(A/N: I'm finally back with a new update! This took longer than I thought, but we're also really gearing up for the end now! Also, thanks you guys for the lovely reviews last chapter! I shall get to answering those now. :3)

The bellies of wispy clouds were tinged red by the sun's spray of deep golden orange color. Calm, cool air clung to Natin's fur as he lay in his prison cell, crippled. He only became aware again that he wasn't alone when Tojo cleared his throat and shifted his weight to pop his joints. The old king was a solitary guard sitting at the mouth of the den.

Tojo muttered hoarsely, "Haven't seen many sunrises that look like this one..." He yawned.

Remaining quiet, Natin assumed the old lion was speaking to himself and lapsed back into the thoughts that had started when Kovu had left with the others…

I shoulda done it. I should've killed Kovu. Been less naïve about things-I was foolish, and I had all those chances. I saw Kovu lying there at night, and I saw Mother's blood marked on his soul, on the paws and faces of the sleeping lionesses around us-I hope at least she haunted their dreams. But I couldn't see past my blood in Kovu's body. Everyone's endangering their lives to help Asuma. It's impossible. He's gone… Lost. Why'd I have to lead him astray? Why'd I enable him to use me for my weakest flaw-my cowardliness? Was there any other way? And Asuma never wanted to help me help myself-he wanted to become what he is now. He wanted me to kill his father, who was mine, too... but I cannot really blame him for that after everything that's happened.

He fretted the fear and guilt in his life; he felt like he'd accomplished little, if nothing at all. He'd told Asuma that he wouldn't lay a paw on Kovu, but now Asuma had essentially been thrown to Sauda and Fola's pridesisters. Tattered, splotchy memories, of a time long-passed, when he'd had been much younger, began to run off inside Natin's head…

"Natin! Why is Asuma crying?"

Natin stared up at his aunt before he looked down at his paws. He wriggled nervously. "Whuh'd he tell ya?"

Kiara spoke slow and in a higher voice than normal. "That you pushed him. Off a rock."

Teary-eyed, Asuma crouched a few lengths behind his upset mother. He was more like a blue-eyed ball of orange fluff than a cub.

"We were playin', Kiara... Playin' King of the Rock..."

"Did he know that?" Kiara's eyebrow lifted.

Natin shrugged innocently. What'd that mean? He'd practically just explained how the game worked when Asuma had started to cry.

His aunt frowned. "Asuma is still smaller than you. You can't be rough with him or Tanga."

Natin frowned back. "But I can make'm tougher. I can make him tougher than I am now... um, when he's my age now..." He'd wished his mother was there- she would've understood, he thought. They always played fun games together. But she was away hunting with other lionesses. Tanga would've made for a better playmate, but she had been taking a walk around Pride Rock with her father.

"Natin, can you look out for him instead of trying to make him tougher? He'll learn on his own when he's ready, you'll see, okay? And no more King of the Rock. Okay?"

He'd nodded. Natin understood that he hurt Asuma somehow, but he hated that he'd been tattled on. He shouldn't have followed Asuma when the young cub had started crying and had run to his mother. Maybe hiding out would be a better choice if this happened again, and maybe it would be forgotten... but that was probably too much to hope for.

"Now say you're sorry and that you'll be more careful next time," Kiara ordered.

"But we were just playin'..." Natin whined.

Kiara frown deepened. "Would you give your mother that excuse?"

Maybe, Natin had thought mutinously. His mother understood rough-housing. He shook his head for Kiara, however, knowing that Vitani was going to get wind of this, and he knew she didn't tolerate 'his sass'. Being her only cub and the only creature she curled up with at night made them close, but that also meant she had a lot of time to focus on him alone.

"Natin, just apologize."

With a sigh, Natin jumped up and walked over to Asuma, whose eyes were brimming with tears. For a second, Natin wondered if Asuma was a faker, but he quickly dismissed the idea when Asuma looked away and seemed to shrink up. Natin said his apology, even glancing over at Kiara for approval. She nodded and smiled.

"I'll be careful next time, okay? I won't hurt ya, Asuma."

"You won't?" Asuma murmured, sitting a little straighter. "Promise."

Natin nodded and smiled. "Yeah! You're, like, my brother... 'cos I don't got one."

"I know."

"So I promise I won't hurt ya again..."

The night after the King of the Rock incident, everyone had settled in as usual. Natin had watched Kiara groom Asuma and Tanga before falling asleep. Asuma slept in his mother's arms, and Tanga slept practically on Kovu's face. Natin didn't know how his uncle could stand it.

Natin rolled over onto his back and looked at his mother's sleeping face. He always slept next to her stomach. She'd fallen asleep almost immediately, after leading the hunt that day. They said she'd brought down two zebra for the pride, and she'd brought some of it back with her just for him. Natin then looked back at his relatives and sighed, his small face scrunched up with longing. Where was his father? Why didn't he live in the Pride Lands? Did his father know that he had a son? Didn't his mother like his father anymore? His uncle acted like a father, and so did Simba, but it wasn't the same. In the morning, he started to ask his mother these things, and had persisted later, but she didn't seem interested in answering them- speaking about being grateful for what they had...

