It was early morning. Kovu and Lara had slept like rocks despite the events of the last night. Lara was the first up, she decided to go down to the watering hole and get a drink. When she arrived at the watering hole she heard what sounded like footsteps in the grass behind her. She looked around but could see no one.

Lara ignored the sound and began sipping the water. Surprisingly, the water actually tasted better than what she would normally get out of a tap or bottle. Lara casually continued drinking, unaware that someone was watching her from the grass. Suddenly…

Kovu leapt from his grassy hiding place and ran at Lara. 'Gocha!' He shouted as he pushed Lara into the cold water. Kovu laughed hysterically. But his laughter soon quietened down when he noticed that Lara didn't come up.

'Lara?' He said, concerned. 'Lara!' He shouted. Just then a chill struck Kovu as he saw Lara float face down towards the surface. 'LARA!!!!' He shouted as he ran into the water, dragged her out and lay her on her back. He shook Lara vigorously in an attempt to wake her up. There was no response.

Kovu began to cry. 'Please don't die! I was only having some fun!' Kovu looked at Laras lifeless face. Just then Lara woke up and spat water in Kovus face. 'Ha! Ha! Got ya!' She laughed.

Kovu was enraged. 'That wasn't funny!' He shouted.

Lara was equally displeased. 'Oh! And that makes it ok to push me in the water does it?!' She snapped. 'Jeez Kovu! I'm not your playmate! If a random bloke did that to me when I was human I'd beat the crap out of him! So consider yourself lucky!'

Kovu began to feel guilty. 'I'm sorry. It's just that you remind me of Kiara so much, I some times forget you're not her.'

'Forget about it.' Lara replied, starting to feel a little guilty herself. 'I guess what I did was a little over the top. I'm sorry.'

'Don't worry about it.' Kovu replied.

Lara looked at Kovu and smiled. 'But I will do this.' At once Lara pushed Kovu into the watering hole. As soon as Kovu came up he grabbed Lara and pulled her straight it, and the two engaged in one long water bound wrestling match. Eventually Kovu pinned Lara to the edge of the watering hole so she sat upright and lay on top of her. Then without thinking, they kissed.

Suddenly, they both realised what they were doing and withdrew immediately. 'Did we just…?' Kovu asked feeling a little unnerved.

Lara was equally shook up. 'Yeh. I think we did' she replied.

'I'm sorry Lara. It's just… whenever I see you, I don't see you, I see Kiara; and I can't help these feelings I have for her.'

'Don't apologies Kovu' Lara replied. 'It was partly my fault. It's been so long since any man has ever held me like that, I couldn't control myself.'

Both hauled themselves out of the water and shook themselves dry. 'Though I must admit, you are a pretty good fighter' said Lara.

'Thanks' Kovu replied. 'You weren't so bad yourself.'

The duo began to slowly walk back to pride rock. Along the way Lara noticed Kovu seemed a little preoccupied. Lara stopped. 'Kovu' she said. Kovu stopped and looked at her. 'You seem a little preoccupied. Is everything ok?'

'Yeh' Kovu sighed. 'I'm fine.'

'No you're not' Lara added. 'I can see it in your eyes. Please, tell me what's wrong.'

Reluctantly Kovu gave in. 'If I tell you, you must promise that you won't tell anyone, especially Simba.'

'My lips are sealed' Lara replied.

'I presume someone told you I left Ziras pride.'

'Yes, they did.'

'That was a lie. But before you judge me just hear me out!' Kovu begged. 'Originally Zira had a plot to kill Simba and take over the pride lands. I was to gain Simbas trust, then lure him to a quiet place and kill him. My whole life I had been brought up to believe that Simba was a vicious, merciless killer; but as I got to know him I learned that this wasn't true. Simba is a kind and gentle leader and he doesn't deserve to die. When I finally got the opportunity to kill him I found I just couldn't go through with it. Now I don't know what to do; you have to believe me.'

Lara gently put her paw on top of Kovus and looked at him with sympathy. 'I do believe you Kovu. I can tell you're not a merciless killer.'

'How?' Kovu asked.

'I've seen enough killers in my life to know when someone is truly as kind hearted as you are.'

'Thank you Lara.'

'There is still one small problem though' Lara added. 'You're going to have to tell Simba at some point.'

'I can't. If I did, he'd exile me, and I'd never see Kiara again.

'Kovu, it's better that he hears it from you. Trust me, if he finds this out for himself then he'll definitely exile you, or even worst have you executed!'

'I know' Kovu added. 'I just need to wait for the right moment to tell him.' The duo continued walking back to pride.

After a while they both stopped. They could have sworn they heard noises in the grass. Kovu walked ahead a couple of paces and looked around. He turned and looked back at Lara; only to see Vitani creeping up behind her holding a rock. Before Kovu or Lara had time to react Vitani slammed the rock into Laras head and knocked her unconscious.

Kovu ran over to Vitani who was standing over Laras unconscious body. 'What did you do that for?!' Kovu asked furiously. 'I told you I had everything under control!'

'I know' Vitani replied. 'This is just a backup plan in case things go wrong.'

'What are you talking about?'

Vitani sighed. 'Please forgive us for this Kovu. But it's the only way we can keep Simba from suspecting you.'

Kovu was confused. 'What?!'

At that moment Nuka, who had been hiding in the grass behind Kovu, whacked him on the head with another rock, knocking him unconscious.'

Nuka smiled. 'I've been wanting do that for sooooooo long.'

Vitani scowled at him. She picked up her rock and slammed it on top of his paw. Nuka screamed with pain and sucked his injured paw.

'If you're finished behaving like a moron, can you please help me carry Kiara back to the outlands!' Said Vitani.

Nuka finished sucking his paw, and the duo picked Lara up and carried her back to the outlands.

To Be Continued.