AN: WELCOME BACK EVERYONE! Yay, I'm back with my own content after a couple months. It feels good to continue to progress my series. For those of you who don't know after I completed Kula's Game of love, I took a break for a while to collaborate with my good friends Kiara902 and Rouge Lion on a story called In a Perfect World. It's posted on Rouge Lion's profile and I highly recommend checking it out. He's an amazing writer.

While I'm on the subject Rouge Lion is also my Beta-Reader so of course, I have to give him a massive thanks for helping me with this story. It greatly improves my content and overall confidence as a writer. So yeah he's da best!

Anyways enough boring you let's get on with this story!

The brilliant orange light of the evening sky basked in the Pride Lands, as the sun started its descent into the African Savannah. The clouds brightened as corners of the sky darkened, exposing the moon and the many stars of the night sky. The Pride Lands was considered one of the most beautiful places in all of Africa and sunset was the highlight of its true splendor.

Despite all that Simba considered only one thing to be more beautiful than his home, and that was his best friend Nala. The two cubs were sitting in a special little spot that their friend Kula had found a while back. It was a small den that was out in the middle of nowhere next to some acacia trees. It was definitely a beautiful place to relax and get away from everything.

The trees around the inner walls of the hideout were covered in blooming orange flowers. They swayed from side to side as the wind blew into the cavern making the orange petals swirl filling with a pleasant fragrance. Simba had to admit that even though he would rather be out on an adventure, being alone with his best friend and this amazing little den was fun. Nala seemed to think so as well.

The lioness cub had her head resting on Simba's golden shoulder, softly nuzzling and rubbing her cheek along his rough, fuzzy, golden pelt. Eventually, she released a low purr from the bottom of her throat. Simba noticed it and his eyes drifted over to the cream lioness.

"Is someone purring?" Simba teased. Nala giggled and then moved her head underneath his chin, Simba melting into the nuzzle as well.

"Simba… I got to tell you something important," Nala said looking up at her best friend, her teal eyes meeting Simba's amber ones, "I've had a crush on you for ages! I just love everything about you. Your adventurous personality, your eyes and your tail, and especially the cute little mane on your head." Nala then reached up and started to stroke the tuft gently with her light cream paw. Raking her claws through the rough golden fur.

"Nala! Don't mess it up!" Simba softly giggled. Nala made a huff of annoyance and sat herself up eyeing Simba with a mischievous toothy grin. Nala then abruptly pounced upon the prince, causing Simba to let out a sudden gasp as he began to playfully grapple with Nala. The two tussled in the soft green blades of grass laughing in bliss until eventually, Nala was on top of Simba pinning him down. Her cream muzzle cracked a smile gazing at the golden lion cub.

The two stayed in the pinned position for a couple minutes, both admiring the lion before them. Nala cocked her head to the right, her eyelids lowering.

"What?" Simba asked looking back up at her

"You're so cute you know that?" Nala said pushing Simba down further into the grass. Simba tried to push up but Nala persisted her muzzle leaning in closer to Simba.

"Nala, what are you-" Simba started.

"Shhhhhh," Nala said pressing her paw to Simba's muzzle. The then continued to lean in bringing their faces closer and closer until they were almost touching. Simba could feel his heart pounding, his blood pumping, his head spinning, and his face heating up. Nala paused for a single moment. She then leaned in and then-

Simba gasped as he sprung up from his dream in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily turning his head rapidly to check his surroundings. After a couple seconds Simab realized that he wasn't being pinned by Nala about to share a romantic moment it was only a dream.

"Phew," Simba sighed with relief but at the same time was disappointed that the dream wasn't finished when he woke up. His golden, cheeks flushed red at the thought of what would have happened next.

"I need to get some fresh air." Simba told himself. The prince slowly stood up and stretched his limbs out hearing slight pops as the joints and muscles awoke for the day ahead. He gingerly made his way through the mass of lionesses, being careful not to step on anyone until he reached the mouth of the den. He was greeted by the rising sun of the savannah. Golden rays piercing through the wispy white clouds and illuminating the Pride Lands for the start of another day.

The quiet moment allowed Simba's mind to wander through various thoughts. Eventually, his mind centered on Nala.

