Now we're moving into canon TLK material, with a big twist. Don't kill me!

We walked back to Pride Rock in the pouring rain, side by side, knowing we loved each other and drunk with happiness. To make things better, the rain stopped as we approached the gorge, allowing streams of sunlight to pierce the veil of clouds. The fell on and illuminated Nala, making her more beautiful than ever. I beamed lovingly at my Nala, and she beamed back. I saw someone I really didn't expect to see; Uncle Scar.

"Well, young Simba, how are you and little Nala? I've heard all about your little intimate gatherings from Sarabi. How was your time together?"

I didn't really want to answer. He was my uncle, but his tone was not affectionately curious like my mom's, but oily and probing.

"Good. Why?" Uncle Scar thought for a second then said,

"Your father has a surprise for you, Simba. And Nala, Sarafina has a surprise for you, too."

"What's the surprise?" Uncle Scar just grinned strangely, and said,

"It's in the gorge. I can't tell you much." he said, pointing towards a tree in the middle of the gorge.

"They'll come get you and bring you your surprises as long as you wait by that tree right there."

I looked at Nala, seeing her dying to know what our surprises were. But we didn't want to ruin it, so we followed Uncle Scar down to the old broken tree. "Now stay here and don't move."

"How good is the surprise?" I asked, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Oh Simba, it's to die for." I didn't know what he meant then, but I do now.

Anyway, he left us by the tree in the middle of the gorge, brimming with interest.

"So what do you think it is?" I asked Nala. She thought for a minute and said,

"I think they're planning to have Rafiki marry us." Not a short while ago, the idea would have been gross, but now it seemed quite the opposite.

"I certainly hope so." I said nuzzling Nala affectionately. That was the only it could be! Or so I stupidly thought. Until I heard the hammering.

It was at first faint, low enough to be mistaken for my own heartbeat. Then it grew louder and louder and louder every moment, like a thousand fists pounding the ground in unison. It felt as if the very earth we stood on was throbbing. I looked at Nala, surprised to see her looking absolutely terrified. Then I looked to see what she was staring at.

Hundreds of wildebeests thundered toward us, their hooves pummeling the ground underfoot. At that moment I felt very small and completely petrified. Then my natural instinct took over; I grabbed Nala and climbed up the tree to escape the wildebeests. I held her tight, making sure she wouldn't fall. We clung to each other and the tree as if our lives depended on it; which it did.

As the herd passed underneath us, I saw Zazu flying toward us.

"Zazu!" I yelled. "Help us!"

"Your father is on the way! Hold on!"

"Hurry!" Nala and I yelled at once, because my grip on the tree was slipping. We waited for what seemed like minutes, clasping that tree until our claws hurt. When I thought I couldn't hang on much longer, I looked up, and was relieved; Dad, Auntie Sarafina, and Uncle Scar were on a ledge overlooking the gorge, plainly visible.

"Hold on you two! We're coming!" Dad and Aunt Sarafina climbed down into the herd, frighteningly invisible for a few seconds. Then a wildebeest slammed into the tree, sending Nala and I into the air. We fell for a few seconds, until we landed on our parent's backs. Dad boldly dodged the wildebeests, and then set me down on a nearby rock ledge. Aunt Sarafina did the same with Nala. Our parents tried to jump up on the ledge to join us. But they were knocked over by wildebeests, and carried away in a swirl of dust.

"Dad!"

"Mom!"

We shouted in unison, terrified that our parents had been hurt. I waited a few seconds, searching for Dad. Then I looked up, and my eyes focused on a horrible sight; I saw my Aunt and Dad tumbling head-over-heels through the air, heading straight for the ground. Time seemed to stop except for them falling. They just kept plummeting lower and lower, until they slammed into the ground. We could do nothing but watch in horror as they fell in a cloud of dust among the raging stampede of wildebeests.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" We screamed, screaming in fear, disbelief, and anguish. We waited for the dust to clear. When it did, my heart was dashed into a million tiny pieces.

In the middle of the gorge lay my Dad and Aunt, lying on their sides. "Mom?" Nala said quietly, hoping for a response.

"Dad?" I said, hoping the same. Our parents were not moving. At all.

We approached our parents' bodies. I went over to Dad, hoping for some sign of breathing or movement. I nuzzled up against him, hoping for some response. His head just rolled limply back, still and lifeless. "Dad?" I asked, getting very panicky. "You got to get up. C-Come on, you have to move! Dad? Just wake up. You're all right, Dad. Please," I pleading, tears running down my cheeks, "Get up. Dad, you have to! You have to wake up!" Still he did not stir. I was beyond panicked; I was so tense any sound would have sent me running. "DAD! PLEASE, GET UP!" I ran up and down the gorge, shouting, "HELLLLLPPPP! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME! I NEED HELP!" My grief-stricken implorations fell on deaf ears as an echo resounded throughout the gorge. I looked to see Nala sobbing over her mom, looking exactly like I felt. How could this happen? My Dad was the biggest, most powerful lion I knew! He had to move! He was just playing dead; he had to be! My Aunt had to be just playing, too. In a minute, they would jump up, healthy as ever. I knew it!

But they never stirred. In the harshest way possible, we were reminded of our own mortality. My Dad, my wonderful Dad, had been torn away from me swiftly and bitterly, so that we never saw it coming. And we were certain, no matter how much we denied it, that my Dad and my best friend's mother were totally, completely, irreversibly dead. It was too much to bear.

I looked to see Nala walking towards me, tears running down her face. "Simba? I-I think Mom's dead." It was final. In a wave of emotion, Nala and I embraced like we had never embraced before, holding each other close. We cried into each other's shoulders, letting out all the total anguish, grief, and shock we had experienced in tear form. If we hadn't been there to comfort each other, I would have surely died of a broken heart right then and there. As it was, the only thing keeping me from breaking down was Nala, the feeling mutual.

As we clung to each other in our sorrow, I saw Uncle Scar emerging from a cloud of dust, walking towards us looking extremely shocked. He looked at his brother's body, and that of my aunt, and said, "Simba, Nala….What have you done?" We jumped back, still sobbing. I wiped away some of the tears and said, choking the words out, "There were wildebeests and they tried to save us... "

"it was an accident," sobbed Nala, crouching down in sorrow."

"We didn't mean for it to happen," I wailed in bitter woe. Uncle Scar just approached us, regret written all over his face.

"Of course, of course you didn't. No one...ever means for these things to happen." He paused, giving us time to catch our breath between sobs. "But the king IS dead. And if it weren't for you two, he'd still be alive." I was absolutely crushed. How could it be our fault? Little by little, I began to believe in my own guilt, until I full believed we were the reason our parents were dead. Then Uncle Scar asked me the most heartrending words I had ever heard.

" Oh! What will your mother think, Simba? Her son the reason for her king being dead?"

He looked at Nala and said, "And what about you, Nala? How are you going to explain to Queen Sarabi that her best friend is dead?"

We were broken inside, and sniffled, "What are we gonna do?

"Run away, you two. Run... Run away and never return."

That's exactly what we did. We knew we were no longer welcome here and our parents were dead. Without turning back, we ran away from the gorge, not caring where, but as long as we got as far away from the Pride Lands as possible. We were now outcasts.