A/N: Hey, look who's back! It gets better from here on out, I'm taking Lent to think through all the plots of my stories so I can end a few and start another!

I know I said I'd post after Lent, but I'm so happy to have finished the chapters early that I wanna post now!

Chapter 14 – Paradise

Nala forgot her hunger as morning dawned again. With Ramenai, Zanat, and the rest of the pride close behind, she stalked across the sands toward the faint smell of grass.

"Pace yourselves!" she heard Ramenai tell the others. "We've still got a ways to go."

"What do you mean?" Nala asked. "Can't you smell how close it is?"

He lifted his head to check the air. "The desert plays tricks on us always, Nala. Remember that."

They continued on in silence for awhile.

Finally Zanat accosted her again. "Nala," he said slowly, "What are you going to do when we get to the oasis?"

She considered, noting the compassion in his voice. "Well, I'm not very sure yet. To be honest, I wasn't even sure I would make it this far."

He smiled. "It already feels like you've been with us forever. I wish you could stay here."

Nala looked perplexed. She hadn't thought of the effect she might have on this ragtag group. "Zanat, I… I don't think I could live like this. I'm too used to the life we had back home."

"But you've lived under that regime for years," he argued. "And you had more to eat yesterday than in all the years since Simba died, you said it yourself."

"He's not dead!" she cried out, backing away from him.

"But it was seven years ago," he pointed out. "How would any lion, especially one accommodated to your living, survive out here for more than a couple days?"

"I don't know!" she snarled, suddenly fierce. "But if anyone could do it, Simba could!"

"Calm down, both of you!" Ramenai finally intervened. "We're getting closer, there's no point in stopping now."

Nala gave Zanat a last look before stalking away, trying to hold back angry tears. She privately asked herself why she still clung to the idea that Simba was still alive; even these lions seemed to have given up on him. He is a brother to me, she thought. I can't accept what everyone thinks.

She glanced up from her musings and caught a flash of green on the desert's rocky ground. Adrenaline shot through her like an electric shock and she leapt forward.

"Come on, all of you!" she cried. "There it is!"

Nala stopped at the top of a rise, looking straight into the lushest forest she had ever seen. Ramenai padded quietly up behind her, and she was surprised by his husky tone.

"I really hope you find him, Nala. And if not, well…"

She turned to see him scuffing the ground with a paw.

"You're one of the best friends I've ever had," she said gently. "I would never forget you."

He looked up. "Be careful. You can't trust many animals anymore. If you need us, just come to the edge of the grass and call."

She smiled and licked his cheek. "Thanks for everything, Ramenai."

Zanat butted him out of the way. "What about me?"

Nala laughed. "You too!"

She nudged him playfully and turned back to the greenery of the jungle.

Luck: a small warthog was edging toward a fallen tree, completely focused on a beetle. Nala crouched in the grass, salivating as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. He looked up just as she leaped through the air. With a shriek, he turned tail and ran as fast as his stubby legs would go, Nala right on his heels.

As she crested another small dip, Nala saw that the warthog was stuck under an enormous tree root. She snarled in triumph and leaped again. Unfortunately, so intent was she on securing a meal that she failed to notice the scruffy lion who cleared the root to defend her prize for himself. The arrogant son of an antelope! Nala spat in rage and clawed his mane wildly, all the while trying to figure out where she had seen him before. At first she thought he was one of Ramenai's pride, but they were all a reddish-brown color and his was a golden coat. The other side of her mind didn't care who he was, she just knew she was hungry and he was in her way.

She flipped him with ease, both front paws embedded in his chest fur.

He gasped for breath and she glared at him. Then he did something that caught her completely off-guard. He recognized her.

"Nala?"

Her anger turned to apprehension as she backed away.

"Who are you?"

He grinned sheepishly.

"Nala, it's me… it's Simba."

Her eyes widened, and in an instant Nala recognized him too. The eyes, the careless way his mane hung in his eyes.

"Simba!" she leapt at him again, this time in a frenzy of excitement.

"This is so cool!" he cried, jumping in circles with her. "What are you doing here?"

She stopped. "What do you mean, 'What am I doing here?' What are you doing here?"

A small voice decided to make its presence known at this moment.

"WHAT'S GOIN' ON?"

She glanced down to find a tiny meerkat standing on tiptoe on Simba's paws.

Simba hurriedly made introductions. "Timon, this is my best friend, Nala."

The little animal seemed offended. "Friend?"

"Yeah…" Simba didn't notice, but glanced over his shoulder at the warthog still clamped under the tree.

"Pumbaa, come here!"

Nala smiled in spite of herself. In the excitement, she had completely forgotten that he was still stuck. Luckily Pumbaa dislodged himself without much complaint and waddled over.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said.

Nala laughed. All this and he still remembered manners. "The pleasure's mine," she replied.

"Wait a second!" Timon yelled. "Hold everything! Ok, Simba," he looked up, "you know her, and she knows you. But she wants to eat him, and everyone's okay with this…?"

Simba and Nala glanced at Pumbaa when Timon gestured in his direction, then looked at each other. It was clear that Nala had immediately dismissed the idea of devouring Pumbaa, but Timon had gone spastic.

"DID I MISS SOMETHING?"

In a flash, Nala remembered home. Their pride, the invasion, Taka, Sarabi…

"Wait until everyone finds out you've lived here all along!" she exclaimed. "And what will your mother think?"

Simba shuddered and didn't meet her eyes. "They don't have to know," he said evasively.

Nala shook her head. "Of course they do, they all think you died!"

That turned him around. "What?"

"Well, Scar told us about the stampede…"

Simba stamped his paw impatiently. "What else did he tell you?"

Nala's tail flicked the ground in equal impatience. "What else matters? Simba, since you're alive, you're the king."

"What are you talkin' about?" Timon interrupted loudly. "He's not a king, he's our friend!"

Simba blew out his breath. "No, Timon… she's right."

The little meerkat's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding?"

"I'm still the same," Simba argued.

"Nope," Timon countered. "Now you have power!"

Nala cut in as gracefully as she could. "Could you excuse us for awhile?"

Timon wasn't buying it. He clambered up on Pumbaa's back, scoffing. "Whatever she has to say can be said in front of us, right Simba?"

Simba hesitated. "No, you should probably go."

Pumbaa waddled off into the dense leaves and Nala nuzzled Simba tenderly.

"I've missed you so much!"

"Me, too," he said.

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A/N: I wasn't really sure how to end this chapter, but the rest will be interesting, after all she hasn't told him about Taka yet, so… yeah. I'll leave it at that. Now you have to go leave a review or I won't ever update again. :) jk guys, u kno that by now…

Phantomfreak07