Okay, here's the next chapter. Now before I continue, I'd just like to say that anything that seems totally out of the ordinary is okay to be put here. After all, Lion King is a fictional story, I'm fairly certain that a storm cloud can't morph into Mufasa's face. Or a monkey can talk to the dead. So if anything has some sort of magical touch to it, just know that it is fictional. Oh, and I noticed that despite what I say, a lot of you like this story. Well I have to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing, and none of my foreshadowing, irony, sarcasm, or drama is intentional. It's just my interpretation of how Taka became Scar and everyone's relationship with each other. Finally, Scar's punishment was to show why he was so distant and hated by the pride and why I think he turned so skinny. I mean, he lives in the Pride Lands, food is plentiful, but it looks as if he's been living in the Outlands for years. So, you know, little food and water and stuff. One last thing, I've noticed how there was a lot of dissatisfaction in the second movie. Like Sarabi's lack of being there, Kovu being knocked out immediately, and Simba's quick decision to banish Kovu without listening to him first. So I'm going to make it so that it makes sense why these things happened in this chapter and the next one. I know this is long but I just had to point it out. Moving on!

-X-

"Whoa, well, that explains the freaky scar on his face not to mention his name change" commented Timon.

"But there's something I have to ask. Was my mother in love Taka at one point?" asked Nala.

"Yes, she was. As hard it may have been to believe, the only reason she was unable to express these feeling for him was because she feared how her father would react. But as I think about those days, I believe that Hondari may have intentionally made Taka hate him" said Rafiki.

"But why would he do something like that?" asked Kovu.

"I think he wanted to make sure that the leonine prophecy would go as it was supposed to" whispered Simba coming to that realization.

Rafiki nodded to show that Simba was correct. "If Taka had not done what he did to become Scar then he wouldn't have taken over the Pridelands as a tyrant"

"And if that happened then Simba wouldn't have fit into the prophecy" finished Nala.

"Precisely"

"Sometimes fate was meant to be broken" said Kovu after a few moments of silence.

A gloomy silence fell upon them. It was only broken when Kiara spoke. "Can I hear what happened to my grandmothers now? I need something to get my mind off of what had happened to Taka"

"Right, well we can tell you about Sarabi first since most of us know what happened to her and only Zazu knows what happened to Sarafina" said Rafiki.

"Yes…Well, as you know during Scar's reign, there was a drought and all the herds moved out of the Pride Lands" started Nala.

"The drought was caused by Ahadi's anger towards his son killing his own brother" mentioned Rafiki.

"After his reign ended it had rained. We decided not to leave since already the grass was beginning to return. But the herds don't just come back overnight, we hunted at the outskirts and even then food was scarce. So we had to ration everything" continued Simba.

"Queen Sarabi wanted everyone else to survive so she ate least of all. She gave all her food to the young and weak, including, your brother Nuka" added Zazu.

This surprised both Vitani and Kovu but it aroused a new question within the latter. "But that would mean Scar was gone while Nuka was still a very young cub. But according to the other ex-Outsiders, I was handpicked by Scar to be his heir, how is that possible if I wasn't even born yet?" asked Kovu.

"Zira said that Scar came to her in a dream and told her" answered Vitani quietly.

"Yes, when Scar was still around, Zira took herself, Nuka, and the rest of Scar's followers away from the Pridelands to get more food for the overpopulated pride and the additional hyenas" said Rafiki.

"That's why they weren't there when I fought Scar" said Simba.

"And on that journey, Zira met your father, a wandering rogue" said Rafiki towards Kovu and Vitani. Once again, surprising them both.

"It took a while but Scar's followers all agreed to abide by Simba's rule. None of us knew they were ever even thinking of plotting revenge" added Nala.

"Now back to Queen Sarabi, she was very weak from the lack of food. And by the time the herds came back, it was too late to save her" finished Zazu.

"She sounds like a great queen" said Kiara quietly. "And what about Sarafina?"

They all directed their attention to Zazu who didn't look so happy. Despite his desire not to speak, he cleared his throat and began to tell the story. "As you already know, Sarafina was in love with Scar at one point. And there was a lack of male lions since he drove them all out to make certain that they wouldn't oppose him. Therefore, her mate, Akida no longer lived within the Pride Lands…"

-X-

Sarafina looked over at Nala who was already in the middle of adolescence. She was afraid that what she was about to do was a big risk but she had to. She turned to her childhood friend and ex-queen, Sarabi.

