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sleuth-draws · 3 months

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LOVESICK (part 3) - She Can Never Know! < prev | next >

As the sun begins to rise, the time for morning patrol follows suit. Every morning, the Lion Guard assembles at the base of Pride Rock to greet one another a good morning and decide who should hit which part of the lands.

Imara has to admit she's not entirely used to sleeping in a dark, cool den full of other lions; it's a far cry from sleeping in the dust of the Outlands, the rising sun hot on her pelt, tail and ears flicking away the termites that crawled over her. She can't complain though. There's an easy comradery in it that living in Zira's pride had never achieved, to be able to lean into the nearest warm, slumbering body when needed without worrying you'll be kicked away antagonistically -- kind, almost familial.

Since the migration to the Pridelands, Imara has come to like the lions in it, despite all her raising to despise them. It had taken quite a bit of healing and talking with the other lionesses -- from both groups -- to finally admit that. She used to be one of the skinniest of the Outlanders, something of a runt as a cub and always shoved from what little food could be scrounged up, the surprising generosity of the others allowed her to finally eat without worry to her heart’s content and build more body weight than she could've ever dreamed of having. She feels safe and supported here.

So these days, when she rises, bright and easy, stretching her ever-growing muscles and shaking her ears out, she's happy to pay it forward.

Today, she hops down the Rock and is the first to be at the base.

Next is Tazama, who greets her quietly yet warmly; then Shabaha, whose limp from the war has become hardly noticeable now; then, ironically, Kasi, who grumbles as they slink down the Rock.

"Nice of you to join us, Kas," Imara chuckles. "What kept you up so late last night?"

Kasi grouses, grooming a paw, "Noth --"

"I know what," Shabaha butts in, snickering, "You were up talking to Zuri last night, weren't you?"

From the way Kasi bristles, they can all tell Shabaha's right on the money. "...No, I wasn't . I can't even stand tha brat, let alone hold a conversation with her."

Shabaha laughs that wild laugh of hers, as if that's the funniest thing in the world. "Oh, please! I could hear you two giggling like cubs in the corner of the den! Who knew you could be such a charmer?"

"That -- you --" Kasi fumbles for words, their ears flattened in embarrassment, obviously caught. "Sh-Shut up, Shabaha! I-It was just…just idle conversation, nothing to gawk abou --"

"Yeah, you sure like gawking at her, don't you --"

"Why, you -- "

"Um, not to interrupt," Tazama says, distracted but clearly disturbed by their noise, "but it's past sunrise already; where's Vitani?"

The group falls silent as they realize she's right; they're far past their usual patrol time and their leader is nowhere to be found.

"Gosh," Imara says, "you guys don't think something happened to her, do you?"

"She might be sick?" Shabaha suggests. "Did you guys notice her looking strange yesterday?"

"Not me," Kasi says, shrugging. “‘Zama?”

"Hm," Tazama ponders, "I did notice something…odd last night at supper. Vitani looked quite anxious and didn't seem to eat much. In fact, she ended up giving the rest of the meat to Princess Kiara."

Imara's ears perk up at that. "Hey, yeah, now that you mention it, she didn't really say anything at supper. Neither of those things are really like her."

Tazama nods fervently, "Yes, yes, and also , I swear I heard her leave a little after everyone settled in to sleep. I think I could hear pacing just outside. It doesn't seem like she came back in."

Imara hums, then sniffs the air, then the ground. "Well, she's nearby. C'mon, guys, I think she's in the lair."

Sure enough, when they enter the lair, they find a lanky figure curled on the ground, breathing gently.

"Vitani?" Kasi calls.

No movement.

"Vitani, are you alright?" Tazama asks, as they all approach.

Still, nothing.

"VITANI! " Shabaha belts loudly, shaking her shoulder. Vitani bolts awake, eyes wide and growling, her stance defensive, fur standing on end. The four take an appeasing step backward.

"Whoa there," Imara attempts to soothe, "It's just us, Vitani."

Their leader freezes and blinks, eyes clearing. Her muzzle unwrinkles and her jaw goes slack. "Oh...jeez, I'm sorry, guys. I thought -- um --"

"It's alright, Vitani," Tazama placates, and Vitani drops her stance to lay on the ground again, yawning. "You didn't show for patrol --"

"Shit, what time is it!?" Vitani jolts up again but the Lion Guard blocks her path. "We gotta --"

"Absolutely not, dude," Kasi says.

"Indeed," Tazama agrees, "Patrol can wait for just a bit."

"But --"

"We can tell there's something wrong, Vi," Imara says. "What's eatin’ you? You didn't have much food last night and Tazama heard you get up and pace outside. And now we're finding you slept in here last night? C'mon, fess up."

Vitani, caught, gapes at her former squadron. "I..." And realizing there's no sense in making up excuses, she sighs heavily. Gone are the days where they were emotionally unavailable with one another in order to remain tough. They can all admit that they need this vulnerability now to survive after everything Zira had done to them.

She starts slowly and quietly, "Yesterday...when we were done with evening patrol, I met up with Kiara to hang out like usual. But it was…different this time."

She doesn't look at them, looking conflicted and frustrated.

"Different how?" Imara gently presses.

Vitani heaves a sigh. "I think..." She trails off before growling voicelessly. Her friends nearly back away again -- they know how she can get when angered -- but in an instant the anger drains away, leaving shame in its wake. She squeezes her eyes shut. "I think I...I'm in love with Kiara."

