The present queen of the pridelands wandered the vicinity of her home, which has always been known as Pride Rock. She explored every part to give herself exercise in the state she was in. The warm wind of the savannah blew through her short fur and gave her face cool relief from the hot sun above. It would have been best to lay in the shade of a crooked tree growing into the sides of the rock or even stay inside the cave, but she couldn't help but want to watch the young cubs play and enjoy their growls and laughter. Two of the cubs were named Nuka and Vitani (Nuka being the older sibling) who belonged to a very odd lioness named Zira. Wrapped in her thoughts, the young queen was approached by her mother, Sarafina.

    "Nala, what are you doing out and about?" she asked. "You shouldn't be active in your state."

    "Mom, I'm fine," Nala replied, smiling at her mother's concern. "The cub isn't coming for a while now."

    "Even if it were, you'd still be active, wouldn't you?" Sarafina sighed, giving up trying to convince her headstrong daughter. "Just like I was when I was having you."

    "Hehe, yes, Mom." Nala bowed her head and took her leave. She really hadn't been herself lately. She supposed being pregnant made her more tranquil, or maybe it was because her mate, Simba took good care of her. He was actually out scouting the area right now, doing his duties as king to make sure everything was in order. The hyenas hadn't been as active since Scar's death, but Simba couldn't take too many chances. Nala was walking along the western side of Pride Rock, when she heard familiar whispers. Thinking it was just cubs plotting out a secret game, Nala peeked her head a little bit from behind a rock. She gasped at the sight.

    It was a group of lionesses, about six or seven, all gathered in a close circle and focused on the only speaking lioness, who was Zira. She had a longer face than the other lionesses, and she was pregnant with a cub that looked as if it was going to be due any day. Nala could barely make out what she was saying, so she listened more intently.

    "Simba does not deserve to be king." Zira whispered, obviously with anger in her voice. "Remember how much order there was when Scar was king? We need to get that back!"

    Nala's eyes widened. She could not believe her ears. So many things were running through her mind and her blood was turning hot with worry. How could a mutiny take place? How could anybody still follow that...monster! She knew that at least half of the pride was willing to be servants for Scar when he was in power. Zira became his mate around that time too (after Scar had tried to make Nala his mate. Hardly anybody knew about this, and Nala preferred to keep it a secret, even though she rejected him in the first place.) and obviously wanted revenge for her deceased love. Nala did not even know someone like Scar could love; she highly doubted it. But what was she going to do now? She had to warn Simba. She slowly turned around to run away from the area. She managed to slip away without making a noise, however she was assaulted from behind and was pinned to the ground on her back. She cried out in struggle. She shook her head to get back on track as to what happened, and Zira was towering over her, with unsheathed claws over her stomach, readied to pierce through flesh. The other lionesses were surrounding them, staring down.

    "Well, well, Nala," Zira hissed with a wicked grin plastered across her grey-brown face. "Spying on us, are you?"

    "I will NOT let you do this, Zira." Nala growled, not able to struggle because of the claws over her stomach.

    "Oh? And how will you be able to stop me?" she replied, digging her claws a little into Nala's belly, but not enough to break skin. "If I get rid of his queen and his heir, Simba will be just as powerless as you are now." Nala gasped as she felt claws slowly dig deeper into her belly. She was objecting in her mind, not able to move without hurting her cub no matter what she did, praying that this was not be the end. She was done for.

    The lionesses were plowed through and Zira was knocked clear off Nala. Without a second thought, Nala instinctively gained her footing and put herself in a defensive stance, ready to fight for her life. But seeing what caused Nala's opening of movement, she felt safer. Simba was standing in front of her, protecting her from the revenge-driven Zira. Other lionesses, including Sarafina, Sarabi, and her friend Kula were joined with Simba to create a protective wall.

    "Get out of here, Zira!" Simba roared. "I will not tolerate you. You are forever exiled from the pridelands! As long as I am king, you will reside in the outlands; far enough to where Pride Rock will not be visible!" Simba looked to his side and witnessed Zira's cubs scrutinizing the situation. There was no way he was going to keep her children. "And you will take THEM with you. If you ever come back, I'll kill you."

    Zira would have attacked and killed Simba right there if his followers were not there. But she was outnumbered, even with her own followers. Defeated, she growled and turned to leave, ordering her two offspring to follow. She turned around again to speak.

    "Before I leave, I want you all to remember what I said earlier referring to Scar's rule! Do not be ruled by a young King! Scar's dying wish WILL be fulfilled, so join me!" And with that being said, she left, and the lionesses of her group followed.

    Simba held his breath the entire time. He did not want any fraction of his pride to mutiny, but it happened anyway. He felt that he lost, but then again felt relieved that neither Nala nor their cub were harmed. He turned to his mate and nuzzled her. Seeing that everything was ok again, the other lionesses took their leave.

    "I'm so glad you're okay." Simba sighed.

    "Me too." she replied. There was a moment of silence before the two separated from their embrace. "But what I still don't understand is why you allowed them to stay."

    "Zira was still pregnant with Scar's son," Simba admitted. "And she still had cubs. I would not have been able to live with the guilt if I made her fend for herself alone. And if I exiled the rest of them, it would not have been...right." He mentioned that he already knew that she was mentally unstable, but did not know she was crazy enough to try to kill Nala. He told her that he could not risk losing her nor his heir again.

    "I see..." Nala said. "But what about now?"

    "We'll all be fine." Simba stated, nuzzling his mate one last time.

    The banished lionesses traveled far, never looking back at the place they've abandoned. They were forever faithful to their original king, forever thankful of Mufasa's death, forever hateful towards Simba the murderer. The night circle was high in the sky by the time Pride Rock was out of sight. It had been a long painful walk, especially for Zira and her aching children, who were crying from exhaustion and hunger. Nuka tried calming his young sister Vitani, but to no avail. The small pride walked a ways further and spotted deformed structures protruding from the ground that towered over everything around, almost as high as Pride Rock itself. These structures were termite hill ruins, which still seemed inhabited by many, but not too much to make it unsuitable for living.

    "This...will be our temporary Pride Rock." Zira announced in a normal speaking voice. Just then pain ripped throughout her entire body and she screamed in agony.

    Months passed and early one morning, before the sun rose, something called to the animals of the pridelands. Something called to them, telling them to travel to their king's palace. Before travel, each one of them knew that a circle of life was completed again, and their new heir was born. The animals traveled far, many together in groups, mixed species together, not caring whether or not they were natural enemies. They knew that this was a time to be brought together as one, to celebrate. The sun rose from behind the horizon, and lit everything until it was in bright hot colors. Even the traveling animals were colored oranges and yellows and reds, so that they all blended together like a painting. Hours passed like minutes, and finally their destination was close, and their excitement increased. Everyone surrounded the giant rock, which was the home of the lions. Many considered it a palace considering how beautiful its natural structure was displayed. All of the animals joined together to form one giant herd, not caring if they were beside one not of their own kind.

    They all stared in awe up at their present king and queen, who were looking down on them with peaceful, happy faces. The two nuzzled each other lovingly. Appearing in between the two rulers was the honorable baboon everyone knew as Rafiki. He held the young king in his aged, caring, and delicate hands, and raised him up above his head for all to see, showing everyone their future king, who bared the king's mark on his forehead. The animals rejoiced at the sight of the cub and called out in their many languages how happy they were and how they accepted him as their prince. Then they all bowed together. Many loved the little cub at first sight. Two already planned on killing him. And very few did not like him. But the happiness outdid the hate, and it lasted throughout the morning, and hopefully for the rest of the day and beyond.

    From above, their past great king known as Mufasa stared down at his beloved son and grandson. Simba could feel his presence and he was happy that his father was doing well with the great kings of the past. Nala could not feel his presence like Simba because she did not have as keen a bond with Mufasa, but she still loved him like a father and king. The animals soon calmed and traveled the area, celebrating the birthday of their future king, and Rafiki held the young prince to his parents, who nuzzled him, happy that he was healthy and alive.

    Standing to the side, watching the happy royal family, were Simba's friends and old caregivers, Timon and Pumba.

    "Ahh, Pumba, look at that little guy." Timon said, trying to conceal his giddyness. "A chip off the old block! And ya've gotta know who's gonna raise him!"

    "His parents?" Pumba figured, thinking that was a very silly question for Timon to ask.

    "Ok, sure, get technical! But who's gonna teach him the REALLY important stuff!" Timon jumped from Pumba's back and landed on the ground. "Like how to belch! And dig for grubs!" He exclaimed, burping between sentences. "I'm tellin' ya, buddy, it's gonna be like old times: You, me, and the little guy!"

    In the evening, after the presentation of Kopa, Rafiki returned to his big hollow tree to draw out the events of the day. He held a cracked fruit in his hands like a pallet and painted Prince Kopa onto the walls of the tree's trunk with his stubby thumbs and long narrow singers.

    "Oh, Mufasa," Rafiki said out loud. "Such a day! Prince Kopa's birth..." He smiled as he continued to paint a large circle around Kopa's "portrait". "Another circle of life is complete and the pridelands' future is once again secure." A strong wind blew, sounding very much like a lion's roar in the distance, and distorted the circle around Kopa. "Ahh! Stop, stop, stop!" Rafiki cried. "Mufasa, what are you doing? The circle is broken now! Why must you..." Rafiki looked again at his painting. The broken circle and taken on the form of another lion, but it's identity was unknown. "Hmm...there is trouble in the pridelands." Rafiki figured. "There is another cub? But where...could this be?" Rafiki thought harder on where on earth this other cub could be. He did not know of many other cubs outside of the kingdom. Then he realized that not too long ago, Zira was banished from the pridelands and was pregnant with a cub at the time. The cub must have already been born by now. "...In the outlands."

    In the outlands, a familiar young brown cub was stalking a bug, one of the only animals that inhabited his home. He peeked out from behind his hiding spot, leapt and caught the bug in his paws. He gently opened his paws. He had not killed the bug, it was actually kind of cute to him. He chuckled to himself as the bug's transparent wings flickered across his palms and flew away.

    "Kovu!"

    The cub was startled and shrinked back at the loud call of his name.

    "Don't let it go!" Zira, who had called Kovu, snatched the bug in midair and crushed it into the hard ground. "What's the matter with you?!" Zira exclaimed, getting nose to nose with the little cub.

    "But mother, he wasn't hurting anyone!" Kovu cried, upset that she had crushed his bug.

    "There is no room for weakness here, my son!" she told him, then in a sudden change of mood, gently wrapped her arm around her child. "Remember, Scar was your father and even though you are the youngest of my children, he chose you to become the next king."

    "But--" Kovu started.

