Thanks again for the reviews, I am so glad you like the story - since it is my first attempt at a story about my favorite Lion King character. I finally got time to write the next part, so here it is;)

sulkenwolfpup, once again a long review, thanks very much for that! Yes, do let's be friends, it seems we share the same weird sympathy for this lovely beast. You have msn:)

MorpheusDreamer, it seems Nala has two sides now; the one Kovu/the rest knows, and the one Scar wants with him... and those are Nala and Athari (and I'm beginning to like the name Athari a lot)... glad you like it!

SunRise19, uh don't give away the plot just yet! I don't know if Simba will die, we'll see about that... evil grin

Zeldy, thanks very much! I'm glad you like it too!

Part 6 - a Justice never given

Left alone by the waterhole, both Nala and Kovu starred after the other lion, who disappeared in the high grass. For awhile they stood there in silence, thinking their own thoughts. Kovu felt sorry for Scar, wanted to bring him back to the Pride Rock – but he knew that wasn't possible, if Kovu did that, Simba might exile them both; and one time was enough for him! Nala also felt sorry for Scar, mostly because she knew him from before, but never actually understood how lonely he was – and had been all his life. He never had a mate, not a real one. Never had a pride to take care off, a pride that actually loved him like the King Pride loved Mufasa and now Simba.

"So… he is gone… Scar is gone, again…" Kovu said, and Nala couldn't tell if he spoke to her or if he just said what he thought about.

"He's not that far away… he lives by a rock just a stone's throw away." Nala explained, and Kovu nodded slowly, then tried to rip himself out of his thoughts.

"…and you live with him now? What about Simba – and Kiara?" Kovu then asked, now he finally didn't have Scar to worry about.

"I don't live with him! He forced me to stay… and now I understand why. I want to return, but I started something I need to finish." Said the lioness and looked in direction of the rock. It couldn't be seen from here. She looked at the sky – it was getting late, the sun would set soon.

"I'm not sure Simba will approve of that; I mean, it is Scar we talk about. Simba doesn't seem to fancy him that much… and Scar calls you Athari… why?" Kovu kept making up new questions, and Nala was becoming annoyed with it. But she felt she had to explain.

"Because he gave me these…" Nala said and made a gesture with the head, as if to 'point' at the 3 scars across her eye. He couldn't decide whether he really liked or disliked Scar by this point. The charisma that surrounded Scar, was something Kovu couldn't see beyond. He felt sympathy with this lion, whom he never really knew. And yet, he could feel that Nala was somewhat afraid of him. They had a fight, that must be the reason of the scars. Now he thought about it, they all had the same name – for somewhat the same reason. He wondered how Scar got his name, though...Nala sighed and looked towards the rock again. "You should be going home, Kovu… Kiara must miss you." She said quietly. She also missed Simba, but like she said; she felt she had to finish this strange thing she begun with Scar.

"And Simba is missing you… no, I'll stay until tomorrow." Kovu said, and Nala nodded. Somehow she knew this, even before she asked him to go home. She knew he wanted to talk more with Scar and stay with him, now they finally met. She just wasn't sure, if she could trust Scar at all…

x-----x-----x-----x-----x-----x

When Kovu first saw the rock stick up above the grass, he knew he wouldn't have found it on his own. Like a sacred place, it was to be found where noone ever came. Scar lay on top of the rock, looking at the sunset – it was almost gone, the sun. Scar lifted his head when he saw them arrive, and Nala placed herself close up against the rock as the night before. The lion jumped down and looked at Kovu, who hadn't decided where to sleep just yet.

"Come, Kovu…" Scar said, in a somewhat demanding tone. He walked towards the desert just nearby, and the young lion followed him without a question. The last ray of the sun disappeared, leaving the desert in a strange darkness – only lit by the stars, since the moon hadn't risen yet.

"Simba… he told me, that all the great kings are up there – they are the stars. I always thought you were among them too…" Kovu said and sat down a bit behind Scar and looked up into the sky. Scar walked back and looked at him.

"Ancient believes never die… nor do I…" Scar said with a thoughtful look towards the stars too. "I expect Athari asked you to stay…" he said in an displeased tone.

"It wasn't her… I chose to stay, Scar – to hear the tales from yourself." Kovu explained and Scar knew he told the truth. He smiled back at the young lion, so much like himself and yet so different. He seemed so honest, could that be right?

"Ah… and which tale do you want to hear?" he asked curiously with a smile; he'd love to tell the young lion a thing or two about how it all happened, from his point of view. From the socalled villain's point of view…

"Did you really murder Mufasa? And tried to kill Simba too?" Kovu asked, and Scar wasn't the least surprised with these questions. He almost expected this very truthful lion to ask about just that. But Scar chose to reply first with a sigh, like it was a thing he preferred to forget and that he was sorry about. He then sat down too.

"Kovu, to become the king, a lion must kill the former to become one himself. That is the rules; I was always meant to be king, I was the firstborn in our litter. But our father saw that Mufasa looked so much more like himself, and therefore chose him as the next king. I just wanted justice, Kovu, that's all… a justice never given to me…" Scar explained, watching the young lion listen very closely to every word he said.

"I am sorry for that, Scar…" Kovu said thoughtfully, and Scar nodded. So was he…

"I feel so grateful by this… compassion you show to me, Kovu, I really do." He said and even though he meant every word of it, he amplified the words a little bit; his chosen son would never guess it anyway. This was going really well, first with Athari and now also with Kovu, he thought, as they walked back towards the rock to sleep.