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Just before dawn, Kopa headed out from Pride Rock alone. It had been the longest night in a long while. He hadn't slept at all, and neither had Vitani nor any of the parties involved. He'd had his majordomo tell Dahlia where and when to meet for the first border control of the day. To the other lionesses, it had seemed like an extra punishment that she'd have to attend both morning patrol, hunting during the midday and evening patrol today - but to Kopa, it meant he would have a chance to talk to Dahlia in private, with none of the pride members listening in.

As he approached the flowery meadow, he saw her between the bushes, hiding from curious eyes. She was sitting with her back towards him, ears low. He approached her slowly and she turned around and looked up at him. She looked tired, she'd probably slept just as little as himself. Oh, Dahlia, he thought. His sweet little girl. Seeing her so miserable made his heart clench and squeeze. He couldn't hide his true feelings and their shared pain turned into a close embrace. She was shivering, he noticed, and he held her closer. She burried her face in his mane and stayed still like that for a while. Then she backed out and looked up into his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting out a deep sigh.

"Dad, I.. I'm so sorry... Please, please forgive me..."
Kopa moved closer, letting their foreheads touch. She asked forgiveness, and he gave it. The truth is, he’d forgiven everything she’d done and everything she could do the day she was born. For him, that was not even a choice. That was pure love.

"Forgiven."

------

Soooo the next installment of the story! What do ya'll think?
Do you recognise the quote about forgiveness?

Previous:

Final part:

The beginning:

