The great war was over, finally. Both sides had lost many. Simba and Nala were dead, as were Shere Khan and Rajah. Tigger had lost his spring. Richard Parker had gone back to just being…Thirsty. Pride Rock was red with blood, lion and tiger alike. Everyone had scars now.

Kiara limped across the battlefield, observing the ruin all around her. They had won the war, but no one would know it from the looks of things on their side. White rocks that were black with dirt marked graves as far as the eye could see. Fire had turned the ground to soot.  Lions lay on the ground, exhausted from years of fighting. Even Kovu had no strength left in him and was collapsed in a heap on the ground. Of course, he hadn’t been the Kovu she had fallen in love with for a long, long time.

After a time, Kiara saw what she had been searching for, and she limped over to the huge baobab tree that the lions had nicknamed the “Tree of Death” years ago, when the tigers had torched it. Being careful not to put pressure on her bad leg, she settled down in front of the five graves lined up in front of her, the resting places of her friends and family. A numbness spread through her at the thought of their awful deaths. Timon and Pumbaa, whose bodies were found ripped to shreds just outside of Pride Rock’s entrance, NO TRUCE scrawled on the stone in their blood. Rafiki, who had just withered away, a little more every day, when his tree died. Her parents, who had both received fatal wounds on the front line. She tried to conjure up something, anything for them, but all she couldn’t feel anything. Emotions had left Kiara’s life long ago, replaced by the mere unnerving sensation one gets when one loses a tooth, that there used to be something where there was now just emptiness.

Sometimes Kiara wanted to stay lying there with them forever. And why couldn’t she now? The war was over. She no longer had a responsibility to the pride. Kovu could lead them, couldn’t he? He would make a good leader, always putting the pride first. Kiara closed her eyes. She could just fade away here…

“Kiara?”

Reluctantly, Kiara lifted her drooping eyelids. Kovu was standing next to her with a hard look on his face. “The troops are asking about you,” he said. “They need you to tell them what’s happening.”

Kiara let her eyes close again. “I’m done with being needed, Kovu,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “You can speak to them.”

“And say what? That you won’t see them because you’re busy moping?” He sounded disgusted. “Get up. We’re going.” Kiara didn’t answer. “Kiara,” he said, his voice a warning, “Get. Up.”

Kiara shifted away from him. “Go away, Kovu. I’m done.”

“You can’t just be done. You’re their leader.” Suddenly, she heard his voice soften. “It’s a new day, K.” Here eyes snapped open. Kovu hadn’t called her K since…since before the war. “The hard part is over now, baby. You can’t give up now.”

Kiara gasped and felt a single tear escape her eye. “It’s just so hard,” she whispered.

She felt a weight next to her and turned her face into Kovu’s shoulder. “I know that,” he said, his voice choked with tears. “It’s hard for all of us, baby. But you can’t lose hope.”

Then a torrent of tears escaped from her, and Kovu held her while she sobbed for what seemed like hours. “I’m sorry,” she finally got out, her voice still clogged with tears. “I’m so sorry, Kovu.”

He shushed her. “It’s okay, baby. Everything’s okay.”

They lay there for a long time, Kiara crying softly. Finally, Kovu shifted away from her and stood up. “Are you ready for this?”

Kiara wiped her eyes with her paws and slowly got to her feet. ” Yeah,” she said. “I’m ready.” And together, they walked off toward Pride Rock, ready for a new life.