Chapter VI
Feeling the blood rush away from his head as he heard his daughter's scream die down, Simba quickly stood up and ran through the grass, his paws ripping through the moist, yellowish-green blades like a relentless, vicious beast of night tearing through the thick of a jungle. He saw Kiara only just ahead of him, with Kovu standing back from her, his face clearly having a look of utter horror upon it. Once Simba had gotten within hearing distance of them again, he shouted concernedly, "Kiara, what's wrong? What happened?"
Within seconds, the king got his answer. Stopping in front of the princess, he peered down upon her to see that she was tightly covering the upper side of her muzzle with her paws, her eyes shut tight as could be. She reluctantly removed them for Simba to see, revealing light streaks of blood gently streaming down her face, slowly getting larger and more vibrant as they trickled down from four scratch marks on her. Kiara's whole body was trembling, trying to hold back any further screams of pain. Simba opened his mouth in shock to say something, but then his line of sight veered over to Kovu, who seemed just as horrified as Kiara was right then. Simba saw that he had his front right paw extended slightly, with faint traces of blood upon his tiny claws, and his eyes wide open. In that instant, Simba realized what had happened.
"I… I didn't mean to…" Kovu said, his voice shivering. "I-it was an accident, Simba! We were playing and I…"
Looking down to his daughter again, Simba asked, "Are you all right, Kiara?"
The cub shook her head, putting her paw back upon her slowly bleeding scratch marks. "It hurts, daddy…"
Simba quickly replied, "Come on, I'll take you to see Rafiki. He'll take care of it."
Not wanting to waste even a moment, the king picked Kiara up by her scruff with his teeth as gently as he could. He said to her through his gritted teeth, "You're going to be okay, Kiara. I've got you."
Before setting off, however, Simba looked over to his right and caught one last glimpse at Kovu, who was still visibly shaking in fear. The cub looked into his eyes as he just barely managed to muster the strength to say, "It was an accident… I'm sorry."
Without saying a word, Simba gave him one final look before turning around and springing off in the direction of his old friend's tree, doing his best to be careful with Kiara. Almost instantly, Kovu froze. He had a look of sheer terror in his eyes, his blood felt as though it ran cold now, and his mind was a complete blank. Kovu didn't even feel the wind against his fur anymore as he gazed down upon his own paws, watching the blood ease its way down into his fur. He stayed like that for what seemed like hours to him. Had it not been for the sound of footsteps and faint chatter coming from behind him, he likely would've stayed there for hours more. Kovu quickly spun around, only to see something that made his pupils shrink.
The hunters! He screamed in his thoughts. It took Kovu a moment to realize that he wasn't imagining them. They were real. He mewled in terror.
They're already coming for me, he thought. They know I hurt Kiara!
Instinct took over now. With fear coursing through his veins, Kovu anxiously looked around him and soon spotted a group of thick bushes nearby, resembling that of underbrush. Avoiding eye contact with any of the lionesses, he went towards the bushes and dove into them, hoping they'd be able to keep him out of sight once he did. Kovu proceeded to crawl through the thin branches inside them and brush past the thick leaves of it, making what progress he could in the opposite direction. Shaking, he was only barely close enough to start to make out what the lionesses behind him were saying.
"I still can't believe he did anything like it," said a voice that Kovu instantly recognized as his new mother. From the sound of things, she seemed upset about something. "It doesn't feel real."
"Don't worry, Nadra," said another voice that he recognized to be Nala's. "That monster won't be causing you or any of us any trouble again."
Kovu trembled when he heard the lioness's chatting fade into obscurity as he went through the bushes still. He whimpered in terror, since he was certain that the huntresses were talking about him. It didn't take him long for him to emerge on the other side of the bushes now, the huntress's forms completely obscured by the branches and leaves within them. Feeling like he was far away enough to avoid being seen now, Kovu lowered himself into the grass, prepared himself to crawl forth and run wherever he could. But before he did so, he muttered under his breath,
"I'm sorry, Kiara…"
Away from him, none of the lionesses caught any sight of the small cub while they treaded forth towards Pride Rock, ready to feast upon their day's kills with their king. As they did, their conversation went on.
"But I still don't understand why he ever did such a thing." Nadra voiced.
"I don't know, Nadra." Nala answered, "Scar was just insane to do what he did, but he's gone now. That's all that matters."
They then heard the sound of annoyed breathing and turned to see another lioness carrying a large gazelle carcass on her back. "Not to interrupt here, but tell me again", she started to complain. "Why do I have to carry this thing?"
