There's Always Tomorrow...

Uru was watching for Taka, Ahadi and Sarafina had already been home for a while now, but the Queen hadn’t seen Taka since this morning. The look on her mate’s face had told her that today had not went well and the lioness had to bite back a sigh. After several hours and still no sign of her youngest son, the Queen set out to find her missing cub.

The sky was painted with the colors of twilight when Uru found Taka, not that he was really far from home. The cub was sitting a little ways from Pride rock, looking glum as he stared at his paws. As she moved nearer, the lioness saw that his cheeks were stained by tears, though now the cub was silent and the tears were gone.

“Taka?”

The cub didn’t respond. The Queen sat down beside her son, gazing down at him with concerned eyes. When he still didn’t say anything, the lioness decided to try again. “Your father and Sarafina had been back for a while now, and they said you came back earlier,” she frowned. “Where had you been?”

“Here.”

Uru tried not to sigh at the simple answer, but she was a patience lioness and she was willing to wait for as long as it took for the red-brown prince to talk. After a while, Taka gave in and spoke. “Mom…the guard males were mean to me.” “What do you mean?” Uru asked, her voice both gentle and comforting. She knew that adolescent lions could be difficult to handle, especially young males, but she wouldn’t blow off her youngest cub’s words so easily. If there was a problem, then Ahadi had to know before it could escalate into something far worst. “They were picking on me,” Taka replied, with a small sniffle. “Calling me names and stuff.” The Queen reached out a paw and drew Taka closer to her, the cub pressing into his mother’s colorless belly. “Were they being mean to Sarafina?” Uru asked, knowing that Sarafina had become a close friend to the little prince, she wouldn’t let anyone talk down about Taka, neither would Mufasa or Sarabi. For a moment the Queen felt a small flicker inside as she saw Taka’s green eyes flash with a light that she never saw in them, his voice was bitter as he said. “Of course not! They’re loved her!” Taka spat as if it was something nasty in his mouth. Seeing his mother’s confused expression, the red-brown cub continued. “They were nice to her, joking and even let her spar with them.”

“Did you say anything to her?”

“Yes…but she said that they were just messing around and I worry too much.”

Taka paused, looking shyly up at his mother. “Do I?” he asked her. “There is nothing wrong with being worried,” the lioness replied. “However, there is a difference between being worried and having your feelings being hurt.” As she spoke, Uru made a mental note to speak to Ua in the morning tomorrow. For a while mother and cub were silent, listening to the sounds of animals settling down for the night. On Pride rock, the Queen could see the faint outline of Ahadi with the smaller form of Mufasa, the two keeping a lookout for them.

“Mom?”

“Yes, Taka?”

“I…I don’t want to be a Captain to the Lion Guard.”

Uru blinked and looked down at her son. “Why not?” she asked curiously. “It’s fun and…I know dad wants me to succeed him since Muffy is going to be King...” Taka paused, dropping his eyes back to his paws. “…I don’t think I will be good enough.” Uru was quiet for a while, her mind spinning as she tried to both process the words and come up with a suitable response. “Taka…just because you had trouble today, it doesn’t mean that it will be the same later.” Taka looked up at her, his green eyes round with confusion but also sorrow. “I don’t think it will,” he murmured and pawed at a small beetle that scuttled close to his paw. “There’s always tomorrow, for dreams to come true.” Uru told her son and turned her gaze to look out across the savanna. “Believe in your dreams, come what may.” She stood up and motioned for him to follow. The blue-fawn lioness looked up to see Zuzu fluttering down, checking up on them. “Tell my husband that we’re just going for a walk, we won’t be long.” The hornbill frowned, but nodded and flew off.

Taka walked beside his mother, listening as she spoke. “With so much to do, and so little time in a day.” Uru lifted her gaze to look up at the sky, during their walk the stars were starting to peek out from their dens, filling the sky with bits of bright light. The Kings and Queens of the Past, Taka remembered. Uru smiled as she sat down by a small waterfall, the spray making a faint rainbow in the. Uru nodded at the stream that would later form a river.

“You'll be there my friend someday.”

Later the Queen smiled as she felt Taka nestle in beside her and Mufasa. But the Queen found herself remembering the expression that had been on her son's face. The fire that blazed, turning the soft grass pools into the color of snake venom. The look had...scared her? She hoped that it was just a one time occurrence, but Uru knew better.

"Oh Goddess, do not let him take that path." The lioness murmured.

Spirits in the Stars

It was two weeks after the arrival of Sarabi and Sarafina that Ahadi roused both his sons one night. Taka opened his eyes to peer up at his father, wondering what was going on. Ahadi didn't speak as he turned his attention to judging the golden cub that was snoring against Uru's flank. Taka poked his brother in the tummy and Muffy opened his eyes with a grunt. "Come, there's something I need to tell you." Ahadi said as he turned to the entrance of the cave, pausing to glance over at Zira who was peering out from between her mother's frown paws, her red eyes blinking sleepily. "You can come too," he told the small striped cub. Zira looked up at her mother for permission which Erevu gave by a nod, although the three royal cubs noticed that their mothers had exchanged a knowing look. What was going to happen, they didn't know, but all three cubs got up to follow the king.

Ahadi led the cubs onto the savanna which was fairly empty as the herds had settled down to sleep. A few were still awake, but they didn't give the lions much thought. Mufasa, Taka, and Zira moved closer to the King, wary of being out in the dark even though there was a huge white moon and billions of starts. The small party came to a stop on top of a grassy hill. Ahadi lying down while his sons sat on either side of him, Zira sat down beside Taka. For a while there was silence as the three cubs looked around, waiting for the King to speak. But Ahadi was still quiet for a while longer, then finally he spoke. "When I was your age, and Erevu too." Ahadi added with a glance to his niece. "Our parents brought us to this very spot." Muffy's eyes were wide in awe and Taka lifted a paw to look under it, as if expecting to see anything to make it special. "Look at the stars," Ahadi continued, lifted his two-toned gaze to the sky and all three cubs lifted their heads to stare at the small twinkling lights above their heads. "Up there is the Kings and Queens of the past," the lion explained. "They have left their physical bodies behind, but their spirits watch over us and guide us.

"Is Grandma up there?"

"Yes your grandfather too. He is that star right there."

Taka looked to where Ahadi was pointing and blinked at the sight of the star that seem to be brighter than many of the others. "Do they miss us?" he asked in a little voice. Ahadi nodded. "They miss us as much as we miss them. But be there for you, when in doubt, just look to the stars."

Zira listened to Ahadi in her usual silence, but her eyes were fixed on the stars and she was wondering. Was her father up there as well? Her mother had said that he died before her birth, but Tatu had described him a grim and strict lion who was often grumpy. Did all lions become stars when they died? Or only good lions? Zira wanted to know, but she was too nervous to ask.

Uru sat on another hill, watching the lion and cubs with warm eyes. She was too far to hear what was being said, but she didn't mind. As the cubs lifted their gaze to peer at the sky, Uru lifted her gaze as well. Amongst the net of twinkling stars, she saw the seven small stars that she felt were the spirits of her lost cubs. "Goodnight my little ones." She said with a smile, then turned to return home.