Guardians

'Kiara proves to Zazu just how much she loves him'

He had just been watching the horizon when he felt teeth clamp onto the feathers on the back of his neck. Before he could even begin to register it, he was being lifted up off the ground and whoever did so began to run off in an unforeseen direction.

The small stature and uneven pawsteps made him easily recognize his captor and he couldn't help but to narrow his eyes and glare up at her, her grip on him oddly strong enough to ensure he couldn't escape but not enough to actually hurt him. He couldn't see her face but just by the way her run shifted slightly, he knew she had glanced down at him.

Normally, he would have at least tried to get free but knowing Kiara, she wouldn't let up. Just like her father had been as a cub. Giving into her kidnapping of him, he closed his eyes and almost instantly felt the cub's speed pick up, her newfound Eternal speed being used to her aid. And just when he wasn't looking too.

Within a few minutes, Zazu felt the lion cub stop and gently drop him to the the ground of the African savannah. And within that second, felt a sense of magic being sprung around them. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see Kiara sitting in front of him, her ruby red eyes staring down at him with a fond smile adorning her face.

Zazu glanced around and noticed the familiar magic of a sound and sight proof spell, one he had not even attempted to master since becoming an Eternal. But Kiara had been trying to perfect it recently. Why though, he had not pressed her. But now, he couldn't help as to feel a slight sense of uncomfortable worry as he noticed just how perfect the spell was and just how close the princess was to him.

The hornbill snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the cub's tongue gently drag across the top of his feathery head, gradually moving to licking across his face. She had done this ever since that fateful day when he was sick and Kiara had stayed with him to keep him company. It was also when she had barely refused to let him out of her sights and when she had grown both protective and almost sisterly to him.

Kiara continued down to the base of Zazu's neck, licking the well-concealed scar from his past. He would've flinched had it been anyone else but the princess, but she knew what she was doing, knew how sensitive said scar was and just how much pressure to give the certain spot.

In the process of her affectionate actions, Kiara had slid down to her stomach, her front legs settling around the hornbill who simply shifted the slightest bit closer to her. She knew he didn't want her to notice him enjoying this so much, but she couldn't help it. Ceasing her licking briefly, she gently nuzzled the side of his little head.

Zazu groaned softly in embarrassment, trying but failing to hide the slight blush creeping onto his face. Kiara giggled softly, going back to licking the scar as she remembered just why she was doing this in the first place.

Kiara kept moving downwards, inching closer and closer to a level she was nervous to reach but knew she had to in order to show the hornbill just how much she felt about him. His eyes were still closed, a small, content smile on his face as he moved ever so closer to her, her paws wrapping further around his body, knowingly trapping him. He didn't even notice, too caught up in the lion cub's affections.

Nervousness grew inside Kiara's chest as she eyed the spot she was aiming for, the object of her affections completely oblivious of her advances, too content reveling in the nice feeling of being taken care of to notice.

The princess took a moment to reflect on just why she was doing this, just why she felt so strongly for her father's majordomo. But hopefully, he wouldn't be that anymore by the time she showed him just how much he meant to her.

That irritable but loyal air he had to him as well as his sarcastic comments that never failed to make her laugh. His need to please and selfless nature, that put everyone and everything before himself.

It was exactly why he insisted to continue going when he had grown almost too sick to move. He had been terrified of being replaced. She had always tried to tell him he wasn't useless when not doing his duties. He had said he understood but she could tell he was lying. And it hurt her more than she cared to admit.

When he had been sick, Kiara had stayed by his side, Zazu having told her time and time again to go play and to leave him alone. She had refused and afterwards, she had grown more and more fond of the hornbill, to the point where she would notice him staying closer to her than before.

He had trusted her enough later to tell her what that monster Scar had done to him, why what she was planning to do now was so important. The last and only time he had been in such a situation had been so emotionally and physically painful, he had half hated himself for even still being alive. It was why every time he came even close to something happening, he would come up with an excuse and fly away.

