What's up!

So here we are… the end to the first part of Heirs. Thanks to all of you who commented and reviewed this one. Also a thank you to those who have added the story to their alerts and favorites. And of course the people that send me PM's.

RELDOR: I actually knew that the song was sung by the tokens. But in my sloppiness I forgot to mention it at the end.

But there's still one more to go. Let's dig into it.

Chapter 15: showdown

Dark clouds stood over pride rock and filled the whole kingdom with darkness. Thunder could be heard from everywhere around the gigantic boulder in the middle of the pride lands. The lightning already struck twice. It was almost as if the weather knew that a storm was soon coming over the kingdom of former king Mufasa.

"So let me get this straight!"Tama said rubbing the sides of her head with her paws. "Simba, who we all thought was dead for the last three years, has been alive and well all this time. And he lived safe and sound in a jungle that lay on the other side of the desert?" She asked at her cream colored friend who had just informed them about Simba engaging in a battle for pride rock at any moment.

Nala raised her eyebrow at the tarnish/orange while glancing over the rest of the pride. "That's what I just said didn't I?" She answered dry.

"And he has returned to fight Scar for the throne is about this moment all on his own?" Sabini then added but received the same stare from Nala like Tama did moments ago.

The cream lioness shook her head and turned the side of her body towards her friends. "He won't be for much long if we don't get up there and help him. He needs every one of us to oppose the hyenas." Just like she did with Timon and Pumbaa, Nala didn't wait for a response from her pride and started walking up the path leading to pride rock. Soon after she made a few steps into the castles direction, she turned around looking at the hesitating lionesses. "What's wrong? This is what we've all been waiting for over the last years." She demanded at the group. "This was the reason why Sarabi send me away in the first place. And now you getting second thoughts. It's now or never!"

It took a few seconds before Sabini and Tama ran up to her and gave Nala a supporting nod. Soon the whole pride joined them and the lionesses ran over to wher they hoped Simba was. Nala immediately noticed that all the hyenas had left the field which lay to the feet of their home. From top of pride rock, she could hear Scar yelling and Sarabi giving contra to the king. She had to make it up there a quickly as possible. The female lioness was at the feet of the ledge as Nala heard a smacking and blunt sound from above and then noticed Simba appearing on top of yet another path with his teeth bared growling down on the scene. "Hurry!" She called back at her friends and stormed upwards.

Nala then quickly made it to the edge and her face tensed up. Sarabi lay on the ground with Simba standing over her protectively as both of members of the royal family stared at the king with fury. "Sarabi!" Nala whispered which mad the former queen tilt her head around once more.

Her eyes lit up as she spotted the younger lioness slowly getting on the ledge and padding over to her. "I knew you would make it!" Sarabi answered and smiled at Sarafinas daughter.

Soon, Tama and the rest were beside them as Nalas orange furred friend caught her first glimpse of the prince. Whoa! He has really grown over the years! And I kinda like it. Tama thought to herself but had no more time to observe the golden male. She quickly got to Sarabis side and helped her up.

In front of the group, Nala could hear Scar arguing with Simba. "Oh, oh ye… Well, I would, heh… however, there is one little problem." He pointed his paw to the top of the wall he was standing against in that moment. "You see them? They think I AM the king!"

Nala followed the direction in which their current king was pointing and her heart sank a bit. She knew they had to face the hyena clan in order to win this battle. But now as she finally saw all of them standing behind Scar. She realized how many hyenas there were in the pride lands. Yet, the cream lioness had not intentions of moving backwards. Like she said, it was now or never. Time to see if he has already forgotten me. Nala raised her voice as she spoke up. "Well, WE don't. Simba is the rightful king."

This made Scar shift his attention from Simba to the lionesses. At this moment he kinda understood what had been going on over the last days. Sarabi must have planned this all along. Nala had not left, she got send out to find someone who could oppose me. And of all the lions out there, she found my supposed dead nephew. Sure she didn't do that on her own. Someone must have helped her. For a short moment his pupils widened as he realized. That… baboon!

