Saving the Pride Lands

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Here is my latest Lion King story – check out my stories "Blue Nights" and "The Younger Brother" if you haven't already. I don't know how long story this will be; it will all depend on the reviews. So please read and review and let me know what you think!

Summary: After Scar takes over the Pride Lands, Sarabi may be the only lion to hold the key to saving the Pride Lands. Will it be enough to save them all? AU, please review.

Sarabi didn't know if her body was shaking from losing both Mufasa and Simba, or from fear as the hyenas took over Pride Rock.

She barely had time to properly grieve her mate and son, before Scar announced that he would be assuming the throne and allowing the hyenas into the Pride Lands. Sarabi kept waiting for herself to wake up, to discover that this was all just one terrible nightmare and everything would go back to normal.

But she was very much awake and nothing would ever be the same again.

"Sarabi, let's get you inside," Sarafina whispered, trying to remain as stoic as she could for her best friend and her daughter, who was crying between her legs.

"I can't go in," Sarabi cried, her voice full on angst and longing, trying to zone out the sounds of the hyenas cackling around Pride Rock. Nala scurried to Sarabi and nuzzled her leg.

"I know you're sad Sarabi, but we will make you feel better," Nala said through her tears, growing up before their eyes.

Sarabi's heart broke for the young cub. She and Mufasa used to daydream about the day Nala and Simba would come to their senses and recognize their feelings for one another and become mates. She knew that Mufasa would've been a wonderful grandfather. It broke her heart all over again to realize that she and Mufasa would never be grandparents together.

Trying her hardest to smile, Sarabi gave Nala's head a gentle pat.

"You're sweet, young one. Sarafina, take Nala and the rest of the pride in the den. I need to be alone right now," Sarabi said, her voice hiccupping from her tears.

Sarafina wanted to object, but stayed silent. Having lost her own mate to an unknown disease while she was pregnant with Nala, Sarafina understood what Sarabi was going through. She knew Sarabi couldn't be reasoned with, especially in grief. All she could do was support Sarabi and help her heal, as best as she could.

Nodding, she nudged Nala towards the den, shielding her from the snickering hyenas. The other lionesses followed behind Sarafina.

Sarabi felt like she and the ground had become one, the way she was unable to move. She watched as the hyenas raced into the den, no doubt trying to intimidate the lionesses away. This couldn't be real.

Just that morning, she and Mufasa had woken up beside each other. After a nuzzle, they had gone to the watering hole before Mufasa left to do his patrols with Zazu. Just that morning, Sarabi had given Simba his bath before letting him run off to play. Her world had been perfect that morning.

Now, her world was broken beyond repair.

Wiping away her tears, Sarabi turned away from Pride Rock and began to walk away. Pride Rock had always been a symbol of home to her. Now, it was just a stark reminder of everything she had lost.

Sarabi had only taken a few steps when suddenly Scar had leapt in front of her, startling her. His eyes were sharp and menacing. It made Sarabi shiver.

"And just where do you think you are going?" Scar sneered at Sarabi, the smirk on his face making her stomach turn uneasily. It took every ounce of strength she had to no blatantly grimace at him.

"There's somewhere I need to be," Sarabi answered curtly as she tried to continue walking on. She was stopped by Scar once more, who had jumped back in front of her. Scar was now face to face with her, the scar above his eye in clear view.

"Not anymore, you don't! I am the king now and I've made some new rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes, Sarabi, rules. A curfew for you lionesses is now effective immediately. Once the sun has set, no lioness is allowed to leave Pride Rock. Or else there will be a price to pay," Scar seethed, trying to instil fear in his brother's mate. But Sarabi remained stoic and defiant.

"You may be the king now, Scar, but I am still the queen. I will do as I please and I dare you to try and stop me," Sarabi hollered as she ran past Scar and into the savannah.

Scar had tried to chase after her, but Sarabi was simply no match for him. She was the fastest lioness in the Pride Lands and Scar did not have the same strength and as his big brother.

With a low growl, Scar retreated back into Pride Rock, where he would assume his brother's spot on the bedrock and remind the others that he was now the king. Tomorrow would be a big day for him.

Sarabi ran faster than she ever did before, not even slowing down to catch her breath. She was determined, a quality that Mufasa loved her for. Sarabi felt her heart racing, and it wasn't fully from the run.

Much quicker than she was anticipating, Sarabi arrived and she stopped running with a halt. She stood at the edge of the gorge. It looked vast and bleak in the darkness of the night. Swallowing hard, Sarabi found the nearest ledge and began to slowly make her way down into the gorge.

Once in the dusty and empty gorge, Sarabi trotted on carefully, not fully knowing what she could anticipate seeing. It had been a forbidden area, but predators were known to hide there at night. And the Pride Lands couldn't afford to suffer another loss.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw it. The broken tree. Her beloved Mufasa lying under it…dead. She couldn't see Simba's body anywhere near, and ultimately assumed the worst about what could have happened to his physical body. Her lips trembling, Sarabi tiptoed to the broken tree.

Nearing Mufasa, Sarabi could make out his face in the darkness. He looked how he did when he was sleeping. Serene, calm and just…Mufasa. Maybe he was just sleeping. Maybe Scar was wrong. Her mate and son couldn't be dead. Maybe Mufasa and Simba were playing a practical joke on her.

Bringing her head down to Mufasa's, Sarabi quickly understood that this wasn't a joke.

Mufasa was dead. He was not coming back. Unable to control herself, Sarabi wailed loudly and her legs collapsed beneath her.

Sarabi felt like the gorge she and Mufasa were in, vast and hollowed out. Maybe she wasn't the gorge. Maybe she was quicksand, only impossibly deeper and assuredly empty. No Mufasa there. No Simba. No life. Gone. Gone. Gone. Maybe she was both. Or maybe she was a thunderstorm—loudly inconsolable, pelting tears, taking up more space than she ever had before.

"Mufasa…" Sarabi tried to say but her sobs robbed her of her voice.

Mufasa couldn't be dead. He had been a part of her life since she was a young cub. She and her mother had fled her abusive father and found refuge in the Pride Lands. Just a few years younger than Mufasa, Sarabi became friends with the young prince. Though, Sarabi had developed feelings for him not long after.

Sarabi remembers feeling like she could've been knocked over with a feather when she found out that Mufasa wanted to take her as his queen. He had promised her the day before his coronation that he would always love her, that their family would always be his main priority and that she would never feel alone.

Now, Sarabi felt more alone than she ever had before.

Her body racking with sobs, she moved towards Mufasa's body and she cuddled into him, the way they did every night when they would go to sleep. Already Sarabi longed for the way Mufasa would lick the top her head, how gentle his breathing got when he fell asleep and the way he would hold her closer into him whenever Sarabi would move away from him in her sleep.

Mufasa knew everything about her and she knew everything about him. Neither of them believed in keeping secrets from each other.

But there was one secret that Mufasa did not know about Sarabi. It was a secret she meant to tell him that night, had he and Simba not been in the gorge.

Pushing his matted mane away from his face, Sarabi gently licked his cheek, blindly hoping her love would revive Mufasa. Tears continued to fall from her eyes as Sarabi nestled into Mufasa's mane.

"Mufasa…I'm pregnant."

To be continued…?

So…should I continue writing? Tell me in a review and we shall see!