Third Person P.O.V.
It has been a month since the discussion and exhibit excursion activities meeting of the museum's Human-Hybrid Alliance. Edwin and Jasiri have been dating for over a month now and continuing their relationship to foster a trust, along with honest and healthy communication. They have been on several more dates and are starting to get more intimate with each other. Most departments of the museum have been continuing business as usual. Although there was a brief period of time where the environment in the business sector improved, Simba soon relapsed into his toxic behavior, although there is less yelling compared to before. One person even quit as a result of the CEO's erratic behavior. It is now late September and the average tourist numbers at the museum start to decrease as per usual after the end of summer.
One weekend, Edwin had surprised Jasiri with a small picnic on the rooftop of his apartment building as one of their dates. They just sat down and talked about subjects ranging from their research, work and current events of the world. Then at some point after finishing the meal, they laid down on the blanket and just stared in the sky to look for stars. Edwin and Jasiri, in her anthro hyena form, just stared into the night sky, each having one of their arms across the other person's shoulders. Both turned their heads to stare into each other's eyes, smiling at each other before they both turned back to look at the sky to enjoy one of the last warm days before the colder weather kicks in for the fall.
"Jas, the weather is beautiful tonight. Though I wish that we could see more stars, we can blame light pollution for that." Edwin said.
"Yeah, even though I love living in the city, not being able to see a large number of stars is one of the few downsides to living in a place with so many buildings and lights. I remembered that when I used to be in the Outlands, occasionally my sister and I would occasionally travel to this place called Flat Ridge Rock near our clan's caves, climb it and we used to spend hours looking at the stars. In the Pride Lands, there was a belief that the stars were the 'Great Kings of the Past' and that they are always watching over the Pride Lands. With some variation, our hyena clan had a similar belief that the spirits of those who had passed on watch over us through the stars. I remembered when I was younger, Madoa and I used to wonder where our parents were up there to see if they could see how we and our clan were doing." Jasiri said while staring into the sky.
"That's a beautiful way of looking at it. Although I am not really a strong believer in spirits, it is a beautiful sentiment to keep the spirit and memory of your parents alive. Have you learned by any chance what stars are physically made of?" Edwin said.
"Yeah, I learned about it in school. In actuality they are just large balls of plasma, hydrogen and helium gas held together by their own gravity. And I know that light is a result of the release of photons from the interactions between those hydrogen and helium atoms. Even when I do know the science behind stars, there is still a part of me that still believes that the dead are still watching over me and the others. I'm not sure how, but I just have an inkling about the dead watching over us, or it could just be me trying to keep them alive in memory." Jasiri said.
"Do you ever wonder if your sister Madoa is watching over you?" Edwin asked.
"In my mind, I know that she is watching over me. In a way she told me that she and others in the clan have always watched over me after they died amidst the drought. She had even told me about two months ago of how they watch over us." Jasiri said.
"Wait, what did you say?" Edwin said curiously while turning his head towards Jasiri's face.
"Well, I had this dream…. or at least I think it was a dream….Maybe a hallucination? I'm not exactly sure what it was…. I guess it could be somewhere between a dream or hallucination…let me get to the point. I just have a gut feeling that she and the others in my clan are watching over me and the others somehow." Jasiri said,
"Oh okay…. I actually read somewhere of cases where some people had dreams where they get to see or talk to deceased loved ones. I think my mom told me once she had a dream where had a conversation with her dead mother. Based on what she told me, it helped her mind settle some unfinished business or say things left unsaid before my grandmother passed away. For example, her mother died before she got a chance to come out as lesbian and other stuff, she never got to tell her when she was alive. Did you have anything similar to your 'encounter' with Madoa in your dream?" Edwin asked
"Oh yeah, though it was not just Madaoa but my old mate Janja, it was at a point where I was still blaming myself for the deaths in my clan during the drought. It also helped me gain the confidence to go on a second date with you. I guess you can say you can thank my encounter for us being together." Jasiri said, lightly laughing in the end.
"Yeah, I guess thanks to them, we are together and have been for over a month. Oh, that made me remember, our two-month anniversary is approaching soon, we should plan to do something that weekend." Edwin replied.
"Yeah, and you get to learn a bunch of surprises from each other. Including this move someone taught me a while ago." Jasiri said with a devious smile on her face.
"Yeah, wait what do you mean the move that someone taught-" Edwin said before Jasiri first grabbed his right wrist and pressed it towards the ground, and then swung her body to press down Edwin's left wrist with her other hand, pinning him to the floor of the rooftop.
"Pinned ya!" Jasiri said with an enthusiastic tone with a laugh.
"Aww…No fair! You surprised me!" Edwin said jokingly.
"Well, that's the point sweetie! Also, this is to help give you my other surprise for tonight." Jasiri said.
"What's the other surpri-" Edwin said before he was interrupted by Jasiri who planted a kiss on his lips.
The two continued to passionately kiss with each other placing their arms around one another. For the rest of that night, the two forgot about the issues they had in the world around them and for the rest of that night, they were the only two people in the world.
Edwin P.O.V.
A couple of weeks passed by, and it was the middle of October already, museum decorations for Halloween had been placed up in advance. Leaves in the trees began to change color and fall to the ground. The temperatures have gotten cooler in Chicago, and sweatshirts and sweaters are being worn more frequently. My research has been going business as usual, though we could be getting results that could be getting us in the next step towards writing a paper for a scientific journal. My lab team and I were just finishing an SDS-PAGE assay, and we were placing the gels on the shaker with coomassie blue stain on the gels to leave overnight. We decided to have some light conversation while we cleaned our lab stations as a way to end this typical Monday.
"So how did you and Jasiri do for your two-month anniversary last weekend?" Makini asked.
"Well, we went out to this Italian restaurant at the corner of Lake and Elizabeth in the West Loop, and we just had a peaceful dinner at the place. Although there were some awkward stares from other people in the restaurant because she was in her anthro form, we still had a great time there." I said.
