KawaiiCutie12: My babies are okay! 🎉🎊Woohoo! Read on and find out what happens next!

+RyanSquad: Glad that I'm helpful😌

+AbbyRaniIce: Your review deadass made my heart warm omgg😭❤❤I'm glad you loved my other stories, and I'M Her Best Friend II will be updated soon. Yeah, poor Vitani; her nor Nuka deserved this, and I can tell this is going to be stress for everyone. SAMEEE; I don't really like The Lion Guard, but Vitani barely got any attention in Lion King II so knowing that she had a lead role at something still makes me happy. Kula's so baby, I love herr. Hmm...maybe in the future there'll be a Simba x Beleco AU...👀Listen ramble as much as you want; I love reading long reviews; they give me life😂😂Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy my future chapters! (Also in all honesty, I actually didn't think about pronunciation; I was saying "lee-oh-pon" the whole time😅😂. Now that I think about it rhyming it with weapon makes more sense)

Chapter 14:

Simba had been trying to pounce on a lizard that kept appearing on a rock. Everyone else was busy, leaving the prince to at least attempt to perfect his technique. After a number of failed attempts, he stalked back to the den. He swatted the ground before plopping onto it. Lying there, he thought about his cousins, who had yet to return or be found. It had been way too long since they first went missing, so clearly something horrible had to have happened...

"Simba."

He snapped out of his trance and looked to who the voice was coming from. "Hey, Tama."

Tama walked in with a frown on her face. "You okay? You've been in here for a while."

Simba sighed, before completely turning to face her. "My parents, Auntie Zira and Uncle Scar are gone. There was a loud roar, and no one will tell us if it was one of them or not."

Tama understood. She hoped that it was her aunt or uncle signaling that they had been found, but she just didn't know...

"I know, Simba." She sat down next to him. "I know."

Simba looked back at her. "You think they're still out there?"

Tama thought for a moment, before placing a paw on Simba. "I do. And I'm not saying that just to keep you sane. I know how smart and brave they are. But...I have a feeling they went to another pride."

This intrigued Simba. "Another pride? But the only other pride here is the Mountain Lands. And Malka said they weren't there."

"Apparently there's another pride," Tama explained. "This one, however, was apparently run only by lionesses, so I highly doubt they're there."

Simba hummed in acknowledgement, and Tama frowned in worry.

"Hey, they'll do everything they can to bring them back," Tama confidently voiced. "And when they get back, just think about all the fun you guys will have."

Simba nodded. "Hey, you're right...you've been a really good friend to me lately. Thanks for that, Tama."

Tama smiled. "Always, Simba. So...wanna play a game?"

A mischievous smirk came across the prince's face. He made his way over to Tama, who looked at him worriedly.

"Simba...?"

He prodded her shoulder, and ran away.
"You're it!"

Tama looked in shock as the prince's laughter got softer and softer. Soon after, her own mischievous smirk made way.

"You're so gonna get it, princey!"

"Come on, Kovu! Lighten up a little!"

Zira decided to let Kovu stay a few nights at Kiara's pride until everything died down. Kiara took it upon herself to try and cheer Kovu up.

"I miss them, Kiara," he whispered

Kiara stopped bouncing around, and walked over to the brown lion cub.

"Hey, look at me."

Kovu turned to her, and she took his face in her paws. "Everyone's doing everything they can to try and find them. I know things look bad, but you need to have faith in them."

Kovu, still unfazed, began to tear up. "You don't get it," he sobbed, "I called 'Tani a bad word, and got them yelled at. Not just that, but I always steal Dad away from Nuka."

Kiara was dumbfounded. "How?" she pressed further.

Kovu looked up at her. "I overheard Nuka telling Dotty how Dad always pays attention to me, and how it's not fair that he never got that much love as a cub."

Kiara didn't know what to say. In all honesty, she wasn't very good when it came to comforting others.

"Well..." Think, Kiara, think!

Kovu stared at her, waiting for her answer.

"Well...that's not your fault! You don't get to choose who they're nice to and who they're mean to. And Nuka and 'Tani know that," Kiara finally answered.

Kovu knew she was right, but the guilt still gnawed at him.
"I hope they're okay," Kovu voiced.

