Love Beyond Reasons

A/N: Well, I got this one finished relatively soon. I did get some help from a friend of mine on fanfiction.net about that last scene since it has been a while since I saw the Lion King 2.

Anyway, let's just get on with Chapter 14. Roll it!

Chapter 14

Kiara's First Hunt

One afternoon, a couple of days later, it was finally time for Kiara's first hunt. Simba and Kion were both waiting at the front of Pride Rock, along with the other lionesses. Simba took a deep breath, still a little worried about his daughter going on her first hunt. Kion gave his father a reassuring smile. If he could do a solo patrol and his own first hunt at the same time, then Kiara could handle doing a simple hunt.

Then, Nala came beside her mate and son. It was time. "There she is." One of the lionesses said as Kiara appeared from inside Pride Rock.

"Kiara." Rafiki greeted her. She just smiled at the old mandrill. As she walked down to her family, she was greeted by the other lionesses as they gave her praises and best wishes on her first hunt. When she got to her family, her mother nuzzled her lovingly.

"You'll do just fine." Nala assured her.

When they broke the nuzzling, Kion gave her an affectionate little headbutt. "Be careful out there, sis." He said.

"I will." She assured him before she turned to her father. "Daddy? You have to promise to let me do this on my own. Like you did with Kion. Promise?"

Simba was hesitant for a few seconds, but after seeing the pleading look from his daughter, and the comforting nods from his mate and son, he conceded. "Alright, I promise."

Kiara beamed at him and she nuzzled him happily. Nala and Kion smiled at the sight, and Timon and Pumbaa couldn't help but cry at the sight. When they broke the nuzzle, Kiara hurried over to the ends of Pride Rock, her eyes narrowing in determination at the faraway herds in the distance. She glanced back at her family; while her brother and mother smiled at her, Simba just nodded, telling her to go on. She smiled at him and took off.

Once she was out of their sight, Simba's smile disappeared as the lionesses left the scene to do their own things. He put his smile back on when his mate and son looked at him happily, but it vanished when they both turned away, Nala to rest inside Pride Rock and Kion to head into the Lion Guard Lair with the rest of his team. The worried king turned to Timon and Pumbaa.

"Make sure she doesn't get hurt." He whispered to them, making sure that no one was watching before he also left to head inside Pride Rock. Both the meerkat and warthog smirked and left the scene, acting like spies as they went to follow the teenage lioness.

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Kion was almost at the entrance of the Lair, eager to see Jasiri. She had been getting better as her injuries started to heal. She could now stand up on her paws with very little difficulty and can even take a few steps without any sort of pain. But she was still not allowed to leave the cave for at least another day. Even so, she wouldn't be able to handle a trip back to the Outlands for at least another week.

He was also pretty proud of his father for letting Kiara do her hunt on her own without any constant surveillance from the Guard or from Zazu, or even Timon and Pumbaa. He seemed to be less overprotective of her right then. Hopefully, things will go well, and his dad will realize that he had been fretting over nothing. Since she had wanted to do this on her own, he had decided that the Guard should have a day off today, so that they can rest, and that Kiara could have her hunt without any troubles.

"Kion!" A sing-song voice called to him.

The teenage prince immediately froze in his tracks, and then bit back the urge to groan and growl at the same time. He knew that voice. He slowly turned around to face its owner.

"Hey, Zuri." He greeted the prissy lioness with a false smile on his face. She was one of his sister's best friends, and even though her taste in friends was still sometimes questionable to him, he still had to be polite because of his role as royalty and as the leader of the Lion Guard.

The peach colored lioness sauntered her way closer to him. Tiifu was beside her, but she didn't dare move from her spot. When her green eyes met Kion's, she averted them, a red blush on her muzzle. Zuri brushed her tail under Kion's chin, making him flinch in discomfort.

"Me and some of the girls were planning on heading to the waterhole for a drink." Zuri said, her eyes darkening with desire.

