Chapter Twenty

A/N: Sorry 'bout the wait! but I figured I deserved a little time off of the internetz. (Summer Break!)

Simba's Dream, Simba's POV

I 'awoke' in the den of pride rock to the sound of crying.

I knew exactly who it was by the sound, 'How can you sleep at a time like this Simba?' Nala asked, her tone laced with a multitude of emotions.

I stood and looked at her slouched form, 'At a time like this? Nala did something happen? What's wrong?' The questions fell out of my mouth faster than I could think not to ask them.

All the jumbled emotions on Nala's face resolved into one that was so painfully obvious I found myself taking steps away from her: she was pissed.

'Do you want to know what's wrong? What's wrong is that my son is dead and you don't care. You NEVER cared about Tano's well being Simba, not for one second of his life!'

I felt my jaw loosen slightly in shock, didn't she remember that Rafiki saved Tano's life?

'What the hell are you talking about? Tano's fine. Rafiki fixed his broken leg, remember?' I asked her, already knowing what her answer would be.

'Have you lost your mind Simba? We WATCHED him die! He Died in YOUR arms, REMEMBER?'

I looked behind me and saw Tano's dead body, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

Simba's POV

I woke up screaming, my voice echoing loudly off of the den walls, when I realized it had all just been a bad dream, I was being stared at by every member of my pride that slept in the den, Nala and Tano included.

"Dad, are you OK?" Tano asked, giving me a look of concern.

I took several deep breaths, "Just fine buddy, how's the leg this morning?" I asked, trying to do away with the awkwardness of everyone staring at me.

Tano sighed, "It's been three months dad, can you not worry about my leg? It's fine." he insisted

"Hey, and don't change the subject. Why were you shouting?" Nala asked

I shook my head, "It was nothing, just a bad dream is all." I said, dismissively.

"As long as it wasn't anything life threatening then." Mom added from somewhere in the small crowd

As the Lionesses dispursed, I sat my head back down to attempt at going back to sleep

"Hey dad?" Tano asked, prompting me to open one eye in his direction.

"Yeah?" I asked back

He wasted no time in telling me his plans for the day, "Would it be cool if Me, Vitani, Kufa, Nuka, Sera, and Tai go down by the gorge today?" he asked

I thought immediately of the extremely cold days we'd been having that rainy season and how the river in the bottom of the gorge was almost frozen from the week or so of it not being all that warm.

I then thought of who he just asked me if he could play with, "You hang out with Kufa and Nuka now?" I asked, curious if something changed between Tano and his two enemies.

He nodded, "Well, sort of. Kufa's been cool ever since he got un-grounded, but Nuka and I still hate each other; the only reason I asked for him is that he follows Vitani around nonstop, always looking for a way to get her in trouble."

I took a second to take all of that in, "I suppose you could hang out with them today, but do me and your mother a huge favor and be careful with your leg? I don't want to have to rush you back to Rafiki's tree anytime soon."

Tano seemed very happy with my response, "Thank you so much Dad! I promise I'll be careful." he said

"See that you are." I retorted, nudging him along, "Go. Have fun, be back by sunset."

Nala's POV

Simba and Tano spent a lot of time together during Tano's recovery, sometimes I got the feeling that Simba blamed himself for Tano's injury, but I never openly asked him if he did or not; I was just grateful they were finally able to bond and interact like a father and his son were supposed to.

But even I, the grateful mother was a little iffy on this one, the sun had just crested the horizon, and he was going to let Tano stay out until sunset? No check ins? No supervision? No breakfast?

I waited until Tano left to address this issue, "You sure he won't need breakfast first?" I asked

Simba nodded, "He'll be fine, I figue this is his first day out since the fire; why not let him have a little freedom?" he replied

He had a solid point, but I still wasn't completely satisfied, "How many other cubs will he be playing with? And where will they be playing?" I asked, the classic worried mother tone working it's way into my voice.

Simba stood and nuzzled me, "He's taking his friends over by the gorge, I told them to stay away from the edge. if Tano values this newfound freedom, he won't disobey me." he said in a calming voice

Dammit, he always knew exactly what to say.

Zira's POV

Nuka's voice pried me from my dreams, "MOM!" he shouted.

I opened one eye and looked outside my den's tiny entrance, the sun hadn't even risen yet.

I remembered thinking he'd better have a good reason for waking me.

"What?" I asked, offended.

I allowed him a few seconds to catch his breath, "There's someone here to see you mother."

Both of my eyes shot open as I realized there was another lion in the den, a lioness that I hadn't seen since I was about Nuka's age...

...My mother.

