paixaorpg | Together We Can Face the World [Completed]

Entry tags:

Together We Can Face the World [Completed]

Character(s): Kovu and Kiara
Content: The usual two meeting up thing.
Setting: Central Station
Time: Stupid-O-Clock
Warnings: Nada

She'd been searching for Kovu when she'd found herself here, but the funny thing was, once she'd arrived here, she'd remembered being here before. Try as she might, she just couldn't work out how that could be; it just didn't make sense. In the end, she'd given up even trying to figure it out. It seemed easier to just forget about it, especially as there were more pressing things on her mind.

It was hard to believe her father could be from a time before she even existed. It was another thing that just didn't make any sense, but there seemed to be little other explanation. It didn't really make it hurt any less. It felt awful to think that she'd been so angry at her father just a few hours ago, and now he didn't even know her.

She could only hope Timon would have better luck talking him than she'd had.

In the meanwhile, Kiara couldn't have possibly wanted to see Kovu more than she did now. She was tired, and her paws felt sore from walking on the rocky ground, but finally she reached the centre of the city. Now she just had to wait for Kovu to appear. She tried to sit, but feeling anxious, she paced around, despite her paws protests. It was all she could do to try to keep other sad thoughts from her mind.

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This Paixao place was much larger than Kovu had thought. He had been walking most of the night toward the middle of it, and it was just now daybreak. Hard to believe he'd been in the Pride Lands just last night, after being inside a place like this...

A familiar scent caught his nose, and his eyes lit up. He bounded over to Kiara, and he couldn't have been happier to see her after all that stuff with Timon. What was that meerkat's problem, anyway? But what was worse was that Simba was here...a Simba that didn't remember his own daughter, much less Scar's heir. That would be hard to get used to. Kovu remembered what he said to Simba that day he saved Kiara from the fire...and he felt it coming back to bite him. He couldn't be angry at Simba for killing Scar and banishing him...when Simba hadn't even done those things yet. At least...he shouldn't. It didn't help as much as he wanted it to, just knowing that Simba hadn't done it yet didn't make enough of a difference.

He shook his head. Kiara was more important right now. Her own father didn't even know her. Kovu's problems with Simba could wait...right now, Kiara needed someone to lend her a paw. And Kovu was just the lion for the job. He bounded over to her, and chuckled when he noticed her pacing. For effect, he slowed down, and hoped she hadn't seen how excited he was. He wanted to make her laugh, and he had what he thought was a good way to do it.

"What are you doing?" he said, purposefully echoing their first encounter as cubs, and that day he'd come back to the Pride Lands with her.

She'd been walking the opposite direction when Kovu's familiar scent caught her nose. Her expression instantly brightened as she turned around to find him standing there, watching her.

His greeting managed to catch her off guard. He'd been aiming to get her to laugh, and a laugh he did get, albeit a bit muted. "Kovu!"

Kiara closed the distance between them with a couple bounds, almost looking like she was going to barrel into him. She stopped just short, and promptly burrowed her face into his dark mane. She'd wanted to see him terribly, but only now did she realize just how much. Everything felt a little better now.

Kovu's careful training made him tense up to get out of the way if Kiara hadn't stopped, but he relaxed quickly when he felt her head brushing along his mane.

He nuzzled the top of her head, feeling much more at peace now. "I wish I could've found you sooner," he said quietly, glad to at last have a scent he knew so close. He couldn't find anything else to say. It was just so nice to be there with her, and that nobody else was around right now.

Slowly Kiara let out a breath, trying to relax. From everything that had happened with her father at Pride Rock to suddenly ending up here, and her father being here but not even knowing her and just... everything, in less than a day.

"I'm just glad you're here." Kiara nuzzled further beneath Kovu's chin, pressing a little closer to him for comfort. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here too," Kiara quietly added.

She wasn't sure how she could have handled all this alone. It was almost remarkable that he'd arrived here at the same time she had. Maybe even strange, but she wasn't about to question it now. She was only glad of it; very, very, glad.

Kovu placed a paw on Kiara's back when she pressed closer, realizing why she'd done that. He hadn't said anything to Simba at all when Kiara was talking to him, but he had listened to every word. It had been pretty hard for him not to yell at Simba, but then...that would have only made things worse for Kiara.

"And I'm not going to leave you unless I absolutely have to," he said, smiling. Then he quirked an eyebrow, though she obviously couldn't see it. "...Or if you tell me to go." He laughed just a little, knowing she'd hardly appreciate a joke like that right now, and nuzzled her neck.