Simba gave out a sigh of frustration as last week's events came into his mind.

Last week Kula held a competition in an attempt to swipe more food from the lionesses by having Chumvi, Tojo, and himself compete for a date with Nala. The events whisked up a flurry of emotions in Simba head eventually amounting to his realization that he had a crush on his best friend, Nala.

Throughout the week anxiety was continuously rushing in and out of his body in a desperate attempt to not give away his crush.

Even with everything that had happened Nala's reaction to him winning the date surprised him the most. On that night the two of them were nuzzling in Kula's little hideout during the sunset. That alone was enough of a shock to the young prince but then Nala embraced him and licked his cheek before falling asleep next to him.

The young cub didn't know how to interpret her affection. Was his feeling being returned or was it only one time and never again?

"I still don't get it," the prince thought to himself, "In any case… at least she's still my best friend. Nothing will change that."

"Whatcha thinking about?" A voice suddenly said from behind.

"Gah!" Simba's fur stood up on end as his concentration was shattered. He turned his head around to see Nala sitting still her tail curled around her cream paws and a smile began to crack along her muzzle.

"Scared ya?" Nala chuckled.

"No!" Simba defended himself as his fur still bristled along his back, "I was just… thinking."

"I could tell," Nala said standing up and taking a step towards Simba. His heart starting to pound wildly in his chest. Why out of all the cubs it had to be Nala to catch him daydreaming?

"Is there something wrong, Simba?" Nala asked as her eyebrows curved upward to form a concerned expression on her face.

"No, everything is fine." Simba quickly answered as he gave her a smug smile, "I was just thinking about how one day I'll rule all of the Pride Lands." Upon hearing this Nala groaned and rolled her eyes. She should have expected this from him.

"That's my Simba." She giggled and shook her head before turning around and padding off, not even noticing Simba's relieved expression.

"Thank the Great Spirits she bought it," Simba thought to himself watching Nala's figure grow smaller and smaller.

By the early afternoon, the lionesses left Pride Rock to hunt. Deciding that it would be a perfect opportunity to spend time with her daughter, Sarafina took Nala and Kula along with her so they could begin learning how to hunt. Nala was excited because of her excellent record with pouncing.

Kula was equally excited because once she learned how to hunt, she could have all the food she wanted.

Simba was initially relieved that he wouldn't have to share another awkward moment with the cream lioness until later that day. However, he didn't take into account how boring it was not having Nala with him.

For the next few hours, Simba and his friends, Chumvi and Tojo rested underneath the shade of an acacia tree. Tojo's flock of bluebirds also joined them, but instead of resting they just began swirling around their heads. One of them happened to have a nasty habit of landing on Chumvi's head and pecking out fur with his beak.

"OW!" Chumvi cried out while the bluebird obliviously nested himself in his fur, "Tojo get it off my head or I swear I'm going to eat it!"

Tojo bent down and cupped his ginger paws around the bird lifting him from Chumvi's head taking strands of fur with it.

"It's not his fault," Tojo defended the bird, "he didn't mean it. He's just going through a beaking stage." Tojo then brought his muzzle closer to his bird and cooed: "Isn't that right wittle buddy? Chumvi's just being grumpy-wumpy like always."

Simba rolled his eyes at the scene while the banter between the two was entertaining after an hour it had gotten quite stale.

"Hey, when are the girls coming back?" Simba asked plopping himself down on the grass.

"Pshh who cares," Chumvi said with the wave of his brown paw, "besides, the longer Kula stays away from me the better."

"What do you mean?" Simba asked perching his head on top of his forearms.

"Remember last week she stayed latched onto my side for two days?" Chumvi reminded. The boys then thought back to after Kula's nerve-racking game.

Last Week.

Tojo, Simba, and Nala were lounging at the waterhole during a warm afternoon. The atmosphere called for a perfect lazy day, nothing to do but sit back, relax and-

"HELP!" a voice cried out. The three cubs turned their head up to see Chumvi clawing into the ground and dragging his body along the ground. All the while a lovesick Kula was latched onto the lower half of his body and was squeezing the life out of him.

