I was confused, this world seemed to have one taboo after another taboo. Lucy was completely uncivilized and showed no sign of manners. Now, her daughter, young lion, yet to mature to the full hood of lioness was forced to be impregnated by an older lion! That sent a wave of shock to me, Missy had to be in her early teens. It was a coronation to the highest. Yet, all the animals acted like it was typical.

This lioness should not be worried about having cubs, a lioness her age should be too busy hunting with friends and daydreaming about the young handsome lions by a watering hole. At that age her father should be most important male in her life. Yet she was here, at her age having a cub? I then had a vision, of young lionesses her age. I was thinking of how I envision my own daughter would be at that age.

I imagine my Vatalni, walking with four legs across the savanna in the dark gold shad she gain from her mother. I envision my daughter, my young princess stretching with the grace of a true savannah lioness. However, this girl did not lack that at all. She was unconfident and seemed to be taught nothing in the art of etiquette that it takes to make a lioness. However, I still couldn't help but like her, no matter how ill-mannered, ignorant, and uneducated she was still very kind and had a sweet heart.

Life became an endless routine, of three light tasteless meals, and being watched day in and day out. One day, the humans fed us this slump they called food. We were trapped here, longing to run without fences. I began to think of my home, how foolish I was, to take so much for granted. How dare I think being a King was a simple birth right, and not given to me by the grace of God, I regretted every moment I sent my cubs away to have alone time. I regretted every day I had ignored my beautiful wife, I regretted taking advantage of having an older brother rule the pride next to me.

I had a great life, and it was a shame that it took me coming here to realize it. This wasn't my existence, I wanted what was taken from me back. For now, I had no choice but to make sense of all this. As the days passed a strange we were able to find hope among the hopeless. The cold was drifting away, and the days were becoming longer again. The white on the ground melted and green appeared slowly.

"May I help you?" I asked in the manners of a proper lion approaching a lioness. Missy stared at me, a little startled by the mark. I notice she did that anytime I treated her properly.

"Are you really from there?" Missy responded. I paused for a minute, still disturbed by the way these lions spoke, their vocabulary was horrid. Anyone could tell it was uneducated and never taught the art of chivalry, or in Missy's case etiquette. She had habits that Vitani would be clawed for, like digging her nails into her food which her mother did as well. Never the less, she deserved to be treated with a sense of dignity.

"You should first ask to inquire a question." I stated, hoping to give the basics.

"What?" Missy responded, surprised. She had loose language as well.

"Never mind," I said, shaking my head. "What do you mean 'out there'?"

"You know," She continued as her eyes shifted towards the gate. "There is a rumor you are from the place without fences, and with the brown grass."

"The Savanna?" I answered. "Yes, I am from the Savanna."

"I was told it was a tale," Missy responded. "A cub's day dream, you know."

"It is no tale, its real," I explained.

"Really?" She questioned, the way a young cub does after a parent's promise.

"Really," I answered verifying the fact.

"What's it like?" Missy asked daunting with interest.

"That's a broad question," I said annoyed. She gave me a funny looked and walked away with a thousand questions inside her. She then turned and asked: "How did you know you had three cubs?"

"Their mother informed me of their coming, I took care of her afterwards and I was there both of my cub's birth," I answered. "I was there every day of their lives forward. That is how it is on the Savanna, the mother gives birth and the father takes care of them. It is the mother's job to go out and hunt, the father's job to stay and take care of the cubs. In a pride the head lioness the Queen is the one who leads the hunt. The head lion, the King, is in charge of making the decisions that will benefits the pride. Each of us is born with a place and a purpose."

"No offence, but your purpose is done after conception." Missy stated.

"If that was true, then your role should be done after birth."

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Missy asked offended.

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit after he said that, "Where I come from, there is much more to a father. He is there at every stage in your cub's life. A father to a male cub is the one who sets the footsteps of strength and honor. A father to a female cub is security and protection. The father teaches respect and genital."

