one reason for him to return, and she was probably inside the cave. He sniffed the still air that filtered from the cave mouth. On it he scented Akase: strong and even now, inviting, and Mufasa and even Scar. Clearly their scent had lingered on in the cave to haunt him.

"...and what of Scar. If he's still alive I suppose he will be..." but he could not think of that now. He remembered Scar's terrified look by the water's edge and thought that he could not have known what his mother was going to do. Indeed how could she have used Ahadi's own son against Mufasa? ‘Scar didn't know what his mother was going to do. How could he? He was just as frightened as we were to see what Immue was doing.’ Mufasa's scent became stronger. For a second Ahadi thought that he might be alive after all; he had not seen the body. "No, what if he had just run off? What if he's lying asleep in the cave? No.... What have I done? Help me!" He thought desperately.

Ahadi rushed into the cave and there, lying fast asleep where he always slept was Mufasa, at his side, with his head over Mufasa's back lay Scar as fast asleep as his brother. It was a picture of contentment and peace but it hid a tale so dreadful that no one ever spoke of it again. Akase woke, if indeed she had been sleeping, as Ahadi rushed in.

"Where in all the marsh lands have you been?"

"But... But Mufasa's alive, Immue didn't drown him! He's alive!"

Ahadi wanted to wake and play and have his son climb all over him, but Akase stopped him.

"Leave him to sleep. He's had the worst day of his life. Immue nearly succeeded, Mufasa almost died. I fished him out and I..." she stopped and closed her eyes, holding, no, fighting back a flood or tears. "He was dead in my mouth. I held my own dead cub... and he fought back death and lives. He is a very special cub. He is our cub Ahadi; he is ours and he's alive."

Ahadi could say nothing and do even less. He no longer wanted to die, he wanted to live, he wanted to roar, he wanted to feel close to Akase, he wanted to live a whole life in just a few minutes but he could not. He lay down at Akase's side and, feeling her very softly purring, fell asleep with his head on her stretched out forepaws. It had been a very long night.

Yet he was not allowed to sleep long. He was woken by Rafiki an hour later wanting to know if Mufasa was well enough to cope with the presentation ceremony. Panic broke out in the cave as Akase woke Mufasa, waking Scar who panicked thinking he was back in his cavern and shouted out for Immue. It was left to Ahadi to tell his son that his mother would never return to the Pridelands.

Epilogue.

Scar sat smiling on a rock below the promontory of Priderock as his lionesses dispersed in dismay whilst from all around came the baying hordes of Hyena. The moon shone down unwarmingly and Scar looked up to it and remembered. He was at long last the King of Priderock. He had finally

triumphed over Mufasa and Ahadi and what had so long been denied him was now all his. Power - pure power to do anything he wanted - just so long as the hyenas agreed. More and more poured over the rocks behind him, voice after voice lifted up to the moon until one voice in particular caught Scar's ear.

"Yeah, we were prepared all right. Prepared for all this!"

Scar turned and pushed forwards with a flourish.

"Ah, my friends. I'm so glad you could come to my little party tonight."

"What? You call this a party? Scar, come on? Where's the food?"

Ed laughed beside his brother.

"Food? Oh well, if you really must eat at a time like this I'll see what Sarabi's got 'lion' around." Scar looked up away from Banzai, "That really is an awfully bad pun you know." He brought his head down menacingly. "You'll have to do better than that next time!"

"Whoa, now, that was Shenzi's, wasn't it Ed?"

Ed sniggered, nodding his head, sending droplets of saliva flying towards Scar.

"Oh, how revolting. Now you two, there's a little 'something' I want you to do. Oh it's so simple: you'll do it in no time. No time at all."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that I would so much like to see someone special again."

"Hey, what? Like Mufasa? Ha-ha-haaa..." Ed joined Banzai in laughing in the way in which only hyenas can.

"No, fools," said Scar roughly as he clouted Banzai with the back of his forepaw. "You're going to find my mother and bring her back to the Pridelands."

"Your mother? Immue? 'Oh little Scarie, do eat your greens, yes, yes, yes!'"

"You'll not need a description then. So you'll be starting off right away."

"Immue. Now there's a real lioness, eh Scar? One of us, just like you."

"I said you'll be starting off..." he loomed down in front of Banzai, "right now!"

"Yeah, you know you look kinda like her close up?"

Scar roared. "Get out! And take your 'friend' here with you!"

Banzai pulled back sharply, yelped in terror and ran off with Ed at his heels.

      ***

Some long tedious days later, and after a search of most of the lands surrounding the Pridelands, excepting the desert beyond the river which everyone knew was uncrossable, Banzai and Ed led a cautious and fearsome lioness back to the place which, for a few short months, she had almost called home. As she walked past the water hole she stopped for a moment and wondered what might have happened had that fateful afternoon not been quite so hot.

She walked the few hundred metres to Priderock slowly, taking in the sights she had remembered for the long years alone, but she was used to being alone, it was living in a pride that was unknown to her. Though she was returning to her son, the new King of Priderock, she was also returning to uncertainty. She was to find the next few years with her son very difficult indeed....