Chapter 31:
Time had not pulled forward much. Timon had just run out of the cave, trying to run away from what he saw. At this time, most were unaware of what he saw. Some, for the sake of a life, for the better. Timon had not reached Pride Rock yet when Yasmin decided to pay her father Khairi a visit.
"Good evening, Father," Yasmin said as she stopped by Khairi's nest, bent over, and kissed him on the forehead.
"Hello, daughter." He tilted his head slightly as Yasmin walked over to the wall and leaned against it. Normally she would sit next to him when she would come to visit. "What troubles you, Yasmin?" Khairi asked, sitting up in his nest.
Yasmin exhaled. "A lot of things... your health, the colony, Sly..."
"Why Sylvester?"
She turned to look at him. "I'm sure Sengbe told you about Sly's old girlfriend from his former colony is staying with us." Khairi nodded. "Although she's told me she's not trying to win Sly back, I feel Sly wants her to."
Khairi sneered slightly. "... Really."
"She's not all that bad, Father. She helped me feel better about some things. And she said Sly said he wouldn't leave the colony to go back to hers."
"Really. So she did offer him to come back?"
"Yes, and he refused. But she did ask if I would take offense to taking him back with them and settle things with Shomari for a few days. I told her as long as they left after they found this Titus, then we'd never have to see them again."
Khairi coughed for a moment, then cleared his throat. "And what did Sylvester say to that?"
Yasmin wrung her paws together awkwardly. "I don't think she's asked him yet... but she might now, because I saw her go up to the roof, and Sly's usually up there by this time of night thinking."
"... Really. Yasmin, be a dear and find Sengbe for me."
"What? At this time of night?"
"Do it."
Meanwhile...
Zuri climbed down the root hanging from the skylight and dropped down next to her nest. She noticed Kito was still asleep and exhaled as she began to climb in.
"So how'd it go?" a voice behind her asked.
Zuri looked over her shoulder to see Sudi standing behind her. "Excuse me?"
Sudi cleared his throat and pulled her outside, where they wouldn't disturb anyone's sleeping. "How did it go with Timon? I'm just trying to offer you some comfort. Is that all right?"
"Comfort?" Zuri wrinkled her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"
"He went in there to see you... I assumed you two got into an argument or he got into another fight with Sly, because he took off running a few minutes ago," Sudi shrugged.
Zuri arched a brow. "You mean you've seen him?"
Sudi gulped, "You mean you haven't?"
Zuri grabbed the front of her brother's chest fur and pulled him closer to her face. "I haven't seen him for hours. Do you know where he's been?"
"Easy with the fur coat; I just had it pressed." He nervously smiled when his sister shot him a death glare. "OK, OK, just get that face away from me." He cleared his throat. "The information is fairly new to me, but I asked Morake about an hour before Jina and Bango got back and he said Timon and Pumbaa left to see Rafiki to find Titus's real location."
Zuri's expression softened a bit. "Titus's real location?"
"I guess they came up empty. They just got back about fifteen minutes ago, and Timon and I had a talk. One thing lead to another and then he went inside to tell you he loved you."
Zuri paused for a moment. "What? You mean he could actually say it? He said the word right in front of you?" Zuri asked in near disbelief. "Clearly?!"
"Yes, but that's assuming he can only say it while he's angry now. A few minutes later he came running out of the cave. That's why I assumed he talked to you."
Zuri softly gasped. "He couldn't have seen me with Sly, could he? That kiss was an accident. We didn't mean to--" She suddenly blinked. "Wait a second... angry? Why would he have a reason to be angry? If he just came back from Rafiki empty-handed he would be more mopey than angry." She suddenly noticed the bruise on Sudi's chin and frowned.
Sudi blinked. "What?"
"I'm guessing you got that bruise on your chin by saying something to Timon that he didn't like to hear?" Zuri asked in monotone. "Thus making him angry?"
"What makes you think he gave me this?" Sudi protested.
Zuri pressed her nose against Sudi's as she softly growled, "Because you get along with everyone else here except Timon. Now what did you say to him, little brother?"
"Oh, uh... this and that... you know, stuff that would make you angry that I said it."
"Such as...?"
"Things I felt were true, like our colony only liking him because he gave us that oasis to live in and that you thought of him only as a replacement to Sly."
Zuri growled and threw Sudi down onto the ground. "A replacement?! Where would you get an idea like that?"
Sudi sat up and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Oh, come on, Zuri. You've told him yourself he reminded you so much of Sly. What's he suppose to think when you're comparing him to your old boyfriend?"
Zuri went to say something, but closed her mouth quickly.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. And I feel Timon, the son of Fearless Buzz, is not the best for you... especially since we actually found Sly."
"And you think Sly's better for me because he's from our colony?" Zuri asked with a paw on her hip.
"More or less. I happen to like Sly, and he won your affections by being himself, unlike Timon." Sudi stood and dusted himself off. "Besides, I was starting to think you felt the same way. You insisted to stay here with Sly's new colony while we look for Titus and you were giving Sly more of your attention than Timon."
"That's not true... well, not all of it." Zuri lowered her eyes slightly. "I admit, I asked Sly to come back with us, but it wasn't because I wanted to be romantically involved with him again. I do love Sly, but not in the same way... and he knows it. He feels the same way. Too much time apart, so we didn't change together."
"Then why did we stay here? So we wouldn't have that long walk between here and Pride Rock?"
"No, Sudi. I wanted Timon to realize his brother is in this colony... that Kito did find him for us."
"... What?"
To be continued...