(Lee's POV)
I walked through the city with both my grandparents beside me. Mufasa and Sarabi walked side by side, mumbling to each other. They would occasionally laugh quietly and nuzzle each other. Seeing them interact, you would think they were love-struck teenagers. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things in the world to see these two together after years of being separated.
That must have been one of the major reason's Sarabi was surprised that I felt so guilty. This is something she's wanted since losing Mufasa all those years ago. Being here, with him in a place where there were no problems was the happiest ending she could ever want. Seeing them like this brought an overwhelming sense of joy to me.
We came to one of the many marble houses in the center of the city. I stopped before we got to the stairs. Sarabi looked back at me when she saw I wouldn't walk up.
"Whose place is this?" I asked her.
She smiled, "Yours."
Stepping into it was like entering a five-star hotel. A flat screen tv hung on the wall, below it was a collection of DVDs. A black leather couch to lounge in, a large fridge was placed in the corner. There was another room in the back. In it, there was a king sized bed and full body workout equipment. The entire place smelled like Steak, which was what was cooking in the oven.
I smiled, "Yup, this is Heaven."
"I'm glad you like it," Sarabi said.
"Not that I'm complaining, but who did all this? How did you know what to put in this place?"
"We helped them," Called a voice from the entrance.
My entire body went cold. Every sound in the world was put on mute the moment I heard that voice. It was a voice I had almost forgotten for not hearing it for so long. Shaking wildly, I turned to the direction of the voice. Tears threatened to spill out even before I was met with two silhouettes. One was taller, the other was shorter and holding something. Part of me still couldn't believe what was right in front of me.
"It... it is you," I whispered.
The smaller silhouette smiled, "Hey big brother."
I let out a cry as I collided with the two of them. They both wrapped their arms around me as we sank to the floor. Together we sat there, all of our tears streaming down our faces as quiet cries filled the room. I kissed them both on the forehead before breaking apart from them.
"My girls," I said smiling at them.
My mother looked at me. Her raven black hair and dark blues eyes glowed with an otherworldly beauty. The same could be said about Jenny, she looked even more adorable here then she did on earth. Just like I noticed the glowing complexion of my skin when I first got here, it was on mom and Jenny too. Almost as if we were all unmistakably beautiful now.
Something moved against my chest. I felt a familiarly shaped object press hard against my stomach before a small voice erupted from the object in Jenny's hands.
"You're squishing me!" it said.
I stepped back and looked down to see a lion cub. My jaw dropped when I saw how much he looked like Kion. Aside from a brown tuft of hair on his head and a bit less size on this cub; he and Kion could be twins. He had Simba's eyes and fur color. When I saw the similarities, that's when it hit me. This was...
"Kopa?"
His ears fell flat against his head in a frightened manner as he sunk down against Jenny's chest.
"H- how do you know my name?" he asked.
Sarabi used this moment to walk up close to Jenny. She nuzzled Kopa gently, causing him to look at her. His posture got less frightened at the sight of a familiar face.
"Grandma? What are you doing in this place? Why are you with him?" he asked, pointing his paw at me.
She chuckled, "Kopa, sweetie, this is Lee, can you say hello?"
He looked at me, "Hi." he said in a shy manner.
"Hi," I repeated.
Suddenly, his eyes grew wide as he looked back up at me. It looked like he wanted to say something, but the words must have gotten caught in his throat. Looking back at Sarabi, he raised his eyebrows as if he was silently asking a question. All she did was smile and nod in response, that caused him to look back at me with an awestruck expression.
"You're that Lee? The Lee that lived in the Pridelands? They call you the human prince."
I nodded, "That's me."
He jumped off Jenny's chest and landed on mine. I had to throw my arms up to stop him from falling on the ground. Kopa nuzzled my chest with a wide grin on his face. It's almost as if he had been waiting to see me for a long time.
"It's so good to finally meet you," He said, "Papa and Grandma have told me everything about you. I've seen you in the pond too; you protected my mom from an army of hyenas!"
I chuckled, "Well, I don't know if it was an army, maybe just twenty or thirty."
He frowned, "You look different though. Wasn't your hair a lot longer when you were on earth?"
"Hey yeah, what happened to your hair, Lee?" Jenny asked.
"I... cut it."
"Why?" She asked.
"After Sarabi died, I felt different. Having to execute her myself made me feel like a monster. Almost as if I wasn't me anymore. The long hair was Lee's thing, I told myself I didn't deserve it anymore."
"You say that like it's a bad thing. It wasn't, you brought my grandma back to me. I can't thank you enough for that." Kopa assured, smiling down at me.
Mufasa smiled at me as he placed a paw on my shoulder. Sarabi nuzzled my arm as Kopa rested against my chest. My mom and Jenny came over to us and wrapped their arms around me. We all sank to the ground as tears welled and fell down my face for the tenth time since coming here. It felt as though time slowed down, and everything got quiet. All that could be heard was my crying and the wind blowing outside.
"Lee, what you did was out of love. You should never feel bad about that," Mufasa told me.
Sarabi got in my face, "Never." She said.
I nodded before burying my face in her fur. Just as the case with Jenny, my mom and myself, her physical appearance was stunning. It was in evidence to the feel of her fur on my face. Even when she on earth, sometimes her fur was madded or dirty. Here, it was sleek and clean, it even smelled like fresh flowers.
When we finally broke up, I stood before ruffling Kopa's head just like I did with Kion. He giggled happily before nuzzling me one more time. After handing him back to Jenny, I went to my room to compose myself. Collapsing onto my king sized bed, I sighed as one more tear fell down my face. This one wasn't a sorrowful tear, this one was one of complete happiness.
"Lee, some people are here to see you." my mother called.
