This is half of the ending, the story is coming to a conclusion and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as i have writing it. Sorry the chapters are so long now, but they have to be. There will be one more chapter after this and an epilogue. Thanks for the reviews and enjoy :)

Cheers: JJZ-109

CHAPTER 25. PEACE?

Simba leapt out of the chopper, and started searching for survivors on foot. He trudged through the wreckage, mostly pieces of burnt concrete, brick, wood and other building materials, spent bullet shells also littered the scene. Simba hoped that he didn't accidentally hit any of his own men with the missile, or Nala. He desperately searched until he heard a faint moaning sound from a pile of debris. He shoved the material away and saw a young Outlander soldier's face looking at him, with tears in his eyes. Simba raised his pistol then hesitated.

"P-please don't kill me..." The Outlander pleaded, and Simba sighed. The man was unarmed and wounded; he couldn't kill him. He lowered his gun and walked away.

Suddenly a voice broke out behind him.

"Sir! Give me a hand here!" The voice belonged to Private Jackson. He turned around to see him dragging the immense body of Swifty across the wreckage.

Swifty was severely injured and his leg was in a bloody mess. Jackson had to drag him because he was far too big to carry, at seven feet tall and weighing over one hundred and twenty kilograms, there was no way he would be able to lift him.

"Mind calling Danger Close next time?" Swifty complained, Simba had ordered an airstrike very close to their position, and it had obviously cost them. But it had taken out the majority of the Outlanders.

"Where's Nala and EJ? No one gets left behind." Simba asked Jackson and he shrugged. He then left them and furiously started running through the remnants of the Outlander command center.

He eventually found Nala, crouching over the body of another soldier, who turned out to be EJ. Simba sighed in relief and rushed up to them as fast as his injured legs would carry him. As he ran he saw EJ's condition, he was out cold on the floor with a burnt face and a bandage over one eye. He called out Nala's name and she turned around to see her husband stumbling through the wreckage, just to be with her, just to know she was safe. She rushed up to him, yanked her helmet off and closed her eyes, before kissing him on the lips long and hard. When they pulled away from each other Simba opened his eyes and slowly wiped the blood and grime off his wife's face.

"You came back for us...How did you know?" Nala mumbled in joy.

"I've got a sixth sense about these things." Simba whispered and kissed her again.

As Simba kissed her, he heard the faint sound of footsteps behind him. He opened his eyes, and listened carefully, while Nala's eyes were still closed. As he kissed her he cocked his pistol silently and swung around just in time. He aimed his pistol at Zira's head at the exact same time she aimed hers. Simba frowned and held his gun firmly, not backing down.

"Drop it." Simba and Zira both said at the same time. Nala was shocked, how could they have let their guard down like that?

Simba and Zira aimed their handguns at each other's heads for several minutes, waiting for someone to make the first move. It had turned into a silent standoff. Zira then smiled evilly and Simba heard more footsteps from behind her. Through the dust and smoke, more Outlanders appeared, all led by Vitani. Simba knew he was the king in checkmate now, but tried his best not to show it. He noticed the surviving Outlander troops were all very rough looking and had worn expressions on their faces. They didn't aim their rifles at him however; they just held them lazily.

"Give it up Simba...You're mine." She snarled, but Simba smiled.

"Not yet I'm not. Don't you remember that I have a frequent flyers card Zira?" Simba said calmly and Lorenzo's Osprey suddenly swooped in, with it's terrifying arsenal of missiles, rockets, machine guns and cannons all pointed at the Outlanders. It hovered on the spot and Lorenzo smiled.

"Death from above bitch." She said on the radio.

Zira looked up in defeat, and a new rage swept over her. She would have her revenge, even if all of her soldiers had to pay for it, and she died for it. She aimed the pistol at Simba's head and prepared to pull the trigger. Suddenly, a new noise broke out above the sound of the chopper's rotors; the sound of a car's engine.

Zira looked up just in time to see a blue 1968 GT-500 fly over some wreckage skid to a halt right between her and Simba. The car's tires then spun and the car swiveled around just a little, so that one door was facing Zira and the other side was facing Simba. The doors opened, and to Simba and Zira's surprise Kovu and Kiara emerged, facing their mother and father respectively. At first Simba was overjoyed to see Kiara was alive, and had the urge to run up, hug her and apologize. But something about the serious, yet gentle glare in her beautiful hazel eyes told him that was a bad idea. Meanwhile, Kovu glared at his mother, with a much more violent, aggressive look in his eyes.

"Kiara...stand down. You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Simba warned her gently.

"KOVU! Move..." Zira snarled at her angry son.

"Daddy, this has to stop. How many more people need to die before you realize that?" Kiara said to her father, unmoved by his warning. She knew what she had to do, and she was doing it.

"Kiara stay out of this, it's not safe here." Simba said again. Kiara sighed and put a hand on his shoulder gently.

"A wise leader once told me, we are one. I didn't understand him back then, but now I do. I know what we have to do now and so do you." Kiara said quietly and Simba shot a glance at all the Outlanders, who were listening.

"But they..." Simba started but Kiara cut him off.

