Disclaimer: I do not own The Lion King or any of the characters in this story.
This is my very first story, so I hope it's not too bad. English is not my first language, so it might be possible there are still some errors in this chapter. Feel free to warn me about them.
It was over.
Simba had won and he had taken back the throne. But he knew the hardest part was yet to come. He realized that his pride was divided. There were new lionesses that Scar added under his reign. And they were obviously not a big fan of Simba as a king, he noticed. He could see the hatred in their eyes. These lionesses didn't want to fight for him. They only thought of him as Scar's murderer. He sighed, not noticing Nala behind him.
"Hey? What's the matter? Aren't you happy to be home?" she asked him, somewhat surprised.
"It's not I'm not happy to be home, it's just... I defeated Scar, my uncle, who also appeared to be the true murderer of my father. " he replied, as he hung his head.
"You know you had no choice." She whispered . "He would have killed us all. From now on, we can finally live in peace. It's over!"
"I doubt if it's over." Simba sighed again. His big reddish-brown eyes were full of anxiety. "Not sure if you noticed, but Scar seemed to have a lot of followers in our pride. They hold me responsible for his death."
Nala looked down. "I know. When we found out about what happened to your father and what we thought happened to you, he took in a pride from the Outlands, not long after he ascended the throne. These Outlanders are led by Zira, and she became Scar's mate."
They were both quiet for a while. Both of them were thinking about Zira and her pride. Simba first noticed her when he was ready to attack Scar. She was a pale brown lioness that seemed to team up with the hyenas and he would never forget her fiery red eyes. She growled as if he was the enemy and Scar the righteous king. Now he understood why.
Nala was thinking of Zira's offspring. When she left, Zira's cub hadn't been born yet. Yet it was there, nearly a few days old. She had no idea if it was Scar's cub, like the other two cubs Zira had given birth to. But it had to be, right?
"What do you think I should do with her?" Simba asked, and Nala heard the doubt in his voice. "Do you think she will be a threat to us and the Pridelands?"
"I'm afraid she will cause mayhem. She and her pride are known to be very violent, or so I heard from the other lionesses. What does your heart tell you?"
Simba sighed, and lay down. He didn't know for sure what to do. He didn't want to exile these lionesses so quickly, but neither did he want to get murdered in his sleep. And Zira looked pretty much capable of doing that.
"I know what we're going to do."
"Zira, I'm here to announce that you and your pride are expected by the new king." Zazu looked down on her pride with a revolting face. "And a little bathing wouldn't be so wrong."
Zira glared at him. "I never understood why Scar let you live. You would have been a great appetite. "
"Well Madame, if I were you, I would be prepared." And he flew off. The red-billed hornbill always got a chilly feeling when he was around Zira and her lionesses. He found Zira to be even more coldhearted then Scar was... "They truly belonged together." He mumbled, shaking his head.
"You heard what that ridiculous bird said. I wonder what our king needs from us." A lioness replied to Zira.
She knew exactly what Simba wanted from her. Now that Scar was no longer around, everything would change. Her whole life would change... She would never be queen. She growled.
"Let's find out."
"So I heard that you were Scar's mate." Simba made it sound more like a statement than a question. He found it hard to believe that there was someone out there that was able to love his uncle.
"That's right." Zira smiled slyly. "I was, before you came back to kill him. And without you showing up, I would have been the new queen!" She looked provocative at Nala when she said that last sentence, and the pale cream-furred lioness growled at her.
"I didn't kill him. Scar killed my father, his own brother. And he tried to kill me too. He wasn't the right king. You must know that too." He hesitated when he saw her face. It didn't show any kind of reliance in his words.
"Liar!" she became more and more furious. "You killed Scar, and therefore I must avenge him! Without you, he would still be alive." She pushed her paws further into the ground.
Simba ignored the last part of what she said. "You know the rule of committing to Scar. If you can't accept me as a king, I must banish you."
"I will never accept you as a king! I will do anything that's in my power to stop you from being a king!" She glared at him and suddenly he realized why she had loved his uncle so much; she was just like him.
