-1Hello all and welcome to my fanfic of The Lion King III. This story takes off several years after the ending of Simba's Pride, and in this current day and time Kiara and Kovu are the rulers of the land. This series is gonna be called "History Repeats Itself" because you will see several striking similarities in some of the characters to the original movie. Of course I'll throw my own twists and turns in there, so you don't get completely bored. ;-) And now I take you to the savannah…early one morning…
It was the third day of Laika's life. As tradition dictated, today was the day of her presentation. The tiny lioness squirmed around between her mother's paws. Kiara stared down at her daughter in wonder. She loved her, loved her with more than she thought could be possible for something so small. Yet already, there were some things about her that disturbed both the King and Queen.
Laika had beautiful eyes, a clear and deep blue. That would be fine, if Nala was still alive. Every time Kiara looked into them she was forced to remember her mother. The former Queen had died only a few months before the birth of her first grandchild, leaving a distraught Kiara officially the Queen.
The second thing that haunted Kiara about her cub was that she had the streak. Just like her grandmother Zira, a pointed, dark brown streak ran the length of her back, creeping up and ending in a triangle at the crown of her head. It was a constant reminder of the one that had caused so much pain.
Laika raised a paw high into the air, swatting at her mother's nose as it was lowered. Kiara smiled, knowing this one would be a fighter. Kovu moved towards them both, smiling and head butting Kiara affectionately as he did. He placed a paw on Kiara's arm, so that it rested next to Laika. She sniffed the air and moved forward towards it happily, comforted by the scent of her father. She nearly blended in with him as she tried to wrap her body around his paw, except she was just a shade lighter than his dark mocha.
The new king had changed a lot since his first days as a member of Pride Rock. His mane had grown long and thick, resembling Simba's when he was in his prime. Of course, he still had the familiar lump that fell to the side over one eye. His scar had faded, though was still a distinguishing part of his profile. Now that Kovu was a fully grown adult, he was a very large lion, with a lot of power behind his blows. But now, he looked like nothing except for a gentle and caring father, bursting with pride over his cub.
He watched Rafiki with caution as Laika was lifted from Kiara's arms. Kiara shot him a look in her usual nature, a sort of 'don't worry, he held me when I was that young too' expression. The Queen stretched, rising to her feet and following after Kovu and Rafiki to the very tip of Pride Rock.
The view from the top was enough to take anyone's breath away on a normal day-which meant that today it was sure to make Kiara and Kovu dizzy. The entire pride lands had attended, curious about the new princess and how the new King and Queen were holding up. The grasses swayed below, still golden from the early rays of the morning sun. Kiara danced nervously beside Kovu, fidgeting in place. She could feel the energy, the excitement mounting beneath her paws. Now she finally understood completely what her father had meant. This entire world looked to her and Kovu as their leaders.
It was as if Rafiki could feel it too. He waited until the exact moment, when the tension was at its highest before he thrust the tiny cub into the air. At that moment, a strong wind picked up. Kiara closed her eyes, knowing it was her parents wishing her good luck. But this wind wasn't the warm, familiar one she remembered as a cub, when she had sat with her father. It was cold, icy almost, and chilled her to the bone.
Her eyes snapped open and she moved in closer to Kovu's side. He had his head bowed, obviously oblivious to it all. The animals below them were doing their usual carrying on of neighing, trumpeting, stomping and snorting in approval. "…Daddy?" Kiara whispered to the air. She squinted her eyes towards the heavens. Instead of looking bright and happy, they looked dark. A thunderstorm was approaching, quicker than she had ever known it to.
A loud crack of thunder sounded suddenly and Kiara screamed, jumping back in alarm. Within seconds the heavens broke loose with all they had in rain. The animals below scattered, and pandemonium broke out. "Laika!" Kiara cried. Why was it raining so hard? She was drenched, and couldn't see two feet in front of her. And the rain felt cold, icy, and numbed her to the bone.
"Get back. Hurry!" The familiar voice of Kovu broke through, and she became aware of his warmth as he stood at her left flank. She did as she was told, moving too slow. She felt the rock below her cracking, crumbling. Kiara's eyes widened as she realized that the area where Rafiki had been standing was gone. It had washed away instantly, and now the fragile tip that out looked the savannah was following suit.
"Kovu!" She cried, her eyes frantic as she somehow made it back down the rock. The crumbling had stopped once she moved away and there was no more weight pressuring it in its stressed state. Somehow she made it into the den area, trembling and wet. Kovu was there, surrounded by the lionesses.
"Rafiki is gone." He said after a few moments. Kiara was still trembling, her head pressed tightly under his chin.
"…Gone?" Kiara backed away slowly, as though the simple words he had spoken were a different language. She blinked, her red eyes shining. The lionesses around her all gasped, fear filling their expressions as they realized what this meant.
