(A/N: So the first two chapters served as an introduction - that's why I got them both up so quickly. This chapter is up quick too, and all of them may be, but don't count me on that. I just wanted to get this story started. It certainly seems to be popular and so I might want to stop here and do something I've realized I don't do as much as I should: thank my reviewers/readers. I like seeing reviews from different people. Don't worry though, I'm not going to start imposing quotas, I feel that that isn't fair on those of you who do review and want to see the next chapter ASAP. Please review though; I like reading them. And of course, constructive criticism never hurts either. Enjoy!)

Morning rose with a throb in Sarafina's side. She began to open her eyes slowly, but then sped up as that small throb suddenly became a giant aching pain in her shoulder. She winced in pain a little, but her eyes had now been open long enough to see a familiar orange cub standing in front of her.

"That's not a pleasant wakeup call, Simba," she said, knowing that he must have rammed into her, causing the aching sensation she was now experiencing.

"Sorry," replied Simba, although he was still smiling. "Come on though, it's time to go!"

"Go? Go where?"

"I don't know," replied Simba, running back outside the cave.

"Hey, hey, slow down, Simba," called Sarafina, rubbing her eyes. "Wait up."

"Come on, Aunt Sarafina," called Simba back into the cave.

Sarafina sighed and got to her feet, making her way towards the cave entrance and the outside.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Simba, running around on the rock outside now.

Sarafina smiled and shook her head. She prepared to close her eyes to block out the light as she left the cave, but was surprised to find out that it was unnecessary. The sun was barely even up yet. In fact, judging by its current position, it had probably only risen two minutes ago.

Sarafina frowned. "You're up early, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he replied. He laughed. "It gives us more time to play this way. Nala's usually up early too, though."

"She is, but she usually lets me stay asleep for a little while. I tell her that she can come out here, but that she can't leave Pride Rock unless I'm with her."

"She's lucky. Mom insists on being with me as soon as I leave the cave. Now come on, let's find someone to play with!"

Sarafina chuckled. "Simba, everyone's still asleep."

"Then we'll wake them up!"

"I don't think that's a good—"

Simba gasped. "I know who we can play with!" he exclaimed, before running down the steps of Pride Rock that led to the ground.

"Whoa, whoa, Simba! Wait up!"

Simba was already halfway down the steps by the time Sarafina had even began walking down them, but she knew today was going to require a bit of exercise on her part. She smiled and tried her best to maneuver herself as quickly as possible. Simba wasn't going anywhere without her. She'd be okay. However, she then begun to get concerned as Simba took a left turn and began to run around the back of Pride Rock. He wasn't going to the back den, was he? He wasn't going to see…

Sarafina gulped. "Um…Simba…slow down."

Simba did as told. "Hurry up!" he said back, beginning to get a little frustrated.

"Who are we meeting?" she asked.

"Uncle Scar!" Simba replied.

Sarafina suddenly felt really cold. She shuddered. "Simba…your Uncle Scar and I…we don't really get along too well."

"Well I can introduce you to him."

"Oh, I don't need an introduction. He knows me, but that's not the problem."

"Well he's always been okay with my parents…I think," added Simba, now trying to think back to any time that Scar hadn't been nice to his parents. Anyone less oblivious than Simba would have realized that the last such time had probably been yesterday, the day before that, and any other day of the year, but Simba had a different idea. Suddenly, a light bulb switched on in his head. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "I've got it! What we need to do…is I'll just tell him that you're my mom! He's always been okay with her."

Sarafina laughed. "Simba, I don't think it quite works that wa—"

"Come on!" Simba exclaimed, before Sarafina could finish her sentence.

Sarafina shook her head, but followed less hesitantly this time. For some reason, the idea that Simba had a plan now, reassured her a little.

Unlike Sarafina, Sarabi was awoken to a pain she was used to. She smiled and looked back over at her mate, who had just given her a little love bite on the ear.

"Good morning love."

"Good morning," replied Mufasa, smiling back at her. They nuzzled each other. "Why are we sleeping with Nala, now?"

