“Are you sure? Are you sure your real father didn’t care for you?”
“My mother died giving me life. He only tolerated me. I have an older brother that loved me--at least I’d like to think so.”
Anasa put her arms around him and held on to him as if to keep him from going away. “I should not be jealous, really. But I have loved you with my whole heart. Makaka, I will help you any way I can, but you must let me.”
He hugged her tightly and kissed her. “I’ve put you through a lot lately and I’m sorry. Someday I’ll make it up to you. You and I and one day our children.”
“Our children,” she said. “That’s the secret, my husband. You must see beyond this grief and recognize hope in the future. Don’t push me away, beloved! I may have come along late in your life, but I can’t imagine someone loving you more than I do right now.”
“I know. You’re a very important part of my life. Right now, you’re what keeps me from falling apart.” He rested his head on her shoulder and swayed slightly back and forth in the shelter of her arms.
A lioness came up begging for help. “Please, Makaka, come quick! My cubs are near death! They are burning hot to the touch and wet with perspiration.”
“Are they resting?”
“They are mumbling things, but I can’t understand what they’re saying.” She fell before him. “I’d do anything! Anything! I can’t stand it anymore!”
“If I had a quick answer, I would have saved my mother. Pray and I will pray as well. Aiheu is merciful and he will not abandon us.”
The lioness looked at him with despair in her eyes. “Let us hope so.”
After she went, he turned to Anasa. “What CAN I do? I’ve tried everything I know. Only Aiheu can help us now.” And so he got on his knees and prayed. Then in the midst of his prayer, it occurred to him. He had used everything HE knew about. Perhaps there was another.
“Mano! Minshasa! I call upon you! My old friends, I am at a total loss! Help me! Do with me what you will, and I will accept it!”
He fell in despair and wept again.
Anasa went to prepare dinner for him, but he was not very hungry. He was near panic. “Try this. It’s your favorite.”
“I can’t eat now.”
“You really should eat to keep your strength up,” Uzuri said.
“Yes, mother.”
He looked about in shock. “Mom??”
She came forward and kissed him. “Uzuri pleads that you should remember the admonition. Daima pendana—love one another.” Before he could answer, she put her paw to her mouth for silence and pointed him toward a large bush.
When Makaka reached the bush, an elderly mandrill tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around, surprised. “Busara reminds you that the stranger you help is a friend you haven’t met.” He put a finger to his lips and pointed ahead.
A lioness came from the bush as he approached. “Asumini advises you that friends come from unexpected places in your hour of need.”
Quietly, he went on in the direction she pointed him. A white lion came and kissed him. “Mano tells you that in serving Aiheu, you find your true freedom.”
A young, strong mandrill whose powers of life had been restored reached out and hugged him. “Rafiki says listen to the prompting of the Nisei and follow your heart.”
A white lioness came and pawed his cheek. “Minshasa asks you a question. Will you practice what you have been taught faithfully and unselfishly?”
“I will.” He put his arms around Minshasa’s neck. “Help us please. Help me, dearest friend!”
Minshasa purred. “You will help yourself, and many besides. Look at your mate.”
Makaka looked at Anasa and gasped. She was pure white. She regarded him strangely as well, and he held up his hands which were startlingly white.
“Welcome, Nisei! Hail Lord Makaka! Hail Lady Anasa! All hail!”
Mano said, “From your birth you were chosen to be a healer. Time and time again you have rewarded our faith in you. Now there is a plague in the land. Make whole the sick!”
“How??”
Rafiki said, “Did I not tell you to listen to the promptings of the Nisei and follow your heart?”
Asumini said, “Did I not tell you to look for friends in unexpected places?”
Makaka thought for a moment, then he held up his arms. The words came to him in the spirit. “Out of the east I call the winds!”
A strong breeze swept through the Pride Lands, bringing the fragrance of wild honey with it. It was intoxicating, and it made all who breathed it strong and healthy. Within moments, cub laughter began to ring again, and prayers to Aiheu were heard round about as the miracle of healing made whole every illness and wiped every tear.
Makaka came to his mother and hugged her neck. “I’m so sorry I didn’t do this before! I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t be. I died the best way a lioness could go. Full of years, surrounded by love, and free from pain and fear.” She kissed him, then looked over and kissed Rafiki. “I am so proud of you, my son! We both are.”
Makaka looked at Mano and Minshasa. “Will I have to wander all the time like you? Will I have no home of my own?”
Mano smiled. “Now every place is your home, this as much as anywhere else. Time and space will not bind you. Whom you will see, you will see. Whom you will love, you will love. Where you will go, you will go. I have not taken your home. I have given you your home.”
Makaka smiled. As the realization dawned on him, he trembled. “Uzuri, you will always be my mother. But there is someone I have always wondered about.”
Uzuri smiled. “I have always wondered about her too. She came with us. Healing must come to everyone, including the physician.”
The final guest stepped out, a female mandrill. “When I look at you in your glory, I feel honored to have given my life to bring you yours.”
Makaka bit his lip and tears streamed down his face. “Mother.” Quickly, he looked at Uzuri and ran to her, hugging her tightly. “Don’t feel bad, Mom! I’ll always love you as much as I ever have—more even!”
The old mandrill came and also put her arms around Uzuri, stroking her face and neck. “You are among friends. There is no jealousy among the Nisei. We are both your mother, and we always will be.”
Busara put his arm around Rafiki’s shoulder, and Mano nuzzled Minshasa. Ugas came and rubbed full length against Uzuri, and Anasa slipped her hand into Makaka’s, giving it a little squeeze. Kinara and Neema embraced and smiled. Now Makaka stood at the boundary of the Gentle Kingdom, and in the distance, the soft, kind voice of Aiheu called to him. “Dwell in my lands, child. Come to know me better.”
“Even so, Lord. I come!”
THE END: THE LEONID SAGA
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