Book 1: Chapter 17
The moon was shining brightly from what Dalia could see peering through the vines guarding the Lion Guard's Lair, and Makini's soft snores were filtering through the air. Imba left to go find something to eat, and it was the perfect opportunity for her to sneak out.
As of right now, Dalia had officially stayed in the Lion Guard's Lair for three entire nights without giving any protest. And as the days progressed, her voice was becoming more and more usable, though it still ached from time to time. She thought that it'd leave behind a scar — Bunga apparently shared the sentiment because, on the second day, he told her at least you'll have a wicked cool scar by the end of this.
Dalia didn't think having a necklace-looking scar would make her look "wicked cool" but she didn't voice her disdain.
And as Rafiki had suspected, her wound did in fact open up again on the second morning, and Rafiki extended her time spent confined to the nest. She spent most of her time sleeping, eating, and occasionally being chaperoned by Makini or Rafiki to drink water or relieve herself. Luckily, Imba and Makini stayed with her the entire time — so at least she wasn't too bored.
The King and Queen also visited her on the first day, and after wishing her an obviously rehearsed condolence speech, they told her that she was welcome to stay in the Pridelands for as long as she needed. Imba appeared to have had a heart attack when King Simba turned to her and thanked her for her "outstanding loyalty to the Pridelands" or whatnot. His statement had made Dalia's eyes roll, to be honest.
She doubted she would ever understand the dynamic that "Kings and Queens" seem to have with their "subjects." And the fact that she would hear Zazu and Rafiki — two creatures who were surely older than Simba — address him as Your Majesty or Your Highness, was rather confusing and slightly disturbing. It didn't make sense, honestly. And, in her opinion, that much power shouldn't be held in one place.
King Simba was overall rather subdued towards Dalia. He was polite and cordial, sure, but he was also careful with his words. Queen Nala, however, seemed to have a particular liking towards Dalia.
"You acted very bravely, Dalia," Nala had told her with a smile.
Dalia didn't exactly know how to respond to her, but luckily Imba intervened and saved her from a potentially awkward situation. For the umpteenth time, she was glad for her chance encounter with the chatty eagle. If it weren't for Imba's constant presence, Dalia was quite certain that she would lose her mind.
Still, regardless of her enjoyable company, the constant bed rest was getting very tiring for the lioness.
So moving as quietly as she could, she began creeping out of the Lair, careful not to wake Makini. She didn't exactly know where she'd go, but she did know that she needed some fresh air. So as soon as she brushed past the vines hanging over the entrance of the Lair, she took in a deep lungful full of fresh air. She sighed contently, gray-green eyes darting upwards to fix on the starry night sky above.
She was once again reminded of how much she loved this time, where everything was peaceful and everything was calm. Padding forward quietly, she started towards the watering hole she knew was near.
As she walked, she reveled in the feeling of the cool grass beneath her toes and the evening breeze ruffling through her fur. The breeze made her shiver, but she preferred it to the stale air of the Lairshe'ds been forced to stay in. The moments where Dalia felt the most alive were whenever she was out here, truly at peace and at one with everything surrounding her.
It was a very serene experience.
She was about halfway to the watering hole when she heard rustling from behind her.
For a second, she wondered if Janja had tracked her down and decided to finish off the job. Spinning around sharply on her heel and sliding her claws out, she bared her teeth at whoever was attempting to sneak up from behind her. The tall grass rustled a few more times, and Dalia realized from the movement of the grass, that whoever was in there was steadily coming closer and closer to her.
"Who's there?" she said sharply, her voice still raspy. And from the tall grass emerges a familiar figure: Kion. Sighing in relief, her claws slide back in. "Oh," she said, relief apparent in her voice, "It's just you."
"Don't sound so disappointed," replied Kion, stepping out of the grass. The moonlight shining above was making his brown eyes look alarmingly dark, but Dalia found it sort of endearing. Kion was smiling at her. "If Rafiki or Makini knew you snuck out of the Lair..." he continued, trailing off.
Dalia smirked. "Which is why you're not going to tell anyone."
"Oh?" he questioned, smiling, "And why wouldn't I?"
"Well, if you told on me — you'd have to admit that you were up and wandering around at such a late hour. I have a feeling that the leader of the Lion Guard isn't supposed to suffer from insomnia," said Dalia raspily.
Kion's expression suddenly went very serious. "Insomnia?" he echoes.
"Yeah," she replied, in a you-know-what-I'm-talking-about kind of tone. "You get — what — a few hours, at most, of sleep every night?
His face went slightly pink. "How... how do you know about that?"
