Chapter 1

Disclaimer: See First chapter for disclaimer.

Playful Discoveries

*5 Moons pass*

It had been five moons since the passing of King Ahadi. Instead of an cold and dreary atmosphere thatwould be expected from a mourning kingdom, there was a warm breeze of playfulness that all could feel. This was thanks to the two excited cubs that were just now bouncing up and down at the entrance of the royal den. For princes Simba, & Kopa, of the Pride Lands, today was yet another day for them to enjoy being out of the den with their friends.

*Simba's POV*

"Come on Simba! Let's go to the waterhole! I bet Kula and the others are already there." Kopa whined impatiently.

"Yeah, I bet. Lets go!" I said with increased excitement and began running around in circles, which caused a mini tornado to form above and around me.

Kopa and I began making our way downthe rocky slope on the side of Pride Rock, when we were suddenly blocked by a line of flames that stretched in front of us,blocking our path. I looked back and saw our father, King Mufasa looking at us with a smile on his face,with our mother chuckling behind them.

"Dad! I thought you said you wouldn't keep blocking us like that." Kopa whined.

"I did say that, but only if you remembered to do something before leaving every day." It suddenly hit me as to what Dad was referring to and I spoke up.

"He is right Kopa!" I then ran past my brother and nuzzled my parents and then ran back to join Kopa.

I motion my brother to go over to our parents. The realization of what my father was talking about then hit him, and he face palmed himself for not realizing it sooner.

"Of course, we have to nuzzle you two and say goodbye every morning or else we have to endure an extra bath later in the day." He then followed suit and nuzzled our parents before turning back to my side.

"Have fun you two!" Said our mother, and with that our father smothered the flames, and were off. I was so excited running along, I accidentally bumped into this someone. I immediately got into my defensive prince state of mind and spoke up.

"Watch it!" I said in anger until I saw who it was and then cowered in fear towards the ground. OH ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!

"You were saying cue ball!" Said Zira, a crazy lioness adolescent, who always looked forward to picking on us. Especially me since I was such an easy target. My brother then got in between us as he heard her insult. It was humiliating having my brother constantly feeling the need to come to my defense, but never seemed to hear my protests.

"Leave him alone Zira! He did not know you were there, besides, Dad said if you picked on us again, you'd have to sleep outside." Kopa said with a smirk as he stood in front of me and had fire coating his claws.

"Oh Koko! You should realize that I don't care about that. Especially when your Daddy isn't here." She said sinisterly. A wide grin migrated across her muzzle and blue flames began to form a ring around her. This sight caused Kopa to start cringing. Then she pounced at us, pushing past Kopa, her flames were shot right for me and I immediately closed my eyes. Please let this be over soon.

*Kopa's POV*

She raised her fiery paw to smack Simba, and I diverted my eyes. If Only I was farther along in my training, I could stop her, but at last, I could only produce a flame around my paws, never mind deflecting them. I then suddenly heard a whoosh like sound. My eyes seared for the source, and I saw something hit her head and knock her down. Simba scrambled to his feet and stood beside me.

"Who the hell did that?" Asked Zira with rage, as the fires got noticeably hotter around her. Talk about a hot head She looked around, and then I heard a series of chuckles come from behind her. She and I both turned around and saw a group of cubs all with smirks. One had what hit her, a bone boomerang tied to his back. Man! Rafiki makes those things good!

"I will get you for that Tojo" Zira growled and then shot a fireball at the water bender cub.

"I doubt that Zira!" He said with a chuckle as the flame approached him. Nice One Tojo. I could not help but chuckle.

Her fireball was then blocked by a wall of earth that arose after one of the lionesses stomped her paw against the ground. This enraged Zira further and then turned her attention to Tama, the earth bender lioness who got in her way.

"Stay out of this Mr. Tama. A blind lionshould not be one to pick a battle." Zira said roared OH CRAP! Zira just made things worse! I knew from experience that even though Tama is blind she will tear you to shreds if you call her a male. I was missing fur for a week when I made that mistake.

"OH HELL NO! YOU DID NOT JUST CALL ME A GUY!" Tama though blind became fiery and would have torn into Zira when a wall of water got between the two of them. Nice Save Nala! That could have ended badly.

"That is enough! Tama don't let her rile you. She isn't worth it." Said another lioness named Kula, a dust brown lioness who had the unusual characteristics of violet eyes.

"You want to be next Nala?" Zira asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

Really Zira? She just saved you. This has gone far enough. I ran towards Zira and pounced. "Stop this now!" I shouted, but was then caught in the face by Zira who pinned me down with just one of her paws. I clearly did not think this through. She then shot a wall of fire in front of the others that smoke was suffocating OH BOY! Now I did it!

"Oh Koko! Time for you to pay the price for playing with fire." She sneered and then a flame began burningaround her other paw. She then shot the flame directly at the left side of my face. I roared in pain from the intense burning sensation that felt I was being stung by hundreds of hornets at once.

