The whole crowd, stunned at Baba Nguvu's admission of guilt, was prepared to hear King Simba's ruling. The King Himself had never had to directly sentence somebody to death before. According to royal law, if such an execution were to take place, Simba would have to be the first to attempt the killing. And thanks to the fact that it was an admission of guilt, he would have a full day to mull over it in his mind.

"Baba Nguvu..." Simba started, pulling in the crowd's attention. "...For committing the crime of murder in the first degree, you have brought upon yourself..." Simba choked a bit here, his voice going soft for a moment. Sighing, he finally said the words. "...The penalty of Death."


"Simba..." Joseph called out. "SIMBA!"

Snapping back up with a start, the king looked around.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Kiara asked, leaning against Kovu.

It was about three hours after the trial. Simba was staring at his food, but not eating. The thought of having to execute somebody ate away at him.

"Huh?" Simba asked. "Oh, yes, dear. Yes, I'm fine." He stated in a rather unenthusiastic tone.

"Are you sure, honey?" Nala asked. "You seem worried about something."

Simba scrambled for an excuse for his behavior. "I... I guess I- I don't know. I'm just tired. Don't worry, love."

Nala looked at her mate suspiciously. "Okay, dear."

"You sure, Simba?" Tojo asked. "I've been your best friend since childhood. You can tell me anything."

Joseph, however, knew exactly why Simba was so wound up. It was the execution.

"Simba, I need to speak with you in private." Joseph said.

"About?" Simba asked, a little irritated.

"About tomorrow, Simba." Joseph said as he got up from the circle. "Follow me."

As Simba and Joseph left the cave, The ladies immediately started gossiping.

"I wonder why Simba's so worn out over this execution." Tama said. "He's a criminal, it should be fine."

"I know my mate better than anybody. He can't stand the thought of killing somebody who isn't trying to kill him." Nala whispered. "I just want him to calm down. I hate seeing him torn up like this."

"Well, you know what could really help him unwind?" Tama whispered, looking at Nala.

Nala paused for a moment, waiting for her answer. "...Well? Spit it out." She whispered.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you, Nala?" Tama asked.

Nala still waited for an answer.

"I'm saying, maybe you should give Simba a 'Good Time' tonight, if you understand what I mean." Tama suggested.

"Tama!" Nala whispered.

"I'm just saying, Nala! Whenever Tojo's worked up about something, it seems to help."

"Look, Tama, even if I were considering that, Simba wouldn't be in the mood. Think about it, he has to kill somebody tomorrow. Sex probably isn't at the top of his mind."

"But it can't hurt. Just saying."

Nala sighed and went back to eating, still concerned over her husband's behavior.


"Simba, I know you're worked up over tomorrow's execution. Shit, you wouldn't hurt a fly, I know that." Joseph said.

"Do you really think that's going to help him?" Kovu said.

"Shut up, Kovu. Anyway, I'm offering to do the execution in your stead." Joseph stated.

"Look, Joseph..." Simba started. "What would the animals in this land think if their own king couldn't execute a criminal? I don't want them to see me as weak. I want to be able to do this."

"But you don't want to have to kill somebody, Simba." Joseph interjected. "Look, if you really are intent on carrying out this execution, let me tell you that it doesn't have to be done out in the open. I asked Zazu earlier today, and he said that the cave that Baba Nguvu is currently being guarded in is the cave that he will die in as well. Nobody will see the execution. Don't feel guilty."

"And how could I not feel guilty, Joseph?" Simba asked. "How could I?" There was a pause in the room for a moment. "Look, I know you humans would have no trouble wi-"

"You think I don't have trouble with this!" Joseph exclaimed. "My father was killed in an execution. He killed somebody. I didn't understand it then, and it still eats at me now. But my job is to enforce the law of the Pridelands."

A pause fell over the room.

"Now, while you're going on about 'the way humans do things', I can tell you about a way to make you feel less guilty. In human society, whenever there is an execution, there are three executioners. Only one of them has the device that can actually kill, and the other two have fakes. Nobody knows which one is which, so that nobody can point fingers on who killed. If I can go out and gather some straws today, whoever out of us pulls the shortest straw will have to do the killing. But nobody will know which one out of me, you, or Kovu it is. Does that sound good?"

Simba thought over that for a moment. "Kovu..."

"Yes, sir." Kovu responded.

"Grab Zazu and tell him to change the execution laws..."


"Your last meal, as requested." Vitani recited in front of Baba Nguvu. "One Zebra leg. Enjoy it, criminal."

With that, she began to walk out of the cave.

"Have you ever been in love, dear?" Baba Nguvu asked, stopping her in her tracks.

"Excuse me?" She curtly responded.

"Love, dear." Baba continued. "Have you ever felt it?"

Vitani paused again, staring at the prisoner. Recalling it now, she realized that, no, she had actually never been in love, romantically at least.

Baba went forth again. "It can make you take drastic measures. When my darling was injured in an accident with the Rhinoceros that you later found, I was so heartbroken. I wanted to make sure that nothing, nothing, ever happened to my darling, my girl, the mother of my children again."