**Quote is from Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon **

Full story:
The Lesson,"I expected more of you, Dahlia. Much more."She didn't answer him, but there were clear tears in her eyes and marks on her face from crying.Pride Rock was silent. Only the soft sobs of Lulu, one of his pride members and a new young mother, could be heard.Fortunately, this accident had not caused any death - but it had caused and would continue to cost pain to that young mother and her cub."How am I supposed to trust you with the responsibility of a Kingdom, the pride included, if you can't be trusted with the responsibility of cubs?" Kopa continued.A low growl could be heard somewhere from the pride. The lionesses were both angry and disappointed, and with good reason. Kopa was too.What had she been thinking, running off and leaving the cubs alone?They were all lucky, he supposed, that that old grumpy honeybadger had not attacked all the cubs, when they had run off and and their tag-game had gotten out of hand. But that is what cubs do; they play without thinking about their surroundings and they put themselves in questionable situations without thinking about the consequenses of their actions, that's why they need to be looked after. A fairly simple job, even for a teenager."Your carelessness could have cost a life today, Dahlia. Instead, it caused a serious injury, which will affect all of our lives in the future.A lion that is blind on one eye cannot hunt properly, so that cub will rely on others forever, with no choice of leaving on his own, if he ever wanted to."Tears rolled silently down Dahlia's face, and although Kopa was angry, he felt his heart squeeze at the sight of his daughter crying. And she was miserable, too, he knew.But he couldn't be soft on her now. Not when lives had been affected this way."You are impulsive and reckless. I had thought you would grow out of that, but clearly I was wrong.Not only will you have to live with what you've done, I will too. Obviously I have failed as a teacher and as a father."She was visibly fighting to hold back her emotions from taking over. Her whole body was trembling and she looked down and shut her eyes tight, silent tears streaming down her face.Yes. That last one had hurt.He felt guilty for pushing the buttons he knew would hurt her, but it was necessary.It was the only thing that would work with her. The only way she would learn."You will not sleep with the pride in the den tonight, but alone at the bottom of pride rock. For the next moon, you will attend every hunt during the day, and patrol with the guards every evening. There will be no royal lessons and no hanging out. It's time you learned what responsibility and consequences of your actions are, Dahlia." Kopa took his eyes off Dahlia and looked at Lulu, who nodded quickly in respect. Good, Kopa thought. At least the lionesses aproved of this punishment. Kopa then turned around and started walking towards the stony path that lead down Pride Rock. Dahlia silently followed him, head low and eyes on the ground. When Kopa stopped at the path down, Dahlia gave him a quick glance, but taking great care not to meet his eyes directly. "Go." Kopa said firmly.,Kopa's eyes followed her, as Dahlia made her way down to the bottom of Pride Rock.He gave the other lionesses a nod, and the serious expression on his face had been enough for them to understand that he wanted to be alone.The truth is, he didn't want them to shame Dahlia further by glaring at her descent from Pride Rock. It was shameful enough for the princess to be punished publically like this without the whole pride casting shameful looks at her behind her back at her most vulnerable moment.As the rest of the lionesses entered the den, Kopa walked along the tip of Pride Rock, keeping an eye on his daughter. His face had softened somewhat and he felt a tight squeeze in his chest. Then he remembered the little cub, his subject, his responsibility.. and his face hardened as he felt the anger bubble up inside him again. He stopped on the ledge, still looking at her. Head and tail held low, Dahlia had reached the bottom of Pride Rock.She turned her head around, and met his eyes. Pain shot through Kopa, as he was sure it did through her as well. He managed to keep his look firm, even as he noticed tears were still running down her cheeks. Their exchange of looks lasted only a second or two, but it had felt like hours before she broke eye contact and sat down in the grass. Kopa felt so.. confused. Angry. Sad. Frustrated. Why did she put him in this position? Why would she never listen, never learn? Kopa had never anticipated feeling this type of pain from being a parent. His duties as a King and as a father had never really been in conflict before - not to this extent. All he wanted to do was run to her, tell her that he forgave her and cuddle her up in his paws like she was a small cub again.But as King... Tears started filling his eyes and he clenched his teeth hard to keep them at bay. As King he had to be fair to all parties. He looked in Dahlia's direction one last time before he headed towards the den, trying his best to keep a straight, firm face as he entered the den.,Vitani was waiting for him when he entered the den, and he noticed that all the other pride members respectfully had retreated to the back of the den, giving them a bit of privacy."You