Chapter 21: Love and Anger

Axane Pov:

I can't believe this all happening! First I found out Aunt Lana is still alive and Now, I found Simba, alive and all grown up. How is he still alive and why is he in this jungle for the whole time? Scar said that he and Mufasa died in the Gorge. Does that mean that Scar lied to us so that he can be the king?

"What's going on here?!" Someone yelled. the voice came from the meerkat along with a Warthog who has an awful smell. I wanted to gag but I don't want to be disrespectful to them.

"Timon! Pumba! Meet Axane, my older sister, and My best friend, Nala, and her brother, Jabali," Simba said to his friends. They were shocked at the fact that I was his sister and the fact that we are a different species. "Axane! Nala! Jabali! This is Timon and Pumba,"

"Please to meet your acquaintance," Pumba said.

"The pleasure is ours," Nala said While I and Jabali just nod back.

"How do you-? Whoa! Whoa! Time out!" Timon Exclaimed with confusion. "You know them. They know you. But she *points at Nala* tried to eat him *points at Pumba* and then they "Points at me and Jabali* tried to slit your throat and everyone is okay with that? oh and Simba, how come she *points at me* is your sister that she is not even a lion?" Timon asked. 'Ouch,' I thought.

"Timon, Relax," Simba responded Timon.

"Wait till everybody finds out you've been here all this time!" Nala said.

"And mother too, what will she think?" I added. Simba's happy expression turns into a frown and looked away.

"She doesn't have to know. Nobody has to know." Simba said.

"Well, of course, they do. Everyone thinks you're dead." Nala told him.

"They do?" Simba asked with a confused face.

"Yeah. Scar told us about the stampede." I replied to him.

"He did? Well...What else did he say?" Simba asked again.

"What else matters? You're alive. and that means... you're the king." I answered. Timon and Pumba's eyes widened at what I said. They probably didn't know that he a future king of the pride lands.

"King? Pffft. Lady, have you got your lions crossed." Timon said mockingly. I glared at him with intentions to rip his tongue out. Pumba started to kiss Simba's pawa as a sign of respect for royalties and Simba was getting annoyed from it and told him to stop.

"It's not "gravel." It's a "grovel. And DON'T- he's not the king." Timon told Pumba then looked at Simba" Are ya?" Simba kept a neutral face and replied "no".

"Simba?" I and Nala spoke.

"No, I'm not the king. Maybe I was gonna be, but... that was a long time ago." Simba Explained. I was shocked at what he said. What does he mean he is not the king anymore. It was his birthright. I was about to open my mouth to speak but Timon spoke first.

"Let me get this straight. You're the king? And you never told us?" He said.

"Look, I'm still the same guy," Simba said with frustration.

"With power!" Timon added. Jabali approaches Timon and Pumba with an apologetic look.

"Could you guys... excuse us for a few minutes?" Jabali Asked.

"Hey, whatever you guys have to say, you can say in front of us. Right, Simba?" Timon said. Simba thought for the moment until he spoke.

"Hmm. Maybe you guys should better go. I want to speak to my family privately." he said. Timon was surprised at Simba's response but he knew there was no point in arguing against "intruding family talk".

"It starts. You think you know a guy..." Timon said before he and Pumba left and was out of sight. Finally, now some little interrogation on Simba.

"Don't worry. You'd learn to love them," he said with a fake smile. Nala lowers her head in sadness and Jabali went to comfort him.

"What? ...What is it?" Simba asked with worry in his tone. I went to him and started speaking.

"It's like you're back from the dead. You don't know how much this will mean to everyone and ...What it means to me." I said with a pained expression. Its true, Simba returns really means anything to me. I thought I failed my duty to be a guardian. But I was wrong after all, Simba was still alive and healthy. I kept my promise to Mufasa to keep Simba alive. This time I will protect him, he is my family and I will not let anything happen to him, no matter what.

Simba went to Nala and started to nuzzle her and comfort her. He knew the feeling of losing your best friend without saying goodbye. "Hey, it's okay." He said with a calm tone. Unexpectedly, Nala hugged him tightly and Simba was tense at this.

"I've really missed you," Nala said. Simba hugged her back.

"I've missed you too," Simba said then looked at me and Jabali. "I've missed all of you." We smiled at each other and made a group hug.

"We missed you too, Simba," I and Jabali said in Unison. Then we broke the embrace. Simba and Nala were about to head in the Waterfall until they noticed that I and Jabali were not following.

"You guys go ahead. I and Jabali will like to have time for ourselves." I told them and they nod back before leaving us both. There was an awkward silence between the both of us. We waited for one of us to speak. Then I decide to speak up. "so...Where do you wanna go?"

