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Vitani couldn't sleep.

No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't sleep. She had tried everything. Shifting positions, counting jumping gazelle in her head, listening to the sounds of the Savannah night-life, laying perfectly still with her eyes squeezed shut...Nothing she did worked. She couldn't sleep. Her mind was just too preoccupied thinking about the two rogues the pride chased off earlier that day. Normally she didn't even give a second thought about the rogues she's chased off. But these ones were different. The cub didn't mean anything to her, but something about the reddish lion greatly reminded her of someone. She just couldn't think of who, though. It was driving her mad!

Perhaps Kovu would know... She thought, standing up. Vitani carefully made her way over to where the Royals slept, stepping over her pride-sisters' sleeping forms with the utmost care. She made her way over to Kovu, who was was sleeping peacefully next to his mate Kiara. Vitani slid up to him and hissed in his ear softly.

"Pssst! Kovu!"

Kovu grumbled something incoherent, turning over and placing a paw over his head.

"Pssst! C'mon Kovu! Wake up!" Vitani hissed again, prodding his side with a claw. Kovu grumbled once more and opened a sleepy green eye, peering at Vitani from under his paw.

"What is it Vitani? Why are you waking me up this late at night?" the dark lion growled quietly. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, glaring slightly at his adopted sister.

"Kovu, I need to talk to you." the tan lioness murmured. "Alone."

"Can't this wait 'til morning, 'Tani?"

"No, you dimwit!" she snapped softly, smacking him upside the head. "Do you think I'd be waking you up this late at night if it could wait!? Now get up, you lazy butt!"

"Alright, alright! I'm up, I'm up!" Kovu muttered. The dark brown lion stood up, letting out a big yawn. Stepping over his mate lightly, Kovu followed Vitani outside of the cave, grumbling some curses under his breath. Once outside, Vitani turned to face her foster brother. Kovu gave Vitani look of annoyance as he spoke up. "Alright, 'Tani, what's up?"

"It's about those rogues we chased off earlier. Something about them bothers me. More specifically, the older of the two."

"What, you mean the two that jumped into the river?" Kovu asked. "You woke me up to talk about them?" He looked thoroughly annoyed now. "Vitani, this could have easily waited until tomorrow. I'm going back to bed." Just as he turned to leave, Vitani jumped in front of him, blocking his path back in the cave.

"No!" she snapped. "It can't wait! I've been thinking about them all day! Especially about the reddish brown one."

"Look, 'Tani, maybe you found him cute and all but that's hardly worth waking me up for..."

Vitani cuffed Kovu's ears, letting out a growl of annoyance. "Shut up! That's not why! Just shut up and listen!" Kovu grumbled something under his breath, but did as Vitani asked and stayed quiet. "Listen, something about the older one keeps bugging me. Ever since we chased those two off, I can't stop thinking about him. It's as if I know him somehow, but I can't quiet remember from where."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. But it feels like I know that lion. Something about him just seems very familiar. Didn't you think so, Kovu?"

"Hmmm..." Kovu pondered this, scratching his chin with a claw. "Well...Now that I think about it, yeah, he did seem kind of familiar."

"That goofy gait, that annoying voice, his flea-bitten mane...It's almost as if that was...." Suddenly Vitani went very quiet. Her blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she seemingly stared off into space. "No....No....It....By the Great Spirit....It couldn't be....Could it?"

"What?" Kovu asked with sudden concern. "Couldn't be what? What is it, Vitani?"

"Kovu..." she whispered, her voice hoarse, "I think...I think that lion...was Nuka!"

"NUKA!?" Kovu yelled in shock. Quickly reminding himself that the rest of the pride was still sleeping, he lowered his voice to a low whisper. "Nuka? Are you sure?"

"Yes. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure of it. No other lion could run so stupidly yet so quickly." she murmured.

Kovu shook his head. "No, no that can't be. We saw him get crushed by the logs! We saw him die!"

"We thought we saw him die. We never really checked to see if he was really dead or not. We just assumed."

"Look, 'Tani," Kovu murmured, "even if Nuka survived getting crushed by those logs, there's no way he could have survived getting swept away by the river when the dam broke! It's just not possible!"

