To all my continual reviewers, thank you so much! Your reviews mean the world to me; I'm so glad your liking the story so far. Please, please continue to tell me what you think.
Oh and The Girl with the Pen I really don't mean to be rude, but Nala is Simba's wife, Sarabi is his mother. That's how it is in the movie.
Meanwhile, Melia stared up at Ryan. Taking a deep breath, she pressed back the fear that held her captive for so long. "They…. beat him… and then the-they were going to kill him but a nice women I met helped us escape but not before they shot Simba, I'm not exactly sure where but they shot him, but…"
"It's okay… You can go on." Ryan smiled, though a new concern sparked in his eyes when he suddenly noticed how rapid Melias breathing became.
"I don't remember much of anything else that happened, but Mr. Ryan, Simon both of you please I'm begging you! You've got to help Simba! He's going to die soon if you don't!" She pleaded, her heart thudding loud within her throat.
"Of course we'll help." Simon said, surprising Ryan by his unexpected comment of generosity.
"Oh so you do have a heart after all?" He teased, raising a single eyebrow.
"Don't be ridiculous Ryan this is no time for your humor this is serious." Simon's tone went sharp. Then redirecting his attention on Melia, a genuine, softer, smile crossed his face. "Of course we'll help..." He repeated. "But first thing's first, after a ride like that down the river, we need to get you to the hospital. Just to make sure you're really alright…"
"Not before you help Simba…" An unmoving Determination set in her tone as Melia wrenched her hair out with the cloth still around her shoulders. Bitter tears once again stung her eyes for what seemed like the billionth time in the same day. Simon noticed a long streak of blood stained her forehead, matching the crimson that resided in her clothing in which he noted were nearly reduced to rags. Nevertheless, her outside appearance was merely a faint mirror the effects of the damage done to her emotionally. "Please…" Her voice began to grow weak as she pleadingly looked into his eyes for the first time.
Simon took a deep breath and briefly glanced at Ryan who silently encouraged Melia's plea by giving a nod. "Of course we'll help Simba. But first we need to call in somebody who can."
Melia let out a slight breath of relief, though worry continued to linger in her haunted eyes. "Like Who?" She asked, anxiety building within her even when Ryan scooped her up into his arms after noticing her outward exhaustion.
"You'll see." With a grin and a knowing wink, Simon turned and flipping out his cell phone, he pressed it to his ear after dialing the selected numbers then waiting for the reply on the other end; he walked off in attempts to snag a better signal.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't dare let him do anything to make this any worse on you Melia, such a beautiful girl, you look so familiar I swear I've seen you somewhere before." The moment Simon was out of hearing reach, Ryan offered a gentle smile trying not to let onto how closely he studied her different features.
Melia blushed, and quickly turning away to hide her face she whispered shyly, "Thanks…." The only one whom she would mostly receive any complements from was Simba. None of the rest ever said anything in regards to her appearance. However, Melia herself had never really considered herself even labeled as 'pretty' so it came as no surprise when she added under her breath, "Even though it's not true…"
What she didn't realize was that Ryan's face had fallen. "How can you say that Melia? Of course it's true. You're more special then you realize ya know."
When she finally gained enough courage to look up at him she saw in his eyes such a mix of genuine kindness and honesty that it almost broke her heart at the thought of him ever finding out the truth about the many secrets she hid of her dark past. Ones that she feared would haunt her for the rest of her life. "Th-Thank you, but those are to kind of things to say to someone you don't really know, no matter how familiar they look." Melia's eyes darted away to the ground. A half of her almost longed to reject the comments all together for fear of disappointment, yet the other craved to embrace them.
"I don't have to know someone for any amount of time to tell that their special, just the fact that you survived those rapids alone, the way that you have is incredible. If we bring you back to Los Angeles with us we'll have to be careful to guard off the media...They'll eat you alive if you don't know how to handle them." He replied simply, a grin spread across his face as if an idea had suddenly popped into his head.
Melia's head shot up in curious alarm at the mention of the word 'Media'. Although Simba was the one who raised her most of her life, she was well aware of human civilization and held many memories of the time when she and her family used to live in the United States of America.
She had never understood at the time what were the motives behind her parents reasoning of moving to Africa, until her mother explained when she was a little older that it was apart of her parents missionary program to help those poor and underprivileged living in horrible conditions and in need of so much they didn't have.
"Wait a minute. You mean your going to take me with you… back to America?" She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. One thing she had learned over the years was never to let her expectations grow high enough to break her heart if she were let down. No, that had happened far too many times before even living in the wild lands of Kenya.
"Well I haven't talked it over with Simon yet but I'm sure even he's not cruel, I mean we can't just leave you out here especially after what happened to your friend Simba." He let out another grin. "No, Simon's actually made a really supportive friend over the years of working together on American Idol." Ryan added over a brief moment's hesitation. Noticing her face fall at the mention of the lion's name, but lighten heartbeats later the moment he uttered American Idol.
Melia looked just as if a light bulb had lit within her head. "Wait…did you say American Idol? My mom used to watch that show all the time! We actually used to live pretty close to the same studio your show is filmed at, I guess I don't really remember much of it now and that's why I never recognized either of you." A sort of longing had developed in her tone. "But that was a long time ago…" She gulped back the bile fighting its way into her throat and returned her gaze to the ground.
Ryan's eyes softened and he placed a tender kiss upon her forehead. Now, normally Melia would have flinched and tried to pull away from the vary touch of any man who came in any physical contact with her, yet somehow it was different with Ryan… For the first time in so long she almost felt... safe. Almost as if, she had shared a bond with him before…
Shaking her head to clear it she smiled up at him, blinking back the threatening moisture that formed behind her eyes.
"I promise we'll do everything in our power to make sure those kidnapping jerks are caught and put in prison until the day they die." Ryan vowed, bringing a flicker of hope to the girl's misty eyes.
It seemed so long since Melia could ever remember a time when she didn't feel like dieing inside. However somehow the soothing comfort he offered seemed to bring some sort of odd relief to the constant ache in her throbbing heart.
