(A/N: I must apologize for the delay. Simple reason: writer's bloc. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I'll try to prevent it from happening. I hope as much as you all do that the next chapter will be posted on Monday, but I'm more concerned about the quality of each chapter rather than seeing how fast I can post it. Well, this chapter's here now...enjoy!)
"I had a feeling I'd find you back here," said Sarafina.
Simba stood up from where he'd just been rolling in the mud on the island in the waterhole. "Like my new coat?" he asked, grinning.
Sarafina smiled too and lied down, trying to take it all rather calmly. "I don't, but it's not an eyesore. I can just lie down here and look at it for the rest of the day."
"Aw, you're no fun, Aunt Saffy. Come on, it'll be time for lunch soon! You know I'll come back over there, then. Why don't you try the water now? You might like it."
Sarafina closed her eyes and lied her head down on her paws before replying. "I've tried the water before, Simba. More than once. I've never liked it and most likely never will do. And don't worry about lunch. I'm not getting it for you."
"Ha!" Simba shouted as he threw his head back for exaggeration. Sarafina had expected a reaction like that. "You seriously think my mom would let you starve me?"
"I asked her if I had to get you lunch and she said 'no.' So that's that."
Simba's ears fell, but he tried to retain his confidence. "How do I know to believe you?"
Sarafina tried to prevent her grin from spreading off the sides of her face, so she opened her eyes again and found two small rocks lying to her side. She picked one up in each of her front paws and held them up for Simba to see. From across the water, Simba frowned. He could tell what they were, but he wasn't quite sure what Sarafina had them for. Unless…
"Cos how else would I know that you didn't like this?" she asked, beginning to rub the two rocks together really hard. It didn't make much of a noise. It was kind of a quiet scraping cross repeated banging noise, and Sarafina was not at all bothered by it. For some or no reason though, Sarabi was right: Simba hated it. The future king had placed his head down on the floor and had his two front paws plugging up both his ears, and he now also had his eyes tightly closed.
Sarafina stopped scraping them.
"You don't like that, do you Simba?" she asked, trying to add some authority into her voice.
"No Ma'am," replied Simba, unplugging his ears.
"Well if you want me to stop, you're going to have to listen to me, okay?" asked Sarafina rhetorically, getting up to her feet. "If you want your lunch you're going to have to come back over here, and let me give you a bath. Also, no more lioness jokes – okay? I told your mom about them and she's going to have a word with Scar about it. For now, if you stop saying them she won't punish you, okay?"
Simba let a small laugh escape him. "She can't do anything. You're my mom for the day."
"Oh, I know that. But if you want your dinner, you're going to have to obey that new rule too."
"No more lioness jokes, got it," replied Simba. Sarafina was slightly suspicious as to why he compromised so easily, but before she could think about it, another issue arose. From behind the island Simba was standing on, Sarafina could see two yellow eyes popping out from under the water.
Sarafina felt her heart miss a beat. It was a crocodile. "Simba, get over here," she whispered.
"No," Simba replied proudly. "And keep on asking, it's not going to happen."
"Simba, get over here," Sarafina repeated, in the same frightened tone. She didn't want Simba to look behind him. She knew that would make him panic. Normally with Nala, if Sarafina spoke in this tone of voice, that was a sign for Nala that it was in her best judgment to obey her mother, and Nala would never have to know what the threat had been. However, for Simba it was slightly different.
"Simba, get over here, now!" Sarafina shouted in a voice that sounded angry, although really she was only shouting like that for the cub's own safety.
Simba sighed and jumped back in the water as the crocodile begun walking over the island. It hadn't snapped at him yet. Simba paddled his way over to Sarafina with the crocodile in pursuit of him. Simba was still unaware of its presence, something that didn't bother Sarafina one bit, providing he paddled…
"Faster!" shouted Sarafina.
"Alright! I'm coming, I'm coming," replied Simba, as he finally reached land once again and clambered out right next to Sarafina. Sarafina immediately shoved him out the way and got ready to strike the crocodile as he made his way onto land. Simba stood and shook the water out of his coat, and thus was unable to watch as Sarafina struck the crocodile under its head which flipped the creature onto its back, and then repeatedly slashed at its belly with her front paws, alternating between her left and right feet each time, until finally the crocodile was dead.
Just as the action came to a halt, Simba turned back around and saw the dead creature lying on its back on the land.
"Whoa!" Simba exclaimed happily. "Thanks Sarafina," he said, as he walked up to the dead crocodile and began to eat it.