"I'm not saying his being alive makes any sense! I'm just saying that that rogue lion was Nuka! There's no doubt about it!" Vitani insisted, stomping her foot in frustration. "Besides, it's not as if we found his body after the river washed the dam away. We found Mother's, but not Nuka's, so it's not as if we have solid proof that he didn't survived the falling logs, no matter how impossible it may seem."

"True. But even if that lion was Nuka, you saw what happened today! He and the cub jumped into the river running through the Gorge. What could we possibly do about it now?"

Vitani went quiet again, looking thoughtful. What could they do about it? If Nuka wasn't washed away by the river before, he sure as hell was now, along with that cub he had with him. It was quite possible that the pair of them drowned, just like their mother did. But it was also possible that they were still alive somehow. And if there was a chance that they were still alive...If there was a chance that Nuka was alive....

Looking Kovu desperately in the eyes, she murmured, "We have to find him. We have to find Nuka."

"How?" Kovu asked, frowning. "He and the cub got washed away in the river when they jumped in. They probably drowned."

"Kovu, this is Nuka we're talking about, not some random rogue! How can you act like you don't care about what happens to him?" Vitani yelled. "If there's a chance that he's alive, then we have to try and find him. He's got a mate and cubs, for goodness sakes! Balozi and Etana should be given the chance at growing up with their father in their lives! And if he did drown, then we need to at least find his body!"

"Vitani, it's not like that." the dark lion sighed. "I do care about him. It's just....How do you expect us to find him? It was a miracle that we happened to find Mother's body after the flood. What are the chances of finding Nuka? And, if by some miracle he is still alive, how will we find him then? It's not like he'll just stay by the river waiting for us."

"I don't know Kovu, but we have to try. Nuka's our brother. We have to bring him back home." Vitani said with determination in her voice. "So, will you come with me to find him and bring him home or not?" Kovu sighed again, frowning thoughtfully. Finally, after what seemed like ages to Vitani, Kovu looked her in the eyes and answered.

"You're right Vitani. If Nuka is alive, then we need to find him. I'll go with you."

"And I will too."

Vitani and Kovu both jumped in surprise when they heard another lion chime in. They both whirled around to see Kiara walking out of the cave towards them.

"Kiara!" Kovu gasped. "What are you doing up?"

Kiara smiled and nuzzled Kovu affectionally. "Sorry for eavesdropping on you two. When I woke up and found you weren't next to me, I saw that you were outside talking with Vitani. I was curious as to whatshe wanted this late at night, so I stayed to the shadows and listened. Look, I think Vitani's right. You two need to find your brother. And I want to come with you. I mean, after all, he is my brother-in-law now."

"Well, looks like those hunting leasons are actually paying off, Princess." Vitani smirked. "I didn't even know you were there listening to us."

"Thanks." Kiara giggled. Kovu on the other hand didn't seem to happy.

"Kiara, this journey could be dangerous. We'll most likely have to leave the Pride Lands if we want to find any signs of Nuka." he murmured. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Kiara swatted Kovu lightly, saying, "Geez, Kovu, you're sounding a lot like Daddy right now."

"He has a point there, Princess." Vitani said. "It will be dangerous. Life outside the pride can be tough, what with hyenas and other lions out there. Not to mention hunting will be difficult in certain areas. There may be times where we go days without food or water. It's not like some adventure story or anything you might have heard from your daddy. Not to mention you are the princess. As far as we're aware, you're the only heir Simba has. And if something happened to you, he'd kill us."

"I'm well aware of the dangers, guys. I'm not a cub you know." Kiara said with a light frown. "I know it's going dangerous, but I want to go with you. I may not have known your brother Nuka, but he's family, just as you two are. And family helps family. Besides, Usiku is still beside herself with grief that her mate is gone and that her cubs'll have to grow up without their father. If there's a chance to bring him back, then we should take it. For her and her cubs. Anyways, other lion prides may react better to a princess of the Pride Lands than a couple of rag-tag rogue-ish looking lions like you two. Plus, Daddy's been teaching me some of the diplomatic skills I'll need for when I'm Queen."

Vitani and Kovu looked at each other with a frown on their faces. Kiara did have a point, and they couldn't deny that having another lion with them would help them in the long run, even if that lion was Kiara.

