Hear me out ok. Queerplatonic Kion and Rani. (this is my headcanon and very vague readings of the characters)
What if their marriage was comphet (or whatever the term is...it's blanking on me), what if they realized that they married not out to romantic love for each other, but because they thought that was the only course of action. That was the "right" course of action.
They end up connecting deeply, but it isn't romantic love, it's, at least a lot more complicated then just one word.
They both met each other at their worst, and they both thought each other to be their enemies. Then friends. Then partners. Then queerplatonic partners.
Their relationship goes through bumps, but hey..that's okay. They aren't perfect, but it's okay that you and your partner don't agree with everything. It's the aftermath that matters, that you two aren't screaming over each other. Even throughout it all, they will stick together.
Kion (...and to be fair all of his guard...listen man I feel like they're all somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum) never really had romantic crushes or whatever, but to be fair, he had to protect the pridelands, he didn't have time to question that.
When he left though, that's when he had time to question it. Simba and Nala didn't want to betroth their cubs, but romance and such were sometimes things they questioned their cubs about. I mean....neither really came up with anything when they questioned, but still.
Now though...Kion was not at home. He was already dealing with...everything else, and he was also beginning to question himself. More things happened...mainly Makucha and crew, that caused him to continue to forget about it.
All up until he got to the tree of life, where he was almost forced to stay away from guard duties for a moment to start his healing journey. He was yet to be close with anyone in the night pride yet, and he tried to keep his conversations with Nirmala professional or whatever, but one day, he asked her a question.
Do you need to have a romantic partner to be fulfilled in life? That is the royal family's duty right? To have cubs and continue the bloodline?
He went to the right lioness funnily enough. Nirmala herself is aroace, and she explains to Kion that no, you don't need a partner to feel fulfilled in your life. Nirmala has never had a partner and will never have a partner, and she is fulfilled with her role as healer of the tree of life.
During this conversation Nirmala also does let slide that she's had a similar conversation with her niece, Rani. Nirmala says that if Kion wants to, he could always talk with Rani about it too.
It takes a while before Kion brings that up of course, it's after they get "married" actually.
When they begin to realize they don't like the labels of wife or husband for each other, at least not in a romantic context, Kion asks Rani about it.
Rani explains that she's always felt pressured to have cubs, but she's never liked the idea of...the steps before having cubs. She would love to raise the cub, to care for a cub, but she doesn't want to have a cub...however, that isn't how royal families work, at least she doesn't think so. Many past rulers have supposedly felt like this, but still carried anyway, so she always thought she just had to tough it out (something she also just think she needs to do with most of her emotions).
Kion says he also feels similar. He would love to raise a child, but he can't possibly adopt a cub or anything like that. It needs to be direct relation, especially now that he's the consort of another kingdom.
So, they end up going to Nirmala together. They realize that they want to "stay together" but they aren't each other's romantic partner. Nirmala also explains that they can still be partners even if they aren't romantically interested with one another. She also explains that they don't need to have biological children. Janna's mother was adopted, and she was still considered the next in line. Nirmala and Ãnanda were also adopted by their mothers (they're sisters in my universe if you want to know, and they had lesbian moms). It doesn't matter if they weren't biologically either of their cubs. The tree of life is also very lenient when it comes to most traditions, five previous rulers have ruled with non-lion consorts, and their consorts and children were always considered royalty.
Rani and Kion are both very thankful for Nirmala, and they both do individual thinking before they fully take on the title of queerplatonic partners. But, y'know, as I said, they stick together throughout it all. They have a complicated relationship and that's okay.
Anyway thank you for coming to my ted-talk and happy pride month, also sorry if any of this doesn't make sense or if I repeat myself at all, I wrote this at like 2am and I don't care to re-read it
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