After the initial shock of finding out he had a daughter - rather than a son, who he'd been secretly calling "Kopa" to himself unbeknownst to the queen - Simba found himself falling in love with the young princess, who Nala had aptly named "Kiara". Kiara grew from babyhood to cubhood with a fiery spirit that Simba could see both in her eyes - orange, like his own - and in the way she was always trying to find some way to sneak out from under his watchful eye to explore by herself.
"Careful, Kiara," Simba found himself warning the princess one day, carefully picking her up by her scruff and bringing her away from the edge of Pride Rock. "You're leaning out so far, you might hurt yourself. Why don't you stay here, where it's safe?"
"But Daddy," Kiara protested, her little voice an irritated huff, "why do Tiifu and Zuri get to play near the watering hole?"
"Because your friends," Simba replied matter-of-factly, "are not princesses. Don't you realize how important your well-being is to the Pride...and to me?" As he spoke, Simba leaned down and licked the little lioness affectionately, who let out a mew of protest and scampered away from him. "Eugh!"
Simba smirked, cuffing her gently with a paw in response to her reaction. "All I'm saying is, you're safer here. Your mother and I-"
"Your mother and I what?" an amused purr came from the den, and Nala stepped gracefully out to join them, standing beside Simba. "I certainly hope you're not putting words in my mouth, oh mighty King," she said playfully, flicking her mate with her tail.
"N-Nala!" Simba stammered, blushing under his mate's knowing blue gaze.
Nala chuckled softly, then looked down at her daughter with a gentle look in her eyes. "Mind your father, Kiara...though Simba, I do think our princess could use some time away from Pride Rock. She was here with me almost all day yesterday learning her lessons."
Kiara's eyes lit up, and she beamed up at her mother, puffing out her chest and sitting up in her best attempt at a regal stance. "That's right, Daddy...I'm on my way to succeeding your place on the throne already," she mewed playfully.
Simba rolled his eyes, giving Kiara a proud but incredulous smile. "Okay, okay, go and find your friends...but stay far away from the Outlands. Got it?"
The Outlands were a desolate place, home to all kinds of dangerous creatures - and even a few lions, part of an exiled group of fanatics who still blindly worshipped the deceased former king, Scar - Simba's wicked uncle.
"Nothing there but backstabbing, murderous, bloodthirsty Outsiders," Simba snarled with a grimace of revulsion, glancing instinctively over his shoulder. "You can't turn your back on them."
Kiara nodded, though secretly she couldn't help but feel even more intrigued by the forbidden part of the savanna at being forbidden to go there. "I will! Thanks, Daddy!"
The little cub started to scamper down the side of Pride Rock, but before she could, Simba put a paw down on her tail.
"Oof!" Kiara tripped and fell flat on her face, looking up at Simba irritably. "What now?!"
"Stay put," Simba told her, gently holding her in place for a few beats. "I'm going to have Zazu keep an eye on you, ok?"
"What?!" Kiara protested.
Her father fixed her with a warning glare that made Nala purr in amusement as she watched from a few tail lengths away. Simba was still a young and fairly inexperienced king, but he was growing to become more like his father Mufasa every day.
"I mean it, Kiara. The Outlands is no place for any member of the Pridelands - and that goes for you especially." He gave her a tender lick as Zazu, his majordomo, alighted near his paws.
"Good morning, sire," the bird said cheerfully, looking from Simba to Kiara. "And how is the little princess faring this fine day?"
"Fine," Kiara replied flatly, her fur standing on end at being referred to as "little" and "princess" in the same sentence. "Daddy, can we go now? Please?!"
Simba frowned, then nodded begrudgingly. "Yeah, I guess. And Zazu..." Simba leaned down to whisper through gritted teeth to his advisor. "Don't let her out of your sight."
Zazu shivered, but put up his wing in salute. "I'll take the same care with Kiara as I did you when you were a young prince, sire," the hornbill promised before flapping his wings to hover over to Kiara. "Come now, young mistress - let's go and find those impudent little friends of yours. Why your father lets you keep such unrefined company I'll never understand!"
Kiara let out an exasperated little sigh as she followed Zazu off to play with Tiifu and Zuri at the waterhole.
Simba watched them go, sighing through his nostrils as the warm breeze ruffled his crimson mane. Nala chuckled, walking over to him and giving him a nudge. "Why the long face, King Simba?"
Simba let out a worried growl. "Zazu's been loyal to the Pride for many, many years...so why am I not totally convinced that what he said was true?"
Nala was silent for a moment, then let out an amused purr, watching her daughter sullenly walk across the savanna beside Zazu. "Simba, who does she remind you of?"
"Huh?" Simba asked, taken aback by the question as he struggled to figure out what Nala meant. "What? Who?"
Nala gently nuzzled her mate's powerful golden flank, laughing softly. "She's just like you when you were young!"
"Exactly," Simba replied wryly, blushing as Nala went under his chin. "Do you realize the dangers we put ourselves in?"
Nala playfully leapt on top of Simba, pinning him to the ground on top of Pride Rock and causing the noble king to let out an "oof!"
"You mean the dangers you put us in," she teased him, giving him a gentle lick.
They lay together like that for a few moments, purring softly before Nala whispered soothingly in Simba's ear, "She'll be fine. She's got my smarts, after all."
She finally let him up, giving him a sultry glance over one shoulder as she disappeared into the interior of Pride Rock - the den where the Pride sheltered and slept.
Simba smirked at her over his shoulder, then narrowed his eyes at the savanna - at this point, his daughter and Zazu were off in the underbrush where he couldn't see them. The king sighed resignedly and went back to his regular duties, but Kiara's headstrong tendencies weighed heavily on his wary mind.
She's too young to know what's good for her...