Sarafina shook her head. "Wait…" she said to herself, "…you were just…and now you're…and I said…and you're…"
"See, you got me lunch after all!" exclaimed Simba, while at the same time helping Sarafina understand her 'mistake.'
Sarafina rolled her eyes and then approached the cub from behind. Simba snarled as he felt something warm and rough once again run across his back.
"I say this worked out quite well, Simba," commented Sarafina, before sticking her tongue back out again and continuing with the cub's bath. Simba rolled his eyes, and then continued to eat.
"I mean, of course Simba would think that you're stricter, Mom, because you have to punish him more because he gets into trouble more."
"Mm hmm," was Sarabi's reply, as she listened to Nala explaining her logical thinking for the fourth consecutive time.
"I mean, by getting into trouble more, you have to punish Simba more, and he just doesn't understand that he's doing anything wrong, so he thinks the reason he's being punished more is because you're stricter."
That was the fifth consecutive.
The two lionesses' peaceful trek across the lands though was soon broken as Mufasa came running up to them, panting.
"Nala, wait here," Sarabi gave as an easy command. She then took a couple of paces forward and stood facing her mate. "What's the trouble?" she asked.
"Get yourself and Nala out of here, Sarabi. Zazu said he saw something here."
Sarabi checked over her shoulder to make sure that Nala wasn't listening in. She wasn't. Instead, she was now preoccupying herself with a butterfly.
"What is it?" Sarabi asked quietly.
"Hyena," Mufasa replied in the same quiet tone, "Zazu said he saw one."
"Well Nala and I have been the only ones here…and…" but then Sarabi stopped. She realized what must have happened. She turned her face to the side. "Mufasa, dear. Could you please lick this soot off my face?"
Mufasa was thoroughly confused as to why Sarabi's tone had just changed, but perhaps if she wasn't concerned any more, then maybe that would mean that there was really nothing at all to be worried about. "Why?" he asked.
"Zazu thought I was the hyena."
"But you don't look like a hyena," although then Mufasa chuckled as he imagined if Sarabi's prospect had been true.
"I'm sure I do from hundreds of feet above. What with all these splotches on my coat and soot on my face."
Suddenly, Zazu came flying down from above and landed nervously next to Mufasa.
"Eh…on second thought, your majesty, um…I'd say this hyena does look a lot like your wife."
Mufasa laughed and Sarabi shook her head. Zazu gave a nervous chuckle and stood a step back from the couple.
"What's going on?" Nala asked. It would have been hard not to have heard Mufasa's bellowing laugh, and she didn't want to miss out on a joke. However, before anyone could answer her, Zazu let out a shriek and hit behind Mufasa's legs.
"You must have scared Zazu when you pounced on him yesterday, Nala," Sarabi commented.
"I think I should leave," said Mufasa.
"Why?" asked Sarabi.
"Well, seemingly Nala has this ability to turn you into a hyena and Zazu into a scaredy cat. I, myself, like being a healthy, male, king lion."
"Which reminds me," said Sarabi, "apparently your brother is teaching our son lioness jokes."
Mufasa frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Lioness jokes. You know…like…one day on a hunt, a lioness injures a baby antelope. It begins wailing and crying, and from a far off distance a lion hears it. He sees that the lioness is about to kill it. The antelope's wailing penetrates his ears and he feels bad that its final seconds are about to be spent in anguish. Why, however, should he let it be killed? And then the answer's because the antelope's wailing is better to listen to than a lioness moan and groan that she missed out on her meal."
"That is true," replied Mufasa.
"Yes, but Scar still shouldn't be teaching our son those jokes."
"Excuse me," suddenly came a voice from below. The king and queen looked down to see Nala. "I thought I was your child, today. Not Simba."
Sarabi smiled. "You're right, Nala." She looked back up at her mate. "Something to mention to Scar tomorrow then. For now, do you think you have time for a quick game?"
Nala gasped and she looked up at Mufasa with pleading eyes.
Mufasa smiled as he looked down at the cub. "Why not?" he replied.
"Yay!" Nala exclaimed, before she began prancing around in excitement.
"Won't be long, will you sir?" asked Zazu.
"Not at all, Zazu," replied Mufasa. "We're just going to play a quick game of darts."
"Darts. Oh, okay then, very good," replied Zazu, as he got ready to fly off. He stuck his extremely pointy beak forwards into the air, ready for takeoff…and then realized the obvious. He covered his beak with his wings. "DARTS! Oh no, sir…you can't be serious…"