Author's Note: First off, I do not own the Lion King or any of its characters. I do own Kagai, Kuiwa, Kehinde and Afifa, as well as the three cubs.

And so, the direct prequel to the First Lion King Movie and the second part of Rafiki's Tales! Although I would love any new readers to go and read Rafiki's Tales - Dawn first, it's really not necessary as the relevant characters are quickly re-introduced.

In brief, though, the end of the last part saw King Kagai of the Pridelands married to Kuiwa, a wandering lioness. Her twin brother, Kehinde, has married Afifa, the lioness to whom Kagai was bethrothed but did not love. Although Kagai was Mufasa's predecessor, the last tale ended with Rafiki presenting Kagai's heir, a lioness cub, the Princess Sarafina...

A note on canonicity: I composed this before searching around on the internet and discovering that the Disney book 'A Tale of Two Brothers' has named Ahadi as the King before Mufasa. Rather than going back and changing all the names I have decided to stick to my own plan. Therefore I take as canon only the contents of the three films. In addition, I notice that this book rather contradict TLK2, so I've generally decided to ignore them. For the sake of avoiding confusion, however, I have used the generally accepted birth name for Scar - Taka, although I insist that it is a baby-version of the name Tayan, which actually means 'Be Prepared'!

Finally (whew! what a long Author's Note this is turning out to be) can I thank all the reviewers for RT - Dawn, and hope that this piece is up to expectations. Once again it is based on a Shakespeare Play, any guesses this time?

OK, on with the show. This Prelude is much longer than my previous one, because it deals with some fairly major developments. I also apologise to those expecting my former jolly romp, but at least in this part the air is more melancholy, though not without light...

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Rafiki and Zazu sat in the boughs of the Tree of Life, Rafiki's home, watching the antics of the cubs as they played on the plain. Rafiki had been tired after spending the morning telling stories and had ordered the twin Princes and their lioness cub cousin to get some fresh air. It seemed that Kovu and Kiara's sons were no match for Vitani's wiley daughter when it came to hide and seek. Zazu sighed,

'Watching them makes me feel very old indeed. I find it hard to believe that I remember the birth of their great-grandfather.'

'Hey, you think that's old?' Rafiki couldn't resist a grin, 'I remember when their great-great-grandfather was their age.' Zazu tutted.

'So competitive! You're starting to sound like Timon.'

'And there was me thinking people grew to be like their elders...'

'Have you never heard of second childhood?' Zazu asked innocently. Rafiki scowled, but couldn't keep it up for long, and soon the two old friends were in fits of giggles.

'First time was hard enough for me.' Rafiki said, thoughtfully. 'I suppose they'll want to hear the rest of the story when they come back...'

'The rest of King Kagai's reign?' Zazu frowned. 'Don't you suppose we could skip to Mufasa's time?'

'They know that story already. They should be told this one.'

'But...' Zazu looked out over their carefree playing, 'They're only children. Won't it be... too dark?'

'Darkness and light follow each other every day and night. It's all part of the circle of life. They must understand. Besides, not everything was so bad...'

Rafiki remembered...

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The lion cub mewled as he stroked her head.

'Another girl, your majesty.'

Queen Kuiwa looked up in joy.

'Isn't it wonderful, Kagai? A playmate for Sarafina, our little shining one.'

'Yes... she's wonderful.'

I breathed a sigh of relief, Kagai had been so hoping for a male cub this time, an heir. I had worried that another girl would worry him. But seeing him play with the little paws I knew that for once the father was in control of his thoughts, not the king.

'So lovely...' the king murmered. At that point the cub gave a snort. It was only a baby noise, but it sounded like a laugh of derision. The King laughed.

'All right, not lovely. Hateful, properly hateful...' He was only joking, of course.

But the name had stuck. When the naming ceremony came she was called Zira.

...Knock, knock, knock...

Rafiki!

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Rafiki jumped, how had his mind strayed to that memory. He didn't want to remember that night. He thought again, of anything else, of a conversation he had overheard...

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'So, your highness, how is our great and mighty ruler?'

'Kehinde, stop that!'

Kuiwa playfully cuffed her brother, pulling him up from the exaggerated bow he had adopted. From my tree, I tried to suppress a chuckle, they may have been twins, but sometimes it was very obvious he was the younger. With anyone else Kehinde had great dignity, alone with his sister they reverted to cubs.

'No, but seriously, I don't get to see you as often as I should.'

'Not surprising, now you've got your own family to support. I found your eldest at Pride rock yesterday, sniffing into everything. He'll go wild if you don't look after him.'