did well, my love", Vitani said and licked his chin. She had obviously been crying too, and seeing the pain in her eyes was the last drop for him. He let his guard down and tears started streaming down his face. They sat silently crying together in the dark, holding each other and praying to the Great Kings for a better tomorrow.,Just before dawn, Kopa headed out from Pride Rock alone. It had been the longest night in a long while. He hadn't slept at all, and neither had Vitani nor any of the parties involved. He'd had his majordomo tell Dahlia where and when to meet for the first border control of the day. To the other lionesses, it had seemed like an extra punishment that she'd have to attend both morning patrol, hunting during the midday and evening patrol today - but to Kopa, it meant he would have a chance to talk to Dahlia in private, with none of the pride members listening in.As he approached the flowery meadow, he saw her between the bushes, hiding from curious eyes. She was sitting with her back towards him, ears low. He approached her slowly and she turned around and looked up at him. She looked tired, she'd probably slept just as little as himself. Oh, Dahlia, he thought. His sweet little girl. Seeing her so miserable made his heart clench and squeeze. He couldn't hide his true feelings and their shared pain turned into a close embrace. She was shivering, he noticed, and he held her closer. She burried her face in his mane and stayed still like that for a while. Then she backed out and looked up into his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting out a deep sigh."Dad, I.. I'm so sorry... Please, please forgive me..."Kopa moved closer, letting their foreheads touch. She asked forgiveness, and he gave it. The truth is, he’d forgiven everything she’d done and everything she could do the day she was born. For him, that was not even a choice. That was pure love."Forgiven.",They had finally found the criminal, and had spent hours interrogating him and listening to witnesses. While Vitani and Kiara had kept him in line, several animals from his Kingdom had come forward as witnesses to the event, and after hearing all of them out, the verdict was clear: He was found guilty. Harming young ones was NOT allowed in the Pridelands, and there were no second chances with this charge. The whole event had been a lot more messed up than any of them had initially thought. Dahlia had been babysitting, but at some point, left the cubs unattended and without supervision. The cubs had taken this chance to run off towards the watering hole, but had run into the honey badger on their way.From the honey badgers point of view, the cubs had outright attacked him, he claimed. Pounced, bitten, and scratched him, and so in self defense, he'd lashed out. This seemed very unlikely though, Kopa thought, as the cub who was injured had only just learned how to run without wobbling around, and the honeybadger himself didn't have a scratch on him at all. A group of nearby pigeons also claimed this to be false - and although the pigeons of the Pridelands were known to be gossipers, the whole group had agreed that what had happened was not the cubs' fault. Supposedly, the cubs had bounced along the path towards the watering hole, laughing and playing as cubs do. The honeybadger was coming from the watering hole, had seen the cubs and attacked them for being in his way, when the cubs had gotten a little "too close" to him.This story was backed up by an elephant, who had been on her way to the watering hole herself to get a lovely bath, when the cubs had passed her on the way. The honeybadger had seen the cubs playing tag and jumping along the path, and then charged towards the them with no warning, lashing out, claws extended, and yelled at the cubs to respect their elders and to get out of his way, before he would really show them some respect.. The old elephant had gotten visibly angry at this point, and Kopa couldn't blame her. He was fuming himself. He was far more satisfyed with an elephant as witness though, as their memory tended to be very precise. A pack of wild dogs were the last witnesses, and they had also been the ones to carry the cubs back to Pride Rock. The leading couple of the pack had noticed the cubs running towards the watering hole, but hadn't paid more attention to them than that, before they heard the screams of the cubs. The two leaders had quickly called the pack together, but by the time they found the cubs, the honeybadger was already leaving, and the cubs were lying terrified and hurt on the grass, some bleeding, some merely scared. The old elephant had sent the pigeons to find Kopa, and the wild dogs had carried the hurt cubs back towards Pride rock."And that's when we met you, your Majesty, and your hunting party, on our way to Pride Rock." the leader had said to Vitani, ending her story. The pigeons and the elephant all agreed that this was the entire truth. Kopa was furious. The number one rule of the Pridelands, were no harming of young ones. He expected everyone to follow that rule. No exceptions. Not only had the honeybadger intentionally broken this rule, he had also left the cubs bleeding in the grass. He didn't want to think about what could have happened, if no one had been around.Kopa locked eyes with the honeybadger and roared: "EXILE!"The end of "The Lesson". Next: Love

