| Kovu�s Courage �RARRR!� Kovu rapidly pounced on his pesky sister. �Kovu!� she whined. Then she slyly turned and pounced on him back. �Stop it, you two!� a voice said. The silly brother and sister saw their older brother, Nuka, coming towards them. �Oh, come on, give us a break!� Kovu said to their querulous brother. �But Mother�s coming!� Nuka said. The cubs stopped playing and sat up straight. �Ah, hello, my sweet little children.� Their mother said as she arrived. �Now, today our lesson is, �How Simba has Wronged Us, and How he Wronged Scar��.� As the years past, Zira taught her children how to despise her hero�s nephew. Kovu, Vitani and Nuka were taught how to be evil, how and why they should kill or hurt anyone who is on Simba�s side. Their vindictive mother had a goal that she would not give up until Simba was eventually killed. After the fire incident, as Kovu talked to Kiara, the lioness he had been taught to hate, he saw something in her eyes that he�d never seen in another lioness�s eyes. Her eyes�were so beautiful�. And her beautiful golden fur�and elegant way of walking�.was very mesmerizing�He didn�t understand what was going on in his mind, but he decided to try to ignore it. When he returned home one evening he had a lot on his mind. His mother came up to him, not happy. �What took you so long?!� �Um�er�I didn�t see Simba today.� �What do you mean?! You were at Pride Rock all day! You had to have seen him!� �I didn�t see him, okay?!� �You�re a liar!� �Well, Mom, I was thinking about something�.� �Yes?� �Do we�..have to kill Simba?� �You�re joking!� his mother said. �No�I mean, he�s Kiara�s father�� �What does that matter?� �Mom, you don�t understand�� �What is there to understand? You have a duty. Your job is to kill Simba and become King. There is no question. That is what you have to do.� �But�he�s Kiara�s father�� �What does that matter, Kovu?� she asked. Her tone gave an allusion that she was getting angry. �I love Kiara, Mother!� �You love her? What is that about? Are you mad?� �No, I�m thinking perfectly straight.� �You can�t love her! She�s on Simba�s side!� Kovu didn�t want to take any more pain from his mother at this point. He stormed away. The next day Kovu spent the day with Kiara. Kovu didn�t speak a word. Kiara looked at Kovu lovingly. �Kovu, dear�.what�s wrong?� Kovu remained reticent. �Can�t you tell me?� �It�s just some problems I�m having with my mother. I�ll be all right.� He said, and went home. A few weeks passed. �I know love will find a way.� They thought to themselves, nuzzling. They�d realized that they loved each other and that no one was going to stand in their way. �Let�s run off together!� Kovu said. �We�ll start a pride all our own.� Kiara told him sadly that they had to go back. Kovu disagreed. Kiara explained that they must be strong and go back home to face their families and bring the prides together, not let them be torn apart. Usually, to Kovu, courage was an obscurity. He�d not done many brave things unless his mother or other family was there to force him to. He knew that his love for Kiara would have to be the thing that would convince him to be brave this time. �All right.� He said to her. �Let�s go back.� And so�they did. They returned home to face their families and reunite the feuding prides, to remind them that �We Are One.� END- December 21, 2001 |