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The tension was still high when Simba tracked him. The anger from the King was palpable. The skies had started to become darker as the sun set. Kopa could be seen standing in tall grass. He did not look like a prince, but more like a stray with his ears pressed down in shame.
Simba, The King of the Pride Lands walked out from under the acacia tree. His paws made no noise on the grass. "I told you," Simba rumbled, "That going to the outlands is forbidden."
"I was just playing with Pimbi," the little cub protested. "I never went there, I only… looked."
"Zazu reported to me that you were in the Outlands, Kopa. You were wandering around, your friends told me that you were stubborn and did not listen to them when they told you not to go,” Simba walked closer to his son. "Do you know what happens to those who enter the Outlands?”
"They get into trouble…" Kopa mumbled as he looked down at his paws.
Simba did not reply, he looked at his little scared and confused son. "Let's go, we have wasted enough energy for tonight.”
By the time they reached the peak, Kopa was exhausted, collapsing onto the stone. The stars were beginning to rise through the night, brighter than ever.
Simba then remembered that night, he was younger then, like Kopa, he got into trouble. The skies were getting dark. His father Mufasa had sat with him.
"Dad?" A young Simba inquired
“Hmm?" Says Mufasa
"We’re pals, right?"
A soft chuckle vibrated in Mufasa’s chest "Right."
"And we’ll always be together, right?"
With a soft sigh, Mufasa looked up, "Simba... let me tell you something that my father told me."
"Look at the stars," Mufasa continued "The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars."
Simba’s eyes widened in awe, "Really?"
"Yes," Mufasa replied softly, turning his gaze down to meet his son's "So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you..." He paused as he gazed into the stars.
"...and so will I.”
The winds at his direction brought Simba out of his thoughts. Remembering the good memories he had with his father, Simba then watched his son, The cub was sitting quietly at the point of Pride Rock.
"Do you know what those are, Kopa?" Simba asked softly. Looking at the sky.
Kopa nodded slowly. "Stars."
"They are more than lights in the dark," Simba said. "They are the Great Kings of the Past. Your grandfather, your great grandfather, and all those who came before them."
Kopa squinted, trying to find a face in the light. "Grandfather Mufasa is up there?"
"He is," Simba confirmed with a smile. "When the night feels too dark, or when you feel small and alone, look up. They are there. Guiding us."
Kopa was confused, "But... How can they see us? They're so far away."
"They can see us wherever we go," Simba explained. "They remind us that we are part of something greater than ourselves. The grass turns to antelope, the antelope to lion, and the lion to grass. But our spirits... our spirits rise to the stars. We are connected, Kopa. You, me, and them."
Kopa was silent for a long time. He looked at his own paws, and up at the constellation "Will I go there someday?"
"Yes," Simba comfirmed. "Someday… But not for a long time.”
Kopa yawned in response, "Dad?" He murmured.
"Yes, Kopa?"
"Will you look down from the stars too?"
Simba smiled as he looked up at the dark, imagining his own place among the stars, standing beside Mufasa, watching over a son he would one day leave behind. "I will" Simba whispered. "I will always be there to guide you"
Then below them, the Pride Lands slept. The wind rustled through the grass, sounding almost like a voice.
“Well done, my son.”