

That same night, Simba has a nightmare about his father's death, only in the dream Scar morphs into Kovu and Simba takes his father's place falling off the cliff. Drawn by the smoke, Simba finds them together and reluctantly thanks Kovu for the rescue and allows him to come to Pride Rock, though Simba forces him to sleep outside. Nuka and Vitani ( Jennifer Lien) set fire to the plains where Kiara is hunting, causing her to faint and giving Kovu ( Jason Marsden) the chance to rescue her. Furious to find out her father has lied, Kiara goes further from home to hunt, though is still unsuccessful in her efforts. However, Simba sends Timon and Pumbaa to keep an eye on her, after promising to let her do it on her own.

Now at age 18, Kiara ( Neve Campbell) heads out from home to do her first solo hunt. At that moment, Zira returns and scolds both of her sons, but then decides that she can use Kovu's new friendship with Kiara to get her revenge against Simba. In the Outlands, Zira's eldest son, Nuka ( Andy Dick), complains to his younger sister Vitani ( Lacey Chabert) about Kovu's status as "the Chosen One". Unwilling to harm the cub, Simba orders them to leave and later scolds Kiara for endangering herself, then sings to her that they "are one". Zira reminds Simba that he exiled the outlanders, and notes that if he wants to punish them, Kovu is Scar's hand-chosen successor.


After escaping a river filled with crocodiles, the two become friendly but Simba and Kovu's mother, Zira ( Suzanne Pleshette), quickly end their playing. One day while they are arguing, Kiara sneaks into the "Outlands" where she meets a young cub named Kovu ( Ryan O'Donohue). four years later, Simba becomes very overprotective of a now 4-year-old Kiara ( Michelle Horn), assigning Timon and Pumbaa ( Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) to be her babysitters. Mufasa's spirit ( James Earl Jones) watches over the ceremony. The film opens where the previous film ended, set approximately one year later, where Rafiki ( Robert Guillaume) gathers the animals of the Pride Lands together for the presentation of Simba ( Matthew Broderick) and Nala’s ( Moira Kelly) new daughter Kiara.
