Only One

Prologue
It has been a couple of years since The Lion Guard left for the Tree Of Life and when Kion became the king of that place along with Queen Rani. Truth be told, life is going pretty well for everyone.

Kion and Rani, Bunga and Binga, Fuli and Azzad are all enjoying their relationships together, and their new home. One of the couples that blossomed at this place was Ono and Anga.

People were speculating that the two birds had a crush on one another, but none of them wanted to open up to the other in fear of them not loving them back, you've seen that trope before.

Eventually, it was on some random holiday called Christmas, when Bunga pulled a prank on the two when he and Binga managed to get the two together underneath this thing called a mistletoe and "accidentally" made Ono trip onto Anga, causing his beaks to land on hers.

After that, they managed to sort their feelings out for one another and before anyone even knew it, they were mates. Even more surprising, was that later on, it turned Ono and Anga got a little busy and now Anga is expecting twins.

While they were excited about being parents, something inside Ono was making him feel nervous, depressed, and scared. As the days went on, Ono changed for the worse. He became more antisocial, he didn't seem as enthused in his job as he used to, and he spent more time alone.

Anga, who is usually the antisocial one in the group, though not as much as before, noticed this. She comforted Ono one night after she came to their nest to find him crying his eyes out. The only words that came out of his mouth were "Mother" and "Please". She didn't get much sleep that night, but she managed to get Ono to calm down, so she got something done at least. The Night Pride gave him a mental health day and had Anga keep an eye on him. At this point, Anga was scared. She didn't want to lose the only person that she loved at the hands of his sanity seemingly washing away.

Then, something happened that night. After they fell asleep. At first, things seemed rather quiet, as it should be. But then, a noise was heard. Ono woke up to see if he can find it. He felt Anga had done enough hard work keeping him safe, and wanted her to rest. As he flew closer to where the noise was coming from, he started to notice a white light. He flew to where the light was, and it was then he realized he recognized that voice.

It was the voice of her mother.

"Mom?" Ono asked quietly with a hint of confusion in his voice.

He noticed something walk out of the light. It was an egret.

"Is…is that you?" Ono asked.

"Mom"

Chapter 2
The next morning, Ono woke up in the same area he was in last night. He felt like what happened last night has made him realize that all of the doubt and fear he built up in him was unnecessary. The spirit that came to him has given him a new confidence in life, and his ability to be a parent. For the first time in a while, he felt happy.

He breathed in the precious air and looked around the place. It looked beautiful, with colorful plants everywhere for the eye to see in the forest. The fruits came in a variety of colors, from red to yellow to green, it made the place seem like something out of Rafiki's paintings.

As he was enjoying the scene, he heard someone call his name.

"Ono!" A voice that sounded scared called out.

It was Anga. He realized that she wasn't there with him and naturally she must've been scared that he ran off somewhere. And to be fair, who could blame her?

"Sweetie? I'm in here." He then heard the flapping of wings and the movement of feet. He must've been out for a while if all of his friends are looking for him.

And wouldn't he know it, he saw Anga and his friends enter into the part of the forest he was in. She stared at him for a moment before rushing over and embracing him, while quietly sobbing.

"Anga, it's okay. I'm here and I'm fine." Ono said in an attempt to calm her down.

Anga wasn't entirely calmed down by that though.

"What the hell, Ono?" Anga asked furiously.

"You just took off in the middle of the night, leaving me. Ono, I thought you did the unthinkable."

To be fair, she wasn't wrong. With the way he was, Kings only know what crazy step he would take next.

"Well, that thankfully isn't the case." Ono said, trying to keep Anga from beating the crap out of him.

"Can you at least explain why you just up and left?"

"Yes, but I wanna explain everything privately."

Anga just groaned. She was tired of the delays, she just wanted the truth. This wasn't the Ono that she knows.

"Trust me". Ono said.

"Alright." Anga replied.

Later on, they found a cave to talk it all out in. It was just Ono and Anga. No distractions from Kion and the others.

Once they entered, Ono started to talk.

"Alright, do you know how Kion and Rani can speak to their dead relatives?"

"...Yeah?" Anga asked confused.

"Well, I had an experience like that. Only, it was… it was with my mom.

"Your mom?"

Ono realized that he never talked about his early times to her.

"Yeah, my life didn't really start the best. My father vanished before I was even born, and it was just me and my mother. Life was fine, until one fateful day. A jackal found us and chased us in the hope of having a snack. In that cave happened to be a colony of bats. They got scared and flew off. It all became chaos. We couldn't see much, and the next thing I knew, she was on the ground. During the mess, the jackal managed to get her to the point that it killed her. The scene is still on my mind today."

Anga stood there. She never knew how Ono's life started off in a say like this. Once he finished explaining that part, Anga went and nuzzled her mate in comfort. Ono was sobbing a bit after telling her how she died.

However, that wasn't all to the story.

"I was never able to get over what happened. I became this smart because I knew that I needed to know my surroundings or else the same fate would happen to me."

"When I found out you were pregnant, I got scared. I didn't want my kids to suffer the same thing I did. I don't want them to see me fail as a parent because I couldn't be there. I...just couldn't do it…"

"That was until last night. I heard a voice and I saw a light. It sounded like my mother when she would sing a lullaby to me. I couldn't believe it, but it was her. I embraced her, and cried. She was right here after years of being gone from my life. I told her everything that has happened. When I got to the kids, she comforted me with a song. I believe it went like this.

'As I lay me down to sleep

I hear her speak to me

Hello Ono, how ya doin'?

I think the storm ran out of rain, the clouds are movin'

I know you're happy, 'cause I can see it

So tell the voice inside ya head to believe it

I talked to God about you, he said he sent you an angel

And look at all that he gave you

You asked for one and you got two

You know I never left you

'Cause every road that leads to heaven's right

inside you

So I can say

Hello my only one, just like the mornin' sun

You'll keep on risin' 'til the sky knows your name

Hello my only one, remember who you are

No you're not perfect but you're not your mistakes

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Oh the good outweighs the bad even on your worst day

Hey hey one day you'll be the man you always knew you could be

And if you knew how proud I was

You'd never shed a tear, have a fear, no you wouldn't do that

And though I didn't pick the day to turn the page

I know it's not the end every time I see her face, and I hear you say

Hello my only one, remember who you are

You got the world 'cause you got love in your hands

And you're still my chosen one

So can you understand? One day you'll understand

So hear me out, hear me out

I won't go, I won't go

No goodbyes, no goodbyes

Just hello, just hello

And when you cry, I will cry

And when you smile, I will smile

And next time when I look in your eyes

We'll have wings and we'll fly

Hello my only one, just like the mornin' sun

You'll keep on risin' 'til the sky knows your name

And you're still my chosen one, remember who you are

No you're not perfect but you're not your mistakes

Hey, hey, hey, hey

Tell your kids about me, tell your kids ab-

I just want you to do me a favor

Tell your kids about me, tell your kids about me“

After that, he looked at Anga. She had tears in her eyes. She went over to Ono, and trapped him in a passionate kiss. The world just became the two of them.

When she let go, she said "Ono, don't you see? Your loved ones will always be in your heart. You live on and tell the kids about their experiences, and keep their memory alive."

Ono just replied with a "Yeah." He instead just focused on the embrace he was in.

A few days later, the eggs came onto the nest, and another amount of time passed until the eggs hatched. They had a son and a daughter, Kujali and Mabawa. Ono and Anga were loving parents to the two of them.

And while her grandchildren grew up, Zabuni looked down at her son proudly. He was a kind and loving man, and someone who she is proud to call her son.