Chapter 11: A Day to Remember
Opening his eyes, Niru saw a blurred image of 2 golden eyes staring down at him, much like he had seen when he was first born. Then he blinked a few times and his mother's entire face came into focus. Kiara smiled sweetly at her son. Niru continued to stare up at his mom, happy to see her smiling, and waiting to see what she would do next.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning mom," Niru blinked and rubbed his eyes.
"So, what do you want to do today?" she said, lying down in front of him.
Niru thought for a few seconds. He didn't want to ask to go on a walk, because that would remind them both of the grave events yesterday. However, he didn't want to stay in the cave, because he wanted to be outside enjoying the day, and didn't want any eavesdropping or spying. Finally he decided upon the waterhole.
"Well, I'm thirsty. Want to go to the waterhole?"
"Sure thing, son. Whatever you want to do today," Kiara smiled and nudged Niru gently up.
Niru stretched and scratched himself, feeling better and forgetting about his scrapes and bruised rib cage.
"How are you feeling today, Niru?" Kiara asked, concerned.
"Oh, fine I guess," Niru said, not knowing what in particular she was referring to.
"Your scrapes and rib cage bother you?" Kiara asked, inspecting him briefly.
"Oh those? I forgot I had them," Niru smiled.
"Well that's good that they're healing. Just take it easy for awhile, OK?" Kiara cautioned her son as she took a few steps towards the outside of the cave.
"I will, don't worry," Niru smiled.
"OK," Kiara nodded, smiling back.
Then she turned around and walked onto Pride Rock. Niru followed, staying close beside his mother for protection. The two walked to the waterhole in silence, enjoying the peaceful savanna morning while trying to seize every passing moment.
Upon arriving at the water hole, Niru dashed to the water's edge and began lapping up sweet, cold water. Once full, he flopped down onto his back and stared at the morning sky, which was brand new. The sun had just finished pouring it's endless light over the Pridelands, and continued to touch places beyond Niru's range of vision. But it wasn't the sun or his future kingdom Niru was thinking about. He was thinking about what the clouds looked like in the sky.
Kiara finished drinking her fill and came over to her son. "Are you sure you're OK, Niru? Do you want to go back to sleep?" she asked, concerned that he was lacking his usual cub energy.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just looking at the clouds. Do you want to look with me, mom?" Niru asked, turning to his mom.
Kiara's face lit up, relieved that her son was indeed feeling all right. "I'd love that, Niru," she smiled, lying down next to her son.
They both sighed at the same time, and chuckled at the simultaneous action. Then Niru decided upon a cloud he saw and named it. "Rabbit," he said pointing to the sky.
"Ah," Kiara acknowledged. She searched the sky around her and found one that resembled a heart. "Love," she said, as that was the first word that came to her mind, as she remembered back to the first time her and Kovu gazed at the stars, when Niru was just a "twinkle in the sky". Even though the clouds had replaced the stars in the sky for the day, Kiara knew the stars she and Kovu had first gazed at together would reappear in the same place she was staring up at now with her son.
"Huh?" Niru asked, turning to his mom and then looked back at the sky.
The heart shaped cloud began to drift apart as a wind blew across the savanna.
"Mom?" Niru asked, turning back to his mother.
Kiara was nodding off into the flash back of when her and Kovu were stargazing for the first time together.
(Flashback: Stargazing.) "Oh look, there's one that looks like a baby rabbit, heh. See the fluffy tail?" Kiara said as she pointed to the constellations.
"Yeah," Kovu replied, relaxed and enjoying his evening with Kiara.
(Flashback: Love Will Find a Way.)
"Hey look! We are one," Kovu said gazing happily at his and Kiara's shared reflection in a small pool.
"We'll run away together! And start a pride all our own," Kovu beckoned playfully and seductively to his love, Kiara.
Kiara gave a small laugh and then grew serious. "Our place is with our pride. If we run away, they'll be divided forever," Kiara explained to Kovu.
Kovu's face became serious and a bit nervous as he realized that Kiara was right and they must go back and face their prides.