All their ears point sideways and they gape in astonishment.

"Ah." Tazama is the first to speak up. "That is quite the conundrum."

"Wait, I'm confused," Shabaha says, "How did that make you eat less and lose sleep?"

"Shabaha..." Kasi says exasperatedly, knocking their shoulder into her.

"She's my brother's girlfriend, that's why! Ugh, how could I be so --" She lays her head flat on the the ground and covers her eyes with her paws, looking humiliated. "I'm such an asshole."

"Don't say that," Imara says, kneeling in front of her. "C'mon. Tell us how you know."

"How I --"

"How you know you're in love. "

Vitani lifts her paws away, staring up at her Strongest. "I...Well...Sh-She's just so kind to me and -- and brave and strong. I think the war was the first sign. Her standing up to her father like that, standing between him and us, gods, I have so much respect for her. Whenever I see her, I just...can't help but feel happy." She softens entirely.

The rest of the Guard are shocked. Vitani is not the soft type. Though she may have let her eyes linger, she has never once swooned over any lioness ever. They can tell that even thinking about Kiara has an effect on their leader.

"Yesterday, we were play-fighting and she pinned me so quickly. No one has ever done that, not even an Outlander. That's what made me realize that -- that --"

Anxious fright floods her expression, the realization that she's in deeper than even she realized, and she covers her face again, groaning. "She can never know!"

Imara, feeling sorry for her, asks, "Well, why not?"

"'Why not? '" Vitani mimics, suddenly lost in her own head, "It's embarrassing, it's -- it's disgusting! I'm weak for this. How could she -- How could I feel this way for -- What would my mother think?"

The mention of Zira sends a chill through all of them.

"Your mother isn't here," Kasi reminds firmly. And thank the gods for it, goes unsaid.

"Vitani..." Tazama steps closer. "Kasi's right. This isn't the Outlands; there's no reason to feel ashamed for loving Kiara."

They all know that it isn't loving Kiara specifically that's the issue; it's loving, period. In their childhood, Zira liked to instill the belief in their heads that love was a fickle, weak thing. Something that makes you soft and distracts you from the ultimate goal of overthrowing Simba. As adults, they now see what a hypocrite she was, obsessed to extreme ends with her past lover, and understand it was simply a manipulation tactic to get them to focus on being her soldiers full-time, giving more attention to their physical prowess with the added goal of stunting them emotionally.

Once upon a time, Vitani had let herself stray. As a teenager, despite her best efforts, she fell for another of Zira's followers -- a defiantly kind lioness named Kuuma who always, always shared her rations with Vitani and whose laugh sent a wave of butterflies through her stomach. She never got the chance to pursue anything with her; Zira had been observing her closely, saw how her eyes would linger, how they got lost in one another while together.

One less soldier was an easy price to pay for teaching her foolhardy daughter a lesson.

It was Vitani's mistake, her fault. How dare she, her mother's most loyal confidante, lose sight of their cause?

Maybe if she had just been stronger, kept her base desires in check, Kuuma would still be…

Vitani swallows, finds herself close to tears. She tries to bite them back, shoulders shaking. The four at last lie down beside her in comfort. Imara gently nuzzles her cheek. Shabaha touches her paw to Vitani's. Kasi leans their head on her back. Tazama leans a foreleg on her side.

The affection makes Vitani break, sobbing quietly.

They stay like that for a long moment, before Vitani's breathing evens out again and she's stopped shaking. The Guard wait patiently and occasionally groom her in consolation.

"I would never do anything to come between her and Kovu. Never." Vitani sighs. "He’s my brother. I promised myself I’d never hurt him again. And…even if she weren't with Kovu," she mumbles lowly, "There's no way she'd want to be with...someone like me. And what if she's disgusted? Then I'd lose someone I consider my best friend. I...I can never tell Kiara."

The Guard is quiet for a long time. Imara is the one who breaks the silence.

"Vitani, you know Princess Kiara better than we do. Do you really think she'd stop being friends with you over this?"

Vitani looks sorely down at the dirt between her paws. "...No."

Tazama smiles. "We all saw the bravery and kindness that ended the war. If you told her, even if she didn't feel the same, even if she doesn't like lionesses, I think she'd appreciate your honesty."

Shabaha and Kasi make sounds of agreement. Their leader thinks about it for a moment.

"I...I'm not ready to tell her. But I won't let it change anything between us. You all are right; I don't think she'd be that cruel." She lets out a final sigh. "I'm going to be mature about this. Thank you, guys, for listening to me and giving me advice."

Vitani rises from their emotional support pile, shakes the dust from her fur, and stretches, before puffing her chest out in determination.

"Now c'mon. We've got some patrolling to do."

i don't see much delving into trauma that revolves around zira's treatment of her kids and the other outlanders. i'm super into exploring that and showing how these characters are healing in their own ways. vitani's got some issues because of her mom's bs, especially because she seemed to be her number one grunt.

for timeline sake, at the end of tlk2, kiara, kovu, and vitani are young adults, equivalent to 18-year-olds, the rest of the guard being early 20's-ish. in this story, kiara, kovu, and vitani are about 21-22 and the guard are mid-20s, maybe 25-ish. much more mature and working things out. for further reference, kion is still age group behind, just now growing his mane out (and yet still married before kiara who has the sense to take things slow lmao).

and of course, the designs used here are from my older post which has them redesigned! >:P

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