Zira's backup plan

Vitani let out a pained growl, shifting herself to a more comfortable position to look at the cub she just gave birth to, she felt the fur on the back of her neck stand up.

She cleaned the cub up and placed him next to his siblings, she had not one, not two, but three cubs, two girls and a boy; she looked away from them, uneasy. One of the girls looked so much like her, she could pass her as a rogue's, but the other had a rich brown coat, and the boy had Zira's stripe; there was no hiding who their father was.

She shivered as she recalled Zira's ridiculous request, she wanted “back up heirs” in case anything went wrong with Kovu's mission, so she had them mate, just before he went on to execute the plan; she insisted that the mother had to be Vitani, because she carried Scar's genes and was the best warrior lioness in the whole pride.

Kovu and Vitani didn't want to do it, sure they weren't related by blood, but they grew up like siblings, the whole idea to them was super offputting, especially to Vitani, who isn't into males, nor wanted to have cubs.

They gave it a genuine attempt, only a single, incredibly awkward one, and Vitani had seriously hoped it wouldn't result in anything; unfortunately after the merge of the prides she started going trough the symptoms of pregnancy. She kept it hidden from everyone, blaming the weight gain to the increase in food she finally had access to; it seemed to work, and when it started becoming far too obvious, she started hiding away and spending most of her time alone, until the day she went into labor, when she hid away in a cave as far away from Priderock as possible.

Vitani turned her head back to look at the cubs, how was she going to explain herself? Especially to her girlfriend? To Kovu? Would the mere existence of those cubs treathen the truce between the prides?

The question kept swirling in her head, making her dizzy, she was seriously considering getting rid of them, she was trained her whole life to be a ruthless murderer after all; or at the very least she could leave them in the middle of the freelands, and let fate decide.

She flexed her claws in and out, frustrated, unsure what to do; but before she could do anything else, she heard footsteps, and a trembling voice call out to her.

???: V-Vitani? Are you in here?

Vitani's head snapped back towards the entrance of the cave, and her body immediately tensed up, ready to defend herself if necessary; the one who spoke was Wavivu, her girlfriend, her mate... but she quickly lost all her fighting spirit when she saw the extreme worry painted on her face. She averted her gaze, lost and ashamed.

Vitani: Hey Viv... 

Wavivu: Vitani! I'm so happy you're ok... because you're ok right? Please...

Vitani: I'm... I'm ok.

She heard her let out a sigh of relief, then she gently nuzzled her, before seeing the cubs.

Wavivu: So it's true... they look so much like him.

Vitani froze, how did she know? Why wasn't she angry? Or at the very least surprised?

Vitani: How do you...?

Wavivu: Well... I was worried about you, you've been acting weird lately, so-

???: I figured out something was up, so I told her everything; she's your mate, she deserved to know.

Her heart skipped a beat, and her head snapped back towards the entrance of the cave one more time, where she saw the one who talked; a grey, old lioness with a gaze colder than ice. Her grandmother.

Of course she knew, Fahari was Zira's mother, no matter how much you tried to hide something, she would always find out. Vitani lowered her head into her paws, she felt Wavivu lay down beside (or... behind) her, as she approached, no matter how old she got, her dear grandmother was able to strike fear in anyone anywhere she went.

Fahari slowly made her way into the cave, until she got close to them and laid down with a tired, hevy huff, before taking a look at the cubs; Vitani saw her falter as she looked at the boy, she could've sworn she heard her whisper how much he looked like her lost daughter.

Fahari: Did you give them names yet?

Vitani: What? Why would I-

Wavivu: What do you mean? Oh Tani what are you thinking?

Vitani fell silend, avoiding their eyes. What was she thinking? Suddently her previous toughts made her shudder; she hid her muzzle between her paws, her breath coming in short and fast huffs. She didn't know what to do or think anymore.

She felt her girlfriend's head nuzzling her reassuringly, then she felt someting tugging at her abdomen, and turned around to look. The cubs were hungry and managed to crawl all the way near her... that or Fahari pushed them there.

Fahari: We're not in the outlands anymore Vitani, you don't need to worry about anything, we'll explain the situation to the pride, and if anyone has anything to say, they'll have to say it to me.

Vitani couldn't help but chuckle, even Simba wouldn't dare confront the old lioness in any way, and Kovu would understand...

Vitani: We'll have to tell Kovu as well.

Fahari: That's for sure, that boy has been so up in the clouds with his new girlfriend that he probably didn't even notice you went missing.

Wavivu: Why don't we start with coming up with names for the cubs for now?