But the king had no time to think further as he was already confronted by Simba. The golden lion gave Nala a comforting smile before he turned his face back at his uncle. "The choice is yours Scar. Either step down… or fight." He threatened him.

If Scar had to choose, he would have gone after his three hyena servants on the spot. But right now, the sight of Simba was trouble enough. For a short moment, Scar was completely taken aback. But if he wanted to get out of this, he had to take an offensive approach. Let's see if you are as self-confident as you seem to be. "Oh! Must it all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree Simba?" He asked as he started to smirk and passed by Simba.

But the golden lion was not whiling to let his uncles mind games get to him. "That's not going to work Scar. I've put that behind me." His expression was stern and determined.

Yet the red/brown lion kept walking as he approached Sarabi and the lionesses. He noticed Nala shivering a little as he eyed her with his green intense eyes. "Ah… but what about your faithful subjects, have they put it behind them?" He stopped a few feet away from Simbas mother and Nala and threw a mocking and nasty smirk at them.

Although Nala stood her ground without any motion on the outside, she was shivering and unsure on the inside. Especially in the moment as Scar locked his eyes on her. But as much as she wanted to ignore him, her eyes wandered off to Simba who was no staring at her nervously. "Simba, what is he talking about?

The king turned away from them and trotted back into the direction of his nephew. "Ahh, so you haven't told them your little secret. Well Simba, now's your chance to tell them." Scar continued as the golden male kept a stern glare at the king. "Tell them who is responsible for Mufasa's death." He shouted out forcing Nala and the rest of the pride look at samba with huge eyes.

Here it goes; this is the moment I've feared all this years. Simba knew he had to face this sooner or later. But there was still a heavy heart bumping inside his chest. Now or never! "I am!" He finally said completely shocking his mother and the rest of his family. Normally, he would have felt relieved because he had finally let out his darkest secret. But he didn't. Instead he glanced over to his mother and Nala who looked at him with wide eyes of shock. But Simba couldn't hold his focus as he already saw his mother padding over to him.

The beige lioness stared at him with her ears laid flatly to her head and her eyes full of grief. "It's not true; tell me it's not true." She said but had a problem bringing the words out of her mouth.

As the male saw his mother glancing over at him, it took nearly all the courage, Simba had gathered over the last hours, away. It hurt him deeply to see her getting her heart ripped out like that a second time. "It is true!" He replied and bowed his head giving in to the grief.

Behind them, Nala understood everything. Why Simba refused to talk about what happened in the gorge. Why he refused to come back home, why he denied the fact that he was the king. Sometimes bad things happen… and there's nothing you can do about it. She remembered him saying back. It was guilt that Simba felt about his father's death. And here he stood, in the middle of this mess with Scar throwing all those feelings at him while his friends were asking of him to fulfill his duty as king. She felt two paws getting in contact with her shoulders as Tama and Sabini approached her from behind.

"Didn't you two talk about it when you met?" She asked concerned.

Nala could feel the slight mistrusting tone in her friends' voice which caused her to shake up her head and face her. "No we didn't! But are you honestly going to believe him." Nala answered and nodded her head in the direction of her king. "Even if Simba is responsible for Mufasas death, I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose." She remarked with the strength back in her voice. "I would follow Simba everywhere, and that includes opposing Scar at any time. And I can't believe that you would doubt Simba who came all this way to help us knowing that he had to face his demons of the past. I now understand" She raised her voice and now talked all of the pride.

"AHHH!"

The cream lioness heard Simba call in the distance and twisted her head just in time to see Simba fall over the ledge of pride rock. A lightning struck down on the ground right beside pride rock. Immediately the dry grass all around the place started to catch fire and started burning. The air was filled with a threatening looking red light.

"SIMBA!" She called out frightened and stormed into his direction. But Nala didn't get far as her path was blocked by several hyenas. Shenzi was the first one to growl at her as she stared at the huge grey barrier in front of her. "You better get out of my way." The female threatened the hyena with growls.