"Sounds great Edwin, it's good to see that you guys have been in a stable relationship for over two months." Vuruga said.
"Yeah, I can't believe that it's been two months since we started dating. How about you guys? Do you guys have anyone special in your lives?" I asked.
"Actually yeah, I have been married for about two years. My wife Nevena works as a landscape architect, so she travels a lot sometimes." Pete said.
"Cool, does she design stuff for parks and outdoor spaces and such?" I asked.
"Yeah, but also outdoor surroundings around buildings." Pete said.
"Nice, what about you guys, do you have anyone special in your lives?" I asked the others.
"Not right now, I'm still looking for that someone." Makini said
"Yeah, me too." Bupu said
"I went out with a guy two weeks ago, but it actually didn't go anywhere past two or three dates." Vuruga said.
"Sorry to hear that Vuruga." Makini said.
"It's fine, we weren't really compatible as a romantic couple anyway and we are just staying friends for now. What about you Ma Tembo, have you dated anyone recently?" Vuruga said to Ma Tembo as she was walking into the main lab.
"Well, I have tried a couple of times, and along with many first and second dates, and have been in relationships with two full-human men, but after the amicable end of my last relationship, I am not looking to date anyone at the moment. At the moment, I am focused on just being the best self I can be now. I already did the whole matehood-child thing back when I was in the Pride Lands." Ma Tembo said casually. This surprised me because she has not really told me about having any children before.
"Wait? I'm sorry if this sounds blunt, but I never knew you had kids?" I said inquisitively.
"Not a problem, and yes I had a calf and a mate I was with for some time before he left me for a herd located some distance outside the Pride Lands." Ma Tembo replied.
"Oh yeah, I think I remembered your son. His name was Jaali right?" Bupu said.
"That's right Jaali, he was such a resilient elephant. From spending his early days in exile due to the Scar regime, and then I had to raise him by myself after his dad left, although I had some help from others in the herd." Ma Temo said.
"Oh yeah, I remembered him, he was the elephant calf that used to play with some of the younger buffalo in my herd when the royals' cubs were still babies." Vuruga said.
"Oh yes, I remembered those days, and I think Jaali met the Lion Guard when he was a teenager. And then when it was his time to go out to explore on his own, that was hard for me because he was my only son that I raised by myself most of his life was finally going out on his own. I remembered crying a lot that day, some time before our last battle with the Army of Scar. After that, he did come back for visits a couple of times and told me about his travels. The last time I saw him was shortly before the drought began. I guess sometimes I kinda regret that I didn't spend more time with him then ..." Ma Tembo said with a more somber tone of voice.
"...I just realized that he has no idea where I have gone, or whether I am still alive or not. From what I read, an elephant could live up to 60 or 70 years so there is a chance that he is still alive somewhere. He has no idea that I became hybrid and entered human society, or that I am a hybrid rather than a full elephant. But on the bright side, at least he was not in the Pride lands during the worst half of the drought…but on the other hand, I have no idea what could have happened to him. He could have experienced something better or even worse than the drought. I'm not sure if he is even alive, he could have died and didn't know it…" Ma Tembo continued in a more saddened tone. I regret bringing up that memory for them, and the others seem to have the same expression of regret I had.
"Oh Ma Tembo, we are so sorry about bringing up your son, we never meant any harm from it." I said.
"Yeah, we were just going over memories, I forgot about the implications in some of those memories. We never meant any harm." Vuruga said.
"It's fine, I guess I'm just shocked at how much time has really passed since we last had lives in the Pride Lands. Though I do like my life in the human world now, there are still times where it can be exhausting and sometimes where I wish I could go back to the Pride Lands for just one day. But then again, so much time would have passed that even if it somehow did return to its original state, it would still seem unrecognizable to me because of me living among humans for so long. Have you guys ever encountered a place or a person in which you haven't seen or been to in a long time and part of you questioned whether you know what or who they are anymore?" Ma Tembo said. All of us nodded in response.
"Oh yes, I have definitely had those kinds of experiences. For example, there have been times when talking to some of the former Lion Guard and Pride Landers, I felt that either some individuals developed new aspects of their personality that I have never seen before, or amplifications of once small portions of their personalities, or even new habits they started once entering human society." Makini said.
"Same, for example I felt that Makuu became a little softer and more sensitive compared to back when he was in the Pride Lands. I also notice other changes, including Timon becoming more stressed and Bunga becoming even more irrational than he was in the Pride Lands." Vuruga said.
"Yeah, I feel that. When I communicate with my mom, I feel like she has been more secretive than in prior times that I communicated with her, particularly about her new girlfriend. For example, two of the few personal facts I do know about her girlfriend is that her name is Nell and she works in finance. Funny thing is that even when they have been dating for around three months, I have actually never seen a photo of her let alone seen her in-person. I don't even know their last name. Any time I mention those questions to her, she always seems to change the subject. On the other hand, she says that Nell is a pretty shy and private person. But the parts where I got concerned was of how fast this relationship seems to be moving. For example, my mom said that they considered themselves an item about two or three weeks after first meeting each other. And then, my mom allowed Nell to move into her house after a month of knowing each other and dating for two weeks of that month. Although my mom did explain that Nell initially came from a difficult living situation before moving in with my mom. Also, my mom said that Nell really makes her happy and I guess that's all that matters overall." I said.
"That's a nice way of looking at it, Edwin. Your mother is lucky to have you as a son. Though I understand your concerns, none of us control her life." Ma Tembo said.
"Yeah, but it is still kind of weird. She moved in with your mother after only a month of knowing each other?" Bupu said in a confused tone.
"Yeah, that does seem a little suspicious along with the lack of information. Perhaps this Nell had some things from her earlier life that she regretted and would rather not talk about. It almost seems as if Nell is hiding something." Vuruga said.
"I know right, it took Jasiri three months of knowing each other and three dates to become a couple. And we have been dating for two months and the question of moving in together has not even been brought up yet." I said.
