Fuli opened her eyes. The sun was beginning to rise, it's orange glow lighting the den. Another long day. She thought to herself. She then remembered that the night before, she had begged her father to let her have a few days off. Ugh, begging is not my style. Luckily he didn't question why though. The reason she wanted to have a few days off is because she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Kion, who was going to be executed and killed in six more days. Fuli had promised to protect him, but now she realized that she couldn't protect Kion against Mwepesi.

Kion had spent the last months of his life in misery, his scar giving him fevers and sharp pains all the time. Fuli had no doubt that his scar played a role in the mshtuko wa moyo too. "Kion, time to wake up." For some reason he jumped up in surprise.

"Talk about a wake up call," he muttered, the annoyance clear in his voice. "And to think you were telling me to rest so much during the journey."

"Sorry about that," Fuli apologized. "I just want to spend time with you before... you-know-what." Kion visibly tensed up the moment she said that. "Sorry Kion I didn't mean to-" She was cut off by Kion. "No it's fine." He then shook her off of him and got to his paws. "What now?" He asked. Fuli shrugged. "Wanna take a walk?" She asked. Kion nodded in response. The two felines stretched and left the cave.

Fuli saw Kion shake his head and put his paw up to his scar. Fuli sighed. Kion then continued walking. Fuli didn't know what she could do.

"Kion? Maybe you should get some rest. It might help you feel better," she suggested.

"What's the point?" He asked flatly. "I'm going to die soon, so it doesn't matter." Sadness stabbed Fuli in her heart. It was true. Everything was true. It wasn't just a bad nightmare they could both wake up from. Kion walked ahead, his eyes cloudy. He winced as his tangled mane got caught in a tree that they were passing by. He let out a small yelp as he pulled free, leaving a few tufts of mane behind.

The sun glimmered. A cool breeze blew by, ruffling both of their fur and making Fuli let out a shudder. She then saw a boar nearby, unsuspectingly looking for food in the tall grass. She flicked her tail and pointed her ears towards the boar. Kion looked at her and nodded.

"Sneak up on the boar and drive it towards me," she whispered in his ear. He nodded and crouched down in the grass, slowly but surely creeping up on the boar. She then sneaked over to the other side, waiting for Kion to drive it towards her. Kion then leaped out of the grass to chase it to her. But the boar suddenly turned on him. It started running towards him, big shiny tusks ready to stab him. Oh no! Kion ran out of the way and climbed a nearby tree, it's branch's swaying as he climbed it. Eventually the boar gave up and walked away. Fuli came out of the grass where she was hidden.

"Are you alright?!" She asked him loudly. Kion nodded, but then the branch he was on broke and he fell to the ground with a yelp and a thud. The fall wasn't bad because the tree wasn't that high.

"Guess I'm getting too big to climb trees." Kion's voice was thick was amusement. Fuli purred in amusement. He's alright. He then put a paw up to his scar briefly, grunting. She then thought of an idea to take Kion's mind off of his scar.

"Bet ya can't catch me!" She exclaimed then started running at Kion's speed. He then chased after her. Whenever he was close enough to tackle her, she sped away a little bit faster then he could run. "Hey! No fair!" Kion exclaimed playfully. He then finally tackled Fuli and they went rolling down a hill. "Ouch," they both muttered. Then they both laughed.

Heh, this reminds me of the times when we'd play in the Pride Lands, carefree. Before the Lion Guard. Before the war with Scar and his army. Before... before I knew that Nala wasn't Kion's mother...

She pondered about whether she should tell him right then and there. He's going to die soon... He deserves to know the truth before.... before that happens. 

"Kion," Fuli said after he had stopped laughing. Kion looked up at her curiously. "I just want you to know that... before you die... I-I want you to know..." Fuli couldn't finish. She didn't know how hard it would be to tell Kion the secret until now. He'd be so lost and heartbroken... She thought about how it would break his heart into a million pieces. She thought about the anger and betrayal he would feel. 

"What is it?" Kion asked, the worry audible in his voice. "Nothing." Fuli tried to make her reply convincing. Kion looked unconvinced. "You can tell me anything," he told her. No I can't, Fuli silently replied in her mind. They both continued walking without a sound.

Fuli saw a flat rock in the middle of the field. The sun was shining on it. Kion hopped over to the rock and laid on his back, giving a relaxed sigh. Fuli was amused. "Weren't we supposed to be going on a walk?" She asked him, amused. She didn't get a reply. She saw that Kion was already starting to doze off. She prodded him in the side with her paw.

"Kion, stay awake. You've already had plenty of sleep." Fuli then realized that wasn't true, he hadn't gotten much sleep lately with all the nightmares and his scar bothering him. She then noticed that he grunted and pawed at his scar briefly. "Kion," she asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kion growled. He then stomped off of the rock and walked away. She then noticed a drop of blood come from his scar and fall onto the grass below. The sun shone on it making it look like fire. Fuli shook her head. She then followed Kion away from the rock to try and talk him back into reality. She saw that they were walking towards a small lake.

"Kion, your scar's bothering you again, isn't it?" She asked. He shook his head. "N-no. I-I'm fine."

"I don't think you are," Fuli said. "You should get some rest."

"I already told you I'm fine!" He growled once more, raising his voice. "No you're not!" Fuli protested. "You're scar's bothering you."

