Like Water and Rain (Chapter 11)

A yawn came from me as I stretched in order to prepare myself for the day. In contrast to most of the days i've spent in the past couple of months, I actually feel...happy. Either it's because I was back in the Pridelands or because of Kiara.

Speaking of the lioness, I looked down and saw her sleeping, understandably exhausted after last night. However...none of the others were asleep, rather awake outside. Shrugging, I walked outside to a grinning Zuri and Tiifu.

“Oh mufasa, congrats!” Zuri told me. Confused, I raised an eyebrow at my sister. “What you think we don't know your debacle with Kiara?”

Debacle wi-

…

Don’t tell me...

“We were watching you guys before we went to bed.” Tiifu explained, shrugging. ‘’It was pretty surreal, really. When you came to the Pridelands originally, you and Kiara absolutely despised each other, but now look at ya.’’

I blushed before chuckling. ‘’Well, time does fly, right?’’

‘’Certainly.’’ Zuri cut in, wrapping an arm around my neck. ‘’I knew you could do it, brother! Ya got all you want! A Princess in a kingdom with the respect of her parents! So when are you gonna start dating?’’

‘’Hey now, let’s not rush to questions like that.’’ I said with a smirk. ‘’Bit too fast to do it now, isn’t it?’’

‘’True..’’ She agreed. ‘’But ya never know!’’

As I playfully growled, I heard another yawn, Kovu waking up.

‘’Indeed, you don’t..’’ He sounded either jealous or irritated that i’m with Kiara..possibly the latter considering our heated conversation last night. ‘’But one thing you didn’t tell me, Shujaa..’’

I turned to the outsider. ‘’Hm?’’

‘’Why didn’t you ever tell any of us in the Outlands you were attached to the Pridelanders?’’ He asked, causing me to blink. He growled. ‘’You were hiding it from us, weren’t you…?’’

I looked down shamefully before he scoffed.

‘’Vitani and I knew there was something off about you..now I know what.’’ Kovu said before walking off, leaving me and the two lionesses I considered sisters.

‘’Man, he’s a grouch.’’ Zuri said.

‘’But he’s right.’’ I said, followed by the two lionesses looking at me. ‘’I hid the truth from the Outsiders in order for them to not go after any of you. If I spilled the beans immediately, they would have certainly laid you guys into a trap.’’

‘’Well, let’s not be a downer on Kupatana!’’ ‘Kupatana’? ‘’It’s a celebration for all of the animals places in the circle of life!’’

She punched my shoulder before winking. ‘’And it’s quite a celebration. In fact, it’s sort of like that Ukumbusho, but on a...larger scale.’’

I rubbed my chin while raising an eyebrow. ‘’What do you suppose I do in this occasion? I’ve never been to a Kupatana.

‘’That’s because it happens only once a year.’’ She explained. ‘’The last one happened while you were gone.’’

Oh…

‘’That explains it.’’ I blinked. ‘’So what do I do in order to make the most of a tradition i’ve never done?’’

‘’You mean Kupatana?’’ I heard Kiara’s voice say as she tiredly walked out. ‘’Simple...you make it a fun day for yourself and the others.’’

‘’Morning, Kiar-’’ But before I could finish, Zuri and Tiifu nearly knocked me over running to their friend, showering her with congratulations and questions regarding her and I, to the Princess’s event embarrassment. Looking at me with a confused face, Kiara raised an eyebrow, causing me to shrug. ‘’Hey, don’t look at me, they were watching us the entire time.’’

‘’No kidding…’’ She breathed at Zuri asked her a question I couldn’t hear. ‘’No, Zuri, not yet..’’

I shook my head fondly at my sister’s antics before looking at Kiara. ‘’You know, now that you brought up the ‘fun day for others’ thing...how about I make it fun for ya?’’

At that, she beamed. ‘’You mean..?’’

‘’Yep. I spend the entire Kupatana with you, Zuri and Tiifu.’’

She hugged me. ‘’Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!’’

I chuckled before looking at Zuri and Tiifu, who had similar smiles.

...Am I interrupting something?

Not at all, my temperamental compadre.

‘’Think about it!’’ I continued. ‘’A day with the four us of hanging out in order to celebrate it.’’

‘’YES!’’ She shouted in glee. ‘’Yes, I would want that!’’

‘’Although…’’ I smirked. ‘’Since you’re royalty, we’ll have to give you a grand entrance.’’

‘’I don’t think that’s necessar-’’ She started, but I interrupted her.

‘’Of course it is!’’ I laughed.

