Disclaimer: I do not own All Hail King Julien or any of its characters. But I do own Lilian.
The tree branch jerked as an animal hopped onto it. A paw appeared to move the leaves aside, and a lemur stepped out into the open; he flicked his ringtail and fixed the crooked crown on top of his head. The lemur who parted the leaves for the king dashed to his side, dropping to her knees to look down at the ground.
She let out a sigh of relief. All was quiet. Glancing back at the king, she noticed that instead of fear, his eyes glowed with excitement. She found herself smiling, her heart swelling with affection for the fun loving, party animal.
The king turned around and stared into the leaves, tapping his foot as if he was getting impatient. "Maurice!" he called out. "Are you going to make me wait here all day?"
Several moments went by, and as they stood there, the female lemur tried to scoot closer to the king without him noticing. Finally the leaves rustled and a heavyset lemur pushed his way out. He stopped in front of the ringtail king. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he panted. "I was slowed down because of him."
Suddenly a small lemur shot out of the leaves and ran straight to the king, latching onto his feet. The ringtail lost his balance, but the female lemur launched forward and grabbed his arm before he fell out of the tree. As she steadied him, he glared down at the little creature hugging his legs.
The mouse lemur giggled. "Hello."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to touch the royal feet?" the king shouted. He lifted his leg to kick the little lemur off and he went soaring through the air, landing right in…
"Oh no!" Maurice gasped. "Fossa territory…"
The ringtail king let out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh great! Look what Mort did now!"
"But King Julien," Maurice objected," you were the one who kicked Mort over there."
The king snapped his gaze to his adviser. "Are you questioning your king, Maurice?" he demanded, poking the aye-aye's belly, which made Maurice stumbled backwards a little.
Maurice steadied himself and faced the taller lemur, opening his mouth, his eyes blazing with anger. Before the aye-aye could say anything, the female lemur pushed between them, sensing that an argument was about to break out. "Let's just focus on rescuing Mort before the fossa notice that he's in their territory," she suggested.
She could still see anger in Maurice's eyes, but instead of continuing to insist that it was Julien's fault that Mort was in danger, the aye-aye just gave a curt nod and then started jumping through the trees again, only stopping once he entered fossa territory.
A voice spoke behind her. "Thanks." She spun around in surprise. The king never thanked anyone! She managed to squeak out a "You're welcome", and then she turned to follow Maurice. The branch moved under her feet when the king joined them, but it soon became still again.
A few trees down they spotted Mort frozen in fear, looking all around with wide eyes as if checking the area for predators. Even though they didn't see any, the lemurs in the trees still didn't dare call out to their friend in case there were fossa nearby.
Keeping to the trees, they moved closer to Mort, stopping once they were right above him.
"Okay, Maurice, go get him," the king ordered, and he tried to push the aye-aye out of the tree, but Maurice swatted his hands away.
"You want me to go down there?" Fear flashed in Maurice's eyes.
"Yes," Julien replied instantly, shrugging like he didn't see the problem.
"But what if a fossa sees me?" the aye-aye fretted, playing with his fingers nervously. "I'll be a goner for sure!"
The female lemur glanced from her king to his adviser and then back again. This could take a while to settle, she sighed inwardly. She cleared her throat. "I'll get him," she announced.
The two males turned to her.
Then Maurice shook his head. "No, Lilian," he told her. "It's way too dangerous." He took a deep breath and let it out again before continuing. "King Julien told me to do it so I will." Before Lilian could stop him, he jumped out of the tree, landing right beside the frightened lemur. As soon as Mort saw him, he ducked behind him as if using him as a living shield.
Maurice had started walking back to the trees, Mort staying close to him, when suddenly three cat-like creatures slipped out of the bushes under the tree Lilian and Julien were hiding in. The fossa circled the lemurs on the ground, growling at them and taunting them.
Lilian gasped and instinctively buried her face in Julien's fur so she didn't have to watch her friends get eaten.
Suddenly the king hopped in place, and Lilian looked up to see that he had grabbed a vine. He pulled her in tight and backed up a little before jumping out of the tree, aiming for the small group of fossa. One of them turned just in time to be kicked in the face by the king.
Julien let go of the vine, and they dropped beside Maurice and Mort. "Run!" he yowled as he took off for their side of the island, the other three hurrying after him.
The sound of heavy pawsteps behind them told Lilian that the fossa was giving chase.
"We need to get to the trees!" Maurice panted from the back. Glancing over her shoulder, Lilian saw with a sudden rush of alarm that the aye-aye was falling behind, awfully close to the snapping jaws of a fossa.
They veered toward the trees and climbed the nearest one. But they didn't stop there. As the lemurs moved through the trees, the sound of the fossa faded in the distance.
