A/N: So, this isn't the next chapter of the Sly Lion series, but rather an independent one-shot. I wanted to write this one-shot ever since Season 3 of Lion Guard came out. As for the timeline, this takes place after Rafiki took Kovu and Kiara on their "date" and sang the "In Upendi" song. Basically, while Kovu and Kiara are walking back to Pride Rock, they have a sweet, heart-to-heart conversation.
It was nighttime in the Pride Lands. Apart from the quiet chattering of nocturnal creatures and the chirping of crickets, the Savannah was calm and quiet. It was a rare moment of complete peace for the slumbering Pridelanders. Well, it was a rare moment of complete peace until two lions interrupted it by dashing through the tall grass, emitting loud and raucous laughter.
Hearts still racing from the adventure Rafiki took them on, Kiara and Kovu were strolling leisurely back to Pride Rock, both grinning like idiots. Kiara laughed at the memory of Rafiki belting out his rendition of the classic lullaby In Upendi, and she started humming the tune in an undertone.
Kovu gave her a sideways glance. "I don't think I ever want to hear that song again," he said, though his cheeky grin said otherwise. Kiara smirked before humming even louder, to which Kovu groaned melodramatically and clapped a paw over his ear. "Please!" he cried theatrically, "Make it stop!"
Laughing, she gradually silenced her humming and smiled. "Okay, fine, fine," she said, conceding, "I'll show mercy... this time."
A chortle slipped past Kovu's muzzle. "In all seriousness, Kiara," said Kovu, "I think that was a night I'll never forget. That monkey... he was really something else, wasn't he?"
"Yeah," agreed Kiara, tipping her head into a nod, "Rafiki can be a bit unpredictable at times."
Kovu glanced at her in a look of disbelief. "At times?" he echoed doubtfully.
"Okay," she back-tracked, "Maybe all the time."
The two shared a small laugh and continued walking back to Pride Rock.
Kovu looked over at Kiara, who was smiling blissfully with flushed cheeks, and he considered for a moment the wonderful lioness before him. Maybe in another life, they could've been friends. Maybe something more than friends. Frowning, he swatted the thought out of his mind. Even though he was now reconsidering his mother's mission to kill Simba, he knew that there could be no relationship between him and the Princess of the Pride Lands.
She was a princess, and he was, at best, a traitor.
Still, he wanted to get to know her better. He knew that she was head-strong and clever. She had an over-bearing father and a mother who often stayed neutral when it came to disputes between Simba and Kiara. But there was something else about Kiara that had been on the back of Kovu's mind since he came to the Pride Lands. There was someone missing.
After debating for a few minutes about whether or not to ask her about it, his curiosity won out. "Hey Kiara?" he called, and the lioness immediately turned her face up. "I've been wondering this for a while now, and I've been meaning to ask you, but I never found the right moment... and, uh, I guess I'm just..."
"Just ask me," said Kiara.
Kovu met her gaze. "Don't you have a little brother? Kion? I met him once in the Outlands I think, I remember he was the leader of the Lion Guard," said Kovu, "I've been here for a little while now, and I haven't seen him or his Guard yet. Well, I guess I'm asking: where are they?"
Kiara faltered in her tracks and her once-smiling face sobered. She quiet for a moment before answering. "They're gone," she said simply.
"Gone?" Kovu echoed. "You mean they're all... you know... dead?"
Kiara blinked at him before realizing how she may have miscommunicated. "Oh, no, no — they're not dead," assured Kiara. A grim look suddenly came over her face, and she looked down again. "At least, I hope not."
"You hope not?" Kovu repeated. "Do you not know where he is? Did he run away or something?"
The lioness sucked a deep breath inwards. "As you know, Kion was the leader of the Lion Guard. And for about two years, he and his Guard protected the Pride Lands from a group of Outlanders."
"Then what happened?"
"I didn't know this at the time, but Kion found a way to seek advice from our grandfather, Mufasa," she explained, "Unfortunately for Kion, he was never exactly subtle, and eventually, a wicked snake named Ushari found out about his secret. After that, Ushari teamed up with the Outlanders that Kion and his Guard were always fighting, and they hatched a plan to trick Kion into accidentally summoning a great evil.
