Kion woke up fairly early the next day. He gave a mild yawn as his eyes fluttered open. He looked around the room he was now in, the memories of what had happened the day before, then looked down at Fuli. The cheetah cub was sleeping soundly, purring quietly, wearing a smile on her face.

'I should let her sleep,' he thought. Gently, he lifted his head from off her back, and slowly got to his feet. This did not go as smoothly as he had hoped, though, as his dizziness returned to him and he tripped on his hind paw, landing on his side with an "oof!". He saw Fuli let out a light yawn as she too woke up. 'So much for letting her sleep.' He saw her green eyes open, and she looked over at him.

"Kion?" she asked. "Are you okay? It sounded like you hurt yourself!"

"It's alright, Fuli. I got up a bit dizzily and tripped, but it didn't hurt too much." He smiled at her. "Do you always purr when you sleep?"

"If I'm sleeping well, I do," she giggled. "How's your head today?"

"A little sore, now that you mention it, but better. Thankfully, I'm not feeling nauseous."

"Good. I could do without watching you throw up again."

They both laughed at that, just as Rafiki walked in. He was carrying some more medicine in his hand.

"Good morning, you two!" he greeted them cheerfully. "It sounds like you are doing better, Kion! I would advise you to take a day to rest, but you should be okay tomorrow!"

"Alright, Rafiki." Kion drank the medicine Rafiki gave him, before shuddering. "Why can't you ever make a medicine that actually tastes good?" The mandrill couldn't help but laugh at this, and neither could Fuli. Kion shook his head at them. "Are my parents awake in the other room?" Rafiki nodded. "Could you bring them in?"

"Of course, Kion!"

Rafiki left straight away.

"Should I give you guys some space, Kion?" Fuli asked, a little nervous.

"Don't be silly, Fuli. It's thanks to you I got here, so I'm sure they'll want to say thanks." Simba, Nala and Kiara quickly entered the room. To Kion's surprise, however, Bunga, Beshte, Ono, Timon and Pumbaa also came in. "Woah! I didn't realise you guys were all here too!"

"Ah, lay off it, kiddo! Of course we'd check up on ya!" Timon spoke up first. "You're lookin' in good shape after what happened!"

"How are you feeling, Kion?" Beshte asked.

"I'm doing okay, guys."

"It's a good job Fuli took control when she did," Ono remarked. "We followed her lead, and Rafiki was able to take care of you!"

"Oh, please," Fuli replied, blushing, "I just made sure he got here." She cleared her throat. "Look, about yesterday. I'm sorry I pushed you guys away yesterday. You were all just looking out for me, and I shouldn't have acted like I did."

"Don't be ridiculous, Fuli," Nala smiled at the cheetah, "after what happened, you did so much yesterday to make sure my son was okay. I honestly cannot thank you enough."

"You don't have to thank me, really. I was just doing what I could."

"C'mon, Fuli! Hakuna Matata!" Bunga cheered.

"Oh, boy! I'm getting emotional!" Pumbaa sniffed, before accidentally letting out a fart. "Oops! Sorry."

"Ew!" Everyone screamed.

"I'd better get this guy out before he suffocates the kid," Timon patted his buddy on the back. "Look after yourself, Kion!" With that, they left for Hakuna Matata Falls.

"We should be heading back for Pride Rock ourselves," Simba remarked, "we'll come by and check on you later.

"We are so pleased that you're okay, Kion." Nala nuzzled her son.

"Don't worry, mom, I'm okay now."

Simba nuzzled his son, and then he and Nala left. The Lion Guard then turned to look at Kion.

"So, what are we doing for patrol today?" Bunga asked.

"Well, I'm going to be stuck here all day, so I can't join you," Kion explained. "You guys should head out and do the patrol to make sure Janja doesn't attack again, and I want Fuli to take charge today."

"M-me?" Fuli asked, caught off guard. "Kion, why me?"

"After yesterday, I can't think of anyone else who should stand in for me. It's evident that you have all the good qualities of a leader, and I think if you're in charge today, then everything should go smoothly."

"Yeah, but let us help today," Beshte explained. "I know yesterday was a lot, but if something happens, you don't need to do it all yourself. We're a team."

"You're right. Of course you are." Fuli then smiled at Kion. "I'll do it."

"Thank you, Fuli. Alright, guys! Till the Pride Lands End!"

"LION GUARD DEFENDS!"

Bunga, Beshte and Ono all headed outside straight away. Fuli walked up to Kion and nuzzled his cheek with hers, purring, before leaving. This left Kion with a big smile on his face, as a sigh escaped his voice, which Kiara couldn't help but laugh at.

"You're in a good mood, Kion!" she remarked, making him raise an eyebrow at his sister. "Given that you were hit on the head by falling rocks twenty-four hours ago, you're very chirpy."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Oh, please! We were talking about this just yesterday, and I doubt that you have amnesia!" She sat down in front of her brother. "While you were out cold yesterday, I managed to speak to Fuli, and she was so worried about you."

"She was?"

"Uh huh. You mean so much to her, and I know she means just as much to you, so why won't you admit you like her already?"

"Please! She's my best friend!"

Kiara had a comeback in mind, but she instead turned her attention to Rafiki's paintings with a sort of laughing gasp. Turning his head to what she had seen, Kion widened his eyes and blushed- among the mural was a small painting of himself and Fuli, asleep like they had been the night before. He looked back at Kiara, who was smirking from ear to ear.

"Oh, Kion! You really expect me to believe that she is just your friend when you do that?" she teased.

"Sh-sh-she was tired!" His stutter echoed his embarrassment- he wasn't ashamed about what happened, but he had expected it to remain between them. He couldn't hide his reddening cheeks either. "She'd worn herself out carrying me, and she spent the whole day worrying!"

"Uh huh, that explains why she's asleep in the painting, but not why your head is on her back!"

"W-w-well, that's because, erm, I-I had, erm…"

Kiara laughed at his struggle to explain himself. She knew how he really felt, so he couldn't hide the truth from her.

"Okay, sure thing, little brother. You say what you like."

He groaned. "I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

"Nope."

THE END

(A/N: thank you all so much for reading this story. I had originally planned for this to be a one-shot, but it kind of grew from there, so it became a full on multi-chapter piece. I'm really proud of how this came out, and this could not have been better for my 25th fan fiction! I would like to give a little bit of thanks to a couple of other writers on the site, Yingyangmaster and money100- they've both been quite supportive as I've written this, and I would appreciate it if you checked out their stuff too! Anyway, I'll talk to you guys soon!)