Then they made plans to spend the night in the wild and head out at dawn for the Pridelands. That night, unbeknownst to Kiara, she had begun to bear her and Kovu's miracle that they both created that night. That night, Niru became more than a twinkle in the sky, more than a thought in both Kiara and Kovu's mind.
(End flashback.)
For the few minutes the flashback was running through Kiara's mind, all Niru could do was study his mom's face and her eyes. They began to well up with tears for the first time Niru had seen. Niru cocked his head quizzically at his mom, and a concerned look grew upon his face.
"Mommy?" he asked in a whisper.
Kiara finally came back to reality and sniffled once before turning to her son. "Oh Niru," she said with all the love she had for her son and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Niru asked, growing upset and worried at his mom's behavior.
"Niru, I just love you so much, and I could never stop loving you, ok?" Kiara said as tears streamed down her face and she nuzzled her face against her son's.
Niru's bottom lip quivered. "I love you forever, mommy. Nothing could make me not love you, even if you never came back from the journey because I have to stay behind, I'd go look for you and dad and." Niru trailed off, relieved to finally tell his mother how he felt about the upcoming journey.
"Shh," Kiara said grooming her son as she let him cry into her fur.
After he had cried all the tears he could cry for the time being, Niru lifted his head up and wiped his eyes. "Sorry," he panted.
"It's alright. You have nothing to be sorry about Niru, because you did nothing wrong. It's ok to cry, Niru, it's ok," Kiara smiled at her son and licked his head. "Hmm?" she smiled.
"Thanks mom," Niru smiled and rubbed against her front arm affectionately.
"Anytime Niru," she smiled warmly, feeling a pressure relieved from her chest as well.
Niru glanced up at the sky again, remembering the cloud game. Behind them in the sky was the heart shaped cloud, which had merged back together to mend the rift in between the two sides.
"Hey look, a heart cloud!" Niru said, face brightening. "Maybe it means that we'll always be a family and love each other," Niru said happily, looking up at his mom.
"I think you're right, Niru," Kiara replied, nuzzling her son as the two of them watched the heart cloud until it was out of sight.
When afternoon came, Kiara demonstrated to Niru how to properly hunt for food, although he was still a bit young to hunt large animals. Perched quietly on a rock, Niru got a great view of the entire hunting process. Once Kiara had brought down a medium-sized gazelle, she proudly trotted over to her son with it and dropped it at the base of the rock.
Niru glanced down at it and pretended to be king. "Hmm, impressive," he said strutting in a circle on the rock to find the perfect place to sit down.
Kiara laughed and played along. "Hey, your majesty," Kiara smiled playfully and scooped her son off the top of the rock suddenly by the nape of his neck.
"Ahh, hey! Put his majesty down this instant!" Niru laughed and growled playfully as he wriggled in his mother's mouth.
Kiara let go and he landed safely with a plop on the ground.
Niru grunted, startled, and grinned playfully. Suddenly he reached out and tapped his mom's paw and took off running across the Pridelands. "Tag! You're it!" he yelled as he turned back for a second to catch a glimpse of his mom before turning back to the direction in which he was running.
"Not for long!" Kiara growled back playfully as she took off after her son.
"I think so for long!" Niru called out, as he laughed to himself.
"You're asking for it Niru! This is your mom speaking!" Kiara snickered.
Kiara and Niru raced all around the Pridelands for the entire afternoon, forgetting all about time.
As the sun began to lean towards the west in the sky, Kiara was on Niru's tail, literally, in their final round of tag. Niru had thrown Kiara off by running through a herd of giraffes and he frantically looked around for a place to hide. He spotted the boulder that acted as a diving board into the waterhole that his mom had fallen off when she was a cub. That was his only hope for winning the game of tag. Without thinking, Niru found himself racing up the rock and leaping into the water. He quickly swam up as he went under, and swam over to the rock ledge, in hope of hiding behind it.
Kiara paused for a moment to catch her breath after making her way safely out of a herd of giraffes. She lifted her head to sniff the air for her son and instead smelled water. She crouched down low in the grass and looked around for Niru. She slowly made her way towards the waterhole to re-hydrate, when she stopped a couple feet away. Slowly lifting her paw, Kiara peered down at a wet spot in the dirt and carefully sniffed it. Water that someone or something had just recently splashed from the waterhole. She had him now. Growling lowly, Kiara climbed up the rock and walked to the edge. She extended her claws onto the edge as she crouched into pounce position.
