A/N The final story in the King of the Sanctuary trilogy. This story shows Little Rose and her friends growing up; other characters will join them. Some I made up; some are canon/sub-canon.

You know the drill; I do not own Scar or any canon/sub-canon characters that appear in this story. I own everything else though.

kate: No he doesn't. And Little Rose doesn't like anyone who insults her daddy.

Cool2001: Yeah, some lions aren't very forgiving. Thanks :)

Reldor: He's not insane, just stubborn.

Chapter 7

For the next few days, Malka avoided Scar at all costs. He couldn't believe the lion was still alive. Or was king of a pride; and had a daughter to boot! He heard that the brown lion's mate had died a month and a half ago. Well good! Now he knew how it felt to lose a loved one. Not that any family of Malka's were murdered by Scar. But according to the brown male lion, Kafil, Scar had been the one to murder Mufasa.

"And you trust him?" Malka had asked, horrified. "Don't you see he's deceiving you?"

"If he is, he's been doing quite well." Kafil only laughed. Then he turned serious. "But Scar has honestly changed. After all, he fell in love. He cherishes his daughter, and grieved deeply for Rose. We all did. But none more so than Scar. He was heartbroken. He loved her, Malka. With all of his heart-"

"He doesn't have a heart." Malka interjected.

"Let me finish." Kafil frowned sternly. "He loved her so very much. It pained him to have her ripped away from him. You may think he deserves it for all of the crimes he committed, but in reality, he didn't deserve her death. He's changed, and there is proof. Just open your eyes." On that note, he left, shaking his head. Some lions are so stubborn, I swear to Maahes.

This wasn't enough proof for Malka though. He was convinced Scar was faking it. And he felt it was his duty to warn anyone who would listen.

He had no such luck though. Kafil's sister, his mate, their daughters, the twins and their children, even the old lioness believed Scar had changed. Of course, only the red lion, Devil, supported him. "He stole Rose from me. I was deeply in love with her, mind you, but She fell for that blasted Scar. And if that weren't enough, produced a mute cub, unfit for the throne."

While Malka didn't like Scar, he felt calling Little Rose "unfit for the throne" was a bit harsh. Just because she couldn't talk didn't mean she wouldn't be a good queen.

Speaking of the cub, he didn't know how he couldn't see she was his daughter when he first saw her. She looked like him so much; she had his main fur colors, his nose, tail tuft, cheeks, eyes, she even had scars down across her left eye, although that wasn't genetic. The only things different about her were her underbelly, chest, throat, snout, ear linings, eyelids, and that her snout was a little thicker. She got those qualities from her mother.

And he simply couldn't how he kept her for the past two and a half months. This was part of his fake changing, of course, but how? Especially since she was female, and couldn't talk. Each time Malka saw Scar walking with Little Rose weaving around his legs, or him sitting with her snuggled against his foreleg, or him gently grooming her while she squirmed, it puzzled him further.

About a week after Malka first joined the pride, he began to feel ill. He only had a sore throat and stuffy nose, so he dismissed it as a cold. When he mentioned it to the senior twins, however, Mildred's eyes widened. "Uh oh. The last time a lion had those symptoms, she passed away via a deadly fever. That was Rose's mother; Little Rose's grandmother."

"Mildred!" Matilda scolded. "Can't you keep your big mouth shut for a minute?"

Malka told himself to brush this away, but couldn't help but feel worried.

Sure enough, in about an hour, he felt a little warm. He laid in the shade to try and cool down. It didn't work. He crawled to the pond and began lapping up water greedily. Glancing to the left at a noise, he saw Little Rose standing beside him, looking at him curiously. "What do you want?" He scowled weakly.

Little Rose wasn't intimidated. Even though she didn't like this lion, as he insulted her father, she knew something was wrong, and didn't deny that she was a little worried. She walked forward and put her nose against his forehead. After a second or two, she backed away, looking startled. She ran into Minerva's cave. Luckily, the old lioness was in there. "Little Rose? What's wrong?" She asked.

Little Rose just tugged Minerva's tail with her mouth and darted out of the cave. "Alright, I'm coming." When Minerva followed Little Rose, she found her by Malka, who was crouched by the pond. Little Rose looked scared.

"Malka? Is something wrong?" Minerva asked.

"I'm, I'm fine." He coughed. In reality, he felt awful.

Raising one eyebrow, Minerva licked Malka's forehead. "You're burning up!"

Malka's ears perked up. "Mildred said Rose's mother died of a deadly fever preceded by a sore throat and stuffy nose."

