The Upendi Day Celebration

Epilogue

With the Sun down and the moon making its appearance in the dark sky, animals all over the Pridelands made use of what little light there was to make their way back to their respective homes after enjoying themselves during the day of Upendi. A few yards away from Pride Rock, King Simba, Queen Nala and their daughter, Kiara, were seen walking back towards their home after spending the entire day venturing into the various romantic spots within the Pridelands that Simba and Nala had visited during their honeymoon days.

"Thanks for bringing me around today, Mom, Dad! I never knew the Pridelands had so many beautiful places for couples to spend on their honeymoon!" Kiara commented as her parents smiled at her, glad that she appreciated spending the day with them.

"Well now that you know, Kiara, maybe one day, you'll spend your honeymoon in one of those places with your future significant other once you get married," Simba grinned at his daughter and causing Kiara to slightly blush at her father's teasing.

"Well, it's too bad Kion didn't follow us. He would've enjoyed our outing," Kiara said, intentionally changing the topic and trying to hide her blush from her grinning parents.

"Well, speaking of your brother, there he is now," Simba pointed out to the silhouette of his son, who was heading towards their direction while clenching something in his jaws.

The three of them paused in their tracks to allow Kion to catch up with them.

"Hey Mom, Dad and of course, Kiara," he warmly greeted his family while smirking at his sister.

"There you are, Kion!" Nala cheerfully called out to her son, her motherly instincts made her feel glad that her son had returned, safe and sound. "How was Upendi Day with your friends? And what's that you've got in your mouth?"

Kion lowered the object clamped between his jaws onto the ground to reveal that it was a banana leaf wrapped around the leftover fish from his little dinner with Fuli earlier.

"I had a great day today, Mum! Oh, and I even managed to bring home some leftovers from err… my last meal," Kion said, hoping his parents won't ask whom he had his dinner with.

"Yes, we can see that," Simba said with a smile as he eyed the fish before giving his son a friendly pat on his back. "Well, that takes care of supper! Come on, let's all go in and enjoy the fish."

Nala picked up their supper in her mouth and followed behind Simba, who had already started walking ahead to the entrance to their Lair. Kion was about to follow his parents when he felt Kiara tugging on his tail, preventing him from moving ahead.

"Hey, what gives?" he exclaimed as he turned around to give a look of disapproval to his sister, only to see Kiara wearing a smug grin on her face and narrowing her sights on him.

"So, baby brother, how was your Upendi Day today?" Kiara asked in a sly tone, still smiling smugly at him.

"It was great! Had a lot of fun today," Kion replied frankly and tried to walk ahead, realising that Kiara had suspected something.

Kiara leapt in front of Kion to block him from proceeding any further. "Okay. So who did you eat your last meal with?"

"I ate alone," Kion replied untruthfully and was even more desperate to get away from her.

"Really, Kion? Then why is it that you have Fuli's scent all over you?" Kiara asked teasingly while putting a paw around Kion's back to make sure he couldn't escape from her. "In fact…"

Kiara then unexpectedly began to sniff around her brother, and causing him to break into laughter at the resulting ticklish sensation. "Hey… hahaha Kiara, what are you doing? Sto… haha… stop that!"

Kiara stopped sniffing and then looked slyly back at her brother.

"In fact, Kion, I noticed that Fuli's scent is the strongest around your muzzle! Care to explain, Little Brother?" she asked teasingly with a smirk. She had long suspect that there was something going on between Kion and Fuli, and the way Kion was squirming uneasily at her question had more or less confirm her suspicions.

Kion, on the other hand, was now frantically debating with himself whether or not he should just come clean with her and tell her everything that happened between him and Fuli.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you everything that happened today, but… please promise me you won't tell Mom and Dad," Kion finally said in defeat as Kiara maintained the smirk on her lips.

"Sure. I promise."

And for the next couple of minutes, Kion told her all the happenings of his day; from him coming across Fuli in the grazing grounds, to their time together at Maua Hill and finally to the part where they had dinner together under the sunset. He blushed slightly when he described how Fuli had licked on his muzzle and even affectionately nuzzled against him during their time together at Maua Hill. Kiara was very amused and impressed by her brother's 'achievements' with Fuli and her respect for him grew by the time he finished relating to her about his day.

"Wow! You certainly have been busy today," Kiara commented with a smile while giving Kion a friendly nudge.

"Yeah, I guess," Kion laughed while shyly avoiding his sister's gaze.

Kiara decided now was the best time to give some sisterly advice to her younger brother.

"Kion, what you and Fuli have together is something special that 'normal friends' don't usually have in common. My advice for you; just tell her how you truly feel about your friendship together. Trust me, you'll me thank me later on once you've told her."

Kion was rather surprised at how generous his sister was as to give him some words of wisdom regarding his relationship with Fuli.

"Honestly, Kiara. You're actually the last person I'd expect to give me an advice on this," Kion admitted while smirking at his sister. "Anyways, I err… I actually wanted to tell her how much I love her and how much I value our friendship together when we were watching the sunset, but… I just wasn't brave enough to tell her. I was scared she might um… feel offended or creeped out if I started saying things like that," he admitted with a long sigh while staring sadly towards the ground.

Kiara felt sorry for him and affectionately nuzzled against his chin to cheer him up. "Hey, that's okay. You'll have plenty of opportunity to tell her, and I can tell that she'll be glad that you did."

Her words of comfort seemed to work, as Kion's spirits were lifted and he felt glad that he had such a sporting elder sister.

"Thanks for that, Kiara," Kion replied as he lovingly nuzzled back against his sister's shoulder with a smile. "I really needed that."

"No problem, Little Brother," Kiara said with a laugh. "Although, you are now forever in my debt, so you'll have to do everything I ask you to from now on."

"Ha… ha… very funny," Kion smirked back at Kiara while giving her a brotherly nudge. "Come on, let's just go back to the Lair."

And with that, the two of them walked side-by-side towards Pride Rock, each of them glad that the day ended well. As the siblings made their way back home, a young Cheetah cub observed them from behind a bush, nearby the spot where they had their conversation. Fuli heard Kion's confession about him wanting to admit his feelings for her and she couldn't help but shed tears of joy when she heard him say this. She took the yellow rose that Kion had given her for her Upendi Day gift and stared at it before shifting her gaze back towards her friend, who had just disappeared through the entrance of his home.

"I love you too, Kion," Fuli softly said with a beautiful smile that graced her soft lips as she looked on towards the spot where she last saw her best friend.

She then put back the yellow rose next to left ear before moving away from the bushes and headed towards the Acacia grazing grounds where she'll spend the night. The young Cheetah usually felt alone and lonely everytime before she fell asleep. But tonight, she felt that she had all the company in the world after knowing how her best friend truly felt about her.

The End