Hi there once again.

I hope that you got some great gifts for Christmas and had some great time.

So today we have the last chapter of this year. And that leaves us with only five chapters left (this one already excluded).

Starzinmyeyez: Don't worry about the reviewing thing. ;) When you think about, the life of Simba and Nala really has been a mess.

Reldor: I know that you are all waiting for the return of Kopa. But relax, he is alreadyy back on his way.

Chapter 14: fate of a family

"Okay! Is it clear?" Tama asked as she called out to the ochre male Tojo and the pale caramel female Niyani as the duo walked up the pathway upwards to the top of pride rock where Tama along her mate Malka as well as Sabini and Nafsi were waiting. The sky was star sprinkled and very clear yet with fog lying all over the grasslands and made the moon reflect in it lighting the whole kingdom with the pale light.

The two turned their heads around giving a nod to the other ones before walking over to them. "Yes, but I'm not quite sure about the location. Wouldn't a place far away from our home been way better than right on top of it?" Tojo replied as he and his mate sat down right inside the circle of the six adult lions.

The tarnish/orange female waited for a short moment before she exhaled and glanced into the round speaking out. "Okay, so this is how it goes. The northlanders have started to ruin our hunts as they moved closer to pride rock with every day. Yet they still wait for the final attack. Personally, I think that they are mocking us." She gave away facts that were no secret to anyone of the lions present. Yet every one of the group listened in carefully.

"But what I don't get here is why we have to meet up here with no one allowed to hear us." Niyani threw in glaring around to neither see Kiara, Kovu or Zazu nearby to listen to them as well.

Nafsi and Malka exchanged glares as the pale golden female replied short after. "Because what we are here to discuss is a strategy to throw those invaders out of our home. And doing that without our acting king and our acting queen as well as their major-domo could be interpreted as treason against the crown. Tojo has informed us that ever since Meethu died." She wrapped a front leg around her daughter as she tried to calm her down. "The mistrust under the young ones towards Kovu is bigger than ever before." She said letting everybody know how disappointed she was in that fact.

"They won't follow him against the northlanders." Malka added to the words of his mother before he directed his head to the ground disappointed as well.

Even though this hurt her as well, she still wasn't convinced that they should be out here alone by themselves. "That's what I thought. Naima is looking at him with the pure disgust, even Tojo and I can't knock some sense into her." She answered before she brought up another pint. "The loss of Simba and Nala has also brought doubt into the others. They recall themselves as the former outsiders again." She bowed her head as well before she got it right up again.

"But… what about Kiara, she is the rightful queen. Aren't they supposed to follow her after all?"

Again, the older lioness and the tarnish/orange female glared around shaking their heads. "Have you seen Kiara lately, she's trying to hide it but… she's a wreckage. Her parents are gone, her father might never return to her and she doesn't have a single clue where he cubs are, all in while her home is invaded and her subjects are not willing to follow her mate. For a young lioness like her, that's way too much to handle."

"The problem is that the pride is even more divided than ever and we don't have a king." Malka said with a heavy voice wishing that Simba wouldn't have gone sick in the first place. "What we can do now is to take over for a moment and bring the pride united behind us."

Niyani and Tojo as well as Sabini stared at the other three as all of them had surprised and questioning looks in their eyes. "And who do you suppose should become the leader of this kingdom? It's not like we have that much royalty left beside Kiara and Kovu!" Tojo threw in getting into his sarcastic side again. Again, the three threw another set of deep glares towards their ochre colored cubhood friend. Tojo's eyes widened as he tilted his ears back. "No way!?"

But Nafsi and Tama were already set on that idea. "There is a slight loophole in the law where it's set that if no member of the royal family is able to be the king, the next dominant male's can become the leaders. Which leaves us with… you and Malka." Nafsi said and stepped up in front of Tojo who had his muzzle hanging down all the way to the ground.

Sabini turned around and stared to the western side of the kingdom where the northlanders were hiding for sure right in that moment. "I bet he's out there laughing at us and is only waiting for us to give up.

