Girls just Being Girls

"Zuri, where are you taking us?"

It wasn't that Kiara doubted her friend, exactly. Still, she had vivid memories of the last time Zuri and Tiifu had taken her anywhere - it was hard to forget when it had stranded them on a rapidly-eroding island - so the young princess was understandably cautious. Zuri didn't always have what Kiara thought of as priorities that were properly in order and, while she loved the other girl like a sister and would stand up for her against anyone else in a heartbeat, the peach-furred cub felt like it fell to her to make sure her friend didn't lose all track of the important things.

Still, as Zuri explained even without her prompting, Kiara would admit that it sounded harmless enough. Just a place to hang out, relax, in between queenly lessons and royal duties and... well, everything that came with being next in line for the throne?

That sounded pretty good to Kiara, too. It was so easy to feel overwhelmed by it all; she did deserve some time off, didn't she?

"Sounds good, Zuri."

The enthusiasm of that statement may have been more an attempt to make up for her earlier doubting tone than anything else; but it wasn't insincere. Evidently, the blue-eyed cub had just the right spot picked out in her mind, and Kiara decided that she wouldn't contest that fact. As long as there was no danger of another island incident - and as long as her two friends didn't decide they needed to try the beauty-mud on her again - she would be content with whatever her friend chose.

She spared a glance back over her own shoulder a moment later, however.

"Are you keeping up alright back there, Tiifu?"

"Don't worry, girls. It's going to be fine. In fact... All the mud could work to our advantage," Zuri said. She was glad that the two of them were going along with this. They needed a girl day. Sure it was wet and muddy from the recent rain, and normally Zuri would have thrown a fit about being out in all this, but the ideas were churning in her mind. She knew exactly what they were going to do. Mud facials, sunning themselves to make their fur even softer, and everything else great that could be considered girly. That was all Zuri wanted.

"I know. I've never seen this much either, Tiifu," she agreed. "But look! There's the spot, right over there!" Blue-eyed girl was delighted as could be. Just a short run away from them was a magnificently large tree with a fair amount of shade beneath it. Zuri thought for sure that it would be just the best spot in the world for relaxing. She was already giggling in anticipation.

"And look there," she said. She could see some mud that was near it that would be perfect. She knew that Kiara hadn't been thrilled by the idea of a mud facial the last time they'd tried to give her one, but that was because they'd been trapped and she'd been antsy to get to the buffalo wallow. Now there was no time against them. Just the warm day and the mud that they could use to their advantage. And while they waited for that to take effect on their faces, they would be able to have much drier grass on their side. It was a win no matter what way one looked at it.

Without waiting, she darted ahead of her two friends. Usually, she wouldn't have been in such a hurry. Today, though? Zuri wanted everything to go perfectly.

"We can use all this mud for mud facials! Won't it be great? We'll come out of this looking even better than ever! Even the Lion Guard will have to stop and admire us," she gushed. Maybe Kion wouldn't have cared. In fact, she was certain that he wouldn't. But it was worth thinking about anyway, wasn't it? Surely it was.

"And after the mud facials, we're sure to have much drier grass and fur! Won't it be great?"