The Lion King: A Second Chance

Hope

Timon and Pumbaa arrived in the Pridelands not long after Kopa left. They stood on a hill, looking at Pride Rock, Timon riding on Pumbaa's back. When they walked into the cave, there was complete silence. Most of the lionesses had gone to hunt, Vitani and Nuka had cried themselves to sleep in Chuma's forelegs and Nala was talking to Sarabi. The two friends walked over to the queen and her mother-in-law. Nala turned and smiled when she saw the meerkat and warthog.

"Hello boys." She said, smiling sadly.

Timon jumped down off Pumbaa's back. "Nala, I'm so sorry to hear about Kopa." The meerkat said. Nala nodded slowly. Pumbaa looked down at the three princesses.

"So, these are the princesses we heard about!" Pumbaa beamed. Nala looked down at her girls.

"Yes Pumbaa." She chuckled. "That's Tiifu, that's Kiara and this little one is Zuri." Timon looked down at the girls in awe. After a few moments of admiring the sleeping cubs, Timon looked back up at Nala.

"Nala, have you seen Simba anywhere." He asked. Nala frowned and closed her eyes for a few seconds before responding.

"He's at the top of Pride Rock." She replied.

"Thank you, Nala." The meerkat said. Timon hopped back onto Pumbaa's back and the two headed to the top of Pride Rock. When they got to the top, they saw their King lying down with his head hanging off the top of Pride Rock. Timon was the first to speak.

"Simba." He said quietly. Simba turned around and smiled when he saw his lifelong friends standing there. He got up and almost ran over to them before pulling them into a hug.

"I missed you guys." He said.

"We missed you too, Simba." Pumbaa replied. Timon pulled out of the hug and looked into Simba's teary eyes.

"Simba, I'm so sorry." He said.

"Thank you, Timon." The stars were beginning to show. An idea came to Simba's mind, and he smiled slightly. He broke the hug with his friends and started to walk down from the top of Pride Rock, heading back into the cave.

"Hey! Where ya goin'?" Timon asked confusedly. Simba turned around to face his confused friend.

"I gotta do something." He replied before disappearing from the top and walked down into the cave.

He walked in and saw that Vitani was still asleep and was cuddled into Chuma. Simba walked over to Chuma and sat down beside him. Chuma spoke first.

"Hey. How ya feeling?" he asked.

"I've felt much better before." Simba replied. "Anyway, I came to see Vitani, if that's okay."

"Oh, yeah sure!" Chuma replied. He nudged his daughter slightly, and she woke up, showing Simba her tear stained face. The king knelt down infront of the young lioness and smiled at her.

"Hey." He said with a friendly tone. "I want to show you something." Vitani looked up at her father for approval and he smiled down at her. She got up from her resting position and stretched her limbs after being curled up in a strange position for hours. She walked out of the cave with Simba, before finally beginning to speak.

"So, where are we going?" she asked quietly. Simba turned his head back and smiled gently at her.

"You'll see." He replied, still using his friendly tone. He brought the cub to the same place his father brought him, all those years ago, the night he learned about the Great Kings of the Past. He sat down and looked up to the sky, watching the sun set over the Pridelands. Vitani sat closely beside him. He looked down at her and spoke.

"Vitani, do you wanna know why I brought you here?" She didn't reply, but she nodded, hoping, that somehow, Kopa might still be alive, and Simba was gonna surprise her by bringing her here to meet him. Sadly for her, that was not the case. Simba looked up to the stars, which were now fully visible.

"Kopa is up there, Vitani." He began. She looked up to the sky. "He is up there with his Grandfather, my father, and they are looking down on us right now. Would you like to talk to him?" he asked. She nodded her head again.

"King Simba, how do I know which star belongs to Kopa?" she asked.

"I do not know, Vitani. All I know is, is that he is one of those stars, and he will always be there to guide you, whenever you feel alone." He replied. He walked off, leaving Vitani talk with Kopa. She looked up to the sky, with tears forming in her eyes.

"Come back." She begged. "I don't want to live without you. I love you." She added. "Please. Come back." Her tears began to flow as she looked to the stars, begging for her true love to come back to her.

Zira was back in the Wasteland, where he lived. She saw Shenzi and smiled. Shenzi walked over to her, and tilted her head in confusion, as to why Zira came with no food for him.

"Why do you have no food? He needs the food to heal, so we can go back to the Pridelands, remember." She asked.

"I will tell him why I have no food. Can I see him?" she replied.

Shenzi moved out of Zira's way, and let her go into the cave, where he was waiting.

After walking into the cave, she saw him lying down. She walked over to him, about to speak, but he beat her to it.

"Why have you not brought me food?" the lion asked sinisterly.

"I can't go hunt in the Pridelands anymore." She replied. The lion narrowed his eyes at her for a moment.

"Why?" he asked. Zira smiled and looked at him in the eye.

"I killed the king's son. That's why." The lion glared at her, his blood boiling.

"You did WHAT?!" he screamed. "TELL ME YOU HAVEN'T BEEN EXILED." The lion's anger had caused Zira to shrink in fear, as he began to get up and walk over to her, while still limping after being shot.

"I did." She said, looking at the floor. The lion growled and attacked her. He swiped at her muzzle, giving her three long scars across her muzzle and cheek. Zira fell backwards from the power of his hit. Even if he was injured, her strength was nothing compared to his, and she knew that.

"I'm sorry Kifo.. Please don't." She begged. Kifo growled at her. He lay back down on the floor, still glaring at the wounded lioness.

"Mother always said you were a failure, Zira. But I never thought you would screw up this badly." He said. Zira looked at her furious brother, realising how badly she screwed up the plan.

"i-I'm sorry Kifo, i-I thought that if killed him tha-"

"SILENCE!" he interrupted. Zira was beginning to fear that she was going to die for what she has done, how badly she ruined their plan. He grinded his teeth.

"Get out." He said quietly. Zira got up slowly and rubbed the wound on her face.

"GET OUT!" he roared again. Zira ran out of the cave and Wastelands as fast as she could. She knew well enough from her childhood to never be around Kifo when he's angry.

Kopa had been walking for about an hour and was starving, and dehydrated. He collapsed onto the floor. His ears were ringing and his eyesight was beginning to blur. He opened his eyes one last time, seeing a small white figure running towards him, followed by a much larger white figure. His eyes closed. The white figure stood beside Kopa and saw the wounds on his back.

"Dad. Look!" he said, pointing to the wounds.

"Oh no, quick, let's get him fixed up!" his father replied...