    "When you rule, we will no longer be forced to live in these..." Zira's voice raised into anger and frustration and she began to swing her arm at the bugs flying through the air. "Dry! Barren! Filthy! Disgusting! Termite-infested OUTLANDS!" Zira had hated living in the termite hills and she cursed Simba for it every day and every night. Kovu looked down in sadness, very confused as to why Zira hated their home so much. It was all he ever knew, and he couldn't ask for more.

    "Mother! Mother! Mother!" cried two voices, one male and one female. It was Kovu's older siblings Vitani and Nuka. "We were there! In the pridelands! We saw everything! We saw the whole thing! We saw Simba's cub!" They announced to Zira in unisen.

    "What?" Zira's attention was towards her daughter, whom she trusted more than her bouncy eldest son. "Vitani, what did you see?"

    "Simba's new cub is a boy!" she replied.

    "A boy!" Zira laughed. "Oh, Scar, my beloved, did you hear that? This couldn't be more perfect!"

    "...Who's she talkin' to?" Nuka asked Vitani.

    "Shh! Scar," she whispered. The two cubs weren't offspring of Scar, so they were very accustomed to just calling him by his name. Even though their mother preferred they called him "father" (which they did not mind.) Scar himself said he did not want to be known as father, but as King.

    "Where? Where!" Nuka gasped in excitement.

    "Scar's DEAD, genious." Vitani scoffed.

    "Yes!" Zira growled. "Because of Simba! If not for him, Scar would still be king! And I, Zira, his loving, devoted queen..." She continued in a dreamy state.

    "Y'know, speaking of 'kings' I was thinking, since I'm the OLDEST, maybe I should be king!" Nuka suggested in a hopeful way.

    "Don't be a fool, Nuka!" Zira scolded.

    "Ahahaha! Just a thought," Nuka fake laughed.

    "Kovu is the chosen one. We must fulfill Scar's dying wish, and train Kovu to become king."

    "Oh! Uh, yeah, oh, yeah! I can do that!" he replied. Zira took her leave before her eldest son could finish speaking and took Kovu to put him to sleep. Nuka got up from his position and sighed. Vitani approached him.

    "She's never going to give you a chance to be king, you know that, right?" she said, kind of pitying her brother.

    "Yeah, I know..." he said. "It's all because I angered Scar."

    "Well, you're a natural klutz, he just never got ya." Vitani tried cheering him up a little bit. Even though she thought of her brother as quite the idiot, she still cared about him. She felt bad for him when he was a cub though. Their mother loved Scar and so they all looked up to him. Nuka would try so hard as a cub to impress Scar, but his attempts would never work. The last time he tried impressng Scar was when he tried to show how ferocious he could be (this was when they were younger) Nuka jumped in front of Scar a little too late and made the older lion fall down some rocks. Scar punished Nuka after that and from that day on, Zira neglected her poor son out of embarrassment. There really was nothing Vitani could do about it, and Kovu was not even born then, and now his mane had just barely begun to grow, so he didn't know how to help.

    Kopa grew older as a very curious cub. As soon as he could walk, he explored every corner of his home. He would always listen in on the grown-up lions' conversations. Even though when he was younger, he couldn't really understand them. But as soon as he could talk, he asked many questions. Rafiki loved this trait about him and knew that he would grow up to be a very wise king. Kopa's constant yearning for knowledge was just as big as his constant yearning for fun. Although he grew into quite the gentleman, he enjoyed hanging out with uncle Timon and Pumba. Whenever he was hungry, he'd just go bug hunting with the two until it was time to eat meat. Kopa liked eating bugs; they were "slimey, yet satisfying." His mother never liked him to eat bugs, but he would always eat them whenever she wasn't around. His father didn't care because he was practically raised on bugs.

    The young cub was playing with his fellow lion friends and showing off his mane, which had grown in to a small brown tuft of fur on his head, when their mothers returned from a hunt they were on. They hadn't returned with food unfortunately and were asked why by Simba.

    "The Outlanders interrupted our hunt." Kopa's grandmother Sarabi, explained. "They took our kill from us and ran off like a pack of cowardly hyenas. And it was pointless to chase after them."

    "I thought they were exiled from the pridelands?" Sarafina asked out loud.

    "They were," Simba replied. "But you're right, if they returned to the outlands, there really is no point in punishing them for returning. I don't want to endanger anyone."

    "Endanger?" Kopa thought to himself. "Why would anyone be in any danger? What were Outlanders anyway?" Kopa tried asking his Dad, but he just told him he would understand once he was older. Kopa shrugged, a bit irritated at the answer he received. That was okay, though, because if his father wouldn't give him an answer his mother would.

    "Ask your father," she replied. Kopa growled in frustration and asked both of his grandmothers. Grandma Sarabi just said they were very ruthless creatures and Grandma Sarafina just said one could not turn their backs on them. Rafiki was no where to be found. Still not satisfied with his answers, he decided to ask his cub friends Kala and her twin brother Kyla (They were Kula's children) If they knew what Outlanders were. Kala had a little crush on Kopa and he knew, but pretended not to because he wasn't interested in girls at his age. Kopa approached Kala, who was pinning her brother to the ground in a playful fashion.

    "Hey, guys," Kopa greeted. They responded. "Do you guys know what an Outlander is?"

    "I dont," Kyla said, trying to free himself from his sister's grip.

    "I know!" Kala exclaimed. "I heard they're terrible monsters!"

    "Monsters?" Kopa chuckled. "There's no such thing."

    "How do you know? Have YOU ever seen one?"  Kyla asked.

    "Well...no," Kopa replied. "But you haven't either."

    "But--"

    "And I'm gonna go find one." Kopa announced. "You guys coming?" The twins backed away, trembling a bit in fear.

    "No way! You're crazy for even WANTING to go!" exclaimed Kyla. "It might be dangerous. You heard your Dad say he didnt wanna put anyone in danger! Those Outlanders sound bad!"

    "Well, I think they're just not being very understanding." Kopa nodded, matter of factly. "Nothing in the pridelands is ALL bad. And I'm going whether you guys come or not." Kopa left the area, leaving his friends in confusion as to what to do.

    The prince wandered further away from home than he normally did. For some reason he didn't see many animals to ask questions to. He asked the hippo, but he was too lazy to even stay awake to answer Kopa's question. Kopa tried getting the elephant's attention, but he had to climb a tree to do it. He figured that since an elephant never forgets, that he'd be able to say who (or what) the outsiders were. But all the elephant said was that he had no idea who or what he outsiders could possibly be. Kopa was just about to call it quits, when he spotted Uncle Timon and Uncle Pumba digging for grubs in the dirt. Kopa greeted them.

    "Hey, Kopa!" Timon grinned. "Just the guy we're lookin' for!" He pointed up a tree. "There's TONS of bugs in that tree trunk!"

    "Go up there an drop them all down for us and we can have a feast!" Pumba said, licking his porcine lips.

    The cub stared up the tree. It's height rather frightened Kopa, but he needed to stay on track with his goal to find out more about the outsiders. "I would, Uncle Pumba, but I'm kind of busy right now. Do you guys know anything about the outsiders?"

    "Outsiders?!" Pumba exclaimed. "What do ya wanna know about THEM for?"

    "I'm...curious."

    "Well, ya know what they say," Timon put his hand on Kopa's shoulder. "'Curiosity killed the meerkat.' So take my advice, and just forget about 'em!"

    "I can't do THAT," Kopa sighed. "Isn't it my duty as future king to know why my people hate each other?"

    "Uh..." Pumba stared blankly off into nothing. "They TECHNICALLY aren't 'your people' seeing as they live in the outlands." Pumba pointed his hoof in the direction of the outlands. Timon slapped his hand onto the warthog's mouth to prevent any sort of language from being bellowed without thinking.

    Kopa looked at his uncles quizically. "The outlands, huh?" Kopa grinned and looked towards the outlands.

    "Pumba, shut up!" Timon yelled. "Why do you hafta do that! Always blurting out stuff that doesn't need to be said!"

    "Me, blurting out stuff? Why do you always gotta blame me for everything!" The meerkat and warthog continued their arguing and Kopa saw this as an opportunity to head towards the outlands where he'd be able to get all of his questions answered.

    It was a long walk to the outlands; much longer than Kopa had hoped for. He traveled so far, even Pride Rock was out of site. Kopa would never get lost, though. He had an excellent sense of direction, however, the traveling made him a bit tired. Kopa was looking around for an outsider, but no living thing was in site. The ground was hard and dry and there were hardly any plants growing. There was a river, but it did not look all too pleasant to drink. The water was colored grayish green and was foggy and very still. Kopa walked carefully across a log over the river and made it to the other side.

    Once Kopa's feet reached dry land, he sat on the ground to take a short rest. It was starting to get dark. He hoped that his parents wouldn't scold him for beoing out past dark, because he assumed that would be the approximate time he'd be home.

    Something rustled in the bushes and it caught Kopa's attention. The prince got on all fours in a defensive stance, ready to take on anything that might leap from the bushes and attack him. He was a bit frightened because he was expecting a monster to appear. Suddenly a brown blur jumped from behind the bush and at the same moment, Kopa leapt from his spot and clashed with it. The two bodies tumbled to the ground and fought, not to the death. Kopa rolled backwards and managed to pin his opponent to the ground. It was another lion cub like himself, only his eyes were green and he seemed a bit older than himself.

    "W-What are you doing?!" the strange cub exclaimed from under Kopa.

    "Oh, uh, sorry," Kopa apologized. "I didn't mean to attack you! But you can't be too careful when outsiders are around!"

    "What are you talking about?" the cub pushed Kopa off him. "I'm an outsider! And you're trespassing into MY territory!"

    "YOU'RE an outsider?!" Kopa was shocked. How could his own kind ridicule someone...of his own kind? It did not make any sense. "But you're a lion just like me!"

    "That's where you're wrong, Pridelander!" the cub said in a cocky way. "An outsider doesn't need anybody! I take care of MYSELF!" He walked onto a green log floating in the river and sat on it, sticking his chest out in a proud way.

    "How cool!" Kopa smiled, walking on the same log as his new friend. "I bet it's really fun being an outsider!"

    "Oh it--" the cub's expression changed from happy to terrified and he screamed. Kopa, not knowing why, looked behind himself and seen a pair of jaws towering over him. He screamed as well. The two cubs fleed before the aligator could munch onto them. They ran until they could settle on a small island in the middle of the river.

    "Haha, that was a close one," the outsider cub chuckled.

    "Heh, yeah," Kopa replied, still a bit unsure of their situation. Just then the island they were on began to move. The two cubs gasped, realizing that it was not land they were on, but an entire group of alligators. Kopa jumped onto a nearby log, which he made sure wasn't an alligator. The other cub jumped right past him, hopping from one alligator to the next.

    "Hey! Where are you going!" Kopa asked, thinking that the cub was going to abandon him.