She stepped closer so that they were only a few inches apart. "I see you every day, Kion, now that I'm stuck in your Lair," she said, slightly amused, "You don't actually sleep when your night shift is over. You try for a few minutes and then not-so-discretely leave the Lair and do who-knows-what. Plus, you've got eyebags like nobody's business. Those don't come from an adequate amount of sleep."
His brows furrowed. "Is it that obvious?"
The lioness felt her face softening. "How long have you had trouble sleeping?" she questioned.
"For a while now," he admitted, "Especially after you told me about the whole deal with the hyenas. And yesterday, you told me about why Reirei joined Scar's Army, and about the limited space in the Outlands..." Trailing off, he was suddenly unable to meet her gaze. "It's just... a lot to take in. I just sometimes feel, that even if we do win this war, the matter won't be resolved. Another war will arise as long as these political issues remain."
"I can imagine," Dalia murmured. Seeing the weariness on his face made her upset. She considered Kion to be a friend, and she was not too fond of seeing her friends in distress. After thinking for a minute, realization suddenly crossed her features. "I've got an idea," she said. "But first, let's head over to the watering hole; I'm thirsty."
The comment distracted Kion temporarily, and his face shifted from a contemplating one to one of curiosity. Regardless, he began walking alongside her.
"What's your idea?" Kion asked once the watering hole was within their line of sight.
"I'm going to try taking your mind off the war, the lion-hyena conflict, and everything else that's plaguing your mind," answered Dalia, "If I can help relax you, then I'm sure you'll be able to sleep better."
"And how do you plan on taking my mind off those things?"
Dalia's eyes glinted as they finally reached the watering hole, but she didn't answer him right away. Instead, she decided to start lapping at the water. Dipping her head down to take a much-needed drink of water, she felt Kion do the same from beside her.
"So," Kion said, moving his face away from the water's edge once he's had his fill, "What do you plan on doing, again?"
Dalia did the same, rocking back on her haunches. "I thought we could play my favorite game," she replied. "It always sets me in a good mood, I figured it'd do the same for you."
"And what is this game of yours?" Kion prompted.
"For every question I ask you that you answer, you get a question I must answer," she answered simply, turning her head to peer up at the sky.
Kion looked at her blankly. Finally, he laughed. "Why doesn't it surprise me that your favorite source of entertainment would be interrogation?"
Despite herself, she felt her lips begin to twitch upward. "Oh, and what's your favorite pastime, Your Royal Highness?"
"Was that your first question?" Kion questioned, raising a brow. When she nodded her head, he answered very quickly: "Baobab ball."
"Baobab ball?" Dalia repeated, smirking, "Gosh, that's way worse than mine." When Kion took on an indignant face and looked like he was going to protest, she continued with, "There's absolutely no point to the game — you just run around with a baobab until you get tired and decide to stop playing. Back home, there weren't a lot of baobabs, so we used papayas instead. But I'm sure the rules are roughly the same — and it's boring whether you use a baobab or papaya. "
"You're crazy," Kion said, laughing. Dalia was pleased that she coaxed that reaction out of him. As she suspected, her idea worked. "Okay," Kion continued, "I guess it's my turn to ask a question?"
"Yeah." Dalia hesitated, then decided to add, "But nothing too personal though."
"Okay," he said, dragging out the word as he tried to think of an appropriate question. "What's your favorite color?" he asked.
Dalia restrained herself from making a comment about how typical his question was. "Orange," she said instead.
Kion looked visibly shocked. "Orange?" he repeated, his face twisting up in disdain, "Like Zazu's beak?"
"Not quite as yellow," Dalia said, "More reddish, like the color of a fire lily."
He seemed to consider the statement for a minute. "You like fire lilies?" She tipped her head into a nod in response. "Huh," he continued, "Didn't take you for a flower-loving kind of lioness."
"I'm not," she responded, "I just like those flowers in particular."
"Why?"
Dalia felt slightly uncomfortable. In reality, she liked fire lilies for two reasons. The first one was that they reminded her of her mother, and the second one was that they reminded her of her old home. And she didn't exactly want to talk about either subject with Kion. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. She did. These past months working with him and knowing him as built that trust between them. But something about spilling the most vulnerable parts of her with anyone made her feel sick.
"You already asked your question," she said quickly, "It's my turn now." Thinking for a minute, she asked, "What's your worst fear?"
Kion winced. "I thought you said no personal questions?"
Dalia, suddenly remembering why she brought Kion down the watering hole and started asking all these questions in the first place, did a similar wince. "Sorry," she muttered. "I forgot."
"I'll answer the question if you answer the same one," Kion offered. "But you've got to answer it first."
