A/N: Learn a few secrets, live a few lessons. This is Nala's story.

The cream-coated youngster leaned against the inside of her mother's foreleg. She had her teary sea foam blue eyes trained away from the snickering hyenas, and yet there was a tiny morbid temptation to peer up over the fuzzed-over paw. That's when Nala saw the accomplished leer in the new king's green eyes. His surroundings were that of devilishly delighted yellow ones, when she looked up she saw her mom glaring indignantly at Scar.

"Sarafina," The lioness next to her commented, "Sarabi wants us at the rock's edge."

Nala buried herself low as Simba had the other night as her mother's powerful jaws went to encompass her small rib cage. The new king's slinky emerald gaze followed them; he wrinkled his nose in slight distaste and headed into the cavernous entrance with his clan.

A starless night fell over the huddling lionesses' as they formed a circle of bodies, Nala tried not to look up directly at the form of the imposing queen as they passed. She felt it would not only be disrespectful, but it would depress her more to see one figurehead now.

Sarafina made sure of that as she placed her daughter into the center with two brown cubs.

"Nala," One of them asked her. "What's going to happen?"

She only lay there motionlessly. Simba wasn't gone, he couldn't be. Gazing over towards the other younger female, the cub noticed how unsure and scared her eyes were. A wave of compassion towards the fellow little lioness filled Nala's heart with a security that she so desperately needed now. Luckily, the female's older brother covered her with his body.

Nala raised her head and made out the barricade of protectors surrounding her, this made her feel strangely out of place. The comfort of her world was still intact, but it suddenly felt suppressing. She felt a bit of shame for not being able to protect them, as she hadn't been able to the previous night. Even more depressed, Nala slid her muzzle under a paw.

There was a deep intake of breath beyond the encircling group, and she was coaxed to see through the dark shadows that fell across the half-framed boulder the silhouette of a large adult lioness standing up in front of them. Standing up a bit further, through another mist of tears, Nala made out queen Sarabi. She was no longer a laid back, lazily smiling mom.

The little cub almost went agape at the sight; the lioness, for everything she had lost, was standing with her back firmly held straight, hers slouched with a cubs undignified gaiting. Sarabi's legs were evenly spaced, Nala was pigeon-toed. But most of all, she stood with the integrity and authority that came from ruling a kingdom. In the suddenly clear cast of black, Nala saw with wide, cyan eyes that even in the face of corruption, there was hope.

Slowly, the cub brought her paws together; she pushed up even as the muscles in her tiny legs cried out in protest to rise to her feet. Nala then directed her large ears up in alertness.

She then heard what resembled a quiet gasp of surprise from her mother's direction. With a new, profound feeling of sense of purpose, the cub felt herself rise unsteadily to her feet.

The lioness couldn't bring her already middle-aged body to tears right then. Not just yet.

Sarabi couldn't even feel herself standing there, she felt like Pride Rock. Aged, but still a lifetime from death, weathering but still remolding to whatever new role she must endure; without much on her mind but an insurgence questions of doubt stirring in the back of her head. But there was something different also on her mind, some strange sensation that she was the immediate attention of someone. With curiosity, she turned to peer down slightly.

Nala, who had been terrified to look up at her passing by, looked up at the noble queen. A look of determination was set in her eyes, a spark of responsibility and a silent promise to Sarabi to remain loyal. Respectively, the two generation-gaped rulers looked ahead again.

The queen felt a break in her carefully measured dignity occur, and she struggled for just a moment to control her breathing as a single tear rolled down her russet cheek. She was able to regain her composure as the small drop spattered to the smooth stone soundlessly.

Nala swiped at the remnants of her tears as they flowed down and stood with dignity as everyone else slept through the night, the words from the previous night repeated in her mind. 'I thought you were very brave.' No, Simba had been very foolish and so was she.

Now she would live bravely, for the both of them. Nala would live for her mother and her pride. She would face the hyenas from then on, and she knew they knew she'd be a threat.

A small grin crossed her muzzle.