The Weak One

by 1monster2

An old friend of Simba and Nala's returns to Pride Rock after being gone for a long time...can the two help their friend get back to her old self-and figure out why she left?

A/N: Hello, all! So, this is a one-shot that I recently had the idea for…and I hope it turns out all right! I will be updating WJC and TLC soon (as well as my other fics), I just need to get this one sorted out…and get everything unpacked from college. I have way too much stuff… ;) I'm finally done with college, but I have dress rehearsal all this week for Honk!, and then I'm hopefully getting a job this summer (cause I need money), and doing some other stuff… ;) I am planning to update the stories soon, though. This story just kind of plopped into my head…I think I was watching some "Top Ten Disney Villans" thing, and Scar came up, and I then proceeded to watch the entire final battle between Simba and Scar. Seriously-it is glorious. And the way Scar dies is seriously terrifying, for a Disney film. That then inspired me to write this little thing…again, I hope it sounds good! It's my normal MO for my normal readers (much whump, much angst, much fluff), but-luckily-no cliffhangers! Oh, and I have 4 OCs in the story…and their names all mean something in Swahili! Here they are:

Dhaifu: Weak

Mabaya: Evil

Vibaya: Wrong

Jeraha: To wound

So, as you can see, one of my OCs is kinda nice…the others…not so nice. ;) You'll see how they play into the story in a bit… ;)

DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN LION KING AND NEVER WILL I JUST THINK SIMBA IS AWESOME!

Please enjoy "The Weak One"!

"Excuse me, Your Majesty…but there is some news that I must share with you." Simba sighed, turning to face the small bird. He and Nala had been sitting on a couple of rocks on top of Pride Rock, lounging in the sun. It was the first break either of them had had in a long time, and they wanted to take full advantage of it. The mandrill was persistent, however, and the two lions finally gave in. "What is it, Zazu?" Nala queried.

"It's about that cave on the east side of Pride Rock…the one that no one has lived in for a long time, and apparently no one was allowed to live in. A lioness has moved into the cave…and she is apparently injured rather badly. Her name was…D-something…"

"Dhaifu?" Simba asked quietly. Zazu nodded, clear recognition showing in his eyes. Simba and Nala grinned at each other. Simba hadn't seen Dhaifu since they were both small cubs, but he figured that Nala had seen her ever since he ran away. Her next words, however, surprised him. "I can't believe Dhaifu's back-I haven't seen her since she ran away…right after you did." Nala responded. "I was wondering what happened to her…hopefully she's not injured too badly."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Simba muttered, slowly rising to his feet. "Let's go and see how she's doing." Nala grinned as she followed him down the mountain to the small cave, which Dhaifu's family had lived in for a long time, and which no one had lived in since, seeming to save it for the lioness whenever she returned. After about five minutes, they arrived at her cave-and froze.

"Dhaifu?" Both Simba and Nala stopped and stared at their younger friend. The lioness could barely lift her head to look at them, but she unconsciously attempted to scoot away from the others, wincing in pain as she did so. Nala tried to move closer, but Dhaifu growled at her, nearly snapping at her paw. Nala immediately let out a shallow growl in her throat and began to move forwards again, but Simba flicked his tail across her stomach to stop her. "Wait. She's sick and confused due to her injuries. I'll talk to her and get her to relax and get some sleep. You know how lionesses can get when they're sick. She should be better company once she's doing better." Nala sighed, slowly nodding. She didn't really like Simba's plan, but she did understand why it was a good idea. "Just don't get sick yourself, you hear me?" she murmured, looking him directly into the eyes before looking down at the ground. Simba smiled at her, before gently rubbing his head against hers. "Don't worry, Nala. I'll be all right. Dhaifu will be too, eventually-especially since we're looking after her." Nala smiled back at him, before nodding, and walking off towards the other lionesses. Simba watched her go before turning around and taking a deep breath. As he entered, he absentmindedly noticed that he seemed to fill up the entire cavern, while Dhaifu was squished as far back as she could be. At his approach, Dhaifu growled at him in warning.

