A/N: Yeah, I know. It's been a rather long time since I've last updated this story. Please don't kill me. I know I said that the updates would be more frequent this year, but I simply haven't been able to keep to any sort of schedule. Not only are these chapters really long, but they're also very complex. In this chapter and the next three, everything I've begun will be brought to an end.
I have a lot of loose ends to tie up, and I want everything to be as good as I can possibly make it. That means editing and revising—lots of it. While I lack in quantity, I hope to make up for it in quality. We're getting close to the end, and so I want to be sure that I get everything just right before I put it up for you guys to read.
So, without further ado, here it is. This is the product of months of sleepless nights, hundreds of hours of procrastinating, and loads of general goofing off when I should have been getting down to work.
---
A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu
Chapter 38: Twin Sunset
The world shook and wobbled. Left. Right. Up. Down. Forward and back. There was no sense of stability in direction, only a spinning dizziness in its place. From what could be felt, only a warm body brushed across reality through the darkness of Leo's consciousness. It was all a fuzzy mesh. Precisely where his fur ended and his mate's fur began wasn't notable in the slightest, definitely not through the indiscernible blob of all good things.
In the midst of his relief and euphoria, Mohatu rolled over onto his back and kicked his paws into the air. He purr-rumbled with the satisfied happiness of his own internal pleasures, all warm and fuzzy—free from any sort of worry. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't care. For the first time in days, he actually felt good.
It wasn't just a good feeling on the outside, like a smile painted onto his face. No, this was different. Mohatu's feeling came from deep within. It was an internal happiness, unbounded by the limitations he placed on his own self. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing—regardless, he was truly ecstatically happy. There was only one thing that could have made him any happier, but he wasn't going to think about that and let it ruin the moment.
"Mhmmmm... I suppose it's time to start the day," the brown-maned lion heard from across him. Doubtlessly, it was the regal voice of Minerva, all fluid and powerful. "Still sleepy, big guy?" she asked.
To maintain his comfort, Mohatu rolled over. He never quite opened his eyes until he realized that the queen wasn't still there beside him. She had already erected herself up onto her paws, after somehow disentangling herself from the male. Yet, even despite that, Leo stayed motionless. He wasn't quite ready to bring about a start to the next day. The night had been so good—it was a shame for it to end so abruptly.
"You can rest here for a little while longer," Minerva offered. "In fact, I was planning to give you the entire day off. You'll need to save your strength for your big day tomorrow."
Mohatu widened his grin. "Hah... tomorrow?" he muttered. "I thought
this was the big event."
Well, to him it was the big event, anyway. All Mohatu really wanted was a lioness to sleep with, so everything else was more akin to a background event, hardly worthy of his attention. Little did he know what he was getting himself into, however. As she had mentioned last night, Minerva clearly had something special in mind for her newfound mate.
"Oh, no..." the queen replied slowly. Her brows lowered into a sinister gaze, while her throat prepared to deepen her voice with her usual, sinister twist. "
Tomorrow is the big day: your promotion to
knight."
What? That was
it? Surely there must have been something more in mind, Mohatu thought. He was supposed to be something more than a mere knight.
Mohatu lifted his head from the solid, flat tile floor. He looked up at Minerva, both tired and confused. The two emotions were clearly evident in his droopy, reflective eyes, but the sight faded away after a blink of thought. After a brief moment, Mohatu questioned his new mate's proposition. "I thought I was going to be promoted to king?"
"Do not fret," Minerva insisted, teasingly enough as it seemed. "You
already are a king. It's just a matter of... shall I say...
rearranging the hierarchy." Her reaffirming words were accompanied by a warm smile, plastered so odd and firm on her face.
Mohatu's head returned to the cold floor below him, satisfied enough by the answer to resume his rest. "I like that," he answered casually.
"Mhhmm hmm," Minerva nodded secretly. "I'll bet you do." She then turned to the exit of her elaborate den, and proceed to leave Mohatu in there all on his own. "The ceremony will take place tomorrow at noon. Just get some rest today... you'll need it to face the challenges that will await you."
"Will you help me with the challenges?" Mohatu asked innocently.
Before the queen could leave her den completely, she paused to answer her mate's question. "No," she bluntly stated. "This will be something you must face
alone. It is your destiny, not mine. If you succeed in the trail, it will be that success which will place you above your peers, and earn you the revered title of knight."
"But..." Mohatu insisted. "You're my mate, aren't you? Isn't that what mates do? We have to look after each other, you know... that's the way it's supposed to be."
Mohatu's questions, however, were never answered. The regal queen had left her den without even a goodbye, and her shadow diminished behind the wall of a stony, dimly lit corner. Whether or not she heard him wasn't the easiest thing to determine—but regardless, she left Mohatu behind in a state of wonder.
Mohatu closed his eyes again, breathing out heavily through his nose. Although he wanted to continue to feel good, he couldn't deny that something also felt a little wrong. Whatever it was about Minerva—something about her made Mohatu a bit uncomfortable. All things considered, it was just a little creepy.
"Alright," Mohatu whispered to himself. "So, she's going to help me kill Rex... and then I'll be able to take the artifacts. Okay... I can do this. I just need to do what she says, that's all..."
---
Back on the exterior horizon, the sun had already risen a few degrees up into the sky. The night had already become the day, and every corner of the visible world was coming back to life. Like usual, it was a vibrant picture—filled with a gorgeous scenery of fauna both rustling about on the ground and flying gallantly in the sky.
Much like Mohatu, Buraya found himself waking up with odd feelings of dizziness and a very notable lack of self-orientation. As his eyelids contracted open to reveal the irides below, the two were crossed and out of focus, rotating in circles. The lion's mouth opened and released a significant amount of drool, but he didn't care.
In fact, he hardly even seemed to notice the saliva oozing out of the corner of his lips. Buraya grumbled, closing his eyelids back to their natural position. "Ugh... I feel turrrrrible..."
He attempted to move his paw, trying to get a bit more comfortable. Much to his misfortune, however, he only found himself sticking his limb into a bowl of half-empty liquid of some sort—probably something leftover from Rafiki's experiments. The movement created a splash, soaked Buraya's pawfur, and spilled the remainder of the foamy liquid across the rocky surface on which it was placed, inside the sinkhole.
Buraya groaned again. "I tink I'm gonna... ugh... I shshouldn tuh drankan so much." A blergh succeeded his words, along with deep shivers of sickness throughout his entire body. It was all the lion could do to keep yesterday's lunch down in his stomach. It wanted out, and it was knocking on the door of his throat like an over-pressurized can of something nasty.
Well, perhaps the morning scenery wasn't so gorgeous, after all.
That was a notion seconded by Zuria. She too experienced the ill feelings toward dawn, as life bloomed all around her. Though she had been given a different concoction to taste, her symptoms were hardly all that far from Buraya's. She felt nasty and sick to her stomach, with very little energy to persevere through the continuous pain.
Rafiki, however, seemed to have no notable end to the amount of energy at his core. He was an exception to the general rule, as it seemed.
As the heat of the morning sun illuminated his backside, he drew out his sword—eventually bringing the weapon to a steady hold above his waist. He slashed it through the air with a powerful strike, then again across the other way. The monkey had no opponent to face, yet he insisted on practicing and sharpening his skills with a blade.
The mandrill stepped forward, then repeated the attack. After, he repeated the entire length of his motions again, this time facing another imaginary opponent to his right. He added a block and a kick to the mix, before holding the sword high above his head. At that point, he brought all his weight to bear down on the ground, in a brutal final move.
With each attack, Rafiki exhaled heavily. One after another, his voice grew louder. The form of his kata was precise, sharp, and powerful—neither sloppy with anger nor reliant on fury. He was quite the powerful monkeylord, bristling and brimming with a swordsman's experience beyond his years.
"Would you..." Buraya groaned slowly, "...cut it out?"
"Can't cut it out, haha," Rafiki grinned. "It'll grow right back!"
---
Mari groaned, while her stomach inverted itself from the inside out. Her guts insisted on doing gymnastics, causing her to feel no better than the pile of avian excrement on Mohatu's mane the night before. For some odd reason or another, the feelings of crappiness only intensified as the pitter-patters of pawsteps and mumbles of voices in the background increased in volume.
