Chirping birds brought me out of my slumber. My eyes batted a few times before fully opening to a ray of sunlight that shined through the window. Stretching my tired muscles, I climbed out of bed before making my way over to the full body workout equipment. For the first time in months, I was able to lift again. Don't get me wrong, I still did basic bodyweight exercises back in the Pridelands to stay in shape. But this is the first time I've done it with state of the art stuff like this. All the weights in the gyms I used to go too were put to shame in what I had now.

After a solid hour of working out, I finally let out a large huff before dropping my arms. Beads of sweat ran down my forehead as I rose to go take a shower. Heavy beads of hot water added relief and woke me up. When I came out with a towel around my waist, I saw a fresh pair of clothes laid on my bed with a note on top of them. Picking it up, I recognized the handwriting immediately as my mom's.

'Be ready to impress them all.'

The smell of bacon and eggs hit my nostrils just as I slipped on the white tank top. I found my mom at the stove and my sister sitting at the table with a plate full of food in front of her. She looked up at me when she heard me step into the room.

"Look who's finally up mom," she said with a smirk.

My mom looked at me, "Good morning Lee, did you sleep well?"

I smiled, "Like a baby."

The taste of food cooked from a stove is something that I had almost forgotten about. But after almost half a year of my own cooking would make any other kind of food look like a five-star meal. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I took another bite of extra crispy bacon. With one last satisfying sigh, I wiped my face and brought my plate to the sink. I pulled my mom into a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Have I told you how much I've missed your cooking?"

She reached around and hugged me, "I know."

Both my grandparents and Kopa waited for me as I stepped out of my home. Kopa immediately ran up to me and nuzzled my leg. I picked him up and made my way to my grandparents. We all embraced before we started walking to the arena.

"Are you nervous?", grandma asked.

"A little bit," I said.

"Especially if Linda is there," Kopa spoke up.

I glared down at him, "Watch it."

Both Mufasa and Sarabi chuckled as we continued on. Every once in a while, we would pace people who would say hi to the three of them. Sarabi would occasionally introduce me with the proudest smile on her muzzle. Hard to believe she had only been here a few days and had already gotten to know so many people.

When we go to the arena, Randal and Logan were sparing together. They both looked like they were fighting with everything they had. Their lightning fast reflexes swung the swords they wielded. These weren't wooden swords like Sean and I used, this was steal that clanked together with each collision. It could have gone on for who knows how long until Randell disarmed Logan and sent his sword flying towards us. It was just about to hit Kopa, I turned to shield him before I heard metal hit something again.

I looked back to see the blade in between my grandmother's jaws. She stared daggers at the knight while walking over to him and dropping the sword at Randal's feet. The words she spoke next were filled with quiet rage.

"Please keep these swords from hitting my grandsons. For the sake of your health, I hope neither of them gets stabbed because of your incompetence."

"My apologies Sarabi," Randell said as he dipped his head in respect.

Then he turned to me. His brown hair that was usually slicked back was dripping with sweat and some of it hung in his face. His face looked very similar to that of a battle-scarred general. Someone who takes no crap and expects you to do everything by the book. Logan stood beside him, looking just as serious and exhausted. Randell stuck his hand out to me again.

"Hello again Lee, I understand you already met my star pupil, Logan. I am looking forward to teaching you and possibly be his equal one day. If you are as gifted as your grandparents say you are, then it may be sooner than I think."

"Thank you, Randell, I hope I won't let you down."

"However, I need you to know one thing," he said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Can you control your temper?"

"My temper?"

"Yes, if you ever want to become a knight, you need to keep your emotions in check. Losing your temper could prove disastrous. From several of your fights, I saw you lose control. You can't allow that to happen if you learn from me. So I'll ask you again, can you control your temper?"

"I... I can try."

"Good, if you can, I will teach you everything I know. However, if you can't, I will not hesitate to dismiss you without a second's hesitation. Is that clear?"

"Cristal," I assured him.

"Good, let's get started."

With that, he went to the wooden weapons and pulled out two swords. Handing me one, he pointed the other at me. I awkwardly held this weapon in my hands, never having that much experience with swords.

"Um... I haven't had that much luck with swords. As you saw when I beat Sean, I am much better with a spear. Can't I just use what I am good at?"

He frowned, "How will you become a better warrior if you don't expand your horizon?"

