AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is one of the darkest fics I've ever written.

It is based almost exclusively on the 1994_2004 film series. The only addition is Kion of course from The Lion Guard, and a crossover of Shere Khan from The Jungle Book 1967. The work title is from Lioness by Beckah Shae.

Trigger Warning: This work includes non-graphic rape by Scar (not Simba). Rated M, not R.


i'm not a cub no more

i've grown into a lioness and i'm 'bout to roar

all these wars have only made me

better, stronger, tougher


Nala is ablaze.

In the dry spring, a wildfire of need consumes the lioness' body. Her fur itches, and her muscles ache even though she has not hunted in days. The cream feline is perpetually restless, unable to be still for more than a minute. Endlessly, the youthful female paces in the lionesses' den under a tree; after Mufasa's death, they have left Pride Rock to avoid King Scar.

"Are you ill, Nala?" her mother Sarafina asks, worried.

"She is in her first heat," Sarabi pronounces, and the queen dowager's face is solemn.

"Heat?" Nala cries.

"Not so loud!" Sarafina says quickly. "Scar might hear you!"

"I am not ready to-" Panicking, Nala claws at the tree to vent her fear. The wood shreds under her sharp nails. "To-"

"Even I will admit you are no longer a cub," Sarabi replies. "You are a lioness now. But I swear we will protect you from the king."

Nala thanks the Great Kings of the Past above that Scar is away. There is a border dispute in the north. After being driven out from his jungle, a tiger named Shere Khan is trespassing on the Pride Lands. Scar takes a unit of hyenas to defeat the invader. Nala had once dreamed of joining the Lion Guard herself, going into battle like her father Matootaa. But with prey rapidly disappearing, the females need to stay and hunt for the pride. Zira – the unkempt, mangy stranger – is placed in charge by Scar. The rest of the females ignore her and obey Sarabi instead.

Nala has been showing promise as a hunter. But now in heat, she is distracted and unfocused. A gazelle slips from her paws, and zebras escape her with ease. A wildebeest is able to buck her off even when she bites its shoulder. And she almost gets trampled to death by a Cape buffalo.

"Stay behind and keep watch for hyenas," Sarabi finally says to Nala as night falls. "You are not fit to hunt in this state."

"The first day is over," Sarafina adds, nuzzling her daughter's head. "Three more days left of your heat. If the ancestors and Matootaa…" Sarafina sniffs. "If your father Matootaa blesses us from the stars. Then Scar will be gone your entire cycle, and never know. Heats only come once a year."

But Nala sees Zira watching them from the grass.


The second day of her cycle, Nala feels something she has never felt before.

She craves a male lion like water in the desert. Her body desires a mate, and wants to be bred. Nala dreams of Simba returning, wonders what he would look like if he was alive and grown into an honorable alpha.


The third day, Nala can't stop thinking about cubs.

She sees a mother leopard with three cubs covered in rosettes. The leopard nods respectfully to Nala, who is struck by a wish for her own offspring. It hits her like an elephant stampede. A male cub would look like Simba, certainly, with a hint of a red mane and mischievous eyes. But a female cub would look like Nala with fur bright as the sun. Nala imagines her blissful cubs playing in a meadow, as she looks on with Simba at her side.

In her darkest moments, Nala imagines what her cubs would look like sired by Scar.


Late on the fourth night, Nala looks at the dark sky. She thinks she sees her father in the stars.

Everything would be different if Matootaa had survived, if Mufasa and Simba still breathed. Then she could follow her heart, instead of being terrified of her own mating cycle. Court Simba or another handsome young lion, who lets her hunt instead of keeping her in the creche den to look after cubs. Start a pride and raise a family in peace and safety.

But then she smells hyena.

"Well, well, well. It looks as if our little Nala is in heat."

Scar emerges from the darkness. Zira and a few hyenas trail after him, and Banzai's unhinged laughter unnerves Nala as always. But Scar is terrifying, desire in his eyes green as emeralds. "I greatly appreciate you informing me, Zira," Scar continues, "about this delicious development."

