The Lion King 4 - Tarew's Story

In the beginning there were three...

Simba crossed the cold stone floor of Pride Rock with his face twisted into a frown. Nala was perched beside him, licking her paws and wondering what Simba was thinking about in this serious manner. His paws stopped pacing back and forth quite abruptly and he cast a quick glance at Nala who was watching his every movement with great interest. He tramped across the hard stone and sat beside his wife, a look of great disappointment still displayed on his frowning face.

".....Simba?" she asked quietly.

It took a long while for him to answer, but when he finally gazed at her sorrowfully, he took a deep breath and said:

"Nala...... I've been thinking.... and... well.... I'm not sure we should get Rafiki to make the usual arrangements."

"What? Arrangements?"

He nodded slowly.

"Wait, you don't want to give him a ceremony? But... that's ludicrous!"

"No.. just listen for a bit longer... I'm not sure a boy is a good idea around Kiara, I mean, they're retched, reckless things and I'm not sure that raising one alongside our darling Kiara won't affect her future."

"Simba! Lions have ruled for over a million years, and every single royal cub has had a Birth Ceremony, stopping that chain now would almost certainly give us bad luck! Plus he could get bullied for it, and for being different.."

"I know that Nala. But I'm really doubting that a boy won't be too much trouble to raise."

"Listen to yourself! Not giving him a ceremony would give him a reason to hate us both forever!"

"This isn't about the boy! This is about Kiara, she needs her rightful place as queen and in order to make her the queen, she needs the necessary training from both her parents. With another cub in the way, she won't get the full preparation and might fail us as a queen! If she does fail then that means that next in line is the boy and he won't have any training either because we didn't plan for Kiara to step down from Queenship! Don't you see Nala? This is better for both of our cubs."

She placed her aching head to the ground, resting it on her two shaking paws. Thoughts whizzed around in her brain, she sat there asking herself another question, then answering herself as if there were two lions talking. A single tear rolled down the side of her cheek. She stood up and faced Simba, using all the strength she had left in her to keep herself from breaking down on the spot. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned her sapphire blue eyes towards her mate and said:

"Fine. You get your way. But he is my cub too, and that means that I get to make half of the decisions for him. So listen to my offer. We don't give him a ceremony, and we don't allow him places in which Kiara is appointed to. He has the highest room in Pride Rock and he is kept tucked away and out of sight. But please let him roam freely. The last thing I want is for my baby to be locked away in a stone cage for the rest of his life. He will be here in only a few months and the least we can do as his parents is to make sure he is delivered safely into this world, no matter how much of a struggle it is for us. Please Simba, in the name of good will let him at least be free.."

"Nala...... I'm sorry...." he said, letting his final words drift off into the night air.

The lioness lay on a large stone that was in a small den at the back of Pride Rock. She watched her husband leave her side and amble out of the rock's entrance, only to be greeted by a fresh blow of the cool night air. She lowered her head again and found herself looking at the bump in her stomach, her little cub. As she looked at it, her eyes slowly began to fill with tears as she knew what his future held. She closed her eyes and whispered softly;

"My boy, I know you may not know it, but your father and I love you very much... I just hope you realise that when you do great things." She sniffled a tear and resumed. "I know you can, and I know you will Tarew, just be brave..."