I went out of my room and my jaw hit the floor at the sight of who it was. Standing next to my mother and sister, was Linda. She was dressed in a silk black dress and matching stilettos. Her matching black hair was curled and fell down her shoulders. I was so stunned at her beauty, her words didn't come to my ears at first. I had to ask her to repeat herself.
She giggled, "You've got a little bit of drool on your chin."
Jenny handed me a napkin. After hastily wiping my face, I finally noticed the second person who was with Linda. It was a man with a number one buzz cut and a serious look on his face. Murderous red eyes with black eyebrows made him look quite intimidating too. Almost as if he was a guy who would kill you, chop off your head and mail it to your grandmother. Even with the white dress shirt, his chest and arms popped out as if they were 3-D.
Linda stepped forward, "Lee, this is Logan, Sean's older brother."
Logan came closer to me. Now realizing he was a few inches taller than me. That was one other thing to find terrifying about the guy. And now I know this is the big brother of the guy I tossed around earlier today. We were inches apart now, part of me was wondering if I should hold out my hand or brace myself for a fight.
He held out his hand, "Let me congratulate you."
I shook it, "What for, may I ask?"
"You knocked my punk little brother on his ass. Not many people can do that. After all, he is Randell's second-best pupil."
"Who's the first?" I asked.
"Yours truly." He said.
"Congratulations."
Sarabi stepped up, "It's good to see you again, Logan."
"Same to you, Sarabi. I heard my brother said a few unflattering things to you. That's why Lee fought him, isn't it? Sean would have come to dinner, but he's still licking his wounds."
"Dinner time." my mother called.
All the humans sat down at a large table, while the lions ate raw meat on large plates. Steaks and potatoes were one thing I never believed I would eat again. Mom and Jenny sat beside me, while Linda and Logan sat across from me. Seeing them both dressed in fine clothes while I was still in sweats made me feel even more self-conscious than usual around her. Even the simplest act of her wiping her face with a napkin would be enough to draw me away from my meal and stare at her.
"Lee," Logan called.
I jumped, "What? Did you say something?"
"I was asking you what you where did you learn your skill with a spear? That kind of discipline Linda said you displayed in your sparing session with Sean must have come from a wise teacher."
"A wise teacher he was. His name was Rafiki, he was the Shaman of the Pridelands. It's Ironic because if you looked at him, you wouldn't guess he was some kind of badass martial artists. At least that's what I thought when I first saw him. And he ended up knocking me on my ass. But he taught me afterward; the end result was what I did to Sean."
Logan nodded, "Impressive. Linda is quite the archer herself. If you ever want to learn how to shoot a bow, go to her."
Linda blushed, "Sure, the next time you want to go to the Colesium, look me up."
I nodded before returning to my dinner. The rest of the evening was spent in relative silence. So much was still being processed in my mind. I would occasionally wince as I swallowed my food, indicating something must be wrong with my stomach.
"Lee, are you alright?" Linda asked me.
"My stomach kind of hurts. I guess the fight with Sean took more out of me then I thought."
"I can take a look at it for you after dinner if you want. When I'm not practicing with a bow, I'm learning how to heal," she explained.
We both went to my room after dinner was over. When I sat down on my bed, Linda excused herself before going into my bathroom. She came back a few seconds later with something wrapped in a towel. Darting her eyes up and down, she cleared her throat before speaking again.
"You're going to need to... take off your shirt."
I begrudgingly did so. It's not that I wasn't confident in my appearance, especially here, but again with a woman like Linda you couldn't help but be nervous. All Linda did at first was stare blankly at the area. After asking her how it looked and not getting an answer, I chuckled before snapping my fingers and waving my hand in front of her face.
"What?" She asked.
"I said how does it look?" I repeated.
"Chiseled and tan."
"I... meant the bruise."
"Oh, that's not so bad."
She giggled nervously before placing the object on my lower abdomen. An instant cold sensation spread through that area as she held it there for a good minute and a half. We were just a few inches apart. Her gorgeous features on her face were even more stunning up close. Every fiber of me was screaming at me to lean forward and kiss her. I did lean forward, and to my surprise so did she. She blinked twice before giving me the smile she had when I beat Sean earlier today. A smile that made me think I was the best person in the world. Just an inch apart now.
A sudden giggling noise from outside the door made us both jump in surprise. Linda looked behind her when the noise came a second time. I put my finger up to my lips to tell her not to make a noise as I slowly got up from my bed. When I made my way to the door, I instantly saw a little touch of fur stick in through the door.
"Gotcha!" I shouted as I seized Kopa by the tail.
"Jenny, I'm done for, run for it!" Kopa shouted.
My sister ran for her life out the front door. I ran after her until she ran out the front door. After watching her disappear into one of the houses across the way, I brought Kopa back to my room. Linda was still sitting at my bedside, laughing at the events that just occurred. Still holding him by the tail, I walked him over and dropped him on my bed and held him down.
"Look who I found," I told Linda.
She giggled, "Why you little sneak."
Kopa just smiled sheepishly, "What are you going to do to me?"
I tickled Kopa's stomach without mercy. He let out a howl of laughter as I continued my assault. Linda just laughed as she watched the whole thing. After a minute and a half of doing this, I finally let him go and he ran out my bedroom door. Linda stood up while handing me the ice pack.
"I should go. Just keep that on your bruise for a while and the swelling will go down."
"Thanks," I told her.
As she made her way to the door, it took everything I had to not call after her. Just as she reached the doorway, she turned back. Again wearing the smile as she spoke to me.
"I'll be looking for you at the Coliseum."
Only when I heard her go through the front door did I fall on my bed with a sigh.
"Whoa."