"You know the rules, Almasi." Nala began. "The last one awake has to carry the kill."
"Let me guess: It's 'tradition', right?"
"Blame Zazu."
Almasi sighed. "But I've never seen you carry the kill before."
"That's because I'm always the first one up," Nala replied, with just a hint of smugness in her voice.
"Why is that, Nala?" Nadra asked now. "You used to sleep in all the time when we were cubs."
Nala shrugged a bit at her friend's comment. "Simba and I just like to watch the sunrise these days."
"If I remember correctly" Almasi stepped in again, "He was the one who always got up early as a cub. What made you join him?"
"Well, Simba and I have gotten a lot closer since he came back," Nala responded with a smile.
"Here she goes again…" She heard another lioness say behind her in annoyance. Nala chuckled softly.
"I still remember how, when we were best friends as cubs, we were so disgusted at the thought of being betrothed."
"Simba wasn't your only best friend back then, you know," Nadra stated.
Nala laughed. "Of course not. There was you too."
Nadra nodded, "I know, but I was thinking Siri too."
Almost immediately, Nala felt her stomach drop at the mention of that name. Anyone around her could detect the sudden grim look in her eyes right then. It was almost jarring.
"Who's Siri?" Almasi asked. Nala hesitated.
"Besides Simba, she was Nala's best friend." Nadra explained for her. "They were like sisters. Siri wasn't always around too much; She liked to keep to herself a lot. But Nala was the one she could always open up to."
"She really was." Nala added. "She was the one who taught me my pinning trick."
"So what happened to her?" Almasi asked again. "I don't remember any lionesses like that when I joined the pride."
Nala took a deep breath. She knew she was going to have to talk about it eventually, given that Almasi was one of the newer pride members to come in. "I don't know. She and her mate Kenta ran away while Scar was king. We haven't heard from them ever since."
"Kenta?" Nadra asked. "Wasn't he friends with you and Simba too?"
"Yes." Nala said, "He and Simba were very close, so you can only imagine how Kenta felt when Scar told us Simba was gone. He was just as upset as I was."
"Wow…" Almasi muttered. "Well… when was the last time you saw them?"
"A little while before Simba came back." Nala answered. "Before they left, we found out that he and Siri were expecting cubs. That's why they had to leave, so Scar wouldn't kill them."
"Who? Them, or their cubs?"
"Pick one."
"I hope they're doing all right, Nala." Nadra commented.
"I do too…" The queen added.
Kovu ran headlong for his life, his thoughts tumbling around in his mind as though they were caught in the most incredible earthquake conceivable. He hadn't even been in the Pride Lands for a day yet, and already he had caused Kiara to bleed and gotten the entire pride on his tail for it. (As he thought.) To say that he was scared would do no justice at all for how much he feared what could go down by the end of that day. It took all his remaining strength not to break down in tears at what he'd done. Kovu looked around him for some place to hide, barely noticing that the sun to his right was beginning to set. Against the orange and pink sky of dusk, Kovu soon saw ahead of him what looked like another rock formation of some sort. Upon running closer to it, he could start to see that there were two odd-looking walls of rock piles on either side of a stony pathway, almost as if it were a small ravine jutting out of the ground. Kovu had seen numerous rock formations like this before in the Outlands, but he never once expected that something like them would be here in Simba's domain.
But the young cub didn't question it. He was far too anxious for questions. Kovu remembered how rows of stone piles like could make for good hiding places; that much he remembered from Zira during his old training to catch prey off-guard. Feeling like he had nothing to lose in doing so, Kovu ran in between the strange-looking rock wall piles, practically shaking his head trying to look in every direction for a crack or a nook of some sort within them. Sure enough, as soon as he turned a corner, Kovu spotted what appeared to be a small den no more than two feet deep into the rocks. That was all he needed. Kovu instantly turned into it, slid into the space between the tall stones, and dug himself deep into the back of the den as tightly as he could fit himself, as to hide himself in the shadow. He took only a moment to catch his breath before the urge to let his tears go free from his eyes began to take hold.
Kovu put his paws up to his eyes, once again going into deep thought about what had just happened. He must've stayed like that for what felt like hours to him, hardly ever looking back up to look on the outside. An hour really did pass as he laid there on his own, fear trickling through his veins and only occasionally glancing outside to see the shroud of twilight set upon the place. Had it not been for what happened next, Kovu likely would've stayed there for the rest of the evening in hiding.
"Kovu?" He heard a familiar voice call out from just outside. Instantly he jumped in fear. "Kovu, are you here?"