"Ugh," the lioness groaned. "Just another morning..."
It was true that the lioness hadn't slept half a bit, but this—regardless of why, this was worse than any ordinary sleep deprivation. Mari was a mess, and her appearance in the torchlight of the pyramid's empty dens was a good sign of her internal condition. Her fur was a little more ruffled than usual, and her glazed eyes never seemed to move even the smallest blink. Her whiskers were frayed and asymmetrical, as if she had almost been eaten by a much larger predator.
Mari's mind did not allow her such luxuries as being kempt. Mari had a great deal of drama on her shoulders, and not one slice of it was something she could sleep through. For starters, she was standing in a pyramid, hiding from and surrounded by numerous adversaries. But to make matters worse, the fate of her family depended on her ability to change her best friend's destiny—and she had upset him beyond the point of no return.
It was all her mistake. It was all her fault. Mohatu was making a bad choice, and it was all because of something she had done; something totally unnecessary, out of place, and actually quite hurtful. Mari had made a huge mistake, but it wasn't until she saw Leo and Minerva together—that was what made her see it for what it was truly worth.
Through her carelessness, Mari had drawn out the possibility of a devastating outcome. It wasn't just devastating for her, but also for Leo and their entire pride.
Normally, Mari was quite the logical lioness; the mechanics of love, as she understood them, were merely an exception. But as she quickly learned, feigning a lack of attraction to a lion wasn't any way to entice him and increase his attraction. It was a very illogical method, and it yielded disastrous results. All she had to do was say something, anything really. Anything other than what she actually said that night would have been preferable.
Yes, it was true that Mari had told Mohatu to find another lioness. She said it; that just wasn't what she actually wanted or intended. The odds of that happening, as she thought, were abysmal at best. Never in her farthest dreams did Mari expect Mohatu and Minerva to get together that same night.
Obviously, Mari never meant for it to happen, for Minerva and Mohatu to end up sleeping together. It just did, the relationship just spawned out of thin air, like some critical unexpected error of nature. Why or how it happened, she didn't know.
But regardless, it was a problem of catastrophic proportions.
Mari released another groan from her throat. She clenched her pawtoes together, and forced them down into the shiny, reflective tile floor. It was merely an effort to vent her frustrations, more so than anything else. The situation at the forefront of her paws was a problem—a very big problem—and somehow, she was going to have to fix it.
More so now than ever, Mari wanted Mohatu to love her. Though her plan had been to make Mohatu jealous, she had only done the opposite. Now
she was the jealous one, wanting Mohatu with a much greater intensity than ever before. The feeling of seeing Mohatu with another lioness resonated with her on such a disastrous level; it was like being trampled to death by a stampede of wildebeest.
Though she hadn't said it, Mohatu was
her mate. He was supposed to be with her, not with Minerva. That much should have been obvious.
Every time Mari thought about it, a hoof punctured through her skin and into her heart. Though she had never quite confessed her love for Mohatu, Mari knew it existed. Everything she had done for him, she believed, should have been enough to speak for itself. From the moment they first met, Leo had been the most important lion in Mari's life. Even after his so-called 'death,' that fact hadn't changed. Even after his betrayal, she still saw the good in him.
If that wasn't true love, then Mari had no idea what was. After all that, after all their adventures, experiences, and time together, Mohatu was willing to walk away and get it on with Minerva, as if it all meant nothing to him. Mari was simply baffled; it wasn't what she expected in the slightest.
Although, that said, it was awfully foolish of Mari to think that Mohatu wouldn't find another lioness
when she had explicitly said to do so.
Damn, was that a mistake.
Mari sighed, her head lowering to a level below her shoulders. It just didn't make sense. It was unthinkable. Mari loved Mohatu as much as she could ever love any lion, perhaps even more than she could comprehend herself. She had expected the same from Mohatu, and she was surprised when she did not find it. She expected their relationship to actually mean something to him. She expected
some sense of fidelity.
How could he? How was it even possible?
Mari shook her head. She didn't know. She had absolutely no idea how it all happened, even though she was ready to admit that it was all her fault for encouraging him.
But there was more to it than that. Mari's feelings were just a grain of sand in the badlands. There was still the greater concern underneath it all, overshadowing the unimportant bits. When it came right down to it, Minerva was the
queen. She barely knew Mohatu at all, but yet she was willing to open the door and let him inside—rather suspicious, by any means of measurement.
The question Mari had wasn't just in regard to what Mohatu was doing, but also in regard to what Minerva was doing. Mari had no idea what Minerva's relationship was with Rex, and even less of an idea of what it was with Leo before him. There was a lot she didn't know, and finding the pieces of the puzzle was proving to be a challenge. Hell, it was downright impossible.
What was it that the white lioness wanted? What were her true intentions? Surely, the queen had to have enticed Mohatu in some way, and surely she had some reason for doing so.
Mohatu wasn't even that attractive; he was big, but he wasn't necessarily sexy, per se. His body was built mostly for combat, not for attracting females. He looked like a walking tank, not a leonine supermodel. He had numerous scratches and bruises from his many battles, to add to the mix. None were serious, but they were slightly off-putting, overall. And that wasn't to mention the reek of feces and the respective mushy spot left behind from earlier.
Obviously, Mohatu's looks weren't the reason Minerva took him in. That wasn't why Minerva was interested in him. There was something else, and something—as Mari knew—something dangerous. To say otherwise was absurd and unrealistic.
If Minerva wanted Mohatu, it was for his physical or spiritual power and nothing more. King Leo's influence was as vast as any lion could imagine, and if Minerva knew the truth about Mohatu's identity, then it was all over. She had already won whatever battle it was that she was trying to fight. With that thought, Minerva was manipulating Leo, and the outcome wasn't going to be pretty for anyone else.
Mari closed her eyes. There was just no end to the worries.
But by the many sounds of ruckus, it was morning now. The noises had been going on for quite some time already; it was probably well past morning. More than likely, Mohatu was already awake. She had to find him, somehow—and especially, more importantly, away from Minerva. She had to see him personally, away from all other creatures with ears.
If Mari was to feel any sort of relief, she had to say something. She had to do something, even if it was just to bring closure to it all. Even if Mohatu chose to go with Minerva, she had to tell him how she truly felt and voice her concerns. She had to set herself free. She couldn't live anymore, not like this. Not for another agonizing minute.
There was simply too much at stake. Mari had made a bad choice, one that had kept her awake all night. Now she wanted nothing more than to correct it. She had grown a little too comfortable and a little too playful in a time of great peril for her, Leo, and their pride. Admittedly so, no doubt.
And with that thought, Mari looked up to the ceiling of the den. "Leo," she called, but her voice was quieter than a whisper. "Where are you?"
Her response was as silent as could be. She heard many lions around her, but none were the voice of Mohatu. Not one of them was even a bit similar to her memories of the lion she desired most to see. She tried to feel his presence in the air, but it was no use. Not even his sweaty scent of avian fecal matter was identified by Mari's sensitive nostrils.
After looking both ways, Mari stepped out of the small den and out into the torchlight of the long, narrow corridor. "Here goes nothing," she whispered sarcastically. And so her stealthy trek began, simple enough as it was. All she had to do was find Mohatu without getting caught. That didn't seem too bad, at least not in relation to the consequences of not doing so.
---
Mohatu looked down at his forepaws, heavily contemplating his next move. Although he was still a little tired, his thoughts kept him awake, too. As it so happened, Mari wasn't the only one with an overactive brain.
Leo raised his head, finally muttering to himself after a long silence. "So this is how it's going to end..."
And indeed, this was the end. He was already the queen's mate, and now, he was soon to become a knight as well. Ultimately, this meant that in order for him to achieve his destiny, he had but one more task to accomplish. He had to defeat Rex in personal combat—perhaps not with Minerva's assistance, but possibly with Mari, Rafiki, Buraya, and Zuria by his side.
Somehow, anyway. He'd work out the details of that plan some other time, or so he thought. It wasn't really important right now. There were still other things on the lion's mind.
