I didn't know what was happening, but it was very exciting. Mother was with me, and nothing would happen with her keeping me safe. My father was there too. I didn't see him as much. He was very busy, since he ran the pride. I usually only saw him on ceremony days or special occasions.

"Where are we going?" I asked my mother. She was so pretty. Most lions looked the same, but she was special. She looked like something was bothering her.

"You remember, Nala. You're going to do something very special. You remember that other pride who came here?" my mother asked.

"Yeah, I remember that," I said. I didn't remember much, since she was a tiny cub at the time. I sort of knew that another pride of lions was having trouble with a pack of wild dogs, and they'd come to my pride to warn them and ask for help. Some of the bigger lions went out to fight once in a while, and then the dogs were gone.

"We're friends now, right?" I said, eager to tell every bit she knew.

"That's right. We want to make sure we stay friends forever, so we're going to share families," my mother said. "You're going to go live with them, and they'll send someone to live with us."

"But what if I get lonely? I'll miss you," I said. It seemed so far away that I wasn't really scared, just curious.

"They're going to love you over there. You're very special, since you're a peace lion. You'll make new friends and probably marry their prince. And you don't have to worry about missing me. Our prides are neighbors. You'll see me and the rest of us every now and then on patrol," Mother said.

"Okay," I said, but I wasn't sure. It was hard to think about that when it was so exciting to go somewhere new.

"There they are," my father said. He raised his head and indicated a giant rock pointing at the sky. I looked closer and saw a cluster of lions sitting on top of it. More of them were gathered underneath it. When we got to the bottom of the rock, two of the lions came and walked with us to the top. It was a long way up, and Mother had to carry me over some of the bigger rocks.

When we got to the top, I noticed two other lions my age. One was squirming around behind a giant lion with the reddest mane I'd ever seen, and the other was sitting quietly to one side. I liked the first one better. He seemed fun.

"Hey," I whispered while the grown-ups talked.

"Hey," he whispered back. Then the red lion interrupted us.

"Let us begin," he said. He had a really deep voice. My father nodded and a blue bird took over.

"On behalf of King Mufasa, we express our deepest gratitude for your heroic assistance against the jackal menace. We wish to acknowledge our ongoing friendship with the sacred bond of the blood link," he said. I didn't know what any of that meant. He was probably talking about the cub swap. "Do you accept?"

"We accept and reciprocate," my mother and father said together. "I, Queen Malki, present my daughter, Princess Nala." She nudged me forward and I stood in the space between the two lines of lions. I felt everyone staring at me and smiled in embarassment. A lioness stepped forward from the other pride.

"On behalf of the cub's father, I present my son, Prince Mtoto," she said. The lion cub sitting to one side came forward and sat by me. I noticed the tuft of fur on his head was dark. I'd never seen that before.

"May the sacred peace cubs be ever cherished and long may they live," the bird said. The red lion and my father both said they agreed. Mtoto and I looked at each other, not knowing what to do next, and then crossed over to the opposite sides.

"I am honored to call you family," the red lion said to my parents. "Our land is your land, and we hope to see you soon."

"Are you leaving now?" I piped up. Some of the lions glared at me, but the red lion didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, but remember, we'll never be far," my mother said. I ran across the line and rubbed my face on her leg.

"I don't want you to go," I said. Suddenly I was terrified, and I never wanted to leave her side. She sat down and wrapped her paw around me, licking my head and washing away the tears that were coming.

"Be brave, my little gift. I will always love you. I'm not going forever. This is your home now, but I'll always be your mother," she said. I sniffed and stood up. I licked her one last time and watched her go. She said I'd see her soon. That probably meant a few days. She grew smaller in the distance, and I felt more alone with each step.

The other cub came and sat beside me. He peeked at me out of the corner of my eye, but waited until my mother was gone to speak.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I didn't say anything.

"They'll be back soon. There were here all the time while the jackals were still around," he said.

"Really?" I asked, and I looked up at him.

"Really," he said. He turned in a circle and showed himself off. "I'm Simba. Prince Simba. My dad says since you're the peace lion, we're gonna be buds. I can show you all the cool stuff we got. And it's all mine," he said. His smile was so sure and confident I felt better right away. He darted to the edge of the rock and looked back over his shoulder at me. I barely knew him, but I could tell Simba was full of adventure. With him, the days would go by like minutes. I followed after him, and they did.