Disclaimer: The Lion King is not mine. It belongs to Disney, along with Timon, Pumbaa, and all the other non-original characters in this story. Now as you may have guessed from the summary, this is a Timon/OC romance fic. If you don't like those kind of stories, then you're free to leave. As for the rest of you, please read and review. Give me your honest opinions about this story. If you still don't like it, that's fine, as long as you give me a valid reason. Oh, and if you haven't seen the Lion King 1 & ½, I would heartily recommend it. Not only is it a great movie, but this story won't make much sense unless you've seen it. Okay, on with the story now.

Somebody to Love

By Jack Stryker

Chapter 1 – Dream Girl

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Timon couldn't believe his eyes. Standing there in front of him was the most beautiful female meerkat he'd ever seen. Her eyes were bright green, her hair was a rich, dark shade of brown, and her fur was glossy. She smiled and winked at him. Timon felt his heart pounding as he slowly walked towards her. The girl held her arms out, and motioned with one hand for him to come closer. Timon then moved forward at a faster pace, ready to take her in his arms and kiss her; when he suddenly fell onto his face.

Timon snapped awake from his dream and found himself at the jungle oasis, lying next to Pumbaa. He had been dreaming about that girl for weeks, but this time his dream was interrupted after he accidentally rolled off of Pumbaa's back. He snapped his fingers in frustration.

"Dang it! Another dream." he mumbled to himself, "Why couldn't it have been real this time?"

Timon yawned, stretched, looked up at the sky, and noticed that it was still dark. Feeling thirsty, he headed over to a pool of water. He was happy to be home again, now that he and Pumbaa were no longer needed to look after Kiara. Yet, deep down inside, he couldn't help feeling a bit depressed. Lately, the thing that he had desperately wanted the most was a mate. Unfortunately, most of the females in the colony were either taken or just not attracted to him. In his quest to find a mate, Timon had tried to find the girl from his dreams, but none of the females at the oasis matched her description. This was the day when he had finally given up the search.

As Timon neared the pool, he saw a meerkat couple heading his way. It was Swifty and his mate, Sherri. Sherri was carrying their young son, Gus; who was fast asleep in her arms.

"Hey, Timon," said Swifty, "thanks again for bringing us to this place. I'm glad we finally don't have to worry about anything with claws hurting Gus."

"Oh, think nothin' of it, Swifty." Timon replied with a small wave of his hand.

"No hard feelings about those tunnel incidents in the past." Sherri added with a smile.

"Not at all. Thanks, Sherri."

"Well, come on," Swifty said to Sherri, "let's get some sleep."

As the small family turned and walked away, Sherri looked over her shoulder and waved.

"See you later, Timon." she said.

Soon, they were out of sight. Timon smirked at them, then sighed heavily and knelt in front of the pool.

"I don't understand it." he said to himself, "What is it that the girls don't see in me?"

He thought briefly about his parents as he took a drink of water.

"How did you do it, Pop?" he asked aloud.

Timon sighed again. Thinking about his father only made him feel more depressed. It was a grim reminder of how much he had missed his father since he was a pup. Timon scooped up some more water with his hands. Then just as he began drinking it, he suddenly noticed that his reflection in the pool looked different. It was now that of an older meerkat with darker hair; who looked similar to Timon's uncle, Max. Timon spit out the water and cried, "What the...?!"

The image simply smiled at Timon and whispered, "Don't worry. She's out there. Just take your time."

Timon stared back at the image for a second, then rubbed his eyes and looked again. This time, all he saw was his own reflection. Timon continued to stare, wondering if he'd really seen what he thought he saw.

"Maybe Ma's right." he said to himself, "Maybe I should lay off the slugs for a while."

Timon walked back to Pumbaa, lay down next to him, and went back to sleep. He woke up early the next morning, still thinking about his father and how much he missed him. Pumbaa was still asleep and mumbling, "Grubs, grubs, grubs..."

Timon nudged him.

"Hey, Pumbaa, wake up."

"Grubs, grubs... huh? What's up, Timon?"

"Can ya give me a lift to our old home?" Timon asked, "I want to visit my Pop."

"Uh, okay." Pumbaa said, "Want me to get the others?"

"Hmmm… nah. Let's just let them sleep. I'll try to make it quick."

"All right then. Hop aboard."

Timon climbed onto Pumbaa's back and Pumbaa headed to the colony's old home. Timon's father; who was known as Fearless Buzz, was the former leader of the meerkat colony and the closest thing Timon had to a friend. Until he met Pumbaa, that is. The meerkats in the colony visited Buzz's grave often, but this time Timon wanted some quiet time alone with his father. Upon arriving, Pumbaa came to a stop and Timon jumped off.

"I'll wait for you here." Pumbaa said to Timon.

