"Tani," She blinked at the sound of Kopa's voice, yawning slightly. The darkness of the cave told her it was probably still pre-dawn. "Come on, I wanna show you something." She stood up and stretched herself out; as her vision adjusted to the light, she saw Kopa's outline by the doorway waiting for her.
"Why'd you need to show me so early? Couldn't we have waited till the sun was up?" She was still tired after last night's events and was slightly grumpy because of it, but Kopa would understand.
"It'd be too late by then! Come on," He began to walk outside, and Tani followed. The cool, crisp air made her breathe in sharply, but woke her from what was left of her sleep. "We need to get to the top before sunrise!"
The two lions climbed to the highest point of pride rock, where Tani had been the previous nights. When they got there, Kopa told her to close her eyes, and sit beside him. She did so; not understanding what would come of it. "Now open your eyes."
She fluttered her eyes open and the sight before her made her jaw drop. At this time in the morning, the pridelands looked as though they had been sprinkled with gold; even the waterhole was a pool of glistening yellow. She gasped in her amazement; it was probably the most beautiful sight that she'd ever seen.
"I knew you'd like it" Kopa grinned at her, glad to see how happy the view made her. "My dad brought me up here when I was younger." He looked out to the savannah. "Told me everything the light touches was our kingdom."
"Everything..." Vitani couldn't believe that all of this would one day be her's to rule, along with Kopa. It was hard to believe something so beautiful could belong to them...
"I love it Kopa." She tore her eyes from the pridelands to gaze at her lover. "Thank you for showing me this." She went up to him and, like she always did, slid her head beneath his; purring slightly. She smiled to herself as he groomed her tuft.
"I'd do anything for you Tani" The two of them stayed there, watching the pridelands until the sun had fully risen, and they began to hear the lionesses stirring from their rest.
"We better get going" Kopa said. "Father probably wants to teach me today; again." Vitani laughed at his restless-ness. He would make a great king if he learned to have patience, she thought to herself.
The couple trotted down pride rock, bumping right into the King outside the main cave. He had began to apologise when he saw who it was he'd collided with; however he wasn't angry, just slightly nervous looking for some reason...
"Ah, just the people I was looking for. Kopa, your mother needs you to look after Kiara; Nala is leading the first hunt today." He looked back to see his slender mate commanding the lionesses into three separate groups. He smiled in her direction, pride in his eyes.
"Sure thing, dad; come on Tani." She began to walk away with her mate, when Simba stopped her.
"I'd like you to care for Kiara alone for now Kopa. I need to talk with Vitani" He looked down at the young female, his expression revealing nothing.
"I guess that's ok. Just have her back to me soon." And with that Kopa strode toward his mother to find out where his troublesome little sister had disappeared to, no doubt with Kovu, thought Vitani.
"Now, I think we'd better find somewhere a bit quieter to talk, don't you?" He smiled down at her, something he'd never done before. Then he walked away in the direction of the birthing cave. Vitani followed, knowing that none of the females were expecting or nursing cubs; the cave would indeed be empty.
Once they arrived, Simba sat in the entrance, not wanting to go far in. Vitani sat on the opposite side, unsure of what to expect from this meeting. "Now, Vitani" Simba began to speak, looking her straight in the eye. "I doubt you realise why I've brought you here." She shook her head. "Well, I wanted to apologise for the way I've acted. I know it was wrong to refuse you into our family, after all if you make Kopa happy then that should be all that matters..." He sighed, finding this conversation more difficult than it had first seemed. "I think after all this trouble you deserve an explanation for my actions..."
"No really, you don't have to..." Vitani interrupted only because she was embarrassed that KingSimba felt he had to apologise to her.
"I want to Vitani. I know it may seem strange, but even a king needs to learn to accept his faults." He took a deep breath before he began again. "I believe you probably heard about Scar taking the throne, killing my father and claiming my death?" She nodded; saddened at the thought that Scar was her father. "Well when I returned, I gave him a chance to leave with his followers and start their own pride. Of course, he refused and when I threw him off pride rock, the hyenas attacked. You also know about how I killed you mother?"
"Yes, but I know it was to protect Kopa." She didn't understand where this conversation was leading.
"Yes, that's right. Well as I'd had such a bad experience with both your parents, I feared that you might follow in their paths... I wondered how two such evil lions could ever produce decent offspring. Even though it was obvious to everyone else that you wouldn't hurt a hair on Kopa's body, I was foolish enough to believe he was in danger. I was wrong..." He looked into Vitani's eyes. "I'm sorry..."
"Honestly Simba, its fine." Vitani didn't feel comfortable, and couldn't wait for this conversation to finish.
"Well then that's all I have to say." Vitani turned to leave when Simba suddenly called her back. "Vitani, I nearly forgot! Nala wanted to talk to you as well, brief you on the lessons you'll receive." Vitani turned to him, a confused look on her face. "Well if you're going to be queen, you need to learn how to be one!"
Vitani smiled at the king, grateful for his light-hearted tone. She hurried to the main cave where she'd seen Nala before, but when she found the area deserted, decided that the queen must've left with the hunting parties already. She padded into the cave to find Kopa play fighting with her brother, Kiara standing close by.
Kovu leapt forward, claws sheathed in a clean fight, and landed on Kopa's back, but squealed as the Prince rolled over to squish him. He squirmed out, laughing, but before Kopa could stand up Vitani pounced on top of him. She half giggled, half shouted as she told Kovu to 'finish him off'. The younger lion rushed towards Kopa, lying on his chest and cuffing his ears, while Vitani continued to sit on his lower half. Even Kiara joined in, grabbing his tail in her mouth and pulling gently, muffled laughs coming from her.
"Hey, no fair!" Kopa laughed as the three of them continued to attack him. "There's three of you, and only one of me!"
"Do you submit to the superior power of Kovu" Vitani laughed as Kovu puffed out his chest in an attempt to look regal.
"Anything to get you guys off of me" Kopa shoved at the youngster who crumpled onto the floor with a grunt. Vitani hopped off and he stood up, pulling his tail from his sister's mouth.
As the two younger lions began to play fight one another, Kopa sat beside Tani. "So what did dad wanna talk to you about?"
"He apologised for acting how he did, and then told me I'd start my royalty lessons tomorrow." She decided to leave out the King's lengthly explanation, not wanting to reveal all he'd said. She hadn't been hurt by the king's words, but she didn't want the same thought spreading into other people's heads.
"About time to! He had to accept you at some point, I wasn't gonna give you up in a hurry." He purred and licked her cheek. "Cause you're my number one girl."
"Hey Kovu, check out the lovebirds!" Kiara laughed, pointing at the two of them. Kovu was in hysterics alongside her, but neither Vitani nor Kopa were bothered by their remarks.
"Hey Tani, check out the pip-squeaks!" Kopa joked back, stalking towards his sister.
"I'm not that small! I'm not even that much younger than you." The princess tried to be outraged, but couldn't help a smile coming through.
The two royals pounced at each other, starting a play fight all of their own. As they did so, Kovu came to sit beside his sister.
"Hey Tani, do you really love Kopa?" Kovu looked up into his sister's eyes, genuine curiosity in his. The question caused her to look over to the young male who she'd been friends with for so long. His golden fur and chestnut mane gleamed in the half light of the cave, making a smile spread across her face.
"Yes Kovu. I really do..."