Niru clung to the side of the rock in the water, trying to think of an escape.
Just then Kiara gave a "surprise" roar and leapt off the rock and into the waterhole, making a large, powerful splash in the small pool. This of course created a wave, which carried Niru out of the water and onto the now wet ground.
"Whoa!" Niru cried out.
After being carried to land, Niru coughed up some water, got up, and shook himself dry. Looking back at the waterhole, he jumped backwards, weary of what trick his mother might be playing on him. Niru carefully glanced at the pool as he saw bubbles coming up about 2 feet away from him. He was drawn to the sight, and almost walked to the edge when Kiara's face emerged from the water and she roared playfully.
He jumped back and cried out, and turned in the other direction and ran for Pride Rock.
The rule in the final round of their tag game was the one to make it back to Pride Rock, which was base, touching a part of it without getting tagged wins.
Racing as fast as he could, he saw the stairs leading up Pride Rock get closer and closer. He could feel the presence of his mom gaining on him, and continued to fly like the wind toward Pride Rock. He glanced back and saw Kiara was right on his paws! Desperately wanting to win, Niru thought of a move that just might work. He gasped just as Kiara was about to tag him, and fell to ground. Kiara gasped as she managed to jump over him, and skid to a halt. But Niru was already belly-crawling through the grass to Pride Rock. He remembered how he had outsmarted Vitani in the grass, and immediately began running again. Kiara had picked up her son's scent again quickly, and raced along side him on the dirt path while he raced in the grass.
"Nice try, Niru, but that won't through me off!" Kiara muttered to herself as she ran.
As the back of Pride Rock became only feet within his reach, Niru growled, determined, and continued racing towards it.
He grinned triumphantly, as Kiara leapt in front of him.
Niru cried out, but continued running and tried to go around her. Unfortunately, she reached out to the side and tagged him.
Niru skidded to a stop and growled in defeat. "Oh! I was this close!" He hung his head in defeat as Kiara pranced around him like a cub and yelled in triumph.
"I win! I win!" "You won, you won," Niru muttered, disappointed, but then noticed they weren't touching Pride Rock yet, but had stopped short of it at the bottom of the giant rock. Kiara wasn't on the steps yet. It wasn't official!
Niru's face lit up as he saw he had a second chance to win. Although it was just a game, Niru wanted to prove to his mom his skill and maybe Rafiki would let him go on the journey after all.
Kiara was rolling on her back now laughing as she had once done as a cub.
Niru stood up. "Hey mom," he said in a singsong voice.
"What is it my toughest challenger?" she smiled and giggled.
"Don't look now but you're not touching Pride Rock!" Niru said as he quickly swatted Kiara's hind paw and turned and ran up Pride Rock, feeling renewed with energy.
Kiara gasped, realizing her mistake, and gave a frustrated growl. Then she jumped up and raced after her son.
Just as Niru had gotten to the top, even though he didn't have to, he wanted to go to the edge of Pride Rock and announce to his future kingdom his success. Just as he looked back to laugh at his mom, he ran into Simba's outstretched arm and felt himself lifted off the ground.
"Whoa, take it easy, Niru. What are you running from?" he chuckled nuzzling his grandson.
Niru looked up happily at his grandfather and nuzzled back. "Grandpa Simba, I won! I beat mom at tag! I won!" he said excitedly.
"You beat your mom at tag?" Simba said in a surprised voice.
Just then Kiara walked up Pride Rock and saw her son and father looking at her. She sighed. "Good one, Niru, you win," she smiled. "Hi daddy," she said smiling at the both of them.
Simba gently put Niru down, and nuzzled his daughter.
"You two ready to settle down for the evening?" Simba asked in a gentle voice.
"Just a minute!" Niru said and ran to the edge of Pride Rock. He took a deep breath roared "I beat the Queen of the Pridelands at tag! Whoopee!" he grinned happily across the Pridelands.
Simba and Kiara chuckled and smiled.
"Ok mighty prince, that's enough. Come on, let's go in the cave for the evening," Kiara beckoned gently.
