"Kopa!"

The golden colored cub gripped his paws on the rock and slid to a stop, whipping his head around. His rusty-brown bangs fell into his face as he turned his wide, expecting eyes to his mother.

Nala gave her son a slight smile as she tilted her head in a questioning manner, "Where are you heading off to so early this morning?"

"I was just going to explore! I heard two giraffes talking about a cool, shady place that would be great for a cub to hang out in! I thought I'd go check it out!"

"Well lucky you," she said, stepping over to him and nuzzling his back. "Have fun and be back for lunch, okay Kopa?"

"Okay, mom!" He replied, looking up at her with a happy smile.

The queen watched her son trot away into the thick, green grasses on his way to have an 'adventure'. She thought back to the time where she was young and innocent like her son, Kopa.

I just hope he stays out of trouble, she thought, turning to go back to the den.

Whew! That was a close one! Kopa thought, letting out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in. He felt kinda bad for lying to his mother, but she would never let him go if she knew where he was really going.

With a quick glance back at Priderock to make sure no one was paying attention to him, he changed his gait to a gallop, straight to the Outland's border.

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Vitani paced back and forth on the border, evaluating how much her possible kill was worth. If she crossed over the border, she risked getting the death penalty if she was caught. But on the other hand, that plump little creature she had spotted looked so delicious. And she was starving.

She decided to risk it.

But much to her surprise, she was foiled in her breakfast plans when a cub her age tackled her from the side. She rolled around on the dirt for a moment, stunned. When the cub came to pounce on her, however, she flipped him onto his back and growled into his surprised face.

Then she met with the most beautiful eyes in the world, intense bronze and filled with innocence. And suddenly she felt such a strange, mysterious feeling creep up on her, one that she had never experienced before.

"I-I was just playing! I promise I didn't mean any harm!" The cub confessed, his wide eyes filled with concern.

"I'm sorry," Vitani apologized, stepping off of him.

Did I just apologize!? She thought, confused at her own reaction.

The cub shifted his weight and sat up, shaking the dust out of his small mane.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, trying to figure out his angle.

"Yeah," he replied, sighing. He lifted his eyes and grinned at her, a friendly look in his eyes. "I'm Kopa!"

Vitani caught herself staring right into his sweet brown eyes. She shifted her gaze to the ground.

"I'm Vitani," she said.

"That's a pretty name," Kopa smiled. He had always been a natural charmer.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"I've never seen you around the Pridelands before," Kopa said, watching her with interest. "Come to think of it, you don't really look like a Pridelander either."

Vitani blinked at him.

"I-I'm an outlander." She blurted.

Kopa's eyes widened in concern and she suddenly regretted telling him. But his fear filled expression faded as soon as he realized she could be a new friend.

"You don't seem so bad," Kopa said.

"Thanks. . .I guess," she replied, giving him an odd look.

"You're welcome!" Kopa beamed. "You wanna play?"

"Uh-I'm not really that type of cub." She said, suddenly getting self-conscious of what kind of cub she was.

"Oh, okay then! What about hunting? Do you like to do that?" Kopa wondered.

"I guess so. . ." She shrugged.

"Great! Let's hunt!" Kopa said, grinning from ear to ear.

Vitani stared at him for a moment, wairy with how this cub was making her feel. Then she lowered down and crouched nearer to the earth. Kopa did the same and turned to whisper to her.

"You lead the way!" He softly insisted, nodding.

"Okay," she muttered, her intense violet eyes scanning the somewhat bare Pridelands border. "There! You see that little rodent?"

Kopa narrowed his eyes and followed her gaze, tail flicking in anticipation when he saw her target.

"Yup! That's a hyrax!" Kopa exclaimed.

"Yeah, whatever. That's my lunch. If you can help me catch it maybe we can share or something." She felt her stomach growl and regretted the offer instantly. She shrugged it off and scooted forward towards the grunting little creature.

"Gotcha! Let's go," Kopa excitedly whispered, wriggling his shoulders and extending his claws into the soft dirt for traction.

