AUTHOR'S NOTE – Sorry it took me SO long to update! You must've thought I'd abandon you. I guess I had a massive writer's block after my return on August 4th. And then I was struggling to find a title for this chapter. But thanks a lot to you, my wonderful reviewers, for your kind words and for being patient. Finally, here comes the third chapter of TLK3D:

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CHAPTER 3: Arguments settled, awaiting the future

When the first morning light touched the inside of the Royal Cave, Rafiki approached Queen Kiara who was still asleep. Behind him was Kovu. As they both stood beside her, the mandrill asked the King: "Are you sure we shouldn't wake her up?"

Kovu shook his head no, his gaze fixed upon his son: "No. Don't disturb her sleep."

With a sigh, Rafiki lifted up a pumpkin that he was carrying and broke it in two. He picked up some juice with his thumb, but before he continued, he looked at Kovu once more: "I will warn you once again, Kovu. Making changes to my paintings for the Great Kings was somewhat simple. But by marking Ari's forehead, we could not only enrage them by defying their will, but also confuse them. Lina has already been marked as your heir, and she'll always be. I don't know how destiny will strike you for this. And without informing Kiara..."

"Kiara HAS been informed," Kovu interrupted. "And thanks again for informing me, Rafiki, I know. But please..."

And so, Rafiki placed his thumb on Ari's forehead, just beneath the small tuft of dark brown fur. The little cub jiggled a bit and slowly opened his blue eyes. He yawned and then happily gazed at his father who smiled back at him. Rafiki stood up and placed one hand on Kovu's shoulder. "May the Great Kings accept your decision." He bowed and then made his way out of the cave.

At that moment, Kiara moved her head from side to side. Each time her head was near her little cubs, she began to sniff. She smelled something that caught her attention and opened her eyes. What could be wrong? She looked at her sleeping daughter from head to paw. Everything was fine. When she looked at Ari, she noticed that he was already awake. She smiled as she beheld the happy expression on his face. But then it hit her. There was this reddish shine on little Ari's forehead, it seemed like some kind of liquid. Kiara was confused. It couldn't be blood, as it was not a deep red and had some kind of an aromatic, juicy smell. Just by now, she had noticed that Kovu was standing in front of her.

"What happened?" She looked up at him. "Kovu, what's going on here?"

"Good morning," Kovu smiled.

Kiara frowned at this. "Kovu, answer my question. What happened to Ari?"

"I asked Rafiki to do me a little favor," Kovu said calmly. "Ari is going to be the future King of the Pride Lands."

"WHAT?!" Kiara jumped up, not thinking about her cubs at that moment. Lina fell on her back and woke up groaning. Ari landed on top of her, rolled onto the ground next to her and started to play with his sister. Kiara was simply too shocked to notice, but fortunately, nothing happened to her cubs.

"I just thought it's best if we make Ari our heir," Kovu explained ignoring Kiara's dismay. "He's gonna be a strong and mighty King."

"I can't believe it," Kiara shouted. "How could you do that? How could you do that without even telling me?"

"Why are you so excited? I thought you were more supportive. I'm King, so I can decide, and you should support my decisions."

"Why didn't you even tell me? But it's not just that. How could you decide against the will of the Great Kings?"

"Oh, the Great Kings again," Kovu rolled his eyes. "Do you really believe those dead Kings can do anything? Do you think they are gonna take vengeance on me? Oh please, that's superstition."

Kiara gasped, her eyes widened with horror. "How dare you speak of the Great Kings, of my ancestors and your predecessors like this?" She furiously yelled at him. "What kind of a King are you?"

Suddenly, Kiara noticed that each and every one else in the cave was awake and startled by those words. They all stared at the royal couple in shock. Kiara pinned her ears and looked down at her cubs who seemed quite perplexed as well. Ashamed, she ran outside, to the very edge of Pride Rock, holding back her tears. Kovu gaped after her, quickly looked back at the others and then followed his mate. He hesitated a bit as he saw her sitting on the edge of the rock hanging her head. Then he slowly approached her and sat down beside her.

"Hey," Kovu started, but Kiara looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about what I was saying. Please..."

Kiara still didn't look at him. "Do you have any idea of all the things the Great Kings have done for our Pride?" She said quietly. "They sent my father back to free our Pride from the tyranny of Scar. They brought us together and gave us strength to put an end to the war between our two Prides. Don't you appreciate what they have done?"

"I... Of course, I do. I never thought about it... like that."

Kiara finally faced him with a sad look in her eyes. "So, why did you defy their will?"

Kovu looked down. He couldn't bear seeing this sadness in her eyes. "As I said, I... I never thought about it like that. I guess I got carried away. I just felt so proud of my son, and proud at the thought of him as a King. He's also your son, don't you think he'll make a perfect King?"

Kiara sighed. "Of course I do. But you should have talked this over with me. And I still think Lina should have been our heir and the future Queen." She paused as Kovu looked up. "But you know... when I was young, I didn't want to become Queen. Maybe Lina feels the same way."

"So you agree?" Kovu asked and quickly added: "Can you forgive me?"

"I... I think I can," Kiara said and looked up at the morning sky. "But still, the Great Kings could not be happy about this decision."

Kovu nuzzled her. "Hey, don't worry," he purred softly. "Everything will be fine."

