"Afya?" Asked Kion. He was scared of the answer he was going to get but had to know. Afya's breathing was still labored. She now had a paw on her head and her eyes closed. After a few seconds her breathing went back to normal and she slowly opened her eyes. "Afya?" He asked again with a much more cautious tone.
"I... I didn't know it would feel so real. I felt like I was you. I felt what you felt, thought what you thought. I saw the watering hole with Kovu and your sister. I listened to Rafiki's story about Ukail. I saw your nightmares. Even the incident at the mud pool with Kiara. I'm..I'm so sorry Kion." She pulled Kion into an embrace, somewhat calming Kion down.
"You're not...upset?" Ask Kion.
"Upset? Upset about what?"
"That I never told you about it."
"How could I be? If I had something like that, I don't know if I could tell anyone about that. And technically, I kept my power a secret from you too."
"Yea, but your power doesn't have the potential to kill everyone you know and love, mine does."
"I'm sorry, I wish I could help."
"Afya, you have helped. If it wasn't for you, I may not even be here. You gave me food, shelter, and a friend. I can't thank you enough." Afya smiled at hearing his words. She felt proud to have done so much for Kion, and unknowingly to her, helped him.
"Anything for you Kion. Now not to ruin the moment, but have to go get something for you, I'll be right back." She shoots him one of her cute smiles before exiting. He couldn't help but smile at her as she left the house, thinking of what an amazing friend she was to him, and how lucky he was. It wasn't long before she returned with some sort of item made from sticks and tied together with some vine.
"What is that?" He asks, curious about the item.
"This is called a splint. It will keep your broken leg in place so It can heal correctly."
"How did you make that?"
"It's a secret," she giggles. She slides the splint up Kion's leg and pulls the vines so it's snug around his leg. "That should do it, try walking." Kion gently gets off the bed. He then applied pressure on his broken leg, and realized that the split makes it so his paw is just barely above the ground.
"Wow, It doesn't hurt, this is amazing, " he says, surprised.
"I know right, the splint takes all of the pressure off your leg so you can still move around. Of course no running, jumping or climbing, the splint is not indestructible."
"Thanks Afya, i'll take it easy, don't worry," said with a reassuring smile.
"Um..hello?" A voice calls from outside the house.
"Come in," Kion and Afya day in sync. They see Amini enter the house with a certain demeanor, not like her usual up beat one.
"Everything ok?" Ask Kion.
"Um...yea, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me from Tong earlier. If there is anything I..." she was cut off by Kion.
"Hakuna Matata Amini," he replies.
"Haku-what?" She asked, confused. As soon as she asked that question, Kion could hear the song begin to play in his head, and he just had to sing it.
"Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!"
When he finishes singing he looks back at the two tigers who both have surprised looks on their faces. He blushes from embarrassment as he looks at the ground.
"Kion, that was really good," says Amini.
"I agree, I didn't know you could sing like that," comments Afya.
"Thanks you two," he says with a smile.
"Well I just wanted to thank you for earlier, I'll see you around," says Amini as she leaves. Afya turns back to Kion with excitement all over her face.
"You gotta teach me that song, right now!"
"Ok," he replies with a chuckle. For about 15 minutes they sang Hakuna Matata over and over again.
"It never gets old," says Afya.
"You got that right," Kion says with a yawn.
"You should take a nap sleepy head," Afya giggles.
"I guess so, I'll see you later," he says as he gets back on the bed, and quickly falls asleep.
Kion wakes up and looks around and realizes that he's back at Pride Rock. He looks around, confused on how he got there. He can see his family in their usual corner, but he sees Kiara with a lion that looks like Kovu.
"Morning Prince," a voice tiredly teases. He looks done and sees Fuli look at him with half open eyes and Smirk on her face.
"Prince? Since when have you called me that?"
"You've always been my prince," she teases as she licks him on the muzzle. She gets up and stretches, giving Kion time to admire her slim build with beautiful curves."I'm going on a run, I'll meet you at the usual place."
"The usual place?" He asked, confused. Fuli frowns at him, clearly offended.
"Are you ok Kion? You're acting kind of weird," she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I'm ok I just... I'm drawing a blank for some reason.
"Oh, well we always meet at the watering hole near Pride Rock," she says softly. Kion can tell she is hurt by him not remembering their meeting place.
"Are you mad at me Fuli?"
"No It's just... I thought after everything we've been through, you'd remember that place." She drops her chin and lowers her ears, which was very rare for Fuli to do.
"I'm sorry Fuli, I'll be better I promise," he says while nuzzling Fuli and picking her head. She looks back at him, a smile slowly creeps it's way back on her face.