..."I don't get it! Why d'you wanna find Uncle Kovu? Isn't he exiled?"

"Someone needs to talk to him. He was angry when he left, and might hurt the pride again. He needs some sense knocked into him."

He followed behind Vitani, dragging his paws lazily as he walked. "Well, you did say he wanted to hurt me and he killed Simba. What more could he do?"

"You really don't want an answer to that do you, Natin?"

"I bet my real father wouldn't of gone so crazy." He'd eyed her back, and had watched her shoulders tense up.

"Kovu hasn't gone crazy. He was just confused. Our mother... tended to bring that out in us."

Natin narrowed his eyes in frustration. He didn't care about his murdering grandmother. That was the past. They'd been walking for eight days, and he was hoping his mother would give up and they'd go back home. He didn't want to find the betrayer. He feared what they'd find.

When his mother didn't speak again, he muttered, "I'd rather be looking for Father."

"Natin... Enough..." she sighed tiredly.

"What? It's true..."

Vitani halted in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at her son. Her expression was unreadable, which usually meant he was in trouble.

He stared back defiantly. "Can't I just know? Why? I just wanna know!" He walked to her shoulder to rub his head against her foreleg. "Please? I know about Simba's family. I know about yours. I wanna know mine. Who was he?"

Looking down at him, Vitani pursed her mouth. She looked for a long time, thinking."I'll tell you tonight when we rest."

"Promise? Prrrroooomise?" he asked suspiciously.

She nodded.

That night, they laid under a tree. Vitani laid with her forelegs out, and Natin laid his forelegs over hers.

"It was my decision to stay in the Pride Lands," she began. "I met Iken, your father, shortly after the prides had merged. I was at the watering hole when Simba joined me with a skinny, gimping rogue in tow. Simba had been out on patrol, and he'd found the lion with the scarred-up face collapsed near the border. Apparently he hadn't had water for a couple days- food for longer. Simba explained to me, and later the others, that Iken was in the process of looking for a new pride, and that he was allowed to stay inside the borders until he recovered his strength, so long as he didn't bother anyone. I wasn't sure if Simba was crazy or incredibly generous.

'Simba's not the only lion here. I would stay away from my brother if I were you.'

Iken mustered a chuckle. 'I've heard about this pride,' he had rasped to Simba and I at the watering hole that day, 'and believe me, it's on the bottom of my list of conquests.'

'We didn't ask you your opinion on our home-'

'Iken will be gone in a few days, Vitani," Simba had interrupted. 'There's no need to worry... But, if you are going to worry, perhaps you could keep an eye on him, hmm?'

"The thought of babysitting a stranger didn't appeal to me, but Simba insisted. I did learn without asking that Iken was a little older than Simba and had been a rogue for a few seasons. He'd taken over a pride years earlier with his older brother, but when four lions had challenged them, he'd lost both their pride and his brother. He did a lot of passing through places."

''I don't get to talk to many other lions. You know. 'Cos I'm a rogue and all.'

'Talking seems to be taking away the energy you need to put towards getting better faster.'

'Not one for chit-chat?'

'I'd rather be hunting for my pridemates right now.'

'So less chit-chat and more shutting up?'

'Yes.'

'You're a feisty one. Reminds me of my mother. All right, I'll just enjoy this shade under this tree.'

"Iken wasn't a threat that I couldn't handle, but Kovu wasn't happy when he found out that Simba had me looking after a stranger; however, he took Simba's lead and left Iken alone. Iken knew I was watching him close and took what 'chit-chat' he could get. Admittedly, Iken was better entertainment than most of the others in the pride. In general, Simba was kind to him, and didn't show that he minded that he stayed longer when he needed extra time- just not near Pride Rock, which Iken didn't seem to mind either. He stayed in the Pride Lands for one season. He filled out and regained his strength. He was very handsome. After a while, I realized that he was pulling away."

'I want my own pride. I want to be king, but I can't do that here. And it wouldn't- won't- be the same without my brother. Come with me?'

'You know about my life before. I think you know the answer. My life has never been so stable.'

'You're different than other lionesses, and I like that. I wish you'd come with me... Will your brother and Simba mind... that... you know...'

'They're not a threat to me. Don't worry.'

"I knew it was unrealistic to think he would just gather up stray lionesses along the way, and I wasn't about to be the mother of every member in a pride. He was strong, but the clock was ticking for him. He had to take over another pride by force. He had the ambition for it. I knew that was a life I didn't want to put you through, Natin. He stayed until you were born, but made the decision to leave, and I didn't stop him."

"Do you know where Iken went?"

Vitani shook her head. "He said he'd head west, but who knows what he found. The news never made it to the Pride Lands if he found what he was looking for or not."