And indeed she was right. Up in the western hills on the highest mountain stood the king of the northlanders Ingelozi watching up to the giant rock formation serving as the castle for the king and queen. Although they had not been there for a week. The brown furred and green eyed male stared into the distance completely satisfied with himself.

"Your plan is working!" He said to the other male that had been going along with his plans for such a long time. Itshe sat just a few feet behind his king and listened carefully. "They are starving out there. With us ruining their hunts and my pride to be fed well, they soon will have no other chance than to hand the kingdom over to me in order for them to eat again. Just like you said; no more bloodshed than necessary."

Itshe in the back, smirked evil to himself without the king noticing it. He himself was extremely satisfied with himself but mostly for the fact that he had the king thinking in a direction which he wanted him to think. If Ingelozi is reacting the way I want him to be, he is really going to lose patience very soon. The perfect time for my own agenda to take in.

Was the expression of Ingelozi lightened up and even a bit happy, his gaze went stern and hateful again. "But then again, we still haven't found the cubs of the princess. Whoever has taken them away with them, they are really doing a good job. And I still haven't rattled the cages of my children at pride rock enough. There's still so much to be done." He began to speak in a distant and even a bit crazy voice as the two males saw the queen Ikhaya moving over to them.

"But that can all wait for tomorrow." She said in an also slimy voice before she rubbed her head against the king's chest. She turned her head around and stared at Ingelozi in a seductive way and the two males immediately understanding what the queen wanted from the brown furred male.

He didn't wait for a short moment before the king began to follow the queen away from the scene. "You have to answer one question Itshe!" He said with his head turned back to the beige ex-pridelander as he gave away a challenging and demanding expression. "We have been raised as family. Beside me and my brother, you were the only one that was allowed to visit my father alone. So I have to know…"

Ingelozi didn't wait for the Itshe to give an answer and simply waited for the other male to nod slightly. "You have also been raised and trained by Scar. Now… I know that he had another plan installed for you other than helping us win the pride wars. So when the time had come for you to choose between your new family and your mentor… what side would you have chosen?"

Kimae's son thought carefully for a moment before he gave away pretty cryptic answer. "It's simple, I would have taken the side of the ones that had the better chances of succeeding." He answered and was unable to hold back a nasty smirk.

But that was exactly the answer which the northlander king expected to get. "I see." He replied before he turned his attention back to the light brown lioness at his side. "Well, in that case… see you tomorrow. The day we bring the pride lands yet another step towards our rule."

The situation Tama and the others described the other night above pride rock was actually the right situation to tell about the pride lands. The situation was downright critical. They were starving ever since the invading pride had started to cut them off from the prey and the herds. The controlled everything from the western side of Zuberi River and therefore had lots of waterholes under their control.

It was something that chewed on the pridelanders nerves. And so, even with the lions and lionesses not being allowed to leave pride rock alone, a lot of them did it anyway. One of those was the daughter of Tojo and Niyani named Naima. The pale caramel female wandered through the grassy landscape as she searched for anything she could eat.

She had her gazes directed to the ground to avoid the bright and strangely hot and wearing sun from above. This is ridiculous, those lions are invading our home and that stupid mate of Kiara is doing nothing. I know that I was a bit harsh on him. But even if he's supposed to be the future king, he has to step in for Simba. But he and his sister are doing nothing. She thought angrily as she shifted her gazes slightly from side before she spotted a young zebra running along through the grasslands.

Naima licked her lips as she brought her body low to the ground and ready for the hunt. She thought the opportunity most welcome as she followed the black and white animal. The pale caramel female was about to go into a sprint when a brown flash appeared in front of her and suddenly blocked her path towards her prey animal.

Tojo's daughter glared up and stared directly into the face of a male lion from the north lands who growled down on her. Her eyes widened as she growled back as she tried to move to the side and away from the foreign lion. Yet she didn't get far as she collided with another male lion coming from the back.

Both started to circle around her as one of them started to call out to her. "It is not wise for such a little fragile creature like you to be all out her on your own." He said with both of them closing in on her.

"What do you want?" Naima asked as she got her composure back and tensed her muscles back up.