    "I'm distracting them! Run for it!" The outsider hurdled over more alligators to get them all to chase him. It was kind of working, but then as soon as an alligator pulled just out of his reach, he landed in the water and was smacked very hard by it's tail. The cub swam to the surface of the river, coughing, trying to keep himself afloat. That got all of the alligators' attention and they began to swim right towards him. The cub tried climbing up a fallen log, but could not bring himself up fast enough. An alligator was just about to eat the struggling cub, until Kopa jumped onto it's nose and forced it shut.

    "Move it!" Kopa yelled. The two cubs scurried up the log and jumped onto the ledge above with triumphant laughter. They looked down into the pit of alligators, which were trying their best to climb up the wall, but to no avail. "Ha! That's what you get for messing with lions!" Kopa shouted at them.

    "Better luck, next time, guys!" The other cub kicked dirt at them and laughed.

    "Whoa, that was so cool!" Kopa exclaimed to the outsider. "You kept running from them and they couldn't catch ya! And then that one almost did, but I jumped on his head! There's no way they'd ever get us! Know why? Cuz we're a great team! I couldn't have done it without ya!"

    "Really?" The cub smiled, seeming a bit surprised that he had been complimented. "Heh, I guess we DO make a pretty good team! My name's Kovu, what's yours?"

    "I'm Kopa!" he replied. "Haha, I guess our names sound pretty similar, huh?" Kovu agreed. "I wonder if we look the same?" The two cubs peered into a small puddle and looked at the other's reflection. If they didnt know any better, they would have thought they were the same person.

    "We kinda do! How weird is that!" Kovu chuckled. He was then splashed in the face by Kopa. "What was that for!"

    Kopa got into a playful stance. "C'mon, Kovu, let's play!" Kovu looked at him, confused as to what to do. "You...DO know how to play, don't you?"

    "I dunno," Kovu sighed, a bit frustrated with himself. "Is this playing?" He pounced on top of Kopa, but was frightened off him by a loud roar. Towering over the two cubs was Simba. Not even a moment later, another lion emerged, only female.

    "Zira..." Simba growled.

    "Simba...!" Zira readied herself at that moment to attack her "former king" but stopped herself once she realized that he was not alone. A few of his lionesses (and a warthog and meerkat) appeared behind him. Zira spotted Nala and for some reason it reminded her about how Scar wanted her before herself. "Nala." she scoffed. Nala rolled her eyes.

    "Timon, Pumba!" Timon introduced, obviously annoyed with the bitter atmosphere. "Great! Now that we all know each other, GET OUT OF OUR PRIDELANDS!"

    "YOUR Pridelands?!" Zira roared, scaring the poor meerkat. She turned to Simba. "These lands belong to SCAR!"

    "You're in no position to challenge me, Zira!" Simba reminded. "I've banished you from the Pridelands, now you and your cub need to GET OUT!" Kovu and Kopa both gasped at the site of their parents fighting each other.

    "Oh, yes, I have forgotten," Zira grinned. "You have not met my son, Kovu. He is Scar's son and heir. The RIGHTFUL king of the Pridelands." Simba growled at Kovu. He automatically hated the cub because of who his father was. Scar had killed his father, Zira tried to kill Nala, and now their child was going to grow up to be a killer as well. The glare from the king scared the young outsider to the point where he was shaking in his fur.

    "Pfft! That's not a king! That's a fuzzy maraca!" Timon commented.

    "I don't care if YOU think he is the rightful king! You know the penalty for returning to the Pridelands!" said Simba.

    "How can one care for a cub properly if they are to forever dwell in the outlands, where there is little food or water?" Zira questioned. "How good of a 'king' would you be, sentencing a cub to startvation? You may as well use him as an example to others for disobeying your 'godly' rule." Kopa gasped as she pushed Kovu closer to Simba. Kovu was shaking worse than ever now. Would Simba really kill him?

    Simba stared down at the pathetic child, who was staring up at him with merciful green eyes, very much like how Simba had seen Scar before he died. He noticed that he was looking at Kovu the same way Scar had looked at him. Only Simba had given Scar a chance to live, but he had betrayed him again. Even so, Kovu was only a cub. What harm could he do now? That question lead Simba to think, if he let Kovu live now, what harm could he do once he's grown? However, chances of Kovu growing strong in the outlands was unlikely. Zira was correct when it came to the outlands providing little nutrience. He figured most of the animals living there were malnourished. He would take this chance.

    "Take him and get out. We're finished here." Simba turned around and picked up his son in his mouth.

    "Oh, no, Simba, we've barely begun." Zira chuckled, smiling evilly at Kopa. Zira turned to Kovu and picked him up as well. The pridelanders and the outsiders left in opposite directions, leaving the two cubs confused as to why their parents hated each other.

    "Bye," Kovu and Kopa whispered to each other, as their parents separated them.

    Simba and his lionesses traveled home. The sun had almost set below the horizon, and the pride had almost reached Pride Rock. Simba stopped in his tracks, letting the others go on ahead without him, but Nala stopped and turned to her mate.

    "Simba?" she whispered. He cleared his throat as a signal to ask her to leave, since his mouth was still full from carrying Kopa. She smiled, although a bit concerned, and took her leave. Once Nala was gone, Simba placed his son on the ground and gave him a very threatening look. Kopa smiled innocently, trying to get his father to do the same, but it did not work and the cub sunk down, knowing that he had done wrong.

    "Kopa, what did you think you were doing?" Simba asked, quiet, but firm. "I know you're smarter than that! You could have been killed today!"

    "But, Dad, I--"

    "If something like that happened to you, I don't know WHAT I'd do," he continued. "I care about you so much, but one day I won't be here. You're part of the great circle of life, you and I are connected as one, everyone is connected, and you need to carry on as king, so that the circle will not be broken."

    "I know," Kopa sighed.

    "So you need to stop getting yourself in trouble."

    "But, Dad, there's so much I don't understand about today,"

    "You will understand some day." Simba turned around to start heading back towards Pride Rock. Kopa followed. The young cub looked up and saw the stars. They were extremely bright tonight. The stars made him think about how he and Kovu were separated. For some reason it did not feel right. His father said that they were connected. Could he somehow be connected with Kovu too? Such thoughts made Kopa suddenly feel lonely, but looking at the stars made him feel accompanied. "Are you looking up at the stars, Kopa?"

    "...Yeah," he whispered. "There's just something about them, that makes me not feel lonely."

    "I know why." Simba smirked, not really looking at Kopa, but knowing that he grabbed his attention.

    "Really? What?"

    "It's because the great kings of the past are looking down on us from those stars, making sure we're safe." Simba explained. "My father told me that when I was about your age. Just remember, that those kings will always be there to guide your way."

    "Haha, Dad, that's silly," Kopa chuckled.

    "And why's that?"

    "Because there are hundreds of thousands of stars up there! How could there have been that many kings?"

    "Haha, not all questions have answers, Kopa. You'll understand that some day too."

    Soon before the pridelanders made it to Pride Rock, Nuka was scoffing about Kovu to himself. He had just gotten through the day with his entire pride talking about Kovu in some glorious way. It was becoming very irritating that his youngest sibling was getting more attention and credit, even if Nuka was the eldest, strongest male in the pride.

    "Kovu, Kovu, Kovu..." Nuka mumbled. "Just because Scar was his father, doesn't mean he's going to be a good king either..." He spotted Vitani chewing on a rotting root sticking out of the ground. "Oh hey, Vitani, where's that little termite, Kovu? The 'chosen one'." he mocked. He cut the branch with his claw, making it snap, and his sister flying across the ground. He laughed as his sister tumbled.

    "Nuka, what do you mean 'where's Kovu'?!" she exclaimed. "You left him on his own again, didn't you!"

    "Hey, it's every lion for himself out here!" he said, scratching himself. "That little runt's gotta learn to be on his own, anyway!"

    "Mother's gonna be mad, she TOLD you to watch him!"

    "Oh, who cares?!" Nuka growled, scratching himself vigorously. "I could be a leader, if she'd just give me a chance!"

    "Yeah, right!" Vitani scoffed. "Tell HER that."

    "I will!"

    "Here's your chance, then." Vitani smirked as she saw their mother approaching them.

    "Huh?" Nuka looked back, hoping that Zira didn't hear what he said. "Oh, mother, hi!" he exclaimed, happily. He jumped by her side. "Mother, I caught some fieldmice for your dinner, I left them by the--" She ignored him and just walked right past him, dropping Kovu to the ground, looking very irritated. "Uh...nevermind."

    "I ordered you to WATCH HIM!" Zira roared. Nuka gasped and sunk back, awaiting a punishment.

    "It's not his fault, I ran away!" Kovu explained.

    "And what exactly did you think you were you doing?!"

    "N-Nothing!" Kovu wimpered.

    "What have I told you about THEM?!" Zira roared, referring to the pridelanders. "What's wrong with you?!"

    "I-I'm sorry, mother!" Kovu gulped. "But h-he didn't see so bad to me...! I didn't think it'd be a bad idea if we were--"

    "What? FRIENDS? I can't believe you'd try to BEFRIEND his son, so soon! As if Simba would just WELCOME you!" Zira paused. "Just stick to the plan, Kovu! And we will have a glorious return to power. Tomorrow your training intensifies."

    Kovu went to sleep that night, worried about his intensified training the next day. He didn't know what to do. His normal training was hard enough as it is. But he did not want to disappoint his mother, no matter what. His siblings felt the same way and so did the rest of his pride.

    Zira woke Kovu before the sun rose the next morning. Kovu was exhausted from his lack of sleep, but pretended his tiredness didn't faze him. Every day Zira would make Kovu and Vitani fight each other to improve their fighting skills. Sometimes Kovu won, but Vitani won more often because she was bigger. In Vitani's place, however, was Nuka awake and ready to go.

    "I know that you usually fight Vitani, Kovu," Zira said as if it was their choice. "But now if you want to get stronger, you'll need a stronger oponent. You will fight Nuka for the rest of your training."

    Kovu did not object because if he did he would be punished for it. After many times of being struck for objecting to his mother, Kovu finally knew better than to question anything about her. Zira gave the two the okay to fight (she had told Nuka ahead of time that he would be training Kovu to fight) and she watched her children duke it out.

    Kovu made the first move and tried biting Nuka's feet, but he was always too slow and ended up being knocked to the ground after every attempt. It went on like that all day, day after day, and towards the evening, collapsed from exhaustion, Kovu was carried by his mother to the only source of clean water in the outlands. She laid him in the shallow water for him to drink and refresh himself for the next day, and that would be the only time of the day he got to drink. After a few weeks of the same training of endurance, Kovu began to defeat Nuka in their fights as he grew older, but he would often lose. There were times when he thought he was going to die. But he didn't.