"How could you?" Nala hisses to the other lioness.

"I am loyal to Scar first," Zira says haughtily. As if she doesn't know what the king will do.

Scar licks his sharp fangs. "How you've grown, my dear. Nobility in every gene. You've got those ass… ets feminine."

Banzai cackles.

"Without a queen, what am I? A dead end, no line, no descendants, no future. With a queen, I'll have cubs. Immortality will be mine. Come, Nala," Scar orders.

Nala runs like her life depends on it, because it does. The hyenas chase her, but the lioness is quicker. Banzai snaps at her tail. At first she thinks she has escaped, but then Scar lunges out of nowhere and slams into her. "You will come when I call you!" he snarls.

"Scar!" Appalled, Sarabi rushes over. "Let her go!"

"Hyenas!" Scar barks.

Banzai leads the canines and Zira in cornering Sarabi. More of the mob appear, and not even the formidable older lioness can escape thirty hyenas. "Scar, release her!" Sarabi calls.

Scar ignores Mufasa's widow. "It's written in the stars. Be my mate, Nala. Become my queen, mother of my heirs."

"Never!" she hisses.

"Submit to me, or I tell them to kill Sarabi!"

The hyenas move in closer. Zira bares her teeth at Sarabi who declares, "I will gladly lay down my life if you free Nala!"

"No, Your Majesty!" Nala gasps. "I can't let you die for me!"

Zira leaps at Sarabi, sinking her fangs in the older lioness' throat. Sarabi fights back well, but then Banzai and the hyenas swarm her. She struggles, her claws slashing their spotted fur, but she is outnumbered. Blood blooms at Sarabi's neck where Zira's jaws are tight as a crocodile's teeth.

"I accept!" Nala shrieks. "I will be your queen!"

"No!" Sarabi says.

"Let Sarabi go," Scar finally says, and the bruised Sarabi falls to the dirt as her attackers retreat. A nasty wound is on her neck, as if Sarabi is a mere gazelle Zira hunts instead of Mufasa's regal queen.

Scar stands tall. "Come, Queen Nala."

She pins her ears back, tail clamped low to her legs in fear, and slinks after him.

Nala is forced to Pride Rock by the hyena mob snapping at her heels. Scar and Zira take her into the king's den, where she had once played as cubs with Simba. Shenzi gnaws at a bone when they enter, and Nala looks at the female hyena desperately. "Help me, Shenzi, please!"

Shenzi looks between Nala and Scar, aware of what will occur. For the first time, the hyena is conflicted.

"Out, all of you!" Scar hisses. Shenzi gives Nala an apologetic glance before following Zira and the other hyenas.

The king wastes no time. Nala snarls when Scar settles his full body weight on her back. She struggles to no avail, as she can't reach him behind her. He may be smaller than his brother, but the dark-maned lion is still a full grown male. It is hard to breathe with him crushing her. "One way or another, you will be mine!"

She bares her teeth. "Never, Scar. Never!"

His hot breath on Nala's neck makes her shudder in disgust. "Call me Taka," he whispers in her ear.

"Let me go, Scar!"

She desperately tries to crawl away, but his claws sink into her. "I told you to call me Taka!"

And then he bites down fiercely on the back of her neck, to hold her in place. She is not his equal, or even a true mate. She is prey helpless under the predator's jaws, and he could break her neck if he wishes. But instead he pins her to the stone floor, and shoves her tail aside.

The young lioness' roars of agony echo from Pride Rock.


Every step is torture, but Nala forces herself to keep going. She has to leave Pride Rock. She has to.

At last Scar, breathing hard, exits the den with a buffalo leg. He ignores the limping Nala, and leaves with the hyenas. Nala is bruised and battered, covered in claw and teeth marks, missing chunks of fur. She lost track of how often he forced himself on her that night. It is uncountable.

