A/N: Okay, I stuffed this up so badly. Okay...going back to the 1st chapter, apparently Vitani isn't alive yet...so let's say she is. Okay, that should make some sense. Thanks to my reveiwers...I didn't think I'd ever continue this story but because of you, I am.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Lion King nor it's characters. You could say I own how Kopa died...maybe...and I own this story. Ooh, I also own Tassel.
When they reached Pride Rock, Kovu walked with Vitani, who was in tears, to the waterhole. Kopa watched them wander off and turned around, seeing Zazu fly ahead. He landed on Kopa's shoulder and grinned.
"Rafiki wants to see you at his tree," he reported, fluffing out his feathers.
"Thank you," Kopa nodded and started walking towards the giant tree that sat practically in the middle of nowhere.
He stood at the base and Rafiki swung down at grinned at him.
"You have never been here and yet you knew exactly what tree to go to?" he said
"Uh…it's kinda hard to miss," he said, gesturing at the wide space around him
"Yet you knew the direction?" Rafiki shot back
"Uhh, why are you asking me all these questions?" Kopa growled in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Because I know who you are…" Rafiki said softly.
"What?"
"You follow old Rafiki, he knows the way!" Rafiki shouted, scampering away
Kopa had an amused smile on his face as he started to run after him. They came to a cluster of trees and then a forest, which they stopped at. Rafiki turned around and put his finger to his lips, then inched forward, towards a pool of water.
"Look…" he said softly and Kopa stepped forward, looking into the pool of water.
Young Kopa and Vitani and Tassel raced down the gorge, Kopa in front and Tassel coming last. When they reached the end, they caught their breath and raced back, standing at the wall.
"That was fun!," Vitani exclaimed, sitting down.
Kopa nodded and lay down next to her, closing his eyes.
"So, what next?" Tassel asked, but Kopa shhhed her and she growled at him.
Vitani pounced on her and they engaged in a play fight, but Kopa stayed on the ground.
"Stampede!" he yelled and they stopped, looking at the top of the wall.
After about thirty seconds 12 dozen wildebeest came thundering down and Vitani and Tassel ran, but Kopa stood there.
He puffed out his chest and then roared, but it was barely heard over the hooves. He realized it wasn't going to work and started running, quickly catching up with the girls. Tassel starting falling behind, and then suddenly tripped and fell.
Kopa turned, telling Vitani to keep going. He helped Tassel up, and they started running again. Kopa had caught up with Vitani, and they were barely in front of the wildebeest. When he looked back to check on Tassel, she wasn't there.
"Tani! Go to the entrance and get my father," he yelled and Vitani nodded as he turned, narrowly missing a hoof in the face.
He dodged many of the oncoming wildebeest, finally finding Tassel clinging desperately to the trunk of a tree.
"Kopa!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Hold on!" he yelled, dodging more of the hooves.
Suddenly he was hit from the side and was flung back. Shaking his head he stood up again, running harder to get to the tree. When he reached it, he climbed up, coaxing her higher.
"We have to jump onto that ledge when we get higher," he said and she nodded, creeping up the tree.
He climbed onto a different bit of the branch.
"You go first," he said and she nodded, crouching.
As she leaped, her foot hit a wildebeest's horn and she spun, falling into the pit. The jump made the branch shake and Kopa lost his balance and tumbled, but still had a grip on the tree. He swung back up and jumped onto the ledge, looking for Tassel.
"Kopa!" Simba called from the other side of the gorge as the wildebeest started to thin out.
"Tassel fell!" he cried and Simba jumped down to the gorge.
Kopa tore his eyes away from the scene and found himself still in front of the pool, breathing heavily.
"Why that bit?" he asked
"Because, it is one of your worst memories…"
"Will you tell anyone?"
"No Kopa, that is up to you," he said and Kopa closed his eyes
"When should I tell them?" he asked, opening his eyes, but Rafiki was already gone.
He sighed and looked into the river again, but nothing appeared. He looked up at the darkening sky and turned back, walking slowly to Pride Rock and when he arrived, he slept outside under the shade of a large rock.
Kopa woke up rather early and stretched out his stiff limbs. He climbed down the steps to the waterhole and took a drink, then sat, staring into the water and thinking about what Rafiki said.
"What'cha doing?" a voice startled him.
He turned around and smiled when he saw Vitani coming towards him
"I'm not doing much," he said
"Wanna take a walk?"
He nodded and they started heading towards the gorge. Kopa was tempted to turn around, but he kept walking and stared down into the valley.
"I remember playing here when I was a cub…" Vitani said softly.
Kopa looked down at the floor and spoke softly.
"Did you ever have a friend called Kopa?"
She looked at him sharply and stared down at the gorge again
"Did you know him?" she asked
"You could say that," he chuckles
"How can you laugh….Kopa is dead!"
"No he isn't…." he said softly
"How would you know?"
"Because…Kopa is me…" he said in almost a whisper
She stared at him with tears in her eyes, studying his face. He grinned cheekily and her eyes lit up.
"It is you!" she exclaimed.
He smiled and looked down at the gorge, at the tree where he and Tassel clung onto to. His smile disappeared
"What happened to you….when you ran from the stampede?" he asked, following the familiar track down to the gorge.
"Where are you going?" she asked and he turned around
"Down to the gorge"
"We gotta tell everyone you're alive!" she said
"No…not yet," he told her and she frowned
"Why not?"
"Because it's not time…"
"You've been talking to the monkey, haven't you?"
He smiled and she walked down with him to the tree.
"Your dad saved me…and I told him where you were. I swear, he knocked down about 30 of the wildebeest while he was running through," she smiled
"It's because the same thing happened to him, the day his father died. The wildebeest were stampeding and he clung to the tree. His dad came and put him on a ledge, and tried to climb the stone wall, but my dead uncle threw him off." Kopa said and Vitani nodded.
"What happened…how did you survive, and why didn't you come back?" she asked suddenly after a pause
"Your mother came into the den and hurt me, but only knocked me unconscious. She took me far away and dumped me under some tree and went back to Pride Rock. Two antelope found me and nursed me back to heath with their buddies and then I was on my own. I roamed the Pride Lands, never having the guts to come back. I didn't know what they'd think, and then I heard that Kiara was born and I knew I couldn't come back. I started to forget and lived my life as a rouge, and then I saw the fight and something in my mind clicked, and I knew I had to step in." he said, looking at the ground the whole time.
"Kopa…" she said softly but he turned away
"Lets go back to Pride Rock…" he said and he nodded, walking behind him.
A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed that and the flashback. I will be adding more...but not of Kopa. More like Mufasa's grandad.