"I'm already the best at what I have," I said in confidence.

He smiled as stroked his chin. With a chuckle, he went back to the rack and pulled out a spear before returning to me. After taking the sword back from me, he handed me the spear and walked over to Logan.

"I'll make you a deal, if you can Logan with your spear, I'll let you use whatever you choose. However, if he wins, you use swords until I say so, are we in agreement?" he asked.

I looked over at Logan, he wore an almost robotic face. As if he was designed for one purpose, fighting. Part of me wanted to decline, but a larger part of me demanded I stand my ground. Especially if Kopa was watching; what kind of big brother would I be if I backed down from a fight?

I nodded, "Deal."

Logan stuck his metal sword in the ground before taking the two training swords from Randel. He stood confidently in front of me with his weapons in hand. I braced myself and held my ground. Kopa's voice rang out from behind me.

"Let him have it Lee!" he cheered.

"Begin!" Randel commanded.

At a lightning-fast pace, Logan came at me with his sword raised. I barely had time to raise my spear to block his attack. I pushed off his swords away a swung for his stomach. He back stepped and swung with his left sword towards my head. I blocked it, only to feel a sudden pain in my stomach. Grunting, I barely hunched over and felt a hard smack on my left cheek.

My face hit the dirt as blood filled my mouth. I spat it out of my mouth before glaring up at him. Still wearing the same blank stare, he spoke to me for the first time.

"Do you yield?"

"Hell no!"

I tried thrusting the blunt end at his face, only for him to smack it away. Using the opportunity, I sprang to my feet and swung a second time. Once again, he blocked and hit me again in the face. Before I could even recover, he used his other sword to swipe my feet from under me and I was once again on the ground.

The pointy end of his sword was under my chin. At this point, I felt a sudden rush of deja vu wash over me. It was like fighting Rafiki for the first time all over again. He had me beat, and he knows it. Raising my hands, I accepted defeat.

"You win," I said.

He extended his hand to me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise before taking it and being pulled to my feet. Randel made his way over to us with a serious look on his face. Straightening my back, I turned to face him.

"He won. And if I'm anything, I'm a man of my word. I'll learn to use a sword."

"Wonderful."

(Kion's POV)

"Look at me."

I lifted my tear stained eyes up to look at my grandma, who wore a look of disappointment. We were way in the back of the cave where no one could hear us. Not that anyone would pay much attention anyway.

"I am very disappointed in how you spoke to Jason. He has done nothing but good things for us since he came here and does not deserve that kind of treatment."

"Nothing but good things?" I asked, "Like getting Lee killed?"

"The one who did that is dead."

"If Jason was such a good warrior, he wouldn't have needed Lee to save him."

"You can't blame Jason for that Kion."

"Why not? If Jason never came here, Lee would still be alive."

"Oh, I think I know what this is about. Your not angry at Jason, you're angry because you miss Lee."

My face got hot as tears threatened to spill over. Her features got slightly less angry at the sight of my fragile state. She kneeled down and nuzzled me before rising again and speaking to me.

"Kion, honey, I know how much you miss Lee. We all miss him, but we can't take it out on innocent people. You don't see me treating Jason like that, do you?"

"Then you didn't love him as much as I did!"

In a split second, she switched from loving and caring to bloodthirst and terrifying. With a loud snarl, she hovered over me with her teeth bared and eyes narrowed. It felt like my heart was about to stop completely as I gazed upon this unfamiliar creature. Whereas it was rare to see my mom look this scary, I never saw my grandma like this before. She scolded and got angry, but this was something different. And it was downright terrifying! My bottom lip quivered as I whimpered quietly. With a finale angered huff, she grabbed me roughly with her jaws and walked over to a dark corner of the cave and dropped me down. She then spoke with a voice filled with rage.

"Maybe going to bed with an empty stomach will teach you how to behave."

"Grandma... I didn't-"

"I don't want to hear it! How dare you claim that I didn't love your brother enough because I don't hate the person that tries to save us! There will be no more of your attitude towards Jason, and until you make amends to him, you can stay in this corner for the rest of the week!"

With that, she stormed away before I could even respond. I felt my head get heavy as tears finally fell from my eyes. Laying my head down, I tried to just shut my eyes and sleep through my hunger and grief. Sadly, I couldn't sleep. For two hours straight, I just rolled around and stared at the walls. The words of not only my grandma and my own rang in my head.