"They kidnapped me and a friend of mine and took us to this volcano," continued Kiara, "I got hurt, and Kion got really angry and used his Roar. In doing so, he... he summoned Scar back from the dead."
Kovu looked at her, shocked. "What?"
"Yeah," she said, emitting a humorless laugh. "Eventually, a full-fledged war broke out between the Pride Lands and the Outlands. Scar managed to gather all of Kion's enemies, and for about a year, he caused mayhem all over the Pride Lands."
"Well," said Kovu slowly, as if weighing every word carefully, "They did defeat him, right?"
A grim expression came over Kiara's face once more. "They did eventually," said Kiara, "But Kion's victory came with a price."
"What happened?" Kovu asked.
"Remember Ushari?" asked Kiara, and when Kovu nodded, she continued in her explanation. "In the final battle, Ushari bit Kion near the eye, giving him a scar that matched the one Scar had. But instead of the bite killing him, it instead attacked his mind. And if the venom was to stay in his system for too long, he would lose the ability to tell right from wrong — just like Scar. Rafiki couldn't heal him, so he sent him to a place that could."
"Hevi Kabisa," breathed Kovu, "Where did he go?"
"The morning after they defeated Scar, Kion and his Guard began traveling to a place called the Tree of Life," said Kiara, her voice cracking. "It's been over three months since they left, and I'm so worried for him. Kion may be the fiercest, but I've never seen him more scared than he was when he was face-to-face with Scar." A lone tear rolled down her cheek, "My brother and I didn't always get along, but at the end of the day, we were siblings and we cared for each other."
A distressing thought crossed her mind, causing another tear to fall. "I don't even know if he's... he's... dead," she said, her voice going shrill with the last word.
Uncertain of how to respond for a moment, Kovu eventually moved his head so that he was nuzzling her, Kiara's tears staining his mane. "Hey, it's... it's okay," he said, "I don't know your brother too well, but if he survived Scar, I'm sure he can survive this."
After a minute, Kiara slowly separated herself from Kovu, her eyes still red and puffy. Feeling slightly silly for crying so openly, an abashed expression crossed her features.
"Thank you, Kovu," she whispered, moving a paw to swipe at her eyes. Gesturing with her head towards Pride Rock, she began moving towards the figure in the distance. "Come on, my Dad's probably waiting for us," she said.
Kovu nodded, and they started towards Pride Rock once more, this time in quiet silence.
In an open field in the heart of the Tree of Life, a troubled young lion twisted and turned restlessly as he tried getting to sleep. By his side, the rest of his team seemed to have no issue falling asleep.
He felt a twinge of irritation and resentment. Of course,, they wouldn't have any trouble. Everything seemed to come easy for everyone else, and Kion seemed to be the only one burdened with perpetual bad luck.
The irritation quickly turned to anger, and Kion was forced to run through the calming techniques that Nirmala had been trying to show him. After a few minutes of running through the breathing exercises, Kion felt the anger subside.
In its place, however, was nothing but pure, unadulterated hurt. He missed his family, he missed his home, and most of all — he missed being able to control his emotions.
Sighing, he looked up at the moon.
It was shining brightly down at him, and Kion was reminded of the times that he and Kiara would go and make up new constellations in the starry night sky. It was a tradition that their Dad had done with them when they were young, and apparently, his father had done the same with him. He could almost imagine his Dad telling exaggerated stories from his childhood, or his mother correcting the exaggerations, or the way Kiara was hanging on to every word that came out of their father's mouth.
He was so home-sick, it hurt.
"Mom, Dad," he said. He looked to the sky, tears slightly blurring his vision. "I miss you guys." Thinking of Kiara's indignation at being left out, he added: "And Kiara, we may not have always gotten along, but I miss you too. And I hope I can come home soon."
With that, he turned over to his side and tried to imagine what it would be like when he finally came home.
A/N 2: And there you go! I feel like there should've been a scene in LK2: Simba's Pride where Kovu asked about where Kion was, so I thought it was a good idea to create this one-shot. Please let us know what you think while I and FirePheonix11 get started on the second chapter of the Sly Lion and the Pride Lands Adventures series. There may or may not be more TLG/TLK-related one-shots and ficlets, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
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This one-shot was written by marvelomac1010 and beta-read/edited by FirePheonix11.