I'm not dead! And yes, I do plan to update YMMC eventually, before anyone asks. (I know it's been like 3 years shh) In the meantime, though, I thought I would write this... I started writing it during finals this year, though I've had the idea for a while. I originally meant for it to be a oneshot, but then I thought, nah... I can do so much better than that. Anyway, I started writing this during finals and finally got around to finishing and posting it now, so enjoy!

When you live your life in total, complete Hakuna Matata, sometimes you honestly can't think of anything to do. And when that's the case, you start to think of things you never dreamed would cross your mind.

So it really was no surprise that Timon started thinking of her that day, back when it was just a harmless thought that had popped into his head - well, almost harmless.

Shenzi.

That first time, it had just been more of a memory of his own life than an image of her, though. He had been dancing around that rock, singing - and all of a sudden she had been there.

At first, he had been able to ignore it. He thought of the other hyenas, too - all three of them had gone out of their way to antagonize him and his colony.

Well, the other two had been focused on the colony. She, on the other hand, had always seemed most intent on him. And so, as time went on, his thoughts drifted away from Banzai and Ed, and latched onto the only one remaining - her.

Because she was the leader?

No. Because -

Don't you dare think it, Timon thought. Don't you even try.

There was also the fact that he got odd shivers every time his memory dragged her into his thoughts again. At first, he had assumed those shivers came from fear. That would have been perfectly natural - after all, every interaction they had ever had involved her trying to eat him. But as time went on and the carefree days passed, the shivers lost the connotation of fear for him, and began to feel - almost pleasant.

But why, then?

Why did she make him feel that way? Because he had proposed to her? He had only meant it as a distraction, but... now he thought maybe he had done it, when there had been a thousand other things he could have done, because something inside of him felt attached not to survival, but to Shenzi herself.

He didn't really understand it. But he did know that thinking about it for too long made him uncomfortable.

He knew it had gone too far, though, when one day he found himself wondering where she was now, when he very well knew the answer. She was somewhere in the Elephant Graveyard, of course - somewhere he could never go unless he had a death wish.

But the moment the thought had clawed itself into his mind that his inclinations toward her might be romantic, he found himself completely unable to let go of it.

He tried to forget about it, because it was wrong. He knew it was wrong. He'd never heard of any interspecies relationships, much less inter-food-chain-level ones. Which was another thing - what were the chances that she could ever see him as anything but another meal? What were the chances that he would even be able to get a word in with her?

Ridiculous.

The whole thing was ridiculous, so he tried to forget.

But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't. So he decided to try to talk to Pumbaa and Simba about it (separately, of course - he wasn't going to make it that obvious.)

He asked Pumbaa first, who didn't really understand.

"Hey, Pumbaa... can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Timon! What's the matter?"

"Do you ever, uh... think about the hyenas?"

Pumbaa thought about it for a second.

"Not so much anymore, now that we live here, but I guess they cross my mind once in a while... why?"

"In what, ah, context do you usually think of her in?"

Pumbaa looked at him, confused.

"Her?"

Oops.

"Y'know what? Never mind!"

He decided to wait a while before asking Simba, figuring it would seem less suspicious in case Pumbaa had mentioned their odd conversation to him.

But in the meantime, he couldn't stop thinking of Shenzi, of the butterflies in his stomach she gave him that were not entirely from fear, of the way she looked at him, a mixture of hunger and disdain that he only wished translated into longing -

NO.

- ...and the way her presence would send him into a panic: Because she was always trying to eat him, yes, and yet she always seemed to light up his world at the same time -

"Stop." He actually said it aloud this time. "No, stop, that can't be right. It's wrong, she's never wanted anything to do with me except for eating me, so forget it!"

And yet his mind continued to say that nothing had ever been more right.

Eventually, Timon couldn't stand it anymore and went to Simba for guidance.

"Hey Simba, do you think there's anything wrong with saying something as sort of... a joke, and the person you said it to knew you weren't serious at the time, but the more you think about it, the more you think you might have actually meant it?"

Simba grinned. "Asking for a friend?"

Timon felt a little less nervous about the conversation he was currently having. "Yep," he said, arching an eyebrow at his friend.

"No, I don't think there's anything wrong with that... it's nothing that the person in question would be upset about, right?"

Upset? He nearly laughed. She would kill him on sight. Instead of voicing these thoughts to Simba, however, Timon just shook his head.

"Then you should probably tell the person how you feel, right? If nothing else, at least it'll help ya rest easy."

And although he was as confused as ever inside, Timon managed a smile. "Me? Asking for a friend, remember?"

Simba winked. "Yeah. Now get back to your Hakuna Matata."

With the words of his friends in mind, Timon returned to the tree where he had been lounging, unaware of nothing much but his confusion and... was it disgust he felt for himself? Contempt? Who was he to pine after a hyena, one who had antagonized his colony countless times?

And yet... he couldn't feel that way. Not when he couldn't help feeling that she might be the one thing that was missing in his life.

He couldn't talk to her, of course, and had no plans to. He'd have to settle for dreaming about her.

It was wrong, and he knew it. For the moment, though, he didn't necessarily care.

Thinking about it later, though, he came to realize that maybe it wasn't her he needed, just a little romance. After all, he had two best friends, a personal paradise, all of his family with him, and no worries whatsoever... except for that one, of course. It only made sense that romance was the only thing his life lacked. It didn't have to be her.

Thinking this way, Timon was able to forget Shenzi Hyena... for a day or two, anyway.

His last shreds of denial disappeared the day he moved a few pieces of grass aside to find her face staring back at him.

To be honest, I don't know exactly where I want to go with this... though I have some ideas, starting with a couple of headcanons my friend came up with for me a couple years back. Between continuing this or YMMC, though, I have to write some Kyousaya (Don't know how many Madoka Magica fans are on here, but if anyone's interested, be sure to check that out!)

Read and review, please! All of you are wonderful for even reading this!