"You beast!" Sarafina lunges forward, but Zira stops Nala's mother. "She is only a cub!" Sarafina wails.

"Her cubhood ended tonight," Sarabi replies.

Zira's eyes narrow. "Step aside! Your days as queen have ended, Sarabi!" There is a note of hurt in Zira's voice that she is not Scar's consort herself. But the wiry lioness with the scarred ear doesn't have enough of a heart to assist Nala.

Sarafina and Sarabi help the battered Nala to the females' tree den. The youngest lioness collapses, every inch of her body shaking so hard she almost vibrates. Her neck is bleeding where Scar had bit too harshly.

Sarabi's eyes are filled with grief. "I am so sorry," she says quietly, and then the queen dowager pads off into the night. Nala overhears Sarabi and her mother as they look at the gorge.

"What can we do?" Sarafina asks.

"Find Simba. My son is our only hope."

"But he died with Mufasa!"

"Perhaps not. Simba's body was never found. He would be grown by now, as strong as Scar. But we can't defeat Zira and the hyena mob without Simba."

"I can't leave Nala to this fate," Sarafina says. "I can't."

"I understand. But I can't stop searching for Simba." Sarabi sighs. "Even though she is now queen, Nala will be too shattered to lead. I leave the pride in your paws, Sarafina. Until we meet again."

"May the Great Kings of the Past watch over you," Sarafina says as all the lionesses watch Sarabi head across the dying savannah.

Sarafina tries to curl around her daughter like she did when Nala was a cub. But her daughter hisses fiercely, extending her claws instantly and hackles raised. "Don't touch me!"

Her mother retreats. Weeping, Nala lets out a tortured, grief-stricken roar.


A week later, Nala takes one look at a lizard which Sarafina killed, and then the young queen vomits. The land begins to die when the rains don't come. Famine looms as the herds depart.

There is no sign of Sarabi or Simba.


After three and a half months, the heavily pregnant Nala pants as if she had raced a cheetah. As she paces, the pain makes her legs buckle and forces her to collapse. She wants to give birth in a quiet den somewhere away from the king, but Scar insists that his heir be born at Pride Rock. Sarafina nuzzles her daughter's head as the other lionesses hover. Zira has been barred from the den by the other females, but Scar watches impassive and stone-faced.

"I can't do this, Mother!" Nala whimpers.

Sarafina licks her daughter's ear. "It is almost over."

"Get on with it!" Scar orders.

Nala bears down with a groan. Surely the cub will split her in two, for Nala is too young and her hips are too small. Abject without hope, she finds herself wanting this to kill her. But she can't abandon her cub.

Azad is bronze like his father, with a hint of a black mane on his head. The cub is presented to the Pride Lands on the day of his birth. Absent ever since Mufasa's death, Rafiki is nowhere in sight. Nala is too exhausted from the delivery that morning to attend the ceremony. But when Zira carries in Azad by the scruff, Nala forces her weak legs to move. When Azad whimpers, Nala takes her son from the other lioness and retreats, curling around the hours-old cub protectively.

"If you touch my son again," Nala snarls, "I will disembowel you, Zira!"

Scar smiles as he strides in. "I am glad to see you defending my heir."

The king leaves to celebrate with a whole hippo the hyenas caught for him, even during the famine. The blind, impossibly small Azad searches for milk. As he drinks from her, Nala thinks what she cannot say. I love you, my son, but I can never love the king.

When Azad's eyes open a week later, the irises are light green like his mother's eyes. She tells herself they are not emerald like his father's. Nala knows she can never leave Scar now. She should have fled before their son was born, but the king will never let his mate and cub go.

She wonders if Sarabi is deceased, as Simba likely has been for ages. Nala wishes she was dead.


Feeding Azad well is the only decency Scar is capable of.

