Chapter six:
"Come on," Nala felt someone nudge her cheek gently. "It's time to say goodbye to your mother."
Nala opened her eyes to see Sarabi standing over her, her eyes somber. Nala sat up with a grunt, her wounds aching once more, though the sting was reduced by Rafiki's herbs. Nala followed Sarabi to where her mother's body lay out in the moonlight, the storm having stopped a while ago.
"Sarafina was lost in the battle to free the Pride Lands from a tyrant's reign, and was slaughtered by Scar out of spite," Sarabi began. "She was a mother, and a friend. She was my best friend, she was very wise, and helped me and Mufasa in making our decisions."
Sarabi looked at Nala, waiting for her to speak. Nala opened her mouth, but her throat was dry, and words didn't come. She swallowed, and tried her best to speak through the loss.
"Sarafina was not only my mother, but my biggest supporter. She was always by my side in my quiet fight against Scar, and covered for me when I went for help. Even before Scar's reign, she was there to pick me up when I fell. She comforted me when I grieved for Simba, even while she was dealing with her own loss of our king. Even after my father's death, she remained strong despite everything she was dealing with." Nala's throat tightened, but she forced herself to finish. "She was loyal, and kind, and gentle. She was the rock beneath my paws, and never wavered, even in our darkest moments. She always believed in my ability to fight, even if I failed her in the end."
Nala found herself incapable of forming another word and simply bowed her head, tears streaming down her whiskers. She felt Sarabi rest her tail on her shoulder. Nala remained silent while the other lionesses told stories about Sarafina, everything from the clumsy mistakes as a cub to her bravest moments. The moon was a bit past its highest point when the soft murmurs died down, and it was time to lay Sarafina's body in the ground.
Sarabi and Nala carried Sarafina's body down off Pride rock and to a patch of dirt, softened by the rain, overlooking the vast grasslands. It had been Sarafina's favorite place to hunt, Nala remembered. Even though it wasn't a long trip to Sarafina's final resting place, Nala was exhausted by the time she reached it. Her muscles were already sore from the fight, and a deep bite on her right hind leg throbbed with pain when she walked.
"You should get some rest," Sarabi murmured. "The rest of us can dig the grave."
"No," Nala rasped. "I can do it. I owe her this."
"You need to stop blaming yourself. What's past is past," Sarabi comforted her.
"The Pride Lands aren't my problem anymore. What's past is past, so why worry about it?" Nala was back with Simba, shocked by how little he cared about his old home, his family. Nala's heart ached, for part of her still missed him, despite how foolish the lion had become. She looked up into his dark amber eyes, flecked with gold.
Come back, Nala thought, unable to form the words. Come back home to the pride, I need you.
With a sudden jolt, Nala was thrown back to Sarafina's burial. Nala's regret for leaving Simba behind turned into anger.
He chose to stay. He chose to leave the past behind. I won't, Nala thought firmly. She looked up again, seeing Sarabi instead of Simba.
"I'll never leave the past behind," she told her. "I need to remember it so I won't make the same mistake twice."
"Yet your pride also needs you here in the present. How can you move into the future with one paw in the past?" Sarabi questioned.
"I can move into the future while taking the past and all its lessons with me," Nala looked down at her mother's body. "It would all be so much worse for you if I had been able to forget the past when I was offered a chance to leave it behind."
"But you didn't," Sarabi frowned. "Simba wanted you to stay with him, didn't he? But you came back for us when he didn't want to."
"My heart is with the pride," Nala said.
"A heart is complex, it's possible for it to be torn between two," Sarabi sighed.
"I got my heart together for the pride, and that's all that needs to be said," Nala growled. "I made my choice and I'm not going back on it. Now, we have a grave to dig."
Nala was barely aware of the words Rafiki spoke over Sarafina's grave. She leaned heavily on Sarabi's shoulder, her forelegs sore, her claws aching, and her paw pads cut up by the grit and sharp stones. She watched as the lionesses covered her mother's body. Though the hole in the earth became full, Nala felt the hole left in her heart would always remain empty.
"Come on, you need some rest," Sarabi began to nudge Nala back towards Pride rock. The young lioness, with the help of Sarabi, hobbled back to the base of the outcrop. After a difficult climb, Nala made it to the entrance of the den, her cut up paws leaving behind a few bloody smears.
"Are you coming inside?" Sarabi asked, pausing in the mouth of the cave while the other lionesses filed inside.
"No," Nala muttered. "I need to be alone." Sarabi nodded, seeming to understand, and left Nala alone.
Nala rested her head on her paws and cast her sky blue eyes on the horizon, where the sky was golden with the coming sunrise. In a sudden, blinding blaze, the sun peeked over the edge of the horizon, glaring into Nala's eyes. The lioness lifted a paw over her face with a small huff of annoyance.
Nala growled as a fierce wind whirled around her all of a sudden, dragging leaves and ash along with it and throwing them in her face. Nala lifted her head to find the sun illuminating her fur in a glowing golden glory.
Unbeknownst to her, Rafiki had just been climbing the rocks. When he reached Pride rock, he saw not just a lioness, but a sign. Nala's bloodied paws had left a smear on her forehead, much like the mark given when coronating a king.