The Lion King 4: Dawn of A New Era

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The sun rose on the horizon, coating Pride Rock in a brilliant shade of reddish orange. The Pride was still asleep peacefully in the den.

The royal family laid close to each other. Their young daughter Kiara was wedged between her parents, breathing gently. She nuzzled into Simba's mane and relaxed.

Nala shifted in her sleep and her eyes slowly opened. She groaned as she tried to sit up.

A sharp pain shot through her abdomen as she let out a roar of pain. Simba and Kiara awoke right away, followed by the rest of the Pride.

"Nala!" Simba breathed out in fear.

"Mommy?" Kiara whimpered.

"Simba ..." Nala said through gritted teeth. "It's ... it's time ..."

Simba tensed up more. He turned to one of the lionesses. "Kutoa! Get Rafiki!

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Kiara asked, nuzzling against Simba's legs. "Is mommy okay?" She let out an anxious whine.

Simba sighed and looked around in haste. "Mom!"

Sarabi went over. "Yes Simba?" Her voice was filled with worry for Nala.

"Can you take Kiara on a walk?" He asked, his eyes darting back to Nala.

Sarabi gave him a warm, reassuring smile. "Of course." She nuzzled him gently.

Sarabi looked down at her granddaughter. "Come on sweetie, I wanna show you some beautiful flowers I found the other day."

"O .. okay ..." Kiara sniffled. "But ... is mommy going to be okay?"

Sarabi looked back over at Nala. Her mother Sarafina had already rushed to her side. Simba stood on the other side, trying to keep Nala calm. He made eye contact with his mother.

Sarabi smiled again, and without looking away said, "She'll be just just fine ..."

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Sarabi lead Kiara onto the savannah plains. The animals were starting to wake up and go about their days as usual, not yet knowing of the big news.

The grass had mostly grown back since Scar's reign had ended, but some patches still remained bare, a reminder of the past. Everytime Sarabi came across one of these spots, she grimaced slightly.

Kiara knew roughly what happened, but not enough to mourn like everyone else. If anything she just looked a little taken off guard when her paws landed on a rough patch of dirt instead of grass like she was expecting.

"So what flowers did you see grandma?" Kiara asked, excitedly, trying to keep up with Sarabi's long strides.

"A beautiful patch of lotus flowers." Sarabi said, softly. "They're so wonderful, I think you're going to enjoy them."

Kiara's smile widened as she bounded over to Sarabi. "Wow really!? I love lotus flowers!"

Sarabi let out a small laugh. "I know you do sweetheart. That's why I wanted to show them to you."

They stopped on a small hill covered with small pink and white flowers. Giggling happily, Kiara pounced into the patch of lotus flowers and started to frolic around.