Niru looked back to where his mom and grandfather were standing. "Aww, ok," he said content, and trotted over to them.
Then they all walked into the cave, side by side.
Once inside and settled down on their "bed", Niru was actually happy to let Kiara groom him, now realizing this would be the last time she would give him a bath for he didn't know how long. Sure his grandparents would groom him, and he would groom himself too, but it wasn't his mother's touch. Her undying love and protection she had for her son was felt with every warm lick on Niru's fur.
"Mommy?" Niru asked quietly.
"Yes Niru?" Kiara paused from grooming her son and listened attentively.
Niru sighed. "Why can't I go with you? I know it sounds babyish, but I'll miss you too much."
"Niru, there is nothing babyish at all about missing me, because I'm going to miss you too," she said licking his head. "You'll find your place in the Circle of Life as you grow, Niru. I don't mean just when you become king, but as you are right now, a cub. Your place is to play and learn as a cub should, and when you get older, well, you'll see," Kiara smiled, reminiscing on her past.
"Oh," Niru nodded understandingly. "But why can't I come with you?"
Kiara's face grew a bit sad and she sympathized with her son. "Because Niru, you have a duty to do here. What exactly it is I don't know, but that's for you to figure out while you wait for me to return," Kiara nuzzled her son tightly.
"Ok mom, I will," he said closing his eyes and nuzzling back. Then he opened his eyes again and glanced across the cave at his two best friends, sleeping next to Vitani. He remembered how Suvo had told him that he and Siva would always be there for him.
"Well, Suvo and Siva will be with me too," Niru said to himself aloud.
"Yes of course they will Niru. Don't forget that the great kings will be watching over you, and you'll be in my dreams always," Kiara whispered in her son's ear as she gently lay him down in her arms.
Niru smiled and felt relaxed for the first time that day. Then his eyes closed and he whispered back, "Goodnight, mom."
Kiara smiled down lovingly at her sleeping son. Then she blinked sleepily and lied her head down next to her son's.
Then Niru began to purr quietly, and seconds later Kiara joined in as she fell asleep.
Opening his eyes, Niru saw a blurred image of 2 golden eyes staring down at him, much like he had seen when he was first born. Then he blinked a few times and his mother's entire face came into focus. Kiara smiled sweetly at her son. Niru continued to stare up at his mom, happy to see her smiling, and waiting to see what she would do next.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning mom," Niru blinked and rubbed his eyes.
"So, what do you want to do today?" she said, lying down in front of him.
Niru thought for a few seconds. He didn't want to ask to go on a walk, because that would remind them both of the grave events yesterday. However, he didn't want to stay in the cave, because he wanted to be outside enjoying the day, and didn't want any eavesdropping or spying. Finally he decided upon the waterhole.
"Well, I'm thirsty. Want to go to the waterhole?"
"Sure thing, son. Whatever you want to do today," Kiara smiled and nudged Niru gently up.
Niru stretched and scratched himself, feeling better and forgetting about his scrapes and bruised rib cage.
"How are you feeling today, Niru?" Kiara asked, concerned.
"Oh, fine I guess," Niru said, not knowing what in particular she was referring to.
"Your scrapes and rib cage bother you?" Kiara asked, inspecting him briefly.
"Oh those? I forgot I had them," Niru smiled.
"Well that's good that they're healing. Just take it easy for awhile, OK?" Kiara cautioned her son as she took a few steps towards the outside of the cave.
"I will, don't worry," Niru smiled.
"OK," Kiara nodded, smiling back.
Then she turned around and walked onto Pride Rock. Niru followed, staying close beside his mother for protection. The two walked to the waterhole in silence, enjoying the peaceful savanna morning while trying to seize every passing moment.
Upon arriving at the water hole, Niru dashed to the water's edge and began lapping up sweet, cold water. Once full, he flopped down onto his back and stared at the morning sky, which was brand new. The sun had just finished pouring it's endless light over the Pridelands, and continued to touch places beyond Niru's range of vision. But it wasn't the sun or his future kingdom Niru was thinking about. He was thinking about what the clouds looked like in the sky.
