This is about Kovu and Kiara's cubs, and Kopa's return (Even if he's not official to the movies)

Enjoy!

I do not own lion king, or any other characters than the ones below.

 Koda, kazia, arina , zara, tiza, shana, (c) tlkcrazer

Darkness over the throne

Chapter one:

Dusk fell and the Pridelands briefly glowed gold with the setting sun, before starting their slow plunge into darkness. Pride Rock stood strong and magnificent on the horizon, and one dark lion padded out of the cave, looking over the savannah with his green eyes filled with worry.

It was Kovu, and he spent several minutes thinking about what had happened and what was about to happen. Earlier on, soon after one of the hunting groups took advantage of the cooler weather and went out hunting, Kiara had gone into labour. They fetched Rafiki as quick as possible, and were now waiting for results.

"Kovu? Is everything ok?" Came a gentle voice from behind him. Kovu jumped and turned to see Simba coming calmly towards him, red mane blowing slightly in the breeze.

Kovu sighed. “No, not everything,” He replied. “Thing is, well, for almost all my life I’ve been trained to- you know, and take over the Pridelands, but I was never taught about how to actually rule a kingdom, or have a family. I mean, what do I do? What if I fail? How will the other animals see me, as an outlander? Will I be a good father?”

Simba listened wisely to his son in law’s problems, then nodded, giving him his answers.

“Kovu, you’re not an outlander, you’re one of us now. The animals will have suspicions at first, but soon, if you’re open minded, understand everyone’s point of view, and don’t use force most of the time, they’ll gain trust in you. Also, you’ve seen a family, and you’re part of one. You’ll know what to do when the time comes.”

These words and Simba’s ever calm and gentle way of saying them reassured Kovu, and a smile spread across his face. At that moment, a voice from inside the cave beckoned them in, but Simba and Kovu were too excited to realise the graveness of it.

“It’ll be fine.” said Simba cheerfully, his heart hammering as they walked into the cave.

But for once he wasn't entirely right.

As soon as the two lions walked in, they were hit by the atmosphere inside, then confused and bewildered by the sight in front of them. Kiara lay limp on the floor, sobbing slightly, with Rafiki kneeling down beside her, his back to the lions and his head bent low. Nala was also standing beside her daughter, trying to comfort her though her face was also tear-stained.

"What happened?" Asked Simba, concern flitting through his eyes.

"I'm sorry Simba, I don't know what went wrong, we lost two of the cubs." Replied Rafiki, turning to reveal that he was cradling what seemed like two un-moving bundles of fur. Silence fell like a blanket of snow.

"Is Kiara ok?" Asked Kovu, barely breaking the silence with his shaking voice.

"She's fine, but exhausted and miserable. I'm sorry, you two."

"Don't be, at least one survived." Replied Simba, nuzzling another tiny cub that was lying near Kiara, though he felt that the bad news hadn't ended yet.

"That's the thing, I'm afraid he's too weak. He can't even get up to his mother. I'm so sorry, but there is such a small chance that he'll survive much longer."

"Oh Simba...our grandchildren..." Whispered Nala, coming to Simba for comfort, as Kovu wordlessly took over from her the job of being by Kiara. She soon stopped sobbing, but everyone was grieving deeply inside.

"Are you sure?" Murmered Simba.

"It's a one in a thousand chance that he'll survive..." Replied Rafiki, wiping his forehead.

Nobody ate the meat that the hunting group had come back with. They felt like a bright light had been wiped away just before it reached them.

After a while, when most of the lionesses were asleep, the cub doomed to die sleeping next to his mother,(Rafiki had had to place him there himself.) Simba looked up to see Kovu creeping out of the cave. He hadn't seen that Simba had noticed him slip away. Sympathetic and not very sleepy himself, Simba quietly tiptoed out of the cave.

He found Kovu sitting on a rock not far from Pride Rock, gazing with un focused eyes at the sky. For the first time in a long time, Simba didn't know how to approach someone.

"Stars are hiding today, huh?" He said gently.

"Please, stop talking like that, everything's gone wrong. Everything. Already. What if it's a sign?" Replied the dark lion, not turning his head towards Simba. Once again he was asking questions, but it was clear he didn't want them answered.

