This fic was inspired by (but modified to fit together) two of the deleted scenes on The Lion King 1 1/2 DVD. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't seen those scenes, but those who have will get the idea. And for the sake many have written at the beginning/end of each fic, I don't own the Lion King. Big meanies. Oh, this is set some time after the events in Lion King 1 1/2 and before Lion King 2. UPDATE: Due to some stupid policy, I had to remove all the lyrics. I really hate this...
Son of Fearless Buzz
By Kari Gilmore
Chapter 1:
Timon listened to his colony sing his favoritepraise song as he lounged out in his hammock above the rippling stream. He mused to himself, "Great Timon... I like the sound of that." He hummed a bit of the song to himself, then slowly stopped as he frowned and opened his eyes and stared up at the sun through the leaves of the trees. He suddenly realized the song was familiar to him... not because it was set to the same tune as the "whistle-while-you-work" tune his colony would always sing, but because--
"Hey, Timon!"
"Yah!" Timon suddenly fell out of his hammock and into the water. He lifted his head out and grumbled as he looked up at his pal Pumbaa. "Whaddya want, Pumbaa? Couldn't you see I was trying to relax?"
"Well, gee, Timon, you looked more depressed than you were relaxing. Wanna share?" Pumbaa asked as he pushed Timon back to shore. Timon avoided eye contact as grabbed a nearby leaf and used it as a towel to dry himself.
"No." He pushed his hair the way he wanted it and decided to leave before his mother would come to fix it the way she wanted it. Pumbaa frowned a little bit, then smiled. He trotted up next to Timon as he walked away.
"Say, I know what might cheer ya up. I could get the other meerkats to sing your song again. Would that cheer you up?" Timon stopped a moment, letting Pumbaa trot ahead of him slightly. Pumbaa looked back at him to notice Timon looking away again.
"I hate that song."
"But why? It goes on saying how great you were, how you brought your family to a place they've only dreamed about, helping Simba regain his throne. I thought you liked that song."
"Used to." Pumbaa thought again, then wagged his tail a bit.
"I know! You could introduce me to the rest of your family! I've only met your mother, Uncle Max, and Iron Joe. Say, why is he called Iron Joe if he's so panicky all the time?"
Timon shrugged, "Too much sentry duty."
"Oh. Well, how about we start with--?"
"There you are, Timmy!" Timon let out a small 'oy' when his mother came over with a leaf platter filled with termites and set it down in front of him. "I rounded up some termites for you!" she smiled, then started fixing Timon's hair. Timon tried to duck out of her grasp, but to little avail. His hair was still damp, so she managed to get his hair flattened... with a cowlick popping up. Ma held the termite feast to Timon, only to notice he was still frowning. "What's the matter, honey? I thought you liked termites. Oh, I know, you're upset that I still fix your hair, aren't you?"
Timon sighed as he fixed his hair normally, "No, Ma, that's not it... though I do wish you would stop that sometimes."
"Force of habit. Aren't you going to eat?"
"Lost my appetite." Timon started to walk away again.
"Then do you mind if I eat it, Timon?" Pumbaa called after him.
"Help yourself," Timon mumbled.
"Then maybe you can introduce me to the rest of your colony?"
"We'll see how I feel."
"Great! I'd like to meet your dad first." Timon stopped and had a slightly pained look in his face. Ma had the same kind of expression, and put a paw over her heart. "Though I guess it could be really hard to find him in this big place, and most of the meerkats look so much like you--" Pumbaa continued, seemingly clueless how the two meerkats reacted. Timon suddenly jumped onto Pumbaa's snout with an angry expression.
"Shut up!"
"Why?"
"Uh, Pumbaa..." Ma started to say, but was ignored by Pumbaa.
"Do you two not get along? Maybe you can get along now. After all, look what you've done for your colony. I'm sure he's actually... very..." Pumbaa slowed when he noticed Timon putting a paw over his heart, turning his head away, then jumped off Pumbaa's snout. "...Proud of you." Timon gulped, then turned away.
"Don't wait up for me, Ma." Then Timon started running.
"Timon!" Ma shouted as Timon started to run out of sight. Timon ran past a few meerkats who were about to toast him, but stopped when they noticed the expression on his face as he disappeared into the desert. Pumbaa walked up to the group, watching Timon.
"Was it something I said?" he asked, then he noticed Ma walk up next to him, still having a paw over her heart.
"Depends. What did you say?" a female meerkat asked.
"Well, I wanted to meet his father, and--"
"You mentioned his father? Yeah, that would throw him off," the female said.
"Ooh. Maybe when we recycled the old Fearless Buzz song to make Timon's song, it sparked some bad memories?" a meerkat asked himself.
"Who's Fearless Buzz?" Pumbaa asked. The group of meerkats stared at the warthog in disbelief.
"Who's Fearless Buzz!" they asked.
"Remember, everyone... he is a warthog. And Buzz was pretty much only known to the meerkat community," Ma said.
"Then we'll just have to tell him," the female meerkat said. Pumbaa blinked. More meerkats scurried over and formed a line. Uncle Max appear with a twig and tapped it into the palm of his paw.
"It's been a while, but let's see if we still remember the words, everyone," he said, then waved the twig like a baton.
The group of meerkats sang a chorus to their former digging tune, singing the praises of a meerkat named Fearless Buzz. He was a great meerkat who said no meerkat should have to hide, went outside and beat up a hyena. But he was killed when the hyena's pack appeared. The meerkats bowed their heads and put a paw over their hearts. "Brave to the end."
"Sounds a lot like Timon, except for the beating up a hyena and getting eaten by hyenas part," Pumbaa said.
"That's to be expected. Fearless Buzz was my nephew," Uncle Max said as some of the meerkats broke away from the line to resume their activities.
"Your nephew? If he was your nephew, then he's Timon's...?" Pumbaa began. Ma and Uncle Max nodded. "... Brother?" Ma and Uncle Max coughed.
"No, he was not his brother, you simpleton!" Uncle Max growled.
"But you said he was your nephew, and Timon is your nephew... so what, is he his cousin? Second cousin?"
"No, Pumbaa. Buzz was Max's nephew, and Timon is Max's great-nephew," Ma said, gesturing her paws around a bit.
"He wasn't so great until just recently," Max mumbled.
"So, they... were..." Pumbaa slowed down when he finally saw the connection. Ma looked at him, not wanting to give him any hint if he was right or wrong until he gave the right answer. "... Father and son?" Ma and Uncle Max let out a relieved sigh and both nodded. "Ohhh. So... where do you think Timon's going?"
"I have a pretty good idea," Ma said, looking out into the desert. She turned to Pumbaa. "Can I get a lift?"
"Where are you going?" Uncle Max asked as Ma climbed onto Pumbaa's snout and onto his head.
Ma put a paw on her hip, "For your information, I'm going to go bring him back. If we go now, we can catch up with him easy. Just keep everyone else company, Max. Let's go, Pumbaa."
To be continued...