Simba and Sora led the pride to the border that led to the outsider's territory. The outsiders, with their Heartless by their sides, outnumbered the Pride, even with Sora and co., by a lot. But that didn't mean they were giving in so easily.

"It's over Simba," Zira, who was leading the outsiders, growled. "I've dreamed of nothing else for years." Timon looked freaked out. "Boy, she really needs a hobby." "You're telling me." Mollie agreed.

"This is your last chance Zira, you need to go back home." Sora commanded. "I am home." Zira smirked, before shouting, "ATTACK!"

With a battle cry, the outsiders and the Heartless began creeping toward the Pride. Simba gave out another battle cry and approached them as well. Seconds later, the walking turned into a speedy run, and the fury of the battle began.

Riku swiftly ducked underneath a lion Heartless' claw, which, if he didn't duck, would have scratched his eye out. He placed his paw in front of the Heartless and muttered two words. Dark Firaga… Nothing happened. The Heartless stared at his hand in confusion for a few seconds before roaring and scratching him in the cheek. The scratch Riku felt on his cheek felt just as painful as a jellyfish sting. Why couldn't I use Dark Firaga? I can use my Keyblade… His mind clicked at something. He could summon his Keyblade in his mouth, so maybe the Dark Firaga would come out of…He opened his mouth in front of the Heartless and once again shouted Dark Firaga… To the Heartless' surprise, pure blue fire came directly out of Riku's mouth like a fire breathing dragon. Riku smirked when he saw the Heartless get burned by the fire and disappear. I could get used to this.

These Heartless were really fast for Kairi. With their agile feline bodies, they moved so fast that she couldn't put a dent on them. One of them bit into her back, causing her to emit a shriek of pain. She wriggled feebly in its grasp of her back, but she knew she couldn't break free from the Heartless' death grip. But then she got an idea. She moved her Keyblade, which was in her mouth, toward the Heartless' chest and said one word. Blizzaga! A huge ball of ice shot the Heartless in the stomach, and it disappeared into a cloud of darkness as soon as it collided with a rock. Kairi stared at the bite mark in her back. "Heal!" In a flash of green light, the bite mark disappeared, and Kairi felt renewed energy soar through her veins. She rolled out of the way just in time to dodge one of the outsider's leaping on her. Kairi rapidly attacked the lion, giving it no chance to fight back.

Donald and Goofy, predictably, worked together to take them out. Donald was aiming magic spells at the Heartless while Goofy spun around in his turtle shell as fast as he could. Suddenly the lion Heartless gathered in a straight line before Donald and Goofy. The duck mage smirked as he got an idea. "Hey Goofy, could you come here in front of me for a second?" He addressed the knight. Goofy got a confused look on his face. "Okay Donald." He got in front of Donald, like he ordered him. "And you might want to tuck yourself in your shell." Donald warned. Goofy did as he was told and tucked himself in til' you could only see his yellow shell. Donald snickered and waved his staff like a golf club before whacking him hard. "FOUR!" He shouted as soon as he whacked Goofy. Goofy spun out of control, rolling over the Heartless that were in the straight line. "Oh boy! A hole in one!" Donald cheered. His victory was short lived when even MORE Heartless appeared before him, growling threateningly. "Aw nuts…"

Bonnie surprisingly didn't use her Keyblade to fight. She was using what all tigers use: teeth and claws. She slashed at one of the outsiders, but only succeeded in getting a clump of fur off him. The outsider roared with determination and prepared to leap on her. But Bonnie kicked it with her hind legs before it could. The outsider was on its back, leaving its belly exposed. Bonnie took her chance and slashed its belly with her unusually sharp claws. Blood poured out of its stomach, and it roared in agonizing pain. It gave in and weakly ran back to its own territory. Bonnie stared at where it was heading to, the only scratch on her was on her shoulder. "Good riddance." She muttered coldly.

