Kiara wasn't actually very hungry, still stuffed from her last meal (had she really spent the night here?), but she did as her grandmother instructed. She wasn't surprised when Sarafina brought her more food as soon as she finished the wildebeest. It was a huge cape buffalo, and Kiara started on it without a second thought. The past couple days had proved that she could eat more than she thought she could without really hurting herself, so why shouldn't she eat as much as she could?

The young lioness was so preoccupied with stuffing herself silly that she barely noticed the physical effect that stuffing was having. Her ballooning stomach pushed the rest of her further and further off the ground until she was nearly her grandmother's height. It had almost no jiggle to it; she was far too full for that, and none of the food she'd eaten since coming back to Sarafina's den had had enough time to turn to fat.

Kiara thought she finished the buffalo, but it was hard to be sure: As soon as she scooped up what she thought was the last bite, there was more meat there, as though it had appeared magically. Her mind screamed at her to keep eating, so she did. As for her stomach, it must have given up protesting the way it was being treated, because Kiara couldn't feel any pain from it any more.

This continued on for...well, Kiara wasn't too sure. She'd figured out that whenever she got too full, she fell asleep, but she didn't know how long she was out for each time. What she did know was that food was always readily available, and for a while, that was enough for her. She forgot all about the diet she was supposed to have been on, much preferring to gorge herself.

Eventually, though, she became dissatisfied. Oh, not with the food, of course. It was still as good and pleasant as ever, and she was still eating herself into a coma on a regular basis. But she never even really got to talk to her grandmother any more, and she missed her parents and Simba.

"Grandma?" she said between mouthfuls--she didn't care quite enough to stop eating.

Sarafina rushed over to her. "Yes, dear? Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, I'm fine," Kiara replied, continuing to stuff herself. "I was just wondering if you'd heard from my mom or anything. She must be worried about me."

The old lioness stiffened at that. "Your mother and I just had a talk about you," she said carefully. "And she said it would be all right if you stayed with me for a while longer. I get so lonely out here by myself, and your mother agreed that it would be good for you to keep me company."

"I dunno, grandma. I really feel like I should be going home..." Kiara said guiltily before tearing off another chunk of meat.

"Are you sure? I'm more than happy to keep feeding you, and I'm not sure that the same can be said for your mother."