Though Scar doesn't hunt himself, his hyenas bring an endless supply of prey to the prince. There are slain wildebeest, impalas, zebras, ostriches, oryxes, even giraffes. Nala carefully shreds the meat for the teething cub. She is allowed to eat alongside Azad and Scar, to keep her milk flowing for the heir. But when Scar sleeps off the feasts, Nala steals as much meat as she can to give to the other lionesses. They are only allowed scraps by the king. Otherwise, Scar shows little affection for his son. The king spends most of his time devouring kills, disciplining his subjects, and terrorizing the Pride Lands. Azad is a nuisance in Scar's dictatorship.

Now an ally to Scar, Shere Khan visits Pride Rock. The two imposing felines meet on the ledge, and even Nala is struck by the tiger's power. The striped cat is larger than even Mufasa was with massive paws, sharp claws, and strength to take down an elephant.

"Our alliance will benefit us both," Scar says as Azad slips away from his mother.

"Scar, I quite agree," Shere Khan replies.

"Father!" Azad calls.

"Azad, wait!" Nala whispers.

"Father!" Azad repeats, going to Scar. "Will you take me to the-"

"Not now!" Scar snaps with a flash of teeth. Azad flattens to the stone floor, ears pinned.

"Scar, he is only a cub," Nala says.

"Shere Khan, may I introduce Prince Azad and Queen Nala," Scar sighs.

"Your Majesty," Shere Khan says, licking his own muzzle with the same expression Scar once had. The tiger's gaze rakes over Nala. "You have a beautiful mate. The finest lioness I have ever seen."

"She is the fairest of all the pride," Scar says smugly.

The tiger stalks towards her. Nala lifts her chin, trying not to show fear, but she lowers her tail again. Shere Khan sniffs her neck, and it makes her skin crawl. Azad watches the exchange with wide eyes. Then Shere Khan asks, "King Scar, would you mind if I-"

"Alas, the queen belongs to me alone," Scar says. But before Nala can breathe a sigh of relief, he adds, "But there are other very beautiful lionesses in my pride. Take your pick."

"Scar, you can't!" Nala gasps.

"You may have any female you please," her mate continues. "A gift on occasion of our alliance."

Shere Khan's hungry grin is terrifying. "Don't mind if I do."

Nala shields Azad at Pride Rock, and he looks up nervously at the sound of a yowling lioness in the distance. "What is happening?"

Her stomach turning, Nala is silent, for there is nothing she can do any longer. Scar's power is absolute.

The liger cub is miscarried a month later. Tigers are not meant to breed with lions.


When Nala comes into heat again, she no longer has the strength to resist Scar. But tears fall silently down her muzzle the whole time. And her ears lying flat on her skull is becoming habit.

"Tell me I'm adored," he growls as he stalks to her a second time.

"I adore you," she lies in a flat tone, if only to have him finish sooner.

He crushes her again. "You belong to me. You all belong to me!"

She has given up hope on Simba or Sarabi ever returning. This is her life now.


When Azad is all long limbs and large paws he has to grow into, Nala becomes ill again. She sleeps fitfully at Pride Rock, but then Azad rams his head into the swelling curve of her stomach. "Mother, wake up!"

"Azad, no!" she cries, and he retreats, confused. "I am carrying another litter!"

He tilts his head. "What?"

"You will have a brother or sister. I am expecting cubs again."

"Oh. Is that why you are ill?"

She nods. "It is. Go see Grandmother Sarafina." Nala closes her eyes as Azad leaves. But then she hears a roar that is decidedly not her mother.

Nala runs to find Scar brandishing his claws at the cowering Azad. Zira stands by, sneezing at the dark brown hairs on her nose. "How dare you disturb me!" his father bellows.

"I am sorry!" the cub cries.

Nala sees Scar's pelt is damp, and Zira spits out fur. The other lioness has been grooming the king, and doing who knows what else. It means nothing to Nala if her own mate is unfaithful to her, but she will kill Scar if he hurts Azad.

"Leave him alone!" Nala orders, putting herself between Azad and his father. Her body swells with the king's next cub.

"You do not talk back to me!" Scar hisses.

