Don't Need to Be Afraid
This is just a little one-shot I made about a year ago for fanfiction.net, and I thought it would be fun to upload it here too. Considering how few TLK fanfics there are on this site with any heart behind them, it seemed appropriate for me to share this. The story you see here is actually a revised version of the one on fanfiction.net. I made grammatical corrections, made the sentences flow better, and overall just tweaked and fixed a bunch of things in it that bothered me. Let's just say a year can really change your writing sensibilities.
This story marked the written debut of Kenta, an OC that my friend and I created. He's the son of Kovu and Kiara, and the future king of the Pride Lands. From a young age, he's generally a shy yet well-meaning person who can be described as a momma's boy. He's sometimes made fun of by his peers for that, but he still loves his parents deeply. This fanfic was a case where I wanted to express the close connection Kenta has with his mother. That, and I'm a complete sucker for fluff like this.
Let me know in the comments what you think!
The rain poured down endlessly across the dry African plains, moistening and soaking the savannah trees and grasses with precious, cool water from the sky. The grey clouds were thick, covering the entirety of the dark night sky and blocking the light from the moon and the stars above. Brief flashes of lightning and long, resounding booms and echoes of thunder sounded off, as they had been doing for several hours now. The wind was soft and steady, gently rustling and caressing the wet, dripping leaves of the trees and plants from below. The region was thick with the scent of wet grass and moist air, with echoes of falling rain that could be heard for miles around.
Despite this routine thunderstorm, none of the animals living in this area, the Pride Lands, were particularly bothered by it. Especially not the pride of mighty lions and lionesses that led and ruled these lands, as each of them were soundly sleeping inside their massive, imposing home of Pride Rock. Within its large den laid twenty lionesses, four lions, and five cubs. They were sleeping silently, all of them having drifted into their dreams with the unceasing sound of the rain from outside. They breathed slowly and quietly, with only an occasional paw swatting or purring noise coming from their dreams. They were as peaceful as could be.
At least, most of them were.
Near the front of the den, a young lion cub with a gold colored pelt, a rusty-red head tuft of fur, and a black Pride Lander nose was stirring. His body was shifting positions constantly, his paws were twitching, and faint moans could be heard from him every few minutes. His moans became increasingly distressed as the night went on, and his restlessness was becoming all the more apparent. Eventually, with one large crash of thunder, the cub suddenly jolted awake, his eyes now wide and his breathing becoming heavy. After taking a few deep breaths out of shock, he slowly turned over and laid down on his stomach, letting his paws loose again. The cub had a look of terror on his face, and his reddish-brown eyes appeared slightly bloodshot. It took him a moment to recover from his uneasiness.
After he let the sound of the falling rain soothe him in a way, the cub staggered up onto his feet, trying not to loose his balance. He looked behind him into the den, trying to find someone in particular amid the darkness, and only having an occasional lightning flash to light his way. He carefully and quietly made his way past the sleeping pride members. Among them was his grandparents, his cousins, his aunt and uncle, and his father. Soon, the cub found just who he was looking for. Crawling up onto the side of her left arm, he whispered into her ear,
"Momma... momma, wake up!"
He waited for a few seconds, getting no response out of his sleeping mother. The cub then tried to tug on her ear, pulling her head down slightly as he did. Soon, this was enough to get a few tired groans out of her as her brown eyes flickered open. Looking around, she saw her young son tugging on her ear still.
"Huh? W-What is it, Kenta?" She asked exhaustedly, yawning afterword. "What are you doing up this late?"
His ears drooped. Removing himself from her, Kenta sat down beside her left paw. "I... I had a bad dream, momma."
Her expression lightening, the lioness rose her head up and scooted closer over to Kenta, putting her paw around him for comfort. She brought her head close to him and spoke.
"Oh, don't worry, Kenta. It was only a dream." She said softly. "It's over now."
She stroked the red tuft on his head, watching as he tried to hold back tears now. "What was the dream about, Kenta?" She asked. Kenta sniffed sadly.
"Well... i-it was about grandma Zira. I saw her trying to kill you and daddy. She... she said she wanted to get revenge on... great uncle Scar. She was... killing you..."