Kiara sat next to him. "They'll be okay, 'Vu. Hm...how about when they come back, you guys have a siblings-only day? Just you three."

Kovu thought it over, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

"Yeah, that would be fun..." He turned to Kiara. "Hey, thanks for the idea, Ki'! And thanks...for cheering me up."

Kiara's cheeks went pick, and she laid her head on Kovu's. "Of course, Kovu. What are best friends for?"

The two sat there, heads resting on each other's, and staring at the semi-red horizon.

"You little cheaters!"

The sun was halfway set, and back at Pride Rock, the cubs were playing in the den. In there, theysettled for playing "Pinned Ya", since there was nothing else to do. Simba and Nala were one team, Tama and Malka were another, and Beleco and Chumvi were the final. Tojo didn't rough house, and Chumvi and Beleco were eliminated.

"Hah! Simba and Nala, the unstoppable duo!" they said in unison, high fiving each other's paws.

"You only won 'cause of Nala," Tama complained.

"Nahh, just admit it. We're better!" Simba teased, blowing a raspberry.

"Oh yeah?" Tama pressed on, getting into pouncing position.

"Yeah!" Simba tackled her, and the two engaged in a wrestling match to everyone's amusement.

"Come on, Simba!" Nala cheered.

"Go, Tama!" Malka also cheered.

They rolled around for a bit longer, and were surprised by the outcome.

"Hah! Pride Landers for the win!" Simba playfully boasted, getting off of Tama.

"Haha, good job, Simba!" Nala nuzzled him, earning a blush on his face.

"Well, you still did good, Tama," Malka complimented her.

Tama smiled and bumped his head. "Thanks."

They sat there telling jokes for a while, until Kula walked in. Beleco was about to crack a joke, when she noticed how miserable she looked.

"Kula, what's wrong?" she asked her.

Kula just looked up at her. She knew she couldn't say anything about what she heard, especially not to Beleco, and especially not while Simba and Tama were there.

"I just...overheard something," Kula finally stated. Hey, she wasn't lying.

"You wanna talk about it?" she heard Nala ask. Snapping her head up, she saw that Nala, along with everyone else, was staring down at her.

"No!" she shot out, a little too quickly. "Uh, I mean-" she recollected herself. "No, I'm fine. It's nothing serious."

They all looked at each other, then back at Kula. Deciding to leave her alone, they all walked to the other side of the den.

"What's really wrong, Kula?"

She looked back up to see the prince, and the look in his eyes made her guilt amplify.

She didn't want to, but if she were to tell anyone, it would have to be Simba.

She motioned with her tail for him to follow her out the den. Walking out to the field, she sat down painfully.

"You know I'm here for you," Simba softly reminded her.

Kula took a deep breath, but to no avail. The moment she opened her mouth, tears came rolling in.

"Kula, what's going on?" Simba asked, his worry now turning into fear.

Sobbing now, she turned to Simba, her brown-red eyes clearly heartbroken.

"E-Earlier, I-I went to go l-look for you, a-and so I found your parents and u-uncle, b-but before I could ask them where you were, Z-Zazu came and he-"

At this point, Kula was hyperventilating. Simba ran his paw up and down her back to try and calm her down.

"What did he say, Kula?" He calmly asked.

"H-He said...h-he said Nuka and 'Tani were attacked by rogues!"

Simba's heart stopped. He didn't want to believe it, but it made sense. It'd been weeks since they ran away, and there had been no sign of them...

"W-What?" Simba felt his whole world shatter.

Kula didn't answer, but continued crying. Simba, too, had tears streaming down his face as they held each other.

After a while, Kula let go. "Come on, we need to clean ourselves up before the adults get suspicious."

Simba sullenly agreed and they trudged over to the waterhole, dunking themselves in. After a minute, they resurfaced, and glanced at the sun, now lower than before.

"Let's go, Kula," Simba said in a monotone voice.

Making their way back to Pride Rock, Simba abruptly stopped, causing Kula to crash into him.

He slowly turned, and despite his depressed state, looked at Kula as if he wanted something.

"Ask away, Simba," she replied, regaining a bit of emotion.

"Well..." he looked away for a moment, feeling the heat rise to his face.