"Please Edwin, it took Nevena and I six months and ten dates before we became a couple, a full two years after that before we moved in with each other, a year after that before I proposed to her, and we were engaged for three years before we got married." Pete said.
"So, wait, it took you and Nevena six to seven years between first meeting and marrying each other?" Makini said.
"Yeah, pretty much. Long engagements are more common than you think." Pete said.
"That's true, my parents were engaged for four years before they got married, two decades prior to my mother coming out." I said.
We just continued to talk with each other for a little bit before we finished cleaning up, hung up our lab coats, and grabbed out things to go home.
As I walked out to the main upper floor hallway, I was making my usual walk towards the stairwell, I saw Jasiri, in her human form, start to approach it as well but from the other side.
"Hi Edwin, how was work?" Jasiri asked.
"It was good Jas, just the usual stuff, how about yours?" I replied.
"Same, just the usual stuff, though I am almost finished preparing an Eocrinoid specimen from the Ordivician period." Jasiri said.
"That's cool." I said.
We continued to walk down the stairs and conversed a little. As we were approaching one of the museum's exits, we happened to bump into Kiara and Kovu who were heading in the direction of the parking lot.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" Kiara said.
"We are doing well, how about you guys?" Jasiri replied.
"We are doing well, just heading off to our car. Funny thing, we were actually just thinking about you guys. We were wondering if there is a possible time either this week or next week if we could potentially schedule a double date or something we can do together." Kovu asked.
"Sure, that sounds great, Jasiri and I need to check our schedules, but I think we may be available next weekend. What do you think of Jasiri?" I said.
"Yeah, I agree, next weekend sounds good. What do you guys think?" Jasiri asked.
"Sounds great, we can text you guys with further details." Kiara said.
"Cool will talk to you then." I said while we both went our separate ways: Kiara and Kovu to their car and Jasiri and I headed to the Roosevelt Red Line stop as usual.
The rest of the week went on as usual, though in this week's meeting of the Human-Hybrid Alliance,we just had another group discussion activity similar to the one we did over a month ago, but instead of an exhibit excursion, Rafiki had ou groups do an arts and crafts project as a "bonding exercise". The week after that was not that eventful either, but that Saturday we scheduled to have a double date with Kiara and Kovu.
Although we've had experience on double dates with Kendall and Jamal, Jasiri and I were a little nervous because we don't communicate with Kiara and Kovu as frequently as other people. So, we were at my place. Jasiri arrived an hour ago in her human form. I was in my kitchen preparing chicken marsala from a recipe I found online. Jasiri was at the table placing the plates and silverware on the table, but just as finished, she started to develop the pains associated with her daily transformation and she went into the bathroom to transform to her anthro hyena form.
I got a text on my phone and saw that it was from Kovu. It said that they will be here in about five or ten minutes. The chicken marsala was ready, so I decided to plate it and place it on the table. While I was placing the plates of food on the table, Jasiri came out of the bathroom in her anthro hyena form with little to no alteration to the clothing she was wearing.
"Did you receive something from Kiara and Kovu?" Jasiri asked, probably after seeing me look at my phone.
"Actually, I did receive something from Kovu, they said they will be here in five minutes." I replied.
The two of us casually chatted until I heard a buzzer from the intercom by the front door. I walked towards the intercom and pressed the button.
"Hello, who's there?" I asked.
"Hi Edwin? This is Kiara and Kovu, we are in the front door to your building." Kiara's voice said through the intercom.
"Sure, I'll unlock the front door, and my place is on the third floor, first door on your left." I said.
"Okay, thank you!" Kiara said while I took my finger off the button and pressed the unlock button to the front door to let them in the building.
"Okay, they are coming and will be here in a minute. I just hope everything goes well." I said nervously.
"Don't worry, Kiara and Kovu are good people that I've known for years. Though I get how you feel, I felt the same way before you introduced me to Kendall, Jamal and your friends at your 10-year reunion." Jasiri said as she put her hand on my shoulder.
"That's fair, I introduced you to some of my human friends, now it's my turn to get to know your friends better and be the odd one out." I said, with both of us letting out a light laugh.
We then heard knocking from the door.
"That must be them, I'll get it." I said while approaching the door.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"It's us, Kiara and Kovu." Kiara said through the door.
I opened the door to see Kiara and Kovu in their anthro lion forms.
"Hi guys, I hope you are both doing well. You guys can just hang your jackets in the coat rack." I gestured to the coat rack next to the door.
"Hey guys, we are doing great, though there was some traffic on the way here." Kovu said as he and Kiara were hanging their jackets up.
"How about you? How are you guys doing?" Kiara said.
"We are good, thank you!" Jasiri said.
"Hey, you have a pretty nice place, Edwin!" Kovu said.
"Thanks man, I've lived in this building for a couple years. Also, you guys came just in time, I was just placing the chicken marsala on the table." I replied.
"Oh, and speaking of dinner, we brought a small gift for you" Kiara said while taking something out of her bag. It was revealed that she brought a bottle of wine. Although I rarely drink alcohol, it was a nice gesture.
"Thank you, I appreciate the gift." I said.
We soon sat down and began to eat the meal, we just talked about events of the day and week at work so far. Kovu was telling a story about his week at the artifact conservation lab.
"So yeah, it took me a while before I finished analyzing and writing the detailed reports on the Maori carvings that we have received. After that day finished, I just wanted some time to take a break from work because this has already been an exhausting week." Kovu said.
"I can understand how you feel Kovu, I had an exhausting week in the genetics lab as well." I said.
"Same with me and my colleagues in the fossil lab." Jasiri said.
"It appears everyone has had a tough week, including me. I have no idea why this has been so tough for everyone." Kiara said.
"Me neither, I guess it was just one of those weeks where everyone is stressed and there was just so much to do." I said.
"Yeah, and for me it was one of those weeks where I felt that nothing was going my way." Kiara replied.
