Lion King III: The Chosen Ones

Change Arc

Chapter Seven: Where They Belong

That night Tanabi and the others returned to the Pride Rock soberly quiet. Nobody knew what to say or do out of shock caused by the cheetahs. Tanabi and Ayira shared worried glances through the whole walk back, wondering how their parents were handling the disrespectful felines while Jelani kept his head low, stewing in his leftover anger.

"Princess…maybe you should wait with me and my mom," Kutu suggested softly. The red cub nervously put a paw on her friend's shoulder,"She'd be happy to have you…and…and we could help ."

"Thanks Kutu, but I think I'd wanna stay here," Ayira gave her friend a half hearted smile, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Oh...oh..okay princess..I hope you feel better."

The siblings watched as their friends walked off back home, not saying a word. Ayira knew that both Jelani and Kutu wanted to stay behind and cheer them up, but they didn't know what or how to.

"They should be here by now…" Tanabi said, frowning.

The brown cub continued to look out into the distance, worriedly. He needed to know about what was going on and he wanted to know now. Tanabi had never seen his dad so mad before and his parents wanted everyone out of the way so quickly; it was driving him crazy that their reactions were so extreme.

I don't get it; why don't they like us...what did we ever do to them? The young prince wondered, remembering back to the cheetahs.

Finally, Kovu and Kiara appeared. They were walking along the dirt pathway that led to Pride Rock with matching troubled looks on their faces, seemingly lost in their own world.

"Mom! Dad!" Tanabi and Ayira cried out.

The two siblings bounded hastily to their parents, rubbing her heads against their forelegs and clinging to the monarchs like they were never going to see them again.

"What took you so long?"

"Are you hurt? We've been waiting for you forever!"

"Didja kick those cheetahs butts, Dad? Didja?"

"Hey, hey! One at a time kids," Kovu replied softly, amused. He gently nuzzled the two in a loving manner. "You guys weren't worried about us, were you?"

"Of course we were, Dad! You didn't come back until dark," Ayira retorted quickly, hurt. She buried herself into his mane, "I thought you were never coming home."

"Aw, don't be silly Ayira. Nobody messes with me and your dad," Kiara reassured her, licking the small princess. "We just wanted to make sure that those cheetahs didn't bully our cubs anymore. That's all."

"Good. I hate those damn cheetahs anyways," Tanabi muttered.

Kovu looked down at Tanabi as he caught what he said, shocked at his son's words. "Young lion, what have I told you repeatedly about cursing? You are never to say those two words, ever, do you hear me?"

The brown cub wrinkled his nose up stubbornly at his dad, frowning more out of anger. He couldn't believe his own father was actually defending them. "But it's true Dad! Why should I say that I like them when they hate us?"

"Tanabi, saying that you hate somebody is almost like saying that you wish them dead," his mother said gently, giving Kovu a concerned look as she did so. Kiara tried to pull Tanabi into a hug "Baby, you don't ever want to hate someone. It's not worth it."

"You heard what they said! I'm jus' a dirty mixed outlander. I'm filth, right?" Tanabi burst out, pulling away from Kiara. "They mean it an' I mean it too. They can go rot dead in a bush somewhere. I don't care!"

His parents looked at Tanabi with sadness and pity. Kovu was pained that here his young cubs were suffering the same prejudice he did while he was in the pridelands.

What was heartbreaking to him, however,was that while he was trained at to learn to have such negative thoughts because of the brainwashing his mother did on him, Tanabi was already becoming well aware of the situation and forming his own feelings of anger. The King wanted nothing more but to hug his son and banish the feeling of worthless away from him.

"It hurts, doesn't it." Kovu said, very softly.

Tanabi didn't say anything at first but lowered his ears reflexively against his skull. He then turned to his mom and pulled her foreleg around him and started to let out a few whimpers which eventually turned into tears. He looked up at Kiara with wide, shiny eyes.

"It's not fair, me, Jelani an Ayira didn't do nothin' to them. Why don't they like us Mom?"