A chuckle appeared from the other side and she immediately turned around to see the brown male Ingelozi and queen Ikhaya coming over to them. "Relax pridelander, I'm not here to kill you… not yet. I simply want you to deliver a message for me." He brought his face closer to hers and Naima tried to move backward again. Yet she right away collided with the chest of one of the other males. "You will go back home to your pride and tell that son of mine and his sister that I want to have a talk with them. Tell them to meet me at this exact spot at dawn. And then I may let your lousy existence continue for another day. Do you understand?"

Even though the pale caramel lioness was shivering, she tried her best to not show it. She kept on a stern expression and nodded slowly to make clear that she indeed understood.

Ingelozi smiled down to her in a mocking way before he turned around and distanced himself from the scene. But not without turning around again and directing his gaze towards the trio staying behind. "And since I want to make sure that my threats coming having substance." He nodded towards the males and they began to growl. "Explain to her that we don't do empty threats. And show her how we cement our statements in the northlands."

He and Ikhaya didn't even bother to look back as the two males began closing in on Naima who held her ears back in fear.

"You know, perhaps having someone tell you 'they went into the desert' wasn't exactly the most precise way of direction he could give you!" Mwehu spoke frustrated as he, Konde and Kopa were wandering through as they still searched for the way which Nala and Simba had crossed in order to get to their hiding place. "I bet you that we have been going in circles for quite a while now." He stopped and felt the still open wound on his shoulder that he sustained from the attack with 'Fat albert'.

The sand was blowing all over the place and got into their wounds, their eyes and their ears. It was something that made it very difficult for Kopa to track down a single glimpse of the scent of his parents. A scent that he didn't even recognize that well anymore. "My parents talked to me a lot about how dad had spent his youth in a jungle on the eastern side of the desert. It's just… that I have no idea how to orientate without a smell to catch on." He admitted what Mwehu said and continued padding through the sandy area.

Konde in the back stared around and as he somehow took a sudden interest in a dune to their left and he kept moving up to it. "I sure have no idea how a king smells. He stopped for a short moment as he thought about the way he said it before he continued. "But I know when I can smell food and water." He added before moving upwards the yellow sandy dune.

In the back, Mwehu and Kopa stared after him as the golden former prince slowly spoke into his ear. "Can he really smell water?" He asked almost half not believing of the abilities of the adult leopard.

"You'd be surprised at what he can smell."

They shrugged their shoulder and followed their feline friend over the edge of the dune and then found themselves staring at a wide flat plain and a small oasis just a few feet in front of her. Kopa's eyes widened once again as he saw Konde down walking up to the small pond of water that was set in the middle of the small green island in the desert. "Wow! He really can smell water!" Kopa said as he chuckled before turning his head to the side.

What he saw over there took him completely off guard and let his heart jump for a while. Far away on the edge of the horizon, he could see a shimmering landscape of green plants reaching high into the air. And he was sure that that was neither a mirage nor the jungle he and his two friends had lived for the last years. "Mwehu! Look!" he gasped out loud and nudged the maneless lion in the side before pointing with his paw towards the jungle in the distance.

"You're either the greatest navigator n the world. Or you're just the luckiest lion that has ever lived." The male lion with the Mohawk answered as Kopa couldn't help to smile back at him.

"Well, the fact that I survived an attack from a full grown lioness, a fall down a cliff into a river before getting washed away by it and being able to live through it to reach an adult state. That should be enough evidence for you about how lucky I got." The younger one replied sharply before he came down walking over to the oasis where the yellow furred leopard had settled down for a nap. "Hey Spots!" He called out to him before he came to a halt in front his friend. His face turned into a stern and urging glare before shoving him into the side. "Come on! We have to keep moving. The jungle is just into that direction."

He called and glanced to the side where the pale cream male lion got over to them at once and lied down as well. Again, the thought to be dead prince narrowed his eyes and shifted his head back and forth between Konde and Mwehu. "Guys! What's wrong, if we keep up the pace we can be there before the night sets in."

The leopard lifted his head up and stared at their young friend as he shook his head. "How far is it away?" He asked and glanced to the side where the scarred male lied raised his head as well ready to answer.

