She stalked quietly up to his baobab. She was not certain if he would still be there after the rigors of his long confinement. In fact, she did not even know if he was still alive.
      She saw something that made her heart race. A lioness was playing with a young mandrill under the tree. Could that be Rafiki’s son? She could not be sure, and yet she finally recognized the lioness. Uzuri!
      What luck! Uzuri had always been willing to stand by her! She felt a tremendous urge to break cover and rush to her, pawing and kissing the one who had been so kind! Still, she remembered the hyena’s warning. She had been told that death awaited her at Pride Rock.
      Her conflicting emotions of fear and love made her tremble. The battle within her made her huntress’ concentration lapse, and she didn’t notice which way the wind was blowing for some time.
      A quick gust of wind swirled about her ears and tickled her whiskers--and headed straight for Uzuri. Elanna panicked and chills wracked her as the young mandrill turned and pointed directly at her.
      “Please, Aiheu,” Elanna silently mouthed. “If I must die, let it be quick and merciful.”
      With her heart in her mouth, Elanna rose and stepped out of the tall grass. Trembling, her gaze locked on Uzuri’s startled expression. She saw the lioness quietly mouth, “Oh my gods!”
      Makaka glanced nervously from one lioness to the other. The tension was so strong it fairly rustled the grass.
      “Lannie! I thought you were dead!” Uzuri took a step forward.
      Elanna took a step backward. Her heart pounded. She heard escape from her lips, “Don’t hurt me!” It was almost as if someone else was speaking inside her. Fear had weakened her, and her knees nearly buckled under her weight.
      Uzuri paused and lowered her head a bit. “Hon, I won’t hurt you. I’m your friend, remember?”
      Elanna wanted to believe that. She wanted to trust her more than anything. For one awful moment, she wondered if this might be a trick to bring her back alive to justice. But Uzuri’s eyes were kind and sincere. There was pity and love in their hazel depths, enough to heal a world of hurts.
      She crept toward her old huntmistress, trying to summon some dignity from her past. Her head was erect and her shoulders were square, though her heart was pounding like a hammer.
      When she was but a length away, Elanna rushed the last couple of steps into a desperate nuzzle. She rubbed her face against Uzuri’s soft cheek. She took an ear between her lips and mouthed it lovingly, stroking it with the tip of her tongue. Then she rubbed full length down her warm, lithe body, feeling the familiar comfort and mixing the fragrance with her own. “Oh gods!” she murmured, tears filling her eyes. “Uzuri, I’ve been so alone!”
      Her friend purred and gave her a gentle touch of her tongue. “Not any more, dear. Not any more."
      Elanna thought about her sister Sarabi. Would she be as quick to forgive? Could she forgive the mate of her husband’s killer? She sighed deeply. "I can't come back. The others--they hate me. I just know it. They'll never let me stay." She started to cry, looking down at the ground. "Uzuri, I don't know what to do! I've been alone for the longest time. I can't stand it anymore! I tried to join Mabongo's pride but his wife is insanely jealous. She tried to kill me!"
      "Oh honey tree!" Uzuri nuzzled her again.
      “It was in the hunt. She said it was an accident, but I know better! I almost ended up like Avina!”
      "Poor thing!” She stroked Elanna’s cheek with her paw. “You remember my sons Togo and Kombi, don't you?"
      "Yes. How are they?"
      "Well Kombi's a king and Togo's his Prince Consort." Uzuri smiled. "Their father died, but his death gave them a new life. Life is like the wind--if you don't like the way it's blowing, wait and it will change." She kissed Elanna's cheek. "They will be glad to take you in, my dear."
      "Really?"
      "Yes, and you could have a fresh start...." She frowned. "No! Your home is here, and you're going to come home where you belong."
      "But they all hate me. They'll never forgive me for marrying Taka."
      "I think they will. Don't you want to see your sister Sarabi again?"
      "Oh gods, I'd give anything to see her. But it will never work!"
      "I don't want you to give anything--just the effort to trust me and come back. Give it a try."
      "But facing all of them alone...."
      "You're not alone. I will be with you."
      "Why are you so good to me?"
      "Because I love you, and because I promised Taka that I would look after you the way you asked me to look after him."
      Elanna had hoped against hope that the hyena had lied to her about Taka. She had to know the truth. She timidly asked, “How is he? What happened to him?"
      "He died like a real lion. You would have been proud of him."
      "You are good, Uzuri. So good to me. If it's the two of us, I will give it a try. It can't hurt."
      "The three of us," Makaka said.
      "The four of us," Rafiki said. Rafiki threw his arms around Elanna's strong neck. "First Simba came back from death. Now my Lannie. God has been generous."
      Bravely, hopefully, the four friends headed for Pride Rock. According to Elanna’s wishes, Rafiki and Makaka combined their talents with Elanna’s experience to avoid the sentry patrols and find Sarabi before someone found them. Elanna did not want to be intercepted by an angry Isha who might rip her alive on the spot. If anyone must kill her, it must be her own sister. Maybe with Sarabi there was a chance for mercy.
