CHAPTER:  ASHES TO ASHES, DUST TO DUST

	Rafiki was relieved when Uzuri came a little early.  Uzuri was 
never deceptive, though she was hard to interpret at times.  She did not 
advertise her feelings through chatter and social conventions, but she 
always managed to show the ones she loved her warmth and compassion.
	But now she was able to toss reserve aside and bare her soul.  She 
knew that his spirit would be watching from the stars, and she could not 
afford to show a calm face to him.
	"Oh, Ugas!  Oh gods, my husband, my lover, my heart!  He's dead!"
	Tears began to stream down her face.  She wanted to roar, but 
dared not.  Instead, she nestled in the sanctuary of Rafiki's arms and 
sobbed.
	"That wonderful lion!  That kind and gentle soul!  What little 
time we spent together made me more noble, more grand just for having 
loved him!  And let me tell you, Rafiki, more important than his breath 
on my cheek was being there with him."
	He kissed her and stroked her gently.  "Yes, my dear."
	"He was caring, with a voice as warm as a good nuzzle, and a 
nuzzle as warm as the sun.  Sometimes we would just lie side by side, 
and I would smell the honest fragrance of his mane against my cheek.  He 
always made me feel special and beautiful.  The last time we made love, 
he said--"  She began to convulse with choking sobs.
	"What did he say?"
	"He looked at me sadly and said `Love me as if it was for the last 
time.'"  
	Rafiki put his arms around her neck, kissing her around the face.  
"My poor girl!  My poor little girl!  It will get better with time.  You 
will never be the same, but you will learn to live with the loss, as I 
have."
	Uzuri kissed him.  "I was right.  You do understand."  
	He rocked ever so slightly back and forth with her head pillowed 
against his chest, whispering, "There, my love.  I'll always be here for 
you, and not just tonight.  You know it, don't you?"
	Tears streamed down his cheeks as he felt her soft breath on his 
arm and felt the trembling in her large, powerful body rendered almost 
helpless by crippling grief.
	At that intimate moment of grief, Barata showed up.  Rafiki 
sighed.
	"What is she doing here?" Uzuri asked, drying her eyes quickly.
	"Uzuri, dearest, try not to be too upset."
	Uzuri hurried over to Barata and confronted her furiously.  "You 
are here because of him, aren't you??"
	"He had an affair with you too?  I didn't know!  I swear I didn't 
know!"
	"Affair??  He was my husband!"
	Barata was taken aback.  "You never told me!"  Barata rolled over 
on the ground.  "I swear, Uzuri, I would never have cheated on you.  It 
was only once, and it was many moons ago.  Oh gods, I love you!  You're 
my pride sister!  I'm sorry!"
	Uzuri looked at her misery and knew that she was suffering a 
double grief.  The hunt mistress nuzzled her.  "Get up, friend.  I 
should have gone to be with him.  I left him alone, and I can understand 
how this might happen."  She tilted her head puzzled.  As discretely as 
she could, she said, "Still, I always thought you never had an interest 
in--you know."
	"Just because I never got pregnant didn't mean I never...."  She 
glanced over at Rafiki.  "You know."
	Ajenti poked her head through the bushes.  She saw the other two 
lionesses and gasped.  "Oh my gods!"
	Isha pushed past her.  She looked appraisingly at the other 
lionesses.  And shook her head.  "I knew I wasn't the only one, but I 
underestimated the old boy."
	"Watch what you say about my husband!" Uzuri shouted.
	"Your husband??" Isha said.
	"Your husband??" Ajenti echoed.
	Rafiki motioned for quiet and tried to begin the ceremony.  "Death 
has struck down our friend Ugas.  Let us remember him as a brave lion, a 
good lion, whose heart was full of love...."
	"Yeah, you can say that again!" Ajenti said bitterly.
	Isha nodded.  "He was Bango's father.  And I must admit he was a 
good lion--quite good."
	"Yes," Sarafina said quietly.  "He was good, wasn't he?"
	"Sarafina?  You too?"
	Isha came to her.  "You and Ugas??"
	"Why not??" Sarafina said.  "We were a matched set.  I couldn't 
imagine you'd like him.  I like a comfortable routine, but you would 
have gone crazy.  The same old thing every time."
	"Never the same thing twice!" Isha said, scandalized.  "Are we 
talking about the same Ugas?"
	"And his sense of humor," Sarafina added.  "He always told the 
funniest jokes.  Most of them don't bear repeating in public."
	"Jokes??"  Uzuri was outraged.  "That somber, powerful and tragic 
lion of destiny??"
	Barata said, "It seems he sized us up like prey.  He chose a 
different approach with each of us.  Sisters, we were had!"
	"It was worth it," Sarafina said.
