(A/N: the following takes place after Kiara meets Kovu in the Outlands for the first time, and before Kion learns about the Lion Guard.)

It was a calm evening in the Pride Lands. The sky was a beautifully blended range of yellows and oranges and reds, whilst the sun was low in the sky. The air was cool, and the breeze was gentle. Standing tall at Pride Rock, a lion with golden fur, a full red mane and brown eyes watched over the lands as the different animals roamed freely, many returning to their homes for the a deep breath, Simba, the king of the Pride Lands, smiled. He always enjoyed days like this, where things were calm and peaceful, and he could watch the sun as it began to set. It allowed him to relax and enjoy the things that mattered.

"Simba?" He heard a voice say behind him. Turning around, his smile grew at the sight of the cream furred lioness that was Nala, his mate. "What are you doing up here?"

"I'm just watching the sun set, Nala," he told her. "Care to join me?"

"I'd love to." She walked over to her mate, standing next to him as they gazed over the horizon. She smiled as she felt the breeze flow past her ears, her senses relaxing. "It's very beautiful."

"I know," he then turned to look at her, "but it pails in comparison to you."

She laughed lightly, her cheeks tinting pink. "Someone's rather charming today. What's brought this on?"

"Well, today has been calm, things have been quiet, and I feel that, sometimes, I don't do enough to show you how much you mean to me."

Nala felt her heart melt at his sentiment, so she gently nuzzled her head in his mane beneath his chin. "You show me everyday. When I wake up laying next to you, you make me feel special." Returning her gaze to the landscape before them, she sighed happily. "This is all I've ever needed from you to show me you care- the right words, and to be here with me, just the two of us."

"MOM! DAD! WE'RE BACK!" they heard two voices shout.

"You sure know how to jinx it, Nala," Simba chuckled. While she rolled her eyes, they turned to see two cubs- one female, with peach fur and brown eyes like Simba's, and the other a male looked like a younger version of Simba, with golden fur and a small red mane atop of his head- bouncing up Pride Rock towards them. "There you two are!" the king greeted his son and daughter.

The male, Kion, saw how close his parents were to each other, and stuck his nose up. "Eww…" he groaned in disgust. "You two were… kissing and stuff, weren't you?"

The two older lions laughed. "We weren't kissing, Kion," Nala told him. "We were simply watching the sun set. Not that there is anything wrong with kissing, which you'll see when you're older." Kion scoffed, but Nala paid it no mind, quickly turning to Kiara. "What did you end up doing today?"

"Me, Tiifu and Zuri hung out by the watering hole!" Kiara told her mother happily.

"Nothing new there then," Kion muttered, receiving a glare from Kiara in response.

"Oh, yeah? And what did you end up doing today? No doubt playing Baobab Ball with Bunga again?"

"Actually, Bunga introduces me to his friend Beshte, and we planted with his family at Big Springs!"

"Big Springs? Is Beshte Basi's son?"

"Yeah, that's him!"

Simba smiled. "I've met with Basi a few times before, he's a friend of mine. If Beshte is anything like his father, I'm sure you two will be friends for a long time."

"It's getting late," Nala told them. "You two need to get some sleep." She smirked as the two cubs whined, begging to stay up longer, but she stood her ground. "I mean it. Your father and I have business to take care of, so you two are going right to bed."

"Okay…" they whined, slowly trudging towards the cave with their heads hanging low. "Goodnight, mom. Goodnight, dad."

"Goodnight, you two," the two adults told them.

As Kiara and Kion entered the cave, Kiara glanced back and saw the look exchanged between their parents. "Mom and dad are up to something."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, I just… have a feeling."

Kion just shrugged as he lied down in the cave, Kiara laying down a little bit away from him. "Whatever. Goodnight, Kiara."

"Goodnight, Kion."

"Kion? Kiara? Wake up!" The two cubs heard a voice speak.

"Huh?" Kion groaned. "What's going on?"

"Come on, wake up!" The owner of the voice gently nudged Kiara, while someone else did the same to Kion.

"Dad?" Kiara asked, only slightly opening her eye. "What's going on?"

"Wake up, sweetie," was all he said with a warm smile.

Reluctantly, she did so. As she did, she realised that, rather than in the cave they had been in when she fell asleep, they were at Mpole Plains, and it was night. She looked up and stared in awe at the beauty of the night sky, the dark blue sky dotted with bright shining stars, and the moon up high in crescent form. "Woah…" she marvelled. "Kion, you need to see this."

He huffed. "Okay, fine, I'm getting up," he grumbled, a sour expression on his face, which turned to confusion at his surroundings. "Wait… how come we're not at Pride Rock?"

"We thought you two might like to come and see the stars with us tonight," Nala explained, using her paw to gesture to the night sky.

When Kion looked up, he had to admit that the sight was breathtaking. "Hevi kabisa…" He gasped., eyes slightly widened. "That is pretty cool."

"It is indeed," Simba added. "Originally, your mother and I were going to do this at Pride Rock, but when Rafiki told us what was happening tonight, we decided that you two would benefit more from a better view."

