The Lion Guard: A Gaze Into Paradise

After Simba and Nala had disappeared down the hill, Kovu and the other lionesses went inside the cave to bed while Kiara stood watching the horizon with Kion still in between  her legs, Sarabi noticing her grandchildren smiled and made her way over to them,

" darlings it's time for bed" she said gently, Kiara bent down and picked Kion up and handed him over to Sarabi,

" Nai Nai you go ahead and put him to bed I'll be in in a minute" Kiara said,

" ok honey don't stay out here too long ok" Sarabi answered, as she entered the den both Kovu and Sarafina went over to her, Sarabi gave Kion to Sarafina and she went to put him to bed, " Sarabi wheres Kiara?" Kovu asked, " she's still outside she said she'd be in soon" Sarabi answered, Kovu thanked her and went back outside to his mate, Kiara didn't notice her mate come up behind her until he pressed his muzzle to her cheek, " darling do you want to go to bed?" he asked, " in a minute honey" Kiara answered, pressing her muzzle to Kovu's. Kovu smiled and settled down next to his mate and the two of them watched the sunset.

Meanwhile Simba and Nala had made it to Hakuna Matata and were settling down into the vacation den,

" Simba are you sure Kiara and Kovu can handle running the kingdom for two weeks" Nala asked concern etched in her tone, " Nala they'll be fine they mother and Rafiki and Zazu to help them relax" Simba answered,  " I know but Kiara's never been in charge of the hunting party before" Nala said,

" she'll be fine, she's your daughter and after you and Kovu taught her some tricks she's a wonderful huntress" Simba said "what about Kion, you saw how he was when we left, he's only a cub"  Nala continued. " Kiara and Kovu are going to take good care of him" Simba reassured, " I'm not worried about that, Kiara adores Kion and is so good with him, I'm worried about how Kion's going to handle being away from me for two weeks" Nala said looking up at her mate,

" Nala he's going to be just fine he's got mom and Sarafina and Kiara to dote over him and he's got Kovu to protect him he'll be fine, now let's get some rest" Simba said, the two of them settled down and fell asleep.

Meanwhile back at Pride Rock, the pride had just fallen asleep, all but Kiara who laid awake thinking about the next day, Kovu had decided to sleep in Nala's spot which was next to Kiara, Kiara was glad because now she had someone to cuddle into as usually Kovu slept on the other side on Kion, on her left side Kion was curled up sound asleep, Kiara gazed down at him and thought wistfully of how her brother didn't have the weight of the whole kingdom on his shoulders, all he had to look forward to tomorrow was being babysat by Vitani. Kiara glanced across the den at her sister in law, and chuckled at how easily she had agreed to watch Kion, not thinking about what a day it would be. Kiara sighed and cuddled into her mate and fell asleep.

Early the next morning Sarabi was the first to wake, carefully she climbed over the other lionesses, towards the spot where he grandchildren were sleeping,

When she reached them she carefully climbed over to where Kiara was fast asleep, gently she started to nudge her,

" Kiara wake up it's time for the hunt" she whispered, Kiara groggily opened her eyes, " Nai Nai?" She asked sleepily,  " honey do you want me to handle the hunting party" Sarabi asked gently, slowly Kiara got up, " it's ok I can handle it" she answered picking up Kion and  depositing him with Vitani while Sarabi woke the rest of the lionesses, Kiara made her way to her mate and nuzzled him, then she followed her grandmothers and the rest of the lionesses outside, she remembered what her mother did when she was leading the hunting party, and arranged the lionesses into the formation, with her at the front and her grandmothers flaking her and another lioness behind her to repeat the  signals

And the rest of the lionesses fanned out behind her, Kiara spotted a zebra quickly she gave the signal to attack, they caught the prey and started dragging it home, Sarabi came up to her granddaughter, " I'm so proud of you sweetheart" she said pressing her muzzle to her granddaughters,

" thanks Nai Nai" Kiara said,

" your welcome sweetheart, now let's go home and rest" Sarabi answered,

The lionesses made their way back to Pride Rock, when they got there Kion raced out to greet them,

" Hi Kion" Kiara said as her brother ran into her legs, she bent down and licked him, just then Zazu flew up and landed at Kiaras feet, "  Princess Kiara I bring urgent news" he said breathlessly,