Nala lifts her chin. "He didn't know!"

Azad slinks forward. "Father, I-"

With a roar, Scar slashes his claws at his son. Nala shoves Azad aside, takes the brutal blow to her stomach, and then she hits the stone, hard. It is a gaping wound, and she puts a paw on her bump, terrified. Instead of showing concern for his family, Scar roars, "Never defy me again!"

After that, she takes Azad to spend nights on the savannah far from his father. Nala wakes the next morning with her hind legs and tail covered in blood. The unborn cub is lost.


Late one night, Nala opens her eyes and is certain she is still dreaming.

Simba stands before her. Sarabi and Sarafina are behind him, but all that matters is he has returned. Simba is tall and handsome and brave as she always imagined. He has his father's full red mane and golden pelt, and the same gentle brown eyes. Azad snores softly as Nala gets up.

"Simba?"

"It is me, Nala," he says.

Choking back a sob, she leans into his mane to run her head along his neck. She hears purring, and realizes belatedly it is her. Nala didn't know she could still purr.

"Watch the cub," Nala says to Sarafina and Sarabi. The two older lionesses go to Azad as Nala pads off with Simba.

"What happened?" Simba asks once they reach the watering hole. "My mother said Scar forced you to be his queen."

Nala's head lowers almost to the ground. "He did," she whispers brokenly. She is covered even more scars now, marks given by the mate who claimed to love her. Some of her fur hasn't still grown back, and she is not the pretty lioness she once was.

"I am so desperately sorry. If I had known the hell you endured, I would have returned sooner." He looks back at Azad sleeping. "Is that cub-"

"My son with Scar," she explains. "I hate the king with every bone in my body. But I love my cub, and I would die for him."

"So Scar forced you to…" Simba trails off.

"Yes," she says, tears welling in her green eyes.

"Your son will be protected when I am king. I swear no harm will come to him."

"Thank you," she says seriously. They both know other males kill cubs that are not their own.

"I am going to overthrow Scar," he says with a hint of a growl. "Make him pay for what he did to you."

She lifts her head. "You think I will not have my own vengeance against Scar for his crimes? I will bring him down with you."

Simba leans in, but Nala pulls away before he presses his nose to hers. "Don't. Scar will kill me if I have another male's scent."

"Then I will kill him," he swears.


While they plot the coup, Nala has to pretend like nothing is wrong.

Azad can't know, because he might innocently tell Zira or Scar. Simba stays with Rafiki in the baobab Tree of Life. The queen, Sarabi, and Sarafina plan with the lionesses and speak with the herds equally oppressed under Scar. A grieving mother elephant of a calf killed by the king, promises to join them. Buffalo, gazelles, and giraffes pledge their support. The rhinos declare they want to impale Scar.

But the uprising rests on Nala.

As thunder shakes the savannah, she goes to Pride Rock. Scar is gorging as usual on an ostrich, and Zira tears into the bird at his side. Both cats' muzzles are soaked in blood.

"I have been looking for you, Scar," Nala says in a breathy tone. "Zira, I wish to be alone with my mate."

Zira's eyes narrow. "Now see here!"

Scar laughs. "My queen desires me at last! Go." Spitting bone shards at Nala's paws, Zira sulks away.

Nala forces herself to curl her tail flirtatiously. Her body screams at her to run, to clamp down her tail and hide. But she keep her ears alert, eyes bright, claws retracted, body relaxed and svelte. Yet she still can't manage a purr.

"I have pushed you away too long," Nala continues in a throaty voice.

The king smirks. "I agree."

"I want to make amends, Scar. Show you how much I…" She circles him, running her tail seductively under his chin. "Desire my bold, brave, handsome king."

His breath smells like blood. "About time."

"You are ten times the king that Mufasa was," she lies. "I want to bear more cubs fathered by you alone." She blinks back tears, trying not to react to the memory of her miscarried cub. "Build a dynasty that will never end."