"I wish he'd stayed. Can we look for him instead of Kovu, Mother?"

"Kovu is still part of our pride, and we need to find him. I know you'd like to meet Iken, but our duty is to our pride first. Maybe one day, after all this is over."

Natin opened his eyes and grimaced. A thick lump filled his throat. Why had things been so difficult? So complicated? So violent? All he seemed to know anymore was fear, ambition, and anger, and he missed the days when he'd only feared being punished, and had looked forward to sleeping in a warm den surrounded by a family that had loved one another. Those were better times. He'd wanted more, and had still lost almost everything he'd had. He knew his pride was different because of the way its leaders were chosen, but the system had still failed him. He'd caught himself wishing from time to time that his mother had gone with Iken, even while he struggled to put the family he did know back together.

"Shoulda grown up and done Kovu in anyway... He was a poor stand in..." Natin muttered under his breath.

"When don't we regret what we didn't do?"

Natin jumped, having completely forgotten that he had company. Still lying down, he tilted his head back, pointing his muzzle at Tojo, who sat facing the inside of the den. The light of the morning sun got caught in his faded golden-brown fur and mane. Natin squinted in the light.

"I was just talking to myself."

Tojo shrugged. "Well, I've sat here all night keeping guard. Humor me, perhaps?"

Natin snorted and turned his head away. "There are others with more important problems than mine."

"Like whose?"

Natin frowned. "Chaka, my cousins, my aunt." Then he muttered almost inaudibly, "...Because of me."

Tojo sat listening.

"I stirred up trouble," Natin spoke louder, "I didn't do what I should've done. I've done bad."

"It was your idea to come here- that's what Kovu said before. You also protected your uncle. Tswane seemed to think that was special."

"Did Kovu tell you his whole story?"

Tojo nodded. "Everything."

"Well, I'm alive because the Council allowed it to happen. I'm here to aid Kovu. By their orders and because it's what my mother wanted."

"Oh I think it's more than just that. Your mother was on a mission to find him. You finished it for her. And you put aside your aggression towards Kovu to protect him."

Natin rolled his eyes. "It isn't that."

"Well, I wish Chaka would take your lead," Tojo remarked. Then he gave a windy chuckle. "Have you ever noticed that you can't stop a storm?"

Natin raised an eyebrow at the absurd statement. "What?"

"Have you ever tried to stop a storm?"

"No... of course not... You can't do that- There's nothing to stop."

The corners of Tojo's mouth turned up. "Yes, all you can do is try to remain calm. It will run its course. You can face it with bravery, but it won't matter. You can run for shelter and comfort, but it won't care. You can yell and shout, but it will still go until it's blown itself out-You'd agree that getting upset will only compound the event."

Natin frowned partly in irritation and partly out of curiosity. "So why bother at all, then?"

"I didn't say you should just sit by and do nothing. Sometimes you just can't stop things from happening. You're just one creature."

"But what if I'm the one who put things into motion? What then? I created the storm that the others are fighting," he blurted, frustrated by Tojo. The old lion was trying to say something, but it was too roundabout. He wasn't even sure why he had let Tojo lure him into a conversation.

I can admit that the guy isn't half bad to talk to, though...

"You might have created the storm, but I don't think that is what you meant to do," Tojo replied. "Did you?"

"Of course not," Natin said immediately, but then faltered, floundering in his regret and guilt. "I just... someone needed to accept what they'd done."

To pay for taking away my happiness and splitting my family apart and tossing them into chaos.

"I've seen that look on your face before. I wore it for a good long time myself. I wouldn't look my age so much if I'd gotten rid of it sooner. You know, killing would not have solved everything."

"I know," Natin replied, somewhat honestly. He watched the elder, still feeling dully irritated, as Tojo stood up, his limbs noticeably stiff and shaky.

"I can't spend all day here. I should check the borders."

Natin watched as the old lion hobbled away, each step growing stronger as he left the prisoner behind. There was something about Tojo that both mesmerized and saddened Natin in that moment. Natin then raised a brow when he saw the den was now unguarded.

"Hey... You have faith that I won't leave and wreak havoc?" he quipped. He even flexed his sore, wounded foreleg when Tojo paused and looked over his shoulder.

Tojo chuckled. "I don't need to keep you in. I posted guards to keep the lionesses in your aunt's pride from taking their frustration out on you. You may have noticed how happy they were to see you."

The corners of Natin's mouth turned down and he could feel that his body was beginning to turn in on itself. Then he forced a laugh. "I wasn't expecting a hero's welcome... let's just say... But while I have your attention, mind sending Tswane my way? I could use something for the pain. It really hurts."

Tojo smiled. "If you think you're strong enough, I'll escort you to his tree." He looked around the den. "I think you've spent enough time in here, at least for now. I'll bring you back and you can rest some more."