"Also thank you for the dinner, Edwin, this chicken is pretty good. Though if you asked me over twenty-one years ago, I would be too confused on the concept of cooked meat. I still remember the first time I tried cooked meat." Kovu said.
"Yeah, me too! For me it was about two or three days from receiving the injections and being assigned the guides we live with. I walked into the guide having meat on the kitchen counter, which I found out was pork, and my family and I were just in shock when she put the meat in the pan to cook. We were all curious with questions such as 'what are you doing with that meat?', 'why are you placing that meat in the fire?' and 'why are you burning the meat? the blood and skin are the best part.' Then after trying it, we thought it was pretty good. On the other hand, even when I eventually got used to eating cooked meat, there's a kind of nostalgia in which I sometimes miss the feeling and taste of a fresh kill. But now if I try eating raw meat, I could get salmonella or get sick in some other way." Kiara said.
"Same! A few times, I have actually tried to see if I had the ability to eat and digest raw meat in both my human and hybrid forms, and yeah I got sick both times. It's kind of funny how the item that once provided us sustenance now makes us sick. I remembered back in the Outlands, it was a treat if anyone found a mouse or small rodent for our kill, but now in human society, we carnivores are no longer restricted to just meat. Even when I have gotten used to it, there are sometimes I still kind of miss the feeling of eating fresh meat." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I know how you feel Jasiri, there are times where I kind of miss the feeling of a fresh kill in my mouth. I actually remembered that a week after I was assigned my guide, even when I tried and enjoyed the taste of good meat, like you I was also curious to see if I can still eat raw meat, so I tried two pieces of raw chicken in both my human and anthro lion form. Let's just say that the 'experiment' didn't end well for me either. I ended up getting salmonella for a few days. I was shocked at first that I can no longer eat the thing that was a necessity as a full lion but on the other hand it was interesting when I learned that we are now able to eat other foods. My old self would probably be shocked at the notion of eating plants on stuff other than meat." Kovu said.
"Yeah, I can't imagine how my former self would react if I told them that they would no longer eat gazelle, zebra or antelope, and that I can eat plants in the future. She would probably think I was insane." Kiara said.
We all shared a light laugh after Kiara's statement, as a question popped into my mind.
"Hey guys, I am curious, outside of the food thing, what do you think was the most surprising thing about the human world in your guys' opinion?" I asked.
"Well for me, I guess the most shocking thing about humans for me is the obsessions some humans have with some of the most non-essential things. For example, there are many humans who obsess with petty stuff such as material wealth, property, fashion or even things as pointless as how many followers they have on social media. Although back in the Outlands there were a couple of occasional territory conflicts and multiple leadership conflicts, but many of us were focusing on surviving. I remembered some days in which we got nothing and were worried that not all of us were going to see the next day. During the drought, I was afraid that I was not going to live the next day as I saw the Outlands residents die one-by-one from either starvation, dehydration or killing each other for food. After the ambush and Madoa's death, I initially didn't want to leave the Outlands, but I had no other choice because there was nobody left that I could find and if I remained there even just a few days, I would have ended up dying. Many times, it bothers me when I see humans fret over the most minute things when other humans and other species are suffering. Though I admit there were sometimes where I have gotten stressed over the little stuff but I at least I try not to let it take over me because worse things can and will happen. Although I know not all humans are like this, sometimes it still bothers me that some individuals are obsessed with such shallow non-essential things while others are suffering." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, I never really got the whole social media follower and influencer thing when they first started appearing. I still remember when people in middle school and high school were still using MySpace accounts, and then came FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and TikTok. Although I do have Instagram and FaceBook accounts, I guess I still don't understand the whole influencer thing. I agree with you Jasiri, I don't get why some people are so obsessed with non-essential material items, or more expensive versions of everyday stuff. I can't afford most of the stuff some of those individuals obsess over." I said.
"Neither can I. If I tried to purchase one of those items, I know I would at least make a dent in either my bank account or credit card bill." Jasiri said.
"What about you, Kiara? What did you think was the most shocking thing about the human world to you compared to life in the Pride Lands?" I asked.
"Well, I guess that one thing that surprised me most about the human world is the lack of trust humans have between one another. Although there have been multiple cases of lacking trust between one another in the Pride Lands, I'm not sure if it would be compared to how much humans don't seem to trust each other. I have seen and heard of many cases of humans taking advantage of people, even their family members and other people they know. Even though there are many nice humans out there, there are also many who just constantly take advantage of other people. Even when I have seen it in other individuals of the Pride Lands, I guess part of me never thought that my father and brother would be such individuals. I am so sorry Jasiri about what happened in your prior relationship with Kion. I thought his anger issues were resolved after we took him to that therapist after the divorce from Rani, but I guess either the therapist didn't help or he was not incredibly dishonest with the therapist. I am not sure what happened for him to become the way he was, though I have heard many theories. Also when I learned about the multiple times my father cheated on my mother, I was just shocked because he was the lion who I thought was one of the most trusting figures in my life, but he ended up being a massive liar. Along with the adultery, he hid the fact that Zuri, a lioness who I was friends with since birth, was my half-sister. Even when my dad and Kion respectively had dishonesty and temper problems before coming to the human world, but for some reason it appears that those particular behaviors of theirs exasperated when living in the human world. Though I'm not sure if this was directly as a result of being in the human world or if this resulted from behaviors that were there when we were still in the Pride Lands which progressively got worse over time." Kiara said.
"It's okay Kiara, none of what happened between me and Kion is not your fault." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, but I should have read the warning signs during his marriage with Rani and your relationship with him. When looking back at it now, I felt that I could have had opportunities to prevent the harm that happened from happening, and I blew it. I'm really sorry for what happened to you during that time Jasiri." Kiara said in an apologetic tone.
"It's okay Kiara, I know you were never trying to encourage your brother's actions, many people never knew the extent of Kion's temper. I guess he must have inherited his skills in dishonesty from his father." Jasiri said.
