It was mid-morning, though the blazing sun was attempting to say otherwise, as Mohatu crossed the parched earth that bordered the northern reaches of the Pridelands; his kingdom, with his daughter alongside him. A few days ago, Zuri, his hornbill major-domo, had returned to Pride Rock in a fluster, prompting his aged body to his paws in order to investigate. She had just returned from the Upper Eastlands, a lush kingdom not dissimilar to his own, that lay just beyond these wastelands. After regaining her breath, the cyan bird imparted her message: Queen Feruzi had given birth to twin boys, and had asked if he would like to visit.

Three years ago—about six months before he discovered that he was going to be a father—Mohatu had met with her husband, Elimu, in order to create their Code of Laws. Three simple, easy to follow and maintain rules that changed their lands for the infinite better. Together, they agreed to outlaw the slaughter of cubs and the banishment of rogues or adult lions without proper reason, as well as creating the distinction between 'mates for life' and 'mates for cubs', and extending the right to the former to all pride members. Their good relations had made it all possible, and they had remained friends ever since. Thus, Mohatu was only too happy to oblige their invitation.

However, he also saw his daughter's face rise excitedly as the news reached her ears, and he made sure that she would be welcome to join him. Zuri was not especially thankful of this. He glanced to his left, where the adolescent was striding beside him. Her muzzle titled slightly downwards to spot any sharp ridges so she would miss them. My little Uru…

They shared the same warm, auburn eyes and rich, bronze pelts, but she was so much more…dainty than him. He was believed to be the largest lion in the area for decades and had an appropriately stocky body, but, while she wasn't small, Uru took her lithe frame from her mother. She also had the same adorable smile as Latifah when she was excited or curious. As his thoughts turned to his wife, Mohatu let out a small sigh.

Though she was also on good terms with their neighbours, Latifah elected to stay at home and take care of the kingdom while he was away. He wondered how she was doing back at Pride Rock; it was the first time he had left the kingdom without her since the Great Drought.

During those terrible years, the Pridelands wilted until they almost resembled where they were walking now, and just under a year into his reign he had been forced to leave his wife and kingdom in search of water. Though he did eventually stumble upon a large river, and the rains soon returned, he never forgot the longing in his heart for her to be at his side for those two weeks, or the look of tearful relief on her beautiful face when he returned. He vowed never to put her through anything like that again.

His russet mane stirred briefly as he shook his head, trying to rid himself of the momentary despair. Come on Mohatu, you big softie. She's fine. She's absolutely fine. She wouldn't have let you go if she wasn't… A small smile dawned on his large muzzle as his mood lifted, and he turned back to look at his daughter. They had been silent for a little while, and he had something to ask her.

"So, are you looking forward to seeing the cubs?" It wasn't the question he meant to pose, but it was a start.

At the sound of her father's deep, gently rumbling voice, Uru popped out of the little bubble that the quiet had made. She gave him a smirk as they continued to walk.

"Course I am, Daddy," she said in her lighter tones. "Can't you tell?"

The elder lion chuckled. "Yes, sweetie, but there is something you haven't told me yet."

"And what's that?" she asked, trying to guess at what he was talking about by her father's expression. It was curious, but relaxed, and there was something of a smile playing on those lips.

"What was going on with Jirani earlier?" he asked calmly.

Uru's mind went blank for a moment. Jirani was one of her childhood friends, but for the past couple of months he had been a little more than that. She had first realised this when they shared a moonlit stroll through the Pridelands, and tenderly nuzzled each other under a lone acacia. She had felt her passions being stirred as she gazed into his gorgeous blue eyes that sparkled in the pale light, and she loved the witty remarks he made as they spent the remainder of that night stargazing, her brown pelt snuggled against his flawless tan.

But, in the last few days, her heart had become more and more still in his presence. The more time she spent with him, the more she felt repelled by his arrogant, lofty tendencies, and she sometimes couldn't help but feel that he was trying to dictate her. He was mostly a nice, and certainly charming lion, and she still wanted to be his friend, but…he wasn't for her. Not in the way he hoped. She had told Jirani this that morning, before most of the pride were awake. No one had slept late after that.

"I don't know," she replied, frowning slightly. "I just… You know how you said there's a spark when you love someone?" Her father nodded understandingly. "Well…"

"What is it, sweetie?" he asked, after she had left the sentence hanging for far too long.