He went quiet again for a few seconds, then backed away from Kiara just a little, and looked at her eyes. "So, what are we going to do? Sitting here moping isn't going to get us anywhere."

Please tell me that isn't going to make her mad at meee... Kovu gritted his teeth nervously, hoping with all his might that hadn't been the wrong thing to say.

She knew he was joking around, and she did smile a little but she didn't really feel like joking back right now. "I wouldn't do that," she said softly.

Kiara remained silent a moment, just enjoying Kovu's presence, until he pulled away from her, much to her dismay. She would have liked to have stayed like that forever, but... "You're right," she replied, with a soft sigh.

It was late and she was tired, emotionally drained, and her paws still felt sore. "We need to find somewhere to stay, I guess."

That was something they'd never gotten to the last time she'd been here. It was still fuzzy, but she remembered walking across the city and finding Kovu. He'd been telling her about food... That was really the last thing she could recall. Figuring out where to sleep hadn't come up, that much she was at least certain of.

"Somewhere to sleep at least would be nice," Kovu agreed. "You...wouldn't happen to know of a place, would you?" Talk about a long shot, she probably hadn't been here that long the first time. When did she have that much time to disappear, anyway? She'd been training with him every day since he'd come to Pride Rock.

"At least these things have a map. I hope it's not expecting too much of them to tell us if there's somewhere around here with actual grass. Whatever the ground here is made of it's not very nice for walking on." He made a face that matched his annoyance with the rocky paths through the buildings.

"Well, I wasn't here very long the last time I was here," she replied, looking thoughtful, trying to think of there was anything she was forgetting.

Oh. Wait!

"Oh, I do remember some place here that had trees and grass, um, well at least they looked like trees and grass, sort of," she said, trying to picture the place, and more to the point, remember where it was. She was fairly sure she'd walked further than this to get to it. That much she was mostly sure of.

That slim ray of hope was enough to get Kovu to look more enthusiastic than frustrated. "That's great! Do you remember what it was called or anything? We might be able to find it on the map." These box things were proving really useful...They'd helped him find Kiara, and were going to help him find somewhere to sleep. He'd have to remember to use it to thank Beryl once he'd gotten the chance to rest for a while.

Right now, though, he was much more interested in a nap. Well...that and making sure Kiara was safe. He really didn't want to leave her wandering around on her own. Not only did she have a bad habit of getting into trouble, but her heart had just been broken by someone important to her. For a second, Kovu wondered what that had to feel like, but with a small growl he got rid of the thought. He would have plenty of time to think about stupid things like family later.

Kiara shook her head. She couldn't remember a name for the place or anything like that, but...

She rose up, and looked around for a moment, then her gaze turned above them. The 'sky' was starting to lighten, but the stars were still visible. She'd spent a good deal of time looking up at them, trying to find something familiar. She wasn't even sure if they were really stars, but still, it was something to go by.

Studying the sky for a moment, she turned around a few times, remembering the direction she came from, then pointed westward. "I... think it might've been that way."

Kiara wasn't quite guessing, but almost.

"...Tell me you're not just saying that," Kovu said with a sigh. He followed her gaze up to the stars, fake as they were, then looked in the direction she was pointing. "This is not the kind of place I would want to get lost."

"Then again, maybe getting lost with you wouldn't be so bad." He gave a short chuckle, then yawned. "It might even be kind of fun, if I had a chance to get some sleep." He bent down to stretch his back, front claws rapping against the hard ground as he clenched his paws a few times.

"I'm not just saying that... mostly," Kiara said, slightly sheepish at the end.

"I didn't see anything really familiar from the direction I came tonight, so... it has to be back that way, and... well, it's at least something to go on, right?"

It was the best she could offer, other wise she had no idea where they could go at all. She wouldn't really mind getting lost with Kovu either, but, like him, she would rather have sleep right now.

"All right, we'll give it a shot. Better than staying here, anyway. I bet this place is going to be just as full of those humans as everywhere else once the sun's up." He couldn't say he cared very much for them, mostly due to the fact they didn't have enough manners to pay attention to where they were walking and not bump into each other...or him.

"Lead the way, Princess." Kovu smirked. With any luck, it wasn't too far away, and they'd be able to sleep. They could worry about Simba later.

"Huh? Oh! Right!" she said, feeling more uncertain again that she was going to be able to lead them the right way. She could only hope that they might get lucky and end up there. It could happen, right?

Thus Kiara led the way, heading westward.

