Set in the first movie: Baby Simba meets baby Nala for the first time. Just a cute story I decided to do.

I do not own the Lion King or any of its content. All rights belong to Disney. Nor do I own the cover image.

Enjoy the story!

Pale pink light streamed from behind the delicate clouds before the rising sun, encasing the world in a pearlescent glow. Those who chose to wake up at this time felt a peace with the serenity the world was wrapped in at this time. They knew in just a few minutes or shorter, the sun would rise and the rose-colored world would fade and change to a fiery, fluorescent orange, then a brilliant gold, before spreading into the brilliant sapphire sky of day.

In the middle of the Pridelands, Pride Rock gathered the earliest traces of the sunlight on its tip, like a lighthouse in the center of the sea of tall grass. The lion pride would be awakening soon.

It was a glorious time for the pride now. The era of king Mufasa and his queen, Sarabi, had brought forward an age of peace and prosperity. And with that age, they had been blessed with a new generation to continue the legacy of the ruling over these lands. Not only had the king and queen had recently become the parents to the new crown prince, but another lioness of the pride had become the mother of her own little cub, a little girl which resembled her.

Seeing as the pride had both a male and female cub in their home, plans had already been made for the future. Tradition spanning for generations recalled the rules to follow of betrothal and the next, next bloodlines. But for the time being, the parents agreed to set a date, today to be exact, to allow their children to meet each other or the first time and allow them to introduce themselves to their future finances.

Sunlight danced through the leaves of the trees, creating an ever-shifting pattern of light and shade on the sandy ground below. In the shade of one of those trees, just on the side of Pride Rock, a creamy lioness relaxed in the shade. Her expression was calm and peaceful. Her paws were overlapped over one another, providing a warm and soft nest for a cub that snoozed peacefully within.

The cub's pelt was more peachy then her mother's and her paws was the same color as her fur rather than a lighter hue, but she otherwise was a perfect copy of her mother. Her eyelids fluttered as the cub gave a tiny yawn and rubbed her nose to rid an itch. The mother lioness cooed at her baby's adorable movement and nuzzled her daughter's head gently.

The cub whimpered for a moment's notice, but soon purred like a tiny engine at the soothing moment. The cub's eyelids began to flutter, soon after popping open to reveal two, pale green irises, compared to her mother's minty orbs. The cub's eyes met her mother's and the cub soon giggled and batted her paws up to reach her mother's face. The lioness giggled and complied as she lowered her head so her cub could pat her face and coo in curiosity.

"Good morning, Nala. Enjoy your nap, little one," she asked. The cub giggled in reply as her mother's warm breath tickled her tummy. Then, the sound of sand and dirt being tread underfoot was heard. Sarafina turned to see her best friend and queen, Sarabi, along with her king, Mufasa, and their little prince, Simba, approaching her.

Sarabi had red eyes, dark brown ear rims and a dark tan pelt, compared to her husband who had red eyes as well, but no ear rims, his pelt was bright gold and his mane that flowed around his head, chest and shoulders was scarlet. Little Simba, only born a few days ago like her Nala, was exactly like his father in his appearance, yet he hand black ear rims just like his mother.

Sarabi and Mufasa made their way over in the shade, turning around so that they were facing across from her and her cub. Sarabi laid down and placed Simba in her paws. She then looked up and smiled at her.

"Good to see you, Sarafina. Oh and of course you too, little one" Sarabi replied. The little cub cooed at the other mother. Sarafina chuckled at her little cub's interaction before answering.

"Hello Sarabi. Good morning your majesty. And good morning to you too, Simba," she replied. Simba didn't reply, but fidgeted in his mom's paws.

"Good morning, Sarafina," Mufasa replied.

"My husband and I thought it would be nice to get our children interacting with one another early on," Sarabi then said. Sarafina looked at Sarabi for a moment before smiling.

"An excellent idea. It would be nice for Nala to get to know her future playmate early on," Sarafina replied. She began to scoot forward with Nala in her arms. She soon was close enough to let the cubs see one another. Little Simba sneezed in his mother's arms and cooed up at her before noticing the lioness growing closer to him. His head turned up to look up at Sarafina before he attempted to turn over by squirming. He suddenly froze when he heard another sound coming from someone other than his mother or the strange new lioness. His body wriggled and he tried to see with the limited vision he had to discover where the new sound was coming from.

His focus froze on a pair of bright green eyes surrounded by peach-colored fur. His eyes then made out the rest of the little cub staring out of her mother's arms at him. The tiny cub suddenly sneezed and her nose twitched. Little Simba giggled and tried to reach his paws out to the sneezing cub. The little female shifted but then began to reach out to the other cub. Her paw holding her front up, however, began to sag under her weight and could not hold her up due to little experience and exercise. Quickly, Sarabi held out her paw to catch the little one before she fell flat on her nose and hurt herself. Sarafina sighed in relief as her daughter's giggles were renewed again.

