New Beginnings

Chapter two

Kiara stayed in the cave for hours. When she wasn't crying, she was remembering the wonderful memories she had spent with Kovu. And when she wasn't doing either one, she was cursing the Kings for being so cruel and taking Kovu away from her.

After she was through she got up and walked dejectedly out of the cave, it was night time when she arrived at Pride Rock. Weakly she climbed the steps and stepped onto the platform.
"Where in the Pride Lands have you been all this time?"
Kiara glanced up and saw her mother, Diana, Burnt Eboney, Vitani, Kion and unfortunately her father.  

She groaned and tried to walk pass them but her mother's harsh voice made her stop.
"If youwalk away from me Kiara, I will not spare you,"
Kiara spun around and met her mother's gaze, defiance glinted in her amber eyes. She was tired, sluggish and her nose itched from the constant rubbing.

All she wanted was to go into the den and sleep but her mother was making her life hard as usual. Nothing new.
"Mother, I am in no mood to hear any of this. I'm tired and clearly not feeling well. So if you'll please excuse me, I'm going inside  goodnight," Kiara said in a polite but firm voice. She didn't want to trip off, but her mother was making that difficult.

Summoning patience Nala stepped up to her daughter, trying not to lose her cool.
"Kiara, what you said to your father this evening was nothing nice and he has been deeply hurt by it. I want you to please apologize to him, and then you may go inside," Nala said calmly.

"I'm sorry Mother, but there is no way I am going to apologize to Father. He suggested something that I am not ready to forgive. In addition to that he keeps nagging me and giving me lectures and speeches I don't want to hear about," Kiara said angrily.

She too had been trying to keep her anger intact but the way things were going, she could sense a fight coming on and a big one too. Nala knew her daughter was upset, she understood she had lost the one lion she had ever loved and those three years had been the hardest years of her life. But like Simba Nala too wanted Kiara to forget the past and move on from it.

However, before Nala could say anymore, Kiara said goodnight to everyone once more and went into the cave, her head low, her ears drooped and her tail hanging between her legs. Then suddenly everything Nala had wanted to say her daughter was forgotten. Sighing deeply she and Simba walked off of the platform and left Diana, Burnt Eboney, Vitani and Kion alone. 

Diana collapsed heavily on her stomach and rested her chin on her paws. She had changed in the past three years. She had lost sufficient weight, there were dark circles under her eyes and she hardly spoke anything. Her husband was looking a little better than she was, he hadn't lost any weight, but he walked in silence, answering only when called. Not asking anything and not making any comments.

His son's leaving had left a huge impact on him as well as his wife. Vitani and Kion went into the den where the rest of the pride were already asleep. Marisa and her mate Andreas slept in a secluded corner, Hasari and Kuuma were in another corner and Maugi was lying among the lionesses. 

Kion and Vitani went to their own personal corner and settled down to sleep. Kion laid down on the den floor and Vitani rested herself on top of his back.
"Goodnight Kion," she said with a  yawn as she snuggled into his thick mane and closed her eyes, exhausted from the long day.
"Goodnight Vitani," he replied drowsily.

After several minutes the couple fell asleep. Diana, Burnt Eboney, Simba and Nala came after a while and they too settled down for the night. Soon the den was silent with everyone asleep, the only sounds being heard were the various sounds of the night animals as they went about their business.

Everyone was so deeply asleep, no one heard Kiara sneak  out of the den and make her way down the steps and into the savannah.

Safely away from Pride Rock, Kiara made her way to a particular hill, placed herself on her back and gazed up into the night sky. Her amber eyes roamed the stars for a while until she found the constellations she was looking so desperately for; a bunny and two lions on their hindlegs, fighting. She sighed and continued to gaze at the sky, her eyes not moving once.

Those two constellations were very special to her, they were there three years ago when Kiara had taken Kovu star gazing for the very first time. Her heart lurched at the memory and she tried to force the tears that were threatening to fall back into her eyes. She didn't want to cry so much. For she knew it would make Kovu sad to know this was the condition he had left her in.

"Oh Kovu, if you only knew of the pain I've been facing ever since you left me, if only you knew of those days I spent without you.
My love if only you knew, the  sheer agony of it all!" she cried. "Why did you leave me? Didn't you love me? Didn't you care that when you left you took my heart with you? Aren't you aware of the fact that I can't live without you?!"

Kiara was hysterical now, she couldn't seem to stop crying, nor could she seem to control her emotions. The tears ran freely down her cheeks like a stream that had been freed of the rocks and debris blocking it. She stayed until late into the night, she cried until her voice became hoarse and her eyes resembled two pools of blood.

She didn't care who saw her and she didn't care who heard her, all she could think about was Kovu, the fact that he left her and the fact that she would probably never gaze into those gorgeous emerald green eyes that had set her free from the chains that had bound her all her life.