The Lion King Origins: Book One

32| Settling Differences

•Hadiya•

same day, later on that afternoon...

After another successful hunting lesson with Ashia and the rest of the hunting party, I was patiently laying on a warm and tall stone behind Pride Rock waiting for my turn to eat lunch. We had caught a large male buffalo today which should feed the entire pride. The warm sun felt so good on my light fur I couldn't help but close my eyes and take a small nap.

After the entire Pride fed, everyone retuned to their normal duties and went back to minding their business. Me? I walked down below Pride Rock near another shady tree with a few older lionesses watching their cubs run around and play in the grass. It made me smile, remembering how my brother and I used to play like that when we were younger.

One female cub who was running around with her friends accidentally tripped and fell on her belly, pebbles and specks of dirt covering her fur. I rushed to her aid.

"Are you okay little one?" I asked, approaching her.

She wasn't alarmed at my sudden approach and her bright red eyes stared into mine.

"No, ouch!" She cried. "I think I twisted my paw a little!"

"Come on. Let me take you to your mother, quickly." I said, lowering down and softly picking her up in my mouth. She pointed to where her mother was. They shared the same fur coat and eye color.

"Excuse me? Your daughter here fell and hurt her paw a little bit. She claims she twisted it." I explained, sitting the little cub down next to her mother.

"Oh thank you dear! Honey you've got to me much more careful when playing rough with your friends. Accidents like this can happen." She said, eyeing her daughter's injury.

The little cub flattened her ears and frowned. "I'm sorry mommy.."

She nuzzled her. "It's quite alright. Just be more cautious next time." She then locked eyes with me. "And thank you Hadiya dear for rushing to her aid. I appreciate it!"

I smiled at them both. "It's not a problem at all!" 

I left the scene and as I kept walking I had accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oops, I'm sorry." I apologized while giggling, noticing that it was Adia.

"Oh hey there Hadiya. Don't mind that, I was being silly.."

I didn't say anything, just chuckling and nodding. Awkward silence fell. I had always had caught a certain feeling that Adia never really liked me too much, I just don't know why or what I did. I seem to get along with everyone else here well, just not her.

"Hey uh would you like to take a walk with me?" She asked interrupting my thoughts.

"Really, just the two of us?"

She smiled. "Yes. We could just spend a little girl time of our own together."

I looked around for a while before smiling a little as well. "Okay. That sounds good."

She stood up and began leading the way to the waterhole. I remember this was the shortcut Queen Kiara showed my brother and I.

"So..." She asked breaking the silence again. "I know you and Tau have been living her for quite some time now. How does it feel compared to where you used to live?"

"It's definitely a lot bigger and has more life I'll say that. This Pride is much bigger than the one I was raised in. My brother and I were born to two royal leaders as well."

"Wow, so you're basically half royalty? That's so cool!" She said excitingly.

"Heh, thanks. My parents aren't as famous as Kovu and Kiara though. We had our own land far away from here."

"Yeah, the King and Queen of the Pride Lands are extremely well known to even some of the smallest prides. We do happen to be the only royal lion pride that lives around here."

I chuckled. We continued chatting until we reached the waterhole. Not many animals were present except a few zebras and hares who quickly sprinted away when they saw us approaching them.

I rolled my hazel eyes. "Silly animals."

"I have a quick question Hadiya. It's kind of a personal one though."

I turned and faced her. "I'm all ears. What's up?"

"Where did you come from? Like where were you born and raised and how did you and your brother make your way into the Pride Lands?" She asked seriously.

I took a shaky breath and stared down into the clear water, a tear slipping from my eye and falling into it.

"Oh Hadiya I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.." She said in a upset tone. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No." I sniffled, wiping my eye. "I'll tell you. We are friends after all."

I began explaining the story of where Tau and I were raised, some stories of my parents, how my father turned on his entire Pride and family, my mother stayed to save our lives, how Tau and I's sibling bond grew closer with us having to depend on eachother, and how we ended up joining this wonderful pride and living here.

"Wow Hadiya. That's such a deep and touching story. You and your brother are both two incredibly strong lions." She said, sniffling a bit as well. "Now I think I should apologize to you."

"For what?" I asked, sounding a bit confused.

"About how I've been acting towards you. You may not have noticed but a while back when you and Tau first got here, I will admit and say I was jealous of you.."

I placed a paw on my chest. "Jealous of me? Why?"

She blushed embarrassingly. "Because of Kibwe.."

I sat there and thought about that small moment that happened between us when we first arrived here. Kibwe's compliment was very sweet but I never truly saw him in that way.

"Nonsense Adia. You and Kibwe have an extremely good connection and bond. You both clearly have a great love for eachother as well and the last thing I want to do is mess that up. I never saw him in a romantic way at all but the way he looks at you as if you're the only lioness in the world. You both belong together." I said.

Even though Kibwe is very sweet, handsome, courageous, and strong, Adia is so lucky to have him.

"Thank you Hadiya. I acted like a jealous little girl and put my feelings first before even thinking about how you felt."

I laughed. "It's quite alright."

We nuzzled in a very sisterly like way, indicating that all of this drama was now over.

Finally, we've settled our differences..