Kovu followed behind Kiara, wondering how long it would be before they tried to look at a map, or stopped to ask someone where they were going. He got the feeling doing the latter wouldn't be very easy, though. There weren't a very large number of creatures who were used to being asked for directions by lions. There probably weren't a large number of creatures in Paixao who had even seen a lion.

He stayed back from her for a few paces, giving her just a bit of space. But that didn't really feel right, so he caught up and walked beside her instead. He smiled over to her, trying to be reassuring. He had the feeling that wouldn't work though, since he hadn't been terribly encouraging when she said she wasn't completely sure.

The possibly even larger problem with asking for directions was how few of the humans there were, period. They must all be asleep, Kiara reasoned.

After some time walking, Kiara was starting to doubt if her guess had been right. She did have a feeling like she'd seen some of this before, but it was still kind of blurry. She just wasn't completely sure.

"Maybe I got it wrong," she finally said, looking to Kovu after a few more minutes had gone by. "I wish I could remember more clearly."

"Maybe...we could ask Timon?" That...was his last resort. His ears drooped a little at the thought, and he stiffened for a step or two. But getting lost on no sleep wasn't Kovu's idea of a good morning, even with Kiara right there with him. The humans hardly had a scent to them anyway, which didn't make finding one to talk to any easier.

"I think he'd be more likely to help you than any of the humans would anyway...not that I see any around." He sighed and rolled his eyes, letting his head drop, and left out the part where Timon would be much more likely to help her than him. He didn't want to talk to the meerkat himself at all, not after that last conversation, but...maybe Kiara would be able to.

"Maybe we could, but I'm not sure if he'd still be awake," Kiara said with a sigh. It could be hours before they'd get any kind of reply, and that was assuming Timon would actually have an answer for them.

With another sight, Kiara gently brushed against him as they walked for a moment.

"We might just have to keep going."

She was utterly exhausted, and the thought of walking further was utterly horrifying, but there wasn't really any better choice, was there? Even then, however, she wasn't entirely sure they'd find what they were looking for if they did find the place.

The brush against him was a little unexpected. Did Kiara like him more than she'd been letting on in the Pride Lands where her dad could see them? Or...no. That would be annoying, if Kiara was somehow from Kovu's own future too. Then again, they were both apparently from Timon's and Simba's, so...it kind of made sense. Not that it didn't suck. If it was true though...maybe there was more hope for him than he'd been thinking lately.

He returned her gesture with his muzzle against her neck, and a smile. "If you say so, Princess..." he answered with a bit of a sigh. "But don't blame me if I just pick a spot to fall asleep if we get too lost."

He couldn't help but wish something in Paixao actually smelled real, other than him and Kiara, and that demon girl. Sure, there were old scents that kind of smelled like something was alive, but they weren't very fresh. Most of them reminded him of monkeys anyway...and how would a bunch of monkeys help?

She managed a small, tired giggle. "I won't blame you at all. I feel like I could collapse." That was the second time he'd called her princess in a row. It wasn't really that strange, and yet... somehow it did seem kind of odd. She didn't say anything though, since she didn't exactly mind, it was just... odd.

Continuing along, she did suddenly have a feeling she had been by here once before. Okay, maybe they were on the right track after all!

And then... there it was. "Kovu! Look!" Kiara said excitedly, bounding forward a few paces, suddenly feeling a little less tired. She'd somehow led them there! Maybe it had mostly been dumb luck, but at this point it didn't really matter.

The place was broad and open, a welcome relief from the cramped and crowded spaces full of what that demon girl had called houses. There still weren't many humans around either, but Kovu definitely thought that was a good thing. There was something green on the ground across the fields, though it definitely wasn't grass, and there were things that looked like trees too...though again, he was pretty sure they actually weren't.

Kovu picked up the pace a little. "Hey, you were right! This'll be a great place to sleep!" He was more excited for the chance to rest than he thought he'd be. Or maybe it was the chance to finally get to sleep next to Kiara, since her father had never let him. He stood in front of her for a second, facing a small copse of trees off to one side. They were kind of thick there, so there probably wouldn't be anyone bothering them. But then...who was stupid enough to try to bother a lion who was asleep?

"I thought it would be!" Kiara replied, cheerful and relieved to have found the place. It was much as she'd remembered it. There was definitely something unnatural about the grass and the trees, but it was still better than everything else here.

She smiled to Kovu as he faced her, before it broke into a wide yawn. Gosh, she was tired. Stepping forward she nuzzled gently under his chin. "Let's get to sleep."

