Early in the morning, Nala awoke, and saw her mother.
Nala just remembered what happened last night.
"I'm sorry, mother." Nala apologized.
Sarafina closed her eyes, and shook her head.
Sarafina opened her eyes, and looked at her daughter.
"Nala, since you have been through so much last night, I'll ground you for a week." Sarafina said.
Nala's ears flattened against her head, she lied on the cold floor of the den, Nala covered her eyes with her paws.
"You shall not play with Simba, until the week ends." Sarafina said.
Nala cried loudly, she fell asleep soon after that.
Sarafina did not want to ground her daughter, but she had no choice.
Mufasa walked over to Sarafina, he said her name gently.
Sarafina wiped away her tears, and looked at Mufasa.
"I'm sorry, Sarafina." Mufasa said.
Sarafina glared at him, and growled.
"If you would only be a bit harder on teaching Simba to listen to you, Nala would not be grounded!" Sarafina exclaimed.
Mufasa shook his head, he sighed.
Sarafina ran out of the den, while crying.
He ran after her, Mufasa called out her name.
She stopped running at a waterhole, Mufasa slowed down.
"Sarafina?" Mufasa said.
She slammed the ground with her paw, and sighed.
"Why don't you love me?" Sarafina asked, looking in his eyes.
Mufasa scoffed.
"Sarafina, I know you want to be my mate, but I can't." Mufasa replied.
She glared at him, she is hurt and confused.
"If you truly loved me, Simba would be my son, not Sarabi's." Sarafina said.
"I had no choice, if I refused to be Sarabi's mate, I would be exiled." Mufasa said.
Sarafina gasped, she was heartbroken.
"You never did love me, did you, you're so self-centered, I hate the fact that you're the father of Nala." Sarafina said.
What Sarafina said, pierced his heart, Mufasa winced.
"Sarafina, I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you, the truth is, I only see you as a friend." Mufasa said.
Sarafina sighed, she looked at her reflection, she remembers that this was the very same waterhole, that Mufasa has made love to her, and Nala was created.
"I'm sorry too, my friend." Sarafina replied.
Meanwhile inside the den
Nala woke up, and was going to call Simba's name, but remembered that she is grounded.
Tojo walks up to Nala, he nuzzles her.
She backs away, "Leave me be, please." Nala pleaded.
Tojo frowned, and left her alone.
days have past and Nala is no longer grounded.
Nala is in the den, she shivered, it was very cold in the den, Nala wants to find out why.
she walked to a sleeping Simba, and nudged his rump with her muzzle.
he groaned, "Baby hippo has my meat." Simba said in his sleep.
Nala giggled, and licked his nose.
He opened his eyes, and saw Nala smiling at him.
Simba smiled back, and got on all fours slowly.
"Simba, let's go outside and play." Nala said, jumping up and down.
Simba smiled and ran out of the den, as soon as he went outside, everything turned white.
Nala ran toward him, and accidently crashed into Simba.
He went sprawling on the white stuff.
Small white floating flakes, were all over the place, one snowflake landed on Nala's muzzle, she licked it off.
The white stuff was very cold, Nala nor Simba have seen anything like it.
Nala looked at Simba, he swallowed the white stuff, he began to shake violently.
Nala walked toward him, and put her body against his, her warmth was warming him up.
Simba stopped shaking, and smiled at Nala.
"Nala, I'm sorry that I put you in danger, I could have lost you, I'm glad you're still alive." Simba said.
Nala smiled warmly.
"Simba, let's not talk about this, I just want to be with you." Nala said softly.
Nala looked at the horizon, and saw the sun rising, she gasped in awe.
"Simba, look at the sky, it's so pretty." Nala said, smiling.
"Not as pretty as you." Simba said warmly.
Nala stopped smiling, and stared at her best friend.
"What?" Nala asked.
"You're way more prettier than the sky." Simba replied.
Nala blushed, and nuzzled him, he nuzzled her back.
The two cubs stopped nuzzling, and looked out at the horizon.
Nala turned her gaze to Simba, "Simba, I love you... as a best friend." Nala said softly.
Simba smiled warmly at Nala, "I love you too, Nala... as a best friend." Simba replied.
Simba wrapped his arm around Nala, and the two cubs returned their gaze to the horizon.
The snow around the two cubs began to melt slowly.
To Be Continued...
I dedicate this chapter to all my fellow Nala buddies, "Acting-Singing-Bella" thought of "Nala buddy" a "Nala buddy" is someone who likes Nala the lioness. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.