Timon walked over to his father's grave; which was marked by a large rock. There were flowers laid in front of it that had been put there by Timon's mother, Nina, during previous visits. Timon placed his hand on the rock and sighed.

"I wish you could be here, Pop." he said, "I found a home that I know you would've loved. A predator-free environment, where we never have to hide and grubs are everywhere."

Timon closed his eyes and felt a tear stream down his face as he remembered the tragic day when he lost his father.

(years ago)

"Timon?" Nina called out, "Son, where are you?"

Finally, after a long search, she found him. He'd been chasing after a bug and accidentally followed it outside the tunnel. Just as he was about to grab the bug, he was suddenly grabbed by the tail and pulled away.

"There you are!" said Nina, "Your father and I have been looking everywhere for you. What're you doing out here anyway? Don't you know it's dangerous out here?"

"I'm sorry, Ma. I just got a little hungry and went to get a snack."

"Well, you really should be more careful when chasing after grubs. Cause if you're not…"

Nina suddenly gasped.

"What?" Timon asked, turning around.

To their horror, a hyena was standing there.

"Did I hear somebody say something about snacks?"

Nina grabbed Timon and ran towards the tunnel entrance. But the hyena ran ahead of them and jumped on top of it.

"Going somewhere?" he said with a maniacal laugh.

Suddenly, a rock hit the hyena in the head. Nina and the hyena turned to see Buzz standing a few feet away from them, grabbing a nearby stick. The hyena angrily jumped away from the tunnel entrance and lunged at Buzz; who dodged the attack and swung his stick at the hyena.

"Take Timon and get outta here!" Buzz ordered Nina, "I'll take care of this."

"But Buzz…"

"Go!"

Nina nodded and ran to the tunnel with Timon in her arms.

"Come on, punk!" Buzz yelled at the hyena, "Show me what you got!"

Meanwhile, inside the tunnels, Max was taking an emergency roll call.

"Twitchy."

"Here."

"Twiggy."

"Here."

"Lefty."

"Here."

Max sighed with relief.

"Good. Everyone's…wait… where's Buzz?"

"Well… umm… he's…" Nina started to say.

"Don't tell me. He's up there fighting the hyena, isn't he?"

Nina nodded. Max sighed and shook his head in response.

"The crazy fool." he mumbled to himself, "Why Dad chose him as his successor, I'll never know."

"Ma, is Pop gonna be okay?" Timon asked Nina.

"I don't know, sweetie." Nina replied.

"Iron Joe, take a look and see how he's doing up there." Max ordered.

"Got it." Joe replied.

Joe climbed out the tunnel entrance and looked around.

"Do you see him?" Max asked.

"No, I… wait, hold on. Okay, I got a clear visual on Buzz now. He's… he's kicking that hyena's butt!"

The other meerkats were shocked, yet relieved.

"He did it! The hyena's retreating!"

The meerkats cheered in response. However, Buzz's victory would soon be short-lived.

Iron Joe suddenly gasped and cried, "Oh no!"

"What?" Max asked, "What's wrong?"

"Buzz, run for it!" Joe shouted to Buzz, "Get in here, quick! Wait, what're you doing?! Oh, my…"

Joe climbed back down into the tunnel, shaking in fear.

"What's going on out there?" Max asked him.

"There are… more hyenas coming, and Buzz… he's…"

"He's what?"

"He's taking them all on. By himself!"

"WHAT?!"

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, everyone heard the sound of hyenas running away. Then there was silence.

"I think they're gone." said Nina.

Everyone waited, but Buzz wasn't coming back.

"Where's Pop?" asked Timon.

Max turned to Joe; who was still shaking.

"I… I can't!" Joe cried, "I just can't look!"

"Maybe we should just keep waiting." Max said, "He's bound to come back soon."

As the meerkats continued waiting, none of them noticed Timon running out of the tunnel. Timon looked around outside, but couldn't see his father. He climbed out and started calling to him. Finally, he saw Buzz; who was breathing heavily and holding a now-broken stick in front of a dazed hyena.

"Had enough yet?" Buzz taunted him.

The hyena got up on his feet and shook his head.

"No, please! No more!" he cried.

He then turned around, ran after his pack mates, and shouted, "Wait for me!"

"Pop?" Timon called to Buzz.

Buzz dropped the stick and slowly turned around. Timon gasped in horror. Buzz had been terribly wounded during the battle. He had cuts, scars, and bruises along with fur missing from different areas of his body. Yet still, he had managed to hold his ground. Buzz slowly limped towards Timon. Then he suddenly stopped and fell over backwards. Timon ran up to Buzz and shook him.

"Pop! Pop, wake up! Pop! Get up, Pop! Pop!"

"Timon?" a voice called from out of the tunnel, "Where are you?"

"There he is!"

It was Max and Nina. Timon paid no attention to them as they ran up to him.

