A/N: Hey! Sorry I've been gone so long, I've just been running skim on ideas for my current fic, but I had other ideas for a new one, so I figured, why not try this out? Also, personal life's been getting in the way, but yeah.. Sorry guys. Anyways, this fic is gonna be a little different. Just a heads up, this is gonna be pretty dark, with mild language, gruesome descriptions, and an overall gritty story. Anyways, moving on, hope you all enjoy! I'll try to work on my other fic some more too!

Ever since the war across the Pride Lands, nothing has been the same for Vitani, daughter of Zira, sister to Prince Kovu, leader of the Lioness Guard. Ever since the war, she had felt different. She felt weak, in that she didn't have that inner fight in her like she used to. Any time she stumbled upon something that looked potentially dangerous, she backed off, whereas her old self would have dove straight in. Ever since she lost Scar, she had tried to build up her inner strength, just to please her father. While she hadn't known him for long, from what she could remember, he was a kind gentleman who cared for his kids. When Vitani lost Zira, much like with her father, she didn't get to see what happened, and Zira wasn't a person she generally liked, so she knew it served her right to fall, though she wished she could have stayed just a bit longer. However, when she lost Nuka, that was where she drew the line. She had witnessed the entire thing. She saw what Simba, albeit unintentionally, did to her brother. She knew exactly what happened to him. She was there, she was watching, on standby, and she didn't do anything to save him. Not one damned thing. Then again, what could she have done? It all happened so fast that she barely had any reaction time towards the event. When the war was over, she felt weak, guilty, heartbroken, and above all, empty inside.

Since that day, she had resorted to alternative methods of relieving stress, such as leading her own Lioness Guard and making sure the Pride Lands were safe, and something else that she had yet to tell any of her friends or even Kovu; she stargazed. Every night, she would sneak out of the lair and head to one of the many hills in the vicinity to stare into the night sky. No one had any idea she did this, and even if they did know, they most likely wouldn't understand why, either. The reason she did such a calm and peaceful thing was obvious. At least, to her. She wanted to find her brother. She was told since birth that the great kings of the past reside up in the sky, and she considered Nuka to be a great king.. Well, she would.. If he even had the chance to be king.. Vitani loved stargazing, and performed this act every night. Tonight was no different.

The warrior resided on one of the many hills in the grassland. She stared up in the sky, admiring the white specks of the night. She looked up and around to see if she could find some sign of Nuka, though no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the feeling that he was here with her. She went at this for what seemed like hours, before doing something she didn't think she'd ever do;

She spoke to the sky.

"Nuka?" she called out in hopes of a response. "Nuka, are you there?" she called out a second time. No response from either attempt. "Nuka, please. I know you're out there somewhere, and I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I just wanted to let you know that I miss you, and I miss you desperately. I think about you every night, lying down in the den, and I think of all of the wonderful times we've had together in our childhood." Vitani's voice was starting to break at this point. She could feel some sort of burning feeling inside of her. She felt a tingle in her eyes. She felt something flowing through her face, from her heart, and she felt like it, whatever it was, was about to pour out.

"I'm always thinking about you day and night. I can't go on without you, bro. Please, if you're here, and you're with me, give me a sign.." Vitani's cheeks were getting redder and redder, her face felt warm, her whole body did, despite it being a cold night. She waited and waited as her temperature grew warmer and warmer. "Give me a sign, damn it!" the warrior called out to seemingly nothing as she felt some sort of liquid pouring down her cheeks. It was too warm to be blood, and it wasn't sweat, either. It felt as cold as Hell out there. It wasn't raining, either. The sky was crystal-clear. There was one answer, and it was an answer that not even Vitani herself could accept.

She was crying.

Unbeknownst to her, Kovu and Kiara had followed her, and were overseeing the whole ordeal. From their point, it looked and sounded like Vitani was about to throw a tantrum, which wouldn't necessarily be a good thing, considering she now possessed the Roar of the Elders, which had enough power to split an ocean in half and lift Pride Rock.

"Should we do something to help her?" Kiara asked, concerned for her cousin.

"Kiara, she's never done this before. I know Vitani like the back of my paws, but I've never seen her do anything like this before.." Kovu responded, just as worried for his sister.

