A/N: Aye guys! Ok, listen, I will be posting either once or twice a week. I don't have internet at home, but I do have a computer. Complicated, yes I know. So I either go to a friend's house or the library and I post from there. Thank ya for baring with me. Love you guys! You're the best!
Thank you for all the reviews! I can't say how much you make my days!
Johnny 2b: Not a prob! I'm not able to leave reviews, but I am reading your story and it's awesome! Kula isn't a spy for Zira, she just doesn't want any confrontations with her anymore, not that Kula is scared of her or anything. Kula is peace loving and she was just showing the sisters around . Simba calling Nala "La" I had originally planned for him to call her 'La La', but I think this works! I'd say Nala is about 18/19 in human years, but all of them mature in my theory. 4 years is when a lioness is 'full grown' and 5 for the guys, but iunno.
: Thanks for saying my story is "Flipping Awesome so far" lol. Glad you are enjoying!
1x0xalexis8: Nala is badass isn't she !
Reldor: Dude, I have been waiting for that show to come to CO forever! Can't even tell you how long. But find their schedule and keep up with it, I'm sure it'll come to a town near you . Thanks for the comment, I guess this chapter was better than I thought. I love Nala!
Machungwa63: Nala is still taking it all in. She's got the cub on the way, Zira is a problem along with these new females, and she just met her dad. Got a lot on her plate and going through her mind for the moment lol. Ha ha, you don't ramble! I do that lol.
Meow93: What is a Rafiki, yea I liked that line too lol. And yes you read that right, Zira did call Nala out of her name, but we see what position Nala holds and Zira can't get it lol. Tama's line for Zira, I thought it perfect, she really would say something like that in my opinion . And Kula will be fine…for now. The sisters are new and Kula hasn't posed as a threat to them yet. It's Zira who can't stand ANY Pridelanders.
On with the story!
Chapter 7: Trouble Never Sleeps
Beeli P.O.V.
I am so glad to be reunited with my mate again. These few weeks have felt like heaven now that she's back in my grasp. Getting to know my daughter, my son-in-law, and his mother, was nice breath of fresh air. They seemed so well put together, especially the resigned queen. Sarabi is truly a queen and I can't thank her enough for being my daughter's role model. Nala and Simba are wonderful together. He treats her so well, but I've heard that he has always been that way towards her, so I really have nothing to worry about. They have it made here.
"This is a nice walk, dad. Thanks for asking me to come along." My daughter's voice brought me out of my thoughts.
"Of course, sweetheart. I did ask your mate for permission though." She stopped walking and gave me an annoyed glare. "What?"
"You asked, him?" I nodded. "You are my FATHER, you don't need to ask him if I can go on a walk with you, dad."
"Honey, he is your mate. He just wants you to be safe. That's all."
"But I'm not handicap, dad. I'm having a cub. I'm not blind, I'm not cripple, I don't have any special needs. I'm fine, dad."
"But you know that you have enemies in this pride." I was trying to get her to see why we are the way we are with her now.
"I know, dad, I know." She was slightly admitting defeat. I had noticed something else though,
"Why do you keep saying 'dad' at the end of every sentence?"
"Oh, I didn't realize I was doing it, dad." We locked eyes. "Sorry, dad." A broad grin etched across my face and it followed through to hers. "I guess I keep saying it because, I've never really got to use the word 'dad'. Never being able to say 'happy father's day' or 'how are you dad?' or 'what's up dad?' There's a whole day just devoted to father's and I've never gotten to be a part of it.
"I know I've been absent, but I promise to make it up you."
"Oh you can. I may not be a cub anymore, but you'll get a hint of what I was like, Grandpa." We both laughed at her joke and continued our walk. The breeze was light and airy. It was going to be a good day.
Nafini P.O.V.
These past few weeks have been, eh, weird I guess I can say. Zira finally had her cub and Nala will be due here in a month. She's showing quite a lot and is just as protective as ever. I have noticed though, that ever since Minus and her sisters have been here, they have really taken a like to Zira and her clan. They are definitely up to no good. I've been spying on them for a bit and I know they're plotting, but I always come when they are finished or I can't get close enough. I'm wishing they'd slip one day and I hope I don't get caught. No telling what they would do if they caught me. Zira has always been out to get Nala and has only gotten worse over the years. I've also seen Hassan appear every once and a while. My guess is that he is checking up on Zira.
The cub Zira had is brown and these dark turquoise eyes, definitely Hassan's. That lion has brown fur also, but the eyes come from Zira's side of the family. Take a look at Sabini and you'll know. I really wish I knew what they were planning. Hassan has spotted me a couple of times, but hasn't said anything, but I'm sure he's warned his lionesses about my wanderings.
"Hey, Nafini!" I turned to my left to see Kula coming my way. How Did she know where I was? I was kind of a distance away from Pride Rock.
