"I failed," Simba lamented.

"What are you talking about?" Nala sounded a little exasperated. "Look at what we've accomplished." Then she stressed, "Look at what you've accomplished."

It was true. Restoring the Pridelands after Scar had left it desolate and barren was no easy feat. Without Nala's support, Simba might have given up long ago. But her tenacity gave him the strength to keep the Pride motivated to carefully bring sustenance back. He had succeeded in winning the trust of the Lionesses and they were committed to help him bring back prosperity to the Pridelands.

But it was time to think of the future.

"I have failed to produce a male heir," Simba explained. "All this work would be for nothing if I leave behind no one to rule over it."

He had been troubling over the fact for quite some time now, but he was reluctant to bring this up to Nala, though she had proved to be a trusted right hand behind his every decision as ruler of the Pridelands. He was afraid he might not like what she would suggest.

In truth, Nala had been thinking about this a lot as well. She was also nervous to broach the subject with Simba, since she was also unsure of how receptive he would be of her ideas. But now, she was glad that he brought it up.

"Then perhaps," she began cautiously, scratching the ground with her paw, "Perhaps it is time we consider training a female cub to take over from you."

The Lionesses were divided over Nala's proposal. Most of them did not like it.

"What happens afterwards, then?" demanded Wamba. "Where will the next generation come from?"

"I don't know," said Simba. "But we must be able to think of something."

"We need a male cub," Wamba insisted.

"Yes, but where will we find one?" Nala challenged her. "We've all had cubs and all of them female. Do you suggest we wait till our cubs are old enough? It could be too late by then!"

"And there could still be no male cubs," Nyeri pointed out sadly.

"And even if there is," continued Nala, "It may be too late to train him. We need to start training a cub now, and then if a male comes along later, then great; if not, maybe we can send out scouts to other Prides-"

"And I suppose you want your cub to be the one to train," Wamba interrupted her coldly.

"What?" Nala was taken aback. It was true, she was hoping Kiara would be selected as the heir, but she had not expected to be challenged like this.

"Of course you do," continued Wamba. "You've been giving yourself airs ever since you brought back Simba, assuming the role of Queen even though you have not borne a male."

It had started to become evident for quite some time that Wamba had begun to nurse a resentment towards Nala. The argument may have escalated, but Arura unexpectedly brought up a new point.

"Should we perhaps consider training Zira's cub?"

Everyone stared at her and then mutters broke out.

"They were banished."

"We do need a male."

"They are traitors!"

"It would be easy to find them."

"Enough!" Simba roared. "Do you think, I would for one moment, consider passing on the Pridelands to Scar's son?"

Those who were against the idea nodded in approval and those who were for it hung their heads. Of course, no one had forgotten the dark times they had served under Scar. But the situation was likely to get desperate very soon.

Kiara was a handful. She was unruly and impulsive, perhaps not unlike her parents. But she was always acutely aware that she was different from the other cubs. She had been singled out even when she wasn't supposed to be. It made her think she was better than the others. It was no wonder that the other cubs did not spent much time with her.

"As you go through life, you'll see there is so much that we don't understand," Simba tried to explain to her. "And the only thing we know is things don't always go the way we planned."

He walked with her across the Savannah. "But you'll see every day that we'll never turn away. We will stand by your side filled with hope and filled with pride."

He had to admit that Kiara was quick to pick up everything he taught her. She never seemed as confused as he always was with all the obscure things Mufasa said. Then again, thought Simba, maybe he explained things better than his father.

Kiara was perhaps a lot like her mother. She was a fierce hunter and excelled at the Hunt. She had her mother's judgment and her intelligence. But Simba could never be sure if she had his empathy and his charm. He knew Nala also spent a lot of time training her on her own and he never knew what they talked about; but Kiara often seemed dismissive of him and any other Lioness when they happened to disagree with Nala.

Simba hoped that she would understand that she was part of a larger family.

"We are one you and I – we are like the earth and sky – one family under the sun. All the wisdom to lead, all the courage that you need – you will find when you see we are one."

One day, Kiara was hunting on her own. She had had a small argument with her father about the judgment he had passed on the hyenas in the Shadowlands. She thought he mistrusted and mistreated them a tad too much.

She thought a Hunt would clear her mind, but she certainly did not expect to fight over prey with a young lion with a partially grown black mane. As a result of their scuffle, the gazelle escaped.

"Now look what you've done, Pridelander!" growled the lion irritably.

"Who are you anyway?" she asked him. She noticed that he looked a little beaten down, like had not had enough to eat the day before and was not well rested.

"What's it to you?" he asked rather rudely.

"I wasn't aware there was another Pride nearby," said Kiara.

"I don't belong to a Pride," he replied coldly and started to walk away.

But Kiara was intrigued by the mysterious stranger.

"So you live by yourself?" she asked, catching up to him.

"Sometimes," he mumbled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find lunch."

Kiara was not ready to go back yet. So she decided help him hunt. He was surprisingly good at it. She wasn't aware lions were much good at the Hunt, but then again, she didn't know any lions beyond her father. Between the two of them, they seemed to make a pretty good team.

They managed to catch a zebra and Kiara was rather excited when he invited her to join him for the meal.

"So, would you care to share your name?" he asked her. He seemed to have warmed up to her considerably after the Hunt.

"I would," she replied playfully. "Would you?"

"I asked first," he pointed out.

"Kiara."

"Kovu."

"Where do you live, Kovu?"

"Nowhere in particular. I just keep out of the Pridelands."

"Why?"

"Don't you know? Your father banished us – me, my mother and three other Lionesses when he staged the coup on Scar."