Don't come any closer-or I will bite you.

Her older friend ignored her growl, however, and continued to move closer. Once he was a few paces away, she let out another growl, this one rather loud and angry. She did really know that Simba was her friend, but in her state of mind, she saw everyone as a threat, and would protect herself to the last. To her, the lion in front of her was just another lion out to attack her. Therefore, she let out a fierce growl. The one she received in return, however, shocked her. It was a loud and deep roar, with great weight and power behind it. It had a commanding presence that forced one to listen, but also a gentle promise that the lion-or lioness-on the receiving end of the roar would not be harmed.

It was the roar, she recognized, of the King.

Very hesitantly, Dhaifu forced herself to calm down, before shyly looking up at the lion standing in front of her. Her eyes widened as she suddenly recognized who it was. "…Simba?" she whispered, her voice coming out as a harsh croak. Simba nodded, gently laying down next to the lioness. "Yes, Dhaifu-it's me. What happened to you-Nala said she hadn't seen you in ages!"

"Because I…haven't been here…in ages." Dhaifu croaked, letting out a few loud coughs. While she was distracted, Simba called over a nearby lioness and asked her to bring some water into the cave. "And some food, if you can get it." he murmured. The lioness nodded, and swiftly scampered off. Simba then turned back to his friend. "Why not?" he queried. Dhaifu sighed, and slowly moved her gaze away from his face and down to the floor. "Because when your uncle took over as king, I became a moving target."

"What?" The harshness in Simba's voice startled Dhaifu, and she shrank back a little. Simba noticed and sighed, bringing himself as under control as he could before re-asking the question. "Why were you a moving target?"

"Because of who I was-and still am. You remember when we were kids…I was a thin and spindly little cub, who was the favorite target for all of the bully cubs because I was weaker than the rest. It's what my name means, after all-weak. The only time I was protected from any of that was when I was with you and Nala, since none of the bullies would dare go against the king's son. When you left, the hyenas started looking for the quickest food they could get their hands on-and immediately came after me."

"How long did they chase you?"

"For a few years, before I got out of the Pridelands…and even then they still came after me."

"Why? Didn't they know that they were beaten once you got out of the Pridelands?"

"No…" Here, Dhaifu bit her lip and looked towards the opposite side of the cave. Simba knew that that meant that there was something that she knew that she was supposed to tell him, but didn't want to. Therefore, he stayed, determined not to move until she finally gave in.

"Because, uh…because of you. Scar knew that I was-and still am-a friend of yours, and so he got a few of the bully cubs who didn't like me very much to say that I was the one who dragged you out there to the gorge, which led to Mufasa coming after you, which led to…your father's death. Scar then told all the hyenas that if they saw me in the Pridelands, or any area around it, they would be free to go after me and kill me, since I had 'betrayed my King and his family'." She sighed, looking back up at him. "I've had to be on guard ever since you left, because any time I was seen by a hyena they tried to eat me, and any lion who spotted me immediately tried to kill me for allegedly being responsible for your death." A few quiet pads alerted Simba to the brief entrance of the lioness, who placed some water and food near enough that he could reach it. "Thank you." he murmured quietly to her. She nodded, and left the cave almost as quickly and quietly as she had entered.

Simba then turned back to his younger friend. He could very clearly see that all four of her paws were swollen and bruised, and her muscles had shrunk to a point where he could see almost all of her bones. As he watched, Dhaifu shuddered a little, whimpering quietly as she did so. After it stopped, she gently flopped her head back down. "Owh…" she murmured. Simba chuckled gently, scooting over and gently resting his head over top of hers for a moment. "Don't worry, Dhaifu-you're safe now. Nala and I are going to make sure that you fully recover and get back on your feet. You aren't going to have to deal with that ever again." The younger lioness let out a quiet purr as she snuggled closer to her friend. "I hope not." she murmured. Before Simba could respond, he heard a loud set of cackles coming from behind them. "So you're back, Dhaifu…just means we can get back to where we started!" Three rather large male lions stood outside the cavern, leering at her-but suddenly froze as they recognized who was sitting next to her. "I'll deal with you later." he growled. The three lions yelped in fear and quickly ran away.