"I guess about a whole day of travel. I could only see it on the very edge of the horizon." His voice was sleepy and he turned back to licking the wound on his shoulders. He grunted for a short moment until he muttered out frustrated. "My shoulder is killing me!" He said slightly growling and resting his head on the ground again.

Kopa and Konde locked their eyes on each other and the young lion gave the leopard another stare of urge. But Konde quickly interfered before the golden furred one could call him again to get up. "It has been a long trip already. Look at us! We have to rest here and wait for the night to com until we approach that place. If we really have to get back and fight for your kingdom, it doesn't help us if we are drawn out from the travel before that."

"But! But… my parents and my pride need me. The sooner we get over there, the quicker we can get to the pride lands." But as he saw how the leopard and the older lion were already at the edge of sleep, Kopa let his ears hang and dropped onto his stomach as well. He rubbed his paw slightly over the ground staring up to the sun and into the desert as his gaze got more and more bland.

"What's wrong?" Konde asked again as he saw the golden furred prince got a frustrated glare and rested his paws on the shoulder.

Kopa sighed and somehow began to bring out his inner feelings once more. "All these years, I have been hiding from my family and my friends, the few I had. And now that I hear all these new from my home, there's no time for me waste any more time and come to aid my family." He began to chuckle as he thought of another person that he couldn't wait to see again. "Hehe, I wonder what Tani is going to say once I get back and see her again."

The faces of the two males lit up and their muzzle turned into small smiles. "Ta-ni!" The both said in a low and long drawn out voice.

Kopa realized what he done the moment they said out her name. Now he had no other choice than to speak out the story that lay behind this name. "Yes, Vitani! She… she was the only friend that I have during my time in the pride lands. She is Zira's daughter and Kovu's sister. You would actually really like her." He remarked pointing with his paw towards the scarred lion.

Before he couldn't even pretend Konde from saying out loud, the leopard began talking with a slick smirk. "So… that's why you were afraid of getting it on with that lioness?!" He half asked and half yelled out at the same time. "If I would have known that you might have someone waiting at home, I wouldn't have searched the jungle for possible girlfriends." He laughed with all of them knowing that he was kidding.

"Might be true!" Kopa answered as he thought a bit more into that direction. But the more he thought about the tan almost boyish female, the more he felt his mood lighting up. After all, he had no idea how many of the pride were left from the time he last was in the pride lands. Vitani on the other hand had always been there for him. And there was no way for her to fall victim to the northlanders. She was just too strong for that.

Yet on the side, it was Mwehu's turn to observe the young adult with care as he began asking out himself. "But that's not all that is chewing on you?" The leopard asked with raised eyebrows and scratched his side with his back leg.

Again, Kopa stared towards the sun and then to the two felines. "I just have been thinking, it had been so many years. I was wondering what I was going to say if I really find them there." He gave away from the beginning and nearly closed his eyes thinking about his parents again. "I told my father that I hated him and my mother that I wished she would give birth to a dead cub. I was so angry and… I fear the moment I step in front of them again."

Again, there was a short pause as Konde thought about how to get some courage beck into the mind of the young adult. "Now listen kid, from what I've heard so far, your parents are the most kind lions that had ever lived in this world. And trust me on this one, no parent can stay mad at their cubs for that long." He assured him and Kopa got back to smiling again.

"But still… it had been so many years that we haven't seen each other. Hell… he thinks I'm dead. And now that he is dying, we have no time to catch up with each other." Kopa once again went in with the doubt still being inside him. "What if I find him and he is barely able to recognize me or even realize that his son has returned? And with all that has happened…"

But already, Konde and Mwehu waived with their paws to give the young adult a sign to quiet down. The pale cream lion was the first to speak. "Endure and accept!" he already saw the stares of the younger one and held his paw up as saying let me finish. "I know that sounds cruel but… it's something that you have to understand. You can't change the past, even if you regret many things that happened in it. You are living in the present and the future. As hard as it sounds, don't grieve for chances unused and take the ones that offer themselves for you right now."

Kopa was not really convinced with that statement. The regret he felt for his last meeting with his parents was still too big. "You expect me that I just burry the past with the death of my father?"