"Sarafina, are you sure about this?" asked Sarabi.

"No but just look at this place. The grass is dying and the herds are leaving. We won't be able to live if this keeps up. If we're going to convince Scar to move then I'm the best lioness to do it" reasoned Sarafina.

"But what if he gets angry and kills you for even questioning him like that?"

"He won't. You're not able to see it but I know that the cub we used to play with is still somewhere inside him"

"Sarafina…I know how you felt about him, but he's not Taka anymore, he's Scar"

"Then I'll bring back that Taka. Just promise me that if the end for me does come, then you take good care of Nala"

Sarabi was silent obviously doubting the possibility of Scar listening to her. But she agreed anyway knowing that the possibility still existed. "Alright, but what do I tell Nala when she wakes up and finds you're not there"

"…Tell her that I'm sorry…" whispered Sarafina as she made her way up to Scar's den.

Sarafina slowly walked into the den. It was quiet and stunk of death and blood. Her nose wrinkled in disgust but she quickly went back to retaining her calm composure. She took a deep breath through her mouth and walked deeper until she made it to the raised platform. She saw Scar's back turned on her. His face and upper body was covered in the shadows. But she could see his tail swishing back and forth in front of her. She turned to her right and noticed Zazu in the cage of bones. He was watching her silently but he looked as if he was unable to speak. He appeared to be signaling to her but either she didn't notice or didn't understand what it meant.

"Scar! We need to talk! Why are you doing all of this? To the Pride Lands, to Sarabi, to me?" said Sarafina. Although she was trying to maintain her composure she felt tears trying to escape her eyes. "What happened to that cub I used to play with back then?"

Scar remained silent, just letting his tail move in that rhythmic motion.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you! Don't you know how much you meant to me?"

Again only silence met her question.

"Don't you know that I loved you!"

This time Scar answered. Only not in his voice, the lion in the shadows turned to reveal himself, or herself, as Zira. "Dear little Sarafina…Don't you know you need to make an appointment if you want a conference with the king?"

Sarafina gasped. Thanks to Scar's thinness, she had mistaken the lioness for Scar. "Zira! Where's Scar?"

"He's out lecturing the hyenas after they tried to eat little Zazu. He told me to keep an eye on the cave. I had no idea that you had felt that way about my mate" said the darker lioness but there was no sign of maliciousness in her voice.

"That was a long time ago. Before he became who he was"

Zira chuckled lightly and crept closer to Sarafina. "You see now that's the ironic part. You loved him a long time ago, just like how he felt about you"

Sarafina was genuinely surprised. "What…But then-"

"That time Sarabi told you that Taka didn't feel that way about you? I had told her about how he didn't want a mate or ever will. I had to make sure you two didn't end up together"

"But, why?"

"Because you didn't see it! You didn't see all that potential darkness and genius that Scar was. But I did…And it's not so easy to unlock that potential with a lioness like you clinging onto him"

"So…You don't even love him! You just love what he is!"

Zira grinned again, this time, there was malicious intent seen in her eyes. "Wrong again, I love both Scar and what he is. He is a true genius, and he knows the ways to achieve success. Not like that unworthy fur ball of a lion, Mufasa"

"But if you were the one that manipulated Scar then I can still bring the old him back! I'm going to tell Scar the truth and then it'll be over for you" resolved Sarafina.

Zira grinned at the same time Zazu opened his beak. "Run Sarafina!"

But it was too late, Zira pounced on Sarafina. Zira was well trained and had more share of the food than the other lionesses thus making her stronger than Sarafina at the time. There were loud growls and lots of blood. Sarafina was able to claw at Zira's ear causing a chunk of it to fall off. Zira growled angrily and delivered the finishing blow.

Sarafina lay motionless before her. She was barely alive but in a matter of seconds she would die. "Just like your father" whispered Zira as Sarafina's eyes closed for the last time.

Zira turned to Zazu. "You! I told you to keep that beak shut or I would kill every cub and adolescent here!"

Zazu shuddered and backed away as far as he could inside his cage. "I-I'm sorry! I panicked!"