	"I learned a few things," Isha said.  That was saying a lot.
	Rafiki sighed.  It would be a long night.


CHAPTER:  THE QUEEN MOTHER

	The next morning, Uzuri called the Pride Sisters together one last 
time.  She had before her a dead hedgehog.  Dipping her paw in the 
blood, she touched Misha on both cheeks, leaving red prints.  Then she 
kissed the startled lioness.
	"I give you the most precious possession I have," she said, tears 
streaming down her face.  The pride sisters all took in a deep gasp.  "I 
gave a lot of thought to what I would say when I left you.  In the end 
there is nothing I can say, and so I leave you with silence.  But I can 
never forget the time we spent together on the trail.  Farewell, my 
sisters, and Godspeed."
	Her chin trembling, she sniffed back her tears and headed outward.
	"You can't do this!" Sarafina said.  "Sis, I love you!  Can you 
just turn your back on me?"
	"No more than I could turn my back on my sons.  They need me, 
hon."
	"Then let me walk with you to the border."
	Uzuri leaned against her shoulder as she walked.  As was her 
custom, she said little, but she glanced over at Sarafina and kissed 
away her tears.
	"I thought we were together till the end," Fini said.
	"I will visit you," Uzuri replied.  "You have not seen the last of 
me."
	"It won't be the same without Ugas."  It was the first time she'd 
mentioned his name since the truth came out, and she tensed up.
	"I won't spoil your memories of him," Uzuri said.  "I'm glad you 
found happiness.  Maybe you will again."
	"And how about you, Uzuri?  Will you find happiness again, now 
that you have done this thing?"
	"I won't stop looking if you won't."
	Before they reached the border, Rafiki confronted her with Makaka 
at his side.  Makaka sprang to her and hugged her around the neck.
	"Shame on you," Rafiki said.  "Trying to leave your best friend 
behind."
	"But I must," she said.
	"I won't let you.  I'm going with you.  So is Makaka."
	"I thought you said you were tied to this place?"
	"I was.  But only because of you."  He looked out toward his old 
baobab and back toward Pride Rock.  "We had some times here, old girl.  
That we did."
	Uzuri smiled sweetly.  "I feel much better now.  Thanks."
	They headed east, an odd procession of two lionesses and two 
mandrills.  But at the creek, Sarafina sadly nuzzled Uzuri, then kissed 
Rafiki and Makaka.  "I am bound to Nala, as you are to your sons.  But 
my heart is always with you."
	With sadness for what they left behind, they headed out into the 
water.  But as the opposite bank drew nearer, their sense of adventure 
began to shove grief aside.  If only Ugas had been there to meet her, 
joy would have flooded her soul like noontime sunlight.  But in a way 
she felt closer to him, and it was some comfort in her loss.
	No sooner had she crossed the creek than Adhama spotted her and 
fell to the ground.  "My lady."
	"Rise up," Uzuri said with a self-conscious laugh.  "I was never 
much at being a queen.  So how are my boys doing?"
	"See for yourself!"
	Uzuri found no need to call out `Aiheu abamami' as she went along.  
Indeed, as the Queen Mother she was a member of Kombi's pride and free 
to come and go as she pleased.
	Togo and Kombi were out on border patrol when she arrived at Pride 
Kopje.  But she was soon surrounded by a swarm of excited cubs who pawed 
her and chanted, "Zuri, Zuri!"
	She rolled on her back and patted her chest with a paw.  They 
covered her, kissing her face and pawing her affectionately.
	As she held them close with a paw and kissed them, Princess Amara 
came out with a squeal of delight.  "Hi, Mom!  It's all right if I call 
you `Mom' isn't it?"
	"Sure it is, Marrie."
	Amara pushed through the cubs to nuzzle her.  "I'm so glad you 
came.  I do my best to make Togo happy."
	"I'm sure you do," Uzuri said with a knowing smile.
	Rafiki smiled.  He was fond of Amara and was glad to know she 
loved Togo and knew his love in return.
	"He misses you terribly," Amara added.  "Now that you're here, 
he'll be so happy.  And you and I will be great friends.  There are so 
many things that I want to ask you, Mom.  We knew sooner or later you 
were coming here to live.  I'm just glad it's sooner, before the cubs 
were born.  Uzuri, I so much want you to be my midwife."
	"Grandchildren," she said with a smile.  "Bless you, my dear."
	Uzuri looked about.  Many of the places and many of the people 
reminded her of the love and companionship of her husband.  But she did 
not know these lands well enough to hunt them masterfully.  At best, she 
would be a helper.  Perhaps even a beater to drive prey toward the 
`real' hunting party.  She could learn the land, but it would take 
years, and she was not growing any younger.  Maybe it was best that she 
take care of the young and leave hunting to the ones who did it best.