"Maybe we should-"

"No, Kiara. Don't bring anyone else into this. This is just you, me, and her."

"But don't you think we should at least get my dad?"

"Bringing Simba out here is just gonna make things worse. You weren't there, and I can't explain it to you, but intentionally or not, Simba did something terrible that absolutely broke her. I don't think bringing out the person who ruined her life is going to make anything better."

"What did he do?"

"I'll have to tell you later. Right now our main priority is trying to help her."

"I'm going out to talk to her. Someone has to do something."

"Kiara wait!" the prince tried calling out, but it was too late. Kiara was already right behind her.

"Vitani? You ok?" Kiara asked the warrior; clearly disheartened by something. Vitani was startled by Kiara's sudden appearance. She didn't lash out at her, however, as she didn't want to admit she was scared.

"Yeah, Princess, I'm doing just fine.. It's a beautiful night tonight and I just wanted to appreciate it." Vitani responded, trying to make up an excuse as to why she was there.

"Vitani, it's really cold out here, couldn't you have done this another night?"

"How many times do you think I do this?" she muttered under her breath. Kovu approached his sister from behind, making his presence a bit more known by speaking to the ladies.

"So, looking at some stars tonight, are we?" Kovu asked in his usual playful tone. "Didn't think that was something you were into, 'Tani."

Vitani sighed, knowing they were going to find out sooner or later. She had to tell them now, or they were going to judge her for this odd decision. The warrior took in a deep breath of the crisp night air, and exhaled it back out, as if someone was giving an offer to her, yet she rejected it. She looked up at the stars once more, facing seemingly the brightest one in that particular direction, and asked a question which dumbfounded Kovu and Kiara at first.

"Do you think he made it?" the shaken warrior questioned two parts of what was left of her family. "Do you think he's up there with the other great kings of the past?"

"Who? Scar?" her younger brother chimed in. "Vitani, I don't think there's an easy way to tell you this, but-"

"No, Kovu.." Vitani said with slight irritation evident in her voice. "I'm not talking about Father..." it was then that Kovu had realized what was going on. She wasn't out here for the Hell of it. She wanted to contact him. She wanted to hear from her brother again.

"Vitani, I-" the prince was left without words. He didn't know what to say. What even happened to Nuka? Was he dead? Or was there perhaps some chance that he was still alive, just in a comatose state? It was never clear. All anyone saw was him getting crushed by the dam. That's all anyone knew. He was crushed, and quite possibly, crushed to near death, if not directly to death.

"Who's she talking about, Kovu?" the princess questioned her lover.

"When we were younger, we had an older brother named Nuka, who was around Simba's age. During the fight in the gorge, when Simba was trying to escape, he tried to attack him, leading your dad to accindentally knock over some logs on top of him, which caused the dam to collapse and-"

"Answer the question, Kovu." Vitani interrupted him, agitated. "Do you think he made it?"

"Vitani, how would I-" Kovu tried to think of a valid answer without him completely lying.

"I just want your honest opinion, Kovu! How is a seemingly simple question so hard to answer?!"

"I don't know!" he yelled at his sister. "I don't know what happened to him, nobody does! What matters is that he's in a better place, and we should move on!"

"What do you mean by "a better place"?! He could be suffering in Hell for all we know!"

"Vitani.. It's time to move on.. There's nothing we can do."

Vitani, realizing how true this statement was, was left absolutely heartbroken. If there was one thing she wanted to do at the moment, it was see her brother. But she couldn't. No matter how hard she wished, how many stars she saw, or how many times she swore at the sky, he was never coming back, and this thought alone was enough to drive her to tears. Kiara and Kovu watched in agony as the unthinkable happened. They witnessed Vitani crumble down to the ground, sobbing loudly, melting down both figuratively and literally. Kiara was about to go up to her, but Kovu put his paw in front of her, holding her back, simply shaking his head with a somber look on his face. Vitani rarely ever cried, if at all. She needed this time to get everything out...

A/N: Sorry if this beginning chapter was a bit too short for your liking. There wasn't much I thought I could put in here. I hope you enjoyed this start.