"That doesn't matter anymore! I'll spare them for now. But you say one word about this to Scar and you can be sure that it'll be the end for you and the rest of those pathetic Pridelanders!"

Zazu trembled as he nodded his head. "Good…I'm going to get rid of Sarafina's body now so be a good little hornbill and keep that beak shut" said Zira as she slinked away with Sarafina's body.

Once she was gone, Zazu collapsed in his cage. He still felt himself shaking as he tried to compose himself. Sarafina was gone and it was all because he was too scared to do anything. That was the end of it; the last person to have any chance of stopping Scar and changing him back was gone. Zazu began to silently weep for the lions that were gone. Mufasa…Sarafina…Simba…Taka…

-X-

"My mother…" whispered Nala as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Simba began to whisper soothing words to her as he nuzzled her affectionately.

Kovu turned away from them. He had no idea how any of them could forgive him after all the terrible things his mother had done.

"It seems Zira was the only evil around here" muttered Kovu spitefully.

"That's not true; everyone has evil in them somewhere in their heart. Some are visible, some are not. Scar's was seen easily ever since he received the name Taka. The hate he felt for that name therefore bringing himself to hate those who gave him the name in the first place. The pride…That's why it was so easy for Zira to dig it out" said Rafiki wisely. "Kovu, you must keep your anger under control or else your inner evil may reveal itself. But this does not mean you should keep your anger bottled up. Just don't let it cloud your better judgement"

Kovu immediately took deep breaths to calm himself as Kiara let her presence be felt next to him. "Yeah, you're right as usual Rafiki"

"But wait, after my mother was gone, was that why…That day Scar called me into the den…" said Nala but struggled to say what she wanted to.

Zazu nodded anyway though. Clearly he knew what she was asking. "Yes, since Sarafina wasn't present anymore, Scar wanted the next best thing"

"What is he talking about?" asked Simba quietly.

"When I had left the Pride Lands, I wasn't leaving to run away from it. No, if that was the case I would've left a lot earlier. The real reason why I had left was because Scar tried to seduce me into becoming his mate" answered Nala.

"That's a mental image I didn't need" said Kiara, Vitani, and Timon simultaneously.

"But that didn't happen so it's all okay" soothed Simba.

"Thank you Simba" whispered Nala.

Rafiki cleared his throat loudly so that everyone turned their attention to him. "If you're finished…I do believe that princess Kiara and prince Kovu need to hear about Kopa now"

Simba and Nala remained silent. It looked like they had wanted to say something, but it was just too difficult for them.

"Mom, dad?" said Kiara.

Vitani sighed knowing that it would be too hard for the king and queen to talk about him. "If you don't mind your majesties, I could tell them about him"

"Thank you Vitani, but leave what happened to him to us at the very least" said Nala.

Vitani nodded in understanding as she turned to the youngest lions present. She took a deep breath before starting to speak. "Kopa was…He was my best friend when I was cub. Before the Outsiders were exiled. I lived here…with Kopa. He and I used to laugh and play all the time out there. He was always dragging me on insane adventures which always ended in some sort of scolding for me by Zira" Vitani's eyes were on the verge of breaking into tears but she continued. "But most importantly, Kopa was the prince of the Pridelands…He was your older brother Kiara"

Both Kiara and Kovu's eyes widened in surprise as Vitani suddenly began to cry. Kovu looked down at his older sister. He had never seen her cry before.

What he didn't know was that before he was old enough to remember anything, she always cried herself to sleep after that day. And when she returned to the Pride Lands with the other Outsiders, she cried while everyone else slept. The Pridelands was just too full of painful memories for her that would never fade away or disappear. She knew that and she hated how it made her feel weak and fragile. But she was glad, after years of neglecting that one special lion ever existed, she was finally letting her emotions for him out. It always made herself feel lighter in the morning. But no one could ever tell she cried thanks to the fronts she put up to protect herself.

Kiara turned to her parents. "A brother? Why didn't you tell me?"

"We just didn't want you to miss someone you would never meet. Or ruin your childhood by making you overly cautious" tried Simba.

"But that's what you were doing! Always trying to protect me from a threat I didn't even know existed. All because I didn't know I had a brother!" said Kiara her voice rising.

