A/N: This is a Co-Authored with Delta2060!
As the young adult lion Kovu walked up Pride Rock, accepted by Simba and happy to be with his love Kiara he couldn't help but feel nervous and a bit guilty as all his life he had been trained to kill Simba and yet, here he was beside the large lion, on Pride Rock for his and Kiara's wedding ceremony. On a nuzzle from Kiara he forced those thoughts back in his mind, giving a smile as he watched Simba nuzzle Nala before the King let out a huge roar.
Kovu did the same after, with an equally as huge roar if not bigger. Then the group roared together.
Quite a spectacle to signal that the trouble had passed, and that good times lay ahead. Behind them was a small crowd of lionesses, some from the original pride and some that had joined from Zira's pride. Among them was Vitani, and with the new additions the pride was now made up of twenty four lion members. Some of the lions below Pride rock repeated the roars of the four standing atop the ledge before they concluded and turned away, returning to the group near the mouth of Pride rock's cave.
The wedding ceremony was over and now Kiara and Kovu were married.
"I'm so glad we've managed to finally do this" Kiara exclaimed to her new husband.
Kovu gave Kiara an affectionate lick on the cheek. Simba was happy for his daughter, just as Nala was, but he still couldn't get that nightmare out of his head. The one where Scar became Kovu and threw him off the cliff. Simba knew it was stupid really, it was just a dream, and Kovu had already proven himself to him by helping Kiara reunite the two prides. But he still couldn't escape a bad feeling that lingered in the back of his mind.
"Why don't you two go and spend some time together around the Pridelands?" Nala suggested to the newly weds.
"Alright. Come on Kiara, I'll give you another lesson on stealth hunting if you like." Kovu said.
"Sure. We'll be back soon mum." Kiara said.
"Make sure you're back by night time. Don't want to have to send out a search party." Simba instructed.
"Oh, daddy, we'll be back before then. Don't worry."
Kiara and Kovu then happily wandered off down the slope and away from Pride rock. Simba and Nala watched as they disappeared on the horizon.
"Well this is going to take some getting used to."
Simba and Nala looked round and saw where that voice had come from.
Vitani was now stood next to Simba, also watching as Kiara and her brother got further and further away.
"You and your brother are quite close, aren't you?" Nala asked.
"Of course we are." Vitani replied. "We grew up together and always had to support our pride together. But I'm still happy Kovu now."
"Well I think you'll be even more happy for him when I announce that I'm going to make him my heir." Simba told them.
"Are you sure, Simba?" Nala asked, concerned. "Only a couple days ago you were trying to kill him and his pride."
"I know what I did but he and Kiara made me realize that we're all the same underneath. And he is married to Kiara now so really he has to become the next king."
"Yeah. Imagine that." Vitani said. "My brother being the king of the Pridelands. Anyway, I have to go and make myself more familiar with this place, since I'm living here for the rest of my life. Catch ya both later maybe."
"See you later, Vitani." Said Nala.
Simba gave a nod and Vitani departed to go and learn more about her new home. She wanted to know every inch of the Pridelands off by heart, just like she had one in the Outlands. Old habits probably.
Kiara and Kovu had stopped at an empty valley with long grass and a few dozen rocks lying around randomly. Kovu thought this would be the perfect place to teach Kiara some more hunting skills and he a particular technique in mind.
"Okay. You go and hide yourself in the grass, I won't look. Then when I say go, you try and sneak up and pounce on me. Remember what I taught you last time." Kovu explained.
"Alright. I'm gonna get you this time, I know I will." Boasted a confident Kiara as she waited for Kovu to close his eyes so she could sneak away and take position.
She placed herself down in the long grass about a hundred feet from Kovu, who had now taken to lying down on a large but flat rock with his back turned. Kiara readied herself and she began to take slow and quiet steps towards him. She was impressed that she hadn't made any noise yet. She was taking Kovu's advice and feeling the earth under her paws and breathing silently.
