Chapter 4:
Pumbaa finally stopped under a tree near Pride Rock. It was late, he was tired, and it was apparent from the silence he wasn't going to get any more story time in. Ma was looking up at the stars, thinking to herself. Timon was asleep... mostly. He kept turning over, mumbling something in his sleep. Eventually he rolled right off Pumbaa's back and landed right into a puddle of mud. That woke him up easily. He sat up, coughed, and spat out mud.
Ma looked down at him with a little amusement. "Play in the mud now, Timon?" Timon walked out of the puddle, shaking some of the mud off.
"Remind me to put a railing around your back, Pumbaa. What a wake-up call." Timon shook his paws. He walked towards the watering hole and hopped in, washing the mud off.
"Timon, if you take a cold bath now, you won't be able to fall asleep too well," Pumbaa said as he lay down.
"Would you rather I smell like you the rest of the night?" Timon asked as he dunked his head into the water to wash his hair out. He shivered as he walked out of the water. The night was cool, and he was wet.
"I'd rather he not," Ma said. Ma looked back up to the sky. "Beautiful night out, isn't it?"
"Sure, Ma. Whatever," Timon said as he shook himself dry, lacking a leaf to dry himself off with. Timon shivered and crossed his arms in front of him to try to reserve his inner heat. He then looked up at the sky to humor his mother, then stopped when he noticed a shooting star streak across the sky. "Wow..."
"Oooo," Pumbaa said as he watched. "Watch that firefly fly." Timon watched the sky, then walked up next to Ma. She looked at Timon, then lowered her eyes when she saw the saddened look on his face.
"That reminds you of him, too, doesn't it?" she asked. Timon nodded.
"Did something happen between you and Buzz when the fireflies flew like that?" Pumbaa asked, his tail wagging a bit.
"Sorta," Timon said.
"Nothing like the stories I've been telling, Pumbaa. Nothing life-threatening," Ma reassured him.
"Oh. Then maybe it'd make a good bedtime story!"
"I don't know... would you mind if I told him, Timmy?"
Timon continued to shiver, looked at her, then smiled slightly. "Something relaxing could help me fall back to sleep. Maybe even help me forget I'm cold and wet." He then sat down by Pumbaa, leaning back against him. He held himself and rubbed his arms. Ma watched Timon a moment, then sat down next to him.
"Come here, Timon."
"What?"
"Come here, I said." Ma opened her arms out a bit. Timon scooted closer to her, unsure of what she was doing. She situated Timon in front of her and wrapped her arms in front of him, adding some warmth. "There. Maybe that'll help." Timon would seem a bit uncomfortable if it was any other meerkat, but since it was his mother and there was no one else around, he accepted it. He slid down a little bit to get more comfortable. Ma smiled, then took one paw and stroked Timon's hair.
"Awwww..." Pumbaa said.
"Ahem... do you mind?" Ma asked with an arched brow. Timon pretty much ignored the fact that Pumbaa was there. He was feeling warmer already.
"Heh, sorry," Pumbaa grinned, then laid his head down. Ma smiled again, then looked up at the stars as she continued to stroke Timon's hair.
"It was right after supper, the same day Timon brought home those bird eggs..." Ma began.
4 1/2 years ago...
Ma poked her head out of the tunnel and looked around. "Timon?" She didn't see him right away. She looked to the sentry. "Swifty, have you seen Timon?"
"Your son? Yeah, he went that way," Swifty said, pointing south. Ma ducked her head back down the tunnel, then came back up with Buzz and half of an eggshell.
"Would you tell me why I'm going to find him again?" Buzz asked.
"Because he didn't show up for supper and we couldn't find him anywhere in the tunnel. And I was not going to go out here by myself, Mr. Muscles Meerkat," Ma said as she pushed Buzz ahead.
Buzz sighed, "I have my own feet to walk on."
"They must be made of lead at the rate you're going." Buzz sighed again and walked ahead. They walked through the tall grass and to a small clearing. Timon was found lying on his back looking up at the sky. He reached over to a beetle scurrying nearby and bit the head off.
He sat up and grinned, "Piquant, with a very pleasant crunch." He tossed the rest back into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. His ears twitched, then he looked back to see Ma and Buzz standing there. He grimaced slightly, then turned back around.
"There you are, Timon. I was worried when you didn't come to supper," Ma said as she walked over to Timon and held the eggshell down to his level. "I saved you some of your egg."
"Thanks, but I'm not too hungry right now, Mom," Timon said, turning his eyes away from the egg.
"You seemed hungry enough to eat that beetle," Buzz said as he walked up to Timon. He stared at Timon, a bit annoyed that his son wasn't looking at him in the face. Buzz half-laughed and walked over to where Timon was looking. Timon looked away again. "Come on, I'm not that ugly."
"I know you're not, Dad. I just can't look you in the face now." Buzz grunted softly, then looked at Ma, as if to ask what to say next. Ma cocked a brow at him. Buzz rubbed the back of his neck. He looked up to the sky, as if expecting to get an answer up there. He grinned.
"Timon?"
"What?"
Buzz sat next to Timon and put his arm around his shoulders. He gestured up to the sky. "Did you ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?" Timon looked up at the stars.
"Yeah... they look like fireflies."