Kula was now intrigued by this. "Don't worry, I'm not in a teasing mood," she attempted to joke.

Come on, Simba. It's not like that!

"Well...my mom and dad are gone right now, and everyone's gonna get suspicious seeing you so blue, so...you wanna camp out in the royal den with me?"

Kula was definitely not expecting that. She knew, however, that Simba only viewed her as a close friend, so there wasn't anything wrong.

Plus, they needed the comfort.

Slowly nodding, they made their way up to the royal den, and plopped next to the spot that his parents would normally be occupying. Kula, meekly but nimbly, lied next to him.

"We can't tell the others," Simba voiced.

Kula sat up and pulled her face into a small frown. "Why?"

Simba sighed. "Well...one: it's not our place, and two: we'll get in trouble."

Kula realized he was right. Nodding her head, she lied back down and almost immediately drifted off. Simba, however, didn't fall asleep so easily. The two closest things to siblings, his absolute best friends, were gone, and there was nothing anyone could say and do to fix it.

Or so he thought.

Rafiki had a fairly relaxing day; then again, he was naturally a relaxing animal, so it didn't surprise anyone that hardly anything seemed to worry him. Nope, wise ole Rafiki was almost always prepared for anything.

What he wasn't wasn't prepared for, however, was Sarabi, Zira, and Zazu rushing into his tree in a panic, saying that Nuka and Vitani were in critical condition.

And he definitely wasn't prepared for what he saw on the royal brothers' backs.

The sight was horrible, and his heart truly went out to Nuka and Vitani.

After recovering from the shock of it all, he looked over to the royal brothers. "Place de boy on de cot," he instructed. "He's already lost too much blood."

They did as they was told, and Scar stroked his son's head as if that was supposed to reverse everything that had happened. He then turned his attention to Sarabi, who had placed a foreleg under Vitani to get her off her mate's back. In a panic, she unsheathed her mini claws and swung them.

"It's okay, 'Tani, it's okay," Zira tried calming her daughter, who was now shrieking in terror as well.

Seeing that she was still throwing a fit, she helped the queen get her on the floor, where they sat down and tried to calm her down.

Mufasa saw this and went to try and help, but was stopped by Sarabi.

"You're going to make her clam up again" was her explanation.

"Try and calm de girl down a bit," Rafiki spoke to the lionesses. "I won't be able to examine her if she is in a panic."

Sarabi nodded, and Rafiki turned to the king. "I need you to come with me," he motioned to his old friend. Mufasa, intrigued, followed him to where Nuka was laying.

"As you can see, Nuka has lost quite a lot of blood," the mandrill began to explain, "I need to take some blood from de two of you."

Scar and Mufasa looked at each other, before looking back at Rafiki.

"Of course," answered Mufasa.

"Anything to save my son," Scar earnestly added.

Rafiki went ahead and took an equal amount of blood from both of them. With Nuka's body accepting the blood, he was able to put his ribs back into place within an hour, and stitch him up just fine.

"De boy appears to be in a deep coma," he proceeded to tell the brothers, "At de moment I cannot say when or if he will wake up."

Scar's fear increased, but hearing Nuka's now steady breathing seemed to calm him down for a bit. Nuzzling Nuka's head one last time, he walked out to see how his daughter was doing.

He found her lying on her stomach and softly crying. Sarabi and Zira were by her side, trying to calm her down.

"Honey, you know it wasn't your fault, right?" he heard Sarabi say.

Vitani didn't reply back, she just continued weeping; Sarabi massaged her back as Zira stroked her head, her horrible cries still emitting from her mouth. Scar's heart broke at the sight, wishing he could just take the pain away for her...

Rafiki soon joined them, and focused his attention on the lioness cub.

"Vitani." Rafiki reached out to her, and had a look of sympathy when she recoiled. "I'm not going to harm you, little one."

Vitani seemed to calm down a bit, and Sarabi removed her paw from her niece's back.

Scar looked up at Sarabi, and noticed how exhausted she appeared to be. He and his mate shared a look, before returning it to the queen.

"You and Mufasa may return to Pride Rock if you'd like," he told her.

The royal couple gave the two an incredulous look. "How could we leave you guys in this condition?" Mufasa argued.