"They're just scared, baby," Kiara told him sadly, wrapping her forelegs around him tightly. She felt Tanabi lay his head on to her chest and she gently started to nuzzle him.

"Cubs, listen to me," Kovu spoke in a serious tone of voice. "I want you to know that none of what they said to you is your fault. Don't believe what they said to you about being worse than nothing, all of you have every right to be here in this kingdom as they do."

"Then why are they being so mean if there's nothing wrong?" Ayira asked sadly. "I mean...nobody just goes out and says mean stuff just to be, right? The cheetahs keep saying that I'm going to screw up but I don't even know what they were talking about."

"That was our fault, Ayira…" Kovu lowered his head and sighed, "Your mother and I knew one day we would have to talk to you. We wanted to wait until the both of you were old enough to understand…it's just…"

He stopped. He and Kiara had been over it a hundred times; but now…how was he supposed to explain several generations of hatred to his own cubs? The brown lion let out another painful sigh, it wasn't right…they tried so hard to keep them sheltered from the nasty whispers of the other animals. Why did their cubs have to go through with this?

"Daddy?" his daughter's concerned voice broke through to him. Ayira looked up at him, sadness and worry reflecting in her eyes as she hung on to each of his words. Kovu then realized that he was making her more unsettled and that he to hold strong for her…and in that, make things right for her and Tanabi again.

"...It's just, before you and Tanabi were born; there were a lot of bad things that happened in the pride lands. You remember the story of Uncle Scar, right?"

"You mean the crazy lion who liked hyenas?" Tanabi piped up curiously," Everyone knows bout that old story."

"Well, Scar and your grandma Zira did some very horrible things that made all of the animals upset. Especially grandpa Simba. He was so angry that he kicked your grandma out of the pride. I think that the animals are afraid that something bad will happen because you are a part of this family."

"That's not fair!" the small cub shot back, "Me an' Ayira don't even know grandma. We're grandpa Simba's family too!"

"We know baby, we know," Kiara told him soothingly, "Don't be angry at the cheetahs. They were probably taught to not like anyone from the outlander pride at a young age. Think about it, they said some really mean things to you so you don't like them anymore…"

"Yeah!"

"It's the same for them. The outlanders and thepridelanders hurt a lot of animals so that makes the cheetahs afraid; they don't want history to repeat itself. That's what hate is, Tanabi. Hate is something that takes anger that you have for someone and it gets bigger and bigger when you act on it. That person in return will eventually start to get angry and then get you back. It goes on and on until you realize you have no reason to dislike the person at all but for the sake of hate."

"Whoa. That's a lot of not liking someone," was Tanabi's thoughtful reply as he scrunched up his little nose, "Way too confusin'. I dunno if I want to go through all of that."

The golden lioness felt herself smile inwardly at Tanabi's simple answer, "See? It's almost silly to hate someone. Tanabi, Ayira, I don't expect you to ever forget what they said to you but I'd want you to at least find it in your heart to forgive the cheetahs. It'll help you feel better, I promise."

"But they'll still think that we're dirty evil outlanders, mom," Ayira huffed.

"Are you evil outlanders?"

"No way!"

"Then what does it matter what they say, baby?" Their father interjected gently, "Just because someone calls you that doesn't mean that you are. If they keep teasing you, go get your mom or me. We'll set them straight."

"Oh...okay. Hey Daddy, we're you ever picked on when you were a cub?"

"All the time, honey." Kovu smiled. "I didn't let it get to me though because I knew that I wasn't anything like what they said."

"I didn't believe what they said about your daddy anyways," Kiara said grinning as she reached up to nuzzle him. The two parents started to purr happily, "It was love at first sight and it's been love ever since."

"We're still here you know!" Tanabi exclaimed, shuddering.

He hated when his parents openly showed affection between each other, it was like watching a newborn antelope walk. The cub knew it was going to be a complete disaster but he still had the disturbing fascination to continue watching them. How disgusting.

