A blood red object was rising slowly over the eastern horizon. Simultaneously casting lightness and darkness into the endless savanna below, a lone figure sat atop the highest rock for miles around. Mufasa was deep in observation this morning. During this meditation, the only thing he could think about was the events of the past several days.

It all started mid-day at the watering hole a week ago. His son, Simba, was never much liked by the other lion cubs. Ironically, the adult lionesses couldn't keep their paws off of him, much to the distain of his mother, Sarabi. Even with all of the attention from the adult lions, Simba didn't care. All he wanted in his life was to be friends with all of the other lion cubs his age. Normally the other lion cubs just ignored him and continued playing amongst themselves. Mufasa truly felt sorry for his son but whenever he tried talking to the parents of the other cubs, they shrugged him off and responded, "cubs will be cubs." Eventually the other cubs became less hostile towards Simba, save for one female cub named Hasira.

However, a week ago something happened at the watering hole. The best account he could piece together from the various individual reports he gathered was this: One of the lioness cubs that was the meanest to Simba, Hasira, was alone taking a drink out of the watering hole when Simba confronted her to ask why she was always so mean to him. She immediately went on the offensive and instead of answering his question, threatened to attack him if he ever talked to her again. After reducing Simba to tears, she gleefully ran off and happily played with two of her friends as if nothing had ever happened. Simba then ran off to the only cub that talked to him, Nala. She worked her magic on him and calmed him down. However he was still visibly shaken when he went to his father that night.

While Nala was trying to calm Simba down, Hasira and her two friends were formulating a plan to make Simba's life in the Pridelands, well, a living hell. They started spreading rumors to the zebras and meerkats. After the three girls planted the seeds of misery, the plant grew like wildfire. By the next morning, every single living thing in the Pridelands had heard of the vile rumors, and most of them unfortunately believed them. Rafiki had a name for this trend. He called it "mob mentality." Naturally, Mufasa had no idea what his friend was talking about but believed him anyway. Now Simba could not go anywhere without hearing animals whisper things behind his back, and in some cases, to his face.

It was at this point in Mufasa's mediation that he noticed a familiar blue bird in the sky, flying right toward him. Seconds later, the king's majordomo, Zazu, landed right next to the king and greeted him.

"Good morning Sire," the bird cheerfully said as he bowed in front of the Lion King.

"It's not a good morning Zazu. Can I safely assume that you have heard the bulk of the rumors about me and my family during your morning rounds?"

"Unfortunately, I have Sire. I knew they were false the moment my ears overheard them. I have been trying to quash them but it seems no animal wants to be the one who thinks differently."

"I couldn't care less about the rumors. The three cubs that started them will be dealt with later. Time will quash them for us, just wait. I just can't stand to see my son take the brunt of the onslaught when the only crime his guilt of is standing up for himself."

"Sire, would you like me to talk to him?"

"Please."

-%-^-%-

Simba used to enjoy getting up in the mornings and taking a walk around the Pridelands. Even though most mornings his walks were done in silence with no companions, he enjoyed every moment of them. Sometimes it was nice to take a walk and admire the scenery without any distractions. However, for the past week, ever since he tried to stand up to Hasira, he was never alone. Animals that he had never seen before tried to follow him, trying to provoke him. Usually he ignored them but several times he was this close to his mental breaking point. Today was no different. He heard the whispers behind him when he walked through crowds of animals. He could not tell who it was but he didn't care. He was fed up with the constant bombardment of negative comments. Simba's self-esteem was at an all-time low. He wanted to run away, far away and start a new life in a different pride; a pride where he would be accepted as one of them and not bullied because he was the king's son. The only thing that kept him attached to this pride were his parents.

At the thought of his father, Simba sat down and sighed. He father was always there for him but that was most of the problem. The other lion cubs made fun of him for being a daddy's boy. For being a prince, heir to the throne. Some days Simba thought they were jealous of him, other days he was jealous of them. They didn't have responsibilities. They could play and sleep all day and night. It was at this point that Simba noticed that he was being followed by another creature. A soft swoosh of air rung in his ears, coming from a direction where he thought there was no bird. Split between running away and attacking his stalker, he choose the middle ground. In the fiercest voice he could muster up, Simba calmly said "Show yourself."

"It's only me, Simba," Zazu responded, "Don't attack me."

