Chapter Thirteen
Zira's POV
This moment was nothing like I had expected. As I gazed upon the newborn cub curled up in my forepaws, I realized with a great deal of disappointment that this was not the male heir predicted by my Scar.
She was small, with a light tan coat and blue eyes. Nothing like her father… in fact, she somewhat resembled Mufasa's side of the pride, to my dismay.
But she was strong. Very strong for a newborn, and although my heart sank at the thought of Nuka becoming Scar's only son and thus his heir to the throne, there was something about this little one that made me feel like Scar would have been proud of his new daughter.
She rolled over and swatted at my paw, and I laughed at her already apparent ferocity.
I decided to name her Vitani.
This one would help me wage war on Simba when the time comes, of this I was absolutely certain. The mere thought of one day destroying him and his entire pride made me smile from ear to ear, and I licked my new cub in joyous anticipation of that day. Perhaps Scar meant my youngest cub, not my youngest male cub. Time would tell. For now, I would train her to hate them as I did, and begin plotting our revenge.
Usheja's voice roused me from my daydream, "Congratulations Zira, she's beautiful." she said, looking down at Vitani with a smile
I nodded my full agreement, "Yes, yes she is." I said, never taking my eyes off of Vitani
Nala's POV
I decided to go pay Zira a visit to congratulate her on the birth of her daughter, she'd had a really hard time recovering from Scar's death. She had really needed something like this to boost her spirits.
"Good morning Zira, how are you doing today?" I asked her as I approached her prone form
She cradled the newborn tightly, "I'm extremely happy Nala, how are you and yours?" she asked
I laughed, "I'd be doing a lot better if it wasn't beating me from the inside." I joked
Zira nodded, never taking her eyes off of her cub, "It will only get worse, unfortunately." she said
I knew that, my mom had seen fit to give me the whole description of a pregnancy. And quite honestly I was mortified at what she said was going to happen.
"Well, I'd better get back to the den, Simba will be returning from his patrol of the territory soon." I said
Zira seemed to take offense to that, "Ok Nala, goodbye." she said waving me away
I looked back at her, what was her problem?
But I didn't dwell on it for too long, Zira had been this way for a little while and I was used to it.
As I made my way back toward Pride Rock, the hunters returned from their hunts, they brought back their first significant catch since the lands started to heal, Oh how I wanted to join them. Sarabi had ordered me to relax until I gave birth to my cub however, but the longing to get out of the den and make myself useful was palpable at times.
Simba was waiting for me in the entrance to the den, "You're supposed to be taking it easy, you are about to give birth after all." he said, using that 'mother scorning a child' voice
I smiled at Simba's concern, "Relax, I just went to go see Zira, she just had a little girl." I said, explaining my reason for being out and about
Simba seemed surprised, "She did? What did she name her?" he asked
I shook my head, he was the king, he should've known all of this already, "I didn't ask what she had named her cub. Why do you ask?" I asked
"We never have discussed what we are going to name ours Nala." Simba was quick to point out
We hadn't, I'd honestly never even given it any thought, but I bet Simba hadn't either.
"Well, if it is a girl, what were you thinking of?" I asked him
Simba shifted nervously, as if fearing what he said would be made fun of, "I did have one thought up, what do you think about 'Kiara?'" he asked
I thought the name was beautiful, Simba had obviously been putting more thought into that than he let on
"And if it's a boy?" I asked, hoping he had another good one
Simba immediately went into thought, "Do you need some time?" I asked him
"Uh-huh."
Suddenly, a name came to me, "How does 'Tano' sound to you Simba?" I blurted
Simba nodded approvingly, "I like it. Wow, that was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be." he said, looking greatly relieved
I laughed, "Yeah it was. But the hardest part is yet to come." I said
Simba frowned, "Don't remind me please..." he teased
I nuzzled him, "But if it's like it's dad, then it will make me proud." I said
Simba nuzzled me back, "I'd prefer it to be more like you Nala, you were pretty calm before we became friends." he said
I thought back to back then, I used to be the pride's 'stick in the mud' until Simba and I hit it off one day and became friends.
Now I was about to give birth to his cub, wow, how time had passed, and how things had changed.
Simba's POV
Nala and I stood there for a long time, we talked about a wide range of subjects, mainly dealing with our childhood.
"Simba, I'm sorry for asking, but what was the stampede like?" Nala asked, looking away from me as she did so
I sighed, "No, don't be sorry Nala, I'll tell you."
I hadn't forgotten a single detail of that day, and I didn't omit any from my retelling of it.
"How could anyone do that?" Nala said, tears building on the edges of her eyes
I didn't know why Scar would stoop so low, "I don't know Nala, if it weren't for my dad on that day, I probably wouldn't be standing here right now."
"Do you miss him?" she asked, both sadness and sympathy apparent in her voice.
"Yeah, I do miss him," I said, hanging my head.
It was quiet for a moment, and I looked up. Nala's expression had suddenly changed to one that I didn't quite understand. She looked at me for a moment, with something in her eyes that caught me off guard, and said, "Simba... uhh... where's Rafiki?" Her voice sounded uncharacteristically shaky, almost stressed out. Something had changed her mood quite abruptly. Which didn't surprise me lately, considering the circumstances.
"I don't know, why do you ask?" I replied. It should have registered with me sooner, but I'd had my mind on my father and wasn't exactly thinking straight.
"The cub, Simba."
I froze for a moment, and suddenly it clicked in my mind. It was time. Our cub was coming.
I took off toward Rafiki's old tree as fast as my legs would carry me.
A/N: First, let me give credit out to my best friend in Monterey, California for co-writing this chapter with me. Oorah!
Despite the length of the chapter, I hope y'all enjoyed it. It gets so much more interesting in the next few chapters guys, stay with me!
Review and look out for my next update!
Thank you!