Natin hesitated for a moment before standing up shakily. He saw stars before his eyes for a moment and his vision swam, but when he bowed his head for a moment the sensation abated.

Rest... Like I deserve it, really... If they find Asuma, what do I say to him? Will he trust me ever again, or always look at me with hatred for the coward I am? Would there ever be peace between us?

Natin then shook his head once Tojo's back was turned.

That's all if Asuma's ever found alive. He belonged to the lionesses the moment they killed my mother and the moment Kovu killed Sauda. Call me a pessimist... but I've been through too much to not live any other way.

They left the oasis before light, leaving Timon and Pumbaa behind. Tanga led them back the way she'd gone to get to the oasis, and they set a brisk pace that was halfway between a walk and a jog. Bron flew overhead so the lions could be alerted if anything came up in front of them. After midday, everyone started to visibly drag. Chaka even tripped over his paws a couple of times.

"Maybe we should stop for a hunt," Suki suggested, and the others agreed.

Kiara, Suki, Muna, and Kovu left on the hunt. Kenyi joined them as well. Chaka stayed with Tanga in order to mark their stopping position while Bron flew ahead to continue scouting.

Exhausted after sleeping poorly during the night, Chaka's body felt heavy and uncoordinated. Tanga's presence also left him feeling edgy. His edginess wasn't so much a product of knowing that everything depended on her to lead everyone in the right direction, but more or less from knowing how much had happened since they'd last been alone together. Frustration and nervousness tensed his shoulders as he rested his heavy head on his forelegs and struggled to stay alert. Her choice to run away had disappointed him more than the disappointment he'd felt when Natin had betrayed them and stolen away the two heirs on a mission of revenge. He knew if he'd forced Kiara to tell the truth about Kovu or just tell Tanga the truth himself, most everything would have been avoided.

Now... really, would it have changed anything at all, though, if they'd heard the truth that Kovu was a murderer? Asuma would have still wanted retribution, and Tanga would have joined in anyway to stop him and Natin. Maybe stopping them was out of my paws all along... But they still didn't need to suffer... I should have broken the silence.

Chaka opened his good eye after realizing that his body had given into exhaustion while he was preoccupied with his thoughts. Chaka also realized he feared how Tanga felt about how he'd handled Asuma, treating him like he didn't exist and judging him for feeling a way that he couldn't help. A way that Chaka related to with every bone in his body. Chaka wondered how Kiara had told Tanga the tale of his rage. He imagined vividly that Tanga no longer saw him as the hero who had saved her lost brother from the wild dogs, but instead as the irate beast who had rushed from the den at Pride Rock to confront and kill Kovu when Simba's murderer had been revealed. Only Kiara's intervention had prevented Kovu's murder at that time.

The muscles around Chaka's ruined eye started to spasm. He wondered if he'd ever learn again to be with peaceful creatures when he'd lived with heathens for too long.

Tanga laid sitting up with her back to Chaka. He wondered if she could feel his unfocused gaze burning into her back. There had been very little talk between them since they'd been reunited. Chaka had to work up the energy to speak to her.

"Much further, do you think, Tanga?"

"I'm not sure... He probably moved to get away from the lionesses." She then glanced over at him and did a double-take. "You look tired."

He nodded. "I haven't been sleeping well."

Tanga gave him a wry smile, but held her tongue.

Chaka felt his shoulders slump. When would the hunting party return? His stomach growled a complaint in hunger and unease. He felt cold and unwelcome in Tanga's space. He couldn't stand it, and wanted the feeling to go away... But what if it didn't go away? The amount of walking that he'd been doing also reminded him of his days as a rogue, and this triggered fear. If he ever had to become a rogue again, would he be able to do it, even to avoid his feelings? He was strong and vicious, but being a successful rogue was a young lion's game. He wasn't old, but he wasn't young, either. And if he thought it was hard managing a pride where he was born, what would it be like to defend a pride that he had little connection to? Or a pride he made all his own, but living in fear that it would be taken away from him when someone younger and stronger came along? He didn't think he could bear that. He knew the hard fact was that a lone lion had less of a chance of survival than a lion in a pride.

"Mother said you've been talking to King Tojo. I didn't realize before that you had such a problem with anger."

Her question caught Chaka off guard. Slowly, he raised his head.

"You were angry when I ran away with Asuma and Natin, weren't you?" Tanga asked.

There was a slight hint of innocence in her question. The tone reminded him of when she'd caught him pacing alone at night... a peaceful night before the storm had hit them, when he'd had an ally that told him to feel what he was feeling instead of acting out of obligation to feel otherwise.

Chaka looked down and crossed one paw over the other. "Didn't appreciate that you left without telling us," he answered calmly.

"I couldn't have left if I'd told you..." Tanga then looked down at her paws and the side of her mouth was tugged towards her ear. "But... I am sorry. I just heard that my father was alive... and I knew I needed to know why. I had to know. Y'know?"

