Like Water and Rain (Chapter 12)

‘’It’s ‘Upendi’, Connor..’’

‘’Where I come from, my Princess, it’s ‘Upendo’.’’

‘’Then your world must be horrible at words.’’

‘’Ooh, scathing.’’

‘’Enough sarcasm.’’

‘’Without sarcasm, would I be who I am?’’

‘’Same human, just more bland.’’

‘’Real assuring, Kiara.’’

Yes, it is the return of our friendly arguments, though this time, it was in front of Kovu, who was watching in amusement. What were we arguing about, you may ask?

The very word that brought us together: ‘Upendi’.

I tried telling her that it’s actually UPENDO, not Upendi, but the Princess of Pride Rock remains unconvinced. That’s Kiara for ya…

‘’And how do you suppose that would change much?’’ Kiara asked. ‘’It means practically the same thing!’’''' '''

I opened my mouth, but shut it. ‘’Good point…’’

‘’And besides, who cares what word it means?’’ She continued, flicking me with her tail.

I shrugged. ‘’Some people from my world would come and call our actions ‘disgusting’ because of our opposite species.’’

‘’I don’t entirely think that it’s different species.’’ The lioness smiled. ‘’You’re in the body of a lion now, so wouldn’t that make you a human-lion hybrid?’’

‘’A...what?’’

‘’It’s simple.’’ Kiara said while giggling. ‘’Since you’re a human, but in the body of a lion, it would probably make you a human-lion hybrid.’’

I blinked at Kiara’s explanation. ‘’But it’s more complicated than tha-’’

‘’Shujaa! Kiara!’’ We heard Zuri say as she approached us, panting and wheezing. ‘’Kion..Lion Guard..’’

‘’What about them?’’ I asked the tawny-orange lioness, who was sweating heavily.

‘’Here..’’ Zuri said before coughing a bit. ‘’They’re back!’’

What!?

Nothing to be too excited about.

Kiara and I looked at each other before running towards where we thought The Guard were. If it’s true that they’re back, they won’t be too thrilled to see Kovu, an Outsider, in The Pridelands.

Lets just hope that isn’t the case.

--

Arriving at the location of The Lion Guard, the two of us walked over to them, side by side.

‘’Been a while, Kion.’’ I said to the red-maned lion..holy crap, his mane is nearly fully grown. ‘’Something wrong, my friend?’’

‘’N-Nothing.’’ He assured me, stunned I was there, but then saw Kiara. ‘’Why is Kiara here?’’

‘’Glad to see you missed me too, little brother…’’ She replied sarcastically. ‘’But to answer your question…’’

I saw the visible blush on her face. ‘’I’m...with him.’’

The confusion was evident on The Guard as Ono spoke. ‘’Figuratively or literally?’’

We looked at each other, then turned back. ‘’....Literally.’’

I’ll admit, I was keeping in a laugh at their shocked faces. ‘’Not in the way you are implying, no. But this emotional attachment has to do with Rafiki...that and Kiara made me sad and guilty of leaving The Pridelands because she couldn’t stop crying.’’

Kiara turned her head to me. ‘’That’s because you were gone from The Pridelands for nearly a year!’’''' '''

‘’Yes, Kiara…’’ I sighed again. ‘’I know..’’

‘’Pfft…’’ We heard Bunga laugh. ‘’There’s no way you two can possibly love each other...is there?’’

I think the silence answers it, honey badger..

Whoa.. Bunga gasped.

‘’Oh, you wouldn’t believe what Connor did!’’ Kiara giggled as I blinked. ‘’He hung out with me, taught me how to hunt with Kovu, watched the stars with me and all kinds of stuff.’’

My deep red blush was showing as she continued. ‘’It was amazing and romantic!’’

‘’Okay, Kiara, that’s enoug-’’

‘’And when he came back, he rescued me from a fire!’’

‘’But I couldn’t let you just die like tha-’’

‘’He even said he came to PROTECT me!’’

‘’Princess, you’re embarrassing me..’’ I whined as the lioness giggled. Smirking, I turned to her. ‘’I’m starting to regret going around The Pridelands with you like I did.’’

Blinking, Kiara looked at me in protest. ‘’Wait, what do you mea-’’''' '''

I put a paw on the lioness’s nose, then rubbed it. ‘’I only jest, Kiara.’’

With Kiara playfully swatting away my paw, I heard The Guard chuckling and laughing at our squabble.

‘’We even cuddled!’’ She said.

‘’Wait, no we did no-’’

But as I looked at The Guard, Fuli spoke. ‘’I..don’t really believe that.’’