"Timon, what are you doing back out here?" said Max, "What have we told you about sneaking out of…"

He and Nina suddenly stopped and gasped.

"Buzz!"

"No…!" cried Nina.

(present)

Pumbaa walked up to Timon; who was now crying harder. He sat down next to Timon, patted his back with one front hoof, and used the other one to catch a leaf that was floating by in the air. Then he handed the leaf to Timon; who blew his nose on it and handed it back. Grimacing in disgust, Pumbaa reluctantly took it and tossed it aside.

"Okay, I'm done." Timon said, standing up and wiping his eyes, "Let's go."

Shortly along the way back to the oasis, Pumbaa felt his stomach rumbling.

"Hey, Timon," he said, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah, me too. Let's go see if there's any grubs around."

Timon and Pumbaa split up and began searching the area for bugs. Timon searched hard for several minutes, but couldn't find anything. Finally, as he was about to give up, he spotted a scorpion climbing up a boulder. Licking his lips, he snuck up to the rock and started to climb it.

"Pumbaa?" Timon called softly, turning his head around.

Pumbaa was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging, Timon climbed to the top of the rock, ready to bite off the scorpion's claws and stinger. But just as he was about to make his move, he suddenly heard a scream. Startled, he fell backwards off the rock.

"Ow! Great." he said, sitting up and rubbing his back, "I almost had that one!"

Timon glared toward the scream and suddenly gasped at what he saw. A female meerkat was being chased by a hyena. Taking a good look at her, Timon noticed to his surprise that she bore a striking resemblance to the girl that he'd been seeing in his dreams. She had the same green eyes, dark brown hair, and glossy fur. She was real after all. Soon, the hyena had her cornered against a boulder.

Summoning all of his courage, Timon thought, 'I can't let her die! I've gotta do something!'

He then picked up a nearby rock and ran towards the hyena as fast as he could. The girl began shaking as the hyena licked his lips, ready to devour her. With all of his might, Timon threw the rock at the hyena and managed to hit him right in the nose.

"Ow! Hey, who did that?!" the hyena shouted, rubbing his nose and turning his head.

"Didn't anyone teach you that that's no way to treat a lady?" Timon shouted back at him.

The hyena looked at the girl, then back at Timon.

"You look bigger and meatier anyway." he said.

In his mind, Timon began to ask himself if he was crazy. But something deep down inside him told him to be brave.

"You want this meat? Come and get it!"

"Don't mind if I do."

The hyena jumped towards Timon and snapped his jaws at him; but Timon dodged the attack, grabbed onto the hyena's front leg, and bit him hard.

"OW!" the hyena screamed, "Why, you...!"

The hyena lifted his leg and snapped his jaws again at the meerkat. But Timon quickly let go and fell onto the ground, causing the hyena to bite his own leg.

"YEOW! Ooh! Ow! Ow!"

Standing up, Timon picked some loose hyena fur from his teeth and ran towards the nearby boulder. He then turned around, stuck his thumbs in his ears, and blew a raspberry at the hyena; who furiously lunged at him again. Timon jumped to the side, and the hyena crashed into the rock. As the hyena rubbed his head, Timon grabbed a nearby stick and struck him in the head with it.

"You know, I've met some dumb hyenas in my life, but you take the termite, pal!"

Before Timon could strike him again, the hyena swiped a paw at Timon, knocking him on his back. He then grabbed the stick in his mouth and threw it far out of Timon's reach. Then he glared at Timon and growled deeply.

"Really. And just how dumb am I?"

Timon gulped.

"Uhh... hey, what's that behind you?" he said, pointing.

As the hyena turned around, Timon shouted "Just as dumb as you look!" and ran as fast as his feet would carry him. Just as he started running out of breath, he noticed that he was heading towards the edge of a canyon. He just barely managed to stop in the nick of time. One more step and he would've taken a dive. Trembling with fear, he slowly turned around. Sure enough, the hyena was right there. Timon had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

"I gotta admit you hurt me pretty bad, you stupid little meerkat punk!" the hyena said, "But now I got ya cornered. There ain't no way you can escape now."

Timon could feel sweat pouring down his body like a waterfall. Now he was the one who needed help. Suddenly, Timon thought of one last idea. It was a longshot, but it was worth a try.

"Any last words?"

"Just one." Timon said, "PUMBAAAAA!!!!!!"

Timon had never yelled so loud in his life. It was so loud that birds flew away in fear, from miles away. The hyena had to cover his ears with his paws to keep from going deaf.

"What, you trying to make me lose my hearing as a last mode of defense?!"

'No go.' Timon thought, 'Now what do I do?'

"Hey! You leave my friend alone!" a voice said.

Timon and the hyena turned towards the voice. Pumbaa had come after all. Instantly, Timon's fear melted away.

"Who's the pig?" the hyena asked.