Chaka frowned with one side of his jaw. I know I can't blame her for that... since she thought he was dead. If I'd been in her place at that time, I would have gone in a heartbeat, too... just for different reason.

Finally, he sighed through his nose. "Just... I understand... Just don't do it again, okay?" he told her.

She nodded solemnly, her face lightly lined in contrition for running away from her home and innocence. "Okay." She then gave a small smile. "I'll be more responsible and a better example. Did you really attack Tswane's tree when you heard we left?"

Chaka's cheeks flushed and he felt like burying his face in his paws and mane. He coughed nervously. "Maybe."

I bet I looked like a real fool... And equally a fool when I was chasing Kovu and Natin around that tree like I was playing a game of chase...

Something in Tanga's manner then became more serious. She asked, "Where will my father go when this is all over... whatever the outcome?"

He opened his mouth, but thought otherwise. Was it really up to him to decide that? Tanga did have a future as a leader. He asked while yawning, "Where do you think he should go?"

Tanga shrugged and looked at her paws again. Her eyes were half-hooded, and somehow Chaka was reminded of a lioness from long ago- a hazy memory- from before he'd left the Pride Lands. "I'm not sure."

"The lionesses in the pride will not easily take him back," he remarked.

To put it lightly... Suppose that's my fault, too.

She nodded and lowered her ears. "I could see that... How have they accepted Natin?"

Chaka pursed his mouth. "Not well."

"When we find Asuma, will they support him, or shun him?"

Chaka saw that Tanga was making sure her brother wouldn't fall into the same trap he'd been in before, when everyone had only ignored their prince. Misgivings about Asuma being a successful leader certainly existed in Chaka's mind, but he was loathe to see Asuma suffer ever again if he could help it.

"Honestly? Considering that Asuma is passive aggressive, introverted, and listens to his crazy dreams more than anyone else?" Chaka mused tiredly. "I'd imagine if he didn't have his dreams, though, you'd both be in danger. But he will be supported. Both of you will be. It won't be easy, but you won't be handled like little cubs-"

"Chaka, what're you talking about?"

"What?" He did a double take. What had he said to confuse her?

"Why did you say that thing about Asuma listening to his dreams and us being in danger?"

Chaka ran through his head everything that he and Kovu had revealed to the others. His lethargy was getting in the way.

He cursed himself. I shouldn't even know that Asuma was having dreams! He was on those herbs or whatever Tswane was giving him!

"Chaka? I don't even know what he was dreaming at night," she remarked, her voice growing higher, "because he wouldn't allow me to know. I already told everyone that he said he spotted a scout, and told me to run." Her ears lowered and her green eyes narrowed. "Are you saying that he knew the lionesses were coming because of his dreams? Like he was able to predict it...?" She then rolled her eyes and tossed her head. She shook her head and frowned. "I- Grrr- How would you even know something like that at all? That's impossible!"

Chaka released the inside of his cheek when he started to taste blood. He didn't think he could just say he was tired. Maybe... Probably not... But didn't someone need to tell her what was really going on with Asuma? And between him and Kovu? Painfully and angrily he realized the others were lying to Tanga again, even if it was only for the time being. He was pulled towards the simplicity of keeping her temporarily in the dark for just a little longer, but pushed by impulse and need and duty and honor to just quit lying to her!

"Well... I... uh..."

Behind him, Chaka heard a piece of meat hit the ground before he smelled the blood. Tanga's eyes sharply shifted as Kovu said, "I hope I didn't interrupt..."

Chaka sat up, trying to wipe the guilt and conflict from his face. The others were returning as well. "We were just having a chat, and-" he started, looking at Tanga.

But Tanga only looked more harshly irritated. "I wouldn't consider making fun of Asuma and his 'crazy' dreams and saying he predicted the lionesses in his dreams a 'chat'," she snapped. "I can't believe you were being so unsympathetic while saying you'd support him."

"You were making fun of Asuma?" Kovu asked sharply.

Turning back to Kovu, Chaka frowned and his lip twitched. "That was not my intention. I have plenty of other creatures to poke fun at. Trust me."

Something shifted in Kovu's eyes. "You don't have to tell me twice. All I get from you is snide remarks. They're tiring, but I don't care because I know what I've done. But, your nephew has done nothing to deserve your criticism."

Chaka gritted his teeth. "I-am-tired. I-meant-no-harm. I-"

Muna groaned. "Oh, Great Kings, stop bickering! You're both angry. You're both poor and unfortunate. Deal with it."

The bickering stopped. Chaka looked from Kiara, Suki, Muna, Kenyi, to even Bron, before turning his head away. "Sorry," he muttered, before hearing Kovu utter the same word.

"Let's just relax and eat," Kiara remarked steadily.

Chaka felt his sister's approach behind him and he cringed angrily. She dropped the front leg of a zebra near him. Unhappily, he anticipated a scolding, but instead, while her head was lowered, she whispered quickly in his ear, "He saved your butt. Did you notice? You slipped up about the dreams, didn't you?"

