The Lion King - The Bonds of Trust

Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Remember Who You Are

While the night continued on, Simba remained with his guilt as he sat alone in a field of tall grass. He couldn't get over not only his father's death, but the treatment that he bestowed on his best friend. He couldn't believe that he had stricken and harmed Shani! After all she has done for him and has family, and everything they endured together, he managed to lose control in his frustrations and decided to take out on the African woman. He was sure that she would never forgive him for what had transpired.

As Simba continued to sit in the field, the lion looked over his shoulder as he suddenly saw Rafiki swinging in a tree above him while chanting;

"Asante Sana!"
"Squash Banana!"
"We we nugu!"
"Mi mi apana!"

Slightly annoyed by the chant, Simba walked away as the mandrill bounced in the trees and observed the lion from above. Coming towards a log that laid out over a pond. Resting on top of it, Simba gazed glumly down at his reflection. Is this really who he has become? Was he just a lion without a purpose? Or was he truly the ruler of a fallen Kingdom?

As he continued gazing down at his reflection, a rock suddenly dropped into the water. Initially startled, Simba looked up to see Rafiki acrobatically swinging around in a nearby tree while repeating the same chant in laughter,

"Asante Sana!"
"Squash Banana!"
"We we nugu!"
"Mi mi apana!"

Annoyed with the old mandrill's antics, Simba said, "Come on, will you cut it out?"

Rafiki replied with a laugh, "Can't cut it out. It'll go right back!"

Walking away, Simba said to himself in annoyance as he made his way through the grassy field,

"Creepy little monkey."

Noticing that the old mandrill was following behind him, the lion asked in agitation,

"Will you stop following me?! Who are you?"

Getting in front of Simba, Rafiki asked as he got in front of the lion, "The question is: Whooo... Are you?"

Initially startled, Simba replied sadly, "I thought I knew. Now I'm not so sure."

The old mandrill replied as he pulled the lion close to whisper in his ear, "Well, I know who you are. Shh! Come here. It's a secret."

Having the lion's complete attention, Rafiki went back to his original chant,

"Asante Sana!"
"Squash Banana!"
"We we nugu!"
"Mi mi apana!"

Baffled by the mandrill's antics, Simba asked, "Enough already! What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

Rafiki replied, "It means you're a baboon... And I'm not!"

Watching the old mandrill laugh at his own statement, Simba said as he moved away from Rafiki once more in annoyance,

"I think... You're a little confused."

Appearing in front of the lion once more, Rafiki replied as he poked Simba on the nose,

"Wrong! I'm not the one who's confused. You don't even know who you are."

Irritated, Simba said rather sarcastically, "Oh, and I suppose you know?"

Rafiki replied proudly, "Sure do! You're Mufasa's boy!"

Surprised by the old mandrill's revelation, Simba stopped in his tracks and turned back to Rafiki as he simply said,

"Bye!"

And took off!

Racing after the old mandrill, Simba shouted, "Hey! Wait!"

Running through the tall grassy field and up towards a small hill, the lion caught up with Rafiki to see the old mandrill sitting on a rock in a meditative lotus position.

Coming towards Rafiki, Simba asked while panting, "You knew my father?"

Out of nowhere, Shani said as she emerged from the jungle, "Correction... He knows your father."

Surprised to see the African Woman standing before him, Simba exclaimed, "Shani!"

Coming towards her, Simba asked, "Hey! Wait a minute! Do you know this monkey?"

Shani answered, "Of course I do, and so do you. This is, Rafiki. He's a family friend of yours and mine."

Thinking that the old mandrill wasn't aware of what transpired all of those years ago, Simba said as he turned back towards Rafiki,

"I hate to tell you this, but... He died. A long time ago."

Leaping off the rock and coming towards a dense area of the jungle,

"Nope. Wrong again! Ha! Ha! Hah! He's alive! and I'll show him to you. You follow old Rafiki, he knows the way. Come on!"

Initially unsure, Shani nodded to Simba reassuringly, causing the lion to follow after them as they ventured into the brush of the jungle. Due to his size, Simba struggled to squeeze his way through the brush.

Looking up, Simba paused to see Rafiki and Shani standing above him on a branch as the old mandrill exclaimed,

"Don't dawdle! Hurry up!"

The two jumped towards another branch as Simba exclaimed while trying to keep up with the two,

"Hey! Woah! Wait! Wait!"

Rafiki shouted as he and Shani stood on another thick branch, "Come on! Come on!"

Simba exclaimed as he struggled to keep up with the pair, "Would you both slow down?!"

Shani shouted as she jumped from branch to branch with Rafiki,

"Come on, Simba! It's not that bad!"

Simba argued as he tried to maneuver himself through the tree trunk,

"Not that bad?! Speak for yourself! At least you have more room to move around!"

As both Shani and Rafiki flittered through the canopy, Simba continued struggling to keep up with the old mandrill and African woman. Coming towards the exit, Rafiki and Shani suddenly appeared in front of Simba as the old mandrill held his hand up close to Simba's face,

"STOP!"

Coming to a screeching halt, Simba stopped as Rafiki hushed him and motioned the lion towards some reeds,

"Shhh..."

Pushing some of the reeds aside, Rafiki whispered, "Look down there."

Coming towards the two, Simba stopped and looked to them hesitantly.

But Shani said to him reassuringly as she motioned the lion to come forwards,

"It's alright. Come on."