Vitani paused, knowing at least a little bit of Baba Nguvu's story now.

"Eat your food, prisoner."


The sun set on Pride Rock, and the cold chill of the night beckoned all the lions and lionesses into the cave, which was now warmed by Joseph's fire. Simba, however, could still get no rest, standing on the promontory of Pride Rock, thinking of Baba Nguvu's family, cubs, and wife. Perhaps, thinking of his own cubs and wife as well. But, the chill of the night reminded him that the deed had to be done. The damage had been mitigated somewhat, and now, there was only a one in three chance that he had to do the deed the next day, but the thought of having to give him the sentence that ended his life still chopped at him.

"Simba... honey?" Nala asked behind him, concerned. "Kion is inside. It's getting late, don't you think?"

Simba sighed. "Yes... just give me a moment" he requested, looking towards the stars that just barely began to shine in the twilight hours.

Nala paused for a moment, considering what to say, and perhaps considering Tama's advice from earlier. "Look, Simba... I understand you're wound up about ordering the execution... I just want you to know that I love you. I love the lion I married, and I love the strong and noble king he has become. Please, don't let this be the thing that you regret. Your queen thinks you're making the right decision."

"Nala... you know I love you more than anything, but-"

Nala cut him off by getting underneath his chin and nuzzling him. "Then why don't you show me, love?"

"Wh- what?" Simba asked. "Did I do something wrong? Did I-"

Nala put her paw to his lips, stopping his speech. "Tama has agreed to take care of Kion for the night. I'll be at the water hole waiting for you, darling" She said, flicking Simba's face with her tail as she walked away.

Simba paused, the offering that Nala gave finally starting to sink in. "I'm right behind you, Nala" he finally said after a few seconds, a small grin on his face that his wife would give him some much needed attention on this long night.


Simba stood alone in a vast Savannah, beholding before his paws a corpse. The corpse of a Cheetah.

He snapped his eyes away to avoid looking at it, until he saw three small cubs standing in front of him.

"King Simba?" One of them, a small girl asked.

"Fuli?" He responded, knowing her name from meeting her previously.

"What did you do to my daddy?" Another one asked.

Snapping behind him again, the corpse reanimated and began chasing him. He ran as far as he could before cornered in the elephant graveyard with none other than his own son, Kion.

"Daddy, help!" Kion yelled before being separated from Simba by hyenas. That was the last straw before Simba burst into the pack of hyenas to save his son. But he did not succeed in his efforts for long until one clawed him in the face.


Simba awoke with a start next to the water hole, panting heavily, clearly having suffered a brief night terror.

"Simba? Simba, honey, are you okay?" Nala frightfully asked "Did you have another nightmare?"

"Well... I... you don't want to hear it, honey." Simba explained.

Nala immediately nuzzled him. "Simba, I love you. I want to know what's troubling you. Heck, I just gave you the night of your life so that maybe you could relax a little bit. Now tell me what happened."

Simba explained the brief nightmare, start to finish, explaining with vivid detail the terror and pulse-pounding horror that he saw in the corpse, the guilt of seeing the three cubs, the painful flashbacks of the hyenas, and the raw anger of seeing them trying to attack his son.

"...So, that was what happened." Simba said for a moment before a few tears streamed down his eyes. "I'm sorry, Nala. I'm sorry you have to deal with a husband who can't seem to go a week without having some sort of night terrors. I'm sorry you have a husband who you have to comfort back to sleep on nights like these... Honey... I'm sorry."

"Look at me, Simba!" Nala said, pinning Simba below her. "I'll admit, it's hard some nights. But not because I have to take care of you when you have these nightmares." Nala leaned down and licked her mate on the cheek. "It's because I have to watch the lion I love most in my life to suffer through all this pain and relive and reopen painful wounds in what should be a time of rest." Nala hugged Simba, leaning into his thick red mane underneath the moonlight. "I want to see you happy, Simba."

The pair of lions, madly in love with each other, but not without problems, fell asleep under the moon that night in each other's warm embrace, trying to enjoy what little time they had left together before the long day that laid ahead of them.


Q and A Time:

Guest asks: Do you plan on having a chapter where Joseph shows Tojo the effectiveness of his rifle?

I reply: No. Part of what I'm trying to achieve with this story is taking out the flaws that usually are written into a "human in the Pridelands" story. Things like the human having some sort of military training (I know that Joseph is in the guard, but he really is playing his command role by ear entirely, and he knows it. I mean, I've seen this achieved pretty well only once.), or the human being stranded in the Pridelands at a very young age, or the human transforming into a lion, etc. etc. I feel like the whole "this is my boomstick" chapter tires out pretty quickly. Besides, we have to assume that Ammunition is now very limited for Joseph, and that lions already know about what guns do based on poacher stories.

So no, there will not be much more gunwanking in this story. I love guns, too, but it's not the focus of the story. It's the human element.

FNAF Spambots ask: Will you be including the FNAF animatronics?

I reply: No. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you guys?