Annoyed, Chaka narrowed his gaze and turned his head to his sister. Did she know of Kovu's secret about Asuma's dreams? Chaka composed himself. "I don't know what you mean."

"I know about the dreams and what happened to Natin," she confirmed.

Chaka glanced over at Kovu, who immediately registered Chaka's eye upon him and looked back. Kovu was settling down with the back leg of a zebra and held Chaka's stare. There was even a slight smirk on his muzzle.

That sneaky bastard... he knew I'd take the bait.

Chaka felt duped. Kovu had too easily predicted that Chaka would react poorly, which made him feel frustrated. He felt like he'd felt when he'd realized he was covered in the blood of the desert scavengers who had confronted them earlier- embarrassed. He then felt angry, when he realized that Kiara was in on the lie now, too. He knew why he'd agreed with Kovu to not tell the others everything- to make Kovu look a little more sane- but then Kovu had gone off and told Kiara anyway. Unfortunately, though his intentions had probably been good, Kovu had caught Tanga in another web of lies devised to protect her.

As he settled down to eat his meal, he hissed under his breath, "You're lying to Tanga again?"

Kiara visibly saddened. She whispered anxiously, "I know I shouldn't lie but... but we have other things to deal with first..."

Chaka's nose wrinkled. "Or you could just do it now. You might not get the chance," he ground out. He toyed with his lunch. "She'll talk to Natin. He will tell her about the dreams. His death. He won't shut up like me because he'll hate it too much..." Chaka's breathing then quickened and he felt a pressure on his chest. "And right now... I could just raise my voice and-"

"No. She'll know before we go home," Kiara promised.

Chaka frowned, feeling sick to his stomach. Why didn't he just raise his voice instead of saying he could?

What would even happen if I did?

Conversation abruptly over, Kiara went off and sat with Suki and Tanga. They all rested until the food in their bellies had only begun to settle before they were off again with Tanga in the lead and Bron scouting from the air. Each time Chaka lifted his paws he had to try hard not to drag them, and every time he blinked it was a struggle to open his eye again. He walked at the back of the group, hoping the others would just think he was taking up a defensive position.

"Please... just kill me..."

Everyone else was snoring the night away while Fola had only been dozing. She looked up, and in the tree she heard another hoarse plea of mercy.

"Kill me... please..."

She twitched her nose at the poor smell coming from their prisoner.

Surprised he's still breathing- he's really dragging things out. All you can ever see are the telltale rising and lowering of his sides when he sleeps... or passes out.

Standing up, Fola creeped to the base of the tree. Asuma looked down at her.

"Please... just do it..." he mouthed.

Wordlessly, Fola put her paws on the trunk of the acacia tree. Was she really going to relieve her enemy's torturous pain? Even upon his request? He was begging, and begging had always sounded pathetic to her ears.

One of her pridesisters rolled over in sleep, and Fola looked away for a moment.

He's not Kovu.

Asuma watched her through swollen eyes when she began to climb up into the branches, getting closer to him. It wouldn't take much to end his life, and she knew she could do it without much notice, and he could be dead by the time the others became the wiser. She climbed higher, getting closer. She knew as a leader that keeping her pride there, waiting for nature to take it's course, wasn't in any way productive when they really needed to be looking for a stable territory. One branch closer. Asuma even started to lift his head a little, knowing where she should strike him. Fola heard a bird cry sharply, and she could hear the river.

Asuma stretched his neck out when she was two branches away from him. She reached up, testing her weight on one branch before climbing onto another.

"Thank you..." Asuma mouthed in the shadows. Almost reflexively, he reached down with one of his forelegs, as if to pull her up closer to him more quickly, welcoming her.

Craaaaack!

Fola yelped as the branch she'd started to pull herself up onto gave way beneath her forelegs. Gravity unbalanced her and took her with the branch as it swung down brokenly. Her eyes were still locked with Asuma's and he gaped, horrified, as she fell away from him. Her paws scrabbled at nothing.

"Ummpphh!"

There was a gasp of pain and several growls of alarm, but they sounded dull to Fola's buzzing ears.

"What happened?"

"I heard a branch snap! Was Fola up in the tree?"

Fola opened her eyes. She'd landed on one of her pridemates, who was writhing under her. The others crowded around her, taking away her air as she tried to get her breath back. Her chest ached and she felt like someone's paw was being pressed across her throat.

"I don't know, was she up there?"

Fola blinked, feeling paralysed as she wheezed. Next to her, she felt the other lioness moaning in pain.

"Did they break anything?"

Someone batted at her limbs, and she didn't feel any immediate pain that wasn't coming from her lack of breath.

"Why was she up in the tree?" someone called loudly. "You, answer us!"

At first, Fola thought that the question was meant for her, but then realizes that they were asking Asuma. The question was repeated several more times, and in the background the lionesses growled in frustration.