"Please understand Kiara. We didn't just do it for your sake, we did it for ours as well. I know it sounds selfish but it just hurt too much to speak of Kopa so we just pretended that everything was okay" had said Nala.

"I understand that, but I just wish you told me" finished Kiara quietly.

"We're sorry, but we promise not to keep secrets from you from now on" said Simba.

"Alright…But what exactly happened to him?" asked Kiara.

Simba and Nala looked at each other before turning back to them. "Did Zira ever tell you why you and the other Outsiders were banished?" asked Simba to Kovu.

"All she told me was that it was because we were followers of Scar. But according to Vitani, that was just part of the plan to make me hate you" replied Kovu.

"I expected as much. Well the real reason for your exile was because Zira killed Kopa" said Simba, a little bit reluctantly.

Kovu's heart felt like it stopped suddenly. He knew that since he had no memory of this that meant Kopa was still a young cub when it happened. Most likely seven to nine months old. Which meant his own mother murdered a defenseless cub.

"Zira…killed him…" whispered Kovu weakly.

"It was an ambush. You were just born Kovu and all of Zira's followers distracted us. Thanks to that distraction Zira chased Kopa to the edge of the Pride Lands. And I don't mean the border; I mean the cliff side to the north of Pride Rock" said Nala.

"It was…A horrible day" recalled Zazu.

-X-

The storm seemed to gain strength as Simba raced across the grassy fields. He could hear the roars of Zira and the terrified screams of a young cub.

"Kopa!"

"Dad!"

Zira turned her head and noticed the silhouette of the king. Her followers were nearby keeping Vitani subdued from protecting her friend. A small bundle of dark fur mewed occasionally and you can easily tell that he was frightened despite the fact that he hadn't even opened his eyes yet.

Zira knew she had to finish this quick before Simba arrived. She turned her head back to the scar covered cub in front of her. She raised a paw prepared to finish him.

"No!" screamed Vitani as she tried to get to him.

Nuka jumped in front of her, blocking her from reaching the. "Stay back you little runt!"

Vitani bit Nuka's forearm with her sharp teeth. He yowled in pain and jumped away from her. She tried again to reach them but two of Zira's lionesses blocked her.

"No, KOPA!"

"Vitani!" was the last word the cub was able to say before Zira hit him across the face. Kopa fell over the edge of the cliff, falling into the dense jungle below.

At the exact moment Kopa was hit, Simba reached them but it was too late. His paw was outstretched over the edge, his expression a mixture of true pain and horror.

Zira began cackling evilly with the sound of thunder to amplify it. "Now you know my pain of losing Scar!"

Simba slowly stood up and turned on Zira abruptly. His expression was now one out of complete anger."You!" growled Simba as he pounced on Zira.

Before the rest of Zira's group joined in, the rest of the Pridelanders arrived. That included Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and a pregnant Nala.

"Go ahead and do it! Kill me like you did to Scar!" snarled Zira.

As much as Simba wanted to, he knew his father's law commanded that a crime of this level resulted in exile, not execution evn if Kopa was the prince, the law made sure the king would not drop to the murders' level.

"I won't kill you. No, my father's law must prevail" said Simba, slowly releasing her. "I will banish you from the Pride Lands forever. You are ever allowed back and if you do return then you will be executed on the spot. Any lionesses that want to follow you can. As for your cubs, take them with you. They may not deserve this but they also don't deserve the scorn they might receive if they stay"

Zira slowly stood up but she still had an evil grin. "Mark my words Simba, you will not live to see your new heir rule"

She took Kovu in her mouth and jerked her head into the direction of the Outlands. One of the other lionesses picked up Vitani who was trying to shake the shock of losing her best friend. Everything was going to be different now.

Once they were gone, Simba slowly walked back towards the other Pridelanders.

"Simba?" asked Nala.

But one look at his saddened expression told her everything. She gasped in horror and collapsed in tears without any concern for the baby lioness inside her. She only felt the pain of losing her son.

-X-

Such a sad chapter…I hope this tugged at your heartstrings a bit because that was my intention. Anyway, I didn't realize how much time it actually took to type out these chapters so it might take longer for a new chapter to be uploaded. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll try my best to get the next one as soon as possible. Leave a review! Ciao!