Prologue: The Past, Present and Future

"A...lion? So...I'm a...tiger...and a lion?" ~Maalum

"I love this! Bowling for buzzards!" Pumbaa said, happily.

"It's gets them every time." Timon laughed aloud.

They watched as the vultures they just scared begin to disperse and fly off. Oh, how they loved messing with the vultures.

"Did you get any, Sheeva?"

Timon turned to the tiger cub not far away from them, chasing a few straggler vultures. He laughed as one vulture began pecking at the young tiger's head. She tried unsuccessfully to bite at its feathers.

"I'm gonna get this one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She mumbled just before she finally caught the vulture's tail. Immediately the vulture tried to fly off, causing Sheeva to be dragged around.

"Hey Pumbaa, look at this."

Instead of looking, Pumbaa wandered over to the area where the vultures had been gathered. "Uh-oh, hey Timon, you better come look."

Timon looked over and saw something golden brown on the ground, unmoving.

"I think it's still alive."

"Ew." Timon shivered at the thought but walked over to it. "Let's see what we got here."

Curious, Sheeva turned to see what her friends were analyzing. Her lack of attention allowed the vulture she once had a good hold on to be able to escape and he pecked her on the head once more before doing so.

Sheeva rubbed her head but then ran over to join the other two. "What is it?"

She watched as Timon sniffed the unknown animal and then lifted its paw from over its head. To each of their surprise, it was an unconscious lion cub. However, Timon was the only one that shrieked.

"Ah, a lion!" He jumped on Pumbaa's back. "Run Pumbaa! Attack Sheeva!"

Sheeva giggled a bit. "It's just a cub, Timon."

"Yeah, it's just a little lion." Pumbaa agreed, looking him over. "Look at him; he's so cute and all alone…can we keep him?"

"Yeah, can we?" Sheeva asked, getting excited as she circled around the lion cub. Even though he wasn't exactly a tiger, she thought it'd be nice to have another cat around.

"No! Are you two nuts? You're talking about a lion here; lions eat guys like us!"

"Not me." Sheeva smiled cockily.

Timon got off Pumbaa and walked over to Sheeva, treading carefully around the lion cub. "You don't know that for sure! Lions get bigger and maybe he'll be even bigger than you."

"Maybe he'll be on our side!" Pumbaa encouraged.

Timon waved him off. "That's the stupidest thing…hey, wait, I got it! Maybe he'll be on our side! Having a lion around might not be such a bad idea; we'll have protection."

"Good idea, Timon." Pumbaa said with a smile

"Hey, I'm good for protection too." The young tiger said, only to be laughed at by her meerkat friend.

"Not with the way you handled that vulture."

Sheeva rolled her eyes and huffed at his words. After a few seconds, Timon jumped on her back and pull at her ears playfully.

"I'm just playing with you Sheeva; you're good for protection too. I'm just saying, having another cat with us can't hurt."

Sheeva agreed with a nod and smile; she could never stay upset with him for longer than 60 seconds. "Yeah, you're right."

"When am I not?" The meerkat got comfortable on Sheeva's back. "Pumbaa, get the lion and let's go."

The warthog eagerly obeyed and then all four animals were headed back into the jungle. After a 5 minute walk the group of misfit animals came across a small pond. It was there that Timon splashed some water on the lion cub's face. He woke up slowly, looking around as if he'd been asleep for days.

"Are you alright, kid?"

"…I guess so." He answered eventually.

"You nearly died…but I saved you." Timon said, only to receive a glare from Pumbaa. "And Pumbaa helped…a little."

"Thanks for your help." The lion sighed and then began walking away slowly.

"Hey, where you going?" Sheeva asked.

"Nowhere."

The other three animals remained still, watching him walk away slowly.

"Gee, he looks blue." Timon commented.

"I'd say brownish-gold." Pumbaa said, misunderstanding.

"No, I meant he's depressed."

"Oh."

Sheeva rolled her eyes and quickly ran after the lion cub causing the other two to follow.

