A/N: Chapter two is ready. This one was fun to write, a bit shorter than I planned but it just kind of naturally ended. Hope you enjoy nonetheless. Just a brief note, Taka is Scar. I took the name from Disney Wiki, according to which, Taka is Scar's given name.
Chapter Two: The Night Must End
Emma straddled a kitchen chair watching the boy carefully. There was something about the boy that unsettled her, not that she could admit it. She couldn't read him. He watched them with the same intensity even as Henry finished introductions and attempted to start a conversation.
"Did you live in the Enchanted Forest with Grandma and Grandpa?"
A single shake of the head. "My realm is… different than Misthaven."
"Misthaven?" Henry turned to Mary Margaret.
"Another name for the Enchanted Forest." Mary Margaret said. "Is your realm near Misthaven Simba?"
The boy blinked shook his head. "No Majesty. This is the first I have been beyond our lands."
Mary Margaret nodded. "You can call me Snow, everybody does."
"Thank you Maj- Snow." Simba said. He sighed. "I suppose I should share my reason for asking for your help."
Emma looked over to Henry. They knew what he would say, or at least had a pretty good idea. Simba's story, at least as it was in their world, was one of their most cherished New York memories. New York memories. Emma scoffed inwardly. The whole thing was a mess in her mind. She knew that they were fake, had been planted by Regina for their happiness, but those afternoons nursing a sick Henry with Campbell's and Hakuna Matata playing in the background from the worn DVD player, were as real for the two of them as when she had kissed Henry awake after a faulty apple turnover and broken the curse. So the boy's next words were both expected and a surprise.
"My land is dying. My people believe I killed my own father. I cannot return home."
"It's a boy Your Majesties." The healer held the swaddled child. Queen Sarabi smiled as she took her son in her arms.
"He is beautiful. Look Mufasa."
The king looked at his child, the deep brown eyes, the huge smile, listened to the cries settling as the lad's eyes found his. He was darling. And then as the king finished his inspection, panic set in. Was the child supposed to be so small? The swaddling cloth dwarfed him, much too large even for a newborn. His thoughts drifted to another birth, so long ago, and his throat closed. All he could do was nod as the smile on his face wobbled but never left. This was a joyous occasion. He was a father. It was foolish to let old worry ruin this moment.
The child let out a loud cry that echoed through the entirety of the healer's wing as the healer laughed. "That is quite a roaring cry. The lad will be strong."
"Yes, Simba will be strong." Sarabi smiled as she spoke the name they had decided for a son.
"He will make quite the able king someday." The healer spoke these words with certainty, a certainty that Mufasa couldn't share.
The woman stood still, spear in hand, as she watched the creature's movements. A lioness on the edge of the watering hole, meat for weeks if she played this right. But then, the creature must have heard her, looked up and over right where she was hidden, and what she saw in the lioness' eyes made her drop her weapon with a clatter. She knew those eyes.
"Vitani? It's me, Nala."
The lioness snarled, shaking the water off of her fur and walking over to the brush, sitting on her haunches and stretching forward to sniff Nala's outstretched palm.
"Who did this to you?"
Vitani let out a low growl as she stared the way Nala had come, toward the precipice atop of which sat the palace. Her claws dug into hard, dry, earth as she bristled.
Nala knew immediately. "Taka…" She couldn't wrap her head around it. Sorcery? A responsible king couldn't… wouldn't. How could he waste the magic of the land in this way? Mufasa would have never… not even Simba… She shook her head. She knew, even Vitani knew. But no one else did. Except maybe…
"This way!" Nala picked up her spear, motioning her friend forward. They would find the missing prince. They had to.
It was just before dawn when he awoke. The family had fallen asleep in the living room. He knew he shouldn't wake them, so he stepped carefully around the sleeping woman, Emma. The couple, Snow White and David, and the boy, Henry who seemed to be in the throes of a nightmare. His forehead was lined as he turned giving a low, pain filled moan. The creak of the floorboard under Simba's feet sent Henry's hands flying toward Simba's face as he knelt in an attempt to wake the boy. He gripped the boy's wrists at the same moment his eyes snapped open.
"Wha…?" Henry blinked. "I'm sorry! I… guess I was having a nightmare." Henry sat up as Simba released his wrists.
"It is fine." Simba nodded. "Are you alright Henry?"
He shrugged, tried to smile, but there was none to give.
"Would you care to join me?" Simba nodded toward the window. "I was just going to watch the sun come up."
Henry looked up in confusion as the older boy held out a hand.
"Sometimes… it helps to know it is there."
What neither boy knew as they walked to the window is that Emma Swan was awake and had heard the whole conversation.
A/N: So, what do you think? I'd love to know. Next chapter: Emma, David and Mary Margaret talk and enlist Gold and Belle's help as Henry gets an unexpected lesson from Simba. In flashback, young Simba ventures out to see the kingdom with his father.