Kion felt a chill go down his back when he heard that. He had a feeling that those other young lionesses are some of his unwanted admirers that will try to get their paws on him the second they see him coming in their direction. The constant desirous looks, the moves that they would pull on him; with their tails or paws, made his stomach churn.

"Care to join us?" Zuri asked, inclining her face closer to his. Kion took a step back and shared a glance with Tiifu. She had a look of sympathy, knowing that even though he was attractive, he would rather be caught in a stampede of wildebeest than with Zuri and some of his more persistent fans.

"As much as I would like a nice cool drink, I do have some Lion Guard duties to attend to." Kion said, gently pushing past Zuri and heading back towards the entrance of the Lair. "You know, defending the Circle of Life and all. You never know when trouble strikes."

Zuri frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but Tiifu cut her off. "Of course, Kion." She said. "We both know how important protecting the Pride Lands is."

Kion smiled gratefully at her. He knew that even though Tiifu liked him as well, she was much more willing to just be his friend than a possible future mate, and that's good enough for him, since he had never any interest in any of the lionesses in the Pride Lands.

"See you later." Kion said before quickly bolting into the Lair before Zuri could try and protest again, exhaling with relief once he was inside.

When he entered the cool Lair, he saw Jasiri lying on a bed of leaves on one of the stones near the wall of paintings. There was a little smirk on her face. She must have heard the conversation outside, and she was going to enjoy teasing Kion about his unwanted popularity among the female lions.

"It seems like you've gained quite a fan club since the last time I saw you." She teased, her violet eyes glinting mischievously.

Kion blushed and slightly glared at her. "It's not like I asked for it." He said, coming up to her. "I'd rather deal with Janja and his entire clan, along with crazed jackals, than deal with crazy lionesses wanting to put their paws all over me."

Jasiri snickered. "Wow, that desperate?" She asked.

Kion only further narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, expect me to poke fun at you when you have hordes of males down at your paws." He said.

She narrowed her eyes at him, not saying another word. Kion then smirked at her, knowing that he won this time. He then turned to the other members of the Guard, each of them doing their own thing before patrol starts.

Bunga was swinging around in a makeshift vine hammock that he made, humming to himself while snacking on some termites that he got from the aardwolves. Fuli was on her usual sunning stone on a small ledge near the pool, trying to block Bunga's loud chewing as she groomed herself, but it was still getting on her nerves. Beshte was in his pool, trying to catch a quick nap, cooling himself off from the hot dryness of the savannah. Ono was perched on a ledge, carefully preening himself from his morning flight around the Pride Lands. He had to do it to make sure that Kiara wouldn't have much trouble on her first hunt.

"Lion Guard, we have a slight day off today." He said. "Since Kiara is out on her hunt, we just have to wait and see if any trouble arises. So stay alert."

"Okay, Kion." Bunga said to his best friend, waving his claw before settling deeper into his hammock. Kion rolled his eyes with a fond smile. Of course Bunga will like that.

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Out in the savannah, Kiara was nearing a herd of gazelles. She crawled closer to them, but then accidentally stepped on a stick. The herd was alerted to the faint sound of the twig breaking, and they all took off like a shot. Kiara struggled to try and catch up to them, but they soon got away. Kiara gritted her teeth.

"How did Kion do this so easily?" She quietly muttered. She sniffed the air and began to track the herd. Time to try again.

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Meanwhile, in the long-abandoned Elephant Graveyard, Nuka, Vitani, her lioness squad, Mwoga, one of the vultures from Mzingo's parliament; Cheezi, and Chungu were all standing on a high ledge, overlooking the many steam vents. Vitani and Tazama had their mouths full of kindling.

"Yecch. This place is even creepier since the hyenas ran off." Nuka said.

"Hey! It doesn't look that creepy! In any case, it actually looks more peaceful since we left." Cheezi said, remembering when they once lived in the lifeless graveyard of bones.

