The Lion King: Legend of Kopa

Chapter Eleven

   As a few days went by, Kovu grew a little bit bigger. He'd scoot around the den, still too young to walk, and say chopped words like "mommy" and "milk." Zira was proud of him, but continued to keep him hidden away from the rest of the pride.
   Kiara grew a little, too. One sunny afternoon, Nala and the other lionesses went to lay in the shade of an acacia tree, relaxing and doing their typical chatting. Nala brought Kiara with her, and the older cubs came along, too. Kopa mostly played with Kiara.
   "Kiara," he cooed to his little sister. "Ki-Ki-Ki-Kiara."
   Kiara giggled.
   A little while later, Kopa went off to play with Vitani. The two cubs playfully chased each other across the savanna, laughing with joy.
   At one point Kopa leaped down a hill, and rolled the rest of the way. Vitani followed, and both of them were rolling down the hill. When they finally reached the bottom, Vitani landed first, on her back. Kopa then reached her, but instead of actually landing on the ground, he landed on his stomach on top of Vitani. Next thing the two cubs knew, they were lying face-to-face, noses almost pressed together like a kiss.
  "Hey, don't you two think you're a little too young for that?" Called a voice from the top of the hill. It was Timon, looking down at Kopa and Vitani. Pumba was behind him.
   Kopa quickly backed off of Vitani. Vitani stood up and both cubs giggled with embarrassment.
   Timon and Pumba came rolling down the hill.
   "WHEEEE!!!!!!!!" Timon cried happily.
   "WHOOO-HOO!" Pumba whooped.
   Kopa and Vitani watched as the playful warthog and meerkat reached the bottom. Unfortunately, Pumba landed on top of Timon, squashing him with his fat butt.
   "Agghhhh." Timon's groanish-scream was muffled by Pumba's heinie.
   "Oops, sorry Timon!" Pumba hopped off of his friend. Timon lay there, alive but looking like a tiny bird that had been stepped on by the heftiest elephant. His tongue stuck out, too.
   Kopa and Vitani burst out laughing. Pumba chuckled as Timon, looking disoriented, dragged himself back onto his feet and brushed himself off before shooting Pumba a disapproving look.
   "Er...sorry," Pumba apologized again, giving Timon a nervous grin.
   As Kopa and Vitani carried on chortling hysterically, Kopa couldn't help noticing how heartwarming and soul-lifting Vitani's laugh sounded. Just hearing it cheered him up even more.
   When the laughter died away, Timon asked Kopa and Vitani: "so, what are you two lovebirds up to this lovely afternoon? Simba sent us to make sure you were doing all right."
   "Lovebirds?!" Kopa repeated. He looked at Vitani, who was staring back a him with a grossed-out expression.
   "Ew, what makes you two think we're in love??" Vitani demanded.
   "A future king must select his queen carefully." That was Zazu, who landed in front of Kopa and was giving him a sly smile. Kopa shuddered.
   Zazu looked from Kopa to Vitani with that sly smile. "Childhood sweethearts always work best," he added smugly.
   "Okay, Zazu, that's enough." Vitani batted a paw at the hornbill, making him lose a few feathers.
   All of a sudden, there was an evil-sounding laugh behind them. Kopa, Vitani, Timon, Pumba and Zazu all spun around and saw them coming toward them: hyenas!