Guilt and Fear-The Untold story of Zira

Chapter forty-seven: Kopa's point of view

(So, we've been in Zira's point of view for a while, now. I've been staying as true to the second movie and the Lion Guard as I can to make this work, but these last few chapters are mostly gonna be in the point of view of some characters that we may not have heard from in a while, just to give the story a bit of a twist so that it's not just like second movie end and then story end and blah blah blah...In this story, Kopa's gonna have a pretty big role in the end, so I figured we should pay him a bit of a visit. Are we all on the same page, now? Good. On with the story.)

Kopa watched the sun set on the border of the pridelands. There was a change in the winds tonight. He could feel it. He would have to go back to the pridelands tonight.

Turning to his uncle, Kopa felt sadness knowing that Mheetu would not be returning with him.

"There's a change in the circle of life." Mheetu said. "Mufasa's been pretty quiet for the past few months." He remarked. "Kopa, when you get back, will you tell Nala about me? Will you tell her that I miss her so much, and that I wish I could see her again."

"Why don't you come with me?" Kopa asked. "Why don't you come back home, come back to the pridelands?"

Mheetu shook his head. "If I was in the pridelands, I wouldn't have been there to save you that night from the great river. There may still be a purpose for me out here."

"Then let me stay. I don't want you to be out here all alone. You said yourself that you were really lonely before I came along."

Mheetu shook his head once again. "You're needed in the pridelands, Kopa. Your friend from the outlands. She needs you there. Your sister, Kiara, needs you, too."

"Tani..." Kopa said, remembering Vitani. His friend had been on his mind for a while now. He was worried for her. He was longing to see her again. But more than anything...he loved her. Kopa loved Vitani with everything in him. That sweet lioness that had been his best friend despite her past...she didn't deserve her past. She deserved so much more. And he could feel that something was wrong with Vitani. Mufasa had told him. Vitani's heart was so overcome with hatred for her mother, for Kiara, for someone to place the blame on...Kopa hoped that he would be able to return before it was too late.

Kopa stood at the mouth of the cave while the stars began to form with the rising of the moon.

"Why do you stall?" Mheetu asked. "Vitani needs you, my nephew. She is lost without you."

Kopa turned back to Mheetu. "Is there...any chance that I'll ever see you again?" He asked. He was going to miss his uncle. He was like a father to him.

Mheetu shook his head. "I'm afraid not. After you leave, I'm going to leave this cave for somewhere else to live. If the pridelanders knew where I was, the hyenas may as well." He walked up to Kopa, putting his arm around him in a short hug. "It's been an honor to know you and to watch you grow into the king you have become." Mheetu said, before sitting back and saying, "now go. Go to Vitani."

Kopa nodded, and looked around one final time at the cave that he had called home for so many months now, before bounding into the grassy savannah that he had known as his hunting grounds ever since he first learned to hunt. He continued as the moon rose in the sky, racing through the tall grasses, and across the heat of the volcanic grounds that Mheetu had never allowed him to cross. He felt the heat on his paws, and recognized the birds flying across the dark sky as the first sign of life other than Mheetu or their prey that he had seen in a long time. It sent a sense of a new beginning into the air.

Kopa continued to run for a long time. So many things had changed since Mheetu had saved him so many months ago. He had gone so far that he didn't even know how to get back to the cave.