	Suddenly, she heard a roar.  It was not an angry sound, but what a 
male lion does when words are not enough.
	"Togo!!"
	She broke into a run.  Togo hurried to meet her, rearing up and 
putting his arms around her neck and nuzzling her.
	"Mother!!"
	"My little boy!  I know you're a lion now, but you'll always be my 
little cub!  Oh, I could just eat you up!"
	"Marrie said you'd come," he said, his eyes shining like diamonds.  
"Welcome home, Mom!  Oh, I'm so happy I could just burst!"
	She nuzzled him again.  "My special little boy!  I heard all about 
Ambia and what you did, and I'm so proud of you!  So how are you??"
	"Fine!  Never better!  You saw Marrie, didn't you?  She's my wife, 
now.  You're going to be a grandmother soon."
	"I know!"  She kissed him.  "You be good to Marrie, you hear me?  
She's a fine lioness."
	"Yes ma'am!"
	"I hear Kombi is king."
	"Yeah."  He half laughed.  "I like this Prince Consort thing well 
enough, but I don't want to be a King.  Besides, now that Kombi is King, 
it keeps him out of trouble."
	Amara rubbed full length against her husband the way Uzuri used to 
do with Ugas.  "Well, Honey Tree, aren't you going to show the Queen 
Mother her new home?  She can have my old spot now that I have a nice 
soft mane to snuggle on."
	"I know where my spot is," Uzuri said gently.  She lithely climbed 
to the top of Pride Kopje.  She went to the spot where she would spend 
hours talking with Ugas about the stars.  His scent had nearly vanished, 
but as she lay on her back and looked up at the skies, she could almost 
feel his warm, strong body lying next to her.  "I'm home, beloved," she 
murmured.  Makaka settled next to her and put his arm around her neck, 
and the two of them slipped into their mid-sun nap.


CHAPTER:  NO PLACE LIKE HOME

	In the meanwhile, Rafiki tried to find a place of his own.  It 
wasn't like he expected to find another baobab just waiting for him to 
move in, but he needed a quiet and private place to go when he wanted to 
think.  Sleeping on the ground with the pride was a romantic notion but 
not a viable option; he had to set up the paraphernalia of a shaman and 
paint protective icons.  Also, some of his herbs could kill as well as 
heal.  They had to be kept away from small paws.
	He invited Makaka to come along with him, but he also had a number 
of uninvited guests as well.  He was crowded with boisterous young cubs.  
Rafiki was fond of children, but they made so much noise and bustle that 
he could hardly hear himself think.  Sh'aari also tagged along, trying 
to control the cubs that got seriously out of line, but doing little to 
curb the incessant noise and endless questions.  And all the usual 
questions came pouring out.  
	"Why do you have those stripes on your face?"  
	"May I touch them?"
	("Yes, you may.")
	"Are those stripes on your bottom the same?"  
	"May I touch them?"
	("No, you may not touch them!")  
	"Will you do a magic trick?"  
	"Do it again!"  
	"Is Makaka your son?"  
	"Are his Mommy and Daddy in heaven?"  
	"Does he have any brothers and sisters?"  
	"Will we see them some time?"  
	"Why do you walk with that stick?"  
	"Say something in monkey language!"  
	"What's in the gourd?"  
	"Can I have one?"  
	"What's that smell?"  
	"Can you really tell the future?"  
	"Can I watch?"
	After the first hour or two of this, Rafiki began to wonder if 
cubs were more rough and tumble than they used to be, or if he was just 
getting older.  "Probably both," he thought, sighing.
	Rafiki yelped as a furry bundle nipped playfully at his heels and 
darted away, giggling madly.  "Ohe!  Watch it!  That hurts, you little 
scamp!"
	"Saieti!"  Sh'aari said sharply.  "That was rude.  Now apologize 
to Rafiki."
	The cub stopped and looked up at the mandrill with bright eyes.  
"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice.  "I was just playing."
	"I know, Honey Tree."  Rafiki smiled and bent to pick the cub up, 
but she skittered away.  "What's wrong?  I won't hurt you."  He peered 
at Saieti as she huddled against the lioness's side.  "What's that on 
your side?"
	Sh'aari licked the trembling cub.  "Ambia's handiwork," she said.  
"That's just one of the marks he left on our pride."
	"My Gods!"  Rafiki knelt and stroked the wide eyed youngster.  
"You needn't fear him any longer, child.  Togo and Kombi have set things 
right again, and this old monkey will certainly never hurt you."
	Saieti looked at him carefully, measuring him.  It drove a thorn 
in his heart to see the look of guarded suspicion on one so young.  
"Even if I sit in your favorite spot?"