The lioness considered the option for a moment. "You want me to tell you my worst fear?" Dalia asked. Kion tipped his head into a nod. "I'm pretty sure you already guessed it. I'm afraid of water. Well, deep water anyway. Which made the whole nearly-drowning-in-Big-Springs situation even more embarrassing."
"You know, it wasn't really a big deal," Kion said, shrugging, "You'd be surprised at the kinds of situations the Lion Guard deals with. On an almost daily basis, we have to rescue Tiifu and Zuri from wandering into the Outlands and falling into hot spots. Compared to that, what happened at Big Springs wasn't that bad."
"Easy for you to say," Dalia retorted, "It was embarrassing, and brought back a lot of memories I don't particularly care for."
"Oh," Kion said, looking awkward.
Dalia groaned internally when a beat of silence ensued after her comment. Being a nomad didn't always teach you tact in conversations. So Dalia quickly made up for it. "Regardless, it's your turn. What's your biggest fear?"
Kion thought about the question for a few minutes, his face full of contemplation. "I guess I'm really afraid of being afraid," Kion finally answered. When Dalia shot him a puzzled glance, he continued, "I'm the leader of the Lion Guard. I'm supposed to be fierce, and unafraid all the time. But I guess that isn't really the case, is it?"
Dalia turned her head so that she was not looking up at the stars, but rather at Kion's face. His eyes were still fixed upwards, and Dalia could tell that he was trying very hard to keep the anxiety from showing on his face. Without really thinking, she reached her paw out to touch his.
"You know," she said, "Being fierce doesn't mean that you're not allowed to be afraid. Being fierce is how you react when you are afraid. It's when, even though you're scared, you don't let the fear control you." A light blush spread across her face, making her feel very silly. She tried ridding herself of the annoying reaction, to no avail. The heat in her face was ever present as she continued. "And I think, well, I think you're pretty fierce even when you're not being the leader of the Lion Guard."
Several beats of silence stretched from between them, the two lions locking gazes rather intensely. Green-gray meeting honey-brown. With Kion's eyes staring at her like that, and his lips slightly parted, it looked almost like he wanted to... kiss her?
A strange feeling bubbled up within her. Curiosity? Apprehension? Fondness? Disgust? Hunger?
Finally, after the heat rising to Dalia's face became too overwhelming, she abruptly coughed and turned her head back so that she was staring at the stars once again. Dalia, for all her qualities, spent most of the past few years by herself. Her only interactions with other creatures were her defending herself and being combative. And that didn't lend itself well to maneuvering personal relationships. She was just now learning to make friendships; she certainly did not know how to navigate the horribly confusing realm of boys!
And, Kion wasn't just any boy - he was her friend.
And whilst Dalia was admittedly not knowledgeable in this regard, she was certain that she should not be blushing like a silly lioness at her friends. However, she was also certain Kion would have known better than her in this aspect - having grown up around lionesses his age. However, she couldn't easily imagine him having a crush on Tiifu.
Or worse yet, she shuddered, Zuri.
"Your turn," she said, quickly - trying to clear her mind of images of an imaginary Zuri blushing furiously at a comment an imaginary Kion made.
Kion's eyes lit in recognition, suddenly reminded that they were still playing the game. Still, a few minutes of silence ensued between them. It stretched out and hung heavily. There were clearly unspoken words lingering between the two of them, and it made Dalia curious. Finally, the truth came out:
"Why won't you tell me who attacked you?" he asked gently, after a few minutes.
Oh. Over the past few days, Kion had been trying to pry that information out of her, but she hadn't given in yet and she didn't plan on doing so any time soon.
Whenever Kion would question her about it, Imba would also start bombarding her with similar questions. Imba in the beginning was suspicious heavily of Janja. Apparently, according to her, he was the one who woke her up and warned her to, 'get outta here before anyone else finds out about you being a mole.'
In an act of heavenly intervention, however, Makini argued that was Janja being merciful. And why would he show Imba compassion if he had just cut Dalia's throat? And, after Imba had no plausible counterargument, she dropped most of her suspicion of Janja.
Dalia decided that for the time being, she'd have to keep quiet about the whole Janja situation, just so nobody would go and mess up what she had worked so hard on.
"I... I can't," Dalia stated simply.
Kion huffed, turning away from her slightly. "You don't trust me, do you?"
"It's not that," she protested, turning on her side, "It's just a complicated subject, and I feel like you might act too rashly—"
"Just forget it," Kion interrupted, his eyes downcast, "Forget I asked."
Something that felt very close to regret surged through Dalia at the sight of him so dejected. "Wait," she called, "It's not that I don't trust you. I swear it's not that. It's just... it's so complicated, Kion, and I feel like you wouldn't understand."