Finally they paused to rest. In case the fossa decided to come back, they stayed in the trees and used the leaves as cover. Lilian sat down beside the king, her heart beating hard in her chest, but she wasn't sure if it was from the near death experience or because her fur was brushing against Julien's.
She looked up at him, a dreamy smile crossing her face. He's so brave…
She was knocked out of her thoughts by Mort, who ran to Julien and hugged him. "Thank you, King Julien, for saving me!"
Julien pushed him off, but before he could respond, Maurice stood up. "I risked my life to save you, too, you know," he pointed out.
"But it was King Julien who swung down on that vine and kicked that fossa right in the face. Oh!" the mouse lemur suddenly exclaimed as if he just realized something. He ran to Julien's feet and started stroking them. "Is the royal feet okay?"
"They are a bit sore but okay," the king replied as he knocked Mort away. Then he got up. "Come on; let's get back to the kingdom." He paused for a moment and glanced around at the others. "Um… nobody mention this… little adventure to Clover… okay?"
Everyone nodded obediently. None of them wanted to deal with the king's crazy, overprotective bodyguard. Getting to their feet, they started heading home.
The plane seemed deserted, but Lilian knew he had to be in there since he wasn't anywhere else in the village and this was his favorite place to spend his free time. She climbed through the entrance and immediately spotted the king sitting in a seat, staring out the window. Was he speaking with the Sky Spirits? she wondered. Just in case she didn't want to disturb him.
As she stood there, she noticed a flash of orange and then suddenly she was on her stomach on the floor. Pain shot through her when her arm was bent behind her back. A British voice growled in her ear. "State your purpose."
"I-I came to s-see the king," Lilian stammered.
"Why?" The lemur holding her down tightened her grip, and Lilian groaned in pain.
Lilian opened her mouth to answer, but a voice called out close by. "Clover, let her go."
Looking up, Lilian felt a rush of relief. Clover climbed off of her and helped her to her feet. Lilian found herself face to face with Julien and his adviser. "Thanks," she murmured to the king.
Julien only gave her a nod before turning to Clover. "Do you have to attack everyone who comes in here?"
"Yes. Everyone is a threat."
"Does she look threatening?" Julien pointed to Lilian, who felt awkward. A hand touched her gently on the shoulder, and she smiled softly at Maurice, glad for his comfort.
Clover was walking away, and Lilian realized that she missed the end of her and Julien's conversation. Now she was left with the two male lemurs.
A small smile crossed the king's muzzle, and Lilian felt like she could get lost in his yellow eyes. "So what are you doing here, Lilian?" he asked her.
Suddenly she felt her cheeks start to burn with embarrassment and she shifted her feet nervously. "I was… just wondering if…" She swallowed the lump in her throat. "If I could stay here tonight…?"
Both of them looked surprised with her request. "Why?" Julien questioned, but before she could answer, he added," Won't Weasel be wondering where you are?"
She shook her head. "No, I already told him that I was coming here. Besides," she added, crossing her arms," he's not really my brother so he doesn't have any say in what I do."
"Brother or not, he cares about you, Lilian," Maurice told her gently. "He only wants what is best for you." Lilian opened her mouth, about to say that Weasel didn't need to be so annoying about it, but before she could get a word out, the aye-aye suddenly said," I'm okay with her staying here. What do you think, Your Majesty?" he asked the king.
Julien thought for a moment before shrugging. "Sure." Then he returned to his seat and went back to staring out the window as the setting sun turned the sky a bright orange color.
Maurice stared after their king. "Good luck with that one," he whispered to Lilian.
She watched as he walked off, confused by his words. What did he mean by "good luck"? Shaking her head, deciding not to worry about what the aye-aye said, she climbed into the seat next to the king. She noticed that he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
"Why don't you go to sleep, my king?" she suggested gently.
He glanced at her but a yawn interrupted whatever he was going to say.
"You've had a rough day," she pointed out, adding to herself, Being chased by fossa will tire anyone out. She didn't want to say that out loud in case Clover was listening.
The king didn't argue, and as he laid down in the seat, Lilian looked around, spotting a blanket on a small pile of junk by the door that led to the front of the plane. She went to retrieve it and then returned to the king. She threw it over him and watched as his breathing slowed down which told her that he was sound asleep.
She stared down at him for a few more moments before lifting her gaze to look out the window at the stars starting to gather in the sky. She sent a silent prayer to the Spirits watching over the lemurs of Madagascar, asking them to help her find a way to tell her beloved king how he makes her feel whenever she is around him.
It wasn't long until she started to yawn too. She curled up into a tight ball, but before she went to sleep, she looked over at her king one last time. Then she closed her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately, going off in a dream about the life she wished she could have with King Julien.
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