"Yeah!" Chungu agreed. "We had to scrounge around the place for food and we only got bones! Not even a chunk of meat in sight."

"I, on the other wing, would have preferred this place than the Outlands." Mwoga said. "There's enough carcasses and rotting meat to feed an entire flock of us vultures!"

Vitani rolled her eyes at having to be around these idiots. "Sheesh." She mumbled before she and her squad leaped down towards a steam vent.

Nuka scoffed at his sister's annoyance. "I'm not scared, okay?" He said.

But right after he said that, a steam vent loudly hissed, making him whimper as he followed his sister. "Sure you aren't." Shahaba said sarcastically.

They all jump down next to one of the vents; and Vitani and Tazama drops their bunches of kindling against the edge, waiting until the hot steam ignites the dry sticks.

"I just don't know why we have to be here, that's all." Nuka grumbled. "If Kovu was so special, why does he need us?"

There was another hiss of steam as Nuka continued complaining. "I never even had a CHANCE!" But then, he gets his tail burned by a jet of hot gas from another steam vent, and he yelped in pain. This made Cheezi and Chungu burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"That was an ouchie!" Cheezi cackled.

"Make that a quadruple ouchie!" Chungu added.

Mwoga grabs a single stick from the pile as he landed near a steam vent next to Vitani. "Allow me to assist, madam." He said. "After all, every creature in the lands of Darkest Africa know we vultures are superb pyrotechnical geniuses. And that is why Zira had specifically asked me to lead the charge!"

"Pfft. Yeah right." Imara scoffed dryly. "And I'm the empress of Kilimanjaro."

"Wait, you're an empress!?" Cheezi exclaimed. "And you didn't tell us?!"

Chungu quickly bowed down to the powerful lioness. "I kneel before you as your loyal slave." He said.

"It was sarcasm, fur for brains." Tazama said with a huff, and then hits Chungu on the head, causing him to yelp in pain. "Imara's not an empress."

"Permission to light up the match, Ms. Vitani?" Mwoga asked, turning his attention back to the lead lioness.

"Hate to break it to you, Mr. Pyrotechnical Genius," Kasi cut in, "but you might want to take a look at your talons."

Mwoga does so and then yelped when he sees that the stick that he was holding had caught on fire. "Motion to dispose of this dilemma?!" He asked panickedly.

But without waiting for a response from Vitani, Mwoga hurled the lit stick into a steam vent, causing it to erupt spectacularly with a funnel of steam and bits of lava. Cheezi was sent up screaming at the sight before he landed hard on Chungu. Mwoga turns to the others, with the lionesses slightly bemused with his slip-up.

"Motion... receded?" He said sheepishly.

Vitani watched the vulture with amusement, then her face lit up as the vent hissed gently, lighting the sticks ablaze. Mwoga grabs three sticks into his talons before he flew up into the air.

"That's it!" She said, grabbing one of the flaming twigs in her mouth. "Now come on. Kiara has started her hunt. So we have to move quickly."

Nuka grabs his own burning stick, and then leans his head over the vent's edge. Just as he did so, it went off, slightly scorching his face and sticking his mane and the fur on his muzzle straight up and a little ashen as well.

Cheezi and Chungu cackled at Nuka's misfortune again. But now, he had a slight crazed gleam in his eyes. "Oooh! Fire!" Nuka exclaimed maniacally. He starts to laugh crazily as he bounded off after Vitani. Shahaba, Imara, Kasi, and Tamaza grabbed their burning sticks before following Vitani.

Both Cheezi and Chungu laughed as only hyenas cackled as they grabbed their own sticks and followed the lions and the vulture above them. Both start chanting while they ran after the others, "We're gonna burn a lioness!", over and over again as they all left the Elephant Graveyard.

A/N: This is a little shorter, but if I wanted to do more, it would've taken me longer to do. Next time, we'll have some more action. Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a review about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)