Description
Just before dawn, Kopa headed out from Pride Rock alone. It had been the longest night in a long while. He hadn't slept at all, and neither had Vitani nor any of the parties involved. He'd had his majordomo tell Dahlia where and when to meet for the first border control of the day. To the other lionesses, it had seemed like an extra punishment that she'd have to attend both morning patrol, hunting during the midday and evening patrol today - but to Kopa, it meant he would have a chance to talk to Dahlia in private, with none of the pride members listening in.

As he approached the flowery meadow, he saw her between the bushes, hiding from curious eyes. She was sitting with her back towards him, ears low. He approached her slowly and she turned around and looked up at him. She looked tired, she'd probably slept just as little as himself. Oh, Dahlia, he thought. His sweet little girl. Seeing her so miserable made his heart clench and squeeze. He couldn't hide his true feelings and their shared pain turned into a close embrace. She was shivering, he noticed, and he held her closer. She burried her face in his mane and stayed still like that for a while. Then she backed out and looked up into his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting out a deep sigh.

"Dad, I.. I'm so sorry... Please, please forgive me..."
Kopa moved closer, letting their foreheads touch. She asked forgiveness, and he gave it. The truth is, he’d forgiven everything she’d done and everything she could do the day she was born. For him, that was not even a choice. That was pure love.

"Forgiven."

------

Soooo the next installment of the story! What do ya'll think?
Do you recognise the quote about forgiveness?

Previous:

Final part:

The beginning:

