(A/N: while I did come up with this story on my own, this is inspired by 'Fuli meets Kion's Family' by Xx-JungleBeatz-xX on DeviantArt. I'm not connected to them or being paid to do this, I'm just a fan of their work. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!)
The sun had arisen over the horizon of the plains of the Pride Lands, the light filling the sky. The Watering Hole beautifully reflected the golden rays, the shimmering surface becoming crystal clear. The different species of animals, whether they roam the land, air or sky, were waking up, ready for the day ahead. Up on Pride Rock, the royal family were already fully awake. King Simba stood there, gazing out over the Pride Lands, wondering where his duties would take him that day. Nearby, his wife, Nala, was giving his daughter and heir to the throne, Kiara, her bath, whilst his son, Kion, was sat still. Nala noticed this and lifted an eyebrow.
"Kion?" she asked, prompting to turn his head towards his mother. "You seem awfully quiet this morning. Usually by now, you would have run off to join your friend Bunga."
"Oh, yeah. Well, I'm waiting for a friend to come by," he told her. "She told me that she wanted to meet you guys, so I said that would be fine. It is fine, right?"
"Of course, Kion. We'd be more than happy to meet your new friend."
"Tell me, Kion," Simba asked, walking over to his family, "did you happen to say 'she' when talking about your friend?"
"Yeah, she's called Fuli." Simba smiled at Nala, who smiled back. This exchange made Kion seem a little unnerved. "What? What is it?"
"Are you certain that she is just your friend, Kion?" he asked, leaving Kion confused.
"Y-yeah. I don't think I understand what you mean, dad."
"Ooooooooh!" Kiara cooed, literally leaping at the opportunity to tease her younger brother. "Sounds like Kion has a cruuuuuush!"
Kion blushed. "I do not! She's just a friend, and I met her a couple of days ago."
"Yes, you do! Kion likes Fuli! Kion likes Fuli!"
This visibly irritated Kion, as he frowned, with a low growl escaping his mouth. Nala saw this, and although she was lightly laughing at this, she knew it wasn't fair.
"Alright, Kiara, that's enough," she told her daughter. "Leave Kion alone."
"Kion!" they all heard a voice call out. Kion's ears perked up and he smiled.
"That sounds like Fuli!" he told his family. "Up here, Fuli!" he called out.
A moment later, a young cheetah cub, with golden-yellow fur and brown spots, green eyes and a heart shaped spot on her forehead, leapt onto the top of Pride Rock. When she got there, she saw Kion and smiled.
"Hi, Fuli!" he greeted her.
"Hi, Kion!" She then saw his family and gasped. "Kion, you never said you were part of the royal family." She quickly gave Simba a curtsy. "It's an honour to meet you, your majesty!"
Simba chuckled. "Why thank you, Fuli. It is very nice to meet you too."
"Y-you know my name!"
"Why of course! Kion was just telling us that you were coming to meet us."
Fuli blushed slightly, but shrugged it off. Kiara happened to notice this, but chose to wait. "I'm surprised he didn't tell me you were his father."
"Well, I didn't want you to think of me like that. I wanted to actually be your friend."
"It's nice to meet you, Fuli," Nala said, stepping forward, "I'm Nala, Kion's mother, and this is my daughter, Kiara." Kiara smiled, albeit a little bit mischievously.
"It's nice to meet you both," Fuli replied, curtsying to them too.
"So, you're the girl that Kion likes," Kiara told Fuli, all too happily.
"Ew!" Fuli spat, her cheeks growing red.
"KIARA!" Kion growled through clenched teeth, blushing madly, similar to Fuli. "I told you it's not like that."
"Lucky for her, I guess-"
"Okaaaay," Nala interrupted, putting a paw over Kiara's mouth, "that's enough from you. Anyway, I'm sure your friend Bunga will be waiting for you, so we'll let you get on your way. It has been lovely to meet you, Fuli."
'Thanks, mom,' Kion sighed in though. "Okay. I'll see you later."
