Chapter Four
Nala awoke the next morning slowly, she never wanted that dream to end, in fact it made her miss Simba a lot more than she had been missing him before
"Good morning madam, had a good night sleep I hope." Zazu called out from somewhere nearby
Nala nodded, "Yeah. How long have you been there?" she asked
Zazu paused briefly, "Madam, it is my job to be nearby in case you need anything." he said
Nala hung her head, "Can you bring back the dead?" she muttered inaudibly
"Zazu, leave her alone, can you not see that she wants her privacy?" Came Timon's voice from nearby
Zazu turned in the direction of his voice, "No master Timon I will not ignore her, clearly she is in distress and it is my duty to cheer her up."
Timon sighed, "Your duty? you haven't been the royal butler in years, why are you starting back up now?" he asked
"The appropriate title is Majordomo, and I did a whole lot more than a simple butler would've done."
"Ok Mr. majordomo, LEAVE HER ALONE."
"How dare you! I could have you tried for your insolence!"
"Tried? there aint no courts here! the only law around here is Hakuna Matata."
"Oh, I'll give you something to ma-ta-ta over!"
"Bring it on birdie."
"SHUT UP!" Nala yelled, ending the brief arguement
"Very well madam." Zazu said
"Yeah, sorry Nala." Timon said, shooting a glare toward Zazu
Nala sighed in frustration, "Look, I'm sorry for yelling, but you two don't need to be concerning yourselves with how I am feeling, I can take perfectly good care of myself. It would actually be better if you just acted like I wasn't here." she said
"Is this what would make you happy madam?" Zazu asked, glaring at Timon
Nala nodded
"Very well, Master Timon and I must go rouse master Pumbaa from his slumber anyway, come find one of us if you were to change your mind madam." Zazu added, motioning for Timon to follow him
Nala waited until Zazu and Timon were out of sight, confident that she was alone, she began the painful tour of memories through the jungle, she made her way to the clearing that she and Simba had fought in
'Nala? is it really you?'
'Who are you?'
'It's me. Simba'
'Simba?'
'WOW!'
'WOW!'
'Where did you come from?'
'What are you doing here?'
'What do you mean what am I doing here, what are you doing here?'
'Timon this is Nala, she's my best friend...'
The sudden memory caught Nala off guard, she continued on to the waterfall, where she and Simba had spoken volumes to each other without a word, she remembered how cold the water was here, "Why am I doing this?" asked herself of the memories
"Simply because you are." She heard herself reply
Nala looked around, this was the place where she and Simba got into their first little arguement
'I love you Nala, I always have.'
'I love you too.'
'Isn't this a great place?'
'It is beautiful, but I don't understand one thing, you've been alive this whole time, why have you not come back to pride rock?'
'No one needs me...'
Nala sighed, "I have to leave this place Simba, I think I've figured it out. Kani is the rightful king, and just as I helped you, I will go help our grandson.
Nala had no idea where to start looking for the survivors, but one things was certain in her mind:
She was going to find them.
Tano stared out to the horizon in boredom, torturing Sara was getting boring and he contemplated killing the lioness, but that would leave him alone, unless Nala foolishly decided to come back.
"My lord?" Sara's voice roused him from his thoughts
Tano growled, "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed by her presence
Sara paused for a moment, as if she were searching for the appropriate words to say something
"Come on, out with it." Tano demanded impatiently
"There is...something that you need to come see..." Sara said, hesitantly
Tano sighed, "Could you not have brought it over here you stupid lioness?" he asked, clearly not wanting to see whatever it was
Sara hung her head, "It would be better if you came to it...my lord."
Tano reluctantly stood, "Alright, but it had better be worth the effort, wouldn't want a new scar on that pretty little face of yours now would we?"
Sara ignored the veiled threat, "It is worth the effort." she said
Tano slowly followed Sara into Pride Rock's main den, in the early evening light, Tano could barely make out a tiny form on the ground, Sara went over to it and cradled it in her forepaws
Tano was stunned, "Is that, what I think it is?" he asked
Sara began crying, "Your son, my lord." she said, waiting to see what Tano would want her to do to the cub
Tano snarled, "Kill it, I want nothing to do with children." he said
Sara worked up all of her remaining courage, "No. I will not, he will live." she said defiantly
Tano drew back threateningly, "If you will not, then I will. make your choice now."
