Monifa?" inquired Tojo the next day.

Monifa nodded. "I decided I will go with them." On both sides of her stood Rudo and Nia, both proud and strong. Compared to her companions, however, Monifa was weak and miserable.

Tojo knew something was wrong but he didn't question it. He took a step forward and nuzzled Monifa. "Well I hope that you all have a safe journey ahead. And good luck." He took a step back from them and then realized someone was missing. "Has anyone seen Nalo?"

Nia grinned evilly but made it as discreet as possible. Monifa flinched at his name and kept her head down low. Tojo frowned. Something must've happened between her and Nalo, otherwise he would've showed up to see his friend leaving.

"Come on, let's get going," said Nia as she led the three of them away.

Monifa lagged behind the three of them and took one last look over her shoulder. Tojo let out a loud roar to send her off. Monifa smiled weakly and ran to catch up with her friends. Once he saw the trio become little black dots, Tojo went to find Nalo. He eventually did find the young lion asleep in the same spot he was last night.

"Nalo wake up!" said Tojo with urgency as he shook the young lion's shoulders. "Monifa has already left."

Nalo awoke but not with the sudden urgency to try and catch her. No, instead he woke up groggily and unhappy. Tojo frowned. "Did you and Monifa have a fight?"

Nalo turned his head. "Yeah..."

"I don't understand Nalo-"

"Nia said that Monifa didn't like me."

"Nia said that?"

"Yeah..."

Tojo analyzed the situation in his head. "I think... that we need to go find Monifa."

Nalo turned his head to Tojo. "Why?"

"No time to explain. Let's go."

"No I don't want to..."

"What?"

"I said I don't want to go," growled Nalo firmly. He faced Tojo and the older lion saw that Nalo stood much taller than him.

However Tojo wasn't about to give up on Nalo yet. "Why not Nalo? You love her."

Nalo's growl slackened. "I... I do not-"

"Yes you do. I can tell. You are in love with Monifa."

Nalo blushed. "I-"

"Your argument has completely fallen apart because you are blushing now," said Tojo bluntly. "But come on! You don't want her to go with them do you? I knew something was up with Nia when I first saw her..."

"Tojo..."

The older lion pushed himself up against Nalo. "Come on!"

Nalo was reluctant. Monifa would be happier with them...

"Nalo, I'm asking you to come along for Monifa's sake," said Tojo.

"She doesn't like me Tojo!" roared Nalo. "Why should I go after her if she doesn't like me?"

"Nalo... I think Nia lied to you," admitted Tojo.

"W-What?" All the anger Nalo felt boiling within him disappeared.

"Nia lied to you, for whatever reason she wanted to. She must've wanted you to break off your friendship with Monifa so that she'd have a reason to leave." Tojo thought over his words and nodded. "Yes, that must be it. 'Cause if not, then Monifa would have never left, which Nia's intention was to have her leave. Nalo, don't you see? That must be it!"

As Nalo listened to his words, he felt more and more guilty with each word. He should've seen right through Nia. He knew she was bad news, yet he believed her. And now Monifa hated him. "Ugh..." he sighed, and his head fell.

Tojo nudged him again. "Don't worry about it, we'll figure everything out later. C'mon Nalo, let's go after them."

"I... I'm such an idiot..." However Nalo rose. "I'm not gonna let Nia get away with this."

"There you go! Follow me!" The older lion ran forward and Nalo followed him. Nalo couldn't believe how blind he was. He should've known that something was not right about Nia. He should've known not to believe her. Now he could only hope Monifa would find it in her heart to forgive him.

Both lions ran as fast as their hearts would allow them and soon enough they caught up to the trio. They were nearing a crossing bordering a waterfall. Hearing them, Nia stopped, turned around, and swore loudly. Tojo and Nalo stopped running and trotted up to them.

"Nalo?" asked Monifa, as if she couldn't believe her friend was here.

"Monifa..." Nalo took a step forward towards her. "I'm so sorry..."