    Time passed and Rafiki was reflecting the past few years by himself in his tree, by painting the events that happened. He was currently painting a mane on Kopa.

    "Oh, Mufasa," Rafiki sighed happily. "Kopa is growing into a king that will someday make us all very proud." His mood changed as he faced Kovu's portrait. "But Kovu grows stronger, and Zira fills his heart with hate. I'm very worried, Mufasa, things are not going well between the two prides. Their hatred is growing larger, and I'm afraid something terrible will happen." He sighed again. The spirit of Mufasa responded with a calm breeze. "Hm? You have a plan?" The breeze grew stronger and knocked one of the melons hanging from the walking stick and when it hit the ground, it cracked in half.

    "What?" Rafiki picked up the two halves of the melon and held them in front of Kopa and Kovu's portrait and slowly put them together. "Kopa...Kovu...together? What do you mean by this Mufasa? You mean to bring the two prides back together? You must be crazy, Mufasa! This will NEVER work!" The wind increased to the point where it was difficult for the baboon to keep himself in one spot without falling over. "Okay! Alright! Fine! I doubt this will work, but I just hope you know what you're doing!" He replied, looking up to the heavens.

    Kovu's mane was almost fully developed by the time he felt his training was complete. He had grown from a weakling kitten into a ruthless killer. His fangs and claws were sharp and surpassed any of his pride, and possibly even surpassed his own father. And it had become his nature to not fear death.

    After taking on and defeating three of his pride members, his mother approached him and announced he was ready. To prove her point, she made the entire pride surround the two and she questioned Kovu, very aware of what his answers would be.

    "What is your destiny?" she asked.

    "To avenge Scar and take his place as king of the pridelands." Kovu replied, with anger and hatred exposed on his face.

    "Yes...what must you do to ensure your role as king?"

    "I must kill Simba and his heir." Kovu growled. He had grown to hate Simba more than ever, and everytime his name was mentioned, it made his blood boil and made his yearn to kill. The lionesses surrounding the two roared in triumph, excited about the death of their exiler.

    The following morning, Simba agreed to allow Kopa to put his leadership to the test and roam the pridelands alone to make sure everything was in order. Kopa's mane wasn't grown entirely, but Simba felt he was ready nontheless. Kopa was extremely excited and so was the rest of the pride. As Kopa walked around Pride Rock, trying to find Kala, everyone, including his mother and grandmothers, and Timon and Pumba (in their own special, abnormally emotional way) wished him a good day. Kyla approached Kopa (his mane had developed more than Kopa's and it was almost time for him to leave and start his own pride) and wished him luck. Kyla was about to leave when Kopa asked him where Kala was.

    "I think she's by the water hole! She wants to wish you luck too, go find her!" Kyla said, giving Kopa a little nudge with his head in her direction. Kopa ran as fast as he could to the water hole. He spotted her on the side opposite him. She raised her head from drinking and smiled once she was aware of his presence.

    "Kopa! Come here!" she called to him. Kopa splashed into the water (making a big splash at that) and swam to the other side. He walked onto the shore and shook the excess water from his fur. "I'm glad you're here! I wanted to wish you luck before you left!" She was as giddy as ever and it made Kopa chuckle. Kala still had a crush on him, and Kopa figured that he would be interested in her, but curiously enough, he wasn't. He never really put too much thought into it because he was still young and naive, but still didn't let Kala be aware that he knew about her.

    "Haha, thanks, Kala," he smiled. "Well, I've gotta get going. I'll catch you later." he said, taking his leave with a small bow.

    "Wait! Uh...y-you want some company?"

    "No, thanks." And he departed.

    Meanwhile, Nuka and Vitani were in Scar's old lair, fulfilling some duty Zira wanted them to do.

    "This place is really creepy." Nuka commented, taking a step behind his sister.

    "Sheesh...you're such a scaredy-cat." Vitani scoffed, between holding two dry branches in her mouth. She then dropped them beside a small active fire pit and waited for the ends to catch fire.

    "I am not," Nuka exclaimed, following her close. "I just don't see the point in helping Kovu, if he's so freaking special." Nuka still held his grudge with Kovu, seeing as he was still older, and still an annoyance to his mother. Nuka screamed when steam hissed behind him. Vitani rolled her eyes. She noticed the small flames on the ends of the sticks and she picked one up in her mouth.

    "Hurry up, Kopa has started his rounds. We have to move quickly." Vitani looked around, feeling like she was being watched by someone. Vitani rather didn't like what she had to do to endanger the poor little  Kopa, but she had to if she didn't want to face her mother's wrath. Nuka picked up his stick, getting scorched in the process and following his sister, laughing maniacally.

    Kopa was doing very well, if he did say so himself. He made sure there was no trouble between anyone, especially with the hyenas, which he did not find much of a threat anymore, since he was bigger than them. Kopa had wandered all day into the evening and was slowly making his way home through the grasslands. He was not aware that Nuka and Vitani were lighting the dry grass on fire. He noticed that there were no animals present, which was very peculiar. He sniffed the air and smelled something he never smelled before. It smelled like hot grass, which was a sickening smell. He looked behind himself and noticed that the entire grass field was on fire and was spreading fast. He gasped and ran into the opposite direction of the fire. He thought he was escaping it, but it seemed to have caught up with him, making him turn in to a dead-end.

    Zira and Kovu were sitting on the side, watching all of this happen. Pretty much everything in sight was ablaze. Zira grinned to herself as Kovu remained motionless.

    "The plan is in motion," she whispered. "Go!" She ordered her son. He ran into the fire, trying to find Kopa. He would not be hard to find.

    Simba was waiting patiently at Pride Rock for his son. It was getting late and he was starting to get worried. He was aware that the outlanders were still around, and he was starting to think they were up to something, because they had been very quiet as of late.

    "Don't worry, Simba." Zazu calmed. "Kopa's a smart kid, he'll be fine."

    "I don't know..." he replied, wary. Something caught his eye in the distance. It was smoke. "Fire...something's wrong!" Simba ran down Pride Rock as fast as he could in the direction of the fire. "Zazu! Fly ahead towards the fire! Keep an eye open for Kopa! He might be out there!"

    Nala watched Simba fly down the rocks as fast as he could. "Simba?" She ran after him. "Simba! I'm coming with you!"

    The smoke was filling Kopa's lungs and he was tiring fast. The air was thick and was making it extremely hard to see anything. The only thing visible was fire, until Kopa saw a rock towering over everything else. The top of it was in clean air. Kopa ran towards it and leapt to the top. He was hanging off the edge and struggled to bring himself up. He pushed his legs harder, finally reached it, and collapsed once he was safer than he originally was. Out from the smoke appeared a mysterious threatening figure. Kopa grew aware of his presense and stood too fast, collapsing again.

    "Get up." the figure ordered. "I'm not carrying you."

    "Don't...tell me what to do," Kopa coughed, standing himself up anyway. Once he stood his ground, the figure leaned himself against his body to ensure that he wouldn't fall again.

    "Now, follow me." Kopa followed. The two lions ran through the fire together, dodging hurdles of all kinds, from falling burning trees to ones already fallen. As they ran, whenever Kopa wasn't trying to pay attention to his surroundings, he was trying to figure out who this person was and why he was helping him. Just then, his rescuer lost his footing and tripped into a hole. Kopa leapt after him and pushed him out before a log fell onto them.

    "Move it!" Kopa yelled. Not paying attention to what he was doing, he fell down a small cliff, rendering himself unconscious as his head his a rock. He and his rescuer landed in water, but Kopa was the only one sinking. The conscious lion dove in after him and brought him to the surface, dragging him onto the shore. Zazu spotted them from above, and became worried, thinking that Kopa's rescuer had attacked Kopa and killed him. He flew in Simba's direction.

    Once Kopa reached dry land, he coughed and asked what happened, not really knowing if his rescuer was still around.

    "You fell, being ever-so clumsy." the other lion teased bitterly.

    "Excuse me!" Kopa shouted. "You have no right talking to me like that! You had YOUR fair share of 'clumsiness' or have you forgotten!" Kopa felt really embarrassed at his comment. He usually was never very clumsy in situations.

    "Is this any way to thank the one who just saved your life?!"

    "I didn't need your help anyway." Kopa said brushing passed him. "I had everything under control." He began walking away without another word.

    The other lion sighed in frustration. He was going to need a reminder. "Hey, what are you doing?"

    Kopa stopped in his tracks and faced the other lion. He knew he had seen him before. "Kovu?" he smirked. Kovu smirked back.

    "Kopa!" his father yelled coming in between the two, growling at Kovu. Nala nuzzled her son.

    "Kopa! You're alright!" she sighed.

    "Dad, what are you doing here?" Kopa exclaimed, motioning to his mother that he was fine.

    "I saw the smoke and came to investigate." Simba explained, not taking his eyes off Kovu. "Zazu said that HE had assulted you!"

    "But Kovu wasn't--"

    "Kovu?!" Simba roared. Kovu glared at him. Nala looked very concerned at Simba's hatred towards Kovu.

    "Hey!" yelled the voice of Rafiki. "You!" He pointed at Kovu. "How dare you save the king's son!" He was obviously making fun of Simba.

    "You saved Kopa?" Simba asked, suspicious of his motives. "Why?"

    "He was in trouble, sir," Kovu replied. "But now, I humbly ask to join your pride."

    "No! You were banished with the other outsiders! What makes you so sure I can trust you?"

    "Because I have left the outsiders." Kovu said in an accomplished tone. "Now I have no where to go, but to a king I myself can trust. Please, judge me for who I am now, instead of judging me by who my father was."

    Simba growled in frustration, hating to admit that Kovu was right. He had been judging Kovu because of Scar. Just because Scar was evil does not mean Kovu was the same. But then Simba had to pay attention to who his parents were. His father was Scar, the murderer of Mufasa who attempted to kill Simba. His mother was an insane being, falling in love with Scar and trying to kill Nala and Kopa, becoming just as ruthless a killer as Scar, but then using Kovu to become king of the pridelands. Simba grew very suspicious because the outlanders were also quiet up until this point. They were planning something and Kovu was up to no good as well, or at least he seemed. There was a possbility that Kovu was telling the truth about leaving the outsiders. But either way, it did not promote Simba at all.

    "Simba," Nala spoke. "You owe him our son's life." Naturally Nala would say so, she was always the more understanding of the two. Zazu approached Simba.

    "Yes, sire, clearly we are in his debt," he explained. "Though in this case, you might not want to pay him..."

    Simba looked at Kovu, who stood himself in an honorable stance. "My law will prevail, but for now I reserve judgement." He walked away towards Pride Rock. Kovu smirked at Kopa, satisfied with his answer. Kopa smiled back and they followed Simba.

