It was the start to yet another typical day at Hakuna Matata falls. The sky had a few clouds dotted about, but was mostly clear, and the sun was shining down, but the shade provided by the many trees and the running water from the waterfalls made sure the air was nice and cool. The inhabitants of this part of the Pride Lands were fond of the area, because it felt comfortable to them.

Two of the inhabitants in particular, Timon and Pumbaa, were making the best of the day… by lying around. The meerkat was sat atop the back of his warthog friend, without a care in the world.

"This is the life, huh, Pumbaa?" Timon asked, wiggling his toes as he let out a content sigh.

"Sure is, Timon!" Pumbaa replied. "It's good to not have anything to do."

"Ain't that the truth? Bunga will be headed off to join the Guard for training or something, so there'll be no kid to watch over, no work to do, and no one to bother us."

"Hello?" They heard a voice call out. Timon groaned, sitting up. Not long after they heard the voice, a young zebra colt appeared through a couple of trees, looking at them with his blue eyes. "Oh, erm, hello!"

"Hey there, kid! You lost?" Pumbaa asked.

"No, sir! I came here looking for Bunga, but it looks like he isn't here."

"Wait, you're looking for Bunga?" Timon asked, receiving a nod. "He is here, but he'll be leaving soon."

"Oh! Okay then. Thank you, sir."

So, Hamu sat down and waited. Fortunately for the colt, he didn't have to wait long, as the grey furred honey badger soon appeared, climbing down from the trees.

"Alright! I'll see you later, you two!" he announced as he reached the floor. When he saw the zebra, however, he stopped and smiled. "Oh! Hey, Hamu! I thought I was looking after you next Saturday." The truth was, Bunga had been a babysitter for a number of Pride Landers over the past few months, and Hamu was the first one he had looked after. "What brings you out here?"

"Well, I kind of need some advice, and I don't know how to talk to my mom or any of the other zebras about it," Hamu admitted, scratching his hind leg with his hoof. "So, I figured I could speak to you about it, if that's okay."

"Sure you can! I need to head to the meeting place so I can do things with the Guard, but come with me, and explain on the way!"

Hamu sighed, giving a thankful sigh. "Thanks, Bunga."

Once the two of them were far enough away, Hamu began to explain. "So, lately, I've been hanging out with a couple of new members of the herd, and… well, one of them is a…"

"A bully? A thief?! A kidnapper!?" Bunga cut in, assuming the worst.

"What?! No! No, Mzuri isn't anything like that!"

"Then, what's so bad about him?"

"Well, there's nothing bad about them! The point is Mzuri… is a girl." His cheeks began to flare up, and Bunga's face grew into a grin as he realised what the colt was suggesting.

"Ohhhh, I see! You have a crush on her!" Hamu nodded, a little embarrassed. "My guy has a crush, that's awesome!"

"Yeah, and she's really nice and kind. The problem is, any time I try and speak to her, I either lose my cool or make a fool of myself."

"Better a fool than a foal!" Bunga laughed at his joke, but stopped when he realised that Hamu didn't appreciate it, evident from the deadpan stare he received. "Sorry, this is serious. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Well, I was wondering if you had any ideas for what I could say, or something I could do to show her that I like her?"

"Hmm…" Bunga scratched his head. "I hate to tell you this, but I'm not the best person to talk to about this. I'm not the best at sentimental stuff."

"Oh…" Hamu sighed, downcast. "I see…"

Bunga frowned at seeing his younger friend upset, but then smiled when he knew what to do. "However, I'm sure the rest of the Guard would be more than happy to help."

"You mean that?" Hamu's eyes lit up as the honey badger nodded. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"C'mon, I'll race you there!" Bunga then began to run towards the meeting place, Hamu soon joining him. Hamu, being a zebra, was naturally faster, but he kept his speed down once he had enough of a head start on his friend. Eventually, the two of them reached the entrance to the meeting place, Hamu first. "Alright, you win! Okay, I'll go in first and you explain the problem." Hamu nodded, and Bunga entered the cave. Once inside, he could see all the other members of the Guard were sat waiting for him- Kion, Fuli, Beshte and Ono all looked like they were relieved about Bunga arriving. "Hey, guys! Sorry I'm late, but I've got something that I need your help with!"

"What's going on, Bunga?" Kion asked as he and the others got to their feet.

"Well, I ran into Hamu, and he asked me for some advice, but I didn't know what to tell him, so I thought you guys might know what to say." He turned towards the entrance. "Okay, Hamu! You can come in!"

Hamu then hesitantly walked in. He was still clearly nervous about the issue. "Hey, guys," he greeted them.

"Hey, Hamu!" they all responded.

"What seems to be the problem, little guy?" Beshte asked.

"Well, I kind of have this… well… crush on someone…" he started, his cheeks reddening again.

"Aww… that's so cute, Hamu!" Fuli cooed, much to the colt's embarrassment. "Well, we'd be happy to help! What do you need?"

"Well, I don't know how to speak to her without embarrassing myself. Do you know what I should say?"

"Well, why don't you tell us about her first?" Kion suggested. "If we know a bit about her, we might have a better chance at being able to help you."

"W-well… okay… Her name is Mzuri, and her family just joined our herd recently. She's fun to hang out with, and kind, and… well, very pretty." Fuli tried her best to stifle her giggles, but Hamu sensed it and blushed heavier. "Please don't laugh, I'm… kind of embarrassed about this."

"N-no, sorry, you're right," she admitted, still giggling slightly, "but it's just so ironic. You're saying you don't know how to speak to her, yet you've said a lot of the things that you need to say right there!"

"I… I have?!"

"Fuli's right," Ono pointed out, gesturing with his wing, "a good way to ask someone out would be to tell them what it is about them that you like!"

