Mheetu's P.O.V.

"Shanni!" I yell as I watch her run off for the seventh time today. She has been living with us for the past three days and Tanabi thought since it was my idea to keep her for the time being it is my job to 'change her ways and make her one of us.' What ever that means. 

I let my paws hit the ground hard and my ears are erect facing her quick golden body. I feel my tail hitting the ground then flick to towards my back. I can see her hind legs working hard to get away from me, her muscles contract as she races throughout the jungle that Timon and Pumbaa lived in years ago. 

"Shanni wait!" I yell once again panting.

"Leave me alone!" Shanni yells not bothering to look over her shoulder. I growl and pick up my pace, I am now near her tail and once I get the chance I leap onto her back and we toppled to the ground, grunting and groaning as we rolled around on the thick jungle grounds. 

Once we stopped the endless twirling I land a few inches away from her on my back and Shanni on her side. 

"Come on Shanni, we have to go home." I turn to my side and finally get up and shake off any of the dirt on me. 

"This isn't my home." Shanni retaliates not bothering to move nor look at me while speaking. 

"Shanni, we don't have time for this." 

"You're right." I raise a brow at the sudden agreement and when she starts to get up I'm in even more shock. She hasn't listened to thing I've said since the day we met. "But..." She pauses to turn around and look at me in the eyes. Her own mismatched make her looks so beautiful and different in the best of ways.

"But what?" I ask with a gulp taking a step back bumping into a tree. I'm cornered with no way out. 

"We have time for this." Shanni says talking steps towards me and I begin to shake. Is she going to kiss me? Is she going to leave again? She closes her eyes and leans in, I blink a few times before closing my own and lean in to kiss her.  When I don't feel her lips against mine I open my eyes and stare in her red and blue eyes. Suddenly I notice her eyes narrow and she crouches.

"Shanni?" She growls and pounces on me. 

"Agh! No! No!" She pushes me against the tree and sinks her sharp claws into my shoulders. I'm standing on my hind legs being pinned against the tree and she is also on her standing on her hind legs pushing me hard. 

"This is for everything." She opens her jaw to bite my neck but out of nowhere Tanabi headbutts her ribs and knocks her off of me. When Shanni gets up to attack Vitani, Kovu, and Beba pop up from the shadows and Tanabi yells

"Back off.'' Shanni's steps are stuttered but she comes to a stop glaring at Tanabi. 

"You okay Mheetu?" Kovu asks looking me over. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." I smile and he returns the action. Vitani stares at Shanni with curious eyes and for a second I swear she's wondering where to hit her. Beba stands next to Tanabi and when Shanni's eyes dart towards him he hisses. 

"I don't understand why you bother with her. All she does is try to kill you and possibly go after the rest of us after she's done with you." Tanabi rants glaring at Shanni. 

"Because everyone deserves a chance." I simply state and walk over to Tanabi. He turns his head to look at me and I give him a soft smile, Tanabi returns it and gently rubs his forehead against my own. 

"I took care of you Little Brah but, that doesn't mean you have to return the favor, okay?" He nods, his olive eyes filled will concern and love. He is like the little brother I never had. 

"Come on, it's time to go home." Beba persuades us and we all walk together back to our home. 

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"I'm bored." Muna complains for the one hundredth time today. 

"Well what do you want to do?" Asks Tanabi with a goofy look on his face. He loves that little cheetah cub as if she were his own. 

"We could go over to the waterfall, my father says he went there all the time as a teenager." Kiara offers while Kovu licks her cheek and she blushes a crimson. 

"Would you like to go there Muna?" Tanabi asks and I hear Shanni scoff next to me. I ignore her and listen to Muna's answer.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." She smiles and gets up then she jumps on her sleeping brothers. "Come on! We're going to the waterfall!" She giggles shoving her elder brothers who groan and place their paws on their heads. 

"Come on! Makuma! Haunani!" Muna yells and bites her twins ear. 

"Owe! Dad!'' Makuma yells rubbing his ear and Beba gets up chuckling and grabs Muna by the scruff of her neck before she bites Haunani's tail. 

"Alright, Muna, that's enough." He mumbles placing the small trouble maker away from her brothers and in between Tanabi's huge paws. 

"But-" She starts but he cuts her off with a stern look. After a few minutes of convincing Haunani and Makuma we make our way towards the jungle once more. 

"Wow." The small cheetahs gasp at once and the adults chuckle all except Shanni of course, we literally had to drag her over here. 

"Go on and play." Beba encourages them and with a lick on each of their heads the small spotted cubs run towards the shallow end of the river. We are at the very top of this mountain far from the rippling waterfall. The cubs protested but we told them how dangerous it was and they eventually gave up on that idea.

"This place is so beautiful." Kiara compliments while slowly laying down, she's due in two more months considering lions are pregnant only for three months. Kovu licks her cheek and places his paw on her extended belly, Kiara reaches her head out and places her nose against his and they smile. Kovu then lays behind her and lets his mate rest her head on his own. My niece is so beautiful and now that she's pregnant Kiara is practically glowing. 

"It is isn't it?" Kovu asks his wife with a smile. She nods against his head and I watch as she slowly drifts to sleep. 

