A New Life

Things are finally back to normal

It has been a full month since Tasha betrayed her family and left the Pride Lands to live with Zayne. The pride had never been the same after that fatal day. They lost ten pride members, six females and four males. Venicia lost seven leopards including Ash, Mari and Stacy.

Simba and Nala lost their daughter, Kiara and Kion lost their sister. But not to death, but to the ones responsible for all the suffering in which they endured.
The external wounds will heal gradually, but the internal ones would always remain, haunting them forever.

As the days went by, Kiara, Kovu and the rest of their family were slowly healing and learning to put the past behind them and look to the future. Funerals were arranged for all the loved ones lost to the battle and once they were over, the herds were brought back in. Things got back to normal.

Sarabi and Sarafina were among the ones who came back from the Imbali Fields and once they heard of Tasha's betrayal, they were not surprised. Sarabi noticed subtle changes in her granddaughter from the beginning. She sensed something was amiss but chose to keep her suspicions to herself.

The dead lions from Cougar's pride were carried to Uwanja Amekufa, an infertile field where dead bodies were carried to be burnt.
Vixen, Kusaidia, Salama, and Tulivu were found in the cave, weak and injured  after being tortured by Zayne. The weeks passed by and the incidents that occurred, the pain, the lies, the deception and the hatred were put to the back of everyone's minds.

As promised, Vixen's mate and son were allowed to live in the Pride Lands. They were found wandering by the West River two days after Cougar's departure.
Afterwards everyone fell back into their own routine. Kusaidia Salama and Tulivu pledged their alliances to Kovu and Kiara and joined the pride landers.

Chad, Charise and Alisa also moved into the Pride Lands but Frank and Nora decided to go visit their ancestral home and left their children in the Pride Lands. Alisa, to everyone's surprise had given birth three weeks before her due date. She had a boy and a girl, two precious little bundles whom she named Bahati and Mzuri. They had all of their mother's features, the only thing they inherited from their father, being his eyes.

Marisa was filling out nicely, her stomach was a little round and she was about two months pregnant. She was upset over Viktor, and had mixed feelings about carrying his cubs but what was their fault in this? He was to blame, they were innocent. With some convincing from her mother, she made the decision, as difficult as it was, to keep the cubs.

At the Tree of Life, Rani was two months and one week pregnant. Kion couldn't be happier. She was stubborn and willfully and blatantly disregarded Kion's orders to stay and rest, declaring she had a kingdom to run and couldn't be expected to sit around and do nothing. Kion was at his wit's end with her but he loved her nonetheless.

Vitani had been busy, training her Lion Guard and ensuring tight surveillance around the borders was in place. She had no interest in acquiring a mate and insisted she was perfectly fine with being single.
"I can't distract myself with a mate, I need to stay focused," she would say.

Venicia and her leopards went back to Mirihi Forest with the promise that they'll always be there to help. And Kiara and Kovu assured her she would be welcomed anytime.

In the outlands Tasha and Zayne were living with each other. Isis and Viktor were cast out of the outlands since they betrayed both Cougar and Arsenal. Arsenal grew even more bitter with the loss of her mate and isolated herself from her family where she slowly began to lose her sanity. Day by day, night by night, she grew resentful of everyone and lashed out in a fit of rage whenever Viktor or Isis were mentioned.

Maana didn't care about anything anymore she was living and yet she was dead. She barely ate, barely slept and was rapidly growing weaker and weaker. Her brain seemed to have shut down and her body, even though it was hers, didn't seem like it was truly belonging to her.

Cougar lost his mate but in no time at all found he found someone else, a younger lioness who was probably a few years older than Maana. They hit it off and became mates just a month after they met. Arsenal was infuriated with this and figured no one deserved the happiness of having a mate since she had lost her own.

Zayne had a mate, her father had a mate, she had none. And it made her even more resentful towards Viktor. And since Alisa had given birth and Marisa was still pregnant with his cubs, they too fueled her hatred for the lion she once loved.

Kiara and Kovu resumed their Kingly and Queenly duties and responsibilities. They took care of their family and pride and always made time every once in a while to visit the graves of their lost pride members, to thank them for their valiance and sacrifices. So yes everything was back to normal in a way. Everyone was happy and prosperous and healthy.

And before long, things will continue to change. The changes could be good, they could be bad, they could be somewhere in between good and bad. But whatever changes occured, they would be dealt with head on. Burnt once is twice shy. They would not make the same mistakes twice. Not now, not ever again.

Author's note: Well that was great!!! A New Life is about to reach its conclusion, just a few more special chapters and it will end. I am so happy for all the support, love and positivity that encouraged me to continue writing this book. I have a surprise for everyone but it will have to wait for the very last chapter of  A New Life. Again thank you all so much I love you all!!!!!
💓💓⭐💓💓