Kiara finished drinking her fill and came over to her son. "Are you sure you're OK, Niru? Do you want to go back to sleep?" she asked, concerned that he was lacking his usual cub energy.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just looking at the clouds. Do you want to look with me, mom?" Niru asked, turning to his mom.
Kiara's face lit up, relieved that her son was indeed feeling all right. "I'd love that, Niru," she smiled, lying down next to her son.
They both sighed at the same time, and chuckled at the simultaneous action. Then Niru decided upon a cloud he saw and named it. "Rabbit," he said pointing to the sky.
"Ah," Kiara acknowledged. She searched the sky around her and found one that resembled a heart. "Love," she said, as that was the first word that came to her mind, as she remembered back to the first time her and Kovu gazed at the stars, when Niru was just a "twinkle in the sky". Even though the clouds had replaced the stars in the sky for the day, Kiara knew the stars she and Kovu had first gazed at together would reappear in the same place she was staring up at now with her son.
"Huh?" Niru asked, turning to his mom and then looked back at the sky.
The heart shaped cloud began to drift apart as a wind blew across the savanna.
"Mom?" Niru asked, turning back to his mother.
Kiara was nodding off into the flash back of when her and Kovu were stargazing for the first time together.
(Flashback: Stargazing.) "Oh look, there's one that looks like a baby rabbit, heh. See the fluffy tail?" Kiara said as she pointed to the constellations.
"Yeah," Kovu replied, relaxed and enjoying his evening with Kiara.
(Flashback: Love Will Find a Way.)
"Hey look! We are one," Kovu said gazing happily at his and Kiara's shared reflection in a small pool.
"We'll run away together! And start a pride all our own," Kovu beckoned playfully and seductively to his love, Kiara.
Kiara gave a small laugh and then grew serious. "Our place is with our pride. If we run away, they'll be divided forever," Kiara explained to Kovu.
Kovu's face became serious and a bit nervous as he realized that Kiara was right and they must go back and face their prides.
Then they made plans to spend the night in the wild and head out at dawn for the Pridelands. That night, unbeknownst to Kiara, she had begun to bear her and Kovu's miracle that they both created that night. That night, Niru became more than a twinkle in the sky, more than a thought in both Kiara and Kovu's mind.
(End flashback.)
For the few minutes the flashback was running through Kiara's mind, all Niru could do was study his mom's face and her eyes. They began to well up with tears for the first time Niru had seen. Niru cocked his head quizzically at his mom, and a concerned look grew upon his face.
"Mommy?" he asked in a whisper.
Kiara finally came back to reality and sniffled once before turning to her son. "Oh Niru," she said with all the love she had for her son and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Niru asked, growing upset and worried at his mom's behavior.
"Niru, I just love you so much, and I could never stop loving you, ok?" Kiara said as tears streamed down her face and she nuzzled her face against her son's.
Niru's bottom lip quivered. "I love you forever, mommy. Nothing could make me not love you, even if you never came back from the journey because I have to stay behind, I'd go look for you and dad and." Niru trailed off, relieved to finally tell his mother how he felt about the upcoming journey.
"Shh," Kiara said grooming her son as she let him cry into her fur.
After he had cried all the tears he could cry for the time being, Niru lifted his head up and wiped his eyes. "Sorry," he panted.
"It's alright. You have nothing to be sorry about Niru, because you did nothing wrong. It's ok to cry, Niru, it's ok," Kiara smiled at her son and licked his head. "Hmm?" she smiled.
"Thanks mom," Niru smiled and rubbed against her front arm affectionately.
"Anytime Niru," she smiled warmly, feeling a pressure relieved from her chest as well.
Niru glanced up at the sky again, remembering the cloud game. Behind them in the sky was the heart shaped cloud, which had merged back together to mend the rift in between the two sides.
"Hey look, a heart cloud!" Niru said, face brightening. "Maybe it means that we'll always be a family and love each other," Niru said happily, looking up at his mom.
"I think you're right, Niru," Kiara replied, nuzzling her son as the two of them watched the heart cloud until it was out of sight.
