Chapter seven:
Nala's dreams that morning brought her back to the mornig by she left Simba.
"Hakuna Matata, the Pride Lands aren't my problem anymore. What's past is past, so why worry about it?" Simba asked. Nala stared at him, her heart aching again.
"You shouldn't worry about it," Nala said. "Don't worry about your father's death, don't worry about Scar, don't worry about responsibility. Just come home with me. You're right, what's past is past, forget Mufasa's death, forget about being king. Scar is gone, the Pride lands are safe. Someone else can rule the Pride, and we can be together."
"If I'm leaving behind the past, I'm leaving you behind too," Simba said gravely, in a cold, unemotional voice that wasn't his own.
"Simba-" Nala tried to protest, but Simba cut her off.
"Simba's not here right now," Simba's form began to change. His amber eyes turned green and cold, over one eye formed a jagged scar, his sturdy form began to shrink to become scrawny, and his pelt darkened, until in front of Nala stood Scar. She was no longer in the forest, but on Pride rock. It was empty, and the Pride Lands were dry and brown.
"I am king," Scar grinned at her. "And don't you forget it missy." The dark colored lion lunged at Nala, who woke, panting, on the stone of Pride rock.
Nala's heart calmed a bit when she saw others lions lounging about, contrasting the loneliness of the rock in Nala's dream. She could see the green of new growth across the Pride lands, instead of the bleakness it had held during Scar's reign.
"Good afternoon, Nala," Zakia dipped her head to the walking lioness. "Hungry? You didn't eat yesterday."
"Some food would be nice," Nala nodded distantly, her mind still on her dream. Had Simba really left her behind, or was her mind just being delirious?
"Once you've eaten, we'll begin the vote," an elder lioness called Adea informed Nala.
"How will it work?" Nala asked.
"The lionesses will all have the chance to nominate themselves or another. The nominated lionesses will sit alone in their own parts of the rock. Each lioness will get a stone. They will place this stone beside whichever lioness they wish to become queen," another elder lioness called Tish explained.
"You cannot vote for yourself, but the nominated lionesses can still vote for another if they so wish," Tish's sister Sofi added.
Zakia brought Nala a pair of meerkats to eat. She was sharply reminded of Simba's friends, a meerkat and a warthog.
They planted the ideas in his head, Nala thought darkly as she grasped one of the meerkats in her jaws. If only I had found him sooner. If only I had caught the warthog, I wouldn't be sorry to end his lazy life. The lioness ripped away chunks of meat to swallow and cast her thoughts upon the upcoming vote.
Sarabi won't want to be queen, so who else will I vote for? I fear Zira would end up like Scar, the power would go to her head. Who else could I trust with all that responsibility? Nala ran through each of the lionesses and their potential.
Shomari would be good at protecting us all, but she lacks the sympathy needed for the more diplomatic parts of the job. Mahiri likes freedom, and could find herself tied down to her responsibilities as queen more than she would like. Zakia is kind, and cares for all life. I know she'd protect the balance, but I'm not sure if she has the strength and willingness to fight to do so. Winda is young, and perhaps a bit too immature to fully respect the balance of life. Bianca would easily be manipulated by Zira, and wouldn't want to do the harder parts of the job. Adea, Tish, and Sofi are all wise and could lead us well, but they're also old and lack the strength to protect us. Nala sighed. If only Simba were here. The lion I remember would have been a great king.
"Nala? Are you done?" Adea jerked Nala out of her thoughts.
"Yes, yes," Nala got to her sore paws and joined the rest of the pride. Sarabi gave a brief run down of the rules.
"Any nominations for queen?" Sarabi asked.
"I nominate Zira," said Bianca.
"I nominate Bianca," said Zira.
"I nominate Zakia," Nala spoke up. Her sister could be a good choice.
"I nominate Nala," said Sarabi, her eyes bright with hope as she gazed at Nala.
"Any others?" Adea asked.
"I nominate Shomari," Mahiri said.
"Okay," Sarabi nodded, and began to direct the nominees where to stand. Nala went to sit at the edge of Pride rock. She watched for a moment as the cubs rolled stones out of the den for the lionesses to vote with, but turned her eyes to the Pride lands. She felt a calm wash over her at the familiar sights of home.
Nala flinched when a stone clattered loudly at her paws. She turned her eyes back to the Pride to find the voting had begun. Sarabi had laid her stone down beside Nala, shortly followed by Winda, and Adea.
Three, already? Nala smiled to herself.
"Here's your rock, go and vote," Sarabi dropped a second rock at Nala's paws. Nala took it up in her jaws and headed to Zakia, who had a vote from Tish and the cub Shabaha.
"Here, take my vote back to your pile," Zakia nudged her voting stone towards Nala, who nodded her thanks and returned to the tip of the rock. To her surprise, Nuka scampered up to her with his voting rock.
"Aren't you voting for your mother?" Nala asked curiously.
"You saved my life," Nuka said shyly, shuffling his paws. "I think you'd be a great queen if you protected everyone like that." The cub returned to his mother's side. Nala's eyes followed him as he went and made contact with Zira, who glared at her.
"Let's count," Sarabi said when everyone had finished. Shomari had a vote from Mahiri, Bianca had three votes, from her daughters Kasi and Tazama, and Zira. Zakia had three votes, from Nala, Tish, and Shabaha. Zira had four, from Sofi, Bianca, Shomari, and Imara. Nala held her breath when she realized she had five. She had Zakia, Sarabi, Adea, Winda, and Nuka. Had the young lion voted for his own mother, Zira would have won.
"We have our new queen," Sarabi turned to Nala, beaming.
"Nala!"
"Nala!"
"Nala!"
The lionesses chanted Nala's name while she stood, shocked. She had expected to be nominated, she had expected to receive a few votes, but she hadn't expected to win. Sure, she had known it was a possibility, but she didn't know what to do if that possibility became real.
Rafiki came forward and broke open a fruit, dipping a finger in its juice to smear across Nala's forehead, which had somehow been cleared of blood while she slept.
"Long live the queen!" More voices joined the lionesses'. Nala turned to look across the Pride lands, her kingdom, and realized that the returning residents had come to greet their new monarch. Beneath Pride rock was everything from antelope to elephants.
With amusement, Nala remembered how as a cub, everyone had expected her to marry Simba and become his queen.
I got here all on my own, Nala thought proudly. I am queen, and I didn't need him. Yet part of her still missed him.