" Zazu what's wrong?" Kiara asked,

"Invaders" Zazu answered, instantly a flash of fear shot through Kiaras eyes, " everyone to the safe cave now" she ordered shakily, " Zazu find Kovu" she commanded, Zazu instantly flew off

Kiara picked her brother up and handed him to Sarafina, then she slowly made her way to Sarabi, when she reached her grandmother she looked up at her,

" honey what's wrong" Sarabi asked gently concern etched in her tone,

" Nai Nai what am I supposed to do?" Kiara asked, " baby don't worry I'll handle it ok you just take care of Kion" Sarabi reassured her granddaughter, Kiara nodded shakily, just then Kovu raced up to them Zazu following at his tail, Kiara let out a sigh of relief when she saw her mate and went over to him, " sweetheart are you ok" Kovu asked nuzzling his mate, " I'm fine I don't want you to leave me, like you and daddy do before when you separate from the rest of us to warn the animals" Kovu's heart melted as he gazed down into Kiaras face, " sweetie unless someone wants to warn the animals I have to leave but I'll be back" he said gently, Kiara suddenly got an idea, " hey Vitani come over here please" she called,Vitani hearing her sister in law call her went over to where her, and her brother were standing" Kiara what is it" she asked.

" will you do me a favor?" Kiara asked, " what do you need?" Vitani answered,

" Hey Nona come over here please" Kiara called,Sarafina came over and stood next to Vitani, " will you two please go and warn the animals of the invasion so Kovu can stay with me please" Kiara asked, " of course honey" Sarafina said she and Vitani started to walk back towards the savannah.

Kiara turned to look at her mate, and started laughing at the look on his face, " honey did you just  get my sister and Sarafina to go and do my job just so I'd be here to protect you" he said a laugh rising in his throat, " maybe" Kiara answered nuzzling her mate," well let's go to the safe cave" Kovu said starting to lead the way, when the pride reached the cave they filed in and laid down, Kiara gave Kion to Sarabi and went to lie down with Kovu.

Meanwhile at Hakuna Matata, Simba and Nala had just finished eating and were settling down for the night,

" Simba how you think Kiara handled the hunt? Nala asked, " I think she did fine" Simba answered yawning, "she's never been in charge of the hunt before, when I was on royal leave when I was pregnant with Kion, Sarabi handled the hunt and Kiara handled the rest of my duties" Nala continued, " honey Kiara wasn't full grown then, she's fine now" Simba reassured, " all right lets go to sleep" Nala said nuzzling her mate, the two of them settled down and went to sleep.

Meanwhile in the safe cave the lionesses and Kion were sleeping all except Kiara, Kiara was laying awake staring out of the entrance to the cave and thinking about how she was supposed to be queen one day and couldn't even handle an invasion, she sighed and looked at her mate who was sleeping  peacefully, Kovu opened his eyes and noticed his mate was awake.

" honey what are you doing up" Kovu asked worriedly, " Kiara let out a huge sigh " honey I'm scared mom and daddy always knew what to do during an invasion but I've never been in charge when one happened" she confessed, Kovu heart broke as he gazed into his mates eyes,  " honey your not alone I'm right here, I'll always be here I love you more then anything" Kovu said gently, Kiara pressed her muzzle to her mates cheek and they smiled at each other, just then they heard movement at the cave entrance, they looked up and got up at once when they saw that Sarafina and Vitani had returned, when they reached them Sarabi was standing next to Sarafina holding Kion, Kiara lifted her brother from her grandmothers  mouth and held him tightly in her mouth, " so are the invaders gone?" Kovu asked, " yeah we chased them over the border" Vitani answered, " let's go home everyone" Kovu said, the pride made their way back home and settled down, Kiara snuggled into her mate and sighed, she thought she'd handled the invasion pretty well and in a few days her parents would come home.

Meanwhile in the vacation den Simba was sleeping peacefully while Nala was laying awake worried about her babies,

" Simba" she whispered nudging her mate,  Simba sleepily opened one eye and sat up when he noticed Nala awake.

" honey what are you doing awake? He asked, " Simba I feel like something happened back home" Nala confessed,

" darling what could have happened" Simba asked, " I don't know I just have mothers intuition" Nala answered,

" honey would you feel better if we came home early" Simba asked,

" I would but I want Kiara to know we trust her" Nala answered, " all right now go to sleep my darling" Simba said laying down. Nala pressed her muzzle to her mates cheek and fell asleep.