Kovu nuzzled her back, laying his head over her neck, and used the gesture to double as a nod. "Yeah," he said briefly, before picking his head up and leading the way right into the trees, beckoning her to follow by shaking his mane to one side. He didn't wait for her to walk in and lay down himself, though he did keep his eyes peeled to watch her until she got next to him.

Kiara paused only to let out a happy sigh, before following Kovu into the trees and promptly settled down beside him. Smiling a little awkwardly, as this was the first time she'd slept beside him, she attempted to get comfortable.

Kovu laid his head down on his paws. A smile crept across his face as he drifted off to sleep. There was only one thing in the the whole world who could have given him comfort...and she was right here beside him. Nothing could take away from this moment, no matter how bad it was.

"Sleep well...Kiara," he said quietly, before letting his eyelids close and quickly falling asleep.

Finally settling on her side, she yawned again before returning a quiet, "Good night, Kovu."

Very quickly sleep over took her.

~~~

Kiara awoke feeling terribly disoriented. Strange scents were in the air and the sensation of someone large beside her added to the disorientation. Lifting her head to look beside her quickly brought back everything that had occurred and who was beside her. Kovu...

She wasn't sure why she'd woken up. It was fairly quiet, and the sun seemed to be fairly high in the sky. Although, she was used to the cool cave of Pride Rock, not the sun dappled shade of the trees they'd fallen asleep beneath. She did feel rather comfortable, so returning to sleep was tempting, but her mind felt awake. So much had happened the night before, and it all had really happened. None of this had been a dream.

Kovu still seemed fast asleep, so slowly Kiara rose to her paws and as quietly as she could manage, padded a little distance away, surprisingly easily. There was one nice thing about this strange, fake landscape. There seemed to be a lack of twigs and branches. Sneaking away had never been so easy for her.

Once she felt she was far enough away to not easily wake him, she stretched, spreading her claws, yawning slightly, before sinking down on her haunches, looking around a moment.

Well. Now what?

Eyeing the strange... thing she'd been given, Kiara settled back onto her stomach, grasping it in her paws. She was glad she'd learned how to use it before. She might not have found Kovu so quickly otherwise. With nothing much to do until Kovu woke up, Kiara made it turn on and was greeted with a new post that got her interest instantly.

A dark maned lion? Could that be the lion that human had told her about?

It wasn't long before Kiara was staring at the journal, shocked.

Scar. It was Scar. He was alive? Why hadn't Timon told her he was here?! She was just... was shocked. Perhaps it was foolish, but she swallowed hard, and responded.

By the time the conversations with Scar and Timon had finished, she had slipped the thing from her neck and shoved it away, burrowing her face in her paws. Timon had left her with hope, but Scar... Scar. Just his voice had sent chills up her spine. How could her father have ever trusted him?

Kiara wasn't honestly sure how she was going to protect her Father from him, but she knew she had to. She just had to. Somehow.

A very particular voice roused Kovu from his very deep slumber. That was...no. How could Kiara be talking to him? He was dead! Simba...Simba killed him, a long time ago. But no. That was Scar's voice. That was definitely Scar's voice. There was no way to mistake it. Scar was here in Paixao.

He silently rose and walked a few steps in the other direction of Kiara. He didn't want her hearing this...not with her father around too. Kovu's stomach flipped as he pulled the black box off his neck, and his face wrenched before he could finally get up enough of a voice to try to say something. He hadn't seen Scar since he was a really little cub...he could barely remember what the older lion had even looked like. If Scar was here...maybe Kovu would just have to forget about Kiara, or...find some way to keep her away from Simba. Something...to make sure she stayed safe.

But that wasn't how things went. Kovu smacked the box away with a paw, and shrunk into himself. His head hung tucked between his forelegs, and he tried to catch his breath. Scar didn't know who he was at all! It wasn't fair! What was he supposed to do?! He couldn't say anything about it to Kiara, she'd never believe him. Zira's plot echoed in his head, and all he could do was growl in frustration. Simba was Kiara's father...and he hadn't done any of those things that Kovu was supposed to be angry at him for yet. Scar was still alive here, and Simba didn't know who Kovu was either.

"I can't let anything happen to Simba...for...Kiara's sake," he told himself, trying to force himself to believe in what he was saying out loud. Kaira needed him, he couldn't betray her like that! He had to find some way to get Simba to believe her. But that wasn't going to happen until he finally stopped being so angry at him.

If Scar didn't know who Kovu was, then fine. Zira wasn't here either, so Kovu didn't have to do what his mother wanted. Scar's heir or not, he was not going to hurt Simba.

