As the sun begins to rise over the Pride Land, Kion wakes up to Fuli drinking from the watering hole with a dead gazelle next to her. A slight breeze blew through Kion's messy red mane as it carried a sweet that he knew all too well, Fuli. He sat up and took in a deep breath of the cheetahs fragrance, arguably his favorite smell in all the Pride Lands. He turns and faces Fuli who is still drinking.
"Already went hunting?" Kion asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Yup, I didn't want to wake you, plus we have patrol soon, I saved you some gazelle," Fuli replies while motioning toward the leftovers.
"Wow, thank you Fuli," says Kion. Fuli smirks and gives a little nod before continuing to drink from the watering hole. Kion jumps to feet, stretches, and heads over to the gazelle . As he's eating, he hears three voices he knows very well.
"I think he snuck out last night, I hope he's ok," says one voice .
"Ugh, why do we have to look for him when we could be doing literally anything else," says another in a snarky tone.
"Guys be quiet, my mom and dad are worried about him and they don't want to worry the other animals if he really is lost," replies the third voice.
"Tiifu, Zuri, Kiara, I'm over here," yells Kion.
The three lionesses appear from the bushes and look around. They see Kion and run over to him.
"Oh my gosh Kion, you had us so worried," Tiifu said in her soft voice.
"Can we go home now?" complains Zuri while rolling her eyes.
"Kion, where have you been, mom and dad are worried about you," says Kiara.
"Sorry Kiara, didn't mean to scare you guys, I just went for a walk last night and got...caught up."
"Well at least you're ok, I'll go tell dad."
"Thanks Kiara, see ya Tiifu, bye Zuri."
Kiara turns to leave followed by Zuri who rolls her eyes before leaving. Tiifu shoots Kion one of her cute smiles before turning and catching up with her friends.
"We should probably get to the lair," Fuli tells Kion.
"I agree, let's go."
When they arrived at the lair, Bunga, Ono, and Beshte were already prepared for the long day ahead.
"There you two are, what took you so long?" Asked Bunga with his arms crossed.
"Sorry guys, I had a few distractions on my way here," remarks Kion.
"Same here," Fuli chimes in.
"Regardless, we have to begin patrol," comments Ono.
"You're right, let's go," says Kion motioning for his friends to follow.
It was almost the dry season in the Pride Land, so the animals were becoming a bit on edge. With the sun high in the sky and no cloud coverage, they had to continuously stop to drink and let Beshte roll around in some mud or bath in the water to prevent sunburn. After a few false alarms, the team thought it was going to be another easy day.
Until about half way through patrol, they heard a group of voices yelling "PANIC AND RUN, PANIC AND RUN!"
"Ono" says Kion
"I'm on it," confirms Ono. He flies up in the air and looks around. He sees Janja, Chungu, and Cheezi chasing a zebra herd, and looks farther down the plain he sees Zuri, Tiifu, and Kiara in the way.
"Hapana! Kion, the hyenas are chasing a herd of zebras, and they are headed right for Kiara, Zuri, and Tiifu."
"Good work Ono. Beshte and Bunga, you two deal with Janja and his crew. Fuli, you go warn Kiara and her friends, Ono and I will try to calm down the herd," commands Kion. Everyone nods, understanding their role. "Till the Pride Lands end!"
"Lion Guard defend!"
The lion guard leaps into action as Fuli takes off towards the 3 lionesses. Bunga and Beshte were able to fend off the 3 hyenas with relative ease. While trying to calm the herd, Ono realizes that the 3 lionesses haven't noticed the herd.
"Kion! Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri are still in the way" cries Ono.
"Hevi kabisa, Fuli better hurry." Kion tells himself. .
When Fuli finally gets to the three lionesses, she hears them singing Hakuna Matata. 'It's definitely catchy,' she thinks to herself.
"It means no worries," sings Kiara.
"For the rest of your days," Tiifu chimes in.
"It's our…" Zuri was interrupted by Fuli as she came to a stop with a cloud of dust following.
