Chapter Six

Simba, Kion and Rafiki all returned to the Royal Family's foyer to the sight of Vitani, sitting next to Tyber at the table, holding and comforting him, with Nala standing behind them, trying to do the same for Tyber. She looked over and saw Simba, then walked over to him. "What happened?" Simba asked.

"I don't know – he wouldn't say. Just that it felt like a violation of his mind," Nala responded. "Vitani thinks someone invaded his mind and forced him to relive the night his family was killed." Simba was immediately worried. He and Kion now were going to have to very delicately explain to Tyber that they were the ones who invaded his mind, even though they were trying to help. Simba shot Kion a warning glance: Stay out of this.

Simba approached Tyber and sat next to him, on the side opposite to Vitani. "Tyber, I know what you must be going through, right now."

"Simba," Vitani said, her voice quivering, "Leave him alone."

"I have to do this," Simba insisted. "He has to know I'm on his side."

"... all because of me," Tyber sobbed. "They died because of me."

"They didn't die because of you, Tyber," Vitani said softly. "Stop blaming yourself for their deaths."

"I had long known of his treachery... his lies... what kind of corrupt man he was... it was a tragedy I should have foreseen," Tyber whispered.

"That doesn't make it your fault, Tyber," Simba said. "Their blood is not on your hands. They're on his."

Tyber scoffed among his sobbing. "You don't even know who he is," he said hoarsely.

"Perhaps not," Simba said, playing for diplomacy among family, "But Vitani's right: Don't blame yourself for what you didn't do." Before Simba even knew he was there, Kion spoke:

"Unless you planted that bomb, don't take blame that's not due, and don't blame yourself for how your own family treated you." Kion's words struck a chord in Tyber, as his crying stopped, and his head slowly rose to glare at Kion, and contrary to being the blue that Simba had come to associate with sadness, they were bright red – and Simba knew what that meant.

He was pissed. "What... did you say...?" he hissed, slowly rising to his feet. Simba had to act fast to diffuse the situation.

"Tyber, we are on your side, we didn't want to do this to you-" Simba began.

"What happened between you and Jeff?" Kion asked. A long, uncomfortable pause followed this. "This is just between us, I promise," Kion added. A dark, draconic thrum crept from Tyber's throat, and Simba realized things were rapidly getting out of hand. Simba put a hand on Tyber's shoulder reassuringly, but Tyber immediately grabbed it and twisted it, bringing Simba to one knee in an instant with strength Simba didn't even realize he had. He advanced quickly on Kion, who tried to back away, but Tyber was faster, as he seized him by the throat and hefted him off his feet.

"HOW DARE YOU INVADE MY MIND! HOW DARE YOU FORCE THAT MEMORY ON ME! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU CLAIM, FORCING YOURSELF INTO WHAT DOSN'T BELONG TO YOU?!"

"We... were just... trying to... help..." Kion gurgled out.

"Tyber!" Vitani shouted, "Release him!" But Tyber refused.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INVADE MY MIND! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO FORCE YOUR WILL ON ME! I ENDURED THAT ONCE, I WILL NOT ENDURE IT AGAIN!" he screamed. Vitani tried to grab Tyber's wrist, tried to break his grip on Kion's throat, but the second she tried, he dropped Kion, pulled a pistol that she had no idea he had on him, and held it at her head. His grip did not shake. His eyes bear a look of sheer rage. One wrong move, and she'd lose more than the man of her dreams. But that's not how she saw it. He was in pain, terrible pain. Like the night she met him, he was hurt, confused, and didn't know who to trust.