"What about you Kovu? What did you think is something in the human world that has shocked you the most?" Kiara said.
"Hmm..just one thing? Well, I have to say that learning how to use the toilet was a pretty awkward phase of my early learning to adjust to the human world. But I got to say the most surprising thing about the human world is observing the different ways humans interact and organize each other. It is kind of interesting to see how they interact with one another, but also confusing at the same time. I spent most of my days in middle school alone when I was not getting bullied or made fun of to some degree, though it was kind of intriguing to see how fast humans are able to form cliques during that period of their lives. I guess the same thing happens in both the Pride Lands and Outlands with animals of the same species. I was also intrigued by the different forms of interactions in humans, ranging from romantic interactions to hostile interactions. There were some cases where I was intrigued learning about some human and government structures. For example, when I see something in the news or online about North Korea, there were some things about the cult of personality they have on their deceased and living leaders that felt vaguely familiar to how Scar's legacy was portrayed by Zira. I also found some similarities between both these situations through both their uses of justifying insanely strict or authoritarian policies to maintain the powerhold of both living leaders and the personality cults of deceased ones. I was intrigued when I learned about cults in the human world because when I read about their typical structure of containing a charismatic leader, the physical and psychological isolation, and the different forms of abuse. When looking at these details about different cults, there were some details that were kinda similar to my upbringing with Scar and Zira. This made me think, was I raised in a cult? Was I raised in some extreme offshoot of a cult? What exactly do I call the situation that I was kidnapped into and raised in? From what I have looked up, I would definitely call it abuse in physical, emotional and psychological elements, but I'm still unsure of whether I was raised in a cult or not. On the other hand, I did hear about this thing cult leaders use called 'love bombing', and even when I don't think Zira was capable of loving anyone other than Scar and herself, but I felt that she might have used similar techniques on me when I was a cub. I remember times where Zira gave me special treatment compared to Nuka and Vitani because I was as she called 'Scar's hand-picked heir to fulfill his destiny and glorify his reign'. Zira used to occasionally do things like singing the occasional 'lullaby', or even giving me the largest piece of prey to make sure I 'grow strong', fulfill our destiny and restore Scar's legacy. On the other hand, she never did this to her other children or any of the other lionesses of her group, so I'm not sure what to call it." Kovu said.
"Yeah, that situation sounds complicated. It definitely sounds like it was abuse, but I'm not sure I would consider it a cult. Though on the other hand there are some elements of it that are similar to those in a cult." I replied.
"Yeah, it is confusing when thinking about it. On the other hand, Zira never portrayed herself as god-like, but she did portray Scar that way." Kovu said.
"It's kind of interesting because before today I never would have thought of your upbringing with Zira as a cult, but now when thinking about it there are definitely some cult elements based on the stuff you told us." Jasiri said.
We continued to talk about some of our lives and such. From what I learned. When first coming to the US, Kiara and Kovu went to separate middle schools but ended up at the same high school and ended up going to college together at UCLA where he double majored in anthropology and geology with a history minor, while Kiara majored in economics. They then moved to Chicago for grad school and work, with Kiara going to business school at Loyola University, while Kovu got his PhD at UIC. Then somehow, we ended up discussing things about our childhoods.
Kovu was telling us a story about the time he and Kiara first met.
"So, we escaped from being eaten by crocodiles, and when we got caught by Zira and Simba, the two of us were so scared of the punishments that might come, I swore we never saw either of them that angry until I got older. And that is how Kiara and I first met." Kovu said.
"Wait, you guys first met when you were almost eaten by crocodiles?" I said in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, most people found it hard to believe when I first told them, but I swear that is actually what happened. Zira kind of got a little protective over me after that, and she kind of isolated me and the rest of our group so we could focus on 'preparing us to take Pride Rock back for Scar'. I guess sometimes parents and guardians can do crazy things sometimes." Kovu said.
"Tell me about it." Kiara said sympathetically.
"Yeah, I remember when I was a small kid, like around preschool age, my mother used to make up stories to my sister and I of why we should not do certain things that could be considered dangerous. For example, when we went to the beach or a pool she would say 'don't swim too far from sight or sharks will bite you and drag you to make you their dinner', and as you know there are no sharks in Lake Michigan or in pools. Also, to prevent us from going out of the house at night by ourselves, my mom would tell us 'If you go out at night by yourselves, you will turn invisible and will never be seen by anyone again.' When looking at these stories now, they might seem crazy now, but they were scary to a little kid, and she was just trying to keep us safe at the time. And of course, like every other kid who grew up in a large city, my parents drilled the whole 'stranger danger' lessons. I was always told to keep the doors locked, ask 'who's there?' after we hear a knock on the door and only open if it is someone you know or are expecting. But I can understand why they taught us some of these basic safety rules when I was younger because it helps us learn to be more cautious when navigating the world around us." I said.
"Although your mother's stories seemed a little much, I agree it is important to teach youth to be cautious at an early age. I guess you can say that another thing about humans I found surprising is how obsessed human parents are with safety, while on the other hand there were many times where we or others we know almost got killed as kids. Although in my earlier time in the human world, I can also recall times where I almost got hit by cars and buses when I was still trying to figure out what streets were." Kovu said.
"Yeah, I had a similar issue when it came to learning about what streets were when I was around human age 9. When I first moved to Milwaukee with Makuu and my guide Chausiku, I was surprised at how wide and busy the streets were. Although there were a few streets in the village in Tanzania, cars do not pass through them as frequently as they did in Milwaukee. I remembered on our second day in Milwaukee, we were walking around the city, and we were trying to find our way to the nearest grocery store from our apartment. We weren't familiar with the bus system and none of us knew how to drive, at least not on the right side of the road in Chausiku's case. And I remembered that we came upon the nearest grocery store that we could find. I walked across the parking lot without considering that cars were coming in from the street, and then I heard a voice that yelled 'hey kid, get out of the way!' The next thing I know there is a car in my direction, and I ran out of the way…. only for a car to approach me from the opposite direction and then I felt someone grab me to push me out of the way. It turns out it was Makuu that pushed me out of the way because he wanted to protect me from the 'large metal land crocodiles', that was his early nickname for cars then. Let's just say we got a lot of stares from individuals in the parking lot, even Chausiku was staring for a moment. People around us were probably thinking 'who is this man and the nine-year-old who forgets to look both ways before crossing the street'." Jasiri said.