"I'm curious what knowledge is needed to live outside here? How do lions survive without humans? It doesn't seem possible." Missy shook her head.

"Oh believe me, it's possible. We live together, hunt our foods, and use certain knowledge what will be pass on to our young."

It was then she glanced down at her abdomen, feeling the life inside her. "I wonder what could be passed on to this one. What could I give that makes it of value? It's a shame he's going to end up here."

"Shame he can't control it's his own fate." I said.

"Fate, we don't have fate that doesn't have a fence surrounding it." Missy explained to me.

"Missy, what are you doing?" Lucy called over.

"Talking with Calvin, mother," Missy answered.

"I'm was informing her about where I am from." I explained to Lucy.

"What work, we have nothing better to do then sit around on our asses?"
"And filling up my girl's head with silly day dreams." Lucy added on.

"It's not a day dream, there is something better out there."

"I heard the stories. They are no different from my grandmother's stories, and the ones her grandmother told her. Generation after generation, I had heard stories about the savannah and Africa that has done nothing for us. I did wise in not passing it on to my child, and its best that she do the same to hers." Lucy yelled. "Ignorance is bliss for off, if we don't know freedom exist we are able to cope in this hell called life.

"Lie, you want me to lie and stop hope, well I won't." I yelled. "There is more out there, and someday we will be free. I will see my cubs again. You can ignore the fact all you want, dissolve hope, but it won't change that a generation could come and be free."

"How are they going to get out there? How are you going to get back there? This is your life now, and you need to deal. That's what life is, dealing with one hardship and waiting for the next to come. You have a cub who won't even know who you are, and what does it matter. I am sure after a couple generations you will be forgotten. That's what happens, we born, we die. Nothing but breeding in-between. That is a fact of life." Lucy gurgled . "Its bad enough your hear, wanting to be in charge of us. Don't get us wanting what we can't have."

"In here it is, you here, are encourage nothing. Do you think any life is suspected to strive without wonder, curiosity, or intellect? I think not."

"We have nothing to wonder about, to us wonder is a dangerous thing. If you disagree, I dare you to jump over the fence. See what happens? They kill you, if you don't believe me ask Lady what happened to her son. Jumped over the fence, killed a human in the way and got killed. The same thing happened to Oomailiq, a polar bear, like you from the Great White. Tried to leave on her own and was killed. Now they are kept in solitude because of her with larger fences. You could go out like Pichi, a jaguar brought here as a cub and chose to go out only because he was so tiered of this Earth " It was with that she ran off to the other side of our boundaries."

"Ignore her," Missy said. "I think it's fascinating. I never knew these stories were real until I met you. If you don't mind me asking what are your cubs names. We once had a tiger named Chavi, who was also from out there. She was taken back those. Mum said she got sick and didn't make it through the winter. I like to think they took her back. Tell me more of your family."

"Nuka, is my oldest, prince to the throne. Vitani, is my only daughter, no fruit is sweeter than her, and the third is unknown, I had a cub in my wife's womb. I desperately want to be there to name them."

"You name it?" Missy looked over shocked. "You mean you are allowed to name your cubs.

"Yes, we name them." I continued, finding myself enjoying the conversation despite how desperately homesick I had become.

"Oh," She gave me an odd look. "That is strange. How do you think of the names?"

"Normally after a quality about them, something that makes us found of them. In some cases, we name them after a pass relative. Never the first born, the first born deserves his own name. A name isn't just a word you are called, it's an identity, a representation of yourself. No matter what, nothing can take your name."

"I'm a first born, this child is a first born." Missy said.

"Then you deserve a unique name." I explained. "A name that doesn't belong to any other member of the family."

"That would be easy." She asked excitedly. "I promise, I won't tell mother." I wanted to go in depth on the value of a name, and the honor it is to receive a name. Name isn't what you call someone, it was an identity, it was what made a lion. You don't randomly asked to give someone a name, it was something sacred. However, she had far too many disappointments in her life. I agreed to give her a name.

"Kesi," I answered.

"Kesi," She smiled. "I like that name, what does it mean?"