A growl rumbles from Scar's chest. "Stars, my queen. I want to fuck and sire a litter into your womb."

She intentionally lays down facing away from the mouth of the den. Nala has to keep him looking away from the cave entrance. And then she forces herself to raise her shaking tail. Her trembling body starts to betray her, petrified of being mounted by the cruel lion again. Bile rises in her throat. Unable to meet his gaze, she has to look away to choke out the words, "Then what are you waiting for, my king?"

When he covers her body with his, she roars the signal.

The rebel army charges in, led by Simba. Nala slips away from underneath Scar, who turns, and his jaw drops. "Mufasa?"

"Get away from Nala!" Simba roars. The rebels surround Scar and Simba, leaving the male lions in a circle of predator and prey, claws and fangs and hooves and horns.

"Simba, you are alive!" Scar gasps. "My dear nephew, we were all worried for your safety!"

"You took my throne, murdered Mufasa, destroyed the Pride Lands!" Simba hisses. "And you abused Nala in every possible way!"

The black-maned lion grins. "Abused her? You should have seen your little lioness just now. Even out of heat, she was begging me to fuck and sire a litter into her womb!"

And then Simba attacks Scar.

Nala watches as the males fight over her. Scar runs out of the den, and Simba pursues him into the rain. Nala sees them clawing at each other on the ledge. Her claws itch to be used, body poised to spring. But then Scar bites down on Simba's jaw, trying to break the bone. Even if Simba survives, he will starve to death.

Nala lunges before she can think. She tackles Scar and shoves him away from Simba. Scar is many things, but weak is not one of them. He fights back well, but Nala sees red. She is a lioness defending her soul, mother protecting her cub from his tyrant father, queen saving her family. The Pride Lands are as much hers as they are his. After so long, Nala leaps on Scar's back and bites down on his neck. Her claws shred his brown fur, lacerating his skin. He yowls as she slices open his stomach, exposing his intestines.

"Nala!" Simba calls.

She keeps tearing her mate apart. Scar's pelt is covered in blood. His entrails spill out on the stone as he screams, but she has no mercy. Finally she twists his neck, snapping his spinal cord, and Scar falls dead at Nala's claws.

"Nala?" Simba stares at her, hardly able to recognize her with her muzzle drenched in Scar's blood.

"King Scar is dead," she declares. "Long live King Simba."


Nala goes to the watering hole to clean her fur.

She hears grass rustling and whirls, but it is only Simba. "I don't want my cub to see me like this," she explains, and goes back to washing blood from her claws.

"May I?"

She hesitates, but nods. "Yes."

He starts by running his tongue over her shoulder, a less sensitive area of her abused body. It makes her think of Scar at first, though he rarely licked her. But she breathes in Simba's scent, and reminds herself it is his touch, not his uncle.

Simba washes the parts of herself she can't reach - her back, her sides, base of her head. Before she tended to her own wounds from Scar, but now Simba is there to care for her. Yet when he noses the tuft of her tail, she stiffens.

"Nala?"

"You can continue," she says quietly. He is not Scar. This is Simba, this is Simba, this is Simba.

His tongue on the end of her tail is soothing. He only cleans the blood, and does not touch her hindquarters out of respect. Yet her tail reacts, jerking with a thrill that she never thought she could experience. "Simba," she gasps.

"Nala!"

Simba moves away when Sarafina joins them. "Your son wants you," her mother explains.


Simba becomes king. Nala observes the ceremony from below, for she is no longer queen.

She stays away from Pride Rock. This is Simba's reign, not hers, and the place has too many tortured memories. She finds a den in a green hill, and looks after Azad in a home she always wanted. It is nothing like the cold stone of their prison. And imperatively, there is no telling how other animals will react to Scar's son now.

As Simba runs the kingdom, his mother stands in as the queen dowager. Once again, Sarabi leads the lionesses in the hunt. Nala joins them at last, her skills rusty from years of disuse. She stretches her sore legs as she and the females chase a impala herd. Her claws sink into the grass, a cool breeze sweeps over her cream fur, and the blue sky is overhead instead of claustrophobic stone.