"Oh Really 'Beautiful', you and which army?" She asked mocking.

Nala looked behind her and found the lionesses still hesitating to help their prince.

"NOOOOOO! MURDERER!" She then heard Simba scream as he was now standing over Scar and pressed his paw down on the kings' throat. Scar was whispering something into Simbas ear but only received another angry growl from the golden male.

But then, the king raised his voice as he stared straight into his nephews eyes with bitterness and cold. "I KILLED MUFASA!"

Within seconds, hell broke loose. All the lionesses stormed forward to attack the hyenas with Nala leading the charge. She had to get to Simba who was getting overrun by the grey animals. She quickly slapped Shenzi across the face and sent her flying through the air. With all her strength, she fought her way through the lines of enemies as she hit another hyena going for Simbas throat with her right front paw.

Simba got to his feet and stared into Nalas aqua eyes. "Thank you!" He said simply. But then his expression narrowed as he kicked another two of the grey animals on the muzzle as they were about to hammer their teeth into the lionesses back.

"Thank you!" She retorted smiling. Another hyena tried to jump them but got thrown through the air as a red furred warthog stormed through the masses of carnivores battling each other. He passed the two lions who glanced at each other confused. "You learn to love them!" Nala said sarcastically as she smirked at Simba.

Tama stood on the other side of the ledge fighting off three of Scars minions as she stood side by side with the queen. She used her head to shove off one hyena from Sarabi before biting down on another ones neck. Because of that, she never saw the one that was sneaking up behind her and jumped straight at her. All tama could do now was turn her head and watch in shock as the hyena bit down on her neck. With Sarabi unable to move, another three hyenas enclosed on the tarnish/orange lioness. Tama could feel the live leaving her. But then she spotted a pale golden flash who ripped her three attackers away from her.

As she looked up, she saw in the confident faces of Sabini and Nafsi who growled at the hyenas with furious faces. Sarabi on the other side was still pinned down by the grey animals before she herself got rescued by Himaya and Kimae. The former queen looked up at them, exhausted but okay. "Till the end your majesty." Himaya said warm and helped her queen to her feet once more.

Tama then spotted Nala and Simba working together with her mother as they drove the hyenas off from pride rock one by one. Each and every one of the grey animals stormed away from the ledge until only the lionesses and their friends were standing. The flames were getting higher and higher as Simba finally had time to watch for Scar and put an end to his reign.

The golden male jumped on a higher level and then spotted his uncle in the distance. He was trying to sneak away on the path that lead to the summit of the castle. A cream flash appeared in front of him as Nala tried to give chase to the red/brown lion. But he quickly ran over to her and stopped her from going further. "This is something I have to do on my own." He said as he faced his friend. "The fire is getting bigger and bigger, watch over the pride and get out of here where it's safe." He said giving her a quick lick on her forehead and then stormed off after Scar.

Nala wasted no time and moved back to the rest of the pride who were driving the hyenas even more far away from their home. The cream lioness twisted her head to the side taking a glimpse of the flames that came closer and closer towards pride rock. Simba was right; they had to leave this place at once. Quickly, she ran over to her queen who was joined by Subira and Tama. "We should get going. Not for long and this whole thing will be engulfed with fire." Nala remarked demanding.

It was by now that Sarabi realized what was going on around her. She eyed Nala carefully before nodding her head carefully. "We could use the path to the back. The rocky walls there may protect us from the fire moving forward." With that she gave out a roar and the rest o the pride immediately ran over to her.

Nearly all of the hyenas had vanished from the giant rocky castle. Only the lionesses were left by now. The beige female ran over to a side path of pride rock as she glanced back to her fellow members to follow. Quickly, they made their way through the narrow rock passages before vanishing from the front of the scene.