"No!" Konde then came in and the young lion turned his head around and glared at the leopard. "We expect you to accept the fact that you made some mistakes in the past. And that you have to live with them. Live is full of mistakes and failures, but the way we emerge from them shows our true self."

"What do you regret most in your life?" Nala's son then asked as he felt a bit relieved and having the opportunity to talk honest with his friends again.

Konde rubbed his chin with his front paw before replying. "Seeing as how I am perfectly able to live in a group as a leopard, I regret that I went the way of my nature and broke up nearly every connection with my family." He answered slowly. "But then again, I have you as my family now. And that's worth more than you can imagine.

A chuckle escaped from Mwehu's muzzle and he slowly stared upwards seeing both his friends giving him a challenging smile. "As for your interest, I made way more mistakes in my life than what was healthy. But still… I don't regret any of those. They made we who I am today, and taking back one of those failures, would take away my identity."

Kopa smiled and then shook his head in order to understand what the two felines at his side had been telling him. It may be only a day of travel, but the young male was already completely out of composure as he thought about his parents and how he was about to be reunited with them.

The sun of the outlands was merciless as it shined down on the rocky and sandy ground of the dead landscape. Yet unlike the desert, there wasn't any breeze going down and filling the air. For the group of lions trying to get towards the ride lands themselves, things were getting more and more dramatic as the three hungry and exhausted lions moved through the dead and dried out land.

Yet it wasn't that much walking as more sitting for the moment as Kichwa approached his sister Akili as she crawled out of a hole in a stony wall. He quickly rubbed his head against hers before he asked out right away. "How is she doing?"

The caramel female knew what her brother was talking about and slowly shook her head. "Not good! Her condition has become better since yesterday, but she is still in no way of getting into a fight with Ingelozi and his followers." Akili said as she had her ears leaned back and sat down just in front of the dark brown male at her side.

Their lion's sister Moyo had gotten sick from dehydration over the last moments and for now was unable to take any long walks constantly. And with her not unable to move very fast, their plan of getting to the pride lands and help the king and the queen in their fight against the northlanders was already completely ruined. Kichwa himself sat down as he kept listening to his sister going on. "In this condition, we won't make it into the pride lands. It might be better for you to continue on our own."

At once, Chumvi's son was on edge as he brought his paws in front of him in a denying way. "And leave you two out here all on your own? Are you nuts?" He asked already giving the answer to the female. "I promised mom and dad to watch out for you, and I'm not going to disappoint him anymore."

The last statement was something that made his sister to jerk her head slightly backwards frowning in confusion at what Kichwa was saying. "What do you again? When did you ever disappoint dad in the past?" She asked crawling a bit closer to the dark brown male.

Kichwa brought his ears downwards and shook it slightly. "I promised that one day, I would watch out for this family. And yet here I am, with my parents taking refuge in their own home. And then we have my sister and I stumbling through a barren wasteland and Moyo getting sick in the middle of it. That's some nice record." He brought out and hammered his paw onto the ground in frustration.

"Don't think that Kichwa, you were just as caught by surprise and shock as the rest of us. We just weren't prepared for any of this to happen. Just don't get into this self regretting mood." Akili spread a smile and walked over to him rubbing their heads together and rested again in the sand and dust. "I guess we have to wait until Moyo gets better. We found a small pond of water inside. For now, we should rest until we get ready to fight."

Even though the talk he had with his sister didn't wash away some guilt that he felt before. He had to agree that she was right for now, there was nothing more to do for them than to wait for their sister to get better.

Sunset came earlier than Kovu and Vitani wanted to come. But the closer it came, the more nervous the siblings got. It wasn't that long ago that they had to witness the lioness Naima coming back to pride rock. Her face and her body beaten up and scars and cuts laid all over fur which was sprinkled with dried blood. The pale caramel lioness was full of bitterness and hate as she returned and gave the duo the message that Ingelozi wanted her to give them.

The dark brown male led the way with Vitani following close by and having a stern expression on her face. The tan female kept her head and her gaze moving from side to side observing their surroundings while her brother had his gaze locked right ahead his eyes showing a stern expression. If he would have had a chance, he would have left his sister back at home. But the young female barely left him a choice. And since his father didn't care for Naima to be roughed up like that, he was certain that he would be dry that out on the rest of the pride as he didn't do as Ingelozi told.

