Kovu blinked, staring at the princess in apparent shock.

"Kiara...?"

Kiara nodded, her orange eyes gleaming in delight and an excited smile on her face. The corner of Kovu's mouth quirked up in a rare smile, too, and he took a slow pawstep closer to her.

Vitani looked incredulously from the princess to her brother, rounding on him suddenly. "Kovu," she snapped as she got up in his face, "do you know who this is?!"

Kovu balked, his fur standing on end as he leaned away from Vitani. Kiara's heart sank as the look in his green eyes changed...suddenly he looked malicious, just as much like a bully as his sister did.

"Sure I do," he drawled, slinking around Vitani and stepping around Kiara as though sizing her up. "This is the little princess, right? Kiara, I think her name was?"

"Princess Kiara~" Spotty and Dotty mewed in mock reverence, dipping their heads to her and giggling.

Kiara felt like Kovu had just raked his claws through her gut. "Kovu...it's me!"

Kovu snickered, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Princess. We all know who you are. It's nice to be famous, isn't it?"

Vitani smirked, appeased by the act her brother was putting on. "Yeah...only, I don't think Kiara's a very good name for her," she giggled. "It's too pretty and mature. How about...Cub? Cubby-ara?"

Spotty and Dotty roared with laughter, practically falling over themselves. "Cubbiara! Oh my gosh, Vitani, that's too perfect!"

Vitani snickered, leaning in and snapping at Kiara's leg. The princess let out a frightened mew and lurched backwards.

"We're not done here, Princess," Vitani told her matter-of-factly, advancing on her and backing her into the tall grass until she'd rolled over onto her back, exposing her belly. "And we won't be until we've eaten enough food...because clearly, your soft little mouth's had more than enough," she added with a snide grin, poking Kiara in the belly with her snout. Kiara whimpered and looked down at her paws again, then got to her feet and looked up...and saw something that made her heart sink even lower.

Spotty and Dotty were stepping around Kovu, flirtatiously rubbing up against him and purring. And the wicked "prince" was basking in it, standing there and lashing his tail happily...he opened a single green eye, locking his gaze with Kiara's, and grinned smugly at her.

Kiara let out a choked sob and ran, Vitani hot on her heels.

"Hahaha...that's right, pretty princess," she snarled, snickering as she lashed at Kiara's hind paws. "Keep running...and don't stop, because if I see you even a few tail-lengths from our side of the savanna...I'll get Kovu to rip you LIMB FROM LIMB! YOU GOT THAT?!"

Kiara kept running and didn't stop, leaving Vitani in the tall grass and barreling towards Pride Rock...but the grass here was too tall. She couldn't see...and she could smell the Outsider cub's acrid scent on the breeze, hear the rustle of her swift pawsteps getting closer.

"DADDY!" Kiara screamed, charging headfirst in a random direction...and running right into Aisha, a newly-trained huntress.

"Ow!" the young lioness muttered, looking down with a quirked eyebrow at the panting, gasping princess who had just barreled into her leg. "Oh, hey there, Princess Kiara. What are you doing all the way out here?"

Kiara burst into tears, wracked with overwhelmed, exhausted sobs. "Don't...call...me...'Princess'!"

"Oh! Um...okay, then." Aisha's blue eyes widened, perplexed at the sudden outburst. She looked around curiously, wondering what had upset the cub so badly, then gently picked her up by the scruff and began to carry the distraught princess back to Pride Rock. "C'mon...your mom and dad are out hunting right now, but you can tell your cousin Aisha what's up," she said, muffled by Kiara's fur. "How's that sound?"

Kiara sniffled, nodding, and stared trembling out at the tall grass on the south side of the savanna. She'd never go back there...never. And she'd never wonder about Kovu again, because he'd changed, and she knew now who he really was. A mean, evil lion she wanted nothing to do with. Ever.

As they made their way back over the border between the Pridelands and the Outlands, the Outsider cubs were still giggling and talking about Kiara in snide, mocking tones.

"You should've seen the look on her face, Kovu", Vitani laughed, falling into step beside her brother. "It was priceless, lemme tell you."

"Yeah, Vitani!" Spotty giggled. "I don't think she's gonna wanna mess with us when Kovu completes his training~"

Kovu huffed, staring aggressively ahead of him. He felt heavy and listless, and there was a lump in his throat he couldn't explain...like he'd made a terrible mistake. "Yeah. She's a dumb, stupid weakling...just like Mother taught us," he drawled halfheartedly. As the three she-cubs skipped ahead of them and into the main clearing where the termite mound was, Kovu cast another glance over his shoulder at Pride Rock, which was little more than a pebble in the distance.

"Kiara..." he whispered, before gritting his teeth and letting out a growl.

Forget her, Zira's voice commanded him in his head...and then, inexplicably, the inner voice that resembled his mother shifted into a deeper, smoother, more hypnotic male voice...the voice of Scar.

You have a job to do.