Finally Fola regained some of her breath and was able to roll shakily onto her belly, but she still had to lie with her cheek pressed to the hard ground. Beside her, the other lioness was starting to sit up.

"That damn tree can hold him for three days, yet it can't hold Fola? Fola, why were you up there?"

Finally, Fola motioned with her muzzle for one of the lionesses to come closer. She wheezed, "He's tak-king too long to die. He beh-ged me..."

"Begged you?"

Stiffly, she nodded and promptly closed her eyes. A wave of dizziness sent her vision spinning.

"Well, if we're not waiting for him to die anymore, I'll take care of this!"

There was a succession of snaps and cracks. The muffledness in Fola's ears gave way to a sharp ringing sound. Slowly, she turned her head and looked up. Several lionesses were attempting to scale the tree. Hunks of bark were dangling and swinging in the air or were scattered around the base of the tree. Fola looked up into the tree and squinted bleary-eyed at Asuma. By now, she'd expected to see him climbing down to greet his killers, but his eyes were closed once more. He'd passed out again, she assumed.

Several of the lionesses cursed loudly while others started to angrily bite and claw at the tree in frustration.

Fola looked on, not amused in the least bit, slightly ashamed that her pridesisters were below the dignity that she'd hoped they would learn from her. They were lost in their rage, not thinking that they were gnawing and tearing at an unmovable object that couldn't even register its own pain, let alone their futile violence. All she could do was watch and wait for them to give up. Soon, they were sitting around the base of the tree in a spent, panting ring.

This is who they are, what they'll always be... as mindless as that tree they've scarred. There's no place for that out here... is there? I don't know what those elders were thinking when we left. That was the only place they... we... fit in. No place else.

The search had continued until darkness set in. Now, within a few hours, Tanga predicted that they could be at the river where the stampede had happened, and Kovu agreed with her judgement. For now, they all rested under the stars, figuring that it would be more risky to travel at night in case they ran into Fola and her pride.

Kovu took the first watch with Kenyi. Everyone else fell fast asleep, though Kovu noticed that Tanga was tossing a lot. Kenyi looked over once or twice but ultimately he turned his head to ignore her. Soon she gave a growl and opened her eyes. She laid on her back with her paws on her chest. Kovu watched her out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to disturb her at first. She wasn't far away from him.

"I've always wanted someone to listen," came her whisper, "but most of the time I feel like there's nobody there."

Kovu wasn't sure that the statement was meant for him until she turned her head and looked at him tiredly.

He hadn't detected any malice in her demeanor this time. It was almost like they'd been conversing for hours. He'd noticed that she'd glared at him less that day, especially after he'd swooped in like a good father to defend Asuma's dreams against Chaka, even if it was partly a ruse. He started to think about how the Council was apprehensive about Tanga being queen in Asuma's place. He still didn't know why they favored his son over his daughter, but he wondered if her lack of belief in the ancestors had something to do with it. They were important, and they knew they were important. Unlike Tanga, Kovu knew with every fiber of his body that they did exist, though he didn't know how much they were worth believing in- a thought that sent chills running along his back.

"They do listen," he replied, only after she'd looked back up at the night sky.

Quickly, she turned her head again. "They?"

"The pride's ancestors. The Council. That's what they're called."

Again, Tanga looked at the stars, a puzzled frown on her muzzle.

Creeping closer, Kovu went over to his daughter. "Mind if I…"

She shook her head, but kept her eyes on the stars.

He laid down and rolled onto his back. He kept enough room between them for an entire other lion. A smattering of bright stars stretched over the dark sky as he whispered back, "There are ears listening to you, Tanga, and they want you to listen to them, too."

"How do you know?"

Kovu bit the inside of his cheek. Should he tell her the truth about Natin? His dream with Asuma? The Council's lack of confidence in his daughter? They probably didn't have that much time, and she really did need to rest. But something inside him tugged at him, nudging him to action.

But is it the right time? Kiara did mention that Chaka wants her to know...

"Please just believe me. You're not sending your wishes and fears to deaf stars." Even as he spoke, he cursed himself for sounding lame, but how couldn't he without showing her everything he'd seen, felt, and heard?

Tanga sighed and it almost sounded like a growl of frustration. "Well, someone better be looking out for Asuma. That's all I care." Her voice cracked slightly.

Kovu twisted his head to his daughter. Her face was still, but her cheeks were growing damp. His heart twisted. When he rolled over onto his side, it took everything he had not to gather her up in his paws like he did when she was so much smaller and could fit in the circle of his forelegs.

"Tanga…" he murmured.

"Go talk to her."

Kovu looked up, not having expected Kenyi to eavesdrop.

He had the same stony, serious expression on his face as usual. He nodded. "You're clearly more useful to her than to the group right now," he pointed out.

"Thanks." Kovu stood up. He looked down at Tanga, who was looking up at him almost in surprise or maybe conflict. For a moment, he wasn't sure if she'd strike out at him for showing friendliness, or jump up and embrace him.