When afternoon came, Kiara demonstrated to Niru how to properly hunt for food, although he was still a bit young to hunt large animals. Perched quietly on a rock, Niru got a great view of the entire hunting process. Once Kiara had brought down a medium-sized gazelle, she proudly trotted over to her son with it and dropped it at the base of the rock.
Niru glanced down at it and pretended to be king. "Hmm, impressive," he said strutting in a circle on the rock to find the perfect place to sit down.
Kiara laughed and played along. "Hey, your majesty," Kiara smiled playfully and scooped her son off the top of the rock suddenly by the nape of his neck.
"Ahh, hey! Put his majesty down this instant!" Niru laughed and growled playfully as he wriggled in his mother's mouth.
Kiara let go and he landed safely with a plop on the ground.
Niru grunted, startled, and grinned playfully. Suddenly he reached out and tapped his mom's paw and took off running across the Pridelands. "Tag! You're it!" he yelled as he turned back for a second to catch a glimpse of his mom before turning back to the direction in which he was running.
"Not for long!" Kiara growled back playfully as she took off after her son.
"I think so for long!" Niru called out, as he laughed to himself.
"You're asking for it Niru! This is your mom speaking!" Kiara snickered.
Kiara and Niru raced all around the Pridelands for the entire afternoon, forgetting all about time.
As the sun began to lean towards the west in the sky, Kiara was on Niru's tail, literally, in their final round of tag. Niru had thrown Kiara off by running through a herd of giraffes and he frantically looked around for a place to hide. He spotted the boulder that acted as a diving board into the waterhole that his mom had fallen off when she was a cub. That was his only hope for winning the game of tag. Without thinking, Niru found himself racing up the rock and leaping into the water. He quickly swam up as he went under, and swam over to the rock ledge, in hope of hiding behind it.
Kiara paused for a moment to catch her breath after making her way safely out of a herd of giraffes. She lifted her head to sniff the air for her son and instead smelled water. She crouched down low in the grass and looked around for Niru. She slowly made her way towards the waterhole to re-hydrate, when she stopped a couple feet away. Slowly lifting her paw, Kiara peered down at a wet spot in the dirt and carefully sniffed it. Water that someone or something had just recently splashed from the waterhole. She had him now. Growling lowly, Kiara climbed up the rock and walked to the edge. She extended her claws onto the edge as she crouched into pounce position.
Niru clung to the side of the rock in the water, trying to think of an escape.
Just then Kiara gave a "surprise" roar and leapt off the rock and into the waterhole, making a large, powerful splash in the small pool. This of course created a wave, which carried Niru out of the water and onto the now wet ground.
"Whoa!" Niru cried out.
After being carried to land, Niru coughed up some water, got up, and shook himself dry. Looking back at the waterhole, he jumped backwards, weary of what trick his mother might be playing on him. Niru carefully glanced at the pool as he saw bubbles coming up about 2 feet away from him. He was drawn to the sight, and almost walked to the edge when Kiara's face emerged from the water and she roared playfully.
He jumped back and cried out, and turned in the other direction and ran for Pride Rock.
The rule in the final round of their tag game was the one to make it back to Pride Rock, which was base, touching a part of it without getting tagged wins.
Racing as fast as he could, he saw the stairs leading up Pride Rock get closer and closer. He could feel the presence of his mom gaining on him, and continued to fly like the wind toward Pride Rock. He glanced back and saw Kiara was right on his paws! Desperately wanting to win, Niru thought of a move that just might work. He gasped just as Kiara was about to tag him, and fell to ground. Kiara gasped as she managed to jump over him, and skid to a halt. But Niru was already belly-crawling through the grass to Pride Rock. He remembered how he had outsmarted Vitani in the grass, and immediately began running again. Kiara had picked up her son's scent again quickly, and raced along side him on the dirt path while he raced in the grass.
"Nice try, Niru, but that won't through me off!" Kiara muttered to herself as she ran.
As the back of Pride Rock became only feet within his reach, Niru growled, determined, and continued racing towards it.
He grinned triumphantly, as Kiara leapt in front of him.
Niru cried out, but continued running and tried to go around her. Unfortunately, she reached out to the side and tagged him.
Niru skidded to a stop and growled in defeat. "Oh! I was this close!" He hung his head in defeat as Kiara pranced around him like a cub and yelled in triumph.