Kiara pressed her head into Kovu's mane and cried. What else was there to do? The curse continued to haunt the royal family, in one way or another. The first born cub had always died, every since the time of Mufasa's reign. It was an old legend that because Ahadi had been selfish and picked Mufasa to rule that revenge would forever show up in his descendants. Simba had an older brother, called Kimba. He had suffered an ill fate, and died when he was two days old. It was several years later before Mufasa and Sarabi decided to have another cub.
Then later on the curse continued when Simba and Nala had their first cub, Kopa. When Kopa was a young cub, he had been killed by Zira. The wedge was driven between the King and Queen, and their relationship never fully recovered. Nala blamed Simba for being too busy to show attention to Kopa while he was alive, and she withdrew from Kiara, never fully loving her as much as she had Kopa.
And now, here was this. On what was supposed to be a happy day, their world was collapsing around them. Kiara simply sat, crying openly as Kovu tried to comfort her. He had never been one to show much emotion, and all he did now was shut his eyes tightly and grimace. The worst part of it for them was that it was all a freak accident.
"I'm so sorry sis." Kiara looked up in surprise, seeing her younger sister staring at her with a sorrowful look. Sora took after Nala much in the way that Kiara had taken after Simba. She had the clear bright eyes of her mother, and a much paler coat. Kiara was surprised to see Sora looking sad because, in truth she knew what Sora was after.
Kiara had always had her suspicions of her little sister, sometimes she would catch her staring after Kovu with a longing expression, or sometimes when they were all playing around Sora would cling to Kovu just a little bit longer than was necessary. Kiara was a very jealous female by nature, and had confronted Sora about it several times. Of course, the younger had always denied it furiously, red faced and quick pulsed, and stomped off.
But now, Kiara was willing to put that aside. Who was she to think that Sora had that much evil in her heart? She didn't want this to happen, hadn't planned for it to, of course not. There was no way any of them could have predicted what had happened. "Thanks." Kiara managed to choke out. By this point she was laying down, head across Kovu's paws. He ran a paw lovingly over her back, and rested his shaggy damp mane here.
Sora's eyes flickered for a moment with an intense rage. She had never understood why Kovu loved Kiara so much. It was true that she had a crush on him, but that wasn't the main reason for her hate of her sister. Kiara was so ditsy, so incredibly immature. It killed her inside to know that Kiara was the queen, and treated the power as though it was no big deal. Sora had always been the better huntress, the better debater. She thought with her head, not her heart. But that was never enough.
Most of her life Sora had been raised by the community. It could be said that her birth was entirely an accident, as she was born only a few months after Kiara's first run in with Kovu. If Nala had showed little interest in Kiara, she showed none in Sora. Simba was of course, too preoccupied with Kiara, and afraid to let her out of his sight for one second. By the time she was ready for her first hunt, he was so absorbed in her that it hardly mattered Sora wasn't far behind.
It wasn't enough that Kiara got to be queen, and was Daddy's favorite. It was that she was able to win everyone over, with little to no logic. Including Kovu. Sora knew that when Kovu first joined the pride, he had no feelings for Kiara. Kiara threw herself at him, and over time she must have grown on him….like a festering tick or rabies. Whatever the reason, it made her sick.
But even with all this knowledge, Sora would never wish death on one of Kovu's own. She moved away silently from the group who were doing their best to comfort Kiara. It seemed that Kovu had moved away from her, and was staring out across the plains. As quickly as the storm had came, it had stopped. Water dripped from the mouth of the cave to a steady rhythm.
Sora moved beside him, and sat. They both stared into the distance for a long time. "Kovu…if there is anything, and I do mean anything…" She put a paw lightly on top of his. He jumped, but didn't try to move it. Sora stared at their paws, joined together for a moment. The contrast of the mocha fur underneath the cream was a beautiful sight to her. When she looked up, she found he was meeting her gaze.
"Thanks Sora." He moved quickly, embracing her in a tight hug. Sora's cheeks flushed a bright red, but she closed her eyes and sighed. She could feel the grief radiating from the king. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that Kovu needed to be comforted just as much, if not more, than Kiara. When he pulled back, both their eyes were misty again.
"But I think you know the answer to the question, even before it was asked. The only thing…that I want right now is my little girl back." Kovu bowed his head for a moment, trying not to let the fear and grief out in his voice. His eyes shut tightly as his long mane fell around his shoulders, shielding his face from her. He couldn't cry, it would be weakness on his part. Instead he stood, and walked down the path towards the savannah.
Sora thought on this for a moment, watching him sadly as he continued walking, standing out against the dreary and gray land beneath him. "Oh Kovu…god knows I would do anything for you." She whispered as she laid down.