Siennah walked across the ground, the dirt crumbling under her tired paws, she was searching, searching for her mate, Jesus. Her worn eyes drooping low, then suddenly a warthog and a meerkat jump out in front of her, she stared at them, without blinking, until the meerkat spoke. “Hey hey hey!” he cried. “Umm hi? Who are you?” she asked shyly. “Im timon, and this is pumba, your not from around here, what’ya doin?” the meerkat grinned pointing at the overexcited warthog. She hesitated, sitting down before explaining. “Well, my stupid stepfather banished the only lion I have ever loved, his name is Jesus and I need to find him. Have you by any chance seen a white lion with an orangey mane?” she sighed, looking out hopelessly into the trees. Pumba and timon sideways glanced at each other before smiling at Siennah. “We certainly have,” pumba exclaimed. “He just headed that way a moment before,” siennahs heart skipped a beat and she stood up, almost springing off her toes in excitement. “Oh my god, thank you so much!” she cried shooting a big grin at the two before bolting off into the trees.

Her eyes darted every which way, but it wasn’t until they fell upon the ever so familiar orangey mane, that she nearly fainted with happiness; she bounded over as quickly as she could and tackled Jesus into the luscious green grass. At first his expression was shocked but then as soon as he laid eyes on his mate his face lit up. He wrapped his paws around her and held her close as they rolled down the grassy hill. They landed at the bottom just near a stream, her lying tightly in his arms, his back against the cool ground. She looked down into his bright brown eyes and smiled, he leaned forward, licking her cheek and then pulling her over him until she was lying on top of him. And for the next ten minutes they just lay in each others arms, happy to be in the hold of their loved ones. “Ive missed you so much...” Siennah finally whispered. Jesus looked deeply into her eyes and smiled. “Ive missed you so much more…”

The sun had set, and Siennah had fallen asleep right next to Jesus, their arms still tightly around each other. By now the moon was high in the sky and a dim glow had fallen over the land. Jesus could just make out Siennah, but as he watched her sleep he glowed inside. He was thinking of how beautiful she was and how lucky he was to have her. She breathed deeply, sinking further into his chest, he grinned, holding her closely in his grip. He was scared, thinking about how he had been banished by her stepfather, wondering if after this night, he would ever see his love again. He looked up at the stars, searching for answers, a sign, anything that would reassure him that everything would be ok, just like when your mother holds you tight after a storm, telling you it’s alright, unfortunately it wasn’t that easy, their problems wouldn’t just disappear after tonight, this was a problem too big to solve on his own. He lowered his head down, and took one last look at Siennah, sleeping happily, and then shut his eyes, falling slowly into a deep sleep.

They awoke slowly in the morning as the sun rose high above their heads. Siennah’s eyes opened to find Jesus looking down at her; she smiled, and then licked him on the cheek. He looked lovingly into her eyes and licked her back before gradually getting up and walking to the stream. He stared down at his reflection, “Siennah?” he finally said. She wandered over, “yeah?” she asked when she got there, sitting down next to him. “You have to go back today, don’t you?” He turned to face her. She looked at him before looking down into the water, “yeah I do…” she answered sadly. Jesus thought for a moment. “Will I ever see you again?” he asked, hoping her answer would be good. Siennah looked at the ground, “I’m don’t know…” Jesus’ heart sunk, he leaned forward and hugged her, she sighed deeply into his fur.

And then all of a sudden, “SIENNAH! GET OVER HERE NOW!” they both spun around to see Siennah’s stepfather, prince, standing in front of them. His chest puffing out and his eyes filled with anger. Siennah’s ears bent down but she stood her ground, “no dad! I love him, and I want to stay with him!” she cried shuffling closer to Jesus. Prince’s nostrils flared wide. “Siennah, you will get over here right now, or you will be banished as well!” he bellowed. Siennah though for a moment, she wanted to stay with Jesus but deep down she knew that she had to go back, she couldn’t leave her two sisters and her friends. She took a deep breath, as tears slowly dripped down her face. And with one final look into Jesus’ eyes she walked toward the lion she hated ever so much. “Siennah, no…” Jesus tried to pull her back but then he stopped, his face wet with tears. “Let go of her!” Prince snarled at Jesus. His face was glowing red with anger. Siennah’s heart pounded, she wanted to go back, she wanted this to all be over or maybe just a bad dream, but it wasn’t. Prince glared at Jesus, he growled, before strutting away, gesturing Siennah to follow him. She began to walk off; turning back to look at Jesus, her heart tore in two and a pang of sadness flew through her whole body. He was staring at her, not willing to take his eyes away for a second, his body stung as he had a sudden realisation that he might not ever see her again. “I promise we will meet again one day… I love you…” she whispered before turning the corner and going out of his sight. He looked down onto the tear stained ground she had once walked on. His heart was hurting and his head was pounding, slowly he lay down, burying his head deep into his arms and crying… he could hear her distant voice arguing as she left, and bit by bit his eyes began to shut. Dreaming of a better place, where he could be with her, forever…