We all shared a bit of a laugh, including Jasiri herself.
"Oh my goodness, I also remember my first time learning about streets and cars, I initially had quite some trouble when it came to intersections without crosswalks and traffic lights. Also, going back to Edwin's discussion of his mother's cautionary tales, I can relate, my parents also preached a bunch of cautionary tales in their attempts to try keeping me away from danger and 'undesired situations' when I was a cub. In fact, for a portion of their stories, they actually made up a sibling whose 'previous actions' acted as examples of what both to do and not to do in certain situations." Kiara said.
This caused the rest of us to turn our heads towards Kiara with curious looks on our faces.
"Wait, what? Your parents made up a sibling to try to teach you and your brother good behavior?" I asked.
"Yeah, when I was a cub, my parents told stories of this fictional sibling named Kopa who supposedly died before I was born. They used to constantly tell us stories of 'what would Kopa do' on how to respond appropriately to different situations, along with learning from mistakes in the times he did something bad. This was done almost from the time I was born until sometime just before Kion's lion guard was established. In fact, to scare us from exploring the Outlands, they even made up his death scenario. I think they even told it to us as some kind of rhyme…how did it go?...Oh yeah, now I remember, it went:
Before you were born you once had a brother,
His name was Kopa who was a cub like no other.
He was gentle, curious, and enjoyed the world around him as much as could take,
but it all ended because of one little mistake.
Kopa was curious and decided to go to the Outlands to see if he could find a surprise,
but his excursion ended with the encounter that led to his demise.
He bumped into the lioness named Zira, took Kopa on a path she led,
whose plan resulted in Kopa becoming ultimately dead
And I remembered they used to finish it with 'remember kids, do not make the same mistake Kopa did. We would be devastated if we lost another cub.' Eventually when we got older, Kion and I found out that there never was a Kopa, and that he was just a character they made up as a part of cautionary tales they used to tell us." Kiara said.
We were just staring at her with intrigued and surprised looks on our face.
"So, wait let me get this straight, to dissuade you from certain behaviors or from going to places including the Outlands, your parents made up and 'killed off' a fictitious sibling as some kind of example to learn from?" Jasiri asked.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what they did." Kiara said casually.
"Really? I did not realize your parents were so protective of you when you were younger that they went to that extent. If you think about me, I think it's a little much and a little gruesome for young cubs, and this is coming from someone who grew up with his parents arguing with one another on a frequent basis." I said.
"Yeah, even when I saw and experienced worse parenting techniques from Zira and other lionesses in the Outlands, but when knowing your parents and other parents in the Pride Lands, that seems oddly macabre and dark for the Simba and Nala that I knew. Though in most cases, it is nothing compared to Zira's 'lullabies'." Kovu said.
"Yeah, I know it's a pretty dark set of things to tell a cub in Pride Lands standards. Though I guess some of those cautionary tales help me of how to interact with the environment and individuals around the Pride Lands to some extent. They also taught me to be cautious as well, but to be fair I could have learned that without the stories anyway." Kiara said.
"I guess that makes sense." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, that's true, I always try to be cautious whenever I go out somewhere." I said.
We continued to chat, we finished our food, so we moved on to dessert which consisted mostly of tea, coffee and a pound cake I bought at a nearby grocery store. Our conversation eventually moved onto stories of our high school days.
"So yeah, I was on the Red Line with a few of my classmates and along with my usual bookbag, I was bringing my double bass home from school one day my sophomore year because I had some practice homework for my orchestra class. Anyway, I was already getting some looks on the subway because I was carrying this large instrument case on the train. But I didn't care that much because I was busy talking to a friend about the Science Olympiad state competition that was a little over a week after that. Another one of my friends was next to us holding onto one of the handles above him. We then approached a slight turn, my friend who was standing stumbled and fell from the turn, but when he got up he found that he accidentally yanked off the plastic train handle he was holding off the railing." I said, they all seemed to have surprised expressions on their faces.
"Wait what?!" Kiara said.
"You're kidding!" Kovu said curiously.
"I'm serious, my friend accidentally yanked a train handle after a sharp turn. The next day, he sold it to a freshman." I said.
"Wait wait wait…...you're saying that your friend...through the luck of a sharp turn, accidentally yanked a train handle from a metal railing, and sold it to a freshman the next day?" Jasiri said with a playfully skeptical tone in her voice.
"I'm serious, he only sold it to the freshman because the freshman offered him fifty dollars for it." I said.
"Wait, this kid paid $50 for a used handle from the Red Line? Why the hell would he do that?" Kovu said.
"I'm not sure, that guy was weird back then." I replied.
"Okay that was pretty awkward, but I think I have a story from my and Kovu's high school days that can beat that. Want to start it off Kovu?" Kiara said in a confident tone.
"Sure, so it was during our sophomore year of high school, about a year after we got back together after that brief breakup period-" Kovu said until Jasiri interrupted.
"Wait, wait, wait…what?! There was a period of time where you too were dating other people?! I never knew that, neither of you even mentioned that in any of our meetings." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, and Kovu, you never mentioned it when we were assigned in that group discussion over a month ago." I said.
"Oh yeah, we didn't mention it that much because we wanted to leave that part of the past in the past. So yeah, in middle school there was a brief period of time where we broke up because dating while at separate schools was not working out for us. So, for about six months in middle school, I dated a guy named Isaac who was one of the people who hung out with the popular crowd and was on the football team. Now when looking back to it, he was an arrogant loser with no direction outside of sports. And for four months Kovu dated this girl named Becky…." Kiara said.