"Would you really shoot me?" she asked, already knowing the answer. But his grip didn't falter. This was much worse than before. "After all this, would you really kill a woman trying to help you? A woman who knows what it's like to be you?" Tyber made no sound other than that of his heavy, angry breathing. His eyes even began to show brief glints of yellow. "If it makes you feel any better, shoot me, but do so with the knowledge that neither Simba nor Kion were trying to hurt you. None of us are trying to hurt you, we never were – yet you treat us as though we keep you prisoner here. If leaving is what you want, then leave. If you want to shoot us, shoot us – but know that we only wanted to help you. We just didn't know how. I don't condone in the slightest what Kion and Simba did, but I can sympathize with why they did it." Tyber still wouldn't lower the weapon, and when Nala moved to support her, one of Tyber's lightsabers flared and he pointed it at her. She stopped just inches from the blade's tip, hands up slightly to show she was no threat. "Enough, Tyber," Vitani said calmly, still trying to diffuse him. "We all get it – you're angry. And you have every right to be. But you know better than any of us the dangers of anger and rage. You know where that road goes. You know exactly where it ends. And you and I both know that's not what you want. You're not a Sith. You're not a killer. You never were. Don't be the very thing that murdered your family. That's not what they'd want. That's not what you want, and that sure as hell is not what I want." Tyber's face contorted, and he pressed the pistol against Vitani's forehead, but nothing happened. Just as it seemed Vitani succeeded in talking him down, he extinguished the blade and dropped it at Nala's feet. At the same time, he hit a button on the pistol's grip, and the magazine was ejected and he forcefully threw the weapon down at Vitani's feet.

"Never. Again," was the only thing he said before he stormed away, walking out of the foyer and heading for the exit out to the Pridelands. No one stood in his way. Kion got up and coughed, rubbing his throat.

"I think we could have handled that a bit better," he commented. But this did not have the desired effect on Vitani. She immediately advanced on Kion and sent a punch across his face. Kovu had to intercede, grabbing his sister and pulling her away from Kion before she could continue her assault. Kion spun once before landing again on the floor, this time shouting, "Damn it!"

"Why the FUCK did you invade his mind like that?!" Vitani screamed, coming to tears. "What gave you the right to put him through that?!"

"Vitani, we were just trying to help-" Simba started. But Vitani, much like Tyber only moments earlier, wasn't having it, slapping Simba across the face before breaking free of Kovu's grasp and running to her room sobbing. Kion again got up off the floor, fully expecting someone else to hit him. But no one ever did. No words were said. Not a sound was made. It was on everyone's faces, and Kion knew:

He screwed up.

Vitani, heartbroken, angry, and hurt, sobbed hard in her bed. One chance. One chance was all she had to get to him. All she had to help him realize he was not alone. One shot to have what Kovu and Kiara had, and now that chance was gone. It never occurred to her that Tyber wasn't leaving, that he had nowhere else to go. All she could think of was how he held a gun to her head like she were his enemy – after the dreams he had of her, as she had of him. All she could think of was that he no longer trusted them. That he was alone in hostile territory. He didn't deserve that. He deserved better, after what he'd been through. He and she both did. And now, she felt as though that chance had been taken from them. She had no idea how long she'd been crying in bed when a soft creak signaled the presence of another.

"Vitani, I know how you must feel," Kiara said.

"I wanted to help him," Vitani said. "Wanted to show him he wasn't alone. Now I feel like he does – betrayed by those I thought I could trust."

"Fair to say," Kiara agreed. "But we still have to make this right."

"Make it right, do it wrong... what does it matter?" Vitani asked, her voice still shaking from her lamentation. "He's gone. He won't trust us now."

"All the more reason to find him," Kiara assured her. "We're reasonably certain he hasn't left the Pridelands. Dad has deployed everyone he could muster to look for him."

Vitani looked back at Kiara, this time. "And Kion?"

"Mom is keeping him confined to his domicile; he won't interfere this time," Kiara responded. Vitani turned her head back to where it was.

"How do you know he hasn't left the Pridelands?" she asked.

"Think about it, Vitani – where would he go? He has no home, no family. No one that would care for him. Like it or not, we're all he has at this point, and I'm betting he knows that," Kiara explained.

"It's a big gamble," Vitani said. "Is it really still worth it? After what we did to him?"

"How can it not be worth it?" Kiara countered. "How can it not be worth making better the life of a man who had everything taken from him? And after what we did to him, it makes it even more worth it in that we have to make this right."

Vitani found herself rising from her bed. In her heart, she realized Kiara was right; they did this to him. They hurt him. They had to make it right. To repair the damage they did. She still had time. "Has anyone seen him?" she inquired.

"Not yet, but-" Kiara started. She was cut off when Zazu came into the room.

"Princess Vitani... we have news of Tyber," he said. From his tone, Vitani immediately feared the worst.