    Darkness spread across the pridelands as evening turned into night. The clouds unfolding over the land made it darker and harder to see. Simba, Nala, Kovu, and Kopa made their way up Pride Rock to settle themselves in their cave for the night. However, when Kovu tried entering the cave, Simba growled at him. Kovu could've entered the cave, but he did not want to be watched like a hawk, so he stayed outside the cave and layed down. He knew that this was going to be very irritating if he didn't take care of Simba soon. Kopa walked up to Kovu.

    "Hey," he greeted. Kovu looked at him with a rather annoyed look on his face. "Uh, thanks for saving me today."

    "Psh, you're lucky I was around, princess," Kovu scoffed. "If I wasn't you surely would not have lasted."

    "And you're so sure," Kopa said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

    "I can bet anything that you last passed a third day on your own."

    "Oh, and I suppose YOU can?"

    "Heh, yeah," Kovu chuckled as if it was nothing.

    Kopa smirked. "Alright then. Prove it to me tomorrow. Impress me, by teaching me some of your 'skills' tomorrow." He walked by Kovu, heading into the den for the night. "We start at dawn. Meet me at the water hole."

    "Aha...I look forward to it," Kovu grinned.

    Watching the two from afar was Zira and Nuka, sitting silently in a tree so that no one could pick up their scent.

    "Did you see that?!" Nuka exclaimed, shocked. "He let him go! If that were me I'd--"

    "Hush!" Zira quieted him. "The fire rescue worked perfectly, and Simba fell for it. Now, the closer Kovu gets to the son, the closer he gets to Simba." Nuka tried putting this all together. "And...once he has Simba alone..." She slashed the trunk of the tree, just barely missing Nuka's head. "Now, you and Vitani will spy on them and report to me every night until Kovu has killed Simba. I am expecting him to kill him tomorrow. There is no excuse for him to wait."

    "Yes, mother," Nuka replied, still a bit shaken from when his mother nearly hit him.

    Simba woke up the next morning, a bit shaken from a disturbing dream he had the night before. His father's death had replayed in his head throughout his slumber. He hoped it wasn't an omen. Simba stretched himself out and made to way to the water hole for a drink. No animals were around, or so he thought.

    Kovu watched him from behind a rock, sure to keep himself downwind. He unsheathed his claws and crouched down low, ready to kill him at any given moment. Out of no where, Kopa pounced on him from behind and landed on top of him. Kovu roared, startled and ready to bite whatever attacked him. Once he realized it was Kopa, he stopped himself from acting for some reason, which was strange because his mission was to kill him as well as Simba.

    "Mornin'!" Kopa laughed. "Caught ya off guard, didn't I?"

    Simba heard the ruckus and approached the two young lions.

    "What are you two doing?" he asked.

    Kovu pushed Kopa off him and just slinked away without saying a word. He was very embarrassed that Kopa had caught him off guard. That hadn't happened since he was a cub. It would not happen again.

    Simba leaned in to Kopa. "Don't trust him too much, Kopa. He's up to something."

    "Dad, you need to have a little faith." Kopa bounded away, trying to catch up with Kovu. He spotted him lying on the ground outside of some tall grass. Kopa snuck into the grass, thinking that Kovu was unaware of his presence. But once Kopa leapt at Kovu a second time, Kovu ducked, sending the younger lion flying over his head. Kopa landed on his back with an "Uf!" Kovu stared down at Kopa.

    "Did you hear me?" Kopa asked, a bit embarrassed at his situation.

    "Only...alot!" Kovu scoffed. Kopa got back to his feet. "You breathe too hard. You need to relax. And then once you do, you just charge right in." Birds chirped in the distance and caught Kovu's attention. The birds were landing on the hill nearby. 'Watch the master and learn." Kovu told Kopa, silently running up the hill. He roared as he leapt to attack a bird, but instead of a bird, he came down on a meerkat, which screamed. The only reason Kovu didn't eat him was because it looked to pitiful.

    "Don't eat me, please!" The meerkat pleaded. "I never met Scar, but I hear he's a heck of a guy! A little moody, but--"

    "Hey, Uncle Timon!" Kopa smiled. "What's going on?"

    "Uncle?" Kovu thought. How could this little animal be Kopa's uncle of all things? It should be prey.

    "What's going on?! Kopa, my boy, there are bugs all over this hill!" Timon exclaimed. "Care to join us?" he asked, happily eating a worm.

    "Sure!" Kopa replied, eating a worm as well. Kovu looked disgusted. The birds were starting to flock about even more, and it was getting rather crowded. Pumba was trying to get rid of them by chasing them, but wherever he wasn't standing at the moment, the birds were there.

    "Timon! These birds are eating all of our food!" Pumba whined.

    "Oh, Pumba, you just need to scare them away! You're not gonna get rid of them by running around screaming like that!" Timon approached a bird and tried shooing it away, but he ended up being chased himself.  He ran to Pumba for safety like he often did.

    "Hey! What if he helps!" Pumba asked, referring to Kovu.

    "I've got an idea!" Timon jumped off Pumba and pointed to Kovu. "What if he helps? Wanna lend a voice?" Kovu looked at him, confused as to what he meant. He looked to Kopa for guidance.

    "Like this!" Kopa roared as loud as he could and the birds scattered. Timon and Pumba shouted and ran in excitement.

    "Do it again!" said Pumba. This time Kovu roared, trying to roar louder than Kopa. The two chased after the meerkat and warthog. Kopa began to laugh.

    "Why are we doing this?" Kovu asked Kopa as they ran. "What's the point of this training?"

    "Training?" Kopa laughed. "This is just for fun!"

    "Fun?" This was confusing. Why was it that he had never experienced fun before? And why was it that he never even thought about it before?

    "Geez, kid, ya've gotta get out more often!" Timon gaffawed.

    Kovu tried whooping in laughter like everyone else, and at first he found it rather embarrassing, but once he realized that everyone else was comfortable about it, his shouts became more enthusiastic. Pretty soon, they were all caught up in a game of tag, but didn't realize the herd of rhinos in front of them. The group stopped running and stood still, but the rhinos had spotted them. They found them as a threat and began to chase them, but it was definately not a game of tag. The two lions, meerkat, and warthog screamed in fear as they ran away from the stampede. The four of them managed to duck into a small hole and the rhinos ran right past them. They all laughed.

    "Whoo!" Kovu laughed. "That was awesome!" Their laughs ceased when Pumba tried squeezing out of the hole they were all crammed in. Kopa and Kovu followed and they continued showing Kovu how to have fun the rest of the afternoon.

    Later that evening, Kopa and Kovu were laying in the grass looking up at the stars, picking out shapes and whatnot.

    "This is so cool!" Kovu exclaimed. "I've never done this before!"

    "Really?" Kopa asked. "I find that hard to believe. Cuz my father and I used to do this all the time. He says that all the great kings of the past are in the stars and that when you look at them whenever you feel lonely, you won't feel alone anymore. Heh, it's also hard to believe that that many great kings have existed."

    "Do you think my father's up there?" Kovu whispered.

    "I dunno. Who is he?" Kopa had forgotten who Kovu's father was. He remembered someone mentioning it when they had first met, but it was not coming to him.

    "Scar," Kovu was aware that Kopa knew who his father was. He was a bit hesitant to tell him, but he figured it wouldn't much matter in the future anyway.

    Kopa was a bit shocked. Scar was a very hateful person, how could such an evil being have such a kind-hearted son? And why did he have his son's respect? Kopa did not understand, but what he finally realized was that Scar was his father's uncle, and that would, in a way make Kovu and Kopa cousins.

    A short distance away, was Simba sitting on top of a hill watching Kovu and Kopa without them realizing. He was still having difficulties trying to accept Kovu, so he talked to his father's spirit for guidance.

    "Father, I am lost," he whispered. "Kovu is Scar's heir...how can I accept him?" He felt someone else's presence. Nala was approaching him.

    "Simba, what are you doing out here?" she questioned, kind of knowing already what he was doing.

    "I was seeking counsel from the great kings," he said, kind of embarrassed that he was talking to himself.

    "Did they help?"

    "Silent as stars," he sighed. "If my father was still alive, he would never forgive Scar."

    "Oh, Simba. There's such a difference between you all. You want to become a great king. Scar wanted power. Perhap Kovu does not want any of that."

    "How would you know that?"

    "I can see him and Kopa down there just as easily as you can." Nala looked at the two young lions, who looked as if they were deep in conversation. "Take Kovu around the kingdom tomorrow. Get to know him." She took her leave towards Pride Rock again. Simba looked up at the stars and then followed.

    Kovu sighed. Kopa remained silent and Kovu was about to regret telling him who his father was. He was about to leave when Kopa finally spoke.

    "You know...I just thought of something,"

    "What?" Kovu asked.

    Kopa explained to him about their relations and how they're cousins. Kovu suddenly felt a new feeling take over him. For the first time he felt like he actually had a brother; a family. And he felt himself begin to trust Kopa even more.

    "Wow...you're right,"

    "Yeah," Kopa replied. "I mean, I knew who our parents were, I just never thought about how WE'RE related, until now."

    "Yeah..." Kovu also felt like a traior. He could not believe that all these years he had been trained to kill his family. He could not imagine being trained to kill his mother or his siblings. Killing Kopa would be the same thing. But even so, he could still not help but feel hatred towards Simba. Also, just the same, he had noticed how he changed just from today. He changed from a vengeful to a kind person.

    "What's wrong?" Kopa asked, noticing Kovu's sudden change in mood.

    "It's...just that, my whole life...I've been trained to..." Kovu looked away. There was no way he'd understand. "Nevermind...I've just gotta go."

    "Kovu, wait!" Kopa looked at him, begging him not to leave. Kovu kept walking, but was then stopped by a weird monkey.

    "And where are you going?" the monkey asked. It was Rafiki.

    "Uh...no where," Kovu sighed.

    "That's what YOU think!" Rafiki laughed as he ran away.

    "Who the heck what that?!" Kovu exclaimed. Kopa approached him and smiled embarrassingly.

    "He's Rafiki: a friend of the family."

    The baboon appeared again. "Someone wants to talk to you two! Follow old Rafiki! He'll show you! C'mon!" And he ran off again. Kopa immediately followed Rafiki and Kovu followed his cousin. They struggled to keep up with the old baboon. He led them far away from Pride Rock to a small pond and disappeared again. The two lions stopped and looked around for their guide.

    "Where-Where'd he go?" Kovu asked. Kopa, huffing with exhaustion, did not answer. Rafiki appeared again and shushed them. He pointed to the pond. Kovu and Kopa looked at each other, a bit uneasy, and looked into the pond. Kovu scoffed. "Is this who wanted to talk to us?" He asked, referring to their reflections.

    "Look again," Rafiki said. The two lions looked again and seen that their reflections were fused into one. They were a bit shocked at first, but then grew confused when their reflections changed into a very masculine lion with a bright auburn mane and very gentle eyes.

