Life After The Fall

A lover betrayed

Vitani was still by the waterhole after Kiara left and went back to the Tree of Life after their talk. Kiara was very instinctive when it came to these things, she never gave wrong advice, used emotions not logic when she made a decision and she'd never tell somebody to do something that she'd never be willing to do herself.

"Why is it so hard to make a decision regarding this? I never hesitated while making decisions in my life because I knew exactly what I wanted and I worked hard to meet my expectations, achieve my goals. So why the trepidation now?" she said frustratedly as she paced the perimeter of the waterhole.

When she was a cub she strived to be Zira's second in command, to fulfill her so called duty to help avenge Scar. When she became the leader of the Lion Guard, she wanted her team to be the best of the best. To defend the Pride Lands against the evils that lurked in the shadows, to be there to support Kiara and Kovu.

It was her ambition to climb to the top and complete her purpose in the Circle of Life. To fight and to win. That was what she wanted. So now when she wanted to be with Akida, to stand by his side, to be his partner in life and support him in the way a mate is supposed to, why the hesitation? Why the doubt?

"Give him a chance, he loves you, he wants to be with you, open your heart, let him in," Kiara's words echoed in her brain like a sandstorm in the desert. Sweeping the sand in a turbulence, gaining power with each passing second then diminishing.

Vitani's emotions were eerily similar. Powerful one minute, meek the next. "I'm not going to lie. I'm not fighting my emotions anymore. I'm going to confess my love for Akida," Vitani said resolutely. With her mind set on her aspiration, Vitani turned and ran back to the Tree of Life as fast as her legs would carry her.

"You were in love with Arsenal? The deranged, unhinged and  maniacal lioness that near wiped out my entire pride?!" Kovu yelled as he faced off with Akida, his emerald green eyes furious.
"Technically Kovu I didn't wipe out your entire pride. Dad, Tasha, Zayne and Maana did the majority of damage," Arsenal corrected.

"I didn't have anything to do with the assault on your pride Kovu, you have to believe me," Akida protested. "I met Arsenal before any of this happened. She was nice then, not...monstrous like this."
"Monstrous? Akida my love that's not any way to describe the lioness who gave you her heart so long ago," Arsenal said sweetly.

"Don't call me 'your love' Arsenal! You left me when you couldn't handle my love. And what heart did you give me?" Akida asked bitterly. "You didn't give me your heart, I gave you mine! And what did you do? You broke it and threw it away like trash and abandoned me! Don't act like you always loved me, you didn't!"

"You've got that right, I never really loved you, I was just using you. We were friends Akida, but you couldn't control yourself. You had to fall in love with me," Arsenal said rolling her eyes.
"And you're proud of that," Rani stated disgustedly.
"It's the truth, love's a dead weight. I'm above such foolishness," Arsenal said with an annoyed scoff.

"I guess that's why Viktor deserted you. He must've thought that if he was in love with you he'd get ruined. So he went to be with your mother, so he'd get his sexual pleasure without commiting himself to a long term relationship," Kiara laughed.
Arsenal growled and stepped forward a few inches but Zayne put a restraining paw on her shoulder to stop her.

"Love is nothing but a festering disease. It comes when you least expects it, corrupts, and when circumstances change, it deserts you," Maana said drearily. "That's how it's always been."
"I take it you're still mateless?" Kovu smirked. "What a shame."
Maana chuckled and shook her head impassively.

"Can I see my nephew now? We came all this way to see him, at least let me hold him," Tasha walked past Zayne and tried to approach Rani but this time, Kion growled and swiped at her face, narrowly missing her eyes. Rani clutched Sadiki closer to her, fearful for her son's life.