"Dhaifu," Simba continued, turning back towards her, "you need to heal, so here's what we're going to do. You are going to drink this water and eat as much of this food as you can. Then, you are going to get some sleep-and sleep for as long as you can. Rafiki'll come in while you're out and take care of your major injuries, and then you're going to work on recovering everything you lost over the years. All right?" Dhaifu looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't have the strength to, eventually just nodding. "All right." she murmured quietly, nuzzling into her older friend. She felt a laugh rumble through his chest, before he softly nudged her head over towards the water. He then kept watch over her as she drank and ate, before slowly and shakily lying back down. He could see that she was exhausted and trying to give into sleep, while her brain wouldn't let her, fighting to stay awake. Simba chuckled again, gently licking the top of her head. "You are safe, Dhaifu. Nala and I won't let anything happen to you-and neither will any of the others. Scar won't come after you, and neither will the hyenas or those other lions. You are safe and protected here-go to sleep." Under his gentle ministrations, Dhaifu quickly slipped into sleep, letting out a gentle hum as she did so. A few minutes later, Rafiki stuck his head inside the cave, followed by Timon and Pumbaa. The baboon's expression softened as he looked at the lioness. "She has seen much hardship." he murmured quietly. Timon looked about to ask what had happened, but he kept silent at Simba's glare. "Can you help her?" the lion queried. Rafiki rested a hand on the lion king's shoulder, before moving forwards and starting to look at Dhaifu's paws. The young lioness began to stir at his touch, but Simba licked her head a couple times to resettle her. "What happened?" Pumbaa whispered, trying to keep quiet. Simba sighed, finally turning to face the others. "She's been surviving outside the Pridelands ever since my uncle took power, since he told everyone that she was the reason that my father was killed. She's been targeted by both hyenas and lions for a long time…and they've done a number on her over those years. She's just gotten back today, and she hasn't met you two yet, so…just be nice to her, all right?"

"Are you insinuating that we're not nice? Because I'll tell you-we are two of the nicest people you have ever seen! We are so nice, in fact, that we-owh!" As Timon ranted, Rafiki reached over and swatted him on the top of his head. "You will wake her." the baboon murmured in response to the meerkat's glare. The lioness, in fact, was stirring slightly, blinking her eyes slowly. "Simba?" she quietly queried. Simba nodded, resting his head on the top of her head again. "Yes, it's me…go back to sleep. Sorry we woke you." Dhaifu let out a light chuckle, softly swishing her tail against his back. "You didn't wake me up…I just kinda woke up. I'm gonna…I'm gonna go back to sleep, though…" Before she could, however, Rafiki gently rested a hand on her shoulder. "Here-drink this. You will sleep for long with no dreams." He slowly poured a green liquid from a dark brown bowl into the lioness's mouth. Dhaifu barely managed to swallow the mixture (trying not to spit it out in the process), before fully collapsing against Simba's side. Her older friend chuckled, warmly nuzzling the top of her head. "Go to sleep, Dhaifu." Even in her extremely sleep-deprived and confused brain, Dhaifu could make out the gentle and firm tone in his voice, accompanied by a gentle lick on her forehead.

This wasn't just a request, she knew.

It was an order.

Almost unconsciously, she could feel her eyelids closing. She could see that Rafiki-who had not changed at all in the years that she had been gone-was doing something with her paws, but she fell asleep before finding out what. She fell into such a deep sleep that she didn't notice when Nala took Simba's place, and the lion's face hardened. "Watch out for her, Nala." Simba muttered. "I've got some business to take care of."

Mabaya, Vibaya, and Jeraha were lounging out in the sun-out of sight of Dhaifu's cave, of course. They had initially been ecstatic that the younger lioness was back in town-as it meant that they could continue where they had left off all those years ago-but then had panicked when they noticed Simba sitting next to her. As soon as they had seen the King, they knew that they were in trouble, since Simba knew who they were, and probably what happened to Dhaifu. Therefore, they were hiding in a rather secluded area of Pride Rock.