**Quote is from Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon **

Full story:
The Lesson,"I expected more of you, Dahlia. Much more."She didn't answer him, but there were clear tears in her eyes and marks on her face from crying.Pride Rock was silent. Only the soft sobs of Lulu, one of his pride members and a new young mother, could be heard.Fortunately, this accident had not caused any death - but it had caused and would continue to cost pain to that young mother and her cub."How am I supposed to trust you with the responsibility of a Kingdom, the pride included, if you can't be trusted with the responsibility of cubs?" Kopa continued.A low growl could be heard somewhere from the pride. The lionesses were both angry and disappointed, and with good reason. Kopa was too.What had she been thinking, running off and leaving the cubs alone?They were all lucky, he supposed, that that old grumpy honeybadger had not attacked all the cubs, when they had run off and and their tag-game had gotten out of hand. But that is what cubs do; they play without thinking about their surroundings and they put themselves in questionable situations without thinking about the consequenses of their actions, that's why they need to be looked after. A fairly simple job, even for a teenager."Your carelessness could have cost a life today, Dahlia. Instead, it caused a serious injury, which will affect all of our lives in the future.A lion that is blind on one eye cannot hunt properly, so that cub will rely on others forever, with no choice of leaving on his own, if he ever wanted to."Tears rolled silently down Dahlia's face, and although Kopa was angry, he felt his heart squeeze at the sight of his daughter crying. And she was miserable, too, he knew.But he couldn't be soft on her now. Not when lives had been affected this way."You are impulsive and reckless. I had thought you would grow out of that, but clearly I was wrong.Not only will you have to live with what you've done, I will too. Obviously I have failed as a teacher and as a father."She was visibly fighting to hold back her emotions from taking over. Her whole body was trembling and she looked down and shut her eyes tight, silent tears streaming down her face.Yes. That last one had hurt.He felt guilty for pushing the buttons he knew would hurt her, but it was necessary.It was the only thing that would work with her. The only way she would learn."You will not sleep with the pride in the den tonight, but alone at the bottom of pride rock. For the next moon, you will attend every hunt during the day, and patrol with the guards every evening. There will be no royal lessons and no hanging out. It's time you learned what responsibility and consequences of your actions are, Dahlia." Kopa took his eyes off Dahlia and looked at Lulu, who nodded quickly in respect. Good, Kopa thought. At least the lionesses aproved of this punishment. Kopa then turned around and started walking towards the stony path that lead down Pride Rock. Dahlia silently followed him, head low and eyes on the ground. When Kopa stopped at the path down, Dahlia gave him a quick glance, but taking great care not to meet his eyes directly. "Go." Kopa said firmly.,Kopa's eyes followed her, as Dahlia made her way down to the bottom of Pride Rock.He gave the other lionesses a nod, and the serious expression on his face had been enough for them to understand that he wanted to be alone.The truth is, he didn't want them to shame Dahlia further by glaring at her descent from Pride Rock. It was shameful enough for the princess to be punished publically like this without the whole pride casting shameful looks at her behind her back at her most vulnerable moment.As the rest of the lionesses entered the den, Kopa walked along the tip of Pride Rock, keeping an eye on his daughter. His face had softened somewhat and he felt a tight squeeze in his chest. Then he remembered the little cub, his subject, his responsibility.. and his face hardened as he felt the anger bubble up inside him again. He stopped on the ledge, still looking at her. Head and tail held low, Dahlia had reached the bottom of Pride Rock.She turned her head around, and met his eyes. Pain shot through Kopa, as he was sure it did through her as well. He managed to keep his look firm, even as he noticed tears were still running down her cheeks. Their exchange of looks lasted only a second or two, but it had felt like hours before she broke eye contact and sat down in the grass. Kopa felt so.. confused. Angry. Sad. Frustrated. Why did she put him in this position? Why would she never listen, never learn? Kopa had never anticipated feeling this type of pain from being a parent. His duties as a King and as a father had never really been in conflict before - not to this extent. All he wanted to do was run to her, tell her that he forgave her and cuddle her up in his paws like she was a small cub again.But as King... Tears started filling his eyes and he clenched his teeth hard to keep them at bay. As King he had to be fair to all parties. He looked in Dahlia's direction one last time before he headed towards the den, trying his best to keep a straight, firm face as he entered the den.,Vitani was waiting for him when he entered the den, and he noticed that all the other pride members respectfully had retreated to the back of the den, giving them a bit of privacy."You did well, my love", Vitani said and licked his chin. She had obviously been crying too, and seeing the pain in her eyes was the last drop for him. He let his guard down and tears started streaming down his face. They sat silently crying together in the dark, holding each other and praying to the Great Kings for a better tomorrow.,Just before dawn, Kopa headed out from Pride Rock alone. It had been the longest night in a long while. He hadn't slept at all, and neither had Vitani nor any of the parties involved. He'd had his majordomo tell Dahlia where and when to meet for the first border control of the day. To the other lionesses, it had seemed like an extra punishment that she'd have to attend both morning patrol, hunting during the midday and evening patrol today - but to Kopa, it meant he would have a chance to talk to Dahlia in private, with none of the pride members listening in.As he approached the flowery meadow, he saw her between the bushes, hiding from curious eyes. She was sitting with her back towards him, ears low. He approached her slowly and she turned around and looked up at him. She looked tired, she'd probably slept just as little as himself. Oh, Dahlia, he thought. His sweet little girl. Seeing her so miserable made his heart clench and squeeze. He couldn't hide his true feelings and their shared pain turned into a close embrace. She was shivering, he noticed, and he held her closer. She burried her face in his mane and stayed still like that for a while. Then she backed out and looked up into his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting out a deep sigh."Dad, I.. I'm so sorry... Please, please forgive me..."Kopa moved closer, letting their foreheads touch. She asked forgiveness, and he gave it. The truth is, he’d forgiven everything she’d done and everything she could do the day she was born. For him, that was not even a choice. That was pure love."Forgiven.",They had finally found the criminal, and had spent hours interrogating him and listening to witnesses. While Vitani and Kiara had kept him in line, several animals from his Kingdom had come forward as witnesses to the event, and after hearing all of them out, the verdict was clear: He was found guilty. Harming young ones was NOT allowed in the Pridelands, and there were no second chances with this charge. The whole event had been a lot more messed up than any of them had initially thought. Dahlia had been babysitting, but at some point, left the cubs unattended and without supervision. The cubs had taken this chance to run off towards the watering hole, but had run into the honey badger on their way.From the honey badgers point of view, the cubs had outright attacked him, he claimed. Pounced, bitten, and scratched him, and so in self defense, he'd lashed out. This seemed very unlikely though, Kopa thought, as the cub who was injured had only just learned how to run without wobbling around, and the honeybadger himself didn't have a scratch on him at all. A group of nearby pigeons also claimed this to be false - and although the pigeons of the Pridelands were known to be gossipers, the whole group had agreed that what had happened was not the cubs' fault. Supposedly, the cubs had bounced along the path towards the watering hole, laughing and playing as cubs do. The honeybadger was coming from the watering hole, had seen the cubs and attacked them for being in his way, when the cubs had gotten a little "too close" to him.This story was backed up by an elephant, who had been on her way to the watering hole herself to get a lovely bath, when the cubs had passed her on the way. The honeybadger had seen the cubs playing tag and jumping along the path, and then charged towards the them with no warning, lashing out, claws extended, and yelled at the cubs to respect their elders and to get out of his way, before he would really show them some respect.. The old elephant had gotten visibly angry at this point, and Kopa couldn't blame her. He was fuming himself. He was far more satisfyed with an elephant as witness though, as their memory tended to be very precise. A pack of wild dogs were the last witnesses, and they had also been the ones to carry the cubs back to Pride Rock. The leading couple of the pack had noticed the cubs running towards the watering hole, but hadn't paid more attention to them than that, before they heard the screams of the cubs. The two leaders had quickly called the pack together, but by the time they found the cubs, the honeybadger was already leaving, and the cubs were lying terrified and hurt on the grass, some bleeding, some merely scared. The old elephant had sent the pigeons to find Kopa, and the wild dogs had carried the hurt cubs back towards Pride rock."And that's when we met you, your Majesty, and your hunting party, on our way to Pride Rock." the leader had said to Vitani, ending her story. The pigeons and the elephant all agreed that this was the entire truth. Kopa was furious. The number one rule of the Pridelands, were no harming of young ones. He expected everyone to follow that rule. No exceptions. Not only had the honeybadger intentionally broken this rule, he had also left the cubs bleeding in the grass. He didn't want to think about what could have happened, if no one had been around.Kopa locked eyes with the honeybadger and roared: "EXILE!"The end of "The Lesson". Next: Love