Realizing that made him sure of what he was going to do. "You leave me no choice. You and your followers will be banished to the Outlands."
Zira looked shocked. "You can't send us back to the Outlands! I have cubs!"
"You heard our new king, so get outta here!" Timon the meercat yelled at her. Zira jumped up to Timon and roared at him. This caused Simba to jump before his friend and he roared back at her. Timon hid behind his best friend, the reddish warthog Pumbaa.
"Leave!" Simba snarled. "And do not ever return!"
"I promise you I will get back at you, Simba. You won't get away with this. I will avenge Scar, even if it's the last thing I do!"
And with those words, she called her pride together and left, carrying her newborn cub with her. Her other cubs, that were too young to realize what was really going on but were old enough to understand that their mother and the king weren't friendly with each other, left with their tails between their legs.
Nala found Simba lying behind Pride Rock, later that morning. He looked a bit puzzled. She walked towards him.
"You did the right thing, Simba."
He sighed. "I wonder what my father would have done, when he would be in this situation." He looked up at the sky. If only he were here...
"He would have done the same thing, you know that. We were all in danger. Zira was eventually going to kill us, and our future cubs. She is even worse than Scar was." She stared into the sapphire sky, which was slowly fading into black.
Simba was quiet for a few moments. He didn't know what to say. It was all a bit much. He had just taken down Scar, and now he had exiled Scar's mate, along with her pride and her cubs. But when he thought of his father, and how he died in the stampede, all because of Scar, he felt the anger rise inside him. His own uncle had betrayed him. Scar even tried to kill him as well. But he didn't succeed.
Nala lay down and cuddled him. "We are going to lead a great kingdom! Soon, everything will be back to normal. We will have a great life here, without any threats. All because of you. You saved us..."
"I guess you're right." Simba looked uncertain, but then he smiled. "Thanks Nala, I'm so happy we're going to do this together. And I can't wait for a pride of our own!"
"Oooh, Simba..." Nala sighed playfully.
Zira held her head up high when leaving Pride Rock, as if she could not be touched. But now that they had arrived in the Outlands, her rage had to come out. "How dare you, Simba, to banish me from the Pridelands!"
There was no food in the Outlands, and there was barely any water. It was even worse than before. The hyenas fled after Scar's death, so there was nothing left. Nothing was able to grow out of the ground and there were bones from all sorts of animals scattered around, from the time the hyenas were still there. The only animals that were still there were termites, the place was filled with the small brown insects. So this is where she had to raise her cubs?
She and her pride found a solid new cave to sleep in, but it wasn't nearly as good as Pride Rock. That night, Zira called all her lionesses to discuss the future.
"My dear pride, as we all know, our beloved Scar is no longer among us. He was murdered by that brute that claims to be the new king!" A loud group of roars was heard from the lionesses. "But, it has been Scar's dying wish to choose his heir that can take Simba's throne and take off where Scar has left! And Scar has chosen his heir."
"So, he chose his son Nuka to be his heir…?" One of the lionesses asked, somewhat surprised.
"I'm not sure if Nuka is capable of being a king..." One other replied, doubting Zira's oldest son.
"Silence!" Zira shouted. She looked down on her few-days-old cub, that was sleeping between her paws. "Scar has chosen Kovu to be his heir. And if he thinks Kovu is capable of becoming a king, then so be it."
Zira saw that some of the lionesses were a bit confused. After all, Kovu was not his son. So why would he choose a stranger over his own son? They all knew that Nuka would not make a great king, but still, it was a bit odd.
"We are going to do it Scar's way, and whoever is against that, can go back to Simba's pride!" But none of the lionesses were about to leave. Besides, Simba would not take them back in, so going back was no option. And she was well aware of that.
"Scar took Kovu in as if it were his own. So he will be treated as his son and no different!" Zira ended her speech.
After her little preach, Zira found a place for Kovu to sleep. As a future king, he would get the best she was able to give to him. If only Scar was still alive... Then they would be able to sleep at a place where they belonged... Pride Rock. But she was certain she would get her old home back. Sooner or later, Kovu would be destined to take the throne. And she would make sure he would succeed.