 "Tanabi?" I ask from my resting position which is on a large boulder. 

"Yes?" Tanabi asks after lapping the water from the clear river. 

"Where's Shanni?" I ask and he furrow his brows in confusion before looking around and he when he looks over at Vitani who shrugs and continues to play with Haunani, Makuma, and Muna. I get up and lift one paw to be able to see a bit better. Just then I see Beba running towards us with a scared look on his face. 

"Beba?" I ask and jump off the boulder and pad over to him as quickly as I possibly can. 

"M-Mheetu i-it's Shanni sh-she..." He takes a deep breath and then continues again "Shanni fell in!" He yells and begins to run away. I stand there like an idiot before fully understanding what he has told me. Shanni fell into the deepest part of the river that leads to the waterfall. 

I shake my head and begin begin running after the quick and swift movements of Beba. I then hear more paws behind me but I'm too scared and spooked to look back and see who the paws belong to. I follow behind Beba, of  course not as fast him but still right behind him and I already feel my heart rate accelerating and my paws begin to ache but I try my hardest to ignore it and push on.  I don't know I'm so worried but I am, Shanni has been in my life only a few day but I feel like I should be protecting her, stand by her, be there for her. 

"Over here!" Beba shouts from far ahead and my feet carry me faster than ever and I finally reach the river bank I search the waters and find Shanni struggling to keep her head out of the water. 

"Shanni!" I bellow and jump head first into the water reaching the very bottom of the cold, clear water. After a few seconds of struggling to reach the top I finally break surface and gasp for air throwing my head back causing my soaked mane to fall back. 

"Shanni?!" I yell her name and hear her gurgle my name and I see her head go underwater a few feet away from me. I take a deep breath and go back under, I make sure to keep my eyes open and find her golden body. I finally find it and take her body in my lips and kick to to the surface. I gasp once again when my head is out of the water. I raise Shanni's head and manage to put her on my back with the current being against us. I push and push and push again to get reach the shore, to reach my friends and get out of this retched water but the odds aren't in my favor today. The water continues to push me back and when I look back at Shanni her head has slipped only a bit so with my snout I push it on my shoulder and her eyes open slightly then close again. 

"Agh!'' I growl when I feel something sharp hit my lower back. I turn my head and see a large boulder in the very center of this stupid river. I then hear a low growling sound look up, the waterfall is only a foot away from us. My eyes grow wide and  use the boulder to push myself and I swim as much as I possibly can. 

"Mheetu! No!" I hear Tanabi yell and when I look back the waterfall has taken both me and Shanni.

"No!" I shout and fall backwards down the enormous waterfall.

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I burst out of the water with a roar and kick until I find a small rock to rest for a moment. I landed super hard on my back when I finally reached the bottom the waterfall. I take long deep breathes then it hits me...Shanni fell too. I open my tired eyes and search around and finally find her by the river bank, I push off the rock and swim towards her unconscious body. Once I get near the shore I begin to jog, feeling sore and defeated. I stand in front of the most beautiful lioness and watch her with tear filled eyes. 

"Shanni?" I manage to choke out and I notice her ears twitch at the call of her name. She's alive. Her eyes slowly flutter open and they weakly look at me and for once I see her smile. 

"M-Mheetu?" She stutters and attempts to get up but fails and her head falls but I catch it in time and lay it gently on the ground. 

"Shh, shh, it's okay Shanni. I'm here." I whisper softly and go around her and lay next to her still wet body. 

"Mheetu!" I hear Tanabi yell and I bellow a few times before they finally find us. "Mheetu!" He yells again and crashes into my side with tear stained cheeks. He shakes from the amount of tears escaping his face. 

"We're okay Little Brah, we're okay." I sniffle and he pulls away to rub foreheads. Next Kiara comes and nuzzles into me, then Kovu, Vitani and Beba. The cubs come and hug my snout and neck. Muna then lick Shanni's head and again Shanni smiles and licks Muna back. 

"Are you okay?" Muna asks placing her small paws on Shanni's pink nose. 

"I will be." Shanni answers and for once it isn't dripped with sarcasm or hate, it's kind and respectful. 

"Are you going to runaway again?" Muna asks looking dead into Shanni's mismatched orbs. Shanni breaks the eye contact and look at me. 

"You saved my life. Why?" 

"You deserve a chance to be one of us." I answer like I always have but this time I mean every single word, there is no pity in them it's pure truth. She then looks back at Muna and says,

"I'm not going anywhere."

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Hello my beautiful Love Bugs!!!! I'm back from the dead! Haha my trip to Cuba was so much fun it was honestly one of the best trips there ever!

I know this chapter is short but I wanted to update already for this book and not keep you guys waiting any longer, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter either way though. 

I have reached over 3000 votes guys! I have no words to describe how amazing this feels and I have my readers, you guys, to thank for this amazing amount of support. Thank you a million times times infinity! *Virtual Hug*

I think it's time I stop blabbering haha. Don't forget to slap that vote button and comment whether you liked or hated Chapter 20. I really hope you enjoyed it!

'Till my next post. 

LoVe Ya!!!!!!

~Delaney *.^

P.S. The picture is of the entire cast and the song is 'Disclosure' by Latch.