This caught the two cubs' attention, prompting them to look at their father curiously. "Why? What's happening tonight?"

Simba looked towards Pride Rock, and smirked. "That is." The two cubs looked in the same direction, and their eyes went wide whilst their jaws dropped. From behind Pride Rock, what looked like a bright blue star, bigger than all the rest, began to travel across the sky, illuminating the land below. The family of lions watched in awe as the near-blinding blue light it provided soared across the sky, as if time had slowed down because of it. "What we are looking at is the comet of Urithi, a rare and beautiful sight that only appears once in a thousand years. They say Urithi is one of the first lions to have ever roamed this Earth, many thousands of years ago, before the Pride Lands were ever a kingdom."

"Wow!" Kiara sighed, her eyes never leaving the natural beauty of the comet.

"Without Urithi, none of us would be here today," Nala added. "Though no one knows for sure, many animals believe that he was the ancestor to the first king of the Pride Lands. While we don't know who the first king was by name, we know that he still watches over us."

Kion briefly turned to his father. "But, if he was alive thousands of years ago, how can he still be watching over us?"

Simba chuckled, and used his paw to point his son's gaze back to the sea of stars above. "You see the stars? Those are the spirits of the great kings and queens of the past. When the rulers of the Pride Lands complete their journey in the Circle of Life, as long as they served by their people and their kingdom, their body allows the land to grow and flourish, while their spirit forms a star, and they watch over us. Even though they are not here in flesh and blood, they are here in spirit, and as long as the Pride Lands prosper, they will always be with us."

"That's amazing," Kiara marvelled. "So, when you two… move on… does that mean you will become stars?"

Nala leaned down to nuzzle her son and daughter. "That's right. Even though we will not be with you two physically, we will always be watching over you, with just as much love as we do now, because you are part of our hearts."

So, the family continued to watch as the comet travelled across the sky. Simba, Nala and Kiara all watched in amazement, but while Kion also found the sight to be amazing, his mind was in two halves as he watched. He was caught up on what his father had said about the stars.

'They're the kings and queens of the past…'

After the comet had passed out of sight, the family returned to Pride Rock, where they began to go to sleep. Kion, however, did not feel ready for sleep. The thoughts from before we're still keeping him awake and concerned. Looking outside of the cave, he noticed that the stars were still up, so he gently removed himself from under Simba's embrace, and walked out of the cave, looking up to the night sky with a frown on his face. "They're the kings and queens of the past," he spoke, quiet enough to not wake his family. "If the kings and queens become stars… what happens to me? Mom, dad and Kiara will all be up there, watching over the Pride Lands, but I won't." He felt his eyes grow teary. "Do I just… disappear? Do I never see my family again?"

Whilst he wiped the tears away with his paw, someone else had exited the cave. "Kion?" He turned around to see Kiara, looking at him with her head tilted. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were asleep, and…" Her look changed to one of concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine,"

Kiara wasn't convinced. "Kion, you're out here by yourself, and you look upset. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really, I'm just… thinking, alright?" He saw that she was still looking him right in the eye, and he knew that meant she wanted to ask him about it, so he sighed deeply. "I was thinking about… stars," he explained, looking back to the night sky. "When dad explained how the kings and queens of the past became stars, and that he and mom will one day, I realised something."

She took a couple of steps towards him. "What?"

He sniffed to keep back the tears. "I won't ever be king. When you grow up, you'll be queen, and you'll have someone to be king with you, like how dad has mom, and I'll just be Kion. I'm not gonna be a star like you guys. While you're watching over the Pride Lands, you will all be together again." He couldn't keep the tears back anymore. "But I won't."

Kiara felt her heart ache at what she was hearing, her ears folding against her head. "Kion… you don't believe that, so you?"

"But… it's true. You heard what dad said."

"Kion," she stepped towards him, "dad said that the stars are thousands of years old. If only the kings and queens became stars, there wouldn't be anywhere near as many stars as there are." She looked up at the stars, Kion doing the same. "Besides, I would make sure that you became a star too. You're my little brother, Kion- if I'm going to one day be watching over the Pride Lands from the stars, I want you there with me."

He looked at her, a small spark of hope in his eyes. "Really?"

She smiled at him, before nuzzling her cheek against his. "Of course. I would miss you too much otherwise." She then smirked, "even if you can be annoying at times."

This got him to smirk back, laughing as he mumbled, "you're one to talk." They stood there for a moment, smiling at each other, before he said, "you're the best sister I could ask for."

Her smile grew at that. "Thanks, Kion! And you're the best brother I could ask for."

"Thanks."

"Hey, do you wanna hang out tomorrow? Just us. We could go explore somewhere cool!"

"I'd like that." He then yawned loudly, causing Kiara to giggle until she yawned herself. "We should go back to sleep."

"You're right."

So, the two cubs re-entered the cave, careful not to wake up their parents. The two laid down next to each other, and Kiara cuddled her brother as they began to dream. While Kion may no longer have been worried about what would happen to day when he moved on, he had no idea what fate would have in store for him, and his position in the great Circle of Life.

THE END