"Well we should probably be heading back to Pride Rock. We have a party to crash, remember?" Kovu said cheerfully.

"Yeah! C'mon Ayira, I'll race ya back!"

"Hey, hey! Wait up Tanabi, you aren't supposed to cheat!"

"You're not 'posed to whine, either. C'mon pokey!"

Kiara and Kovu shook their heads at their cubs amusedly.

"Think they'll be fine?" Kiara asked, cocking an eyebrow playfully. Her mate chuckled.

"No doubt," Kovu purred into his Queen's ear as he fell back into another nuzzle.

OooO

It wasn't long before the family made their return to Pride Rock. Everything was very hushed and silent, nobody could be seen. The inner cave was extremely dark and it seemed that the rest of the pride had vanished.

"Okay. This is just too creepy," Ayira whispered after a moment of awkwardness. She stepped behind her father's foreleg in order to protect herself.

"You're not scared, are you sis?" Tanabi asked playfully, grinning at the orange cub.

"I am not scared Tanabi!" Ayira announced, turning her little nose upward in an arrogant manner.

Suddenly Jelani jumped up from behind her and let out a huge "BOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ayira let out a loud shriek and literally jumped a few feet before coming back down, offically scared out of her mind. When she saw Jelani and Tanabi laughing at her, an embarrased frown came to her mussle.

"You shoulda seen the look on your face!" Jelani wheezed from laughter, "Now that's what you call priceless!"

"Mom, Dad, tell Jelani to stop picking on me," Ayira whined, shoving a laughing Tanabi out of her way.

"That wasn't very nice Jelani," her mom reprimanded Jelani.

"Does anybody else smell...meat?" Kovu asked as he sniffed the air.

Tanabi took in a huge whiff through his nose. It was the overwhelming smell of fresh meat alright, like something that had just died and there was a lot of it. He frowned; did those two cheetahs Bujune and Chakide show up at Pride Rock?

"SURPRISE!" the pride exclaimed loudly, completely shocking the living souls out of the cubs and their parents.

The sound of a spark being made was heard and a single flame started to illumanate the cave. The small light gave away that their friends and family had been hiding in various places in the caves, all of them giving bright smiles. Many colorful fruits of all shapes and sizes that Tanabi nor Ayira had ever seen before were gathered in the center of the den. A dead wilderbeast lay within the myriad of fruits as the main course.

"It's about time you guys got here!" Simba announced with a bright welcoming smile on his face as he came to nuzzle his daughter and son-in law.

"This is amazing Simba," Kovu replied in awe. The King's eyes grew wide at the sight of everything, he couldn't believe the effort everyone put into the dinner.

"Wow Daddy! You did all of this for us?" Kiara asked excitedly as she nuzzled her father.

"Hey, don't forget about us! What do you think we are missy? Chopped liver?" quipped a familiar voice. Kiara's smile quickly spread across her mussle.

"Timon! Pumbaa!" Kiara cried out to the meerkat and warthog. "When did you guys get back?"

Timon and Pumbaa smiled at the golden lioness. The duo hadn't changed much throughout the past two years they had been gone. Timon's fur was now starting to get a slight gray tint, which was clearly evident due to the torch he was currently carrying.

"This morning, your highness. Though we might've been here a bit quicker if somebody here wouldn't have made that little pit stop," Timon replied giving Pumbaa a peeved look, but Pumbaa just smiled, oblivious to his friend. The torch's toasty flames cast a slight shadow on Timoon's body, dancing against a silent rhythm.

"Aww! Are these the little cubs Simba's been telling us about?" Pumbaa cooed at the obviously grown Ayira and Tanabi. Tanabi smirked at the red-brown warthog.

"I'm not a cub. The name's Tanabi," the prince replied proudly puffing out his chest, looking haughty, "You have probably heard lots of stories about my adventures."

"Nope!" Pumbaa replied cheerfully to which Tanabi gaped at him, slightly embarrassed.

Ayira chuckled lightly at her brother, her green eyes dancing playfully.