	He nodded.  "Perhaps we have the same favorite spot, eh?  We'll 
just have to share."  He reached into his gourd and got a piece of Tiko 
root.  Saieti sniffed, inhaling the wonderful fragrance.  Her tongue 
licked out and her eyes followed the treat as Rafiki moved it about.
	"Who do you love?"
	"You, Rafiki!"
	"How much do you love me?"
	"Bunches and bunches!"
	The correct answer was, of course, "more than life."  There would 
never be another cub quite like Taka, but there would also never be 
another cub quite like Saieti.  "Good enough!"
	Rafiki dropped the Tiko root and Saieti snapped it up.  She 
savored its goodness, then swallowed it.  Then she looked up at him and 
grunted affectionately.
	The mandrill picked up the cub, kissed her and hugged her tightly.  
"You poor baby!  If anyone tries to hurt you again, I'll kill `em!"
	She cuddled under his chin and purred.  Overcome, Rafiki began to 
sob, kissing her repeatedly and whispering loving names in his old 
tongue.  "Why do they have to suffer?" he asked Sh'aari.  "Why the 
helpless and the innocent??  She deserves so much more out of life, and 
if I could take those stripes from her and bear them myself, I would!"
	Saieti wrapped her large cub paws around his neck and nestled her 
head against his shoulder, a faint purring tickling his neck.
	Rafiki's thoughts went back to a different time and place before 
old age had set in and when all things were fresh and new.  He 
remembered picking up Ajenti and holding her, and asking his new wife, 
"Isn't she beautiful, Asumini?"
	Asumini had smiled.  "Our child will also be beautiful, like its 
father."
	Dearest Asumini!  It was on their wedding day, the beginning of a 
brief dream of happiness and fatherhood.  He kissed Saieti again and 
closed his eyes, listening to her small heartbeat.  Poor Asumini, poor 
Penda, gone!  Spirits in the Kingdom of Aiheu separated from him by 
every breath he drew, every beat of his own heart.
	He clung to the cub, sighed deeply, and remembered.  Then he 
looked in her eyes and kissed her again.  "I see the beauty of Aiheu in 
your smile and the way your eyes shine.  I feel the warmth of Aiheu in 
your soft fur.  Never turn from your Uncle Rafiki, my dear.  I love you, 
Saieti."
	"I love you too."
	Sh'aari nuzzled him and smiled, giving him a long, slow lick up 
the cheek.  "Oh, look what I did to your beard!"  She quickly began 
grooming his right side back into some semblance of his left.  
	Rafiki's eyes half closed and he felt very much at peace.  The 
realization came streaming through that his happiness had always been 
there--it had only taken many different forms.  "Thank you, Aiheu," he 
prayed silently.  "You always take care of me.  Now if I only had a home 
of my own...."
	At that moment Amara came in.  "I hear you need a place to live," 
she said.  "You can have my old place.  I'm staying with my husband 
now."
	He looked up and sighed gratefully.  "That was fast."
	Amara led the crowd down to her small cave in the side of the 
kopje.  It was not much to look at, but it had made her the envy of all 
the other lionesses.
	"Here it is!" she said with obvious pride.  "Your new home!"
	Rafiki looked inside.  It was damp and wet, though Marrie was 
clearly making a great sacrifice for him.  
	"You ought to know when it rains, water comes through this crack 
in the ceiling."
	"I can fill the crack," he said, thinking aloud.  "It will require 
some work from time to time, and maybe a little straw on the floor will 
make it a little dryer and warmer.  Makaka has lung trouble, so I'll let 
him take this side when he sleeps over."  Idly running his fingers 
through Makaka's hair, he told Amara, "He'll usually sleep with you 
girls if that's all right.  Uzuri is his mother, you know."
	"We'd be delighted!" Amara said, nuzzling Makaka until he had to 
giggle.  "He's so sweet!"
	"We'd have to raise a bed here to keep out the water."
	"I'm sorry we don't have anything better."
	Rafiki put his arms around Amara's neck.  "Oh gods, It's the most 
wonderful present I've ever received!  Thank you, dear Marrie!"
	Still, it was not exactly Busara's cave....
	Old Busara!  How long ago those happy days seemed!  Once Rafiki 
thought he would be chief of the mandrill village where he lived.  Then 
Busara brought him to a state of enlightenment, a favor he would buy 
with his own blood when the priest of the old ways found out.  The fever 
to be a shaman consumed him and transformed him, and finally sent him to 
his third home.  That was supposed to be his final haven, a place to 
spend the rest of his days in loving service with his wife and children 
and the people of Ahadi.  
	Fate was not so kind.  With no wife to comfort him, no children to 
raise, he had lost the home itself with all its memories.  Makaka and 
Uzuri were his only ties to his old life.  At his advanced age, he was 
starting over.

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