More importantly, the situation still left Inari open to pick a side. Considering the circumstances with Minerva, that wasn't going to be easy for Mohatu to accept. What was he going to tell the knight? He had already agreed to follow through with Inari's plan. He couldn't turn his back without suffering some sort of negative consequence, if not several negative consequences.
For a few moments, Mohatu thought to himself. He scratched the fluffy fur on his chin with a front claw. In the meantime, he realized that he had two options. He could tell Minerva about Inari's intentions to take over her pride, or he could tell Inari about Minerva's intentions.
But there was also a third option looming above Mohatu's shoulders. He could do
both.
Mohatu could tell Minerva about Inari's plans to kill her, and also tell Inari about Minerva's plans to take over. By playing both sides of the fence, he could gain himself a distinct advantage.
After all, that was what Mari said he would do. She knew him well, and right she was; Mohatu realized it was a brilliant plan in its sheer simplicity. If given the choice of Minerva or Inari, Mohatu would choose neither. He would choose himself. In any case, he was probably strong enough to take on the two of them, especially with Mari's help.
But now, there was a slight problem with that idea—the very plan he originally liked so much. Minerva was now Mohatu's mate; it would have felt wrong to betray her. And additionally, Mari
wasn't Mohatu's mate. Though Mohatu hadn't wanted to change his allegiance, he had little choice in the matter.
Whether he liked it or not, Mohatu had to accept the facts. Minerva was his mate; she was the one he
needed to stay loyal to. That much was obligatory for the lion. Contrary to his prior behavior, he had no desire to lean toward promiscuity or infidelity. Minerva saw him for the badass he truly was—and as such, Mohatu instinctively knew where his loyalties stood. With the queen, of course.
Since Minerva was willing to help Mohatu become the new king, Mohatu was willing to help Minerva, no matter the circumstances. She gave him the affection he wanted, and as such, Mohatu vowed to try his best to do the same for her. That was what was right; that was fair. It would have been ridiculous of him to say otherwise.
Eventually, Minerva would become the mother of Mohatu's very own cubs. They would live together in the Pridelands, as soon as Rex was ready to bite the dust. The entire kingdom would be theirs to share and shape to their own desires. It would be a new kingdom, a better kingdom—a kingdom reborn. It would be a kingdom founded on Mari's principles.
And, as for the lioness herself... that was another matter to consider.
Leo rose to his paws, proudly so. He twitched his whiskers, enjoying the warm scent of the air. A sigh escaped his muzzle, but it empowered him and filled his body with an electrical surge of energy down his spine. Never before had he felt so confident—for the first morning in his memory, Leo actually felt like a king when he lifted himself.
With Minerva at his side, Mohatu had no need for Mari to be in his pride. He was no longer dependent. She would be free to choose her own path. Whether Mari loved him or hated him, Mohatu didn't care anymore. It was all irrelevant. That choice was for her to make; her destiny would rest within the boundaries of her own paws.
Feeling better than ever, Mohatu finally made the decision to exit Minerva's den. It was time to tell his pride the news: he had found a mate, and he was going to see things through to the end.
Mohatu grinned. As odd as it seemed, he couldn't wait to see the look on Mari's face. Her reaction would be priceless.
With mixed feelings of both extreme comfort and mild discomfort, simultaneous and discording in coexistence, Mohatu made his step out into the hall of the pyramid. Though he was a bit of a mess internally, dopamine from the night before still rushing through his blood, he walked with the satisfaction of knowing that he had Minerva on his side. He was practically royalty already; he owned the place. Everything he saw, and every lion he met—it was all under his command, for he was once king Leo.
With Mari off to the side and Minerva in the big picture, it was about time to reclaim that destiny.
King Mohatu: the reborn, as it was going to be. He was just a step from becoming King Mohatu: the rightful king, the one true heir, the savior, the bringer of peace, and the prophet of the ancient kings. Either way, it all sounded good and badass for his tastes. Although it was once a destiny Mari obviously disapproved of, that was irrelevant now.
Mohatu had to forge his own path, and if he couldn't have Mari as his mate for life, this was the way it was going to be. He would be the king, and Mari would probably run away with her red-maned lion to become nothing, never to be seen or heard of in the Pridelands again.
At the very core of the matter, Leo wasn't trying to please her anymore. Now, he had a queen to please. It was as simple as that, to put it bluntly.
Whether Mari liked it or not, the Pridelands belonged to him. The keys belonged to him. The kingdom was rightfully his. Minerva belonged to him. Their cubs—little Mohatus—would rule over the land for generations to come, all in his name, carrying his legacy.
Mari would be sorry. This was her loss, not his. This was his destiny, his life, and soon to be his triumph.
What a shame it was that she didn't see the value in what love he had to offer. A true shame, indeed.
---
Meanwhile, in the other side of the pyramid, Minerva's regal voice pierced through the corridor of the den in the most ominous way possible. Her shiny white fur emerged from the shadows, and her eyes glowed violently amidst the relative the darkness. "Going somewhere, lioness?" she asked.
Mari stepped back on reflex. She winced at the voice, long before she ever turned her head around to see who it was. She didn't need to look; she already knew. It was the one lioness she didn't want to see—the queen.
"Oh," Mari blushed upon making eye contact. "Yes... I was..." As usual, she tripped over her tongue before she found a good excuse to use. "I just need to get some fresh air. This pyramid is rather stuffy."
"Very well," Minerva nodded. "Before you go, one of the royal guards told me a lioness snuck past the entry last night, and hid somewhere in here, possibly in one of those dens. Perhaps you know something about this, yes?"
"No," lied Mari. "It would be stupid for anyone to hide in here."
Minerva's response was simple. "So I see." However, after a moment of pause, she lowered her head. Her brows fell to a stern gaze, and her pupils nearly killed Mari with the intensity of her stare. "What did you say your name was, again?"
"I'm..." Mari paused. "Nala," she fibbed innocently and with little hesitation. "My name is Nala. It's... after my grandmother's name, Nalae."
Minerva stepped forward, making Mari even more uncomfortable. "Is that so?" she persisted, slow and insistent with the release of every syllable. "You don't look like a Nala to me. You look like someone I once knew..."
Mari gulped. She could only hesitate to respond. In all reality, she had no idea what to say. She had no image of how to weasel her way out of the situation. With each surprise that awaited her, the day just kept getting better, all sarcasm considered.
It was true that she had seen Minerva before, and needless to say, it was on the field of battle. Minerva was once a lioness in Leo's pride—she was once a knight, one of the attackers to unleash hell on Pride Rock. Mari recognized those metallic eyes, that pink nose, and that brilliant white fur. It was the image of her enemy.
"I don't believe we've met before," Mari lied.
"Ah, I see," Minerva agreed. "Perhaps we should get acquainted, then?"
"Look," Mari rolled her eyes. "That would be really great, but I... ugh... I gotta get going. Mohatu needs me..."
Minerva smiled flirtatiously, giving Mari the very same seductive smile she gave Mohatu. "Don't you worry about him," she assured the other lioness. "I already took care of him for you. He should be happy and dazed for a few more hours."
Mari's only tangible reaction was the shift of her breath. The awkwardness of the conversation had just soared to new heights for her. No matter which way she looked, all Mari could find was some weird sort of emotional pain inside her. "Uhh... thanks?"
Minerva merely continued her insidious smile. "You just make yourself at home, for now," she commanded. "Mohatu's big day is tomorrow... and don't worry, I'll be sure to give you one of the front row seats. I wouldn't want you to miss out on any of the action."
"That's... very..." Mari started to continue the conversation, but she eventually shut her maw as she heard the pawsteps of a nearby lion. Mohatu's subsequent appearance in the torchlight later shifted her attention away from Minerva entirely, inducing shivers of nervousness.
At that moment, Mohatu joined the conversation. His first comment was directed toward Minerva. "Are you telling her about my promotion tomorrow,
little snugglekitten?"
Minerva shifted her head aside, nodding. "Affirmative. That is correct."