"Well then, I guess our duo just became a trio, don't you think, brother?" Vitani asked with a smirk.

Kovu sighed and smiled lightly. "I guess so. Not like anything we could have said would have persuaded her anyways."

Kiara grinned, nuzzling Kovu once more. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"Heh. Looks like wifey-poo's already got ya whipped, Kovu." Vitani teased. Kiara giggled at that while Kovu glared.

"Oh shut up 'Tani!" Kovu said, shoving her playfully. "Look, it's too late to leave right now. We should go and rest up. That way we'll be in tip-top shape tomorrow. Plus, it'll be easier to search for Nuka during the day than during the night. We'll start our search tomorrow after some breakfast."

"Good idea. Plus we need to tell Daddy where we're going." Kiara said. "He'd freak if we all just disappeared in the middle of the night."

"Yeah. Don't want to give ol' Kingy a heart attack." Vitani snorted in agreement.

"Then it's settled. We'll tell Simba tomorrow morning, then take off in search of Nuka." Kovu confermed with a nod. "Let's head back in and get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." With that Kovu turned and went back in the den, followed by Kiara. Vitani paused for a moment, looking up at stars. Each one glittered against the night sky, looking like snowflakes in the sky.

"Mother...Father...Great Spirit above...If you can hear me....If Nuka is still alive, please help us find him. And if he's alive, please help him to stay that way, at least until we can find him and bring him home." Done with her soft prayer, Vitani turned around and returned to her sleeping spot in the cave, anxious for what the morrow would bring for her and her family.

------------------------------------------------------------

A little bit of a side note here. Vitani, Kovu, and Kiara will play a bigger role in the story than just chasing Nuka and Kivuli off a cliff into a river. Now they're on a mission of their own, to bring Nuka home to his mate Usiku (Dotty) and his newborn cubs Balozi and Etana. Will they find Nuka? And if they do, will he come home with them? Only the Great Spirit knows the answer....

Base: [link]
Base (c) and
Vitani's "movie" colors (c)
TLK (c) Disney

Description
Vitani couldn't sleep.

No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't sleep. She had tried everything. Shifting positions, counting jumping gazelle in her head, listening to the sounds of the Savannah night-life, laying perfectly still with her eyes squeezed shut...Nothing she did worked. She couldn't sleep. Her mind was just too preoccupied thinking about the two rogues the pride chased off earlier that day. Normally she didn't even give a second thought about the rogues she's chased off. But these ones were different. The cub didn't mean anything to her, but something about the reddish lion greatly reminded her of someone. She just couldn't think of who, though. It was driving her mad!

Perhaps Kovu would know... She thought, standing up. Vitani carefully made her way over to where the Royals slept, stepping over her pride-sisters' sleeping forms with the utmost care. She made her way over to Kovu, who was was sleeping peacefully next to his mate Kiara. Vitani slid up to him and hissed in his ear softly.

"Pssst! Kovu!"

Kovu grumbled something incoherent, turning over and placing a paw over his head.

"Pssst! C'mon Kovu! Wake up!" Vitani hissed again, prodding his side with a claw. Kovu grumbled once more and opened a sleepy green eye, peering at Vitani from under his paw.

"What is it Vitani? Why are you waking me up this late at night?" the dark lion growled quietly. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, glaring slightly at his adopted sister.

"Kovu, I need to talk to you." the tan lioness murmured. "Alone."

"Can't this wait 'til morning, 'Tani?"

"No, you dimwit!" she snapped softly, smacking him upside the head. "Do you think I'd be waking you up this late at night if it could wait!? Now get up, you lazy butt!"

"Alright, alright! I'm up, I'm up!" Kovu muttered. The dark brown lion stood up, letting out a big yawn. Stepping over his mate lightly, Kovu followed Vitani outside of the cave, grumbling some curses under his breath. Once outside, Vitani turned to face her foster brother. Kovu gave Vitani look of annoyance as he spoke up. "Alright, 'Tani, what's up?"

"It's about those rogues we chased off earlier. Something about them bothers me. More specifically, the older of the two."