Now she was close enough to pounce and, hopefully, land on Kovu. Kiara adjusted her stance to one that would better help her propel herself at her target. And then she leapt, and to her surprise, Kovu didn't down. This was the first time Kiara had managed to successfully pounce on Kovu. The two of them went tumbling to the ground and Kiara was left lying on top of Kovu, his face showing that he was totally taken by surprise.
"Look, I even pinned you as well!" Kiara cheered.
"You finally did it! Well done." Kovu congratulated her. "But do you think you could, um... Get off of me now?"
Kiara just giggled.
Later that same day, about an hour before sunset, Kiara and Kovu were making their way back to Pride rock from one of the grazing grounds near the edge of the Pridelands where they had been hunting together. Kovu was helping Kiara along because earlier she'd tripped on some rocks and hurt her front paw, probably sprained or twisted. Nothing too serious though. But they would wait to see what Rafiki thought before they jumped to conclusions.
Kovu lifted Kiara over a ditch and she responded with:
"Really Kovu, I'm fine. It's just a bruise."
"Not from where I'm looking it's not. Now stop whining and let me help you." Kovu replied.
"Fine. Simba won't be very happy about this."
"Relax. I'll tell him it was an accident and he'll be fine with it. You really should have been paying more attention by those rocks."
"Guess I was just busy admiring you, huh?"
As they went on Kovu was thinking. He was thinking about recent events. About his mothers death over the river. In a way he felt responsible, even though there wasn't any reason for him to be. What was he supposed to do? Carry on obeying Zira and go through with killing Simba? No, not after he met Kiara and fell in love with her. Their love was much stronger than any psycho plot to gain control of the Pridelands. But Kovu couldn't help thinking that he was going to struggle to adjust his life to living here, especially after what had happened over the last week or so.
Pride rock was now in sight in the distance and Kiara was beginning to walk better. She detached herself from Kovu's support and walked a few feet on her own. She was still limping a bit but she was walking all the same.
"I think it's getting better now." She said.
"Well, go and see Rafiki just in case."
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"No. I... I need to be alone for a bit. I'll catch you up later though. I promise."
"Well, Okay. I can manage from here back to the cave. I'll see you later." Kiara said as she turned and headed in the direction of the stone monument that was her home.
Kovu watched her a short while longer before wandering off in the other direction. He passed a small pond, the same one he ran through after he was exiled by Simba just two days ago. How fast things change.
Kovu didn't know how long he'd been wandering around the Pridelands for as he'd lost track of the time, but it was and had been dark for over half an hour now so he decided to head on back to Pride rock. He'd been having a good, long, hard think about things and he was confident that he could adapt to this new life. All he wanted tonight was to sleep next to Kiara again, the first time he'd be able to do so in complete peace.
As he came up the steps to the cave he saw that Simba was waiting at the entrance with Kiara by his side. He was clearly waiting for him because he was looking straight at him.
"Kovu! Up here!" Simba called. His voice wasn't angry as such, but it did have a hint of displease in it.
Kovu obeyed and went and stood in front of the king, his red mane blowing around in the late evening winds.
"Evening, Simba." Kovu began.
"Kovu, can I have a word?" Simba asked.
"Um, yeah, sure."
"Good. Now I'll overlook the fact that you're late back because you've only been here a couple of days. But I'd like to know why you let Kiara come back on her own after she had an accident."
"Daddy, I told you I was fine by then." Kiara joined in.
"I'm sorry, Simba." Kovu replied. "But believe me, she was walking quite well when I left her. She even said so herself that it didn't hurt. I just needed some time alone to think some things through."
"I still think it might have been better if you'd brought Kiara back first and then went off on your own."
Kovu sighed.
"I'm sorry. Really."
Simba looked at Kovu, then at his daughter, and then back at Kovu again.
"Oh, alright. I'll forgive you for now."
"Thanks." Kovu said.
