King Simba was dead. The great king of the Pridelands had given his last breath of life in the living world. His body was placed in a hidden valley in the deepness of the Pridelands among the bones of the great kings. His last request had been to be left between his mother, Sarabi, and his mate and queen, Nala, who had departed just a few months before him. However, King Simba had lived long enough to see the birth of his grandchild and to name him before departing to reunite with his father, the wise Mufasa.
Heartbroken though she felt, Kiara took her place in the Circle of Life as queen of her pride. Beside her was Kovu, her mate, a young, dark-furred lion, once prince of the Outlands, and now Prince Consort to his mate. Though not really a king, he was called like that by most of the Pridelanders, which made him feel a little uncomfortable, but he soon got used to it, grateful that the pride accepted him so warmly.
And then there was their son, a beautiful, fuzzy cub who had inherited his mother's golden fur, but had been born with a small tuft of hair as dark as his father's mane. As Simba had asked, he was named Sinta, which in their tongue meant "starlight".
The day of the presentation ceremony, all the animals gathered as always at the foot of Pride Rock, awaiting to see their future sovereign. At the highest border of the Rock stood Rafiki, the wizened, old baboon who always presided on the ceremony. At last there they were: Kiara and Kovu, with the cub in Kiara's mouth. On one side, perched on a protruding rock, was Zazu, the hornbill. And behind them were Simba's best friends, Timon and Pumbaa, now old and tired, but just as eager to help raise the young prince as they had been to raise Kiara. While Rafiki performed the traditional ritual on Sinta, Kovu walked near the edge, watching yet again the vast empire that one day would belong to his child. It was so beautiful. And to think it could have been destroyed by me, he thought, blindly following the hatred my mother poisoned my heart with. How will I ever teach my son to love when all I was ever taught was hate?
Kovu was still meditating on this when something below caught his attention. There, among the antelopes and the elephants, he could see a small, silent figure watching him.
"A lion?" he muttered, bewildered. "Who is he?"
However, that was not what had surprised him so much. What had surprised him was that the strange lion looked exactly like him! He was so taken aback that he lost his balance, his front paws slipped on the edge, and he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately he reacted on time and managed to dig his claws on the rock to steady himself.
"Kovu! Are you all right?"
Rafiki had noticed Kovu's movements and was now beside him, the small cub cradled in his arms.
"Y-yes," answered Kovu, still a bit shaken. "Guess I'm still not used to such heights."
Rafiki stared at the lion with suspicion in his eyes, but all he muttered was: "Very well. Come, the ritual has finished, it is time to present your son to the rest of the animals."
Kovu nodded and stood up. As he did so, he glanced over to the spot where he had seen the other lion. It was gone.
"I must have imagined it. Some kind of optical illusion or something." With that, Kovu joined Kiara and Rafiki and beheld his son being shown to all the inhabitants of the savannah.