With that, they began to head down Pride Rock. "Well, there you go! That's my family. I'm sorry about Kiara, though. She's j-just joking, it's not like that."
"I know," she replied, smiling, "and it's fine. They seem pretty cool."
They soon reached the bottom of Pride Rock, but before they could set off, they bumped into Timon and Pumbaa.
"Hey! Watch where yer goin', will ya?" Timon yelled, before turning to see Kion. "Oh, Kion, it's you! Sorry about that."
"It's my fault," Fuli told him, "I didn't see you."
"Hey, uh, Kion, who's the girl?" he nudged Kion with his elbow, causing Kion to groan and Fuli to look away. "Got a girlfriend, huh?"
"Ah, seeds of love are blossoming!" Pumbaa cheered. "Such a joyous occasion!"
"Timon! Pumbaa! This is Fuli, she's just a friend!" he shouted.
"Whateva ya say, kid," Timon shrugged, still smirking.
"Ugh! I'm sorry, Fuli. This is Timon and Pumbaa. They're… family, kind of."
"Erm, HOW exactly are they family?" she asked.
"It's a long and complicated story." He turned to face Timon. "Hey, is Bunga down by the Watering Hole?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah, the kid's waitin' for ya."
"Thanks."
"Race ya there!" Fuli yelled before sprinting off, with Kion chasing after her.
"Ah, kids," Timon sighed, "they'll learn."
Timon and Pumbaa made their way up to the top of Pride Rock, where Simba saw them and smiled.
"Ah! Timon, Pumbaa! How are you?" he greeted them.
"We're fine, Simba, just came to visit!" Timon greeted back, giving a bow, which Pumbaa also did. They then turned to Nala and did the same. "How are ya, Nala?"
"We're good, Timon. How are you two?"
"Oh, we're doing alright, Nala!" Pumbaa replied. "Bunga's doing good too. He's down at the Watering Hole with Kion and his new friend."
"Here, speaking a' which," Timon rubbed his hands together, "whaddya make a' that, huh?"
"To be honest, I don't think he's at the age where he realises any of that yet," Simba replied.
"I don't know about that, Simba," Nala replied, "they're both about the age that you and I were when we went to the Elephant Graveyard."
"Exactly, and I was clueless."
"Well, I wasn't. Maybe he knows more than he lets on? He won't want to scare her off, especially if he just met her."
"Ah, time means nothin' these days," Timon interjected, "tha' kid's smitten."
"Well, lions are cats, Timon!" Pumbaa told his meerkat friend, to which Timon sighed.
"Pumbaa. I said smitten. Not kitten."
"Oh."
"Either way, we'll leave them be," Nala told them. She then turned to face Kiara, who was sunbathing on the rock. "Isn't that right, Kiara?"
"Yes, mother," Kiara sighed.
The Watering Hole
"Where is he?" Bunga said aloud, tapping his foot against the Baobab fruit. He looked out towards Pride Rock, looking for any sign that Kion was on his way, and saw a cloud of dust heading right towards him. "Huh?" As it got closer, he jumped onto the cloud of dust, which screeched to a halt, revealing itself to be Fuli. She looked onto her back to see what was on her, and saw Bunga standing on her back, twirling the fruit on his finger. "Funny. I don't remember asking for a lift."
"Do you mind getting off me?" she asked, to which he obliged. "Thank you."
"Fuli!" they heard Kion call out as his run slowed down until he stopped in front of them. "Finally! You could have slowed down a bit, you know!"
"Uh, I did!" She smirked at him. "It's not my fault I'm so much faster."
"Please, I gave you a head start!"
"Hey, Kion? How do you know her?" Bunga asked.
"Oh, right! Bunga, this is my friend Fuli. Fuli, this is my friend Bunga."
"How d'ya do?" he greeted. "Anyway, we gonna play or what?"
"Sure! Fuli, wanna join?"
"Okay, but don't be surprised when I beat both of you!"
"Zuka Zama!" Bunga shouted, before running off with the Baobab fruit. Fuli and Kion laughed as they chased after him, in what would be the start of a long friendship.
THE END