A/N: Hi, everyone. It's been a while, yes, but here be I. I'm going to take a moment to address a few things that have come up.

I haven't finished reading all of the Lion King Six New Adventures, so that's why there might be a shortage of characters. I did a lot of research and looked for any BIG characters in the Lion King Six New Adventures, and I'm positive I covered them all. I'm not including characters that are miniscule, just because I don't have much to go on and I don't want to write characters I don't have much knowledge about. I don't want to misrepresent, I hope you all understand.

I don't want to scare/offend anyone, but I never truly believed in the plot of the Lion King II, just because I personally believe the quality of movies digresses as they produce sequels etc. Also, in the making of the Lion King II, not a soul knew about Kopa and therefore made the movie about Kiara and Kovu. I've included Kiara because I feel that she's necessary to my future chapters, but I don't see myself getting into her personal life too much because she already has a movie dedicated to that.

I wasn't aware that Kopa is younger than Kovu. Under that assumption, I don't see it as a fault that Kopa is older than Kovu in my fanfiction, because I'm not at all serious about the Lion King II. I'm so in love with the beautiful story of the Lion King I and Six New Adventures, and that is the basis of my fanfiction. Not to deflate any spirits, but I'm writing to be sated that there is some literature out there that corrects (writes in Kopa, and includes him in his siblings' lives vs forgetting about him) what Hollywood has done.

You all have no obligation to like my OC, this is just a fun fanfiction that happens to have her. I've always been breaking rules with art and making OC's and shipping them with people, heh, so I guess it's happened here again. I am definitely a rebel in that respect. Hope you can still enjoy the fanfiction regardless. There will be no love triangles! Haha, trust me! I'm not too partial to them myself.

Thank you for all the reviews. I appreciate each and every one. I don't know if I'll involve Kion, just because I know nothing about him, heh. I watched half an episode of The Lion Guard (I couldn't finish it, they screwed up Simba's voice so badly that it killed me), so whether or not I involve Kion will have to do if I extend my knowledge. We have a story to get to so I'll just delve right into it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lion King characters and/or its plot. I only own Lela.

Chapter 8

Kopa

"So, kid," starts Uncle Timon, "You pulled one over on your old man?"

My uncles and I are grub-hunting in a green area of the Pridelands. I roll over a dead log and a bunch of crunchy critters squirm and squiggle at the bright moon and starlight now washing over them. It's a late night, way past sunset, but my folks aren't opposed to me being out – besides, I haven't spent time with my uncles in a few months. I lick up a patch and answer my uncle with a full mouth. "Whaddya mean?" a few grubs spirt out of my mouth and onto my unfortunate uncle at each word.

"Don't talk with a full mouth!" corrects Uncle Timon, wiping off mushed grubs that stick to his fur with a mixture of my saliva and their guts. "And move over, you're not gonna eat all those grubs by yourself are you?" I shuffle to an end of the log, giving my uncles a chance to chow. "What I mean is: you asked your dad to let Afua stay over his allotted time. There's gotta be some tactic you used."

I swallow hard and toss a confused look at Uncle Timon. "Tactic?" I laugh the word.

"Yeah," Uncle Timon swallows a whole grub. "Pumbaa and I raised your dad most of his life, and if there's one thing we know is that he's no pushover."

I give a hearty, but soft laugh, ready to answer. But Pumbaa, who's been wolfing down some grub, comes up to answer for me. "You know, Timon, he could've just asked Simba to let Afua stay."

"You kidding?!" laughs uncle Timon. "Do you remember when Simba started climbing trees?"

"Yes, but-" Timon cuts Pumbaa short.

"Then you remember how it ended," Timon huffs. "With me flattened by both of you."

"But, Timon-" Pumbaa's interrupted again.

"Don't make me remind you about the waterfall scenario, Pumbaa," Timon says unrelentingly. "Simba never does as he's told."

"Was Pop really that bad?" I ask with intrigue.