Mollie was cornered by three of the outsiders and five Heartless, and she looked, for the first time since she could remember, terrified. "Here, kitty, kitty…" The outsider smiled at her mockingly. Mollie's face went from terrified to rage. "Are you talking to me?" She whispered. The lions and the Heartless looked at her in confusion. "Huh?" "Are you talking to me?" She repeated, getting a little louder. "What are you…" "ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!" They were surprised to hear that her voice sounded as loud as a full grown lion. "They call me MISS kitty! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" With a fierce and impressive battle cry, she proceeded to beat the living tar out the outsiders and Heartless. The Heartless disappeared while the Outsiders stood there stunned for a few seconds before running back to their territory faster than Sonic the Hedgehog. "That'll teach you to mess with a kitty!" Mollie shouted after their retreating backs.

Emilie was on fire. She hadn't received a single scratch from any of the Heartless or the Outsiders. "THUNDAGA!" Flashes of thunder struck three Heartless that were about to leap on her. Suddenly an Outsider bowled into her and pinned her to the ground. "I'll wipe that smug smile off your face!" It unsheathed its claw and prepared to swipe her face. Emilie tried to use her hind legs to kick it off, but it was using its larger weight to its advantage. Emilie sighed and brought her Keyblade tip to poke the lion in the eye, giving her time to escape. When she did, she slammed the lion into a rock with her Keyblade. The lion was out cold before it touched the ground. Emilie proudly kicked dirt at it before diving back into the battle.

Sora dodged a blow in the ear from a Heartless. Even though the wound he had shrieked in protest, Sora still wouldn't give up. If he was going down, he was going down fighting. Sora swiped his Keyblade through the Heartless, and it disappeared in a cloud of darkness. Just as he turned around, he saw a Heartless leap at him. He lifted his Keyblade up in an attempt to parry. Too late, the Heartless slammed into him as hard as a school bus. While Sora was winded from the blow, the Heartless saw its chance and clawed at his wound, opening it up again. Sora screeched in agonizing pain as the claws made contact with it. He expected himself to pass out from that, but he didn't. It made him stronger. With a determined roar, he leaped at the Heartless and pinned it to the ground, even though the Heartless was bigger than him. He started attacking it like crazy until it disappeared. An Outsider was about to leap on him, but he dodge rolled to the side and the Outsider ended up clawing dirt. "FIRAGA!" A hot ball of fire escaped Sora's Keyblade and made impact with the lion. The lion, out of fear, ran back to its territory. Sora gasped in exhaustion for a few seconds, his wound getting the best of him. "Heal!" In a green flash of light, his wound was sealed up and Sora instantly felt better. He turned to see Kairi smiling at him. "Thank you." He said gratefully, before getting back into battle.

Suddenly, all of the fighting ceased. Not a sound was heard…Except Riku burped a bit of smoke out of his mouth. "Excuse me…"

The reason everyone was quiet was because, right in the middle of the battle, Simba and Zira were circling each other dangerously. They were both scowling at each other. Sora soon realized that the fight between those two would determine who gets the Pridelands.

It's victory or oblivion.

Kairi looked ready to help, but was stopped by Sora. "No, Kairi, this is his fight." He said in a manner eerily similar to when he stopped Donald from helping Simba defeat Scar. Zira and Simba both raised their paws, preparing to fight…Suddenly, two familiar figures got between Zira and Simba. Simba and Sora's eyes widened when they realized who they were.

"Kiara?" Sora and Simba both exclaimed.

"Kovu!" Zira growled. Kovu didn't flinch under his mother's glare.

"Move!" Zira commanded Kovu.

"Stand aside!" Simba commanded Kiara. But the two didn't back down.

"Daddy, this has to stop." Kiara said, sounding incredibly serious.

"You're even weaker than I thought." Zira said mockingly. "Get out of the way!" She repeated sharply.

"Never hurt Kiara, or Simba, not while I'm here." Kovu growled, taking a battle stance. Zira growled in both annoyance and disbelief.

"Stay out of this." Simba commanded. But Kiara still didn't leave. "A wise King once told me, 'We are one.' I didn't understand him then, but now I do." Simba looked at her in disbelief. He was the one who told her that. What was she talking about though? "But, they-," Kiara interrupted him. "Them? Us? Look at them, they are us. What differences do you see?" She questioned them.