As Kiara blushed and her friends laughed with me, I smiled.

‘’Now, how are we going to do this?’’

Easier to decide how to do it than I thought. Turns out, I decided to show Zuri and Tiifu the place where me and Kiara realized our feeling for each other...the waterfall. They were understandably marvelled by the beauty of it all and looked at each other.

‘’So, how do you like it?’’ I asked the girls, who grinned happily.

‘’It’s AMAZING!’’ They shouted together.

‘’Yeah, Rafiki ended up passion fruits on us.’’ I shrugged. ‘’He had it easy for Kiara, but for me...not so much.’’

Growling playfully, Kiara interjected. ‘’Maybe you just need to watch out for your surroundings more.’’

‘’Hey, at least i’m not the one who’s desire to hunt alone nearly caused her to die in a fire.’’ I pointed out, causing Kiara to look away in embarrassment. ‘’Besides, it’s only through me and Kovu did you become an average hunter.’’''' '''

‘’Oh yeah?’’ She smirked before pouncing on me, causing us to wrestle us before she pinned us down, paws on my chest with the Princess laughing in victory.

‘’Clearly, you take some traits from your mother…’’ I sighed. ‘’Okay, you win.’’

‘’You’re right I do.’’ She said before getting off of me. ‘’I didn’t have hunting training, but I did request fighting training after that incident with Kenge.’’

‘’Ah…’’ I sighed. ‘’That.’’

‘’I knew that if you ever came back, I didn’t want to play damsel-in-distress.’’ She explained before looking at Tiifu and Zuri, who were whispering to each other. ‘’What’s wrong with you?’’

‘’Oh, nothing..’’ Tiifu said before they both giggled. ‘’We’re just discussing how cute you are together.’’

‘’Tiifu!’’ Kiara said while blushing until Zuri stepped in.

‘’Let’s just see if it gets to him becoming your Prince.’’ She said.

‘’Zuri!’’ Kiara blushed harder. ‘’It’s not like that!’’

‘’You know we only tease.’’  The tawny-orange lioness giggled. ‘’Besides, Shujaa said you won’t rush it.’’''' '''

Now a blush came from me as Kiara looked at me with an amused smile. Quickly regaining my composure, I shrugged. ‘’I came back to the Pridelands to protect Kiara from Zira, but I never knew it would get like that.’’

‘’Your highness!’’ We heard a voice say as Zazu flew in front of us and bowed before the Princess. ‘’You are needed at Mizimu Grove for the Kupatana.’’

‘’The Kupa-’’ Kiara started before she blinked. ‘’OH! I almost forgot about that!’’

Kiara then went off with Zazu leading her and the rest of us following behind.

The grove remained as decent as always. Animals were gathered as the four of us went up to Simba and Nala, who looked at me and Kiara specifically, then back at the spectacle. Zazu landed before a group of animals and began conducting a song about Kupatana.

Something about unity and stuff, peace and community...ya know, it’s like a mixture of Veteran’s Day, Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Kiara nuzzled me, but not before pulling away before anyone else but Zuri and Tiifu could see us doing it. Watching the events unfold, I looked down and had a face of doubt. What really WAS my place in the Pridelands? I do have involvement in the defense of it from Zira, but also have involvement in the plot to kill off Simba. I won’t do the latter, of course.''' '''

I remained silent as the singing continued, all of the animals but me singing as I continued to think.

'''Bah! Your doubtful thoughts are as disappointing as my nephew’s reign!'''

Shut up…

What I did notice was the absence of Kovu. True, he doesn’t exactly understand the culture of the Pridelands and how important unity is to them, but I had a feeling he would have come out of curiosity.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted some hyenas moving in the distance, narrowing my eyes, I started walking towards where I saw it.''' '''

‘’Connor? Is something there?’’ Kiara whispered as I nodded. ‘’What?’’

‘’I saw hyenas.’’ I told her. ‘’Stay here.’’

‘’Fat chance.’’ She whispered again, a higher tone. ‘’I’m not helpless, I proved that to you. Let me come…’’

I looked at her pleading eyes, my own eyes doubtful at the choice i’m about to make. ‘’...Fine…’’

Smiling, Kiara followed me to the location of the hyenas.

‘’Alright, fellas!’’ We heard a voice we both knew all too well shouted. ‘’The Pridelanders will be too busy doing their little ‘Kupatana’ celebration! That means we’ll be able to take all the food we can get!’’

‘’But Janja, What if The Lion Gua-’’ We heard another voice say before Janja shut him up.