Sara's courage hit an all time high, "If you try to kill him, then you'll need to kill me first, 'cause I wont let you." she said, shielding the cub from Tano
Tano began laughing, "Do you really think that you can stop me, you're nothing, I could kill you faster than you could blink, now when I come back, that hairball had better not be breathing, is that clear?" he said leaving the den
Sara lashed out, "He will live, even though his father is a monster I still care! Have you forgotten what Simba did to you?" she said, no longer caring for her own safety
Tano turned back around, "Fine, but don't expect him to have a good life." he spat, outraged
"How can I expect him to have what even I don't."
"Exactly, so what did you name him?"
"Why do you care all of a sudden?"
"I want to know what to call the boy Sara."
"Go to hell Tano, you don't care."
"I am already in hell, every second that thing lives."
"How can you be so cold?
"Tell me what his name is Sara, or should I beat it out of you?"
"Fine Tano, If you want to know so bad, his name is Uasi."
"Ah, he's a one-cub rebellion, yes that will definitely stop me from killing him."
"Like I said before Tano, he will live as long as I am around."
Kani flew through the frigid air, for a moment or two it looked as though he was going to make it over to the other side of the fissure, but as he neared the other side he noticed he'd underpowered his jump and was going to fall short. Maybe to his death even
He grabbed the ledge of the other side, digging his claws into the Ice, he looked around for Lea frantically
"Ummm... Lea?"
"Kani? where are you?"
"Over here!"
"You don't have to yell you know."
"I am dangling precariously from the side of a cliff, I'd say I do. HELP!"
Kani slid a little down the cliff face, his claws trying to stay imbedded in the ice, "HELP!" he repeated for emphasis
Lea quickly made her way over to where Kani was hanging over the cliff, holding out a forearm she said, "Give me your paw, I'll help you up."
Kani complied with the order, "Hurry, this isn't helping my fear of heights at all." he said, looking down nervously
Lea began pulling Kani up, "Don't ever scare me like this again Kani, when you go to jump over something, you overpower it, are we clear?" she asked, a deeply concerned look on her face
Kani pulled himself the rest of the way up, "Yes Ma'am." he replied looking back at the edge of the cliff
Lea looked ahead, "Looks like a straight shot from here to the top, we're almost there Kani." she said, watching him closely
Kani sighed, "Good, I've had too much exitement for this one day anyway, it's about freaking time we got to the top." he said following her gaze
Lea suddenly became concerned, "We've got company." she said, pointing forward
Sure enough, a black silhouette was visible through the snow, as it made it's way closer it resolved into the form of a lion, but the blackness did not go away
"Hello, what brings you two to my home?"
Vitani parried Ra's lazy strike, she straight armed him in the chest, causing him to stagger backwards
"Ow...Knocked...my breath...out." Ra gasped
Vitani smiled, "Come on, surely this isn't all you've got Ra, I'm disappointed in you." she said
Ra swung a left toward Vitani's side, she sidestepped the blow, catching Ra's forearm loosely in her mouth and throwing him to the ground
"Give up yet?" Vitani asked, looking Ra over as he lay on the ground, momentarily stunned
"I don't quit, you should know this by now luv." Ra said, springing back to his feet suddenly
Ra used Vitani's surprise at his quick recovery to his advantage, he tripped her, as she rolled over onto her back, he pounced on her, pinning her to the ground
"I win luv." Ra said, smiling from ear to ear
Vitani looked up at him, "Yeah, maybe you can hold your own."
Ra let Vitani up, "Y'know, that's the closest you and I have ever been 'since we were wed."
Vitani sighed playfully, "Yeah, I had intended on keeping it that way too..." she said motioning for him to follow her
A/N: Hey readers, sorry it's taking me so long to update, my desktop decided to kick the proverbial bucket the other day, so my friend loaned me his four year old laptop, it is definitely showing it's age too... (Sighs) oh well, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll try to update ASAP.
Thank you for reviewing. y'all have no idea how much of a help they are to me, Keep them coming!
Side Note: Tano's Son's name means Rebellion in Swahili, thought it was a fitting name :)