"What, you mean the two that jumped into the river?" Kovu asked. "You woke me up to talk about them?" He looked thoroughly annoyed now. "Vitani, this could have easily waited until tomorrow. I'm going back to bed." Just as he turned to leave, Vitani jumped in front of him, blocking his path back in the cave.

"No!" she snapped. "It can't wait! I've been thinking about them all day! Especially about the reddish brown one."

"Look, 'Tani, maybe you found him cute and all but that's hardly worth waking me up for..."

Vitani cuffed Kovu's ears, letting out a growl of annoyance. "Shut up! That's not why! Just shut up and listen!" Kovu grumbled something under his breath, but did as Vitani asked and stayed quiet. "Listen, something about the older one keeps bugging me. Ever since we chased those two off, I can't stop thinking about him. It's as if I know him somehow, but I can't quiet remember from where."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. But it feels like I know that lion. Something about him just seems very familiar. Didn't you think so, Kovu?"

"Hmmm..." Kovu pondered this, scratching his chin with a claw. "Well...Now that I think about it, yeah, he did seem kind of familiar."

"That goofy gait, that annoying voice, his flea-bitten mane...It's almost as if that was...." Suddenly Vitani went very quiet. Her blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she seemingly stared off into space. "No....No....It....By the Great Spirit....It couldn't be....Could it?"

"What?" Kovu asked with sudden concern. "Couldn't be what? What is it, Vitani?"

"Kovu..." she whispered, her voice hoarse, "I think...I think that lion...was Nuka!"

"NUKA!?" Kovu yelled in shock. Quickly reminding himself that the rest of the pride was still sleeping, he lowered his voice to a low whisper. "Nuka? Are you sure?"

"Yes. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure of it. No other lion could run so stupidly yet so quickly." she murmured.

Kovu shook his head. "No, no that can't be. We saw him get crushed by the logs! We saw him die!"

"We thought we saw him die. We never really checked to see if he was really dead or not. We just assumed."

"Look, 'Tani," Kovu murmured, "even if Nuka survived getting crushed by those logs, there's no way he could have survived getting swept away by the river when the dam broke! It's just not possible!"

"I'm not saying his being alive makes any sense! I'm just saying that that rogue lion was Nuka! There's no doubt about it!" Vitani insisted, stomping her foot in frustration. "Besides, it's not as if we found his body after the river washed the dam away. We found Mother's, but not Nuka's, so it's not as if we have solid proof that he didn't survived the falling logs, no matter how impossible it may seem."

"True. But even if that lion was Nuka, you saw what happened today! He and the cub jumped into the river running through the Gorge. What could we possibly do about it now?"

Vitani went quiet again, looking thoughtful. What could they do about it? If Nuka wasn't washed away by the river before, he sure as hell was now, along with that cub he had with him. It was quite possible that the pair of them drowned, just like their mother did. But it was also possible that they were still alive somehow. And if there was a chance that they were still alive...If there was a chance that Nuka was alive....

Looking Kovu desperately in the eyes, she murmured, "We have to find him. We have to find Nuka."

"How?" Kovu asked, frowning. "He and the cub got washed away in the river when they jumped in. They probably drowned."

"Kovu, this is Nuka we're talking about, not some random rogue! How can you act like you don't care about what happens to him?" Vitani yelled. "If there's a chance that he's alive, then we have to try and find him. He's got a mate and cubs, for goodness sakes! Balozi and Etana should be given the chance at growing up with their father in their lives! And if he did drown, then we need to at least find his body!"

"Vitani, it's not like that." the dark lion sighed. "I do care about him. It's just....How do you expect us to find him? It was a miracle that we happened to find Mother's body after the flood. What are the chances of finding Nuka? And, if by some miracle he is still alive, how will we find him then? It's not like he'll just stay by the river waiting for us."

"I don't know Kovu, but we have to try. Nuka's our brother. We have to bring him back home." Vitani said with determination in her voice. "So, will you come with me to find him and bring him home or not?" Kovu sighed again, frowning thoughtfully. Finally, after what seemed like ages to Vitani, Kovu looked her in the eyes and answered.

"You're right Vitani. If Nuka is alive, then we need to find him. I'll go with you."

"And I will too."