"I just don't feel it anymore. He's really arrogant sometimes, and a bit…pushy-"

"He didn't try anything with you, did he?" Mohatu butted in, half-joking, half-unusually serious.

"Oh, of course not, Daddy. He's not that kind of lion," she assured with a slight chuckle, and his brow instantly relaxed. "But he did try and stop me practicing my hunting technique so much, and…there were a few times where he ignored what I was saying." Her voice had dropped to a whisper by this point, and she felt a strange heat behind her eyes, along with a comforting, gentle nuzzle.

"Oh, Uru…" her father whispered, and she pressed against his side. She realised then that they had both stopped, but this thought became clouded as his heartening scent flooded her nose.

"I'm sorry, Daddy-"

"Don't be." Uru blinked away the little moisture in her eyes, and looked at her father in surprise. He sighed, and then smiled at her. "I just want you to be happy, sweetie, and if Jirani isn't the lion for you, then so be it."

Her mood quickly brightened at his wide beam, and she nuzzled the side of his face, this time with her usual vigour.

"Thanks, Daddy. You know, I do still like him, I just…don't love him anymore."

"Don't worry about it, Uru," he said softly, still gazing fondly at her. "You're only young…there'll be someone out there for you. Now come on," he continued, his voice stronger this time. "We've got to keep going if we want to be there before midday."

The pair resumed their steady pace, as Uru tried to focus back on the cubs. What did they look like? Had they opened their eyes yet? Were they as utterly adorable as she thought they would be? She tried to think about all of these, but instead she found herself thinking about lions again. More specifically, she thought about what she wanted in one. She could definitely remove 'arrogance' and 'controlling side' from her list of likes. No, what she wanted was a lion who let her be herself, and loved her for who she was. Who was kind, sincere and gentle, but could also be passionate and funny. Someone who would listen as she rambled on about this and that, as she was prone to do, but would also appreciate her more flirtatious side. And, if this lion also had a different side to his normal self, she didn't want to be repulsed by what she found there. Jirani had done almost everything on that list, except for the last part. And the listening. And being gentle; his humour was quite brutal at times. But it had still made her laugh. Plus it was obvious that he cared about her, and he had those deep, loving, beautiful eyes, that she had threatened to lose herself in…

Oh Jirani…why did you have to be such an arse?

"And besides," Uru once again found herself being pulled from her thoughts by her father's voice. This time, he was the one smirking at her. "There might be some cute lions waiting in Elimu's pride, huh?"

Her previous trail of thought obliterated, Uru let out a giggle. "Stop it!" she chided, grinning at her father. "And anyway, aren't we meant to be seeing the cubs when we get there?"

"True," her father said, dropping his voice to a murmur, "but they aren't going to want to marry you, are they?"

They both laughed at this, with her lighter giggles occasionally piercing her father's throaty chuckles, and they went back to talking about the cubs. Fairly soon, the scenery began to change, as the cracked, dusty ground gave way to bountiful savannah, and soft hills sprouted in the distance on either side. The sun even felt less overbearing, and the grass was pleasantly cool under her paws, even if it did tickle on the odd occasion. They had reached the next kingdom.

They passed several groups of animals on their way to Haven: the largest hill in the kingdom and home to the Upper Eastland pride. Most of them didn't notice their presence, some nodded in greeting, but a few took one look at the massive lion and stopped, awestruck. One or two even dipped their heads lowly in respect, which the king politely returned. Mohatu's reputation preceded him, and Uru squirmed a little under her fur as she saw one leopard nudge another after spotting them.

She was meant to succeed him one day, and she couldn't help but think that she would be a disappointment…

No. Now's not the time to think about that, she told herself firmly. Her lips pursed in a small frown, but this was reversed at her next thoughts. Anyway, Mum and Daddy said they would always be proud of you. Plus, would you want to go through what they did, just to get all those animals bowing at you? She let out a quiet snort at this, and shook her smirking head.

"What are you laughing at?" her father asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Nothing," she said innocently, and her thoughts were at ease for the rest of the journey. As they reached the base of the hill, they found someone was waiting for them. A solidly-built lion with sunny-yellow fur, whose dark mane was lightly flecked with grey. His wide face creased with an equally broad smile as they approached.

"It's been too long, old friend," he said in a surprisingly light voice, though it still held a regal weight.

"Right you are, Elimu," Mohatu returned, bumping heads with the slightly smaller lion, who then turned his slightly angular muzzle to Uru. His amber eyes widened.