Upon hearing this, Pumbaa glared at the hyena and said, "Are you talkin' to me?"

"Ooh, you're in trouble now." Timon said.

"Are you talkin' to me?!"

"You're gonna get it."

"ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!"

"Here it comes!"

"THEY CALL ME... MISTER PIG!"

Timon stepped aside and ducked for cover, as Pumbaa charged towards the hyena. Pumbaa butted the hyena with so much force that he flew backwards, all the way off the edge. When Timon looked up again, he saw the hyena clinging to the edge by his paws and desperately trying to get back up. Thinking quickly, Timon grabbed another rock and smashed the hyena's paws with it until the hyena had no choice but to let go. Timon and Pumbaa watched as the hyena fell down the chasm, screaming until he hit the ground.

"Ooh, that had to hurt!" said Pumbaa.

Timon didn't say anything. He just dropped the rock and continued to stare, unable to believe what he had just done. Not only had he survived an encounter with a hyena. He had also defeated him.

"You okay, Timon?"

Timon could've kissed Pumbaa, this time on purpose. But he suppressed the urge and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Now let's scram."

Just as Timon was about to climb onto Pumbaa's back, the two of them heard a voice say, "Hey."

Pumbaa and Timon turned towards the voice. Standing there was the female meerkat that Timon had just saved the life of. During the chase, he'd completely forgotten about her.

"Is he gone?" she asked.

"Oh, the hyena?" Timon said, "Yeah, he's pushin' up the daisies now."

The girl looked over the edge of the canyon. Then she ran up to Timon and hugged him hard.

"Thank you so much!" she cried.

"Oh, it was... uh... nothin'."

"Who's this, Timon?" Pumbaa asked.

"Ummm..."

"My name's Zina."

"Zina. I'm Timon and this is my pal, Pumbaa. So… you need a ride home?"

Zina hesitated.

"I... don't have one… anymore." she said.

"You mean you're all alone?" Pumbaa asked.

"Well, I used to be part of a small meerkat colony. But about a year ago, that hyena found us and… he…"

A tear streamed down Zina's eye.

"I… I don't want to say!"

Getting the hint, Timon patted her back as she started to weep.

"That's terrible!" said Pumbaa.

"Yeah, sorry to hear about that." added Timon.

"Maybe she could stay with us at the oasis." Pumbaa said to Timon.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Timon said, "Maybe you could stay with us at our home."

Zina looked up at Timon.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"Well, I'd have to convince my uncle to let you stay. It won't be easy, but I'll try."

Pumbaa lowered his head for Timon and Zina to climb on. Timon motioned for Zina to go first. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Zina climbed aboard and said, "Thank you." Timon then got on after her.

"By the way, Pumbaa," he said, "You didn't happen to find any grubs, did you?"

"Uhh… no. Did you?"

Well, I found a scorpion, but then I kinda got distracted. No offense, Zina."

"Oh." Pumbaa said, disappointed, "Well, I guess we'll have to wait till we get home before we can eat."

"I could help you get some." said Zina, "I kinda have a knack for finding and disarming scorpions."

"You don't say." Timon said, "Well, I think we'll have to take a rain check on that. We should get home quick before anyone notices that we're gone."

"Okay. How about tomorrow then? If I'm allowed to stay."

"Alrighty. It's a date."

"Huh?"

"Err… I said… that'd be great!"

"Oh. All right then."

When Zina wasn't looking, Timon softly sighed with relief. He didn't know who he thought he'd seen in the water the night before, but he had a strong feeling that he should follow that person's advice and take his time.

---

Meanwhile, at a hyena's den, three hyenas sat waiting for their friend to return with some food. There was a male named Lakota, a female named Akili, and another male named Brutus.

"Where can Dakota be?" Lakota asked impatiently, "I'm starving over here!"

"Don't ask me." replied Akili, "He's your brother. For all I know, he could be still trying to find that young meerkat that got away from him last year."

"You really think he'd be that desperate?"

"Knowing his appetite, yes."

Just as Akili was about to elaborate further on that, the three of them heard another hyena running towards them.

"That could be him now." said Brutus.

"Lakota!" the new hyena shouted, panting.

"Oh, nevermind. It's just Bob."

Lakota sighed and said, "What do you want, Bob?"

"You're not gonna believe this," Bob said, "but Dakota's dead!"

"Yes, that's nice. Now why don't you make yourself useful and go catch us some- WHAT?!"

"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Lakota glared at him and said, "You better not be joking, or I'm gonna slap you so hard…"

"No joke, I swear!"

Lakota slapped him anyway.

"Ow! Hey, I said it wasn't a joke!"

"I don't buy it." said Brutus, "Why don't you prove it to us?"

"Well, come on then. I'll show you."

Lakota sighed again.

"All right, let's go." he said.

---

To be continued