They kept walking for another ten minutes until they reached the grassy field right next to a small boulder where they could see the tracks being left over from the fight the former day. Kovu sat down and turned around facing the tan furred female with his green eyes glaring at her anxious and slightly sorrow.

"And what now?" Vitani asked out in alert before she got back onto her paws and glancing around again. She had her senses on the edge all around her and narrowed her eyes to look towards the grass surrounding them.

But that was when they both heard paw steps coming from behind and making their ears jerk up and their heads turn into towards the source of them. And that was when Vitani caught her first glimpse of the brown lion telling her brother that he was her father. The green eyes of Ingelozi locked on the young lioness and the dark brown lion and his muzzle spread out to a huge smirk.

Their gazes were stony and cold as they kept glaring at their father and Vitani couldn't hold back a growl from escaping their mouth. Yet Kovu tried his best to keep his sibling down and gave her a short look to make her calm. "We're here! What is it that you want?" The acting king asked sharp and brought his head forward and he narrowed down his eyes to stare the foreign king down.

Ingelozi raised his head and stepped forth before he smirked down on his son. He didn't pay that much attention towards Kovu then towards the tan female in the back as he began smirking over to her. "You must be the sister of Kovu! What is your name my child?" His voice was slimy as he threw laughter towards Vitani which made the female shiver.

But Kovu's sister kept growling before she quickly answered between her bared teeth. "Vitani… and I am not your child!" She remarked showing her dislike for her supposed father.

For a short moment, the young male wanted to throw back another glare at Vitani to deescalate the situation. But then again, it was her right to be angry right now. Kovu quickly put himself together before he went back into the conversation. "You wanted us to come here and talk to us. So here we are. We didn't come here just to have a small talk." He said with a growl and only forced the brown furred king to smirk again.

"Directly to the point, I see Zira's temper in you!" He remarked and caused the two lions in front of them to gaze even angrier than before. As he kept glancing to the side, he began padding slightly to the side and turned his back on the group in front of him. "Oh alright! It's actually pretty simple. I am her to make a proposition to you."

Right away, neither Kovu nor Vitani was feeling good in any way about the words of Ingelozi as they kept glaring angrily and cautious at their father. But the foreign king didn't really wait for the two to answer as he continued. "I give you tow one final chance to stop the bloodshed and deliver the kingdom to me." He began and Zira's cubs tensed up right away.

"My lions and my subjects have successfully kept you away from your prey. And without food… you will starve." He almost said those words as if he was lecturing the duo throwing mocking glances at Kovu and Vitani. "I on the other hand can make that you will not longer have to go hungry into your sleep. If you decide to give up pride, kneel before me and accept me as your new king, I'll make sure that you and your mate as well as your cubs can flee this place unharmed. But only if your pride stays loyal to me."

Kvou glared towards the ground as he somehow expected this to happen. And he was sure he expected the older male to know what his answer was going to be. "Do you really think that you can come here and take our home without us having a word in that? There's no way that we are backing down from you. We swore to Simba that we would protect our kingdom from you." He said out loud as his sister came walking over to him and stood right at his side in a supporting way.

Ingelozi, thought being a bit angered, kept his calm and chuckled slightly. "You're just as stubborn as my brother. You also don't know when to go with the trend and stay with your lousy principles. Have you ever thought about what we two, what we three could accomplish as a family, how we could rule this two kingdoms as one? Together we…"

He didn't get any further before he was interrupted by the tan furred female who brought her head forth growling viciously. "We WON'T… you invade our home, you try to enslave our friends and pride… and you dare call yourself our father. WE WILL NEVER KNEEL BEFORE YOU. I would rather die than to be one of your subjects." With every word, Vitani got more and more angry before she got hold back by Kovu who shoved quickly into the back.

"I think we're done here!" Kovu said and gave Ingelozi another hateful and despising look before he and his sister began to move away from the scene with the brown male growling over at them.