'He's just curious. I don't suppose Kagai will let your daughters go exploring?'

'Kagai's... nervous, that's all. Those two are the future of the Pridelands. One day, Sarafina will be queen, and I think Zira will be a great help. That is, of course...'

'What?'

'That is, providing the next one isn't a boy. Then he'll be king.'

'The next one?' Kehinde grinned. 'I'm going to be an uncle again? Two neices and two sons already... if we carry on at this rate we'll double the size of the Pride!'

This remark earned him another cuff from the laughing Kuiwa.

'How is Tayan, by the way?'

'Always with Afifa, typical youngest, he's spoilt.'

'Look at who's talking' Kuiwa teased.

'True, but he's so quiet. Nothing like his brother. And Afifa still calls him by his baby name, I mean, he's too old to be still called Taka.'

'Perhaps it's good to have kids who are different. They won't compete so much.'

'Perhaps. But you should spend time with your brother... or sister. I know I did.'

'Ah, but twins are special.' Kuiwa grinned. Kehinde nuzzled his sister affectionately.

I left them to it, seeing that Zazu, the recently appointed majordomo was approaching with some urgent reports. I liked him, but since he'd become majordomo he'd become rather self-important...

...knock, knock, knock...

'Rafiki, come quick!'

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Rafiki shuddered. Again, it was that memory. Zazu noticed this time.

'What is it?'

'I was thinking and...' Rafiki sighed, 'I remembered the night of the storm.'

'The night when...?' Rafiki nodded. Zazu put a comforting wing on his shoulder. 'That's the trouble with long memories like ours. It would have come eventually.'

'I know. I'm the all-knowing shaman remember?' Rafiki attempted a smile. 'But even so, it was a bad night. The storm was so fierce, I thought lightning might strike the Tree. Then I heard a banging on the side of my home...'

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...knock, knock knock...

'Rafiki! Rafiki, come quick! Kuiwa's gone into labour.'

I had been trying to sleep, but at the sound of the voice I leapt up, peering down to try and make out who was calling to me through the rain.

'So soon?' I shouted, making out a lioness at the foot of the tree. Swinging down the hollow interior of the trunk, I moved aside some vines to let her in. 'That's too early, it isn't due for... Afifa!' As I moved aside the last few vines, Afifa prowled into the base of my home. She was drenched. Hastily I pulled down some of the inside leaves I used as hangings to dry her. 'What did I tell you about going out in the wet season? You're not well enough yet.'

'See mother! I told you, you should have stayed home with me.' The voice came from the middle of her back, where amongst her dark brown fur I could make out another soggy bundle. A lion cub. Her youngest son.

'Taka, I thought I told you not to go out in the rain either. We don't want you catching what your mother had...'

'I had to look after her! Father went off to check on aunt Kuiwa and took my brother with him. I wasn't going to stay at home alone.' The cub was articulate for his age, with that twang to his voice he had learned from imitating Zazu. Despite his calm reasoning, however, I could see his claws digging into to her fur, gripping on hard. She coughed. The chill had settled on her chest. Probably not serious but she shouldn't have gone out in the rain.

'You wait here Afifa, I'll get something for you to breathe...'

'There's no time, Zazu said the queen's been in pain for hours. The King is panicking, I was sent to give you a lift, to get you there even faster.'

'I can walk. Anyway, shouldn't Kehinde have come, or Kagai?' I protested, but Afifa was adamant.

'This could be the life of our future king Rafiki. Or worse... Kuiwa was looking bad when Zazu left her... she was calling for Kagai and Kehinde, I think they make her feel calmer.'

That decided me. I gathered all the medicinal gums I had. Being shaman involves more than spiritual welfare, and thumbs certainly came in handy for a job like this. I gave Afifa something to chew on to ease her cough and jumped onto her back. Taka shifted aside for me.

'It's... all going to be alright, isn't it Rafiki?' I heard an unaccustomed tremble in the cub's voice.

'Of course Taka. Nothin's wrong...' I reassured him, patting his head.

I only wished that I believed that.

The journey across the Pridelands was furious, lashed by the torrential rains of the wet season. Lightning crackled overhead. All the forces of nature seemed to urge speed. The raindrops counted the seconds, the wind blew the mud into my face. Eventually I saw Pride Rock looming ahead. I told Afifa to find some shelter in the lower caves. Her reply was drowned by wind and coughing, but I heard Taka say that he'd take her there. At least he'd be able to tell her I thought as I struggled up the side of the rock.