"Oh yeah, you mean the creepy stalker who constantly left flowers and gifts at my locker, followed me almost everywhere I went…including my house, where she looked through the window of my bedroom on three occasions without me knowing. She finally got the message that it was over when she tried to break into my locker, and I confronted her about it. After that she finally understood that it was over between us. She and her family ended up moving to Vermont after that. Luckily Kiara and I got back together freshman year in high school, and we've been together ever since and married for eight of those years." Kovu said.
"Well, that's good to hear, you guys make a great couple." Jasiri said.
"Oh yeah, so let me get back to the high school story. It was sophomore year; Kiara and I were in the same drama class that year. Near the end of class one day, our teacher revealed that our Spring Play was Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We looked at each other and thought that we would be perfect for this play for us because our story was essentially that of Romeo and Juliet, excluding the tragic double suicide. So, we signed up to audition for the roles of Romeo and Juliet. We both practiced and auditioned for the play, but it ended with only half the outcome we wanted." Kiara said.
"What do you mean you only got half the outcome you wanted?" Jasiri asked.
"Well after the auditions and our drama teacher posted the cast list on the bulletin board, we found out that only one of us got a leading role." Kiara said.
"Yeah, I actually ended up getting to play Romeo, while this other girl from our class, Carey Ballard got the role of Juliet. Don't worry nothing happened between Carey and I, it was strictly rehearsal between us. In fact, the three of us are still good friends, we follow each other on social media." Kovu said.
"That's good, and I can understand how that can be a little awkward." I said.
"Actually, that wasn't the awkward part. The awkward part was the role that I got in that play." Kiara said.
"What part did you get?" I asked.
"I got the part of Lady Montague…. also known as Romeo's mother. I had to play Kovu's mother in a play! Out of all the other roles in the play, I had to play my boyfriend's mother!" Kiara said, letting out a laugh.
After she laughed, all of us started to laugh.
"Yeah, rehearsal was a bit awkward, but you should see how awkward our actual performance was. We started to transform into our anthro lion forms in the middle of saying lines a couple of nights, so the director, our drama teacher, called for emergency intermissions each time we transformed. And after we were finished and the curtain opened again, you should have seen the awkward stares and gasps of shock when the audience saw us in our lion forms. I swore one guy ran out the exit on the first night." Kovu said before laughing again.
"Oh shit, that sounds so bad. I remembered that feeling when people talk and gawk at my anthro hyena form, but that must have felt embarrassing when the first show." Jasiri said.
"Oh, that wasn't the end of it. The next day, the month's edition of the school paper came out and the headlines read, and I quote: 'Two Sophomores Roared Up the Theater Scene of Spring 2005'. We were basically the talk of our school for a week." Kiara said.
"Aw man, I'm sorry that happened to you guys." I said.
"Yeah, that sounded bad, I remembered the times where groups of people stared at my anthro hyena form. As you guys know, many of those people ended up laughing at me or calling me names after the staring. For example, I told Edwin that the popular girl in my high school senior class once gave me a dog leash and collar as a 'present'." Jasiri said.
"Oh yeah, you told us that a while back. I'm sorry to hear that. I understand how you feel, back in middle school and high school many people made people make fun of me as well, I even was in two or three physical fights." Kovu said.
"Yeah, I guess all three of us experienced, and sometimes still experience some form of social austicization or bullying at one point or another in the human world. I remember some of the other girls at school talking about me behind my back, being the subject of gossip multiple times." Kiara said.
"It's a shame that many of these people have or possibly still judge your identities solely based on physical appearance. I apologize if I had indirectly contributed to it anyway. For example, I did not make the best first impression with you guys three months ago, and Rafiki had to calm me down with a tranquilizer gun" I said.
"It's okay Edwin, I know you didn't mean any harm. You just don't really know anything about that situation, and it was the first time you saw our hybrid forms and freaking out seems to be the common first reaction." Kovu said.
"What's important is that you consistently and open-mindedly do your best to listen to us and to learn more about more of the individuals we are rather than just solely focusing on the daily changes in our physical appearance." Kiara said.
"Yeah, and I know that you still occasionally feel guilty about what happened when you took me to your high school reunion and how some of your old classmates behaved. But I don't try to linger on the negatives of that evening for too long…" Jasiri said as she started to grab onto my hand, which I grabbed in return.
"I mostly remember that night as the night you asked me to be your girlfriend, the night of our first kiss and of our first dance together. I still remember kissing in the rain by that bench, feeling the water just fall onto our shoulders and hair, with the occasional sound of a car passing by. In most cases, I try to live the best life that I can, and that includes you, and my friends." Jasiri said.
"Thank you, Jas, I appreciate it. Even though I did not go through anything close to what you guys went through, I didn't really fit in with most people at school either. I was socially awkward when I was young, and to some extent still am, plus I did not exactly have the same interests many other students had. Me and many of my friends were more into reading a good book, reading about scientific inquiries, discussing current events of the world and even playing the occasional board game, while many of the 'more popular' students were interested in sports and social events such as parties. I have been called a 'teacher's pet' on a couple of occasions." I said.
"I feel ya, I've been called a 'teacher's pet' and a literal pet so many times. I remembered that from second to fifth grade many people also referred to me as 'the weird girl who reads during recess'. I was also essentially a social outcast through middle school and high school with the exception of my friend Cindy and some other people I knew. As Edwin knows, Cindy and I had a brief goth phase in middle school. Also there were some occasions where me, Cindy and some others we knew occasionally came over someone's house to play a game or two of Dungeons and Dragons." Jasiri said.
"Wait? Dungeons and Dragons? Like in the fantasy game with the dice that have all those sides on them?" Kiara asked.
