(A/N: Shortish chapter for this update. Enjoy!)

"You'll come with me, and I'll show you the most important thing so far in your short life," Kralj said.

"More important than showing you respect, Your Majesty?" Zira replied, to which her father scoffed.

Kralj took her to a part of their territory where she'd never been before. She'd seen the large hills that housed the caves from far away. Eyebrow raised, Zira followed her father into the dim cave that ran straight into the hill, just until it became almost impossible to see the bones that littered the cold floor. She nearly stepped on a rib. At first she thought that someone had eaten a lot of zebra and had left the bones behind.

She squinted. Some of the bones were darker than others, and some of the lower jaws had been separated from the rest of their scattered parts. They had no horns. No, the skulls weren't normal animal skulls. She noticed how long the teeth on the skulls were. In her mouth, she tongued her own canines.

"Lions?"

Kralj nodded.

"Why're they here? What happened to them?"

"This is a place of ancestors. Your baby brothers are here, too, but I put them in a different part of the cave. It's where I'll rest one day. It's where you will rest one day."

"Oh…" She looked at the sheer number of bones. So many had come before her. Every few moons someone new was born into their family. Standing next to her father, she felt even smaller than usual.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw markings on the wall. Wrinkling her nose against the scent of decay she'd finally noticed, she moved closer for inspection. They were paw prints. Big ones, done in either red earth.

"And this?"

"It's a wall of the past. Sons, fathers, usurpers… A wall of kings. The kings who have ruled this land. That's mine." With a claw, Kralj pointed out the print near the bottom of the wall that looked the most unblemished against a mass of faded marks.

Zira looked up at Kralj, as he focused on the wall, his mouth a thin line. She noticed how his eyes looked a little softer and more thoughtful. One day, he would be bones, too. There was an empty spot to the right of Kralj's print. Zira had heard about every great thing her father had done, from how he'd raided nearby prides to take their kingdoms, to the dozens of rogues he'd killed and left for the buzzards to pick clean. Nobody could live forever, and he had no living sons.

"Your aunts claim one of these prints actually belonged to a queen, but nobody knows which print is hers,"Kralj laughed softly.

Ears perked, Zira looked back at the wall and stared intently at the paw prints. She started, but soon lost count of them. Who was she? Maybe it was true that a queen had made her mark. Maybe… maybe Kralj knew that if a queen was good enough to make it onto the wall, that there was hope that Zira, too, would be worthy of leading the pride one day?

Slowly, she started to raise her right paw to hold it against the others.

"I regret every day that you are not a lion, Daughter. But when I'm gone, I expect you to keep this place tidy."

Zira lowered her paw. No, Kralj certainly was not thinking that his heir would be anyone other than a son. Death was on his mind, and nothing else.

"I can't leave the responsibility to your aunts and sisters. They'd be revolted by a place like this, even still when they're dead and lying here with the others. No respect for the ancestors... I know you'll honor me." He looked down at Zira and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Zira said dutifully, as excited by this news as she was to breathe air. "I won't promise to keep the flies out."

"Ha," Kralj snorted. His burst of derisive humor was even harsher when echoed against the cold stone walls. He turned and led the way out of the burial cave.

Zira glared at his back. She felt something unfamiliar stir in her chest, and it was far from the general devotion she normally felt for her father—though she probably confused her "respect" for fear most of the time. Already she thought she had a cobweb between her toes. She pictured herself, as old as her father, smelling like death with spiders crawling through her fur. The gaps between her paws completely webbed. The bone watcher. The cleaner. Nobody was going to want her then. Nobody's love could overlook that…

Zira felt the tears coming, but she blinked them away. Maybe she wasn't her father's son, but in her heart she desired more than to be the keeper of his grave. Maybe one day she'd prove to him that she really was special. He had to see. And until he finally saw her as she was, she would hate him. Oh, she would hate him…

Kiara's body longed to be unconscious, lost to her nightmares, but that was impossible when her brain spun and sprinted away with her sense of peace. She tossed and rolled with a low sigh on the dry grass next to Ramik, who had fallen asleep within a few moments that night, even though he'd tried to stay awake. His entire face was planted on his outstretched paws, and all Kiara could see were his ears poking out of his mane. He snored. Kiara stood up and was careful not to disturb him. She'd asked for some more of the white paste, but Ramik's shaman had cut her off weeks before.

"Your Majesty?"

Kiara looked over at the ground a couple lengths behind her. Zazu had lifted his head from under his wing. He blinked sleepily.

"I'm going for a walk," She whispered. She hesitated, when Zazu gave her a skeptical look, but truthfully, she felt more like moving around than being alone. "You can come with me."

Zazu nodded.

A zebra whinnied from across the savannah, but then the night fell silent. Kiara walked until she could barely make out the shapes of her sleeping new family. With Zazu perched on her shoulder, and sitting down in the grass, Kiara tried to focus her mind and slow down her too-quick thoughts. They rattled around in her head sharply.

"Okay… concentrate…" Kiara breathed in before exhaling slowly. Ramik had tried to coach her in meditation, as a way to bring her some sort of serenity, but mastering hunting was easier than keeping her mind quiet for more than a couple seconds. Horrible thoughts intruded before she had to start the meditation over and over and over again…

I brought Kovu to the Pride Lands. I can't do anything—I can't DO ANYTHING!