Sora got a good look at the Outsiders. Now that he looked at them, they didn't look so different at all. They were just lions, they may have different appearances, but when he looked closer, there were no differences. Same shape, same claws, same breed. Maybe Kiara was right.

"Hey, yeah, you're right! We could be brothers and sisters!" Mollie blurted out. "Shut up, Mollie." Emilie replied impatiently. "Shutting up…"

All of the Pride and the Outsiders began to straighten up from their battle stances as they realized the importance of Kiara's words. They also began to see some sameness in there comparisons of each other. Simba smiled at his daughter's new wisdom and nuzzled her. Zira was the only one who was untouched by her words.

"Vitani, now!" She ordered her daughter. Vitani's next words came as a great shock to her. "No, Mother." She refused as she stood next to Kovu. "Kiara's right, enough." The Outsiders looked at each other in surprise. Zira glared at her. "If you will not fight, then you will die as well." She threatened. The Outsiders didn't like the sound of that. Pretty soon, everyone, except Zira, came to the Pride's side.

"Get back here!" Zira ordered. "Let it go, Zira. It's time to put the past behind us." Emilie said. "Hakuna Matata!" Sora shouted, grinning.

"I'll never let it go!" Zira stubbornly refused. "This is for you, Scar." She whispered before leaping into the air, aiming for Simba. To Simba's surprise, Sora and Kiara blocked the blow he would've received. When they blocked the attack, the three were sent falling over a cliff. "Kiara! Sora!" Simba shouted.

Sora, Kiara, and Zira tumbled even farther down the cliff. Finally, Kiara's claws dug into a rock and Sora grabbed onto her tail with his teeth. Kiara climbed herself onto a ledge with Sora still on her tail. Zira wasn't so lucky. She was still hanging way below the ledge, trying to grip onto it.

"Hold on, you two!" Riku shouted. He looked to his left and saw that at the bottom where the cliff ended, water was spreading across, with sharp logs inside of it, creating rapids. "Simba, the river!" Riku warned Simba, who was jumping across rocks to get to Sora and Kiara.

Zira was losing her grip on the rocks she was holding onto. Underneath her, the rapids were a whole lot worse. Sora and Kiara instantly forgot that Zira was their enemy, and stuck their paws out for her to take. "Give us your paw." Kiara said. Zira stubbornly swiped at their paws instead of taking them. She slipped closer to the river. "Stay out of this!" Zira ordered. "I don't take orders from you!" Sora yelled, still trying to help her.

"We can help you." Kiara said, gently. Zira looked down at the river in fear. She finally put her pride aside and tried to grab Sora and Kiara's paws. She missed by a mile though. Sora and Kiara watched in horror as Zira was sent plunging into the torrent, never to be seen again.

"Kiara, Sora." Simba appeared, holding out his paw for them to take. Sora and Kiara looked back at the torrents guiltily as Kiara grabbed his paw. "We're sorry Simba," Sora apologized.

"We tried."

XXX

Kovu nuzzled Kiara as soon as she and Sora climbed back to the top. Kairi ran near Sora. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, checking his wound. "I'll be fine." He assured her. "Don't you ever do that again!" Kairi scolded, despite smiling.

Simba nervously approached Kovu. "Kovu, I was wrong, you belong here." Simba admitted. Kovu smiled in gratitude. Simba finally accepted Kovu for who he was, not for who he looks like.

Simba turned to Sora and co. "Thank you, once again, for helping us." Simba thanked. "Don't mention it." Sora grinned. "For helping us out, you can have this." Simba leaped into bushes and pulled out a brown Crystal Star. Emilie took it in her mouth. "Thanks, Your Majesty." She respectfully bowed. The others soon followed her gesture.

"Let's go back guys. Our work here is done." Sora nodded. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rafiki appeared. "Ah! But your work in other worlds isn't finished yet! The great circle of life never ends! Go on, get out of here!" He cheered like the baboon he is.

As a flash of light engulfed them, Mollie asked Sora, "Was he born nuts?" Sora sighed. "I wish I knew, Mollie. I wish I knew…"

An: I kind of like how the fighting in this chapter turned out. What do you guys think?