Yeah, just like Itshe expected. The bonds between the pridelanders are just as strong as they could be. At least underneath the ones being born in the pride lands. Though I wonder if that is the case with the other lions living inside this kingdom. Slowly, he followed the duo of young adults for a few steps and glanced after the duo of young adults before he gave away a short roar in frustration. "If you are really that loyal to each other, you should die just like the rest of your pride. I will make sure of that."

Ingelozi took another glare at his paw before he hammered it onto the ground as his gaze turned from angry and offended towards mocking and determined. "But first, I will break your spirit until you wish you were dead. And then, I'll grant your wish!" With that being said, he couldn't help himself but to start chuckling and move back towards the place where his own pride had settled down.

He could smell them; they were not that far away from him. He could feel that he was getting closer and closer with every step he took. And his stomach and his heart were tensed to a point where he nearly couldn't take it anymore. Nervously, Kopa set one paw before the other one as he had his head to the ground and giving away a slow mutter under his breath. The golden furred male glanced upwards and stared upwards towards the crown of the trees and the sun shining through them.

"This really looks a lot different like the jungle we lived for years." He could hear Konde mentioning beside him. The leopard himself kept staring at the landscape around them as he saw how it looked a lot more friendly and safer as the wood the trio of carnivores had found themselves surrounded by for most of Kopa's ife.

Kopa brought his muzzle to the ground and sniffed it once again searching for the direction he would get to his parents the fastest way. Beside him, he could feel another pair of legs stopping beside him and he felt Mwehu stopping right by and glaring down on him. His face was questioning as he brought his paw to his muzzle and pondered with a confused tone. "Now… if I were a king being on the run from my worst enemy and being close to dying, where would I hide?"

From a few yards away, the leopard Konde sat down himself before he thought about the situation as well. "Giving the location we're in, they could be probably anywhere.

And he was right. Even if Kopa could catch the scent of his parents, he was unsure of where to run to. For a moment, he thought he had it and raised his head. But then he found the trace being completely cold and tried his best to keep his mood up. He was not going to fail this close before his goal. And that was when he heard voices in the distance.

It took a while for him to find the direction where the source of the voices was coming from. But when he did, it brought a smile towards his face as he realized who the ones were that kept yelling throughout the jungle. Those two! Kopa thought and turned around towards his two older friends. "Come on guys, I know where to go!"

He quickly rushed away and left Konde and Mwehu standing back staring after their young adult friend. It was then that the duo heard a shrill sound in the distance which turned out to be some hysterical laughter.

At once, the scarred lion raised his head in shock before he muttered out to himself. "Oh no! Not him!" As he spoke, Konde glared at him with confused gazes before Mwehu continued. "It's the monkey!"

The leopard shook up at once before he replied. "Wait… what monkey?"

"You'll see!" With that, he began bringing distance between himself and his black spotted friend.

Yet Konde wasn't ready to let this go. He glared after the lion with a confused look. "Uhm… Mwehu, come back here! Wait what monkey… you didn't say anything about a monkey. I HATE monkeys." He called getting louder with every word and every step that the male lion set between them before he stormed after him.

[far away]

"Y'know Pumbaa, when I actually talked about me wanting to share my snail stock with ya'. I didn't expect ya to eat them all by yourself." Timon said with a frown as he had his hand pressed into his hips. The meerkat glared up to the red warthog and tried his best to stare into his friends face.

Yet the red colored animal nervously moved his left front leg over the ground and having his ears hanging flat to his head in an excusing way. "Well uhm Timon, I uhm… actually didn't mean to… I was just…" He tried to apologize but the male meerkat already threw his arms around turning away from him and knotting his arms together.

To the side of the two, the old mandrill Rafiki sat on a boulder just beside the waterfall where Simba and Nala kept hiding behind in a cave. He had settled down cross-legged and held his eyes closed as he seem to meditate even with the noise coming from the other two animals able to disturb any kind of calmness around.

Yet he suddenly stopped as he could sense someone approaching from the distance. The mandrill slowly opened one of his eyes and stared into the distance before he could see a figure appearing in the line of trees. Timon and Pumbaa stopped their argument for a short moment as they themselves stared at the figure appearing in the clearing directly beside the waterfall. All three of them locked their eyes onto the male lion standing a few feet away and glaring at them with a half sorry and half enthusiastic ways.

