For those of you who don't really see the "Christmas-ee" side of this story; it's the forgiving part. There's two parts of Christmas; the trees, the decorations, the snow and all the material stuff and whatnot, and the other part is caring, friendliness, good will towards your fellow man, all that kind of mush. Anyway, this fic. is kinda about the second part. I know, WAAAAAAAAAY to sappy. (laughs) Anyway, seeing as how I only have 10 days to finish this, it'll be quite the challenge. Enjoy!
T opened her eyes to see her three friends still asleep. She smiled a bit; everything seemed normal again. She quietly got up and walked out of the cave, sneaking past her friends so they'd get a little more shut-eye.
She went over to a small waterhole nearby and started drinking. Suddenly, she raised her head up when she heard snickering. She looked behind herself to see a big group of hyenas laughing with one another. She decided to go over and see what all the commotion was about.
"Did I miss something?" She asked in a friendly way when she got to them. They took one look at her, and burst out laughing.
"Maybe you should be a little more up with the times, TANA." One hyena said. T's jaw dropped down to the ground. Did that hyena just call her what she thought he called her.
But that couldn't have been possible; when they found out what her real name was, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed had sworn they'd never tell anybody. So how could the clan have found out?
The hyenas kept laughing; their so-called "bad-ace, new clan member", had a name that really made her South-African origin stand out. T tried to move, but she was frozen in place. After that it seemed her legs found movement again and she ran back to the cave, anger and hurt visible in her eyes.
A few minutes later…
Shenzi, Banzai and Ed slept soundly in the cave, until suddenly, they were rammed into from the side and banged right against a hard rock. They shook it off, and looked to see what hit them. They saw T, heavily breathing in anger, fur on end, teeth showing and claws out. This puzzled them.
"Uh, somethin' goin' on T?" Shenzi finally asked.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU TOLD THEM?!!!" T demanded as she took a few steps in their direction.
"Told who what?" Banzai and Ed asked.
"My name! It's all over the clan! And there ain't a single hyena that doesn't know, or isn't laughin' it up about it! Explain that!!" T finished. This only puzzled the trio more.
"We didn't tell nobody." Shenzi said.
"Well somebody did!" T yelled.
"Maybe you just heard it wrong." Ed proposed, scratching behind his ear with his back leg.
"Just take a walk out and then tell me nobody knows my real name." T said.
"Alright. We'll see what's goin' on and then you'll shut up about this." Shenzi simply stated as she and her two male friends walked toward the cave entrance.
"Be my guests." T replied as she watched them go. She kept staring at the cave's exit even after they left. Then after a long moment, sighed as she hung her head down and walked to the back of the cave.
She kept sulking as she just stared at the floor. Why did she have to be given a name as painful to say as "Tana"? Why was it that South African hyenas had to give names that practically high-lighted where they came from? So they were South African, big deal. They didn't need to spread it all over the rest of Africa. Did they also know that they were considered over-bearing, stuck-up, patronizing snobs? They didn't need to spread that all over the rest of Africa either.
T was among the very few animals that didn't behave as high and mighty as the other South-African animals did. Her parents and what few friends she had back there where also part of this group.
She sighed again. It seemed all the other hyenas had names that really put spark in them, at least all the Kenyan hyenas.
Take Shenzi for instance, "demon" was in her name and it just contributed to her reputation as a strong, fierce matriarch. And Banzai, his name meant "lurk", that's what helped him a bit to become second in command. Ed, his name didn't really have a definition, but it suited him. That's what T wanted; a name that matched her.
She had heard from Nala that her real name didn't seem so bad, but to T, it never really fit her. It just seemed…cute and perky, and T was anything but. How could her friends betray her like this? Just then, she heard footsteps behind her, but didn't bother to look to see who it was.
"T?" came Ed's voice. T only growled in response.
"I swear, we didn't tell anybody." he explained.
"Get out." T grumbled.
"First of all, I'm third in command so you aren't exactly in a position to give me orders. Second of all, you haven't left the cave since this morning and ya gotta be hungry by now. Last of all, me n' Shenzi and Banzai are gonna come back in here at night anyway. And what are ya gonna do to get away from us then? Sleep outside?" There was a pause.
"Ed, I was wanna be alone now. Ok?" T asked softly, but still not looking at him. Ed sighed and walked out.
Meanwhile…
Nala's eyes blinked open as she woke up in the cave she and Simba shared at Priderock. She looked to her side, expecting to see her loving husband, but was puzzled to see he wasn't there. She heard footsteps outside and walked out of the cave to see Simba pacing back and forth, murmuring to himself as he kept his gaze at the ground.
