MEL

I was lying in the tall yellow grass. It was in the late afternoon and we were all exhausted. Axel was happily gnawing on some grass…. why? That answer is far beyond me…. and Donald was perched in the tree above our heads. There was a rock beside me, which Riku was resting on. Goofy was swimming in another small pool of water just in front of the rock. Sora was sleeping and his tail slowly patted the ground. It had been another really hot day. I was about to close my eyes when I got the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

RIKU

I opened my eyes and yawned. I saw Melody's ear prick up. Her head turned out towards the Savannah.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Axel lifted his head and his ears swung forward; he also had weeds sticking out of both corners of his mouth. Donald came down and landed on one of Axel's antlers as Sora opened his eyes. Goofy crawled out of the water.

"Something's wrong…." Melody whispered.

"I feel it too." I agreed.

I could smell darkness nearby. Timon and Pumba jumped from the long grass.

"Come on! Hurry! Simba's been ambushed!" Timon cried.

Melody was up on her feet before Timon could finish his sentence.

SORA

I took out my Keyblade and followed Melody along with Timon and Pumba. We hurriedly ran across the Savannah. We weren't far from a dammed up river when we came across Simba lying on the ground.

"Simba!" I cried.

I put away my Keyblade and ran to his side.

"Talk! What happened?" I asked.

"Kovu…. Ambush…" He grumbled.

He looked badly beaten and he had some blood running from his nose.

"It's okay man. We'll get you back to Pride Rock…." I said.

I was mad that Kovu had attacked two of my friends, but I was even angrier at the fact that I was not there to protect either one of them. Melody went off on her own so that was her own fault. But this in was also her fault. I might have been able to protect Simba had she not begged us to explore. …

"No… you can't be mad." My heart said. "You know it wasn't her fault."

I took a deep breath. I touched my magic and cured Simba. He stood up after a while and we all escorted him to Pride Rock.

MEL

I felt horrible. This is my entire fault. If hadn't asked if we could go explore then Simba probably wouldn't have been ambushed. I lagged behind again, with my ears low and my tail dragging. This time…. No one came back to check up on me. I'm sure everyone was mad at me anyway. We got to Pride Rock and Simba's pride all came out and surrounded him. I had the feeling that I didn't belong. I felt like a traitor somehow. I cowered back into the lair and then went though an opening to the outside of Pride Rock. I walk along a cliff all the way to the very tiptop of Pride Rock. I didn't want to see anyone. I was so guilty. I looked over to the edge and heard Simba yell 'exile'. I felt the pain from a light heart hit my chest. It was Kiara.

"No!" She cried.

Simba said that Kovu ambushed him…. But Kovu's heart is full of light now. His darkness was fragments… but now it was mostly light. He must have found his light. I watched helplessly as all the animals of the Pride Lands chase Kovu out.

I am so stupid!!

I turned around and flopped on the ground with an attitude.

No… I'm going to take Kiara and we're going to find Kovu. I am going to set this straight. Simba needs to see the light within Kovu and I need to redeem myself.

I ran back down along the edge of the cliff and came into the lair. Kiara was crying.

"Hey Kiara. I'm sorry about what happened to Kovu."

She glared at me with her golden eyes then turned away.

"Why do you care?"

"I know the light in his heart is you. I am going to help you find him."

"W-what?"

"You feel your heart calling out to him don't you?"

"…..Y-yes…."

"Then you need to take action. Never ignore what your heart says to you….. it will only give you pain and regret in the future. You have to listen to your heart because it knows exactly what you need to be happy. You're mind will always lead you to mischief, but you heart will remain true. My heart has many things going through it right now, but one of the loudest subjects it's screaming to me is that you and Kovu have to be together."

She wiped away her tears and stood up proudly.

"Yeah….. you're right. My heart needs Kovu and I won't come back until I find him!"

"I will help you."

There was a small gap in the pile of rocks behind her. I could see a small light coming through. I walked over and moved rocks out of the way.

"Come on. We'll go the back way so no one notices us leaving."

"Alright."

We squeezed through the gap in the rocks and ran out freely into the Savannah. The sun was beginning to set and Kiara began to get worried.

RIKU

I had seen the entire thing. Melody ran off with Kiara to find Kovu. She feels that this is her fault. Was it my job to tell everyone? Maybe I should just pretend like I never saw it?

What she said about listening to your heart though….. is it true? Because I wasn't ever listening to my heart, was that why I fell to darkness?