With that, Simba carefully yet walked alongside the African woman as she led him towards the edge of the same pool of water she had been in before. Looking over the edge, he looks into his reflection, thinking he was going to see his father. Realizing that he could only see his own reflection, the lion said with a sigh of disappointment,

"That's not my father. That's just my reflection."

Rafiki said as he motioned towards the pool with his finger,

"No! Look harder."

As ripples began to form and transform Simba's reflection into the face of Mufasa, Shani explained to the lion,

"You see, Simba, Just as my parents live in me... Your father lives in you."

As Simba continued to look into the reflection of his father in awe, he suddenly heard a familiar voice say rather quietly,

"Simba..."

Immediately recognizing the voice, Simba said in surprise as the wind began to pick up,

"Father?"

Looking up towards the sky, both Simba and Shani looked to see a ghostly image of Mufasa beginning to form from the clouds. Appearing to be walking from the stars, the ghostly image of the deceased king began to steadily gain color and coherence, looking just like he had in life. Having not seen the deceased king for so long, Shani's eyes filled with tears as the African woman was taken aback to see Mufasa in such a spiritual form.

Gazing down at his son, Mufasa said, "Simba, you have forgotten me."

Looking up at his father, Simba shook his head and said as the cold wind blew against him,

"No... How could I?"

Mufasa told his son whole-heartedly as the clouds around his spirit began to glow,

"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life."

Simba responded sadly, "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be."

Mufasa explained to Simba and Shani as his whole spirit began to glow, resembling his past colors in life,

"Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king. And Shani, you are the true chieftress of the humans, and equal to all animals here on Earth."

Letting two tears slip from her amethyst eyes, Shani said to her second father figure sadly through an emotional whisper,

"Thank you, Mufasa."

Both the African woman and Simba continued to look up at their father figure in awe, fear, and sadness as Mufasa's spirit began to disappear rapidly into the clouds, while the former king continued to say,

"Remember who you are."

Chasing after his father's spirit through the tall, grassy field, Simba exclaimed as Shani ran after him,

"No! Please! Don't leave me!"

Mufasa responded, "Remember..."

Simba pleaded, "Father!

Mufasa responded once more, "Remember..."

Simba pleaded again, "Don't leave me."

Mufasa repeated for the final time, "Remember..."

With Mufasa's spirit vanishing back into the night, both Simba and Shani were left out in the fields. The African woman wiped the tears away from her eyes as a hush came from the wind, causing the tall grass to bend.

Looking to Shani, Simba said, "Wow... You weren't kidding were you? When you said that my father lives in me."

Shani replied with a sad smile, "No, I wasn't."

Still feeling guilty for what happened between them earlier, Simba apologized,

"Look Shani, I really am sorry for what happened earlier. I had no right to hit you, and I should've listened to you when you were trying to speak to me. I hope you can forgive me."

Touched by the lions words, Shani said to him, "Simba, of course I forgive you. I have known you since you were a newborn cub. I knew it then, and I know now, that you would be a great king someday... With our parents deaths and all of my personal feelings aside, we can longer stand by and continue to let Scar destroy the Pridelands and everything in it. From here on out, we have to stick together and defeat Scar. But most importantly, we have to restore the Pridelands to what it once was, and unite all creatures together as one.

Nodding to what the African woman was saying, Simba replied,

"You're right. No matter what happened in the past, we have to do what's right and save the Pridelands from Scar's tyranny."

Shani nodded in agreement to Simba's statement.

Coming towards the two, Rafiki said with a laugh,

"What was THAT?! The weather! Pbbbah! Very peculiar. Don't you think?"

Shani said, "Yes. It looks like the winds are beginning to change."

Rafiki replied in agreement, "Ahhh... Change is good."

Simba said rather nervously, "Yeah, but it's not easy. I know what we have to do. But, going back means we'll have to face our past. We've been running from it for so long."

Out of nowhere, Rafiki whacked Simba on the head with the bakora staff!

Clutching his head in pain, Simba exclaimed, "OWW! Geez! What was that for?!"

Rafiki replied with a laugh, "It doesn't matter! It's in the past!"

While Shani tried to stifle a laugh of her own, Simba gave both of them a side eye as he rubbed his head with his paw and complained,

"Yeah, but it still hurts."

Rafiki explained as he wrapped his arm around Simba's shoulders,

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it."

The old mandrill took another swing at Simba with the bakora, this time missing the lion as he quickly ducked down. Ecstatic to see that Simba was finally getting the point, Rafiki asked both him and Shani,

"Hah! You see? So now what are you and Shani going to do?"

Wanting to get back at the old mandrill for swatting him, Simba answered with a devilish grin,

"First, I'm gonna take your stick!"

And he took the bakora staff out of Rafiki's hand and tossed it aside!

Shani laughed in response as Rafiki ran to go get the bakora staff back, "No! No! No! No! Not the stick!"

Turning back, the old mandrill looked to see Simba running off with Shani riding on the lion's back.

Unsure of where they were going, Rafiki asked, "Hey! Where are two going?!"

Simba shouted back, "We're going back!"

Shani shouted while waving bye to the old mandrill, "Thank you, Rafiki!"

Overjoyed, Rafiki shouted, "Good! Go on! Get out of here!"

The old mandrill laughed, hoot, and hollered as he lifted the bakora staff above his head in pure joy. Both the rightful king and human chieftress were returning to not only the Pridelands, but to their true purposes. They were going to set things right. Starting that night, it seemed as though the future had already come and it was beginning look bright in the Circle of Life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys! Here's an update for this story! I know it took a little while, but I hope you all enjoy it and please stay tuned for more! ;)