A/N:

To the people who leave me a "I don't support Scar X Nala" in my reviews, either with questions or just comments: then what are you doing here? If you don't support Scar X Nala, I strongly advice you to ignore this story. Read another story with the shipping of your liking, there are plenty. Thanks!

Somewhere in the same canyon where Mufasa's death had occurred, the young Nuka practised shouting his best roars. He sensed improvement, which satisfied him. Of course, there was also a simmering rage behind today's roars, as he still harboured upset feelings towards Mheetu. His roar echoed in the gorge, developing a bright smile atop his face. "Yeah!" Nuka jumped from excitement, listening to his own voice echoing.

"Practising your roar, kid?" A deep voice which, from Nuka's point of view, came from out of nowhere, had distracted the young male. Scar approached his son, frowning and showing off his grin, adding, "Would you like to hear a proper one?"

"Dad?" His father, who rather denied Nuka's existence, would've been the last resident he expected to cross paths with. Nuka had been too absorbed in his own game to notice the lion observing him from behind a rock. "What—what are you doing here?"

"It's Scar or King Scar for you!" As he corrected his unwanted son, Scar rolled his eyes and bestowed the young lion with a rather irritating sounding growl.

Nuka froze. "I'm—sorry… Scar," he said, his voice stuttering. Nuka nervously scratched his leg, his stance displaying the utmost discomfort with his father's visit. "Look," he said, casting a quick glance around, "mama doesn't approve of me hanging out with you."

Scar squinted his eyes. "Then perhaps you should tell her to keep a better eye on you," he responded dryly. "I… also wouldn't recommend this area as a place to hang out… I speak from personal experience, because—"

"I'll find another spot, da—Scar, I'm sorry—"

"The echoes of my brother's fatal fall still haunt these very grounds you're standing on…" Scar continued, ignoring Nuka's mumblings. "It was tragic… I literally sat in the front row…" Subsequently, Scar adopted a sneaky approach and began to close in on the young male sideways.

"Very tragic, indeed. I'm sorry you had to witness tha—" Nuka said, his voice sounding utterly uneasy as he observed his father's peculiar manners of approaching him.

"I presume your mother doesn't want that to happen to you, hm?" Scar said with a frown, adapting a theatrical sad expression. "Sadly, accidents happen… One can't always prevent them…" Emitting a low growl, the black-maned lion sharpened his claws. A wide grin adorned Scar's face while Nuka took a small step backwards and small chunks of earth escaped the dry substance, appearing to disappear into an eternal void. In response to that, Nuka swiftly leapt away from the abyss. Why doesn't he run? Next, Scar issued a forceful warning to his son through a bellowing roar. At last, Nuka, his eyes wide, took the hint and spun around. With a sinister smile, Scar's satisfaction grew as he watched Nuka taking off. "That's what a true lion's roar calls! Run to mommy, and tell her if that witch dares to come near my queen again, I'll rip you apart!" he called after him vilely. With Nuka out of sight, Scar turned and frowned as he surveyed his surroundings. Taking slow, measured steps, Scar inched closer to the edge of the abyss and peered down. A thick layer of fog obstructed his view, prompting nostalgic thoughts of how much higher he stood years prior. The present is still too wounded to relive history's disaster…

Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, upon having received Scar's message through Sarafina, visited Zira. The unpopular lioness had, after Scar evicted her from his cave, staked her claim on one of the most remote areas within the Pride Lands terrain. "Zira, Sarafina just told us Scar wants us all gathered. Have ya got any idea what's that all about?" Shenzi greeted the lioness.

"I already told ya, she has to let her little Nala go. What other reason would she possibly have to be sad?" Banzai guessed.

"Good!" Zira's lips curled into a large, cunning smile, evidently pleased to see the three hyenas, her friends. "That means Nala heeded my warning, and that we can cross off one lioness! A small win, yet one worth celebrating!" Zira stated, her slender body rising as if her energy reservoir had been replenished to the fullest extent. Her pride skyrocketed. "I dream a dream so pret—"

"Please, cut the singing, will ya?!" Shenzi rolled her eyes, her lack of enthusiasm evident. "What's with ya lions and ya urge to sing ya announcements? I have yet to fully recover from that absurd show Scar forced on us this morning..." she shared, once more attempting to ban Scar's insane theatrical performance from her mind. "Besides, ya did more than warn Nala! As far as I can recall, attacking her wasn't part of the plan…"

"The plan? You taking care of Nala, killing her, that was the plan!" Zira responded, a deep growl eluding her throat. "You haven't even tried, have you?"

"That was before we knew he wanted her as his queen," Shenzi said, gesturing to Banzai for support.

"Yeah, he'll demand our heads if we touch her now!" Banzai added, loudly complying with Shenzi's plea.

In turn, Zira rolled her eyes. "With what army? Do you honestly think your own clan will kill you? If I were him, I'd watch my own head instead…" Zira sighed, her tone dripping with contempt. "And I surely don't fear those few petty lionesses. They pose no threat."

"Still, ya should've let nature take its course. If ya had waited until the brat blew Scar off, the problem would've fixed itself…" Shenzi stated. She wondered whether Zira succeeded in manipulating Nala, or if her deed had actually pushed the young lioness straight into Scar's greedy claws. "This might've jeopardised the safety of our pack members…" the hyena added, expressing her worries regarding the consequences of Zira's impulsive actions.

At that, Zira dramatically moved her paw towards her face, her claws glinting in the sunlight. "Oh please, stop whining…"

"Our strategy is to let the problem solve itself," Banzai interfered, exchanging a glance of mischief with Ed. "You'd be surprised how often that actually works…"

"Well, I prefer not to take my chances," Zira responded, casting a judging gaze at the two male hyenas. "All right, for now—" Zira, distracted by sounds of panic, halted mid-sentence and turned to see its source. "Nuka?"