The cub whimpered in fear. "Go away!" He said, sounding daunted. He then heard the sound of footsteps approaching again, and he lowered himself down in terror, crouching into the corner of the small den. Within moments, he saw the source of the voice approach him.
"Kovu?" Nadra said concernedly. "What are you doing in there?"
"How did you find me?" Kovu asked. Nadra replied, "I followed your scent. Why are you all the way out here?"
"Please, leave me alone." He whimpered softly, just barely loud enough for Nadra to hear.
"Come out of there, please." She said solicitously. "Come on, there's rhinos that live just around the corner from here. They're going to chase us if they see us here."
"They won't see me." Kovu said. Nadra sighed. She had promised to prove herself as a mother the day before, and now was her first chance to keep that promise and everything that came with it; to put herself up to her first test to be the mother she'd always wanted to be, ever since the fateful incident with Scar that she and the others talked about before. She silently prayed that she wouldn't say anything wrong or do anything to make things worse.
"Kovu… there's no reason to be upset." She said, her tone staying gentle. Kovu picked his head up and looked at his mother directly for the first time that day. Instantly, she could see the apprehensiveness in his eyes and hear the shakiness in his voice. "Why not?" He asked. "I'm just a monster who won't be bothering you anymore, right?"
"What the-?" Nadra started, confusion clear in her voice and her expression. "Kovu, sweetie, where did that come from?"
"I heard what you and the hunters were saying about me before." Kovu answered with a verbal twinge in his voice. "You were coming after me and saying those things about me! That monster won't be causing you or any of us any trouble again, remember?"
Nadra thought for a moment, trying desperately to figure out what her son was talking about. But it only took her a short time to realize it. Her eyes widened. That talk we had with Nala… she thought. Kovu heard that?
"Oh… oh, no no no, Kovu, you misunderstood." She consoled. "None of us were talking about you, not at all."
"Prove it."
"We were talking about Scar, sweetie."
Kovu slightly raised his eyebrow. "What?"
"The girls and I were just having a chat when someone brought up Scar and how terrible he was. He did a lot of bad things; that's what we meant. I should know. I had to go through it firsthand…"
Kovu could start to hear the sadness in her voice growing for some reason, confusing him. He had a feeling the Pride Landers never looked back on Scar with any fondness, but something about Nadra's tone sounded different. Different as though she were remembering something, like a suppressed memory of some sort. He didn't want to accidentally bother her by asking what it was.
"So… Scar was the monster you guys were talking about?"
Nadra perked up and nodded, regaining her composure as their conversation carried on. "Absolutely, Kovu. We would never say those kinds of things about a sweet cub like you. You know I love you."
"Oh…" Kovu muttered, still thinking about what he'd heard earlier. The cub had to admit, he felt like a fool right then for taking such words out of context and assuming they were for him. If there was one thing that he could remember from Zira's ways before, it was to never assume anything about anything. Trying to think of how to approach the situation as well as she could, the lioness went on. "But I did hear what happened earlier. Simba talked to me about it just a little bit ago."
Kovu's ears drooped. "And now he wants to beat me, right?" He assumed sadly. Nadra nearly gasped at his conjecture. "What? Kovu, no, never. Why would he ever hurt you like that? He wouldn't take you in just to do the same thing Zira did. Isn't that what we promised you yesterday?"
Kovu reluctantly replied. "Well yeah, but… this is different. I hurt the princess on my first day! That's worse than just doing something normally bad. Simba looked so upset when he left."
Nadra came in closer to her cub now, lowering her head so she was sure he could hear her as clear as possible. "Listen, Kovu. I talked with Simba about it. He's not mad at you."
Kovu's ears rose up slightly. "He… he isn't?"
Nadra shook her head. "Of course not. Simba was only worried for Kiara's safety, that's all. But he does want to talk with you. Talk nicely, that is."
"Oh…" Kovu muttered. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
Nadra gave him a bit of a crooked smile. "Well… we'll cross that river once we get to it. But for now, you need to come out of there. It's going to be okay, I promise."
Kovu thought to himself for a moment, still looking worried about any number of things that Nadra could only guess was on his mind right then. "What about Nala?"
"She isn't mad either." Nadra answered. "She and Simba only want to talk."
"Is Kiara okay?" The cub asked further.
"Yes." The lioness answered. "She wasn't hurt nearly as bad as Simba thought at first, the scratch wasn't deep. Rafiki's tending to her right now, it's nothing serious."