"Want to walk with me?"

After a moment, she nodded and rolled over onto her belly to stand. She followed him.

They walked to a small rise where they sat down. From there, Kovu didn't feel as guilty about not being an active sentry. He could still see everyone from there. Tanga sat next to him.

Before Kiara had settled in for the night, when she'd mentioned that Chaka was unhappy that Tanga was being lied to again, Kovu had cringed. What he'd done had been in the spirit of making amends.

"Father...? What is it?"

Kovu took in a breath... and told her everything… everything. Natin. The Council's agenda. Asuma's dreams. He hid nothing, letting her into his strange world- the world that had shaped and pounded him. He also heard himself slip in an apology or two. He tried hard not to spare her anything like he would've done when she was much smaller.

Tanga was quiet while he talked and for a long time after he'd finished. "I thought you'd changed... for mother..." she murmured finally. "It makes me think that no change is permanent... good or bad. Everything is uncertain, and I don't really know who I can trust anymore."

Kovu looked to the side. He felt sorry that his and Kiara's mistakes had rocked Tanga's perspective of the world so drastically. It had been less obvious with her than with her brother. "You can still trust yourself, Tanga."

"But that... I can't always do that. If I'm gonna be a leader of the pride, I have to trust others. I keep hearing that I don't listen to others. And I yell at them. I'm too quick to show my disapproval. I should know better. I don't know if I can trust myself anymore."

"You're mother told me something like that."

"What?" Tanga raised a brow. "She did?"

He nodded. "... You do listen to others, just not in a way they can understand- you almost listen to their needs and try to address them. Natin told me what you said to him, and he probably didn't want to hear it. You knew that he would change permanently if executed his plan... and he wouldn't change for the better."

"Well, it's not that hard to see that," Tanga said, looking away from him. "Just like it wasn't hard to see that Mother should have told us the truth... Things would've been so much simpler."

"See," Kovu pointed out, "See how easy it comes for you? You just have to remember that nobody always leads with their practical logic or wisdom. Sometimes other things get the better of them."

"Like hate or stubbornness?"

"Yes. And love or fear."

Tanga turned her head back and glanced at him cautiously, as if she'd been caught telling a small, cubbish fib. "Dad... I accept your apology. You're not perfect, and I forgive you."

Kovu gave her a small, shaky smile. His ears lowered. He said quietly, "Don't say that only because you think you should, Tanga... I understand that my actions need to speak for me."

She opened her mouth, probably to argue with him, but she stopped herself and smiled and nodded. "Okay. I understand... Y'know... they buried you. In the graveyard with the other kings."

Kovu's eyebrow arched. He hadn't expected to hear such a thing, but he then remembered that it must have been part of the ruse.

"I used to sit there at night," she went on. "I thought about the past. How I missed it..." She made a face. "I'd sit there because... if I didn't... I'd have dreams with such hatred. Maybe the ancestors were trying to tell me how unsettled things were?" she almost suggested.

"Maybe..." Kovu replied. Hearing this gave him a little hope, but he didn't like hearing that his daughter, too, suffered from strange dreams.

Then, they heard pawsteps.

"Kovu. Tanga. There's a development," Kenyi spoke.

Kovu looked at Tanga as she asked, "What is it?"

"Bron found a group of lionesses by a tree."

"How far away?"

"He thought a couple miles. You need to hear what else he found."

The trio headed back to the group. The others were huddled. Chaka spotted them first and met them halfway. "Kenyi fill you in?"

Kovu nodded. "Briefly. Bron found a group of lionesses?"

When Chaka's face twisted up, Kovu knew something was wrong. Glancing over at Kiara, who was clearly being comforted by Suki, Kovu prepared himself for a disaster.

"Bron says he flew down to the tree to see if he could pick up any of their names. He heard them talking to Fola. They were swarming the tree, attacking it. A young lion is in the tree."

Tanga gasped.

"Bron got a better look. The description fits. Asuma was breathing, but in very rough shape." At the last part, Chaka's voice cracked slightly.

Kovu lowered his head.

Okay... he's alive... that's something... now we just need a plan.

Tanga's voice shook. "He's been in that tree for two days at least-"

"Three days," Kovu corrected her. When he earned a raised eyebrow from Chaka, he explained. "I told Tanga everything, even the dream I had three days ago where I warned Asuma."

"Well, if we go now," Chaka went on slowly, his muscles losing a bit of their tension, "we could surprise them. But going when they're riled up isn't smart, even if it gets help to Asuma faster." He turned to Kenyi. "Take some time to find something to help him. He's injured."

"But I'm not really a shaman-"

Chaka growled. "Find him something." He then bared his teeth slightly and looked down at his paws. "Something is better than nothing. If we can even get to him."

"We have to get to him," Tanga murmured.

We will get to him and save him.

(A/N: Cue dramatic drum roll...)