      Elanna ascended Pride Rock the same way she had left it--by stealth. She led her surprised friends up a difficult but well-concealed route that left old Rafiki huffing and puffing, but surprised even Uzuri in its ingenuity. The mistrustful hyenas had devoted a great deal of thought to the approach, and it probably aided many spies to eavesdrop on Taka.
      It was the time when Sarabi should have been cub-setting in her usual spot. Rafiki looked around the entrance and spotted her resting in the cool shade. She glanced up at him. “Rafiki, come here old friend!”
      “I’d like to, but I think you might want me to wait outside.”
      She laughed. “What are you talking about, old monkey?”
      “You’ll see.”
      Elanna wanted to go right in, but she froze beside the mouth of the cave. She looked at Uzuri and shook her head “no.”
      Uzuri half smiled and nodded “yes.”
      Lannie tried taking a step, then looked around in a panic. She touched her chest with a paw, the silent hunting signal for retreat. Uzuri shook her head, nuzzled her reassuringly, and tapped her cheek wth a paw. The gesture said, “No!”
      Lannie looked at the cave mouth, then looked back at Uzuri. She touched her chest with a paw again and started to walk away. “Oh gods,” she mouthed silently. “I’m scared!”
      Uzuri drew close and whispered, “I know. We all are.”
      Death had once seemed like release to Elanna, a sort of belated victory. She had contemplated joining her husband among the stars before, but she stood there terrified of dying.
      There was no where to run. She was in the middle of the Pride Lands, and the only way out was through. She kissed Uzuri good bye and hoarsely began to whisper the prayer of the dying--in case she did not have the time to utter it in her moment of greatest need.
      In a move that was not meant to be morbid, and was not taken morbidly, Rafiki made the sign of Aiheu, circling her eye and touching under her chin. He nodded. “It is time.”
      Then she stepped into view....
      “Who are you?” Sarabi asked. The bright light behind her made Elanna a silhouette against the azure sky. “Do I know you?”
      Elanna had to step closer to Sarabi, and the effort made her tremble and gasp. Still there was no hint of recognition until one feeble word escaped her lips. “Sassie?”
      Sarabi’s eyes grew wide and her ears drew back. “You’re dead! Oh my gods!”
      “No, Sassie. It’s really me!”
      The queen mother looked at her. Her chin trembled and her chest heaved. Tears began to run down her cheeks. “Lannie? I’m....”
      “Sis, I want to come home! Oh gods, I want to come home!”
      Sarabi rose from the ground and sprang up, wrapping her paws around Elanna’s neck and bearing her to the ground. Wracked with sobs, she pawed and nuzzled Elanna, covering her in warm kisses, feeling her fur, breathing her scent and listening to her heart beat. “Don’t you ever leave me again, girl!”
      Lannie reached around Sassie’s strong neck and held her tightly. “I’ll never leave you! Never again! I love you, Sassie!”
      “I love you too! I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. Oh Honey Tree, can you forgive me?”
      “What do YOU think?” Elanna sniffed back tears. “The hyenas were taking me out to be killed when the battle started.”
      “I know. Ten hyenas to one lioness. That’s what we heard.”
      “I wanted to come back and help. Really I did, but I thought you didn’t....”
      “Hsssh, Honey Tree. It was a bad dream. You’re awake now.”
      “How about the Pride Sisters? How many died? How many of the cubs?”
      “None and none. Aiheu was with us. Some of the hyenas were with us too. I was bitter and full of rage, but I was touched by a great light that day. Now you’re here and there is no darkness left.”
      Makaka slipped his arms about Rafiki, and the old mandrill reached down and kissed his cheek. Tears filled Rafiki’s eyes. “All is as it should be.”
      Some of the cubs came forward and looked at the two entwined in their tearful embrace. Sarabi stood up and wiped her face with a paw. “My sister Elanna’s here. You’ve never met her before.”
      Sarabi proudly said, “The one in the middle is Tanabi. Simba’s boy. My grandson.”
      “Your grandson?”
      “And your nephew.” Sarabi smiled at Tanabi. “Come kiss your Aunt Lannie, Honey Tree. She could use it.”
      Tanabi came forward and rubbed on Elanna who promptly pulled him close with a paw and began grooming him. “You’re a sweetie, yes you are!”
      Lannie looked around at the other small faces and beckoned to the cubs, a smile of almost other-worldly beauty lighting her countenance. “Come here, you! Let’s have fun!” At once they mobbed her, pulling on her tail, kissing her face, and rubbing against her. Elanna wept again, hugging each of the unknown cubs and kissing them.
      One asked, “Why are you crying?”
      “I’m crying because I’m so happy a smile isn’t good enough!”
      Another asked, “Can you tell me a story?”
      Elanna affectionately swatted him with a paw. “I’ll certainly try.”
      Uzuri poked her head in the cave. “Is everything OK in here?”
      Elanna looked about. “Yes, Zuri. Everything is OK in here.”
 
      THE END: TOUCH OF THE NISEI

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