Author's Note: This is a direct sequel to The Lion King, meaning that this story assumes that the events of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride never occurred. This is NOT a sequel to my previous Lion King story, "Prince of the Pride."

Chapter One

Blackmail

"Kopa? Kopa, wake up! Wake up!"

Kopa moaned and rolled over, still asleep.

"Kopa!"

Kiara nudged him hard with her head. Kopa grunted and opened his eyes, looking blearily around. "Kiara?" he said thickly. "Whassa matter?"

"Come and play with me, Kopa!" Kiara said excitedly.

Kopa turned his head to look at the entrance of the den. He moaned. "Kiara, it's still dark outside! Dark means sleep, not play!" He laid his head down and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when the sun rises."

"Come on, Kopa!" Kiara said, nudging him again. "Now's the perfect time, before it gets too hot!"

Without opening his eyes, Kopa asked, "What about Kovu? Why don't you play with him?"

"He's still sleeping and won't get up!" Kiara grumbled.

"Must be nice," Kopa muttered.

"Oh come on, Kopa!" Kiara said earnestly, biting his ear and tugging on it. "Please play with me." When Kopa didn't respond, she smirked and added, "Or I could wake Vitani and tell her how you feel about her."

Kopa's eyes flew open at once. He looked up at Kiara and said, "You wouldn't."

Kiara just grinned down at him.

Kopa sighed. "You would. Okay, fine, you win. I'll be out in a minute."

Kiara trotted happily out onto the ledge of Pride Rock, leaving a disgruntled Kopa to stand, stretch, and yawn. "And to think that I used to be excited about having a little sister," he grumbled under his breath. He then followed Kiara into the early morning darkness, taking care not to disturb any of the sleeping lionesses.

He didn't see one of them as she lifted her head and gazed after him, her head tilted quizzically to one side. She stood up and followed.

On the plains of the Pride Lands, Kopa ambled slowly behind his younger sister as she bounded playfully along. A pleasant breeze ruffled his growing mane, which was just starting to frame his face. He inhaled deeply and sighed, smiling as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

Kopa was the son of Simba, the Lion King of the Pride Lands, and Nala, his queen. He was the spitting image of his father, right down to his bright brown eyes. The only difference was his mane. It was dark brown, quite a contrast with Simba's rusty red one. For a while, it had only been a tuft of hair atop Kopa's head. But over the past several months, the young cub had grown into a vibrant youth. Not only had his mane lengthened, but he had grown taller, more muscular, and his voice had started to deepen. He was the envy of every young male lion in the pride and the dream of every female.

But only one lioness had captured his heart. Vitani had been his best friend throughout their cubhood, and after that…incident, she had saved him from certain death. Lately, though, his feelings for her had intensified, as Kiara had obviously noticed. He didn't consider her just a friend now. She was…something more.

But he couldn't tell Vitani how he felt. What if she didn't feel the same way for him? What if she shunned him, or even worse, laughed at him? No, he had to keep it to himself. If she rejected him…

"Gotcha!"

"Oomph!"

Kopa was so lost in his thoughts of Vitani that he hadn't noticed that his little sister had slipped into the tall grass. That is, until she'd pounced on him. Caught by surprise, Kopa made an odd, twirling leap, lost his footing, and fell sprawled on the savannah. Kiara rolled on the ground next to him, laughing.

"Little sisters," Kopa grumbled.

Then he distinctly heard another laugh, but it didn't come from Kiara. His ears twitched and he looked around, frowning slightly.

"Kopa?" Kiara asked, still giggling. "What is it?"

"Shh," Kopa hissed. "I heard someone else out there."

Kiara stopped laughing at once. Kopa scanned the grass carefully but found no sign of the stranger. "Stay here," he said to Kiara. "I'm going to…"

"Yah!"

Kopa yelped in surprise as a young lioness pounced at him, bowling him over onto his back. He blinked in shock and looked up at his attacker. Then his face broke into a grin as he said, "Hi, Vitani."

Vitani giggled and said, "I got you that time, Kopa."

She backed off, and Kopa stood up. "Twice in two minutes. It's gonna be one of those days."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be so bad," Vitani replied.

Kopa almost replied, "Now that you're here, it'll be better," but stopped himself just in time. Instead, he shrugged and said, "Well, maybe." Then, in an attempt to change the subject, he added, "So, have you been practicing? Those hunting lessons start tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," Vitani replied. "I think I'm just about ready."

Kopa chuckled. "No kidding."

Vitani giggled, but before she could actually say anything, Kiara said, "Hey, Vitani, Kopa and I are going to play. Wanta join us?"

"Sure," Vitani said with a small laugh.

Kopa couldn't be sure, but he thought Vitani gave him a significant glance as she said it.

"Great!" Kiara said, and then promptly tapped her brother's foreleg. "Tag! You're It!"

"Huh?" was Kopa's brilliant response.

The two girls laughed and rushed off in opposite directions. Kopa recovered from his surprise and darted after Vitani. "Come back here!" he called playfully. "I'll get you!"

Vitani just laughed and looked back at him over her shoulder. Thus distracted, she didn't see the stone in her path. She tripped and stumbled, and in the few seconds it took for her to regain her balance, Kopa caught up with her and pounced. They tumbled down a small knoll, laughing all the way to the bottom. Vitani landed on her back with Kopa right on top of her. Their noses met, and their laughter died at once. Kopa's eyes widened in surprise, totally unprepared for the rush of emotions that swept over him. Vitani looked equally stunned, her pretty blue eyes staring up at him, unreadable.

Suddenly aware of the intimacy of the moment, Kopa backed away, grinning nervously. "Uh…sorry," he said, embarrassed.

Vitani stood up, her face now void of expression, and approached him. Kopa's heart missed a beat. She hesitated and then said, "Don't be."

Her response was so unexpected that Kopa just blinked and didn't move for a moment. Then her words sank in, and he hesitated for a second before leaning slowly towards her. She didn't move as his face drew level with hers. He closed his eyes as if building up his courage, then he licked her cheek once.

He opened his eyes. Vitani was gazing at him with a fond expression, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Relief flooded through Kopa as he realized that she wasn't angry, she wasn't hurt, and she certainly wasn't laughing. Feeling joyful yet slightly weak at the knees, Kopa nuzzled her and said softly, "I love you, Vitani."

Vitani sighed. "Kopa, I've waited for a long time to hear you say that. I love you, too."

"No! No, that's not fair!"

Kopa and Vitani both looked around, the magic of the moment suddenly broken. Kiara was standing at the top of the knoll, looking down at the two lions in disbelief.

"Now I don't have any blackmail on Kopa!" she said, her lower lip jutting out in a pout that wasn't entirely sincere.

Kopa and Vitani laughed, and Kiara grinned, unable to hold her expression in place. "Come on, you two!" she called, turning away. "Kopa's still It!"

Vitani giggled and took off again. Kopa groaned and launched after her, but this time he was much more light-hearted, now that the one he loved knew of his feelings for her. Nothing in the world could spoil his joy.

Except…

Author's Note: Except what? Sorry, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out. And yes, if anyone noticed, I borrowed a scene from my previous Lion King story here. I didn't really want to come up with a new way for Kopa and Vitani to admit their love so I used the same basic events from "Prince of the Pride." Hope everyone's okay with that. I'll try to post Chapter Two soon.