Hey there, and welcome back to the Lion King novel. We're getting somewhere near the end, but that won't be for another six or seven chapters. It's been a pretty good ride so far, and I thank everyone who's reviewed it so far and everyone else.

This chapter's gonna be a doozy in a sort of way. I can't really describe it, but...yeah, I can't really describe it. So not only did I get inspiration from an earlier version of Can You Feel The Love Tonight, I also got a bit from my Fanfic remake Can You Feel The Love Tonight (an Avatar: The Last Airbender story).

Uploading Date: August 23, 2019

Enjoy!

...

Can You Feel The Love Tonight

In the bushes, Timon and Pumbaa watched Simba and Nala embrace. Timon felt completely disgusted by this, forcing down the urge to throw up. Here they were, enjoying life together with no rules and no worries. They were bachelors for life, not needing any love interests to tear them apart. It was just him, Timon, Simba, and the other animals in the jungle, and nothing would change that.

Of course, that was untill she had to come along. With Nala coming into the picture, it looked like the paradise of Hakuna Matata was coming crashing down.

"I tell ya, Pumbaa, this stinks!" he grumbled.

Pumbaa blushed, as much as a reddish pig like him could. "Oh. Sorry."

"Not you, them!" Timon snapped. He pointed to where Simba and Nala were standing, as they were now leaving. "Him. Her. Alone."

"What's wrong with that?" Pumbaa asked curiously. "It just seems like they've finally found each other like two soulmates joined across the years by the bonds of true love."

Timon face-palmed and shook his head. "Sweet, innocent little Pumbaa...you don't see what's wrong with that? She's gonna put a stake right through the heart of our Hakuna Matata, that's what's wrong! If they fall in love, here's the bottom line: our trio's gonna go down to two!"

"Oh. So...maybe we should follow them?"

"Nah, that's a stupid idea. Let's just follow them," Timon said, ignoring a grunt from Pumbaa. "We gotta be quiet, though. We're not gonna do anything drastic."

"Like prick their paws with thorns?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Drop a spider on them?"

"Nope."

"Throw a beehive at them?"

"Never."

"Trip them?"

"Maybe. I'll have to think about that one." Timon gave his own face a little slap as he ranted, "Never mind all that! Pumbaa, we gotta make sure that they don't feel the love tonight!"

He leaped over the log and started running where Simba and Nala had left. Pumbaa pondered over whether to join Timon in spying on them or watch the lions enjoy their evening. In the end, though, he tagged along with Timon for the ride.

...

For the rest of the day until night, Simba had shown Nala around his jungle home. She could definitely see why Simba loved it here so much: the jungle was lush and green all year round, with plenty of water. If she had been in charge of Pride Rock, she would have brought the pride here until the dry season was over.

In the late afternoon sunlight, Simba looked much more regal, the sun turning his fur a bright golden. Nala knew that he was different not only in personality, but also in looks. He looked strong, confident, and powerful enough to take care of himself. In fact, she saw that Simba looked very much like his father.

The sun was setting when Simba and Nala arrived by a waterfall by a lake. Unlike other waterfalls in the jungle, this waterfall split off into smaller sections that fell into ponds that hung over the lake. They darted among the smaller waterfalls, each daring each other to see who would go over the rocks the fastest. Once the two lions reached dry land, they crouched beside the water and began to drink.

There's a lot of things to tell her, Simba thought as he lapped up the cool water. He wanted to tell her about what he had done, opening his mouth, but then decided against it. Nah, that's impossible. She'd turn away from me.

Nala herself stopped drinking as she looked up at Simba. He appeared to be holding something back, but she couldn't decide what it was. Why won't he be the king I see inside, the king I know he is?

To her surprise, Simba darted away from her and into the brush, baffling Nala. A few second later, and he came charging, jumping and splashing into the water. Nala walked over to the edge of the water, curious, until Simba reached up out of the water and pulled her in. The lioness coughed and sputtered as she paddled back to the shore.

"You jerk!" she gasped, pulling herself out of the water and panting. "What was that for?"

"Call that payback for pinning me down," Simba panted with a laugh, the water making his mane waterlogged and heavy. It even covered his eyes, but there was still a laughing smile on his muzzle.

