A Love Lost and A Love Found

Chapter 1: Rejected

Prolouge

Rejection.
Rejection was a painful thing, that could only be described as a disturbing and upsetting situation. The cold words that flew out of her mouth like wind calling the breeze that gently blew over the Sahara.

Her bitter words and attitude had harmed his heart, forcing him to speak coldly out of emotion and anger. He had tried for years to gain the young, beautiful lioness but everyone told him she'd hurt him with her sternness - and they were right.
The disturbed and troubled lion lumbered up the small perch and into his favorite spot for thinking. He let out a sigh before hugging himself tight, pressing his eyes until his felt warm tears drifting out of them. His stomach ached and twisted, his mind replayed the whole hurtful situation.

"I don't love you," she spat coldly, turning away from him and swishing her tail arrogantly as she pranced off.

The lion shivered at that thought.

"Moyo!" A voice cooed. The bushes shook, and his ears perked up with curiosity. "Moyo! Come on, where are you?!"

He rolled his eyes as he recognized the voice. The voice of his younger sister, Neema. She had always known of his hiding spot, and she would never forget it. The distant call got louder.

"I'm here!" yelled Moyo, annoyed and standing up. She found her older brother and looked at him with arched eyebrows.

"Thought I'd find you here," she admitted. "Kweli told me what happened and..."

"I don't want to talk about it! I didn't ask to talk about it, nor did I ever ask for company. Now please," he snarled, telling her to back off. He collapsed to the ground again, angry and was now feeling hot. Moyo was guilty for yelling at his sister, but when everyone told him it was going to be okay, he wandered how many times someone would say it before he actually believed it.

"Moyo..." his sister insisted, nuzzling him gently. "...It's bad, but you don't have to be so mean." She gave him one last look before running off, back to the pride.

The bush began shaking again and Moyo began to get irritated.

"I told you to leave me alone, Neema!"

A male, the same age as Moyo, appeared with a smile on his face. "Is that what you call me, now?" he joked, chuckling. "I heard what happened and I know what you're doing to others. You have people who love you, Mo. Don't push them away so you can stay in that cold shell." he soothed, sitting down.

Moyo could only look at his paws, feeling ashamed. His friend was right, he was pushing people away because of his anger. But no-one understood how annoying it was to actually be reminded several times.

"I know... I just... It's annoying." he inquired. "What do I do, Kweli?"

"There's plenty of other lionesses, Mo. But that's up to you. Your sister has caught my eye though..." he admired. "She's beautiful, her laughs just chill me out!"

Moyo looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Dude, she's one season younger than you!"

"Whatever, Let's just go back to the pride."

The two males hopped down, and began the long walk back to their pride.

Chapter 1: Rejection

A Year Later...

It was a hot sunny day in the Sahara. The lionesses were too lazy to go hunting, but their hunger got the better of them. They slinked away into the shallows of the Sahara desert. Whilst the lionesses were hunting, the three males in the pride were learning how to fight, for one day they would have to leave and challenge another pride once driven out by their fathers. The dominant males were old, which had its benefits in some ways - experience was one. But there were also flaws; they could not fight as well as the younger males that were still in their prime.

Kweli had no trouble facing his opponent, but Moyo was facing some difficulties. Kiburi walked over to his son, whispering in his ear:

"Moyo, the key thing here is to aim at his weak spot. Which spot looks the weakest? Ask that question to yourself." the elder commanded, watching his son fight with determination.

"Which spot looks the weakest?" Moyo questioned frantically in his mind, unable to bare the fact that he was weaker than his opponent. Most would believe Neema was stronger than Moyo, even if she was the youngest.

After hours of training, the males were sweating and were ordered to take a break. Kweli and Moyo sat under a shady tree, talking and panting. Not long after, the huntresses returned and that included Neema, who could only stare at the meat. As soon as the meat was placed on the sandy ground, the competition for food began between the pride.

Males galloped as fast as possible, but they would always get food as they ate first. Following them were the lionesses, then the adolescents and cubs who only ate scraps and bones. It took ages to finish the meal as it was the biggest meat the lionesses had caught that week. Neema lay on her back, gnawing on a bone whilst talking to some of her friends.

"Is your brother okay? He looks worried about Kumjali..." asked one of Neema's closest friends.

"Yeah, especially since she admitted she hated him." added another, feeling sorry for Moyo.

"Oh come on, Imara, Huduma, that was over a year ago," said Neema, seeming laid-back.

Imara and Huduma looked at each other with confused expressions. "I guess you're right," they both said in unison, before glaring over to Kumjali.