"Well-" yet again Timon interferes with Pumbaa.

"Why yes he was!" declares he with folded arms and eyes closed with a prompt nod. "I mean, it all worked out in the end. He ended up being more of an asset than a liability," Timon frees one hand and speaks with it, eyes slowly opening and eyebrows climbing higher. "I knew he'd be a good long-term investment from the time I first laid eyes on him." Pumbaa clears his throat. Timon raises a questioning eye at my hog uncle. "What? You catchin' a cold or something?"

"We knew he'd be a great friend," informs Pumbaa.

"Fine, we knew he'd be a great friend," Timon caves. Pumbaa brightens up and proceeds to chomp on the score we've found. Timon leans closer to me and covers the side of his mouth with a cupped hand to keep my eating uncle from observing the hushed words Timon speaks. "Mostly me."

I snort a laugh, "Right, Uncle Timon." I roll the log totally away so that I can help myself to some bugs. After I'm content, I head to a nearby tree (which is odd, because this bushy area is void of trees) and claw down on it, sharpening my nails.

"Yeesh," recoils Uncle Timon. "You planning to get in a fight anytime soon?"

"Hmm?" I rake down the trunk of the tree and at the bottom I piece together what my uncle's insinuating. "Haha! Nah, I just thought I'd do something."

"Just as well," says Timon. He begins pumping his fists like he's preparing for a boxing bout. "If we run into some big bad you can just give him a one two three!"

"You don't wanna fight, Uncle Timon," I crane my neck back to look at him with a challenging grin. "I thought you were good at this stuff."

"I am, but… but I really did a number on my back in this fight with a, uh," Uncle Timon's eyes wander. "With a gorilla!"

At that word, Uncle Pumbaa grunts a confused grunt and directly springs his head up to look at Timon.

"A gorilla in the Savannah?" I question with a laugh. "I don't buy it."

"Of course you wouldn't," Timon confidently defends. "The truth isn't easy to come by and as a result, animals tend to dismiss the truth when they hear it."

"So what happened, Timon?" asks Pumbaa, beginning to believe the obvious lie being sputtered.

"I won!" beams Timon. "That's what happened! What did ya expect, buddy?"

I stroll over to my uncles and sit down between them, interested to hear what it is that Timon has to say.

"Will you tell me the story?" Pumbaa begs with enthusiasm. "Please?"

"You don't want me to bore you with my scars, Pumbaa."

"Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please," Pumbaa bounces up and down on his knees, unable to contain himself.

"Alright, Pumbaa!" says Timon with exasperation, although heaven knows he can't wait to boast about something. "Sit down, both of you, and I'll regale you with a tale of how I single-handedly defeated a mad gorilla."

Although already seated, I drop down to my back on the tall, cool grass. Uncle Pumbaa trots over to me and drops heavily on the side of my stomach. I cringe and hold a grunt in my throat. Pumbaa still pulses with excitement, but as Timon begins to give us a brief on the tale, Pumbaa calms. As he does, I do too, dropping my head on the ground and exhaling a long breath that I didn't know I was repressing.

"So there I was, minding my own business and uh, climbing!" begins Timon. "I was climbing those blue hills over there, on the other end of the Pridelands."

"What's it like over there?" asks Pumbaa, bemused.

"Blue," Timon states with confidence. "Very, very blue. The dirt is blue, the grass is blue, the animals are blue!"

"You didn't turn blue?"

"Of course I did, Kopa," says Timon. "But as soon as you leave the hills, you return to your normal colour. That's why the grass here is green and the grass there is blue."

"Okay, sure," I nod, but disbelieve it all. "Go on, please."

"Yes, where was I?" Uncle Timon taps a finger to his mouth in recollection. "That's right! Blue!" he begins using his hands to talk, throwing them all over the place. "The place is so blue, that there's a watering hole so big and so blue that you can't see where it ends! And it moves! It makes waves! The water actually runs to meet you, but just as you reach out to touch it, it runs away, back where it came from. This happens again and again, without fail. And on nights like this, the moon and those fireflies seem to excite the waves. Why, they climb to heights you can't imagine!"

