply. She jumped through the tall grass over to her pridemates. At the arrival of Kovu and Vitani, both breathless and dusty, they had begun to gather around. Tanga stood to the side, watching, and soon her brother and cousin were at her side.

"Kovu, what's the ma-"

"Kiara, something's happened to your father."

"Simba?"

"Yes, Nala, we've found him, but..."

"Well, what happened? Where is he?"

Natin crept closer when the voices of the distressed lionesses began to overpower one another. Tanga looked on anxiously. She lowered her ears to the sound of gasping lionesses and the sight of Natin cringing away from them. He dashed back to his cousins.

Before he could utter a word, Tanga felt her face flush with heat. "He's dead!" Natin exclaimed. Tears were beginning to form in his blue eyes. "Simba's dead!"

Asuma gasped. "How?"

"They think it was rogues, that he was ambushed last night," Natin reported. "They're aren't entirely sure yet."

Asuma flinched, and his chin began to quiver.

"I can't believe it... Grandfather... dead? Murdered in cold blood?" Tanga choked out. "Why would someone do this to him?"

"I don't know, but who ever killed him is sick," Natin growled. "They must have wanted our land, but were too cowardly to challenge us the honorable way. Only cowards need to use an ambush to win a fight."

Asuma collapsed then, his paws hugging his head. Tanga could hear him sobbing through his arms. "He's dead b-b-b-because of m-me!"

Crouching down, Tanga nuzzled her brother, her eyes wide. "It's not your fault," she told him.

"Yes! He was looking for me!" Asuma wailed, his voice muffled.

While Tanga ran her tongue over the light fur of Asuma's head, Natin responded to the call of his mother.

"We're over here."

At the sight of Asuma, Vitani growled softly. "How did you cubs hear?"

"Natin told us, and now Asuma's upset. He thinks it's his fault Simba's dead," Tanga explained to her aunt.

"But it is!"

Vitani's brow wrinkled with concern, and her tailbrush flicked wildly. A strange look crossed her face for a moment that Tanga thought was pity for Asuma before she composed herself again. "I'm taking you cubs back to Pride Rock," she said. "There's no point in being out here."

"What about Simba?" Tanga asked.

"Don't worry, your father is taking them out to investigate and bring him home for burial. Now come."

"C'mon, Asuma, we have to go." Tanga nudged her brother to his paws. He was in such a state that he could hardly walk to follow Vitani.

Natin was at Asuma's other side. "Here, maybe I can carry him on my back..."

Asuma stopped. "No, I don't need you to carry me." He sniffled. "I can do it myself."

"All right then..." Natin muttered. He and Tanga continued forward with the distressed cub walking slowly between them.

This couldn't be even more of a tragedy... Tanga thought sadly. What will we do without him?

"None of us can say how long our time will be on this land, but what I can say is that this king spent his well. Through the death of his own father..."

Word of Simba's tragic death spread quickly through the whole of the Pride Lands, and a few creatures had even made the effort in one way or another other to make their condolences clear to the mourning pride. The land had lost its king who had brought it back to life after the reign of Scar. It was time now for the sun of the new king, Kovu, to rise, and the morning of the next day, he would proclaim himself as such with Kiara at his side. They'd rule in their own right in the place of the fallen king.

Rafiki's young shaman apprentice, Tswane, was taking the place of Rafiki at the burial ceremony. The young mandrill had reported that the old shaman had been missing since the storm, and had not given him an explanation about his disappearance. Another creature that the pride was missing was Zazu, but after finding the few muddy, fallen feathers at the scene of Simba's murder, they had all unfortunately guessed that the rogues had taken off with the hornbill. Kovu still held his suspicions about the bird's true whereabouts.

Tswane cleared his throat and straightened his back a little as he came to the closing of the ceremony, leaning on a stick of his own that was similar to his master's. "With the passing of one king, a new one will rise to the task of caring for his pride," he said before turning to Kovu. "I wish you luck, sire."

"Thank you, Tswane," Kovu said sullenly. But I'll need more than luck... He was certain that there would no trouble keeping the true story surrounding Simba's death away from his family, deafening them to the real facts with the lie that he had been victimized by savage rogues. Zira's body had been disposed of, and nobody could guess she had ever survived the fall into the river. He was going to get away with this, and surprisingly the promise of it thrilled him slightly, or at least no more than he would allow himself to be. He didn't much like the thought of keeping the truth from them, but he knew it would be worse if they knew. So long as Vitani didn't decide otherwise, they would never know.