"H-hey, Ku-Kula. What are you do-doing out here?" Why was I stammering? I mean yes I like the girl, but she's with Chumvi, but we are pretty good friends and I wouldn't dare try to break them up.
"I should ask you the same." She giggled. I smiled.
"Yes, well, you know how I like to wander."
"You remind me of, Ni."
"Who's, Ni?" I asked skeptically.
"Ni, was just this lion Nala, Chumvi, and I met when we were little. He saved Nala from some hyenas." She made her sentence a quick and unemotional one.
"Oh." Was all I could really say. Then a thoughtful expression appeared on her face,
"Ya know, you kinda remind me of him a little." Did I? "Only difference is that your fur is a tad darker, but still same in color along with your mane, which well more kempt than his. You could be brothers."
"A brother. Be nice to actually have a sibling."
"So what were you doing out here?" Are we really back to this question?
"I was just…walking around." As I said it, I could have slapped myself. She wouldn't believe me.
"Hmm," She raised an eyebrow, I knew it, "you going to keep with that story or would you like to make up a new one?"
"You are like the annoying little sister every guy prays for." I grinned broadly. Kula was like a sister to me, that's how close we were.
"Not like you're complaining." She laughed.
"True, true. Come on, let's get home. I'm sure Chumvi is looking for ya."
"Yea, maybe." We started home together, but I glanced behind me, and just when I did, two blood red eyes were staring at me and my blood froze. I think I'm in trouble.
Nala P.O.V.
"Nala, are you sure you're fine?" I am so sick of Simba and everyone else asking me every second of my life 'am I ok". I'm having a cub, I'm not handicap!
"Yes. Simba. I'm. Fine." I answered him through gritted teeth. I figured that was better than snapping at him.
"Nala, I'm just trying to help." He said calmly. My heart dropped and I felt a little guilty for getting an attitude. He has been very patient with me ever since he found out I was expecting.
"I know, Simba, I know." I sighed, "I'm sorry. I just don't like anyone fussing over me. I'm always to be the one to help others."
"That's all I've heard. You have always helped everyone else. Now it's time for you to take a break." He did make a point, but we all know how stubborn I am. I HAVE to help. I can't just sit around and do anything.
"But it's just hard to not do anything. You won't let me hunt, I can't go anywhere by myself, I ca-"
"We have to keep a look out for you because of Zira and them." He pleaded.
"I know, Simba, but can I at least go for a walk by myself." I was making a statement that I'm perfectly capable to take care of myself despite my condition. "I'm not going to die and Zira can't defeat me."
"But she does have more of an advantage on you." Ugh. I hate when he makes valid points. "It's not safe for you to be alone. Ever."
"I need some water." I wanted to change the subject before I yelled at him, "then I want to go see my parents."
"You can head to the waterhole if you'd like." I stopped walking. Was he serious?
"You mean you're letting me go by myself?" I asked sarcastically, knowing that he had some kind of motive.
"Yes." I quirked an eyebrow,
"Really?" He smiled his 'Simba smile' and my heart melted.
"O….k….." I said uneasily. Where was he getting at? As I was walking past him slowly, I never took my cautious eyes off him. He was still smirking. He was up to something.
"What, Nala?"
"You're really allowing me to go?"
"Yes, dear. Go on."
"Why are you all of a sudden going to let me go off by myself?"
"By yourself?" He chuckled, "Nala, the watering hole is only five feet from here. I can still see you." I got an incredulous look on my face and looked to my right to see a waterhole about five feet from me. My blood boiled for a minute for being so naïve for thinking that he would actually let me go off by alone. I looked back to him, but only to find that his smirk was a full blown broad smile.
"You're unbelievable." I said emotionless. He then tried his best to stifle a laugh and I rolled me eyes. "Let it out, Simba, you know you want to."
"I got you good didn't I!" He exploded. Oooo, I wanted to smack him! I walked away from my laughing mate in a huff to the waterhole. He was such a cub sometimes. But, I guess life doesn't always have to be serious.
As I bent my head down to the water and lapped it up slowly, I began to remember what it was like when we didn't have water. The land was dry and cracked. Everything was dead and gone. The only thing that kept us alive was hope and the drive to survive.
I looked up and saw Nafini and Kula coming my way. Why were they coming from the direction of the Termite Mounds?
"Hey you two!" I called out and they immediately smiled at me.
"Hey, Nala! HEY, SIMBA!" Simba was right of course. If they could call out to him too, then he was able to be seen and so was I to him. He is going to drive me nuts.
"What are you guys up to? Why were you coming from that direction?" Kula shot a look at Nafini and he looked back her innocently.
"I found him out there, but he won't tell me the real reason." Kula nudged her friend.
"You're so nosy."
"And?"
"Nothing." It was funny watching them banter.
