Zazu escorted Nala from the dangers of the elephant graveyard back to 
the safety of the Pride Lands and the comforting presence of her mother.  
"Good evening, Sarafina.  Never fear!  I'm returning your little girl 
safe and sound."
	"Safe and sound?"  Fini smiled, but looked a little uneasy.  "Was 
there some doubt?"
	Nala froze, waiting for the truth to out.
	"Oh, you know how cubs are," Zazu said, passing it off with a 
good-natured laugh.  "She wandered a little too far away for her own 
good.  Things got kind of dull at the watering hole and she went chasing 
rabbits.  Maybe I'm too strict, but I sent her right back home.  Better 
safe than sorry, I always say."
	Sarafina relaxed and the tip of her tail stopped twitching and 
moved casually back and forth.  "I appreciate that."  Fini nuzzled Nala 
and pawed her.
	Nala gradually realized she was not going to get a good cuffing.  
She looked at the bird she had so recently deceived, taunted, humiliated 
and endangered and quietly mouthed, "Thank you."
	Zazu smiled and winked at her.  "Well, I'd best be off.  I'm going 
home to see my Mum.  That brother of mine has been next to useless.  You 
think he'd visit her once in a while, living practically in the next 
tree while I have to fly over six quarrains!"
	Fini smiled.  "At least you are a good son."
	Nala nodded in hearty assent.  Indeed, things were better between 
Zazu and her after that evening, and she never called him a "dodo" 
again.
	"Mom, how far is six quarrains?"
	"That's twice as far as three quarrains.  How should I know!"  
Fini laughed.  "Well, Nala.  What did Simba want you to see?  Was it as 
great as he said it was?"
	"Not really.  Zazu was right--it was kind of dull."  She thought 
back over the things that had happened, looking for one that could be 
safely discussed.  Suddenly her face was awash with irritation.  
"There's something bothering me."  She scratched behind her ear.
	"What's bothering you?" Fini asked, grooming her behind the 
offending ear.  "A flea?  I hate those."
	"No, I mean something I heard today.  Zazu said I was betracked to 
Simba.  He said we were going to be married someday and there was 
nothing I could do about it."
	"Oh, you mean betrothed!"  She smiled and cuddled Nala to her 
side.  "That's something that you should be glad about.  When Simba has 
his mantlement, he will put his paw on your shoulder and ask you to be 
his wife.  The moment you accept, you will be a princess, and someday 
Queen of the Pride Lands."
	"Why would I want to marry him??"
	"I thought he was your best friend!"
	"That's just it!  It's so weird!"
	Sarafina laughed softly.  "It's time we had a talk--lioness to 
lioness.  Honey Tree, it's great when you get older and you want 
romance.  But friendship is the most important part of marriage.  You 
are laying on my side right now, and you feel safe and happy.  Someday 
when you're a big lioness, you'll still want to feel safe and happy, and 
those are the times you'll lay touching his soft, warm body and 
listening to his heart beat.  When you're tired from hunting all night 
and nursing cubs all day, and your eyes are red and swollen, he'll look 
at you and say `My beautiful Nala,' and you'll know he means it with all 
of his heart.  That will mean a lot to you then.  And when he comes back 
from patrol with grass and sticks in his mane and mud on his legs, 
you'll call him, `My handsome Simba,' and he'll know you mean it with 
all of your heart."  Sarafina touched Nala with her tongue.
	"What would I do with a lot of squalling cubs?" Nala said, not 
thinking of herself as one because she was a whole three months old.
	Dreamily, Sarafina said, "You can groom them, and kiss them, and 
nurse them on the cool afternoons when their sweet little mouths draw 
sustenance from you, and you can tell them stories...."  She pulled Nala 
closer and began to fondle her with her paw.  Mother love radiated from 
her kindly face.  "In fact, I'd really like to tell you a story just 
now, if you're not too old."
	Nala rubbed her cheek against Fini's and kissed her.  "Sure, Mom."
	"There was once a Lion King named Kamambe who was blessed with 
many children, but all of them were daughters.  After the third litter 
of females he began to worry he would never have an heir.  He decided to 
welcome any deserving suitor who would wed his eldest daughter Nasaba.  
	"Many lions came to pay homage and woo the royal bride, but she 
rejected them one by one.  Nasaba was a hunt mistress, just like Uzuri.  
She lived for the hunt but not want to take on queenly duties.  She was 
used to being pampered and getting her way from her doting parents.  The 
idea of being accountable to some stranger coming in to become her king 
was not her idea of fun.  She also said there was not another lion like 
her father--if there was, she would marry him, but as it was, no lion 
would come in and be her king.
 	"Then one day in came Prince Mohatu who was determined to put his 
paw on her shoulder.  She was not very receptive to his advamces, but 
this did not deter him; he saw through to the beauty within her.  Like 
sunshine was her face, like stars her eyes, and like supple reeds her 
limbs.  He fell hopelessly in love with her and begged her to accept him 
as her mate.  
	She refused him as she had many others, and to King Kamambe this 
was scandalous, for he liked the Prince and would have him above all 
