Kion and Fuli: Until the Pride Lands End (Completed)

Chapter 12: Upendi Day

The sun hits Fulis closed eyes, as another day begins in the Pride Lands, She slowly opens her eyes, and instantly realizes that Kion wasn't holding her like he normally does. She looks around and quickly realizes that Kion wasn't even near the watering hole. She remembered the events that happened during the night, Kion's panic attack. She remembered it was pretty bad, gasping for air and uncontrollable shaking, but he eventually did calm down and got back up on the rock. She felt bad, he seemed pretty spooked from the nightmare, even causing him to break down in tears. Everything that happened was out of character for Kion. She decided to go look for him, she put her nose to the ground and quickly picked up Kion's scent. She kept tracking him until she reached the lair. As she walks in, she sees Kion sitting in front of a wall full of paintings, just staring at the wall.

"Kion?" she calls behind him. He quickly spins to face her.

"Oh, hey Fuli." he says quietly.

"You ok?" she asks as she walks toward him. "I was wondering where you went."

"Oh sorry, after last nights well...you know. I couldn't sleep, and didn't want to affect your sleep anymore, so I came here, and have been here since." As Fuli looks at him, she can see his eyes, and they show that they need sleep, the bags under his eyes were clear indicators.

"Kion, i think you need some sleep."

"Im fine Fuli," he huffs bluntly. She's about to protest but is interrupted by a voice behind them.

"Kion, Fuli. It's so nice to see you two, happy Upendi day," says Nala. Kion's eyes widen like he had just seen a ghost.

"Today's Unpendi day? Agh, I forgot, i've been so busy with other things that I forgot to ask someone to go."

"Nice going little bro," Kiara taunts as she appears next to her mother.

"Oh, and I take it you have someone?" Kion remarks. Now Kiara was the one who looked surprised.

"Uhh...Don't worry about me Kion, worry about yourself." Nala just rolled her eyes and left, leaving the three cubs to themselves. Kion didn't think for very long about who wanted to ask. His best friend Fuli of course, she'd never let him down.

"Fuli, you wanna go with me?" He asked excitedly. Fuli's smile quickly fades putting a confused look on Kion's face.

"Sorry Kion, Azaad already asked me to go." Kion's smile quickly fades and ears drop towards the ground.

"Oh...well...that's cool...I guess." He turns and begins to walk out of the lair.

"Where are you going Kion?" Ask Fuli, concerned about her friend's change in mood which she knows she caused, whether she meant to or not . Before he answers, he winces and puts his paw on his scar for a second before shaking it off.

"Don't worry about it," he replies bluntly.

"Kion your scar," Kiara said while reaching for his shoulder, but her arm is pushed away by Kion.

"I'm fine Kiara." He then exits the lair, leaving the two females by themselves. Kiara walks over to Fuli, who still looks concerned.

"How's he doing Fuli?"

"To be honest, I think he's getting worse, he recently almost ran away, and last night he had a nightmare that caused a pretty bad panic attack. I'm worried about what's going to happen next." Kiara looked at the entrance to the lair where Kion had just recently exited.

"I'm going to go check on him, maybe I'll see you at the meteor shower tonight," yells Kiara with a smile as she runs after her troubled brother. Fuli smiles and waved before a frown makes its way onto her face. All she could think about was Kion's disappointment and look of rejection after she told him she was going with someone else. She felt kind of selfish. Kion was in a pretty vulnerable state emotionally speaking, and she should've been thinking about that when Azaad asked her. She sighed, 'what's done is done I guess,' she thought to herself, but could still feel a little bit of regret.