As Nala was about to follow the rest of the lionesses, she tilted her head upwards hearing growls and yells from above. But there was no time for her as she could see a huge wall of fire approaching and now being only a few inches away from her back. The heat was nearly unbearable and she quickly followed her friends through that narrow corridor.

[On the top of pride rock.]

Simba shoved his uncle away from him with his paws. Even though Simba had more muscles than Scar, the fact that he was raised by a meerkat and a warthog and ha only been eating grubs for the last years really messed with his fighting skills. With the hyenas, he could make up his lack of skill with his size. But since he faced a full grown male lion here, the only thing he could compensate his disadvantage with heart. Yet Scar gained the upper hand as he smacked the golden male continuously with his left and right paws as Simba yelled out in pain.

But the younger lion countered with a left on his own which caused the red/brown lion to yell out in pain before he twisted his head to the side. Simba stormed forward trying to go for his uncles' neck. Yet he faceed a right swinger from Scar which let him tumble to the side for a few seconds. "Never expected this to happen huh young Simba? You thought you could come up here and just take MY THRONE!" Scar smirked and kicked his nephew in the side with his right back feet which made Simba land hard on the ground growling in pain.

Fire was surrounding them and the heat was unbelievable. "What a return would that be, the young prince who was betrayed by his own uncle and had to witness his father falling to his doom into a wildebeest stampede. I don't know how you survived the attack of my little minions, and frankly… I don't care. All care about is that after I take away your life, your adorable subjects will suffer in a way they could never imagine." He laughed menacing.

Yet Simba raised his head and stared at the king with a look that could kill. "Forget about that Scar. You won't do any more harm to anyone in this kingdom." He muttered under his heavy breath.

"We'll see about that!" Scar replied and smacked the golden furred male across the face to make Simba sail towards the edge of the summit. On his way through the air, Simba shot right through a wall of fire burning small parts of his fur at an instant. The younger lion lied on his back before glancing up at Scar jumping straight at him. Big mistake! He thought as he clenched his teeth.

With both his back legs, he hit Scar on the stomach and sent him flying over the edge of the summit of pride rock. At once, he got to his feet and glanced down to where he saw Scar laying at the beginning of the ledge. Down below, the red/brown lion began to move which took Simba by surprise. But then he saw something that almost made him run down the path he came up.

The hyenas had gathered around the king who was standing against a wall. Simba couldn't hear what they were saying, but the nasty laughs escaping the grey animals were enough for him to understand. As he watched the hyenas turning on their king, Simba turned his head away not wanting to see what was going to happen.

Soon, the painful screams of Scar filled the whole area around pride rock as the giant mountain was wrapped in hot burning and red glowing fire.

The evening had turned dark due to the sky being covered with dark grey clouds. It was a rather unsettling scene which took place in the sky and could even be seen from the northern border of the pride lands. To any animal following the border of the home of king Scar, it was strange to see the side, which belonged to the pride lands being really dry and lacking plant and tree life. While on the other side of the border, the plants and woods were still left with some sort of life.

Right in that moment, a young lion cub just a few months old climbed upwards a huge mountain which lay just beside the kingdom of Scar and delivered the best observing point of the area. The cubs' fur was of a pale caramel color, a little brown hair tuft lay on the top of its head. The young male was smiling as he jumped from small ledge to small ledge getting closer and closer to the top.

"Mbingu! What did I tell you about running that fast up the hill?" A rather young lioness with the same fur color called after the cub and followed the young lion up the mountain. She smiled gently at the young lion in front of her.

The cub turned around and laughed playfully at her. "Not to go that far away from an adult that is going to accompany me. And as you noticed, I'm not that far away from you cousin Niyani!" He said and stopped as he extracted his chest to his cousin.

Niyani couldn't help herself but to laugh at her younger cousin. The kid sure has width. She thought before shaking her head ion amusement. Out of the sudden, she felt movement beside her and didn't need to think twice to realize who it was. She glanced to the side and found a male lion in just about the same age then herself smiling down at the little cub. "I guess he's been hanging out with you and your friend for to long!" The pale caramel lioness smirked as she gave the male a quick shove with her right elbow.

