The Lion King - The Bonds of Trust

Chapter 16

Chapter 16: It Is Time

Out in the jungle, we hear a monstrous belch reverberate across the landscape. In the tallgrass, Simba, Shani, Timon and Pumbaa were lying on their backs as they looked up at the starry night sky.

Timon responded to the belch, "Woah! Nice one, Simba."

Simba replied with a content grin, "Thanks. Man, I'm stuffed!"

Shani chimed in while resting a hand onto her stomach, 

"Tell me about it. If I have one more of those grubs, I'm gonna be as big as a hippo."

Pumbaa said, "Me too. I ate like a pig!"

With a smirk, both Simba and Shani said to the warthog, "Pumbaa, you are a pig."

Pumbaa replied, "Oh. Right."

Content with their lifestyle, the four of them all sighed deeply in unison.

Gazing back up at the stars, Pumbaa asked, "Timon?"

Timon replied, "Yeah?"

Pumbaa asked, "Ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?"

Timon replied, "Pumbaa, I don't think. I know."

Pumbaa asked, "Oh. What are they?"

Timon tried to explain while observing the sky, "They're fireflies. Fireflies that uh... Got stuck up in that big... Bluish-black... Thing."

While slightly embarrassed, Pumbaa explained his way of thinking,

"Oh. Gee. I always thought that they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away."

Timon replied, "Pumbaa, wit' you, everything's gas."

Shani laughed in response as Pumbaa turned to both her and Simba, asking,

"Simba, Shani, what do you guys think?"

Simba said hesitantly, "Well, I don't know..."

Shani added, "Yeah, I don't think you'd like to hear it."

Pumbaa pleaded, "Aw come on! Give, give, give... Well, come on, you two, we told you ours... Pleeeease?"

Timon pleaded alongside Pumbaa, "Come on, come on... Give, give..."

Simba reluctantly said, "Well..."

Timon asked with an excited grin, "Yes?"

Simba went on to explain, "Somebody once told me and Shani that the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us."

Shani said, "He also said that the human leaders and village chiefs of the past are up there too."

Pumbaa asked in amazement, "Really?"

Timon asked in confusion, "You mean a bunch of royal dead guys and leaders are watching us?"

Shani answered with a nod, "Yeah, pretty much."

Suddenly, both Timon and Pumbaa broke out in laughter while Simba joined in half-heartedly and Shani looked at the two with hurt in her eyes. Timon asked in between his laughter,

"Who told you that? What mook made that up?"

Simba said with a sad smile, "Yeah, pretty dumb, huh?"

Offended by what the meerkat was saying, Shani said with a glare, "What? I don't believe you!"

Simba said while trying to calm his friend, "Shani-"

But the woman interrupted as she stood up and angrily yelled at the three,

"No! I'm talking! In case you two weren't aware, that 'mook' was Simba's father and he was like a father to me too! So don't you dare for one second try to take his name in vain! And why you would just lie there and let them say this about your father, I just... I... I need some air."

And with that, Shani took off and ran away from the three as Simba got up and ran after the woman, saying,

"Shani? Wait a minute!"

With Timon and Pumbaa being left alone, the meerkat said regretfully, "You know, I wasn't trying to be that offensive."

Pumbaa said with concern, "Maybe she's going through something."

Timon replied, "I wouldn't know."

Meanwhile, Simba ran through the jungle trying to look for Shani. He himself felt guilty enough for not speaking up for his father, but to hear Shani going off at him, Timon and Pumbaa was enough to make him realize that she wasn't entirely happy. As the lion continued calling her name, he eventually found the woman standing on a ledge while looking up at the stars.

Though hesitant, he slowly walked up to her and asked, "Hey, Shani. Are you alright?"

Shani remained silent as the lion said with a sigh while walking closer to her,

"Listen, I'm sorry about what Timon said back there. And I know I should've spoke up for my father, It's just that..."

Shani interrupted with a question, "Simba? What are we doing here?"

Confused, Simba asked, "What?"

Shani turned to him and explained, "What are we doing here? Simba, this isn't our home. Sure, this place is beautiful, and I love Timon and Pumbaa as much as you do... But this isn't where we're meant to be."

Simba responded, "Shani, I miss our home too. But you know why we can never go back."

Shani asked, "Why not? Simba, we can't stay here forever. We're fully grown now, we can handle Scar together."

Simba shook his head and replied, "No, we can't. Not after what happened to my father. For all we know, Scar probably told everyone what happened. They would never accept us back in."

Realizing that Scar probably lied to the whole pride about Mufasa's death, Shani looked out in the distant as everything seemed hopeless. As she was lost in thought, Simba said while looking up at the stars,

"I just wish my father was here."

Looking back to him, Shani said sadly, "I know, and I miss him too. Just as I miss my parents... Oh, what I'd give to see them just one more time."

While they both looked up at the stars, Simba collapsed to lay on the edge of the ledge as Shani sat down beside him and placed a hand onto his back. As they did so, Milkweed floss stirred into the air as it flew off into the night sky.

Gradually, the milkweed floss crossed through the desert and eventually made its way towards a familiar baobab tree. As it continued flying through the air, Rafiki's hand suddenly popped and snatched some of it. Sniffing it, the old mandrill grunted and bounded down into his tree. Pouring the milkweed into a turtle shell, Rafiki sifted it around while eating from the same kind of fruit that he anointed Simba and Shani with.

Examining the milk floss once more, a sudden realization dawned on his face as he said while laughing,

"Simba? Shani? They're- they're alive? They're they're- they're alive!"

Grabbing the bakora staff, Rafiki laughed with joy as he picked up some paste and painted a red mane onto the smeared lion image and painted a bakora staff into the smeared human girl's hand.

Knowing what had to be done, Rafiki said with confidence while gazing at the two pictures,

"It is time!"

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Hey guys! Here's another update on this story! Feel's so good to actually update this again. I hope you all like it and stay tuned for more! ;)