Hi everyone! It's my first story! Enjoy and please review!
This story was recently revised in 2010. It was originally written in 2005, so it starts off slow and rather juvenile. Just hang in there.
(This story takes place right after the 2nd movie)
Disclaimer: I do not own Lion King or any of the characters. Lion King and their characters are © to Disney
The Lion King 3: Royal Journey
Chapter 1: Chatting
All lions were taking time to relax and recover the day after the great battle between the Pride Landers and Outsiders. Many lions were resting, while others took interest into getting to know the new members. A few took to ignoring the new members since they were a little apprehensive to forgive the once vicious Outlanders. Now all Outlanders were Pride Landers. Mostly, all lions were just happy just to have the feud diminished, so they could all live in peace and happiness for once.
Kiara was especially happy that she could finally be with Kovu, and even had her parent's blessing. Simba had let go of his doubts and fears about the young lion.
Simba and Nala were basking in the sun on top of pride rock, keeping a watch over the resting and visiting lionesses. Kovu and Kiara were making rounds, checking wounds, and just talking. The duo walked over to and old light-brown lioness that used to be an Outlander. Kovu approached her.
"Good Morning, Mairu," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"Oh, just fine. Not too many wounds."
"That's great." Kovu said, and then to Kiara, "Kiara, this is Mairu. She is a very wise lioness. I'd say she is the equivalent to Rafiki."
Kiara nodded, smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." Mairu said dipping her head, then continued talking to Kovu. "I really like this pride. I've always wanted to leave Zira, but I was afraid she would send lionesses out after me and I would be on the run for the rest of my life!"
"I remember when Zira…" Kovu paused. He felt weird calling his mom by her name, but he no longer felt her as his mom. "Well, she was furious at our pride one day when she heard a rumor that someone wanted to leave. I had never seen her so mad!"
The old lioness chuckled. "Yes, that was me she heard about. I made the mistake of confiding my troubles to Tima. She then leaked it to Zira, but didn't use my name. I forgave Tima because she can't help but talk and talk and talk."
"Yeah." Kovu agreed, "She seems to have a knack for it."
Kovu and Mairu looked over to where Tima was sitting. Kiara followed their gaze to see a light yellow lioness with an odd triangular marking under her eye talking to Vitani. Vitani was obviously trying to end the conversation and escape, but Tima kept talking.
"Let's go help her out." Kovu said to Kiara, then said to Mairu, "It was nice talking to you."
"Take care you two. And Kiara?"
Kiara looked at her.
"I see great things in your future." she said with a smile.
Kiara returned the smile feeling excited about the future. Mairu laid down for a nap and the couple started to walk over to Vitani and Tima.
"And the little rascal ran through the grass and then up a tree! I was so excited I didn't know what to do!" Tima said enthusiastically.
"Heh, heh, yeah…" Vitani mumbled with a forced smile on her face. Tima was about to continue when Kovu walked over.
"I'm sorry for interrupting, Tima, but I must speak with my sister." Kovu said politely.
"Oh," said Tima. "Of course! Go ahead! Bye Tani, nice talkin' to you!"
"You too." she said in return.
Tima smiled and walked away heading to the water hole. Vitani waited until Tima was out of ear-shot and then said, "Thank you."
Kovu laughed a little. "Sure thing. I know how Tima can be."
"Oh, Kiara." Vitani said. "You don't have to hide! I'm on your side now."
Kiara was standing behind Kovu. She wasn't really trying to hide. Kiara just wasn't sure if Vitani would actually like to talk to her.
"Oh… sorry. I'm just shy. Welcome to our Pride, Vitani."
"Thanks." Vitani said kindly. "I hope we can become good friends. And also, tell your mother I'm sorry for taunting her during out battle yesterday. I was rather caught up in the heat of the moment."
"Okay, I will." Kiara said with a weak smile.
"So Kovu, don't take this the wrong way, but, why did you betray mother?"
Kovu smiled. "I'm so glad I did." he replied. "After a few days with Kiara, I fell in love with her."
Kiara smiled.
"And seeing what this kingdom was like, I realized how wrong mom really was."
Vitani nodded. "I see."
"Thanks for being the first one to make a stand yesterday." Kovu said.
Vitani smiled. She looked very pretty with a smile on her face. Suddenly, there was a roar coming from pride rock. Simba was indicating that a lion-only meeting was about to take place. Simba then stepped away from the peak and walked over the cave. He sat by Nala.
"I guess we'd better go. We get to be up there too!" Kovu said excitedly.
Vitani smiled.
When Kiara and Kovu said their goodbyes, they walked to Pride rock and sat by Simba and Nala.
Thank you for reading