"Thank you, daddy." Kiara added before she went inside the cave.
Kovu was about follow his wife inside when Simba stopped him. But not forcefully.
"Um... Is there anything else?" The dark young lion asked, raising an eyebrow.
Simba was still unsure about Kovu in a way. He resembled Scar too much, he thought. Simba was going to try something.
"Um, yeah... Kovu. You don't... believe in your fath- In Scar do you?" He asked.
"No. I never did. Well, not since I met Kiara anyway. But back when I did it was because Zira had brought me up to believe him. But now I see just how bad he was."
"Okay. Good, I was just checking... You know. To make sure you weren't... Um..."
"You don't think I'm still following in Scar's paw prints do you?"
"No, not all. But... I just can't escape the feeling that-"
"Well I promise you that I'd never turn evil like Scar. And I hope you don't ever think that." Kovu said, raising his voice now.
"Of course not. But it was just that, your name does mean scar, and-"
"Look, I want nothing to do with Scar or Zira ever again. So please, don't even mention them to me. Now if you'll excuse me, goodnight your majesty."
Kovu then stormed off into the cave, ignoring Simba as he went by.
Simba hadn't meant to upset Kovu, but it seemed like he had. The truth was that they had both been severely affected by Scar and Zira in different ways, but both negatively nonetheless.
Simba entered the cave and laid down beside Nala. Hopefully tomorrow would go a bit smoother.
That night it was a peaceful bliss in the Pridelands. Crickets were chirping but there was no one awake to hear them as the moon shone down over the quiet, empty land. The peace extended into the cave of Pride rock where all the lions were happily asleep.
Mostly.
Kovu was tossing and turning in his sleep, mumbling.
"Mother... No... Mother..."
Kovu found himself back at the rocky plain that ran over the river in the Pridelands. The one he had been at only three days ago, stood in the pouring rain with him and Kiara stood between Simba and Zira's prides. They had just about been in time to stop the two leaders from finishing each other off for good, jumping in their way right at the last moment. This was the heroic act that had convinced Simba to let Kovu join the pride permanently along with the other lions from Zira's pride after she died.
Even though Zira was a deranged follower of Scar Kovu still felt saddened by her passing. She was his mother so it was only natural in a way. But he still could never forgive the things she and Scar did over the years before and while he was growing up. She had even gone as far as to craft and use Kovu as a weapon to kill Simba. Thankfully that conditioning had failed when Kovu fell in love with Kiara.
But now Kovu was back at the river side again. The rain was still coming down hard but there was no other lion or lioness to be seen.
"Huh, strange."
Then there was a deafening cry from over the edge of the ledge. One that Kovu recognised as his dead mother, Zira. Kovu rushed over to see what was going on and as he peered his head over to look down he saw Zira hanging from some paw holes in the side of the rock, dangling precariously over the rushing water.
Not this again!
"Mum!" Kovu shouted.
He didn't know why he was caring so much right now. He hated Zira for what she did to him and the others. And yet here he was getting all worried about her impending death.
"Kovu! Help me!" Zira pleaded.
The lionesses paw slipped which left her hanging from just the one.
Kovu couldn't help but climb on down and pull his mother back up to safety. He took quick but careful steps down to where she was and when he got there he reached out his paw. He was about to do it, but then he felt two big paws on his back and he looked behind him. Stood above him, was Simba, looking calm and unphased by what was happening below.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Kovu." He said.
"What?" Kovu responded in puzzlement.
"Kovu! Please! I'm your mother!" Zira continued to plead.
Simba suddenly dragged Kovu back up the cliff face and tossed him away from the edge, making him land on his side. Zira couldn't hold on any longer and she slipped again, this time losing her grip completely. She went plummeting down into the freezing, rushing water and was swept away, probably being killed in the process.
All Kovu heard up where he was was loud splash and a scream. He got to his paws and rushed back to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Zira was nowhere to be seen.