"Oh, my sweet little chocolate cocoa bean, don't be that way," Kula said as she nuzzled her head into Chumvi's side, "your confession on stage has only made my love for you increase, and I will never let you go till death do us part!"

"UGHHH! I give up!" Chumvi cried and face planted into the ground.

From the shores of the waterhole, the three cubs kept observing the scene in front of them. It was funny at first, but the fact that it was still going on made them wonder whether they should still laugh, or feel sorry for their friend.

"Umm...Should we, like, help him?" Tojo asked raising his eyebrows.

"Trust me as a person who knows how intense Kula gets, it's best not to get involved," Nala said.

"Then what do we do?" Simba asked.

"Just observe how beautiful yet scary love can be," Nala stated.

"If this is love," Simba said in a worried voice, "How will she be when she hits puberty?"

All of the cubs shuttered at the thought.

"Well, eventually she had to eat." Tojo commented, "Still, it is a miracle that she finally decided to let go of you."

"No thanks to you," Chumvi retorted.

Before another bickering session could break out Simba snuck his way out of the acacia tree and back to Pride Rock. Feeling the grass beneath the pads of his paws Simba took the time to admire the almost commanding presence of Pride Rock. It's massive figure stood out from the wide plains and grasslands. It's almost an intimidating thought that he would inherit it all.

CRASH

Simba's dazed state was disrupted by a loud crashing noise coming from Pride Rock. Curious, he quickly padded up the pathway to the den. The golden cub soon reached the entrance of the pride hearing the scraping of rocks against the floor of the den. He peeked his head in to see, his father, Mufasa pushing a large rock while, his mother, Sarabi was standing on the sidelines.

"Very good, dear. Just a couple more should do it," Sarabi said to her mate. Mufasa huffed as he pushed the large boulder from the interior of the den and it was sent sliding down the pathway landing with a thud raising dust into the air before it settled again.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Simba asked coming out from behind the wall of the opening.

"Nothing much, son, I'm just renovating the den," Mufasa said.

"Renovating?" Simba questioned as he sat down, "Why are you clearing out so many rocks?.

"Well we are just clearing space in the main den for the royal guest den," Sarabi explained to her son.

"We?" Mufasa interrupted, his amber eyes turning to Sarabi.

"Yes, we." Sarabi said with a smirk, "I'm doing the most important part. I'm supervising." This answer left the king rolling his eyes in annoyance while Simba just looked at his parents with both excitement and curiosity.

"Well, who coming over that is causing you to move around these rocks?" Simba asked. Mufasa and Sarabi exchanged glances with each other. Sarabi then gestured to Simba with her brown paw, letting Mufasa know that this was something that he should take care of. Typical.

"I think it's a perfect time for a lesson, Simba," Mufasa turned to face the small golden cub. The mighty king then stood up walking out of the mouth of the cave with Simba following in toe. The pair walked down the path of Pride Rock and around the base of the landmark. Mufasa then stopped at a curtain of vines that covered a small cave.

"What is this Dad?" Simba asked.

"This is where the Pride Lands's history is kept," Mufasa explained.

"Really?" Simba questioned, a bit confused by what his father said, "But I thought you said Rafiki keeps the history of the Pride Lands."

"Rafiki keeps our family history in his tree," Mufasa once again explained to his son, "but anything pertaining to the Pride Lands and previous dynasties is kept here." He pulled away the curtain of vines to reveal a large cave. Its dark stone walls covered in paintings and etchings made from scratch marks of claws.

"Woah," Simba said in awe as he walked into the cave. In the walls were hundreds of impressions carved into the rock. Each containing multiple images of the past kings along with lines of claw scratches under them.

"See, Simba, for generations the Kings of the Pride Lands recorded our history through painting on the walls of the caves and invented special claw markings to describe events that happened in the past." Mufasa smiled as she watched his son run up to the wall to get a better look at the drawings, "Every Royal family member will learn how to interpret the inscriptions but for now I will tell you the story of our relationship with the Mountain Lands."

Mufasa then scanned through the various images and markings strewn about on the walls eventually stopping on one. He motioned Simba to the part of the wall. The painting was that of two lion prides facing each other with the respective kings in front of the borders of the Pride Lands and the Mountain Lands.