"There is a lake a few steps away from here. Wanna check it out?" Jabali asked.

I smirk at the information he gave me. This is the perfect opportunity to tell him about my feelings for him. "Alright, let's go,"

*Timeskip*

The lake was beautiful. It has everything that the pridelands used to have. Food, water, and most importantly the fresh air. Oh, how I missed this! I wish the pride lands were still like this. I and Jabali were sitting in nearby the rock trying to relax while watching the beautiful view of the lake.

"This is place is amazing." I compliment.

"Yeah, I go here sometimes to help me remember someone that is very special to me," Jabali said.

"Is that so? have you found someone yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, I have," Jabali replied. I was a little bit saddened by the fact that someone has already beaten me with Jabali. But I still respect his decision in life and he will remain to be my best friend. But something unexpected happened. "And I'm talking to her right now."

"What?" I said with a shocked face. That caught me off guard. He confesses his feelings just like that. Without hesitation and doubt. 'Damn, Jabali. You got me there.' I thought.

"Yes. You're that someone who is special to me, Axane. I had feelings for you during our Guardian days. I wanted to confess it to you for you a long time but I was not ready yet and I was also afraid that you might reject it as well. But Aunt Lana told me that I won't find me answers if I don't ask you. So here I am. Confessing my feelings for you." Jabali explained. I was pretty much in shock of his whole explanation because I had the same feeling as him as well. I guess we are pretty much meant together.

"I feel the same thing for you too. My life feels complete when you are with me. I wanted our relationship to be more than just friends." I said and then lean closer to his face. "I love you, Jabali."

"I love you too." He said and our lips meet together. It was the best feeling ever. It was not like how Scar forces me to do it. It was an actual love kiss. We finally break the kiss and look at each other with a smile on our faces. I am finally with someone that I love for my entire life.

"How was the first kiss?" I asked.

"It was amazing," Jabali replied.

"I am glad that you did," I said. I wanted to do more than that and cherish it but There was more important stuff to deal with. Such as bringing Simba to the pride lands and reclaim the throne. "I think we should check on Simba and Nala. I wonder how their date is going."

"Yeah, we should," Jabali said before both of us stood up and walked away.

*Timeskip*

We walked in the forest for a while, searching for Simba and Nala. It didn't take us long until we heard a conversation, near our area, We followed the sound until we found Simba and Nala talking to each other.

"...You've been alive all this time. Why didn't you come back to Pride Rock?" I heard Nala speaking.

"Well, I just needed to... get out on my own. Live my own life. And I did. And it's great." Simba replied.

"We've really needed you at home."

"No one needs me."

"Yes, we do! You're the king." Nala exclaimed.

"Nala, we've been through this. I'm not the king. Scar is." Simba said with irritation.

"Simba, he let the hyenas take over the Pride Lands," Nala said.

"What? How did it happen? Axane and Jabali could not allow this to happen."

"Scar did something to their Warframes, which prevents Axane and Jabali to operate them and he replaces them with some twisted versions of tennos. What's worse is that everything's destroyed. There's no food. No water. And Simba, do you know that Scar forced Axane to be his wife. Your sister has suffered a lot and you have no idea how much burden she has to bear. Scar left her vulnerable." Nala explained.

Simba's face turns into guilt. Everything had fallen apart when Scar took over. The pride lands have been in peril when the hyenas came over and I and Jabali were replaced with some Evil Tennos. He could not believe that this happened. I prayed that he would agree to come back but that proved me wrong when he spoke. "I can't go back."

"Why?!" Nala asked. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Simba would not return after everything was explained. What is he afraid of?

"You wouldn't understand," Simba replied.

"What wouldn't I understand?"

"No, no, no. It doesn't matter. Hakuna Matata." Simba said and Nala was left confused.

"Hakuna Matata. It's something I learned out here. Look, sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing you can do about it. So why worry?" Simba explained and started to walk away.

"Simba!" I yelled out. Nala and Simba were surprised at my sudden appearance. I was really furious at Simba for walking away from his responsibilities. I walked straight to Simba and yelled at him more. "This is your responsibility as king. You can't just fucking walk away from it like its nothing. I expected better of you!"

"Well, what about you? YOU THREE left." He replied back.

"We left to find help! And we found YOU. Don't you understand? You're our only hope." Nala answered back.

"I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do," Simba said.

"What the hell has happened to you? You're not the brother I remember." I spoked.

"You're right. I'm not. Now, are you satisfied?" He asked.