Nala smirked and shoved Simba back into the water, sprinting towards where the trees ended. Simba climbed out of the water, shook the water from his fur this time, and sprang after her, laughing. They chased each other around the grassiest area in the jungle, stirring up flocks of birds. Not far away, Simba's antelope friends looked up from their grazing, staring before minding their own business. As long as no one was getting eaten, the lions could play there all they wanted.

Just as they reached the jungle again, Simba noticed Nala darting into the trees, winking at him over her shoulder. He thus went after her, his troubles out of his mind for the night. Simba headed deeper into the jungle, looking around for his friend, until she surprised him by popping out from behind a rock and yelling "Gotcha!" She had surprised him, but he was fine with it and showed it with a hearty laugh, and she joined in.

Then Simba walked over to her and playfully pounced on her, just like when they were cubs. Nala laughed and wrestled with him as well, jumping around and playing. But while they started playing and wrestling together, they suddenly tripped and tumbled down to the shore. Simba had landed on top of Nala, pinning her to the ground, but they were both laughing.

While they laughed, Nala leaned her head up towards Simba, held her paw up to his face, and gently licked his cheek. Simba stared down at her in surprise, looking down at her as she gave him a seductive smile. But he was still unsure what to feel, except...was this how his own parents acted with each other? They were in love...and Simba found himself realizing that he and Nala were feeling the same way towards each other.

Nala rolled onto her paws and padded over, rubbing her body against his and nuzzling him, and he (still stunned) was able to try the same. She slipped through the bushes and made it to a clearing, looking up at the stars. During the night, she had wanted to tell Simba what exactly he was hiding, why he didn't want to return to Pride Rock, but he never answered. Still, it was hard to deny that being here on this night felt pretty good.

Rustling in the bushes made Nala spin around. Simba was coming out of the bushes, looking a total mess. He was covered with mud and grass, and he had two branches stuck in the sides of his mane, making him look a bit like an elephant without the tusks and trunk. In spite of it all, though, he was grinning like a fool. A charming fool, that is.

With a giggle, Nala walked over and plucked the branches out of his mane. Simba thanked her with a lick on the cheek, which made her blush as he did when she had done the same to him. But the night was still young, which meant one more bout of fun...at least until he yawned loudly. All the fun seemed to take so much energy out of him, and she couldn't blame him; she felt tired as well.

So Simba led Nala back to the many-waterfall lake, padding along to a path behind the cascading water. Nala followed him into an open cave area that had glowing flowers along the wall, which glowed silver like earthbound stars. In the middle of the cave's lake was a large rock, covered with moss and grass. Simba climbed up to this rock and lay beside it, Nala falling in beside him and leaning against him.

For once, the world was in perfect harmony. They were definitely feeling the love tonight.

...

Not far away, Timon and Pumbaa were catching up to Simba and Nala the best they could. Before, the friends had listed what to distract the lions with so that they would not feel the love together, but it all happened to Timon. He got pricked by thorns, stuck in a spider's web (and trailing some web behind him), and was stung by bees.

"Well, that worked like a dream," he muttered, pulling the remnants of the web off.

"It did?" Pumbaa asked happily.

Timon rolled his eyes. While Pumbaa was indeed his best friend, he wasn't the smartest hog in the jungle. "Sarcasm is a foreign language to you, isn't it?" he grumbled.

But he stopped when he saw Simba and Nala nuzzling. He nearly felt his own heart ache from sadness. Watching one of his best friends leaving with a lion that nearly ate Pumbaa was too much to bear.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "She's making those eyes."

"He's smiling that smile," Pumbaa sniffled.

Timon tried to find more words as he started become overcome with sadness. "They're laughing...and hugging, and...and..."

Then he dropped his arms to his sides, sighing sadly. "Well, it's happened, buddy. Simba's felt the love tonight."

"You mean his carefree days with us are history?" Pumbaa asked, pulling Timon close to him.

"Yeah, Pumbaa," Timon sniffled, hugging Pumbaa. "Our pal's doomed."

And with that, the two started crying loudly. However, they were crying right next to Bunga; the honey badger gave them a stern glare before stomping off.

...

Simba and Nala had no idea how long they spent together in the jungle. The night seemed to go on forever, an endless night, wondering when the sun would rise again. So once they woke from their brief nap, they decided to head back to Timon and Pumbaa's clearing and sleep there.

But while Nala enjoyed herself with Simba (she had even tried some plump grubs at his request and found them okay), she couldn't get her mission out of her head. He was the perfect lion to bring back to Pride Rock, to save the lionesses from Scar's tyranny and overthrow Scar. She needed to find the right time to tell him the truth, and fast.

