"No… Please… Don't…"

Nala's eyes flickered open, and she turned her head to the side, looking at Simba, awoken by his pleading cries. She sighed. "Oh, Simba," she said to herself, a sympathetic look on her face. "What's wrong with you?"

She felt so sorry for him these days. Sleep was supposed to let you relax, but with Simba, it was the total opposite. Every night he suffered – more so than he did during the day. Sometimes she wondered if the dangers in his nightmares were worse than the dangers he faced in real life. Maybe they were…

What worried Nala was that these nightmares seemed to get progressively worse with each passing night. She could see it. In his sleep. Simba looked so distressed. There was so much he was afraid of – and it wasn't even real. Well, she assumed it wasn't real, but underneath all this, Nala could detect something… Like there was some kind of dark secret hiding behind these nightmares he was experiencing. A deep, dark secret.

And maybe it was a secret that was ready to come out. Maybe they were getting worse for a reason. It couldn't get much worse. Nala was sure of that. She was afraid that, one day, Simba wouldn't be able to take any more of this. It could drive him insane. He could lose his mind.

"Simba?" she called, hoping to wake him up from whatever horrible nightmare he was suffering this time. "Simba?" She prodded him, but he didn't wake up.

Simba tossed and turned in his sleep, looking so very afraid. "I'll do anything… just don't hurt her!" he cried, breathing heavily. It all felt so real to him. The nightmares were hurting him. Torturing him. "Don't do that! Don't! Please!"

"Right, that's it," said Nala, getting to her paws. "I can't take this any more!" she exclaimed, before shaking Simba frantically. "Get up, Simba! Open those cute eyes! Wake up! Please…"

It was just too much to bear. Nala couldn't stand to see him like this. The poor guy really was in pain. He wasn't going to be able to relax at all if this kept happening – never mind the day! She had to wake him up before he drove himself nuts with all these horrific visions he was having.

Simba's eyes snapped open, and he grabbed hold of Nala, hugging her as tight as he could, desperate to cling on to the nearest person. "Nala… Oh, my gosh, Nala… You're safe…" He sighed, burying his face in her fur. "You're safe…"

"Of course I'm safe," Nala told him, urging herself to smile. She stroked his back softly, seeing the intense distress he was in. "Let me guess – you had another nightmare. I could kind of tell."

Simba nodded, still having trouble believing that his nightmare wasn't real. That was by far the worst one he had ever had. He knew they were bad – but that was just horrib le. Too horrible for him to even describe. It hurt just thinking about it. He would rather die than go through something like that again. It was pure torture.

"I couldn't stand it, Nala," he told her, staring into her eyes. Somehow, the sight of her – safe and well – made him feel comfortable. She managed to make him forget about his troubles. "It was just so awful." He started shaking with fear.

"He's coming, Nala… He's coming…"

Nala narrowed her eyes at him. "Who's coming?"

Simba had a lump in his throat. "Hago," he answered. "I mean it this time. I really mean it. He's back. From the dead. He's coming for me, and if he has to hurt you, too, then he will."

"Was that what your nightmare was about?" she asked, patting his back. He was terrified. Terrified of something that he shouldn't really have to worry about. Hago was dead – and had been for quite a considerable amount of time.

However, the memories of what he had done still scared Nala to this day. He was a horrible, evil, conniving lion, who wanted to take over the Pride Lands with the help of his powerful, dark magic. He was an unstoppable force, and not exactly the type of person you wanted to meet in the middle of a deep, dark cave. Cruel, vicious, and unrelenting, Hago was easily the person who Nala was afraid of the most. Easily.

"He tortured you, Nala," Simba replied, tears welling up in his eyes. "I can't even say it…" He winced, trying to block out the memories. "I just can't…" He sobbed, tears dripping from his face and onto Nala's creamy fur. "It scares me, because I think you're going to get hurt."

"Simba…" She finally saw the inner fear – the fear that lay within the darkest recesses of his soul. "You really think he's coming back – don't you?" Deep down, a part of her believed him.

But it seemed so very unlikely. People just couldn't come back from the dead. Once you died, you stayed dead. No second chances. That was life. You just had to deal with it. Nala would have loved for her father to still be alive, but he was gone – killed by Hago, no less. He wasn't ever coming back. The same as if Simba's father were killed, or anyone's family, for that matter. Death was a natural occurrence, and you couldn't stop it.

Simba seemed so adamant. "He's coming back," Simba insisted. "He'll find a way. He's going to try and kill us – whatever it takes. It'll be soon." His eyes darted left and right. "Very soon. Think about it – the nightmares keep getting worse. Well, how much worse can they get, Nala? Huh? How much worse can they get? Because that nightmare was worse than any of the dangers I've faced while awake."

"I'm sorry…" said Nala, looking down at the ground, not really sure what to say. "But… I just… I can't understand how Hago can come back from the dead. If someone's dead, then that's how they stay. Right?"

"Magic, Nala," replied Simba, still insistent that his arch enemy was coming back for him. "He had magical powers, I don't know… Maybe he knows a way to bring himself back to life. Would it really surprise you?"

"Yes," Nala replied honestly. "Because no one we've ever met has come back from the dead before."

"Not yet," Simba retorted, his eyes wide with fear. Fear that attacked his body. His heart was pounding. Hago was coming. If not today, then definitely tomorrow. That nightmare made him want to stay awake for ever. He didn't care – not even if it killed him. "But it'll happen. You can count on it. And I'll be ready. He's not going to hurt you. Not today. Not ever. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, nothing will happen to you."

"Don't say things like that, Simba," said Nala, still stroking his fur. "We'll be okay. We always are. We're a lucky pair of cubs."

Simba frowned, staring down at the ground. "Our luck's gotta run out sometime," he mumbled.