The male lion had an ochre fur which was going tone in tone with a mane of the same color. "Mbingu! You know that technically, she and I had to come and catch up with you in order to not break the rules!" He called out knowing that he had caught the younger cub.

"Could be true!" The cub simply said continuing on his way to the summit. Niyani and Tojo followed him walking side by side.

"I hope that our cubs won't be that feisty when they reach his age." Tojo said in a mumbling tone as he smirked at the lioness right beside him. "Not that I'm thinking about having cubs with you yet." A sudden defensive tone appeared in his voice after he saw the frown on Niyani's face. "Not that you wouldn't make a great mother. It's just that… it's a bit early for us to think about something like that." Tojo smacked himself inside, he was sounding like Malka trying to avoid getting into trouble from having a loud mouth.

Niyani gave him a nuzzle to the side as she tried to release her mate from his situation. "I think I got the idea." She answered gently.

The three lions now had reached the summit where the bush had ended and allowed them to look over most of the pride lands and the lands lying north of it. The pale caramel lioness gazed over to her left until her eyes locked on the strange red/orange light at the horizon. "Hey Tojo! Look over there, what a strange sight." She said and nudged the ochre lion into the side with her elbow.

Tojo twisted his head as he followed the glare of his mate with curious eyes. He too then saw the light in the distance. The male rested his gaze on it for a few moments and realized that it was kind of… growing. "Hm… that doesn't seem like just some light, it looks more like… fire." Since no stars could be seen, due to the clouded sky, Tojo had a hard time to remember which direction the fire lay. But he had been up this mountain so often that he knew how to figure it out.

Okay let's see! We passed the faru-river just a few moments ago. Now where is it? He wandered with his eyes over the land until he spotted a black colored line going along to their right. Ah, there it is. He extracted his paws in front of his face and then placed them side by side and from right to left. From this point we go five paws to the left until we reach… His eyes widened as his right paw was now exactly directed at… PRIDE ROCK! With horror in his face, Tojo turned around and screamed. "MAAAALKAAAAA!"

"Jo-jo? JO-JO!" He heard his friend call in the back as the pale orange lion ran over to the trio his eyes wide and out of breath. "What's wrong?"

Tojo pointed his direction towards the fire. "LOOK!" He just yelled.

Malka narrowed his eyes glancing towards the red/orange light on the horizon. It took him a while before he realized and glared with wide open eyes at his ochre friend. "Oh great kings!" He stuttered as his and Tojos eyes met. Malka shifted his head around and started running down the mountain. Tojo looked at Niyani and Mbingo before turning his body away.

"Sorry Niyani, I got to check that out. Stay here where it's safe. Malka and I will return as soon as possible." Tojo didn't wait for a response from the lioness and the cub before he stormed off after Malka. The pale caramel lioness had no idea what was going on, all she could do was watch after the two males as they ran into the direction of the fire.

Simba lay on the top of pride rock for quite a while and with his eyes closed. The golden lion laid on his back as he was exhausted from the last hours and the events that had taken place in his life. The battle was over; he had won the fight for his kingdom and his destiny. His eyes were directed on the clouded sky. Then he felts something which made them close immediately. It was raining.

Beside the path that led to the place the battle between Scar and Simba took place; the lioness too felt the relief that came with the water from the sky. Within seconds, the huge rock that was home to the kings' pride had been complete freed from the fire. Nala glanced up at the sky as she felt her face becoming completely water drained. Mostly from the rain coming from beyond, but also from the tears of joy that she felt. Scars screams of pain could be heard all around the place. The cream lioness then glanced around to check if everybody was okay.

As far as she could tell, everybody was there. Nafsi, Sabini were standing side by side letting the liquid from above cool their heated bodies down. Kulas and Chumvis mothers were standing alongside Kimae with the same direction. She then watched after Sarabi and quickly found her. But what she found let her heart drop for a moment.