"Trouble sleeping?"

I jumped in sudden fear as I looked up at Jason. He kneeled down with a look of slight concern. Remembering my grandma's words, I wouldn't dare just order him away like I would before. All I did was put my head back down and shut my eyes. When I heard him walking away, I spoke without opening my eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Grandma was right. Every time I replayed her words in my head, I knew they were true. With that came the realization of what a jerk I was. He has always been nice to me, and I just turned him away.

His footsteps stopped before getting closer. When I opened my eyes again, he was right in front of me. All he did at first was stare at me. I was on edge as he stretched his hand out, and I braced myself to get hit. It was what I deserved. So you could imagine my surprise when I felt a gentle touch on top of my head. Jason ruffled my mane just like Lee used to. Fresh tears almost dropped at the mear memory of him.

"It's okay buddy."

"No, it's not." I cried "My brother's gone and he's never coming back! But you don't deserve what I said, I'm so sorry!"

I felt him pick me up and walk for a while. At first, I couldn't see where he was taking me, but when I finally wiped my eyes I saw. The tree where Lee and his human family were buried. He sat down and placed me right in front of Lee's grave.

I turned to him," Why did you bring me here?"

"I heard that it's sometimes comforting to talk to the graves of your loved ones. Maybe it can help you feel better. Just talk to his grave like he was standing right in front of you."

Sighing, I turned back to my brother's grave. A lump was caught in my throat as I searched for the words to tell him. Finally, after clearing my throat I spoke from my heart.

"Hi, Lee... I don't know if you can hear me right now. It's me, Kion, I hope you're doing okay, wherever you are. I'm sure... t-that... grandma Sarabi's happy to see you. But I miss you, big brother. We all really miss you. Mom hasn't stopped crying since we buried you. Dad won't talk to me. The girls and I just lay around all day, not wanting to do anything. Why... Why did you have to leave!"

Hitting my paw against the dirt on his grave, all my emotions exploded with that punch and the ones that followed. I screamed and sobbed as I hit the ground so hard and so many times, my paws started to bleed. Salty tears that fell from my eyes dropped on my fresh cuts and burned like small fires. Before long, I was so spent I just fell flat on my face and lay there. My loud sobs eventually turned into quiet snivels as Jason, who had been silently watching the whole thing go down, came to sit down next to me.

He once again placed his hand on my head and gently patted it in a comforting motion. The sudden affection caused me to want more, I dove towards him and landed on his lap. The sudden move must have taken him by surprise, awkwardly clearing his throat before continuing to comfort me. It wasn't Lee, but he was there, and that's what mattered. I eventually stopped crying and just lay on his lap.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Kind of, I don't know how I'm going to be able to get through life without him. It's like a large part of my life died with him."

"Well, you can start by making sure he didn't die for nothing. He loves you and he wouldn't want you to go on sulking and being sad all the time. It's okay to miss him but don't let the grief consume you. Just like he told you."

"Thanks, Jason."

"Come on, let's go before they start to worry."

I went back over to Lee's grave. determined to get one last thing off my chest.

"I promise Lee, I won't let your sacrifice go to waste. I'll live my life to the fullest, for you."

The events of today were now starting to get to me. My feet started to get heavy before I felt myself being lifted off the ground. Jason let me rest on his arms as he walked back to Pride Rock. When we did get there, he set me down in the corner and started to walk away.

"Wait!"

He turned back, "What is it?"

"Can you... sleep next to me, please? Lee always used to let me sleep on his chest."

He didn't do anything at first. This may have been asking too much of him, considering he always said he didn't want to be part of a family. I prepared for him to say no thank you and walk away. Then he did something I never expected, he smiled fondly and made his way back over to me. He laid down next to me and placed me on his chest. It felt nice, not anything like Lee, do to the fact that Jason is half Lee's size. However, he was there for me, I finally felt good again.

"Good night Jason."

"Goodnight kiddo."

A/N: What's up Everybody! It's good to be back in the world of fanfiction! You can all stop worrying, I'm clearly not dead. I have had a few tough weeks, been busy working and when I wasn't working, I was watching my younger brother. And I was admittedly kind of lazy. I am sorry for the unusually long wait, and I won't lie, it may be a while for the next one. But I promise I won't give up on this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, give me a review or PM me if you got an idea. See you all around!