"No," Jabali spoke and appeared behind Axane, "We're just disappointed."

"You know, all of you are starting to sound like my father," Simba said before walking away.

"Good. At least one of us knows our responsibility and priorities. Unlike someone who just walks away from it." I spat out at him. Simba stopped walking and looked at me with anger. he walked to me and confronted me face to face.

"Listen, you think you can just show up and tell me how to live my life? You don't even know what I've been through!" he yelled. "Just because, father took you in. That doesn't mean you're his true daughter. You're not even my real sibling!"

With all the words tearing to my heart, I smack his face and Simba hissed in pain. With so much rage and anger pumping through my body, I grabbed his neck and make him look at my face. "After all the love and respect I gave you. After all the suffering and pain I went just so I could protect you. AND THIS IS WHAT I GET AS A RETURN!?" My eyes were starting to tear up. I did not expect all this. What Simba said hurt me so much. I loved him and respected him as a brother and I can't believe he said this to me. I let go of him and spoke. "Your right. Your not my brother because he is long dead."

"Follow me and I will promise you won't see the daylight tomorrow," I threatened Simba before walking away from the scene and wished to never see or speak with Simba ever again. Jabali and Nala were left Speechless from this whole argument. I did not bother looking at their faces. I was completely hurt and angry at Simba.

*Timeskip*

I went back to the cottage where Aunt Lana lives. I was so exhausted from today. Also, I was still in deep pain from Simba's brutal words on me. I feel like not wanting Aunt Lana to know about this so I will just keep it to myself. I was already nearby the door. As I open it, I found Aunt Lana by the table, sitting and waiting for us.

"Axane! There you are! I've been worried about you. Where's Nala and Jabali?" She said.

"Don't worry about us. We're fine. Nala and Jabali are outside, hanging around." I said in a neutral tone.

"I see but you don't look fine. Axane, is there something wrong?" Aunt Lana asked.

"Oh, nothing's wrong!" I lied.

"Axane, don't lie to me. I know a person when they are not okay," "Dammit, I can't seem to get away with her." I thought.

"Axane, tell me the truth. I am your Aunt and I worry about you because you're a family to me. Even though we're not blood-related, that doesn't mean I won't treat you like a complete stranger. Always remember that" Aunt Lana said. After all the talking, I could not hold my emotions any longer, Tears started the slide down my cheeks and sobbed like a real child. I hated it when this happens because I look weak and vulnerable when I cry. I promise myself that I will be strong for my family. Aunt Lana went to me and gave me a hug to calm me down.

"There. There. Just let it out. Everything's fine." She said while panting my back. I seem to calm down and took my time on gaining my breath. "There. Better?" I nodded. "Alright, tell me what's wrong."

"It's just...I, Nala, and Jabali found Simba, all grown up and alive. We were so happy that we found, thinking that we found hope to save the pride lands from Scar's tyranny. But We were wrong. Simba refused to come back. He won't even tell us the reason and he said we won't understand. All of us were not pleased with his decision so we tried to persuade him but that only made him more furious. He blurts out some words that pains me so much." I explained.

"What did he say?" Aunt Lana asked.

"He said that Even though Father took me in, I'm not his true daughter and I am not his sibling as well." I paused as I feel like bursting out of tears again."You know how much that hurt me, right? When he was a cub, I respected and treated him like a brother that I never had. I went through hell and pain just to ensure his safety and wellbeing. And this my thanks to him." I stopped talking due to the negative emotions driving in my mind.

"Axane, give him time to think. I'm sure he didn't mean it. Maybe he is just stressed out from what's going on." Aunt Lana said. I looked at her and gave her a weak smile and Aunt Lana smiled back. Before I could say something. I heard a door opened, revealing to be Jabali entering the cottage.

"Hey Axane, Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, love," I replied.

"I see you guys finally confess to each other. I am happy for both of you." Aunt Lana spoked. "I leave you two be. Good Night." Aunt Lana went to her room to sleep.

"Where's Nala?" I asked.

"She wants to stay outside to clear her mind. While Simba left immediately after your outburst." Jabali said.

"I see. Can I sleep with you? I want to spend the night with the love of my life."

"Sure. I don't see why not." He went to his room and I followed him back. Once we were in the room, I lie down in the bed and was ready to sleep. I felt Jabali snuggle up in my back and purring in my back.

"Good night, My sweet flower," Jabali said.

"Good night, kitty cat," I said before both drifted off to sleep.

Holy shit! This is the longest chapter I have done! This took a while but I hope it was worth it. I hope y'all enjoy and please leave a review.