"O-oh! I see!"

"Yeah!" Beshte exclaimed. "Also, you said that you thought she was pretty, so open with that!"

"He's right," Fuli smiled at Hamu following Beshte's suggestion, "every girl loves it when you give them a compliment about how they look."

"They do?"

"Yeah!" She looked at Kion. "You know that, Kion, don't you?"

He blushed when he was caught by surprise. "Oh, erm, yeah." He then looked over at Hamu. "But, you don't want to be too forward about it. That might scare her, so just relax and do it comfortably."

"This is all great! Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Hamu!" Kion then turned to the other members of the Guard. "Okay then, Lion Guard! It's time to begin patrol."

"Actually, guys, I know this is a lot to ask," Hamu added, "but do you guys think you could be nearby, just in case I feel like I can't go through with it?"

The Guard members then looked at each other. Kion smiled. "Actually, the zebra grazing grounds are on the patrol route, so I think we can do that."

"Oh, thank you so much!"

"Alright, then! 'Til the Pride Lands end!"

"LION GUARD DEFENDS!"

The Lion Guard and Hamu then all left the cave. All, that is, except for Bunga. He stood there for a few seconds, an uncertain look on his face, before saying "Lion Guard defends" much lower than the others did, and following after them.

Eventually, they reached the grazing grounds. There were about fifteen zebras in total, and five foals as well. Once Hamu spotted Mzuri- a yellow-eyed foal- he took a deep breath.

"Okay," he said, breathing out, "it's now or never. Wish me luck."

"Don't worry, little guy," Beshte encouraged, giving him a reassuring smile. "Just relax and be yourself, and you'll do great."

Hamu smiled, before steadily making his way over to the herd, and more importantly, towards Mzuri. As he and the girl he liked began to strike up a conversation, the Lion Guard watched on from a distance.

"I thought it'd be years before I ended up giving relationship advice," Fuli laughed, "but now that I have, I'm glad I did."

"Yeah," Ono replied with a nod, "there's something rather enjoyable about helping someone make the first step in finding someone who is right for them."

"We've done a good thing here today, guys," Kion told them, "we should be proud for helping him. It looks like he's doing okay, huh, Bunga?" Bunga didn't respond. "Bunga?" Kion turned around and saw Bunga a short distance away, sat against a tree, looking down at his feet. Kion wasn't certain why Bunga was over there, so he decided to walk over and see what was up. "How come you're over here? I thought you'd want to see how Hamu is getting on!"

"Huh?" Bunga replied, looking up at Kion, before looking back at his feet. "Oh, right. I'm sure he's getting on great, thanks to you."

Kion sensed that Bunga was hurt, so he sat down and gently nudged him on the shoulder. "Hey… How come you're so down? Come on, Bunga, we've done something good here! We've helped him to speak to the girl he likes, and it might turn into something even bigger for him!"

"Well, that's the thing. It wasn't 'we' who helped him, was it? It was you guys. I wasn't any help at all."

Kion looked surprise to hear Bunga talk like this, given that he was probably the most optimistic of the group. "I'm sure Hamu doesn't think that. You brought him to us- if you hadn't done that, then he might not have the confidence he does now."

"He would have found you eventually." Bunga sighed. "It's just… seeing all of you give him such good advice, and seeing him talk so fondly about that girl… it just made me realise how little I know about love, because I've never met anyone I came even close to liking in that way."

"Wait a minute. Bunga, are you wishing that you had someone you liked?"

"Well, not exactly. It's just that you found Fuli, Beshte has a fair few female hippos who all like him, and even Ono has a few female birds who he speaks to quite often. And now, Hamu found someone he likes, and he's quite young compared to me. It just made me wonder… am I going to ever find someone?" Kion found himself completely shocked by the sudden confession. "As far as I'm aware, there aren't any other honey badgers in the Pride Lands-"

"Well, that doesn't necessarily matter, Bunga. I mean, I'm a different species to Fuli, but it hasn't stopped us!"

"Yeah, but you're both felines! There are no animals in the Pride Lands that are even remotely similar to honey badgers."

"Bunga," he put a paw on his friend's shoulder and smiled, "being in love isn't about species. It's about how you feel, and how they feel. Whether you find another honey badger, or a baboon, or even a crocodile, who likes you for you, and you feel the same way about them, then that's what counts."

Bunga let out a deep sigh. "Maybe. Look," he brushed off Kion's paw and stood up, "I'm gonna go to the Watering Hole, and I'll catch up with you guys."

As Bunga began to walk away, Kion frowned. "Bunga…", then sighed before returning to the others. As he got there, he and the others saw Hamu galloping towards them. "So, how did it go?"

"She said yes!" he answered, smiling giddily. The others all gave him compliments at the same time. "I can't believe it, I'm so happy! Thank you so much, you guys!" He then looked at the Guard, and noticed something. "Hey, where's Bunga?"

The others looked at each other and realised the honey badger was missing. When they looked at Kion, he seemed a bit uneasy as he answered. "He… needed something to drink, so he went to the Watering Hole."

"Oh. Well, I wanted to thank him for helping me! I wouldn't have managed to even speak to her without him today."

"Well, don't worry. We'll let him know."

"Okay. Thanks again, guys!"

The Lion Guard then began to carry on with their patrol.

"It's a shame that Little B missed out on Hamu getting his first date," Beshte pointed out.

Fuli couldn't help but agree. "Yeah. It's odd that he would leave just as Hamu went to ask her out."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Kion suggested, and the others took his word for it. Kion, however, knew the real reason, and it troubled him. He internally sighed, before looking in the direction of the Watering Hole. 'Don't worry, Bunga,' he thought, as if he was talking to his friend. 'It'll happen one day.'

THE END