A/N: WOOOOT! Last chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed it. Feel free to check out some of my other fics too, from RENT and Harry Potter. :)

Disclaimer: Should I even bother explaining? Of course I own Disney, Lion King, etc. *sarcasm*


My feet were pounding the sands. My breath was raw in my throat. The muscles in my legs screamed in protest, as they began to ache from the long run. But gradually, as the sun sank lower beneath the horizon, Pride Rock came closer and closer, the silhouettes grew more and more defined and my resolve slowly began to weaken.

Heart pounding, I skidded to a stop. I had to turn back. I couldn't do it. What if Sarabi had already met someone else? What if she had a mate? Cubs? And what about the pride? How would they react to seeing me? I had to turn back.

But was I a coward for doing this? Or was I being a lion?

I rotated on the spot, my paws creating tiny mounds of sand, as I twisted- to find an ugly blue face pushed up against mine.

I roared in surprise, and stumbled backwards, landing on my haunches, before jumping to my paws and beginning to run in the opposite direction, away from the monster that had filled my vision.

"Wait! Waiiiiiiiiit! True king, come baaaaaaaaaack! Ahahaha!" I hesitated, slightly gobsmacked at the hyperactive screaming behind me. I turned back around, to find his face in mine again. I stiffened, but didn't move.

"Why- Who- What are you doing!"

"Ehehe! That is not the question here! The question, is what are you doing?" It was a baboon. His eyes narrowed at me, and he grinned, his teeth showing. He laughed again.

I stared at him. "Are you completely crazy?"

"I don't know! Are you?"

I was lost for words. "What do you want? I'm kind of trying to make a big decision here."

"Walk with me, lion cub."

"I'm not a cub. I'm an adult, you-"

"Ah ah ah. Hold your insults. We shall walk, and then we shall talk." Without warning, he bounded off through the sands, sending up tiny brown puffs behind him.

I dashed after him, struggling to keep up, and my muscles about to give out. I called out, begging him to stop, but he merely wagged a finger at me, his back still turned. I snarled under my breath, and continued. The sand under my feet grew more and more coarse, until it merged into rough, scrubby grasses. There was still nothing on the horizon. He ran down into a steep dip in the land, so that I could no longer see him. Apprehensive, I moved a little slower, waiting to see where he was. He was unpredictable, that monkey.

"AHA!" His face was in front of mine once again. I didn't move. I didn't stiffen. I merely stepped around him and continued moving. "WHY DID YOU NOT RUUUUN?"

"Because I'm not a coward."

"Good." He continued bounding ahead.

I dragged myself after him for a long, long time, until we finally rested under the shade of an enormous tree. "What is this? What do you want?"

He merely grinned at me, his gums a bright red, his gleaming teeth set in them firmly. He clacked his jaw several times, motioned to me, and disappeared under the roots.

Cautiously picking my way over the obstacles, I crawled after him, ending up in a small underground cavern. "Wow." The walls were covered in scratches, painting, drawings, of different lions. "Is that... my... my..."

"It is AHADI! AHAHA! Your FATHER! Who was he?"

"The king."

"And WHO. ARE. YOU?"

"His son."

"IDIOT! HYENA! YOU ARE STUPID IN THE BRAIN, YES?"

"What? No! I'm his son, I am!"

"What else are you?"

"I'm... I'm the king as well. I'm the king."

"Yes. What else are you?"

"Um..."

"Or more to the point, what are you NOT? Think back to the journey here, cub."

"I'm NOT A-" He shoved his face into mine again, grinning horribly. "...why do you keep doing that?"

"You didn't run."

"No, because you did it, like, a hundred times."

"Why else?"

"Because... because I'm not a coward."

"YES! YES! YOU ARE NOT STUPID IN THE BRAIN NOW!"

I growled. "I never..." I trailed off. It was pointless.

"GO GO GO, YOUNG KING! TAKE BACK WHAT YOU RIGHTFULLY OWN! Or are you a COWARD?"

"No."


I stood in front of Pride Rock, alone in the moonlight washing over the land. I stared up at the giant monolith, taking in the sleeping forms of the lionesses. I smiled, the ache in my heart disappearing. I was home.


"Sarabi. Hey, Sarabi." I shook her shoulder. She grunted, then gave a growl, and lashed out with her paw. Opening her eyes, the fear slowly drained out to be replaced with jubilant disbelief.

"Oh my god, Mufasa? MUFASA?"


"Step down."

"Never."

"Step. Down."

"You can't make me."


"Taka. You could stand by me?"

"No, I am loyal to my father."

"Very well then."


That night, their bodies burned. The lionesses stood around it in a circle, roaring. The sound completely filled the air, and I stood at the tip of pride rock, my throat swelling, the sound of my royalty filling the air.

I was back.