"Nuka, let me and your grandmother have some privacy please." I commanded in a very harsh tone, unnessecarily attaching the polite word to the end of the statement.

Mother nodded in agreement, "Yes, your mother and I need to talk. These matters are not for ears as young as yours. Little Nuka." she added

Nuka huffed and left, "Got other stuff to do anyway..." he muttered under his breath as he stormed out.

Mother waited until Nuka was out of earshot, "My little Zira, how nice to see you again." she said, a cocky, arrogant smile on her face.

"Ha! If that isn't a side splitter!" I retorted.

"Zira. You disappoint me, I love you, you were my only daughter."

"Mother, can we drop the theatrics please? I know you don't care about me at all, you never did."

"Never for a second did I stop caring for you. Until you started to undermine everything I taught you when you were young."

"What you taught me? Mother all you taught me was to be a conformist; Scar taught me more in one day than you did in two and a half years!"

"Oh did he now? And what exactly was the course material? How to give birth to illigitimate heirs to a throne that you will never in your lifetime possess? Or how to manipulate males by crouching for them like a little whore? Or maybe it was to kill those who stood in your way like: Nadugu, Usheja, and little Rinaka?"

"How-?"

"-Do I know of them? Zira, I saw you dispose of their bodies"

"Mother...try to understand why I do what I do. Simba took away the only male I had given my heart to...Now I must take from him all that he holds dear."

"And the others?"

"Collateral damage if they choose to stand against me."

"Huh. You won't succeed Zira, you can't. The murderer always gets what's coming to them, take Mufasa for example..."

"What?"

"Did no one ever tell the pride? Mufasa killed his father to take control of this pride."

"Then Scar killed Mufasa..."

"Then Simba killed Scar, do you see a pattern beginning to show itself Zira?"

"Why did you come here mother? Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because I want you to think before you go chasing delusions of grandeur."

"Trying to atone for years of failing me as a mother?"

"I was a prideless lioness because of you Zira! I taught you to be tough so you could survive on your own!"

"All you did was beat me and tell me to stop crying!"

"Is that what you think I did?"

"I still have the scars!"

"Zira I was hard on you because I had to be. Then you ran off and joined Mufasa's pride the first chance you got. I was heartbroken."

"You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"No. I have set my expectations of you far too high. Know that I will not be here when they bury your body my daughter.

"GET OUT!"

"Gladly. Goodbye Zira. I hope you find the closure you are looking for, Just consider your cubs before you do something rash; It was something that I should've done."

And without another word, mother turned and left my cave, leaving me visibly shaken.

I never saw her again.

Tano's POV

I met Vitani, Kufa, Nuka, and everyone else near the edge of the gorge, the river at the bottom was still iced over from the cold days we had been having in that rainy season.

"Hey Tano what's up?" Kufa asked as I approached

I nodded, "The usual, how's things been going 'Tani?"

Vitani said nothing but directed a bashful smile in my direction, which I returned with a wink, causing her to loose a tiny giggle.

"You two make me sick." Nuka chimed from where he stood, away from the rest of us.

Tai and Kufa looked over the edge of the gorge again, "Y'know, that ain't all that far down. We should see who's brave enough to jump in." Tai said

Kufa shook his head and took a step back, "Look, I'm not afraid to say that I won't do it, you go." he replied

Tai nodded, "Ok, I will. Just as soon as somebody else does it first." he said, also taking a step back

"C'mon Nuka, you too scared to try?" Sera, Tai's sister teased Nuka

He huffed, "I don't play cub games." was his reply

"Oh really?" Vitani said, "Then why did you fight with Tano? Wouldn't that be considered a 'Cub' game?"

Sera laughed, "He probably just doesn't want to lose again." she said

Nuka was getting mad, "Shut up!" he said, "If you think Tano's so special, why don't you have Him go first!"

I nodded, "Alright, I will. But then you have to do it Nuka."

He laughed his annoying laugh, "Oooh what are you going to do if I don't?"

Vitani cleared her throat and glared at him for a few moments until he got the hint

"Argh, alright alright, i'll do it if you will you little..."

I nodded triumphantly and walked over to the edge, the water line was a good fifteen or twenty feet below where we stood. to say I was scared didn't even begin to cut it, but hey: I was dared.

I cleared my throat as I prepared to jump, "Well, here goes."

A/N: "Here Goes" Indeed. Twenty down, two or three more to go befor we gotta wrap this one up folks. :( but don't worry, the next chaps. will definitely be worth your time; as will my next story in the realm of the Lion King. Let me give a shoutout to my proofreader/co-author/best friend in the world once again for helping me on this chapter.

Thanks for reading this far, be on the lookout for my next update soon!

Adios!