"Them...Us...Look at them dad! They are us. They were born in the same country to different people. What differences do you see? Cut a Pridelander and an Outlander open and they'll both bleed red. We are both good people, even if you can't see it yet, and it's time for peace." Kiara said deeply and gently smiled at her father.

Meanwhile Kovu was still confronting his evil mother, who still had her weapon raised. She glared at her son and pulled the hammer back on the pistol.

"Kovu...You're even weaker than I thought! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" She yelled at him but Kovu stood firm.

"You'll never hurt Kiara...or Simba. Not while I'm alive." Kovu threatened and snatched the pistol out of her hand before she could pull the trigger.

Meanwhile, a beaten Vitani listened to their conversations and was shocked. For the first time in her life, the Pridelanders were coming off as the good guys. She had seen first hand that day Zira's hate-driven quest for revenge. It had cost her older brother's life, her army's lives and lots of respect. Zira didn't care about her, or anyone else that she led. Just another genocidal monster, liker her father. Vitani couldn't believe it had taken her this long to do what she was about to do.

She dropped her AK-47, knife, and anything lethal and ordered her troops to do the same. She then walked over to Simba's side of the car and dropped to her knees, with her hands in the air. She didn't care if she got sent to prison for life or whatever the punishment may be, as long as she was free of death and hate. She wanted peace.

"Peace." She said and pulled off her red headband that she always wore into combat.

As she did this, Simba felt the sun break through the thick cloud cover and warm him in the bitter cold of the battlefield. Simba sighed and started to realize his wrong. He was no different to Scar, just a war leader wanting to rid of those who opposed him. He needed to prove he wasn't like him; that he was better. He looked up at the sun shining through the hole in the clouds and looked back at Kiara, who was still smiling at him hopefully. He realized his father was watching him too, and nodded. He then lowered his pistol.

"Peace." Simba and Delta-Four agreed and dropped their guns too. Simba then approached his daughter and hugged her, holding back tears.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered.

Zira noticed the opportunity and yelled out:

"Vitani...Now!"

Vitani just turned to look at her mother and shook her head, trying not to cry. she still wanted to her to kill for her sake. Vitani shook her head in disgust.

"No mother. They're right...Enough. Too much blood has been spilled." She said and turned back to Simba with a sorrowful look on her face. Simba put a hand on her shoulder.

"If you don't fight...Then you will die as well." Zira said cruelly, revealing to her few loyal troops her true nature.

They all scoffed and dropped their guns, before dropping to their knees with their hands up in front of Simba. Zira looked at them in disgust and shouted out:

"What are you doing? Get back here!" She ordered but they ignored her.

Simba frowned at Zira and spoke wisely.

"Let it go Zira, it's time to put the past behind us...and move onto a brighter future." Simba said and offered a hand, expecting her to walk up and take it. She was unarmed now thanks to Kovu, and couldn't do any harm.

"I'LL NEVER LET IT GO!" She screamed and started to walk back to the remnants of her command center, fuming. Her own troops had betrayed her for one of Simba's meaningless promises.

Kiara was about to go after her and convince her to reconsider, but Simba put a hand up to stop her. Kiara looked at him desperately but Kovu also nodded, gesturing for her not to bother.

"Let her bug out...she'll get over it."

"Let's go home...All of us." Simba suggested and looked at the surviving Outlander troops kneeling on the ground with their hands up.

"Rise." He said and they got to their feet.

"You can start walking back to the city, I'll get a few Black-Hawks to come and collect you...Then we'll find you some homes." Simba offered and the Outlanders smiled.

Vitani got to her feet and yelled out.

"You heard the man! What are you waiting for? Let's get going." All the Outlanders complied and stood up, dusting themselves off.

The Outlander started salvaging what they could from their wrecked camp and Delta-Four started boarding Lorenzo's V-22 Osprey. Simba helped the wounded EJ and Swifty sit down in their seats and put an arm around Nala. They had did it. Not destroying the Outlanders, but something better: Peace, at last.

The chopper's engine whined and the back hatch started to slowly close, obscuring what was behind it. EJ was the closest to the ramp and thought he heard footsteps, but he turned his head to see nothing. Everyone was already in their seats...So who the hell did he hear come through the rear hatch? Nothing...Just your imagination buddy. You've hit your head and you're hearing things. EJ thought to himself and started to reflect on the events of the past few hours.

His best friends...dead. He would never forgive himself, that his men died...and he didn't. He put his head in his hands and for the first time since he was a child, a tear rolled down his cheek. They were at peace now, and started to feel the guilt for the countless Outlanders he killed that day. Nala noticed him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her with his one good eye and she smiled warmly giving him the It's okay...It's over now. It'll be all right... look.

Nala then left him and joined Simba, Kovu and Kiara in the front part of the aircraft as the chopper ascended. EJ exhaled sadly then heard something again: rustling coming from the ammo compartment. He groaned and slowly got out of his seat to check it out...Something was up and he needed to know what.

Dun dun DAAHH! Epic cliffhanger here. We all know Zira won't give up that easy, and instead of simply jumping at Simba while he's looking at some logs i thought I could do something a little more...interesting. Please Review!