"My father sent you, didn't he?" Simba coldly asked.

"Yes, he is concerned for you," Zazu said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine. Now leave me alone," Simba tried to say proudly, but this thin lie fooled nobody.

"Simba, when I was a young hatchling, I went through the exact same thing that you are going through right now."

"Somehow I seriously doubt that."

"It's true. My two brothers were always getting themselves into trouble. One day they made a business deal with another Hornbill by the name of Rushwa. I never did learn the particulars of the deal…"

"How does your two brothers making a deal with some random bird have anything to do with getting bullied Zazu?"

"I'm getting there, young Simba, be patient. Ah, were was I? Yes, the business deal. As I said, I never did learn what the deal was but when they came home with beaks full of worms that night, I knew something was fishy. They never did anything of their own volition. My mother was always trying to get them out of the nest to do something that benefited society. She never succeeded. I knew they were into something bad but I couldn't put my wing on it. So I dropped the thought until a month later when a nasty rumor about me surfaced. I won't get into the details because, well, it was bad and I don't want those awful memories to surface again."

"That bad, eh?"

"I couldn't look other birds in the face for weeks."

"Who started it?"

"Rushwa, as usual my brothers never upheld their end of the bargain. He eventually got fed up with them and started a rumor about me to pay them back. However, knowing my brothers, they got a kick out of the entire ordeal. When I asked them to help me, they spat in my face and flew off."

"Whoo…What eventually happened Zazu?"

"I learned a lot of lessons that month. My trust in family was forever broken, and to be honest the only animal that I fully trust these days is your father. I haven't spoken to my brothers in years and the relationship with the rest of my family has been…strained as a result. However, I learned several strategies for dealing with bullies. To be honest, you actually have several options when you deal with one. The first option is the one that most of us default to, but to be honest it's the worst out of the three."

"Let me guess Zazu. Confront the bully and do exactly what they want me to do, become emotional?"

"Exactly Simba. Bullies thrive on forcing animals to become emotional. It is what gets them off. When you confronted Hasira earlier this week about how she treated you, she forced you to become emotional. And in doing so, you fell into the trap she had spring for you. It made her day seeing you in tears at the watering hole."

"Thanks for the reminder Zazu," Simba said weakly.

"There is nothing wrong with trying to defend your honor, Sire. But, what is that old proverb? 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.'"

"Zazu, how does that apply to my situation?"

"Simple Simba, next time you see Hasira, ignore her."

"But what is that going to accomplish?"

"It's the second option - ignoring her. Bullies like her have very short attention spans. If you do not fall for their tricks again, they will move on. Eventually I stopped responding to Rushwa's comments. Soon enough he became bored trying to provoke me with no response so he dropped the entire thing, and everyone forgot about the rumors shortly thereafter."

"Isn't that hard, ignoring someone when they are trying to provoke a response?"

"It is Simba and it takes a great deal of practice and courage to take the high path, especially when someone is trying desperately to increase their own self-esteem by making you feel miserable."

"Are there any other options, Zazu?"

"There is one more, but it's the hardest of them all. It's the one with the greatest chance of failure. That being said, it's also the most rewarding of all of your options. Play with their mind; their thought process."

"Play…with a bully? How?"

"Do the exact opposite what they are trying to provoke you to. If they want you to become emotional, become emotional-"

"How is that different than the first option Zazu?"

"Let me finish Simba, I said become emotional, but what I really meant was instead of breaking down into tears, sit down with your chest out and your head held up high. Take their verbal blows with dignity. Say exactly what they want you to say but without breaking down, without a hint of emotion. Like I said before, it takes a great deal of courage to deflect the insults while remaining calm. It'll cause the bully to lose interest even faster than ignoring them, because they are receiving immediate feedback that their methods are failing."

"Thank you Zazu for the help."

"Now go run along and play with the other lion cubs."

"I will."

-%-^-%-

Authors Note: What are the odds, my first fan fiction done at exactly 11:59 on Christmas Eve? I have actually been working on a different one since midway through November but the idea for this came when I was taking a shower yesterday (err, two days ago now, I guess? 12/23) Most likely this is a oneshot but I might end up actually doing a Chapter 2, depending on reaction. Yes, it's about what you think it is.

This is XO9, signing out, wishing he had brought his backlit keyboard home for the holidays.