No… stay… calm. Calm… I wonder if the lionesses are getting enough sleep, enough to eat. What if they're not even alive now? What if they killed them after Tojo left? What if they starve them, make them their chew toys? What if—"

NO! You're doing it again! Just… clear your mind. You've got to… you've got to clear your mind. Just like Ramik says. He's so sweet… I can't believe I told Daddy I didn't wanna be queen. Was he disappointed? Was he waiting for me to want to be queen? I didn't want to take his place, but someone had to carry on. How can I carry on for him now, take my place in the Great Circle of Life? And how many times did I ignore Mom? I never listened, and she just wanted to teach me to hunt! I couldn't even do THAT! I'm a terrible daughter! I couldn't do anything right. If only I'd listened to them, if only I'd listened to Timon and Pumbaa and I was so stupid and didn't trust Daddy, and he was right, and now he's gone! They're all gone gone gone gone—!

"Kiara!" Zazu flapped his wings wildly, breaking her anxious trance.

Kiara blinked. She didn't even realize that she'd started to cry. She let the tears fall, unchecked in her bottomless exhaustion. "I can't forget what happened."

"If you keep tormenting yourself—Oh, Princess… I just don't know what to say…" Zazu glided to the ground at her paws.

"I'm drowning."

"I'm sorry…"

Her heart felt empty, and she wondered if the anger and sadness her thoughts brought gave her the impression that was she was still holding onto life. Made her feel. Gave her something to do, when there was nothing to be done. In her mind, she was still in flight. This frustrated her to no end.

"Don't let them win."

Kiara looked down at Zazu. "Huh?"

"Don't let them win," he blurted. He lowered his head with his wings clasped before him, as if he had digits to twiddle instead of blue feathers. He furrowed his brow. "Don't let them win." Looking back up at Kiara, he raised and lowered his clasped feathers passionately as if to pound his words in the ground, as if they were seeds for hope. He blinked back tears of his own.

"Zazu…" Kiara gently pulled him towards her other foreleg in a hug. Even if she'd always seen the hornbill as an extension of her father's heavy-handed authority, having the aging bird with her was comforting. He'd experienced than any king's majordomo deserved to see or go through. "Thank you for guiding me here. Thank you for flying home."

"As long as you're safe, there's hope, Princess."

Kiara lowered her ears and sighed, looking to the side. "Right…"

I'm safe… that's all…

"I hear," Zazu began carefully with a pensive tone, "that someone is interested in another certain someone…?"

"What?" Kiara raised an eyebrow then shook her head. "Oh. Ramik you mean?"

Zazu nodded. "His family is impressive."

When she pictured Ramik's smiling face, the corners of her mouth turned up a little. "Mmhmm. He asked me to be his queen."

"Why that's terrific, Princess! Wonderful!" Zazu waved his wings. "Your parents would be thrilled!" The grinning bird then collected himself. This was the best news either of them had heard in a long time. Kiara couldn't recall a time when he'd acted so excited about anything. He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, Ramik is a fine lion. A fine heir to his pride."

Kiara looked up at the night sky, smiling, hoping her mother and father were looking down at her. Sometimes, she feared she was a prisoner of her mind. Sometimes, it felt like her heart had been set in a cage, but for as long as she was in his pride, Ramik had helped keep the cage door from slamming shut. Her chest felt warm.

"I've been meaning to visit the Pride Lands in person. I'll meet with Rafiki. He must be at the ceremony."

Kiara nodded, though a wedding ceremony was still a little ways into the future. She hesitated before she spoke, a question ready on her tongue. In the Pride Lands, the majordomo had plenty of eyes and ears in the sky, on the plains, and below ground, but he'd never reported to her like he had her father every morning. "Zazu… what's going on in the Pride Lands? Do you know? Do your sources still talk to you?"

"Yes." Zazu twitched his tail feathers and his expression turned regretful. "Not much has changed, I'm afraid. Why, well, I've heard the cheetahs have been run out, and the giraffes have been most helpful at keeping an eye on things, but thankfully the hyenas haven't moved in." Zazu shivered. "Yet."

"You don't think…?"

Zazu shook his head. "Good heavens, no. Zira may have loved Scar, but the hyenas had the last laugh."

"How are they?"

"Well I don't know how the hyenas are, nor do I care to know."

"No, I mean with Pride Rock. With our lionesses. Do you know?"

"I flew by a few days ago." Zazu paused. "I don't mean to raise your hopes, but I did spot one of ours near Pride Rock. Someone was watching her, but she was out."

Exasperation filled Kiara. She wished he had told her this. "Zazu—"

"I didn't want to raise your hopes, Princess," Zazu said quickly. "Only time will tell. But… I agree… this is promising."

"Perhaps the Outsiders aren't as heartless as they think they are."

Zazu shrugged. "Indolent and apathetic is more like it," he scoffed. "Can't be bothered to be real guards to their prisoners."

"It is promising," she reminded him. "They trust our lionesses."

Zazu looked like he was about to argue before he nodded. "I'll fly there tomorrow."

Kiara's gaze traveled to the black sky once more. The moon was mostly black tonight; its crescent points were sharp like the open mouth of a roaring lion in profile. Power. The Outsiders had seized power from her and her family, and had the ability to determine who lived and who died. Now Kiara was determined. Even if she had to wait and wait, she would win the Pride Lands again.