(A/N: Well, here is the final chapter before the jump in time. Enjoy! And please review! Sorry it's short...and perhaps not the most entertaining chapter. But hopefully it should wrap most everything up.)

A wounded Sarabi led the way for herself and Nala up the steps of Pride Rock. When they got to the top, Sarafina was already there to greet them.

"Hi mom," said Nala, walking up to Sarafina and nuzzling her leg. "Sarabi called the game off…because she's injured."

Nala looked over at Sarabi and smiled. Sarabi smiled back and winked.

"Where's my son?" Sarabi asked her friend.

"Inside," replied Sarafina, "I grounded him."

Sarabi laughed. "Call him out," she said.

"Simba, you can come out now!"

The sorry cub and his father heard Sarafina's call, and both slowly made their ways outside.

Sarabi's eyes widened. "My son is still clean," she said surprised.

"Yup!" replied Sarafina happily. She looked down at her daughter. "And all because I grounded him. You were right after all, Nala. I am a strict lioness. You just never get punished because you're a well-behaved cub. Simba, on the other hand…"

"Sarafina," addressed Sarabi suddenly, interrupting the other lioness, "I'm going to have to stop you there, before you teach your daughter that warthogs have wings. It's all lies. I am strict. Perhaps too strict, as Simba might say. I thought I was enjoying my time with Nala today, but look at me – I'm a state! I'm in a lot of pain, and truthfully I think Nala is none less mischievous than my son."

"Am I going to have to be the one to put an end to all this?" Mufasa asked. No reply came, as now all the other four lions could hear an edge of seriousness in Mufasa's voice, and they decided it was best not to argue. "Look at the mess all of you keep getting yourselves into, it's time someone put an end to this once and for all. I personally believe that everyone here is partially right. Simba is slightly, at the least, more trouble than what Nala's worth, but yet that makes Sarabi a stricter mother – because she has to be strict in order to keep Simba in order. It doesn't mean Sarabi's stricter as a lioness in general. If Simba was Sarafina's cub and Nala was Sarabi's, Sarafina would have to play the role of the stricter mother."

"That's what I said," sung Nala to Simba.

"Partially," responded Simba, using the word his father had just used, "but my mom is stricter."

"As a result of…" Nala began to argue back, but then she was cut off by Mufasa.

"Nala, Simba," the king addressed, "you're both right. You both knew what the score was. You both knew how to handle having your aunts as your mothers for the day. You are both clean. You're both winners."

"No, there's got to be a loser," replied Simba.

"Agreed," confirmed Nala. "There always is."

Mufasa smiled. "Oh, there is."

"Who?" asked the two cubs in unison.

"These two of course," replied Mufasa, signaling towards Sarabi and Sarafina. "Look at them. Sarabi's got that soot on her face, some splotches and cuts on her side. Sarafina's got those thorns in her coat, bruise on her cheek, and some green stuff on her feet. They're both incapable, seemingly, of handling cubs that aren't their own."

"And what would make them incapable?" asked Scar as he walked into Pride Rock and joined in the conversation.

"No!" shouted Sarafina, jumping in. "That's it Scar, I've had it with these lioness jokes."

"How did you know the answer?"

"You know, I even think you're the one to blame here. The reason I grounded Simba was because of his attitude and behavior, and you're the one encouraging it." Sarafina was visibly shaking. She was nervous; she had never stood up to Scar, or really anyone, like this before, but she believed and meant every word of what she said.

"You're probably right," replied Scar, rather proudly.

"You can't stop me from meeting Uncle Scar though," interjected Simba, before this conversation ran any further.

"No, but…"

"…it would be nice if we could," ended Sarabi, but only loud enough so that Sarafina could hear. The two lionesses tried to hide their grins from Simba's sight.

"So if I was to not see Scar for a long time, and then my attitude got better but my mom still grounded me, then you'd finally accept that my mom is just unfairly stricter?" Simba asked hypothetically.

Sarabi and Sarafina smiled: "That sounds good to me," they replied. Both, at the time, believed they would never really find out the true answer…

(Please make sure to review. I'll try to get the next chapter up within a week.)