Zira paced before him, her crimson eyes dancing with joy. She had done it, and now Kovu was the only thing standing between them, the only obstacle preventing her from finishing Simba off like she should have months before.
It had all gone awry. Zira had seemed peaceable enough in her explanation to Simba about his lost son, but when she had said she did not kill Chaka, that instead he could possibly still be alive, Simba had become angry. He had told Zazu to go for help, and while Kovu quickly subdued the bird in thoughtless panic, Zira took the opportunity to attack. He knew he should have expected it, but he still found it unbelievable and surreal. Kovu had desperately tried to stop them from fighting, but it had been no use. They tore at each other with every intention to kill their opponent. Now, he stood with his hind legs to Simba, who was stretched out on the ground, hardly coherent, and bleeding from his shoulder, face, and back. The broken-winged Zazu lay a few feet away, barely conscious.
Zira paced to the right of Kovu. His eyes did not leave her. She laughed. "Now look at what you have done, my son," she said. "How will you get out of this now? You cannot possibly be forgiven for this."
"What I have done?" Kovu roared, enraged. "This is your doing, Zira! You've ruined everything, just like always! I was so stupid to trust you!"
"I have done you a favor, Kovu! It was written before you were born for Simba to die and for you to succeed Scar in his place."
"Scar, Scar, Scar! He's the only one you ever truly loved!" he spat. He then scoffed, "Nuka told me once that Scar never even loved you back! You were but an eager, foolish lioness to him, the most willing to give him an heir, which he rejected!"
Kovu braced himself and swatted Zira to the ground when she lunged at him, her eyes like hellfire. She struggled to her paws, but once again she was knocked down. Kovu held her there. His claws drew blood and she roared in pain.
"What does it matter to you?" she cried. "I've sacrificed myself time and time again… and now I have finally done what my beloved could not accomplish!" She let out another peal of laughter that was laced this time with pain.
"Simba will see that I can be trusted. He'll live, and you'll die!"
"Look behind you, Kovu. Simba won't see me die because he's already dead," she told her son, peeking at the fallen king.
"Do you think I'll fall for that?"
"Kovu, he's dead! Look for yourself."
Kovu paused to make sure she could not free herself before he turned his head to look. Sure enough, she was right. "Noooo!" he cried, leaping to the king's side. "He's not breathing…" Kovu nudged Simba's head with his muzzle, but it failed to bring about a reaction of any kind. He couldn't believe this had happened.
"That stupid baboon was right…" Kovu whispered wretchedly. "Simba's dreams were right… I'm still nothing but a killer…"
"Stop your babbling," Zira spat as she pushed herself to her paws. She went to stand next to Kovu, to see her handy work for herself. She smirked. "You'll never be able to escape who you really are, Kovu."
"But I was so close…"
"Now you can become king in your own right, my son," Zira crooned. "All you have to do is lie to them. All you have to do is blame it on those rogues."
"No, I never could do that."
"Yes, you can, and you will. You were born to follow in Scar's pawprints."
He looked at Zira hard. "I'd rather let you kill me, to put me out of my misery, than become a pretender to the throne."
She shook her head adamantly. "Fool…" she muttered quietly. "I could never kill you."
"Why?"Kovu shouted.
To his surprise, Zira shrank back a little as she said, "You're… you are my son."
"You threatened to kill Vitani during the battle," he pointed out callously,
Zira shrugged. "I was caught up in the heat of the moment. I still wouldn't have killed her."
Kovu was silent and turned his face away to stare unseeingly at Simba. What could he do? His normally calculating mind was irritatingly blank. He had to come up with something quick. It would be easy to just lie, to never breathe a word of this again, wouldn't it? But could he live with himself-living with Simba's daughter, Simba's mate, Simba's grandchildren-and lying to their faces every day? He thought could he never do that. "Mother…" he whispered.
"Yes, my son?" There was a little rise of hope in her voice that sent a chill through Kovu's numb body.
"Although your distorted sense of mercy stretches as far as your children, I cannot say the same to you."
He turned to stand over her.
Zira's eyes dilated as comprehension fell upon her. "What are you going to do...? You wouldn't kill your own mother, would you?" She backed up as Kovu came towards her, menacing her. She didn't recognize him. She had always been able to picture in him the young, sweet cub she had trained up into this killer no matter what, but now she couldn't see him at all. He was lost. Perhaps she had succeeded too much.
Futilely, Zira tried to scramble away, but she was yanked onto her back by Kovu's claws, which were sunk deep into her back. The wind was knocked from her when she hit the ground. She looked up at Kovu, who stood over her, the view of his face flipped. She gasped. His gaze held no emotion.
"Good-bye, and good riddance, Mother."