I could faintly hears my brothers screams over my own.
"KOPA!" he wailed. I could feel Zira shift her position, as I kept my eyes tightly closed. She jumped back for a moment, giving me precious moments of relief. I could feel a cool blast of air. He must have knocked her away from me. But then came an even greater wave of heat .OH KINGS, this is unbearable.

*Zira's POV*

I smirked as I felt Simba's air brushed aside me and I felt my flames grow more powerful with it.

"Thanks for the fuel Simba! Air always feeds a fire." As I ramped up the heat, I could hear Kopa's screams of pain and could not help but feel that I was in heaven right now! I FEEL SO ALIVE! Now might be a good time to find my next target.

"What will you do now Simba? You helpless runt! Some brother you are adding air to my flames." I then laughed as I saw hopelessness etch itself on to Simba's face. This was going to be fun.

*Simba's POV*

I was lost. All I could think of was trying to free Kopa from what must have been agonizing pain, but if I tried to use air again, it would just make her flames burn thatwas inflicted on Kopa, was making my heart ache. I also couldn't tackle Zira, even while she was restraining Kopa. I became panicked and dropped my head into my paws and cursed my helplessness. What do I do? I can't figure out anything to help him and every second makes it worse. This was cut short when I saw Zira begin to draw her other paw. Not caring what happened next,and ignoring her threats to myself, fury poured through my heart like a flood.

"LET HIM GO!" I shouted and swiped my back paws from pure instinct.

Zira saw my strange appearance and tilted her head in confusion. Suddenly a large amount of water came from the waterhole fell upon her, and put out any remaining flames. Because she was on a hill, she was swept down the hill with the remaining tides. The others then looked to me. I looked over to the water bender cubs, and all eyes were locked on me. But if they didn't do it, then I must have. I shook, not due to my brother's poor condition, but fear of what I had just done. The others then gathered around Kopa to check on his injury while Nala ran up to me. How did I just do that?

*Nala's POV*

What just happened was nothing short of insane. First, Zira starts to pick on Simba. Then, she turned on us for protecting him. After that, she blocked us off while burning Kopa and torturing Simba. And now Simba somehow managed to water bend?! All these ran through my mind but my eyes immediately zeroed in on the shivering cub I had come to comfort.

"Simba, are you alright?" I asked as I rubbed the young cub's back.

"I.. I don't know Nala." He said with a shaky voice.

"How did you do that? Water bend I mean."

"I don't know. I saw you behind the flames and then I saw Kopa being burned and I just pictured the water doing what it did."

"But how did.." I was about to ask when I heard a groan of head turned to Kopa, who wastrying to get up.

"Kopa!" said Simba who ran up and began nuzzling his brother in relief, but only caused him more agony. He then stepped back and what he saw shocked him and I both. OHKings!

"Kopa, your face!" Simba gasped, and was on the verge of tears as he saw the damage Zira had don. The entire left side of Kopa's face was burned to a point where if it did heal, lt would definitely leave a scar. THAT MUSOTA ( Snake)!

"Yeah. It sucks that I got burned but hey at least everyone is ok and you put Zira in her place." Kopa said with a smile and then ruffled his brother's head with his paw.

"But Kopa, it- it is my fault you got burned. If only I h-had been braver than me-maybe you wouldn't be hurt." Simba began shedding tears that flowed like a waterfall.

Kopa grabbed his brother and brought him close for a hug. "It wasn't your fault bro. Really. If you had not done what you did then I would have ended up losing my eye or even being dead. Don't blame yourself."

"But Kopa.." Simba said with tears still flowing.

"No buts. It was not your fault alright?" Simba nodded and wiped his tears.

"Well now that we got that out of the way. There is something that is bugging me and I am sure everyone else." Chumvi the oldest of us from the earth district then turned to Simba after getting everyone's attention. I already knew what he was going to ask and I frowned as I saw Simba shrink. Nice Chumvi! Put Simba in the spotlight why don't you?

"Simba how the heck did you just bend water?"

"Yeah. That is a good question." said Kula who also turned to Simba.

"Come on Simba. Don't keep us in suspense." Said Tama.

"That is enough you guys." Shouted Kopa who held his brother close.

"Yeah give him some room" I snarled with a glare which Tojo read and joined my side.

Everyone else got the hint and then backed up enough so Simba could have some space. Simba then moved away from Kopa and began shaking as all eyes were on him. He almost passed out from his heart beating too fast when he felt his brothers paw on his back and then heard his voice.

"It is ok Simba. We just want to know" Kopa said with a reassuring smile that gave Simba a bit of strength.

"Guys I really don't know how I bent that water. Or how I glowed like that. It just sort of happened." There has to be an explanation I thought until we heard a voice.

