The Lion Guard: A Dark Secret

Chapter 53

Fuli yawned and blinked open her eyes. Another day, she thought to herself, seeing the faint sunrise begin to show through the Tree's entrance. She saw Nirmala was sorting herbs nearby and was walking outside, probably to get some more. She saw Kion next to her. They were huddled together in an embrace to keep each other warm and secure.

He was awake and was muttering to himself, a worried edge to his voice. The moment Fuli saw him, a certain thought came to her mind. The secret. 

However, she noticed he looked worried and on edge... scared, almost. "Kion?" Fuli asked. "You alright?"

"I guess.." Kion sighed. He responded faster than Fuli thought he would, her originally thinking he would say something like; 'I'm fine, Fuli!'

"Just wish these nightmares would go away," he added. He laid his head down and sighed, his voice sounding strained and hollow.

"Oh.." Fuli rested her head on his shoulder. "It's alright. Wanna talk about it?"

"Sure." His answer surprised Fuli. He's not hiding? He's not concealing his feelings like that anymore?

"So... what was it?" Fuli asked after a few moments of silence.

"Jua was in the nightmare.. again." Kion's strained voice sounded less scared and more tired. Tired of having to be scared. "She... she..." Kion sighed tiredly, his gaze hollow and he blinked a couple tears from his eyes. His gaze wavered up to something above him, something that Fuli did not see nor know. "She killed..."

"You?" Fuli asked after he went silent for a few long moments.

Kion shook his head. "Someone I care about."

Fuli sighed. A moment of silence spread between them. "I know how you feel," she finally said after a few long, long moments. The cheetah held nothing but sympathy for the young lion. "My worst nightmare is losing someone I love."

"Yeah. That's why I never wanted to tell you about her," he continued. "I was so scared that I'd hurt you that it made me keep quiet."

'I was so scared that I'd hurt you that it made me keep quiet.' The words echoed in Fuli's brain, making a certain thought return. Like how I'm keeping quiet about the secret...

"You shouldn'tve done that," Fuli told him, getting out of her distant thoughts. "You shouldn't have had to suffer out of fear of what would happen if you told anyone. Remember; if you tell us, we can all help. No matter what someone that threatens you might tell you."

Kion nodded in agreement. "I know. I just.... I was scared." He almost seemed to shrink into his own body. His ears flattened and his gaze flickered away from making eye contact with her. "I couldn't lose you Fuli."

"I know, Kion. I know. I know what it's like to be scared. I could never lose you either. But just.. please be more open from now on. You can talk to me about anything."

Though the same thought lingered in her mind: If we could talk to each other about anything... oh, the secret... what'll happen if I tell him... or if he somehow finds out?

"I will, I promise. Now is there anything you wanna talk about?" He tiled his head in curiosity. "If I can talk to you about anything, you can talk to me about anything," he added, his voice purposeful and meaningful.

The secret... the secret... the secret... now is the perfect time... he's finally getting more open, but... I can't. He's still trying to heal. I can't break him down right after we can finally begin to build him back up.