He met her gaze dead-on. "Try me."
She held his gaze for a few seconds before dropping her head in surrender. "Fine. If you want to know so bad, it was Janja."
Kion's brows shot up. "But why would he hurt you? I thought he was the one who warned Imba?"
"He was," Dalia said, "And that's why it's complicated. I know you want to go and deliver whatever your version of justice is. But I know that Janja is on the brink of turning against Scar, so we just need to be patient. And, besides, I don't think he meant to really hurt me. I think he was just trying to intimidate me with his claws, and I kind of made it worse. So for the moment, I need you to not retaliate, just wait."
"Dalia, it's hard for me to let someone get away with injuring someone who was under my care and authority," Kion argued. "It goes against everything I stand for."
To this, Dalia cocked a brow. "Under your authority?" she echoed in disbelief. "Just because I did a favor for you doesn't mean anything more than that. I'm not a Pridelander, Kion. And I never plan on being one."
Her words came out barbed, and Kion looked hurt. Dalia felt a little amused. Had it never occurred to him that his idealistic paradise of a home is not quite as appealing to others outside of it? Still, she softened her tone. He was, after all, a friend.
"There's a reason I haven't joined a Pride since becoming a nomad; I am under nobody's authority other than my own."
"Okay, maybe I didn't phrase it right — but you get what I'm saying. If someone does something for me, it's my responsibility to make sure nothing happens to them. And if something does happen to them, it's my responsibility to set things right for them."
She scoffed, turning her head away from him. "You're really starting to sound like Tombie."
Kion turned his eyes up in recognition. "Tombie? That red hyena?" he questioned, thinking back to his rather harsh encounter with Tombie. When Dalia nodded, he couldn't help but frown a little bit and he wasn't sure why. "What is he to you anyway? I never really had the chance to ask him when he was trying to kill me for letting you spy on Scar's Army."
She snorted. "Seems like him," she stated, suppressing an eye roll, "Yeah, he's a good friend of mine, and he really looked out for me when I needed him, but he's been overstepping his boundaries lately."
The prince remembered once more how the hyena had been so furious at the thought of Dalia potentially getting hurt. "Don't you think he'd want to know what happened to you? I can have Ono fly over to the Outlands tomorrow and let him know. He'd probably want to come to make sure you're okay."
"I know he'd be worried sick if he found out Janja hurt me," said Dalia, "but I'm in no mood to see him at the moment. After all, he was the one who got me in this situation in the first place."
Kion's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?" he questioned carefully.
"He dropped by Kilio Valley, insisting that he needed to save me and that I was in such imminent danger," Dalia explained, her voice hard, "Janja overheard the conversation and then he... well, you know what happened. If it weren't for Tombie, I would've still been in Kilio Valley, finding out how to defeat Scar."
"You're angry with him," Kion said, his tone making it clear that it wasn't a question but rather a statement.
The accusation made her wince. She didn't want to be angry with her best friend, but she couldn't help it.
"He's just such a... nuisance," Dalia blurted, "He's overbearing and thinks that just because he rescued me once, I'll forever be in need of his help. And that just isn't true. After I left Tombie and forged my own path, I went through things that made me stronger, and I'm better for it. I don't need him, and I think he's having a hard time understanding that I'm not a little cub that needs his help. And the most frustrating thing? He's not doing this because he's angry with me. He's doing all this because he cares about me, and that's where the trouble lies."
The sun was beginning its rise over the horizon, and Dalia was surprised.
Have we been really talking for that long?
Kion quirked a brow. "Why would that be a bad thing? That he cares about you, I mean."
"Love makes creatures irrational," said Dalia, "It makes them act without thinking. And here, in a war, you have no room for that."
It wasn't that Dalia hadn't known love. She had. She had known the beautiful love of her mother. But she wasn't the only one. Kali had also known her mother's love. And she knew that her love for him made her mother weak. It made her not think.
Kion paused, considering her words for a moment. He didn't even know how to begin responding to a girl like that.
Finally, he settled on, "Dalia, I think you're the strangest and most pessimistic lioness I have ever met."
She grinned at him, and he felt a flutter in his chest. "I'll try my best to take that as a compliment, Your Highness."
He smiled back at her. "Thanks for this, Dalia. It helped a lot; trust me." He yawned and began standing up. He peered over his shoulder at the sunrise. "But you should probably get back before Rafiki notices you're gone."
"And you should probably get your Guard ready for dawn patrol," Dalia said, conceding. "I hope we can do this again sometime."
"Me too," he responded.
And Dalia couldn't help but smile once more at how sincere he sounded.