Kovu's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't believe he'd just failed... Again, to save his mother from death. Kovu looked up and at Simba beside him, a grin across the golden lion's face.
"You won't be needing her now that you're part of our family." Simba said. "Unless you think there's still something of the past in you. Something dark."
And then... Nothing...
Kovu woke with a startle. Springing up in the cave and gasping. It was over now, thank god. He looked around and saw Simba and Nala across from him and Kiara by his side. Kiara's younger brother, Kion was sleeping near Vitani on the other side and all the lions were asleep still.
"Jesus Christ..." Muttered Kovu.
He lay his head back down and tried to return to sleep.
It's only a nightmare, that's all.
Wind was a rather prominent factor of the next morning. As Simba stood proudly at the edge of Pride rock's ledge with his mane blowing around in the gusts. Kovu emerged from the cave when the large lion was still taking in the air. Kovu had overslept by the looks of it but he had no idea how long. He was surprised that no one decided to wake him sooner actually. As the younger, darker lion slowly came closer to Simba he caught a glimpse of the rocky plain in the distance that was above the river. He still had terrible memories of that place. His mother falling to her death and probably drowning, the fact that he wasn't able to do anything and didn't even try now that he came to think about it.
In a way Zira deserved it but the trouble was Kovu still had a natural mother-son bond with her, as all animals do. Which was surprising after all that had happened between them both.
Anyway, those bad thoughts and memories aside, Kovu was now coming up behind Simba. He went to the left a bit and parked himself down net to Simba.
Simba turned to acknowledge him and said "Hi, Kovu. Are you alright? You don't look too happy."
"It's nothing. Really." Kovu replied, bowing his head and sighing. Clearly something was wrong.
"Is it about last night? A nightmare you had, was it?" Simba asked.
Kovu looked quickly and said "What? How do you know about that?"
"You thought I was asleep last night? After the noise you were making? I heard and saw you when you woke up. I know the feeling by the way. Waking from a horrible dream and finding you're still in Pride rock, safe."
"Okay, yes I was having a nightmare. I think you can guess what about as well."
"Zira at the river side?"
"Correct."
Simba stood up and walked away from the edge of the platform. He sat down again about halfway between the edge and the cave mouth. Kovu got up and followed him over. Kovu sighed again and continued.
"I just... Wish I'd done something to save her. You know?"
"Kovu, there was really nothing that you could have done to save her. I'm sorry. And I don't want to sound harsh but we're honestly all better that she's gone. I know you think the same too, that she was destroying us all. You have to admit that at least."
"I do. But you get where I'm coming from with this, right?"
"Of course I do. I've had a somewhat similar experience before too."
Kovu knew all about that. Simba had told him one time about how Scar had thrown Mufasa to his death over the edge in a canyon and watched as he fell into the dark crowd of wildebeest below. It was something that he thought no cub should ever have to witness.
About a minute of silence went by before one of the lions spoke again. It was Kovu.
"By the way. I never really sorry about that ambush did I? Well, I'll say it now. I'm sorry about the ambush with Zira."
"Kovu, you don't have to apologize about that. You didn't plan it and you had no idea it was going to happen."
"Well, I wouldn't say I had no idea it would happen. I mean, I knew that Zira was going to do something since I never got back to her, although I didn't know what she would have in mind."
"Wait, you knew about it? I thought you said you didn't know it was going to happen?" Simba face became sterner now.
"What? Wait, no Simba, I said I knew that she would do something, not that I knew the ambush would take place."
"Why didn't you tell me that you had a feeling something would happen? In fact why didn't you just say to me in the first place that Zira was using you to kill me? I could have done something about it you know."
Kovu took a deep breath. This conversation had suddenly gone in completely the wrong direction.
"Look Simba, years of being told and trained to kill you meant there was nothing else for me to think about. The only reason I defected from Zira's plan was because I fell in love with Kiara. Now I would never hurt any of you, believe me."
