The Lion Guard: Short Stories

I Promise (Good Ending Part 1)

He was silent for a few moments before turning to face her. His eyes hadn't changed, still a mix of Kion's soft amber eyes and Scar's dark green ones. Maybe Kion was still in there, fighting for control of his mind. Before she could say something, Kion began yelling at her.

"Ugh, why did you have to do that?" he growled.

"You were going to kill Azaad, I couldn't let you do that," she countered.

"Why? What does he have that I don't?" He demanded.

"Kion, what are you talking about?" She asked, confused by his statement.

"Don't play stupid with me," he hissed.

"Seriously Kion, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Fine, if that's how you're going to be."

As he finished, he lunged at Fuli while swiping at her. She quickly dodged, but nearly fell off the cliff in doing so. The platform they had was extremely small, not enough room for her to utilize all of her speed. She turned around to see Kion pull himself up from the cliff edge, seems he too had underestimated the amount of space they had.

He once again went in for the attack, throwing another swipe at her. This time she bounded off the ground and jumped off the wall to her side. She could hear the sound of claws scrape against the wall that she had just jumped off, it barely missed her.

She turned to see him face away from her, panting. As he slowly turned, she could see tears coming out of his eyes which were now completely amber.

"Help me," he mouthed before his eyes flicked green once again and the tears disappeared.

He was in pain, he was fighting Scar with everything he had, but he needed help, her help. She took a deep breath, she had an idea.

"I'm not going to fight you anymore Kion," she stated softly. At first, he was surprised, but then an evil grin replaced it.

"Coward," he taunted. He then lunged at her, but she didn't move. She felt Kion's claws sink into her hide, sending intense waves of sharp pain throughout her body. She winced for a moment, but was able to force a smile through the pain.

"Kion, I know it hurts, and I know I couldn't possibly imagine what you're going through. But the Tree of Life is so close. You...I...we didn't come all this way just to fail at the last step." She pulled him in close and wrapped her paws around him. She placed her head next to his neck in an almost affectionate nuzzle. "You've beaten Scar before, and you can do it again. And I promise no matter what happens next, good or bad, I'll always be your friend."

There was silence, stillness, nothing. Fuli waited for Kion to do something, but he didn't, he just sat there in her embrace. After a few moments, she felt Kion's claws slow retract from her pelt. She then felt his paw gently slide down her to back and pull her closer to him.

"Thank you, Fuli," he said quietly.

"Of course, Kion."

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Fuli slowly opened her eyes as the memory of the day that Kion almost lost faded. She had woken up in the middle of the night at the Tree of Life. The moon soared high above them, its light reflecting off of the leaves from the Tree of Life, lighting it up like a beacon in the darkness. She looked around and studied the animals around her. Bunga, Binga, Beshte, Ono, Anga, Azaad, but no Kion.

She last saw him at Pratibimba, the Lake of Reflection. He had promised her that he would join the group for the night in a bit, that was when the sun was still up. She must have accidentally dozed off while waiting for him, she would have forced him to get some sleep, he was seriously lacking it.