"Thanks Kion, you're the best. Now, I'll see you after my run." She quickly leaves the den, leaving Kion to make his way towards the watering hole. When he arrives, he sees Fuli already there, cleaning up her beautiful yellow fur. 'She really is beautiful,' he thought to himself as he walk over her.
"How was your run?"
"It was good, said hi to Bunga, Beshte and Ono."
"Ah, nice," Kion replied, but he was interrupted by some young animals.
"Prince Kion, Prince Kion!" They yell.
"Hey kids, what's up?"
"We just wanted to say hi, and is Princess Fuli with you?"
"Princess Fuli? Since when was she a princess?" He asked, confused.
"Since you two got married," one of them replied with a giggle.
"Of course, she's right here," he says as he slides out of the way revealing Fuli behind him. The kids freak out as they surround her, bombarding her with question after question and praise after praise. Kion walks away, deep into thought. He couldn't remember ever leaving the tiger village, he couldn't remember saying goodbye to Afya, and can't remember his wedding with Fuli, something he's sure he'd remember. He also remembered Ono dying, maybe he survived?
"Kion?" Fuli asked from behind him.
"Yea?"
"You're acting weird, is everything ok?" He couldn't lie to her, it felt wrong to him. He didn't want to worry her or make her upset, but he hated lying to her.
"No Fuli, I'm not. For some reason, I can't remember anything. I don't remember returning to the Pride Lands, I don't remember, I don't remember anything that's happened recently. I don't even remember our wedding."
"Oh...is everything gonna be ok?"
"I hope so, I really do."
"I...I can't believe you forgot our wedding, it feels like i'm in a bad dream."
"Yea...wait, bad dream? I must be in a dream." As he said those words, his world turned to black.
Kion woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He realized it was a dream, but he wondered why he dreamt it. It felt so real, and if he was being honest, he wished it was. He realizes how much he missed Fuli, as a friend, but he finally realized that he wanted more than friends with her. He never told her how he felt, and regretted it so much. He promised himself that next time he saw her, he'd tell her exactly how he felt. He heard growling and fighting coming from outside.
'Not again,' he thought as he slowly made his way outside. When he made it outside, he saw that Tong's forces were attacking the village. They were burning down houses and stealing things from other houses. He wanted to help, but his broken leg made it extremely difficult. But then he remembered the Roar. He could still use it with a broken leg, but he had to concentrate. He closed his eyes and focused, feeling a roar well up inside him. He could hear the clouds above, signaling to him that he was ready. He opened his eyes and picked a target who was in the open, he'd use him as an example. He opened his mouth, and let out a powerful, but controlled and focused blast. His target was hit center mass, sending him flying out of the village. This combined with the loud roar caused everyone to stop and look towards Kion with a mix of surprise and fear.
"Tong's forces, leave now or face the same punishment as him," yells Kion.
"Oh, are you sure about that?" He sees Tong approach him, but this time he has Afya hold tightly in his grip. "You see Kion, I don't think we are going to stop. If you roar at us like that again, then I'm going to kill her. If Zita's men don't surrender, I kill her. If you don't join me on my conquest...well you already know what I'm going to do. So what do you say?" Kion could feel his anger building, as he didn't want to help him but didn't want Afya to be killed either. Feeling like he was stuck in a lose-lose situation only seemed to make more upset. "Well champ, give me an answer...or," he taunts as he puts a claw to Afya's throat. She was struggling in his hold, trying to escape, but his grasp on her was too great. Before Kion could answer, he felt time around him begin to slow down until it froze.
"Kion," a deep voice calls out to him. A voice her recognized almost instantly.
"Grandfather Mufasa?" He asked, somewhat confused.
"Use the roar Kion," he says in his deep, commanding voice.
"But if I do, I might hurt Afya, maybe even kill her," he says, concerned for his friends' safety.
"Trust me Kion, aim your roar at the sky, I will not fail you," he says. Before Kion can respond, time around him begins to return to normal.
"I hope this works," he says quietly to himself. "Ok Tong, you asked for this," he says. He looks straight up in the sky and roars. The storm clouds turn completely black, and begin to rumble. A bright flash of white lights blinds Kion, when he can finally see, he sees...
(So I was curious, do you prefer longer chapters or shorter chapters? If you could leave a comment letting me know, it would help me out a lot. Also, I would like to take a second and thank everyone who reads my books. Who likes and comments on them. It really does mean a lot to me. I work hard and these books and I'm glad people are enjoying them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!)