    "Is that your Dad?" Kovu whispered to Kopa.

    "No..." Kopa whispered back. "I think it's Mufasa, my grandfather." There was a moment of silence, as they continued to stare at the reflection, wondering how they are looking at a reflection not their own. For an instant Kovu had seen Scar, but when he blinked, he saw Mufasa again. They felt themselves being watched and looked up to see the great king before them; and gasped.

    "Grandfather! I mean, King Mufasa," Kopa bowed his head. Mufasa nodded with a smile, and Kopa raised his head. Kovu just stared at the king, emotionless. He had no idea what to think of Simba's father.

    Mufasa nodded his great head to both young lions as a greeting.

    "You two are old enough to know the truth." Mufasa stated. "You have realized that you are family. That you are one."

    Kovu and Kopa blinked, realizing that that was why their reflections were combined into one. Because their souls were intertwined through being family.

    "You two are also aware of the on-going war between your two prides." he continued. "Simba did his best to keep his family safe by banishing Zira, but unfortunately she is driven by madness and is doing everything in her power to avenge Scar. And it is driving to the prides apart. Both prides were one pride once upon a time." Kovu and Kopa looked at each other. "I don't expect you two to understand why they were first driven apart completely, just yet. But I need you two to bring the two back together."

    "But...why us?" Kovu asked. Kopa seemed suprised that Kovu would question such a great king, but then again he knew that Kovu didn't know of how great a king Mufasa was.

    "My son could be able to do it. But he cannot rely on me coming to him every time he is in trouble. I need you two, because you are more in touch with the other side." They nodded. "Then, I take my leave." The great king smiled with a nod, and turned to leave, as he walked away, he disappeared.

    It was late in the night when Kopa and Kovu made it back to Pride Rock. They reached the cave and smiled to each other.

    "We'll talk to my Dad tomorrow," Kopa said.

    "Do you think he'll believe us?"

    "No, but we've got to try our hardest. Mufasa wants this war to stop, and I do too. There's no reason for our prides to be fighting."

    Kovu agreed. They said good night and Kopa entered the cave, while Kovu stayed ouside as always. Simba watched his son enter the cave alone and saw his moonlit silhouette lay on the hard ground to sleep. He looked at Nala, who was fast asleep by his side. What she said about Kovu earlier replayed in his mind. He stood up and walked outside the cave where Kovu was laying. Kovu looked up, a bit startled.

    "It's a little chilly out here tonight," Simba lied. Both lions knew that the weather was actually rather pleasant that night, but Simba needed some kind of excuse to let Kovu into the cave. "Why don't you come inside?" Kovu smiled and followed Simba in. Maybe Simba wasn't as bad as everyone said.

    Vitani was watching Kovu follow Simba. If killing Simba were to happen at any time, right then and there was the right time to do it. Kovu could kill in an instant, and even if Simba's pride were to try and kill Kovu, he could easily outrun them.

    "Kill him," Vitani whispered. She kept watching, but Kovu was not making any kind of move. "What are you waiting for, Kovu, kill him!" Vitani whispered, with a more desparate tone in her voice. "If you don't do it now, Zira will kill you!" Kovu still did not, and followed him into the cave of Pride Rock. She growled in frustration and ran away.

    What was her brother doing? He couldn't possibly betray his pride! If he did, he would be banished forever, and she would not be able to see him anymore. She could not even think about reporting a lie to her mother. She would know, especially when Zira was already growing angry because of how long it was taking Kovu to kill Simba.

    She reported everything she saw to Zira, who was originally speaking to the other lionesses of the pride, and she roared, not believing what she heard.

    "He DIDN'T kill him?!" Zira growled.

    "Affirmative." Vitani said, feeling a bit uneasy about telling her mother the truth about Kovu.

    "If Kovu betrays us..." Zira muttered angrily, not finishing her sentence.

    "You know, mother," Vitani said quietly. "I think there's a reason why Kovu hasn't fulfilled his duty." Zira said nothing, but Vitani couldn't tell if she was listening or not. "Simba seemed to have really been accepting Kovu into his pride. We didn't think it would happen because Simba hates our kind. But if it were true, why would Simba do such a thing? I think it may be because he's truly a kind king. And I was also thinking...since he accepted Kovu...maybe he'd accept us...too." Zira whipped around and bit Vitani in the face. The daughter cried out in pain as the mother bit her again. The rest of the pride just stood there, wide-eyed, not doing anything to help Vitani, scared of the consequences of doing so.

    "Mother!" Nuka exclaimed, running in to stop his mother from killing Vitani, but not touching her. Zira stopped and looked at her eldest son, fur still bristled. Vitani laid on the ground, still from shock.

    "You all best keep in mind who sentenced us to death by sending us here!" Zira roared to her pride. "I will kill anyone who betrays me!" They stared at her trying to keep their faces emotionless, even though fear still showed on their brow.

    Kovu woke up early the next morning. He tried to fall back asleep, but he couldn't, so he exited the cave to think to himself. The guilt of keeping his secret from Kopa was really nagging at his mind. He had to tell him about Zira's plot and that he was part of it. The other thing that nagged at his mind was that he didn't want to be a part of his own famly any more. He rather wanted to be a part of Kopa's family. But he wasn't sure if Kopa or Simba or anyone would believe him. He was afraid to tell them, because he was afraid he'd fail Mufasa, which was strange because he had never met Mufasa in his life. The king of the past seemed to give off a very honorable aura, and even Kovu couldn't help but feel it. He then thought about Kopa saying that they were going to convince Simba, even though it was unlikely that he would ever be convinced. Even in the most desparate times, Kopa always tried to find a solution to his problems. "But I've got to try." He thought to himself.

    Just then, Kopa emerged from the cave. "Hey, Kovu! You ready?"

    "Kopa...I need to tell you something--"

    "Kopa!" Simba exclaimed from the back. The two younger lions were startled, especially Kovu. "Don't talk with him. I will talk with him." Kopa smiled, happy that his father was finally understanding why the two were friends. Kovu blinked, not really understanding why Simba would want to talk with him, but going along with it anyway. Kopa watched his cousin and father walk away from Pride Rock. He smiled, knowing that Kovu would keep Mufasa's wish; their own wish in mind.

    Simba and Kovu traveled all over the Pride Lands, making conversation as they went. It was mostly Simba talking, but Kovu didn't mind.

    "So, you and Kopa seem to be the best of friends right now." Simba stated.

    "Uh, yes, we are." Kovu said, smirking a little bit. "I like him."

    "Yes, he is a good kid."

    There was a moment of silence.

    "Uh...You don't really like me do you?" Kovu asked, in a somewhat timid fashion.

    "And why would I think that?" Simba replied, expecting Kovu to explain what he meant. He was a little confused, because Simba was trying to warm up to the young outlander, but he could understand why Kovu would think such a thing.

    "Because of my father." Kovu explained the stories of Scar the way his mother told him, which made him sound like a god. Kovu still didn't understand why everyone hated his father, so he felt unconfortable and confused mentioning him at all.

    "Ah yes," Simba nodded. "I used to think him as great too, but that was when I was young. When I grew up, I finally realized how terrible he was." Kovu's eyes widened. What did his father do that was so terrible? "When I was young, my father fell from a cliff to be trampled by a wildebeast stampede. And Scar became king shortly after I...disappeared. My whole life I thought my father's death was all my fault, never understanding why, and in turn forgetting about it. I had found out later that Scar let the hyenas rule the Pride Lands, and he let then destroy anything they pleased, and kill as they pleased. Herds left the Pride Lands so that they wouldn't be killed. Then there was a drought and it never rained, so there was no water. That caused all of the remaining herds to leave, so there was no food. He basically sentenced the pride to death, because he would let no one leave. I went back to Pride Rock to take Scar's role as king. It was then when I realized who my father's true killer was; it was Scar."

    Kovu blinked. He was shocked, but not nearly as shocked as when he found out the reason why Scar killed Mufasa.

    "Scar killed my father to become king. And to make sure I didn't become king, he had his hyenas chase me far away. One would wonder, 'how could anyone kill their own brother?' I cannot answer that, but all I know was that Scar had a hatred towards my father, and I can only guess it had evolved from when they were younger. And for some reason Scar did not, or could not, let go of his hate. And in the end it destroyed him."

    "But..." Kovu ojected. "I thought you killed him."

    "I didn't," Simba replied. "I offered to let him live, and he ended up fighting me. I threw him off a cliff and he managed to survive. I then witnessed his hyena servants devour him alive. I can only guess why they did that, but as far as I'm concerned, he got what he deserved for killing my father and sentencing the pride to starvation."

    "Wow...I've never heard of Scar like that." Kovu whispered, shocked that such a killer could be his father, that he could be willingly worshipped by many. He hoped that he never grew up to be like his father at all.

    Simba could tell that Kovu was frustrated about himself and how bad he must have felt knowing how evil his father was. He looked at his surroundings and noticed that they were in the area that had caught fire the other day and spotted a little tiny plant trying to emerge from the dead ground. "But you know, sometimes things can grow to be better than the generation before. If given the chance." He winked at Kovu, who smiled. They continued walking and just enjoying the other's company, especially Kovu, since Simba was giving him a chance to redeem the repuation his father left him. It started to grow dark when Kovu realized where they were. They were circling near the outlands. He started to panic. He knew that his mother and the rest of his pride would be waiting nearby if a chance like this was available.

    "Uh, Simba?" Kovu whispered.

    "What?" he asked, turning around.

    "I don't think we should be near here. It could be--"

    There was a faint snicker, and then silhoutettes of outlanders were surrounding the two lions. Kovu knew that this was going to happen. Simba was just starting to trust him this time and now the plan to kill him may finish. He couldn't let them kill him.

    Simba was looking around. He and Kovu were being ambushed. Had the outlanders returned to take revenge on them for letting Kovu join another pride? He did not know, but grew angry at the sight of Zira's ugly, smug face.

    "Why, Simba, what are you doing out here by yourself?" she cackled. She looked at her son. "Well done, Kovu."

    "What!" Simba looked at Kovu. He could not believe that Kovu had set him up, but sure enough that was what seemed to be happening right before him.

    "No, Simba! Understand! I had nothing to do with this!" Kovu rambled, desperate for Simba to believe him. But Simba was not sure if he could or could not and let his guard down. At that moment the outlanders attacked Simba as once. The king would have been able to take on several at once, but since all of them were ganging up on him trying to destroy him in any way, it was difficult for him to even stand, let alone fight them off. Kovu cried out and tried getting them off, but was forced back by unoccupied lionesses. He looked to his siblings for help, but Nuka was too busy attacking Simba to do anything. He caught Vitani's attention and she stared at him, scared for some reason. Kovu noticed that she wasn't attacking Simba or himself. What's gotten in to her?

