Kion opened his eyes. He saw the sun's light shining in the den. He looked around and Gozi, who was fast asleep next to him, and Fuli sitting just outside the den, watching the sunrise from inside the cave. Kion walked over to Fuli. Today was the day before the day Kion got executed. He was nervous and he knew Fuli was too. He was scared of his death, but he knew he couldn't change his fate. He then saw a feather blowing in the wind, the same one he played with the other day. Kion was just about to pounce, but he remembered that Fuli was right next to him. No acting like a cub! He told himself. Technically, he was still a cub, but he was an older cub now. A teenager. Fuli must have seen that he was looking at the feather with such intensity, because when the wind blew it towards her she leaped up and caught it.

"C'mon Kion," she said through a laugh. "There's no shame in having fun. Besides, we're not adults yet." 

Kion was uncertain. "But what if Mwepesi catches us?" He asked her.

"Don't you remember? Two days ago I persuaded Mwepesi to let us go out of the cave, Gozi too, provided there are cheetahs guarding the borders at that time and Mwepesi knows about it. And they are right now and I also asked Mwepesi right before you woke up," Fuli told him. 

Kion immediately brightened up. He wanted to spend every remaining moment of his life having fun. And you couldn't really run around or play tag together in the cave. "Ok, let's go!" The lion said. He and Fuli then rushed out of the cave, tackling each other as soon as they reached the fields that surrounded the cave.

"Pinned ya!" Fuli exclaimed as she pinned Kion to the ground. 

"Hey! Let me up," Kion told her playfully. As soon as she did, Kion tackled her and accidentally sent them rolling down a hill. Fuli emerged on top, immediately getting to her paws and pinning Kion.

"Pinned ya again!" She exclaimed. Kion rolled his eyes. He then tried to squirm out of the pin somehow, but failing miserably. Kion used to easily be able to escape a pin from Fuli, but now he couldn't do so. "What's wrong Kion? Can't get out yourself?" Fuli laughed. He then saw Gozi run towards them.

"Hey guys! What's up?" He asked. 

"Oh, nothing. It's just that little Kion here doesn't know how to escape a pin," she said, smirking. 

Kion let out a low growl. "Seriously?! I can escape a pin just fine!" He told them, then tried to wiggle out of the pin or throw Fuli off of him, but he failed miserably again. Seriously?! I used to be able to escape a pin from Fuli just fine!

"You were saying?" Fuli asked, smirking. Kion's pelt was hot with embarrassment. Fuli then got off of Kion and he sighed in defeat.

Gozi started to speak. "Kion, Fuli, I have something I want to ask you both," he said. 

"What is it?" Kion asked.

"Will we ever escape this place?" Gozi asked him. Kion heard a small whimper come from the cheetah. Some of Kion was mad at Gozi for ruining the good mood, but most of him was sympathetic for him. Gozi had lived his whole life under these conditions.

"I've been thinking," Kion began, "that you and Fuli could escape... somehow. But only if we follow this plan." Kion then shuttered. Kion knew Fuli was bewildered that he was going to give up and let himself die, but... there was no other choice.

"This is what the plan will be..."
XXXX

Kion explained his plan to Gozi and Fuli and she listened closely four days ago. He rose to his paws and walked outside the cave for some fresh air. Fuli had persuaded her father to let Kion come and go from the cave as he pleases. Kion was nervous for the the day. Today was the day the cheetahs would try to execute him. If the plan didn't work, Fuli and Gozi might die today. But if the plan did work, Fuli and Gozi would be free of Swift's Clan. He then heard Fuli approach him and sit next to him.

"F-Fuli, I just want you to know that.... whatever happens I... I..." Kion couldn't find the words or courage to continue. 

Fuli nuzzled him. "It's okay. I'll miss you, my friend. This is a very brave thing of you to do." Their gazes locked for a moment that could have lasted one second or a hundred seasons.

They then moved out to continue the plan to escape. Earlier Fuli had snuck out of the cave to see if there were cheetahs guarding the borders at that time. There weren't any, thank the Great Kings and Queens. Kion was very nervous, his paws shaking. He couldn't bear to think of the possibilities that lay in this plan. Anything could happen. Fuli or Gozi could die.