"My name is Ayira. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance," Ayira said politely, bowing to the meerkat and warthog.

"Well, isn't she a smart one? Giving respect to her elders. I think I'm gonna like ya kid," Timon replied coolly, "I hope she isn't going to be as prissy as little miss perfect over there."

Kiara rolled her eyes, "Timon just because you, Daddy and Pumbaa like to eat bugs doesn't mean every one else does."

Tanabi's red eyes widened, "You guys eat bugs! That is so cool!"

Timon grinned and put his hand on Tanabi's paw, "See this kid knows style and taste. You stay with your Uncle Timon, kid, and I'll teach you the ropes."

"Awesome!"

Everyone in the cave sighed. Letting Timon and Pumbaa teach Tanabi 'the ropes" would be disastrous.

Simba motioned the family outside to the edge of Pride Rock to start the celebration.

It was chilly outside as the gentle wind blew across the pridelands. The sky had already been dyed a deep midnight blue color littered with the glistening of tiny stars. The land was bathed in dark shadows while the ethereal rays of the full moon above them made every lion and lioness look like they were literally shining in it is light. Singing and chirping of insects gave the atmosphere a more relaxed feeling and in the distance, you could still make out the figures of the other animals making their way home. Tanabi had never been allowed outside this late at night before and he absorbed everything around him in excitement. Everything about the pridelands was beautiful.

The pridelanders and outlanders sat on opposite sides, not due to discriminatory acts. This was part of the opening ceremony, with the original seven outlanders and their families on one side, the pridelanders and their families on the other side. Near the front sat the royal family, spread out on each side with Kovu and Kiara sitting in the middle, behind them Simba and Nala sat, smiling warmly at each other. Tanabi looked up cheerfully at his father who winked at him. Everyone was sitting quietly and respectively waiting for the lion that started it all to begin his speech.

"One year ago, none of this could have been possible," Simba started solemnly as all eyes fell on him, "One year ago, we were still wrapped up in our anger and hatred for one another that we almost destroyed each other because of it."

Most of the lionesses frowned; they were very ashamed of this as they looked at each other.

"We are all part of the Circle of Life, a great wonderful cycle and we had almost forgotten it. But because of the bravery of two lions who sit before us today, we now are together again."

Kovu smiled dotingly down at his mate and nuzzled her. Kovu knew Kiara had no idea how wonderful she was to him. How she had shown him the light and because of her, he has a beautiful family and lifelong friends. He wouldn't trade any of that for the world.

"That doesn't mean that within these past couple of years. We have had our troubles, we have fought, we have struggled and we have suffered. To those who said "we couldn't", look to the left of you and look to the right of you."

Tanabi did so looking at all of the people in his life, all of the lionesses of Pride Rock he had grown up with. His aunt Vitani with her mate Otien and his best friend Jelani, Kutu and her mother Waridi, his parents and older sister, his grandparents Simba and Nala, his great-grandmother Sarafina. Even the all of the other lionesses in the pride played a part in his life. There was a saying that his mom always said to him and believed in with all her heart, something that summed up exactly how he was feeling right now. We are one.

"Today is a very special day. Today is another beginning of hope for the future," Simba said cheerfully as everyone else nodded in agreement. "Let us have a moment of silence to forgive those who don't understand, for those who have made transgressions upon this land. For they were just like us once and they deserve to be remembered as well, for they are the ones who have made us stronger."

Every pride member bowed their head in reverenced silence. Kovu prayed for his mother and brother.

Nuka and Mother I hope you have found happiness wherever you are, Kovu thought with a warm smile on his face, a single tear rolled down his cheek. But he wasn't sad anymore; he was comforted with the thought that now he could more on and live a happy life with his family.

Then after the moment of silence, Simba let out a mighty roar to the skies. The roar was so powerful; Tanabi literally felt a chill go up his spine. Then one by one, the other lionesses let out roars of triumph and happiness.

At that moment everything was perfect.