The queen had her head directed to the ground as she glanced down on a lioness' body that was spread all over the floor. As Nala approached her the young lioness saw who it was. "Himaya!" Nala stuttered glancing down at her.

Himayas body was burned on several places and her left front leg was standing in an awkward position. Sarabi had to fight back some tears as she glanced at her most loyal lioness. With sorrow, she then pressed her right front paw on her still opened eyes and shoved them close. "Till the end!" Sarabi mumbled and connected her forehead with the dead lionesses' before she turned it away and faced Nala. "First things first, let's get to Simba. We do the rest later on."

The golden lion came walking but still being weak down the path as he came into view of his pride. His mane was hanging down from his head due to the rain still storming down from the sky above. He passed the huge ledge which lay to the right as he looked up to Zazu giving him a bow.

"Your majesty!" The blue hornbill said.

Simba then caught side of two lionesses who passed by him before he found his mother and Nala approaching him. He gave Sarabi a short touch on her head before the queen stepped aside and let room for Nala and Simba to nuzzle each other glad that it was over.

[Miles away!]

Tojo and Malka had just passed Zuburi-river which lay just north of the mangrove tree they passed a few months ago. The sight of their home being covered in flames made them completely forget about the fact that they both were banished from the kingdom months ago. And so they didn't care that were disobeying the law of king Scar. All they cared about was to get back to their home as fast as possible. As they passed a mountain to their left, Pride rock could be seen from far away, the flames had become even higher. But all that lay between Tojo, Malka and their castle was the huge veldt in front of pride rock.

"Pick up the pace Jo-jo! There's no time to lose." Malka called back to the ochre lion that fell a few feet behind.

"I'm right behind you buddy!" The ochre cub responded as pride rock bigger and bigger. Something made Tojos tail swing nervously and out of the sudden, his nose began to tickle. He came to a halt as he felt something he had not felt for years. "Malka! It's raining!" he called out to his friend who stopped on the spot and glanced back at Tojo.

Within seconds, the rain got so strong that it disposed of all the flames that happened around the giant rock formation. They looked into each other's eyes kinda dumbfounded because of the scene taking place. "Let's see if we can help." Malka replied as he signed for both of them to move forward.

By now they had gone into a trot and approached pride rock with a bit more care. Even though they had not seen a single hyena on their way through the pride lands, they could be everywhere guarding the castle and waiting to jump them at any minute. As they were close enough to see their former home in detail, they were relieved to see golden, cream and light brown figures moving across the ledge. Tojo was about to yell out to them as his eyes caught movement of something walking towards the edge of the ledge. He narrowed his eyes to see what it was.

The figure was definitely a lion, and it was a male lion. But he was to bulky to be Scar, and the color of his fur was rather golden. They marched forward and Tojo could now see the lion in all his details. And right then his mind went completely crazy and he had to hold on to his jaw or else it would have dropped to the ground. "Malka?" he asked his eyes little and locked on the male lion.

"Yes!" His pale orange friend answered with the same expression on his face.

"Do you see that?"

"Yes!"

"That fur color?"

"Yep!"

"Those eyes?"

"Clearly!"

"That red mane?"

"Of course!"

The male let out a roar from the ledge which haled through all of the pride lands and set his position as king. To Tojo and Malka, it was clear. Either Mufasa was growing young instead of old (besides having found a cure for dead), or the lion up there was the cocky prince they once knew and were friends with. "We better not just stare at him, we better move."

Upside pride rock, Simba moved away from his position and returned to the pride standing a few yards away from him. His mother was the first one to go to him and nuzzle him gently. "I'm so proud of you!" She whispered in his ear as she brought the side of her head together with his'. She soon backed away as Nala and Tama walked up to him giving him both a hug.

Soon, the whole pride was standing in line to welcome their new king. But in the middle of it, Simba backed away and raised his muzzle into the sky. Nala and Tama glanced at him with confusion until the golden male glared to the path that lead from the bottom of pride rock to the position they were in right now. The male lion narrowed his eyes as he spotted two males coming up the path and smiling at the pride.

