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: Actually, he's not quite out of the woods yet. And they aren't friends...yet ;)

Cool2001: Perhaps ;)

Reldor: I guess it was :)

Rowena-Arum: I thought of that too XD Thanks :) I'm glad too.

RavageThyCorpse: Very true; that's what I intended. I know! He's such a little darling X3


Chapter 8

For the rest of the day, Minerva worked hard at healing Malka. His fever rose steadily throughout the day. Because she was worried it would spread, she limited his visitors. Scar was a frequent one, helping Minerva. Malka protested at first, but Minerva hushed him sternly.

Binti also visited, and told him all of her favorite stories and tricks. She didn't quite forgive him for insulting Scar though. "Everyone's known Scar for the past two years." She said. "And Bora, Dogo, Little Rose, and I have known him our whole lives. He's never hurt anyone unless he had a good reason to. Like Rose's murderer."

"Didn't she just fall in the Rock Pit?" Malka asked.

Binti shook her head. "No, Scar believes Rose was pushed in. She never went near the Rock Pit. She was always telling us it was dangerous. Anyway, Scar said when he finds the lion who killed her, he's gonna make them pay…whatever that means."

That morning, miraculously, Malka's fever broke. He was up and running again soon. The first thing he did was try and find Scar, in order to get something that had been growing on his chest off. He found the lion playing with Little Rose. He was crouched down in front of her, jerking to the side when she tried to run around him. Even though she couldn't laugh, her wide smile and squinted eyes showed it clearly. Scar was smiling, narrowing his eyes playfully.

Finally, Scar began running off. Little Rose followed behind, bouncing. When Scar stopped, she leapt at his head, causing him to fall on his back. She was lying across his throat, tugging at his ear with her mouth. All the while, he was laughing.

Malka was amazed. He never saw Scar laugh and play with his cub; not even with Nuka. He really had changed.

Hating to interrupt, he cleared his throat. Scar and Little Rose looked up at him. The little cub scowled cutely, narrowing her eyes, pursing her lips as though she tasted something sour, wrinkling her nose, and pinning her ears back. It didn't look quite like Scar's, so she must have got it from Rose.

Scar nudged Little Rose off of his neck and sat up. "Good morning, Malka." He said politely. "I see you are feeling better."

"Yes." Malka nodded. "I am. Minerva is a miracle worker."

"Indeed. Speaking of Minerva, is she coming out?"

"She was asleep when I awoke, and I didn't want to wake her."

"I see." Scar nodded.

Malka shuffled his paws nervously. Here goes nothing. "That's not the real reason I wanted to talk. I just wanted to say…Scar…I'm sorry."

At Scar's raised eyebrow, he continued, "It was wrong of me to assume you hadn't changed, and to try and turn the pride against you."

"I understand your reasons for doing so." Scar said.

"Yes, well, I see now you've changed; immensely. So, if you're willing to start fresh, I am as well."

A smile slowly grew on Scar's face. "I'd like that very much, Malka."

Malka smiled widely. "That's great, Sc-uh, I mean, your majesty."

Scar chuckled. "I was never one for 'your majesty'. 'My king', 'Sire', or simply 'Scar' shall suffice."

"Very well…Scar."


Later in the evening, Minerva had still not gotten up. Little Rose bounced into her cave in case she was still asleep. Sure enough, she found the old lioness curled up in the back. As she trotted up to her, Little Rose felt something wasn't right. As she approached her slowly, she noticed she didn't seem to be breathing. She just lay there, asleep…or was she asleep?

Little Rose walked around to Minerva's face and nudged her snout. [Minerva? Are you ok?]

She didn't move. Little Rose nudged her again, growing scared. Finally she tugged on her ear with her mouth. Then she realized Minerva wasn't sleeping after all; she was dead.

Little Rose turned around and tried to yell for help, [Help! Somebody! Anybody.] But nothing came out. She sniffled as tears began growing in her eyes. [Help.] Crying, she crawled back to Minerva and snuggled next to her head.

That was where Scar found her when it was bedtime. He found her in Minerva's cave curled up next to her. "Little Rose?" He asked. The cub turned towards him. To his surprise, she had dried tearstains on her cheeks. "What's wrong?" He whispered.

Little Rose stood up and tugged on Minerva's ear to show. Scar walked around to her front and sniffed her. Then he held his ear near her mouth. She wasn't breathing. As he sat back with a slightly horrified expression, Little Rose grabbed his foreleg in a hug, crying again. He held her close as tears grew in his own eyes. "Oh, Minerva." He sighed with sadness.


That night, they held a funeral for Minerva. They dug a grave for her, rolled a stone from the Rock Pit for a headstone, and found some small brightly colored stones for decoration as well. Matilda rolled Minerva into the grave and said, "Tonight, our medicine and sha-lioness, Minerva, has passed on, joining the Spirits of the Past. She was a good, wise lioness. She cared for each and every one of us as though we were cubs. Let us not remember her in sadness, but happiness."

Everyone said their pieces about Minerva. When it came to Malka, he took a deep breath. "Minerva cared for me when I caught the Deadly Fever, even though I was disrespectful to the king. She helped me, and for that, I am grateful. I will never forget her."

Everyone took turns kicking dirt into the hole until only a mound of dirt was left. Scar, Kafil and Malka rolled the stone into place, and circled it with the smaller stones. After sitting in silence some more, they began to talk. "Who will be the next medicine lioness?" Malka asked.

"I will." Everyone turned to Matilda. "I was Minerva's assistant, so it is my duty. And anyway…I think I'm ready."

"Is there any sort of ceremony?" Scar asked.

"Not much; I have to sit on top of the Tall Rock and stay awake all night, so I better get ready." She left to prepare.

"I don't think I could be a medicine lioness." Mildred remarked. "I need my beauty sleep."

"Minerva was able to do it." Malka said. "And I'm sure Matilda will as well."

Everyone nodded in agreement.


A/N I decided it'd be cute showing Scar playing with Little Rose :3

Looks like Malka's seen the error of his ways :)

I decided Minerva was getting old, so she passed on, so to speak. She died peacefully in her sleep. RIP Minerva.

Also, the King of the Sanctuary has a fangroup on DeviantART :D I...I accidentally spelled Sanctuary without a C. I swear, I didn't realize until I already finished the form! I am such a dope *facepalm* But you can easily find it in my profile. I'm proud of how the avatar came out, simple as it is :)