Zira gave a sad smile. "It's okay, really. Besides, surely Simba is worried about you guys. We'll be alright."

He wasn't wrong about that. They left unannounced, and it was already late. Simba, and even the others, were probably worried about them. Holding each of them in a tight embrace, they whispered reassuring words into his ears. They left into the night, and Scar went over to help soothe his daughter, whose head was now on her mother's foreleg.

"Vitani darling, listen to me closely." Rafiki looked her in the eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you. Okay, dear?"

Still sniffling, Vitani slightly nodded, as Scar ran his paw up and down his weeping daughter's back. Rafiki watched in awe and sadness as Scar whispered reassuringly in his daughter's ear. He picked her up with a brown foreleg, and placed her on a leaf cot slightly lifted off the ground.

"Vitani, I know you feel horrible right now, but I need to examine you in order to treat your injuries," he explained to her.

Vitani placed a paw on her lower stomach. "It hurts," she whimpered.

The adults looked at her, sympathy now arising.

Then, with no warning, she violently expelled her stomach contents on the floor, catching Rafiki and her parents off guard. The lions immediately went to her aid, Scar grabbing a bin to prevent the rest from splattering on the floor, and Zira going to their daughter's side, softly moving her paw up and her daughter's back.

Rafiki waited until her stomach settled for the moment. She was nothing but nerves at this point, and examining her wouldn't be easy.

Vitani vomited and heaved for at least five minutes, sobbing uncontrollably as she did so. Everything in her twisted and turned, both physically and mentally, and it was too much for the preteen lioness cub to bear.

"It's okay, baby, it's okay," Zira soothed her.

"Your mother and I are right here," Scar added in the same tone, holding her head with one paw and patting her back with the other.

Moments after, she finally settled down, and wiped off her mouth.

"S-Sorry," Vitani choked out.

Rafiki chuckled sadly. "Tis not yo fault, Vitani."

Giving Vitani some water, she rinsed her mouth and put her head down.

Scar grabbed the handle with his teeth. "I'll empty this out." He carefully climbed down, blocking out the horrid smell.

With Scar gone, he turned to the mother-daughter duo.

"Bring de girl back here," Rafiki motioned.

Zira stood up and looked at her daughter, who was still a bit out of it. "Rafiki needs us to go to another part of the tree," she informed her. "Do you want me to carry you?"

Vitani slowly nodded, and carefully got onto her mother's back as to not hurt herself anymore.

Padding towards the mandrill, he reached his arms to help Vitani down, but she recoiled and began to whimper again.

"Tis okay, dear, I'm not going to harm you," Rafiki softly assured her.

Zira turned her head slightly. "It's okay, he's just gonna check your wounds."

That seemed to be enough for the tufted lioness cub, and she allowed Rafiki to help her off her mother's back. Scanning her, he was greatly relieved to see that none of her scrapes were infected. He walked towards his medicines, and came back with a greenish liquid.

"I'm going to apply dis on your wounds," he informed her. "Dis may sting a little."

Vitani didn't say anything, but realized he was right. Wincing, Zira took her little creamy paw into her own tan paw and squeezed it reassuringly. Not even three minutes later, the stinging went away, and was replaced with an icy feeling.

"Now dat dat's done with..." he looked back at the cub. "I need you to do someting for me, okay, Vitani?"

Despite her nerves flowing through her veins, she slowly nodded her head.

Rafiki took a deep breath. He sat down in front of the two, and looked the creamy cub in her purple-blue eyes.

"What exactly happened to you two while you were gone?" he softly asked.

It was as if wasn't sure; she had absolutely not the slightest clue on how to tell him. Opening her mouth and expecting words to come out of them was laughable at this point. Vitani felt like she couldn't form words. Her young brain was still trying to process what had just took place. In those agonizing moments, her mind powered off. Sure her body and heart knew what was happening, but her mind was complete null.

The moment she began to crack her mouth open, fresh memories came flowing in and she couldn't find the words to speak; she felt as if saying it would make the whole situation real.

And she didn't want that.

Feeling her stomach knot up, she feared she was gonna be sick again. She began to hyperventilate, worrying Zira. Trying to calm her nerves, the tan lioness moved her paw up and down her back as her daughter's hyperventilating increased.

