The Line Between Bravery and Stupidity
I don't own The Lion King OR The Lion Guard. No one should even let me NEAR the rights to them either, apparently.
Ono watched Bunga, jumping from tree to tree, animal to animal and keeping the fruit in his arms, away from Kion as they continued on with their game. It was normal, of course. But Ono saw what the others had yet to see, and it would be his edge in catching Bunga off-guard.
"Bunga! I need to talk to you!" he called. Bunga either didn't hear him or didn't care, and Ono sighed. They had a big responsibility like they did now, but they all still managed to be so carefree.
He swooped down in front of Bunga, snatching the fruit from the honey badger's paws.
"Hey!" Bunga cried, glaring up at Ono playfully. Kion skidded to a halt, looking up at Ono as well.
"Ono, did you need something?" Kion asked.
"I want to talk to Bunga" he said, clear and simple as that. Bunga shrugged.
"Okay. What is it?"
"Alone"
Kion seemed surprised by that.
"Okay, fine. Let's find somewhere private" Bunga said, not seeming worried in the slightest. Ono dropped the fruit and followed Bunga, the small animal jumping from tree to tree, animal to animal yet again as they attempted to find a peaceful place with no interruptions.
They soon found such a place, and Ono perched himself up on a rock, while Bunga stood there, seeming impatient and somewhat bored.
"You have a crush on Kion"
It wasn't a question.
"So? What're you gonna do about it?" Bunga asked. He didn't seem bored anymore, but he was certainly not surprised. Maybe if it had been someone other than Ono, perhaps.
"Why don't you tell him?"
Bunga looked at Ono as if he'd gone insane.
"Why would I do that?"
Ono faltered. Bunga wasn't scared, not just because he was never scared, but Ono could tell in the way he was acting now. He wasn't scared to tell Kion.
"Why don't you want to tell him, then? What's stopping you?"
Ono watched as his honey badger friend seemed to weigh his options. He couldn't tell if he was trying to decide whether or not to tell Kion, or whether he should even stay here to talk to Ono.
"I know you're not scared, Bunga. So why don't you tell him?"
The mere mention of the possibility of him being scared made Bunga scoff.
"'Course I'm not scared. But I'm not stupid, either"
Ono watched Bunga carefully. Since the little honey badger didn't tend to think things through at first glance, he knew that he had to have felt like this for a while. Ono wondered if he had missed some signs before.
Bunga seemed to take Ono's silence as a sign to keep talking.
"I like Kion, okay? I'm not scared to admit that to anyone, not even Kion himself. But I also know that Kion and I are really little and that I'm too young to really have long-term feelings. It'd be silly to say that I like him when it might not even last"
"I've never heard you speak so intelligently" Ono said, somewhat surprised. He hadn't considered that when approaching Bunga about this. He just thought that maybe Bunga already had some sort of big plan in place where he would get Kion to fall for him.
"Gee, thanks" Bunga rolled his eyes.
"Sorry. But what if your feelings do last?"
"I'm not gonna take that chance. If Simba finds out that I like-like Kion, he might get mad at me and he won't let me play with Kion anymore! I might not get to be on the Lion Guard, even!"
Ono seriously wondered when Bunga had thought this much about his feelings. Did he tell someone, consult someone?
"So you don't want to risk your friendship with Kion over feelings that will probably just be temporary?"
"Yep. I'm not scared, okay? I just don't like the idea of not getting to play with Kion again!"
Ono nodded his head.
"That's fair. But if your feelings turn out to be permanent, will you tell him?"
"Maybe. I'd have to wait till we're older" Bunga said. He seemed to be considering it, at least.
Bunga ran off to play with Kion again, and Ono watched, something still nagging in his head.
Bunga's list of reasons hadn't included Kion not returning those feelings.
Meanwhile, said honey badger was searching for Kion, finally finding him not far from where he'd left him.
"Hey, Bunga! What did Ono want?"
Bunga knew Ono wouldn't have talked to him about it if he didn't think Kion liked him back. Bunga beamed proudly as this thought crossed his mind.
"Don't worry, Kion. It was something stupid"
Bunga caught sight of the fruit behind his friend, and immediately lunged for it. Their game began once more, with Bunga having some things to seriously consider later.