"Surely this can't be Uru?" he said, apparently surprised, and glanced at Mohatu. "What happened to the tubby little cub that I could hold with one paw?"

"She's grown up, Mister Elimu," she replied with a smile, already used to the lion's affable nature; it had only been a few months since she was last here. Sure enough, he returned her expression warmly, nodding.

"She certainly has," he said, stepping forward to give her a gentle head-bump. "And how is our little Princess this morning? Your father said you were quite eager to see my cubs."

"I think I may have understated that, Elimu," Mohatu interjected with a grin, as Uru looked at the King sheepishly, shifting a little on her paws. She felt a little better when she saw that his smile hadn't faltered.

"Well now," he continued, turning to gaze up the great hill, and gesturing with a huge forepaw to one of the hollows on it. "You see that cave there, a little below the largest one?" Uru nodded. "They're in there with their mother. I'm sure she won't mind some visitors…"

"Thank you, Mister Elimu, and congratulations on having them." The edges of his mouth extended further back as he nodded in thanks, and she began to make her way up Haven. However, she soon stopped. Realising that something, or rather someone, was missing, she turned back to face the two lions. "Aren't you coming too, Daddy?"

"I will in a moment, sweetie," he called up to her. "I just need to have a word with Elimu first."

"You go on up, Uru," chimed in the other, "I'll make sure we're not too long." Spurred on by their encouraging expressions, the adolescent lioness set off up the slope again.

The hill was surprisingly free of other lions for the centre of a kingdom; there weren't even any hyper cubs to run around her paws, and definitely no 'cute lions' for her to bump into as she made her ascent. However, she did spot a few lionesses at a nearby waterhole from her new height, so she guessed that the most of the pride must be elsewhere. She remembered that many pride members at home were away from Pride Rock by this time. Soon enough, she entered the cave that Elimu had pointed out.

"Good morning, Uru dear," came a smooth voice from within, and after a few moments of blindness she could see the speaker. A brown lioness in late middle-age, lying on the ground that she almost blended in with, her cream-toed forepaws folded in front of her. She was gazing softly at her visitor with green eyes.

"Hey, Miss Feruzi," she greeted, and trotted over to the queen as quietly as possible; she could guess at what was under her protective forelegs. They shared a brief, friendly nuzzle, before she continued quietly. "How are you?" and the lioness smiled at her.

"A little tired…" she said, sounding like it, "but it's worth it to have these two." She gently unfurled her paws slightly, revealing two lion cubs. Each had inherited the pelt of one of their parents, and both had their little chins resting softly on her leg, their bodies curled up and soundly asleep. Uru felt her jaw slacken and heart melt at the sheer cuteness.

"Aww," she breathed. "What're their names?"

Uru could almost see the adoration spilling from Feruzi's eyes as she bent her muzzle down to gaze at her cubs. "The brown one is Umeme, and his little brother is Ahadi," she whispered, running her tongue lovingly across his yellow head. It stirred slightly at her touch.

"Oop, I think he's waking up," she uttered, excitement creeping into her voice. The two watched from their opposite sides as Ahadi awoke from his slumber, though his eyes remained shut. The cub's head rose a little shakily from her forelimb, and took a few sniffs at the air, before it dropped back into the brown fur. He seemed to calm down once he took another breath of his mother's scent.

"How's Mummy's little angel?" Feruzi cooed, nuzzling her son with utmost gentleness, her eyelids softly meeting. Then, Uru noticed something looked different about the cub's face.

"I think he's opening his eyes!" she blurted in her quietest squeal, and heard the other lioness let out a soft sigh.

Together, they waited with growing, excited smiles and bated breath. A tear even slipped out of Feruzi's eye as her son began to open his. The cub's yellow eyelids moved with tiny flickers, exposing a little more of his vision at a time, until his eyes were finally open. They seemed to be unfocussed, and he gave a few slow blinks while craning his face in different directions, before the little orbs finally focussed on something.

Uru.

She jumped. She was the first thing that the little boy had seen. Despite feeling of delight, and a little bit of pride at such a special moment, Uru couldn't help but feel that she had taken something away from the motherly lioness before her. The first thing a cub sees should be their parents, right? What would they think of her?