"Simba?" The king quickly perked his head up at the sound of his wife's voice.
"Oh uh, hey. Morning." He said. Nala walked over to him.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"No uh…I have to, go talk to a few people right now." He answered as he started walking away.
"Do you, want me to come with you?" she asked, puzzled.
"Um, thanks but, I think I'm ok." He answered. Then Nala watched, even more puzzled, as he ran in the direction of hyena territory.
"How the heck did everybody find out?" Ed wondered out loud, but spoke quietly for he didn't want the clan to know about his voice.
"Do ya have ta talk like that?" Shenzi and Banzai asked him, with slightly annoyed tones. Suddenly, a roar rang out through hyena territory. It wasn't loud or booming, but enough to be heard. The trio saw a few groups of hyenas run by them, apparently trying to get away from something/someone. The three hyenas looked up ahead of them, and saw a familiar lion approaching.
At first the three were surprised. Then were just annoyed at Simba's sudden impudence.
"If you're thinkin' we know where your stupid uncle is we don't, so you'll just be runnin' along now and stop on scarin' my clan." Shenzi said.
"I'm not looking for my uncle, but I am wondering a few things about him." Simba replied. The trio's eyes widened; they hoped he hadn't figured out a few…"certain events" that happened when he was a cub.
"Was my uncle always…insane?" he asked them. The three remained silent.
"Ok I'll rephrase; what exactly happened back when or if my uncle wasn't insane?" he asked again.
"We don't know anything." the trio lied.
"YOU DO! DONT' LIE TO ME!!" Simba suddenly yelled, so loud the hyenas' fur shifted under his breath. After realizing what he just did, Simba quickly regained his composure and spoke in a more sensible tone.
"Scar said my grandfather Ahadi was king before him. Seeing as how you three were old enough to at least remember at the time, I thought maybe you knew something."
"Well sorry to make ya waste a trip, but we don't." Shenzi replied, then she and her boys turned around to leave for their cave. Simba's eyes narrowed.
"Well what about when he was 15?" he asked. The trio froze in their tracks, but tried to look inconspicuous.
"W-what about when he was 15?" Ed asked nervously. Simba smirked, now he was getting somewhere. But just to make sure the three didn't take off before he was finished talking to them, he started circling around the trio.
"Just that, he got so depressed at that age he went to the outer Pridelands and cried…until a small voice called out to him." Simba casually explained.
"I wonder who that small voice was." He continued. He saw Banzai and Ed sneak a glare at a nervous looking Shenzi out of the corner of his eyes but said nothing.
"How should we know? We were just pups." Shenzi quickly made up an excuse. Knowing this was a little dark for him, but desperate times called for desperate measures, Simba tried to pull a fast one.
"Y'know," he pretended to sigh, "I don't think this whole, lion and hyena living side by side thing is working out; maybe all the hyenas should move back to the graveyards." But the trio wasn't fooled.
"How 'bout you lions move outta the Pridelands?" Shenzi, Banzai and Ed shot back.
"Alright, enough of this nonsense; either you three tell me all you know about my uncle, or else." Simba threatened.
"Yeah, well whaddya gonna do to us if we don't?" Banzai said.
"Let's just say the graveyards will be open for vacancy." The lion king replied.
Meanwhile…
T sighed as she looked down at her reflection in the watering hole. Just when things seemed to go back to the way they were, something happened that changed it all back. T had to come to the fact that her friends were hiding something from her and weren't going to tell her what. This made her feel terrible; she thought she was their friend, and friends don't keep secrets from one another.
Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound behind her and turned around to see Nuka approaching from the tall grass. Upon seeing him she just turned away and flopped down on the watering hole bank. Nuka could see she wasn't in a good mood.
"What's up with you?" he asked her. T blew a bang from her eye.
"First you and the other two rogues show up, then all my friends are acting weird all of a sudden, and now, the whole clan knows a horrible secret about me." T replied. Nuka's heart went out to her.
"I know how you feel. I got laughed at all the time by my old pride." He said.
"My mom was basically the only company I had. And she hated me, still does." He finished.
"Speaking of which, I don't think my friends are exactly fans of your mom and dad." T told him.
"He's not my dad." Nuka replied.
"What?" T was confused.
"That outlander lioness is my mom, but the lion's not my dad." Nuka explained.