"No it's not!" He shouted back. His scar is acting up again, isn't it? Fuli then heard a quiet wince as he put his paw up to his scar once more. "Kion!" Fuli yelled as he collapsed on the ground. He covered his head with his paws. Fuli could see his labored breathing.
*
Hevi Kabisa... Kion felt a very bad pain in his scar. His head started to ache. There was a ringing in his ear. His vision blurred. He brain was blank. He felt something touch his shoulder, though he didn't know what it was. He saw a blurry yellow figure in front of him, though he couldn't tell what it was. He gritted his teeth and dug his claws into the ground. He started clawing at his head uncontrollably in an attempt to stop the pain.
*
"Kion! Kion can you hear me?!" Fuli half asked, half shouted. There was no reply. He squeezed his eyes shut. His breaths were even more labored than before. Fuli could hear him grinding his teeth. He had started clawing his head and face. He let out a cry of pain.

"Kion! Kion, listen to me!" She yelled, but then realized that yelling would not help. "Kion." Fuli's voice was much calmer now. "Listen to me. Can you hear me?" She got no reply. Though she thought she could hear a silent plea coming from him, saying: "Help me!"

*

"Help me!" Kion let out a quiet plea for the pain to go away. His breathing became more intense. The ear ringing was louder than ever before. His vision was still blurry. Kion pressed his claws to his head and gritted his teeth even harder. He could feel some sort of substance on his claws, though he couldn't tell what it was through all the pain. Something grabbed his claws and pulled them off of his head. He felt something cold on his head and face. The pain was still unbearable. It lasted for several hours before it finally diminished and ended. His vision returned to normal and his hearing did too. Kion looked up at the figure in front of him. It turned out to be Fuli.

"F-Fuli? What happened?" He asked her. "Your scar..." She replied then trailed off. Oh... he thought to himself. He shook his head and got to his paws, swaying as he did so. "You can lean on me if you want," Fuli told him. Kion shook his head.

"N-no I'm fin-" Then suddenly he felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him again and he almost fell to the ground. Fuli supported him with her side.

"Maybe you should rest for a while," Fuli told him. Kion could sense the worry in her voice and reluctantly nodded. "Fine," he said and laid down in a shady spot under a tree. Soon his mind started to drift off to sleep.

XXXX
Fuli watched Kion as he slept under the shade of a tree. "Oh Kion... I wish I could help you, but I can't," she said, knowing Kion couldn't hear her because he was sleeping at the moment. "If I could take all your pain... all your struggling but give it all to me, I would." Fuli meant every word she said, because she loved Kion with all of her heart. She then saw Kion begin to stir. He blinked open his eyes and yawned. "Feel better?" She asked him, hoping the answer was 'yes.'

"A lot better, thanks Fuli," he responded. Fuli heard something in the grass. A faint growl was audible from where she was standing.

"Who are you?!" She shouted. "Show yourself!" Then, a group of lions came out of the grass and surrounded them. Fuli started to panic. The Sun Pride! Kion stepped forward and growled.

"Oh we're not here to hurt ya, little lion. We just want that cheetah." The lion spat the last word out in disgust. Kion moved in front of Fuli, shielding her from the lions.

"Stay away from her!" He shouted. Fuli recognized the white lioness from her dream. The lioness grabbed Fuli roughly and dragged her away from Kion. He rushed over to help her. No! Fuli was fearful that Kion wasn't thinking straight after what happened earlier. Anything could happen to him! The white lioness raked her claws across Fuli side. Kion tackled the white lioness, roaring (normal roar) furiously. The lioness let go of Fuli and faced Kion. They engaged in a one-on-one fight. The lioness slashed Kion on his leg and his scar. Kion clawed the lioness hard in the eye. The lioness yelped in agony and ran away, one paw covering her eye.

"Thanks Kion," she replied gratefully. What Kion did was brave. "Anything for a friend, Fuli," he told her. He then got to his paws. When he did, Fuli noticed he had a slight limp on his hind leg.

"Kion! Are you alright?" Fuli asked in concern. "I'm fine," he assured Fuli, then got back to his paws. "I want to know if you are alright," he told her. "I'm alright, except for the wound on my side," she told him.

"Do you need any help to walk?" Kion asked her. Fuli was about to protest, but then she realized how much the wound hurt and nodded. "Yeah... that'd be great." Kion let Fuli lean on him and they both started to walk towards the Swift's Clan cave.

When they got back to the Swift's Clan cave, they both flopped down on the ground in the den tiredly. Gozi was there relaxing.

"Kion? Fuli?" He asked. "Where have you been?" "We were attacked by a couple of lions from the Sun Pride," Kion answered.

"The Sun Pride?! Oh my gosh are you guys okay?!" Gozi asked, his voice filled with worry for his two friends. "They clawed my side and landed a blow on Kion's leg," Fuli told him. Kion walked over to the other side of the den and started to lick his wound, cleaning it. Fuli did the same for herself, though struggling to reach the painful wound on her side. Kion walked over to Fuli.

"Need help?" He asked her. She nodded. He then began to lick the still bleeding wound on her side. Fuli felt herself relax. "Thank you Kion," she breathed. He nodded in response. When he was done, Fuli noticed that his leg wound and his scar was bleeding from the fight.

"Do you need help?" She asked him. Kion shook his head. "I'm fine," he insisted. He then walked back over to a corner of the small den and began to clean his wounds. "Okay, if you say so," she replied. When Kion was done licking his wounds they both settled down to sleep.

"Kion, thanks for saving me today," she thanked him before they fell asleep.

"You're my best friend, Fuli. I'd do anything for you," he replied warmly. Fuli felt a warm glow inside her.

I'd do anything for you, too.