"Your highness...and you two, you all need to move. A zebra stampede is coming right at you" Fuli warns.
"Fuli, you ruined my part of the song," complains Zuri.
"Look, we don't have time, zebra stampede remember?" Replies Fuli.
"Ugh fine, but you owe me an apology Fuli," says Zuri. Fuli rolls her eyes but agrees, she quickly moves the three to safety before rejoining Kion and Ono in their attempts to stop the herd.
"Kion, there's a cliff coming up ahead," Ono cries out.
"Fuli!" Yells Kion.
"Yup, I got it," she says as she sprints to the front of the herd. "Stop!" She yells, bringing the herd to a screeching halt right before the cliff.
Kion catches up to his cheetah companion, out breath. "Nice work,Fuli," Kion manages to get out between breaths.
"Didn't even break a sweat," Fuli says while shooting one of her signature smirks, which never failed to make Kion smile.
The rest of the day was peaceful with only the occasional spooked animal here and there. Everyone was hanging out at the lair before heading home, a long day in the sun running after phantom animals had the lion guard worn out, so everyone just relaxed at the lair, enjoying the others company. Beshte was the first to leave, he wanted to find some mud to roll around in. Then it was Ono, who said it was feeding time with the flock. Bunga just got bored and wanted to have some fun, so he took off as well, leaving Kion and Fuli. They continued to chat even though the rest of the guard was gone.
"I wish we could get a break," says Fuli. "I just want some time to myself."
"I feel ya Fuli, it is exhausting, but I'm spending a lot of time with you guys, it helps me get by," he explains. " And Fuli, I want to show you something before you go."
Fuli nods as she follows Kion out of the lair. They walk up to the top of Pride Rock and look out over the Pride Lands just as the sun is setting.
"Wow Kion, it's beautiful," remarks Fuli.
"I know right? I watch the sunset every night, if I'm off duty of course. I thought you'd like to see it."
"I love it Kion, thank you," Fuli responds softly. The sun as it was setting illuminates the Pride Lands in the most beautiful red and orange mixture that Fuli has ever seen. The trees of the Mizimu Grove, the watering hole from the night before, Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Flood Plains, even the Outlands. Fuli had never seen the land in a beautiful array of light from so high up. Kion breaks the silence.
"Don't fall asleep this time," teases Kion.
"Ha, no promises," replies Fuli.
After watching the sunset, Fuli breaks the silence. "I should probably head home," she says.
"Ok...wait, where is your home?" Kion asks.
Fuli's smile disappears and her ears drop a little bit and she looks away. "I don't really have one," she says.
As the leader, Kion feels responsible for his team's well-being, and maybe he could help raise her mood. "If you want, I could spend a night or two every so often with you, if you want me too." Kion replies with a smile.
Fuli looks at him with a nervous and cautious look in her eyes. Fuli usually doesn't show any weakness, and being stubborn also didn't help her accept his offer. She also didn't totally mind being alone, although she did wish for a home to call her own.
"Are...you sure, you know you don't have too right?" She replied.
"Yea I do, but I'm going to anyway" Kion replies.
"Don't you have to ask Simba?"
"I could always sneak out again." This took Fuli by surprise. Kion? Break the rules? He was never one to actively break the rules on purpose.
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Kion," she teased. "But in all seriousness Kion, you'd get trouble, you better ask."
"You're right, I probably should ask my dad, I'll be right back,"
Kion enters the cave and begins to talk to Simba. Kiara, Zuri, and Tiifu all over hear Kion talking to the King.
"Oh so he's dating that cheetah now huh" Zuri remarks.
"He didn't say that Zuri, he said just as friends," Kiara pointed out.
"Whatever, at least we won't have to go looking for him again," Zuri replies.
"You should be nicer Zuri, he could've been hurt," Tiffu chimed. Zuri just scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What do you think Kiara?"
"I wouldn't worry too much about Kion, I'm pretty sure he can handle himself."