Kion ran over to the other end of the cave "Everybody wake up!" He shouted very loudly. The cheetahs then aroused from their dens and started chasing him. He was able to dodge them, for now. Fuli and Gozi ran to the other side of Swift's Clan.

"C'mon Gozi, run!" Kion heard Fuli hiss into Gozi's ear. Gozi looked like he was hesitating for a second, then ran away from Swift's Clan with Fuli. He saw them disappear in the fields as fast as a running cheetah. Well, they are running cheetahs, he thought to himself. He was snapped back to reality when the cheetahs backed him into a corner and surrounded him.

"Your time is up, lion," Mwepesi snarled. Kion crouched in the corner, waiting for his painful death. For Fuli and Gozi. For Fuli and Gozi. He kept repeating those thoughts in his mind.

"Goodnight, sweet prince." Endesha snarled in a wicked manner. Kion felt something familiar. He felt fear pulsing through his veins. He almost felt as if he was running, even though he was staying still.

"Not this time," he growled under his breath. Wait what? Why did I say that? Then without thinking, he tackled Mwepesi, clawing his eyes. Kion bolted out of the cave. He was pursued by the cheetahs as soon as he ran. Then one cheetah called out from the cave.

"Mwepesi is injured! Help!" Then the cheetahs paused. They rushed back to the cave to tend to their injured leader. Kion took this advantage and kept running. He didn't dare look back in fear that some of the cheetahs might still be pursuing him. He looked back and in fact some of them were. "Get that lion!" One shouted. He looked in front of him and he realized that they were driving him towards the same ravine where Fuli saved him from the flood.

Do or die. He thought to himself. He then leaped off of the edge of the ravine. He screamed in terror as he did so. He looked back for a split second and all the cheetahs faces looked very shocked that he did that. He then hit the ground and everything went black. The last thing he heard was the thumping pawsteps of a nearby animal before he lost all consciousness.
**
Fuli and Gozi were running. They were running for their life. The end of Swift's Clan's territory was just in sight. Almost there. Fuli thought to herself. Just a few more pawsteps We're gonna make it! Then Fuli and Gozi ran across the border of Swift's Clan territory. Gozi slowed to a stop.

"Just because we're across the border doesn't mean we're completely safe. Remember what happened ten days ago?" She reminded him sharply. Gozi nodded and they kept running, but at a slower pace. They needed to put a good distance between them and Swift's Clan before they could rest. She then heard a scream of terror coming from the Swift's Clan territory. With a pang of guilt she realized it was Kion. He would be breathing his final breaths right now before the cheetahs of Swift's Clan would kill him. Tears slowly made their way down Fuli's face.

Kion, I wish there was another way. I'm so sorry, she thought to herself. Something abruptly cut off the scream, making more tears fall down Fuli's cheeks. He's dead now. He's gone, forever. Fuli kept running, not daring to look back. Before she knew it Gozi was out of sight. She looked around, panicking. "Gozi?!"

Gozi ran into sight. "I'm... right... here," he said between breaths. "Wait... for... me. You went... too fast." Fuli then looked back. Swift's Clan's territory was out of sight. They had put a good distance between them and Swift's Clan. Fuli and Gozi sat down.

"Sorry about that..." Fuli apologized. "I just... was thinking about him..." Gozi looked sympathetic.

"He's in the Bright Stars Above the Savanna now," Gozi told her. 

"Yeah," Fuli nodded. "He's with the Lions of the Past now." 

Gozi tilted his head in confusion. "Lions of the Past?" He asked. 

"It's what the lions call other lions who have died," Fuli explained. "Us cheetahs call cheetahs who have died 'Wale Walioikimbia Dunia Mbele Zetu.' It means: 'The ones who have ran the earth before us.'" Gozi told her.

"Wow," Fuli said in response. She then sighed, remembering Kion again. "He was such a brave leader..." She said to herself. 

Apparently Gozi heard her, because he asked, "Fuli... I hope your don't mind but... can you tell me all about your and Kion's adventures together?"

That question came as a shock to Fuli. She thought about it for a moment, it would be nice to almost relive the moments she and Kion had together. So she nodded slowly.

