To the One Who Holds the Stars

He couldn't have predicted this news, he never could have predicted this news.

He wasn't just an orphan in the Pridelands, he had a mother and a father who loved him. But why, why did Rafiki come to him now? The baboon wasn't unwelcome company, but the aging male was curious as to how he was still alive; and why he had been given leave from the Pridelands. The primate told him about how Simba was ruling well, how peace had come between the Pridelands and the Outlands, and how Sarabi had passed. Sarabi, he thought to the former queen, she had never treated him like the other cubs. Almost as if he was a stain on the Pridelands themselves. As a cub he never knew what he did wrong, but now it was all making sense thanks to Rafiki.

Mufasa was his father, and it was none other than Sarabi's sister that was his mother.

The king had always shown him more compassion than Sarabi did, always treated him like a son. It all made sense now, if he was his father. Tojo always knew that Simba was like a brother to him and the brotherly bond between them came all but naturally, but now they were brothers in blood.

But were they still?

The old baboon led Tojo out in the dead of night to a clearing, and that's when it happened. The sky erupted in a variety of colors and mist seemed to dance across the ground, surrounding him. But none of this could be true, he had to be hallucinating. This couldn't be real. And that's when he heard him.

"My son."

So many questions flew through Tojo's mind, about his mother, about Simba. But all he could voice was-

"H-How?"

"It does not matter how," the voice of Mufasa called out, seeming to fill his ears and only his as Rafiki looked upon Tojo's face to see if he himself could decipher the conversation, "what matters is that you finally know."

Pride filled Tojo as this disembodied voice confirmed what Rafiki had told him.

"Father, what now?" Tojo felt that he had little time to speak with the lion that sired him, but the voice got darker and more serious than he had ever heard it before.

"Claim what is yours, my son, and clense the Pridelands of the disgraces who sit on your throne."

And just like that, Mufasa's voice was gone, and the area around him was still. The birds in the jungle brush around him started to sing their soft tunes again and the lion looked dumbstruck as he looked back to Rafiki. There was no way this was a trick from the baboon, and so he had to believe it. The old shaman bowed in front of Tojo, the fruit on his stick shaking in the small breeze that began to flow.

"My king, it is time to return home to what is yours."

"King?" Tojo shook his head, just because he was Mufasa's son didn't make him king. "I am nothing more than a bastard, nothing more than a stain on Mufasa's honor."

The baboon laughed softly, "But that is where you are wrong, Tojo, it would only be true if you weren't the only son of the great king Mufasa."

This stopped the lion in his tracks.

"But, Simba-?"

Rafiki's smile became more of a smirk as his eyes narrowed and out of his mouth came a secret so dark it would redefine Tojo's entire life.

"Whoever said that Simba was really Mufasa's, hm?"

---

;3

That is all, speculate below.

Also I'm really proud of that background, even if it is only a sky. And apologies for being away so long, laptop was broken!

And just a disclaimer, my TLK AU fucks with a lot of the canon but still following the same story line, just making it more interesting. So sorry if the last few lines of this throw you off of the storyline. I really hope you all stick around and see what's in store!