"Your feelings for her are shrouded. You must let them out. To her heart, you will seem irrelevant until her heart feels you calling. Just because you gave away the mask, doesn't mean that your are not concealing your feelings further. You must give away your heart, before the mask really disappears." Said my heart.

My heart spoke loud and clear. I was hiding something I didn't even know was there. What… or at least…. How will I let go?

"Soon…. The time will come when you recognize her true meaning."

MEL

The stars were out now and both Kiara and I were out of breath. We had been running for quite some time now. We were walking among sand dunes when I smelled a familiar scent. Kiara's heart obviously felt his presence too. She ran ahead of me and Kovu ran at her. They hugged and purred happily. Dust surrounded them as the wind blew. They smiled and rejoiced. As their happiness continued, I felt empty. It felt like the missing piece of my heart grew bigger. Whatever was the huge part of my heart, I was far from right now. They both walked over to me.

"Thank you Melody…. for helping me find him…. And giving me the advice to follow my heart." Kiara said.

"Melody…. I'm sorry…. But it was me that attacked you at the water hole. I had the idea of taking Simba's throne and that seemed like the only option in order to be trust near his Pride….. but I know now what truly lies in my heart…." He said as he looked over at Kiara.

"I figured as much….. but the sun is about to come up….. and I have another bad feeling…."

"Come on Kiara! Let's run away together! We could have a Pride all our own…" Kovu said excitedly.

Kiara looked down.

"Kovu……. My heart belongs to you…. but it also belongs with my family."

"You're kidding right?"

"Come on…. We have to go back…"

"A-alright…."

RIKU

"Simba! Zeera's Pride has crossed over their boundary! It's war!!" Zazu cried.

"Sora, Riku! Round up the lioness. We'll meet them head on!" Simba ordered.

Now I really wished I had told them all what really happened to Melody and Kiara. I'm sure they knew what Kiara was up to…. But Sora and Axel seem especially worried about Melody. Not to say that I wasn't. I was worried sick. I hadn't seen her for hours. Axel began to wig out about how Melody could be out there hurt and we're not there to help her. I would know if she were hurt. That's what heart seemed to be able to tell me. I walked out of the lair and felt rain pour on me. A thunderstorm had blown in through the night and it was looking bad. Now I was really beginning to worry.

MEL

It was raining hard as we ran across the Savannah. I had a feeling that something was about to happen and I didn't like the feeling. I was ahead of Kiara and Kovu. We came to the tree that Riku, Sora, Donald, Axel, and Goofy were all resting under yesterday. I jumped up on the rock and looked toward the northwest. I could see two different Prides running at each other.

It's a war!!

"Come on! We have to hurry! Both of your Prides are in a war!" I cried.

"We have to stop them!" Kovu said.

I jumped off the rock and ran as fast as I could.

"Hurry! Riku and everyone else are down there! You have to help them!" My heart yelled.

Kiara and Kovu were right beside me. We ran over hills and then the grassy plains tinned out to dirt. I saw right ahead of me, the river that was dammed up by logs. The rain was making the dam bulge and it wasn't going to stay put for another thirty minutes. Just across the river were both prides. Simba had Riku and Sora by his side, both of them with their Keyblades out. Axel was fighting alongside Nala, Timon, and Pumba. Simba and Zeera were in the middle just circling each other. I jumped onto the logs and ran across. Four lionesses from Zeera's pride had Riku and Sora cornered. They looked like they had been fighting for some time. They were exhausted. Kiara and Kovu came over the log and jumped in front of their parents. I roared as I jumped in front of Riku and Sora, to protect them. My tail was on end and my Keyblade appeared in my mouth. My claws jutted out and I swiped and muffled out a roar. The lionesses backed away quickly and went to see what Kovu and Kiara had to say. I put up my Keyblade and turned around. Sora and Riku tackled me to the ground asking all sorts of questions like, 'what did you think you were doing?!' and, 'why didn't you tell us?!'. They nudged me happily and Axel leaped over to me along with Donald and Goofy. They all cuddled me and then Donald yelled, 'Don't ever do that again!' I stood up with a serious expression on as I looked to see how Kiara and Kovu were doing. I watched Zeera leap at Simba, as Kiara was about to jump in front of him. I closed my eyes and felt the magic within.