Vitani and Kovu both jumped in surprise when they heard another lion chime in. They both whirled around to see Kiara walking out of the cave towards them.

"Kiara!" Kovu gasped. "What are you doing up?"

Kiara smiled and nuzzled Kovu affectionally. "Sorry for eavesdropping on you two. When I woke up and found you weren't next to me, I saw that you were outside talking with Vitani. I was curious as to whatshe wanted this late at night, so I stayed to the shadows and listened. Look, I think Vitani's right. You two need to find your brother. And I want to come with you. I mean, after all, he is my brother-in-law now."

"Well, looks like those hunting leasons are actually paying off, Princess." Vitani smirked. "I didn't even know you were there listening to us."

"Thanks." Kiara giggled. Kovu on the other hand didn't seem to happy.

"Kiara, this journey could be dangerous. We'll most likely have to leave the Pride Lands if we want to find any signs of Nuka." he murmured. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Kiara swatted Kovu lightly, saying, "Geez, Kovu, you're sounding a lot like Daddy right now."

"He has a point there, Princess." Vitani said. "It will be dangerous. Life outside the pride can be tough, what with hyenas and other lions out there. Not to mention hunting will be difficult in certain areas. There may be times where we go days without food or water. It's not like some adventure story or anything you might have heard from your daddy. Not to mention you are the princess. As far as we're aware, you're the only heir Simba has. And if something happened to you, he'd kill us."

"I'm well aware of the dangers, guys. I'm not a cub you know." Kiara said with a light frown. "I know it's going dangerous, but I want to go with you. I may not have known your brother Nuka, but he's family, just as you two are. And family helps family. Besides, Usiku is still beside herself with grief that her mate is gone and that her cubs'll have to grow up without their father. If there's a chance to bring him back, then we should take it. For her and her cubs. Anyways, other lion prides may react better to a princess of the Pride Lands than a couple of rag-tag rogue-ish looking lions like you two. Plus, Daddy's been teaching me some of the diplomatic skills I'll need for when I'm Queen."

Vitani and Kovu looked at each other with a frown on their faces. Kiara did have a point, and they couldn't deny that having another lion with them would help them in the long run, even if that lion was Kiara.

"Well then, I guess our duo just became a trio, don't you think, brother?" Vitani asked with a smirk.

Kovu sighed and smiled lightly. "I guess so. Not like anything we could have said would have persuaded her anyways."

Kiara grinned, nuzzling Kovu once more. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"Heh. Looks like wifey-poo's already got ya whipped, Kovu." Vitani teased. Kiara giggled at that while Kovu glared.

"Oh shut up 'Tani!" Kovu said, shoving her playfully. "Look, it's too late to leave right now. We should go and rest up. That way we'll be in tip-top shape tomorrow. Plus, it'll be easier to search for Nuka during the day than during the night. We'll start our search tomorrow after some breakfast."

"Good idea. Plus we need to tell Daddy where we're going." Kiara said. "He'd freak if we all just disappeared in the middle of the night."

"Yeah. Don't want to give ol' Kingy a heart attack." Vitani snorted in agreement.

"Then it's settled. We'll tell Simba tomorrow morning, then take off in search of Nuka." Kovu confermed with a nod. "Let's head back in and get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." With that Kovu turned and went back in the den, followed by Kiara. Vitani paused for a moment, looking up at stars. Each one glittered against the night sky, looking like snowflakes in the sky.

"Mother...Father...Great Spirit above...If you can hear me....If Nuka is still alive, please help us find him. And if he's alive, please help him to stay that way, at least until we can find him and bring him home." Done with her soft prayer, Vitani turned around and returned to her sleeping spot in the cave, anxious for what the morrow would bring for her and her family.

------------------------------------------------------------

A little bit of a side note here. Vitani, Kovu, and Kiara will play a bigger role in the story than just chasing Nuka and Kivuli off a cliff into a river. Now they're on a mission of their own, to bring Nuka home to his mate Usiku (Dotty) and his newborn cubs Balozi and Etana. Will they find Nuka? And if they do, will he come home with them? Only the Great Spirit knows the answer....

Base: [link]
Base (c) and
Vitani's "movie" colors (c)
TLK (c) Disney