Author's Note: I did this to cheer myself up and, after re-reading it, decided it would be a nice segway into the rest of the fic, because it all goes downhill from here... I did a passage of several months because the way I originally had this going wasn't exactly working and was actually pretty boring. o.x And I know I've updated a lot in the past couple days, but they'll slow down again due to lots of work for the next two months.

MorpheusDreamer: Thank you for being the only one to review my fic thus far. Your comments are greatly appreciated, and I'm glad that Arina's change hasn't completely turned you off to it. When I started this I actually didn't have that whole thing planned. I hope the rest of this lives up to any expectations you may have. Again, thank you very much.

Several months of lessons had done nothing to improve Arina's ability to speak, but she was beginning to understand some of the words they spoke. After being ill for over a week, she also adjusted to their diet. She also soon learned their names and figured out that Kimya was her name to them. She had grown closer to Rose throughout this time and had grown more adjusted to this new life. And as the days went by, she lost her desire to return to Pride Rock.

Rose and Arina were lying below the night sky, gazing up at the stars. Arina was staring hard at the four stars she could put names to: Mohatu, Ahadi, Mufasa, and Simba. Simba's star was always much smaller and dimmer than the other Great Kings, something Arina was sure the Goddesses had something to do with. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to convey her feelings to the Great Kings without being able to speak them.

She felt a soft breeze pick up, felt a warm embrace. She sank into it, remembering the touch as she had experienced it in her childhood. It comforted her and reminded her of her other life, despite her desire not to return to it. There were more presences around her, but she only knew three of the others. The Great Kings had come down to her. They had heard her thoughts!

She remained still while she felt the spirits of the Great Kings around her, bathing in the radiating warmth and wisdom they emitted. It lasted only a minute before they vanished in another soft breeze, all of them save Simba's. He remained with her for several more minutes and Arina felt a tear roll down her cheek. She missed her grandfather, missed the times she spent with him listening to his stories and sitting under the stars. It was he who had originally pointed out Ahadi and Mufasa's stars to her.

When he, too, left to join the Great Kings, Arina realized that Rose's paw was resting on her stomach. She opened her eyes and rolled her head on the side, coming almost face to face with her. Rose blushed faintly but spoke quietly to her.

"Are you alright, Kimya?"

Arina's eyes widened a little bit. Rose blinked and picked herself up on her elbow, confused at her reaction and thinking she'd done something wrong. Arina looked back up at the stars, only now realizing why the Kings had come down to her. They heard her and were granting her permission to stay with Rose.

They had given her the ability to understand.

"Kimya?"

Arina looked back over at her and smiled sincerely, wiping her eyes on the back of her paw. She nodded slowly in response to her question, sitting up. She wanted to tell her everything, but she still could not speak their language. But to her, that didn't matter anymore. She still had to learn what many of their words and phrases meant, but that didn't matter either. She understood now.

Rose was still confused and thought maybe she wanted to go inside. She started to stand up, but Arina pulled her back down and shook her head. She smiled into her eyes then looked back into the stars, thanking the Great Kings silently for doing what the Goddesses could not.

Rose studied her, realization dawning slowly.

"Kimya, you… you understood me?"

Her head nodded slowly, but her eyes never left the stars. Rose smiled and moved a little closer to Arina, leaning against her. Their hands met and Rose closed her eyes, sighing softly and thanking whatever watchful deity broke the barrier between them. If Kimya could now understand, then Rose could tell her everything she wanted to.

Above them, Simba's star glowed brightly.