The Lion King 3:

Kovu's Reign

Part 3

Vitani was laying in the den that night, sides heaving. She was still wondering about that "vision" she had of Zira. But then she'd look over, across the den, and see Kovu and Kiara curled up together.

She finally dropped into a troubled sleep. A paw-step awakened her, and she lay in the dark, watching.

Kovu and Kiara were giggling like cubs as they padded out of the den. Vitani was in shock as she watched, following behind.

They were licking each other, nuzzling, purring, and then they rolled into the cover of a thicket. Vitani gasped, then turned and ran. She ran for the waterhole, and then she wasted no time in leaping through the water and feeling it close over her head. She popped up, dripping with the water, trying to forget. And then, slowly, a gaunt figure crowned with a tattered mane appeared.

"Nuka?"

He offered a smug grin. "Ya were expectin' Baridi?" he asked. He was referring to Vitani's equivalent of a "boyfriend", now dead.

"Is he up there?" She had to smirk. Nuka was still Nuka, even if he was a spirit.

"Yeah. Says he misses ya."

She sighed. "Well, tell him I'll see him in a few years, then."

Nuka scratched at his mane, then disappeared.

"Vitani? You awake this late?"

Vitani turned to see Sauda, a former Outlander, sticking her head through the den. "Kovu and Kiara woke me up, rafiki yangu."

Sauda smirked. "Ndugu una matata, kuyaelewa siwezi." was her response.

"I know," she sighed. "I just can't shake the feeling that something's gonna happen. Something bad."

"Would Aiheu harm his children?" Sauda questioned, slinging a paw across Vitani's back.

"I guess not..."

"Good girl."

"But...I...I saw my mother. Zira," she blurted. "She was standing there, then she started walking, and then she just vanished."

At this, Sauda bit her lower lip and only stopped when she tasted blood. "Something will happen to the king and queen. I just know it...I just know it..." She crumpled to the ground, heaving air in and out. It was pouring down rain, and a pair of red eyes flashed before Vitani's vision. Lightning flashed and illuminated the sheetlike waves of rain that seemed to have no end.

"What the hell is going on?!" Vitani screamed.

END PART THREE