"My father staged no coup," retorted Kiara a little angrily. "He took back the Pridelands that were rightfully his- wait, you're Scar's son?"

"His one and only," replied Kovu picking at a bone.

"I didn't know Scar had any cubs."

"Didn't you?" asked Kovu a little derisively.

"I knew that a few Lionesses were banished from the Pridelands because they refused to recognize my father as the Lion King. I didn't know they had cubs. Are there any more?"

"No, just me."

Kiara was thoughtful for a moment. Kovu should have been part of her own Pride. If his mother had stayed, maybe Kovu would have been the heir.

"So are you going to run back to tell everyone I came to the Prideland boundaries?" he broke the silence. "It has been a while since I was chased away by Nala."

"You know my mother?" Kiara was taken aback.

"So you are Nala's daughter, are you?" Kovu asked circling her. "Did you know my mother hates yours with her life? Probably even more than she hates Simba."

"Well, my mother has never mentioned yours to me," she retorted. "She has never mentioned chasing you either."

"Well," smirked Kovu, "I'm sure she would want you to stay away from me." With that, he bounded away, leaving Kiara in an inexplicably bad mood.

Over the next few days, Kiara would try to sneak away to see if she could find Kovu. Sometimes she felt mad at herself for her interest and would come away, other times, she was filled with curiosity about how he lived. She had never had much use for the other cubs, now not-quite-cubs-anymore, and part of her longed for a secret friend.

She did not see Kovu again until a long time later when she found herself caught in a wildfire. She tried to follow the antelope away from the fire, but perhaps the smoke affected her worse than it the other animals. It smarted her eyes and the fumes made her dizzy. She regained consciousness only when she hit the water.

She was being pulled towards the shore. It was a lion.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, coughing, once they made it to shore.

"I think I just saved your life," he replied with an edge of hostility to his voice.

Kiara looked up at him. He had dark coat of fur and a black mane.

"Kovu!" she exclaimed. "How did you find me?"

"I was watching the Hunt," he shrugged. "Do you make it a habit to stray from the Pride?"

"I-"

But she was interrupted by her father jumping in between the two of them, snarling.

"Who are you and what do you want with my daughter?" Simba roared.

Kovu stood still in his tracks and only stared coldly.

"Daddy," said Kiara in a low voice, "He saved me from the fire."

Simba looked at her angrily and snarled. She resisted the urge to cower. Then her father turned to face her rescuer.

"You have my gratitude. But who are you?"

Kovu shrugged. "Nobody important. Unwanted male. Banished from the Pride."

"What is your name? Where are you from?"

Kovu cocked his head to one side and flicked his tail, deliberating. Then he finally said, "My name is Kovu. I crossed the desert to get here."

Simba seemed to relax.

"I owe you my hospitality for saving my daughter. I will offer you shelter at Pride Rock for the time being."

Then turning to Kiara he said, "I am sure you mother will deal with you later." With that he stalked off, leaving the other two to follow him.

"You lied to him," Kiara confronted Kovu at once in a low voice.

"I did not," he shot back her. "Your Pride banished me. It's the truth."

"You said you're from the other side of the desert."

"No, I said crossed the desert to get here. It's true. I did go to the other side."

Kiara scowled at him.

"Look," he sighed. "I could really use some shelter right now, but your father will throw me out if he finds out who I am. Please promise me you won't tell him."

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Fine. I will say nothing. For now." Then she walked ahead him and caught up with her father.

Nala was not happy.

"You believed him? What if he's lying? What if he really is Scar's son?"

"Then he won't tell me if I ask him. Tomorrow, I will send out scouts to the Outlands to see if they can locate Zira and her son."

Nala paced back and forth. "How do we know he means us no harm?"

"We wait and watch."

"I can't believe you're doing this, Simba," she said, sitting down and hanging her head. "You were training Kiara to take over from you, but no you've set your sights on the first male you see."

"It's not like that, Nala," said Simba hardly. "I promised to make Kiara my heir and I will stand by it. But I cannot train her to sire cubs. We eventually needed to find a male."

"How do you know he won't seize power from her once we are gone?" she demanded and then made to leave.

"Nala-" Simba called, but she was already gone. He thought he saw tears in her eyes.

Nala was rather disappointed with the warm welcome Kovu seemed to receive from the other lionesses, even Nyeri, her one firm supporter. Could they not see the resemblance he bore to Scar? But everyone seemed happy to accept that he was a Lion from another pride come here to save them from extinction.

Simba had started to take him along during his morning rounds with Kiara, and sometimes without Kiara, as if he somehow hoped to train Kovu to take over from him within a short amount of time. And when he was not engaged in long conversations with Simba or Kiara about the Pridelands, Kovu, much to the surprise and delight of the lionesses, was rather happy to join them on their Hunts. He remained deferential to whoever led the Hunt, for they had no defined Queen of the Serengeti, but he also brought with him new life and fun to it. The younger lionesses were especially thrilled whenever he accompanied them.

In fact, the only one less than happy with these new developments seemed to be Kiara.

"Everyone seems to like him so much," she told her mother as the two of them took a private walk.

"Why does that bother you so much?" Nala asked, remaining unbiased, though she felt rather pleased with her daughter.

"They've always been so distant with me," Kiara replied, shaking her head in frustration. "I'm afraid they no longer want me to be Queen."

"Kiara, it has been difficult for them to know how to view you because you are the first female to have been chosen as the heir. But they have come to respect your judgment. Surely you've noticed that during the Hunts you have led?"

"Yes, but they seem to…" she was looking for the right word, "adore him!"

"You will be Queen, my daughter, whether you bear sons or not," assured her mother. "I promise you."