"I...I..." Tears were now streaming down her face.

"Darling, breathe," the mandrill stated in a soothing, yet firm voice.

"You're okay, Vitani, you're okay," her mother added in.

She did as she was told, but the pain still lingered. Staring at the sobbing ball of fur, his heart felt heavy. No one deserved to feel what she felt, especially not as you as she was.

The incident kept playing in her head, and she felt trapped.

"W-What are y-you g-gonna do t-to m-me?"

"Tani."

She felt licking on her lower area.

"P-Please stop, I said we'd go."

"Breathe, Vitani."

"STOP IT, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"Darling, you need to calm yourself."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"AHHHHH!"

The pain.

The blood.

The fear.

The tears.

The nausea.

The bloodcurdling screams that left her throat sore.

That horrible scent.

It was all too much for the preteen lioness cub.

"Vitani?"

Rafiki's voice brought her back, and she looked up at him before completely losing it.

"No...no..." she blubbered, shaking her head.

Rafiki understood her messy english and nodded, though she couldn't see it. Scar chose to return at that moment, and was alarmed seeing his daughter cry so erratically. He put down the bucket and sat down with his mate and daughter.

"What happened now?" he looked between his mate and the mandrill.

Rafiki smiled sadly. "I'm afraid it is my fault dis time," he halfheartedly joked. "I wanted her to explain exactly what happened, but she's not ready and I won't push her."

Scar understood it wasn't truly Rafiki's fault. It was just part of his job, and he knew he'd never pressure her into speaking on something if she wasn't ready.

Vitani's whimpers started up again, and the color in her face drained. She felt herself grow incredibly queasy, and she laid herself down to try and combat the horrid feeling.

Zira continued to try and comfort her, and Scar watched the two with sad eyes.

"I'll be back," he quietly voiced.

Zira looked up and nodded her head, while Scar got on all fours and slowly trudged over to Nuka.

He stared at his son. So many thought were running through his head, he just...didn't know which one to start with.

"De boy will be okay."

He slowly turned his head to see Rafiki smiling warmly at him.

He walked up to where Nuka lied, and with a deep sigh, nuzzled his head.

I'll be back soon, Scar wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to.

"Nuka...de boy had such a big heart," Rafiki spoke up again. "Dere is no doubt dat he'll forgive you two."

Not knowing what to respond with, he solely nodded his head. Rafiki gave him some support, before exiting the area.

Heading out, he saw Zira was now seated upright and Vitani was snuggled up against her. One of her forelegs was moving up and down Vitani's body as the other held the shaking cub close. She whispered something to their daughter that he couldn't make out, and he watched as Vitani slowly nodded her head. Seeing that Scar was padding towards them, she slowly lied Vitani down on the ground. Getting up, she met him in the middle.

"I think I'm gonna stay with Nuka," she informed him, before looking to Rafiki. "If it's alright with you."

Rafiki nodded. "Of course."

Turning back to Scar, the two shared a nuzzle, before going separate paths. The sight of his daughter curled in a ball and holding her stomach made both his heart ache, and made him think of something.

"Is it alright if I take that bucket with me?" Scar whispered to Rafiki.

"Go ahead," he whispered back.

The brown lion walked up to his daughter, who was now slowly starting to sit up; a foreleg was still wrapped around her stomach.

"Vitani."

She looked up, and he saw her sickly expression. Crouching down, he motioned her to get on his back, and she slowly did so. He walked over, bit the bucket handle, and took off into the night after thanking Rafiki again.

Watching the father-daughter duo leave, he looked to the mother-son duo. Seeing Zira was in a deep sleep, he sighed sadly, and walked over to his paintings.

"Great Kings, please be with Vitani and Nuka," he quietly prayed. "She is still so young, and she does not deserve dis pain. As for de boy...only you guys can tell if he will live to see another day. Keep dis family together, no matter how hard it is."

Feeling the air change, he walked away, and called it a night.

KawaiiCutie12: Ahhh here we are! I feel bad for Simba and Kula, and don't even get me started on my babies😞❤ Do you guys think it was right for them to keep what Kula overheard a secret?

As always, leave your opinions down below and follow and fave to keep up with the story. I'll see you guys next time!

KawaiiCutie12 signing off! ✌