But that just left one problem. Who was going to believe him when he said that?

Finally gathering herself together, Kiara pushed herself up and, hesitating a moment, fetched the thing she'd shoved away. Quietly she returned to their sleeping spot, only to see Kovu was not there.

Dropping the box from her mouth, Kiara glanced around. He wouldn't have gone too far, right?

"Kovu?"

Kovu's ears perked up when he heard Kiara calling for him. He steeled himself, and tried to hold his head straight. "I'm right here," he called, walking to her. His gait was slower than usual, and his reply hadn't been very enthusiastic. He left the box on the ground...he could pick it up later.

"I didn't wanna bug you right after you woke up, so I thought I'd look around a little over there." He tossed his head back in the direction he'd just come from.

Even if he was trying to hide it, Kiara did very quickly pick up that something was wrong. Had he heard her talking to Timon and, more to the point, Scar? While she'd kept her voice down for awhile, she knew she'd certainly gotten louder as things had progressed. Still, she wasn't sure.

"Oh," she said softly, looking down at her paws a moment, then back up at him with an awkward smile.

She approached slowly at first, but her last steps were more hurried as she closed the gap between them, gently nuzzling against his muzzle, her smile vanishing. Kiara, for now, allowed her touch to convey how she was feeling, as she wasn't sure she could even describe it. All she knew was things had just got a LOT more complicated.

Kiara's urgency was something Kovu hadn't been expecting. She'd been talking to Scar too...what could have happened? "Kiara..." he said, nuzzling back against her.

He wanted to say something about how he'd tried to talk to Scar, about what just happened in those short moments since he woke up, but...how could he say any of that to her? And what would she think? She was shaken up by something...she didn't need to worry about him at the same time. He would...just have to tell her later, he decided. It wasn't like she didn't know who he was supposed to be anyway. The only real news was that Scar didn't know who he was.

Pulling away, Kiara opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. She just didn't know how to even begin to explain, but she didn't want to keep anything from him.

Glancing at her 'thing' on the ground, the best answer to this would be.

Rising she padded over to it, picking it up, then returned to Kovu, setting it down at his front paws, nudging it to him.

"Here... look," she said softly, settling back down beside him.

Kovu was taken aback for a moment, and he swallowed a lump in his throat. He leaned down to look at Kiara's box, and saw the conversation she'd had with Scar. It looked like they'd said a lot to each other. That must be what had her so worried...

Concerned, he looked back up at her, but then he listened to the entire conversation all the way through.

"...I never realized how creepy he was."

Of all the reactions she'd been expecting, that most certainly hadn't been one of them. Caught off guard, she let out a small laugh, in spite of everything.

"Y-yeah, he is, huh?" Kiara replied, a faint smile on her muzzle. "I knew he had... a darkness in him, but I didn't know he was like that. I was shaking for a bit there."

She still shuddered a little at the sound of his voice.

The awkward laugh was joined by a bit of a chuckle from Kovu. "Heheh, yeah..."

But mentioning Scar made him sober up, and he took a step or two away from Kiara, looking straight at his paws. "My mother...she said..."

He clammed up and let his voice trail off, bringing his head back up to look right at Kiara. "Nevermind. We have to keep Scar from doing anything to Si--to your dad." Kovu corrected himself before he growled out Simba's name. It still wasn't that easy to say. "I'll help you however I can."

Kiara obviously was left wondering just what his mother had said, but it seemed he wasn't ready to tell her yet. She was sure he'd tell her eventually, if it was important.

She smiled warmly to him, at his pledge to help her. "Thank you, Kovu," she said, truly appreciating it. She knew it was hard for him, after everything. For him to say that for her...

Before he had the chance to do something stupid like try to run away from her, Kovu made the next conversation start. This one was with Timon.

His ears drooped. "He hopes so..." he repeated dismally. "Kiara...how do you think Timon knows about me, anyway? If he doesn't know who you are, then why would he...?" Kovu didn't know what else to say, because that really didn't make any sense. He was worried that this would make it even harder for him to get along with Simba than it was already going to be. But what had Timon done to find out anything about Zira's plot?

"Well..." she began, trying to figure out how to explain something that she couldn't really explain herself. "Remember how I said something about you still being here?"

Yeah. This was definitely going to be hard.

"Well, you see... I think I was here before. It's... hard to explain. I was here and I found you here and then... I don't know. I guess I was back in the Pride Lands and then... somehow I was brought here again? I only remembered I'd been here though when I got here."

