A/N- Ok guys a couple of things here. First off Mheetu (Nala's little brother) is in this chapter, he's a semi-canon character, PM me for more info if you need it. Also I've decided to split this story into three separate ones, this section (Cubhood) is now complete. Be on the lookout for the next part as a separate story. Thanks for reading don't forget to review please!

Unneeded Lessons

Tears that fall,

but never reach the ground.

Wiped away by the angry hand

who curses at their weakness.

The tears will stop-to show their strength-

but the heart will continue to cry.

As the sun set the towering peak of Pride Rock glowed a brilliant orange, capturing the slanting rays arcing across the savannah sky. Near the structures' base the rambunctious cubs of the pride bounced around happily in play. Nala and the others practiced their stalking around their mothers, leaping over the back of one to pounce on the tail of another. Laughing, Sarabi, Sarafina and the other females would twitch their tails out of the way at the last minute, though they sometime fell victim to another cub lurking in ambush just out of sight.

"Gotchya!" Squealed a brown male as he pounced on Sarabis' tail. But the Queen flicked it out of reach and the small cub lost his footing and rolled head over heels into the side of another lioness. "Oww!" Rubbing his head the youngster grumbled to his friend "Soma! How did you miss that one?!" Sarabi's tail was only inches from the end of the other cubs' nose, but he hadn't noticed he was staring so intently at the horizon.

"Scar's back," came Soma's confused response. "And…" he paused and squinted against the setting sun, "Something feels wrong…" Scar wasn't a favorite of any of the cubs, but something about the way Soma spoke make Nala pause and turn to look at the approaching lion. The dark of night was just far enough along that only Scars' outline was clear from this distance. His head and tail drooped and the slow steps held none of his usual malcontent nature.

Concern on her face Sarabi rose and padded out to meet him. "Scar are you ok? Where's Mufasa? And Simba?" Ever so slowly the black maned head rose so those green eyes met the gaze of the queen.

"Mufasa and Simba…they…" Nala heard the quaver in the red lions voice from where she sat and a shot of fear suddenly iced her veins. Straightening himself up Scar seemed to gather his courage and finished. "The king and the prince…are dead."

The rest of dusk flew by, Nala had no clear memories of what occurred, and everything was a blur. She clung close to her mothers' side, and was silent. She was utterly in shock. The lioness milled around in fear, many crying, some merely sitting in a silence that sent shivers down the young cubs spine. Unable to stand it anymore she crawled over and curled up tight against one of his mothers' front legs as Sarafin stood comforting the queen.

"Oh baby," Sarafina murmured sympathetically, suddenly remembering her daughter dropping her head to give her a comforting lick. "I'm so sorry." Nala just cried.

"I can't believe mom let us come out here on our own!" Mheetu crowed happily a few weeks later, energetically leaping up and scrambling his way to the top of the rocks the pride called five stones. "I thought she was gonna treat us like babies forever!" The yellow cub continued, standing tall as he reached the summit and looked down at his sister.

"She might still try," Nala commented, choosing a slightly easier path up the smooth rock before joining her brother on top. The little lioness paused and took in a deep breath, the familiar scent of the savannah flooding her. Simba, she thought suddenly, a pang of sadness hitting her in the gut. The last time I was here it was with you…and that will never happen again. Unbidden tears sprang to her eyes, the all too familiar warm wetness dripping down her cheeks.

"You're crying again?" Mheetu's familiar voice jerked her roughly to reality. "Nala, you're my sister and I love you but you need to get over it," the yellow cub told her bluntly, though his expression was far more sympathetic.

"Shudup Mhee!" Nala yowled furiously, the fuel of sadness instantly kindling anger. Her face a mask of fury the little lioness leaped at her smaller brother, ramming into him and sending both of them rolling to the ground. "DON'T…YOU…oof…EVER…rawr…," she growled and grunted at they bounced on the short slide to the ground, finally landing in the savannah grass with Mheetu pinned to the ground. "EVER!" she shouted again for emphasis, "tell me that I can't miss Simba. Understand?" She growled the last part furiously, spittle landing on her brothers muzzle while he stared up at her in astonishment.

"Understand?" Nala hissed again, reluctantly getting off Mheetu when he nodded. Still fuming the little lioness turned away from her awestruck brother, stalking off a few paces and furiously rubbing her tears away with a front leg.

"Nal?" Mheetu called after her quietly, cautiously twisting his neck to one side a little to see her better. "I'm sorry…I didn't really mean it…Sorry," Nala ignored him, sniffling once as she fought back a fresh wave of tears.

I shouldn't have done that, she criticized herself. I knew Mheetu didn't mean it. Her pride wouldn't let her face the other just yet though, instead she resolutely sat with her back to him, listening intently as Mheetu sighed and then wandered a few steps before laying down with a grunt and becoming silent. It's his own fault for being so frank, she growled mentally, trying to justify her earlier outburst. Again Nala felt the overflow of tears brimming in her eyes and threatening to overflow.

No! she growled, slamming her eyelids shut and shaking her head furiously. No…Simba wouldn't want me to cry, she thought, casting a quick glance over a shoulder at her pouting little brother. Things aren't good with Scar as king, I can't make things harder on everyone. Resolutely the little lioness swallowed her sadness, straightening up and turning back to her brother. I've got to help instead, and that means no crying. I'm not a cub any longer, I can't act like one. Mheetu saw her turn around, and he frowned before curling up in a tight ball and refusing to look at her. Nala sighed, Guess I better start by apologizing.

A/N- Sorry if the ending was kinda cliche but I really wanted to get this chapter up and couldn't really get it to work. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it!