Drinking at the watering hole, Kion was with Zira and they were doing it together to get a nice, refreshing drink from nature's nectar. After he was done drinking, Kion looked at Zira, and he asked: "Zira, this sounds stupid, but... should I just be myself for Rani?"

Zira stopped drinking from the small lake, and she looked at the cub before replying: "well Kion, I absolutely support the idea of you being only yourself for Rani."

the cub smiled with hope and confidence. "Good. I'll be myself for her." he looked over in the distance and saw a big group of dark clouds and they looked really blackish-gray from where the two lions stood. "Wow. It looks like a storm over there."

"Indeed, the rainy season is almost coming upon us once again. We need to prepare ourselves from the pouring rain and shield ourselves from the thunder."

"Did you ever have a shelter from a storm in the Outlands?" Kion asked curiously.

"Well, frankly, water is... a rarity in the Outlands. So rain was more like a blessing than a burden to dwell on."

"Right... that makes sense."

Overhead, a gigantic figure flew overhead, soaring under the sun, looking majestic. It flew downward and it revealed to he Khemu, the elderly lappet-faced vulture, looking stern and taciturn as usual. "Pardon me for this interruption on the watering hole, Kion," said Khemu. "I just needed to get a drink myself."

"Sure thing, Khemu." Kion said, then he stood aside to let the gigantic vulture get a drink for himself. "Is the storm bad over there?"

"Well, that is another thing I wanted to talk to you about." Khemu replied after he finished drinking. "After looking for a delicious carcass, I noticed the nearby rain was moving towards here. It is pouring and there is thunder and lightning involved."

"Thunder and lightning?" Zira asked. "Please, thunderbolts and lightning do not frighten me."

"Well, if you got hit by lightning, it would probably kill you."

"Pfft, the chances of that are a very slim chance. Being hit by lightning would be the same as having luck on your side, Kion. I have endured thunderstorms a number of times, and I have never been struck by lightning before."

"Especially the time you and dad fought one another in the rain?" Kion asked.

"Yes." Zira sighed. "But that is the old me, dear. I am a whole new Zira."

"Yeah, I know that."

"Well, if i were you two, i would look for a place where there is not so much rainfall and take shelter." Khemu reminded. "You know how vicious the rains can be this time of year."

"I know that. I'm not much for the rain as hippos are. Or frogs, or other aquatic animals." Kion modestly said.

"Neither am I," Khemu concurred. "It is... not good for my feathers to get so wet from the pouring rain. Well, at least I found a good buffalo carcass to feed off from. The least I can do is get as much food as I can before the rain starts pouring."

"Well, I'm probably going to go hunting with Zira in a while.:

"Chose wisely before the storm hits the Pride Lands, child." Khemu said. "And I heard that you Killer Siyanda, the eagle."

Kion had a frown on his face, and he still looked a little guilty. Granted, that eagle was trying to kill and est him, but he never meant to kill any animal that he doesn't mean to eat. "Yeah, but.. I'm not... very proud of it."

"Come on, Kion." Zira reassured him. "That martial eagle didn't give you a choice. He was going to kill you, and you had to kill him to stay alive." She put a gentle arm around his small body. "There is never anything wrong with self-defense."

"She is absolutely right," Khemu stated. "You would not believe how many vultures I had to kill, because they were threatening me, or invaded my territory. You have done the right thing. And besides, Siyanda was a wicked bird."

"True." Kion sighed.

"Now come on, let's say we go hunting together." Zira offered.

"Sure, and we can have Kovu and Vitani with us."

"Right."

:good hunting to you, Kion." Khemu said. "Give my regards to Rafiki when you see him next time."

"You got it." Kion smiled. The large vulture flew away and then the two lions joined with Kovu and Vitani in a small hunting together.

"Try not to hurt your paws, cub." the tomboy teased the cub.

"Be nice, Vitani." Zira said with her eyes narrowed at her. "I trust you will not make this friendly rivalry ugly."

"Come on, mother." said Vitani. "You guys can trust me, right?"

"Mostly." Kion muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

The four lions began hunting in the grass and looked around for some prey to eat. For Kion, he found a small bluebuck to eat, and he quietly sneaked behind the naive antelope while it was still feeding off the grass.

Without warning, Kion made a growl and killed the beast by clamping his mouth of the small bluebuck's neck. At last, when the antelope died, he found himself something nice to eat and began esting it.

Vitani and Kovu found a line topi that got separated from it's herd, and Zira found a female cape buffalo that she caught for herself. The buffalo are always a tough mind of prey to kill, but Zira managed to kill it and eat it as her breakfast.

Yes, their food was really yummy and some of the vultures were already coming to get some bites of the carcasses. Most vultures were waiting at where Kion was at, mostly because he was a cub and they knew that he couldn't defend himself as much as adult lions could.

However, they realized that it was Kion, and they know not to make him angry. "You guys aren't with Mzingo, are you?" Kion asked.

The vultures all replied no and nodded their heads. "Don't worry, Kion." said one of the vultures. "We would never let Mzingo or his boys come and eat with us. If they did, we would tell them to go away."

Young Kion was still listening as he was munching on the carcass. "Good." He said after he stopped eating. "A storm's on the way."

"We know that," said a female vulture.

After a little while, Kion was done eating his breakfast and the vultures were more than happy to eat the rest of the carcass.

The other lions reunited after their hunt and Kion was glad to have eaten a decent breakfast. "Did you find something good, buddy?" Kovu asked

"Yeah. A bluebuck."

"Nice."

"We found a topi," said Vitani. "Rather impressive for a Pipsqueak your size."

"Ha ha, very funny." the cub sarcastically retorted. What they didn't know was that, the storm clouds were coming closer every few minutes. The storm was getting close and the four decided to head back to Pride Rock. Yep, it was probably going to he too wet for a usual patrol and Kion knew he had to stay inside the cave as soon as the heavy rains hit where the rock was.

"Look at those clouds," said Kiara. "We'll get a lot of rain today."

"Yeah. I bet." Kion agreed. "But, I was going to tell Rani that I love her." He showed his head, looking a little bummed.

"Oh, don't worry, Kion." Simba reassured him. "You'll tell her when the rain stops. There's always another day."

"And besides, Janja and his hyena friends wouldn't bother trying to cause trouble in the rain." said Nala. "It looks like it will hit the Outlands as well."

After sitting and waiting, the sound of thunder clapping was heard from outside the caves and the rain was already hitting hard. No one knows how long the rains will last, but it usually ends in a day, so Kion can wait until tomorrow to tell Rani his feelings