Chapter 30:
Not much time had passed since Zuri and Sly had begun their talk when Timon and Pumbaa returned to the Outlands after a disappointing trip. Timon was draped on top of Pumbaa's head as Pumbaa walked towards the Outlands meerkats' cave. "I can't believe... the monkey was not... in the tree," he mumbled.
Pumbaa furrowed his brow and glanced up at Timon. "Timon, you've been saying that ever since we walked away from Rafiki's tree. If you say it one more time I'll teach Morake how to hunt you."
Timon gulped and leaned forward, giving the warthog an upside-down view of his worried face. "You wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"I might, because it's been getting on my nerves." He stopped at the entrance of the cave, tilting his head and forcing Timon off.
"Well, we spent almost the whole day traveling, and when you go that far you expect to get what you came for." Timon paced in front of Pumbaa. "I just want to know who and where my brother is so we can pack up and have a nice family reunion at the oasis!"
"And so you can get Zuri away from Sly?" Pumbaa asked dryly as he watched Timon pace.
"Especially getting Zuri away from Sly!"
Pumbaa grinned, "Why? I thought you trust Zuri and you weren't jealous of Sly getting her attention."
Timon stopped pacing, jumped up to pull Pumbaa down to his level, and said through tightly clenched teeth, "I... do... and... I'm... not!" He pushed Pumbaa's face away and said in a normal voice, "And I'll prove it. I'm gonna go clear things up with her right now and..." He sighed deeply. "Attempt to get along with Sylvester."
Pumbaa smiled as he turned and walked away. "I think she'd like that very much, Timon. Good night."
Timon waved and watched as Pumbaa disappeared around the side of the cave. He nodded to himself, "Yeah, I think I'll find Zuri first. I mean, talking to her is more important than getting along with Sly, right?"
"That's a matter of opinion," a voice from behind Timon said.
Timon yelped and spun around with his paws up in a defensive position. He blinked, and then furrowed his brow when he realized it was Sudi. "What are you getting at, Sudi?"
Sudi shrugged, "Well, Timon, if you really cared for my sister you'd try making peace with Sly your top priority. I mean, you've only known him for a day. How do you know if you like him or hate him?"
Timon snorted and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Old boyfriend meets new boyfriend. What do you think?"
"Honestly?" Sudi paused to think a moment, trying to get the right wording out. "I think to Zuri... you're just a replacement Sly." Pow! In a flash he grunted and landed on his back. Sudi sat up and rubbed his jaw as Timon rubbed his fist.
"Take... that... back," Timon growled through clenched teeth and a crack of his knuckles.
With a crack Sudi's jaw was back into its correct position. "You asked me what I thought."
Timon picked his brother-in-law up by the front of his chest fur. "About why I don't like Sly, not about what Zuri thinks of me."
"Then be more specific next time."
Timon sneered slightly. "While I'm thinking about it, Sudi..."
"Yes?"
"Zuri and the rest of your colony's accepted me... why haven't you!"
"Because unlike the others, as much as I've tried I can't forget the old history lessons, and I haven't given in to your bribes."
"What bribes?" Timon sneered.
"Oh, please. The only reason my colony even likes you, Great Timon, is because of the paradise you provided them... even your own colony feels that way."
Timon clenched his eyes tightly shut and turned his face away from Sudi. "No, that's not true! I'm not the same screw-up I was when I left four years ago!"
"Are you sure about that?" Sudi asked with an arched brow, in a sarcastic manner.
"Well... even if it is true, Zuri doesn't feel that way! She loves me!" He realized he said it, but he didn't care at that moment. He still believed he could only say it when he was angry... and he was. Very.
"You sure about that? She asked to stay here where her old boyfriend is and I don't think she's even noticed you left. For all she knows you've been out here all day pouting about her spending time with Sly instead of you." Sudi cleared his throat as he pried Timon's paws from his chest. "And on top of all that, she's not even sure if you really love her."
"What? Of course she knows I love her!"
"From what I've overheard... you've never said it to her face."
"Well, then I'm gonna tell her now while I'm good and angry! Would that make you happy?"
Sudi pouted his lips a moment, thinking. "Tell me how it turns out. Then I'll be satisfied." Timon snorted and then marched past Sudi towards the cave. "Oh, but if I might offer a suggestion in case it's not what you think..." Timon stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "To avoid confrontation with Sly and the rest of the colony, thus giving you many broken bones or worse... if you really love her, you'll let her go."
"You'd love to see that happen, wouldn't you?" Timon sneered, cracking the rest of his knuckles.
Sudi held his paws up and half-shrugged. "Hey, I only want the best for my sister. Sly won her affections by being himself, not with things and stories."
Timon growled and walked inside the cave. He noticed there were too many nests to look through, and he may actually begin to cool off before he actually finds her. A higher view might be able to help. He climbed onto a rock and jumped onto the root Zuri climbed up earlier. He climbed up a bit until he could see the sleeping meerkats in the nests. No sign of Zuri.
Some conversation from above caught his attention. "... So you don't really love her?" Zuri's voice asked. Timon climbed up the root further to listen and to watch. He stayed enough in the shadows that they couldn't see him but he could see them.
"I love her, but not in the way she wants me to love her. I would've left if it was just me, but Pop..."
"He couldn't travel that much. I know, I remember how he was. Better for him to stay in one spot at a time. And besides that, I'm guessing since your litter siblings died he wanted to make sure you lived to a ripe old age."
"Basically. And he thought if I stayed I could grow to love-love Yasmin. But it's three years later and I don't feel any different towards her."
"So why are you marrying her? Not so your father can finally have some kind of authority?"