Woah. Although what Uncle Timon's describing sounds like total baloney, it's so… so beautiful that I want to believe it.

"Doesn't all that moving water kill the grass?" asks Pumbaa.

"Pumbaa, Pumbaa, Pumbaa," Timon shakes his head sadly. "Where the Walking Water is, there is no grass! Instead, there's sand. But not sand like this," Timon pinches some sand from between the grass and rubs his fingers together, letting it spill to the ground, "it's special soft sand. It's pale like impala's but when you step on it, it moves away. It shapes your feet, and if you were to dig it up, you wouldn't reach the ground." Timon clears his throat. "So I was climbing the mountain, minding my own business, when I reached the beach. So I saw these birds, and that gorilla I mentioned – he was yelling at the birds. He wanted to keep this special place a secret for himself. He turned around and saw me trying to leave and that's when I realized that I was in trouble."

"What happened?" asks Pumbaa.

"I'm getting there, Pumbaa," he says. "Be patient, will ya?" Timon regains his composure. "When that gorilla turned around and saw me, he came charging right at me. He stopped right next to me, bangin' his chest and roaring like a lion," Timon beats on his chest for emphasis. "That didn't scare me!" he cuts through the air with his arm. "I stood my ground and gave him my own little battle cry. Why, he shook to the bones when he heard it."

I roll my eyes with a smirk, and mentally check out. I turn my face up to the glimmering silvery white stars in the sky. There are some colourlessly opaque clouds floating about – it's intoxicating. A warm breeze flushes past my face, blowing my mane in every direction and carrying a strange smell. It's the smell of an animal, but not that of my uncles'. I lift my head, trying to capture the scent and hold it long enough for me to connect it to something. But just as quickly as it came over me, it disappears. A little frustrated to say the very least, I drop back down in no hurry.

"Then he hightailed it outta there like there was fire at his feet!" says Timon.

Pumbaa is silent in thought for a moment. "If the snake took care of the gorilla, then how'd you hurt your back?"

"Oh that?" starts Timon. He tosses a loose hand. "I slept in an uncomfortable position that night. I've had this knot in my back ever since." Timon puts his hands behind his hips and stretches dramatically.

"Oohh," Uncle Pumbaa nods slowly in register. "Boy, you're so brave, Timon."

"Ah, Pumbaa," starts my uncle. "You can be too. Just keep looking up to me like you do. Then, maybe you'll be courageous enough to do the things that I do."

"Really, Timon?" Pumbaa questions with an elated beam.

"Well, no," says Timon. "Not as brave as me per say. Maybe as brave as Kopa. It takes a while to get to my level of heroics."

"I'm brave," I say, turning my head to my side to face my uncle.

"Sure, Kid," Timon says, resisting a yawn. "But when you fight a gorilla, then we can talk."

"You got it," I smirk.

"Look, this has been fun, but I need my beauty sleep," Timon tells. "I don't know about you two, but I have a reputation to uphold." He sluggishly drags his feet to me and Pumbaa, where Pumbaa's already passed out and softly snoring. He climbs up on the hog's snout and pushes up onto my belly. He twists and rolls for a while, but eventually gets comfortable. He reaches out an arm and draws his fingers to the heel of his palm twice, waiting for something. I cover him with my paw and he snuggles into my sprouting mane. "Night, Kid."

"Sleep tight, Uncle Timon." I say, gazing back at the sky.

Alrighty, guys, that's chapter 8! Hope that you liked it. If you did, please let me know, I need me some fuel. :D If you didn't like it, please let me know anyways – I'm always looking to improve my story any way that I can without losing my goal. But yeah, lots of love, I appreciate each review, and all those reading. Take care!