A shrug game from Kiara. ‘’Tiifu and Zuri were watching us the entire time..without our knowledge, of course.’’

‘’Kiara! Shujaa!’’ We heard Kovu’s voice get closer as the Outsider in question approached us. Looking at The Lion Guard, he frowned. ‘’Oh...it’s you guys.’’

‘’Kovu, let’s not start any arguments..’’ I groaned before Kion blinked.

‘’Kovu?’’ Kion gasped, then growled. ‘’Why are you in The Pridelands?’’

‘’He came with me for an..uh..extra lion for protection.’’ I grinned sheepishly before looking at Kovu, who raised a brow, only to get a look from me that said ‘Just go with it’. ‘’Besides, a Princess needs her bodyguards.’’

‘’Do I now?’’ Kiara asked. ‘’I do believe I beat you in wrestling.’’

‘’I was going easy on you!’’ I protested, but the lioness rolled her eyes fondly.

‘’Uh-huh, sure you did.’’ She giggled before looking back at Kion. ‘’So what brings you back to The Pridelands, little brother?’’

Kion and Kovu were sharply staring at each other before Kion snapped back to reality, looking at his sister. ‘’We got done in The Amanilands. The King and Queen are now safely guarding it, so we left, calling it a job well done. When we got back, we saw Zuri run away from us...and I guess she told you two we were back.’’

‘’Really, how’d you figure?’’ I asked before Kion walked up to Kovu. A tense staredown putting all of us on edge. ‘’Kion...don’t..’’

The two sent piercing expressions at each other as Kiara came up next to me.

‘’Little brother, he doesn’t mean any harm.’’ Kiara said...if only you knew…’’He’s just helping us.’’

‘’Hmm…’’ I rubbed my chin before turning to Kiara, whispering. ‘’Remember that thing your father told you?’’

‘’Everything the light touches is our kingdom?’’ She asked, but I shook my head.

‘’No, the other thing.’’ I replied. ‘’The one that doesn’t sound like greedy claim of territory.’’

‘’We are one?’’ She asked again. At my nod, she raised an eyebrow. ‘’What about it?’’

‘’We might need to use that lesson later on...’’ I told the lioness before roaring, catching everyone but the smiling Kiara off guard. ‘’Alright, ya junkies, let me get one thing clear.’’

The two male lions, while surprised, looked at me. ‘’You two are not animals..well, you are, but..you know what I mean! The point is, you can’t tear each other apart. Kion because he’s too important to the kingdom and Kovu because I don’t want to suffer Zira’s wrath.’’

‘’What does Zira have to do with this?’’ Crap...this ain’t good. Kion, raising an eyebrow, frowned.

‘’A lot..’’ I sighed, but then frowned back at them. ‘’But I don’t want to tell you guys…’’''' '''

‘’Why not?’’ He asked. ‘’Kiara said you wanted to protect her. What from? From Zira?’’

‘’That doesn’t concern you, Kion.’’ I replied, shrugging. ‘’I’d rather it keep between your parents, Kiara, Kovu and I.’’

‘’...Oh…’’ He sighed. ‘’I understand. Must be something big, then?’’

‘’Bigger than any of you would know.’’ I said to The Guard. ‘’I’d rather you learn about it later on.’’

‘’What about Kovu?’’ Kion asked. ‘’I find it difficult to trust him, especially after what Zira must have done.’’

‘’That, my friend, I will tell you tomorrow.’’ I said, walking over to the red-maned lion and patting his head. ‘’On a side note, look at your mane! Your mane is enough to make any lioness swoon!’’

A sheepish chuckle before a smirk. ‘’I think you’ve done that already.’’

I blushed as Kiara did the same. ‘’Well…’’

‘’I’m kidding.’’ Kion laughed. ‘’It’s good seeing you again, Shujaa.’’

I nodded. ‘’Always the same, Kion.’’

The Guard then walked off with Kiara coming up to me. ‘’Why didn’t you tell him? About why you want to protect me?’’''' '''

‘’The Guard’s involvement would have complicated things further.’’ I explained. ‘’I’m not risking that kind of thing until later on.’’

‘’Fair enough.’’ Kiara then rubbed her head against mine. ‘’You know what Zuri told me before you came back?’’

‘’Hm?’’

A smirk came from the Princess. ‘’She likes Kion..’’

After a little bit, a sick grin came on me. ‘’Well then...let’s get dangerous.’’

'''NEXT: IT’S A TRAP! When Simba gets ambushed by The Outsiders and is injured, Shujaa finally confesses his role of the plot to Kiara.'''