"Hey, what's eating you?" She asked.

"Nothing; he's at the top of the food chain."

Timon burst into laughter at his own joke but quickly came to a stop when he saw nobody else was laughing.

"So…where are you from?"

"Who cares?" The lion started walking again. "I can't go back."

"So, you're an outcast? Great! So are we!" Timon said as if that was encouraging.

"What'd you do?" Sheeva asked, curious.

"Something terrible…but I don't want to talk about it." He sighed.

"Good, because we don't want to hear about it."

Sheeva and Pumbaa glared at Timon. "What?"

"Anything we can do?" Pumbaa asked, slightly concerned.

"Not unless you can change the past."

"Oh…well, it's times like his where my buddy Timon says 'you have to put your behind in the past'."

Sheeva chuckled. "No Pumbaa, he says you have to put your past behind you."

"Right," He walked over to the sad lion. "look kid, bad things happen and you can't do a thing about it, right?"

"Right."

"Wrong! When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world."

"That's not what I was taught."

Sheeva sat beside the lion. "Well, maybe you need a new lesson."

Timon cleared his throat. "Repeat after me: Hakuna Matata."

"What?"

"Hakuna Matata." Sheeva grinned as she repeated it.

Pumbaa broke it down for him. "Ha-ku-na…Ma-ta-ta."

Still, the young lion looked confused so Timon began to sing as he explained.

"Hakuna Matata…what a wonderful phrase."

"Hakuna Matata…it ain't no passing craze." Pumbaa joined in.

"It means no worries…for the rest of your days." Sheeva sang along too.

Then all three sang together. "It's our problem free…philosophy! Hakuna Matata!"

"Hakuna Matata?" The lion finally repeated.

"Yeah, it's our motto." Sheeva explained.

"What's a motto?"

"Nothing, what's a motto with you?"

They started laughing at Timon's joke this time and the lion began to smile.

"You know, kid, those two words will solve all your problems." Pumbaa encouraged.

"That's right," Timon said. "take Sheeva for example. When she first came to us she was weak, scared and hungry."

"So hungry she tried to eat us." The warthog laughed at the memory.

Timon shushed his friend. "Don't give him any ideas, Pumbaa."

Sheeva chuckled and the lion really looked at her, as if it was the first time he truly noticed her presence.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I made Pumbaa sit on her and she was too weak to do anything about it."

"Hakuna Matata! That's what happened!" Sheeva said, happily.

Pumbaa nodded in agreement. "We showed her that whatever happened in the past is just that; the past."

"And now I have no worries or responsibilities for the rest of my days."

The lion watched as Sheeva carelessly jumped onto a vine and started swinging from it. Then Timon and Pumbaa followed her lead and began having fun.

"What's your name, kid?" Timon asked as he swung from vine to vine.

"Simba."

"Well Simba, sing with us!"

"Hakuna Matata…what a wonderful phrase!" The three misfit animals began singing together. "Hakuna Matata…it ain't no passing craze!"

Simba watched and began moving along with the beat of the song. "It means no worries…for the rest of your days!

"Yeah, sing it, kid." Timon slid next to him.

"It's our problem free," Sheeva and Pumbaa jumped next to them and they all sang together. "philosophy! Hakuna Matata!"

The four animals walked deeper into the jungle, still singing happily. It was the end of the past an start of a new beginning.

Years Later: Simba

"What if I don't want to be Queen one day?"

Simba looked at his daughter, slightly concerned. "That's like saying you don't want to be a lion; it's in your blood…as I am. We are part of each other."

Simba was spending some quality time with Kiara as he usually did but today she seemed more vocal with her opinions and feelings. His daughter sat on a rock, facing the other direction causing him to push her off gently.

"Oof." She landed with a thud and looked up at her smiling father. After a few seconds she smiled too, got up and nuzzled him.

"As you go through life you'll see, there is so much that we don't understand." Simba began singing. "And the only thing we know is that things don't always go as planned.