"Now, now. Careful little one. I'd hate for you to start crying around your new friend," she said. Sarabi gently set Nala next to Simba, so that both could get a better look at each other. Nala immediately placed in her paws gleefully on little Simba's chest, pinning him down to his mother's paw. She giggled as he squirmed. The three adults chuckled at their behavior.

"Oh my. I think your daughter will make a fine huntress one day since she can pin my son on the first day of meeting her," Sarabi said.

"Yes. I do hope this doesn't continue though. My son needs to be strong, just like his father," Mufasa agreed. He puffed out his chest to prove it. The lionesses snickered at his display.

"Let's hope that he does not inherit your brash, hardheadedness to be sure," Sarabi replied. His chest deflated and he looked annoyed at his wife.

"Well, one thing is for sure. My daughter will grow up to be brave and strong, I truly believe it" Sarafina said as she stared at her daughter. Mufasa's smile came back.

"I'm sure she will Sarafina. But now there's something Sarabi and I have been meaning to discuss." He looked at her. Sarabi gave a small smile and nodded. "Since Nala is the only female cub in the pride, we were thinking maybe of betrothing her to Simba when they grow up." Sarafina's head snapped up in shock as her mouth opened and her eyes widened.

"Q-queen," she gasped. "My daughter... the future queen!?" Mufasa nodded.

"But only with your consent, 'Fina. If you've already have plans for your daughter, then don't let ours get in the way," Sarabi said. Sarafina shook her head.

"No, it's fine, just a bit shocking, that's all." She looked up, smiled and nodded at the king. "I'd be honored to allow your son to marry my daughter and become the future rulers together in the near years to come." Mufasa smile widened.

"Perfect. I thank you for your consent. I'll alert the pride now of the new prince's betrothal. You two keep the cubs safe while I'm gone," he said as he began to descend. The two females laughed.

"Oh we'll watch him, but when our little Simba grows into a cub and wakes you up before sunrise then you had better be prepared to watch him," Sarabi called out. They laughed even harder when they heard him snort in response.

Their vision turned back to Nala and Simba. Simba was patting his paws at Nala's chest, still trying to push her off, while Nala was nibbling on Simba's ear. They suddenly both noticed their parent's eyes and immediately tried to reach up to them. The mothers chuckled and Sarafina gently reached over and grasped Nala's nape with her maw and slowly transferred her back into her paws. Nala cooed and squirmed more comfortably, now in her mother's embrace once more.

Suddenly at tiny noise came up from Sarabi's arms. Simba yawned widely and began to snuggle into his mother's fur. Another small yawn as Nala caught on to the sleepiness and her eyes began to fluttered tiredly. In no time at all, both cubs were passed out in their mother's arms. Their breathing was a calm, steady pace and only their noses twitched every once in awhile.

"My oh my. Looks like playing as really worn them out," Sarabi commented quietly. Sarafina smiled lovingly at her slumbering daughter and gave a small lick to her head. Nala purred in her sleep and nuzzled her head against the warm fur of her mother. Sarabi sighed.

"I sometimes lick Simba's head before he goes to bed too, but Nala is more behaved I see," she commented. Sarafina looked back up at her quirked her eyebrows.

"How come?" she asked. Sarabi said nothing, but leaned down and licked Simba on the head, exactly how Sarafina did to Nala. However, Simba instantly began squirming in his mother's arms and his head shook a bit at the change in temperature. Sarafina sighed and shook her head.

"Guess bath time isn't going to be much fun for the both of you," she said. Sarabi sighed and nodded.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter, as long as he gets cleaned. And besides," Her paw curled gently around his back to provide extra warmth, "I don't mind if I have to give him a hundred baths a day, as long as he stays my little cub forever." Sarafina nodded in agreement and curled her paw gently around Nala too.

"How blessed are we to have such adorable children," she said.

"More than enough." Sarabi gently petted her son's head as he slept, eliciting a purr from his tiny, frail chest,

The two cub's faces twitched while they slept, but the mothers were not concerned. They knew that they were only dreaming and they hoped that they were dreaming of the adventures they would later spend with their new friend.

Hope you enjoyed this story, I just wanted to make something short and cute. As for the cub's eyelids twitching while they sleep, it's technically known as 'rapid eye movement' and is typically seen when someone is dreaming. Aside from humans it's found in a variety of creatures, such as elephants, cats, dogs, mice, shrews, etc.

I got the idea for this story when seeing some cute baby pictures of Simba and drawings of baby Nala online. Plus I was checking out Lion King wiki and found this statement: "Nala was presumably born sometime during Mufasa's reign. As an infant, she was betrothed to Simba, the prince of the Pride Lands." And thus my idea for this story was born. Please review and thank you for reading. Sincerely, v.t.7