Although she hated to trap him like this, it was the only way to ensure he couldn't avoid this anymore. She loved him too much to allow him to wallow in his own shame and fear for that much longer.

A sudden air of courage coursing through her, Kiara dragged her tongue down and flicked it in between his legs, catching her target with a slight touch. She almost hoped he didn't feel it. But the hitched breath and the way Zazu hopped backwards, or at least tried to, made her pull back and stare back down at him. The sight literally broke her heart.

He stared up at her with wide, terrified eyes, breaths coming in jagged and uneven amounts. The hornbill started to shake slightly, almost unnoticeable but Kiara had grown to notice such little movements in him.

She attempted to nuzzle the side of his head, but he flinched. He hoped it was just an accident but the look on the lion cub's face showed him just what he was fearing. She knew what she was doing and she had planned this.

It was clear he was about to panic, for he knew he was trapped with someone he cared about but was terrified of history repeating itself. The scar on his neck was the lasting reminder of his ordeal and only this cub knew of what happened and knew of the scar hidden beneath his feathers.

But Kiara was not going to let him lose it. And she was not going to use her magic either. She was not going to restrain him. Tilting her head, she pulled the hornbill closer to her, and nuzzled him, ignoring the startled flinch from him. He was frozen to the spot and no amount of gentle coaxing was going to get him to positively react.

Sighing softly, Kiara spoke, still holding him closer to her, noticing with worry that Zazu's tail was dragging along the ground. "I know. I know. You're afraid I'll hurt you and I promise I won't do anything to hurt you on purpose. I've already told you that. But you don't believe me"

She felt him begin to open his beak slightly, as if about to say something but Kiara quickly continued. "You don't. And you also don't believe me when I say you're not useless when you're not doing something important. You don't want to be replaced and you don't want to be hurt like that... fucker, Scar did to you. He never liked you Zazu, and you've been hurt by so many that you thought cared for you. Yes, even my father"

She paused upon feeling the hornbill unfurl his wings and hug her back gently, his feathers wrapping over her fur and the sickening sound of the shaking of breath as he breathed deeply in an attempt to control the tears threatening his deep green eyes. Kiara felt bad for making him cry, but at least he trusted her enough to hug her back.

"None of them understand what you've been through. None of them know what you've been through. But I thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all of that" Kiara paused, feeling tears leak onto her shoulders' fur and the grip around her tightened slightly. She continued, "And yes, I did plan this and I'm sorry I hid it from you but I need to show you how much I trust and... love you. I need you to know how much you mean to me"

By this point, Zazu had finally let himself go, tears falling easily from his eyes. In the midst of having reduced him to tears, Kiara couldn't help but to allow small tears of her own to spill down her face. She wrapped her paws further around the object of her affections, one paw moving up to gently pet the back of his head, feeling the just sheer relief of someone finally showing him that he was understood and he was truly loved.

He was trying so hard to hide the fact that he had completely lost it. He was known for keeping his composure but now... Now, he couldn't help it. To know that someone he had grown to care about more than anyone else actually loved him was already enough to reduce him to a crying mess. And the way she just held him to her with no intention to push him away and hurt him further... It was when he simply couldn't hold himself together anymore.

Clinging onto Kiara, he openly let his emotions go, letting her protectively wrap herself around him, shielding him further from the outside world. The more he felt her fur connect with his feathers, the more Zazu felt safer and the warmth radiating from both her body and her aura comforted him beyond anything else.

His wracking sobs broke Kiara's heart. In a way, she felt terrible for making her love cry but in another, more stronger way, she knew it was necessary. She just couldn't let him wallow in his state of internal pain anymore. She knew how this situation could go wrong in so many ways but she still did it anyways. And having Zazu in her arms, hugging her, crying his eyes out, and the smallest hint of a smile on his face was enough for her.