"But you'll see every day that we'll never turn away…when it seems all your dreams have come undone. We will stand by your side, filled with hope and filled with pride. We are more than we are; we are one."

They walked together by birds, monkeys, antelopes, hippos and other animals, watching as they did things together.

"If there's so much I can be, can I still just be me? The way I am. Can I trust in my own heart or am I just one part…of some big plan?"

"Even those who are gone are with us as we go on. Your journey has only begun. Tears of pain, tears of joy, one thing nothing can destroy is our pride, deep inside we are one."

They walked past some more animals and Simba continued to sing with his daughter, teaching her a little about life. He was more than content with his life in general, he was happy with it. He was the King of Pride Rock, he had Nala and now he had Kiara. Life was perfect. At least he thought it was.

Years Later: Sheeva

"Mom, why do I have to keep getting cleaned? I'm just going to end up getting dirty again."

The young cub tried to escape his mother's grasp but ended up getting pulled right back in the same position.

Sheeva purred as she began to clean her son with her tongue. "Why do you have to keep getting dirty? You're just going to end up getting cleaned again."

The cub rolled his eyes and began trying to get away again. After a few more licks he was able to get loose from his mother.

"Okay, I'm all clean. Now can you tell me the story?"

"What story, Maalum?"

"The story about dad. You said you'd tell me about him today."

"I said that?" Sheeva acted as though she didn't remember.

"Mom…" The cub whined.

"Alright, alright…" She sat down on the jungle ground and got comfortable. "About your father, eh? What do you want to know?"

Maalum grinned and began jumping around. "Was he strong? How'd you meet him? Do I look like him? Where is he? What is-"

Sheeva then cupped her paw over his mouth. "One question at a time, Maalum."

"What was his name?"

"Simba."

"Simba." The cub repeated in awe. "Where is he?"

"I'm not exactly sure…but I don't think he's too far away from the jungle."

"What happened? Why'd he leave?" Maalum finally sat down.

Sheeva exhaled deeply at the bittersweet memory. "He had to go."

"Go where?"

"…go take his place as King."

"King? Dad's a king?"

Sheeva laughed as her son got excited and began jumping around again.

"That means you're a Queen and I'm Prince, right mom?"

Sheeva stopped laughing then but it took Maalum a few minutes to catch on.

"Right, mom?"

"No son, sadly it does not. You're father…has moved on."

Maalum frowned. "What do you mean? He doesn't love us anymore?"

"Maalum…" She started to tell him not to over exaggerate but he kept talking, his voice getting more distressed by the second.

"Why mom? Was it you? Was it me? Did we do something wrong?"

Sheeva pulled him close. "No honey, were just…different from your father."

"Different how?"

Sheeva didn't want to go in depth about the whole situation so she just sighed once more and bit the tuft of the back of his neck. She carried him to a nearby stream and then let him go.

"I'm not thirsty." Her son mumbled.

"Look at yourself, Maalum."

Maalum slowly went to look at his reflection, not sure where she was going with that.

"What about it?"

"Now look at me." She ordered softly.

The young cub obeyed but only to get a confused look on his face.

"Do you see how you look different than me?"

Maalum hadn't truly noticed before and had to look again to make sure. After a few looks, he only became more confused. "Yeah, you're orange and I'm more brown. Is dad brown?"

"Maalum," Sheeva sighed again. "Simba is a lion."

"…a…lion?" He repeated in a voice barely audible. "So…I'm a…tiger…and a lion?"

Sheeva nuzzled him but said nothing. After a few seconds she began walking back over to her original spot. Instead of following, Maalum just stared at his reflection in the stream. He silently regretted asking about his father because now he learned something he wished he hadn't. He was neither a tiger…nor lion…he was both.

"No wonder dad left…"

Okay, so I'm trying this story out. It was just an idea but I'm not sure what to make of it so far. I don't really like the title but it's the best I could come up with so far. Tell me your thoughts please. Oh, and Thanks for clicking on my story, I really appreciate it.