"Ok. I'll start with when Kion got the Roar of the Elders..." Fuli then told Gozi about the Lion Guard and all about the adventures they had together. She told him lots of things, including the time when she overexerted herself and the rest of the Lion Guard saved her from Mizingo and his vultures, the time when Scar returned, the time when Kion got his scar, and things that happened on their journey to the Tree of Life.

"Wow. I had no idea you knew each other for that long," Gozi said in surprise after Fuli told him about the time when they were little cubs and they saved Ono as an egg.

"Yeah we did," Fuli told him. "I wish things turned out differently though," she sighed sadly. 

"What do you mean?" Gozi asked.

"I mean... well... It's hard to explain," she told him. "I just wish that some things that happened, never happened. I wish that Kion had never got his scar. If he never got his scar we would all be back in the Pride Lands living happily ever after." Fuli paused.

"Kion never got his happy ending. He didn't deserve all that happened to him." Fuli felt tears forming in her eyes.

"And in the end, he sacrificed his life for us." Tears started to stream down Fuli's cheeks. 

Gozi looked up at Fuli. "He truly was a brave lion," he finally spoke.

"If I could turn back time, I would have let myself take Ushari's hit instead of him," Fuli told Gozi, meaning every word. "He worked and worked to protect his home. To protect his family. He always tried to do the right thing, no matter the situation. And yet he never got to see the Pride Lands again, when it was finally at peace." Another tear rolled down Fuli's cheek. "And it was at peace because of him. He saved the Pride Lands by defeating Scar. And yet... all of this happened to him. It isn't fair."

"Life's not fair sometimes," Gozi told her, a tear beginning to fall down his face. "Everything you ever love gets taken away from you." More tears began to fall down his cheeks.

"Like my mom and dad and... Kupenda..." Gozi trailed off. "Who's Kupenda?" Fuli asked.

"She was my...erm..." Fuli noticed that Gozi's cheeks turned red. "Crush," he finished. Gozi then looked down at his paws. He looked like he was trying not to cry.

"She and I were best friends ever since we were very little. We were tired of being stuck in the cave every day and only being allowed to go out, supervised, to hunt. So a few days before you arrived in Swift's Clan, I came up with the idea that me and her sneak out of the cave to run around and play together. And we did. But while we were outside we were caught. The cheetahs took us back to the Swift's Clan cave and told Mwepesi about it." Gozi began to tear up.

"He asked us which one of us came up with the idea. He said that whoever did would be punished with... death." Fuli knew Gozi was trying not to sob. "I was very scared to admit it was me, and Kupenda told Mwepesi that she was the one who came up with the idea. And, and... Mwepesi killed her. I watched her die right in front of me." Gozi was sobbing now. Fuli was horrified.

"That's why I hesitated when we had to run from Swift's Clan. Kion suffered Kupenda's same fate." Fuli looked at Gozi with pity. He lost the one he loves too... "I know how you feel Fuli," he told her.

"I wish he were still alive, that he was still here with us. He had so much to live for. And even if it wasn't with me, I hoped he'd find love someday. I just wanted him to be happy." Fuli paused, wondering if she should tell Gozi what she was about to say. "And a few days before he died, he and I talked. He told me that he wanted to someday find happiness. He wanted a purpose to himself. He asked me; 'Where is my happy ending?'"

Gozi dipped his head solemnly. "He didn't deserve everything that happened." 

Fuli nodded her head in agreement. "I cared for him more than you could ever know," she muttered to herself. It was true. She had loved Kion more than anything else in the world. And I never got to tell him... He deserved to know the truth, Fuli silently told herself.

"Fuli..? Are you okay?" Gozi asked. 

Fuli snapped back to reality. "No I'm not okay! My best friend is gone because we left him to die!" She snapped and growled. Gozi backed away, eyes wide. Fuli realized what she said. "I-I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just-" 

She was cut off by Gozi. "It's alright Fuli, I know what your'e going through. Do you want some time alone?" He asked. Fuli nodded.

"I'll go to the other end of the clearing and rest," he told her. He then walked to the other side of the clearing and laid down. Fuli saw him batting at something nearby. It looked like a feather. Fuli remembered when she saw Kion doing the exact same thing, unaware that Fuli was watching him. Fuli then looked up to the sky. She began to speak.

"Kion... I'm so sorry this happened to you. You should know that I loved you more than anything in the world. Rest In Peace, my friend."