Simba's face was beginning to turn angry for some reason. Kovu couldn't quite work out why though, there wasn't really a good reason for him to get angry.
"The only reason you didn't kill me was because you fell in love Kiara? So it nothing to do with actually liking me then?"
"No. Simba that's not it. I do like you. I like all the pride and I'll protect every last one of them just as much as you would."
Things were getting very out of hand quite quickly. Thankfully though Simba's tone lightened a bit when he next spoke.
"Alright. Well I hope it stays that way Scar-" Simba cut himself off right at that moment. He hadn't meant to say Scar instead of Kovu. Why did he say that?
Kovu clearly noticed and now it him that was getting agitated.
"What did you call me? You know full well that I'm not that murderous tyrant! Now you may have problems from the past but so do I, Alright!"
"I'm not going to argue about who's had a worse cubhood!"
The two lions were now standing opposite one another, teeth bared. Simba, however, was larger than Kovu by a mile so Kovu was being very cautious of him. When Simba was this triggered he could quite easily attack him at any moment.
"I'm still the king and don't you forget it, Kovu! And if you think for one minute that you can overthrow me then you're wrong."
"What? I never said anything about overthrowing you. I think you're getting a bit over your own head. You know I would never try and take over. Not me, not Vitani, not any of the Outlanders."
That was true at least. Kovu, Vitani, and all of the outlander lions had come over from Zira without any hints of treachery at all. Even Vitani, who perhaps had had even more wish to see Simba dead, had come over and turned good with the pride. So if she was changed then Kovu certainly was. And anyway, Kovu was given multiple opportunities to attack Simba and yet he never did, further proving his loyalty to the king.
Kovu decided he'd had enough of the conflict and turned and stormed off.
"You know what, I'm going to see where Kiara's gone." He asserted. Then he softened his voice slightly. "Come and talk with me again when you've calmed down and sorted some things out. How about that?"
And then the dark lion was gone, leaving Simba alone on the ledge to think about the tension that had just taken place. Twice in two days now he and Kovu had been engaged in an argument. Things would need to change if this new pride was ever going to get along.
Simba eventually started to calm down, realizing just how much of an obnoxious idiot he had acted like. He promised himself that next time he and Kovu talked things would be much more friendly.
The three friends ran across the savannah, each one trying to outrun the other two until they all came to a cluster of rocks where they ducked down and stayed quiet. On the other side of the rocks was a herd of gazelles. Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri watched them closely from their place of cover, observing the herbivorous creatures' every movement. Today was the first time Kiara had been out hunting since a few days ago when she was caught out in the fire that Kovu saved her from. Her two best friends had also opted to come along. They could be more efficient in a three anyway.
"Okay." Kiara whispered. "Now as soon as one is far away enough from the others, you know what to do?"
"Yeah." Tiifu replied quietly.
"Sure." Zuri did the same.
The three lionesses continued to track their prey with their watchful eyes. All they needed was patience to wait until one of the gazelles wandered too far from the rest of the herd, and then they could take it down.
Kiara was eyeing up a small gazelle to the right that was starting to stray from the others, but it wasn't quite in a position where it could be easily picked off yet.
"This one here looks like a good target." Kiara pointed out her intended victim.
"It's still too close to the herd." Tiifu said.
"Just a bit further..."
A few moments went by and the small gazelle finally broke off from the rest of its herd. The three huntresses readied themselves to all pounce at once and then, they struck.
The whole herd was jumped and scattered around in all different directions while Kiara and her friends targeted the small one left behind. It struggled to resist the grip of three lionesses for a while but eventually it somehow managed to slip free, racing off to find its own kind again.
Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri got to their feet after recollecting themselves from the commotion and saw their victim disappearing into the distance, feeling quite disheartened at the failed kill.
"Dammit." Kiara spat. "Who wasn't holding it down tight enough?"
"It wasn't me." Tiifu responded.