Moyo walked over to his mother, Thamani, and nuzzled her tenderly.

"How's my little cub?" she joked, after pulling away from the nuzzle with a smile.

"Mom!" Moyo complained in embarrassment. "I'm not a cub,"

"You'll always be my cub, hun." Thamani insisted, walking over to the lounging lionesses. "How was your training?"

"It was... all right, I guess. Father just said I need a little more practice to be perfect," he noted, sitting down next to the elder.

After speaking for a while with his mother, Moyo decided to spend time with Kweli, Neema, Imara and Huduma at the waterhole. They lapped up tongue-fulls of water to quench their thirst then stayed and played around in the grass for a while.

"You see that?" Kweli asked Neema mischievously. Neema looked over to find a small impala, un-guarded by the rest of the herd.

"Oh, I see it. I bet I can hunt it better than you! Lions are too exposed." Neema teased, chuckling.

"Oh, so we're too exposed, huh?" Kweli challenged, moving slowly towards the impala. "We'll see about that." he whispered.

The lion leapt forward with a quiet roar, chasing the impala. But unfortunately, the impala had noticed the exposed lion, and began to gallop around and panick like an imbecile. Kweli had missed his chance, and unfortunately lost the bet he made with his crush. He sulked as he walked back.

"Where's the carcass?" Neema teased, pawing his nose.

"..." Kweli didn't respond but instead pulled on a grudge and collapsed to the ground, making Neema chuckle. She ran her body under his chin before he could lie down, bringing his complete attention her. Neema only meant it as a friend and mocking attitude, of course. But Kweli had taken it the wrong way and tried to mount her.

"Kweli, stop! I'm not ready for that yet! We're not even committed." she inquired, scratching him on the nose. The dazed male shook his head before chuckling nervously.

"Hehe, sorry," he apologized, going completely red.

Moyo was lounging around with Imara and Huduma, talking and expressing his feelings and anxiety. Most of this was about his rejection, which he had not forgotten - even if it was over a year ago.

"Just forget her, Moyo. She took advantage of you. She's not pregnant, right?" asked Imara, feeling confident.

"No," said Moyo, coldly. "But she's more likely to get seduced by some other seducer."

"Even better if, pal," added Huduma. "She doesn't deserve such a lion."

"You think?"

"We know," said the females in unison.

After spending hours at the waterhole, the lions decided to head back as it was already night-fall. The dominant male and female slept on the platform inside the kopje whilst the other lions were spread out across the floor. Moyo watched as his ex-lover cuddled up with another male, and felt jealousy rising inside him.

The angry male decided to sleep outside, huffing and growling under his breath.

"What are you doing out here, Moyo?" said a soft voice behind him. Moyo turned around to encounter the green orbs of another beautiful lioness named Aina. "It's cold out here,"

"I can't sleep in there," he responded grumpily.

"Why not?"

"I think you know," he growled.

"Oh... That," she said, recognizing it. "I'm sorry about that - Mind if I sleep out here with you? I mean, if you need company?"

"Sure, lionesses like you make good company," he complimented. After realizing his comment, both of them blushed. Aina slept a few inches away from Moyo, but they both smiled at each other before departing into their deep slumber.

A/N: This is my first story here on fan fiction. It's mainly inspired by the Lion King, but for now I have nothing in mind for my OCs to do with the Canon characters.

Characters/Name meanings/ Voice Actors:

Moyo - "Heart" (Swahili) - Jason Marsden

Neema - "Grace" (Swahili) - Sister of Moyo - voiced Zoe Leader

Kweli - "Sincere" (Swahili) - Moyo's best friend - voiced by Matthew Broderick.

Kumjali - "Cared" (Swahili) - Moyo's ex-lover - voiced by Lacey Chabert.

Imara - "Established" (Swahili) - Neema's best friend - voiced by Julie Kavner.

Huduma - "Cared" (Swahili) - Neema's best friend - same voice actor as Pocahontas

Thamani - "Precious" (Swahili) - Neema and Moyo's mother, Kiburi's mate.

Kiburi - "Proud" (Swahili) - Thamani's mate, father of Neema and Moyo.

Aina - "Kind" (Swahili) - voiced by Paige O'Harra.

(I know, most of these have the same voices as the Lion King Canon characters,) but I just felt as if they suited these voices. Some of them I don't know - I couldn't find the voice actor. I didn't really bother naming Moyo's parents because they're really that important in this story.)

*If you have an idea or anything you want to add to the story, please contact me by PM or just write in the comment box please. Thank you! :D*