At this moment, Kenta broke down in tears, quietly beginning to sob as his mother looked on sadly. "I don't want you to die, momma... I don't want grandma Zira to hurt you. I love you."
His mother came in even closer to him, tenderly giving him a lick on the muzzle. "Shhh... Oh, I know, Kenta. I love you too. Great Kings know I do. But I promise that I'll never let anything bad happen to you. Not ever. Zira... went away, a while before you and your sister were born anyway."
The four-month old cub sniffled again. "Yeah, but... my dream. Why did she have to be so mean, momma? Daddy told me all about how bad she hurt everyone and wanted to do bad things to grandpa. Why?"
Kiara sighed, looking outside to the rain for a moment as she thought back to when the Outsiders and the Pride Landers were still gravely at odds. Kenta still knew very little about the details. He wasn't yet old enough to understand the complexities and struggles of what happened in the last three days of Zira's life. Thinking desperately of what to tell her son, Kiara eventually replied with,
"She just didn't like us, I suppose. Some lions are like that. But you don't need to be afraid, Kenta. She's gone now. I swear on the Great Kings that she'll never hurt you."
Kenta still looked unsure of what to think. Kiara knew that his dream must've been much rougher than she originally thought. Trying to bring a smile to his face, she continued.
"Did I ever tell you that, just before she went away, I tried to save her?"
Kenta immediately went wide-eyed. "You did?"
Kiara nodded. "Yes. I told Zira I could help her so she wouldn't be so mean anymore. But she... didn't want it."
"Why did you want to save her?" The cub asked. "She sounds like she was too mean to want to help."
"Because everyone is worth saving."
Kenta looked downward for a bit as he listened to his mother finish. "If she'd let me help her, she could've been here with us right now, not being so bad anymore. You see, Kenta, your father taught me something important a long time ago."
"What?"
"That no matter how bad someone might look, they can always be saved. He used to want to help Zira out with hurting everyone, and he almost did. But then he met me..."
Kenta blinked a few times. "So... you turned him good, momma?"
Kiara chuckled. "Well, it wasn't just me. Your grandpa Simba helped him out by giving him a chance. Old friend Rafiki helped him a lot too. Together, we saved your daddy and made him good."
"So... maybe Zira could've been saved too?"
"Absolutely." Kiara nodded. "No one is born bad, Kenta. Anyone can become good if they try and get help. There's no need to be afraid of Zira or those silly nightmares. Zira wasn't all bad, son. She just didn't get the help she needed. Understand?"
Kenta took a moment to ponder these thoughts to himself. He never met Zira in person, but the stories he'd been told about her made him imagine such vivid thoughts of a complete monster causing chaos wherever she went. But as Kenta thought more and more about his mother's words, those dark thoughts within his young mind began to dissipate, like a thick cloud of fog slowly disappearing after a long rainstorm.
"Yeah... I understand, momma." He finally said. Kiara smiled earnestly.
"That's my son." She said lovingly, giving him a small hug of comfort. Kenta put his paws around her arm, and he rested his head against her right paw now.
"Always remember, Kenta" Kiara started again, "I promise that your daddy and I will never let anything bad happen to you or your sister. You have my word on the Great Kings themselves."
Kenta finally smiled, wiping away the moisture on his eyes. "T-thank you, momma. That helped a lot."
Kiara replied plesantly, "I'm glad it did."
Soon enough, Kenta yawned softly. "I think I'm ready to go back to sleep now."
"I am too, Kenta."
With that, the young cub went forth and crawled over his mother's arms, moving in between her paws. He curled himself up warmly against her chest, nestled himself comfortably within her grasp, and soon his breathing became soft and quiet once more. Kiara gently licked his forehead.
"Good night, momma." He said tiredly. "I love you."
The lioness smiled deeply and affectionately at her son once more. "Good night, Kenta." She replied, slowly resting her head beside him against her paws. "I love you too. I always will."
With that, the mother and son slowly but surely drifted back off into their deep golden slumbers together, with the sound of the rain outside soothing them once more. Kiara held onto her cub tightly as she slept, quietly and patiently awaiting the morning when she'd be able to see his loving face once again, as Kenta did the same. Their dreams meandered freely once more.
This time, there wasn't a trace of Zira or fearful darkness within them.