Simultaneously, Mari threw a shake of her head. If she could have wiped her paw across her face without exposing her true emotions, she would have done that, too. As if Minerva wasn't bad enough, now she had to listen to Mohatu sweettalk with his mate. Her fur was practically burning in hell. She could feel the flames of her misery. There was no end; there was only torture for the liongirl.
Nevertheless, Mari found the strength to persist through her pain. "Mohatu," Mari said sternly. "We need to talk.
Again."
Mohatu looked down at Minerva. "I guess I better get her out of here," he said casually. "You know how slaves are. They get all whiny when you don't beat them enough."
"I understand," Minerva stated. "You should probably beat her more often."
Before he even gave leaving a single thought, Mohatu leaned forward into Minerva's space of occupation, and gave her a brief, romantic lick on the side of the neck. "I will. Have a good day,
sweetheart," he cooed.
Mari walked up beside Mohatu, and quickly jabbed a claw through his mane and into his shoulder. "Come on," she whispered, never a tad more serious with her display of frustrations.
---
The blinding shot of midday sunlight rushed into the eyes of Mohatu and Mari, painting their entire field of view with brightness. The duo exited the pyramid in tandem, not in the most brisk fashion, but certainly with intent. As soon as they passed the two guards at the entrance, Mari stepped up beside Mohatu to meet him face-to-face.
"Alright," the female gulped. Her voice struggled to break through at first, but the rest of her words soon followed. "Just tell me," she insisted, serious but almost pleading to know more. "What's the deal with you and Minerva?"
On second thought, she seemed more demanding than anything.
Mohatu's response was a little aghast, initially. Sure, Mari was blunt at times, but she seemed to be getting worse about that. Never before had she been so upfront as she was at that instant—direct and straight to the point of the matter, as if she simply
had to know all the steamy details at that very instant.
At the center of the matter, it was none of Mari's business. Not anymore, at least. She said she wasn't interested in any such things just the night before, but yet she still insisted on nudging her way into Mohatu's life. As paradoxical as it was, it succeed masterfully in confusing Mohatu beyond his scope of comprehension.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Mohatu asked. "We started talking last night... and..."
"I told you not to go anywhere," Mari stated, her ears flat as could be. She wasn't succeeding with her efforts to hide her frustration. As she walked, her pawsteps were becoming a little more forceful than usual, especially considering the graceful, elegant feline she usually was. Every muscle in her body was now tense, exemplifying her stress very clearly. "I told you I would be
right back."
"Minerva invited me over to her den for the night," Mohatu explained.
"Leo," Mari began, quick to throw her retort in his face. Although she was feeling herself far more argumentative than she usually was, her voice was still soft by Zuria's standards. "I
saw what you were doing. Why do you think I went into the pyramid in the first place?"
Now several hundred steps from the pyramid's entrance, Mohatu ceased his walking. He focused all his attention on Mari, but delved deep into thought. For some reason, he hadn't thought of that. He couldn't remember much of the night before, besides the game of chess with Minerva and a general feeling of hope or happiness. The entire time with the queen was like a blur to him—a big, overjoyed blur of pleasure.
Perhaps the cider had a greater effect on him than he thought. He wasn't exactly in the sharpest frame of mind, and if anything was to blame, that was probably it. The only other potential cause was the buzz Leo still had from the refractory period. But that was hours ago, and the afterglow should have worn off mostly; it was now well past dawn.
"I'm... not sure," Mohatu answered at last, slightly embarrassed. "What all did you see?"
"I saw you two getting it on," Mari said, matter-of-factly. She tried her best to keep her emotions out of the mix, instead focusing on Mohatu's emotions first. Eventually she planned to tell him her side of the story, but first, she had to know his.
Although Mohatu's initial reaction was that of embarrassment, he quickly covered his true feelings with a toothy grin. "Well... did you like what you saw?"
He stepped forward, showing off his full brown mane. His head tilted aside, and he twitched his ears, waiting eagerly to hear Mari's reaction. Normally he wouldn't have dared to make such a move, but Minerva had given him the encouragement he needed.
Mari lowered her brows. "That's beside the point."
Mohatu stepped back, shrugging his shoulders. "Is it?"
After all, Mari seemed upset by the fact that Mohatu was chasing after a lioness other than her—without a doubt, this built upon his view that Mari actually
did care. Perhaps she was attracted to him after all; it was entirely possible that she wanted her fair share of love, too. Regardless of its plausibility, Mohatu entertained the bliss of the thought.
"Yes, it is," Mari insisted, trying her best to keep calm and stay impartial. "This is about you and Minerva, not me." She stepped forward, deep in frustration that she simply could not hide despite even her best efforts. It didn't matter how hard she tried, her true feelings were more than apparent.
Again, Mari opened her mouth. "What did she
tell you? What's going on? How do you know she's not going to—"
"
Unlike you," Mohatu began bitterly, "Minerva sees my true worth. She's going to promote me to knight tomorrow, and she told me she has plans to make me the king. We're going to be mates."
On instinct, Mari shook her head. She took a deep breath, ready to lecture at Mohatu, but unsure of where to begin. She had so much to say and so much to tell him, but it loomed over her like an avalanche waiting to fall. There was so much energy and pent-up frustration inside her, beginning to speak a single word wasn't the easiest thing. In fact, it was particularly daunting.
Mari lifted her paw up to cover her mouth, thinking all the while. She stroked her lips for a few seconds, before she moved her forepaw aside and slowly opened her maw. From there, she took yet another deep breath before speaking. "Do you realize..." she began slowly. She spoke with a deeper voice than usual, exaggerating and emphasizing herself like the gargantuan pyramids on the horizon.
"What?" Mohatu shrugged. "She's beautiful, isn't she? She's my little sugarbun snugglekitten! I love her so much!"
Mari stepped even closer to her friend. She stared at him deeply, in the most serious expression she could possibly hold on her muzzle. "You... are making a
big mistake," she insisted. "You can't just..."
"I can, and I did," Mohatu answered smugly. "She loves me, and I love her. This isn't as complicated as you'd make it out to be."
Mari swished her head in utter disbelief. Her companion was even more naive than she thought. "How can you even say that?" she argued. "You've known her for a day!
One day! You can't mate with someone you just met! It doesn't work like that!"
Mohatu's high dropped a small bit. Something about what Mari had said just stirred up some dust in his gut. Suddenly, he was on the defensive again, now feeling insecure about the entire ordeal from the inside out. Mari hit a nerve with that comment, but what or how remained unknown to Mohatu.
After she inhaled her breath, Mari's scowl grew in intensity. "She's obviously the queen because
your brother likes her... and besides, she doesn't even know who
you are! She doesn't know your past... and you don't know her past, either. You don't know her. You don't know what she's going to do...
"Tell me," Mari continued, "did she even say
how she was going to make you the king? How do you know that she's not bluffing? You have no way of knowing whose side she's on, or what her true plans are."
Mohatu closed his eyes to shield himself from the brutal pain and continuous onslaught of Mari's words.
Who was she to judge his relationship? She didn't know. She didn't understand what he had been through. She was the very reason why he was interested in Minerva to begin with. If he had any other options—namely, being with Mari instead—he happily would have gone with that. He didn't want to be Minerva's mate; that outcome was forced upon him. It was either be Minerva's mate or be alone for the rest of eternity, and one of those was clearly the lesser of two hells.
If Mari was going to criticize his choice, then she had no place in his live. It was as simple as that.
Mohatu blinked his eyes and twitched his tail. "The lioness I've known and loved for all my life won't be my mate, so what choice do I have?" he argued in retort. He turned his head away, realizing that he was slightly ashamed of what he had said aloud. Naturally, his voice sounded rather whiny, very unusual for a lion of his size.
In an effort to regain his composure, Mohatu thought it best to continue. "Minerva is the one who
actually loves me," Mohatu added. The intrinsic tone of his speech sounded unsure, as if he was trying to convince himself of the truth of his statements. "And she's perfect, too. She's as beautiful as a Goddess, wise as any, powerful among the kingdom, soft as silk, and—"
"Stop," Mari commanded. The last thing she wanted to hear about was how much Mohatu enjoyed the queen's company. Oh no, she wasn't going to listen to that crap for another second. Not in her wildest dreams.