The cub sighed deeply in relief. "You see?" He heard Nadra finish. "Nothing's wrong. Simba just wants to talk, that's all."
Although his emotions and his desires of what he wanted to do were mixed, Kovu had a feeling that his mother was right. At the very least, he was willing to trust her word this time and give things a chance; especially after finding out he was mistaken about the 'monster' statement. It took quite a while and quite a bit of self-coaxing on Kovu's end, but eventually, the former Outsider managed to stand up on all fours once more, which put an earnest smile in Nadra's face. Kovu stretched himself slightly, and never took his eyes off the lioness before him as he walked forth and entered the space outside the tiny den once more. It took his eyes a moment to readjust to the light of day that was approaching the hour of twilight. He stayed close to Nadra as the two of them finally began to tread forth through the pathway ahead of them, out of the rocky place and towards the direction of Rafiki's tree.
"Thank you, Kovu." She said to him. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise. Even if anything does happen, I'll protect you. I always will. You know I love you."
Kovu nodded. "I love you too."
Although he did have something of a renewed sense of hope and calmness, he couldn't help but feel anxious still. Simba might not be mad, but what if Kiara was? She was the one who had gotten cut by his own claws, after all. She was the Pride Lander he'd had the pleasure of knowing for the longest amount of time so far, and the absolute last thing he wanted was for her to be afraid or cross with him. Especially so soon after an Outsider like him had been taken in. At this point, the main reason Kovu was going with Nadra was to see if Kiara was upset or not. The thought was bothering him a lot more than he knew it should have been.
"Mother?" He finally asked the lioness. She looked down to him. "Are you sure no one's going to beat me?"
Nadra chortled. "Kovu, the only time anyone's ever going to beat you is if you get into a snail-slurping contest with Simba."
It was strange. Kovu had never seen such an enormous tree in his entire life, let alone one that almost seemed so lonely in the middle of the grassy plains before him. Its leaves were light green and incredibly thick, its trunk was more broad and massive than an elephant's limbs, and its height almost seemed to rival that of Pride Rock itself. (To a cub like him, at least.) Kovu knew he wasn't going to see all of the Pride Lands on day one, but how he managed to miss such an enormous looking tree like this, he would never know. At the very base of the tree's trunk, he saw Simba and Nala both looking up past the branches of the tree, as if they were waiting for something. Kovu could already figure out what it was. Their forms grew ever larger and ever closer as he walked nearer to them, with Nadra still beside him to his left. Kovu had a puzzled look on his face.
"Mom?" The cub asked out of genuine curiosity. "Who's Rafiki?"
The lioness smiled. "Oh, you'll see, Kovu. He's our shaman. Something tells me you're going to like him."
The cub took a nervous gulp as he finally came within earshot of Simba and Nala. The king was the first one to see him approaching, but the queen was the first to say anything about it.
"Kovu, there you are!" She said. Kovu detected no trace of anger or displeasure in her voice, so he nervously got ever closer to her and Simba. "We were looking all over for you just before." She said concernedly. "Where were you?"
Kovu visibly hesitated, so Nadra spoke for him. "I found him in a small rock den out near the rhino herd's territory. He was trying to hide, I think."
Kovu nodded in confirmation. Nala took a step closer to the cub, looked down and said "Well it's a good thing Nadra found you when she did, Kovu. Those rhinos would've chased you out of there for sure."
She got no reply. Soon enough, Simba came forth and cleared his throat, wanting to break the awkward silence as he and Kovu hesitantly looked at each other. Kovu took a second to observe Simba's face; He didn't see any signs of hatred or wrath within it like he expected, and his eyes appeared rather calm. But he could still tell that the king looked firm and serious, just not in a terribly threatening way. It was more in a kingly or fatherly way.
"What happened, Kovu?" He finally asked at length. Gaining enough of his trust to speak with more confidence now, Kovu replied,
"Well… Kiara and I went off to play like you wanted and she said she wanted to play tag. I did too, so we started to do that, but I tried too hard to tag her first. I just wanted her to be 'it' really badly, and I guess I tagged her too hard, and… I'm sorry I hurt your daughter, Simba."
Simba sighed. "I understand, Kovu." He said as calmly as he could. "You didn't mean to hurt her. I've given this some thought, and I think I know why you went to hard on Kiara. Is it because you're used to playing more rough than she is?"
Kovu bowed his head and said nothing. Simba went on. "Well, I understand you aren't used to things here yet. It's okay. But there certainly are some lessons to be learned from this."
"Like what?"
