Kovu saw the hunting party and the other lionesses disappear into the den as Priderock came into view. "Vitani must be there," Kovu thought, still angry at Ndume and for what he had said about Kiara...
Vitani walked out of Priderock. Nala had asked her to go make sure the Fertilanders knew the hunting party had returned. She turned to look out at the savannah for a minute. "I never thought I would be looking down from here as a Pridelander..." Vitani thought.
Her sharp eyes noticed something moving across the ground, and she realized it was her brother. "Why's he angry?" she asked herself, confused...
As Vitani turned out of the last Fertilander's den, she saw Kovu had made it to the den. He seemed to be looking for someone...
Kovu aggressively tore a chunk of meat off the zebra, and almost bumped heads with his sister, Vitani. He mumbled an apology as he swallowed, not really interested in the meal anymore.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked, suddenly impatient to get away from anyone who might over hear what he was about to say.
"Sure," Vitani answered as Kovu led them out of the den and out into the windblown grass.
"Ok, what's wrong?" Vitani asked.
Kovu looked at her. "You know me to well."
Vitani laughed. "Kovu, I think even an idiot could tell you're angry."
"You're right, I am angry, and confused," Kovu confessed. Vitani's laughter died in her throat. Her brother was obviously troubled.
"About what?" Vitani asked.
"Do...do you think Kiara meant to do it?" Kovu answered.
"What are you talking about?" Vitani asked, confused.
"When Kiara stopped mom from attacking Simba. Do you think she even tried to help mom when she was clinging to the cliff face?"
Vitani shock must have shown on her face, because Kovu looked ashamed.
She mentally kicked herself, "great, now you've made him feel like dirt."
"Kovu, we both know Kiara tried all she could to help our mom, even though she knew mother would have attacked her as soon as she was safe," Vitani said.
Kovu looked down at his paws, unable to meet his sister's eyes. "You're right, I can't believe I...how could I...I'm so sorry," Kovu ended up saying.
Vitani looked at him for a moment. She couldn't figure out one thing. "What would make you think she would have done anything else?" she asked, "you even saw the whole thing."
Kovu finally found the strength to look at his sister. To his surprise, he realized she wasn't angry.
"Earlier I was talking to Ndume, and he just said...thing about Kiara that made me so angry and confused, I didn't know what to think."
Vitani thought for a minute. She wasn't an expert in this kind of thing, and she didn't want to say something wrong.
"Kovu, I think you need to talk to Kiara. That's all I can say," Vitani finally said, feeling like it wasn't helpful at all.
Kovu broke into a smile and nuzzled his sister. "Thanks Tani," Kovu told his sister. He realized they hadn't really spent any time together since they had become Pridelanders.
Vitani was surprised that worked. "Anytime," she answered.
Kovu suddenly thought of something. He looked at his sister. "Please don't tell anyone about this, especially Kiara. She has enough to worry about as it is."
"Ok, I'll keep my mouth shut," Vitani promised.
Kovu nodded gratefully. He seemed better, so the two walked back to Priderock.
"We should all do something together sometime," Kovu suggested.
"Yeah, when Kiara can walk," Vitani joked.
Kovu smiled, "she'll be fine in a few days."
"I know. I wish we could have caught that rogue," Vitani said.
"Yeah, me too," Kovu agreed.
"Night," Vitani said as they reached the den.
"Good night," Kovu answered as he lay down next to Kiara, who was asleep. Kovu licked her cheek, apologizing to her for what he had thought. A smile formed on her face, even though she was asleep. "Good night," he whispered.
Kovu had one more thing on his mind, though. He had make his anger at Ndume go away. He lay there thinking, when he saw the sun setting. He closed his eyes, and pictured his anger going away with the setting sun.
It was the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep, and he could feel his anger slipping away as he drifted off to sleep.
But it didn't disappear with the sun. It only left his attention and found its way into his subconscious, waiting there until Kovu lost control of it...
Ndume lay awake in his own den. His hate for Kovu and the rest of the Outlanders had grown when his parents had told him that if it hadn't been for Kovu, he would be betrothed to Kiara right now.
His mind worked furiously, trying to think of another way to make Kovu angry again.
"I have to make sure he is right on the edge of blowing his cover, then get him alone with Kiara. If I can do that, something will happen that will make him completely loose control," Ndume thought.
Then he realized that if he did that, Kovu might yell at Kiara, and her heart might be broken. Ndume reminded himself that if he didn't do it, though, worse things would happen to Kiara. "She won't love him any more once she realizes he is evil, so she won't have a broken heart," Ndume assured himself
Ndume thought of what had happened when he had told his parents what he had said to Kovu. They had told him he would need to do something like that at least one more time. Ndume had happily agreed.
Ndume rolled onto his side, giving up on trying to decide what to say to Kovu next. His thoughts shifted to Kiara. He thought about when he had arrived here a few days ago, about seeing his friend for the first time since they were cubs and about what Malkia had said.
"Mom was right, Kiara has blossomed. She was pretty when we were cubs, but now...she's beautiful. But she's more than just a pretty face. She's smart, she stands up for herself, and she has a good heart. How can Kovu not see that?" Ndume's thoughts shifted back to Kovu as he finally thought of what to say to the heartless lion when he had another chance.
He focused on what he had just thought of.
"It'll work," Ndume thought with a new burst of assurance and a drive to see this plan through to the end. As Ndume finally started to fall asleep, he thought about Kiara again.
"I'll save you from Kovu's dark heart," Ndume mumbled to himself as he slipped into a peaceful sleep, dreaming about being able to finally have Kiara as his mate, to be able to nuzzle and kiss her, and for her to nuzzle and kiss him back...