Kiara eyed Dhaifu nervously. He had been lying there with his eyes open just next to the watering hole ever since she had sent the three males away. She knew that someone needed to keep an eye on their cold-blooded albino enemy and only herself and Rani were present. It was necessary, but long, slow, and boring. The only breaks from the monotony came when Rani would relive Kiara or when she would do the same for her fellow queen. Even the times one of them was not on duty were boring as they did not want to risk venturing to far away from Dhaifu, lest he try something.
Kiara was trying to meet the crocodile's stare when Rani saw two of the males approaching.
"Kiara," she said, and the Queen of the Pridelands looked in the direction of the arriving males. Kopa and Kion were alone.
"Dad," Kopa exclaimed happily upon seeing Dhaifu. He bounded toward the watering hole, but Kiara stepped between her brother and his foster father.
"Where is Kovu?" she demanded.
Kion swallowed and took a long look at Rani before facing his sister.
"Kiara," Kion said hesitantly, "there's no easy way to say this…"
"Where is Kovu, Kion?" the Queen demanded.
Kion closed his eyes. "We ran into Vitani. She admitted to using the Roar on her own Lion Guard. It made me so angry that I roared at her…and Kovu stepped between us."
Kiara gasped.
"They're not dead," Kion said in a reassuring voice, "But my Roar did send them flying. I don't know where they landed."
Kiara was still trying to take in everything that Kion had just said when Rani asked her mate, "Did Vitani say why she used the Roar on her own Guard?"
Kion thought back. Vitani had not said anything about her reasons, only that she had done.
"I know why she did it," Kopa said. "Her Guard knew that Kovu killed Simba and she couldn't have that. And then Kovu tried to protect her from Kion—"
"She's his sister," Kiara said, "Of course he'd try to protect her."
"That's right," Rani said. "Kovu stepping in to protect Vitani doesn't prove anything. But Vitani's actions are suspicious, and they do implicate your mate in the death of your father."
Kiara was a bit surprised. Rani had been the stabilizing influence, holding Kion back from his scar-induced rushes to judgement.
"Kovu would never kill Daddy," Kiara said.
"Then why did his sister kill her own Guard?" Kion asked.
Kiara was silent. She had no answer. The only thing she could do was repeat "Kovu did not kill Daddy," softly to herself.
"Listen to her," Kopa said. "She's in denial."
But it wasn't a half-hearted denial in the queen's voice. It was firm conviction.
"I know him," she said.
"And that could be what's blinding you," Rani said. "Did Vitani hurt Ono?"
At the mention of his friend Kion felt a sharp pain in his scar again.
"Ono's dead!" He said angrily. "Vitani got one of the crocodiles from Makuu's float to kill him so she could frame Dhaifu!"
Kiara and Rani both dropped their jaws.
"No," Kiara said quietly.
"Vitani admitted that?" Rani was more than surprised.
"She admitted to using the roar on her Guard," Kion said.
Kiara didn't bother to note Rani's reaction or even that much of Kion's tone. It was too shocking. It just didn't match the Vitani she knew.
"What did she say?" Kiara asked a sharp fierceness entering her voice, "Exactly."
"Quit defending her Kiara," Kion said, the pain in his scar throbbing. "She would barely admit it. All she could say was that she done and a terrible thing and that she'd failed me, as if murder is some kind of accident, or mistake…" Kion's face softened, "Maybe, she didn't really want to do it. Maybe Kovu had pressured her into it if he was exposed, maybe…."
Kiara growled.
"Quit assuming their guilt! What if really was an accident? What if she lost control of the Roar? What if she had been aiming it at something else?" Kiara glared at Dhaifu, who refused to express any emotion with which to betray himself on his scaly face.
"You have to admit that out of all the scenarios, that is the most likely one, Kion," Rani said.
Kiara was relieved to hear her sister-in-law and fellow queen agree with her although she did not know Vitani at all.
"I suppose this means my father killed Simba, got the button spiders to ambush Kion's guard, tricked Vitani into killing her own guard, and killed Ono? Why would he make himself such an obvious culprit?"
"Maybe because he knew it would seem too obvious so long as there was another explanation, any other explanation," Rani said.
Kiara nodded and looked at Dhaifu who still remained passive. He merely shifted his eyes to Kopa.