Her memories were such a confused muddle over what happened when and how. There was nothing really to connect the events. It was terribly disconcerting.

"A-anyways, but when I was here, you were here. I guess you got brought back the same way, just... for some reason you don't remember. I know it doesn't make much sense, but... really nothing here does."

It seemed like it was something they were just going to have to get used to and accept. It was going to be hard, but there didn't seem to be much choice.

Okay, now it really didn't make sense. Not that Kovu didn't believe Kiara, but...how could that have possibly happened? And...if he had been here before...but couldn't remember it...

Kiara's box kept playing, though, past the conversation with Timon. Kovu's voice could be heard clearly, in shock at how Scar was reacting to him. "What? No!" Kovu tried to turn it off, but neither of them had spoken very much...the whole thing could be heard before he could do anything. Where he had backed up only a little before, now he turned his back on Kiara.

His head hung low as he walked away, too depressed and confused to even say anything. He had promised Kiara that he would help her, but after she heard that...she couldn't possibly want him to stick around. He had tried to get Scar to recognize him and take him in, there was no way Kiara would accept him now. What could he even say to try to defend himself? He'd just told her a second ago that he was going to help her keep her father safe, and here was blatant proof that he had tried to get in league with Scar...the one they were going to protect Simba from.

Kiara stared down at her thing, confused by the conversation she was hearing. Kovu's worries were the furthest thing from her mind. She was merely surprised. Kovu's reaction had been not so different from hers to her father. Scar had chosen Kovu, right? How could he not know him? Unless, it was like her father. The same thing, again? Why did it seem like they were the only two that knew of their own existence?

Lifting her head, she looked to Kovu, only to be greeted with his retreating form.

"Kovu!"

Without a single thought, she dove after him, quickly circling around in front of him, to stop him. "Stop! Don't... don't leave...! Please."

Kovu lifted his head, looking at Kiara like she was crazy, at least until she spoke.

"Look, Kiara, I-" He glared down at the ground, trying to suppress a growl in his throat. Not one aimed at her, of course, but at himself for being stupid enough to have tried to talk to Scar in the first place.

"Forget it. It doesn't matter. He doesn't even know who I am." He was silent after that, but then his eyes went wide as he stared at the ground. Kiara...she was all he had now. And he had thought of trying to leave her alone...

She didn't say a word. Kiara simply closed the gap between them, settling her head over his neck. Snuggling into his mane, she did her best to offer him what comfort and strength she could.

"I know how that feels," she said softly to him, after a few moments of silence, speaking just barely above a whisper. It hurt that her own father didn't know her, but the fact it was her father aside, it just was troubling to not be known. Not by Simba, not by Timon or Pumbaa.

"It's like we don't exist, huh?"

Kovu seized up when she nuzzled him, and had to try to relax. It gave him a lot more confidence, that Kiara still believed him even after hearing him talk to Scar like that.

"Yeah...at least we have each other, right? Whoever brought us here, they couldn't take that away from us." He brightened up a bit, and a smile crept across his muzzle. "You know...if no one knows me...then maybe I could just start over."

...If only. Scar was too much a part of him, whether he liked it anymore or not. Just knowing that Scar was here was starting to hurt, and the fact that Scar didn't remember him made it worse. "Or at least...I can try."

"No one will ever take that away from us," she agreed, smiling a little. She didn't want to ever let anything come between them. Not this place. Not her father. Not Scar. Not anyone.

Sensing him cheer up a little, Kiara lifted her head from his neck, nuzzling his cheek, before pulling back to smile a little more.

"It does seem like the perfect opportunity," she agreed, understanding what a chance this was for him. No one knew him, Zira or the other Outlanders. He was free of the prejudice that had developed towards them.

"I can be...normal." The thought sounded so foreign to him, with everything Zira had filled his head with since he was just a cub.

"Normal as a lion around a bunch of humans can be, anyway. I guess there aren't that many of us here..." It wasn't a very depressing thought though. The fewer lions, the smaller the chance any of them were from Kovu and Kiara's time in the Pride Lands...and the better the chance that his idea of turning over a new leaf would actually work.

He was holding his shoulders higher now, showing more confidence. The only thing he had to do now was keep away from Kiara's father and from Scar, since they were from before everything bad had happened. Well...everything bad from Kovu's standpoint, anyway. He would have to try to fix that view on things...

"So, whaddya say we go find something to eat?"

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Together We Can Face the World [Completed]

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