In the dramatic ending of "The Lion King," Simba and Nala are overjoyed as Rafiki presents their newborn cub and heir to the throne to the rest of the kingdom. "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" opens during this celebration, when Rafiki reveals that the little cub is a girl named Kiara. This spunky young cub wanders off one day in an attempt at independence. She meets up with another young cub, named Kovu, and instantly they become great friends. Their exciting adventure ends abruptly as they are parted by Simba and Zira, Kovu's mother and one of Scar's evil followers.

An angry Simba returns home with Kiara and forbids her to go anywhere near the Outlands or associate with any of the Outlanders. He teaches Kiara her responsibilities as future Queen.

After Simba became King, he banished all of Scar's followers to a dry and desolate area, filled with towering termite mounds, called the Outlands. Kovu was handpicked by Scar to follow in his pawprints. Zira, Scar's most loyal follower, is grooming Kovu to defeat Simba, seize control of the Pride Lands, and become the next Lion King!

The months pass. One day as Kiara is off exploring the Pride Lands, a brush fire breaks out, trapping her in a ring of flames. As a part of Zira's wicked plot, Kovu leaps to Kiara's rescue, and she convinces her father to accept Kovu as a member of their pride. Now Kovu can move in closer for the kill.

Surprisingly, Kovu's affection for Kiara grows, and he begins to question Zira's plans. He learns the truth about Scar's wicked past and realizes that he is nothing like Scar. Now Kovu is torn between his love for Kiara and his loyalty to his mother.

Zira decides to plan his fate for him. During one of Simba's lion-to-lion talks with Kovu, Zira orders her pack to ambush Simba. Simba is convinced that Kovu set him up. He narrowly escapes the attack and banishes Kovu from the Pride Lands forever!

Kiara believes Kovu is innocent and is devastated by her father's angry response. She is at a crossroads -- does she follow her heart or her responsibility to the pride? In her first grown-up decision, she decides to follow her heart and join Kovu in the wild. She searches into the night until she finds him. The two young lions are finally united in their love, but they realize there's something even more important, and that's to heal the Pride Lands.

They return to Pride Rock just in time to find Zira and her followers staging an attack on Simba and the rest of his pride! During the climactic battle sequence, Kiara intervenes and tries to negotiate peace between the two prides. One by one, the Outlanders abandon Zira for Simba's pride. In a fit of rage Zira attacks Kiara, but in the end, it is Zira who meets her demise.