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Kiara rested in the Pride Rock cave, enjoying the coolness, a nice break from the Pride Land heat. She had a small smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep. However her nap didn't last as long as she hoped. The princess was awoken by her baby brother's voice.

"Hey, Kiara! Do you think I'm gonna be a uncle soon?" Kion stopped and put a paw on Kiara's stomach,trying to feel any small movements. Kiara giggled a bit.

"Kion, we won't know if I'm pregnant for about a week." Kiara replied. Kion looked a little disappointed, so Kiara pulled him into her front paws and gave him a bath. "So, what did you and your lion guard group do today?"

"We stopped a giraffe and a zebra arguing over who got first dibs on the water hole. The zebras said since they got there first, they should get to drink first. The giraffes said since there was less of them they should go first since it would take less time." Kion rambled on some more about how he and his friends stopped the conflict.

Kiara smiled as she listened to him proudly tell the story. In a lot of ways he was like her when she was young. Luckily for him, Simba didn't constantly worry for his safety (Which may have been influenced by Kiara insisting he let Kion actually have fun and not stick around Pride Rock all day.)

"...So first we tried sorting them into two groups of both, and one group could drink at a time. But, then they started arguing who gets to be in the first group." Kion relaxed into the bath and purred, stopping his story short as he enjoyed himself.

Ever since he was small, he and Kiara were like two peas in a pod. His sister had taught him very important things including We Are One. She'd been the one who explained how once their pride had been separated and lead by the vengeful Zira. Kion had vowed that he and his lion guard group would try and make sure nothing like that would ever happen again.

"Hey Kion, hey Kiara."

"Kovu!" Kiara was always excited to see her mate. Kovu nuzzled his head against her and purred gently.

Still smiling he looked at the cub. "Hey Kion."

"Hi Kovu"

The two of them then nuzzled and shared a purr as well.

"Well, you're in a good mood today." Kiara pointed out, a small giggle in her voice.

"It's just that, I really think this time you're pregnant, and I'm excited!" Kovu nuzzled against Kiara's stomach.

"Me too, Kovu." She put her paw on her stomach. Kiara yawned, which sounded like a mighty roar. "I was going to take a nap, but then Kion came in. Maybe you could get some practice being a father with him while I take a nap?"

"Of course." Kovu said, still in a good mood. He looked down at his little brother in-law. "Come on, I'll race ya down Pride Rock!"

The two lions bounded down Pride Rock. By the time they got down, Kion was panting, but Kovu still looked just fine. At a much slower pace they strolled through the Pride Lands, a light breeze ruffling their mane, and mane tuft, respectively.

"Hey...Kion?"

Kion looked up, worried by Kovu's tone. "Yeah?"

"I want...I want to show you something."

"Okay." Kion said with a light smile, trying to brighten the mood.

For most of the walk they were silent, but after some time Kovu spoke again. "I want...I want you to understand the story of the Outsiders and PrideLanders better."

"How?"

Kovu didn't respond and stopped walking. They were on the border of the PrideLands and Outlands. There was a long log that lead downward into a dusty, dead, landscape. Nearby there was muck green swamp water.

"This is where I met Kiara." Kovu explained, a hint of lightness in his voice.

"Really?" Kion asked with wonder.

"Yep...I remember it like it was yesterday. She was skipping down this log." Kovu said, getting on it. He bounded down similar to what Kiara did. He manged to trip at the end like her too.

"Kovu!" Kion's lion guard instincts kicked in and he rushed down.

"I'm fine." Kovu said, getting up and shaking the dust out of his mane. "Same thing happened to your sister."

Kion playfully rolled his eyes. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Kovu laughed a bit. "Well, she ended up bumping into me. Being an Outsider, I didn't like Pride Landers, and was pretty mean to her. Then we had a fiasco with some crocodiles."

Kovu turned his attention to the swamp. "I was almost eaten by a crocodile."

"R-really?" Kion was shocked.

Kovu nodded. "But, Kiara jumped on the crocodile's head and saved me."

"She would've been a good member of the lion guard." Kion commented.

"Then...we made it back to the PrideLand side of the border." Kovu lead him there. "She tried to teach me to play tag, but I didn't understand."

"Really? Didn't you ever play before?"

Kovu let out a dry chuckle. "Well, not tag. I mostly play fought with Vitani."

Kion crouched and let out a small play growl. Kovu smirked and did the same. Kion giggled, then he bit and tugged. Kovu laughed and pulled back. He tapped Kion with his paw. "Tag you're it!"

The future king laughed and ran off. Kion chased after him. Eventually his tiny paw made contact with Kovu's heel. Kovu chuckled lightly and leaned down to Kion's level. "What a blast!"

"Yeah!" Kion laughed. Kovu used his snout to push Kion onto his back and tickled him. Kion was thrown into a laughing fit and after about a minute Kovu stopped.

"You'll make a great dad." Kion said as he got up. Kovu smiled, touched deeply.

"Thanks, Kion." He nuzzled against the cub's face, purring loudly.

"Do you think Kiara's done with her nap?" Kion asked.

Kovu shrugged slightly. "Maybe. We should head back and see."

"Race ya there!" Kion challenged, then taking a head start. This didn't help: Kovu's stronger legs made it easy to catch up, and soon get into the lead.

...

There was a soft breeze that night at Rafiki's tree as the wise shaman drew a line of blue over the stomach of Kiara's drawing. The wind alerted his attention to the sky.

"Oh Mufasa, the Pride Lands have never had a better time than now. Kion is not following in the footprints of the sibling jealousy Scar had. He knows he has an important place in the Circle of Life, and has brought even more harmony between all the species. And-" Rafiki chuckled and kept painting. "I'm sure soon Kovu and Kiara will be expecting a heir. They have been trying hard, but I bet this time-"

The wind rustled some gourds growing on one of the branches,catching Rafiki's attention. "Hmm?"

One of the gourds fell the ground and burst open. He picked up the fruit and to his surprise it was bone dry. Rafiki furrowed his brows as he tried to find Mufasa's meaning. The wind once again blew, erasing the line from Kiara's stomach.

Rafiki frantically hurried over and attempted to stop it. Waving his hands above his head, Rafiki called out to the former king, "Mufasa stop it! You are ruining the Circle of Life!"

The wind then pushed the two halves of the gourd to Rafiki. His eyes widened, then narrowed in sadness. "Oh..."

With the edge of his thumb, he managed to scrape what was left of the blue line off of Kiara's drawing. Rafiki sighed as he took a half gourd filled with red paint. He dipped his fingers tips gently into the paint. He caressed his finger tips against Kiara's stomach. He sighed and leaned his head down.

It was late. In the morning he'd have to tell the princess...