Mari's reaction fueled Mohatu's pleasure, slightly but increasingly so. Now, he realized he was giving her a taste of her own medicine. Oh, the satisfaction! On that accord, he refused to stop. "Sleeping with Minerva was like sleeping on a cloud," Mohatu fawned, almost purring internally. "A big, white, fluffy cloud." The beastly lion raised his brows, looking away confidently. "She is so much softer than you are... I can hardly believe it."
To make matters worse, Mohatu thought of an even better idea as he finished his words. "Actually..." he interrupted himself, "do you mind if I take that flower?" Mohatu asked, pointing a pawtoe up to where a desert wildflower rested in Mari's ear from the night before. "I'm sure
Minerva would love to have one of those."
"Stop!" Mari commanded again. This time, she was about ready to yell. "Excuse me, I have something to say. Could you please just let me talk for a few minutes?"
"Okay, okay," Mohatu backed off nonchalantly. "It doesn't feel good to be neglected, does it?" he asked, still showing a hint of bitterness.
"Mohatu, I said stop," Mari insisted for a third time. She didn't have the patience for that crap, and that was more than evident by the way she forced her words down into Mohatu's ears. She was about ready to place her paw across Mohatu's mouth and fix the problem herself, but she thought it best not to resort to such measures just yet.
Meanwhile, All Mohatu did was lean back. "Go ahead," he shrugged. He was enjoying his moment of satisfaction, but he decided not to anger the lioness any further. Any more, he realized, and she was probably going to explode in a burst of feline fury.
"Okay," the lioness inhaled her breath. Now that Mohatu had finally shut his trap, she was ready to begin with her lecture for the day. "You are making a big mistake," Mari explained again. "I wouldn't trust Minerva as far as I could throw her. If she knows who you are, and she knows who I am, she's going to try to turn you against me. She is
the queen. She is
our enemy."
"She's my mate," Mohatu answered. "You're not."
In essence, Leo was actually proving Mari's point. Minerva was using Leo's loneliness to her own advantage—that was exactly what was happening, and Leo was too blind to see it. He was clinging to that very idea of being partners, and using it to shield himself from reality.
Mari's scowl grew in intensity. "Why won't you listen? Don't you understand? Don't you trust me? You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I've been here for you... I
always have! You can't say that about
her."
"You
did hurt me," Mohatu corrected. He couldn't quite look Mari in the eye, anymore; instead, he focused his gaze on her nosepad to relieve his strain. He was a little too embarrassed to admit to being as sensitive as he was—but at this point, he had nothing left to lose. "What you said last night hurt a lot... and nothing you can say will ever make up for the fact that you just don't like me."
"I didn't mean to," Mari argued.
"I know," Mohatu agreed. "But you still did. That doesn't make it hurt any less."
Mohatu lowered his stare to the ground, now unable to look any higher than Mari's paws. He sighed deeply, finding great pain as he uncovered his memories of that very conversation. It was so much to bear, almost a little too much for him to handle. The formations of tears started to cover his eyes, but he held them back like the lion he was.
Mohatu tried to explain himself, as calmly as he could. Despite Mari's frustration and all his previous bliss with Minerva, all Mohatu found within his heart was sorrow. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to be less important than a lion who doesn't even exist? Do you know how much it hurts to know that the one lioness you truly love doesn't give a rat's ass about you or your happiness? Do you know what it's like to have your best friend tell you that she doesn't love you?"
"Leo—"
Mohatu didn't stop. He couldn't, even if he wanted to. He was just getting started with his rant. As he looked back at his horrible memory of the night before, the rush of all those awful feelings came back to him, and subsequently flowed out of his mouth at an alarming rate. "Do you have any idea what I went through, before I found Minerva? I felt so terrible, worthless, and useless... I just... I wanted to
die."
"But—"
"You wouldn't understand, Mari," Mohatu whined. "You wouldn't ever know what it feels like unless you've been in my place before. As long as the lion you love actually loves you back, you'll never know my pain. You'll never know what it's like to be turned down... to watch your entire life fall apart. You probably can't even begin to comprehend how much that hurts me, even still.
"What purpose do I have," Leo added, "if no one wants to be with me? Why do I even exist if no one knows it? Why would I endure the pain of living, if my life doesn't mean anything to anyone? You don't understand... I need someone...
I need Minerva."
"None of that is true, Leo," Mari explained carefully. "Please, listen..."
"Yes it is," Mohatu insisted, his voice rising in pitch. "You said it yourself! You don't need me, you don't want me, you don't want to live with me... I get the idea. I don't mean a damn thing to you. You'd rather never see me again, and spend your entire life with someone better."
Finally, Mohatu lifted his head up. "And for that reason, I have to say the same thing. I'd rather spend my life with someone who actually
wants me. I don't want you, either. In the past, I did... but not anymore. I belong with Minerva, now."
Mari shook her head, tears beginning to form in her own eyes as well. Although Mohatu didn't understand, this was just as hard for her as it was for him. She never meant to upset him, and it really wasn't true. He was making all sorts of incorrect assumptions that were simply fallacious. Mari closed her eyes, shielding herself ever so slightly from the intense onslaught of emotional pain and guilt. "You
know that's not true."
"Yes it is," Mohatu replied again. "It's what you said."
"That doesn't mean I..."
"Minerva is a good lioness," Mohatu assured, trying to lift himself up after whining about his previous experience. After a moment's pause, he decided to take a jab of his own. "You're just jealous because you didn't think I was good enough to have a mate. You don't think I deserve love."
"Leo," Mari bit her lip. "None of that is true," she replied. "I never said anything like that, and I don't think that at all." Needless to say, all she could think of was how overly dramatic Mohatu was being. He was going too far with his angst, and this was just ridiculous. She kept herself from saying that aloud, however.
"You are jealous," insisted Mohatu. "I can see it."
"Well... ugh!" Mari grunted. To be fair, Mohatu actually was right about that.
And so this was it, now or never. She had to say something about
that too, if she was actually going to make this right. This time, however, it was far easier. Now, the thought wasn't anywhere near as queasy as it was just the night before. "
Of course I'm jealous! That doesn't even begin to describe it! You and Minerva... that shouldn't have happened. That was
not part of the plan."
"Right..." Mohatu stepped back. His spirits lifted a small amount. "So you admit it!" he asked for confirmation, raising a brow.
Mari closed her eyes, exhaling her breath before speaking. "Yes."
The golden lioness sat down in the sands. She wrapped the tuft of her tail back around her forepaws, in a desperate attempt to relax as much as she could. The chaotic fury in her mind was making it too hard to think. "Leo," she began softly, breathing deeply, "you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. We've been through some of the roughest times together, and I wouldn't give you up for
anyone."
Again, Mari bit her lip before continuing. She found herself doing that quite often now; both from stress and from her own internal pain. "I never meant to hurt you with what I said. I
was trying to make you jealous, but I..." Mari looked down at her paws, hesitating to continue her speech. "I didn't know you would take it so hard. I didn't know I would hurt you like I did. I
should have known better, but I just... I'm sorry."
Several seconds passed in silence between the two felines. It was a very tense moment for both, but also rather tender as well. The tone of Mari's voice was doubtlessly apologetic—something Mohatu would have savored in satisfaction, if it wasn't for the fact that he found Mari so cute. She looked so innocent, so helpless, and even more huggable than the big ball of fur that she was.
There was no doubt about it, unless he was to deny the true nature of himself. Mari was the one he loved, much more so than Minerva. Even when Mari was an ass to him, Mohatu still thought she was something special. She wasn't even as beautiful as Minerva, but that hardly mattered. At this point, it was instinctive. Mohatu's reaction would have been the same if it was his actual mate lying on the ground like that.
He couldn't explain why. He couldn't explain what it was about Mari that he liked so much, but there was something there. Something about her carried the very image of love, acceptance, and friendliness in his eyes. Hearing her regretful apology brought back all those feelings Mohatu had tried to kill inside himself.
Perhaps Minerva was Mohatu's physical mate—but Mari, whether she wanted to be or not, was Mohatu's true mate. She was his soulmate, no matter who he was actually with. She was the one his heart screamed for; she was the one he wanted to be with. It was as simple as that. Everything else was merely a facade to cover up the ugly truth of unrequited love, of which he was forced to come to terms with.