"All right, let's forget everything about Vitani and her Guard and focus only on what happened to Simba and Ono."
Kion felt the pain in his scar become even sharper. Kopa was right. What had motivated Kion had been the murder of his father and his friend. If they could get to the bottom of who was behind those everything else would fall into place.
"Let's say Vitani did not really want to destroy her guard. She was either tricked into it by my father or pressured into it by her brother. Ono's murder followed that. It all goes back to who killed Simba." Kopa walked to stand next to Dhaifu.
"My father and I were exiled from the Swamplands. He was seeking sanctuary in the Pridelands. Only Simba could give that. It wouldn't be in his interest to kill him, as he would only be hurting himself. He has been treated like an enemy of the state since he entered this kingdom. Do you really think he'd do that to himself?" Kopa asked.
Kion's head hurt, but even he could see the obvious. "Only an idiot would."
"And my father's no idiot." Kopa shifted his gaze to his sister, "Kiara, you heard our fathers talking about the reign of Scar."
"Yes, your father said he was Scar's cubhood fiend if I remember correctly."
"Exactly, his cubhood friend. You heard him call adult Scar a 'tyrant.' You heard him say the reason he was afraid to send me back to Simba after he rescued me from Zira was because he was afraid our father was a tyrant as well and would raise me to be one."
"Why would he think Dad was a tyrant?" Kion asked.
"Because Simba exiled the Outsider's cubs along with the parents for what Zira did to Kopa," Kiara said.
"Cubs that included a young Kovu and Vitani," Kion emphasized the names. "That's pretty hard to forgive. Simba and Kovu were always going to be enemies except for one thing," Kopa said walking into position just to block Dhaifu from Kiara's clear line of sight. "That one thing that they shared was you. Imagine how Kovu would have reacted if the same lion who had exiled him as a cub told him that his mate wouldn't be queen, and therefore, he would not be king?"
"Your problem, Kopa, is in assuming Kovu and I even wanted the throne to begin with. I didn't feel ready until we had that very conversation. Kovu had not felt ready any of the times we talked about it. In fact he'd often talked about how nice it would be if Mohatu and Uru had normal cubhoods without any kind of royal expectations given the way I was the princess and he was Zira's son."
Kion looked at Kiara and tried to study her face and tone as much as the pain in his head would allow him, but he honestly couldn't tell if her honesty in sharing this had any bearing on Kovu's in bringing it up.
"It's all a question of motive," Kopa said. "My dad needed safety in the Pridelands, which only Simba could grant. He had no motive to kill him and plenty to keep him alive. He has no claim on the throne as he isn't even a lion. What would killing Simba get him?"
Every point Kopa listed made sense to Kion.
"It could get the throne for the lion he raised though, if Simba were dead, his daughter tainted by being mated to a murderer and his son at the Tree of Life." Kiara responded.
Rani looked at her mate's brother and sister trying to see who made more sense. Kopa's reasoning was more straightforward, riddled with fewer assumptions—as an animal in need of sanctuary, Dhaifu had no reason to kill Simba, where as Kovu might want the throne even if he was still hesitant about his qualifications. After all, wasn't that what Zira had raised him for? Still, she didn't know Kovu, and she didn't know Kiara all that well. She could tell her sister-in-law was well meaning, but was that enough? She could help Kion make the decision, but ultimately this was his family. The final decision in the matter of Kovu versus Dhaifu was his.
"Wait…!" Dhaifu finally spoke. "Maybe Kovu could have accepted not being king, but he couldn't have liked Simba granting me sanctuary. I haven't mentioned this because I did not want your father's tragedy to become enmeshed in my own problems. I proposed that Simba make Kopa king because he was the only one left out of the struggle with Zira, a struggle that began when my River Patrol ate Zira's first mate, Tojo. I killed Kovu and Vitani's father, which led to Zira becoming Scar's mate and Simba's enemy. When I admitted this Kovu went ballistic, and Simba said that maybe Kopa was the best choice to put the past behind us precisely because he had missed it. The words were barely out of Simba's mouth when Kovu flew into a rage, biting and clawing. I don't think he had come there with any plan to harm anyone, but by then he could no longer control himself."
Kopa and Kiara widened their eyes in shock. Kion and Rani narrowed them in clarity.
