Kion and Rani

Morning

Kion awoke to the sounds of birds chirping outside. He stretched and felt a warm body pressed up against his. He looked down at Rani. Love ached in his heart for the lioness, she was brave, kind, and oh-so-lovable. Dawn light began to filter into the den. Kion licked Rani on the cheek a few times.

"Rani," Kion whispers. "It's time to get up."

She lets out a grunt. "Go away." 

Kion purred. "Alright, I'll just go tell the Night Pride that their leader is refusing  to see them!"

Rani instantly sprang to her paws. "Don't you dare!" She growled, playfully. 

They began to wrestle together, each gently swiping, careful not to hurt the other. Finally, Rani managed to pin Kion down on the den floor. She let out a yowl of triumph and then she let him up and they both laughed. 

"Oh hey, are we interrupting anything?"

Kion and Rani whirled around to see the Night Pride and Day Pride standing just behind them. Kion and Rani exchanged embarrassed glances. 

"Well looks like you two are getting along pretty well," Bunga says cheerfully. 

"Yes, well isn't it time for the Day Pride to go out on patrol," Rani says quickly.

"Yes let's go Day Pride," Kion says.

As the Day Pride leaves the tree, Bunga comes up to Kion.

"You know, I'm glad we came back to the Tree of Life," Bunga says. Kion looks at Bunga, before murmuring his agreement.

"Well we all know that you're happy we came back to the Tree of Life," Bunga continues cheekily

Kion sighed. "Yes Bunga I'm very happy that we came back, but for now, just focus on the patrol."

Bunga pretends to zip his mouth shut and walks beside Kion in silence for the rest of the patrol. Little do they know, a tiger, wanting to seize his revenge is watching, and the tree of life might suffer from a catastrophic loss.