Whatever It Takes - A Lion Guard FanFiction

Chapter 20: Final goodbyes

The sun was rising. A warm day was about to hit the Pridelands. The pride of lion that lived there wouldn't have much trouble with the heat. They would be able to sit in the cooler shadows from their den in Pride Rock. Inside the den was a lion sleeping. Everyone knew him, even though he didn't belong there any longer. He used to. He was the prince, but he found love and moved to another place. It was a lion with a red mane named Kion. Everyone in the pride had woken up already, except for him. Everyone was wondering what he was doing there, sleeping in his usual spot, which wasn't taken in the time he left, even though it was one of the better spots.

"What is Kion doing here?" Kiara asked herself, while she was looking at her brother sleeping peacefully. Kion always used to be an early bird, so it must have been late for him last night, because he was the last one asleep. Kiara wanted to know what he was doing in the Pridelands, but she was going to wait. Kion needed to rest. "Isn't that my uncle? What is he doing here?" Mrembo asked. "I don't know why he is here right now, sweety. If you just go and play, I'll find out." Kiara answered.

An hour went by, and Kion finally woke up. He yawned, and every lion in the den moved its head towards him. After a few seconds in which everyone was staring at Kion, Kiara started talking. "What are you doing in the Pridelands, Kion?" she asked her brother. "Long story short. My scar can't be healed anymore, so I left the tree of life, not wanting to hurt anyone there, and I went to the Pridelands to say my final goodbyes, because when I leave I won't ever come back." Everyone gasped in shock. They all thought that Kion would get healed. Kion walked closer to Kiara. "Can I talk with you for a second?" "Sure Kion, what is it?" Kion started walking out of the den. "I mean talk with you in private, somewhere else." he said. "Oh, okay." Kiara followed Kion to a different place.

Kion started walking to the top of Pride Rock. "Here we should be able to talk in private." Kiara walked after him. Her eyes started tearing up after a while. "What is wrong, Kiara?" Kion asked her with a caring voice. "This place used to hold so many memories, but in such a short time it became a place of bad memories. First Kovu died here, and now you're going to tell me something, which will most likely be a bad thing, considering your current state." Kiara explained. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know that it happened right here. If you want to go somewhere else to talk we can do that too." "No, it's alright. We can experience the view from here together one last time at least." Kion felt glad to hear that. He did love the view from here, and now he was going to see it one last time, together with someone he really cared about. Even though they had their moments where they hated each other when they were just cubs, Kiara was still his sister. "I wanted to tell you something else than that I am leaving everything behind. I actually had some positive news." Kion said. "Oh, really. Are you sure you said that right. You're leaving everything behind, but you have positive news." "Yes, I have." Kion didn't say anything for a few seconds, and Kiara just waited for him to continue. "I am a father. A few weeks ago, Rani gave birth to two cubs. A boy and a girl. The boy has golden fur. He is called Cheka, and the girl has brown fur. She has been named Uon. Seeing them for the first time... It was the happiest day of my life." "Then why are you leaving, Kion. If everything is alright, you won't have to leave." "That is the problem. It is not alright. For the first few days it was. But eventually the nightmares started returning, and I had a bad feeling about staying." Kion now started crying. "In a nightmare, I saw both Cheka and Uon falling off a cliff, and landing right in front of me. They were both dead." Kiara did not want to see her brother crying, especially not in the final moment they would have together. "It is alright. It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real." she tried to comfort him. She also stroked his head. Kion pushed Kiara's paw away. "I think it is time for me to leave." Kion stood up, and started walking down again, constantly keeping his head down, gazing at the ground.

"So this means that you'll never come back?" Simba asked his son. "Yes dad. I'm sorry, but I won't come back." Nala just laid down next to Simba. She was sobbing, because she didn't want this to happen. She wanted to see Kion happy. If not in the Pridelands, at least at the Tree of Life. "I just can't believe it. I always thought that you would be alright. But you won't." she said. "It's alright mom. It is better this way. I just don't want to hurt anyone." Kion nuzzled his mom. After he did that, he walked towards his dad, and stopped when he was right in front of him. Kion gave a quick nod. "I will be alright." he said. Tears started filling his eyes, so did Simba's. After a few seconds Kion ran into his dad, nuzzling him, while they were both sobbing. "I'll miss you, son." "I'll miss you too."

"So this is it. Goodbye mom, goodbye dad." Kion said as he turned away from his parents. He started walking away from Pride Rock. When Kion was in the middle of the Pridelands, something started smelling weird. Kion looked around, and noticed that there was a lot of smoke coming his way, from not too far away. "Oh no! Fire!"