At once, Nalas Tamas and Sabinis eyes widened and their muzzles grew huge smiles. But the joy was spoiled as Simba jumped protectively in front of his pride. "WHO ARE YOU?" He called challenging and caused the two males to stop on the spot. Nala and Sabini went straight ahead to say something but got hold back by Tama who wanted to watch this in delight.

The ochre one stared at the golden male before her twisted his towards his pale orange friend. "Yep, definitely him!" Tojo said which caused Simba to frown.

Malka stepped forward as he glared deeply into Simbas eyes. "I should have known that they can't keep you down for good." He said in his typical sly tone.

Simba stared at him for a moment before his face lit up. "M-M-Malka?" He stuttered before he stormed over to the two males giving them a friendly hug. "Jo-jo! Malka, it's great to see you." He said full of joy before letting the rest of the pride go along and greet them. It took a long time for them to check, but they would have done it if it wouldn't have been for a little detail getting in the way.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" A female voice shrieked and ripped the pride out of their new found joy. As the turned their heads, they found Zira standing in one line alongside Nuka, Spotty and Dotty. Simba moved forward as he got a view of the tarnish lioness staring at the males with her yellow eyes. "Didn't Scar banished you just months ago? And who is this strange lion doing in the middle of our pride?"

Malka brought his muzzle to Tamas ear as he whispered. "Uhm… that's her first question? I mean… the fifty stories high fireball that once was called pride rock doesn't face her on bit?"

Zira didn't hear him and made another step closer towards Simba who stared at her with calm and neutral eyes. "As co-ruler of the pride lands, I demand you to answer." She called with a stern and charging voice while Nuka and the rest stayed in the back. Indeed, Zira had not noticed or even caught a glimpse of the fight that had happened earlier on.

With a quick glance to his mother, Simba tilted up his head as he positioned himself in front of his pride. "Scar is gone. He died in the fire moments ago." He said with a heavy tone. "The hyenas that didn't burn to death left pride rock after they got rid of him." He continued as he caught the surprise and shock that was building up on Ziras face.

Scar is gone… no, NO! It can't be. She thought before baring her teeth. "And who might you be?" She snapped.

Nala and Sarabi were about to run beside Simba but got held back by the male. He twisted his head and gave them a calming smile before facing Zira again. "I'm Simba! You remember my name right?" he didn't want to sound that cocky or arrogant but seeing as how Zira was showing no respect to them, he had no interest in showing any of his own.

The tarnish lionesses' eyes grew wide. "You're… you're dead. How… how did you…?" he gaze wandered at Nala who gave her a triumphant and mocking smile. "YOU!" She yelled and went for the cream lioness at an instant. She was to quick for any of the pride members to react until she was completely over Nala.

Yet the younger female was able to fight her of until Malka and Simba jumped in and blocked their paths. "Since you viciously attack a fellow pride member and your future queen…" Even though those were big words, nobody of the pride realized what Simba just said. "I guess that there's no place for you in this pride."

Zira growled at first but settled for a second as Scars word ran through her mind. Always remember Zira, the pride lands are the most prestige way to live in the African savannah. There is no place more beautiful and precious then here. Don't ever get yourself driven away from this place. HER king was right, there was nothing to win if that meant for her to leave the kingdom at once. For now, until she found a chance, she had to obey the new king. But how to pull it off? "Oh, you wouldn't let a lioness be out there all on her own when she was expecting?" Zira didn't want to smile and kept her face straight.

For a moment, Simba did nothing but then narrowed his eyes. He was unable to tell if the lionesses word were true. If she was lying, she was really good at it. He quickly faced Rafiki who came down from the ledge and had watched the scene long enough. "Is it true?" He asked the mandrill who came to a halt in front of them.

"I'm afraid it is my king." He said but didn't fight back that he was a bit upset.