"Is he okay?" Kiara asked before Vitani could.

"He is unharmed, but beyond that, we do not know; he's been sighted in the park... at last report, he was just sitting on the bench he was on when you first met him," Zazu replied. "Simba wants you along with him when he goes to speak with him. Nala is keeping Kion in his domicile, and Kovu also will be coming along." Vitani didn't even need to be told once. She immediately went to Tyber's room, grabbed his black cloak, and met with Simba and Kovu in the foyer, and they wordlessly headed for the park, following the invisible path that Vitani had followed in blood when she first met Tyber. And now, as then, it was especially cold. And just as Zazu had said, Tyber sat alone on the bench – the same bench Vitani first found him on when they met. She, Simba and Kovu all slowly approached Tyber, not wanting to provoke him any more than he already had been. He made no move. No sound. He never even lifted his head or opened his eyes. Vitani was the first to sit next to him. Kovu sat next to her, and Simba sat on the opposite side. No words were said. Nary a sound was made. Vitani silently draped the cloak over Tyber's back and shoulders, and he didn't stop her when she secured it. They were all silent for a good two minutes.

"I'm so sorry, Tyber," Vitani finally said. "I never wanted to put you through any of this." Tyber sighed, softly and tremblingly.

"I am, too," Simba put in. "I never should have gone along with Kion's plan. He's bold, but sometimes, he does things without thinking. He's still got a lot to learn." Simba shook his head, leaning on his knees with his elbows. "I fully realize there's nothing I can say to make you believe us... all I ask is you give us a chance to make this right."

"Believe you?" Tyber said softly. He was quiet after that, before speaking again: "What is left to believe, when you are betrayed by your own? When all that you are, all that you have done, is buried beneath the lies and deceit of corrupt men?" Simba was confused, but then, he realized it wasn't him he was referring to – it was the one he'd seen in Tyber's memory, holding the detonator. It was Jeff. But Simba refused to push. Not now. Not here.

"It was still wrong of us to invade your mind like that, and for that, I am sorry," Simba apologized. "It was never my intent to cause you harm, though I suspect you've heard that before."

"You aren't wrong," Tyber said.

"What Simba is trying to say is that we're all sorry for what happened," Vitani told Tyber. "We only ever wanted to help you – but if we are to help you, you have to lower your guard one last time, let us show you we are not your enemy."

"We all fully realize you've heard this before, that you have done this before. Humans did a lot to you that you never forgave nor forgot," Simba assured him. "If nothing else, please trust us in that we are not human, and recognize that even we can make mistakes."

"Amazing the concern you display for me, considering I held a gun to one of you and threatened another with a lightsaber," Tyber said, his voice shaking.

"Your mind had been violated, invaded without your consent," Kovu told him. "You were well within your right to be angry with us. As extreme as it is, you had every reason to be like that. I would be no different had it been my mind that had been violated like that."

"What happened to Kion?" Tyber asked.

"I had to restrain my sister from beating Kion senseless after you left," Kovu chuckled. "She really cares for you, Tyber. She broke down in tears after she smacked Kion."

"You mean so much to me, Tyber, and I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you," Vitani said softly to Tyber. "I don't want to lose you. Not ever."

"None of us do," Simba stated. "We don't want you to suffer any more than you already have; Come home with us. Let us show you what a real family looks like."

"But I'm not-" Tyber started.

"But you are, is what I'm saying," Simba interrupted. "You're one of us, now. Have been ever since Vitani found you on this very bench. And in our family, we take care of our own – even if that means going on a statewide manhunt trying to find one of us just to tell them we're sorry for how we hurt them." Tyber heaved a heavier, trembling sigh.

Vitani gently stroked Tyber's cheek. "Come home with us... with me. Let me keep you warm. Let me keep you safe. Let me show you you're not alone." She then leaned over and planted a gentle, tender kiss on his cheek. This seemed to flip a switch, and Tyber lightly chuckled.

"I guess I had forgotten what it means to have a family," he said.

"It'll become familiar to you again, Tyber," Vitani assured him. Tyber slowly rose from the bench, followed by Vitani, then Kovu, and finally Simba. Without a word, they all started the journey back to Pride Rock...