Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: R
Summary: Nala knows her beloved Simba must adhere to his Kingly duties, but there's one duty that she just can't stand.
Warning: Het, Slash, Established Relationships
Challenge: DiteysBlessings LJ comm's monthly challenge
Date Written: 7 June, 2011
Word Count: 2,201
Disclaimer: Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Sarabi, Mufasa, all other characters mentioned within, and The Lion King are & TM Disney, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Nala turned and stalked in the direction from whence she'd come yet again. Every head in the cave swung with her as she turned around when she reached the end of the trail she was beginning to carve in the dirt and headed back the other way. Timon trembled underneath Pumbaa's considerable weight. "Maybe we should just make a run for it?" he whispered, his tiny hands clenched over his furry head for protection.
"There's no need for that, Timon," Pumbaa said, shaking his head as he watched Nala stalking nervously in front of their family cave's only opening. "She won't hurt us."
"She won't hurt us?" Timon repeated in disbelief. "She won't hurt us? Have you forgotten that the first thing she tried to do to us was kill us and eat us?" he demanded, his voice raising its squeaky pitch with each new word. "Look at her, Pumbaa!" he cried, jumping up, grasping the warthog's ears, and pulling them down. "SHE'S A LIONESS!" he shouted inside his ears, just one of which was nearly as big as his entire body.
"Of course she's a lioness," Pumbaa returned calmly, shrugging his massive shoulders, "and Simba's a lion. When she tried to eat us before, she just didn't know us, and she didn't know that we're Simba's friends. She apologized as soon as we were introduced, and she's never tried to harm us ever since. And she won't."
His big, dark eyes turned back to watching the prideful lioness continue to stalk. "But she's upset about something," he noted. "We should offer to help her. Even if we can't help, it'll help her to talk about it."
"You're nuts!" Timon declared, throwing his hands up in defeat. "We're prey, Pumbaa; we don't talk to an angry predator without getting eaten!" He glanced over at where Sarabi was nestled in the shadows, her front paws draped over each other and her tail swishing from side to side as she watched them in silence. "Tell him!" he declared. "Tell him he's crazy to try to talk to her when she's in a mood like this!"
Sarabi fixed Timon with a glare. "I wouldn't know," she replied coolly. "I am a lioness myself, or have you forgotten, Timon?"
That query paused Timon's ranting. "Well, yeah, of course, you're a lioness," he said slowly, "but you're Simba's mom. You're cool." He nearly choked on the tight ball rising in his skinny throat. "Right?" he squeaked.
Sarabi dropped both paws onto the ground. She gave him a slightly sad smile as she assured him, "I would no more harm you than Nala would, or Simba himself," she assured the frightened meerkat. "You boys took care of my cub when I could not. You are our family. Stop being so afraid of us," she directed, and yet she feared, inwardly, that Timon would never overcome his natural fears of their family.
"Y-Y-Yeah, r-r-right," Timon stammered and edged back into the shadows. He realized a moment too late that Pumbaa was no longer with him as, when he went to lean back against his mate, he fell upon his rump instead. "Ow!" he complained, rubbing the tender spot and looking around for Pumbaa. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes bulged out as he spotted him trotting closer to Nala. "Pumbaa, no!" he cried. "Don't!" He raced out from hiding, clambered onto his best friend, grasped his ears, and tried to pull him away.
Pumbaa stood his ground and shook Timon's hold off of his ears. "Nala?" he called softly. "Are you okay?" he asked, and then his voice seemed almost to whine. "Can we help?"
"No!" the lioness snarled, whirling around to glower at the two animals that had once been her intended prey. Her deadly fangs flashed at them, and her long, tawny tail struck the open air.
"See?" Timon squeaked. "I told you we'd better leave her alone!"
Nala sighed as she saw the warthog's hurt emotions flash across Pumbaa's face and his eyes fill with tears. "I'm sorry," she said and slumped down to the ground as though she'd been defeated. Her tail curled sorrowfully around her body. "I'm just . . . " She kneaded the dirt beneath her right paw in frustration. "I'm just worried," she said.
"About what?" Pumbaa asked.
"About what she's going to eat for dinner," Timon muttered.
"About Simba?" Pumbaa suggested softly, coming closer to the lioness' mighty paws.
"Yeah," she said and looked away. "I know he has duties to fulfill, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." She gazed out toward the setting sun. "He should be with us, with his family."
"Aw," Pumbaa crooned reassuringly. "Simba does have duties now that he's accepted his place as King," he agreed, "but he'll be back with us as soon as he can."
Nala bristled and clawed the dirt beneath her. "I just can't stand the thought of those other lionesses touching him," she hissed.
Pumbaa blinked in surprise and confusion while Timon almost choked on the laughter that rose inside of his throat. "Touching him how?" Pumbaa asked, his head cocking to one side. "Hugging him?" Nala couldn't be jealous of a hug, and yet he had known that something had been bothering her for a couple of days now for every day, around sunset, she grew restless until this evening, her repeated footsteps had dug a few inches of dirt out of the ground. He blinked. It just didn't make sense for Nala to be jealous of the other lionesses when she was the only one to whom Simba's heart belonged.
"NO!" Nala roared, and Pumbaa fell backwards onto the ground at the force of her roar.
Timon rolled over, looked at the lioness, and began to laugh.
"Timon," Pumbaa said, as he righted himself, "that's not very nice."
