“Both,” the lion replied sadly. He felt Rafiki place a comforting hand on his shoulder. He shivered. “Rafiki… I don’t think I love Akase like I used to,” he began, the words squeezing his throat. “What am I saying? She’s my mate…” He looked down.

            Rafiki scratched the back of his head. “Arif, you’ve been through a lot in dese last weeks. And I understand where you’re coming from and why you feel this way. Tell me and be honest. Do you want Akase back?”

            That question struck Arif hard. He walked to the opening. His legs were shaking; his heart thudded in his chest. He thought over the question. Did he want her back? Did he still love her? What of their sons and daughter? Did they still love her? Did Njozi, even after Akase told him that their daughter dreams were nothing? Akase had told him that Njozi was possibly losing her mind and that he was to blame! Arif bit his lip. What about Saada? It was clear to Arif that Akase didn’t like her. She openly insulted her and would’ve done worse if he hadn’t been there.

            Rafiki sat on the ground. His legs were crossed, hands resting on his knees. He didn’t speak. He knew the answer.

            At last, Arif turned, his head down, eyes pained and dull. Rafiki expected this. The old baboon watched Arif’s lips tremble. He held out a hand and pointed to the floor.

            Arif sighed heavily and lay down. Another moment later, followed by a silence, the lion spoke. “Rafiki, I’m… almost sure that I don’t love her anymore, at least not as a husband and partner.” His heartbeat slowed. “I think I love her as a friend, but with the way she’s acting, especially to Saada and Njozi…”  Arif shook his head. “I can’t even love her as a friend. And she’s blaming this whole thing on me. She hates me for ‘choosing’ my job over my family. I can’t talk to her. I can’t make her see. My cubs know that I love them with all my heart but they don’t want me to quit. They say that if I do, there won’t be anyone to take over for you.” He put his head down on his paws. “Is this really my fault as Akase says it is? Should I not have accepted the message? And it’s not Baraka’s fault that he isn’t married. He just hasn’t found the right lioness. I won’t pressure him, no one will. Am I a terrible father? Am I a terrible husband?”

            The mandrill closed his eyes, his mind absorbing the words. To Arif, it looked like Rafiki was meditating. Maybe he was.

            When he opened his eyes again, the baboon had a gentle smile on his face. “Arif, you are not a terrible husband or father. You’re doing de best you can for yourself and your family and dat is all anyone can ask. I may be de shaman of faith and or wisdom, but dis is something I do know, so listen carefully. As I’ve said to you many times, de day you and Baraka were born and I baptized you I saw something very special. Like your brother I knew you were destined for great things and I see de same in your children, your daughter mainly, more so, even.” He chuckled, but then his eyes grew serious. “Are you absolutely sure of your words and that you really mean what you’re saying?”

            The Prince was stunned at the depth of seriousness in his master’s eyes. He nodded. “Yes, I am. I loved her once and I know she loved me once too. She understood my position even before we married. She understood when she was pregnant and when the cubs were born. She understood all those times!” His voice broke and he hit the ground in frustration with a paw. “Did I change? Did she? Even if Baraka was married this would’ve happened anyway, and whether I got that message or not!”

            Rafiki walked over, sat beside the lion and pulled his large head gently into his lap. He stroked Arif’s mane. “You have done nothing wrong, Arif. Sometimes being a shaman requires sacrifice or support. Akase isn’t supporting you de way she should and from what you’ve said, your cubs and family are more understanding.” He paused. “I am so sorry, Arif. I am sorry you have to deal with dis.”

            Arif shuddered. “Rafiki, I do want her back but not if she won’t support me and accept my position. Is that wrong?”

            “No. You’re trying, she isn’t. The burden is not on you. You were destined to be a shaman and my successor. I could think of no better animal to succeed me than a Prince of the Pridelands.”

            Arif smiled as tears streamed down his face. “Thank you.” He was silent for a moment. “Rafiki… there’s something else…” He slowly lifted his head out of the baboon’s embrace and looked at him with a mixture of anxiety and confusion.

            Rafiki put his arm around the lion’s neck. “What is it, Arif? You can tell old Rafiki anything.” He smiled broadly, which sparked a smile from the lion but the smile soon fell, replaced by worry.

            Taking a deep breath, the Prince spoke but his words were a whisper. “I think… I’m in love with Saada…”

            The old mandrill just nodded, as if he saw this coming.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

His paws touched the dusty ground. There was still some green, but underneath… nothing but brown earth. Baraka looked at his surroundings. Why was he there? He didn’t remember walking in this direction. His mind was still clouded, and it was getting harder for him to think. He continued walking, but didn’t change the course of his direction. Baraka looked up at the sky. He could see that there were a few clouds and something else, something odd. He then noticed that the air around him was getting thick, almost foggy. A few moments later he couldn’t see a thing, and walked blind.

            After awhile the air began to clear, and in the Lion King’s vision what he saw made his mouth fall open.

            Some ten feet ahead was a large hole, a deep crevice. He realized he had walked to a gorge. But which side of the Pridelands was he on? Baraka turned his head only to see that the foggy atmosphere in the air had completely closed him in.

            Baraka turned his head upright, heaving a loud sigh. He walked further until he stood on a large ledge. He looked down, a chill flowing through his body. Was anything below? What did he expect to find? Groaning and thinking he had really lost his mind, Baraka prepared to leave when something told him to look down deeper into the gorge.

            Wait. Was that…? Yes!

            It was a cloud of dust that was… moving? Baraka noticed some ledges that would take him into the gorge. He didn’t know why this dust cloud interested him, but he had nothing else to do. He leapt down the ledges. The further he got, the more closely he could examine what was happening. The dust seemed to settle and now floated along the ground. Baraka knew it would take time before he even touched the gorge’s floor.

            The king stopped on a small ledge. The chill in his body rose. He felt cold and his legs were shaking. The dust took on a different form. It didn’t turn into a cloud. It seemed to separate… and… run? Looking harder Baraka noticed that in the separate parts of the dusty fog each looked like a wildebeest. Baraka shook his head. What was he seeing? Rubbing his eyes with a paw, he looked again. His eyes grew. Now the forms were in fact taking on the body and colorations of wildebeest. And they were running, but why?

            What in the name of the Kings’ was this?

            No… no! This… this has to be a dream, Baraka thought. This can’t be real!

            Then, suddenly, Baraka’s ears rose as a large, loud voice filled his ears. The words, though muffled at first, echoed across the gorge.

            “Hold on, S-im-baaa!”

            Baraka drew a confused and perplexed look. That name… Simba, as in his late grandfather, the former King of the