Disclaimer: I do not own The Lion King or any of its characters. They belong to Disney.

Author’s Note: Okay, if you read the summary, this is a one-shot about Simba and Zira’s first confrontation in Simba’s Pride. Enjoy!

The brown cub prepared to crouch for a play fight. He growled softly until he looked up in fright, a powerful and angry roar startling him. His heart skipped a beat as he saw that the lion was a crème gold colored with a brilliant red mane. He couldn’t move but another roar and a shadow over his body made him feel a bit at peace. He looked up at the body that gave him protection from this threatening lion. He sighed in relief. It was his mother. He quickly ran behind her, her hind legs keeping him safe.

From this haven, he noticed the other cub, Kiara, had done the same. She hid behind the gold lion, afraid of the strange lioness. Kovu looked on, scared and slightly curious. Due to their same colored coats, he mindfully assumed that the large lion was the father of Kiara.

The two adults growled, their roars done. They glared at each other, their red eyes showing hatred.

“Zira,” Simba said softly.

“Simba,” Zira replied in the same softness, her face taking on a smile. She stretched her legs, claws out, wanting to strike when the growls of three other lionesses prevented her from doing so.

Standing behind Simba and his cub were two lionesses but some steps to his left stood his queen, Nala, and his insectivore friends, the warthog, Pumbaa and the meerkat, Timon. All five creatures, including Simba held angry stares, but Simba and Nala’s eyes held something deeper for the intruding lioness and her cub.

“Nala,” Zira said, slightly disgusted.

“Zira,” replied the queen.

“Timon, Pumbaa,” the meerkat spoke. “Great, now that we all know each other GET OUTTA OUR PRIDELANDS!” he yelled.

Zira glared at the two animals. “Your Pridelands?” She roared to them and Timon, scared, ducked and hid in Pumbaa’s mane. She turned to Simba, her eyes showing no respect but defiance. “These lands belong to Scar!”

Simba was enraged at this. For as long as he lived, the Pridelands would never belong to Scar or anyone loyal to him, not even the lioness who stood before him now. He had returned to his home to reclaim it in the name of his father, the late King Mufasa as he was Mufasa’s heir to the throne. His uncle had brutally killed his father in a stampede and near killed him by sending his hyena companions after him.

Because of Scar’s inexperience and letting hyenas into the Pridelands, the kingdom became a wasteland, the pride near starved due to the herds disappearing to search for greener lands. Scar refused to move the pride out and when Scar was betrayed by the hyenas, Simba took the throne, which some of the lionesses accepted, but Zira had not. She refused to live under the lion that killed her mate and she refused to have her children grow with any cubs Simba would have by his mate, Nala.

In the king’s mind, he remembered the invitation he gave to Zira in the few months after he had become the new leader of the Pridelands…

“Zira, the king is here to see you,” said a dark brown lioness, her lime green eyes showing disapproval that the young lion wanted to see the lioness she and some of her pride mates still considered queen.

The desert lioness growled, her red eyes gleaming in the darkness. “Let him come.” She looked down at her stomach where nestling at her side were two cubs, a light gold tan lioness and her twin brother, a dark brown lion. She smiled and nuzzled them but the approaching steps of the new king disturbed her peace and her still grief.

“Zira,” said the young lion. All he received was a soft growl. He sighed. “Zira, I know you’re upset about Scar. He was my uncle but I did what I had to do. I gave him a chance but he wanted to fight instead. I offered him banishment with no strings attached. He could have left. You and some of the others could have gone with him. You could have found a good land to call your own. He could’ve been king there, your sons’ princes and your daughter a princess. And you, you could’ve been a queen. You all could have lived in peace.” He bowed his head, the strands of mane falling into his eyes. “But he didn’t take it. I was hoping he would. He attacked me. I had no choice but to fight back.”

He stepped closer but still wanted to keep some distance between them. His mother, Sarabi, told him that Zira could be dangerous if provoked. Grieving for her mate’s death and him being there would provoke her but saying the wrong thing would provoke her as well. He tried again, choosing his words carefully. “Zira, Scar killed my father. He was letting the kingdom die. He was letting the hyenas roam free. He would’ve let the pride starve to death –”

“He did none of those things,” she replied in a still growl. She stared at Simba in defiance. “Scar was a good king. He had a brilliant mind and if your father hadn’t been cruel to him –”

Trying to keep his own anger in control, Simba, his eyes on Zira, lied on the ground. It was a small while before he spoke. “My father must’ve given him many chances but Scar threw them away. He was jealous so he schemed. It worked. My father is dead and I would be too had he not saved me. But then the hyenas chased me out of the lands. I had almost forgotten who I was…” He trailed off and looked down, seeing the two cubs suckling at their mother’s side. He smiled faintly. “Zira,” he began again, his voice gentle. “Please, don’t take the same path he did. Don’t let your anger consume you. You must live. If not for yourself, live for them.” He gestured to the cubs then looked around. “Where is your other son, Nuka?”

“He’s around,” Zira said, not caring. She hated her oldest son because he wasn’t the heir Scar wanted. Nuka was born frail and weak. He looked like his father but didn’t have his great mind. As far as she was concerned, Nuka didn’t exist but when he came back to the cave in the early evening, he would exist but that didn’t mean Zira loved him. Scar didn’t so why should she? Her hope and Scar’s chosen heir, was next to her, keeping warm along with his sister, who Zira named Vitani. The brown cub, called Kovu, would bring meaning to her life and possibly more.

“I see. Well, you’re welcomed to stay here Zira. Your cubs need a kingdom to play in and to grow in. They will have their chance to live as will you. Unlike my uncle I am not heartless. I care for my pride and my subjects so please, don’t think less of that.” Simba made his way out of the cave when a lioness approached him.

Zira’s ears rose. She heard what was being said. The new king’s mate, Nala, had given birth to a son. “So Simba, you have an heir?” she spat. “I don’t care what you say. The way I see it, you killed my love and left my children without a father. You took whom I loved with all my heart when you could’ve spared him. Watch yourself. Watch your mate and watch your son… it would be a pity if something happened to them…” Taking one last look at her cubs, she nudged Kovu and rested her head on her paws…

Simba shook himself. “I banished you from the Pridelands,” he said, walking up a bit. “Now you and your young cub, get out!” He pushed his face to hers, their eyes showing the hatred they had for each other.

Their cubs, however, grew fearful, their eyes looking on each other. If they were separated they wouldn’t be able to play together, which was something neither wanted.

“Oh?” Zira said as she started to turn. “Haven’t you met my son, Kovu?” She walked around her son. “He was hand chosen by Scar to follow in his paw prints and become a king.” She stood over the cub, placing a foreleg of protection in front of him and smiled.

Simba growled.

Kovu felt the shadow of his mother move over him again, leaving him in the open. He looked up at the large lion, quivering in fear.

Timon scoffed. “That’s not a king, that’s a fuzzy maraca.”

Zira spoke again. “Kovu was the last born, before you exiled us to the Outlands where we have little food, less water.” She had turned and walked, head low, shoulders hunched as she said this. But what she said was right. The Outlands were all but completely barren except for some bones lying around and a large rock like holding that kept her and her pride warm on the cold nights and cool during the day. But she hated it there as did her pride and she knew that they wanted so much to return to the Pridelands. Kovu and his sister Vitani would not remember living in the Pridelands as they were still young except for their brother Nuka. He had and everyday he missed the land of his birth. Zira, despite her cruel ‘love’ for her oldest son, could not blame him. She grew up in the Pridelands. They were her home just as they the home of her cubs. They didn’t belong in a land where nothing survived.

Simba glared angrily, the two lionesses