Vitani nodded at him and crept forward, watching the rodent intently. As her ears followed the gentle sounds of the quiet area her eyes focused on the little meal she was about to catch. She saw Kopa take the left side of the rodent while she crawled nearer to its front right.

It took a gentle snarl from Kopa and the rodent darted right for Vitani. She took a quick pounce and closed her jaws on the squirming brown animal, waiting until she felt it go limp.

Kopa trotted over to her as she spits the dusty rodent out onto the ground. The cub had a huge grin on his soft face as he glanced down at the chunky animal he had helped catch.

"Uh. .thanks for your help," Vitani shrugged, staring at her meal with a stomach rumble.

"No problem! We should hang out some more. You're a lot of fun," Kopa said joyfully. "Oh, and don't worry about sharing. I know how scarce food is where you're from and I've got lunch waiting for me back home. Go ahead and enjoy the hyrax!"

Vitani's eyes widened. No one had ever let her have a whole meal by herself before. She lifted the hyrax and spotted a nicer place to sit and eat it. She motioned for Kopa to follow.

Once she settled down in the cool shade, she laid down and began munching on her warm lunch. Kopa sat opposite her and stole a nervous glance towards the border.

"So who are you, Kopa?" Vitani asked between bites. "I've never met such a polite cub before."

"Oh I'm just a Pridelander cub," Kopa shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I guess I'm more than that. I'm also the prince but right now that's not really important since I'm just a cub."

But Vitani had stopped eating. She thought it was important. If he was the prince then he was Simba's son. Child of the lion who killed the great Scar.

"Th-the prince? Like, Simba's son?" Vitani slowly asked. It couldn't be true. She had actually been warming up to this charming guy and he was the heir of Scar's killer?

Kopa's head bobbed, sending his little head tuft dancing around. He blew it out of his eyes.

Vitani gaped at him. Great, she knew it was too good to be true. Then he caught her off guard once more.

"I like you, Vitani. You're cooler than the other kids in my Pride." Kopa smiled.

Vitani met his eyes. Those sweet, shimmering bronze eyes she'd just found by sheer good luck and fantastic timing. And her heart skipped a beat.

Oh no. No no no no. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Vitani suddenly realized why she kept staring into those eyes of his and why she was being so uncharacteristically kind to this Prideland's prissy. She'd just found feelings, odd, never before discovered feelings, for the heir to the Prideland's throne.

"You know," Kopa said slowly. "I think you're prettier than the kids in my Pride, too."

Vitani felt herself. . .blush? Oh heck no. This wasn't good.

There was silence for a bit.

"Maybe we can see each other again?" Kopa said, sounding almost afraid of her reply.

"Maybe we can." She simply replied, knowing it was an idiotic idea.

Kopa's face turned from surprised to beaming in a few seconds. Vitani moved her eyes thoughtfully off to the distance and took another bite of her food.

"I have to go soon," Vitani apologized. "My mother will wonder where I am."

"Yeah, me too," Kopa agreed. "You want some help carrying that back over the border?"

Vitani glanced down at her food, noting she wasn't actually hungry anymore.

"Actually, I think I'm finished." Vitani quietly replied, confused since she hadn't eaten much at all.

"Uh, okay." Kopa shrugged, standing to his cream-colored paws.

Vitani did the same, licking her lips and glancing down at her meal the last time. She then turned to Kopa and smiled for the first time.

Kopa walked her the few steps back to the border and gave her a last gentle smile. He stepped up to her and planted a shy kiss on her cheek. She stared at him, startled for a moment. He simply smiled at the ground and blushed, saying gently, "Goodbye, 'Tani. I hope to see you again soon."

Then the cub flicked his tail gently once more before darting off into the distance. Vitani gave a meek smile and turned away to go back home, knowing she'd just fallen for a Pridelander Prince.

Well, dang. This took forever to finish. Sorry, RmcTech if it wasn't that fluff-ish. I tried but I kinda suck at writing cute fluff. At least its finally published tho!

One more chapter before this baby is finished for good! Parting is such sweet sorrow but everything has to end sometime.

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