others rule his land when he was gone.  "Why have you refused him?"
	"For the same reason I have refused all others.  There is none I 
would marry, even if Mano himself had a son and presented him to me."
	"But you cannot do this!  You cannot let your father go to his 
death worrying!  Promise me that you will at least put him to a test.  
Give him a chance, and if he fails you, I will send him away."
	And for love of her father, Nasaba agreed.  But she determined to 
invent a trial that no lion could endure.
	And coming to Prince Mohatu, she said, "If you would be my 
husband, you must bring me a token of your love.  Cross the River of 
Death and the Desert of Sorrows.  You will see the Mountain of 
Hopelessness before you, and on its summit grows a tree with pink 
blossoms.  Pick me one and bring it back unwilted as a token of your 
love, and I will be yours."
	Now the River of Death was well named, for it was very deep and 
broad, and no lion could live to swim across it.  But so full of love 
was he, that he jumped in and swam and swam until his strength was gone.  
And as he started to go under, Mohatu cried out to Aiheu and said, 
"Lord, if you look with favor on my undertaking, help me!"
	Aiheu heard his cries and sent four large snapping turtles to him.  
Mohatu stepped on their backs like stepping stones and he was carried 
across.
	Mohatu reached the Desert of Sorrows.  Indeed it was well named 
for it was a fierce and forbidding land.  No lion could live to cross 
it.  But so full of love was he that he set out and walked and walked 
until the sun had drained the life from him and parched his throat.  And 
as he started to collapse, Mohatu cried out to Aiheu and said, "Lord, if 
you look with favor on my undertaking, help me!"
	Again Aiheu heard his cries and sent One-who-brings-rain to place 
a cloud over him to shade his path.  And because he was parched, the 
cloud rained until he had drunk his fill.  Thus he was safely across the 
desert.
	Before him was the Mountain of Hopelessness.  Indeed, it was well 
named for its slopes were steep and treacherous.  No lion could live to 
climb it.  But so full of love was he that he started up and climbed and 
climbed until he was trapped on a ledge.  He could not climb up or down, 
and as he was ready to fall, for the third time Mohatu cried out to 
Aiheu and said, "Lord, if you look with favor on my undertaking, help 
me!"
	And when he had spoken, an eagle came gliding down the 
mountainside, and in his beak was a single pink blossom!  Now this eagle 
was Aiheu himself, and he said, "Before you call on me again, I have 
looked with favor on your undertaking or you would not have come this 
far.  Thus I have blessed this flower, and as long as your love lasts it 
shall never wilt."
	"Then indeed it shall never wilt at all!"
	Kamambe was very sad, and he paced about in his anguish.  "My 
daughter, you have killed a good and worthy lion!  As surely as if you 
choked the life out of him with your own jaws!"
	"He could have refused me, or he could have gone home."
	"Or you could have married him."
	Nasaba was moved by the grief of her father, for she truly loved 
him.  So much did she love her father Kamambe, that she considered all 
other lions unworthy.  And she said, "I will go to look for him.  And if 
he lives, I will marry him."
	But Kamambe refused.  "I shall not lose my daughter whom I love.  
If he returns, however, you shall keep your offer."
	Within the week, one of Nasaba's sisters spotted a lion with a 
pink blossom in his mouth.  "Behold, it is our Prince!"
	Nasaba fell at his feet.  "Thanks be to Aiheu that you have 
returned!"  She inhaled the fragrance of the flower and when she did, 
Aiheu opened her eyes to the love Mohatu felt for her, and she kissed 
him.  "I thought in the whole land there was not another lion like my 
father.  But you have loved me when I least deserved it, and you shall 
be my mate and my king.  Your love is true as the sunrise is to the 
morning."
	Nala looked at her mother suspiciously.  "There wouldn't happen to 
be a moral to this story, would there?"
	"Do you want to take a guess at it?"
	"I'm supposed to marry Simba someday `cause you promised."
	Sarafina pawed her gently.  "Maybe it's not that at all."
	"You mean I don't have to marry him?  Then what IS the moral?"
	Fini smiled.  "Maybe the point is not to turn people away without 
giving them a chance--a fair chance.  Then you can make a good decision.  
Honey Tree, you never know what token of love Simba might risk death to 
give you.  Don't rush to answer `no.' until you're old enough to 
understand the question."
	Coming from the east was Mufasa and young Simba.  "I bet he got a 
good cuffing," Nala thought.  She got as close as she dared and watched 
carefully.  But Simba and Mufasa were smiling and talking.  Simba caught 
a glimpse of her and looked at her for a moment, a warm smile on his 
face.  Nala felt the smile escape her from deep inside, and her tail 
twitched restlessly.  She could hear a poem going through her head:

		I once saw two cubs a-walking through the grass
		One was named Nala; a sassy young lass
		The boy was named Simba, a handsome young cub
		The two went out to play one day and fell in love!

	With a smile of embarrassment, she said to herself, "Well, I guess 
it COULD happen...."

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