    Simba was knocked down the same cliff that towered over the alligators' river. Not many alligators were around, but he had to fight off two, which his pursuers would not even attempted to get near. Once Simba scared the two alligators away, he continued to swim down the river, avoding the opposite side of the river, where the outlands were. If there was one territory to avoid, that was it. The outlanders knew their environment well, and Simba did not, so he swam as fast as he could, still being chased. One lioness managed to latch onto Simba, nearly making him drown, but he managed to fight that one off too.

    The river was finally shallow enough to stand in but it was only because of the dam, made up of logs, ahead kept it from overflowing. He looked up the dam and looked back to see how close Zira and the others were. They were gaining ground fast, so Simba went the only way he could and climbed up the dam. He struggled up because his strength was lost from swimming such a long way. The but good thing was that the lionesses had given up on the chase because as Simba climbed, logs were being knocked out from under his feet. Kovu appeared at the top.

    "Simba! This way!" Kovu cried. Simba growled at the sight of him, but climbed towards him anyway.

    "Get him, Kovu! Get him, NOW!" Zira roared.

    Kovu stared at his mother. There was no way he was going to be able to face her after this. If she seen him trying to help Simba, she'd kill him for sure. He looked at Simba, who was managing to make it to safety. Kovu shook his head and ran away to get to the bottom of the dam.

    "I'll do it, mother! I'll do it for you!" Nuka ran up the dam, dodging the small avalanche of logs Simba made. Nuka was struggling, but not as much as Simba, because his training kept him in a shape that allowed him to be fast. He made it up to Simba in half the time and stabbed his claws into Simba's back leg. "Finally! MY moment of glory!" Nuka raised his other clawed paw to slice into Simba's side, but he lost his footing and fell down the dam. Many of his bones broke as he fell, and the only time his body stopped falling was when he was pinned by a log. He tried to get the log off himself, but from above another log rolled over the upper half of his body. Before Nuka's sight drew black, out of the corner of his eye he saw Simba make it up to safety at the top of the dam and get away.

    Kovu witnessed the whole thing and fear clutched onto his heart. He ran down the cliff as fast as he could and made it to where his brother's body was, praying that he was still alive. Kovu removed some small logs, but was pushed out of the way by his hysterical mother. She removed all of the logs until she seem her son sticking out from the debris. He coughed out one of his last breaths.

    "Nuka..." Zira whispered, near tears.

    "I'm sorry...mother..." Nuka whispered as loud as he could. "I...tried..." She cradled his face with her paw and shushed him gently. For the first time in her life, she was actually concerned about Nuka's well-being. "Well...at least I got your attention...didn't I?" Those were his last words, and while Zira smiled at them, others who heard, stared wide-eyed. They were shocked as to what they heard. Zira gently let go of Nuka's still face and stared at him.

    "Nuka..." Vitani said, looking like she was going to burst into tears at any given moment. She held back her tears because she knew that her mother would never approve.

    Simba limped his way back to the Pride Lands. He was so tired from earlier, he practically had no strength left. It was almost completely dark outside when he seen familiar faces ahead. It was Kopa, Timon, and Pumba. They seemed to have been torturing Zazu in some way. Kopa was laughing until he seen his father, hanging his head low, and without Kovu.

    "Father!" Kopa exclaimed, running towards the injured lion. "Zazu! Get help, please!" Zazu had no second thoughts and flew towards Pride Rock as fast as he could. Simba smiled at the sight of his son and collapsed. "Father! Are you okay?"

    "Simba, what happened?" Timon asked.

    "Kovu..." Simba choked out, still exhausted and wounded. "I was...ambushed." And he fell silent, still clinging on to life. Pumba wedged himself under the lion and carried him on his back for a short distance, until his lionesses found them and spared him the weight. It fell dark by the time they made his back home, and Simba fell fast asleep, his pride praying that he made it through the night.

    Zira and the other outlanders were having a moment for silence for the death of Nuka. They were still crowded around the dam where he fell.

    "Scar...watch over my poor Nuka..." Zira mourned. She then looked back to her youngest son, anger flashing in her eyes. "You!" Kovu looked up, only to have his eye slashed by his mother, who brought her paw down on him. He cried out. When he looked up, he reminded Zira of Scar because of the identical scar across his left eye. Kovu was glaring at her, angrier than ever. All of these past years of training to think like a killer, he was contemplating killing his own mother right there. He shook his head at such thoughts. He did not want to be like Scar.

    "What have you done?!"

    Kovu swallowed back his fears. He was no longer going to make excuses to lessen his punishment. He deserved whatever she'd give him. "I did nothing."

    "Why?! How could you betray your pride?! How could you betray Scar?!"

    "I want nothing more to do with that demon!" Kovu yelled. Zira backed him up, angry that her own son would call her beloved such a vile name.

    Zira roared. "There's nothing you can do! You cannot escape becoming your father! Because you've killed your own brother!"

    Kovu shook his head. It was true, but he refused to believe that he was anything like his so-called "father." He ran away screaming "No!" Vitani went to chase after him, but Zira placed her paw in front of her.

    "Let him go!" she growled. "Simba has hurt me for the last time! First he killed Scar and he's now corrupted Kovu with ridiculous thoughts! Since he is injured and weak it will not be hard for us to take over his entire kingdom! We attack tomorrow when they least expect it!" The lionesses roared triumphantly, driven by anger towards Simba for killing and corrupting their own kind. Vitani did not join in the group roar and while everyone was distracted, she chased after her little brother. It was almost morning by the time she caught up to him.

    "Kovu, stop!" she yelled.

    "Get away from me, Vitani! I'll end up killing you too!" he exclaimed, sounding like he had been crying while he was running.

    "Will you stop being stupid and listen to me!" Kovu stopped and faced his sister.

    "What? Has Zira sent you after me or something?"

    "Of course not! I want out of this just as much as you do! I hate feeling trapped in my own family." she growled. Kovu stared at her. She did seem just as desperate as he was to get out of this situation. "Kovu, let's leave together! And we can take Kopa with us! We don't need the rest of them anymore. There's no sense in trying to get Simba to trust you again. I know he won't and I don't blame him at all and it's because of how he thinks of Scar. If I were him I wouldn't trust you anymore either."

    "I know things look bad, but I have to try." he said simply. He started his way back. "He'll forgive me. And then he'll let you in his pride too."

    Vitani shook her head. "No, Kovu, he would never accept me. I'm too much like mom. And as far as we're both concerned, I helped in trying to kill him." Kovu knew she was lying because he saw her not make any move to attack him, but he let her think what she wanted. "Fine. Go try. But if he doesn't accept you, meet me back here." And the two siblings.parted in different directions. Kovu did not know where Vitani was headed, but he knew that she was not heading back to Zira. It was mid afternoon by the time Kovu reached Pride Rock.

    Kopa and Nala were near Simba, who had just got done explaining what had happened the evening before.

    "I know it's wrong to judge so quickly, but I still can't help but think he was responsible for the whole thing." Simba said.

    "I don't believe it for a moment," Kopa snorted. Kala looked at them in concern. She was feeling sad after hearing the story about Kovu. Kyla had left the pride recently and she was feeling lonely ever since Kopa and Kovu became friends. She actually hoped that Kovu never came back so that she and Kopa could become better friends. She looked up when she spotted the familiar brown lion, then her face grew angry.

    "It's Kovu," scoffed a few of the lionesses. Kovu made his way near Pride Rock, but the lionesses formed a barrier so that he would not enter. They whispered to each other once they noticed the scar on his face, which scared Sarabi a little bit. Kala did nothing but stand and glare at the outlander.

    "Kovu!" Kopa exclaimed. "Tell him!" Simba growled.

    "So, you think you have a right to come back?" Simba snorted. Seeing that Kovu had a scar like his father's, Simba grew angrier. He almost looked exactly like Scar.

    "Simba...I had nothing to do with the ambush, I swear!"

    "What makes you so sure I can trust you!"

    Kovu could not explain. Vitani was starting to be right about this situation. "Because I'm not Scar! I'm begging you, please, forgive me! I never meant you any harm!"

    "That I KNOW is not true." Simba referred back to when Zira congratulated Kovu. She originally sent Kovu to kill him for her in some manner and almost suceeded.

    "Dad! Would you just believe him!" Kopa growled.

    "Quiet!" Simba yelled. He faced Kovu. "When you first came here, you asked for judgement, and I pass it now! You're forever an exile!" Kopa gasped as Simba gave the lionesses the que to chase Kovu away. Most of the lionesses chased Kovu from Pride Rock and quite some distance away, while the others kept Kopa from running after him. Once Kovu was out of sight, the lionesses scattered around the vicinity, and Kopa and Nala approached Simba.

    "Dad! What are you doing!" Kopa begged.

    "Simba, reconsider this, please." Nala said.

    "Nala, I did what you said. And as far as I'm concerned, he cannot be trusted."

    "I can't believe you'd not trust him so quickly! There's got to be a mistake!" Simba stayed silent, looking like he was ready to strike anything that spoke next. Nala scoffed and walked away, frustrated. Kopa watched his mother leave. He decided to give his father a try so he approached his father. "Kopa!" Nala objected, not wanting her son to get punished.

    "Dad, this is no way to resolve things!" he said.

    "You're too young to understand, Kopa!" Simba growled. "Don't you realize that he used you to get to me?"

    "No! He didn't use me at all! Families don't use each other!"

    "Families also don't plot against each other! Which is exactly why he's no longer here! He's following in Scar's pawprints! I must follow in my father's, and you must follow in mine."

    "Mufasa'd be ashamed of you right now! You'll never be him and there is no way on earth I'll ever want to be like YOU!" Kopa roared. Simba blinked at how Kopa lashed out like that. What he said hurt, but then he was also supecting it to be true. "And if you're not going to solve this war between the two prides, I will!" Kopa ran away from him. Simba did not watch him leave. He wondered where he was going, but he did not chase after him. There was no way he would face his son after that remark. He'd wait until later when Kopa cooled off.

    Kopa ran down the side of Pride Rock and was then stopped by Kala. He wouldn't look at her directly.

    "Kopa, why are you chasing after him?"

    Silence.

    "Please don't. Stay here...with me." she begged.

    "I can't." he stated. Mufasa came to mind. "I have a duty." And he ran off. Kala sniffed back a tear and watched him go.

    Kopa traveled all over the Pride Lands, but there was no sign of Kovu anywhere. He even tried following his scent, but then figured that Kovu was long gone from here because his scent wasn't very clear. It was late at night when Kopa stumbled upon Kovu with a lioness he'd never seen before. Kopa ran towards Kovu an glomped him, which caught him off guard. The lioness acted very quickly and pounced on top of Kopa with a snarl. Kopa stared up at her and suddenly became extremely embarrassed. She was very pretty and had the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. He felt his heart jump into his throat.

