~*Chapter 6~

"Wait a second! You of all people should recognize this place." Donald called after Hiromi just as she was about to step out of the ship. They had landed in a patch of grassland far from much of anything. But looking around, the girl spotted a landmark.

"Oh. Crap, that's right." The landmark was a giant rock formation that stood out above the plain like a sore thumb. Pride Rock: home of Simba's Pride. "I have to go animal to blend in."

"Bingo," the duck quacked sarcastically. "C'mere a sec, all of you." He gathered everyone together closely, and raised his wand. In about one second, they all underwent a transformation. The humans became lions, while Goofy turned into a turtle and Donald… sort of just gained the ability to fly. As she somewhat came to expect, the text for the world they had entered rose up into her vision. "Pridelands", it said in solid, stonelike block letters, with the rock in the background.

Hiromi jumped back from the rest to look at herself. She was a rust color all over with a brown tail tuft and a little more scruff on the top of her head than she noticed on Kairi, who was sandy-yellow, though so pale she was almost white. Riku had gained dark gray fur to complement his luxurious silver mane. Sora looked the same as he had the first time they had come to this place, his mane incomplete even after all these years. Hiromi thought she noticed a hint of jealousy directed at his best friend, but she was sure she imagined it.

In addition to the physical changes, all their clothing was gone, as well, with only a single item left on them. Sora kept his necklace, Goofy and Donald kept their hats. Kairi held on to her bracelets, which twirled around her paws at each step she took. Riku kept his arm brace, and Hiromi retained her pendant. The transformations complete, the "mini-pride" of outsiders prepared for the journey to Pride Rock.

"Man, I can't believe we're back here," Sora mused as they trotted along. "Simba and I go back to the beginning, y'know? He was a really helpful summon for a good chunk of my starting days, and I got to even fight alongside him later. It'll be great to see what his kingdom is like, now that Scar's outta the way for g—" Suddenly, despite the lack of much environmental cover, a huge, dark lion tackled him seemingly out of nowhere. He was about double Sora's size and easily pinned him to the ground. Sora gasped with recognition. He looked like a younger version of Scar. He even had the deceased lion's namesake in the same place.

"Sora!" Everyone started racing to him, hoping to team up and free their friend, but the other lion roared threateningly at them.

"Any one of you moves and I kill him," he growled. "Now, what are you doing this close to the Pridelands?"

"We're just here to see Simba," Goofy said gently. "We're old friends."

The dark lion scoffed. "Yeah, I can believe you and the bird, but the rest of you all look even younger than me."

At that moment, a lioness stepped out from the grass. They hadn't seen her either. She had a deep yellow coat and pretty burnt orange eyes.

"You know my father?" she asked, her expression a mix of fear and sincere curiosity.

"Yes, we do," Donald quacked, landing on Goofy's shell. "I think you were in your mom's tummy last time we visited."

"Visitors… You're the outsiders my dad's been talking about?" She suddenly lit up. "He goes on about you all the time! Sora, Donald, and Goofy, right?"

"Yep, that's us," Sora said, still under the bigger lion's paws. "Um, d'you mind getting your buddy off me? I kinda can't breathe…"

"It's alright, Kovu. He's telling the truth."

Now it was Kovu's turn to look confused. "But… If they're that old… they shouldn't look like—"

"You don't need to worry about reasons, we outsiders age a little more slowly than you guys, I guess. Eh-heh-heh-heh…" Riku shook his head and rolled his eyes. Anyone could see through Sora's ridiculous cover story, if it could even be called that.

The two lions didn't question it, though. Kovu turned in the direction the others had been following and looked over his shoulder at them. "Well, c'mon, then. We were just headed back ourselves."

"You did WHAT?!"

They had finally reached Pride rock after about an hour, and the young lioness was standing defiantly in front of her father. Simba looked just as Sora remembered him, except nowadays he seemed a little more slumped over than before, probably because of getting older, but also perhaps something else, as well. He would probably have to talk with him later about that, in private.

"I went to the far end of the savannah," Kiara repeated matter-of-factly. "Kovu was with me the entire time, there's no need to—"

"I have EVERY reason to worry, especially when you're with that… that outcast!" Simba's face burned with hatred. "He's Zira's ward. She even used my trust in your judgment to let him infiltrate our pride and learn all about us. He was reporting back to her on everything we did!"

"That's a lie, and you know it!" Kiara shot back. "You even know that she denied his return because he 'turned soft'. Now he has nowhere to go, and you won't take him back in because of something he did in the past he has no control over?"

Simba's face relaxed a little, almost begging. "Kiara, lis—"

"I'm through listening. As long as I can remember, you've been overprotective of me, and won't even tell me why."

By this point, Nala had entered the chamber, and a look of genuine pain crossed her face. She looked at her mate and desperately, silently pleading with him.

After a few seconds with a staring contest, Simba finally backed down. "Fine, Whatever. Go do what you want, I can't stop you anymore."

"Simba—" Nala began to speak, but he just brushed past her. Kiara took this opportunity to stomp out in a huff, leaving only the newcomers with the older lioness. She sighed, and put on a more cheerful face.

"Sora, welcome to you and your friends. I apologize that this was not on a happier note, but there is a reason he does not like to let her out of his sight very often." Her smile took a grim shadow that lasted only a second before fading. "You remember I was pregnant last time you visited, right?"

"Yeah. She's grown into a very pretty lioness," Sora began, but if he had anything else he was going to say faded as Nala hung her head, the pain returning to her face.

"That was our son."

Everyone in the room paled. She had another cub in the time they had been gone? Before any questions that had formed within the minds of the outsiders, Nala continued.

"Kiara doesn't remember him. He was barely old enough to start growing out his mane when she was born. Zira had been on our lookout for a while at that point; we knew she desired power even from that early on; we had watched her when she was still with Scar, snaking her way into being his "personal favorite", as it was. After he died, we thought we were safe. Zira is no threat on her own, and not even the hyenas were that stupid to stick around with her. But after Kopa was born… she somehow…" Nala paused to lower her head in grief. "I should have warned him, thought it was safe enough. Simba and I had played there plenty of times, and we were confident he would be able to fend for himself. But I had forgotten that last time, before Simba had been banished. We were foolish and had gotten ourselves cornered. If it hadn't been for his father…"

Sudden realization dawned on her, and she pardoned herself before sprinting out of the room, leaving the new arrivals to stare dumbly at each other for what seemed like two hours. It was probably more like thirty seconds.

Finally, Sora broke the silence with a sing-songy "Awkward…" No one was amused.