"No, more of a sense of duty, I guess... in attempt to move on, like you obviously have."
Zuri exhaled and put a paw on Sly's back. "In a sense I have." Timon noticed the flower bracelet on her wrist. He gave her flowers?
"What do you mean?" Sly looked right at her.
"Timon reminded me so much of you... that's what first attracted me to him."
Timon furrowed his brow in thought. A replacement Sly...
"... But he has his own traits that separates him from you."
Timon's eyes widened slightly and he put a free paw to his ear.
"Such as?"
That's it, tell me how I'm better than him, baby!
"He's a little childish and lazy sometimes, but he taught me how to have fun."
"I would've taught you if fun wasn't a four-letter word back then," Sly growled, folding his arms in front of his chest.
Four letter word? How do they spell it in that colony? Timon blinked.
"I know you would've, but you still made me laugh." Timon growled. Thankfully neither Zuri nor Sly heard it. "The only other thing I can think of that separates the two of you is... well..." Zuri hesitated.
"Go on."
"He... he never told me he loves me."
Timon slapped the free paw over his eyes in shame. No, don't tell him that! Tell him something else!
"... It's not that he doesn't try, Sly, it's just... he can't successfully. And I need to hear those words coming from his mouth. I've been meaning to talk to him about it, but he keeps finding other things to occupy himself with. Granted, finding Kito was important, but so's this. And I was going to sit him down and talk to him today, but he's disappeared somewhere again." Zuri sighed. "What am I suppose to do when I feel my mate and I are on the rocks anymore?"
On the rocks? There aren't any rocks in our nest. Timon blinked, taking another metaphor literally. Where has she been sleeping?
"Oh, Zuri, you're not the first to have marriage trouble," Sly said as he rubbed Zuri's back. "Quit overreacting."
"I am not overreacting, Sly. He hasn't even tried getting along with you, even though I've asked him to. I... I'm starting to wonder if he really even does love me anymore."
Timon softly gasped and clutched the fur over his heart. Don't say that... you don't mean it, Zuri... You can't mean that! He shook his head. Sudi isn't be right; he can't be!
"I guess he did kind of leave all of a sudden today..." Sly said as he put an arm around Zuri's shoulders. "But I'm sure he was just trying to avoid me, not you."
"Well, he never expected he'd actually ever meet you, Sly. We weren't suppose to ever see each other again."
"Where does it say that? Your father's words weren't written in stone. It was probably an experiment the heavens were testing and we didn't have a say in it."
"Maybe it was... but..."
"But...?"
Zuri swallowed and said, "The experiment never changed how I felt about you... even now. I love you, Sly."
Timon shook his head. Zuri, no, please...
"I love you, too."
Timon gnashed his teeth. He can say it so easily! Why can't I! Don't give in to his words, Zuri, please!
"You have no idea how much I've needed to hear that..." She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed slightly.
Timon swallowed. Just the cheek... a girl can kiss a guy on the cheek and still be faithful...
But what happened next was unexpected to all three of them. An unexplained force pulled Zuri and Sly together and closed the gap between them. Timon almost lost his grip on the root he was hanging onto, but regained it quickly. He clenched the fur over his aching heart and turned away from the sight.
I never said the 'L' word... that's why she's gone back to him... He climbed down the root and dropped to the ground. He noticed Kito was asleep in the nest he landed next to. He swallowed, bent over, and kissed him on the top of the head in a fatherly manner. Kito stirred for a moment, and then rolled over onto his stomach. Timon stared up at the skylight one more time before he ran out of the cave, right past Sudi.
"Timon...?" Sudi walked a few steps towards the disappearing meerkat, blinking. "I'm... guessing things didn't go well?"
Timon didn't stop to answer. He just kept running, trying to deny and forget what he saw. Timon raced over the log that stretched over to the Pride Lands. When he dropped down from it, he stopped to pant and take a look back towards the Outlands, and the cave.
"If you really love her, you'll let her go," Sudi's voice said in his head.
"Who am I kidding? Sudi's right... I'm just a Hakuna Matata bum who wasn't suppose to get the girl. She deserves the best..." A rumble of thunder was heard in the distance as Timon turned away from the Outlands and started to walk away. "And I ain't it."
Where could he go now? It's nighttime, so surely there's a predator out who'd be willing to swallow him whole.
"Predators... carnivores... that's it!" He looked head and saw that Pride Rock was in the distance. It was a welcomed sight to the downhearted meerkat, so he ran to meet up with it. "Those guys like me for me... they'll cheer me up!" It was about a twenty minute run, but he made it without trouble.
He panted as he entered the cave and was about to open his mouth to announce his arrival... when he noticed no one would be awake to hear it. His heart sank a bit further as he walked further into the cave. No one's awake to even listen to me... or offer me a shoulder to cry on. Is this what I get for not saying the 'L' word to my mate? I guess I deserve it...
Timon approached his old friend Simba, who was asleep next to his queen Nala. The meerkat carefully squeezed under Simba's arm and pulled his upper half out to sit up and lean against the lion's mane without waking him. He used to sleep like this with Simba every night before Nala came to the oasis and took Simba away. He remembered the old days, and how they would never be the same again. He let out a shuddering sigh as he looked out towards the outside with weak eyes that began to fill with defeated tears.
Timon bowed his head and closed his eyes as he whispered, "I love you." He turned away from the outside, pulled a paw out from under Simba's arm and put it over his eyes as his shoulders began to shake. But I wish I didn't love you so much... He put his second paw over his heart and clenched the fur over it. Then I wouldn't feel this twist in my chest.
To be continued...