"That's not very smart!" Timon declared, pointing at Nala and laughing even harder until he had to wrap his tiny arms around his shaking sides. "She thinks Simba's doing the other lionesses!"
"SHUT UP!" Nala roared at the pair.
Timon hushed immediately and rushed around Pumbaa's bulk to hide. "I told you not to laugh at her," he spoke as he cowered behind Pumbaa, trembling mightily from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail.
"I wasn't the one laughing at her," Pumbaa mumbled in return. "You were."
Sarabi sighed as she watched the trio. She wished she knew the words to comfort Nala, but a King did have duties that must be fulfilled and part of those duties was keeping the pack strong and keeping their bloodline flowing. Sharing her life mate had been the only bad thing about her union with Mufasa. Sensing stillness behind her in the cave, Sarabi turned to see that her grandcubs had stopped playing and were staring at their mother in shock and fear. "It's okay, little ones," she purred and wearily rose to go play with them. She would keep them distracted and having fun while her son's mate came to terms with the life she had chosen.
"Nala," Simba's voice suddenly cried from the mouth of the cave, "are you all right?" He had almost been home when he'd heard her roar and had ran the rest of the way, his heart in his throat. His amber eyes glanced around them in fright, and then he looked at his love in confusion when he saw no sign of danger.
"NO, I'M NOT ALL RIGHT," Nala yelled, her tail cutting through the air, "NOT THAT YOU CARE!"
"Nala?" Simba asked quietly in shock. His head cocked to one side as he studied her. "What's wrong, love?" he questioned and tried to purr reassuringly at her only to have her begin to walk away from him.
"As though you don't know!" Nala hissed, her voice dripping acid.
Simba looked at his friends for help. Timon peered around Pumbaa's rear end to tell the King. "She," he said, jerking his thumb at the angry lioness, "thinks you're doing the whole pride."
"Nala!" Simba cried. He whirled around to face her and had to jump into her pathway to keep her from walking out on him. They stood, barely a breath apart, and his nose was met with the heavy scent of musk. He sighed inwardly and fought back the smile that threatened to come to his furry lips as he understood her anger at last.
It was that time of the month again, and whereas Simba had oft heard the other guys in the kingdom grumble and complain about their Princesses at this time of the month, Simba loved it when it came to his life mate and himself. Nala was adorable to him. She always had been, since they had been but cubs until he had fallen in love with her on that hot, Summer night when he had found his destiny and heart again in her and even now, when she was furious over something he would never deign, or want, to do. He tried to step forward and lick her, but she darted back from him. An uncertain squeak came from within him, and he looked at her in pain.
"It's okay, Simba," Nala told him, her voice cutting through him like a jagged knife. "I should have realized what I was getting into when I agreed to marry you. I just don't like sharing my mate, is all, but it's not your fault. Your Father did it before you, and his father before him, and his father before him. It's tradition."
"It may be tradition," Simba declared, walking determinedly closer to her, "but that's one tradition that I am breaking." His own tail cut pridefully through the air. "Listen to me, Nala," he spoke, gazing deeply into his beloved's beautiful, blue eyes. "You are the only one for me, and the only thing you have to share me with is my other duties. That's one duty I'm not fulfilling. Let the other lionesses go off and get their own lions; you're the only one for me!"
He had known all along that this conversation would happen one day. Mating season had not yet come upon them. When it did, he knew there would be Hell, and possibly even war, to pay, but he would not mate with any one other than the lioness he loved. He had once vowed not to marry her or any one not of his choosing, but now his only vows where marriage was concerned was that he would always be true to his soul mate and never betray her or mate with any one else. She was the only one for him, and he would stay true to her and their love, no matter what came in the fall out of his refusal to partake in that other Kingly duty.
"I love you!" he reminded her, closing the distance between them and touching his nose to hers. He kissed her, and the fire that had always been between them jumped to life again.
Nala lowered her head bashfully and began to purr. "I'm sorry," she said. "I should have known."
"You know now," he assured her, rubbing his head lovingly against hers and purring deeply, "and it's okay. You always get restless around this time." His head butted hers playfully; his tail whisked friskily. "How about we go play?" he suggested.
"I thought you'd never ask," she purred and licked his ear in promise of things to come before running out into the night. Simba chased behind her, purring loudly and thanking his lucky stars for the wonderful lioness who had become not only his best friend but the love of his life and his only true mate. He knew he was the luckiest lion in all the world, because he had his beloved Nala with whom to live out the rest of his days and then frolick through the stars in their life beyond Earth.
Sarabi purred proudly as she watched her son chase his life mate out into the dark, Spring night to play adult games. She wished that Mufasa could have been as brave as Simba, but she was glad that Simba would be true to his beloved Nala and knew the couple would have a long and happy union. The cubs were getting tired, and they nestled in along her body. She lowered her head, her chin resting on one of the roly, poly cubs' small, fluffy bodies and continued to purr.
Timon slowly came out from behind Pumbaa and again threw his hands up into the air. "Sheesh! There's no living with women when they're like that!"
Pumbaa blinked. "Like what?" he asked.
Timon waved a dismissive hand at his own life mate. "Never mind," he told him. "Let's just go get some grub."
Sarabi watched the couple edge out of the cave to find their own Spring games, and her purr grew. Her family would never be complete without her beloved Mufasa, but at least those of them who remained were happy. She gazed out into the starry night and drifted off to dream of her life mate, her purr carrying out on the gentle, Spring winds to intermingle with the others' purrs of endless love.
The End