"Born in difficult times." I said. "Don't be offended, you were born in difficult area, a place a lion is to never be. By saying times, it means eventually times will end."

Kesi then gave me a sour look. "I think mother is right, you do give a false hope."

It was with that, Missy left.

~X~

"Kitwana," Jarfari called as the lion came back at the fall of night. Kitwana couldn't help but notice a shiver in the old lion's voice. Something he never heard before. "Where have you been?"

"I went to get Vatalni," Kitwana answered. "She needs time alone."

"You should have been back sooner, were did she go? Is she alright? I am glad to see you are fine. You had me worried." He said with a string of questions, Kitwana never heard his voice in such a strange way before. It was deeper than normal.

"Sorry, Jarfari," Kitwana said surprised by his reaction. The old lion was worried about him? What for? Kitwana was still unaware of the dangers that come in with being in the wild.

"You shouldn't have left without telling him were you were going, he was worried for you and his daughter." Simba said, he could see the connection. Even those Kitwana didn't carry Jafari's DNA, he was still his son.

Nala also notice Kovu off to the side, giving Kitwana a deadly glare. She could see the heat rising inside of Kovu over the attention Jarfari was giving towards Kitwana's safety.

"Where is Vatalni?" Keria asked.

"She wanted to be alone."

"I ask all of the lioness be in here before sundown, she is the only one who breaks that rule." Simba informed, he knew Vatalni was very capable of taking care of herself. He also was aware Jafari didn't see it that way.

"She is like my mother," Jafari committed. "She will return."

~X~

A furious anger burned in Vatalni. She wanted revenge, she wanted humans to make humans suffer the same way she did. But how could they? When these creatures had no feelings and knew no love. Kitwana, out of all lions should be least sympathetic towards them, yet he was the one asking her not to kill? Since when did she listen to him anyway? She could kill all their cubs, and their mothers wouldn't even notice they were gone. They would most likely forget they even had cubs They were vile creatures, who abstained from any sense of empathy.

Vatalni just wondered through the savanna, she never really cared for King Simba's rule in being out at night. It was the only time she was able to be at peace. She walked through the tall brown grasses, feeling the soft breeze below the moonlight.

"You look tense, my dear."

Vatalni glanced her head up, and saw Rafki glancing down at her. She knew he was a perfect shaman. She didn't know why he was there, or why he had come to her the nights of all nights. He was just there, watching her from his tree. She had no intention of talking to him, or any reason to talk to him. She didn't need comfort or wisdom in all of this. Vatalni was in very much control of her feelings.

"So what if I am!" Vatalni responded. "Do you know who Jarfari is?"

"Your and Kovu's father," Rafki answered. "If memory services me right."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because that wasn't my news, that was his news." He explained.

"Well, now we know. He should have said first thing that it was humans who stole him from us. I was robbed of my childhood, and my royalty because of them."

"And there is nothing we can do about that."

"But take revenge."

"Would that give back your childhood?" Rafki asked.

"What are we trying to say."

"I never say this but it works in this case," Rafki once said. "But two wise creatures of this land thought of a philosophy that fits this situation."

"What is the philosophy?"

"Hakuna Matata"

"What?" Vatalni asked.

"Bad things happened to good creatures, and sometimes there is nothing you can do about it. So why worry." Rafki started.

"Are you saying I shouldn't be worried about my father."

"Not now that he is back, nothing is going to fix the past. The best thing you can do is carry on and find the good in the situation. You can't change the fact nothing bad will happened, nor can you change history."

"That sounds hopeless," Vatalni shot back to him.

"No, not if you find the good that came out of it." Rafki said.

"My mother went insane because of his disappearance. My older brother never got over our father disappearing." Vatalni said sadly. Clearly, it was all for waist, his years were wasted.

"He brought someone with him." Rafki reminded. "He could have a different perspective."

"Kitwana is different," Vatalni certainly didn't want to talk about her love life with him. He was the first lion she ever felt that she could tell everything. It seemed strange, she knew him for a matter of days but it seemed she knew Kitwana his whole life. Yet, she knew nothing about his past.