It was difficult for Mohatu to synthesize all of the new information in his state of mental unrest, but he tried his best. It was a lot to deal with, that was certain. In due time, Mari's last words eventually sunk into his brain. Mohatu stepped closer, looking down at the lioness on the ground. "But... I don't understand," he voiced his confusion. "Why did you want me to be jealous, last night?"
"Same reason why you want me to be jealous of Minerva," Mari answered.
"How..." Mohatu muttered, flabbergasted by Mari's accuracy in her assumption. How did she know he wanted that?
He was indeed trying to make Mari jealous, and it was all because it gave him a sense of hope after being treated so harshly. It was liberating, empowering even, just to
imagine Mari feeling guilty for what she did. She regretted not seeing the true extent of Leo's awesomeness, and that tidbit was very pleasing to him. He wanted her to see her mistake—he wanted her to see all the love she could have had, and feel like she had made the wrong choice by denying herself of it.
Because, obviously, it
was the wrong choice—even Mari seemed to be hinting at that when she started trash-talking Minerva. From Mohatu's perspective, he couldn't see it any other way. The thought of a relationship with Mari felt so much more comforting; that was what was meant to be.
But how Mari knew all of that was another matter, though. "How do you manage to read my mind so well?" he finally asked, after a few seconds of pondering his internal thoughts in silence.
Mari exhaled a sigh. "It's obvious...
thankfully."
Leo continued to stand in confusion for a moment, before the realization dawned upon him. If Mari was jealous in the same way, that had to mean that she felt the same way. And that also meant something else—something far more important to him. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that she actually did love him. Of course it was indeed wishful thinking, but the possibility was there. It had to be.
"You want me to be jealous of the red-maned lion... because you want me to like you?" Leo asked slowly, hesitant to suggest the thought. On the occurrence that he was wrong, Mari probably would have bit his face off for suggesting such a thing. But considering the way she was acting, it wasn't all that likely.
Mari lifted her head up. She didn't answer, but a sliver of a grin formed across the center of her muzzle. As she looked into Mohatu's eyes, her smile expanded without bound.
Mohatu grinned as well, showing the whites of his teeth. "It's true, isn't it?"
Even still, Mari refused to reply. She felt a tingling weirdness inside her, just from the thought itself. She could hardly speak. For several seconds, nothing happened but complete and total silence. "You got it," Mari answered, at long last.
"So..." Mohatu began, finally having realized the truth. "You told me all of that, because you wanted me to be jealous of the red-maned lion... because you wanted me to like you?"
Mari looked away. "Well... not quite," she clarified. "I wanted to surprise you."
Immediately, Mohatu lifted his eyelids. "With what? What's the surprise?"
Mari tilted her head aside, so that the flower she had lodged behind her ear was clearly visible from Mohatu's point of view. She reached a forepaw backward and grasped it between her pawtoes, before holding it between her and her friend in the sand. "This."
Mari waited for her companion to catch his breath, before she continued. She held the flower out in her open paw, with great anticipation. She was ready for Mohatu to reach out and grab it. "After our...
talk... I wanted to give you this last night," she explained.
Slowly, Mohatu took a step forward. Even without taking a closer look, he knew what it was—more importantly, he knew what it
meant. It was precisely the same type of flower that he had intended to give Mari long ago, several days before they found Lea Halalela. For that reason, it was a bit more special than any ordinary flower.
Mohatu's heart melted at that very instant. Though he had once felt the weight of his entire body pushing down on his paws, he now felt entirely weightless under the sun. All of his senses were dulled and numbed, dwarfed by the supernova of feels going on within his own stomach.
His dreams really were coming true, after all.
Leo really was right when he thought Mari loved him. What originally seemed too cruel to be real actually was a joke. What seemed impossible actually was impossible. She was his beloved Mari, and no matter what, she wouldn't ever really leave him. The trust he placed in her was indeed grounded in reality.
Mohatu placed his paw over Mari's, grabbing the wildflower between his toes. "Thanks," he smiled jokingly. "Minerva is going to love this!"
Consequently, Mari's head jolted upon hearing those words. "Look," she sighed, holding her head down as low as her tail. All of her energy had been drained from her previous rant, and now, all that was left was the dead-silent calm after the storm. "Whether you're with Minerva or me, I don't care. Whatever makes you happy...
"But," Mari raised her paw, suddenly interrupting herself. At that moment, her voice deepened to a growl, and her eyes fell to a playful scowl of sorts. "I would rather you be with me, instead of her. In fact... don't you dare think about giving that to Minerva. I'm trying to help you, but I'm pretty sure she's trying to kill us both. There is a difference, here."
"So you want to be with me, but you respect me enough to let me be with someone else if I want to," Mohatu whispered to himself. That was the way he interpreted what Mari had said, more or less.
In the flash of the moment, he fell to his paws and rolled over onto his back. The dry heat from the sand scorched his fur, but he barely even noticed. As he rested without motion, his eyes remained steady and focused on the wispy white clouds above him. "Come here," he murmured.
Mari gulped. "Why?" she asked, before she gave the command a hint of thought.
Patiently, Mohatu waited. "Just do it."
With a slight bit of hesitation, Mari followed the lion's command. She rose to her paws, slow and steady, but eventually managed to push her weight above her joints. From there, she stepped closer, looking down on Mohatu with a hint of confusion—despite the fact that she knew a little too well what she could expect from him.
"What is it?" inquired the lioness.
"Come closer."
Finally, Mari dragged her paws closer, so that she was standing merely inches from Mohatu's head. She looked down, deep into his eyes—yep, she knew what was coming. What he was about to do was both obvious and inevitable.
Mohatu wrapped his paws around Mari's own, kicking her off balance. Gravity took over from there, and in less than a second, her chin landed plump on Mohatu's belly.
Leo then embraced the lioness as much as he could. Despite the fact that Mari was neither as pretty nor as soft as Minerva, he had never held anyone or anything any tighter. All his problems withered away, with Mari on top of him like such. He had the comfort of the lioness he loved most; he had the one thing he desired above all else. She put up no resistance, allowing him freedom to demonstrate his affection.
Mohatu allowed himself to release his purr; this time he didn't even bother to keep it quiet. At this point, he had nothing to hide. He wasn't secretly crushing on her anymore, and even more importantly, he wasn't trying to convince himself that he didn't love her. He did love her, and now, his spirit was allowed to roam free. He no longer had to deny himself what he wanted—he had it, and it was everything he ever could have dreamt it to be.
"I love you, Mari."
The lioness pulled back, breaking free from Mohatu's hug. She now stood atop his chest, somehow managing not to crush the gigantic beast beneath her own weight. She grinned, eyes darting laterally, before she started to release a nervous chuckle. "I know you do," she acknowledged, and happily so at that. "I love me, too."
It was, however, a bit of a strange response. "Say it," Mohatu grinned playfully.
Mari looked away in a futile attempt to hide her awkwardness. It felt a little weird to her just to think about it, for reasons she barely understood. Telling him what he wanted to hear wasn't going to be done without a shiver down her spine, in addition to the craziness that she was already feeling. "No."
"Say it!"
Mari looked back, this time a little more insistent. "No!"
"You know you want to say it," Mohatu chuckled.
It was true. Mari's eyes darted again from side to side, before she lowered her eyelids. An even wider smile formed around the corners of her muzzle, and she subsequently lowered herself to nuzzle his mane. When it finally came, her response was as soft as a whisper. "And I'll always love you, too."
In the blissful moments that followed, Mohatu felt Mari wrap her own paws around him—all four of them, in fact. He felt her bringing him even closer, absorbing the warmth and affection he thought he'd never be able to experience.
At that very moment, all the pain Mohatu once felt had died completely, never to return to the surface of his mind again. That entire night was nothing more than a joke—like a bad dream that he had just awakened from. It really wasn't true. He wasn't neglected, forgotten, unneeded, worthless, or unwanted. He wasn't the despicable piece of crap that Mari made him feel like he was.
