Post Simba's Pride. Short story explained by Simba to Kiara why Zira and the Outlanders were exiled, all because of what Zira tried to do to the baby princess.

I own nothing. The Lion King 2 and all its content belongs to Disney. I don't own the cover image either.

Enjoy the story!

All was serene and calm in the Pridelands. Since the Outsiders disbandment and their inauguration into the Pridelands, it seemed to be a time of peace. After a series of trials and such, ones with betrayal and acceptance, the darkness had been destroyed and light had been restored to its proper place.

With Simba's daughter and Scar's former heir, a war had been avoided and now the two, Kiara and Kovu, were set on being the next king and queen of the Pridelands after Kiara's parents, the current king and queen, retired and stepped down from the throne. But for now, the two would be receiving further training and lessons on how to be the next rulers.

The two current monarchs would alternate between the two for lessons. Today, Kovu was being taught by the queen, Nala, while Kiara would be taught by her father, the king, Simba. The two were out in the savanna while he relayed wise words to her. Or at least, he had been relaying lessons to her. Simba had unfortunately let a little statement about the Outsiders which Kiara misinterpreted as a dislike towards all of them, including her soon-to-be husband and her sister-in-law. What had started as a calm and civil conversation escalated into both yelling at the other, trying to be louder than one another.

And the both of them were right!

"What is it then!? Why are you so distrustful of our new pride members?! Why did you exile them anyway," Kiara screamed, her voice going at ear-shattering decibels. His eyes narrowed in rage. To her shock, he reared up on his hind legs and roared at her.

"Why did I exile them? Why did I exile them?! I'll tell you why! I did it to protect you, Kiara!"

The sheer tone and volume of his voice was enough to scare anyone several miles away. Kiara's ears flattened against her head and her tail pressed between her hind legs as she stared up at her positively enraged father in awe and fear. He was panting heavily as he tried to regain his calm composition.

"I did it to protect you, Kiara. I never told you because I wanted to protect you. I never told you that when you were a baby, when the Outsiders still lived among us, Zira tried to kill you when we weren't around," he explained. He was struggling to keep his voice calm, yet it still sounded like he was seething in anger.

"What," she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Simba's eyes shut tightly as he explained.

"Your mother and had arrived just before she could get to you. I still remember what had happened. She was standing right above you, you were crying. She had her claws outstretched, poised over your neck. Your mother and I knocked her away and pulled you closer before she could do it." His eyes squeezed tighter and two tears leaked out from his eyes.

"And so your mother and I realized you would only be in grave danger if we allowed her and the other lions still loyal to Scar to stay here. So that very same day we exiled all of them, including her and her cubs. I wanted no one left in the pride that would try to take you out or take you away from me. So that is why I was more strict with the rules I gave you. That's why I didn't want you to stray from the paths I marked out for you or let you talk to strangers. I didn't want you to have any relationship or encounter with any of the lions I exiled that could put you in danger."

He sighed and looked back up at his daughter. She was still staring intently at him, but her eyelids blinked rapidly and a heavy stream of tears flowed down each of her cheeks. He hesitantly reached his paw out and wiped some of the salty river dripping down from each eye.

"I don't have anything against them now. We are one now and we will stay that way till the Pridelands end. I didn't want you to know this because I thought if you did you would be afraid and that fear would make the others around you see you as weak and unsuitable to rule them someday. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but it was all to protect you," he finished.

An eerie silence had come between the two of them. Silent tears flowed down Kiara's face and Simba took in deep breaths to calm himself down. The sun had begun to set below the horizon, turning the sky from a brilliant blue to bold oranges, rosy pinks and subtle hints of light purple. Neither one responded in the quiet, as if one was afraid a single word would shatter the world.

In a brief second, Simba suddenly became aware of pressure around his neck and moisture trickling into his mane, just below his chin. He felt vibrations against his chest, followed by the sound of erratic intakes of air. Gradually his forelegs wrapped Kiara in a firm embrace as he allowed her to pour out all her emotions and cry in his arms.

I'm not one to do many sad fics, but this is part of the few I do when I want to explain a point or give feels to the readers. I feel as if I haven't done much of Simba and Kiara together, so the idea I got was a good one to use. Some people think Simba exiled Zira and the Outsiders because they were loyal to Scar and tried to attack him, some say it was because they killed Kopa, this one was a bit of a mixture of the two.

Thanks for reading, I'd appreciate some feedback on how I did. See you again next time. Sincerely, v.t.7