young. I knew that she had a lot to learn about life, but this is all just part of the learning experience of growing up. It happens with everyone. On the outside I see the beauty that she inherited from her mother. On the inside I see a true open heart, wisdom, and faith; like her mother. She has inherited most of her mother’s genes. When she grew older she had a few things that I did not have enough of; and that was faith and trust. I didn’t have enough faith when she went off to do her own things, when she was positive that she could handle things on her own. Well, she was certainly old enough to do so, and she did just that. She never doubted what she was capable of; and she was capable of just about anything. As soon as I saw that I felt better about her. She also trusted those who seemed a little less worthy of being trusted, when I didn’t always trust them for who they were; especially the outsiders. I think that I learned from my own daughter that you must give others time and observation before you can trust them. You can’t just judge someone immediately before you know who they really are both on the outside and on the inside. You cannot get far in life if you lack trust. All in all, I see someone who is just like her mother; noble, wise, trustworthy, patient, and faithful. If there is anyone who I could love more than I love Nala, it will always be my daughter, Kiara. I love her for who she is and from what she has learned in life. I am proud of her and I will always love her. 

You once told your daughter the phrase “We are one”. What does this mean?

This means that we, as lions, are brought together all as one group that fits into this sort of “belonging in family” if you will. Being “one” means that our place is with our pride. That is what lions prides are all about. If we have a sense of belonging with each other in our own kind, we will become family. As long as we stay together, it is who we are. That goes for all other living creature in this world. I told this to my daughter Kiara when she was a cub, but she didn’t quite understand what I meant. She finally understood when she was older; and because of her, peace was settled and the difference between us and the outsiders was finished. We are now all together as one.

You felt a bit untrustworthy after an outsider rescued your daughter from a wildfire. Why did you seem reluctant to let Kovu into your pride?

Kovu was the son of Zira, Scar’s mate. There was still the darkness in Scar that I couldn’t escape and I based that on Kovu himself because Zira once told me that Kovu was chosen to follow in Scar’s paw prints. I was scared that he was going to threaten the entire royal family, and it was a difficult decision for me because Kovu was an outsider, but as he saved my daughter’s life, it was hard for me to turn down his request. Therefore I decided to reserved judgment for three days and accept him; but I wouldn’t let him sleep with us in the den that night, just to be sure of him. So it was tough for me.

Shortly after Kovu joined your pride, you got ambushed by Zira and the outsiders; but you managed to escape. How did you feel after the attack and what where you thinking at that point?

Well I really felt like I was going to die slowly and horribly like crucifixion on the cross. The outsiders attacked and bit me in many places on my body. I had tooth mark-like cuts and scratches on my back; I sprained my left foreleg from falling into the gorge; I felt bruised in my chest and abdomen; and I felt near concussion from being butted in the head. How I was even able to stand and walk after the attack, I have no idea. I eventually collapsed and almost passed out from the pain. However, members of my pride took me back to Pride Rock and nursed my wounds. I felt a bit better afterwards, but I was still feeling my foreleg, and I knew that I needed to rest for a while without running or fighting; but what was to occur would not allow it: The next attack from the outsiders. I then knew that after what happened, Zira and the outsiders would immediately ambush our pride and attempt to take over for good. But what I also thought of was Kovu betraying us; that he was just using my daughter to get to me. So I exiled him without knowing what really happened and that Kovu was indeed innocent. I think that Kiara and Nala were the only ones who believed in him.

What were your thoughts heading into the battle against the then outsiders?

I have to admit I was feeling really nervous. I would never back down from a fight, like my father, but I knew that Zira had been training her pride just like she trained Kovu, and our pride was no match for their fighting experience. I knew that we were going to lose, but we had to fight anyway. Like my father, there was nothing we wouldn’t do to prevent the Pride Lands from falling under evil power. As expected, they gained the upper hand in the fight. Their attack wasn’t just powerful and painful, but their defense was so good that we could barely get them to bleed. More than half of us were bleeding profusely from the vicious attacks, and less than a quarter of them had signs of crimson red. If Kovu and Kiara hadn’t intervened and stopped the fight, there would have been none of my pride left; or even me for that reason.

Before Kovu and Kiara intervened, you were about to fight Zira. If you two did fight, what do think it would have come down to?

Well I know that it would have been a very interesting battle. She was a professional fighting trainer, and the only skill that I have in fighting is my strength in attack pretty much. I am not fast like her and I am not great at defending. Even Nala has better fighting technique than I do; because she would always pin me when we were cubs. She was very skilled. I knew at the time that I still needed to learn how to fight better; with defense technique. Zira had all that, and she would certainly have won the fight in such short time. The only thing that would have kept me going would have been my endurance. If I was able to withstand her attacks, I might have been able to tire her out and use my strength to deliver strong attacks. But seriously, to tell you the truth, I really think that she would have had higher chances over me quite easily. I knew that I would have been as good as dead.

What is it that you see in Kovu?

Well, he is sort of an interesting character in my point of view. It really wasn’t easy getting to know him when I accepted him as I never really got time to question him in-between battles between his kind and ours. I thought that he had set me up when I got attacked by the outsiders; but later on I figured out that it was really Zira who wanted me dead, not Kovu. That’s when I realized that she was the one who had been training Kovu to become a killer; and Kovu had become brainwashed. It is interesting that he goes from being an innocent cub to being trained to kill to meeting someone who really has touched his heart; my daughter; to finally feeling manipulated. I am just amazed that he managed to figure that out. Scar wasn’t even his father; and I was told that he never knew his biological father. Apparently he was killed just as he was born. He is really one of the most interesting characters that I have ever met. On his personal side he seems very sweet. He is a really nice guy and he has a very open heart. He treats my daughter very well and gives her the love and support that she deserves. I look at him and Kiara and I see such a spiritual connection between them. Kiara really does love him. I therefore chose him to follow in my footprints; and I know that one day he will make a really worthy king. One of these days I would like to see how he fights. I don’t want to kill him now and I know that he doesn’t want to kill me, but I still want to fight against him in a friendly battle just to see how he fights; and also to see how the battle that we would have had back then might have come down to. It would be a very interesting battle. All in all, he is like a son to me and that is why I decided to adopt him as my own son. I know that one day he will make everyone proud.

Before you die, what are you hoping for the future of your kingdom and your family?

I hope that my family will lead as well as my father and mother would have ever done and that the future generations of my family will inherit the same characteristics as my father, mother, daughter, mate, and adopted son: Wisdom, loyalty, nobility, respect, love, and friendship. The legacy of our family will be more important than ever, and it will be important for the future generations of our family to follow all the characteristics that I mentioned to honor our legacy. I also hope that their will be no more conflict or battles within the Pride Lands, and that each and every one of us learns the ways of the Circle of Life so as to not upset the balance of each and every living creature and their families.

Well, Simba, it has been more than a pleasure having you with us. I wish the best of luck to you, your family and for their family to come. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for having me. Goodbye.

Goodbye.

THE END

Simba, Nala, Kiara, Kovu, Rafiki, Scar, Zira, Ahadi, Mufasa, Timon, Pumbaa and Sarabi; © Walt Disney Studios

Interviewer; © BlackJack16

Author’s comment: This is my first fanfic. Hope you all enjoyed it. Any comments that you would like to make or improvements that you might suggest to this fanfic