Big cliffhanger last chapter! Stay for yet more plot twists and Simba's speech

Nala and I ran away blindly, crushed and in tears with grief. We didn't care where we were going as we dodged thorn bushes, trees and brooks. We had just lost our parents, and were, to say the least, hysterical. We knew we had each other; but that seemed (forgive me, Nala!) a small comfort at the time.

We never stopped once, not for food or water. Over hill, desert, plain and savannah, we ran for hours until we could run no more. Eventually we found ourselves in the jungle, and collapsed in dehydration and exhaustion. I sank onto the leaf-strewn ground next to Nala, totally drained. My throat was burning, and my stomach was as empty as ever. I turned on my side to see Nala, coughing in thirst.

This was hopeless. We had no idea where we were, other than the vague label, "the jungle." Strange and frightening noises came from everywhere around us, which would have made me jump if wasn't so tired. Light was almost invisible, except for the dim rays that filtered through the dense jungle canopy. We had no food, no water, and no hope. I might as well have laid there to die.

But I couldn't, I thought as I looked at Nala. If I lost Nala, I would have absolutely nothing at all. We had to stay alive for each other if nothing else. Through sheer force of will, I pushed myself into a walking position and looked around; I couldn't see much, but I could hear running water nor far away. "Nala? You hear that?" I said, my voice cracking, parched. Her ears perked up, and she said wistfully, "I think it's water."

"So do I." I replied. "Nala, come on. We have to get to water." With a tremendous effort, she pushed herself up and walked shakily forward. I led the way to a small brook that wasn't very far away. We drank thirstily, the cool water feeling like the most refreshing thing I had ever drunk.

When we finished drinking, a sudden thought struck me. "Nala, how are we going to survive out here? We're cubs; we found water, but we have no food and…" My voice cracked at this point as I started feeling tears welling up again, "we can't go back."

Nala gave me a heartbroken look and said, "I-I don't know what we can do. I know how to hunt, but Mother didn't really get a chance to…" At this point Nala started crying like me. She laid her head on my shoulder, and we both began to sob deeply. We only had each other in our tragedy. Kings rise and fall, fathers die, and sons leave, but love endures undying.

As we sobbed for our parents, she raised her head, whispering into my ear, "Our grief and love are what keeps us together, Simba. No matter how sad the world seems, we have to stay together. For love." Immediately I broke away from her and said, incredulously, "Seems, Nala? No, it is sad. Don't you see? Outside of Pride Rock, outside of our Pride Lands, the world is utterly wretched. I thought no power above would allow what happened to happen.

"It gave me a harsh lesson; when my father died, I knew, no, I know true anguish! Don't you understand? I lost my father; you lost your mother, your only parent because of me. I thought the world was a kinder place." I turned around and stared at my reflection in the water.

"I was piteously wrong." I swiped my paw across the water, dissipating my reflection. I howled in grief, then spun around to face Nala. "You see, don't you? All these sighs, these tears, these wails; they are but outward signs of grief. You know as well as I that grief is interior as well as exterior. It gnaws at your heart and mine, as if we were raked with a hyena's claws. But it hasn't stopped. I don't think it will stop. I feel my grief, my guilt, my agony, my angst, with perfect and horrible clarity."

Nala was gazing at me, feeling my sorrow with her own. I looked at her sadly, and continued. "My guilt and angst is burning my heart. If I hadn't chosen to bring you with me into the gorge, your mom would still be alive. If I hadn't been in the gorge, my father would still be alive. It is my choices, my utterly stupid and reckless choices that have left us where we are now. This is my fault, my fault, my most grievous fault." I sank down in front of Nala, fully broken inside. My blame, my guilt, had undone me. And I wept in pure sorrow.

After a brief span of time, I heard a soft whisper, "Simba? You're not the only one to blame. I share the guilt for my mom's death as much as you for your father. Besides, what could we do?"

I looked up from my abyss of desolation and said pitifully, "No. I could have stopped it. Besides, now my uncle is going to be king. All I can do is bear the crushing burden of my guilt." I bowed my head in woe.

"No!" shrieked Nala, a fire in her eyes I had never seen before. "Simba, don't you understand? I grieve for my mother and your father, but that doesn't stop me from remembering something that can overcome all that."

"What?"

"That I love you, and you love me. You have to live, to take back the throne from your uncle when we get older. I don't want to lose you! If you keep blaming yourself for everything, at least know that the burden of the mistake is ours, not yours alone. It isn't your fault, but our fault. Besides, our grief is what will brings us closer together. What doesn't tear us asunder will only strengthen us. You have to go on for your father, for the Pride Lands, for yourself…and for me." She walked over to me, and brought me into a close hug. Now there were no words between us, just our tears on the other's shoulder. We cried ourselves to sleep in each other's warm embrace, bound together by grief…and love.