"I win! I win!" "You won, you won," Niru muttered, disappointed, but then noticed they weren't touching Pride Rock yet, but had stopped short of it at the bottom of the giant rock. Kiara wasn't on the steps yet. It wasn't official!
Niru's face lit up as he saw he had a second chance to win. Although it was just a game, Niru wanted to prove to his mom his skill and maybe Rafiki would let him go on the journey after all.
Kiara was rolling on her back now laughing as she had once done as a cub.
Niru stood up. "Hey mom," he said in a singsong voice.
"What is it my toughest challenger?" she smiled and giggled.
"Don't look now but you're not touching Pride Rock!" Niru said as he quickly swatted Kiara's hind paw and turned and ran up Pride Rock, feeling renewed with energy.
Kiara gasped, realizing her mistake, and gave a frustrated growl. Then she jumped up and raced after her son.
Just as Niru had gotten to the top, even though he didn't have to, he wanted to go to the edge of Pride Rock and announce to his future kingdom his success. Just as he looked back to laugh at his mom, he ran into Simba's outstretched arm and felt himself lifted off the ground.
"Whoa, take it easy, Niru. What are you running from?" he chuckled nuzzling his grandson.
Niru looked up happily at his grandfather and nuzzled back. "Grandpa Simba, I won! I beat mom at tag! I won!" he said excitedly.
"You beat your mom at tag?" Simba said in a surprised voice.
Just then Kiara walked up Pride Rock and saw her son and father looking at her. She sighed. "Good one, Niru, you win," she smiled. "Hi daddy," she said smiling at the both of them.
Simba gently put Niru down, and nuzzled his daughter.
"You two ready to settle down for the evening?" Simba asked in a gentle voice.
"Just a minute!" Niru said and ran to the edge of Pride Rock. He took a deep breath roared "I beat the Queen of the Pridelands at tag! Whoopee!" he grinned happily across the Pridelands.
Simba and Kiara chuckled and smiled.
"Ok mighty prince, that's enough. Come on, let's go in the cave for the evening," Kiara beckoned gently.
Niru looked back to where his mom and grandfather were standing. "Aww, ok," he said content, and trotted over to them.
Then they all walked into the cave, side by side.
Once inside and settled down on their "bed", Niru was actually happy to let Kiara groom him, now realizing this would be the last time she would give him a bath for he didn't know how long. Sure his grandparents would groom him, and he would groom himself too, but it wasn't his mother's touch. Her undying love and protection she had for her son was felt with every warm lick on Niru's fur.
"Mommy?" Niru asked quietly.
"Yes Niru?" Kiara paused from grooming her son and listened attentively.
Niru sighed. "Why can't I go with you? I know it sounds babyish, but I'll miss you too much."
"Niru, there is nothing babyish at all about missing me, because I'm going to miss you too," she said licking his head. "You'll find your place in the Circle of Life as you grow, Niru. I don't mean just when you become king, but as you are right now, a cub. Your place is to play and learn as a cub should, and when you get older, well, you'll see," Kiara smiled, reminiscing on her past.
"Oh," Niru nodded understandingly. "But why can't I come with you?"
Kiara's face grew a bit sad and she sympathized with her son. "Because Niru, you have a duty to do here. What exactly it is I don't know, but that's for you to figure out while you wait for me to return," Kiara nuzzled her son tightly.
"Ok mom, I will," he said closing his eyes and nuzzling back. Then he opened his eyes again and glanced across the cave at his two best friends, sleeping next to Vitani. He remembered how Suvo had told him that he and Siva would always be there for him.
"Well, Suvo and Siva will be with me too," Niru said to himself aloud.
"Yes of course they will Niru. Don't forget that the great kings will be watching over you, and you'll be in my dreams always," Kiara whispered in her son's ear as she gently lay him down in her arms.
Niru smiled and felt relaxed for the first time that day. Then his eyes closed and he whispered back, "Goodnight, mom."
Kiara smiled down lovingly at her sleeping son. Then she blinked sleepily and lied her head down next to her son's.
Then Niru began to purr quietly, and seconds later Kiara joined in as she fell asleep.