Simba looked back up and faced the lioness beside him. "Nadra, you take it from here."
The lioness tensed up slightly. "Kovu… I want you to know that you're a good cub, I love you, and I know it's going to take time for you to adjust to the Pride Lands. It's certainly different than the Outlands, right?"
"Yeah." Kovu said. Nadra responded, "It must be. But after this, we're going to try to teach you some things. We'll teach you how to play nicer and be more gentle with others. Okay?"
At length, the cub replied, "Okay."
"And that's absolutely not a bad thing, Kovu." Nala added now, sounding encouraging. "You'll be able to make lots of more friends once you're able to calm yourself. Don't feel bad."
"Although", Nadra continued, "We know it was an accident, but you do still need to learn from this."
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Kovu muttered. Nadra sighed. "Well… we have to teach you somehow, don't we? We can't overlook discipline completely."
Kovu replied, "Okay… what'll it be?" He asked. Nadra gave the king and queen a brief glance before she answered, "Well, Simba and Nala said it was my choice what to do with you. So I decided. Since Kiara's supposed to be grounded tomorrow anyway, I guess you will be too."
Nadra expected Kovu to become even more melancholy upon hearing what his punishment would be. But to her amazement, his ears actually perked up, his eyes widened, and for the first time that day, she saw the one thing she'd been hoping for more than anything else on him: A smile grew on his face.
"R-really?" He said. "That's all? Nothing worse than that?"
"Wh-… no, why?" Nadra asked confusedly. Kovu stood on all fours now. "That's not as bad as what Zira used to do at all. I could handle just being grounded for a day."
Simba smiled at the cub's newfound enthusiasm. Never before in his life had he seen someone of his age become so uplifted at the news of being grounded before. "I wouldn't get too cocky there, Kovu." Simba reminded with a chuckle. "You don't want her to make it last longer, do you?"
"Oh, uh… sorry." Kovu replied, subduing himself. Simba was about to say something else right then, but before he could, he and Nala heard a noise coming from above them in the branches within the large tree. They looked up and saw a sight that they'd been waiting for what felt like hours now: At long last, they saw Rafiki climbing downwards to the ground, tightly holding the healing princess within his left arm and being as gentle as he could in his descent. Nala smiled.
"Kiara!" She called out happily. As Rafiki got closer to the ground with her, they could start to hear his familiar laugh that they'd grown so accustomed to from him.
"Don't worry now" they heard him say to Kiara. "Everyting's going to be fine."
Kovu looked utterly confused as he watched the blue-furred baboon shaman reach the grass below him and gently lower Kiara to the ground. Kovu saw that she had a small bundle of tree leaves tied around her muzzle over her scratches, probably with herbs of some sort beneath them. Kovu could guess that this baboon was some sort of healer of the Pride Lands, which made him feel safe since he could only dream of having something like that in his previous home. But he wanted to be sure.
"Mom?"
Nadra looked down to him.
"Is that Rafiki?"
Before the lioness could answer, Rafiki smiled and looked over to Kovu, laughing like he often did. "Is dis Rafiki?" He asked eccentrically as he went over and leaned down to get a closer look at him. "No, of course dis is not Rafiki! This is just a rock dat grew legs you are seeing!" He added with playful sarcasm.
To say that Kovu was mystified would have been a euphemism in every sense of the word. He certainly wasn't afraid, but he was incomprehensibly bewildered.
"Uh… hi?" He said awkwardly. Rafiki's tone soon became friendlier. "So dis is de new cub Kovu I've heard so much about! Ah, de great kings were right. You look just as splendid as dey said you would!"
Kovu muttered, "I'll take that as a hello?…"
"Kovu, this is Rafiki, our shaman I told you about." Nadra mentioned. "He's the wisest one in all the Pride Lands."
Are you sure you don't mean 'craziest?' he thought to himself.
Rafiki kneeled down and said to the cub, "I have heard much about what you have been through, Kovu. De great kings were very kind in choosing you."
Kovu raised an eyebrow? "Choosing me?"
Simba replied humorously, "It's only an expression he uses."
"Okay…?"
Rafiki smiled and went on, "Your life has been saved, make no mistake. De lioness you used to call mother cannot hurt you any longer."
"Thank you, Rafiki." Kovu thanked innocently. The baboon calmed himself for a moment. "And do not fear about what has happened today, Kovu. You will learn from de past just as your king did, I promise you that. In fact, I have a secret for you, young cub."
Rafiki then leaned in towards Kovu's ear, whispering, "Whenever you feel uncertain like you did today, just remember: Where dere is life, there is hope."