The sight that greeted me was not good. Through the gloom I could make out Kuiwa lying in the centre of the room, breathing shallowly. Beside her lay Kehinde, licking her face, focused solely on her. Kagai paced the room, unable to look at anything or anyone for more than a moment before the tumult of his emotion snatched his attention away. In the corner I spotted the small forms of the Princesses, Serafina and Zira, unable to help the cubs stayed out of their father's way and comforted each other with the occasional touch, barely able to see the other's face. Rushing towards me came Zazu, loosing feathers in his haste, and another cub, large for his age. I recognised Kehinde's older son. He spoke to me.

'Father says that he can still feel the cub moving, but... Auntie Kuiwa...'

'It's touch-and-go Rafiki' Zazu explained, 'She should never have gone into labour so soon. Her body wasn't ready for it. Can you help?'

'I'll do what I can, but nature must be allowed her course.'

'Nature has left her like this, Rafiki.' Kagai turned his blazing gaze upon me. 'It's your turn now.'

I nodded, and made my way towards her.

It was a long night. I tried everything I knew. I comforted her. I prayed to the ancestors. I gave her all my medicines. And, at last, at long last, I held the cub in my hands. Kagai took his new cub in his paws. It was another girl. She opened her eyes. Even I had to gasp. She was just like Kuiwa, more even than her sisters. Then Kuiwa groaned. Hastily I showed her the cub.

'It's alright, Kuiwa. She's alive.' I soothed. Kuiwa looked up, into the cub's eyes. She smiled, reflected in their gold and red depths. Then she closed her own eyes. All the tension left her body. At the last moment, she was still smiling.

Gently, I took some dirt from the cave floor and drew a line across her forehead. It is the proper form of respect. Kehinde was stunned, staring at the lifeless form of his sister. Kagai let out a roar that was almost more of a howl and bounded from the cave, into the fierce night to roar to the sky. Kehinde's son and Zazu exchanged looks. The cub came up to me.

'Mr Rafiki. Is Auntie Kuiwa...?'

'She has joined the ancestors.' I said.

'Oh.' The cub wavered for a moment, then said, 'Should I go and comfort Sarafina and Zira?'

'I think that might be a good idea.' I turned to Zazu as the cub padded over to his cousins. 'You should make sure Kehinde is all right. You've known him the longest. Will the boy be any use?'

'He has a good heart.' Zazu murmered as he watched Kehinde's oldest son whispering to the Princesses, 'Mufasa will be a fine lion some day.' I nodded, then I left the cave, still cradling the newborn cub in my arms. Fortunately, it had gone to sleep.

The rain had stopped as suddenly as it started. I found Kagai staring out across the dark Pridelands, taking ragged, but steady breaths.

'Kagai... she was a wonderfull queen...'

'She was the best of me.' Kagai spoke softly now, his rage spent.

'But look, look at your daughter...' I presented the cub to him. For a moment he seemed not to see it. Then he could not take his eyes from her.

'Beautiful. It's the image of her, Rafiki. Like a mirage.' he spoke in tones of wonder.

'A mirage... perhaps the ancestors have sent her to you in Kuiwa's place...' I wondered. I don't know if he heard me.

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'I did wonder why she was called that.' Zazu thought out loud. Hearing the story of that night from Rafiki brought it fresh back into Zazu's memory.

'He wanted it. Sarabi means mirage. At first, that was all she was to him, a mirage, Kuiwa reborn. But of course that was before...'

'We're getting ahead of ourselves.' Zazu looked down to the plain. 'The children will be coming back soon, are you going to tell them about the next part.'

'No... not exactly.' Rafiki mused. 'I'll tell them what happened but... not how...'

The last part of the memory returned. Rafiki knew that it must. To heal a wound it must be fully exposed...

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It was nearly dawn when the other lions emerged from the cave. As was the custom a departed lion would be laid on the plain to become the grass, but for now she remained in the cave. Kagai's daughters ran to their father and clustered around their newborn sister cradled in his paws. Kehinde stood to one side with Mufasa. I was about to leave, to return to the Tree of Life to prepare for the next, necessary ceremony when I heard a raspy breathing. Into our midst, looking smaller and thinner than ever, crept a bedraggled cub. His face was bleeding from some kind of gash. In this state, it took us a moment to recognise Taka. Mufasa was the first to move, running over to his brother.

'Taka, where have you been? Oh Taka, it's terrible, the queen has... but the cub... and what happened to your face...?'

'You didn't come.' Taka's voice was odd: Cold, empty. No malice, just a dull echo.

'Come? Where?' Mufasa was confused.