"What colour are they, dear?" Feruzi asked, her happiness removing all the substance in her voice and demolishing all negativity in Uru's mind. With her son facing away from her, she hadn't yet seen, but had probably judged from Uru's slight spasm of surprise that they were open. With something of a grin, the adolescent peered back at the cub's adorable little face.

"They're green." A little lighter than the grass outside the cave. More importantly, they were the same as his mother's. The elder lioness licked the top of his head once again, before pulling her face back, her expression one of pure joy. This prompted the cub to crane his own upwards and turn onto his back.

Their identical eyes met, and Ahadi raised one of his forepaws. It came to rest against her round, overly-fuzzy chin, just beneath her wide smile that grew at his touch. "Oh…my little boy," she whispered, and the cub let out a little giggle as her words moved his paw. Once again, Uru felt her heart twinge contentedly.

Feruzi shifted her head to nuzzle him, and her rubs gently rolled him back onto his front, earning a little grunt from the cub. Uru saw that he was peering up at her again, his eyes wide and curious.

"I think someone wants to say hello," the queen said warmly, and Uru bent down until she was almost lying on the ground, her muzzle barely a paw-width from his. She saw a flash of yellow, and felt soft, tiny pads pressing against her nose.

"Hi there, Ahadi," she murmured, and the cub pushed against her muzzle to bring himself a little upwards. She suppressed a giggle of her own as his tiny face bobbed just above her nose. "I'm Uru." She brought her face further downwards so he could let go of her safely, and he flopped down onto his mother's foreleg. Almost instantly, he began to curl up again, but instead of closing his eyes he began to inspect his paws. "He's adorable, Miss Feruzi."

"Hmm, isn't he just," and the queen gently butted his side with her nose before letting out a sigh. "If only his father was here to-"

"Why? What did I miss?" said a jovial, but slightly frantic voice from the entrance, and all three turned to face it. At first, Uru blinked, as she only saw her father standing there, the edges of his pelt seeming to sparkle in the golden light, but a much brighter-furred lion then stepped out from beside him. Elimu glanced between his wife and Uru in quick succession, before finally resting on his son. The keenness in his amber eyes faded away and he began to blink rapidly. For a moment, his jaw trembled, but his warm smile held firm.

"Oh, Ahadi…" he gasped, and rushed to his mate with speed that seemed unnatural for a lion of his size and age, forcing Uru to step to her side. After they tenderly crossed necks, with him bending his forelimbs so as she didn't move and disturb the cubs, he shifted around and lay down next to her. His yellow pelt pressed softly against her brown side, and the king nuzzled his wife. The two elder lions stared deeply into each other's eyes, before tilting their gazes downwards at the fruits of their love.

"He has your eyes, dear," he whispered, his own glowing, and he brought his great head down to nuzzle the twin cubs.

As Uru watched the display of unbridled joy and affection, she found a smile once again worming its way across her muzzle, having been lost when she sidestepped the charging lion. But, against the great tide of happy thoughts, one niggling doubt crossed her mind. Will I ever get to feel that…

"Well?" came her father's whisper in her ear, and once again her worry was quashed. "Are they as adorable as we thought?"

She turned to face him, her smile morphing into a smirk. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?"

Her father grinned, and together they slowly made their way back to the new parents, with whom they spent the rest of that special day; one that Uru knew she would never forget.

Right… Well… Erm…

Okay, I can explain this, and I'll need to as many of you were probably expecting a Lost and Found update… Basically, this is what happens when you put me in a room for a week with no internet connection.

And I know what some of you are probably thinking right now, so I try and say it in a…more wholesome way. To put it simply, I got fairly bored while revising on holiday, and this idea popped into my head after lying dormant for a few months. Before I could stop it, pretty much the entire chapter had taken shape, and I couldn't concentrate on relearning the Kreb's cycle. So, with a little time before I really need to worry about my exams, I tried to get it out of my system, and here is the result.

So, was it any good? I'd really like to know, especially as I haven't had this beta'd. Truth be told, I didn't really think it was worth Aquaman52 getting out of bed for. I'm not sure when I will be able to update this, but I'm sure it will coincide with yet more chronic boredom. So, that'll be anytime soon, then.

Thanks for reading (and listening to a somewhat rambling author's note), and I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a review :D

(P.S.: I get the feeling that the Ahadi and Uru fandom is fairly small, but I can't help but think that it needs a special word. Something nice, like a truly awful pun… maybe Ahuru?

And, as before, title and summary are subject to change and the whims of the author. I can't make these up to save my life.)