"Well looky here. The rest of the gang is here. We just can't get enough of each other." Malka's voice came into our ears and he was followed by Tama, Chumvi, Tojo, and Sabini. I felt Simba's presence come up behind me.
"We always have pow wows." Tama added. They were right. We did somehow always manage to find each other.
"So Nala, I see you're still on House Arrest." Giggles went all around our soirée. First Simba messes with me and now Malka. I glared at the orange colored lion to let him know that I was in no mood for his comedy act today.
"Yea, she almost thought that she off the hook for a while." I popped my king in his face with my tail, silently telling him to shut up. This caused everyone to laugh though and I smiled despite myself. Looking at my friends, they all pretty much wore the same expressions on their faces, except one in particular. Nafini. His face gave off that he was troubled and worried. I wonder what's going on in that head of his. Nafini has always been the 'thinker' of our group. He never took something head on without thinking it through first and seeing what the outcomes would be of his actions. Suddenly, his eyes caught me and slightly widened.
"You alright, Nala?" I should be asking him that question.
"Yes, yes I'm fine. You?"
"Perfect." His brown orbs glanced at Simba and they both gave each other an understanding look. A look that said 'I need to talk to you, but I don't want to frighten the others'.
"Simba, can I talk to you for a minute?" Now I was worried. What did Nafini see when he was near the Termite Mounds? I did notice that Zira and her pride had been missing every now and then, but is this really the reason Nafini is so secretive?
"Of course." My mate answered the faded gold lion and they walked off, leaving me and the rest of friends confused and speechless.
Hassan P.O.V.-(miss him ?)
"Hassan. We have a problem." I hadn't been in the Pridelands for a while. I've been hiding out here since that pompous king Simba told me to leave. From here, Zira and our followers have met here and are plotting against him.
"We always have a problem. Simba is still king of the Pridelands, Nala is not my queen, and we-"
"Well we have a new problem now." Zira cut me off and rolled her eyes at my rant. She always did that whenever I'd mention Nala being with me instead of her. Yes this new cub, Kovu, is what she named him, after Scar, is mine along with his sister Vitani. If Scar knew that this cub wasn't his, he would have probably try to kill me, not that he could.
"Well then enlighten me, what's new?"
"I sense the Pridelanders have a spy." My eyes got a little bigger and I looked at Zira curiously.
"Who is it?"
"Nafini." She answered simply.
"Mmm,"
"I've seen him a few times around these parts, for what reasons, I don't know. But he saw me today as he was leaving. He knows something's up."
"You dumb female! Why did you let him see you!" I fumed. Foolish lioness!
"It's not like I wanted him to! And don't you DARE raise your voice at me!" Zira was dumb for challenging me. I was her superior.
"I can do whatever I damn so well please! You need me!"
"No I don't!"
"Zira, lioness cannot rule and you know that."
"I can be the first."
"No you ca-"
"HEY!" Zira and I turned our heads to what direction Minus was coming from.
"Can we get back to the subject at hand? Yelling at each other isn't going to get us anywhere. You can deal with that issue later." If I had met Minus before Zira, I would have been with her instead. She's smarter, deadlier, and way more flexible. Her hunting skills are nothing compared to Zira's.
"Minus is right. Bigger issues are now. What are we going to do about, Nafini?"
"We can keep a look out for him, send a signal to our pride, kill him, put it to the Pridelanders as a prewar warning. It's simple really." The only thing I can't stand about her is her way of making some of us feel like idiots.
"Yes, well, I'm sure he told Simba already of what he has been doing. They will have more spies and then nothing will be secret." Zira was trying to backfire Minus's oh-so-easy plan.
"Then we will just kill whoever we see that is a Pridelander." Minus rolled her eyes and threw her head back in annoyance, "It's really simple. You see something you don't like, you get rid of it! Plain and simple. Are you guys really this dull?"
"Ya know, we could try your tactic out on you first." Zira sneered and got in Minus face.
"How quickly we forget! It was you who asked me to help you! You said the more lions we have, the more of an advantage we have against them!" The two lionesses were glaring at each other and the only thing I could do was think of Nala. These two had the same fire that she did and it was a reminder of how she wasn't here now.
(Flashback- a few days after Simba took the throne)
"If you don't get yourself away from her…" The new king threatened me. I had cornered Nala, but she would fight me need be, but it wouldn't have been a problem. The problem lied with Simba. He did not know who he was messing with. I've had my eye on Nala ever since I've seen her and she was to be mine.
"You won't have her." He raised a brow at me, "Don't worry, Simba, when you're gone, I'll take real good care of her." He then smirked at me.
"No need to. I'm not going anywhere, wouldn't want you to get your hopes up on senseless garbage." He looked me up and down and continued, "But I forgot, that's what you are anyways, so I guess it's not really a problem." His voice was just dripping with sarcasm and cockiness. I wanted to end him right now. I'm garbage? Ha! His family is garbage.