In an instant, Vatalni ran, she wanted to find Kitwana. He was everything to her, she made her feel whole. He made her see the world different, and respected her at the same time. Vatalni thought of how much he needed her, and she needed him just as much. She didn't need a lion for the sake of it. She needed him in her life in a way she couldn't explain it. She loved him, they were each other's future.

The Next Morning

"Vatalni is still not back yet," Kovu said the next morning walking past Kitwana.

"Good morning to you too," Kitwana said, finding it rather rude the way Kovu greeted him. Jarfari taught him better, every lion deserved to be greeted with respect. Even tamed animals had more manners than that. Kitwana has noticed that Kovu has given him a cold shoulder.

"Do you know where my sister is?" Kovu asked, keeping it professional, this lion wasn't part of the pride, no matter how much everyone else amused themselves into thinking this lion was a member.

"What makes you think I would?" Kitwana answered, ever since Jarfari revealed he was his father, the lion hasn't been nice to him. He remained calm, remembering he was Jarfari's son. He was the cub that Jarfari has been envisioning about, the unborn one. If only Kovu knew how devoted he was to Jarfari's stories. To a wild lion, it was heritage, to a captive lion it was the future.

"Because you are with her all the time,"

"She invites me to go with her. She has been a great hostess, unlike some."

"Where's Jarfari?" Kovu asked.

"Asleep. I have to admit, we are adjusting better. When we first came to Africa, we were sleepy during the day time and awake during the night time. But, hour by hour, we are making it through." Kitwana explained. "You know, those humans would torcher him, I saw it growing up. He never lost his since of freedom, even when they removed his lionlikes, he always considered himself to be a free lion."

"Do you like sleeping in that room?" Kovu asked ignoring that comment, he didn't need to know that much of what has happened.
"Much more roomy then what I am use too."

"Why did you come?" Kovu started, unable to get out the words. "What made you want to follow him."

"Jarfari raised me," Kitwana answered. "He took care of me after my Mom and Grandmother died."

"Well, aren't you lucky."

"Lucky?" Kitwana asked, offended by the spoiled prince's comment. "You are calling me lucky. Excuse me but you do realize you are talking to a lion who grew up in captivity. You know nothing about my upbringing."

"And you know nothing of mine." Kovu warned. "We needed Jarfari. A pride falls when the king is taken."

"Save the violins for someone else, Kovu," Kitwana responded. "I am sorry, but when I look around, you don't seem to have suffered that much. You don't know crap about freedom, because you never been without it. You are acting like I stole your father, I didn't have any control over what happened than you did."

"You seemed to benefit from him," Kovu pointed out. "He still isn't your biological father, you don't have one. At the end of this day, you don't know who your father is, like most of your kind, you were breed in the cages and have no pride. Nothing will change that, no matter how long you are here. This isn't your pride. We are born to our place, and your place is not in the savanna."

"I was taught something different," Kitwana said. "The events in our life happen to form our destiny. I don't think it was by chance that after many generations of being born in caves that Jarfari came at the time of my upbringing, or the humans happen to take us to the savanna, or they left the cages unguarded for a few minutes. Everything aligned perfectly. Jarfari adopted me as his son, so I would be welcomed to his pride."

"Then he came to his real cubs, now it is time for you to find your own place." Kovu said, he and Keri fought for these two prides to marge. He had to earn his place in Pride Rock. Kovu understood his father, the old king being given a place in Pride Rock but not this bastard loin, a cub born form generations of whore lionesses.

"I don't want to fight you," Kitwana said. "You are right Jarfari is your father not mine." Kitwana said. He was given the talk of mating, at the end of the day Kitwana will never know of the lion his mother's breed partner. He never really cared.

"I will inform the pride that you have decided you are unhappy here. Follow the roads, eventually you will run into a pack of lions also rejected by their prides. Join them."

"Give my apologies and my apparition." Kitwana left.