To the surprise of a lot of lionesses, Nala had kept pretty silent till now before she got closer to Simba. "She was the most loyal to Scar. It wouldn't surprise me if she was in the thing with you and your father." She said in a gentle but determined voice.

Simba faced her and lowered his voice into a whisper. "But she's pregnant Nala, I can't send her out there in this barren wasteland. She'll starve to death, I'm not going to start my time as king by sending a lioness to her certain death." He answered and gave her a quick nuzzle. Nala didn't argue further, maybe it was the best to let it rest for now. There would be enough chances to get back at Zira in the future. The golden furred male then raised his head as he looked around. "Alright! You're allowed to stay. I guess we better let it rest for the night. Malka and Tojo, are you staying with us for the night?"

Both males glanced at each other before Malka spoke up. "We would love to." He gave his friend an approving smile before giving Tojo a pad on his front leg. "But first we have to take care of something. We'll be back later on." He said as he led Tojo back away from pride rock.

Sarabi, Subira and Kimae faced their new king as his mother spoke up. "We have to take care of Himayas body. We'll come afterwards." The former queen said and the pride went their separate ways.

Moments later, there were only Simba, Nala and Tama left beside the ledge of pride rock on one side, and Zira together with Nuka and Spotty on the other. The tarnish lioness passed by Nala who as both shot each other an icy glare. "Do you feel lucky now? you have doomed this whole pride by dethroning Scar." Zira glared without letting Tama or Simba hear it.

"I saved the pride! And seeing as I'm going to be your leader in the future, you might want to change your attitude towards us." Nala answered with a growl before the tarnish lioness vanished into the direction of Scars den.

Tama gave Nala a supporting look as the two shared a smile before she faced Simba. "I guess I let you two alone for the moment." She said and padded off.

For a moment, neither of the two said anything while Simba glanced around once again uneasy. He could still see the burned down and black ground that surrounded pride rock. In the distance, the male could see the rain finally filling the waterholes again. Streams were getting rebuilt and the grey colour of the sky got a bit lighter. Yet, Simbas heart still felt a little heavy. As he watched over his kingdom, he still had to think about how he was going to reform the land which his father once brought to its heights. Well of course he needed help and his mind wandered off to Nala. Thank the great kings she came and brought me back.

Short after, he felt a movement to his left as Nala had settled down right beside him. "So… you've done it." She started giving him a supporting smile.

The golden furred lion eyed her warm. "No… we've done it!"

Yet again, the cream female snuggled closer to him and gave him a nuzzle on the head before she backed off a few feet. Her face had a sly smirk on her and she eyed him slightly mocking. "What did I hear earlier? Since you viciously attack a fellow pride member and your future queen…" She started and gave him a sly smile while raising one of her eyebrows. "Did I hear a proposal there?"

Simba answered that with a confused face before returning the smile. "And what if it was one?" He countered standing up and looking at her with all the warmth in his eyes.

The cream lioness put her right front paw to her chin as she pondered. "I don't know uhm… maybe I would… accept it." She answered giving away an innocent expression.

"Well in that case…" Simba went forward and threw her off her feet until she lay on her back with the male standing over her getting his muzzle closer to hers. "… it was one!" He giggled and the two started to nuzzle each other feeling masses of rocks falling off from their shoulders. Finally, everything was back in its place. And even though, the pride looked worst than ever before… the lions living there looked at a brighter future.

CONTINUED IN PART 2…

Author's note and Trivia: And that's it for now. It had been a lot of fun up to this point. Up to this point, I have the first chapter of Part 2 written down on paper and will start finishing it after Feast of the Ascension on May 17th (long weekend and a small vacation). I just need some time to gather some thoughts and doing some research.

There were no special quotes or references included in this one (though the dialog between Simba and Scar at the end had some touch of all those cheesy 80's action movies where the hero makes the big stand at the end).

Once again… thanks a lot to all of you who have been reading and contacted me during the last months.

Schmidtinho