"Long ago, when I was a cub, The Pride Lands were at war. The four kingdoms of the savannah were locked in territorial battle, competing over each other for resources and prey. At the time my father whose name was Ahadi was the Lion King. One of the northern Kingdoms

neighboring the Mountain Lands was ruled by an aggressive monarch who was overhunting the prey of his kingdom in an effort to demonstrate that lions were the dominant species. He killed many great creatures including hippos, buffalo, gorillas, and eventually lions. He grew in power and managed to take over the 2 smaller prides, and posed a great threat to everyone near their borders.

To be able to restore balance to the Circle of Life, my father made a peace treaty with the Mountain Lands in order to combat this rogue kingdom. Together, through strategy and sacrifice, the enemy pride was defeated and the balance was restored. It was then that a truce was set between our kingdom and the kingdom of the Mountain Lands so that nothing like that would ever happen again. As a form of celebration every year our prides visit each other to take part in festivities and a feast. The hosting pride alternates every year and this year it happens to be our turn." Mufasa finished.

The king turned around to find Simba sitting on the ground, deep in thought about all that he had heard.

"So if the Pride Lands is hosting the festivities this year…" Simba asked to make sure he understood what was going on, "then how many lions are coming over to visit?"

"The size of the visiting group varies, but this year I am expecting about half of the Mountain Lands to come, including your friend Malka." Simba eyes lit up at the sound of Malka's name. He was a very good friend of his.

"Really?! He's coming to visit tomorrow?!" The price stood up with exuberance, his tail rising above the ground of the cave.

"Yes, Simba." Mufasa chuckled at his son's response to the news. "and I believe he'll be bringing along a few other cubs from the Mountain Lands with him."

"Yay!" Simba exclaimed with glee making a toothy smile, "I can't wait to tell Nala!" The golden cub dashed out of the cave leaving clouds of brown dust trailing behind him. Mufasa chuckled when Simba was out of sight, standing up and walking out of the cave into the sunlight of the afternoon.

"I think he took it well," a sly voice suddenly said.

Mufasa turned his head to see Scar stepping out from a shadowy corner of the cave and stepping towards him. The Lion King mentally sighed when he saw the black-maned lion.

The two brothers were close friends until took Scar figured out that Mufasa was the heir to the throne. From there on Scar grew cold and distant. The king had always longed for a way to grow closer to his brother, but part of him knew that Scar was never going to change.

"I remember our first celebration of the treaty," Scar started, giving the golden male a witty grin, "you were quick to impress Nguvu as well as every girl in both prides."

"I know where you are taking this conversation," Mufasa countered, earning a sour look from his brother, "We have both done things that we are not proud of. You're just as guilty as I am when it comes to making mistakes, or have you forgotten the buffalo incident already."

Scar took in a sharp inhale narrowing his eyes. He then opened his mouth to give a snarky response but then closed it.

"Touché." Scar replied dryly, "I guess we both have our own little regrets we must live with. The difference between you and I, however, is that I don't have Sarabi to remind me about it every time the peace celebration comes around."

Mufasa let out a frustrated sigh as he watched his brother walk out of the den and towards the upper dens of Pride Rock. He knew Scar just wanted him to respond. Somehow, his brother enjoyed the jeers he would make at him. Nevertheless, Mufasa had other things to worry about other than his obnoxious younger brother. Diverting his attention back to the grasslands, Mufasa began to think about the upcoming event that would take place and what he had to do in order to make it perfect for everyone.

"No time to lose, Mufasa." He thought to himself, "You have a celebration to host." The Lion King then turned around and walked towards the border of the Pride Lands his mind cleared… but anxious.

AN: And that concludes this chapter. I know it's a bit long but I couldn't help myself with the descriptions especially in the opening dream sequence.

Also, I'm introducing the brand spanking new Guest Review Response Section! So feel free to leave a review if you have an account I'll PM you if your a guest my response will be in this section.

Before I go I have one more important thing to say because of collaboration and homework/school. It will take around 7 to 14 days for a new chapter to come out. If more than 14 days go by and there isn't a new chapter go to my bio and there will be an explanation.

Until next time, The Candy Man is out PEACE!