A/N: Gooday! No gibber gabber outta me today. Just fanfiction.

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

Abronia maritima. These plants are mentioned in this chapter – in case you want to Google it.

Chapter 9

Kopa

'Water.'

I huff and wheeze, walking with staggered steps, dragging my feet through the sand. I'm wandering in a barren desert, the sun making the air scorch my lungs as I breathe it in. Not even the company of trees is available to me. I don't know how long I've been walking, but the smell of something – I don't know what – edges me on in one direction.

I climb a sand dune, and once I reach the peak, a marvellous sight awaits me.

'Woah,' I'm gaze out at an odd canopy. It's nothing like I've ever seen in the Pridelands. There are small white birds, soaring over a large body of water. They caw before plunging like torpedoes into the blue and they come out with fish, wobbling around in their beaks.

"Heh," I huff an airy but elated chuckle, joy emanating from my eyes. I wish I could run, but I'm so tired. My feet walk, all too slowly, towards the dark blue water. My first step is on a soft green, cool plant – similar to alloy. I almost jump back at its cool touch. 'Strong plant,' I muse at its resilience against the cooking environment. The plant is so tough, that there's a whole audience of them. They grow freely, blossoming with pink flowers all over the dunes that face this water.

I continue towards the salty smelling water. As I near it, the dirt underfoot grows wetter and wetter, until I sink a little more with each step. The smell of the water is not at all appetising, but before I get a chance to drink it, a large wave dashes straight towards me. I almost trip over my feet as I flee from it, but I'm too late. It curls over me, splashing my whole body with cold, refreshing water. For a moment, I hold my breath and try my best to stick to the ground.

The water recedes, giving me a chance to gasp for air. Flat on my stomach, I look back at the fleeing water and laugh loudly and daringly, thrilled and exhilarated by the cheeky and playful Walking Water. I climb to my feet, energized as I would usually be, and shake the water off of my mane.

Hey! I have a mane! A proper mane! Full as my dad's!

"Kopa!"

I shoot open my eyes, and I see Afua in front of me. "Huh?"

"C'mon, wake up," he says. "You can't sleep forever."

I blink slowly, very hazy. I look around me – I'm back in the Pridelands. There's no Walking Water, no cool, blossoming plants. Just the grasslands where my uncles and I were sleeping last night. It was all just a dream.

I sleepily climb up to my feet and yawn loudly, my yawn soaring around in soundwaves freely. I cringe my face as I smack my lips together for a while. "How long was I asleep?" I'm usually up before the sun.

"It's noon," says Afua with a laugh. "Someone had a fun night."

I smirk at him. "How'd you find me?"

"Timon and Pumbaa thought I should check on you after you hadn't come back to Pride Rock for so long."

I nod slowly in register. "I see," I nod to Pride Rock in the distance. "Let's go put their worries to rest."

The walk back is rather slow, just because of how tired I am. But once we finally arrive at Pride Rock, we come across Lela who's lying on the lowest flat rock of the terrace where other lionesses are retiring.

"Anyone missing a prince?" I tease.

"Back from the last and found," says Afua. "If he isn't claimed I'm going to have to give him to the less fortunate."

"You look exhausted," remarks Lela with a chuckle.

"I'm exhausted," I smirk weakly, but not lacking an ounce of charm and flamboyance. I drag my feet to the flat rock and drop weightlessly onto the ground next to Lela, squashing half of her body. Purposely, yes.

She groans a complaint, but can't contain a laugh. "Get off me, will you? You're regally heavy!"

"You think that's heavy?" grins Afua. He hops up onto the rock we're on and drops on me, piling even more weight on Lela.

"You're suffocating me!" I moan, trying to free myself of Afua's weight.

"Stop squirming like that!" protests Lela. "You're both suffocating me!"

"I'm doing great on the contrary," teases Afua before he pulls off of me. I roll away from Lela, now on my back.

The sun is high over Pride Rock, blinding me as I squint my eyes against its harshness. That reminds me of the dreadful heat in my dream. "You know, I had this crazy dream."

"You don't say?" starts Afua, sitting down and scratching at his mane.

"Yeah. I was in the desert, roaming around," I say, almost reliving the experience. "But I wasn't wandering, I had a purpose, a goal to get somewhere or be something. And I was older, maybe a little older than Afua is now." I sigh in recollection and crease my eyebrows together in muse and contemplation. "And I got to this place, it was beautiful. There were these sleek white birds that flew around, and these green blossoming plants along the sand; there was so much water. It was like an endless river that met with the sky on the farthest end from me. But the water was sneaky," I laugh at how much like my uncle Timon I sound. "It comes for you, and runs away."

There's silence from both of my friends, then Afua laughs. "It must've been a dream. There's no such thing as a place like that."

"Well how do you know?" I ask.

"Uhm, maybe because there isn't," says Afua with a laugh. "Have you ever seen something like that? Other than in your dream of course."

"I haven't ever left the Pridelands," I say calmly. "Timon said that there's such a place over the Blue Hills."

"No offence, Kopa, but your uncle is a bit of a loon," Afua says.

I snicker. He's right. "Looney as he may be, he might be right. I don't haven't got any reason to assume he's wrong… unlike most of the stuff that he says." I realize that Lela's been totally silent for a while and look at her. "What's your opinion, Lela?"

"About Timon?" she asks.

"I mean about my dream," I say with a grin.

"I know," she smiles. She looks off a little to the side. "I think you were dreaming about a beach."

Both Afua and I look at Lela with curiosity. "What in the world is that?" I question with intrigue.

"It's just like you described," Lela says. "The water you're talking about is called an ocean. It's a type of river, but, it's greater. And the water's no good for drinking."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Yeah," says Afua. "Spill the beans."

Lela looks caught off guard and she seems uncomfortable about answering, but relents. "I've been to one." She says shaking her head, as if to make the situation she was hiding from us less important or lighter. "That's all."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" I ask.

"It's not relevant anymore," she answers. "It never was."

"Woah, wait a minute, Kopa," says Afua. "We don't even know if this 'beach' is even real. Maybe it's just a tainted watering hole."

"It's not a watering hole," tells Lela. "It's real. Why would I make any of this up?"

"I'm not claiming that you're making anything up," Afua says. "But let's be real, when did you go to a beach?"

"I'm not from the Pridelands, remember?"

"So you're from this beach?" I ask.

Again, Lela is caught by surprise. She stands up, "No."

"You're from the desert?" Afua asks.

"No," Lela says hoping off of the flat rock.

"Where are you going?" I ask, confused at Lela's departure.

"To Rafiki," she answers before heading off, out of earshot.

I frown, wanting to stop her from running off alone, but resist.

"What's wrong with her?" Afua asks with a chuckle.

I rest my head back on the ground and shrug. "Lionesses."

Alrighty, there you have it! Hope you enjoyed reading. I'll muster up something for chapter 10. Still have yet to get to the really interesting parts of the fanfiction (really interesting in my opinion at least). Until next time, my friends! 3