The members of the pride broke up the ring that had surrounded the mound of freshly churned earth where Simba's body now rested, peacefully or otherwise. While Kovu and the cubs departed as well, Kiara remained back with Nala, who had not moved from the spot since her mate had been placed there. Timon and Pumbaa were there for the grieving lioness as well. At first, Kovu didn't pay attention to what his cubs were speaking about, but he listened carefully when he finally did.

"It's all right, Asuma," Tanga said. Asuma was trudging along between his sister and Kovu. "He's in a better place now."

"How can I possibly feel all right?" Asuma muttered. Kovu noticed that his head was hanging low. "He'd be here with us now if not for me..."

"Oh... Asuma..." Tanga crooned sympathetically. But she didn't continue.

Vitani had mentioned that Asuma had taken the news hard, and that he believed it was his fault that Simba had died while supposedly searching for the lost cub. By the time Asuma had been seriously lost, Kovu knew that Simba had already been dead. Kovu had been disturbed when he had heard Vitani tell him about Asuma, never having dreamed that this would happen. But, he was helpless to comfort his son and lighten his conscious. I'll have to try everything else to make him see that it wasn't his fault.

"You haven't been sleeping much lately, I've noticed, Asuma," Kovu spoke up. "When we get back to the den, we can take a nap. I'm sure everyone else in the pride will want to lay low for the rest of the day, too."

"Nobody much feels like doing much, but the last thing that I want to do is sleep. I don't want to sleep," Asuma said sullenly.

"Well, why not?" Tanga asked for both her father and herself.

The prince shrugged and noticeably blinked. "I've been having these strange dreams. They're scary."

"What are they about, son?"

"I can't get over being lost even though I'm safely home again, and these dreams are getting worse. I'm in a storm, and I can hear angry lions roaring in the distance somewhere, but I can't find them." Asuma then shook his head, stopping his story abruptly. He looked up at Kovu. "But I don't really want to talk about them right now. Dad, did you ever bring your kill home?"

Kovu frowned. "What kill, Asuma?"

"You remember, the one you were hiding when I found you in the rain. That one."

"Oh, that one." Kovu had forgotten about the lie he had told Asuma, and he promised himself he would work harder to be more careful about what he said. "I didn't have the time to go back for it, and scavengers must have found it by now," he said.

"Is there any way that I can make it up to you, Dad?"

"What do you mean?"

Tanga smiled wide. "I think he means that he wants to help you hunt, Daddy," she said. "Oh, please, can we? It would be so much fun, and you keep promising us you will! Please?"

An easy smile widened Kovu's jaw. "All right then. I'll take you for a hunting lesson in a few days. By then, I'm sure your mother won't mind and everyone will be ready to start moving forward again."

"Yay! Thank you, Daddy."

Tanga raced ahead to the den while Asuma remained behind with Kovu, who had to slow his pace for the depressed cub so they could remain walking side by side. A churning feeling in Kovu's gut made him want to run after his daughter, but he knew he had to stay. It'll be cruel if he feels guiltier than I do, he thought regretfully to himself.

"Have you talked to anyone about this, Asuma?"

"About the dreams?"

Kovu struggled for something to say. "This remorse that you're having. Simba's death was not your fault."

"Not entirely," Asuma replied, "but he'd still be alive if-"

Kovu shook his head. "Things happen, Asuma, and we can't stop them. It's not our place. Simba's time to join the Great Circle was at that time, and the circumstances of if were just unfortunate. We all die."

"Well... it just was unfortunate, wasn't it..." Asuma muttered before sniffling. His son glanced up at him and then sat down. "I think I'm going to stay down here for a little bit, okay? I need some alone time."

They had stopped near the rocks that lead up onto Pride Rock and into the den. "Just don't stay here for long, Asuma," Kovu told him. "It'll be dark soon, and your mother will want you inside."

The young lion nodded, but said nothing. Swiftly, he turned his face away from Kovu.

As Kovu climbed upwards, heading to the warm den, he felt a twinge not of pity or guilt of his son, but one of irritation. He tried to not let it get the best of him. For now, he told himself that Asuma was grieving, and soon enough he would come to realize that Simba's death wasn't his fault. It was just too reminiscent of what Simba's past had been, and from what Kovu had heard, the dead king had suffered for it. He couldn't ignore this and hope it went away. The fault is mine. This is my burden to carry, not yours. You have to understand that.

All he could do was hope for the best. After the next sunrise, there would be no turning back.