"Wait a minute, outlander? You guys aren't even from here; how can you be outlanders?" T was even more confused. Nuka sighed.
"Well, if your friends aren't gonna tell you the truth, I might as well." He said.
"That's all we know; we swear." Shenzi said.
"Now call off the whole graveyard-for-rent thang." She finished.
"You three knew him back before he was insane?" Simba asked them.
"Yep." The three replied.
"And all the trouble started after he got his scar?"
"And after he changed his name to Scar, but yeah." Ed replied. Simba paused.
"And the wildebeest stampede?" he asked. The trio's eyes widened.
"Uh…that we don't know about." They lied.
"And Zira was always a fanatic of him and everything that had to do with him?" Simba asked again.
"YES!! Now are ya gonna call off the re-ban on our kind or what?!" Banzai asked impatiently. Simba was quiet for a bit, then sighed.
"You're free to go." Was all he said. Then he walked back in the direction of Priderock, while the trio walked back in the direction of their cave.
A few minutes later…
The trio walked back into their cave but were puzzled when they saw T wasn't in it. Ed sighed.
"Maybe she actually did sleep outside just to get away from us." He said. The trio merely walked over to their spots in the cave and laid down to settle in for the night. Until suddenly…
"HOW COULD YOU GUYS LIE TO ME LIKE THAT?!!!" Came a voice outside the cave's entrance. Shenzi, Banzai and Ed quickly raised their heads up and saw T coming in their direction.
" 'Least she's talkin' to us again." Ed whispered to his friends.
"Lie about what?" Shenzi asked when T reached them.
"Don't gimme that. Everything! You lied to me about Taka and Ambala, you lied to me about not knowing who any of them were, worst of all, Simba and Nala were in on the whole d--- act!" T yelled. Now it was the trio's turn to be shocked by a revealed secret.
"How'd you find that out?!!" They asked in unison.
"That's not important. But I guess I know who I can and can't trust around here." T said as she walked towards the cave's exit.
"I'm sleeping outside tonight! I NEVER WANNA SEE ANY OF YOU AGAIN!!" She yelled, then ran out of the cave.
Meanwhile…
After hearing the whole explanation from Simba, Nala was beyond appalled.
"Scar wasn't always Scar? And he used to be sane?" she asked her mate.
"Yeah." Simba answered. Nala looked down at her paws for a minute, then slowly turned her gaze up to her mate's.
"What do you think Scar, Zira and Nuka are here for then?" She asked him. Simba sighed.
"I don't know."
The next day…
After leaving the cave of her three ex-friends, T decided to sleep in a clump of high grass for the night. She was sleeping on her side, undisturbed, until a smell suddenly tickled her nose.
She growled to herself because it smelled like a hyena, from Shenzi's clan too. T knew that could've only meant that Shenzi, Banzai or Ed had come to apologize but she wasn't about to listen. She suddenly felt a paw rest on her shoulder, and just growled even louder then quick as a shot, turned around and bit the paw as hard as she could.
But instead of hearing a howl of pain, she heard a roar. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Nuka fighting back tears in his eyes. Slowly, she released her grip on him. Sitting up, she sighed.
"Whadda you want?" she asked.
"How come you're not sleepin' in the cave with the other three?" he asked her.
"…I never wanna see any of them again." T said after a pause.
"Why? Wha'd they do?" Nuka asked her.
"They broke a promise. My real name; it's all over the clan. I'm a laughing stock."
"Tana? You think they told everybody your name was Tana?"
"Who else could've gone up to the clan and said something? I mean even if it was an accident I doubt the subject 'secret real names of your best friend' would come up in conversation. I mean you knew my real name too, but, no offense; I doubt you'd actually have the guts to even walk up to my clan." T replied. Nuka paused.
"Tana, I gotta tell you something…"
A few seconds later…
"YOU WHAT?!!" T yelled. Nuka screamed as she pounced on him and pinned him to the ground, her teeth bared and claws digging into his shoulders.
"I didn't know it was a secret! I just wanted to know if you were lying to me about anything else! I mean I heard Shenzi call you 'T' and it got me wondering-"
"What you did, you're gonna pay for!!" T said as she raised a paw up, claws out as far as they could go. But then, something occurred to her.
"Wait a minute, but, that means Shenzi, Banzai and Ed were telling the truth… I have to go apologize!" She said, but looked back down at Nuka.
"But we're not done here." She finished, then jumped off him and ran in the direction of the trio's cave.