"I challenge you for the throne! Now!" Nala then jumped in front of him and the rest of our pride came in front of him as well to protect him. Damnit!
"You challenge him, you're going to have to go through us first!" I was tired of Tama always jumping into fights that didn't concern her. I would be the cause of her death when the time called for it.
"And I don't think you want to die just yet." Malka was just as bad as Simba. I knew I was outnumbered and I couldn't fight all of them.
"One day, Simba. One day."
(End Flashback)
"We will just keep a look out for intruders. Bring them in to interrogate and go from there." I made my statement and started padding back to my sleeping spot.
"Are you going to train, Kovu?" I stopped abruptly at Zira's question. I didn't look at her.
"Why would I train a cub that was meant to be Scar's?" I said icily.
"He is YOUR son!" She spat.
"He is named after your precious, Scar. I want nothing to do with him." I left Zira there seething with anger.
Simba P.O.V
"So, Hassan is still on my lands." The information Nafini was giving me wasn't really surprising news. I knew this was going to happen, just not so soon. Those new lionesses were now a part of our enemies and were helping them plot against us. This is beginning to be a bit much.
"What will we do? I know you don't want to worry the others, but…"
"They have to know. Yea, I see your point." I looked to the sky and then brought my head back down, "Nala doesn't need this. I'm already stressing her out with my constant worrying. I don't want any of our mothers hurt."
"Right."
"I'll um, we'll talk to the guys when everyone's asleep and warn them." I sighed heavily. This was getting more and more complicated by the day. Now is when I'm starting to doubt my ability to be king. Can I handle all this?
"I can still be a spy if you need me t-"
"No." I cut him off, we don't know if he's been seen or not, "I can't risk you getting caught. They may kill you if they've seen you. Don't want to lose you."
"I understand." The lion nodded to me. He understood fully what could very well happen. A roar then came to our ears and it was time for lunch.
"When nightfall hits, we'll tell them."
Sabini P.O.V.
"Tojo, can we talk?" We heard the call for lunch but I had to talk to him. I had been feeling quite queasy these past two weeks. Our wedding was beautiful and our honeymoon was even better. I'm glad I waited for him. He is everything I ever wanted. He was kind, gentle, caring, protective. All I ever wanted.
"Sure. You alright?" He was looking at me skeptically and I felt uneasy. I don't know why I felt this way. I don't know if it was because I'd never seen him play with any cubs or the fact that we actually never talked about having cubs.
"Yea, I-I'm fine. We just need to talk." I started to walk away and he followed close behind, his eyes never leaving me. We came to our favorite waterhole and I looked at my reflection. I had more of a rounder face, but I don't know if Tojo had noticed yet.
"Sab, what's going on?" I smiled at my mirrored reflection when Tojo called me by the nickname he gave me.
"I'm fine, Jojo. Uh, how do you feel about, um…"My voice faded out and I couldn't speak. I'm just afraid of what his reaction will be.
"Come on, Sabini. I know something is on your mind. Why are you scared to tell me?" I jerked my head to the side.
"Because we've never talked about this before. I don't know if you're going to be mad or be happy or what." I wasn't facing him.
"Just tell me." I decided to turn around and face my fear and when I did, Tojo, had a 'knowing' look on his face and I all I could do was let my mouth drop. He knew already.
"How did you-but I thought-you…" He chuckled lightly then pulled me into his arms.
"I've known, Sab."
"How?" I asked muffled with my face in his mane.
"I know you. Every inch of you, every motion you make, every emotion you show, every thought you have." He pulled me away from his body so we could look into each other's eyes. His ocean blue eyes have always caught me off guard and I'd always get lost in them. From his first hello is when he had captured me and he didn't even know that he had done that.
"You're happy?" Why I asked this, I had no idea.
"No." I grew confused and my eyebrows scrunched together.
"But you just-"
"I'm excited." I grabbed him tightly, indulged in another embrace. He had tricked me and knew I'd fall for it. He and Simba are so much alike.
"What would you want? A girl or a boy?" I asked teary eyed. He looked at me loving,
"It doesn't matter. Either is fine with me." We looked into one another's eyes longingly and I wanted to just spend the rest of the day with him.
"Aww, isn't that sweet," My mate and I turned to see my sister and her clan surrounding us, "My little sister is pregnant with, Jojo, excuse me, Tojo's cub."
"Yes, well, at least she's committed and waited until she was married." Tojo growled to me sister. I wanted to take a stance beside him, but he blocked me. He was now going to be extra protective of me now.
"Oh, Tojo. That hurt." Zira pretended to be hurt by his words.
"What do you want?"
"Give Simba a message for me."
"And that is…?"
"We have his mother."
A/N: o_o! They have Sarabi! Dun dun dun! So how was this chapter? I promise the next chapter will be better!