Quite the contrary was true, in fact. He really was loved after all, and his life really did have a purpose. Mari did indeed see something special in him; he was right all along. What Mohatu held in his paws was something more valuable than anything else he could have imagined, and he promised himself he wouldn't ever let it go.
No matter what, no lioness could ever have meant any more to him than Mari.
Unfortunately for Leo, however, the moment was short-lived at best. Like all good things, it ended all too soon. Mari pushed herself out of the hug, and rolled back over onto the ground beside her companion.
"Are you going to rub my belly, now?" Mohatu inquired, a little less than delighted by Mari's actions. "Or do I need to act cute until you give in and do it?"
Mari answered with a laugh. "Haha, fine," she agreed lightheartedly, as she drug her paw over to brush across Mohatu's mane. She continued with simple back-and-forth strokes, relieving herself of stress with her rhythmic motions. She could even feel her blood pressure drop, comforted and relaxed by Mohatu's subtle purr with each exhalation of his breath.
"I guess this means you..." Mari started to suggest, although her words fell short of her breath. She couldn't quite bring herself to say it, considering how weird the thought sounded in her head. Telling Leo she loved him was already difficult enough—asking him if she was his mate escalated to an entire new level of weirdness.
"Ahem," Mari cleared her throat, after receiving a puzzled look from her companion. She couldn't hold it back any longer; she just had to come out and say it. "We're mates now, aren't we?" Her words incited a blush beneath her fur, although this time she made no effort to hide it.
Mohatu grinned. His response was as enthusiastic as could be, soaked with so much pleasure, joy, glee, and happiness that it even caught Mari off guard. "Damn straight, we are. I wouldn't want it any other way."
Mari was a bit surprised and enlightened by the lively response, but unlike Mohatu, her mind was thinking a few steps ahead. "So, what are you going to do?" she asked. "You're
already Minerva's mate..."
Mohatu's smile diminished and fell from his face. In his moment of bliss, he had completely forgotten about that. Mari was too alluring for him to think about anything else unless she brought the subject up on her own, as she just did.
And so the lion realized there was really only one thing for him to do. It wasn't like he had many options—he could be loyal to one lioness or the other. Mohatu knew in his heart which one that was, but still, he had to do something about the other. "I guess..." he pondered, "I'll tell her the same thing you told me."
"And hopefully she won't react in the same way that you did," added Mari. Her response was meant to be taken lightly, although she quickly realized that the way she had phrased it seemed a little harsh.
Mohatu found himself feeling slightly embarrassed by that comment. Yeah, it was true. There was little he could do to hide it or deny it. He had acted rather immaturely in regard to the entire situation as a whole. Although he could have taken it a bit worse, he wasn't proud of what he did, the way he moped around and nearly cried himself to sleep in the most melodramatic way possible.
Leo rolled over onto his side, forcing Mari to pause her movements. "The only reason why it hurt so much was because I really do love you," he explained. "I trusted you not to do that to me... and I couldn't believe that you did."
Mari's head shook gently. "There's no need to apologize," she replied. "You did nothing wrong. I did.
"You confessed your feelings for me, and I pretended like I didn't care," the lioness continued. "I was intentionally ignoring you... and I even made up some stupid persona of a lion I was supposed to like. I was stupid; I should have just been honest with you... even as awkward as that would have been."
Mari looked down at her paws, slightly ashamed of herself. "You trusted me enough to be honest, and I abused that trust."
"Yeah..." Mohatu blushed.
Mari looked away for a brief moment, collecting her breath while she thought. "I never would have had the guts to do what you did," she added. "So, I know that must have hurt. If I...
actually didn't like you, I wouldn't have been that harsh. I was
trying to be harsh... I thought you could have figured out that I wasn't being serious."
"No," Mohatu tried to shake his had, but he only made a cradle in the sand. "I... thought it seemed like a joke, but I... well, I couldn't say anything. I didn't want to belittle you for your decision."
"Aww, come on," Mari smiled teasingly. "Do you really think I could fall in love with a lion who doesn't even exist? You know you're my best friend; no one could ever mean more to me than you do. No one could ever replace you, no matter what color your mane is."
"I thought it seemed strange," replied Mohatu, expressing his relief quite clearly. "I couldn't figure out why you wouldn't want to be with me. I thought I did something wrong, and I didn't understand what it was. I thought I was inadequate... or broken, somehow. I felt like, y'know, there was something wrong with me..."
"Not at all," the female lion assured. "I thought you knew me well enough to see that I was pulling your tail. I expected you to call me out on it. I gave you a few hints, but you never picked up on any of them."
"It hurt too much for me to be able to think," Mohatu reasoned. It was true, for the most part. The moment Mari said she didn't love him was the moment Mohatu lost all focus. He wasn't able to pay attention to what Mari was saying, because his internal pain was such a prominent distraction.
Mari scooted closer to the lion, before wrapping her paw around the back of his neck. She proceeded by hugging him again and licking the backside of his ear with her sandpaper tongue, comfortingly so, of course. "Does this make it better?" she asked warmly.
"Yes," Mohatu purred. "I forgive you."
"And I forgive you for having fun without me," added the orange lioness. She began to chuckle a little as the thought occurred to her. "Everything always works out favorably for you, doesn't it?"
Mohatu shrugged. "It doesn't always seem that way."
"Well it is true," Mari argued passively, slightly teasing with the intonation of her voice. "I bet it's every guy's dream to see the lionesses who reject them act like this. I mean, it's awfully idealistic to assume that all our problems can be solved because we truly love each other."
Mari twitched her ears, amused by her own thought. "Eww... that's cheesy. When did
I get to be so sentimental?" she giggled to herself.
Mohatu lifted himself up onto his paws, into a more comfortable sitting position. "I'm not going to complain," Mohatu laughed. "I'm glad we got this worked out... and I wouldn't be as satisfied with any other outcome."
Mari smiled. "Me neither."
"See?" Mohatu grinned, nuzzling his new mate in pure bliss. "I know you like it, snugglekitten."
The lioness couldn't help but blush at the thought. Yeah, it was true. It was all pretty cheesy—and she did indeed like it, no matter how much she tried to avoid showing it. Normally, Mari wasn't the type to be lovey-dovey at all, but that was mostly only a result of her own embarrassment. It was just that she wasn't very comfortable with it; it made her feel a little bit too vulnerable.
But it was just Leo. No one else was around; no one else had to know that she liked being romantic with him.
From the night before, Mari had learned her lesson. Leo was perfectly comfortable confiding to Mari and allowing her to see his weaknesses, so it was only fair for her to do the same. He had admitted a lot of personal things just within the past few moments, and most of those things Mari never expected to hear. It set her mind at ease, not much but by a notable degree.
Mari's eyes darted downward. "Yeah, I like it," she admitted shyly. "I'm usually too uncomfortable to talk about things like this, though."
"I know," Mohatu replied. "From now on, I'll try not to pressure you," he nodded. "I'll... uh... I'll keep that in mind."
"And I'll try to be more honest with you when it comes to this stuff," Mari pledged warmly. "I guess you already know my deepest secret, and... well, I won't do anything like that ever again. I promise."
The lioness was quite sure of herself, this time. It was as if she had just stepped over a great barrier of some sort; from here on out, she knew it would be easier, and she would grow more comfortable with such things in time.
Mohatu, however, only grew a little more curious. "Which one was your deepest secret?" he asked. "The one about me being Leo, or the one about you secretly loving me?"
"The latter," Mari answered. "It's the fact that I deliberately tried not to fall in love with you, so we could focus on our mission... and it happened anyway." Mari lifted her head gently, now smiling a little more. "I guess it was stupid of me to think it would be a
bad thing. I didn't know not being in love would cause more problems than being in love."
"I need
someone to love me," Mohatu admitted.
In truth, the world was a dark, cruel, and violent place. Evil was everywhere. In contrast to the cold, harsh surroundings, Mari was like a big fluffy teddy bear to cling to; her mere existence helped to drive Leo's worries and fears from his mind. Mohatu needed someone he could trust and confide to, and there was little arguing with that fact. Perhaps some lions could have been happy working alone, but Mohatu simply wasn't one of them.
