She who established a new regime

Leelou
Pride Affiliation: Pridelanders (Birth)
Relations: Daughter to Kiara, Kovu, Mate to Slyler: [link]

After several failed attempts to produce a healthy cub that wouldn't die moments after birth, the Pridelands celebrated when Leelou was born to carry on the family heritage and responsibility as it's sovereign monarch. Only one member of the royal family expressed disappointment, and that was her Uncle Kopa who Kiara was training in her place, just in case she wouldn't be able to have cubs of her own. Shortly after her birth, Kopa would disappear from the pridelands, and Leelou wouldn't meet her Uncle until she was a young adult.

As a cub she proved to be a bit of an oddity, for not only did she have mismatched eyes, but tended to question the natural order of things, including why hyenas and lions were enemies. No one questioned the mismatched eyes however, (with the exception of Slyler picking on her for them, along with being the youngest pridemember), believing it to be a sign that harmony now existed between the once warring Pridelanders and Outlanders, for she wore the eyes of both her sire and mother. She was always asking questions during her lessons, taking interest in every minute detail of her mother's lessons, a stark contrast to Kiara's own attitude toward becoming Queen at the time. There were some questions even Kiara couldn't find the answer to. Leelou also found that she would ask questions of all the members of the pride, finding wisdom in all of it's members and different perspectives taken from the Outlanders. She found the Outlander's old traditions from a time when they called themselves Ashlanders to be fascinating. She was open minded to different beliefs, ranging from the tales of the Kings in the stars, to other beliefs in lion gods who presided over them. Leelou soaked them all in, desiring to be a well rounded Queen when her time came. She was even open minded to the idea of eating insects, perhaps if drought came they could serve as a temporary sustenance until rain came. Due to the new war between lions and hyenas after the hyenas found the clan leader's daughter Asante killed, food had to be rationed to ensure the survival of the pride. These were hard times, but they managed to get through it thanks to the young protegee princess. Despite being somewhat of an eccentric, the royal family beamed at how wise she was at such a young age and believed she would become a great Queen one day.

One day the lion Slyler surprised everyone by proclaiming his love for Leelou, and she returned his affections stating that she loves him because he makes her laugh, her relationship with the young lion having changed from being bullied, to becoming friends and then becoming much more. She wants no other lion as King by her side, and while her parents are unsure at first, Kiara and Kovu agree to allow Slyler as her mate on the condition that he pass all of the tests they give to him. At first, it seems Slyler would pass each test, but then Leelou worried about the final test, for he was to face her father. She tried to make Slyler give up because she feared Kovu would be too rough on him, but Slyler reminded Leelou that his own mother was a former outlander and could train him to become strong as well. He wanted to prove himself to her, because as King it would be his duty to protect her. The battle would be close, but Slyler won, proving himself worthy to be her mate. Leelou and Slyler married as soon as both combatants recovered from the fight.

When the time came for Kiara to step down as Queen and Leelou was coronated as the new Queen, Kopa had returned with a strange mate and a child in tow. She was the first to greet them, open to the idea of a Tigress joining them and the new traditions and hunting skills she could offer to the pride. She also felt a pang of sadness, perhaps for the first time for the reason Kopa had run away, and how he had lost his friend Asante in the process. Perhaps the old order of things simply didn't work anymore, for it only drove families apart when they should stand together, she had been taught to believe that the hyenas killed him, and had no knowledge that he himself had been friends with one and liked that very idea of peace between them. She consulted the stars, and consulted the gods, and found the answer when she saw a shower of meteorites in the sky. From then on, she decreed that all lions and lionesses born to the royal line would have a say in how things would be run in the pride, and formed the royal pride council, the first pride to have a system of voting rather than one voice to make all the rules. Her next task, would be to finally make peace with their old enemies once and for all. But would the council she created agree to it?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Revenge of the Fallen Pride Timeline (Spoilers!): In this story, Leelou is born much sooner and there is no Kopa, Chaka or Shani, and she is betrothed to Vitani's son Slyler. Personality wise she isn't much different than her main timeline self, although without Kopa she doesn't create a pride council, and the pride continues it's tradition that only the eldest inherits the Kingdom.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I wanted to include the little segment about any changes to the character and development in the RotFP storyline that I created, which basically follows the story about what would've happened had Kiara and Kovu arrived too late to stop Zira from taking the pridelands by force. I plan to do this with any characters introduced in SP, since for the most part the timeline remains the same up until that point. Why is Kiara able to produce a child more easily in the alternate timeline? Who knows. Perhaps it's the will of the great Kings? ^^