"Sometimes...things like this happen. You just have to be strong. Are you ok?" Simba didn't know why he found himself asking such a silly question.

"Yeah, fine" He obviously wasn't telling the truth.

" 'Cos if you need any-"

"I SAID I WAS FINE, SIMBA!"

This took Simba by surprise, and for a few moments they stood staring at each other, both surprised of what had happened.

"Sorry," Muttered Kovu, walking away. "But I need some time alone."

Simba stood there, shivering in the wind as he watched the departing black figure, getting lost in the darkness. Simba actually partly understood his son in law, for he had also lost a child many years ago. But Kopa wasn't as young when he died. He still had the chance to live, to give his parents happiness and the feeling of innocence again.

But now his daughter and son in law's chance to get that feeling was crushed, and just when they needed it, after the incident with Zira and all. But what about the other cub? What if he survived? Simba thought this over, thinking what joy it would bring, but then painfully remembered Rafiki's words. What did it feel like to know that your only surviving child is going to die too? Simba shivered at the thought. He couldn't imagine what they were going through.

But he could survive, Simba told himself, only to block out that hope again. Rafiki was barely ever wrong, the kid had only a one in a thousand chance of surviving.

But despite everyone's heavy doubts, Chaka won that chance.

Chapter 2:

“Mum! Hey mum!” yelled Chaka excitedly, running over to Kiara, who was sunning herself on a rock with Nala and Timira, her friend. “Mum! Guess what we did!”

“Hm, I wonder what?” Asked Kiara, propping herself up and nuzzling her son.

“We raced to the waterhole but we bumped into a leopard! Then he chased us all around but in the end he gave up ‘cos we were too fast! He said so himself!”

“Are you sure he didn’t just let you get away?” asked Timira, an amused glint in her eye.

“Well… I don’t think so…”

 Nala smiled. “You must have had to ditch the dodo to do that!”

Chaka tried not to look guilty. “Well, we just thought he needed a break, you know…his feathers are turning all grey!”

The lionesses laughed, each knew Zazu as a cub.

“C’mere, you little smart-alic!” laughed Kiara, grabbing Chaka by the scruff on his neck. “Looks like after all that running around you got dirty!” And she began to lick him clean.

“Ok mum, but please hurry up! The others are waiting near the pond by that big boulder! And, is there any food? I’m hungry!”

“Not yet, sweetie, auntie Vitani and the rest haven’t come back yet.”

“Oh, ok. Ouch! Muuum! Watch the mane!”

Soon, Chaka was clean and he ran off to play with his friends: Tiza, (Daughter of Dotti, an ex-outlander) Koda, (Iza’s son, Iza was Dotti’s sister) Shana, (Kula’s youngest daughter. Kula was a friend of Nala’s since cubhood.) And Zara, (Daughter of Razina, a pridelander about Kiara’s age.)

For a moment the lionesses gazed after Chaka, not believing that he was the cub that everyone thought was going to die. He had stayed alive for a week, and then Rafiki announced that he was strong enough to live after all. The traditional presentation of the heir to the throne took place a little later than usual, but it was done nonetheless, and all the animals rejoiced over the young cub, as well as the pride, who felt as if the light that seemed to have left them was just blocked out by the clouds, and had now shone through again. Sadly, Sarafina and Sarabi died shortly after, but they knew that they were happy now, especially Sarabi, who was finally united with her mate. They all looked on proudly after Chaka.

“Hey guys! What ‘ya doing?” Said Chaka cheerfully, bounding over to the other cubs by the pond.

“Sh! What does it look like, genius?” Replied Koda, who was lying low to the floor, hidden by the tall grass. The others were doing the same, except Zara, who was chasing a bird up a tree a little further off. Then Chaka realised what they were doing; they were trying to catch a frog or two, as the large pond was full of them.

“Can I catch one?” He whispered, tiptoeing over next to Shana.

“Yeah, sure.” She replied. “But be very quiet!”

A hunter’s grin spreading across his face, Chaka found a large frog sitting on a small rock, right by the water’s edge. He crouched down in the grass, lay low to the ground, crept forward…and…

SNAP!

Everyone jumped