"Well don't look at me. I was practically sat on the thing." Zuri said.
Kiara wasn't happy about the gazelle getting away. But then again, she was still rather inexperienced as a hunter. Maybe if she and the others practiced a bit more they could pull off a successful kill.
Kiara turned to the others.
"Well, practice makes perfect, aye girls? We can try again later."
Tiifu and Zuri seemed to be fine with the suggestion as they smiled at their friend.
Another lionesses suddenly turned up and came over to the trio. Her fur was a kind of golden orange mix and she had purple-blue eyes. Vitani.
"Hey." Kiara said. "You alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Vitani replied. "Just taking a look around the place, that's all. I hate not knowing the layout of where I live."
"Fair enough. So what do you think of Kovu being announced the next king of the Pridelands?"
"I think it's terrific." Vitani replied quite excitedly. "To think my brother will be in charge of the Pridelands on day. I kind of wish I was him if I'm honest. Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. You can go back to whatever it was you were doing if you like."
"Okay. See you later back at Pride rock then."
Vitani then left the trio, her head moving in every possible direction in order to take in her fairly new surroundings.
"She seems very... Enthusiastic about this." Zuri pointed out.
"Yeah. And I thought I was the one meant too be that way." Kiara replied.
Kovu was wandering by himself through an area heavily populated with trees and foliage. The branches were very dense around ground level meaning not a lot of light could get through to the centre and there wasn't much in the way of being able to see ahead very far. It was very isolated from the rest of the Pridelands in fact. A perfect place for Kovu to have some alone time since there weren't any other animals there either.
Kovu sat down by a circular flat rock to rest for a few minutes. Things had been going downhill recently with him and Simba. It's not as though he disliked him in anyway, in fact he admired the king, but for some reason there was a feeling in the back of Kovu's head that was ruining things. Something he couldn't explain. All he knew was that it reminded him of his supposed father, Scar. The evil lion that had made him his 'chosen one'.
Kovu bowed his head, closed his eyes and sighed.
"When will this end?"
Kovu opened his eyes again. There was a puddle at his feet, still and reflective. He gazed into it mindlessly for a few moments. He found it calming but he got the shock of his life though when all of a sudden his eyes appeared to be a brighter shade of green, just like Scar's eyes used to be! And on top of that his reflection seemed to grotesquely morph into an exact copy of Scar himself, every feature exact to the original.
"No!" Kovu cried in horror.
Kovu pulled himself away from the puddle containing the horrid reflection and tried to calm himself down. Once he had done so he returned to the circle of shallow water and took another look inside. He was back to being Kovu again, thank god!
But something still wasn't quite right. The mouth of the lion in the puddle moved and words came out, but Kovu himself wasn't saying anything. How could a reflection be talking on its own?
"You think you've escaped me, don't you?" It said. "Well you're wrong. I will always be with you. That I have ensured."
"What the hell is going on?" Kovu demanded, although he wasn't quite sure who to.
"Don't you remember me, Kovu? You're dear and loving guardian, Scar?"
Kovu's eyes widened in horror.
"What? You're not Scar. Scar's dead. And I don't want anything to do with him anyway."
The reflection began to laugh and it started to look more like Scar than Kovu, becoming a weird mix between the two. It spoke again.
"You're a fool boy. I live on in you, don't you see that? You were my chosen one. But it seems you never understood what chosen one actually meant."
"What? What does it mean? Tell me!" Kovu bared his teeth as he started to get angrier at the lion in the puddle.
He didn't receive a reply however as the lion in the puddle quickly reverted back to Kovu. And this time it really was Kovu. He moved his head from left to right and the reflection did the same.
Kovu, still confused, brought his head back up and looked around. What had just happened? He'd never experienced something like that before.
Kovu, now somehow frightened by the trees around him, swiftly dashed off to go and look for Kiara. But he wasn't at all certain how he was going to tell her about this, if at all.