"Did you see the look on that stupid lioness's face when she saw us? It was just like old times!" Vibaya cackled, stretching out a bit more, arching his back as he did so. His two friends let out snaggletooth grins at the memory. "Exactly like old times-and the best thing? She won't have the protection that she used to, because both Simba and Nala are much busier with their royal duties." Jeraha smirked. "She's ripe for the picking."

"I don't think so."

At the protective snarl, all three lions turned around-and their hearts dropped into their chest. Simba was sitting there, glaring directly at them. If looks could kill, the one on the king's face would instantly have incinerated them. "Your Majesty, uhm…hi…." Mabaya stuttered, finally coming to his senses. "It's, uh…it's good to see you again…" Simba let out a dark growl, stepping directly into their personal space. "I should have told my father about you three years ago, but I didn't, out of respect for Dhaifu's wishes. Now, however, I know better-and I know how to deal with the three of you. I'm going to give you the option that I gave Scar-run away and never return, or I will set both Dhaifu and the rest of the lionesses on you. You are henceforth banished from the Pridelands, on pain of death-effective now. Get going, now, or you will not like the outcome." Mabaya tried to interject and say something, but Simba roared directly in their faces, startling all three and causing them to hurriedly run away in terror. As they bolted, Simba turned his head upwards. "Keep an eye on them-make sure they don't come back for a while, will you, Zazu?" The bird nodded, already in flight above the king's head. "Don't worry, sir-they won't get back in here. Not on my watch." The mandrill soared off, leaving Simba there staring after him.

The next morning, Dhaifu woke up rather late. She was naturally an early riser, but she figured that whatever Rafiki had given her had done its work, and she had slept very well-for the first time in a while. As she stretched, her eyes flickered around to every corner of the cave. It was a habit she had picked up while she was on the run, helping her make sure that she had slept through the night without being attacked, and wasn't secretly dead or anything. Once she knew that she was safe inside her cave, she rose to her feet.

Well, she tried to rise to her feet.

It didn't really work.

Dhaifu let out a sharp cry of pain as she placed her weight on her paws. Rafiki had worked on them for a while, but they were still incredibly sore. She looked down at her still-swollen pads, whimpering in pain. She looked back up, however, as a gentle weight rested on her head. "Hey, sleepyhead. How're you doing?"

"I wish I could walk…I'm no use to anyone like this." Dhaifu whispered, almost too ashamed to look at her friend. The older lion wasn't buying it, though, and he nudged her head up, moving her eyes to meet his. "Dhaifu-all you need to worry about right now is healing. If any other lion was hurt, would you be angry with them for needing time to heal?" At her slight headshake, he continued, "You see? No one is angry with you for needing time to get better. They'll help you in any way to heal, too-especially Nala and my mother. They're rather…excited…that you're back, and I know they're planning some big something-or-other…" Dhaifu chuckled quietly, finally letting out a small smile. Simba grinned back at her. "You just worry about healing, Dhaifu. We'll handle the rest."

At that moment, Rafiki swung into the room, cackling slightly as he did so. "You sleep for long, little lion. No dreams trouble you?"

"No…none at all." Dhaifu responded. "Thank you for…whatever that was…even if it tasted like giraffe pee."

"When have you ever tasted giraffe pee?"

"Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do when she's on the run!"

"Still…that's nasty, you have to admit."