    "Vitani, stop! It's Kopa!" Kovu exclaimed. Vitani looked at Kovu, then back at Kopa and got off him. "I forgot you two haven't really met, yet." Kovu chuckled. "Kopa, this is my sister Vitani. Vitani, this is Kopa." Kopa bowed his head in salutations.

    "Kovu, like I've been trying to tell you," Vitani said, turning her attention to her brother. "Mother is sending our pride to Pride Rock. We have to get out of here."

    "Wait, what's going on?" Kopa asked.

    "A war is going to happen between your pride and our pride." Vitani explained. "It's best if we get out of here now."

    "We can't leave!" Kopa exclaimed to Kovu.

    "Yes, we can, Kopa!" Kovu argued. "Just because we're motivated to stop the war and fulfill Mufasa's wish, doesn't mean everyone else is! You seen how 'understanding' your father was the other day! That's EXACTLY how everyone else will be!"

    "We've got to try!"

    "We've already tried!"

    "We need to try AGAIN!"

    Kovu growled. Kopa was just as stubborn as his dad, and it hurt his teeth to admit that he was right. They needed to keep trying until they got what they wanted.

    "We have to go back," Kopa said, more gently. "Our place is with our family. And if we run away...they'll be divided forever. And families shouldn't be divided."

    The two siblings looked down at the ground then at each other. There was a moment of silence, and they were all letting what Kopa said sink in. Vitani was the first to speak up.

    "I'm going back to mother," she said. "I've got to...try to convince her...that fighting is pointless." Kopa smiled, but Kovu objected.

    "Vitani! You can't! She'll kill you!"

    "I won't let her,"

    "Then let me go with you!"

    "And what will she do to you? What makes you think she won't kill you on the spot?"

    Kovu held his breath, worry and concern displayed on his brow. He sighed. "Just stay alive."

    Vitani smiled. "I'll meet you in between Pride Rock and the outlands." She with that, she ran towards the outlands. By the time she made it there, she was approached by her mother.

    "And where have you been?!" Zira growled.

    Panic almost grabbed ahold of Vitani. "I've been...here, mother." she replied, walking away.

    Zira made an announcement for her pride to move out towards Pride Rock. Vitani followed reluctantly. As they traveled, Vitani made her way up to her mother's side.

    "Mother," Vitani spoke. Zira did not respond. "You know that fighting...won't bring anyone back, right?" Zira stayed silent. Memories of the last time Vitani tried objecting to Zira flashed through Vitani's head and made her feel fear of being attacked again. She cursed herself for being too afraid to stand up to her mother, but that is what happened. She stayed silent. She couldn't do this alone. It started to rain.

    Simba woke up to a thunder crash and looked around the cave. Everyone else was asleep, and although he couldn't see anything, he assumed that Kopa was asleep too, possibly asleep with Kala. Just then he heard Zazu shriek out his name.

    "Zazu! What were you doing outside when its storming?" Simba whispered.

    "Something did not feel right, sire!" Zazu cried. "I flew through the rain to find out what it was!"

    "What is it?"

    "The outsiders are heading this way!"

    "What!" Simba exclaimed. "Why!"

    "I have no idea, but they're all gaining ground fast!"

    "Everyone, wake up!" Simba shouted. "The outsiders are coming, we have to keep them from doing any damage!" If it was a war they wanted, they were not going to get an easy fight from the pridelanders. Simba knew that Zira was planning on taking over the pridelands and there was no way he was going to let that happen. He ordered the younger lionesses to stay put at Pride Rock. Kala wanted to go, but Simba would not allow it.

    The two prides instinctively marched towards each other. The rain poured harder with each mile gained. Once the two prides saw each other, they were in an open field. No animals were around because they were all aware of the bloodspill about to occur. The pridelanders and the outsiders stopped when they were but a few yards away from each other.

    "It ends now, Simba!" Zira roared. Killing Simba was all that was on her mind. He had killed her mate and she was the only one who could and would avenge his death. Neither her sons nor her daughter were on her mind at all. Whether she really loved them or not or even if Scar loved her was unknown, but she loved Scar with all her heart and that was all she knew.

    "Zira, I'm telling you, go home. I don't want to have to hurt you." Simba said.

    "Shut up!" Zira turned to her pride. "Attack!" The outlanders charged towards to pridelanders and the pridelanders charged without order, and they collided with body slams, claws, and fangs. Vitani was doing everything in her power to evade the violence. She even tried getting some to stop fighting, but she ended up getting involved. She spotted Simba's queen, Nala, and tried approaching her to try and get her to cease the fighting, but in an attempt to protect herself, Nala attacked Vitani. The outsiders were more brutal in their fights, but the pridelanders refused to give in. Eyes were slashed, throats to biten, flesh was torn, bodies even fell.

    Kovu and Kopa were running everywhere trying to find the battle grounds of the outlanders and the pridelanders. They finally found the field in which they were located, and gasped at the sight. It was lion verses lion and it just looked like an giant mass fighting itself. The two lions ran towards their prides as fast as they could before anything else happened. They ran over the wooden dam that was blocking the river from overflowing.

    The fighting only ceased when the fight between Zira and Simba became incredibly intense. Zira slashed her claws across Simba's face. He roared and managed to stand on his hind legs and tackle Zira to the ground. She bit his face and he backed up. They paused and readied their next attack until to lions leapt from afar and faced the two opponents.

    "Kopa?" Simba exclaimed.

    "Kovu!" Zira growled. "Move...!"

    "Stay out of this," Simba ordered his son.

    "Dad, this is pointless! It has to stop and you know it!" Kopa yelled.

    "You're such a weakling! I can't believe I even called you my son! You have no right to get involved! Get out of my way!" Zira yelled to her son.

    "If you want to kill Simba, you're gonna hafta go through me." Kovu growled.

    "Kopa, you don't understand what's going--" Kopa interrupted his father.

    "No, Dad, you don't understand. A wise king told me 'we are one'. I didn't understand him at first, but now I do."

    "But they--"

    "They are US." Kopa said. "There's no differences. We're all lions."

    Everybody looked around. The outlanders had indeed blended in with the pridelanders. The sky began to clear. Simba looked up and then smiled at his son. They nuzzled.

    Zira scoffed. "Vitani! Attack!"

    "No, mother!" she spat. All of the outlander lionesses looked at her in confusion and shock. "They're right. I cannot take the fighting anymore. This has gone far enough." She walked over to her brother and joined his side.

    Zira grinned. "If you will not fight, I'll make sure you die along with the rest of them."

    The outlanders looked at each other and scoffed at Zira, leaving her side and joining the others.

    "What?! No! Get back here, you traitors!"

    "Hakuna matata, Zira." Simba smirked. "It's time to put the past behind us. There's nothing you can do to change the past."

    "I'll never let go of the past!" She roared. In the distance the creaking dam could be heard. "This is for you, Scar!" She leapt into the air to attack Simba, but was counter-attacked by her own daughter. They struggled so much that they ended up rolling off the cliff.

    "Vitani!" Kovu exclaimed. He was about to jump in after his sister, but Kopa charged right in before him and leapt down the side of the cliff to get to her first. Kovu was rather impressed as to how fast Kopa learned from his training.

    "Kopa! What are you doing!" Simba exclaimed jumping in after him.

    Vitani managed to land on a cliff higher than where Zira landed, but they were a good distance apart. Kopa jumped onto Vitani's ledge and aked if she was ok. She nodded. They looked to where Zira was and she was hanging over the cliff by a claw. There was a loud noise and they looked up to see the dam breaking. Water began to trickle from the top until the logs just gave in and broke. The river began to overflow. Alligators were seen trying to flee the area for their lives.

    Kopa saw his father climing towards him and Vitani and he jumped down to help the helpless Zira.

    "Zira! Give me your paw!" He ordered, reaching his own out to her. She slashed her paw at his to try and make him fall, but she missed. Kopa stared at her. She obviously was not going to let him help. "Zira come on! I'll help you!" Zira gasped at the sight below her. The river was flowing fast and violent and logs were being tossed around mercilessly. She smiled and looked at Kopa.

    "No...!" she whispered, grinning evilly. There was no longer any life in her eyes. Kopa gasped. She wasn't honestly thinking about... "Never...!" And she let go of the cliff. Her body hit the water hard and Kopa couldn't bare to remove his eyes from the terible sight. He could see one lone paw reach above the water's surface, but he couldn't tell if it was grasping for something to pull itself up or was lifelessly flapping about in the water. He just layed there in silence, wondering why she would willingly let herself fall. Kopa was once again confused at another's illogical actions.

    Vitani watched her mother commit suicide and cried into her paws. She had no idea why she was crying. She hated her mother as she was growing up because of the hell she put her through. At times she wanted her mother dead, but why was she crying now that she was?

    Simba looked at the poor young lioness and gently placed a paw on her, assuring her that it was going to be alright. He let her cry for a moment and then managed to get her up to the top of the cliff where it was safe. There, she nuzzled her brother.

    Kovu witnessed his mother as well and let out a griving sigh. He was sad that his mother died, because he loved her, but at the same time, he was happy that she didn't have to go through anymore pain.

    Kopa sighed as well. Still confused about what just happened, he made his way up the cliff, where he was praised by everyone. Everybody was amazed by his courage and wanting to help someone who tried to kill him. Even though the majority of everyone was happy that Zira was gone, he was still upset. Until Kovu and Vitani came into sight. Seeing those two made him feel alot happier and relieved. He nuzzled Kovu in a brotherly manner.

    Simba looked at his son and Kovu and smiled. "Kovu...I owe you an apology. And I'm sorry for the way I treated you. You're more than welcome to stay." He turned to the rest of the outsiders. "Everyone is welcome." The two prides became one and they all traveled back to Pride Rock together.

    Kopa, Kovu and Vitani led the way back involuntarily. Simba watched as Vitani softly rubbed her head against Kopa's. Simba smiled, and Kopa smiled similarly. He shifted his eyes to Kovu, who chuckled and rolled his eyes.

    When they made it back, Kopa was approached by Kala, who had seen him walking with Vitani. She smiled at him platonically and bowed her head to Vitani, with a slight hint of sadness in her face.

    The next day, the animals of the pridelands gathered around Pride Rock again where the two princes of the pridelands were presented. The animals rejoiced yet again, happy that the long dispute between the pridelanders and the outlanders had finally ended. Kovu and Kopa looked to each other and roared in unison. Simba watched them and thought he heard the voice of his father on the wind. He looked up to the sky and smiled.

    Rafiki was in the distance, happy with how the plan went. He nodded up to Mufasa's spirit, and ensured him that very soon another circle of life would be complete.