Kovu's eyes widened. "That's the same thing mom told me earlier!" He said in amazement. "How do you know that too?"
Both Rafiki and Nadra tittered upon hearing this. The lioness explained, "Well, I did say I heard it from an old friend, didn't I?"
Kovu then took a second look upon Rafiki, finally figuring out what Nadra meant by the old term now. "Wow…"
"This lioness has made a wise choice in mothering you, Kovu. She has been through more dan you know to decide it. De great kings are with you."
That last part he said while looking upon Nadra, and she merely bowed her head in respect. "Thank you."
Then, Rafiki looked behind him and said "Speaking of lionesses… There might be one other who has been wanting to see you for some time, Kovu."
"Oh, yes", Nadra remembered now. "I'm guessing there's something you'd want to say to her?"
Kovu felt his newfound spirits drop sharply once they said this. He knew exactly who they were referring to, and as soon as Rafiki stood back up and moved out of Kovu's way, there was no avoiding it any longer. Kiara faced him again for the first time since the incident, and from the look of her, Kovu couldn't tell for the life of him what she was thinking. He grew edgy as he finally stepped closer to his new friend, watching her lightly rub her muzzle with her paw. She could tell Kovu was extremely nervous. There was a long moment of silence that came to pass between them.
"Well, go on!" Rafiki encouraged affably. "De great kings did not bring you here to remain speechless your whole life, you know."
Eventually, after he swallowed hard, Kovu said to the princess, "Kiara… I'm really sorry about what happened before. I didn't mean to hit you that hard, i-it's just what I'm used to."
Kiara nodded and simply said, "It's okay, Kovu. I'm not mad."
Those were the only three words that the former Outsider needed to hear for nearly all of his anxiousness from that day to drop from his mind, like a pile of loose rocks sliding from the side of a canyon after just one of them slips from place. But even though the relief was overwhelming, so too was his feelings of uncertainty as he continued to briefly study the look on Kiara's face. She seemed unnerved by something still, evidenced by her sagging ears and unusually tense posture.
"See? All is well!" Rafiki proclaimed.
"I suppose that about settles that." Simba spoke at length. "Kovu, you're forgiven. What's say we head back to Pride Rock for something to eat now?"
"I'd like that." The cub declared. With that, the tread back to Pride Rock could begin once more, which began with Simba turning around and starting in that direction, with Kiara staying close to his right. Nala cleared her throat.
"I'd say this's been an… interesting first day, Kovu." She said.
"Yeah…" Kovu responded. As the group of five finally left Rafiki's old tree, Kovu took one last look behind him to see the old baboon climbing back up into the branches above, laughing to himself over kings-only-knew-what. Kovu spoke. "He sounded nice. But he acts kind of crazy."
Nadra smiled. "Well, I wouldn't be too bothered by that, Kovu. He's a good person. You'll get used to the more, well, odd side of him soon."
"Kings know I had to…" He heard Nala mutter to herself. Kovu chuckled when she did. But on the way back home, Kovu was in deep thought, reflecting on his first day as a Pride Lander. He tried to focus on the positives. He'd gotten to sleep in for the first time he could remember, his trust in his new mother was solidified, he was able to see more of the kingdom, and he was able to meet the kingdom's shaman with a good, if not weird first impression. But no matter how hard he tried, the cub couldn't keep his thoughts from drifting towards Kiara. More specifically, how she was acting right then as they walked through the grass. She would take frequent glances behind her to look at Kovu for a moment, as though she were expecting something from him right then. Something painful perhaps. She remained silent on the whole journey home. Whenever Kovu tried to come up closer to the princess, she would noticeably try to avoid him or evade eye contact, and later even shifted sides so she'd be on Simba's left side to steer clear of him. Kiara seemed so anxious about being near Kovu, and it didn't take Rafiki's wisdom to figure out why. Kovu frowned.
I knew it, he thought. She's scared of me now.
Kovu felt about ready to let his new sense of hope drop once more, since he had apparently upset his first true friend in this new home. But after he mused about what went down on this day and what Rafiki said to him, he straightened his posture slightly.
Where there's life, there's hope, he thought. Hope for Kiara, maybe?
If there was one thing Kovu certainly had right then, it was the hope that he could mend the apparent tension between him and the princess before it could escalate to something worse. He had a terrible feeling that it would do just that if he didn't try to do something about it first. I've gotta make it up to her, he thought. Rafiki says I've gotta have hope… I hope tomorrow's gonna be a better first day than this was.