There was something about the way he said this that made Kiara forget all her anger. She thought about it the whole day and finally felt ready to accept Kovu's decision. But deep in her heart she sensed something was terribly wrong. So she decided to pay Rafiki a visit that evening. For some reason she kept the fact from him that Kovu had decided over her head. She only told him that she wasn't so sure about her agreement any more. Rafiki shared her doubts. He was only oblidged to submit to Kovu's orders. But Rafiki and Kiara both agreed that making any other changes would be of no good, either. "It was the King's decision," Rafiki remarked. "Whether his decision will be approved by the Great Kings or not, we shall wait and see..."

Months passed without any incidents, but also without the return of Simba and Nala. Kiara almost guessed her parents would stay with Timon and Pumbaa for longer than she had expected in the first place. She missed them very much, especially in those moments of doubt when she feared negative consequences of Kovu's decision. She often talked to the Great Kings, hoping that her father could give her some strength and advice. How she had wished her parents would come back soon! But as time went by, she proudly watched Ari and Lina grow. One day, as the sun began to rise above the Pride Lands, Ari was the first to wake up. He happily jumped up from between his parents, where he and his sister were sleeping and tried to wake up his father.

"Daddy, Daddy, wake up!" he laughed, poking Kovu in the side with his front paws. "Come on, Dad!" Kovu groaned a bit, but didn't move. Ari looked at his sleeping father from head to tail and noticed that one of his hindlegs lay there with the bottom of his paw up. With a grin, Ari began to lick Kovu's paw to tickle him. And it worked.

"Ha, ha, stop it!" Kovu cried. "I'm awake, ha, ha, stop it!"

Ari stopped and nuzzled his father's mane and cheek. Then he began to jump up and down in front of him in excitement: "Come on, Dad, you wanted to show me our Kingdom!"

Kovu yawned and got up on his paws. "Of course, Ari, let's go."

But as soon as Kovu made one step, a tiny voice came from behind him: "Hey, can't I come with you?" Lina asked sleepily. She had been startled by her father's laughter.

"I'm sorry, dear," Kovu turned around. "But your brother is going to be the future King, and so I will explain all the duties and rights of a King to him. I don't think this is going to be too interesting for you."

"Alright," Lina yawned. "I'm still tired anyway." But as soon as she had watched them go, she realised that she couldn't go back to sleep. So, Lina decided to wake up her mother. "Mommy?" She gently nudged Kiara's jaw. "Mommy, can I go play?"

Kiara opened her eyes and yawned. Then she licked her daughter's forehead and asked: "Good morning, honey. Where's your father and brother?"

"Daddy shows him the whole Kingdom."

Kiara frowned. "Oh, he should've taken you with him."

"Nah, that's boring," Lina said. "Please, can I go play with Takita?"

Kiara chuckled. "Dear, Takita's still asleep. Let's go for a drink first. Then you can go play."

So, they made their way to the water hole, from where they could see Kovu and Ari sitting high on top of Pride Rock. Kiara promised her daughter to show her their Kingdom as well whenever she wanted to. But Lina only insisted to wake up her best friend Takita again. Takita was the daughter of Kinja, one of the lionesses who formerly lived in the Outlands. Kinja and Takita both had a sand colored fur with light sand muzzle, belly and pawtips, Kinja being a little darker. In a way, they resembled to Nala, but were thinner, like all the lionesses from the Outlands. Kinja had water blue eyes, while Takita's were emerald green like her father Roho's, a tan colored lion with a brown mane. Takita was a few weeks younger than Lina and Ari, but they got along very well as Kinja was one of Kovu's and Vitani's closest friends.

When Kiara and Lina returned from the water hole, they noticed that almost every one in the cave was awake by now. Among them were Vitani, Kinja and Takita. As Kiara had to gather the hunting party and other royal duties to do while Kovu wasn't there, she trusted her daughter to Vitani and also Kinja asked her to look after Takita. Vitani actually belonged to the hunting party as well, but she sometimes looked after the other lionesses' cubs instead. And sometimes Kinja stayed with her daughter and with Lina, so that Vitani could take part in the huntings, but not that often, because Lina prefered to be with her aunt.

"So, what do you girls wanna do?" Vitani asked Lina and Takita after the hunting party had left. "Where do you wanna go play?"

Lina and Takita were chasing each other laughing, until Lina stopped all of a sudden at the edge of the rock. Takita slightly bumped into her and followed her friend's astonished gaze. "Wow!" They both whispered in unison at the sight of a barren piece of land in the North.

"That looks cool," Takita said. That caught Vitani's attention, so she walked towards where her protégées were standing.

Lina looked up at Vitani who was now standing behind her: "What's that land out there, Aunt Vitani?"

"Those are the Outlands," Vitani answered. "No one lives there any more. Surviving is hard in those lands. But some of our Pride used to live there..." She looked at Takita: "...like your mother..." And then she turned to Lina: "...as well as your father and me."

"Wow, really?" Lina smiled in amazement.

"I never knew my Mom lived there! How was it? And why did you live there if it was so hard?" Takita asked.

"Yeah, tell us about it, Aunt Vitani, please!"

End of Chapter Three

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AUTHOR'S NOTE – Well, I think that's a good point to end this chapter. I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think about it. I hope to get some more action into the next one, but it's gonna be quite hard to write down. And I guess it's gonna be a long chapter, too. Do you want me to write much about the talk between Kovu and Ari?
And for those who are interested: I uploaded a pic of Lina and Ari that I did some time ago. The coloring is not that good (there are also some color experiments on it), but it's very close to what I imagine them to look like. (Vitfollower88, you already know it ;)) I'm gonna put a link to the pic in my profile.
So, thanks again for reading, and please be patient until the next chapter comes out. See you!