Sarabi laughed. "It's a long story. Basically, Sarafina and I have swapped cubs for the day."

"And why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Cos I was asleep when you got back last night, and you didn't wake me up. But now, you are informed."

"Hmm," replied Mufasa. Their entire conversation so far had been carried on in friendly tones to one another. Mufasa's tone was still friendly as he added: "I thought you liked Sarafina."

Sarabi laughed again. "Is it some kind of ungodly torture that I have whipped up on her by forcing her to take care of Simba for the day?"

"I'd say so," replied Mufasa. "It looks like she took Nala too."

Sarabi frowned and looked back over her shoulder. Suddenly her eyes grew. She was shocked. How could she had not noticed that Nala had disappeared? It was highly probable that Sarafina had just taken her own cub, but what if that wasn't or hadn't been the case? Was she really that irresponsible? She got up onto all fours but tried to not panic. She turned back to face her mate, who despite all the confusion, didn't seem to be too perplexed.

"I'm just going to make sure," explained Sarabi, before making her way out of the cave. "Nala," she called as she stepped outside and looked to the left. "Nala," she called again, a little louder this time as she looked to the right.

Gods…I need to be sure. I need to find Sarafina. Where would she take the cubs?

"Sarab—eh…I mean, Mom?"

Sarabi looked back over towards the left and gave a huge sigh of relief as she saw Sarafina's young cub perfectly alright.

"Phew…sorry about that, Nala. I thought I'd lost you," she said, walking up to her.

"Oh no, I was just outside, here," replied Nala. "Aunt Sarafina always lets me go outside in the morning, providing I stay on Pride Rock. That way she gets to stay asleep longer."

"Really?" replied Sarabi, eyebrows raised.

Nala nodded.

Sarabi sighed. "Well…I guess you don't mean no harm. The problem is, is that's not how our mini family works. When Simba leaves, either me or Mufasa is always with him."

Nala gasped. "Can I call Mufasa, Dad?"

"I don't see why not."

"Yay, I get to have a dad!" exclaimed Nala, before running right passed Sarabi and back inside Pride Rock.

Sarabi was quick to follow, just so she could see the amusing spectacle.

"Dad!" Nala exclaimed, running up to Mufasa.

"Hmm?" commented Mufasa, as he opened his eyes and looked at Nala, slightly bewildered.

"You're my dad for the day!" said Nala gleefully, once again.

"Yes, I suppose I am," replied Mufasa, smiling. Nala hugged his mane, and Mufasa looked up at his mate. "You got her calling me 'Dad?'"

Sarabi just smiled and shrugged.

"Mom," addressed Nala, turning back around. "Can we spend all day playing with Dad?"

Sarabi shook her head. "Sorry Nala, but this isn't a game. This whole thing is only designed because of that bet you had with Simba. It's about which mother is stricter, not is Sarafina stricter than me and Mufasa as a whole. Hardly any of Simba's punishments are given by Mufasa. I'm the evil venomous forked-tongue fire-breathing one."

"Perfect description," added Mufasa.

Sarabi rolled her eyes and Nala giggled.

"Besides," Sarabi added, changing the subject, "today is one of Daddy's land-inspection days, where he has to do a thorough inspection of the borders rather than just passing by them. He does it every twenty days."

Mufasa groaned as his response.

"Now," continued Sarabi, "Nala, if you want to go back outside, I'm going to have to go with you."

"That's okay," replied Nala, and she began to make her way back to the cave entrance.

Mufasa chuckled. He was still lying down in his sleeping spot.

"What?" asked Sarabi, as a response to his chuckle.

"So Sarafina's used to having a few minutes of extra sleep while Nala just stays on Pride Rock?"

"From what I've heard, yes."

Mufasa chuckled again. "Couldn't have been a pleasant wakeup call for her this morning then."

(A/N: Thanks for reading! Remember, if you push that big green button right under this, somewhere, somehow, someday, someway, a child's dream will come true. You can also do the same thing by making a donation to a local charity, but pushing the big green button and reviewing this story wouldn't hurt either.)