Monifa tried to get closer to Nalo, but Nia cut her off. The three of them began a stand-off. Nia versus Tojo and Nalo. Rudo and Monifa had moved onto the sidelines in case something was going to happen. They looked on anxiously.

"She's coming back with us!" roared Nia. "She's our cousin! She's blood! She belongs with us!"

"You can't decide someone's fate, even if they're related," growled Tojo. "What you're doing, Nia, is selfish and wrong! And to try and split two good friends for your own purposes... How wrong can you be?"

"I am not wrong!" She turned her head to Rudo. "Rudo! Tell them that they're wrong!"

Rudo hesitated. Tojo spoke up for him. "Nia's wrong. She did want to split Monifa and Nalo up so that Monifa no longer has a reason to stay."

Monifa gasped and turned to Nia.. "Nia... why?"

"I knew it!" said Rudo. "That's what she was talking about! She wanted things to go back to the way they were. That's what she told me."

Nia turned her head, and had her eyes pinned on Rudo. She lunged at him, hungry for blood. "TRAITOR!"

A flash of light fur appeared in front of Rudo and absorbed Nia's attack. Nalo growled loudly as Nia sunk her teeth into his fur, causing him to bleed. "Nalo!" cried Monifa who now also joined in the fray. She bat Nia away with her paw, and Nia, whose intention was to relive the days with her brother and cousin, was blinded by rage. She could not see Monifa in front of her, and so she attacked her as she would attack the others.

The lionesses fought viciously between each other, but Monifa, who was never much of a fighter, was at a sore disadvantage. Monifa was knocked to the ground by one of Nia's painful smack to the face, and as Nia was about to deliver the final blow, Rudo intervened, knocking Nia aside with such a hard force that, in fact, both of them flew off the cliff they were on. Tojo raced towards the edge while Nalo checked on Monifa. Tojo saw the two lions plummet into the waterfall's basin below. The current was wild, and if the two did survive their fall, Tojo suspected that they might not survive their journey downstream.

"Are you okay?" asked Nalo as he licked Monifa's face.

Monifa coughed. "Y-Yeah," she said visibly shaken and wounded. "I-I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry Monifa. I didn't..."

"Nalo... I don't hate you. If I had known about Nia's plan..."

Tojo trotted up to them with a solemn look on his face and interrupted them. "They're gone. They both fell into the river."

Tears began to swell in Monifa's eyes and she buried her face into Nalo's mane. Nalo was taken aback at first, but then began to comfort her, as if they had done this many times before. Tojo sighed. "I can try and check up and downstream, but it'd probably be a hopeless cause."

Downstream, meanwhile, a drenched lion crawled onto one of the rocks along the river. He coughed and hacked, his lungs filled with the water. His eyes flew to the river but he could not find her, and so only assumed the worst. Instead of lingering on that, he struggled to try and stand up but his legs were badly beaten by the river. So he just lay sprawled on the rocks, hoping and praying that someone would happen to find him.

****

Tojo went to find Rudo and Nia, but when he came back from his excursions, he had no results. As a result, Monifa was miserable. Nalo kept close to her, and offered her emotional support while she dealt with the loss of her friends. He tried cheering her up, making her laugh, and offered soft yet wise words to her. Tojo could see the change in their relationship and that made him secretly smile.

Over the course of the days since the incident, Monifa seemed to be getting brighter and more back towards her old self, which delighted Nalo tremendously.

One night both lion and lioness lay sprawled in the grass and gazed into the starry night, their usual routine. Every now and again, Nalo kept on shooting glances at Monifa to see if she was okay. And it just made him happy to see her having fun and feeling better about the loss.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," said Nalo. He looked over to his right and saw Monifa staring back at him.

She giggled. "Yeah they are." She turned her head back to look at the sky.

"But they're not as beautiful as you..." It was a low whisper, but Monifa was not mistaken when she heard it. She looked over at Nalo who smiled at her.

And Monifa smiled back.