‘’The Lion Guard are away from the Pridelands, fur-brain..’’ He groaned. ‘’That means we can go by without anyone knowing.’’

Kiara and I hid behind a rock, observing the gang of hyenas Janja had behind him. Nearly two dozen of these scavengers gathered, preparing to ruin one of the most important days of the year for the Pridelanders. Looking at each other, Kiara spoke. ‘’We have to do something!’’

‘’Yeah…’’ I agreed, slightly irritated by the absence of Kovu. ‘’Kovu is a good tracker, so he should have smelled the hyena’s scent and been here by now.’’

When I looked up at a hill above the hyenas, there was Kovu, observing the hyenas with a smirk, licking his lips. Eyes widening, I motioned for Kovu not to do it...and he reluctantly stopped and prepared to pounce on them.

‘’Let’s sneak up on them..’’ I whispered to Kiara as we blended into the grass and moved, only for me to her a twig break and turn to the lioness, who grinned sheepishly. Rolling my eyes fondly, we continued forward.

When we came up on them, I pointed at a rock near Kovu, telling him to kick it between the hyenas as a distraction. Doing so, the rock was dropped between the hyenas, causing them to look at it.

‘’It’s just a rock…’’ Janja scoffed. ‘’Nothing to be worried about.’’

Using that chance, me and Kiara pounced out of the grass, me knocking down Janja before swatting the others away, Kiara hopping over my body in order for Kovu to come down and pin them down. Surrounding the hyenas, I frowned.

‘’Look at you, Janja.’’ I smirked. ‘’While it’s smart to strike the Pridelands when The Lion Guard are away, that doesn’t mean i’m not here to stop you. That doesn’t mean WE’RE not here to stop you.’’

I then gestured to Kiara, who had a smirk of her own. At the sight of 2 grown male lions and one grown lioness, Janja gulped and turned to his clan.

‘’Uh..time to go!’’ He said, trying to run off, but I caught him and pinned him down. ‘’Huh!?’’

Smiling darkly, I got in his face. ‘’Let me make one thing clear...come here and try to harm my home again...and worse things will happen than what occured.’’

Whimpering from my threat, he ran off with his clan, out of distance. Sighing, Kiara came up close.

‘’Don’t you think that was a little harsh?’’ She asked me, but I shrugged.

‘’He’s done it for too long, Kiara.’’ I reminded her. ‘’I just wanted to make sure he didn’t come back.’’

Rolling her eyes, Kiara smiled. ‘’That may be true.’’

The rest of the day went fine for the Pridelanders, me telling Simba what transpired and him thanking our efforts to make sure Kupatana was saved. However, I decided to watch the celebration from a distance, sitting on a hill before Kovu walked up to me.

‘’You know..’’ Kovu started. ‘’Judging by how defensive you are of this kingdom, I might consider staying here for a while..though I am still wanting to enact mother’s wishes.’’

‘’As I said, I won’t let that happen.’’ I said with a smirk. ‘’But you’re free to stay here if you want, Kovu. It’d be a shame if you didn’t.’’

A shrug. ‘’Your little..interactions with Kiara are starting to make me question the purpose of it all, but I won’t let it get in the way of our goal.’’

We sat there for a few more moments before Kovu stood up. ‘’Well, i’m gonna go back to Pride Rock.’’

‘’Have fun, buddy.’’ I said to the Outsider as he walked off.

Observing Kiara’s fun with her friends, I decided to lay down and take a nap.

--

‘’Connor…’’

Huh…?

‘’Wake up…’’

‘’Five more minutes, mom…’’ I groaned before the voice of Kiara scoffed, then I felt her punch my arm, fully waking me up. ‘’Huh? Wha..?’’

‘’I’ve been trying to wake you up for nearly a minute and a half…’’ Kiara said flatly before smiling, laying down next to me. ‘’So how was your first Kupatana?’’

‘’Just peachy.’’

‘’I guess.’’ She shrugged. ‘’Today has been a bit bloated. Janja and all…’’

‘’Mhm…’’ i sighed. So much for that grand entrance..

‘’But you know what?’’ She asked, causing me to look at her. She then nuzzled me. ‘’That’s fine...because with you, my family and friends, it’s been the best Kupatana I could wish for.’’

Chuckling, I nuzzled back. ‘’I guess it was..’’

Note: Intended to release this near Thanksgiving, but decided against it, thinking it would be better suited for the chapter afterwards.

 

NEXT: When Shujaa takes Kovu to tell him about his past with Kiara, complications arise with their different views on the lioness.