A New Life

A cracked shell

Everyone in the pride was shocked. No one has ever seen Kovu so disrespectful before and too his own mother too.
Marisa walked up to her mother and rested her head on her shoulder.
"Mom don't take what Kovu said to heart. It's just that...he's really worried for Kiara and he's angry with Simba. Don't feel bad," she said.

"Yes I know Marisa. It's hurts me to see my son like this. I wish I could help him," she sighed.
"You can Mom. Just give him some space. He'll come around, you'll see," Marisa said hugging Diana tenderly. The rest of the pride left the platform and went their separate ways.

Nala entered the den and saw Kiara lying down next to the practically shredded zebra.
"Kiara, honey how are you feeling," she asked softly.
Kiara wearily opened one eye and relaxed when she saw it was only her mother, checking up on her daughter's well-being.

"I'm  just fine Mom thanks," she said. Nala nuzzled her daughter and sat down next to her, she was just about to say something, when she saw a shadow behind her. She turned quickly around and sighed in relief when she saw it was only Vitani.
"Hello Vitani come in,"  said Nala patting the den floor, motioning for Vitani to sit.

"Hi Kiara, how you feeling now?" "Fine thanks," said Kiara as she rubbed the back of her neck where there was a slight cramp.  The next to come in was Marisa, then Diana and Burnt Ebony and finally Simba they all asked Kiara how she was, and she replied the same every time.

But when Simba asked, she answered shortly and a little upset.
"Kiara I'm so sorry about what happened this morning when you and Kovu came in. I was so upset I forgot that you loved him. Can you ever forgive me Kiara?" asked Simba with pleading eyes. "I made a terrible mistake."

"It's okay Simba, everyone makes mistakes. But when you constantly make the same mistake over and over again, that's when we have a problem,"

Everyone turned around and saw Kovu standing there a bored look in his eyes.
"Where did you come from?" Marisa questioned.
"I've been here a while, just standing here listening to this ridiculously, stupid pointless  conversation that is making me wish I was elsewhere!" Kovu said sarcastically.

"What do you mean? Simba was just apologizing to Kiara. What so stupid and pointless about that? He said he was sorry," Vitani said rolling her eyes.
"If Simba was so sorry, then he never would have tried to break up Kiara and me, he wouldn't have hit Kiara and he never would have treated Kiara like a child!" Kovu shouted.

This made Simba hang his head in absolute shame.
"Kovu!" shouted Nala angrily. "How dare you speak to Simba like that! I think you've taken disrespectful to a whole new level! Simba is the King of the Pridelands and you have no right to speak to him like that, apologise to him right now!"

"Why should I Nala? He treats Kiara like a child, he always tries to break us up and he doesn't even acknowledge me as  Kiara's mate," Kovu said rolling his eyes.
"If it wasn't for Simba, you and your pride would still be living in the outlands!" Nala retorted.
That remark threw Kovu totally off guard. He blinked and sat down his ears low.

"And furthermore, regardless of if he accepts you as Kiara's mate or not, you have to right to-"
"BE QUIET MOTHER!"
Kiara shouted as she rose angrily off the ground.
"Don't you dare say another word!"
Everyone gasped in horror, no one has ever seen Kiara so rude to her mother. Nala was taken aback, it was the first time her daughter had raised her voice to her.

"You're right mom," said Kiara smiling sadly.
"You're absolutely right. If it wasn't for Father Kovu and his pride still would have been living in the outlands. But if it wasn't for Kovu, I would have been dead. The fire would've killed me," Kiara paused for a breath, tears fling down her face.

"And if it wasn't for Kovu, Daddy would've been dead. Because the original plan was for Kovu to earn Daddy's trust, enter the Pride Lands, kill him and become King to avenge Scar. But he didn't. He went against everything and everyone only because he fell in love with me."
Everyone listened to this silently, not saying anything because they knew Kiara was right.

Wiping her eyes, Kiara walked past her parents and stood next to Kovu. She hugged him and rested her head on his shoulders and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, the couple got up off the ground and walked outside, their tails intertwined. Simba and Nala watched them go, wishing they could take back everything that was hurtful to them. But it was too late now. Kiara and Kovu had gone.

Author's note: as I said before A New Life is currently in the editing process. It was written in 2018 and it had a lot of mistakes and I put emphasis on a lot. Punctuation, grammar and spelling errors, and I wanted to edit those chapters before I went on to publish the other chapters. Sorry if they seem short but the cause called for it. Thank you all so much for the support and patience.
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