'I promised her you'd come. I wanted to go and get help, but she wouldn't let me leave. She didn't want to be left alone.' The blood that was trickling down from his wounded eye mixted with something else. Tears. I didn't want to suspect it, but I did, and I saw Kehinde did as well.

'Taka...' he said, 'where's mother?'

'She thought you were there. But you weren't. You weren't father. Only I was. And we were all alone...' Taka's words became incoherent as Mufasa clung to him and he, barely able to think, slumped his head onto his brother's shoulder. Kehinde began to walk towards the side of the rock, then he broke into a run, bounding over boulders and down precipices to the cave where he had told his mate to rest. A few minutes later we heard his roar. It was the echo of the roar Kagai had given that night. The roar seemed to rouse Taka who lifted his head. Now he had wiped away the blood on his brother's fur I could see that the wound had not touched his left eye, but it had left a thick cut both above and below. He began to talk fast, as if his brain could not bare to stop and think about it.

'She told me to go to sleep. That everything would be all right in the morning. I tried, but I heard her coughing. Then she started to shiver. I tried to find something to cover her with but everything was wet. She was snarling and roaring in her sleep. I tried to help her, tried to calm her down, and she struck me. She threw me across the room. I couldn't see, my eye hurt where her claws had slashed. But now she was calling. Calling for father, for you Mufasa, for me... I crawled over to her. I nuzzled her face. She couldn't see me either, even though her eyes were open now. But she knew I was close. She wanted to know where you were. She told me not to go out in the rain. I told her you were coming. She felt out for me. They're coming, I said. She looked at me. She didn't know who I was. She thought I was King Kagai, when they were cubs... She asked me where her parents were. I said... they were coming... and then...'

Mufasa and Taka clung together, shaking. The rest of us could only look on. I had feared that the chill might become a fever, her health had become weak, but I never expected her to become delirious. Whilst we had been saving one life, we lost two.

The ceremony of passing was held the following day. Their bodies were taken far out into the Pridelands to become part of the Circle of Life. King Kagai and Kehinde stood side-by-side, rarely speaking. They shared in grief. I believe it was the closest they ever were. Sarafina, Zira and Mufasa attended. Sarabi was too young, and Taka was nowhere to be found.

It was only later, at sunset, when the lions had retired to sleep, that Mufasa found his brother at the waterhole, gazing at his reflection in the dying light. From the trees nearby, I watched the older cub approach Taka.

'You should have come.' Mufasa said, not reproachfully.

'I already said goodbye.' Taka muttered.

'I know. But it might have helped. It helped dad and me.' There was a long pause, Mufasa sat by his brother's side at the water's edge. 'Rafiki says that they'll join the stars. They'll always watch over us.'

'From a long way away.' Another pause.

'Please come back to the cave Taka, father needs us. We need him.' Mufasa bit his lip as it shuddered involuntarily. Concentrating again he managed to finish his speech without a break in his voice. 'It's going to be different now. We need to be together.'

'I'll be back by the time you wake up.' The tone it was delivered in suggested that Mufasa should not argue. Unsatisfied, he turned away from the water's edge. All this time Taka had stared at himself in the water-hole. Without lifting his head he spoke again. 'Mufasa, don't call me Taka. That was her name for me.'

'But Tak-'

'No.' Taka shut his eyes. 'I hear her voice when you say it. Don't.' There was a long pause. 'Please.'

'But, T... brother, you must have a name.' Getting no response, Mufasa sighed and walked away, the stoop of a much older lion visible in the cub's shoulders.

When he was long gone, Taka opened his eyes. Once again he looked at himself in the water, trying to see the features in his face that looked like his mother. Then he lifted his paw to touch the livid mark that ran over his left eye.

'I'll think of something.' he said.

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Author's note: And so time passes... the circle of life turns, and the next chapter in life will see the cubs grow up, and the reaction of the Old King...

Please Review! It makes me so happy...

And can you guess the Shakespeare yet? You may be able to from the structure of the families. Really not necessary to enjoy the story as I take immense liberties with the plot but just a bit of fun for literary-obsessed people like me!

Oh and a note on names which I'm sure most of you will know - Sarafina means 'shining one', Zira means 'hate', Sarabi means 'mirage', and Tayan, the full name of young Scar/Taka means 'One who is always prepared'. Kehinde is 'Second born of Twins' (so no prizes for guessing what 'Kuiwa' means), Afifa is 'Virtuous/Pure' and Kagai... well Kagai means 'the divider', but you'll have to wait to see why this is important.

Until next time...