SORA

I was horrified. I ran towards Simba but suddenly, Melody was there in front of him. She pushed Kiara out of the way and attacked Zeera. They toppled over the edge of the cliff that led down into the river.

"Melody!!" Riku cried.

We all ran to where everyone stood, overlooking the edge. Melody had landed safely on a small ledge, but Zeera was dangling off the side of it.

"Come on, Zeera. Just take my hand!" Melody yelled.

Zeera growled and swiped it away.

"You and the ones with the Keyblades are the ones who destroyed Scar!"

"Please Zeera! Scar wasn't himself! We had to!"

Melody was holing her paw out to Zeera, but Zeera was sliding further and further down the cliff. The logs in the dam finally gave way and water burst through the dam.

"No! Melody!"

Zeera was washed away and Melody was washed to the edge of the ledge. She dug her claws into the ledge and held on for life. The water began to lower and Melody was just dangling there. Riku immediately jumped down there before I could tell him, 'wait!'.

MEL

I had tried to save Zeera but ended up getting myself into the same predicament. My claws gave way and I slid down a bit further. Riku jumped down onto the ledge and hung half way off the ledge so he could give me a hand…. Or paw.

"Come on, Mel…" He pleaded.

I carefully reached, but my other paw gave way and I slid down further.

"No! No! Come on, Melody!"

I looked up at him with some fear. He seemed to have fear as well…. But fear of what? I looked at him. I looked into his eyes and my heart pounded.

"Your feelings for him are shrouded. You must let them out. To his heart, you will seem irrelevant until his heart feels you calling. Just because you have the mask, doesn't mean that you can conceal your feelings further." Said my heart.

His sea green eyes begged me not to let myself fall. I tried reaching for his hand again, but I was too far down the cliff. I clenched the cliff with one paw, then used my other one and reached higher up the cliff and dug my claws in. I did the same to the other until I was slowly climbing up the cliffside. I finally reached the edge of the ledge and then Riku quickly helped me up by taking me by the scruff of the neck. He closed his eyes and a green mist surrounded me. In inhaled in and felt much stronger and much better.

"Thank you…" I said quietly.

We both jumped up to the top and were greeted by one unified pride. Sora came up to us both and was talking so fast we couldn't understand what he was saying. Kovu and Kiara came up to us.

"That was really brave…. What you did…." Kiara began. "I guess you did what your heart asked you to do?"

"I guess…" I sad with a smile. "I'll do anything to help out a friend.'

Kiara smiled at me. Simba and Nala came by and hugged me graciously. The entire pride surrounded us.

"I think we are planning Kovu and Kiara wedding ceremony…. Do you think you can stay a few more days?" Simba asked.

Sora shrugged as Riku glanced at me. Donald looked at Goofy and Goofy looked at Axel.

Does this mean that the answer is up to me?

"I'm really truly sorry. But we have a long journey ahead of us. We would all love to stay…. But we need to check on other things. I do wish you two the best of luck." I said kindly.

"Thank you Melody. If it hadn't been for you…. we may not even be here today…. Together…." Kovu said as he hugged me.

"You're welcome. We'll drop by sometime soon, hopefully."

My Keyblade suddenly appeared in my mouth.

"Wha..?"

I didn't know what was going on. I looked at Riku and Sora and they too held their Keyblades. They casually padded over to me and lifted their Keyblades up in the air. I did the same even though I still didn't know what was going on. A bright ray of light came from each tip of all three of the Keyblade and met in the middle of the sky. A keyhole appeared and the ray shot through the keyhole. A warm breeze blew as the bright lights disappeared and then everything was normal again.

"Whoa…." I said.

"Yeah…. That's what I first thought when it happened to me…" Sora agreed, then her looked at Simba and his Pride, "Well… that means we've got to leave. Other worlds are calling."

Donald and Goofy warped with bright lights, as did Sora. Axel walked over with a small smile on his face.

"Do you need one of us to warp you to the ship?" Axel asked.

"No…. I think I know how to do it now…" I said with a grin.

I touched my magic and imagined the main control room.

RIKU

Melody disappeared with a mixture of light and dark swirls. That happened when I warped too.

Does she walk the road of twilight, like me?

I looked at Axel as he grinned at me, then I warped to the gummi ship.

AXEL

I looked around at all the lions. They all smiled at me and for a second, I somehow forgot I stilled looked like a goat, but that second didn't last very long. I laughed nervously and quickly warped to the gummi ship.