Back at pride rock Sarabi was the first to wake, she stepped over the other lioness towards her granddaughter and bent down, " honey do you want me to handle the hunt today" she asked, Kiara opened her eyes and looked at her grandmother, " do you mind Nai Nai?" She asked, " no baby of course I don't mind" Sarabi answered gently, " thank you Nai Nai I love you" Kiara said said nuzzling her grandmother, " I love you too my darling" Sarabi answered returning Kiara's affection, she then got up and after waking the lionesses went out to start the hunt.

Kiara watched them leave then snuggled close to her mate, she glanced at her brother then fell asleep.

When Kovu woke up he glanced next to him and smiled when he saw his mate snuggled close to him, he gently licked her forehead, then glanced across her to where Kion was laying, he smiled before getting up and stretching, his movements woke Kiara who smiled up at he mate, " good morning my darling" she said, " good morning Kiara" Kovu answered leaning down and pressing his muzzle to his mates, " Nai Nai is leading the hunting party so I can stay here" Kiara stated, " ok what do you want to do today my love" Kovu asked,

" I just want to relax" Kiara said, she and Kovu looked at each other and started laughing, " would you obey to taking a walk my darling" Kovu asked,

" a walk sounds lovely" Kiara said, she and Kovu got up and after depositing the still sleeping Kion with Vitani and explaining to be left for the walk.

As they walked silently tails entwined, Kiara thought of how nice this was, for the past few days she had been so busy with taking care of Nala's duties and watching over Kion  she had hardly had alone time with her mate. She glanced at him and noticed how stressed he looked, she guessed doing her fathers duties was a lot of work, smiling, she pressed her muzzle to his cheek and smiled when he looked over at her, when they reached the waterhole they settled down and started talking,

" honey this is nice isn't it?" Kiara asked, " yes it is my darling, I get to spend some alone time with my favorite lioness" Kovu said nuzzling his mate, " I'm glad Vitani agreed to watch Kion, I mean I love him but I needed some alone time with you" Kiara stated, " I know and don't worry Vitani adores Kion" Kovu answered.

Meanwhile Kion was just waking up, he was surprised to find he was with Vitani instead of Kiara " hi Kion did you sleep good?" Vitani asked " yeah Tani where's Kiara?"" She and Kovu went to the waterhole they'll be back soon" Vitani answered, just then the hunting party returned, Sarafina and Sarabi came over to Vitani and Kion, " hi Nai Nai hi Nona" Kion said nuzzling his grandmothers " hello my love do you want some breakfast" Sarafina asked, she picked Kion up and went to the spot where the pride was gathered around the kill.

" Vitani wheres Kiara?" Sarabi asked

" she and Kovu went to the waterhole" Vitani answered, just then Kiara and Kovu entered the den Kovu went to eat breakfast while Kiara made her way to grandmother and sister in law, " hi Nai Nai hi Vitani thanks for babyusitting Kion" Kiara said " your welcome Kiara" Vitani said going to join her brother.

" how'd the hunt go Nai Nai" Kiara asked, before Sarabi  answered Zazu came flying up to them, " your majesty I bring news from your parents" he said hurriedly " Zazu what news?" Kiara asked " they will be home tomorrow" Zazu reported, Kiara and Sarabi glanced at each other and a feeling of relief spread through Kiara, " thank you Zazu" she said, Zazu bowed and flew off, " Nai Nai go and tell the others please" Kiara said, Sarabi made her way to the kill spot" Kiara sank down and let out a sigh of relief, Kion made his way over to her and settled down between her legs, " Kiara?" He asked

" yes dear" Kiara answered, " are mama and dad really coming home tomorrow?" Kion asked, " yes Kion they are" Kiara answered, " now it's time for bed" she said as Kovu came over and laid down next to her, the three of them settled down and went to sleep,

The next morning Kiara woke up early and smiled, today her parents would be home, she got up and nudged Kovu who woke up and the two of them went out on to the peak

Kiara practically squealed when she noticed  her parents and raced toward them, Kovu at her tail, when they reached them it was a commotion with nuzzling and licking, " mom daddy how was your trip?" " it was fine Kiara where's your brother?" Simba asked

"He's inside with Nai Nai" Kiara answered, the four of them went inside,

" mama!!" Kion screamed when he noticed his parents, "Kion my darling how have you been" Nala asked as her son raced towards them, " I've been fine I missed you" Kion answered, "we missed you too son" Simba said

The four of them then settled down and fell asleep