That evening…
Speaking of the trio, the three were walking through the Pridelands in the direction of a waterhole.
"How the heck do you think they all found out 'er name?" Ed asked his two friends.
"Would you knock it off?!" Banzai yelled at him. Suddenly, the trio's eyes widened; that sentence had sounded very familiar and they knew why. But they just banished the thought from their minds and kept walking.
"None of us blabbed so somebody musta been snoopin' around or somethin'." Shenzi said.
"I think it's my fault she's not talkin' ta you guys." Came a voice out of nowhere. Ed's eyes widened.
"Holy crud! Did this rock just say something?!" He said, looking at a rock in front of himself. Shenzi and Banzai were about to whack him upside the head until they noticed something…
"Did you just go back to bein' dumb again?" They asked him. Ed's eyes went even wider.
"Hey, I did, didn't I? But where'd that voice come from?" Ed wondered. Nuka stepped from behind a tree, near the rock Ed was looking at.
"It was me." The teenage lion said. The three scowled at him.
"Whadda you want?" Shenzi said to him.
"I think T's mad at you because I think I accidentally told some 'a the hyenas her real name without knowing, and she thinks you three did it."
A few seconds later…
Nuka was terrified as he was pinned under three extremely furious hyenas.
"Would you three believe this isn't the first time this has happened to me today?" he asked, a nervous smile on his face.
"It's time we turned you into a lion lunch like we shoulda done a long time ago!" Banzai yelled. The three menacingly lowered their heads down to him, teeth bared and growling, until a sudden roar echoed throughout the Pridelands.
"Get away from him! If anyone's going to kill my son, it will be me!!" Shenzi, Banzai and Ed saw Scar and Zira running up to them. They quickly got off him before the two lions reached them.
"Why'd you tell the clan T's real name?" Ed growled. Deciding that if Shenzi, Banzai and Ed were going to find out how he felt about T, they might as well now.
He got to his feet, then turned his gaze in their direction.
A few more seconds later…
Shenzi, Banzai and Ed stood there, frozen in shock over what Nuka had just told them. Zira had a look of utter disgust on her face, while Scar kept looking at the trio like at any moment they were going to snap out of their daze and lash out at Nuka in an attempt to kill him. …Which they did.
Scar and Zira quickly rushed in to stop them. Scar pulled off the three growling and snarling hyenas while Zira dragged her son away.
"I assure you three, it is very unlikely Nuka will try anything to harm your friend." Scar said to the trio.
"Better safe than sorry!" Came three answers.
"After we eat Nuka we oughtta go for you two!" Shenzi yelled.
"We should put a stick through you and roast ya!" Ed angrily said to Scar.
"Speaking of roast…" Nuka began.
"No!/NO!!" Scar and "Zira cut him off.
"Aw c'mon, they're gonna find out anyway. Why not just tell 'em now?" Nuka argued.
"Tell us what? What're you three hiding?!!" The three angrily demanded.
"And would you let go of us?!!!" They yelled at Scar, who was still hanging onto them.
"I just want to make sure you don't harm my friend's son." Scar replied.
"Now apologize to him, for he is a bigger idiot than Ed-"
"Hey!!" Ed and Nuka said.
"And did not realize the effect his actions would have." Scar finished. Then, Zira got an idea. Grabbing Nuka's shoulders and digging her claws into his flesh, she pushed him towards the trio.
"Why not give him a hug as apologies?" Zira suggested. The three scowled.
"I'll hug 'im. ...I'll hug 'im with both paws!" The three said, reaching over with their claw-extended forepaws. Nuka cringed away from them, terrified. Scar pulled them back.
"Shenzi, Banzai, Ed; I realize that our past is not among the best of times-"
"Most of it anyway." Nuka cut in. Zira slapped him across the head to shut him up, which he did.
"But the best thing to do in spite of those circumstances is to…forgive and forget." He finished.
"Are you askin' us to forgive you for bein' a complete stuck-up-" Shenzi began.
"Credit hoggin'." Banzai added.
"Tyrannical." Ed also added. Then he noticed everybody staring at him (due to even though Ed regained his voice it still sounded weird whenever he talked smartly).
"Well he was!" he said. The trio turned their attention back to Scar.
"Point is honey; give us one reason why we should fahgive you." Shenzi said. Scar paused.
"Because I've been an idiotic fool who's finally seen the error of his ways. And I promise, if you three truly forgive me, Zira, Nuka and I shall never bother you again." The ex-king replied.
The trio exchanged glances.
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