But Sarabi begins to tire. Nala sees the older lioness breathing hard, and for the first time, notices the gray on Sarabi's muzzle. Life was hell with Scar, but now Nala can look after the rest of the pride. Think of something other than sheer survival.

"Are you alright?" Nala asks over the herd's hooves.

"Not as young as I once was," Sarabi admits.

Then Simba leaps into the fray, and falls into stride with Nala. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all!"

They run together, and she can breathe at last. A male lion adds brawn to the hunt, but when Simba jumps at an impala, he trips. The target darts away, and Simba falls into a bush. Nala laughs, and then catches the impala with ease. She breaks its neck quickly to spare it pain; not even prey should suffer.

"Well done," Simba says as the other lions join them.

"Your hunting skills need work," Nala laughs again. She can't remember the last time she did.

"You are the hunter, not I," he admits with a smile. There is no jealousy in his eyes like Scar.


"Simba, there is someone I want you to meet."

Azad emerges from the hill den after Sarafina. He approaches Nala and Simba with hesitation. The cub, the very image of his dead father, looks up nervously at Simba. Even Azad knows the danger of being the offspring of a disgraced lion. "My son Azad," Nala explains, and pauses. "Scar's son."

Instead of towering over the cub, Simba lays down in the grass. "Hello, Azad."

Azad bows, flattening himself and taking up the smallest space possible. Nala had done the same around Scar. "Your Majesty, King Simba."

"Call me Simba, please," the lion says. "Looks like your mane is growing in."

Azad smiles shyly. "It is."

"You know," Simba continues, "I need messengers now I am king, to share my decrees in all corners of the Pride Lands. Do you know any swift lions?"

"Me," Azad says as he stands, cowering forgotten. He is thin like Scar. "I am swift."

"Are you?" Simba's eyes shine. "You are rather young to be a messenger. But you could begin training now. Race you to the baobab tree, Azad!"

Azad and Simba run through the tall grass together. Nala watches as the red-maned male lets the small cub beat him to the tree, and she hears her son's laughter. Scar never played with Azad, ever.


"Has anyone given you trouble?" Simba wonders.

Simba and Nala stroll to the watering hole together. She finally agreed to leave the hill den, and move with Azad to the shadow of the great stone. They live with Sarafina below, but Nala refuses to live inside Pride Rock itself.

"Not too often, Your Majesty."

"No need for titles, I am only Simba. But I am glad you are settling in again."

A few elephants bow to him, and he nods in return. Once the herd leaves, the two lions are alone to drink. "Would you consider choosing me as your mate?" he asks carefully.

She almost chokes on water. "Excuse me?"

"I would never force you!" he rushes to say. "I love you, Nala, I always have. You and Azad deserve happiness and safety. I want to provide it."

"I am not ready to-!"

"No! By the Great Kings of the Past, no! That is not what I meant! I am not asking to – breed you! I want to care for you, that is all! Trust me, I would never hurt you!"

She takes a step back. "I… I have to think about it!"

"Nala!" he calls as she runs.


Nala can't avoid Simba forever.

She looks after Azad like always. But despite herself, she finds her gaze drawn to Simba. She sees the new king at Pride Rock, drinking from the watering hole, observing the herd grazing meadows, walking through the forest. Simba treats his subjects with respect, even the few groveling hyenas who dared to stay. He personally goes with the Lion Guard patrols, hunts with the lionesses, sees to his kingdom himself.

One golden sunset, she takes Azad to the river. Her son is slowly being accepted by other youngsters, and the gang of cubs play on the riverbank. Simba approaches as the youths paw a coconut around. Azad bats it straight into Simba's chest, hitting the king, and all the cubs freeze. Then Simba tosses it to Azad, and joins their game.