Finally, it all made sense. Kion could see Kovu acting this way because it was closely to the way he would react—although not as violently. Rani was thinking the same.
"It sounds like Kovu is like a more aggressive version of you, Kion," Rani said.
"You have to give them sanctuary, Kiara," Kion said, "and banish Kovu."
Kiara had been willing to let the matter of Kovu rest unresolved for the time being, but she couldn't just let Dhaifu into the Pridelands.
"Kion, Dhaifu is too dangerous!" Kiara shouted.
"According to Kovu…"
"Yes…" Kiara then realized that she couldn't let the matter of Kovu drop. Everything came back to her father's murder and the question of who they believed and trusted. Kovu may very well loose his temper, but he would no more kill Simba than Kiara or Kion would. He certainly wouldn't leave behind a trail of more death and destruction to cover it up.
"I still trust Kovu," Kiara said.
"Then Dhaifu was right!" Kion snapped. "Your judgment is compromised. You can't be queen. Leave Pride Rock and go join your mate. Rani and I will raise your children."
Kiara glared incredulously at her brother and rose a paw to strike him. Three horizontal scars now crossed his vertical one.
Kion stood motionless apart from his panting chest. When shock wore off he began summoning the Roar. Terror gripped Kiara and she braced for the worst, when, unlooked for, Rani slammed into Kion.
All three of Simba's children looked at the Queen of the Tree of Life.
"Run away, Kiara," she said. "Run away and never come back."
Kiara nodded, catching her breath. "Oh, I'll run, but I most certainly will be back!" And with that the Queen fled.
Kion looked at Rani, confused.
She met his gaze.
"If you used the Roar on her, Kion, you'd have regretted it forever. Let's take our niece and nephew, and let your brother rule his kingdom."
Kovu looked to his sister as she hesitantly crossed the boundary from the Outlands into the Pridelads.
"Come on, Vitani," her brother said, encouraging her.
She lifted a paw and was about to set it on Pridelands soil when closed her eyes and shook her head.
"It will be better for you if I'm not with you."
Kovu stared at her for a moment. "You seriously think that? Kion is already half-convinced I murdered Simba. Things will be worse if he finally makes up his mind that I did it. For you, on the other paw, things are already as bad as they are going to get."
He was right. Her best friends were all dead and it been by her own Roar. Nothing was worse than that. She shook her head.
"I can still see them when I close my eyes," she said.
Kovu could not begin to imagine what Vitani must have been going through. The closest he could come was when his actions at the gorge had gotten Nuka killed, but that was only one animal he knew compared to his four closest friends, and he had only been indirectly responsible for his brother's death. He and Vitani could rightly blame Dhaifu for orchestrating the death of the Lion Guard, but they both knew that he had still done it with Vitani's roar.
"I wish there was something I could say, but there isn't," Kovu told his sister. Kiara was so much better at this side of leadership than he was.
"Find a safe place," he told her, "I'm heading back to Pride Rock."
"Wait," Vitani said, her voice less shaky. She stepped over the border. "I still don't want my little brother to get hurt."
Kovu smiled. Vitani still had some fight in her.
"You'll probably get yourself killed if you face Kion alone."
"Forget Kion," Kovu said. "We need Kiara and Nala." His mate and her mother were the ones who knew them, the ones who would listen. With that thought in mind Kovu picked up the pace and began marching in the direction of the distant Pride Rock.
Vitani picked up her own pace to keep up with her brother.
With each step the lions moved faster until they had to rest from exhaustion. Panting Kovu looked back in the distance. The Outlands were more distant, but they were still a good distance away from Pride Rock.
"We'll rest for a few minutes, and then march forward."
Vitani nodded in agreement when they heard a familiar voice.
"Kovu!" Kiara called.
His mate was standing no less than two adult lion's body spans from him.
"Kiara!" He said, surprised to find her here. They approached each other and nuzzled.
"The worst has happened," she said, still leaning into him. "Kion is fully convinced that Dhaifu and Kopa are telling the truth."
"We've got to get back to Pride Rock," Kovu said.
"Kovu, all three of us have been banished."
"But you are the Queen!" he said.
"Even the Queen can't stand up to the Roar."
Kovu's face hardened. Flames burned in his green eyes as surely as if they had been red. "What did Kion do?"