Rafiki's eyes widened and the baboon turned his gaze into a completely confused and shocked expression. But the other two on the other hand stopped right away and their eyes widened in shock before they turned around in defense as they saw the unknown lion approaching them. They both were close to screaming as another male lion came into the place followed by a full grown male leopard.

Again, the face of Rafiki went wide as he made contact with the scarred lion stopping a few yards away from them. Konde's eyebrows rose at once and he could nearly see his jaw dropping to the ground. "Uhm, Mwehu… do you see what I see?" He asked confused as he saw the strange sight in front of them.

"Oh yes… bacon!" Mwehu called from the side and they both could see Pumbaa jerking his head up in shock as he screamed out a long WHAT!

But right away, Kopa was right in their faces and slapping both of them across the face. "Those two are not for dinner!" He called angrily and turned back around to the group of animals of which the warthog and the meerkat got ready to run away from the group. Only Rafiki was waiting for the young looking golden furred male to come closer and smiled gladly at them. "What's up guys?" Kopa called out to them bringing his head onto the meerkat's level.

Feeling that this lion could be here to kill Simba, Timon quickly formed his hand into fists and raised them moving around like a boxer. "Alright fellow, come here if y want some!" He said jumping around like Muhammed Ali before Kopa and laughed out loud.

Yet the supposed to be dead prince laughed out loud and clapped his paw onto the ground in delight. "Relax uncle Timon! I'm here to help." He said and he could already see the color inside his father's oldest friends fading and Pumbaa throwing back and forth between Kopa and Timon. The words coming from the lions muzzle caught the meerkat and the warthog completely by surprise as they exchanged glances. Again Kopa was amused and even started to chuckle. "Pumbaa it's me… Kopa!"

Like a train hitting a car, Pumbaa and Timon got hit by the revelation and just continued to stare at the young male in front of them. They both walked back and forth as they observed him carefully, and that was when they realized and their faces turned into broad smiles as well. "KOPA!" Both called out and Timon jumped upwards into the brown mane before rubbing his knuckles through the hair of the male lion. Pumbaa bumped his head into the side of the prince as they laughed out loud together.

"But how in the world…?" Timon began extracting his arms as Kopa had calmed down hugging both of them. After he pulled away, he found Rafiki walking up to him and pulling the young adult into a warm hug himself. In the back, Mwehu as well as Konde just decided to go along with the program and sit down in the big circle.

It took a while before the golden male began bringing his face into a stern expression interrupting all the questions that Pumbaa and Timon kept throwing towards him. "But how did you survive? Why didn't you come back? What's up with the hideous guy with you?" He simply scratched his paws over the ground before getting to his paws. "Timon! I have other things to address right now." He turned right away towards the mandrill. "Where are they?" He asked silent and weak as Rafiki smiled over at him and pointed towards the small pathway beside the waterfall.

Konde nudged his lion friend into the side before he spoke out to him. "I'll go climbing the tree tops and some little recon. See if we have some uninvited guests around here!" As Mwehu gave him a nod, he quickly moved along to a trunk before climbing a tree.

Kopa's gaze fell flat to his head as he stared to the place where he would soon see his parents again. Without paying attention towards his surroundings anymore, he slowly padded forward his gaze never letting off from the place beside the waterfall. Out of the sudden, he felt his paws getting heavier and heavier. But when he arrived at the pathway upwards, he stopped and suddenly was unable to move.

Yet only when he found the monkey putting one hand on his back, he found the strength to move upwards and following Rafiki upwards until they stood at the move of the cave. Kopa glared to the side as Rafiki smile and pointed with his hand to the inside. "Come on… get in!"

Kopa nodded and with a loud sigh, he entered to finally get his life and his past back in line.

Author's note: I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry sorry sorry sorry. This is the most horrible cliffhanger I have added right now. Like I said above, the reunion of Kopa and his family has been probably the most anticipated thing for you guys. And I know that it seems like a bad move to and this chapter only seconds before it happens.

But I promise you that the scene will be worth another week of waiting.