"Sarabi is aging," Sarafina comments as she comes to Nala's side. "The journey to find Simba took its toll. She can't lead the lionesses forever."

Nala looks at the older lioness. "What are you saying?"

"You have the freedom to choose your own mate now. And you were betrothed to Simba once."

"That was long ago, Mother."

Other lionesses collect their offspring. Before Nala can summon hers, Sarafina calls, "Azad, it is time to go." The elder female smiles at her daughter. "You are allowed to live again, Nala."

Azad trots after his grandmother, and then Nala is left alone with Simba.

"I should go," Simba says after a moment. "I know you do not want me near."

"Wait," she says as he turns to leave. "I do want you near." Her heart pounds. "Would you like to take a stroll with me?"

He sighs in relief. "You do not know how long I waited for you to ask that."

They fall into step as the sun disappears behind the mountains, and the stars appear. Then they see an okapi in the trees. Nala's paws itch to hunt.

"Shall we?" she whispers.

"After you."

The two lions creep through the brush, stalking close to their prey. The target grazes unawares. Then the cats lunge, and the okapi bolts. Nala and Simba run together, stride for stride, and she feels free.

The okapi gets away, and Nala slows. "Let it go. For once, the pride has enough to eat."

"I never want to overhunt," Simba adds, stopping beside her. "The Pride Lands need to be nurtured back to life."

"Thank you," she says.

"What for?"

"Letting me hunt and run and live."

"Why do you think I would stop a lioness from hunting?" he asks with a smirk.

"Scar did."

His smile falls. "Oh."

"He kept me locked away at Pride Rock for ages. It was a prison. My claws wore down from being on stone, and Azad hardly ever felt grass. Scar kept me there to hurt me." She draws a ragged breath, trying not to cry. "It was not only to give him a creche of heirs. To have cubs or not, again and again and again, he would…"

Simba cautiously steps towards her. "I swear on my father's grave, I would never do that to you. I will never hurt you."

She looks at the night sky. "The moon is beautiful."

"You are as well."

She doesn't want to dwell on pain forever. On impulse, she tackles him playfully, and they roll together in the meadow. She lands on top of him, just like when they were young. "Pinned you."

"Pin me whenever you like," he says, gazing into her eyes. "I am yours."

Scar never let her have control in the torture chamber he turned Pride Rock into. But here in the meadow with no roof but the stars, she has control that the new king gives wholeheartedly. She has power over a lion who treasures her, instead of using her.

Nala finally, finally presses her muzzle in a kiss to Simba's, and their tails wind together.


Years later, the queen Nala fondly watches Kiara chase Azad.

The smaller, golden daughter pursues her bronze half-brother. The laughing, carefree cubs have no fear as they play on the Pride Rock ledge. The queen looks down at the third newborn cub between her paws. Kion has a dusting of a red mane, and already is the image of Simba.

Nala looks up as Simba joins her on the stone ledge. It had taken ages for her to be willing to have a cub again, let alone two. And even longer for the queen to agree to live at Pride Rock. At first Simba had lived with her at the hill den, using Pride Rock only for ceremonial purposes. But both Nala and Simba have changed the imposing stone den. It had been cold and harsh under Scar, but now there are soft beds of grass and moss and ferns. Yet even now Nala prefers to sleep outside on the ledge, no matter the weather.

Simba lays down beside Nala. He licks Kion's small ear, and she rubs her head into Simba's mane. She yearns for his touch now, trusting him with every bone in her body. The king and queen's tails entwine as she purrs.

At long last, Nala cautiously allows herself to be happy.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was originally going to have Kopa be Scar and Nala's son. But I didn't want purists to shriek that Kopa was Simba's son (even though Kopa is only just barely considered canon by Disney itself). Azad is from the name Asad, meaning "lion" in Arabic.

The song The Madness of King Scar was of course cut from the 1994 film. But the scene was included in full in the Broadway musical. The highly successful stage show has run for thirty years, so I certainly would not consider the song a "lost, rare scene".