"Yeah, that's the one. I enjoyed those times playing D&D because they enabled me to forget that I was the outcast of school and that I had a group of friends that cared about me for me, not make fun of me or pity me because of my transformations. They also enabled me to briefly escape reality and become Jasiri the dungeon master or whatever I wanted that night, instead of Jasiri Fisi, the girl who sits with the loners most of the time during lunch." Jasiri said.
"I know what you mean Jasiri. When I was in middle school, the library was considered a safe space for me. The middle school cafeteria was just a socially toxic place to be, so there were many occasions when I skipped lunch and headed straight to the library." Kovu said.
"I'm sorry that you felt that way at the time, I kinda felt similar insecurities at that time. Part of it was desperately trying to fit in the popular group because for some reason I thought that would give me immunity from being picked on. Though I actually was in the popular group for six months when I dated that guy Isaac…...When looking back at that time, I still ask myself 'why did I do that'?" Kiara said.
"Yeah, I guess all of us have experienced times in which we did things that made us question the individuals that we are. Or when other people or events make us question whether or not we really are the people in our lives." I said
"I get that, I've been experiencing that a lot lately. First, finding out the brother I once knew as the trusted and caring leader of the Lion Guard became a temperamental, abusive narcissist who seems to take out his impulses on everyone he knows. Then there's my dad who I knew as the fair beloved king of the Pride Lands, who on the other hand, was a womanizing serial adulterer, which one resulted in the birth of my friend, I mean half-sister Zuri. There's also my mom who seemed to be just as confused, angry and disappointed as I am but she hasn't talked about it recently. Though I can understand wanting to keep some things of her private life herself, but I don't know, it seems as if she has gotten a little distant lately. Don't worry, my mother and I still have a stable relationship, but in many cases my relationships with my dad and brother deteriorated to almost nothing outside of work-related matters, though I have noticed that Kion has gotten more friendly with my dad recently. Sometimes I feel as if I no longer know who anyone in my family is anymore. What happened to the dad I once knew? What happened to the brother I knew from when we were cubs? I am really sorry Jasiri about the suffering Kion put you through during your guys' time together. I also really feel sorry about the suffering Rani went through as well." Kiara said with small tear droplets forming on the edge of her eyes.
Jasiri grabbed Kiara's hand..or paw..and looked into Kiara's eyes.
"Kiara, it's okay, I know what I went through with Kion was not your fault." Jasiri said.
"Yeah, but I should have read the signs or sensed the patterns with his marriage to Rani. I thought the therapy appointment he got after he and Rani's divorce fixed his aggressive behavior…boy I was wrong. He seemed good at playing a facade. I tried to get him to make more appointments while he was seeing but he refused all of my offers, and after a while I just gave up. I couldn't help but feel that this played a part in the abuse you suffered under him." Kiara finished.
"Kiara, you tried the best way you can to ameliorate the situation, none of us realized that Kion needed more help than we actually thought. Though I thought that you could have done better at the time, we talked about this in previous conversations, and we eventually made up with one another, you were just unaware of the total extent of Kion's problem. So, we are good at the moment, we are still friends and after I put the restraining order on Kion; you, Kovu, and Vitani were the only members of the 'Royal Family' to publicly defend me. So, thank you for listening to me when I needed it after the breakup from Kion." Jasiri said.
"No problem, Jasiri, since then I always try to listen to those I know as best as I can." Kiara replied.
We continued to talk for a little while longer, until Kiara and Kovu left my apartment and thanked us for the meal and conversations. Jasiri started helping me clean up afterwards. After we finished, we enjoyed some time to ourselves, even put on a little music to help set the mood for the rest of the night.
We spent some time on the couch cuddling with each other while the music was still playing, just enjoying this moment we had to ourselves.
"Man, that was a great dinner, I did not realize that Kiara, Kovu and us had that much in common. We should probably hang out with them another time." I said.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Jasiri replied.
"But even after how enjoyable dinner was, I am so glad that we finally have some time to ourselves." I said.
"Yeah, me too." Jasiri said. We just continued to gaze into each other's eyes as the music played.
"Jas, I always get mesmerized when I look into your bluish-purple eyes. They always help me take a break from the stressors in the world. Every time I look into your eyes, I imagine as if we were the only two people in the world, and we have an infinite amount of time to spend together. I would need nothing else other than you and your vivacious energy. I would rather starve or wait a thousand years before being in a world without you. You are a vision of strength, intelligence, independence, and caring spirit perfected. Every DNA sequence and protein is synthesized in optimal condition. I know nobody's perfect, and everyone has flaws, but no matter what happens, you will always be a queen to me and stick by your side no matter what." I said.
But then some apprehensive thoughts entered my mind, wondering whether or not it was too soon to say that stuff because even though we have been dating for two months already, now I am not sure whether or not two months was too soon to pour my heart out like when I meant every word of it, I'm worried if it creeped Jasiri out.
Jasiri P.O.V.
I was mesmerized by the words Edwin just said. They were the sweetest words that anyone had ever said to me. It is so moving to know that Edwin cares this much about me as much as I do him. I could feel my eyes start to water up from this surprise romantic gesture. I placed my hands on his shoulders.
"Oh Edwin, that was the sweetest thing that I have ever heard. I love the way that you are comfortable to open up to me as much as I feel comfortable opening up to you. That is one of the reasons why I love you." I told him, after which I saw him open his eyes and raised his eyebrows after the last three words.
Oh boy. I just said the three words that can make or break a relationship, "I love you." I know we have been dating for two months, but I am not sure whether two months is too soon to tell him that I love him. Though I meant it, I have no idea whether he feels the same way.
That was until I saw him smile.
"I love you too, Jasiri." He said in a calm and amorous tone.
Man, I feel so relieved that he feels the same way. I then started to caress his long brown hair as I stared back into his brown eyes.
We continued to hug each other for another two minutes, until we decided to start kissing one another for several seconds. Until we got up from the couch and started to slowly dance to the music, holding each other closely. For the rest of the night, feeling as if we were perfectly in sync with each other as if we had all the time in the world.