Nala quietly pawed at a pebble, watching it roll back and forth. There were no other cubs to play with. Not after Simba. And when her mother and the other lionesses went hunting, she was left alone. She loved her mother but she felt a loneliness in her heart. After all, every child wants a friend. Nothing was the same anymore. With a sigh, she slumped down and laid down in the dirt. Mom was going to scold her for getting dirt all over her fur. That brought a small smile to her face. Mom may scold her, but she would than precede to bathe her with a smile. Baths made Nala feel warm and loved.
The sound of the lionesses returning brought Nala back to her feet. She ran to greet them but stopped when she saw Sarabi's expression. Sarabi's head was down and her fur was stained with tears and snot. Nala's heart fell. Last time she saw Sarabi like this, Simba had... "No everyone's okay!"She thought desperately. Nala continued to head towards the lionesses with a forced smile.
"Mom!" She called. Sarabi's head shot up and turned to look at Nala. But at the sight of Nala, the former queen burst into new tears.
Nala frowned when she didn't see her mother in the returning hunting party. Her stomach flipped and her heart raced. "It can't be. She's fine. She's fine." Nala tried to convince herself.
"Mom?" She called again, pushing through the lionesses. Nala whirled back to face Sarabi, who hadn't said a word.
"Where's my mom?" She choked out.
Sarabi took in a choking breath before answering her. "I'm so sorry, Nala. There was an accident."
Nala didn't want to hear anymore, she turned and fled.
The day Simba died was the worst day of Nala's young life. Now it was all happening again. The cub ran until she found a small hole the rockside. She scurried into it and curled up in the small space.
"It's all a dream. It has to be a dream. I just have to go to sleep and then wake up again. This isn't real. It's not real!"
Sobs racked her small body and kept her from sleeping. She hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep when a voice woke her up.
"Come out of there Nala." The voice ordered. From her hole she could see a green eye staring at her.
A/N: Alright so I know this is short but I wanted to get the intro done. Let me warn you now, this isn't going to be a happy fic. Some characters will be OOC, most notably Nala. This is an AU and the character changes are on purpose. This is NOT a romantic Scar x Nala fic.
One more thing: I came up with this after reading TLKwhatif-Shattered's comic series on deviantart. Which is really cool you should check it out. I'm going with the same basic concept, though mine is and will be different.