Minerva shook her head. "Oh, Mildred, you and your runaway mouth." She muttered.

"So…so it's true?"

"Yes, but hopefully we'll stop it in its tracks this time." She nudged Malka to his feet and herded him into her cave. The commotion attracted the rest of the lions. "What is it?" Mildred asked.

"It's the Deadly Fever." Minerva answered. "Alright, I'm out of lavender. Someone needs to get some in order for Malka to survive."

Little Rose jumped up, but Scar said, "I'll go." Against Malka's confused look, he continued, "There is lavender by Rose's mother's grave. But that's the only place I know of."

"She would want you to take some." Minerva said. "She would never turn down a lion in need. But please at least leave some."

Nodding, Scar ran out. Little Rose made to follow, but Mildred stepped on her tail. "You warned Minerva of Malka's fever." She said gently. "You've done all you could."

"Why don't you cubs go and play?" Matilda asked. "We'll take care of Malka."

"Mildred, Matilda, I need water." Minerva said. "Fetch some pond water in the old tortoise shell."

Nodding, the twins ran out. Minerva smiled at the worried cubs and said, "They're right. You cubs needn't worry. Run along and amuse yourselves. Malka will be fine."

Reluctantly at first, the cubs left. "Even though Malka was a jerk to Scar, I hope he'll be ok." Binti said.

"What if he isn't?" Bora asked. "Rose's mother didn't survive the Deadly Fever. What if Malka dies? What if we catch it? What if-"

"You worry too much, Bora." Dogo said, amused. "The grownups will take care of him. Minerva can fix anything."

"Well, what about Rose's mother?" Bora challenged.

Dogo didn't answer.

Scar ran to the headstones, and quickly located Rose's mother's, surrounded by purple flowers. He paused and bowed his head. "These are needed." He murmured. Then he grabbed a bunch in his teeth, pulled them out of the ground, and ran back to camp.

When he entered Minerva's cave, Malka was drinking from the tortoise shell full of water. Minerva looked up. "Oh, good! You got the lavender!" She exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "Give it here."

Scar dropped the lavender at Minerva's feet. "Thank you." She nodded. She grabbed a strand in her teeth and put it in front of Malka. "Chew the flowers." She ordered. "Then swallow."

Nodding, Malka bit off the flowers and began chewing them, grimacing at the taste. Then he swallowed them, shuddering. "Did I say you may stop?" Minerva asked sternly. "Eat two more strands."

Groaning, Malka did as he was told. "Good. Now everyone, get out of here. Malka needs his rest."

Everyone exited, but Malka called out weakly, "Scar…wait."

Raising one eyebrow confused, Scar paused and looked back. "Yes?"

"Wh-why?"

Scar was even more confused. "Why…what?"

"You know. Why are you helping me? I know you-"

"Didn't change, I know. I've already heard it enough times." Scar sighed sadly. "Malka, why can't you just accept that I've changed? I am not tricking anyone; I am being sincere. You may not believe it, and I don't blame you. You never gave me a chance to say something. Malka, for banishing you when you were too young…I am truly sorry. I would have never done it now." Not knowing what else to say, he continued out of the cave, leaving Malka to his thoughts.

A/N I thought since Malka didn't believe Scar had changed, and thought he was tricking everyone, he'd try and warn the pride. Of course, this is foolish. The whole pride has know Scar for two years; the cubs (Binti, Bora, Dogo, and Little Rose) for all of their lives.

I added Malka getting sick for the drama. This is the same disease that killed Rose's mother. Also, the symptoms were inspired by my favorite non-Disney villain, Thrax (I swear, I think I have a crush on him X3) He causes a disease that gives people a runny nose, a stuffy throat, then a fever up to 108. Because of this, the lions call it the Deadly Fever.

The use of lavender was from the Warriors cats series; they use lavender to treat fevers. I don't know how though, but I assume they eat it.

Making Malka sick also gave a reason for Scar to help, and to prove to Malka that he's changed. But will it work?

In unrelated news, we got a new kitty :D Someone dumped a four-month-old kitten on our property. He's friendly (and LOVES getting petted) so we kept him. He's an orange tabby with golden eyes. We named him Phineas (my mom's idea XD) Our older cat, who normally chases off other cats, tolerates him. Key word being "tolerate" To see Phineas, I have a vid of him on my YouTube account; I'm known as GrovyleFan1995. However, I'll try and get some good pictures to post on DA.