*Mufasa's POV*

"I think we can answer that." I said with an explanatory tone. All the cubs, including Zira who had snuck behind a tree, saw my giant form as well as those of Paku, Rafiki and my mother Uru walking up to them. My feelings were a mixture of relief that the problem had been resolved but shock at what happened to Kopa and fear at seeing Simba afraid of his own actions. Kings above, why did I not come with them when I saw Zira earlier?

"Dad? Mister Paku? Grandma and Rafiki? How long were you there?" Simba asked with confusion.

"We came as soon as we saw Zira's blue flames and arrived just in time to see Simba's amazing feat." Answered Paku.

"OH Kopa! Are you alright?" asked Uru who saw her grandson's burn and immediately went to lick his face. He began to whine.

"Grandma! I am fine, I don't need a bath." Kopa whined until he felt a sting of pain come from his eye as she licked it. I could not help but chuckle and recall when I would say the same thing. I then saw him wince and curl up into a ball to obviously handle the pain and I padded up to him.

"How bad does it hurt son?" I asked with an ache going through my heart as I saw his scar and cursed myself for not getting here sooner.

"It hurts quite a bit Dad. Mister Paku, can't you do something about this?" asked Kopa with hope in his voice.

"I am sorry Kopa. The water's healing can end the pain but you always bear that scar on your face." He said with his head lowered in shame. "But maybe if we are lucky, we can make it less noticeable".

"I can live with that mister Paku." Well he sounds like he will be ok but I still think I should keep an eye on him.

"Now then, to punish the troublemaker." I said as I began looked for Zira who I am certain noticed me and began to sneak away through the grass.

"Oh no you don't!" said Rafiki and Tama who felt her movements through the earth and stomped on the ground at the same time. A pillar rose beneath her feet that launched her all the way back to Pride Rock. Nice flight but I think her landing is gonna be a bit rough! I thought with a chuckle.

"Thank you Rafiki and you as well young Tama. I think Zira will learn from that little lesson." I said with a laugh.

"Dad?" asked Simba.

"Yes son?"

"Can you tell us why I could waterbend against Zira. I thought I was just an air bender." As Simba asked the question, all the other cubs as well as the other adults looked to me. I responded by sitting down, taking a deep breath and then looked to the group. I then spoke a secret I had kept for many moons.

"I knew this day would come. Son, the reason you can bend water is because the truth is you can bend all four elements"

"But Dad!" Kopa interrupted. "How is that possible?"

"Do you cubs know how we learn which elements you will bend from the time you are babies?" The cubs shook their heads no and then I continued. "When a cub is born from any bender union, Rafiki is called to bless the cub as well as perform a test to determine the cub's element."

"What test?" Asked Tama in curiosity.

"The test involves the leaves from Rafiki's tree which he carries in his gourd. These leaves have the power to reveal a cub's element. If the cub has no element like you Tojo, Chumvi, Kula then the leaf will remain still." I then turned to Nala.

"When a cub like Nala or her grandfather Paku has the element of water then the leaf will become wet." I turned to Tama and Rafiki next. "Then, if there is a cub like Tama or an ape like Rafiki had earth, then the leaf will crumble." I then turned to my young son Kopa. "When a cub is born with the element of fire like you or me the leaf will burst into flames.

Lastly, if the leaf begins dancing in the air with an unseen breeze then the cub has the element of air, like your Grandmother Uru."

"What did my leaf do Dad?" asked Simba.

"When the leaf was held before you, it split into four pieces. One crumbled, one burned, one became wet and the last one danced with the wind. It was unheard of in any pride member except one."

"who?"

"Your great-grandfather Mohatu. The first king of our lands."

"Wait but dad." Said Kopa who had a shocked look on his face. He has figured it out I thought.

"Yes Kopa?"

"Mohatu was also able to bend the four elements. That is what made him so legendary. If memory serves, does that mean that Simba is.." Kopa then hesitated to say what he wanted to say.

"What Kopa? What am I?" Simba pleaded with his brother. He saw that all the other cubs gasped, they had also realized what Kopa had realized.

"No way" said Tama.

"He couldn't be." Said Chumvi with disbelief.

"WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I AM MISSING?" Simba shouted with anger. He is so like me. I never liked being left out either. I then saw Nala put a paw on his back and give him a wide smile.

"Nala please tell me what is wrong with me?" He pleaded.

"Simba, it is ok. You are.."

"I am a freak aren't I?" I gasped at that. My son thinks he is a freak?!

"What?! No Simba. What I was going to say is that…" But Simba cut her off again.

"Come on Nala! I know I am. I mean, how many lions can bend four elements and glow like a star?"

"You can."

"Exactly, only I can. That makes me a freak." He said and lowered his head.

"No Simba. It makes you special and something else."

"What does it make me?"

She took a deep breath and then said, "It makes you the avatar!"

1) favorite lion king scene?

2) Favorite avatar animal?