"Isn't this a great place?" Simba asked, breaking the silence. They were walking before a great waterfall, on a fallen log he and his friends often used.

"It is beautiful," responded Nala as she took in the scenery. She didn't want to ruin the night by telling Simba this, but he needed to know the truth. "But I don't understand something. You've been alive all this time. Why didn't you come back to Pride Rock?"

Simba paused before climbing into a hammock Timon had made, a hammock made of grass. "Well, I just needed to get out on my own, live my own life. And I did, and it's great!"

But to Simba's confusion, Nala gave him a sad look. "We've really needed you at home."

Simba only scoffed, which almost made Nala wince from how sad he sounded. "They're fine. Nobody needs me."

"Yes, we do," Nala retorted more forcefully. "Me, your mother, Zazu...everyone needs you. You're the king."

"Nala, we've been through this," Simba said sharply. "There's nothing I can do. I'm not the king; Scar is. Deal with it."

Nala felt a stab of anger at this defeatist attitude Simba was showing. She was feeling angry at him, angry at Scar...heck, pretty much angry at everything at the moment. But she tried her best to keep her cool.

She reared up and rested her front paws on the hammock. "Simba, things have gotten worse ever since Scar became king. He let the hyenas take over the Pride Lands," she went on as Simba stared at her in shock. "Everything's destroyed. There's no food, no water...Simba, if you don't do something soon, everyone will starve. We have to go back home."

"No," he muttered, leaping down from the hammock. "I can't go back. Ever."

"Why?" Nala demanded. "Because of what happened at the gorge?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand?"

"No, no, no," Simba backtracked, stumbling over his words. "It doesn't matter. Hakuna Matata."

"What?" Nala asked, confused. He was right; she didn't understand any of this, especially not that weird phrase he just uttered.

"Hakuna Matata," Simba repeated, as if explaining a new game to her. "It means 'no worries'; it's something I learned out here. Look, sometimes bad things happen," he went on, irritably ignoring her protest, "and there's nothing you can do about it. So why worry?"

He walked away along the log, but Nala wasn't ready to give up. As she caught up with him, she replied, "Why worry? It's because it's your responsibility."

Simba stopped walking and stared down at her. "Well, what about you? You left the Pride Lands."

"I left to find help," she snapped, "and I found you. Don't you understand? You're our only hope."

But Simba wasn't going to listen to her anymore. Any of the good feeling he felt with Nala - even the romantic feeling - was dissipating fast. "Sorry," he scoffed before ready to move on.

Nala stood there, shocked. She had wanted to see the cub she had grown up with, the headstrong yet fun-loving cub destined to become king. But now he was a stranger, steadfast in not wanting to return and save his home because he wanted "no worries". The old Simba wouldn't have refused to fight.

"What's happened to you?" she rasped. "What happened to the cub who just couldn't wait to be king? You're not the Simba I remember."

"You're right. I'm not, and I never will be," Simba growled. "And that cub grew up. Are you satisfied?"

"No," retorted Nala. "Just disappointed."

"You know, you're starting to sound like my father," Simba snorted, jumping down from the log.

Nala scoffed in return while he walked away. "Good. At least one of us does."

That stopped Simba in his tracks. It stung him like a wasp's stinger, and the tension grew even thicker. Anger made his claws slide out, raking the ground, and the fur along his back bristling.

Furiously, he spun back around to confront Nala. "Listen! You think you can just show up here and tell me how to live my life?!" he snarled. "You don't even know what I've been through!"

"And you don't know how hard it is for all of us!" Nala snapped back. "I'd understand more if you just told me!"

"Forget it!"

"Fine!"

And at that, Simba stormed away. Nala snorted furiously, turning around and marching in the opposite way. She had come to the jungle to look for help, and when she found Simba alive and well, she had hoped with all her heart that he would return home. Now, after seeing how stubborn Simba was in not wanting to go back to Pride Rock, it turned out to be nothing but a waste of time.

For a brief moment, she hung back in the thickets, hoping that Simba would change his mind and come with her. Perhaps he would realize he was wrong and return to the Pride Lands with her. But all that she saw behind her was the deepening darkness of the night.

I'm leaving tomorrow, at first light, she thought, half angrily and half sadly. She would have to tell Sarabi that she found her son...only to lose him again.

To be continued...