"Yeah, they do, don't they?" Ma asked as she sat on the other side of Timon.
"But what are they?" Timon looked at both mother and father.
"What are they?" Buzz repeated Timon's question, looking at Ma with a questionable expression. Ma returned the same questionable look.
"Uh..." Ma twiddled her fingers together a bit.
"That's why I was asking you, Timon!" Buzz nervously laughed. Timon frowned a bit.
"Get me all excited for nothing, Dad," he said, bringing his knees up to his chest. Buzz grimaced, his shoulders sinking a bit. He stood up, rubbing his chin. Ma pouted her lips a bit.
"Your father means well, Timon. Just once, I would like to see you two get along. Can't you do that for me?" Ma turned Timon's face over to meet hers. Timon grimaced slightly. He was about to open his mouth to answer when Buzz walked a few steps away from them. His mouth was wide open as he looked up to the sky.
"Whoa... look at that," Buzz said. Timon and Ma looked up at the sky and gasped. It was a meteor shower, several lights streaking across the sky.
"It's beautiful," Ma said. She watched as Timon got up and walked over to Buzz. Buzz felt his presence and looked down at him. Timon didn't look up at him, but he did leaned against him, and nuzzled his head against his father's arm.
"The fireflies are running a race, Dad," Timon said. Buzz smiled, really smiled, and put his paw on his son's back.
"Yeah, Timmy... they sure are." Ma walked over on the other side of Buzz and looked up at the shower. Buzz turned his eyes to her, then put his arm around her shoulders.
"We should do this more often," Ma said.
"Are you kidding, Mom?" Timon asked.
"Yeah, the fireflies don't race every night," Buzz added. Ma decided not to say anything. She was just happy to see that her boys weren't arguing. She then noticed Timon yawning, and then she lightly tapped Buzz's shoulder. Buzz looked at her, then down at Timon. He grinned and picked him up. "It's getting late, huh?"
"It is, isn't it?" Ma added, as if she hadn't noticed. "We should go back inside." She picked up the eggshell and started back to the tunnel. Buzz watched her for a moment, then down at Timon, who had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled and then followed Ma back to the tunnel.
Present...
Pumbaa sniffled and wiped a tear from his eye, "That was so beautiful, Mrs. Ma." Ma continued to stroke Timon's hair, who had stop shivering and had fallen back to sleep. He shifted slightly, turning more to his side, then, acting like a pup, nuzzled his head into his mother's chest. Ma smiled softly and put her paw on top of his head.
"It was a beautiful scene, Pumbaa. Buzz and Timon couldn't find anything to argue about. I admired it." She bowed her head a bit. "I only wish Buzz wasn't so brave. Then maybe he and Timon would be closer than ever. He would be very proud of Timon for what he did for the colony."
Pumbaa looked up at the sky. "Simba said the great kings of the past live up there."
"Did he? Figures, coming from a king."
"I was just thinking... so many of them... you think the less bright ones are other animals, to serve their kingdom? Like Buzz?" Ma wrinkled her eyebrows, looking over at Pumbaa.
"Buzz, being turned into a firefly?"
"Yeah... unless you can think of something else."
"Well..." Ma looked down at her sleeping son, then stroked his hair a bit more. "I can't, really. I only wish I knew which one is Buzz." She looked back up to the stars, then smiled. "I guess just thinking he's up there watching us is comfort enough. Even though we can't speak to each other. Don't you think, Pumbaa?" Silence... until she heard Pumbaa snoring. Ma stared at Pumbaa for a moment, then shook her head. Timon grunted softly, shifting around a bit. He opened his eyes and turned his eyes up to her.
"Ma? What are you--?"
"Shh... just sleep, Timon. We're that much closer. We'll be there sometime tomorrow." Timon grunted softly again, then pulled himself away from her grasp. He walked away a few steps.
"I-I'm not sure if I even wanna go anymore, Ma."
"What do you mean, Timon? You ran away from the oasis on your way to get there."
"You don't know I was going there in the first place. I was just... getting some exercise."
"Timon, I'm your mother. I know what you think." Timon's shoulders sunk.
"We always disagreed on something. When that monkey told me about Hakuna Matata, 'no worries,' I put my past behind me, especially Dad's death. I forgot about him until the others sung that new praise song and I realized it was recycled from Dad's song." He sighed. "Everyone is taking on Hakuna Matata, and now they're starting to forget Dad, too... I don't want that. I don't want that, Ma!"
"Timon, Timon, please..." Ma stood and was about to go to him, but Timon held his paw out to her. He smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry, Ma. I just needed to get that off my chest. I'm better now. Really." Ma stared at her son, not really believing him. "Come on, we should get to sleep. We got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow." Timon walked back over and lay down by her, his back facing her. Ma looked at him, then lay down next to him.
"Will you be able to fall back to sleep?"
"I don't know," Timon mumbled, putting his left paw on his right shoulder, using it to prop is head up slightly. Ma smiled and scooted closer to him.
Ma stroked Timon's hair. "Try to sleep, Timon. The sooner youfall asleep, the sooner the sun will be shining overhead." Timon scooted closer to his mother, allowing her to stroke his hair. She softly began to sign to him, to help him relax.Listening to the soft tone of his mother's singing voice, Timon drifted back to sleep with a tear running down his cheek.
To be continued...