"I... understand," Mari said, the volume of her voice slightly lower than usual. "You're important to keeping me sane, and... I need you, too."
Several seconds passed, as Mari's words trailed off into a void of silence. There wasn't a single creature anywhere to be found, and even the wind itself was as still as could be. It was a rather tranquil environment, especially as the sun fell to only a few degrees above the horizon line.
"Hey Mari..." Mohatu grinned, breaking the peaceful moment of silence. "Do you think we were always in love? Like... even
before this happened?"
"Oh, we were," Mari answered easily. "I was... at least. By the time I thought you were dead, I was thinking about you at least once every five minutes... no matter what I did." The lioness rolled her eyes, grinning slightly. "I just pretended that it wasn't true."
Mohatu nodded. He then leaned against the lioness, resting his head beside her own and into her neckfur.
"When you left us... that was what made me realize that I was probably in love. Before that, I wasn't sure of myself, so I never said anything about it. I was afraid that if I said something, you would think I was weird...
"I had never heard of anyone falling in love with their best friend, before," Mari added, explaining herself before Mohatu had the time to ask any questions. "I didn't think it was possible. I thought it was something else that I felt... but I didn't know any better. I only ever saw lionesses chasing after handsome lions from other territories; I never saw anyone in love with their
friend."
"Is that why you didn't kill me?" Leo asked.
"Yes..." Mari admitted. "I guess you can see the
whole truth, now. If I decided to save Rex instead of you, it wouldn't be the same. I couldn't make this journey with him. I wanted to save you, because I wanted to do this with you. I guess I'm biased like that... but I'd like to see Rex be redeemed, too."
"As would I," Mohatu agreed.
"That reminds me," Mari interrupted spontaneously, as a recurring thought made its return to her mind. She perked up a bit, distracting herself from that last thought and replacing it with a much more lighthearted memory. "There was something else I wanted to show you last night," she added.
"What is it?"
"Look at the sunset," answered Mari.
"Yeah..."
Mari smirked. "Do you want to see it twice?"
Mohatu brought his paw up to scratch his head. "Umm... what do you mean?"
"It's something we used to do all the time," Mari explained. "Every night, when we weren't busy, we would watch the sunset in the Pridelands. And then when it started to get dark, we would climb up to the top of Pride Rock. From there, we could see the sunset all over again. It was always brighter up there, like going back in time."
Mohatu smiled. "I think I remember...
something like that. Maybe in one of my dreams."
Mari pointed her paw up in the air, directly at the peak of one of the pyramids. "I say we climb up to the top of that pyramid," she grinned. "Just like old times."
"Alright," Mohatu shot the lioness a delighted wink.
---
Probably trillions of grains of sand existed within the territory of Lea Halalela, all visible from the top of the largest of the pyramids. The smaller pyramids, the stone lion, the Nial river, the cave, the valley—it could all be seen from that very point. It was a breathtaking sight of all the desert scenery, as grand, expansive, and epic as it was mesmerizing.
Behind it all stood a gigantic sun, a red mass of light bright enough to blind any lion who dared to look at it directly. Everything was highlighted with its red glow, except the long shadows on the other side. The light source was very clearly the centerpiece of the entire scene, even with the massive blocky structures protruding from the sands.
Mohatu leaped all four of his paws up onto the top block of the pyramid at once, as a brave jump of triumph. Mari soon followed in a similar motion, panting just as heavily. Again, they stood united above the typical events of dusk. Though it had been longer than a year since Leo and Mari had looked down on the Earth with their tails intertwined, it was hardly a foreign memory to either of them.
Despite the foreign scenery, Mari felt as though she was actually at home. She felt only a comforting sense of peace, which added to her tenderness from earlier. It really was just like old times—the times she had missed so dearly.
Changing the subject on her mind, the lioness grinned and nudged Mohatu with her paw. "Look down," she said.
Mohatu did as he was told, but he didn't understand why. Nothing of interest caught his eye. It was all pretty standard fare beneath his chin, nothing more than sand, a rocky surface, and his paws. It was hardly interesting in the slightest. "What is it?"
"Your mane," Mari teased. "Notice something?"
"No..."
"It looks red, doesn't it?" Mari asked.
Mohatu hesitated for a moment, before nodding slightly. "Yeah."
"
You are the red-maned lion," the lioness explained with a hearty smile. Even though Mohatu already knew the truth, she still wanted to say that little tidbit out loud.
Almost immediately, Mohatu thought back to what Mari had said the night before. Now, it all made sense. He really was the lion Mari was talking about, when she said all those things. "You... planned all this out, didn't you?"
"Only sort of," Mari explained. "I wanted to take you up here, where I could surprise you and then give you the flower. When I was talking about
him, I was actually thinking about you."
Mohatu couldn't help but fawn a little at the thought. Mari really did have good intentions, after all. She was a lot sweeter than he ever would have thought. "Is it any wonder why I love you?" he asked himself, jokingly of course.
"Not really," Mari added cheekily.
As his feelings started to die down and fade to a more serene state, Leo stepped over to the edge of the block on which he stood. He gazed out and saw the sun fall back behind the wall of the horizon in its entirety, obscured by sands. It was a brilliant sight, slow in motion, but Mohatu soon found himself looking elsewhere.
The lion's focus shifted downward to the felines near the pyramids; most notably, they marched in a trail of about eight strong, towards one of the pyramids. There were others as well, but the linear group was by far the most prominent feature. "Look at them," Mohatu said. "They look like ants down there..."
"And there's Buraya and Zuria and Rafiki," Mari pointed downward and across from Mohatu's focus.
"Tomorrow," Mohatu whispered, reminding himself of a few things as he heard the spoken words of their names.
Instinctively, Mari had to ask. "What's going to happen tomorrow?"
"I'll sort this out with them," Mohatu explained. "I'll face a trial before I'll be promoted to knight... but I think I'll..."
Mohatu paused himself, realizing that he didn't like what he was about to say. He was originally going to say that he would side with Minerva after the trial, but then he also considered siding with Inari. Either way, he didn't really like his options.
Instead, Leo quickly changed his plans. "After the ceremony, I'm going to try to make peace with Inari and Minerva. I'll need you and the others to back me up in case things get ugly."
"I have a feeling they will," whispered the lioness.
"Tomorrow," Leo said again, inciting a chill beneath his own coat of fur, "Lea Halalela is going to be ours."
No matter what was about to happen, he had full confidence in himself and his abilities. With Mari's love, he felt there was no limit to what he could accomplish. He knew it would probably get ugly, but he almost didn't care anymore. He was on top of the entire world, and his opponents were merely ants beneath his paws.
"Are you going to go back down and tell the others?" Mari suggested. "I don't want them to be surprised in the morning."
"We
could..." Mohatu thought for a moment. "But there's something else I'd rather do tonight. We're already up here..."
"Mohatu, I didn't sleep at all, last night," Mari said. "I know what you're thinking... but I'm tired, especially after climbing all this way." She set her paws down on the stone block, and rolled over into a comfortable napping position. "I think I'm just going to sleep here.
Especially if things are going to get crazy tomorrow."
"Won't it get cold?" Leo asked. He noticed that his toes started to shiver under the first openings of starlight, though it was hardly enough to keep him from sitting down on the chilly, rocky surface.
Mari grinned. "That's what you're here for."
Mohatu couldn't bring himself to argue with that logic. If Mari wanted to use him as a blanket, he had no qualms about it. In fact, he actually liked the idea.
Before either of the two felines could blink, Mohatu found himself curling up beside his mate. He was ready to spend the night out under the stars, no matter how cold it was going to get. It was a nice little place to be, all the way up above the entire scene of the night-dwellers. The peace was unquestionable—in all honesty, there was nowhere in the entire world Mohatu would rather have been. Reality was finally better than even his best daydreams.
"It's a good life we live," Mari whispered.
"The best," Mohatu added.
Mari closed her eyes. "May it never change..."
Mohatu wrapped his forepaws around the lioness, and buried his chin underneath her own. He let loose a purr, before finishing where Mari had left off. "And may it never change us."