"I just did admit it. It's nasty. But it gets the job done, just like Rafiki's…whatever it was. It tastes terrible, but it works." Dhaifu sighed. "Would there be any way that I could go outside? I mean, I don't dislike my cave, but…" As if to emphasize this, she tried to lever herself to her feet, but was swiftly stopped by Simba's tail across her shoulders. "Wait, Dhaifu. Wait for Rafiki to say that you can move around. Then we'll figure out how to get you outside." Dhaifu looked like she was going to protest, but Simba fixed her with a gentle glare, which caused her to sigh and nod quietly. Rafiki looked at each of her paws, and then gently felt along her rib lines. "You are okay to move, but must eat and drink more. That is the way you will regain strength." Dhaifu nodded, twitching with anticipation. "I will. Now can I please go outside?" She turned her large brown eyes on her older friend, who smiled gently. "Of course you can, Dhaifu. We just have to figure out how."

In the end, it was a rather simple maneuver to get the lioness outside. Rafiki had a sort-of tarp that he had brought along, and Simba, Nala, and a couple other lions helped move her onto it, before moving it-and her-out to a nearby rock. They then sat down and lounged in the sun, simply taking time to relax and rest for a while. The sun felt good on the lioness's fur, and she seemed to melt into it. Nala chuckled, swatting her friend with her tail. "You know, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you were actually enjoying this."

"A day in the sun without having to watch out for hyenas or other lions? I am loving this." Dhaifu chuckled back. She stretched out a bit, smacking Nala back as she did so. Then, she froze. "Speaking of which…where are-"

"Mabaya, Vibaya, and Jeraha are no longer welcome in the Pridelands. Simba kicked them out. If they ever come back, all of us will keep them away from you. They won't make fun of you ever again." Dhaifu let out a loud sigh of relief, snuggling even closer to her friend. She slowly ate a piece of meat as she watched a couple of the younger cubs chasing each other around. "Thank you." she murmured, her voice slowly beginning to fade. Nala laughed, noticing Dhaifu's eyes slowly beginning to droop closed. "You're welcome. Now, you should probably get some sleep."

"I'm not…not tired…"

"Come on, Dhaifu-don't you know that Nala is never wrong?" Simba joked from above her. He gently rested his head on top of Nala's, nuzzling her a little, before bending and licking Dhaifu's forehead. "You're still not at full strength, little one, and you need to get as much rest as you can. We can both tell that you are exhausted. We'll make sure that no one bothers you, and that you're safe…now go to sleep. We all know you're tired." Dhaifu attempted to glare at him, but she could barely keep her eyes open to glare. "Dhaifu-go to sleep. I'm not going to take no for an answer this time-you are going to sleep. Or I'll have Rafiki give you that giraffe pee stuff again."

"Wait-what?"

"Later, Nala." Simba looked directly at his friend, waiting for her to agree with him. Finally, she sighed, her brown eyes looking down at the ground. "I'm not that tired…" Simba didn't flinch, simply staring directly at her. "All right…" She slowly stretched out a bit more, her eyes slowly fluttering closed. After a few moments, she fell into a deep sleep. Nala smiled, moving over to cuddle with Simba. "I'm glad she's come back, but…I'm just nervous about if Mabaya and the others try to return. I don't want her to get hurt like that again."

"Don't worry, Nala. They won't come back into the Pridelands in a hurry, and if they try to, they won't last long. Everybody is on the lookout for them, and they won't get anywhere near her again." Nala nodded, slowly relaxing against Simba's warm side and closing her eyes. She could feel a warm laugh rumbling through his chest as he rested his head on top of hers. "Go to sleep, Nala. We don't have to do anything for a while…just go to sleep." Nala chuckled quietly, before slowly sighing and closing her eyes. A few seconds later, her breathing evened out, and she dropped off to sleep. Simba smiled down at her, before curling a little more comfortably around her and drifting off to sleep himself. The other lions would wake him in case of trouble, and he hadn't had a chance to sleep out in the sun with his mate in a while.

Everything was finally peaceful again...which was exactly the way Simba liked it.

A/N 2: Well…I honestly am excited about how this story turned out! I haven't seen Lion King in a while, but I've been watching a bunch of clips of it, so I think this turned out all right! If not, feel free to let me know…but I honestly liked it! ;) I will be updating my multi-chapters soon, so come back for those!

I hope you enjoyed this story, and I'll see you all soon!

God bless,

1monster2