"Mama! I don't want to die!" Nuka yelled. The young lion, appearing visibly upset, sprinted towards his mother for comfort.

"Die? You silly thing…" Zira responded, attempting to reassure her son. The smile she wore faded from her face as she noticed her son wasn't calming down. His shivering only became more intense. "What's wrong?"

"It's… Dad! He wants to—kill me!" Nuka stuttered. "If you—hurt his queen again, he said… He's cruel, mama…" Nuka sobbed softly, burying his face into Zira's fur.

Without hesitation, Zira swiftly clasped her paw around her youngling. "Shh, Nuka, you're safe. There's no chance I'm allowing that creep to come anywhere near you again!" she said, her tone both comforting and vengeful. Zira's eyes blazed with fury as she pictured the image of Scar threatening her son. "How dare he!" she roared, flashing the hyenas a look of a thousand deaths.

"Would he be capable of—" Banzai exchanged a look with Shenzi.

"By himself?" Zira rolled her eyes. "No, of course not! Why do you think Scar chose to send you after the cub all those years ago, rather than handling it personally? He's a coward, and he never had the guts to kill a child!" Zira lowered her voice, her mind plotting. "Let him have Nala. When the time comes and she has given birth to his heir, I'll show him how easy the job is!"

Scar headed towards the lionesses, his eyes narrowing as his attention was captivated by one of the smallest members of the Pride Lands. In the distance, he spotted Mheetu hopping towards the remote areas. Scar frowned. Where's that lad going? "Mheetu!"

Alarmed by Scar's call, Mheetu abruptly spun around. A broad smile spread across his face upon seeing the king standing in the distance. He sprinted towards him, his excitement evident. "Hey king Scar!"

Scar frowned once again. "What brings you here all alone?" he asked, his eyes strictly scanning the young lion.

"I've had an argument with Nuka earlier. Nala said I should tell him I'm sorry, and you know, I actually don't want to lose my best friend!" Mheetu answered.

"Look, I don't mind that you've befriended... Nuka," Scar said, searching his memory for his son's name. "But, since Zira attacked your sister, I cannot allow you to spend time with her son without the supervision of your mother or another lioness from the group. Zira is dangerous, so this is for your own safety, understood?" he continued, shaking his head lightly. Scar feared Mheetu's curiosity would one day jeopardise his own well-being.

Mheetu nodded. "We rarely see her. I bet she's hiding because of what she did to my sister!"

"Nuka's mother likes to isolate herself from the group of lionesses. She's a lost cause…" Obviously, Scar knew the hyenas spend more time with Zira than they do with him nowadays. "Come with me. I'm on my way to the group and I'm expecting Nuka and his mother to show up there, anyway."

"Yeah, so Nala can kick her ass!" Mheetu said, flashing Scar a playful grin.

The young lion's choice of words caused the adult lion to sneer inwardly. Scar pictured the event, with his facial expression revealing that he didn't dislike the idea. Quickly, he pulled himself together. "Who taught you the foul language? You most certainly don't have that from your mother… It's Nuka, right?"

"No, actually, sometimes Nuka and I spy on the hyenas. They're funny, especially the boys!" Mheetu giggled, imitating a hyena laugh.

"Please, don't imitate a dull creature such as a hyena…" Scar shook his head, sighing deep. "You also shouldn't deliberately chase their group. Hyenas are stupid, yet they're dangerous…" he shot the young lion another warning.

"Then why are they here, working for you?"

Scar frowned, his cheeks slightly showing a blush. Good question, why is that? What was I thinking? "So they don't forget who their boss is," Scar eventually answered, winking awkwardly.

"You rock, king Scar! I wish to be just like you when I grow up!" Mheetu called out, his enthusiasm huge. Standing in the black-maned lion's shadow, he raised his gaze to where a proud smile awaited him.

"I assume you've heard the news?" Scar asked, winking, as they continued their paths.

"About Nala becoming the queen? You bet I did! It's pretty cool, but—" Mheetu froze. "Does that mean my sister becomes Nuka's stepmother?" he asked.

Scar arched his eyebrow. "I wouldn't phrase it that way… Nuka and I…" he said, his voice trailing off. "We're—" Lost for words, Scar sighed.

"I know you and Nuka don't like each other," Mheetu said. "You two aren't the only ones. I've never met my dad, but Nala doesn't enjoy talking about him. Are we all cursed?" he said, confused and as if he searched for a pattern.

"You're such a clever boy, Mheetu. You've figured it out!" Scar improvised. He sneered, content as he observed Mheetu mentally trying to piece the fragments together.

"What?"

"The curse, of course! Fathers and their cubs. You just said it yourself. We're cursed!" Scar continued to improvise. "You, Nala, Nuka… see? Shall I tell you what I think?" Scar said, pausing and lowering his head closer to Mheetu's. He could tell he had the boy's attention by the way he kept his ears perked up. "I believe my father and I were the ones to bring this curse to life, and yet…" Finally, my childhood feels more distant than a past life… "I'm the one who'll break it!" Scar sounded confident as he moved a paw towards his chest, praising himself.

"What about your brother and your nephew, then?" Mheetu interrogatively went on. It was evident he wasn't afraid to address this sensitive subject to the king. "I've heard the stories about them. They must've had a pretty solid bond…"

Scar widened his eyes. He wasn't prepared for Mheetu bringing up Mufasa and Simba. "You're right… Obviously, they were the exception," Scar threw in a tone of sarcasm. "Especially my brother… Perhaps that's why fate interfered…" he added, sounding utmost mystifying.

Mheetu stared down. "That's sad. I hope you are stronger than fate," he softly reacted.

"I am," Scar said, confident. I am fate…